| Summary: | Thesis (MPhil (General Linguistics))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. === ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The financial sector of South Africa is increasingly under pressure to ensure
that the language used in all communication is aligned with international best
practice and, furthermore, that the correct business terminology is applied.
Standards of language proficiency and usage have, however, deteriorated over
the past few years. This appears to be due mainly to lack of good language
education at school level. In Nedbank, specifically, the language used by
employees in written external communication is not always on par as is evident
from the documentation that Nedbank Editorial and Language Services (Nels),
the “language custodian” of the bank, has to edit and translate. Nels decided
six years ago that, instead of rewriting all these documents, which is not timeor
cost-efficient, to rather give business-writing training across the bank to
enable Nedbank employees to increase their general writing proficiency of
English. This study aims to establish whether there are discrepancies in the
type of error made in English as used by Coloured Afrikaans mother tongue
speakers and White Afrikaans mother tongue speakers in order to determine
how to customise the business-writing training materials to the benefit of each
cultural grouping in Nedbank. === AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die finansiële sektor in Suid-Afrika is toenemend onder druk om te verseker dat
die taal wat in alle kommunikasie gebruik word in ooreenstemming is met
internasionale “beste praktyk”, en verder dat die korrekte besigheidsterminologie
gebruik word. Taalvaardigheids- en taalgebruiksvlakke het egter
oor die afgelope aantal jare verswak, waarskynlik a.g.v. onvoldoende
taalonderrig op skool. In Nedbank is die taalgebruik van werknemers in
geskrewe eksterne kommunikasie nie altyd van ’n aanvaarbare standaard nie,
soos duidelik blyk uit die dokumentasie wat Nedbank Editorial and Language
Services (Nels), die bank se “taalbewaarder”, moet redigeer en vertaal. Nels het
ses jaar gelede besluit om besigheidskryfkursusse vir die hele groep aan te
bied, eerder as om al die eksterne kommunikasie oor te skryf, wat nie tyd- en
koste-effektief is nie. Sodoende kan werknemers hulle algemene
skryfvaardighede in Engels verbeter. Hierdie studie probeer vasstel of daar
moontlike verskille is in die soort foute wat in Engels deur gekleurde
Afrikaans-moedertaalsprekers en wit Afrikaans-moedertaalsprekers gemaak
word, in ‘n poging om doeltreffende opleidingsmateriaal te ontwikkel vir elke
kulturele groepering in Nedbank.
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