Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Previous Archive
05 May 2023 | Story EDZANI NEPHALELA | Photo Supplied

The University of the Free State (UFS), in collaboration with the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI), South African Centre for Digital Language Resources (SADiLaR), Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), and Universities South Africa (USAf), will be conducting its Language Resource Audit for the UFS on 2 June 2023. 

This audit process will assess the resources available and required for the implementation of a Language policy framework for higher education (2020) – such as the development of multilingual terminologies, translation services for teaching and learning materials, campus signage, as well as various multimedia collateral – including their quality and relevance to the needs of the students and faculty. The audit will include an assessment of existing resources and whether they are furthering implementation goals, and may also include the gathering of feedback from students and faculty to identify improvement areas.

Dr Nomalungelo Ngubane, Director of the UFS Academy for Multilingualism, said the process will help the UFS identify the essential languages resources that are available for the successful implementation of the 2020 Language Policy for Higher Education framework (LPHE). “The audit will identify how much has been done at the UFS and which institutions we can collaborate with, for example, in the development of Sesotho, so that we do not reinvent the wheel, but we close the gaps.” 

Once the audit is completed, the institution will develop a plan for resource allocation to address the identified gaps. This may involve acquiring new resources, upgrading existing ones, or reallocating existing resources better to meet the needs of students, staff, and faculties.

Due to the impact this audit will have on various stakeholders, all staff and students are encouraged to participate. To attend the audit, please RSVP here by 30 May 2023.

News Archive

Multilingualism and integration in the spotlight
2009-10-20

 
The University of the Free State (UFS) recently had a panel discussion on “Language and integration in higher education” as part of the inauguration programme of the new Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Jonathan Jansen. An international panel of experts discussed the importance of multilingualism in institutions of higher learning as a crucial factor for the achievement of integration. They said for integration to be accomplished, the management of universities had to display absolute commitment to the implementation of the policies of multilingualism. Pictured from the left, are: Prof. Hein Willemse (University of Pretoria), Prof. Vic Webb (University of Pretoria), Prof. Alexandre Duchêne (University of Teach Education and University of Fribourg, Switzerland), Dr Neville Alexander (University of Cape Town), Prof. Joel Samoff (Stanford University, USA), and Prof. Theodorus du Plessis (UFS).
Photo: Gerhard Louw

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept