The Unit for Language Facilitation and Empowerment (ULFE) is a leading institution in South Africa that develops innovative and economically sustainable solutions for the establishment of institutional multilingualism in South Africa. It forms part of our vision to use languages to bridge the diversity gap in South Africa.

The ULFE, formerly the Unit for Language Management, was established in 1993 as a self-sustained entity with the objective of providing a fully-fledged tertiary programme to train language practitioners.

Considering South Africa’s multilingual society, this was seen as a necessity, and the ULFE landed various government and non-government contracts as well as internationally funded projects to assist with the training of language practitioners. In the mid- to late-1990s, the ULFE also branched into research, and today its main focus has shifted from providing services and training to becoming a leading research unit within the field of language management.

Activities

• Research projects of organised language facilitation and language empowerment
• Present short learning programmes in the field of language facilitation and language empowerment.
• Providing postgraduate studies within a variety of disciplines.
• Develop and manage leading multilingual projects in partnership with the government and other role players.
• Render community services aimed at empowering communities through multilingualism.

Upcoming events

• 11 May 2018: Workshop on language diversity management in educational settings in Namur (Belgium) and Bloemfontein (RSA), Clarens
• 14 May 2018: Managing language diversity at educational institutions, Public lectures, UFS Main Campus.
• 18-20 September 2017: International Symposium on Place Names
• 21-23 November 2017: Language Tourism Short Learning Programme, Paarl