As a country with an already disparate education system, a large cohort of un-and-under-
prepared students, large classes, and contentious debates around language, the support
provided from/in a writing centre may be crucial to the academic success of students. The
student of today is mainly multilingual, operating in a higher education environment that is
largely monolingual. Students are in general challenged by the expectations of academic
writing, and by extension, issues related to comprehending and evaluating sources,
synthesising information from multiple texts, summarising and paraphrasing source texts;
and citation and referencing (Wette, 2019:35) to name a few. This is exacerbated by the
often-mystified disciplinary expectations when writing in the disciplines, and the language
barrier. This exploratory study has two main aims. The first is to determine the academic
writing challenges experienced by multilingual students in the faculty of health science at a
local university. The second related aim is to conduct a needs analysis with both faculty and
students in the Health Sciences to determine students’ views of their writing challenges and
needs, lecturers’ views of students’ challenges and needs, as well as whether there is
support from faculty and students for the establishment of a faculty-specific, multilingual
writing centre. Data will be collected through the use of two questionnaires (one to students
and the other to faculty) as well as focus group interviews (with both groups). Both
researchers will take responsibility for the transcription and analysis. Findings from this study
will be useful to inform the teaching of academic writing, but will also serve as motivation for
the possible establishment of a multilingual faculty-specific writing centre.

Linguistic skills (Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing) are the most essential skills in academia for students to succeed with their academic life. It is noted (Ng and Bartlett, 2017, Hebert, et. al. 2013, Graham and Herbert, 2010, Sibomana (2017)) that in most cases, students can speak well but struggle when it comes to writing. This study looks at the linguistic obstacles to comprehension and how comprehension becomes an academic barrier to learning for the majority of students. This research was carried out using and interpretive paradigm (Manion,2006) through the use of questionnaires and interviews to solicit data. The results of this study indicate a strong need for students in the humanities to be empowered with reading strategies since most students (75%) could not comprehend and critique academic texts at a level required at tertiary education. Students struggle with both reading and writing and this affect their pass rate, not only in language subjects but in other content subjects as well. Students need various ways to engage with texts, such as reading strategies so that they are able to comprehend academic texts.

Author: Mr. Maselepe Phineas Chidi, English language Education Lecturer, Department of Language Education, Arts, and Culture, University of South Africa (UNISA).
Abstract: SAALT Conference, 2023

Title: Exploring Teachers’ Perspectives on South Africa’s “Foreign” Language of Learning and Teaching: Towards breaking linguistic shackles
Abstract
In South Africa, most schools use English First Additional Language (EFAL), an equivalent of English Second Language (ESL), as the language of learning and teaching (LOLT). This practice deliberately ignores overwhelming research evidence suggesting that mother-tongue instruction significantly improves learning outcomes.
I argue that retaining English, a relic of colonialism, and a “foreign” language as a medium of instruction in African language schools constitutes epistemic violence. The pro-English language-in-education policy serves the interests of colonialism by preserving the hegemony of English and marginalizing supposedly “official” African languages.
The case study reported here sought to explore teachers’ perspectives on the vexing issue of mother-tongue teaching. Five teachers were purposively sampled for this study. Focus group interviews and classroom observations were used to collect data that were subsequently analyzed inductively using big-Q Thematic Analysis processes.
Teachers appreciate the challenges of using a foreign language as the language of teaching, and the possible influence of mother tongue teaching in improving learning outcomes. However, teachers are hesitant about the role of African languages in uniting people and opening doors to the economy. The findings show that while mother-tongue teaching may be a critical step in redressing the epistemic violence of the colonial era and arresting the hegemony of English, a mere switching of tongues in the classroom is not sufficient unless it is complemented by socio-economic transformation.

The agenda of liberating the global south in research and publication has taken the centre stage in numerous African institutions of higher learning. Notably, there have also been efforts to create avenues for Africans to publish their research work, of which some of the work address local issues, ideologies and practices. This has enabled the continent to make a contribution to the global literature in various disciplines, considering that there are certain fields that are minimally explored from the African perspectives. One area that has not been well established is the publication of research work in most African languages. This paper is centred around issues associated with promoting African languages through scholarly publications. The study adopted a desktop research approach in reviewing extensive literature on multilingualism in scholarly publications. The study also adopts the case study research design to examine to the readership of journal articles published in African languages in the Journal of the University of Namibia Language Centre (JULACE). The review reveals some challenges regarding the promotion of African languages, particularly in scholarly publications. The review further shows that the challenges vary when examined through the lenses of structure, culture and agency (Archer, 2003; Shalyefu, 2017). Considering Archer’s SCA, there are, however, existing strategies that have been proposed and practised to promote African languages. It is promising that the analysis shows that the articles published in African languages seem to continue attracting good readership, just as good as those published in the English language. The paper also suggests ways to promote African languages through scholarly publications.

The release of ChatGPT, an artificial-intelligence (AI) interface that produces responses based on patterns it has learnt from a large dataset of human languages (Lai et al., 2023), in November 2022 has likely left universities unprepared for the possibility that their students will utilise the technology to produce texts for them. The use of AI interfaces is problematic because it can dissuade students from investing the time and effort in producing their own writing, thereby limiting their comprehension of a topic (Crawford et al., 2023; Sullivan et al., 2023). It also makes it difficult for lecturers to assess the extent to which students understand their assignment instructions. This situation has caused concern for an Academic Literacy department at the North-West University, where lecturers have had to grapple with the reality that some students have used the technology to write an academic essay in 2023. Against this background, this exploratory study will set out the implications of students’ possible use of the technology in the subject Academic Literacy and discuss possible strategies to limit its use. The conclusion is reached that although AI interfaces pose numerous challenges to lecturers in Academic Literacy, these challenges can possibly be mitigated by carefully considering the assignment instructions and the skills it expects students to demonstrate.

References
Crawford, J., Cowling, M. & Allen, K-A. 2023. Leadership is needed for ethical ChatGPT: Character, assessment, and learning using artificial intelligence. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 20(3).

Lai, V., Ngo, N., Veysey, A., Dernoncourt, F., Bui, T. & Nguyen, T. 2023. ChatGPT beyond English: Towards a comprehensive evaluation of large larguage models in multilingual learning. arXiv preprint arXiv:2304.05613

Sullivan, M., Kelly, A. & McLaughlan, P. 2023. ChatGPT in higher education: Considerations for academic integrity and student learning. Journal of Applied Learning & Teaching, 6(1):1–10.

The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (1996:4) currently officially recognizes eleven languages, and these are Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, isiXhosa, isiZulu, Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, SiSwati, Tshivenda, and Xitsonga. The Constitution further states that “everyone has the right to receive education in the official language or languages of their choice in public educational institutions where that education is reasonably practicable”. According to the South African Human Rights Commission Report on Transformation at Public Universities in South Africa (2016: 12) language continues to be one of the barriers to access and success for many students in the higher education institutions. While the linguistic and cultural diversity of South Africa is celebrated, the practicality and complexity of ensuring that all the 11 languages are developed “in order to achieve parity of esteem” (Constitution, 1996) with English and Afrikaans, so that they can all be used in teaching and learning, research, science, and innovation continues to be an elephant in the room. The current language policy framework for public higher education institutions, which came into effect in January 2022, seeks to address this complex language issue in the higher education sector by promoting multilingualism and strengthening the use of all official languages in different domains of the sector. Against this backdrop this paper seeks to critically examine the philosophical underpinnings of this framework, its provisions as an enabling instrument and its limitations towards addressing the overarching imperatives of student access and success, and transformation in higher education.

Language plays a crucial role in learning as it is through language that children develop ideas or concepts of the world around them. But when the language used for teaching and learning is not a language familiar to them, it becomes a barrier to learning. In a multilingual environment of the learner population in the intermediate phase, learners whose mother tongue is Setswana in the North West province remain disadvantaged as a result of the teaching and learning of mathematics in a foreign language. The epistemic uptake of these learners is flagrantly impeded due to a lack of linguistic resources for epistemic access to the rich lexicon of the knowledge discipline of mathematics. The current approach of officialdom maintains the status quo, perpetuating a Black child’s pedagogic disadvantage.
In this futuristic scholarly paper, a new solution is proposed that incorporates the linguistic background; cultural artifacts; context, and African axioms to enrich the teaching and learning situation with respect to mathematics. The solution is approached in the framework of multilingualism, using the mixed research methodology. The implications of this radical teaching model show that contextualisation drawn from the indigenous knowledge domain enhances the teaching and learning outcomes as a result of the beneficent congruence with respect to the cultural and linguistic background of the learner

The use of multilingualism in the foreign language classroom is a topic that has become more prevalent among language educators. It is primarily theoretical frameworks such as the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) that recognizes the use of multilingualism in learning and teaching languages and encourages the use of students’ first language when learning a new language. This study focused on the use of multilingualism in the teaching and learning of Afrikaans as a foreign language. The primary research objective of the study was to determine how students use their first language when learning to speak Afrikaans. The secondary research objective was to establish whether the multilingual teaching materials used in the classroom supported the students when learning Afrikaans. The participants were all enrolled in a conversational Afrikaans course. They are multilingual and can already speak at least three South African languages. A qualitative method was used during the study, where students were asked to complete a questionnaire followed by semi-structured interviews based on the answers given in the questionnaire. The study found that multilingualism in the classroom can help with language acquisition, especially when students are allowed to see how their first language compares with the target language. This allows students to make connections between their first language and the target language. The study’s significance lies in the finding that the use of multilingualism in the foreign language classroom can add to a more inclusive and effective learning environment.

The language-specific curriculum follows an additive bilingual approach to multilingualism, in which all students learn at least one additional official language on a second language level—typically English—while learning, maintaining, and developing their “home language”. As a result, teaching learners to read in their home language improves their reading abilities (PIRLS, 2021). The South African PIRLS 2016 study revealed that the learners in grades 4 and 5 performed poorly in reading comprehension in English, Afrikaans, and indigenous languages. Given South Africa’s low literacy rates, it is critical to investigate reading as a sociocultural and cognitive activity and to determine the components that contribute to the proper development of reading comprehension abilities in the intermediate phase. (Howie et al. 2017).
The aim is to examine the reading comprehension abilities, socioeconomic status, and language proficiency in English, Setswana, and Afrikaans in grade 4 and 5 classes in select North-West schools. A mixed-methods design will be used in the study. Data will be collected by means of comprehension assessments, questionnaires, observations, and interviews. The reading comprehension and socioeconomic status (SES) of learners will be investigated using quantitative methods by administering a PIRLS reading comprehension test in English, Setswana, and Afrikaans, and a SES questionnaire will be provided to the students.
Furthermore, the reading comprehension instruction will be assessed qualitatively via observations of lessons on how reading comprehension is taught. Structured interviews with teachers whose lessons will be observed will be conducted, guided by an observation schedule and the interview questionnaire. The research aims to contribute insights into how multilingual proficiency can be improved by addressing the challenges faced in the teaching of Afrikaans, Setswana, and English. It aims to illustrate that language proficiency and adequate resources may enhance learners’ reading comprehension.