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03 January 2023 | Story Dr Cindé Greyling | Photo Anja Aucamp
Dr Nomalungelo Ngubane
Dr Nomalungelo Ngubane, the Director: Academy for Multilingualism, is working through various initiatives to ensure that the UFS becomes and remains the South African leader in multilingualism.

The Academy for Multilingualism was established at the beginning of 2021, flowing from the UFS Language Policy (2016) that is currently under review, and which expresses the university’s commitment to multilingualism, with a particular emphasis on Sesotho, Afrikaans, and isiZulu, while English remains the primary medium of instruction for undergraduate and postgraduate studies.

The Student Language Preference Survey continues to indicate that many students have difficulty understanding English lectures due to language differences. Multilingual models from places like South America, India and South Africa were considered in order to structure the approach at the UFS.

Promoting indigenous languages

To mitigate the English barrier, the academy is developing multilingual academic glossaries. The multilingual glossaries are also intended to drive the promotion of indigenous languages (Sesotho/Afrikaans/IsiZulu) as academic languages, and to create multilingual learning spaces that embrace diverse 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 2022, the academy, in collaboration with the Library and Information Services, launched an African Languages Press with the aim of promoting and advancing publications of literature and research books using South African indigenous languages. 

The Academy for Multilingualism also promotes multilingualism through the Initiative for Creative African Narratives (iCAN), a programme that encourages students to write short stories in their indigenous home languages. By incorporating student narratives into learning material, students learn about one another, from one another.

The iCAN multilingual booklets are also used to encourage extensive reading among undergraduates and among learners in the surrounding community schools.

Use of translanguaging practices
 
The academy is also working with the Centre for Teaching and Learning’s (CTL) A_STEP programme to pilot the use of translanguaging practices in tutor sessions. UFS staff will also be trained on teaching and translanguaging practices. Voice-over translations of English lessons into Afrikaans and Sesotho in the Faculty of Theology and Religion paved the way for the academy to proceed with this practice in other subjects. The Translanguaging Seminar 2022, hosted by the academy and the CTL, was used as a platform for sharing translanguaging knowledge and practices by academics from the UFS and other institutions.

The Kovsies Multilingual Mokete has become a popular annual tradition celebrating different cultural expressions – in visual art, poetry, storytelling, drama, music, and song – by different language groups and in the different languages that are dominant at the UFS (i.e. English, Afrikaans, Sesotho, isiZulu, and Sign Language). This year’s event was held on the South Campus in October.

With its various initiatives, the Academy for Multilingualism will ensure that the UFS becomes and remains the South African leader in multilingualism.

News Archive

Reclassification of giraffe status pivotal in public action, says UFS researcher
2016-12-08

Description: Reclassification of giraffe status  Tags: Reclassification of giraffe status  

Dr Francois Deacon, specialised researcher
in the Department of Animal, Wildlife, and
Grassland Sciences at the University of the Free State.
Photo: Supplied

Great news for those who care about the conservation of giraffes is today’s (8 December 2016) announcement by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) that giraffes are now classified as ‘Vulnerable’. The species, formerly classified as ‘Least Concern’ on the IUCN Red List — an index on the likelihood of extinction of animals worldwide — is threatened with extinction.

“Until recently, few people were aware of the situation facing giraffes. It is time to show the world giraffe numbers are in danger. This reclassification by the IUCN is pivotal to get the public to stand up and take action for giraffes,” said Dr Francois Deacon, specialised researcher in the Department of Animal, Wildlife, and Grassland Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS).

Research is essential to develop effective conservation plans for a species

Key to this announcement was the status report submitted by Dr Deacon. He was the lead author responsible for the submission of the Southern African Giraffe subspecies (Giraffa camelopardalis giraffa) status report that was part of the larger species report submitted for review by the (IUCN). The UFS has been doing many research projects in the past couple of years on giraffe-related issues and topics to address this problem.

The UFS is one of only a few universities in Africa that is committed to studying giraffes to ensure the conservation of this species for generations to come.

“The reclassification of giraffes to ‘Vulnerable’
status, by the IUCN, is pivotal to get the public
to stand up and take action for giraffes.”

A 40% decline in the giraffe population over the past two decades is proof that the longnecks are officially in trouble. According to Dr Deacon, this rate of decline is faster than that of the elephant or rhino. The main reasons for the devastating decline are habitat loss, civil unrest and illegal hunting.

Dr Deacon, pioneer in the use of GPS technology to study giraffes and their natural habitat, said “This vulnerability clearly stipulates we are quickly losing grip on our last few natural populations”. He and a team of researchers at the UFS in South Africa are leading various research and conservation projects to help save the last remaining giraffes in Africa.

Giraffes moved from ‘least concern’ to ‘vulnerable’ on the Red List

The IUCN, a health check for our planet, is the highest level at which decision-makers can prove how many species (fauna or flora) are surviving or not. The update from ‘Least Concern’ to ‘Vulnerable’ on the Red List was released at the 13th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Cancun, Mexico.

A wildlife documentary, Last of the Longnecks clearly shows how the number of giraffes has plummeted in the past two decades from 154 000 to fewer than 98 000 today — with numbers of some giraffes, such as Kenya’s reticulated giraffe, declining by as much as 80%.  

Any individual or institution that wants to make a contribution relating to giraffe research can contact Dr Deacon at the UFS on deaconf@ufs.ac.za.

 

In other media:

Announcement on BBC news: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-38240760
Time: http://time.com/3622344/giraffe-extinction/
The Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/12/08/giraffes-now-facing-extinction-warn-conservationists/
ABC News: http://abcnews.go.com/International/giraffes-danger-extinction-numbers-dropped/story?id=27334959
theguardian: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/08/giraffe-red-list-vulnerable-species-extinction
Aol: http://www.aol.co.uk/news/2016/12/07/giraffes-in-danger-of-extinction-as-population-plunges-by-up-to/  

 

Former articles:

18 November 2016: Studies to reveal correlation between terrain, energy use, and giraffe locomotion
23 August 2016:
Research on locomotion of giraffes valuable for conservation of this species
9 March 2016:
Giraffe research broadcast on National Geographic channel
18 September 2015:
Researchers reach out across continents in giraffe research
29 May 2015:
Researchers international leaders in satellite tracking in the wildlife environment

 



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