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Munene Mwaniki
11 Chasing a phantom: Afrikaans in higher education
in the globalisation era
The chapter explores an under-researched aspect of South African higher education
(HE), namely its language dynamics, from a relatively new perspective of eects
of globalisation on language dynamics in South African HE. With a specic focus
on Afrikaans, and using three data sets derived from an on-going research on
sociolinguistics of South Africa’s higher education at the University of the Free State
(UFS) in South Africa, the chapter brings to the fore the complexities attendant to
policy and programme initiatives aimed at maintaining Afrikaans as a language of HE
in the face of globalisation forces. The rst data set—referred to as “sociolinguistics
of social justice”—rst presented in Mwaniki (2012a) points to Afrikaans in South
Africa’s HE being perceived as inimical to social justice; an idea that is largely
associated with the spread of democracy, a spread which in turn is a consequence
of globalisation. The second data set—referred to as “sociolinguistics of knowledge
production and dissemination”—rst presented in Mwaniki (2014) demonstrates
how globalisation pressures emanating from the now widely accepted international
benchmark in HE of publishing research in internationally accredited journals has
led to a publishing shi at this South African university. The third data set—referred to
as “sociolinguistics of learning resources”—presented for the rst time in this chapter
shows how, despite UFS’s overt language policy that advocates for use of Afrikaans in
teaching and learning, non-availability of up-to-date learning resources in Afrikaans
largely due to global book market dynamics beyond institutional or country control
is gradually eroding the status of Afrikaans as a language of teaching and learning in
South African HE. According to Terreblanche (2002: 3-4):
With the election of 1994, and the introduction of a proper democratic system, the misguided
attempts by some white South Africans – both English and Afrikaans-speaking – to maintain
a ‘white’ political system were finally and thoroughly defeated. Consequently, all whites (irres-
pective of their political orientation) have been at liberty to take stock – hopefully with as open
a mind as possible – of all the false trails on which they travelled for so long, and the phantoms
they pursued with such conviction and enthusiasm. Of course, it has not been easy for white
South Africans (or most of them at least) to acknowledge the evils of colonialism, segregation,
and apartheid, and the fallaciousness of the arguments used to legitimise those forms of oppres-
sion. However, if whites do not critically re-evaluate their past, they cannot expect the victims of
colonialism to accept them as trustworthy companions in building a common future.
The inability “to acknowledge the evils of colonialism, segregation, and apartheid
and the fallaciousness of the arguments used to legitimise these forms of oppression”
Munene Mwaniki, University of the Free State/University of the Witwatersrand – Johannesburg, South Africa
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184 Chasing a phantom: Afrikaans in higher education in the globalisation era
(Terreblanche, 2002:4), aside, an enduring diculty for white Afrikaans-speaking
South Africans – at home and in the diaspora – has been to acknowledge the gradual
and almost inevitable displacement of Afrikaans as a high-status language in domains
such as higher education; and legitimately so.
First, the diculty can be attributed to an existential reality. Afrikaans, a
language developed on the back of the now proven tenuous Eurocentric notion of
the analogous relationship between ethno linguistic identity, the nation state and a
rigorous racial colonial ethic, has been integral to the discursive construction and
sustenance of Afrikaner identity; an identity constructed as an apex identity atop of
the socio-cultural, political and economic arrangements in South Africa. A change in
these arrangements that accompanied the democratic transition of 1994 has created
a deep existential crisis on the part of the Afrikaner. This is because the Afrikaner is
adri in unfamiliar territory of not controlling the levers of State that were critically
instrumental in developing the language in the larger part of the 20th century. Second,
the diculty is explainable by the contemporary reality that in a country where in
the words of Bargueňo, “in order to escape apartheid racial categories, tensions
between ‘Whites’ and ‘Africans’ have been described as politics between Afrikaans-
speakers and speakers of other languages” (Bargueňo, 2012: 2). Almost invariably,
Afrikaans is made to bear the burden of its history with concomitant negative
language attitudes towards the language on the part of speakers of other languages in
South Africa. Without a nationalist government to prop the language in high function
domains and with an overwhelming majority of South African population with either
ambivalent or negative attitudes towards the language due to its burden of history,
there is an inevitability of the language ceding ground in high function domains.
Third, the diculty is explainable by the near helplessness in mitigating the eects
of globalisation on the language especially in high function domains, such as higher
education and science.
A core idea in the ensuing discussion is that in the face of globalisation and
compelling data i.e., the three cases presented in this chapter, the Afrikaners do not
need to engage in another pursuit of a phantom in the name of propping the language
in high function domains such as higher education. Rather, what may be appropriate
is to explore how the synergies unleashed by globalisation can be used to address the
underlying factors that have led to the diminishing status of Afrikaans in high function
domains such as high education. The discussion is presented in four parts. The rst
part frames the entire discussion by addressing some of myths around Afrikaans in
relation to higher education. The second part addresses itself to the intersections
between globalisation and higher education in emerging economies and the place of
language in these intersections. The third presents three data sets from an on-going
research project on Sociolinguistics of South Africa’s higher education by the author
and an appraisal of the myths around Afrikaans in relation to higher education in
light of insights from the data sets. The nal part presents the conclusions.
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Addressing some myths around Afrikaans in relation to higher education 185
11.1 Addressing some myths around Afrikaans in relation to higher
education
The discourse on Afrikaans’ place and maintenance in higher education which
oscillates between ‘language rights’ and ‘language rights in education’ discourses,
oen masks a deep-seated but enduring metanarrative on the contestations between
the Afrikaners and the English at the turn of the last century, and with almost every
other ethno linguistic grouping within what is the territory currently referred to as
Republic of South Africa for the better part the last century. According to Alexander
(2003 :8), Lord Milner:
Introduced a punitive Anglicisation policy, directed in the first instance at the white Afrikaans-
speaking community throughout the territory that became the Union of South Africa in 1910…
the policy gave rise to what eventually became among white Afrikaans-speaking people a rabid,
racist, and narrow ethnic chauvinism, based essentially on shared language, religious orien-
tation and alleged descent… in a word, Milnerism… helped to entrench the racist version of
Afrikaner nationalism that eventually gave birth to the political policy of apartheid. Language
became the issue around which the ethnic consciousness of what in effect came to be “the Afri-
kaner community”, i.e. white Afrikaans-speaking South Africans, crystallised. The fact that the
struggle for the recognition of their language as an official language equal in status to English
in the new dominion of the Union of South Africa was closely related to the struggle for “their”
land and the independence of the republics they had lost and in which, among other things, gold
and diamond deposits had been found, gave rise to a habitus in which certain “white” varieties
of the Afrikaans language featured as one of the criteria for being Afrikaner. This passion for
the language has had extremely destructive effects, as manifested, for example, in the Soweto
uprising of the black youth in 1976 against the unjust imposition on black schoolchildren of
Afrikaans-medium (next to English-medium) instruction in the racially segregated classrooms
of that time.
The ‘rabid, racist, and narrow ethnic chauvinism, based essentially on shared
language, religious orientation and alleged descent’ metanarrative has however
found trans-generational currency, especially with regard to the “ethno-nationalism
so apparent in the contestation about Afrikaans in higher education in South Africa
today” (van der Waal, 2012: 446), largely because of some enduring myths. This should
not be surprising because the entire enterprise of construction of Afrikaner identity,
without an essential primordial base, was a deeply mythologised discursive practice.
It is important however, to note that the use of the phraseology “myths around
Afrikaans” is not this author’s invention. Quoting Nienaber (1959), Beukes (2007:245)
refers to the deliberative craing of these myths “through a process of myth-making,
[and] Afrikaner ideologues have viewed the genesis of Afrikaans from a vulgar
patois and its rapid development into a modern public language through rose-tinted
glasses.” Nevertheless, with the debate on language in South Africa’s higher education
and Afrikaans in South Africa’s higher education having been specically high on
national and international consciousness, these enduring myths around Afrikaans
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186 Chasing a phantom: Afrikaans in higher education in the globalisation era
need to either be disabused or put into perspective. The discussion of these myths
frames the rest of the discussion.
11.1.1 Myth 1: “The Miracle of Afrikaans”
There are references to “the miracle of Afrikaans” in the literature such as Alexander
(2009). A most erudite rendition of this myth however, is Beukes (2007). According to
Beukes (2007: 246):
The construction of the mythical representation of the miracle of Afrikaans and Afrikaner langu-
age heroes’ achievements climaxed during ‘die Wonder van Afrikaans’ festival, a series of nation-
wide language festivities held from 6 April to 31 May 1959 in honour of the Afrikaans language.
The festivities were part of the golden jubilee celebration of the Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir
Wetenskap en Kuns, a body established in 1909 to promote the Afrikaans language and culture.
Looking back on half a century’s labour in aid of Afrikaner nationalism’s most prized possession,
the Afrikaans language, its vernacularisation and standardisation process was communicated
by Afrikaner ideologues as miraculous in a variety of publications and public presentations.
To underscore the trans-generational currency of this myth, it recently surfaced in a
presentation³ by famed anthropological linguist Kwesi Kwaa Prah. Professor Prah
termed the development of Afrikaans a “miracle” and proceeded to compare it to
the development of Hebrew and Bahasa Indonesia. The argument was that there are
lessons to be learnt from how these languages have developed in the modern era
in bids aimed at developing African indigenous languages to codes betting higher
functions like higher education. However, this kind of analysis misses a fundamental
historical material fact in the development of Afrikaans, and by extension the other
two languages i.e., Hebrew and Bahasa Indonesia, a fact that I pointed out to Professor
Prah in the August 2015 Symposium.
Starting with Afrikaans, there was nothing ‘miraculous’ in the development of
the language. History bears it out that the language was developed by a minority
government—a euphemism for a dictatorship—that presided over one of the most
brutal regimes in the modern era and one that committed gross human rights
violations and other crimes against man. In short, Afrikaans developed on the might
of the brute force of institutionalised racial capitalism before 1948, and on the back
of indigenous Afrikaner-led colonialism aer 1948. With regard to Hebrew, there has
been nothing miraculous with its development in the modern era, which has been
supported by the state machinery of a succession of nationalist governments of the
State of Israel. Inasmuch as these governments may not be characterised as being
Prah, K. K. (2015). Language, literacy and the African development challenge. A Keynote Address
delivered at the Second Wits International Language and Literacy Symposium, hosted by the Division
of Languages, Literacies and Literatures of Wits School of Education, 8–10 August 2015.
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Addressing some myths around Afrikaans in relation to higher education 187
outright dictatorial, the State of Israel has been variously described as a ‘pretending
democracy’ and an ‘ethnocratic state’ (cf. Jeenah, 2012) and a ‘democracy for a
minority’ (cf. Kasrils, 2012). Similarly, Bahasa Indonesia developed as a high status
language under the regimes of Surkano and Suharto. The democratic credentials of
these regimes were not particularly deep. It would be a mistake to assume that this
historically situated analysis is selective or isolated. Examples of how non-democratic
governments have been ecient in developing languages extend beyond the three
examples from Professor Prah. The development of Amharic in Ethiopia (cf. Cooper
1989) happed under a succession of regimes that were everything but democratic. The
development of Swahili in Tanzania (cf. Legère, 2006; Blommaert, 1996; 2006) also
did not happen under democratic conditions.
A consistent motif in all these “language miracles” is that they have happened on
the back of a decit in democracy. The spread and entrenchment of democracy is an
idea intimately and inextricably related to modern conceptualisations of and trends
in globalisation. At a cursory level, the “miracle of Afrikaans” can be posited as the
phantasmagorical framing of the arduous work that went into making Afrikaans a
language betting high status functions like being a language of higher education.
At a deeper level however, it is dicult to contemplate replication of the “miracle
of Afrikaans” in relation to its maintenance in high function domains. For example,
while the state may be obliged to develop all South African ocial languages in higher
education within a democratic dispensation, the same democratic dispensation
guarantees citizens the right to exercise their right not to receive language related
goods and services such as higher education in their mother tongue. Eectively, the
real “language miracle” would be a two-pronged endeavour: (a)the development of
a language for a high function domain such as higher education in the context of
democratic contestations, and (b) the sustenance of a language such as Afrikaans that
was developed in an insular environment sheltered from the contestations of modern
democracy and globalisation in high function domains such as higher education.
11.1.2 Myth 2: Afrikaans “is a well developed language of academia and science”
Another myth that surrounds persistent arguments for the continued use of Afrikaans in
higher education is the assertion that it is a well-developed language of academia and
science. This argument would only hold true if the position of Afrikaans in academia
and science is contrasted with the position in academia and science of the previously
marginalised South African languages. The latter’s position in academia and science
is a consequence of Afrikaans ascendancy in academia and science or, to paraphrase
Thiong’o (1993), Afrikaans developed as a language of academia and science on
the graveyard of South Africa’s previously marginalised languages’ development as
languages of academia and science. What is increasingly apparent is that Afrikaans
no longer holds its own as a language of academia and science in the globalisation era
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188 Chasing a phantom: Afrikaans in higher education in the globalisation era
with its concomitant insistence on an international bibliometric assessment system
of a country’s research outputs in relation to international standards. Gevers (2006:
1) succinctly captures the quandary that Afrikaans nds itself in this changed global
knowledge production terrain by documenting:
Assessment of a country’s (South Africa’s) research productivity by the proxy of international
bibliometric and other forms of survey analysis based on peer-reviewed publications in research
journals may not be adequate from a number of different points of view, but there appear to be
few alternatives. Amongst the accepted confounding issues are language, coverage of a particu-
lar field of knowledge, and national/regional focus. While the Journal Citation Reports (JCR) (of
the Institute for Scientific Information, ISI) contains journals published in 36 languages, all of
which meet the system’s requirements for English-language translated indexing components,
none of South Africa’s Afrikaans journals are included. Afrikaans has been developed to a full-
vocabulary scientific reporting language and there is no prima facie reason why an Afrikaans
journal should not be indexed if it meets the general selection criteria.
Mwaniki points out that the assertion that “there is no prima facie reason why an
Afrikaans journal should not be indexed if it meets the general selection criteria” is
one that is open to contestation and proceeds to posit that:
A fundamental consideration in advancing a contestation to this line of thinking would be the
fact that Afrikaans as a language of scientific reporting is largely confined to sections of South
Africa’s research community; and to a lesser extent to sections of the research community in
the Republic of Namibia – only. Effectively, Afrikaans scientific reporting is largely an insular
exercise that does not advance intellectual debate and dialogue at a regional, let alone global,
level. (Mwaniki, 2014: 202)
Without the language being used in top-rated national and international journals
essentially because of a globalised knowledge economy primarily riding on English
as a global scientic language, it is a matter of time before Afrikaans cedes ground as
a language of academia and, that is if it has not already done so.
11.1.3 Myth 3: Not having Afrikaans in higher education “violates the Constitution”
There is an enduring myth in some sections of South Africa’s higher education
especially in the so-called Historically Afrikaans Medium Universities (HAUs) that not
having Afrikaans in higher education “violates the Constitution”. Existential reality
does not back the myth. Basically, there is no constitutional textual support for the
myth, and there is no case law support for the myth. From an existential perspective,
all public universities in South Africa that are English medium would exist in violation
of the Constitution. From a constitutional text perspective, there is no text in South
Africa’s 1996 Constitution (Act 108 of 1996) that supports the myth. The applicable
clause in the Constitution is Section 29, which inter alia states:
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Addressing some myths around Afrikaans in relation to higher education 189
Everyone has the right –1.
to a basic education, including adult basic education; anda.
to further education, which the state, through reasonable measures, must b.
make progressively available and accessible.
2. Everyone has the right to receive education in the ocial language or languages of
their choice in public educational institutions where that education is reasonably
practicable. In order to ensure the eective access to, and implementation of, this
right, the state must consider all reasonable educational alternatives, including
single medium institutions, taking into account –
a. equity;
b. racticality; and
c. the need to redress the results of past racially discriminatory laws and
practices.
To cast a spotlight on the myth under consideration in light of the above constitutional
text, it is important to document the overarching ideology of the 1996 South African
Constitution, namely Transformative Constitutionalism, pursuant to which an
appraisal will ensue. According to Klare (1998: 150) transformative constitutionalism
entails:
A long-term project of constitutional enactment, interpretation, and enforcement committed
(not in isolation, of course, but in a historical context of conducive political developments) to
transforming a country’s political and social institutions and power relationships in a demo-
cratic, participatory, and egalitarian direction. Transformative constitutionalism connotes an
enterprise of inducing large-scale social change through nonviolent political processes groun-
ded in law. I have in mind a transformation vast enough to be inadequately captured by the
phrase ‘reform’, but something short of or different from ‘revolution’ in any traditional sense of
the word. In the background is an idea of a highly egalitarian, caring, multicultural community,
governed through participatory, democratic processes in both the polity and large portions of
what we now call the ‘private sphere’.
A critical reading of Section 29 against the background of the overarching ideology of
the Constitution as outlined above, contrary to the myth under consideration, could
be interpreted as an injunction against language being used to make higher education
progressively unavailable and inaccessible to sections of South African population.
In light of the foregoing analysis, what the purveyors of this myth have diculty
appreciating is that South Africa’s higher education terrain cannot remain beholden
to language politics of an erstwhile era, especially when such a language politics
in general and Afrikaans language politics in particular was and is used to racially
discriminate against people of colour accessing higher education. Having been
Cf. (a) Case No.: CCT 40/09 [2009] ZACC 32 in the Constitutional Court of South Africa in the mat-Cf. (a) Case No.: CCT 40/09 [2009] ZACC 32 in the Constitutional Court of South Africa in the mat-
ter between Head of Department: Mpumalanga Department of Education, Minister for Education and
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190 Chasing a phantom: Afrikaans in higher education in the globalisation era
tested up to the Constitutional Court, it can be postulated that purveyors of this myth
could be aware of the slim chances of success of any legal/constitutional challenge
to maintain Afrikaans in higher education in view of the overarching ideology of the
Constitution and in light of South Africa’s peculiar history. This explains an enduring
reluctance to test this myth at the highest court in South Africa, i.e. the Constitutional
Court, because failure at the Constitutional Court would completely vanquish the
Afrikaner ‘civil society’ juggernaut that relies on this myth to fundraise.
11.1.4 Myth 4: It was an act of benevolence on the part of Historically Afrikaans
Medium Universities (HAUs) to grant access to non-Afrikaans speakers through
parallel medium instruction
The assertion that it was an act of benevolence on the part of HAUs to grant access
to non-Afrikaans speakers through parallel medium of instruction ies in the face of
historical and material facts. In fact, the prevalence of this discourse in South African
higher education bodes well with the revisionist streak that is integral to the myth
making that has accompanied the development of Afrikaans for the better part of the
last 100 years. To better understand this argument, it is important to get a snapshot of
how HAUs evolved. Du Plessis (2006: 97-98) documents:
The bilingual universities (where bilingual Afrikaans-speaking students were the majority)
slowly evolved into monolingual Afrikaans-speaking universities. Steyn (1993a: 254 ff) descri-
bes this process at the Universities of Stellenbosch, Pretoria, Free State and Potchefstroom since
1918. He identifies at least three crucial factors in this development, viz. the demand for Afri-
kaans higher education (among students and the public in general), the language competency of
students (especially bilingual Afrikaans-speaking students as opposed to monolingual English-
speaking students) and language loyalty among Afrikaans speakers (Steyn, 1994: 44-46). The
Hoërskool Ermelo, heard on 20 August 2009, decided on 14 October 2009. (b) Case No.: 219/08
[2009] ZASCA 22 in the Supreme Court of Appeal of the Republic of South Africa in the matter between
Hoërskool Ermelo v The Head of Department of Education: Mpumalanga heard on 12 March 2009,
decided on 27 March 2009. (c) Case No.: 3062/2007 in the High Court of South Africa (Transvaal Pro-
vincial Division) in the matter between Hoërskool Ermelo and The Head of Department: Mpumalanga
Department of Education heard on 4 September 2007, decided 17 October 2007. (d) Case No.: 140/05
in the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa in the matter between the Western Cape Minister of
Education and the Governing Body of Mikro Primary School heard on 23 May 2005, decided 27 June
2005. (e) Case No.: 332/2005 in the High Court of South Africa (Cape of Good Hope Provincial Division)
in the matter between the Governing Body of Mikro Primary School and the Western Cape Minister of
Education judgment delivered on 18 February 2005. (f) Case No.: 1177/2004 in the High Court of South
Africa (Northern Cape Division) in the matter between MEC of Education, Northern Cape and Seodin
Primary School heard on 7 February 2006, judgement delivered on 24 February 2006. (g) Case No.:
1177/2004 in the High Court of South Africa (Northern Cape Division) in the matter between Seodin
Primary School and MEC of Education, Northern Cape heard on 11 – 13 May 2005, delivered on 24
October 2005.
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Addressing some myths around Afrikaans in relation to higher education 191
development of Afrikaans as a medium of higher education in South Africa unfolded against the
background of the growth of Afrikaner nationalism, especially in the min-1930s, the period when
the Afrikaans movement gained ground and the language was established as a viable option
for medium of instruction…Ironically, monolingual Afrikaans-speaking universities thus evolved
‘via bilingualism’ as Steyn (1994: 42) phrases it. Steyn (1993a: 246) describes this evolvement as
a cyclic process. Significant numbers of bilingual Afrikaans-speaking students made it possible
for a university to adopt two languages as media of instruction. This contributed to an increased
concentration of Afrikaans-speaking students at these universities, which eventually led to a
growing demand to drop the English-medium option, thus paving the way for the establishment
of monolingual Afrikaans-speaking universities.
The understated subtext of the above history of HAUs is the alignment of their
evolution to the apartheid ideology of segregation. Therefore, it was inevitable that
with the collapse of the apartheid state, the (strategic) move by HAUs to grant access
to non-Afrikaans speakers through parallel medium instruction was not an act of
benevolence. Rather, it was and remains a ploy and proxy in pursuit of sectional non-
educational goals, namely Afrikaner Calvinism at an ideological level and preservation
of Afrikaans at a cultural level on the back of taxpayers’ money. In relation to the
subject of this chapter, it was an act at insulating these institutions against a key force
of globalisation–democratisation of higher education access.
11.1.5 Myth 5:English is still a colonial language
A consistent narrative amongst the conservative Afrikaner right that continues to
prop Afrikaans in higher education irrespective of material facts that show that the
language is in a decline in academia and science is that replacing the language with
English will be pandering to colonial whims. At a rudimentary level, and as observed
elsewhere, if English is a colonial language, so is Afrikaans! At a more nuanced level
however, as Afrikaans clings on to its colonial baggage by persistently failing to
decouple itself from the racial identity that is the Afrikaner identity, English continues
to shed its colonial baggage by reinventing itself as a global and international language
mainly through the development of non-native Englishes. A leading scholar in non-
native Englishes Braj Kachru has characterised this phenomenon as “the alchemy of
English”. In Kachru’s own words:
What is the appropriateness of the term “alchemy” to the functions of the English language
today? In a metaphorical sense, this term captures the attitudinal reactions to the status and
functions of English across cultures during our times. Competence in English and the use of this
language signify a transmutation: an added potential for material and social gain and advan-
tage. One sees this attitude in what the symbol stands for; English is considered a symbol of
modernisation, a key to expanded functional roles and an extra arm for success and mobility in
culturally and linguistically complex and pluralistic societies. As if all this were not enough, it is
also believed that English contributes to yet another type of transmutation: it internationalises
one’s outlook. In comparison with other languages of wider communication, knowing English is
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192 Chasing a phantom: Afrikaans in higher education in the globalisation era
like possessing the fabled Aladdin’s lamp, which permits one to open, as it were, the linguistic
gates to international business, technology, science, and travel. In short, English provides lingu-
istic power. (Lachru, 1986: 1)
Can the same be said of Afrikaans inasmuch as both languages bear a coloniser’s
tag? Hardly! A core premise as to why this is so is because of the international nature
of English in modern times. To a larger extent actually, the spread of English and its
positioning as an international language is intimately linked with globalisation. It is
therefore intellectual denialism and/or special proclivity to myths to insist that English
is still a colonial language in much of the developing world in the face of material
facts that point to English as increasingly becoming an international language with
an increasing repertoire of standardised local varieties. The same cannot be said of
Afrikaans.
A question that arises at this point in the discussion is: what does disabusing and/
or putting into perspective the myths in this section have to do with the role and place
of Afrikaans in higher education in the globalisation era? The straightforward answer
is: everything. This is because these myths have held the language and Afrikaans
rst language speaking ideologues within the faculty especially in HAUs captive to
ethnic and (sub) nationalistic proclivities. Consequently, this has kept them away
from any initiatives that can prime the language to continue developing as a language
of academia and science and by implication as a language of higher education in the
globalisation era.
11.2 Globalisation and higher education in emerging economies
There is an extensive corpus of literature on globalisation. It is not the place of the
current discussion to provide a synthesis and/or synopsis of this literature. Rather, the
focus is narrower and specic: to briey outline the intersections between globalisation
and higher education in emerging economies manifest in the literature. Before this
however, and by way of context, it is proper to clarify what, in the current discussion,
is meant by ‘globalisation’ and ‘emerging economies’. An encompassing denition of
globalisation would be one that factors in the notion of ‘internationalisation’ because
the terms are, in the words of Scott (2000) used interchangeably inasmuch as there
are marked dierences between the two. To this end, Scott opines that “not only are
internationalisation and globalisation dierent; they are actually opposed” (Scott,
2000: 4). In his own words:
There are three main reasons for arguing that globalisation cannot be regarded simply as a
higher form of internationalisation. The first is that internationalisation presupposes the exis-
tence of established nation states – globalisation is either agnostic about, or positively hostile
to, nation states. The second is that internationalisation is most strongly expressed through the
“high” and historical worlds of diplomacy and culture; while globalisation is expressed in “low”
and contemporary worlds of mass consumerism and global capitalism. The third reason is that
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Globalisation and higher education in emerging economies 193
internationalisation, because of its dependence on the exiting unequal pattern of nation states,
tends to reproduce – even legitimise – hierarchy and hegemony. Globalisation, in contrast, can
address new agendas – of global climate change, worldwide pollution, sustainable technologies
and, most important of all, the inequalities between North and South and those within nations –
because it is not tied to the past, because it is restless, even subversive, force. (Scott, 2000: 4-5)
The current discussion embraces the above conceptualisation of ‘globalisation’ and
agrees further with Scott (2000: 5-6) that,
… the university is fundamentally challenged by globalisation in three main ways: first, because
of the University’s close identification with the promulgation of national cultures; second,
because of the standardisation of teaching through the impact of communication and informa-
tion technology, and the emergence of global research cultures and networks; and third, because
global markets have undermined high public expenditure welfare states on which universities
depended for the bulk of their income.
These three challenges represent part of the key intersections between globalisation
and higher education in emerging economies. The discussion returns to expound on
these intersections in a short while aer dening ‘emerging economies’. Hoskisson,
Eden, Lau and Wright, dene an emerging economy as a “country that satises two
criteria: a rapid pace of economic development, and government policies favouring
economic liberalisation and the adoption of a free-market system” (Hoskisson et al.,
2000: 249). The authors proceed to identify 64 emerging economies “divided into
two groups: 51 high growth developing countries in Asia, Latin America, and Africa/
Middle East, and 13 transition economies in the former Soviet Union” (Hoskisson
et al., 2000: 252). In Africa, emerging economies include Botswana, Egypt, Ghana,
Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, South Africa, Tunisia and Zimbabwe.
An integral part of the dyad of rapid pace of economic growth and economic
liberation that dene emerging economies is a marked shi in these economies
toward knowledge based economies in which, in the perspective of The Organisation
for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD, 1999: 7) quoted by St. George
(2006: 590), “the production, diusion and use of technology and information are
key to economic activity and sustainable growth.” Baseline institutions in knowledge
based economies are higher education institutions which in the perspective of the
World Bank,
… support knowledge-driven economic growth strategies and poverty reduction by (a) training a
qualified and adaptable labour force; (b) generating new knowledge; and (c) building the capa-
city to access existing stores of global knowledge and to adapt that knowledge to local use. Terti-
ary education institutions are unique in their ability to integrate and create synergy among these
three dimensions”. (World Bank, 2002; cited by St. George, 2006: 592)
These three imperatives as well as three challenges listed earlier represent a hexagon
whose edges and vertices represent the intersections between globalisation and
higher education in emerging economies.
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194 Chasing a phantom: Afrikaans in higher education in the globalisation era
In view of this, the intersections between globalisation and higher education in
emerging economies could be listed as being:
A decoupling of higher education from being an exclusive pursuit in promulgation a.
of national cultures and ushering in an era whereby higher education is at the
vortex of transgressive mass culture;
Continuous adaption of curriculum, policies and practices, and management b.
structures (Jowi, 2012) through creative deployment of communication and
information technology aimed at strategic positioning of higher education within
global research cultures and networks;
Reconguration of higher education resourcing away from dependency on state c.
funding to mixed-model funding hinging on university-industry links (Yusuf,
2007) of a global nature;
Focusing on training a critical mass of highly qualied and adaptable cross-border d.
actors capable of initiating, operating and sustaining complex communities;
Shiing toward research-intensive universities where teaching proceeds almost e.
exclusively on the basis of new validated knowledge; and
Engendering reexivity as a core tenet in university endeavours aimed at accessing f.
existing repertoires of knowledge with a view of adapting it to local use.
These six intersections are/will be the sites for a recongured higher education in
emerging economies in the era of globalisation. This list easily nds corroboration in
a characterisation of higher education in a global knowledge economy by Marginson
(2010: 6964) that posits that:
Education and research are key elements in the formation of the global environment, being
foundational to knowledge, to the take-up of technologies, to cross-border association and to
sustaining complex communities. Though higher education institutions often see themselves as
objects of globalisation they are also its agents. Major research universities are among the key
sites and drivers of globalisation all over the world and often primary agents in opening up their
nations to global engagement.
However, a discussion on globalisation and higher education in emerging economies
will be incomplete without mention of cross-boarder higher education (Li & Bray,
2007; Martin & Peim, 2011; Njuguna & Itegi, 2013), which is also known transnational
higher education (Huang, 2007). According to Njuguna and Itegi, “cross border
higher education is seen as one of the ways a country responds to the impact of
globalisation yet at the same time respects the individuality of the nation” (Njuguna
& Itegi, 2013: 75), and it “provides opportunities for knowledge and technology
acceleration including the promise to penetrate new markets, but also increases
competition for scarce resources such as human capital, research infrastructure and
foreign investment” (Njuguna & Itegi, 2013: 757). To Huang (2007: 422) cross-boarder/
transnational education describes “both real and virtual movement of students,
teachers, knowledge, and educational programs from one country to another.” The
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Language question in higher education in emerging economies in the globalisation era 195
intersections between globalisation and higher education in emerging economies as
well as cross-border/transnational higher education have the potential, if managed
well, to unleash unprecedented social, educational and economic benets which will
extend beyond the connes of higher education institutions.
11.3 Language question in higher education in emerging
economies in the globalisation era
The six intersections listed above as well as dynamics attendant to cross-border/
transnational higher education largely dene the language question in higher
education in emerging economies in the globalisation era. A valid point of departure
in discussing language in higher education in the globalisation era would be an
observation by Watson (2007: 252) that “the forces of globalisation are leading
towards uniformity in the languages used, in culture and even in education.” The
language under reference is English. The current discussion does not agree with the
view that English, riding an unprecedented wave of globalisation, will necessarily
lead to a uniformity of cultures primarily because of the notion of ‘alchemy of English’
generally and the emergence of culture-specic non-native Englishes specically.
However, it is dicult not to agree with Watson (2007) on the issue of uniformity
of languages used in education generally, and higher education specically in the
globalisation era and the disquiet that accompanies the global spread of English.
Watson captures the magnitude of the spread as well as the disquiet by observing:
Many must feel that they are fighting a losing battle. The tide of history is against them. This is
most noticeable in the growth and spread of the English language since it is here that the impact
of globalisation is most keenly felt. Already 430 million speak English as a first language and
1.6 billion speak it as a second or third language. According to a recent report for the British
Council…half of the world’s population will be speaking or learning English by 2015. Within
the next decade, 2 billion will start to learn the language! 75% of the world’s ordinary mail and
80% of the electronic mail sent via the Internet is in English. The world stock markets, interna-
tional banks, most TNCs, the multilateral organisations, and most international organisations,
whether in Asia and the Pacific or in the Middle East conduct their affairs either solely in English
or in English as a joint language. Most international academic journals, especially in science,
medicine, computer science, linguistics and education are written in English. (Watson, 2007:
259-260)
The “next decade” referred to by Watson is the current decade. When the above
analysis is applied to the dynamics attendant to language in higher education in
emerging economies, the net eect of globalisation in which English is ubiquitous is
continuous pressure on higher education systems to align their language practices so
as to produce a critical mass of knowledge workers who can operate in a globalised
world. This alignment is increasingly being viewed as an imperative at individual,
institutional, national and regional levels. It is important to note that this pressure
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196 Chasing a phantom: Afrikaans in higher education in the globalisation era
is being exerted by human resource needs of both private sector entities and public
sector entities because,
… globalised companies, TNCs, are seeking employees who can work for them regardless of which
country they come from. The more highly educated and qualified individuals should expect to
be globally transferable to anywhere that the company wishes to send them. The middle ranking
members if society who will service government and the economy within their own countries
will be expected to be computer literate as well as being conversant with English. (Watson, 2007:
260)
With specic reference to Africa, Teferra and Altbach corroborate this view by rst
observing,
… at a time when globalisation has become such a powerful force, the dominant position of
European language has become even more accentuated and evident. English has become parti-
cularly powerful, even dominating over other European languages. The predominance of English
is fuelled by, among other things, the Internet and globalisation. (Teferra & Altbach, 2004: 45)
Aer noting that “African universities rely on the knowledge system that has been
conceived, developed, and organised based on Western languages” (Teferra &
Altbach, 2004: 45), the authors further point out that,
… in the age of the Internet, globalisation, and expanding knowledge systems, which are all
driven by a few Western languages, no country can afford to remain shielded in a cocoon of iso-
lation brought about by language limitations. Such isolation would prove both disastrous and,
likely, impossible to achieve. (Teferra & Altbach, 2004: 46)
Afrikaans is such a language that would impose a cocoon of isolation on South Africa’s
higher education. It is the homogenising tendencies of globalisation that are rendering
Afrikaans untenable in higher education because of the exclusive nature of the
language. It is only coincidental that the language most associated with globalisation
is English. This is not a matter of Afrikaans versus English, as many conservative
commentators on South African language politics would wish to frame it. Rather, it
is a matter of the ubiquitous entanglement of English with globalisation dynamics,
oen at the “detriment” of other languages including other European languages.
To validate this observation however, a question worth posing at this point in the
discussion is whether Afrikaans can service all the emergent intersections between
globalisation and higher education as listed in the previous section. The discussion
attempts to answer this question in the conclusion.
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A note on research design and methodology used to derive the data sets 197
11.4 A note on research design and methodology used to derive
the data sets
The Sociolinguistics of South Africa’s Higher Education Project, by design and execution,
is a language management project. The project uses language management research
design and methodologies. Mwaniki provides an insight into these by documenting:
Language management method is a complex of methods derived from the constitutive theories of
language management theory. An important aspect of language management method, like language
management theory to which it is inextricably linked to, is its open- ended nature, i.e., as the reper-
toire of the constitutive theories of language management theory keeps on expanding so as to meet
new and emerging epistemological demands, so does the repertoire of methods. The picture that
emerges from this characterisation of language management method is that language management
method is at once a ‘multidisciplinary method’; an ‘interdisciplinary method’; and a ‘transdiscipli-
nary method’ – in sum it is a ‘cross disciplinary method’. A multidisciplinary method, it draws appro-
priately from multiple disciplines in an attempt to define and interrogate language-related problems
outside the boundaries of linguistic science in an attempt to reach solutions based on a novel and
broad-based interactive understanding of complex language-related situations and phenomena. As
an interdisciplinary method, it crosses the traditional boundaries between linguistic disciplines or
schools of thought in linguistics in an attempt to provide plausible explanations to language related
phenomena. As a transdisciplinary method, it seeks, using shared conceptual frameworks drawing
together disciplinary-specific theories, concepts and approaches, to address common language-rela-
ted challenges, situations and phenomena especially as they relate to the optimisation of language
resources for the most possible good for individuals and society. (Mwaniki, 2012b: 7-8)
Eectively, language management research design straddles the entire scope of research
design types these being: empirical and non-empirical; primary, secondary and hybrid;
numeric, textual, and combination of numeric and textual; and high control, medium
control and low control (Mouton, 2001). The onus therefore lies with the researcher
to carefully determine which design type most appropriately addresses a particular
language management research problem and attendant research question(s).
Conversely, at the heart of language management methodology is the notion of
triangulation in the sense explained by Wisker (2008), which is the use of at least two
and preferably three methods to gather data so that the analysis of results and ndings
can be drawn from several sources. Adopting several methods ensures increased validity
and development of patters in data. As explained by Babbie and Mouton (2009), this
is achieved through the collection of information of dierent events and relationships
from dierent points of view by asking dierent questions, seeking dierent sources,
and using dierent methods. However, it is not uncommon that inasmuch as dierent
studies within a language management project would generally share a commitment
to the overarching language management design and methodology, each would have
a particular design and a specic corpus of research methodologies. This was the
case with the studies from which the data sets reported in this chapter were derived.
Specic research designs used in each of the studies from which the data sets were
derived from and their attendant research methodologies are discussed under each of
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198 Chasing a phantom: Afrikaans in higher education in the globalisation era
the data sets. However, a golden thread running through the three studies is that all of
them were “case studies”, for good reasons. In the words of Yin (2014: 4),
… the case study is used in many situations, to contribute to our knowledge of individual, group,
organisational, social, political, and related phenomena. Whatever the field of interest, the dis-
tinctive need for case study research arises out of the desire to understand complex social phe-
nomena. In brief, a case study allows investigators to focus on a ‘case’ and retain a holistic and
real-world perspective.
11.5 The three data sets
The three data sets emanate from the on-going research project on sociolinguistics of
South Africa’s higher education by the author. The project interrogates the way language
is discursively constructed within South Africa’s higher education space and how
resultant language practices discursively construct South Africa’s higher education
spaces. The three data sets are: sociolinguistics of social justice in South Africa’s
higher education; sociolinguistics of knowledge production and dissemination; and
sociolinguistics of learning resources. With a specic focus on Afrikaans, the data sets
bring to the fore the complexities attendant to policy and programme interventions
aimed at sustaining the language as a language of higher education in the face of
globalisation forces. A discussion follows each data set aer which a brief synthesis of
results from the three data sets in relation to the issue of language in higher education
in the globalisation era is presented.
11.5.1 Sociolinguistics of social justice in South Africa’s higher education
This was an evaluative case study that used quantitative and qualitative data collected
at UFS. The case study sought to establish students’ perceptions of the intersections
of language and social justice at the UFS. Data were collected using questionnaires.
Through purposive sampling based on South African and UFS demographics,
120 questionnaires were administered to UFS students 20 Black females, 20 White
females, ve Coloured females, ve Indian females, 20 Black males, 20 White males,
ve Coloured males, ve Indian males, ve Black foreign females, ve Black foreign
males, ve non-Black foreign females and ve non-Black foreign males). Descriptive
and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data (Mwaniki, 2012a, pp. 214-215).
The meaning of social justice “may vary according to dierent denitions,
perspectives and social theories” (Mwaniki, 2012a: 216). This notwithstanding however,
the study acknowledged that “most conceptions of social justice refer to an egalitarian
society that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands
and values human rights and that recognises the dignity of every human being”
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The three data sets 199
Tab. 11.1: Sociolinguistics of social justice.
Demographic
Group
Black Indian Coloured White Others Totals/% where applicable
Black Foreign White Foreign
Gender F M F M F M F M F M F M
Sample size 20 20 5 5 5 5 20 20 5 5 5 5 120
Home
Language
1(A) 1(B)
5(D) 8(E)
3(H) 1(J)
1(K)
1(B) 2(C)
11(D) 3(E)
1(I) 2(J)
5(B) 5(B) 1(B)
4(A)
2(B)
3(A)
16(A)
4(B)
16(A)
1(L) 3(B)
1(B)
4(L)
1(B)
4(L)
2(B)
3(L)
1(B)
4(L)
40 (A) – 33.3% 27(B) – 22.5%
2(C) – 1.7% 16(D) – 13.3% 11(E) –
9.2% 3(H) – 2.5%
1(I) – 0.8% 3(J) – 2.5% 1(K) –
0.8% 16(L) – 13.3%
Second
Language
2(A)
18(B)
19(B) 1(L) 5(A) 4(A)
1(L)
1(A)
4(B)
2(A)
3(B)
4(A)
15(B)
1(L)
3(A)
17(B)
4(B)
1(L)
4(B)
1(L)
3(B)
2(L)
5(B) 21(A) – 17.6% 92(B) – 76.6%
7(L) – 5.8%
Question 1:
Was UFS your
1st choice of
university?
YES (12)
NO(8)
YES(9)
NO(11)
YES
(3)
NO (2)
YES(3)
NO(2)
YES(3)
NO(2)
YES(3)
NO(2)
YES(14)
NO(6)
YES(16)
NO(4)
YES(2)
NO(3)
YES(4)
NO(1)
YES(4)
NO(1)
YES(3)
NO(2)
YES(76) – 63%
NO(44) – 37%
Question 2:
Preferred
medium of
receiving
instruction?
19(B)
1(D)
20(B) 5(B) 5(B) 3(B)
2(A)
4(B)
1(A)
12(B)
8(A)
10(B)
10(A)
4(B)
1(D)
5(B) 5(B) 5(B) 97(B) – 80.83% 21(A) – 17.5%
2(D) – 1.67%
Question 3:
Preferred
language
for reading
materials?
19(B)
1(D)
20(B) 5(B) 5(B) 3(B)
2(A)
4(B)
1(A)
12(B)
8(A)
10(B)
10(A)
5(B) 5(B) 5(B) 5(B) 98(B) – 81.66% 21(A) – 17.5%
1(D) – 0.84%
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200 Chasing a phantom: Afrikaans in higher education in the globalisation era
Demographic
Group
Black Indian Coloured White Others Totals/% where applicable
Black Foreign White Foreign
Question 4:
Is language
important in
entrenching
fairness in
UFS
YES(17)
NO(3)
YES(19)
NO(1)
YES
(5)
YES
(5)
YES(3)
NO(2)
YES(5) YES(17)
NO(3)
YES(17)
NO(3)
YES(5) YES(5) YES(5) YES(5) YES(108) – 90%
NO(12) – 10%
Question
5: Does the
Parallel
Medium
Policy (PMP)
give some
students
unfair
advantage?
YES(15)
NO(5)
YES(16)
NO(4)
YES(5)
NO(1)
YES(3)
NO(2)
YES(0)
NO(5)
YES(4)
NO(1)
YES(6)
NO(14)
YES(6)
NO(14)
YES(4)
NO(1)
YES(5) YES(5) YES(4)
NO(1)
YES(72) – 60% NO(48) – 40%
Question 6: Is
PMP socially
just?
NO(17)
YES(3)
NO(15)
YES(5)
NO(3)
YES(2)
NO(4)
YES(1)
NO(0)
YES(5)
NO(2)
YES(3)
NO(5)
YES(13)
NO(7)
YES(13)
NO(4)
YES(1)
NO(4)
YES(1)
NO(4)
YES(1)
NO(3)
YES(2)
NO(68) – 56.8% YES(52) –
43.4%
KEY:
Gender: F – Female; M – Male
Language Codes: Afrikaans (A); English (B); Sepedi (C); Sesotho (D); Setswana (E), IsiNdebele (F); IsiSwati (G); IsiXhosa (H); IsiZulu (I); Tshivenda (J);
Xitsonga (K); Others (L)
Source: (Mwaniki 2012: 226 – 227)
ContinuedTab. 11.1: Sociolinguistics of social justice.
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The three data sets 201
(Mwaniki, 2012a: 216). In sum, social justice concerns are mostly expressed through
perceptions of fairness or lack thereof. Mwaniki (2012a: 220) goes on to document that
“the fundamental premise that links language to social justice in higher education is
access. Language to a greater extent determines who has access to higher education.”
From the data, 90% of respondents perceived language to be an important factor
in entrenching fairness while 10% did not perceive language as being important in
entrenching fairness. Within the parallel medium environment of the UFS, the data
showed that 60% of respondents perceived the parallel medium policy as granting
some students an unfair advantage with 40% of respondents indicating they do not
perceive the parallel policy as granting unfair advantage to some students. 56.8% of
respondents perceived the parallel medium policy as not being socially just while
43.4% perceived the policy as being socially just. The language that was perceived
as granting some students some unfair advantage within the parallel medium
environment and thus being inimical to principles of social justice is Afrikaans.
Qualitative data from the research was captured through narrative accounts at
the end of the questionnaire. Three thematic threads emerged from a content analysis
of the narrative accounts namely, disenfranchisement, entitlement and opportunity.
First, “across all language groups, there is a deeply entrenched feeling of language-
based disenfranchisement at the UFS. For non-Afrikaans speaking students, the
[parallel medium policy] PMP is a policy and programme mechanism designed to
deny them a level intellectual competing ground with Afrikaans speaking students”
whereas “Afrikaans-speaking students perceive any attempt at tinkering with the
PMP as an aront to their language rights” (Mwaniki, 2012a: 230). Second, there is “a
deep-seated sense of entitlement across all language groups, the only dierence being
how various language groups conceptualise entitlement” (Mwaniki, 2012a: 230). In
an interpretation that captures the complexities inherent in policy and programme
discourses in South Africa’s higher education Mwaniki (2012a: 230) documents that
non-Afrikaans-speaking students feel that “they are entitled to a ‘good’ education and
to them good education is axiomatically an English-medium education. For Afrikaans-
speaking students, they feel entitled to use their language at [the] university level”.
Third, and with regard to opportunity, all language groups represented in the sample
perceive an English-medium education as according them a relevance in a modern
work place that is dened by globalisation and internationalisation forces. The same
cannot be said of an Afrikaans-medium education.
Within the South African context, the democratic transition of 1994 was
watershed moment for social justice discourses in society and higher education. From
the 1980s to the early 1990s, the movement that pushed for transition to democratic
rule was global in nature, founded and organised around the idea of universality of
democracy and its regime of rights and social justice. It is therefore not far-fetched to
assert that the democratic transition in South Africa is to an extent a consequence of
globalisation. The clamour for social justice in higher education is a global trend (cf.
Furlong & Cartmel, 2009) that is accentuated by globalisation forces.
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202 Chasing a phantom: Afrikaans in higher education in the globalisation era
11.5.2 Sociolinguistics of knowledge production and dissemination
This study was also an evaluative case study that sought to establish the extent of
publishing shi amongst UFS researchers as occasioned by policies adopted by the
university in an attempt to realign itself with a changing international knowledge
production and dissemination terrain. Mwaniki (2014: 215) documents that,
… apart from academic literature and UFS policy documents, the corpus for the study consisted
of raw data on research outputs over a nine-year period (2000-2008). The data was accessed
from the university’s Directorate for Research Development where it is archived as part of the
university’s Management Information System (MIS). The data is reliable because it is archived
only after it has been verified and audited by the [Department of Higher Education and Training]
DHET. The years 2000 – 2008 were selected for two reasons: firstly, data on research outputs for
these years was readily available from the Directorate for Research Development. Secondly, it
was important to include data from before 2002 (when the UFS Research Turnaround Strategy
was implemented and consequently setting in motion an irreversible shift in the university’s
linguistic culture and the concomitant shift in the language of research output) and after 2002 so
as to trace the shift over time.
The study was premised on the linguistic culture that is increasingly being inuenced
by internationalisation forces and is facilitating a shi in the language of publication
of research outputs at the UFS from Afrikaans to English (Mwaniki, 2014; UFS, 2002;
UFS, 2010a; UFS, 2010b). The number of research outputs in each of the languages
for every year under review was captured rst as a frequency and secondly as a
percentage of the gross research output for that particular year. The results of the
years under review were tabulated in Table 11.2 and plotted in a bar graph (Figure 11.1)
and a line graph (Figure 11.2) (ibid).
Tab. 11.2: Overall descriptive statistics of the frequency and percentage of Akaans/English as
languages of accredited publications (2000-2008).
English Language Afrikaans Language
Year Frequency Percentage Frequency Percentage
2000 278 77.4 81 22.6
2001 255 73.5 92 26.5
2002 306 77.7 88 22.3
2003 305 81.1 71 18.9
2004 329 82.5 70 17.5
2005 395 85.7 66 14.3
2006 453 85.8 75 14.2
2007 453 86.3 72 13.7
2008 420 87.1 62 12.9
Totals 3194 677
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The three data sets 203
In recent decades, and in the case of the UFS since 2002, universities have implemented
strategies aimed at increasing accredited and international research outputs. At the
UFS, policies implemented to achieve this goal include the UFS Research Turnaround
Strategy (2002), the Revision of Research Awards at the UFS (2010a) and the UFS
Academic Appointment and Promotions policy. These policies, through a ra of
monetary and non-monetary incentives, are designed to encourage UFS researchers to
publish in international journals that prefer English. From the data set, for the period
under consideration (2002-2008), the mean annual shi to English as the language of
accredited publication was 1.34 per cent. At this rate it can be projected that there will
be a near complete shi to English as the language of accredited publications at the
UFS by 2018. As Mwaniki (2014: 197) observes,
… the results indicate[d] that despite the university’s articulated overt trilingual language policy,
the pressures of internationalisation have led the university to adopt other policies which consti-
tute a covert language policy, which is leading to a significant shift in the language of publication
by UFS researchers. This development indicates that in an era of internationalisation, university
language policies are but a small component of the macro dynamic that determines language
choice(s) within universities.
In sum, it can be posited that globalisation pressures emanating from the now
widely accepted international benchmark in higher education of publishing research
in internationally accredited journals have been occasioning this shi in favour of
English at the UFS.
Source: Mwaniki (2014, p.217)
Fig. 11.1: Bar graph representing the percentage shi in the use of English and Akaans in accredited
research outputs at the UFS (2000-2008).
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204 Chasing a phantom: Afrikaans in higher education in the globalisation era
Source: Mwaniki (2014, p.218)
Fig. 11.2: Line graph representing the percentage shi in the use of English and Afrikaans in
accredited research outputs at the UFS (2000-2008).
11.5.3 Sociolinguistics of learning resources
The research sought to establish the availability and use of Afrikaans as well as
English learning materials within the parallel medium policy context at the UFS. The
ideal availability of a full corpus of learning materials in both languages and their
ultimate utilisation in teaching and learning was a key assumption underlying the
research. The research sought to establish the extent to which the parallel medium
of instruction at the UFS measures to this ideal using a purposive sample which was
triangulated for demographic and discipline i.e., faculties and representativeness. A
peculiar aspect of the research was that it was carried out as part of a class project
for 2014 freshmen pursuing LIN 114 (Introduction to Linguistics). The motivation for
the project was two-fold, with each motivation having inherent permutations. The
rst motivation was purely scholarly with two inherent permutations, namely: (i) a
paucity of research literature that interrogates this rather sensitive issue in South
Africa’s higher education, a sector that bears marked cleavages that are a microcosm
of language and identity politics of the larger South African society; and (ii) a paucity
of empirical data on aspects of parallel medium policy and implementation.
With regard to the latter permutation, debates on the merits and/or demerits
of parallel medium instruction—which can legitimately be construed as a relic of
apartheid—are heavily skewed toward normative and ideological polemics rather
than empirically veriable arguments or justications. The second motivation was
practical and pragmatic, and again, with two inherent permutations, namely: (i)
a desire and objective to introduce freshmen to the intricacies of sociolinguistics
research through an investigation of an issue they encounter daily; and (ii) as part of
a larger university-wide drive to re-imagine the curriculum through a recurriculation
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The three data sets 205
process; which in turn is part of a country-wide higher education transformation
process. Essentially, the integration of a research component into LIN 114 was done
within a greater epistemological context involving a critical questioning of university
endeavour, not only within the South African context, but also within a global context.
What has largely been documented about these processes are the macro and micro
forces at play, the actors, and the policy outcomes – achieved and expected. What
have received scant attention in the research however are the realities occasioned by
these processes on lecture-room practices and discourses; in a word, the realities of
pedagogy in universities that use parallel medium instruction. The research in part
sought to address this hiatus in the literature.
The study combined three methods, namely: the Delphi technique, literature
review and questionnaires. The Delphi technique was selected because it creates
opportunities to involve all members of a research team in all stages of the research
endeavour (from conceptualisation to reporting of the research ndings) while linking
each successive stage to underlying (socio) linguistic theory and method. There is
consensus in the literature such as Dalkey and Helmer (1963); Linstone and Turo
(1975); Clayton (1997); Critcher and Gladstone (1998); Okoli and Pawlowski (2004);
Scholl et al. (2004); Landeta (2006); Hsu and Sandford (2007); and Geist (2010) that the
technique was rst used by the Rand Corporation in the 1950s. According to Linstone
and Turo Delphi technique is “a method for structuring a group communication
process so that the process is eective in allowing a group of individuals, as a whole,
to deal with a complex problem” (Linstone & Turo 1975: 3). From a pedagogical
perspective, the technique allowed for an interdisciplinary approach in teaching/
learning sociolinguistics while encouraging the development of independence of
thought, principled persuasion on the basis of (compelling) data, reexivity and
critical thinking skills in students. In a series of Delphi meetings from February to April
2014 the research topic was determined, the research questions were formulated, and
appropriate research methods (questionnaires and literature review) were identied
and questionnaires designed. The sample was also determined and triangulated
for UFS demographic and discipline i.e., faculties and representativeness. Members
divided responsibility for data collection amongst themselves. Aer the questionnaires
were successfully administered, a series of meetings were dedicated to guring out
how to proceed with data analysis and synthesis using a sample of the questionnaires.
These meetings doubled up as reading/reection sessions on literature. With the
lecturer playing the role of a moderator, the discussions on data analysis and synthesis
centred on content analysis, descriptive and inferential statistics.
The review of literature—with emerging themes shared and discussed in
successive Delphi meetings—sought, in part, to place the entire research in the context
of the general body of knowledge on language politics, curriculum and institutional
culture and institutional race politics. In sum, the literature review sought to satisfy
the parameters of ‘why conduct a literature review’ eloquently outlined by Zorn and
Campbell (2006: 173):
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206 Chasing a phantom: Afrikaans in higher education in the globalisation era
First, literature reviews are indeed important for scholarly research within the university setting.
They can be a source of ideas, research questions, and hunches to explore. That is, through
finding exemplars of well-executed research, interesting ideas that are not particularly well exe-
cuted, or gaps in the body of knowledge in a discipline, we can identify possibilities for future
research. Literature review also helps scholars avoid ‘reinventing the wheel’ by enabling them
to build on what others have done. Finally, literature review helps researchers develop an argu-
ment for their study by demonstrating that they are extending existing knowledge – building on
what is already out there are filling the gaps that exist.
Hence, the questionnaire was constructed in one of the Delphi meetings and its
biographical data battery, questions and structure followed the general questionnaire
format outlined by Babbie and Mouton (2009). In opting for questionnaires, a key
consideration was eciency in the sense outlined by Wagner (2010: 26), which means
that “they can be administered to a large number of participants easily, they can be
objectively scored, and the data can be analysed quantitatively.” The data was coded
and analysed quantitatively using descriptive and inferential statistics.
The sample was purposively drawn from all the seven UFS faculties with an average
weighting of 11 respondents from each faculty. 78 questionnaires were successfully
administered. 43 respondents were female (55%) and 35 respondents were male (45%).
In terms of ethnicity, 24 were Black (30.8%), nine were Coloured (11.5%), ve were
Indian (6.4%), and 40 were White (51.3%). In terms of home language, 47 were Afrikaans
home language speakers (60.3%), four were English home language speakers (5%), 10
were Sesotho home language speakers (12.8%), four were Setswana home language
speakers (5%), one was an SiSwati home language speaker (1.4%), six were IsiXhosa
home language speakers (7.7%), one was Tshivenda home language speaker (1.4%), and
ve had other languages as home languages (6.4%). The above demographic spread
in the sample reects overall UFS demographics. However, it is important to account
for the sizeable representation of “Whites” and “Afrikaans home language speakers”
in the sample: this skew in the sample is explainable by the fact that the LIN 114 class
that carried out this research was the “Afrikaans Class”. This skew may at rst appear
like a problem in regard to the validity and reliability of the data but when the skew is
juxtaposed against the preferred language of instruction, an interesting dynamic that is
afoot at UFS becomes apparent and thus validating the reliability of the data.
There was an even split in the preferred language of instruction. As indicated
above, when this even split is contrasted with home language data however,
10.3% Afrikaans home language speakers would prefer English as the language of
instruction. This shi in preference is a microcosm of larger language shis at the
university (cf. Mwaniki, 2014). There are further (interesting) dynamics attendant to
this shi generally and the implications of this shi on parallel medium instruction
that become apparent when data on frequency of learning materials availability and
use is brought to bear on the analysis of preferred language of instruction at the UFS.
The discussion of results below illuminates some of these dynamics.
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The three data sets 207
Tab. 11.3: Sociolinguistics of learning resources.
Faculty Economic &
Mgt Sciences
Education Health
Sciences
Humanities Law Natural & Agric
Sciences
Theology Totals/% where applicable
Gender F M F M F M F M F M F M F M
Sample size 5 9 8 2 5 7 14 1 7 3 2 7 2 6 N = 78
F = 43 (55%)
M = 35 (45%)
Ethnicity BL(4) CL(1)
IN(2) WH(7)
BL(3) CL(2)
WH(5)
BL(2) WH(10) BL(6) CL(4)
IN(1) WH(4)
BL(4) CL(1)
WH(5)
BL( 3 ) IN(2 )
WH(4)
BL(2) CL(1)
WH(5)
BL = 24 (30.8%)
CL = 9 (11.5%)
IN = 5 (6.4%)
WH = 40 (51.3%)
Home Language A(8) D(1) E(1)
H(1) J(1) L(2)
A(7) D(1) G(1)
H(1)
A(10) D(1) E(1) A(5) B(3) D(2)
E(2) H(2) L(1)
A(7) H(1) D(2) A (4) B(1) D(1)
H(1) L(2)
A(6) D(2) A = 47 (60.3%)
B = 4 (5%)
D = 10 (12.8%)
E = 4 (5%)
G = 1 (1.4%)
H = 6 (7.7%)
J = 1 (1.4%)
L = 5 (6.4%)
Preferred Language of
instruction
A(8) B(6) A(7) B(3) A(10) B(2) A(5) B(10) A(3) B(7) A(3) B(6) A(5) B(3) A = 39 (50%)
B = 39 (50%)
Frequency of Learning
Materials Availability
and Use
AF EN AE AF EN AE AF EN AE AF EN AE AF EN AE AF EN AE AF EN AE AF EN AE
745 29 19 46 16 15 21 23 3 52 17 4 31 24 5 24 14 10 27 3 63
14.5%
246
56.6%
126
28.9%
Totals 81 81 59 72 59 43 40 435
KEY:
Gender: F – Female; M – Male
Ethnicity: BL – Black; CL – Coloured; IN – Indian; WH – White
Frequency of Learning Materials Availability: AF – Afrikaans; EN – English; AE – Afrikaans and English
Language Codes: Afrikaans (A); English (B); Sepedi (C); Sesotho (D); Setswana (E), IsiNdebele (F); SiSwati (G); IsiXhosa (H); IsiZulu (I); Tshivenda (J);
Xitsonga (K); Others (L)
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208 Chasing a phantom: Afrikaans in higher education in the globalisation era
435 modules were covered in the study, averaging 62 modules per faculty. Of
these, 63 were in Afrikaans only (14.5%); 246 were in English only (56.6%); and 126
are available in Afrikaans and English (28.9%). Were the latter split proportionately,
the weighting for Afrikaans would be 29% and English would be 71%. This imbalance
indicates that parallel medium instruction is not operating at an optimal ideal at the
UFS. The results indicate therefore that despite the UFS’s overt language policy that
advocates for use of Afrikaans and English in teaching and learning, non-availability
of up-to-date learning resources in Afrikaans largely due to global market dynamics
beyond institutional or country control is gradually eroding the status of Afrikaans as
a language of teaching and learning in South Africa’s higher education.
In sum, a synthesis of ndings from the three data sets indicates that inasmuch
as there may be pedagogical, policy, and socio-political grounds for the maintenance
and development of Afrikaans in South Africa’s higher education, data points to an
inevitability of the language ceding ground in South Africa’s higher education terrain,
a development that is largely attributable to globalisation pressures.
11.6 Revisiting the myths around Afrikaans in relation to higher
education in light of data from Sociolinguistics of South Africa’s
Higher Education Project Revisiting the myths around Afrikaans in relation to higher education in light of ...
At a general level, the data sets indicate a marked shi for Afrikaans as a language
of higher education in South Africa’s democratic era. It is indicative that the advent
of democracy in South Africa coincides with a time when the transgressive forces of
globalisation have become increasingly manifest. As observed earlier the spread and
entrenchment of democracy is an idea intimately and inextricably related to modern
conceptualisations of and trends in globalisation. However, individual data sets are
an empirical means of not only challenging the myths around Afrikaans in higher
education but a means of disabusing these myths too.
The data set on “sociolinguistics of social justice” challenges and disabuses
the myths of the miracle of Afrikaans. This data set indicates the exact opposite as
being true. With data conclusively pointing to parallel medium instruction (whose
centrepiece is Afrikaans) being contrary to the principles of social justice, the retention
of the language in higher education serves to defeat the objects of the Education
Clause (Section 29 of the Constitution), and as such, the retention of Afrikaans in
higher education is in all likelihood a violation of the Constitution (cf. detailed
discussion of this argument under the exposition of the myth earlier in the chapter).
The perceptions that Afrikaans continues to disenfranchise a majority of students who
do not use the language to access higher education puts to bed the myth that it was
an act of benevolence on the part of HAUs to grant access to non-Afrikaans speakers
through parallel medium instruction. Stated another way, parallel medium instruction
is still perceived as one of the major policy and practice manifestations of systemic
exclusion in HAUs and the lengths to which policy actors in these institutions would
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Conclusion 209
go to retain systemic privilege for Afrikaans speaking students. Basically, parallel
medium instruction in these institutions is by intent, design and execution an act at
preservation of Afrikaner privilege. It should come as no surprise therefore that there
are positive perceptions toward the default language in parallel medium instruction
environments, namely English. Although there are critics who want to pejoratively
ascribe interpretations of data that highlight such positive perceptions to “celebratory
postcolonial theorising”, overly entertaining these critics will be an act of denying
that English is a language that is being extensively used in the former colonial world
to redress the residual exclusionary eects of colonialism and to redress the residual
discriminatory eects of apartheid by millions of South Africans.
The data sets on “sociolinguistics of knowledge production and dissemination”
and “sociolinguistics of learning resources” also challenge and disabuse the myth that
Afrikaans is still a well-developed language of academia and science. Although Afrikaans
may be better developed than most other African languages as a language of academia
and science, it may not be primed to meet the demands of academia and science in the
globalisation era that concomitantly insists on an international bibliometric assessment
system of a country’s research outputs in relation to international standards on the one
hand and an higher education learning resources market that is largely driven by global
forces; forces which in turn ride on the pervasiveness of English as an international
language. In line with what is observed earlier, without the language being used in
top rated international journals and in the production of learning resources by global
learning resources actors, the status of the language as a “well developed language of
academia and science” may not hold for much longer.
11.7 Conclusion
Generally, Afrikaans in higher education in the globalisation era would have to
contend with a reality graphically outlined by Altbach (2004: 24) that,
… globalisation in higher education and science is inevitable. Historically, academe has always
been international in scope, and it has always been characterised by inequalities. Modern tech-
nology, the Internet, the increasing ease of communication and the flow of students and highly
educated personnel across borders enhance globalisation. No academic system can exist by
itself in the world of the 21st century.
Specically however, the real test of whether Afrikaans will survive in higher
education in the globalisation era depends on whether Afrikaans can service all the
emergent intersections between globalisation and higher education in South Africa
as an emergent economy. As at present, it does not look likely that Afrikaans can
service these intersections because of the following reasons:
Afrikaansa) is deeply beholden to the Afrikaner sub-national culture, a culture that
is manifestly historically hostile to transgressive mass culture;
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210 Chasing a phantom: Afrikaans in higher education in the globalisation era
Afrikaansb) inextricable relationship with Calvinist Afrikaner culture expressed in
both institutional and documented curricula in Historically Afrikaans-Medium
Universities (HAUs) curtails continuous adaptation of curriculum, policies and
practices, and management, which are all prerequisites for higher education in
the globalisation era;
Because of its provincial nature (prevalence only in South Africa and Namibia, c)
and dwindling research outputs in the language many of which are only in South
African journals) Afrikaans does not come close to positioning South Africa’s
higher education within global research cultures and networks.
Without targeted state funding for Afrikaansd) to prop the language in domains
such as higher education like was case during the Apartheid period and with an
ever-shrinking Afrikaans driven national industry in the post-apartheid period,
the resultant recongured higher education resourcing terrain is not favourable
to prop Afrikaans in higher education;
Dwindling international research outputs in Afrikaanse) do not t into the shi
toward research-intensive universities where teaching proceeds almost exclusively
on the basis of newly validated knowledge through cutting edge research; and
The duality of institutional culture that Afrikaansf) entrenches in higher education
is inimical to engendering reexivity as a core tenet in university endeavour
especially when such endeavours are aimed at accessing repertoires of knowledge
encoded in other indigenous languages. Eectively, Afrikaans undermines a key
tenet of higher education in the globalisation era by curtailing the adoption of
knowledge encoded in these languages for local use.
In light of the above, for now, it seems the continued use of Afrikaans in higher
education is akin to chasing a phantom.
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