‘Not Leaving Your Language Alone’: Terminology Planning in Multilingual South Africa

By November 17, 2016,
Page 882-891
Author Anne-Marie Beukes
Title ‘Not Leaving Your Language Alone’: Terminology Planning in Multilingual South Africa
Abstract Status language planning has been one of the components of post-apartheid South Africa’s transformation project that has managed to attract wide-spread attention. In 1994 South Africa moved from its former official bilingual language policy to a new constitution that enshrines official status to 11 of the languages spoken in South Africa. However, 16 years down the line there is widespread disappointment with organized language planning and management by government authorized agencies. The paper gives a brief analysis of terminology development in contemporary South Africa juxtaposed with a terminology development project at the micro level which, in Joshua Fishman’s words, was initiated from the perspective of ‘not leaving your language alone’
.The practice of translation is an age-old activity, but translation studies is a fairly 'new' academic discipline and hence its terminology is still in its infancy. Translation studies has been taught in South Africa at higher education institutions for more than thirty years, but mainly through the medium of English and Afrikaans. The prod for this project was therefore the identification of fresh needs for terminology development in this area to contribute to facilitating the sustained development of specialized discourses in higher education. Terminology development is viewed as indispensable for creating and sustaining a dynamic environment for the use of South Africa’s official indigenous languages as a medium of instruction and ultimately for scientific progress.
Session Lexicography for Specialised Languages – Terminology and Terminography
Keywords
BibTex
@InProceedings{ELX10-085,
author = {Anne-Marie Beukes},
title = {‘Not Leaving Your Language Alone’: Terminology Planning in Multilingual South Africa},
pages = {882-891},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the 14th EURALEX International Congress},
year = {2010},
month = {jul},
date = {6-10},
address = {Leeuwarden/Ljouwert, The Netherlands},
editor = {Anne Dykstra and Tanneke Schoonheim},
publisher = {Fryske Akademy},
isbn = {978-90-6273-850-3},
}
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