DinkNet

Dis nie net maatskaplik betrokke akademici met ’n linkse oriëntasie, soos Neville Alexander (kyk my vroeër inskrywing hieroor), wat sin kan praat oor goed soos taal nie. Regters kan dit blykbaar ook doen. In sy uitspraak, verlede week, in die Hoërskool Ermelo-saak, sê regter Moseneke byvoorbeeld:

And that perhaps is the collateral irony of this case. Learners whose mother tongue is not English but rather one of our indigenous languages, together with their parents, have made a choice to be taught in a language other than their mother tongue. This occurs even though it is now well settled that, especially in the early years of formal teaching, mother tongue instruction is the foremost and the most effective medium of imparting education. Ample literature indicates that in Africa the former colonial languages have become the dominant medium of teaching. Professor. Kwessi Kwaa Prah describes this as the “language of instruction conundrum in Africa”.

Moseneke haal ook vir regter Sachs (uit ’n ander uitspraak) aan:

The fourth assumption is that the Afrikaans language is one of the cultural treasures of South African national life, widely spoken and deeply implanted, the vehicle of outstanding literature, the bearer of a rich scientific and legal vocabulary and possibly the most creole or ‘rainbow’ of all South African tongues. Its protection and development is therefore the concern not only of its speakers but of the whole South African nation. In approaching the question of the future of the Afrikaans language, then, the issue should not be regarded as simply one of satisfying the selfcentred wishes, legitimate or otherwise, of a particular group, but as a question of promoting the rich development of an integral part of the variegated South African national character contemplated by the Constitution. Stripped of its association with race and political dominance, cultural diversity becomes an enriching force which merits constitutional protection, hereby enabling the specific contribution of each to become part of the patrimony of the whole.

Kortom: Hoe simpel dat die regering met Afrikaanse skole (en universiteite?) baklei om hulle in Engels te laat onderrig gee aan jong mense wie se moedertaal nie Engels is nie! En hoe kortsigtig om die toekoms van Afrikaans te sien as ’n saak waarby slegs Afrikaanssprekendes ’n selfsugtige belang het!

En in praktiese terme: Dis hoogtyd dat die regering positiewe stappe neem om Afrikaans as hoëfunksietaal, en spesifiek as onderwystaal, te beskerm en te bevorder, en te sorg dat die ander Afrika-tale ook vir hoë funksies, en spesifiek as onderrigmediums, gebruik word. Die oorheersing van Engels op alle openbare terreine, en veral as onderrigmedium op onderwysgebied, is nie in landsbelang nie en moet aktief teengegaan word.

So praat mense met ’n sterk sintuig vir wat reg en billik is. Soos stemme roepende in die woestyn.

* Stuur ’n e-pos met die woord “Ja” in die onderwerpveld na dinknet@litnet.co.za om oor nuwe inskrywings op hierdie blog ingelig te word.