Education and Literacy as Metonyms for English: Adult Basic Education and Domestic Workers in South Africa. Research Brief #9

There is a curious and contradictory phenomenon in current adult education and language learning. Around the world, many educators and researchers have called for policies and practices that recognize Indigenous and multiple languages --particularly adults' native languages--to be taught and used in education and within the broader public. And yet, those who seemingly would most benefit from such language policies are seeking instead to learn English. The English language learning of South African domestic workers offers an ideal case to examine this incongruity. This study draws from ethnographic research over a three-year span to understand South African domestic workers' motivations for taking English language literacy classes. Narratives of 28 domestic workers were examined through a critical, ethnographic lens. Focusing on notions of metonymy, a word or concept that is used to mean something other than its original definition, the study shows that in a South African adult education context, the terms "literacy" and "education" have come to connote "'English' literacy" and "'English' education." Moreover, knowing English was associated with being considered "smart," and conversely, not knowing English with being "stupid."