The Institutional Language Unit at Fundani CHED recently celebrated International Translation Day to reinforce and recognise the imperative effort made by language experts of different languages in different organisations, private as well as government.

The event's purpose was to highlight the universities' ongoing work in promoting indigenous African languages through translation and interpretation services. It was also an opportunity to share insights and collaborate on how universities can further enhance these efforts to foster multilingualism in the Western Cape and beyond.

Various speakers on the platform elaborated on the importance of translations and their challenges. In his opening address, Dr Ignatius Ticha, Faculty of Applied Sciences Language Coordinator said: “Today, we celebrate not only the invaluable work of translators and interpreters worldwide but also the critical role that translation plays in promoting multilingualism and preserving the diverse linguistic heritage of our institutions.”

Ticha, a CPUT Language Group member, welcomed guests from the University of Cape Town (UCT), Stellenbosch University (SU), the University of the Western Cape (UWC), and the Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB)).

“Your presence here signals our shared commitment to advancing the use of indigenous African languages in higher education and society at large.

He commended PanSALB for always being at the forefront of the movement to promote and “preserve the richness of South Africa’s languages, particularly Indigenous African languages”.

Delegates from each institution present were given an opportunity to present the work done by their respective institutions to promote African languages through translation services, interpreting, and terminology development in fostering multilingualism.

Written by Aphiwe Boyce
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Dr Monwabisi Ralarala, Institutional Language Co-ordinator, has been appointed by the Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB) as a Commissioner to sit on the Linguistic Human Rights Tribunal.

The tribunal has authority to adjudicate over claims or disputes concerning matters of alleged language rights’ violations. As a commissioner, Ralarala’s role is, inter alia, to adjudicate over any alleged language rights violations, claims or disputes that are brought before the tribunal and make recommendations.

As the tribunal is a brand new institution in South Africa it has to devise detailed plans and clear systems that will guide its operations before officially releasing its vision for the future.“I suppose I’m filled with excitement and honour to be part of a group of people entrusted with this high official duty and responsibility to seriously consider matters of language rights in the country,” says the language expert.“From the point of view of community engagement, the benefits are huge as my appointment will put the institution, which is hard at work in terms of implementing its language policy, on the map.”Ralarala’s academic interests include issues relating to language development, multilingualism, implementation and research.Since taking the post of Institutional Language Co-ordinator last year, under the auspices of the Fundani Centre for Higher Education Development, he has been instrumental in developing CPUT’s recently approved Language Implementation Plan.

Written by Kwanele Butana

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The second CPUT Language Indaba this year brought together academics as well as Language Rights and Translation practitioners to interrogate the university’s language policy.

Held on the Bellville Campus yesterday, the indaba was organized by the Language Working Group in collaboration with Fundani’s Language Unit under the title, The Language Question at CPUT: Marginalisation or Empowerment?

Prof Ken Barris from the Engineering Department, discussed the process followed to develop the university’s Language Policy, what its implementation has achieved and the road map of what has yet to happen.  

Delivering the keynote address, Prof Pamela Maseko from the Rhodes University’s School of African Languages, said the language problem affects all those living in South Africa.

“While there have been some institutions that have pioneered with teaching, learning and research practices that embrace African Languages others continue to ignore their relevance in higher education,” said Maseko.

She argued that monolingualism at national universities flies in the face of statutory language policies which recognize the importance of both individual and societal multilingualism.

Dr Nina Du Toit, former Head of CPUT’s Disability Unit, discussed how lecturers can support students with disabilities concerning learning, language and speech so that they perform at their optimal best.

Dr Nomfundo Mali, Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB) provincial manager, discussed pieces of legislation that guarantee language rights to individuals and the government’s role in developing those languages.

Dr Sebolelo Mokapela from Parliament’s Language Services Section, Western Cape Language Services’ Xolisa Tshongolo and CPUT’s Thembinkosi Mtonjeni (Student Learning Unit) reflected on the translation practices in their institutions.  

The Indaba, which was supported by PanSALB, was attended by language specialists, curriculum officers, students and academics.  

Written by Kwanele Butana
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Two students enrolled for the Bachelor of Education: FET Specialization received R60 000 each from the Dr Neville Alexander Language Scholarship.

Nothukela Mnyeka and Siphenathi Qumbelo were selected from the top ten first-year BEd: FET Specialization students majoring in isiXhosa at CPUT and had to compete with students from other universities.

Since it was established in 2013, this is the first time that CPUT students benefitted from the scholarship which is only awarded to South African students.

Established by PanSALB to provide financial support to students who are advancing their studies in African languages, the scholarship encourages academic interests in disciplines that promote multilingualism and mother tongue education at all levels of learning.

Lecturer Zakhile Somlata says that to ensure that CPUT made an impression to the scholarship’s adjudicators, the students’ applications were prepared in conjunction with CPUT’s Institutional Language Co-ordinator, Dr Monwabisi Ralarala.

“This opportunity should be grabbed with both hands as it is a good start which has paved the way for more students to be awarded in the future, especially those from disadvantaged communities,” says Somlata.

Head of the Department, Mogamat Marlie, commended Somlata for initiating the application process with PanSALB.

“I congratulate the winners for flying CPUT’s flag high, as they competed against other universities,” says Marlie.

Alexander was a vocal proponent of multilingualism in the post-apartheid South Africa who passed away in 2012 at 75 years of age. Due to his commitment to the promotion of the use and development of indigenous languages, PanSALB commemorated him by naming its scholarship after this major advocate of linguistic diversity.

Written by Kwanele Butana
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In an endeavour to implement the University’s policy of multilingualism, the Institutional Language Unit recently hosted a SWiP Project Workshop at Bellville Campus.

The SWiP (SADiLaR-Wikipedia-PanSALB) is a collaborative initiative by the South African Centre for Digital Language Resources (SADiLaR); the free encyclopedia (Wikipedia) and the Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB).

The project was officially launched on 20 September 2023 at the University of South Africa. While the SWiP launch event shone a spotlight specifically on isiNdebele to encourage the Ndebele people to actively participate in contributing content to Wikipedia, the SWiP project is aimed at promoting all South Africa’s indigenous languages online. It does so by bringing together communities of indigenous language users and giving them the skills to create and review content on Wikipedia. In doing so, they collectively increase their respective languages’ digital footprint.

The delegation included representatives from CPUT, Wikipedia and PanSALB.

Dr Kabelo Sebolai, Head: Language Unit, said they were asked by SADiLAR to be the hosts of the workshop and that they were among the 10 universities selected from the 26 to do this. On the first day of the workshop, Wikipedia delegate, Michael Graaf provided a presentation on:

• History of Wikipedia
• The five pillars of Wikipedia
• The Wikimedia Community support and projects

On the second day of the workshop Graaf started with a recap from Day 1 which was followed by training in editing/improving an article, translating an article and article creation. Sebolai said the workshop was a success. He said: “We learned how to use Wikipedia for translations into and editing African languages. As part of language policy implementation, the bulk of the work we do in the language unit involves translation and editing.”

He enthused: “The workshop introduced us to strategies for language and writing development using Wikipedia. The strategies will be useful in our ongoing endeavour to implement the university’s policy of multilingualism”.

Written by Aphiwe Boyce
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