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Multilingualism stakeholder engagement session
Prof Vasu Reddy, UFS Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Internationalisation; guest speaker Prof Leketi Makalela; and Dr Nomalungelo Ngubane, Director of the UFS Academy for Multilingualism.

Multilingualism is not just a concept at the University of the Free State (UFS) – it is a growing practice, a challenge, and an opportunity all at once. This was made clear during a stakeholder engagement session on 7 May 2025, hosted by the Academy for Multilingualism at the UFS’s Bloemfontein Campus, where staff, academics, and strategic partners gathered to reflect on the university’s language journey.

In his reflections, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Internationalisation, Prof Vasu Reddy, emphasised that, “Scholarly conversations such as these are not just simply intellectually important, but socially and politically, and it is critical to learn from each other, exchange ideas, and make change.” He described the Academy as a “novel intervention” and noted how engagements like this help “break silos that languages sometimes create” – a crucial step towards realising the promise of multilingualism and translanguaging in academic spaces.

 

Progress, challenges, and collective ownership

In her presentation, Dr Nomalungelo Ngubane, Director of the Academy for Multilingualism, provided an overview of the institutional language policy and its implementation status, now in its third year of a five-year plan. She highlighted key strides: the translation of 116 PhD abstracts into Sesotho, Afrikaans, and isiXhosa; the development of South African Sign Language terminology in psychology; and the training of 16 tutors in translanguaging, among others.

Dr Ngubane stressed the importance of shared ownership of the policy’s rollout. “It’s very important that the language policy is understood by all stakeholders. It’s a collective journey, and it becomes even more powerful when people own it and take it forward into their departments, faculties, and student spaces,” she said. While she acknowledged that meaningful development of African languages as academic mediums is costly and resource-intensive, she noted that small, deliberate steps are being taken.

 

Ubuntu translanguaging: rethinking the classroom

The keynote address was delivered by Prof Leketi Makalela, full professor and founding Director of the Hub for Multilingual Education and Literacies at the University of the Witwatersrand. A globally recognised scholar and the holder of the SARChI Chair in Advancing African Languages for Social Inclusion and Access, Prof Makalela added a powerful perspective rooted in research and teaching practice.

He began his address with a reflection: “I believe I landed on this little rock called Earth to ensure that human beings have deep access to the world in which they were born, and you can only be part of this greater world and make full sense of it through language.”

Later, he challenged the monolingual mindsets that dominate higher education. “People still want to treat languages as different entities, and that’s where the issue is. That’s where the education system is not aligning with the realities of multilinguality.” 

Prof Makalela said multilingual students face dual disadvantages: compromised epistemic access [access to knowledge systems] due to monolingual bias, and diminished identity affirmation. His response? Ubuntu translanguaging – a model that embraces cohabitation of languages and student-led meaning-making.

“It’s a misconception that the lecturer must translanguage,” he said. “It is the student who should translanguage. The lecturer should only facilitate and respect that internal process.”

He outlined a clear, three-step translanguaging teaching method:

• Pre-lesson: Activate prior learning and scaffold vocabulary and concepts.
• During lesson: Create space for multilingual thinking – allow students to write, reflect, and engage in their own languages.

• Post-lesson: Validate understanding, and open the classroom to diverse linguistic expressions.

Prof Makalela stressed that the real innovation lies in normalising these practices institution-wide. “Existing multilingual tutorials are useful, but real transformation happens when every lecturer opens up their lessons to multilingual engagement.”

News Archive

UFS to send a second group of first-year students overseas
2011-03-23

Some of the students who were chosen in 2010

Following the resounding success of the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Student Leadership Development Programme in 2010, the UFS will send a second group of students to the USA in 2011 and also extend the programme by sending students to various universities in Europe and Asia.

This year a total of 150 first-year students will be selected compared to the 71 students that were selected last year. Last year’s group of students spent two weeks, between September and October 2010, at various universities across the United States.
                                         
The programme intends to expose the students to diverse cultures and enable them to learn leadership skills. The goal of the programme is to build a new class of UFS students who become leaders during their years of study and commit to building a non-racial community during and beyond their years at university.
 
Mr Rudi Buys, the UFS Dean of Student Affairs, says: “With the programme we want to develop participants’ thinking and capacity to lead in the contexts of diversity and change and we hope to direct them to programmes leading to change in student life in general upon their return.”
 
The three core purposes of allowing students an opportunity to study abroad are:
  • to introduce South African students to positive models of racial integration and integrated residential life;
  • to share and exchange ideas around issues of race, racism, racial integration and racial reconciliation, with undergraduate students abroad; and
  • to build long-term networking and collaboration between academics and researchers interested in scholarly work on themes of race, reconciliation and social justice.
 
Last year students were selected based on their ability to reflect critically on knowledge of societal issues and successful candidates were put through a preparatory development programme. They were divided into groups and given assignments to complete during the programme. A similar selection process will be undertaken this year.
 
Upon their return, last year’s group of students demonstrated extremely positive outcomes, during an assessment of the project’s goals and achievements. More than 80% of participants agreed that the course met all expectations; the content was meaningful and challenged their existing views. More than 90% felt that the course meaningfully addressed diversity. Among the successes achieved by the programme is the influence of participants in the student community.
 
Many serve as peer mentors for the Gateway First-Year Welcoming and Orientation Programme, while others serve as mentors in well-being and academic peer advisory programmes. Many have also been elected as members of executive committees of student associations and management committees in residences, while some have availed themselves to run for student governance structures throughout 2011 and 2012.
 
The programme proved to be so successful that it was decided to expand the number of students selected for the programme to 150 this year and first-year students are invited to apply. It is envisaged that 90 students will visit American universities, while 60 will visit institutions in Europe and Asia.
 
Last year the students were hosted by, amongst others, Cornell University, the University of New York, Cleveland State University and the University of Massachusetts.
Yale University, Amherst College and other American universities will join these host universities in 2011, in addition to the European and Asian institutions.
 
Those first-year students who wish to apply can find all the information at www.ufs.ac.za 
 

Media Release
23 March 2011
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: news@ufs.ac.za
 

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