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Multilingualism at the UFS reaches remarkable milestones

15 June 2021 | Story Dr Cindé Greyling

Drummers entertained the Mokete crowds throughout the day.

During the past eight months, the University of the Free State Academy for Multilingualism has reached remarkable milestones. The Academy for Multilingualism was born from the UFS Language Policy (2016) and was approved by Senate in November 2020.

Letting languages grow

Multilingualism at the UFS entails the use of English as the primary medium of instruction, with Afrikaans, Sesotho, and isiZulu used selectively in tutorials to support the achievement of greater levels of academic literacy and understanding of the epistemology of the discipline, mostly among undergraduate students. “Accordingly, the academy’s drivers are to develop Sesotho and Isizulu as academic languages, encourage multilingualism in teaching and learning and as a social asset, and to develop English as a language of instruction,” says Dr Peet van Aardt, Custodian of the Academy for Multilingualism.

Developing Sesotho and Isizulu as academic languages

Academic word lists from seven departments are in the process of being translated, in conjunction with the Unit of Lexicography, to create glossaries. The team at South African Sign Languages will add videos to these glossaries to provide unique and inclusive content in the realm of multilingualism.

In April 2021, the academy – in collaboration with the TK Mopeli Library on the Qwaqwa Campus – hosted the launch of an English and Sesotho book on the campus. This work, Meriana ya Dimela tsa Basotho Medicinal Plants, was authored by Prof Rodney Moffett, honorary Research Fellow on the Qwaqwa Campus.

Multilingualism in teaching and learning

To assist students in overcoming the language barrier caused by English as medium of instruction, the academy is working with the Centre for Teaching and Learning’s A_STEP programme to pilot the use of translanguaging in tutor sessions. It is currently done in Law and Geography on the Bloemfontein Campus, and in Academic Literacy on the Qwaqwa Campus.

Voice-over translations of English lessons in the Faculties of Theology and Religion into Afrikaans and Sesotho paved the way for the academy to proceed with this practice in other subjects. They have been able to start with the Departments of Political Studies and Governance (Afrikaans, Sesotho, isiZulu) and Criminology (Sesotho).

English as a language of instruction

The university’s Academic Literacy and Language Development (ALLD) unit has also launched their English Academic Literacy courses for the Faculties of Law, Natural and Agricultural Sciences, Education, the Humanities, Health Sciences, and Economic and Management Sciences.

UFS staff will also be trained in teaching and translanguaging practices. Thus far, one lecturer has been nominated to track her use of translanguaging in the Academic Literacy classroom on the Qwaqwa Campus.

Multilingualism as a social asset

The fourth annual iCAN (Initiative for Creative African Narratives) was launched in April 2021. This project motivates students from all three campuses to write short stories in their mother tongue, and at the end of the year an anthology of stories will be published. In addition, some of the English stories will be injected into the English Academic Literacy courses for first-year students in order to localise the curriculum.

The Kovsies Multilingual Mokete will be hosted online this year and will include activities from the Bloemfontein, Qwaqwa, and South Campuses. The theme of this year’s festival is ‘Hearing you, hearing me’, ‘Ukungizwe, ukukuzwa’ (isiZulu), ‘Ons luister na mekaar’ (Afrikaans), and ‘Mmamele ke o mamele’ (Sesotho).

Academy for Multilingualism extending its footprint

A building that will house the academy on the Qwaqwa Campus is currently being built next to the new media lab. The building will comprise, among others, a 100-seater multipurpose lecture hall that can be converted into four smaller lecture halls. Similarly, a building for the academy is being constructed on the Bloemfontein Campus.

“The Academy for Multilingualism wants to ensure that the UFS becomes the South African leader in multilingualism, and at the impressive rate that they are delivering outputs, this goal will be reached soon,” says Dr Van Aardt.

News Archive

Fighting the tuberculosis battle as a collective

2015-09-28

The team hard at work making South Africa a
healthier place

Tuberculosis (TB) is second only to HIV/AIDS as the greatest killer worldwide due to a single infectious agent. More than 95% of TB deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. Despite being more prevalent among men than women, TB remains one of the top five causes of death amongst women between the ages of 15 and 44 years. While everyone is at risk for contracting TB, those most at risk include children under the age of five and the elderly. In addition, research indicates that individuals with compromised immune systems, household contacts with pulmonary TB patients, and healthcare workers are also at increased risk for contracting TB.

According to the Deputy Director of the Centre for Health Systems Research and Development (CHSR&D) at the UFS, Dr Michelle Engelbrecht, research has found that healthcare workers may be three times more likely to be infected by TB than the general population.

The unsettling fact

“Research done in health facilities in South Africa has found that nurses do not often participate in basic prevention acts, such as opening windows and wearing respirators when attending to infectious TB patients,” she explained.

In response to this concern, CHSR&D, which operates within the Faculty of Humanities at the the University of the Free State (UFS) Bloemfontein Campus has developed a research project to investigate TB prevention and infection control in primary healthcare facilities and households in Mangaung Metropolitan.

Action to counter the statistics

A team of four researchers and eight field workers from CHSR&D are in the process of gathering baseline data from the 41 primary healthcare facilities in Mangaung. The baseline comprises a facility assessment conducted with the TB nurse, and observations at each of the facilities. Individual interviews are also conducted with community caregivers, as well as TB and general patients. Self-administered questionnaires on knowledge, attitudes, and practices about TB infection control are completed by all nurses and facility-based community caregivers.

Healthcare workers are the main focus of this research, given their increased risk of acquiring TB in healthcare settings. At clinics, interventions will be developed to improve infection control practices by both healthcare workers and patients. TB patients’ households are also visited to screen household contacts for TB. Those found to have symptoms suggesting TB infection are referred to the clinics for further assessment and treatment.

The findings of this study will serve to inform the development of an intervention to address TB prevention and infection control in primary healthcare facilities. Further funding will be sought to implement and evaluate the intervention.

Curbing future infections and subsequent deaths as a result of TB is the priority for the UFS. The cooperation and collaboration of the community, government, and sponsors will ensure that this project is a success, hence prolonging life expectancy.

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