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English and multilingualism in the South African engineering workplace
Author(s) -
Hill Pat,
Zyl Susan van
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
world englishes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.6
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1467-971X
pISSN - 0883-2919
DOI - 10.1111/1467-971x.00229
Subject(s) - multilingualism , workforce , indigenous , work (physics) , resource (disambiguation) , function (biology) , sociology , pedagogy , public relations , political science , medical education , engineering , computer science , medicine , mechanical engineering , ecology , computer network , evolutionary biology , law , biology
The engineering profession in South Africa is an interesting language environment to investigate because it operates from a knowledge base and a global business network dominated by English but in conjunction with a workforce which is most often multilingual. Against this background a survey of the language practices of 58 engineering personnel working on the Witwatersrand was conducted. These personnel included students with site‐work experience, Engineers‐in‐Training and experienced professionals. The information was gathered using focus groups, interviews, questionnaire and observation. It was found that a high standard of English is indeed crucial for professionals in a field with a policy of “English only” at management and inter‐departmental level and in written communication. However, Afrikaans and indigenous African languages were both perceived by more than 40 per cent of those surveyed to be important languages in the workplace to “get the work done” and it was found that black engineers function more efficiently if they use Afrikaans and other African languages on site. The research concludes that multilingual accommodation using English and other languages is a positive force for co‐operation in engineering and that multilingualism is a significant professional resource.