Issues in language and development in multilingual settings: a case-study of knowledge exchange and teacher education in South Africa

Rassool, N., Edwards, V. and Bloch, C. (2006) Issues in language and development in multilingual settings: a case-study of knowledge exchange and teacher education in South Africa. International Review of Education, 52 (6). pp. 533-552. ISSN 1573-0638 doi: 10.1007/s11159-006-9008-x

Abstract/Summary

The quality of a country’s human-resource base can be said to determine its level of success in social and economic development. This study focuses on some␣of the major human-resource development issues that surround the implementation of South Africa’s policy of multilingualism in education. It begins by discussing the relationship between knowledge, language, and human-resource, social and economic development within the global cultural economy. It then considers the situation in South Africa and, in particular, the implications of that country’s colonial and neo-colonial past for attempts to implement the new policy. Drawing on the linguistic-diversity-in-education debate in the United Kingdom of the past three decades, it assesses the first phase of an in-service teacher-education programme that was carried out at the Project for Alternative Education in South Africa (PRAESA) based at the University of Cape Town. The authors identify key short- and long-term issues related to knowledge exchange in education in multilingual societies, especially concerning the use of African languages as mediums for teaching and learning.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/26652
Item Type	Article
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Arts, Humanities and Social Science > Institute of Education > Language and Literacy in Education
Publisher	Springer
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