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12 July 2019 | Story Valentino Ndaba | Photo Johan Roux
African languages as transformation tools
From left to right: Dr Elias Malete (conference chairperson and the newly elected deputy chairperson of Alasa Board), Prof I Koch (Scientific Editor of Alasa journal), Dr Hleze Kunju (secretary of ALASA Board), Dr H Gunnink (international guest), Prof Nobuhle Hlongwa (keynote speaker) and Prof Phalandwa Mulaudzi (former deputy chairperson of Alasa Board)
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

Breeding of unique game requires a balance between conservation and sustainable use
2014-05-20

 

Game bred for qualities such as unconventional hair colour or horn quality, may on the long term have unexpected consequences for biodiversity and game farming.

This is according to the inaugural lecture of Prof Paul Grobler from the Department of Genetics at the University of the Free State (UFS).

Prof Grobler feels that the consequences of selective breeding should be examined carefully, as there is currently much speculation on the subject without sound scientific information to back it.

“At the moment, colour variation invokes much interest among game farmers and breeders. Unusual colour variants are already available in different game species. These unusual animals usually fetch much higher prices at auctions compared to prices for the ‘normal’ individuals of the species.”

Examples of these unusual variants are springbuck being bred in white, black or copper colours, the black-backed or ‘saddleback’ impala, and the gold-coloured and royal wildebeest.

A black-backed impala was recently sold for R5,7 million.

“Based on genetic theory, good reason exists why these practices need to be monitored, but one should also take care not to make the assumption that selective breeding will inevitably lead to problems,” warns Prof Grobler.

Grobler says that negative characteristics in a species can sometimes unwittingly be expressed during the selection process for a unique colour. “It is seen, for example, in purebred dogs where the breeding of a new race sometimes brings underlying genetic deviations in the species to the front.” He also believes that some of these animals may not be able to adapt to changing environmental conditions.

“However, one should also look at the positive side: because of the good demand for game, including unusual variants, there is much more game in South Africa today than in many decades. Balance should be found between the aims of conservation and the sustainable utilisation of game.”

Research at the UFS’s Department of Genetics is now trying to establish the genetic effects of intensive game breeding and predict the impact on biodiversity.

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