Understanding language policy as a tool for access and social inclusion in South African higher education: A critical policy analysis perspective

Abstract

This article argues that the development of language policy for transformation and social inclusion has significantly failed to achieve the ideal order of things given lack of robust monitoring and systematic implementation. This article uses a framework for policy analysis to reflect on the language policy in South African Universities. It explores reasons why the national language policy was introduced and uses the "effect and implementation" two-pronged framework to show how the national language policy has remained an instrument for the reinforcement of the supremacy of English as opposed to enhancing the development of African languages. The article further argues for the deliberate resourcing of the development of African languages to deal with language realities in South African universities. It asserts that the implementation of the South African national language policy framework is unmonitored and unresourced. It critiques the national language policy as political rhetorical and proposes a guiding framework for the development of African languages for meaningful us e in higher education as part of social inclusion. This article explored why the national language policy was established and why using the two-pronged policy analysis framework it can be argued that the policy has failed to have an effect impact on its aspirations and its implementation. A debate about the importance of African languages in teaching and learning, research, community engagement and organisational administration needs to become an integral part of the conversation on student-centeredness; improving graduation throughput; developing indigenous knowledge systems; improving research productivity; transformation and social inclusion; and social and cultural diversity at universities. These debates should be informed by newly developed knowledge frontiers on the role of African and indigenous languages in teaching and learning, and knowledge generation.

Relocating English Studies and SoTL in the Global South: Towards Decolonizing English and Critiquing the Coloniality of Language

“…Most of these HEIs offer SoTL often under standalone teaching and learning or academic development units or centers. Invariably, these HEIs provide SoTL through English as a LoLT in line with their institutional language policies (Cele, 2021). In fact, in the South African higher education context, it is unheard of and unimaginable for any HEI, including those that purport to have a dual-language medium (e.g., Afrikaans and English), to offer SoTL exclusively in any other language than in English.…”

“…This is even more so as SoTL is mostly academic discipline-based, and it is intended to facilitate access to difficult-to-pass modules and to improve success rate in those modules for often at-risk students (cf. Cele, 2021;Pica-Smith & Veloria, 2012). The majority of such at-risk students are Black students, who are a demographic group for whom SoTL is intended.…”

“…In a different but related context, Cele (2021) opines that English is implicitly positioned as a major unifying achromatic language in most of South Africa's HEIs, including the few HEIs that regard themselves as Afrikaans-speaking (also see Hurst, 2016;Manathunga, 2018;Ngoepe, 2020). This observation is not anecdotal nor is it incidental.…”

“…British colonialism started with the British settlers in the 19 th century. During its duration, and especially starting from 1814, English was immensely promoted for use in different domains, of which education was one (Cele, 2021;Hurst, 2016). This, in a way, marked the beginning of the coloniality of the English language in South Africa.…”

“…The history of English in South Africa is mired in both apartheid and colonialism (Kamwangamalu, 2002;Cele, 2021). Therefore, the English language and the discipline of English are entangled in coloniality mediated through projects such as English as a medium of instruction, or English as a language of learning and teaching (LoLT), and the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL).…”