Abstract
In South Africa, the diversity of languages not only adds to its linguistic fabric, but also holds substantial significance for its academic and social-cultural dimensions. As one of the countries in the world with more officially recognized languages, South Africa has 12 languages, including English, Afrikaans (of European origin), nine Bantu (indigenous) languages, and sign language. Despite this expected multilingualism, English prevails in higher education spheres and other institutional forces of the country because, even though indigenous languages are highly valued as markers of identity, it can be argued that they are not often considered to be the optimal vehicle for teaching and learning (Parmegiani, 2014; Rudwick, 2008). Language policies aim at boosting and ensuring the use of one or more languages that coexist under the same jurisdiction. In South Africa’s case, both the current legislation and the Language Policy Framework for Public Higher Education Institutions (2020) vindicate the use of indigenous languages in public universities to guarantee the right to access universities of every citizen. With this context in mind, a case study of two South African universities will shed light on the impact that language policies have in the use of native tongues as well as the role that English plays in academia.
In this talk, I will present the outline and methodology of my PhD project, which is still in the initial stage. The study focuses on examining the impact that language policies have on the South African higher education context.
References
Language Policy Framework for Public Higher Education Institutions (2020). Department of Higher Education and Training (South Africa). http://www.gpwonline.co.za
Parmegiani, A. (2014). The (dis)ownership of English: language and identity construction among Zulu students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 17(6), 683-694, https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2014.953775
Rudwick, S. (2008). ‘Coconuts’ and ‘oreos’: English-speaking Zulu people in South African township. World Englishes, 27(1), pp. 101-116.
Biography
Carmen Sumillera Iglesias is a predoctoral research fellow at the University of Salamanca (Spain) and a member of the LINDES research group from the same institution. She is a recipient of a doctoral training contract from the Spanish Ministry of Universities. Considering South African speakers’ language attitudes towards English and native tongues as well as the initiatives to implement language policies in higher education institutions, her PhD project aims to analyse the impact that such policies have on South African universities.