Tribute: Neville Alexander
Neville Alexander was the founder of the Project for Alternative Education (PRAESA) in South Africa. He was a visionary scholar and activist, and his fight for South African democracy became a call for multilingual education in post-apartheid South Africa. He believed that freedom is not simply about political change, but about cultural acceptance and cultural understanding through language.
Language, Neville explained, underscores freedom and human dignity….
What we become depends on what we read
Righardt le Roux is the Nal’ibali School and Public Library Co-ordinator. Best known for his entrepreneurial and innovative skills of “taking libraries to the people”, he has won a multitude of awards for his community work. He talks to us about South African Library Week and how we become maps of what we read:
The theme for this year’s South African Library Week (14-21 March), Connect…
Taking it as a sign: Branding and African language literacy development
Tessa Dowling, Senior Lecturer in African Languages in the School of Languages and Literature at the University of Cape Town, talks about the role of brands and language in the South African context:
If you were an African-language speaking child growing up in South Africa, the first written words you’d see wouldn’t be ones from your own tongue. Nearly all the words on packets, street signs, billboards…
Brain food for growing minds
In South Africa, most of the adults who spend time with children in their various capacities as parents, teachers, caregivers, adopters or custodians, do not regularly read aloud to them. And even if they do, with repeated readings of favourite storybooks, most can’t sustain the activity long enough for it to become a habit.
This is because if they choose to read in a mother…
Celebrate World Read Aloud Day with Nal’ibali and Gcina Mhlophe
Nal’ibali is calling on all South Africans to join them in celebrating one of the most important dates in the literacy calendar, World Read Aloud Day, on Wednesday 04 March. Raising awareness of the importance of reading aloud for children’s literacy development, and attempting to break its read-aloud record from 2014, the campaign is asking adults across the country to read aloud the same story on the same…
How a book can change a life
He was perhaps 13, face shadowed under his hoodie.
‘Got any spare change?’ he asked.
It was some time past 10pm in St Vincent’s emergency waiting room, where my husband was struggling to breathe with a bone caught in his throat. There were no free beds, so the doctors were attending him there, till the surgeon arrived.
I gave him a little. I didn’t have much –…
Celebs lend their voices to Nal’ibali Mother Tongue Day PSA
Nal’ibali has collaborated with SA role models and public figures to highlight the importance of mother tongue languages in children’s literacy development this International Mother Tongue Day, Saturday 21 February. By asking participants to try to read a children’s story – in a language they didn’t understand – Nal’ibali has created a poignant Public Service Announcement (PSA) highlighting the challenges faced by many young children as…
Video: Nal’ibali, Celebrities and Mother Tongue Day
Nal’ibali collaborated with South African role models and public figures to highlight the importance of mother tongue languages in children’s literacy development this International Mother Tongue Day!
This video emphasises the challenges faced by many young children as they engage with print and other literacy materials in unfamiliar languages on a daily basis. Local celebs such as YouTube sensation, Suzelle DIY, actress and Freshlyground lead singer, Zolani Mahola, as well as soccer…
Video: Nal’ibali, Celebrities and Mother-Tongue Day
Nal’ibali collaborated with South African role models and public figures to highlight the importance of mother-tongue languages in children’s literacy development this International Mother-Tongue Day!
This video emphasises the challenges faced by many young children as they engage with print and other literacy materials in unfamiliar languages on a daily basis. Local celebs such as YouTube sensation, Suzelle DIY, actress and Freshlyground lead singer, Zolani Mahola, as well as soccer players Cecil…
Lessons in learning: Why English is not enough
This International Mother Tongue Day, Dr Pamela Maseko, Senior Lecturer at the School of Language in African Languages Studies at the Rhodes University in Grahamstown, analyses the role of multilingualism in education.
We all learn better when we understand what the teacher says and the language we understand best, in normal situations, is, of course, our mother tongue.
In our context, mother tongue refers to the language…
