The Importance of Multilingualism in South Africa

Discuss the importance of multilingualism among young South Africans. 

Multilingualism is very important amongst the youth of today. With a world that obtains more and more diversity everyday it is essential that the youth are able to communicate with as many different communities as possible. This report will cover South Africa’s view of language, the vital role of communication, language in children and the positives and negatives of multilingualism.

Multilingualism refers to the ability to speak more than one language. It also refers to a community of speakers where two or more languages are spoken therefore it is essential for the youth to be able to speak and understand more than one language in South Africa. Language is defined as the method of human communication, either spoken or written, consisting of the use of words in a structured and conventional way (Oxford dictionary of English (ODE), 2010).

South Africa being the rainbow nation has 11 official languages. English is the language most spoken on a public professional level although it is not the most spoken language by locals on a personal level. The majority of people in South Africa speak isiXhosa or isiZulu (Pali Lehohla, 2011). The South African government has tried to give tuition in all languages in South Africa but they have not been able to implement this efficiently. The majority of children receive tuition in either English or Afrikaans. This increases the need for multilingualism amongst the youth.

Communication bridges the gap between cultures because different cultures understand each other better and there can be no miscommunication that results in negative consequences.

Communication is defined as the imparting or exchanging of information and news or a means of connection between people and places (ODE, 2010). This connection between people is vital to the smooth running of a country.Multilingualism is very often closely related to multiculturalism therefore it is means...