Negative attitudes and perceptions of black South African accents in higher education institutions of the Western Cape Province

Abstract

There is a negative approach and perception of the black South African accent in Drama Departments of higher education institutions in South Africa. The purpose was to discover the experiences of being an actor-in-training at a Drama Department at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and The South African School of Motion Picture Medium and Live Performance (AFDA). The research method was a qualitative design, and the sampling method was purposive. The inclusion criteria considered participants who could speak at least one South African language other than English. In other words, the researcher selected black South African natives from the Nguni language groups (isiZulu, isiXhosa, Siswati, isiNdebele) and Bantu language groups (Sesotho, Northern Sotho or Sepedi, Setswana). The exclusion criteria considered anyone registered at UCT or AFDA or already graduated with a degree certificate from those institutions. The researcher analysed the data using the Tesch analysis method. The study has communicated the effects of a voice-training syllabus that ignores authentic black South African vocal abilities. The participants’ experiences have shown a lack of interest in honing and encouraging black South African accents in the voice-training syllabus at Drama Departments in South African universities. It was concluded that there is more emphasis and attention given to British and American accents in the voice-training syllabus in South African universities and that black actors-in-training are encouraged to perform in these accents. The participants expressed that they do not feel prepared to perform characters with black South African accents because of this training.