Learners’ perceptions regarding linguistic potential in a multilingual setting in the FET Phase

Abstract

Multilingualism has become the focus of policy debates that revolve around how it could or should be managed in different countries and regions. This has been a particular preoccupation in South Africa, where the government takes language to be a key component of nation building. This article aims to explore foreign national learners’ perceptions regarding linguistic potential in a multilingual setting in the Further Education and Training phase. To address this issue, data were collected through a strategic conversation analysis approach as applied to codeswitching. The conversation was audio-recorded involving a foreign national Grade 11 learner from Zimbabwe who had arrived in South Africa where multiple languages are observed. The results revealed that as individuals are multilingual, the society itself is multilingual because people come from different parts of the world and come to join in societies that are already multilingual, adding to the languages spoken in those societies. Multilingual educational institutional should take specific measures to pave the way for the social and cultural integration of foreign national learners who are unfamiliar with the host institution’s linguistic settings. Such a move will go a long way in establishing a welcoming culture for foreign learners. These measures can even be done formally like offering language tutoring lessons.