Spotlight falls on language diversity

CPUT recently celebrated International Mother Language Day (IMLD), shining a spotlight on the richness of linguistic and cultural diversity.

With the theme: “My Language Matters”, the occasion, which was held at the South African Renewable Energy Technology Centre, serves as a vivid reminder that language shapes people’s identity, culture, and fundamental rights. Dr Kabelo Sebolai, Institutional Language Coordinator, said the IMLD has its roots in Bangladesh, commemorating the events of 21 February 1952, when students in Dhaka were killed during demonstrations advocating for the recognition of Bengali as one of the state languages of Pakistan. “This day became a symbol of the struggle to preserve linguistic identity,” he said.

Dr Bonke Xakatha, Lecturer in the African Language Studies Department at the University of the Western Cape, and Prof Alta Vos, formerly from the Department of Humanities Education of the University of Pretoria, delivered keynote addresses. The IMLD event included a student debate on the theme of the event with the Director of the Centre for Inclusivity, Diversity and Social Change, Brightness Mangolothi, subsequently sharing insights from this debate from the point of view of transformation.

“This event is always organised in line with the university’s language policy. This policy promotes multilingualism. Being able to speak more than one language is a remarkable feat. It empowers those who achieve it immensely.”

Sebolai continued: “The value of the mother tongue in both education and social life in general cannot be emphasised enough. Language is the lens through which its speakers view and interpret the world around them. It is a means through which one’s worldview is shaped. When languages are allowed to die, the various ways to view the world also die. This detracts from all the benefits that diversity carries.”

In her keynote address, Vos said: “Today, Afrikaans finds itself in a different position. While it remains vibrant in literature, media, and everyday life, its role in academia and science has shifted. English has become dominant in many institutions, and Afrikaans must negotiate its place within a multilingual South Africa. Yet, despite these challenges, Afrikaans continues to produce scholarship and sustain communities of knowledge. Its scientific status may no longer be exclusive, but it is far from extinguished.”

In his speech, Language as Identity, Cognition, Power and Epistemic Freedom, Xakatha said that language is foundational to identity. He said that the mother tongue forms the first world a child inhabits. “Through it, one learns not only vocabulary, but categories of meaning, systems of respect, forms of relationality, and moral orientation,” Xakatha noted, saying that the significance of the mother tongue is not only cultural but cognitive and that language operates within structures of power.

He said mother tongue matters because it is capable of theory, abstraction, science, theology, and philosophy. “It is not merely for the home, but it is for the university.”

Xakatha continued: “Language shapes spirituality and moral imagination. Sacred texts translated into mother tongues transform faith into lived experience.”

Mangolothi, who provided insight into the student debate, noted that the debate illustrated the profound ways in which language shapes identity, inclusion, and the sense of belonging within universities. “The dialogue underscored that belonging is not merely about speaking the dominant language, but about being acknowledged, respected, and valued for one’s authentic self,” she remarked.

Mangolothi continued: “[The] students raised critical questions: Can I belong if I don’t speak the same language as those around me? The responses highlighted that inclusion is not only about language but also about values, care, kindness, and respect. Belonging means being accepted without assimilation, bringing one’s full identity into the space.”

The Faculty of Business and Management Sciences (FBMS) Acting Language Coordinator, Nobuhle Luphondo, who is also the Communication Lecturer: Management and Project Management Department, said the diversity of languages, with English, isiXhosa, and Afrikaans as the main ones, highlighted the pride students and staff have in their mother tongues. The debate session showed that language is more than just a communication tool; it also represents identity, leadership, and inclusion. “The atmosphere reflected unity in diversity — different languages, yet one shared purpose: to affirm that every language matters and every voice deserves to be heard.

“’Ulwimi lwam lubalulekile’, ‘My taal maak saak’, ‘Lulwimi lwanga lu na ndeme’.”

Mangolothi added that the event was a reminder that language is about culture, identity, and belonging. “To move forward, institutions must embrace multilingualism not as an idealistic dream but as a practical necessity. This debate revealed that language is both a barrier and a bridge. It can exclude, but it can also connect. The challenge for higher education is to ensure that language becomes a tool of belonging, justice, and transformation.”

Written by Aphiwe Boyce
Email: BoyceAp@cput.ac.za