UCT will host a Language Indaba on Thursday, 12 September 2024, in Leslie Social. This year's theme is “Creating understanding of the language policy”. Therefore, the university community is conscientious of the UCT language policy review process that is currently under way.
The proposed UCT language policy is multilingual, considering IsiXhosa, English, and Afrikaans as the university’s official languages. Other languages for development are South African Sign Language (SASL), Kaaps, and Khoekhoegowab. The language policy review at UCT aligns with the country’s New Language Policy Framework for Public Higher Education Institutions in South Africa, promulgated in 2020 by the Department of Higher Education and Training.
During the UCT Language Indaba, various language departments and divisions will share their language policy implementation projects. In addition, external enablers have been invited to assist all universities in the country with language policy matters. They are Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB), the South African Centre for Digital Language Resources (SADiLaR), and SHAKAI, which is invited to partner with UCT departments and divisions on language technologies.
Staff and students are encouraged to participate in this process to transform teaching, learning, assessments, research, and communication using technology in different languages.
The Multilingualism Education Project (MEP) at mep@uct.ac.za
Zukiswa Zono at zukiswa.zono@uct.ac.za