2014 Is a Bilingual/Multilingual Language policy a policy of reality or myth at tertiary institutions in SA?

Is a Bilingual/Multilingual Language policy a policy of reality or  myth at tertiary institutions in SA? N.S. Turner University of KwaZulu-Natal turnern@ukzn.ac.za ABSTRACT This article focuses on bilingualism/multilingualism at historically white tertiary institutions in South Africa: a policy of reality or myth. By examining the current language policies of six of the Country’s main Universities, it discusses the stated intentions of these policies and assesses their current implementation. In so doing, it investigates the current situation of African Language Disciplines at these Universities and in some instances makes particular mention of the attitudes of African language learners and teachers (both Mother tongue and non mother-tongue) at certain universities. It also makes a recommendation on a possible way forward. Key words: African languages, bilingualism, multilinguaism, language attitudes, implementation , language policy. Introduction In the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (1996), provision is made for the use and development of all official languages and in particular, the development of historically-disadvantaged indigenous languages. The Constitution states thus: “Recognizing the historically diminished use and status of the indigenous languages of our people, the state must take practical and positive measures to elevate the status and advance the use of these languages” (Constitution 1996, Act 108). The chief whip of the African National Congress, Dr Mathole Motshekga in 2009 made the call in a debate in the National Assembly that teaching of indigenous languages for non-African language speaking students should be made compulsory at all South African universities, as this would be the best way to promote and protect the country’s heritage and history. He emphasized the point that languages were a very important part of heritage, and neglecting them would be to neglect the country’s heritage: In order to preserve our indigenous languages we need to make it compulsory for anyone studying for a degree in a South African university to learn at least one indigenous language. In this debate he focuses on non-mother tongue students but fails to address the situation of the language of learning and teaching (LoLT) for mother tongue African language speakers at tertiary institutions. This paper examines the situation of African languages as LoLT in specific tertiary institutions in South Africa to assess to what extent their Language Policies are being implemented to reflect their stated intentions, and in so doing looks at the attitudes of both students and staff in certain of these Universities under scrutiny. Neville Alexander (2005:30) advocated that universities should be able within a 10-15 year period, to formulate a plan whereby specific indigenous languages are developed to the point that they can be used as languages of tuition in specific disciplines. Kaschula (2013:1) agrees with this but makes the point that each university be allowed to formulate its own approach to change and transformation, and quotes Webb (2006) who asserts that successful and meaningful change can only come from within, where there must be buy-in from authorities and stakeholders alike. This discussion starts with a look at relevant extracts of the various language policies at the Universities of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), Cape Town (UCT), Pretoria (UP), University of Johannesburg (UJ), Rhodes (RU) and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU), and then assesses their current implementation, because, clearly as Kaschula points out, “There is a difference between language planning and policy making and implementation plans”. CURRENT SOUTH AFRICAN UNIVERSITY LANGUAGE POLICIES Kotze and Hibbert (2010:4) make the point that in spite of empirical research into various aspects of the role played by language in education in this country and proposals aimed at giving effect to the constitutional ideals, a tacit policy of monolingualism has been in evidence. They go on to say that “Language in education is one of the most sensitive indicators of the viability of a national policy of multilingualism” (2010:5). Whilst English is the undisputed de facto predominant language in government and in the Department of Education, Conflict between language attitudes have led to an almost stalemate situation in promulgating legislation, which has been drafted and in existence for more than six years, to give effect to a general recognition of accepted principles of multilingualism and of the value of first language education (as medium) in empowering the youth of this country. (2010:9) An analysis is made below of extracts of 6 language policies at the Universities of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), Rhodes (RU), Pretoria (UP), University of Johannesburh (UJ), Cape Town (UCT) and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU). These universities were ‘previously advantaged’ historically white universities in South Africa, whose student demographics have changed from being predominantly ‘white’ universities to now encompassing very mixed student populations with African students comprising the majority. METHODOLOGY This paper takes 6 historically white universities as case studies. The paper is largely qualitative in nature and the reason why these particular universities were chosen is that information was drawn from colleagues working at these universities, mostly in African language departments. These informants have practical and direct experience in the field of language practice. The source of data which was submitted by these informants are language policy documents pertaining each specific university. Most of these language policies are under review and are therefore not freely accessible on the universities’ websites. Due to the length of some of these policies, I have summarised them with comments as the paper develops. Questions directed to informants included not only those dealing with their language policies, but also questions about the status of the disciplines teaching African languages. Discussions on the theoretical underpinning of language planning and implementation have only been touched on and not discussed in depth as this has been covered more than adequately in a specific edition of Alternation in 2010 dedicated to the topic of Multilingualism, which published papers specifically on language planning and implementation, as well as a recent journal, Current Issues in Language Planning (2104,1) which deals with the medium of instruction in Africa. THE LANGUAGE POLICY OF the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) The University of KwaZulu-Natal identifies with the goals of South Africa’s multilingual language policy and seeks to be a key player in its successful implementation. The University of KwaZulu-Natal has taken African scholarship to be the core principle of its vision. To this end, it has declared itself as the premier university of African scholarship. The University Language Planning and Development Office’s (ULPDO) mandate is to embrace and foster functional bilingualism at the UKZN through the promotion of equitable use of the English language and isiZulu as provided for in the University Language Policy of 2006. The University will continue to use English as its primary academic language but will activate the development and use of isiZulu as an additional medium of instruction together with the resources (academic and social) that make the use of the language a real possibility for intervention by all constituencies in the University. This policy seeks to make explicit the benefits of being fully bilingual in South Africa inter-alia • the development of an awareness of multilingualism through an acknowledgement of all the official languages of KwaZulu-Natal, namely isiZulu, English and Afrikaans; • the need to achieve for isiZulu the institutional and academic status of English; • the provision of facilities to enable the use of isiZulu as a language of learning, instruction and administration; and • the need to foster research in language planning and development. (University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006:1) THE LANGUAGE POLICY OF Rhodes UnivERSITY (RU) The current Language Policy (presently under review again) states that Rhodes University will, as institutionally agreed and feasible, strive to maintain academic programmes in various South African languages, including specifically English and isiXhosa. The official languages of the University are English, Afrikaans and isiXhosa. However, the University aims to strengthen the status of isiXhosa by promoting its value as a medium of communication among academic and support staff. The support of the University takes place within an inclusive teaching and learning environment which recognises English as the primary LoLT, but also seeks to develop isiXhosa amongst other African languages as a language to support the LoLT as well as to promote national unity, linguistic and cultural diversity and further intellectualise isiXhosa so that it can be used at various levels of education. Students and staff are being encouraged to study isiXhosa and the teaching of, and in isiXhosa as well as scholarship in African languages which is affirmed by the University. In summary, the main objectives of the language policy, according to Kaschula (2013) are to: promote and advance scholarship in African languages promote multilingualism through mother tongue and second language acquisition programmes facilitate student access and retention, particularly of historically disadvantaged students promote isiXhosa in controlling domains such as ICT, Pharmacy, Science, Law, Education, Politics, Journalism, Psychology and across campus. THE LANGUAGE POLICY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA (UP) There is currently no over-arching Language Policy that covers all faculties but the language policy of the Faculty of Humanities which houses the languages, is built on a firm belief in the value of diversity, and in particular, linguistic diversity. The Faculty of Humanities, states that by its very nature, it should be the champion of a truly multilingual language policy at UP which would contribute to the understanding and appreciation of the diverse society within which the Faculty functions. The specific objectives of the language policy of the Faculty of Humanities are to: offer tuition and advance communication through the medium of both English and an indigenous language (which includes Afrikaans) in all non-language undergraduate subjects of the Faculty- taking the demand as well as academic justification and economic viability into consideration - by using both languages as LoLT in lectures and by providing at the very least study guides, tests and exams in both languages; develop Northern Sotho (Sepedi) and Zulu as representative languages of the two major African language families spoken in Gauteng, as languages of academic discourse and administrative record. The Faculty has committed itself to the implementation of this policy in all its various departments. With this in mind it is in the process of encouraging not only the faculty members, but also the university management to engage in a process of developing a language plan to achieve the above mentioned objectives. THE LANGUAGE POLICY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN (UCT) The language policy of the University of Cape Town takes as its starting point the need to prepare students to participate fully in a multi-lingual society, where multi-lingual proficiency and awareness are essential. English is the medium of instruction and administration. English is an international language of communication in science and business, but it is not the primary language for many of the UCT students and staff. A major objective is, therefore, to ensure that students acquire effective literacy in English. English is both the medium of teaching and of examination except in language and literature departments where another language is taught and may be used. This applies at all levels, and to dissertations and theses for higher degrees. English is the language of internal governance and of administration. All English communication must be clear and concise and gender-sensitive. All administrative heads of department will be required, with the aid of language and literature departments, and CALSSA (The Centre for Applied Language Studies and Services in Africa), to explore and implement ways in which the aims of multilingualism awareness and proficiency may be promoted. The Multilingualism Education Project (MEP) is based on the multilingual language policy and plan approved by Senate and Council. The University Language Policy takes as its starting point the need to prepare students to participate fully in a multilingual society, where multilingual proficiency and awareness are essential. To further the objective of the promotion of multi-lingual awareness and proficiency, all academic programme convenors and teachers will be required, with the aid of language and literature departments, staff in the Centre for Higher Education Development, and CALSSA (The Centre for Applied Language Studies and Services in Africa), to explore and implement ways in which these aims may be achieved through the Undergraduate and Postgraduate Programme structures in accordance with the UCT Language Plan. This would seem to indicate that UCT has shifted from its English-only to an English-plus language ideology in order to become what it terms, an Afropolitan university. The LANGUAGE POLICY AT NELSON MANDELA METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY (NMMU) The Language Policy is conceived in the context of the geographical areas served by NMMU which takes cognisance of appropriate and sensible utilisation of established proficiency in the languages best known to learners. The official languages of the NMMU are English, Afrikaans and isiXhosa. For practical reasons and to avoid duplication, the language of internal governance and of administration will be English. Official documentation that has legal implications for the institution will be available in English only. Where required, an interpreting and translation service will be provided. The language used for general external correspondence aimed at a cross-section of language speakers will be English. Where the language preference of an individual or body is known, communication will be in that official language (where practicable). Coupled with the enhancement of academic skills in English as the predominant language of tuition and assessment at the same time it embraces the imperative to develop and promote isiXhosa as an academic language while retaining Afrikaans as an established language of scholarship and science. The implication is that not all official languages need to be used in equal measure for all domains and at all levels of usage, so that certain functions may be performed only in English, others only in isiXhosa or in Afrikaans, and others in all three languages. The LANGUAGE POLICY AT THE University of Johannesburg (UJ) 5.1 The University of Johannesburg promotes multilingualism and has designated in its Institutional Statute (Institutional State 2012: Article 9) Afrikaans, English, Northern Sotho (Sesotho sa Leboa) and Zulu (isiZulu) as its primary languages for academic, administrative, communication and marketing purposes. 5.2 UJ preserves and develops, on all its campuses, the designated languages in particular in its teaching, learning and assessment activities as well as in its research function. The University will make resources available to implement this policy. Such resources include, but are not limited to, language proficiency support and development for students and employees, and translation and interpretation facilities and services. UJ is UJ states its commitment to contribute to the national goals of developing all South African languages, in particular the African languages, and will promote scholarship in the African languages, with a particular focus on isiZulu and Sesotho sa Leboa. 5.4 UJ promotes the development of multilingual awareness and multilingual proficiency, and the use of the four designated languages in internal and external communication. 5.5 Although English is currently the primary medium of instruction and administration, the University is committed to promote and accommodate the use of the other three designated languages wherever practicable. A student who is provided with teaching, learning and assessment in a particular language, but who is a first or dominant language speaker of another language, is entitled to academic and administrative support and service in any of the four designated languages, as will best assist her/his understanding. The support includes but is not limited to: basic information about the module in any of the other three designated languages; tutors conversant in any of the other three designated languages; assistance offered in any of the other three designated languages, with regard to understanding academic records and other information Qualifications leading to careers which presuppose the ability to interact professionally in an African language are required to include the development of initial professional competency in at least one of the two designated African languages, i.e. Sesotho sa Leboa and isiZulu. 5.9 UJ has a Language Unit that offers support in collaboration with faculties and divisions. The University offers to staff and students opportunities to acquire conversational fluency in the four designated languages. 5.11 The execution of The Language Policy is in accordance with UJ’s Language Implementation Plan which reflects the University’s specific strategies for the promotion of multilingualism. 5.12 A progress report on the implementation of The Language Implementation Plan is bi-annually submitted to UJ’s Institutional Forum, Senate and Council. Current Situation of African Language Disciplines at Tertiary institutions The serious decline of African languages is evident in the falling numbers of students registering in these modules at universities around South Africa. Information cited below was supplied after telephonic interviews with current members of staff of several universities, who supplied their statistics of second language courses via email. At the University of Johannesburg, there is no longer a separate degree for non-mother tongue speakers of isiZulu due to falling numbers in these classes. After an initial first year introductory course, since 2011, non-mother tongue African language students are now forced to join in the mother tongue class if they wish to major in isiZulu. At the University of KwaZulu-Natal, there are dual streams for students wishing to major in isiZulu (mother-tongue and non-mother tongue), however the numbers in second and third year non-mother tongue courses also remain very low, mostly below five in each year. At the Howard College Campus and the Pietermaritzburg campus combined in 2012 and 2013, where the course was voluntary, in each year the number for first year non-mother tongue isiZulu students was less than 200 for both semesters. The total number of non-mother tongue speakers who have taken isiZulu as a major in their BA and B Soc Sc degrees from 2005 till 2012 is 71. That is over a period of eight years and if one were to average the number out it is approximately nine per year only. The numbers of mother tongue students in the under-graduate programmes is showing positive signs of growing, and the challenge is to try and retain a larger number of students graduating with African Language modules as majors. At NMMU, under graduate students studying isiXhosa from first to third year as mother tongue, average around 70 each year for the past few years and post graduate students number approximately 15. Non-mother tongue undergraduate studying isiXhosa in first year average around 100 students per annum. Historically, the UCT African languages department has concentrated on linguistic descriptions of the languages. It has become evident to staff at UCT through the dwindling numbers of Mother Tongue students studying isiXhosa to a major level, that these students resist linguistics as a science. They prefer to opt for literature courses. Five years ago the MT stream was actually discontinued because of lack of interest by students, even though literature was offered. Reasons offered for this include: some below par teaching in the stream (very little course renewal happened in literature over a 20 year period) the general perception at UCT that doing African languages was an admission of failure (anecdotal evidence researched by staff suggests this) the general perception by UCT students that there is "nothing you can do" with a degree in African languages In 2012 at UCT, the MT stream was re-introduced and 2014 will see the first batch of 3rd years in the stream, three in number. Members of staff in the Xhosa Department at UCT are concerned that it is still difficult to convince students at UCT that studying African languages has any worth and studying isiXhosa as a mother tongue speaker, still seems to have low status attached to it. Prior to 2010, there was no separate degree programme even available in isiXhosa for non-mother tongue speakers. This has been a new initiative to enable non-mother tongue students to take isiXhosa as a major course. In terms of the non-mother tongue second language major, the first year course normally has in the region of 100 students, but that number drops to 15-20 in second and third year. Very few post-graduate students emerge from these streams, only one or two but some students go on to do honours in Linguistics where they are offered much more in the way of bursaries. In 2013, out of a total student population of 26 534 students, 17 777 claim to have English as their home language, with Xhosa speakers numbering only 2119, Zulu speakers 1386 and all other African languages less than 550 students in each group. In terms of numbers at Rhodes University, in the second language streams, there are about 100 first year students on average, about 20 second years and about 10 third year students. In the mother tongue stream, courses are taught through the medium of isiXhosa but at Post graduate levels, both English and isiXhosa are used in lectures. The Rhodes journalism course has an isiXhosa for Journalism course which is compulsory – 2 semesters have to be completed and passed before a student can graduate with a journalism degree. The rest of the University has opted for a choice approach to the language. The University of Pretoria has two streams, one catering for home language speakers and first additional language speakers of Sepedi, Zulu and Ndebele, and a second one for beginner learners of Sepedi and Zulu, progressing to intermediate learners (2nd year level) and advanced learners (3rd year level). Currently, the largest contingent is the beginner learners averaging just above 100 students a year. The two streams converge in the third year level. current language policy IMPLEMENTATION INITIATIVES UKZN IMPLEMENTATION PLAN The University of KwaZulu-Natal has been driving an aggressive language policy which culminated in the formal launch of the UKZN Language Board on the 4th of November 2011. Part of the mandate of this Board is to conduct and coordinate research on bilingualism and bilingual education; to promote the development of isiZulu; and to provide facilities to enable the use of isiZulu as a language of learning, instruction and administration. The number of students registered at UKZN with isiZulu as their first language for 2012 was 59% compared to 30% who claimed English as their first language. This indicates clearly that the student community at UKZN is growing in favour of isiZulu speakers. The current situation at the University of KwaZulu-Natal is that isiZulu was introduced this year in 2014 as a compulsory subject for all non-African language speaking students who wish to graduate from the University, irrespective of which college they register is. Students who have taken isiZulu as a Grade 12 subject (either as a first or additional language) are exempted from having to do this course. This rule, approved by the University’s Senate, gives tangible expression to UKZN’s language policy and plan which is intended to promote and facilitate the use of isiZulu as a language of learning, communication, instruction and administration. In terms of the policy and recommendations of this board, provisions are being made to encourage isiZulu as a medium of instruction and learning at the University on a long term basis. In order to prepare for this a Phase 1 plan has been drawn up (2008-2018) during which staff and students will develop communicative competence in isiZulu and English sufficient for academic interaction. In order to achieve this, language acquisition courses have been and continue to be made available by the University through University Extended Learning, which offers courses to staff on all campuses which is funded by the University. In addition, the University is making provision for translation services in isiZulu in specific circumstances in first year courses, and is also facilitating the development of course materials and terminology in isiZulu for the acquisition of cognitive academic language proficiency which will come into being in Phase 2 of the plan (2019-2029). Modules currently being taught through the medium of isiZulu are housed mainly in the Discipline of African languages where the Mother tongue stream courses are taught by isiZulu lecturers in isiZulu. In addition, in the School of Applied Human Sciences which offers Psychology as a discipline, they have embarked on a project called Psychology through the vernacular. One of the tasks of this project has involved translation of Psychology statistical terms between English and isiZulu and has involved staff and students. In addition the school is developing bilingual textbooks and has created a position for a co-ordinator of the bilingual tutorial programme where optional tutorials are offered through the medium of isiZulu. Feedback from these tutorials has been so positive that the initiative has been extended from first year courses through to third year level. According to the University’s Language Board annual report of 2011/2012, the School of Education is also offering dual medium of instruction in their foundation phase programmes, where both teaching and assessment are being conducted in English and isiZulu, with isiZulu speaking external moderators being appointed. An isiZulu medium honours degree level module is also being funded by the university languages board. IsiZulu as the language of research is also being encouraged and the School of Arts has already had several PhD theses written and submitted in the medium of isiZulu. The School of Education had its first PhD written in isiZulu in 2012. In the College of Law and Management, tutorials are being offered in both English and isiZulu with supplementary glossaries supplied to students in both languages. In test scripts, appendices are being attached with a translation into isiZulu of an index of terms that are perceived difficult for isiZulu speaking students. The discipline of Law has appointed a language liaison officer whose core function is to ensure that bilingual teaching and learning in the School of Law takes place. Bilingual tutorials are being offered in the modules Introduction to SA Law and Foundations of SA Law, as well as in certain modules in Economics and Accounting, where tutorial material is also being translated into isiZulu. In the College of Health Sciences, an introductory 6 month module has been compulsory for all first year non isiZulu-speaking students for the past 8 years. At UKZN’s Nelson Mandela Medical school, an isiZulu station has been introduced into the Objective-Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE’s) in the clinical skills laboratory, which is offered from first to third year, and this involves the testing of clinical skills through the medium of isiZulu. Material is also provided on the LAN for students which comprises commonly used medical terminology. In addition, a co-ordinator with isiZulu language skills has been appointed to provide academic support to students in isiZulu as well as to translate academic development resource materials, the prospectus, student rules and information leaflets into isiZulu. These moves all reflect UKZN’s commitment to the development of isiZulu as an academic language alongside English which at this stage remains the main language of learning and instruction. The University will continue to use English as its primary academic language but will activate the development and use of isiZulu as an additional medium of instruction together with the resources (academic and social) that make the use of the language a real possibility for interaction by all constituencies in the University. UP IMPLEMENTATION PLAN The following are part of a discussion document emanating from the Faculty of Humanities which is still under discussion and has not, as yet been implemented: the establishment of a centre for language development at UP, 2014 being a preparatory year, with full implementation in 2015; the offering of Northern Sotho, Zulu, Tswana and Afrikaans language courses through CE@UP and to encourage all staff members to enrol for such courses in order to acquire at least basic conversational skills in a third language. Final confirmation of new appointments would be subject to the successful completion of such a course; the establishment of processes of on-going reflection about the language issue among academic staff; inclusion of the Language Policy in the resource calculation and allocation in the Faculty of Humanities; requiring all departments in the Faculty of Humanities to develop, implement and monitor (their) language policies; encouraging all students to do at least one semester, but preferably one year of an additional language in their programmes A terminology resource centre is also being planned where terminology will be compiled for the various disciplines in Afrikaans, English, Sepedi and possibly isiZulu. In the MT isiZulu/seSotho section - all the courses (including technical ones like linguistics and grammar) are taught through the medium of the mother tongue There is a move to employ tutors to assist in tutorial groups with mother tongue groups of African language speakers. This is currently being piloted in the department of Philosophy. This practice is strongly encouraged by the Dean of Humanities. UCT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN Although the Multilingual Language Policy at UCT has not yet been fully implemented, the University has adopted an ethnographic approach which Madiba (2013:386) explains recognizes the role of individual agents where lecturers and students are seen as the social actors who are active agents in prying open the ideological and implementation spaces for multilingual education. This is in contrast to the usual approaches to Language Policy implementation which lays much emphasis on the role of authoritative bodies such as Government in language policy implementation. A positive innovation at UCT has been implemented in the medical school since 2004 (as is the case currently at UKZN), where no medical student can graduate without passing courses in isiXhosa and Afrikaans through a process of on-site clinical examinations (OSCEs) where the student is evaluated by both linguists and clinical skills experts when examining a patient, the objective being to evaluate how well the candidate examines the patient in their mother tongue, in this case isiXhosa, Afrikaans or English. The MEP was responsible for the launch and the roll out of the Masithethe isiXhosa (Xhosa Communication) course for staff and students. Since MEP was launched in the second half of 2006, about 260 staff members have participated in the course. The course for students was piloted in 2007 with Law students and students involved in the Social Responsiveness Group. Subsequently, the Health Sciences and Education Faculties have introduced service based isiXhosa courses which are compulsory. Psychology and Law have optional service isiXhosa courses. Other than that, there are currently no courses taught through isiXhosa except for those courses within the Discipline of isiXhosa itself. The Multilingualism Education Project which has been initiated at UCT is based on the multilingual language policy and plan approved by Senate and Council. One of the aims of this project is to use students’ first languages in complementarity to English in teaching key concepts in different disciplines, especially at first year level. The Multilingual Concept Learning literacy has so far developed multilingual concept-literacy glossaries for the disciplines of Economics, Statistics and Law. These glossaries are made accessible to students on the Online Learning Environment called Vula which allows uploading of multilingual concept literacy glossaries and other multilingual learning support material such as tutorials. UCT is also piloting the use of multilingual tutors to implement multilingual education in tutorials. The preliminary findings of this project show very positive effects as students employ translanguaging strategies such as code switching and borrowing in their discussion of certain concepts. The complementary language use model currently in use at UCT allows students to use English and their first languages as auxiliary media of learning with a view to implementing multilingualism in teaching and learning programmes. R U IMPLEMENTATION PLAN In 2011 Senate approved a Rhodes University Language Committee to review and oversee the implementation of the language policy. According to Professor Russell Kaschula (based at Rhodes University), formerly Head of the Discipline of African Language Studies and now currently occupying the NRF SARChI Chair, the vision of the university and of the African Language Studies Section in the School of Languages and the NRF SARChI Chair is to use African languages to promote national unity, linguistic and cultural diversity; and further intellectualise isiXhosa so that it can be used at various levels of education. These main objectives have been outlined above under the language policy aims at RU. To this end, implementation was initially given impetus with the South African-Norway-Tertiary Education programme (SANTED) as well as the Department of Arts and Culture funding, and firm executive support from the University. This was followed by the piloting and institutionalisation of first and second language isiXhosa courses. Initial programmes included the IsiXhosa Staff Communication Skills Course; IsiXhosa for Pharmacy, Law and Education as well as Journalism & Media Studies; and IsiXhosa for Psychology (pilot in 2013). Further to these programmes multilingual support was also provided for developing teaching material for the development of academic literacy, thereby assisting in cognition. There was development of support teaching material for isiXhosa L1 students in Computer Science, Geography and Politics, with Cell Biology to follow. In terms of graduate research, this is multi-/cross-disciplinary in nature and presently relates mainly to applied language studies and literature. This is contributing to the intellectualisation of African languages, developing a scientific discourse for African languages in areas previously dominated by English and Afrikaans through, for example, the development of glossary lists to support learning mediated in English; teaching isiXhosa in isiXhosa and thereby developing a meta-language for the mother tongue programmes. More contemporary courses are being looked at in terms of curriculum development in order to attract the attention of mother tongue students to study their own language. These include: Literature and Publishing, African Languages and Media Studies, Translation Studies, African Languages and Globalisation; Language Planning, Sociolinguistics, Lexicography and Terminology Development, Human Language Technology, Orthography and Writing Skills. The writing skills courses at Rhodes University are seen as very necessary as the schooling system continues to fail African language teaching. Many mother tongue students lack writing and reading skills in the mother tongue even though they are fluent speakers. In 2012 at Rhodes, 30 Honours students graduated in African Languages at Rhodes, the highest number in the Faculty of Humanities, and at the smallest university with only 7300 students in total. In 2013, there were presently 20 MA students and 8 PhDs with around 500 students in undergraduate courses. To assist with certain projects it has been necessary to raise funds from programmes such as the SANTED programme in order to give impetus and visibility to African language usage on campuses. A further Department of Arts and Culture grant for postgraduate bursaries for African languages has also served to cement sustained growth in student numbers. This resulted in year-on-year growth in isiXhosa mother tongue undergraduate and postgraduate student numbers with new courses offered from 2008. External collaborations, which are vitally important today have included collaborating with the University of Fort Hare, UCT and UKZN as well as universities further afield such as Makerere in Uganda where a translate@thon was held to translate the web into Luganda. Translate.org, a leading software localisation organisation in Africa also collaborated in a translate@thon to translate the Rhodes email system into isiXhosa. As part of the repositioning of African languages a fully localized language learning facility named the SANTED-Peter Mtuze Multimedia Facility was launched in May 2007. This facility allows for the visibility of African languages, for example in ICT at a time when the world is dominated by technology. This facility has been used to further intellectualise isiXhosa and a number of translate@thons, where students create and feed terminology into a bank of computers, including the translation of Google into isiXhosa in 2010 have been held. An isiXhosa interface for Google was also created through a translate@thon held at Rhodes in 2010. Language remains at the core of university transformation, both from a curriculum point of view as well as what one could term soft transformation, for example signage and visibility. NMMU IMPLEMENTATION PLAN Although the language policy is still in the process of revision – these are the forthcoming strategies still under discussion to be implemented at NMMU Students, staff and members of the public may submit documentation to decision-making bodies in any of NMMU’s official language for which translation services will be made available. In notices and general documentation of an informative nature to staff and students, an incremental introduction of multilingualism will be applied. In addition, the language used should not be a barrier to access and understanding. General documentation of an informative nature (e.g. for marketing purposes or explaining health matters) circulated to students and the public will increasingly be made available in all three official languages. Language awareness and meta-linguistic skills in at least two languages, one of which should be English, need to be acquired by all (staff and students). Contributors to NMMU publications, both paper-based and electronic, may use the language of their choice, while English abstracts are recommended to encourage the furtherance of multilingualism. Where English is used, summaries or abstracts in isiXhosa and Afrikaans should be made available on request. Where an entire class shares Afrikaans or isiXhosa as a first language, teaching, tutor groups and assessment may be conducted in that language, subject to the ability of the lecturer. Some staff members have already volunteered to take bilingual tutorials for isiXhosa speakers in the past two years and that has been a success as they reported a 100 % pass from these groups since they have introduced the tutorials. The institution is developing glossaries of terms for different modules/subjects, each glossary is in 3 languages of the institution. The two minority African Languages (isiXhosa and Afrikaans) are to be mobilised as languages of learning alongside English. This will involve the introduction of the concept of simultaneous biliteracy in tutorials and small group learning, using various languages to clarify and define terminology. Self-access and e-learning facilities should be mobilized for language development. Newly appointed academics should be or should become fully bilingual in at least two official languages, of which English must be one, and academic and administrative staff will be encouraged to attend a basic isiXhosa acquisition course. Students who have limited or no proficiency in isiXhosa, will be encouraged to attend a six-month course in isiXhosa during their first year of study to develop sensitivity and affiliation to the major language of the region. isiXhosa in Pharmacy for 4th year pharmacy students has been introduced and the University is also developing isiXhosa modules for the other service courses that they have. An online isiXhosa programme, Speak Easy, has been developed for non- mother tongue speakers. There is also a Second Language Programme designed for teaching staff isiXhosa. This will be expanded to include aspects related to lecturers teaching. Masters and Doctoral proposals for isiXhosa students are now being submitted in isiXhosa with an English summary accompanying it. In terms of University signage, all three official languages will be used to identify the location of offices, buildings, facilities and support services generically. Where assessment is conducted in English, allowances such as extra time, translation of questions and texts, dictionaries and glossaries will be made available for English additional language and English foreign language students where possible. An important innovation in the new revised language policy of NMMU states that if the language preferences in a particular programme are known and practical considerations (such as the language ability of lecturers, external examiners and students, class size and composition and infrastructure) warrant it, isiXhosa or Afrikaans could be used as the language of teaching, tutoring and assessment. However, the choice of language must not have a negative impact on knowledge access for other language groups. RECOMMENDATIONS Madiba (2013:387) in an article on Multilingual Education in South African Universities makes the valid point that the various language policies of the South African universities shows that the commitment of most of them to African languages only concerns their development with a view to using them as media of teaching, learning and research in the distant future. He argues that this approach is theoretically flawed as languages develop through use, and if they are to be effectively developed as media of instruction in higher education, they should be used in their current form as primary or auxiliary media of instruction. The decentralized approach of UCT where academic programme conveners and teachers are required to explore and implement ways of promoting multilingual awareness and proficiency has been criticised by some scholars such as Balfour (2005), who regard this kind of decentralized approach as lack of commitment on the part of the University to implement multilingualism in teaching and learning programmes. Madiba (2013) however, an associate professor involved in UCT’s Multilingualism Project, regards the bottom-up process as essential for policy implementation in faculties and departments, where policies and plans that are conducive to the implementation of multilingualism can be suitably developed. He maintains where agency is shared by faculties, departments, individual lecturers and multilingual students, joint efforts become pivotal to the successful implementation of multilingual education. Kaschula (2013) makes the point that the challenge here again is to redefine existing theories developed in the West and to find space for new knowledge that has been developed for, and in the African context. Intercultural vocation-specific language programmes such as those offered at Rhodes, UKZN and UCT are constructing a mutually inclusive environment. The constant juxtaposition of one language and culture against each other creates interrelatedness and interconnectedness of the two. This, he maintains is an enormous contribution to the changing South African University environment and, ipso facto, to the South African society at large. The challenge is to facilitate cognition and knowledge creation through languages that learners understand best, thereby creating a comfort zone (through English and other languages) rather than a sense of vulnerability and alienation. This is the responsibility of the university at large and not just a Department or a School of Languages as the case may be. In addition, Kaschula advocates that African language departments through innovative curriculum development have to make their courses more attractive to students who have never had the opportunity to engage meaningfully with their home languages at school. Providing more bursary assistance for students studying African languages would also have a positive impact on student enrolling in African language courses. An important point highlighted by Kaschula as a way of intellectualising the African languages is that they should become a major research focus area. He cites examples from Rhodes University where part of this endeavour could include developing and enhancing the ‘Publish and Thrive’ on-line model to assist student and staff researchers. This initiative provides for written material to be submitted on-line, evaluated, edited, and feed-back given which includes advice on avenues for publishing the material. Universities could also assist student language societies to interact more with the university at large and between societies. UKZN has in the past held annual Cultural Festivals, promoting student poets and performers. Kaschula proposes hosting an International Day/Week where languages and cultures can be show-cased and an international dinner with food stalls from language groups represented at the university could be encouraged. UKZN has in certain colleges introduced Language Committees which meet on a regular basis to assess implementation of policy in relation to the LoLT as well as the promotion of African languages. This initiative should be encouraged at all universities. In 2014, UKZN introduced isiZulu as a compulsory course for all students wishing to graduate from the university, irrespective of what college they are registered in. In addition, subjects in the African languages discipline are taught in the medium of African languages, to mother tongue speakers e.g. lexicography, terminology, translation studies. In the future, other language-related subjects are targeted to be taught in African languages, e.g. linguistics, media studies etc. Several universities have piloted certified short courses in communicative competence for staff in HE. They are not aimed at making staff proficient at teaching through the medium of African languages, as this is not realistic in the short term. Rather they have been focusing on both basic language proficiency and cultural awareness and sensitivity. These appear to have been met with success wherever they have been introduced and should be the rule rather than exception at all institutions of HE. The development of support teaching material in African languages as well as resources to support cognition for students whose second or additional language is English, is also an essential strategy that needs to be pursued by all universities. Some have already taken initiative in the development of bilingual/multilingual term lists, bilingual/multilingual glossary lists and monolingual/bilingual/multilingual dictionaries. Wildsmith-Cromarty (2008) says that strategies need to be devised to capacitate African languages further in terms of function and form, so that they are able to capture the scientific discourse of HE, and that these strategies should take into consideration that African languages are developed in form but that they have not been developed to function in HE. The study of African languages at university has been a challenge for over two decades and the result is that African language departments have trained very few scholars to sustain scholarship in African languages at university and to teach in schools. Kotze and Hibbert (2010:14) suggest that changes can be initiated at institutional level capitalising on the current pro-indigenous languages initiatives in parliament without waiting for official implementation, by making use of the latent multilingual dynamics of the system. One example of this is that lecturers use vernacular languages where feasible in lecture rooms even if the English only policies are still under review. This currently occurs and is evidence of ‘multilingualism on the ground’. Administrations at the various institutions have to genuinely support and buy-in to the concept of a remodelled and transformed institutional ethos at the various universities to mediate something which is perceived and conceived to be linguistically and affectively empowering. Bilingual and multilingual cultural identities would emerge if students were encouraged to be innovative in expressing themselves. A more controversial suggestion is what Gracia (2007) regards as dynamic plurilingualism which she defines as a two-way polydirectional bilingual education with emphasis on translingualism in the lecture theatre, where lecturers and students move between two languages as a matter of routine. Students could also be encouraged to produce texts which could be regarded as, what Kotze and Hibbert (2010:16) refer to as ‘style fusions’, which refer to the kind of writing which consists of a mixture of the student’s conversational voice and institutional academic conventions applied by the student. This is obviously at odds with the traditional models of learning and teaching which focus on correctness and ‘pure’ language styles. Introducing isiZulu as a compulsory language course at the level of higher education is already far too late in the learner’s career. If it is intended to be taken seriously so that a real effort towards bilingualism is to be a reality, then it requires real time, energy and effort, as well as interest on the part of the learners. This can only be successfully inculcated over a sustained period of time, with initial introduction at primary school level (Lafon 2011). However, despite the fact that many primary schools in KwaZulu-Natal do offer isiZulu as a subject, the implementation needs serious revision and intensification in order for it to be sustained and continued into secondary phase schooling. The problem is that far from the situation improving where more and more primary schools are introducing isiZulu as a first additional language in KwaZulu-Natal, as stated earlier, the reverse is actually happening. A pilot project to introduce isiZulu as a compulsory subject at 15 primary schools in KwaZulu Natal in 2014 has recently been reported in the newspapers as a total failure with insufficient second language trained teachers in isiZulu being one of the primary reasons, as well as lack of commitment on the part of the School governing bodies. This situation needs urgent attention from all government sections of education and training as well as from teacher training/education disciplines at the various universities. More funding needs to be made available to attract students to the appropriate courses and appropriate training needs to be devoted to developing courses and staff with skills to produce the required output. Signage, communication with the public and general institutional culture should also evidence the linguistic and cultural diversity of these HE institutions as represented by the demographics of the university community and the institutional, provincial and national policy on language. Stroud (2001:340) in his discussion on Linguistic Citizenship makes the point that in terms of indigenous languages in education, mother-tongue programmes and policies seldom deliver what they promise and in fact are generally speaking ‘down-right failures’. He offers the point of view that the negative attitudes of speakers (both mother tongue and non-mother tongue) towards the use of African languages may be due to the perceptions of learners that the indigenous languages lack value on important social and economic markets. He also suggests that one can trace the source of the problems with mother tongue programmes into the very social fabric of the postcolonial community itself. If speakers of the indigenous languages view their own languages as ‘dead ends educationally and of little use in official labour markets (2001:341), then there is little chance that there will be buy-in or belief in these languages from non-mother tongue speakers. More studies are needed which address attitude changes towards linguistic diversity such as those done by Moodley (2010) and Zauka (2009). Studies are also needed which describe and analyse the psycholinguistic base of cognitive development and the transfer of knowledge and meta-linguistic skills from the vernacular to English. CONCLUSION Is a Bilingual/Multilingual Language policy then, a policy of reality or  myth at tertiary institutions in SA? Kaschula (2013) states in his address made at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in March 2013 that although many of the twenty three South African Universities have some form of language policy, only a handful have implementation plans and are actively promoting African languages in their institutions. He goes on to state that while 19 of these universities have their policies published, none had provided the Ministry with a report on the progress of implementation of policy. Subsequent to the delivery of that paper however, in the first half of 2013, a Higher Education Ministerial Committee, charged with evaluating language policies for Higher Education Institutions in South Africa, visited all the tertiary institutions in the country to examine what was happening with all the tertiary institutions Language Policies, and to monitor the implementation of these Language Policies, as well as assess attitudes of both staff, administrators and students towards indigenous languages. Current staff, students, administrators and even alumni of these institutions were interviewed at length. It is quite clear that many of the Universities have not been taking their Language Policies seriously to date and little or nothing has been done in recent years to address any serious efforts at implementing any kind of bilingual or multilingual policies. With the visit of this Panel however, Universities are now being forced to review their language policies as well as how they plan to implement them. This has led to the situation where all the institutions under discussion in this paper, are currently reviewing their Language Policies as well as ways in which to implement their stated intentions of encouraging bi/multilingualism at the respective institutions. Having said that, it is interesting to note the many positive initiatives already being taken by many of the universities, as well as some of the planned initiatives yet to find fruition in implementation, which leads me to believe that these language policies were at one stage mythical insofar as they existed in form but not in function. The various examples cited in this article however, suggest that at all the universities discussed, there are varying forms and degrees of language policy implementation. Although the political climate seems to be transforming itself in favour of a multilingual social structure, a major stumbling block still remains attitudes on the ground. This is a situation difficult to reverse. In a situation where individuals freely subscribe to a set of values that are in favour of the ‘modernisation’ of society, where traditional values and norms become rejected or obsolete, where modernity is equated with progress, then a situation develops as explained by May (2001:141) where the modern, urban, universal values are lauded and confer prestige – whilst traditional, rural, parochial values become stigmatised. This is evident at several universities with falling numbers of students enrolling in the Disciplines of African Languages. The tendency by the African elite to denounce their own languages in favour of European languages by favouring their children being educated in English (or French for that matter) in order to maximise their employment opportunities is still a major problem at school and university level. This point is echoed in several articles in the latest issue (2014:15) of Current Issues in Language Planning (Trudell & Piper; Abongdia and Willans; Jones; Pearson; Obaidul-Hamid). The African vernacular languages need to be valorised at school and at tertiary levels of education to reverse this trend. As Hlongwa and Mkhize so rightly point out, The challenge is therefore on African intellectuals, working in tandem with like-minded intellectuals of all hues as well as the men and women of the village, the organic intellectuals, to free themselves from colonial bondage in order to perform the revolutionary task that intellectuals of other nations have done to their native languages, and that is to develop African languages as languages of scholarly discourse and technology. At universities around South Africa Kashula (2013) makes the following call: Academics need to be language activists in order to ensure that we continue to champion a quiet language revolution, creating spaces for all languages at South African universities, and African languages in particular. The road to multilingualism is indeed a forked one – it is vitally important that the appropriate fork in the road be taken in order to truly transform the continent to educationally serve all of its peoples. 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