“WE LIVE IN A MULTICULTURAL COUNTRY; THEREFORE, MULTILINGUAL EDUCATION IS NEEDED. THE CONSTITUTION PROTECTS AFRICAN LANGUAGES, AND PROMOTING THEIR USE IN INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING IS IMPERATIVE. KNOWING YOUR MOTHER TONGUE GIVES ONE A SENSE OF PRIDE AND MAKES LEARNING ADDITIONAL LANGUAGES EASIER.”
“We also want to build sound collegial relationships with Pan-African and international universities. We plan to have both inbound and outbound lectures through team teaching and the sharing of scholarly ideas. We plan to have at least two more Profs to ensure the delivery of sound content to our students.” Regarding prospective students, Zungu would advise them to choose their modules carefully to ensure they enter the job market on an equal footing with students from our cognate departments in the Faculty. “I would encourage them to enrol for postgraduate studies to become specialists in African languages, specifically non- mother-tongue speakers,” she says. The Department is looking towards the future supported by staff members, most of whom are published authors of academic books and creative writing, who have won numerous writing awards and are sought after by other universities and as adjudicators at annual literary competitions.
Students may become teachers of African languages in South Africa and abroad. Indeed, most of the Department’s students graduate to become teachers and lecturers, so courses about content and the pedagogy of African languages are offered. Staff members studying a new language may help bridge the gap of non-understanding with their colleagues and help redress the injustices caused by racism. Shared languages foster solid relationships and understanding of culture, thought patterns and values. Marginalising African languages may, therefore, have dire consequences for institutions of higher learning and South African industries, she said. “Through institutional language policies, African languages are taught to prospective economists, accountants, engineers, doctors, geoscientists and many more, so that when they join the workforce, they can communicate, understand and relate to every person they meet. Teaching and learning African languages will ensure that they are spoken at the core of our economy,” she expanded. Most institutions of higher learning offer African Languages to their students in all academic programmes through the implementation of language policies, says Zungu, adding she hopes UJ will soon develop a similar language policy. “Teaching African languages is a big step towards the decolonisation of education. We encourage knowledge construction in indigenous languages by putting African epistemologies at the core of our teaching. Also, the inclusion of African languages ensures that we eliminate the exclusion of African indigenous knowledge from the curriculum, as it has been the case since the dark days of colonisation and apartheid.” Future of the department According to Zungu, the Department is moving towards introducing human language technologies. It will be mounting lexicography and terminology development courses to introduce students to computational linguistics to prepare them better for the job market. She says the Department aims to have a complete turnaround regarding student throughput at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. “Some of our students have, at one point or another, put their studies on abeyance due to financial constraints. As a result, many could not complete their studies within the usual time frame. We plan to source external funding to alleviate this problem and allow our students to hit the job market soon after qualifying.
“THROUGH INSTITUTIONAL LANGUAGE POLICIES, AFRICAN LANGUAGES ARE TAUGHT TO PROSPECTIVE ECONOMISTS, ACCOUNTANTS, ENGINEERS, DOCTORS, GEOSCIENTISTS AND MANY MORE, SO THAT WHEN THEY JOIN THE WORKFORCE, THEY CAN COMMUNICATE, UNDERSTAND AND RELATE TO EVERY PERSON THEY MEET. TEACHING AND LEARNING AFRICAN LANGUAGES WILL ENSURE THAT THEY ARE SPOKEN AT THE CORE OF OUR ECONOMY,” SHE EXPANDED.
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