Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items

Indigenous African languages as transformation tools

12 July 2019 | Story Valentino Ndaba | Photo Johan Roux

South Africa is a multicultural society, boasting 12 official languages with 10 of them indigenous languages. Due to colonialism, these native languages remain underdeveloped, much like in the rest of the continent. There is an ongoing critical dialogue on language policies and decolonising the curriculum in higher education, making the work of the African Languages Association of Southern Africa (Alasa) more relevant than ever.

The University of the Free State’s (UFS) Department of African Languages hosted an array of panel discussions under the theme Indigenous African languages and decolonisation: Revitalising African ways of knowing in a digital age from 8-10 July 2019. Distinguished scholars including Prof Nobuhle Hlongwa, Prof Sabelo Ndlovu-Gatsheni, and Prof SF Matshinhe delivered keynote addresses for the 21st biennial Alasa International Conference.

An instrument of empowering society
Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, Prof Heidi Hudson, offered a warm welcome to delegates on the first day of the conference at the Bloemfontein Campus. Prof Hudson echoed the beliefs of Kenyan writer Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o regarding the entwined nature of language and power. “Ngũgĩ reminds us that the language question cannot be solved outside the larger arena of economics and politics or the question of what society wants.”

Prof Monwabisi Ralarala, chairperson of Alasa, echoed similar sentiments in his opening remarks. “It is also worthy of note that the conference is taking place at an opportune time, when the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) saw it befitting to recognise the rights of indigenous people, and thus declaring 2019 as the International Year of Indigenous Languages,” he said.

Language is at the heart of equality
If discrimination and inequality are to be uprooted, indigenous African languages and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) should be at the centre of the transformation agenda. Prof Hlongwa addressed this issue in her keynote address titled: The role of indigenous African languages in knowledge production, dissemination and social transformation. “Historically, higher education in South Africa and Africa in general relied on foreign languages,” said Prof Hlongwa, Dean and Head of the School of Arts in the College of Humanities at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN).

A tool for access to and success in higher education
Prof Hlongwa advocated the revisiting of teaching and learning methods where learners are examined in a language they do not understand and where educators teach in a language in which they are not proficient. One solution would be to reposition mother-tongue education and implement a policy framework which guides language practice in South Africa.

Models for intellectualisation of African indigenous languages can be benchmarked from UKZN and Rhodes University where major strides have been made to develop terminology, term banks, reading and writing clubs, even as Apps.

News Archive

First-year students encouraged to attend UFS welcoming function

2005-01-12

The University of the Free State (UFS) will host a welcoming function for all new first-year students and their parents on Saturday 15 January 2005 in the Callie Human Centre on the main campus in Bloemfontein.

The function starts at 11.00 and will be addressed by the Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS, Prof Frederick Fourie. UFS staff will also be available to provide vital information to first-year students on academic matters.

According to UFS Registrar, Mr Vernon Collett, Saturday’s welcoming function can assist students and parents by providing vital information on the many high quality academic learning programmes on offer at the UFS in six faculties.

“If students and parents have this information it will make the registration process which starts next week Monday 17 January much smoother,” Mr Collett said.

The UFS has split the registration process into various categories of students and Mr Collett appealed to all students to adhere to the dates and times which apply to them as a one-stop service will be available so as to avoid unnecessary delays in the registration process.

The registration of first-time entering first-year students who applied before 30 November 2004 to study at the Bloemfontein campus will take place from Monday 17 January 2005 to 21 January 2005 at the Callie Human Centre.

Senior undergraduate students (that is, students entering their second or later year of study) may register from 22 to 29 January 2005.

Postgraduate students, first time entering first year students and other students who applied for admission to the main campus after 30 November 2004 must register at the Callie Human from 31 January 2005 to 4 February 2005.

Due to the limitations placed by government on student numbers, the applications of students who applied late will be regarded as pending and will be processed as places became available.

Vista campus

The Vista campus in Bloemfontein – which was incorporated into the UFS in January 2004 – no longer accepts applications from first-year students. Such prospective students had to apply to the UFS main campus.

Students who had been registered as Vista students last year must register at the Vista campus on the same dates as applicable on the main campus.

Qwaqwa Campus

At the Qwaqwa campus of the UFS, all first-time entering first-year students must report on 17 January 2005, after which the registration of these students will take place according to a specific programme.

The official welcoming functioning for new first-years at the Qwaqwa campus of the UFS will take place on Saturday 22 January 2005 at 11am in the Rolihlahla Mandela Hall on the Qwaqwa campus. As on the main campus, this function will also be addressed by the Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof Fourie.

Mr Collett appealed to first-year students who have applied to study at the Qwaqwa campus and their parents to attend this function which fulfills the same role as the one held on the Bloemfontein campus.

Detailed information on the dates and times of registration for the various faculties and academic learning programmes is available on the UFS website: http://www.uovs.ac.za/content.php?cid=9

Prospective students may also call 051-401-3000 for more information.

Media release
Issued by: Anton Fisher
Media Representative
Cell: 072-207-8334

12 January 2005

Back

Economic and Management Sciences

Education

Health Sciences

The Humanities

Law

Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Theology and Religion

Open Distance Learning

Business School

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept