Building World Citizenship Using South African Principles

            In order to become a productive world citizen, one must be open- minded and observant to their surroundings. This does not merely mean observing the people and landscape from afar, but rather means getting to intimately know the surrounding people’s culture through close conduct. Unbeknownst to many, understanding the roots and meanings of a person’s language provides some of the most meaningful insight into their culture and identity. According to Kamwangamalu in his article “One language, multi-layered identities: English in a society in transition, South Africa”, “Language is intimately linked to an individual’s or group’s social identity”.  He argues that language both acts as an identifier for a group, as well as the individual by giving them a way to identify themselves to the rest of the world and connect themselves within their group.  By understanding this concept in the South African situation, one can understand how to become a fully functioning member of the global community.

            In South Africa, language is what identifies the individual. While walking down the same street, one can hear six different conversations each in its own language. What is so unique about South Africa is that each of its eleven official languages not only is used as a communication tool, but as a strong identifier as well. Each language is rooted with its own traditions and standards by which its speakers live their lives. Even when a South African learns more languages, they are always rooted back to the language of their ancestors. This diverse language climate is perfect for emerging world citizens to learn the basics of the connections between culture and language. Wherever a person travels, they will encounter different languages, dialects, and accents than what they’re accustomed to. Instead of becoming overwhelmed by the differences, a world citizen must learn to use these differences to better understand the cultural roots of the people and places they encounter. Due to the different languages, it is much more obvious in South Africa which group a person identifies with. However, in other parts of the world a slight accent change or a change in the word choice may determine how a person identifies themselves. This is why the South African situation is the ideal place to introduce this concept to emerging world citizens. In order to become a successful world citizen, one must acknowledge and embrace the strong bond between language and identity. This alone can provide immense insight into vastly different cultures that would not be accessible if the language differences were ignored.

~Maleah