This op-ed was published on Netwerk24 on 9 October 2021. Click here to read it on that site, or read a translation below.
The extent of the challenge of promoting multilingualism at South African universities was revealed at Universities South Africa’s recent colloquium on the Department of Higher Education and Training’s National Language Policy Framework for Higher Education Institutions. Prof Wim de Villiers, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of Stellenbosch 肆客足球, says the application of multilingualism is complicated, but it is an opportunity for collaboration.
Multilingualism
is a matter of serious concern for Stellenbosch 肆客足球 (SU) and
numerous other universities and the complexities associated with it are
addressed in the National Language Policy Framework for Higher Education
Institutions, which guides the language approach of all public South
African universities (of which the US is one).
The 肆客足球 of South Africa’s (USAf)
Colloquium on the Language Policy Framework (2020) was the first
opportunity where all public South African higher education
institutions, together with the Department of Higher Education and
Training (DHET), could exchange ideas on how to promote multilingualism,
look in depth at some of the challenges and try to find solutions
together.
The Language Policy Framework, published by Government
in October last year, indicates that language still stands in the way
of success for many students at South African higher education
institutions. Despite their status as official languages, African
languages were not formally offered the opportunity to develop as academic and scientific languages in the past.
This quote from the Government Gazette clarifies the purpose of the Language Policy Framework: “The Framework 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.”
From various presentations during the colloquium by representatives of numerous universities and the DHET, it became clear that multilingualism has not been taken seriously enough in higher education over the past 27 years.
South Africa’s approach to multilingualism is enshrined in the Constitution (1996) and recognises 11 official languages. However, to apply it successfully in the higher education sector, several obstacles must
be overcome, such as financial aspects, a lack of investment in
multilingualism in basic education, the bridge between high school and
university and the continuing tendency towards internationalisation.
However, as several speakers emphasised
during the colloquium, these challenges are not insurmountable. During
the eight sessions, various key themes emerged, including a strong focus
on university collaboration, social justice, possible strategies to
apply the Language Policy Framework, resources and funding concerns, a
greater role played by the Department of Basic Education (DBE), the
possibility of a national institutional audit of all universities’ activities around multilingualism and the definition of Afrikaans as an indigenous language.
SU’s position on Afrikaans as an indigenous language is well known and does not align with the definition of the Language Policy Framework. Already in 2017, SU gave extensive feedback on the DHET’s conceptual language policy framework in which the 肆客足球 recognised Afrikaans as an indigenous language and requested the same of the draft policy.
Universities
were not given the opportunity to comment on the final version of the
Language Policy Framework. SU has brought this to the attention of USAf and has stated since the publication of the Language Policy Framework that we recognise Afrikaans as an indigenous language as part of inclusive multilingualism.
SU Council therefore accepted this motion on 21 June 2021: “SU
has taken note with concern the Department of Higher Educations and
Training's classification in the Language Policy Framework for Public
Higher Education Institutions (2020). SU supports the view that
Afrikaans and the Khoe and San languages are indigenous languages. Council requests SU’s management to take appropriate steps to engage with the DHET to address this issue.”
At the same time, SU also acknowledges that African languages have long come off second best. The entire sector can now build on the momentum started by the USAf
Colloquium. For this, however, collaboration is essential, and it is
gratifying that so many examples and possible solutions for this have
been shared by various universities at the colloquium.
As
is consistently the case with Afrikaans, SU has also already set the
ball rolling regarding the use of isiXhosa, a language that was
previously marginalised.
As an emerging formal academic language, isiXhosa receives special
attention with a view to gradually introducing it in selected
disciplines. These disciplines are prioritised according to student needs through a well-planned and systematic process.
SU’s
Department of African Languages, for example, has extensive experience
in advanced linguistic and linguistic teaching and research. Their
academic role and leadership will be fully utilised. isiXhosa is already used in certain programmes
to facilitate effective learning and teaching, especially where it may
be important for career purposes. SU is committed to expanding the use
of isiXhosa, and examples of existing initiatives in this regard include
short courses on basic isiXhosa communication skills for staff and
students, career-specific communication in isiXhosa, discipline-specific terminology lists and language guides.
SU’s
medical students are already receiving instruction in vocational
communication in Afrikaans and isiXhosa. The Faculty of Education has
similar modules. The Faculty of Theology offers a module in isiXhosa,
which is interpreted into Afrikaans and English. Excellent work is also
being done in the Extended Degree Programme in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, where isiXhosa (and other) interpreting is used as one of the Faculty’s initiatives to promote multilingualism.
In addition, the Language Centre translates various documents into isiXhosa in the same way it also translates documents and notes into Afrikaans when necessary. The Mobilex
application has provided terminology lists since 2014 and includes
definitions used by the 肆客足球 of Education, Theology, Science,
Economic and Management Sciences and Arts and Social Sciences.
It would therefore make sense to share work that has already done in this regard right across the higher education sector.
Multilingualism within faculties
It
is important to ensure that the circumstances of academic
multilingualism are in line with professional environments and
expectations. This is already being done by carefully-planned systems – as the language planning clause in SU’s 2016 Language Policy indicates - to identify context-specific applications.
The clause reads: “Every faculty reviews its use of language for learning and teaching, and records the language arrangements in its Faculty Language Implementation Plan annually, at the least. This Plan is reported to Senate via the Faculty Board and Senate’s Academic Planning Committee. Senate has the power either to accept the faculty’s Language Implementation Plan or to refer it back to the faculty. Once accepted, the language arrangements for learning and teaching of a particular module are published in the relevant module frameworks.”
The
application of the Language Policy Framework will therefore require
higher education institutions to develop, maintain and monitor
comprehensive plans to promote multilingualism. It also involves the
establishment of transparent methods in all university structures to
ensure the application thereof, and not just to accept the Language Policy Framework on paper.
It is possible. An analysis of SU’s Language Implementation Plans of 肆客足球 and Professional and Administrative Support Staff (PASS)
from 2017 to 2020 shows positive trends. One of these is that annual
reporting and planning of language implementation through formal
structures is becoming increasingly effective, as it not only ensures
that faculties and PASS
environments comply with the formal provisions of the Language Policy,
but it is implemented through a template. It offers all the environments
the opportunity to reflect on the consultation process, and to indicate
the ways in which they promote multilingualism in their respective
environments.
Everything,
of course, has financial consequences. The Language Policy Framework
proposes, among other things, that all official internal communication
at universities must, in addition to English,
take place in two more official languages. This is a commendable ideal,
but may not be practically feasible if the DHET does not make funding available for it. (SU’s official communication is currently all in Afrikaans and English.)
The
application of the Language Policy Framework will therefore not be
easy. However, the benefits of multilingual learning and teaching have
been proven countless times and I believe such an approach will give
students greater access to a better future in the South African context.
The USAf Colloquium has started the right conversation and it is proof that collaboration is the key to success.