How can the South African situation broaden students' notions of language and identity as they become "world citizens"?

Having explored the three parts of the main question, I can now put the parts together to explain how the South African situation can broaden students’ notions of language and identity as they become “world citizens”.

South Africa is the perfect place for students to become world citizens. To learn about the country’s history, there must be a certain level of tolerance and acceptance on the student’s part because of it’s violent and oppressive past. Also, students probably will not be able to leave South Africa without a new idea of what language and identity are.

To most American high school students, ‘language’ simply means the class they take to learn spanish or french. ‘Identity’ means how their classmates see them as they walk down the halls. Language and identity are rarely, if ever, thought of in the same context. Going to South Africa in 2011, when they are still trying to move away from apartheid and come together as one nation, is a prime learning opportunity and forces students to realize language and identityare related, and their connections are vast and meaningful.

South African people are struggling with how to identify themselves in the new political climate of the country. While learning English is commonplace (not to mention smart), how does someone with a rich cultural background maintain that culture, which encompasses their mother tongue, and continue to move forward in the new South Africa? American students visiting South Africa can easily see that language and identity are not what they originally thought.

~Kelly Dunnigan