A socio-constructivist analysis of the bilingual language policy in South African higher education: perspectives from the university of Kwazulu-natal
SOURCE: Cogent Education
OUTPUT TYPE: Journal Article
PUBLICATION YEAR: 2021
TITLE AUTHOR(S): Z.M.Mthombeni, O.Ogunnubi
KEYWORDS: BILINGUALISM, HIGHER EDUCATION, LANGUAGE POLICY, UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL
DEPARTMENT: Equitable Education and Economies (IED)
Print: HSRC Library: shelf number 12132
HANDLE: 20.500.11910/16398
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11910/16398
OUTPUT TYPE: Journal Article
PUBLICATION YEAR: 2021
TITLE AUTHOR(S): Z.M.Mthombeni, O.Ogunnubi
KEYWORDS: BILINGUALISM, HIGHER EDUCATION, LANGUAGE POLICY, UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL
DEPARTMENT: Equitable Education and Economies (IED)
Print: HSRC Library: shelf number 12132
HANDLE: 20.500.11910/16398
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11910/16398
If you would like to obtain a copy of this Research Output, please contact Hanlie Baudin at researchoutputs@hsrc.ac.za.
Abstract
Any language policy has crucial social implications that impact its successful implementation. The introduction of the bilingual language policy at the University Of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) has spurred polemical debate and discussions especially regarding the value of African languages for teaching and learning. This article offers a socio-constructivist analysis of the issues that emerge in the implementation of the UKZN language policy. The study on which it is based employed a mixed methodology drawing on secondary as well as primary data collected by means of semi-structured interviews and questionnaires administered to staff and students at two UKZN campuses. Simple random sampling was applied to enroll 16 students while purposive sampling was used to select nine academic staff for the study. The findings reveal that although the bilingual language policy has inherent social value, uncertainty persists with regard to its short and long-term economic significance. This calls for deeper reflection on the social implications of the language preferences of the institutions staff and students who are directly affected by the policy.-
Related Research Outputs:
- Language policy & informal literacy practices at a higher education institution
- Perceptions of staff and students on the implementation of the language policy at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Howard College campus
- Language rites: a symposium on language practices in South African higher education institutions
- An appraisal of bilingual language policy implementation in South African higher education
- Education and democracy in South Africa
- Discursive shifts and structural continuities in South African vocational education and training: 1981-1999
- The paradoxical use of interpreting in psychiatry
- Employment and employability: expectations of higher education responsiveness
- From school to higher education?: factors affecting the choices of grade 12 learners
- Quality with access in South African higher education: the challenge for transformation
- The importance of intermediate skilling at the further-higher education interface
- Local labour environments and further education and training (FET) colleges: three case studies: executive summary and transparancies
- Technical college responsiveness project: graduate tracer study: executive summary of research findings
- Regulation: accreditation and registration
- Higher education and training: privatisation and quasi-marketisation in higher education in South Africa
- Convergence of public and private provision at the further-higher education interface
- Challenges to critical pedagogy: student opposition and identity in a South African English studies course
- Guest editorial: national plan for higher education in South Africa: a programme for equity and redress or globalised competition and managerialism?
- Local labour environments and further education and training (FET) colleges: three case studies
- Education, training and development practices