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Multilingualism going from strength to strength

23 December 2024 | Story Supplied | Photo Supplied

Dr Nomalungelo Ngubane, Director: UFS Academy for Multilingualism.

A multilingual environment at institutions of higher learning not only promotes inclusivity, but also ensures more effective teaching and learning.

The University of the Free State (UFS) is at the forefront of developing multilingual initiatives – underscored by solid research – to the benefit of the entire South African student body.

This year yielded a number of significant milestones.

UFS Academy for Multilingualism

The UFS Academy for Multilingualism was established four years ago, flowing from the UFS Language Policy that expresses the university’s commitment to multilingualism, with particular emphasis on Sesotho, Afrikaans, and isiZulu. The academy aims to promote these languages on institutional and social levels through various academic and community-based projects and initiatives.

Among its key aims are: Advancing Sesotho and isiZulu as academic languages; incorporating multilingualism into learning and teaching; promoting multilingualism as a social asset; and improving English as a language of instruction. In all these areas, groundbreaking work was done in 2024.

Taking the lead with innovative translanguaging practices

One of the UFS Academy for Multilingualism’s most promising focus areas is the facilitation of trans-language tutorial sessions in various faculties. Translanguaging is a pedagogical practice where students receive input in one language and produce output through the medium of another language, in order to maximise learning and promote full understanding of the subject matter. It also serves the important function of developing what speakers perceive to be their ‘weaker’ language. In a university context, this would entail that lectures are presented in English, while students get a chance to discuss the subject matter and ask or answer questions in tutorial groups using another language – one in which they feel more or equally comfortable. This results in the dynamic and fluid use of multiple languages in teaching, learning, and communication within lecture rooms.

The value of these practices lies not only in expanding cultural horizons and students’ exposure to different languages – they, in fact, also promote better understanding and knowledge retention. In a monolingual teaching situation, for instance, it is very possible for students to answer questions or complete assignments without full understanding, because processing for meaning may not have actually occurred. Sections from textbooks can merely be copied or adapted, without reflecting solid comprehension. This is, however, less prevalent with translanguaging, because reading a topic in one language and then discussing it in another requires the subject matter to first be processed and digested before it is reproduced.

Multilingualism highlights in 2024

UFS Language Policy in all UFS languages

The UFS Language Policy has been made available in Sesotho, Afrikaans, isiZulu, and English since the beginning of 2024 in order to make this important information available to staff and students in the languages they best understand and/or prefer.

International Mother Tongue Day celebrations

In February, the UFS Academy for Multilingualism hosted International Mother Tongue Day celebrations, which included a Sesotho Short Story writing competition, acknowledging all the languages (local and international) represented by its diverse student and staff bodies.

Hosting Translanguaging in the Global South Symposium 2024

Great strides have been made towards sharing knowledge and expertise with local and international universities in the field of translanguaging pedagogies and practices in higher education, as the Qwaqwa Campus in the Eastern Free State hosted the Translanguaging in the Global South Symposium in March, attracting expert local and international keynote speakers.

Development and intellectualisation of Sesotho terminology

An innovative project bringing together subject specialists, Sesotho linguists, terminologists, and translators, did groundbreaking work in 2024 to develop Sesotho terminology in the fields of accounting, mathematics, law, psychology, agriculture, research, and social work.

Development of South African Sign Language (SASL) as an academic language

The UFS has started with a process of standardising and verifying SASL terminology for interpreters in various disciplines, to avoid confusion and ensure uniformity and quality learning and teaching for Deaf students.

Publication and launching of academic books written in African languages

In order to encourage research outputs in African languages, the university has embarked on a process to publish academic books that showcase the capacity of African languages to express empirical and conceptual research findings in various African languages, such as Sesotho, isiZulu, Sepedi, and Tshivenda.

Translation of PhD abstracts

During 2024, 48 PhD abstracts from the seven faculties were translated by the UFS Academy for Multilingualism and made available in Sesotho, isiZulu, and Afrikaans, in order to enhance exposure and understanding for the wider UFS community.

Training of academic staff on multilingual pedagogies

In mid-2024, academic training workshops were launched to engage academic staff in the current issues and debates on multilingualism in higher education and to empower them with theoretical knowledge and practical strategies of teaching in multilingual classrooms.

External funding for multilingualism projects

Funding from the Department of Higher Education and other institutions was applied for and secured in 2024 to boost multilingualism practices at the university, with a specific focus on the development of Sesotho and South African Sign Language as academic languages.

UFS Multilingual Mokete

This celebration of language and culture has become a popular annual event on the UFS calendar and was hosted this year on the Qwaqwa Campus, featuring various local artists.

Multilingual collaborations for societal impact

In 2024, the UFS initiated and sustained a number of successful partnerships with other institutions of higher learning, such as the University of KwaZulu-Natal, the Walter Sisulu University, and the University of Cape Town, sharing knowledge and expertise in the development of Sesotho, isiZulu, and isiXhosa.

Research on multilingualism

Various research publications on the impact of multilingualism at the UFS have been produced for DHET-accredited journals.

The UFS supports the United Nations General Assembly’s proclamation of the decade from 2022 to 2032 as the International Decade of Indigenous Languages and will continue to show its commitment towards multilingualism with bold and innovative strategies.

News Archive

MBA Programme - Question And Answer Sheet - 27 May 2004

2004-05-27

1. WHAT MUST THE UNIVERSITY OF THE FREE STATE (UFS) DO TO GET FULL ACCREDITATION FOR THE MBA PROGRAMMES?

According to the Council on Higher Education’s (CHE) evaluation, the three MBA programmes of the UFS clearly and significantly contribute to students’ knowledge and skills, are relevant for the workplace, are appropriately resourced and have an appropriate internal and external programme environment. These programmes are the MBA General, the MBA in Health Care Management and the MBA in Entrepreneurship.

What the Council on Higher Education did find, was a few technical and administrative issues that need to be addressed.

This is why the three MBA programmes of the UFS received conditional accreditation – which in itself is a major achievement for the UFS’s School of Management, which was only four years old at the time of the evaluation.

The following breakdown gives one a sense of the mostly administrative nature of the conditions that have to be met before full accreditation is granted by the CHE:

a. A formal forum of stakeholders: The UFS is required to establish a more structured, inclusive process of review of its MBA programmes. This is an administrative formality already in process.

b. A work allocation model: According to the CHE this is required to regulate the workload of the teaching staff, particularly as student numbers grow, rather than via standard management processes as currently done.

c. Contractual agreements with part-time staff: The UFS is required to enter into formal agreements with part-time and contractual staff as all agreements are currently done on an informal and claim-basis. This is an administrative formality already in process.

d. A formal curriculum committee: According to the CHE, the School of Management had realised the need for a structure – other than the current Faculty Board - where all MBA lecturers can deliberate on the MBA programmes, and serve as a channel for faculty input, consultation and decision-making.

e. A system of external moderators: This need was already identified by the UFS and the system is to be implemented as early as July 2004.

f. A compulsory research component: The UFS is required to introduce a research component which will include the development of research skills for the business environment. The UFS management identified this need and has approved such a component - it is to take effect from January 2005. This is an insufficient element lacking in virtually all MBA programmes in South Africa.

g. Support programmes for learners having problems with numeracy: The UFS identified this as a need for academic support among some learners and has already developed such a programme which will be implemented from January 2005.

The majority of these conditions have been satisfied already and few remaining steps will take effect soon. It is for this reason that the UFS is confident that its three MBA programmes will soon receive full accreditation.

2. WHAT ACCREDITATION DOES THE UFS HAVE FOR ITS MBA PROGRAMME?

The UFS’s School of Management received conditional accreditation for its three MBA programmes.

Two levels of accreditation are awarded to tertiary institutions for their MBA programmes, namely full accreditation and conditional accreditation. When a programme does not comply with the minimum requirements regarding a small number of criteria, conditional accreditation is given. This can be rectified during the short or medium term.

3. IS THERE ANYTHING WRONG WITH THE ACADEMIC CORE OF THE UFS’s MBA PROGRAMMES?

No. The UFS is proud of its three MBA programmes’ reputation in the market and the positive feedback it receives from graduandi and their employers.

The MBA programmes of the UFS meet most of the minimum requirements of the evaluation process.

In particular, the key element of ‘teaching and learning’, which relates to the curriculum and content of the MBA programmes, is beyond question. In other words, the core of what is being taught in our MBA programmes is sound.

4. IS THE UFS’s MBA A WORTHWHILE QUALIFICATION?

Yes. Earlier this year, the School of Management – young as it is - was rated by employers as the best smaller business school in South Africa. This was based on a survey conducted by the Professional Management Review and reported in the Sunday Times Business Times, of 25 January 2004.

The UFS is committed to maintaining these high standards of quality, not only through compliance with the requirements of the CHE, but also through implementing its own quality assurance measures.

Another way in which we benchmark the quality of our MBA programmes is through the partnerships we have formed with institutions such as the DePaul University in Chicago and Kansas State University, both in the US, as well as the Robert Schuman University in France.

For this reason the UFS appreciates and supports the work of the CHE and welcomes its specific findings regarding the three MBA programmes.

It is understandable that the MBA review has caused some nervousness – not least among current MBA students throughout the country.

However, one principle that the UFS management is committed to is this: preparing all our students for a world of challenge and change. Without any doubt the MBA programme of the UFS is a solid preparation.

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