Communicating across cultures in South African law courts: towards an information technology solution*
- Authors: Kaschula, Russell H , Mostert, André M
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Language policy -- South Africa , Courts interpreting and translating -- South Africa , Translating and interpreting -- Technological innovations , Intercultural communication -- South Africa , Conduct of court proceedings -- South Africa , Linguistic rights -- South Africa , Multilingualism -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: article , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59423 , vital:27599 , doi: 10.5842/36-0-39
- Description: Language rights in South Africa are entrenched in the Constitution of South Africa (Chapter 1, Section 6, Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996). However, the concomitant infrastructure and organisational realities make this policy difficult to implement, especially in law courts (Kaschula and Ralarala 2004). Creating effective communicative environments has historically been constrained by lack of effective training of legal practitioners and by the lack of capacity for building translation structures. With the advancement of technology, potential solutions are becoming more apparent and it is incumbent upon the academic community to embark on a rigorous investigation into possible solutions and how these Information Communication Technology (ICT) solutions could be applied to the execution of justice in South African law courts. This article aims to open the discourse of possible solutions, via assessments of computer based translation solutions, ICT context simulations and other potential opportunities. The authors hope to initiate the interest of other language and legal practitioners to explore how the new technological capabilities could be harnessed to support the entrenchment of language rights in our law courts.
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- Date Issued: 2008
Language rights, intercultural communication and the law in South Africa
- Authors: Kaschula, Russell H , Ralarala, Monwabisi K
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Language policy -- South Africa , Courts interpreting and translating -- South Africa , Intercultural communication -- South Africa , Conduct of court proceedings -- South Africa , Linguistic rights -- South Africa , Multilingualism -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: article , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59434 , vital:27602 , https://doi.org/10.1080/02572117.2004.10587242
- Description: This article seeks to explore the present language scenario in courts of law. The article makes use of section 6 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (1996), as a point of departure. At face value this section seems to entrench the language rights of individuals. This would mean that individuals could request trials to be held in their mother tongues, with fluent and competent speakers of that mother tongue sitting on the bench. However, this has not materialised. Contrary to popular opinion, the article argues that individual language rights are to some extent entrenched in the Constitution, but there are no mechanisms to secure such rights in the public domain. The article argues that it is often only language privileges that are preserved in institutions such as the justice system. Legally speaking, there is an obligation on the State to provide interpreters to facilitate access to all eleven official languages in courts of law. This in itself presents numerous challenges. The article argues further that the corollary to this is that there is very little space for intercultural communication in courts of law (as defined by Ting-Toomey, 1999, and Gibson, 2002). There has been little or no capacity building in this regard. It is English, to some extent Afrikaans, and the western cultural paradigm, which prevails. The result is further communication breakdown and language intolerance. In this article, the notion of language rights in courts of law is explored against the backdrop of existing theories of intercultural communication.
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- Date Issued: 2004
The experience of multi-cultural communication within a South African organization
- Authors: Lesch, Anthea M
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Intercultural communication -- South Africa , Communication in management -- South Africa , Communication in personnel management -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:3008 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002517 , Intercultural communication -- South Africa , Communication in management -- South Africa , Communication in personnel management -- South Africa
- Description: This research study was conducted in an attempt to explore the experience of multicultural communication within a South African organization. To this end employees, representing both Black and White culture, within a South African organization in the throes of transformation, were accessed. A model of managing diversity, focussing on the personal, interpersonal and organizational levels, was utilized in an attempt to uncover the nature of the experience of multi-cultural communication within Company X. A qualitative research design, and more specifically the case study method was employed in this study. Consistent with the case study approach a number of data sources were accessed. The primary data source consisted of a 3-stage interview process. Other data sources included documentary sources and company publications. By accessing multiple data sources, the researcher attempted to gain a holistic understanding of the experience of multi-cultural communication. It was found that the societal context of our post-Apartheid society exercises a profound influence on multi-cultural communication. Under Apartheid cultural separation was promoted. Diverse peoples thus have little common basis for interaction and view each other with skepticism and distrust. This exercises an effect on the personal and organizational levels of the managing diversity model. Influences at the personal level relate to the cultural paradigms of the individuals which provide the rules governing interactions and affect judgements of acceptable and unacceptable behaviours. Issues at the organizational level relate to its structures and policies which are still based on the “white is right ideology”. These issues, in turn, affect the interpersonal level of managing diversity, i.e., where the interactions occur, causing “communication short circuits” within the process of multi-cultural communication. In order to deal with failed multi-cultural communication, the individuals have developed a number of coping strategies. The results of the study indicate that both the organization and its employees share a responsibility for creating an environment that will facilitate effective multi-cultural communication.
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- Date Issued: 2000
Genre analysis and the teaching of academic literacy: a case study of an academic discipline in the social sciences
- Authors: Vorwerk, Shane Paul
- Date: 1998
- Subjects: Lectures and lecturing , Lecture method in teaching , Language and culture , Discourse analysis , Language and culture -- South Africa , English language -- Discourse analysis , Intercultural communication -- South Africa , English language -- Study and teaching -- South Africa -- Foreign speakers
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2365 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002648 , Lectures and lecturing , Lecture method in teaching , Language and culture , Discourse analysis , Language and culture -- South Africa , English language -- Discourse analysis , Intercultural communication -- South Africa , English language -- Study and teaching -- South Africa -- Foreign speakers
- Description: Students in tertiary educational institutions in South Africa come from many different backgrounds and have varied educational experiences. Some students, especially those from non-English speaking backgrounds, may encounter linguistic difficulties with various academic tasks. In order for students to be successful at university, they must become academically literate. That is, they must master all the reading, writing, listening and comprehension tasks required by the disciplines in which they are studying. One such task is presented by the academic lecture which is an integral part of any course of study. Linguistically, the academic lecture can be seen as a particular genre with unique characteristics. This study investigated some linguistic characteristics of academic lectures. The discipline of Political Science, as a Social Science, was chosen because there is little research that has been done on language in the Social Sciences. The Political Science sub-disciplines of Political Philosophy, South African Politics, and International Relations were used in this research. First year lectures were recorded from each of these three sub-disciplines. The linguistic characteristics of lectures were analysed using techniques drawn from Systemic Functional linguistic theory. The analysis concentrated on the aspects mode and field as they were realised in the lectures. In addition, higher level generic structure was also analysed. The insights gained from the analysis were validated through interviews with the lecturers who gave the lectures. The aim of this research was to develop a linguistic characterisation of the lecture genre as it occurs in the three sub-disciplines of Political Science. The results of this research suggest that although there is a unified academic lecture genre, there is variation according to sub-discipline. The implications of this variation are discussed with reference to their relevance to teaching academic literacy.
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- Date Issued: 1998