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23 March 2021 | Story Dr Cindé Greyling | Photo Charl Devenish
Academy for multilingualism
Dr Peet van Aardt, custodian of the new Academy for Multilingualism
The University of the Free State (UFS) established an Academy for Multilingualism at the beginning of 2021. The academy aims to promote Sesotho, isiZulu, and Afrikaans on institutional and social levels through various academic and community-based projects and initiatives. Multilingualism is conceptualised as a tool that leverages language richness to improve academic excellence and promote an inclusive institutional space.

The UFS Language Policy was approved by the Council in 2016, when English became the primary language of instruction at undergraduate and postgraduate levels on all three campuses. Through the policy, the university has pledged to enable a language-rich environment that is committed to multilingualism, with particular attention to English, Afrikaans, Sesotho, and isiZulu.  The academy serves as a vehicle to further imbed the implementation of the Language Policy.

Comprehension gaps
The Student Language Preference Survey completed in June 2020 indicated that many students have difficulty in understanding their lecturers in class due to language differences. “We also looked at multilingual models from places like South America, India, and South Africa in order to structure our approach,” says Dr Peet van Aardt, custodian of the academy. “Multilingualism has become a popular research field,” he explains, “and we hope to collaborate with universities that are implementing it successfully.” The academy is in the process of generating multilingual academic aids, not only to support learning, but also to create a more representative space on the university’s campuses.

The new look of academic languages
In close collaboration with the university’s Centre for Teaching and Learning, as well as the different language departments on the campuses, the Academy for Multilingualism will, among others, facilitate multilingual academic glossaries, abstract translations, voice-overs for lessons, and tutorials. “Our aim is to ingrain the academy in the university’s academic and social outlook through intra-institutional collaboration and becoming a leading institution on the world map of multilingualism,” Dr Van Aardt concludes.

Language links
The Academy for Multilingualism puts the UFS among the frontrunners of this approach.  “Language is a barrier to learning for many students,” Dr Van Aardt explains. “You just have to walk around on our campuses (or browse our social media platforms) to appreciate the many different languages that are used.” Dr Van Aardt believes that overcoming the language barrier to learning not only promotes knowledge gain but will also help students to develop an identity within their own language cultures.

News Archive

Community engagement must be a core function of universities
2009-05-21

 
 Members of the NatCEMF Steering Committee are, from the left: Mr Jerome Slamat, Senior Director: Community Interaction, Stellenbosch University, Ms Beatrix Bouwman, Manager: Community Engagement, North-West University, Rev Kiepie Jaftha, Chief Director: Community Service, UFS and chairperson of the committee, Prof. Allan Femi Lana, Director: Institute for Rural Development and Community Engagement, Mangosuthu University of Technology, Prof. Seth Pollack, Fulbright Scholar, University of Western Cape (guest speaker at the meeting), Prof. Denver Hendricks, Director: Community Engagement, University of Pretoria, and Prof. Priscilla Daniels, Chairperson: Human Ecology and Research and CHESP Research Coordinator, University of the Western Cape.
Photo: Lacea Loader
 It is important that all tertiary institutions in South Africa should work together and commit themselves to advance the cause of community engagement in the country.

This was one of the main outcomes of the second meeting held by the National Community Engagement Manager’s Forum (NatCEMF) at the South Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS) in Bloemfontein recently. The meeting was attended by 34 representatives of 16 higher education institutions in the country.

“I am astounded at the interest in this matter. The representatives are committed to make community engagement a core function of their institutions and we all agreed that we should get more involved in expanding this across all institutions. A need for a formal structure for us all to work together and have a more collective voice was also identified,” said Rev Kiepie Jaftha, Chief Director: Community Service at the UFS and Chairperson of the NatCEMF Steering Committee.

“There is a growing need to expand and develop our engagement with communities – to share our experiences and best practices and to learn from each other. There are universities that are doing excellent work in this field and, by having a formal structure, we can do a lot more towards advancing community engagement,” said Rev Jaftha.

The meeting identified matters such as the coordination of higher education institutions’ involvement in community engagement, the facilitation of research about community engagement, promoting service learning as transformation, the establishment of a community engagement resource centre and the organisation of a national community engagement conference as some of its aims. A national steering committee was also elected.

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