Tongue-tied: Language-based exclusion at a South African university
The post-apartheid government in South Africa adopted a multilingual education policy to provide education in learners' home languages as a foundation for learning while promoting proficiency in at least two additional official languages. This marked a paradigm shift from the apartheid regime,...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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ERRCD Forum
2024-11-01
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| Series: | Interdisciplinary Journal of Sociality Studies |
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| Online Access: | https://pubs.ufs.ac.za/index.php/ijss/article/view/1459 |
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| author | Sive Makeleni |
| author_facet | Sive Makeleni |
| author_sort | Sive Makeleni |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The post-apartheid government in South Africa adopted a multilingual education policy to provide education in learners' home languages as a foundation for learning while promoting proficiency in at least two additional official languages. This marked a paradigm shift from the apartheid regime, which was characterised by racial segregation and discrimination, prioritising Afrikaans and English at the expense of indigenous African languages. Although widely celebrated, achieving the multilingual promise ushered in by the democratic dispensation remains a challenge for post-apartheid South African higher education. This study explored students' experiences of language-based discrimination at a selected South African university. Using a qualitative approach, data were collected from 20 purposively sampled final-year students through an open-ended questionnaire that was distributed electronically to students in the Education faculty and analysed thematically. The findings revealed that minority language speakers grappled with feelings of invisibility, alienation, frustration, and exclusion in their academic and social lives, making it difficult for them to engage fully in university life. Various coping mechanisms were also reported, demonstrating the agency of these minority groups; however, these were found to be insufficient. The study thus recommended prioritising inclusive language policies and training that foster lingua-cultural empathy among students and staff, among other things. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-3ccf27b74f48482ca94754a377337ea0 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2789-5661 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | ERRCD Forum |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Interdisciplinary Journal of Sociality Studies |
| spelling | doaj-art-3ccf27b74f48482ca94754a377337ea02025-01-08T19:11:54ZengERRCD ForumInterdisciplinary Journal of Sociality Studies2789-56612024-11-01411210.38140/ijss-2024.vol4.211423Tongue-tied: Language-based exclusion at a South African universitySive Makeleni0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8484-300XUniversity of Fort Hare, South AfricaThe post-apartheid government in South Africa adopted a multilingual education policy to provide education in learners' home languages as a foundation for learning while promoting proficiency in at least two additional official languages. This marked a paradigm shift from the apartheid regime, which was characterised by racial segregation and discrimination, prioritising Afrikaans and English at the expense of indigenous African languages. Although widely celebrated, achieving the multilingual promise ushered in by the democratic dispensation remains a challenge for post-apartheid South African higher education. This study explored students' experiences of language-based discrimination at a selected South African university. Using a qualitative approach, data were collected from 20 purposively sampled final-year students through an open-ended questionnaire that was distributed electronically to students in the Education faculty and analysed thematically. The findings revealed that minority language speakers grappled with feelings of invisibility, alienation, frustration, and exclusion in their academic and social lives, making it difficult for them to engage fully in university life. Various coping mechanisms were also reported, demonstrating the agency of these minority groups; however, these were found to be insufficient. The study thus recommended prioritising inclusive language policies and training that foster lingua-cultural empathy among students and staff, among other things.https://pubs.ufs.ac.za/index.php/ijss/article/view/1459exclusionhigher education indigeneitylanguagemultilingualism |
| spellingShingle | Sive Makeleni Tongue-tied: Language-based exclusion at a South African university Interdisciplinary Journal of Sociality Studies exclusion higher education indigeneity language multilingualism |
| title | Tongue-tied: Language-based exclusion at a South African university |
| title_full | Tongue-tied: Language-based exclusion at a South African university |
| title_fullStr | Tongue-tied: Language-based exclusion at a South African university |
| title_full_unstemmed | Tongue-tied: Language-based exclusion at a South African university |
| title_short | Tongue-tied: Language-based exclusion at a South African university |
| title_sort | tongue tied language based exclusion at a south african university |
| topic | exclusion higher education indigeneity language multilingualism |
| url | https://pubs.ufs.ac.za/index.php/ijss/article/view/1459 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT sivemakeleni tonguetiedlanguagebasedexclusionatasouthafricanuniversity |