University students’ perspectives on an English-only language policy in Higher Education
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Date
2022-11-01
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AOSIS Publishing
Abstract
The study aimed to determine students’ perspectives on a shift from a dual-medium (English and Afrikaans) language policy to a monolingual (English-only) language policy at a University of Technology in South Africa and to establish whether the shift had any impact on student learning at the institution. The study used a quantitative method of inquiry, with a questionnaire used for data collection. The findings revealed that language-related challenges vary amongst
students, and these can be categorized as low, medium and high language learning problems. The article concludes that the language policy shift does not reflect the multilingual nature of the country, student demographics or their language needs at the institution. Instead of addressing the real challenge facing the majority of students who speak Sesotho, it merely dropped a second medium of instruction (MOI), Afrikaans, instead of developing a dominant
indigenous language (Sesotho) for educational use alongside English and Afrikaans. Transdisciplinary Contribution: The article lays bare the access paradox in higher education owing to the misalignment between the country’s progressive language policies and learning institutions’ language policies. The students’ perspectives bring a much-needed dimension to the ongoing debate on the use of the learners’ home languages as languages of learning and teaching.
Description
University students’ perspectives on an English-only language policy in Higher Education
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Citation
Ngidi SA, Mncwango EM. University students’ perspectives on an English-only language policy in Higher Education. J transdiscipl res S Afr. 2022;18(1), a1189. https://doi.org/10.4102/ td.v18i1.1189