Language policy and practice in the electronic mass media in multilingual, developing societies: The case of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).
Nwaneri, Emmanuel
Nwaneri, Emmanuel
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Abstract
Like almost every other contemporary African society, South Africa exhibits standard characteristics of an emerging, developing country. Its structure, composition and peoples very much bear the traits of an evolving society. Along with other parameters, such as: standard of living, level of education, and rate of industrialization, which are often used in determining the socio-political status of a country, South Africa also bears the characteristic of multilingualism, i.e., the adoption and use of several languages amongst its peoples. With a population size of about 49.99million (Statistics South Africa, Community Survey, 2010), it is a classic example of "one nation, many peoples". In this respect, the use of many languages amongst its peoples has become an accepted part of daily life, which is further accorded official recognition by the country's 1996 post apartheid constitution, which recognises eleven official languages. In view of this, it has become crucial to examine the various linguistic and mass communicational issues arising from this situation of multilingualism throughout several spheres of everyday life in South Africa. Of particular interest to this study are the policies, implementation and practice guiding the use of many languages in disseminating information to all peoples of the country through the mass media. Using the monolithic South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) as a case study, this research examines the challenges associated with the delivery of daily news and entertainment to all the peoples of South Africa in the eleven official languages spoken within the country. With the help of a variety of methods and social scientific models, this study attempts to determine the ability (or otherwise) of the SABC to meet the information and entertainment needs of all the different ethnic and cultural milieux that make up today’s Republic.
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Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree Magister Technologiae (Language Practice).
Date
2013-01-01
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Tshwane University of Technology
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Keywords
Language Policy, Mass Media, Multilingualism, SABC, Developing Societies