Do we still have a mother tongue?Fluid identities and languaging in multilingual settings

How do we reconstruct our linguistic identities in the 21st century?
One of the realizations  in the 21st century is that boundaries between languages can no longer be defended. As different from the Medieval period when there was a 'fear of the foreigner', the 21st century has created  discursive spaces where the 'child of the soil'  and the foreigner cohabit the same geographical spaces and blend their languages in very complex way that the very notion of a stable language itself is questionable. Indeed,  we begin to see more  practices that show overlaps between languages  world wide. 

In South Africa,  is a typical example of integrated multilingualism (although the enlightenment ideology of one-ness governs management of the languages and school policies). Multilingualism is enshrined in the Constitution that recognizes 11 official languages to ensure parity of esteem and redress past linguistic imbalances where African languages were reduced to low level 'tongues'. With the advent of  the new sociopolitical dispensation that started in 1994, however, the local communities have increasingly mixed in sharing spaces and languages. 

I carried out a research  which  shows that university students from Black townships refer to their home language as kasi-taal- a hybrid language form that draws from all of the South African official languages. In other words, they do not have a mother tongue or mother tongues because they acquired at least 6 languages before they were 7 years old. A hybrid form that draws from languages across the board is preferred to any of the individual official languages. To make the point about 'leaking boundaries' between languages, I use translanguaging to explain that fluidity, fuzziness  and versatility in language use have become naturalized. Because it is though language that one BECOMES a better entity of oneself, the speakers' identities are equally fluid. It is for this reason, I argue, that the Black township dwellers do not have a mother tongue; instead they are languaging. They have naturalized alternation of languages and use this fluid system to be who they choose to be and to make sense of the world. 

TO READ MORE ON THIS SUBJECT, see the article below: "Fluid identity construction in language contact zones: metacognitive reflections on Kasi-taal languaging practices"Alert me

DOI:

10.1080/13670050.2014.953774

Leketi Makalela^a*

Abstract

This study investigated how semi-urban, multi-ethnic and multilingual students in the city of Johannesburg, South Africa, negotiate their new identities through languaging experiences. Metacognitive reflections of their recreated language spaces were collected through 20 written narratives, which were analysed using a universalist reductionist approach. The results of the study revealed highly complex identifying processes that mark fluid, multiple affiliations and mobile and creative negotiation of an identity matrix through a hybrid language form, Kasi-taal, which breaks boundaries and embeds linguistic systems that were traditionally treated as discrete units. Using a translanguaging framework, I argue that the languaging strategies articulated in the narratives can be valorised to offset the symbolic violence of monoglossic ideologies that are dominant in our classrooms. Recommendations for further studies on identity-building spaces in multilingual language contact zones as well as the logic of hybrid linguistic repertoires are highlighted at the end of the paper.

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LAW OF LEAST EFFORT cultivated at Balang PLUS Workshop

Balang Plus, which is an advanced version of the Balang Foundation's literacy programmes, held its first mentoring and coaching workshop for 10 high school learners who graduated from primary schools under the tutelage of the Foundation. The workshop was held on 12 and 13 September, 2014 at the MJ Gateway Lodge in Polokwane, Limpopo Province. The Plus side of Balang (Reading +) upholds Balang Foundation’s catalyst role as an active player in engineering social change through reading literacy. After three years of training and support, the bursars were fuming with confidence and ready to share their knowledge and habits into the communities where they lived. The high school learners were given additional two years of adjustment support with increased funding to buy new school uniform, purchase extra reading materials and receive coaching on life skills as teenagers. The workshop was facilitated by a team of nine literacy and life skills experts: Leketi Makalela, Mpho Seerane, Hendrica Malete, Albert and Boitumelo of the University of Limpopo’s performing Arts as well as four pre-service teachers from the University of the Witwatersrand: Nondumiso Zulu, Banele Zwane, Nozipho Sibanda and Melica Thewe. 

The bursars had been tasked with giving back to their communities through a “read-for-a-neigbour” programme and in doing so expanding Balang Foundation’s mission to promote reading literacy in the communities. This workshop session involved conversations around how the "read for a neighbor" programme went over 8 months, with each of the bursars narrating their experiences of literacy in their communities.

The evening of their arrival included writing sessions that involved brainstorming on how to be a responsible citizen- mainly around literacy. These writings were shared and discussed with the whole team of nineteen attendees as a basis for the coaching that dwelt on self-knowledge, self-management and self-efficacy.  In addition, the learners were asked to define who they are in an attempt to determine their self-awareness- something that is a proxy for growing within their remit of who they are. The bursars had shown growth and maturity as evidenced through the high level of discussions, presentations and questioning when compared to the first time they were awarded the Balang grants  in 2010. Some of the quotable quotes from their responses are:

“One has to be responsible for her/his  existence in an effective and efficient manner”- Shane

 “ One needs to live a purposeful life” - David

“ Being responsible means to pass at the end of the year—to make parents proud and to use one’s internal powers and perform better than one’s parents”- Desney

“To look after yourself- taking risks and stop playing a victim mentality. To  be better than yesterday by focusing on the positives”- Mogau

“To take action---repair; no excuses---telling the truth and watching one’s words- being the star of one’s life”- Sello.

“To give no excuses; star small and stop procrastination”- Lesedi.

“Doing anything you want to do…taking correct decisions and  being forward looking” –Brightness.

“To choose to feel or think the way you do. Protecting and nurturing your emotional well-being and managing time”- Mojalefa

Overall, the workshop was successful in raising awareness in the learners who all realized that they needed to focus on their strengths (what they have, not what they don't have) as understood from the principle of the “Law of least effort”. In other words, to find their purposes, meaning and who they are in relation to others and the world, they needed to focus on things they can do with ease (what comes more naturally to them, yet difficult or hard for people around them) to maximize their chances of success in life.  The Reading mission of Balang Foundation has turned their world around to be inquisitive and ask deep questions about themselves till it gets crystal clear: they are who they are! 

Report prepared by Leketi Makalela, Chairman of Balang Foundation