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UFS language policy commits to multilingualism

10 August 2022 | Story Edzani Nephalela | Photo iStock

Translanguaging — Several presenters presented their themes during the translanguaging virtual session. The seminar sought to improve participants' awareness of using more than one language in lecture rooms across the institution, particularly for tutoring and academics.

Language continues to be a barrier to access and success for many students at South African higher education institutions. Despite their status as official languages, indigenous languages have in the past and at present, structurally not been afforded the official space to function as academic and scientific languages.

Language policy for higher education seeks to address the challenge of the underdevelopment and underutilisation of official African languages at higher education institutions whilst simultaneously sustaining the standard and utilisation of languages that are already developed.

The University of the Free State (UFS) Centre for Teaching and Learning hosted a multilingualism virtual seminar on 20 July 2022 that aimed to broaden an understanding of utilising more than one language within lecture rooms across the university, specifically for tutoring and academics. The following speakers presented various topics at the seminar:

• Professor Leketi Makalela, Wits University ( Translanguaging, decoloniality and epistemic (in)justice in education)

• Letsela Motaung, UFS ( Translanguaging as a pedagogical practice to resuscitate indigenous languages at a South African institution)

• Dr Tolani Hlongwa, University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) ( Development of Bilingual Tutoring Training Programme: The Importance of Understanding Translanguaging)

• Monnapula Molefe, UFS ( Translanguaging pedagogies in higher education: moving from informal to formal settings)

• Dr Lehlohonolo Motake, Central University of Technology (CUT) ( Transforming learning with translanguaging in multilingual settings)

Prof Makalela stated that the foundation of sustainable growth is excellent education, but the issue is, are we any closer to what one considers quality education? “You can’t, in my opinion. How can we know if you don’t examine epistemic difficulties at this level?” he further enlightened.

Linguists believe that the practice of “translanguaging” can aid in learning, and the word has recently gained popularity in literature on bilingual and multilingual education with various universities incorporating these changes in their policies and to ensure that it’s all-inclusive as indicated by Dr Tolani Hlongwa. She further explained that languages are tools to navigate better understanding, whilst English should be used as a tool to communicate, not to measure intelligence.

What is the UFS’ role in addressing this?

The university’s language policy expresses its commitment to multilingualism, with particular emphasis on Sesotho, Afrikaans, and isiZulu. This policy ensures that language is not a barrier to equity of access, opportunity, and success in academic programmes or to access to the UFS administration.

The UFS also developed an Academy for Multilingualism. This academy hosts the Multilingual Mokete, a popular annual tradition celebrating different cultural expressions in visual art, poetry, storytelling, drama, music, and songs by different language groups and in the different languages that are dominant at the UFS (i.e. English, Afrikaans, Sesotho, isiZulu, and Sign Language.

In partnership with the University of Cape Town (UCT) and UKZN, the UFS will also conduct a Multilingualism Education Project colloquium on the new language policy framework for South African public higher education institutions on 28-29 September 2022. This language policy used in the new policy framework for public higher education institutions as well as its impacts will be examined in this virtual seminar. This is also an opportunity for diverse stakeholders to contribute suggestions on how to improve the existing status of language policy.

News Archive

UFS academic discusses Dutch, Afrikaans and African languages

2006-05-22

During the colloquium presented in Belgium by the Province Antwerp were from the left Prof Pol Cuvelier (University of Antwerp), Prof Theo du Plessis (Director: Unit for Language Management at the UFS), Mr Ludo Helsen (Permanent Deputy: Province of Antwerp) and Mr Jean-Pierre Rondas (Flemish radio journalist).

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UFS academic discusses Dutch, Afrikaans and African languages at international conference

Prof Theo du Plessis, Director of the Unit for Language Management at the University of the Free State (UFS), was the main speaker at a colloquium titled “Routes: Where to now? - Een traject van het Nederlands naar het Afrikaans en de Afrikatalen”, which was recently presented by the Province Antwerp in Belgium.

The aim of the colloquium was to discuss the future cooperation in the field of language between the Province Antwerp and South Africa.

The Province Antwerp is already involved with projects in South Africa. One of these projects is the Multilingual Information Development Programme (MIDP), a partnership project between the UFS and the Free State Province that is mainly funded by the Province Antwerp.

The project has been running since 1999 and was recently in the news with the presentation of a symposium on multilingualism and exclusion on the Main Campus of the UFS. It is hoped that the Routes colloquium will indicate new stages on which can be added to the already successful cooperation in the area of language.

Prof Du Plessis’s presentation titled “Nederlands, Afrikaans en die Afrikatale – kan samewerking slaag? Die geval MIDP in die Vrystaat”, investigated the successes that have been made with the MIDP. He discussed two possible approaches to cooperation in the areas of language, that of a sentimentalistic approach against an instrumentalistic approach.

Cooperation in the first approach makes language the aim. In the second approach language is used as a means to a greater aim. According to Prof du Plessis the first approach is driven by a romantisised idea about the relation between the Flemish and Afrikaans speaking people, which may unfortunately polarise the position of Afrikaans in South Africa even further.

He argues that, given the time that we are in, the second approach will deliver more constructive results as language can among others be used for to further democracy in South Africa. This can happen by cooperation in the institutionalising of multilingualism in our society. The more languages are used in education, law and government administration, the more we can be assured a successful democracy.

The Routes colloquium was facilitated by the well-known Flemish radio journalist, Jean-Pierre Rondas. About twenty South African and Flemish language specialists took part in the colloquium. Dr Fritz Kok, outgoing chief executive officer of the ATKV took part in the opening ceremony and Dr Neville Alexander from the University of Cape Town and well-known activist for multilingualism in South Africa was also one of the main speakers.

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