Translanguaging: A tool to decolonise students’ experiences of learning to write for academic purposes in the South African university context

2021 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-99
Author(s):  
Sandiso Ngcobo ◽  
Katie Bryant ◽  
Hloniphani Ndebele
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
South African ◽  
Discourse Markers ◽  
Medium Of Instruction ◽  
The South ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
University Courses ◽  
South African Universities ◽  
Genre Conventions

University students can experience many challenges writing for academic purposes as they move from secondary to post-secondary  studies. Both first and additional language users of English experience these challenges, resulting in universities across the globe  instituting different modalities to help ease students’ transitions. In South African universities, despite English being the medium of instruction, most students are additional language speakers of English. This article discusses findings from a 2019 study that investigated three questions: 1) Do firstyear, additional language users of English choose to engage in translanguaging when presented with such an opportunity in their university courses? 2) If they choose to use this tool, how do they employ the genre conventions and discourse  markers of the traditional academic essay? 3) What are their reactions to being presented with the opportunity to use translanguaging in their academic studies? The findings illustrate that approximately half of the study’s participants chose to employ translanguaging in their responses and were able to successfully use the genre conventions and discourse makers of the academic essay.

Protest of the South African Universities Act

ASA News ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-33
Author(s):  
Nzongola-Ntalaja
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
The South ◽  
South African Universities

scholarly journals Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection Is Associated With Increased Meningococcal Carriage Acquisition Among First-year Students in 2 South African Universities

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Meiring ◽  
Cheryl Cohen ◽  
Linda de Gouveia ◽  
Mignon du Plessis ◽  
Karistha Ganesh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
University Students ◽  
South African ◽  
Relative Risk Ratio ◽  
First Year ◽  
Adjusted Relative Risk ◽  
Vaccination Programs ◽  
South African Universities ◽  
First Year University ◽  
Carriage Prevalence

Abstract Background Invasive meningococcal disease clusters occur among university students and may reflect higher carriage prevalence among this population. We aimed to measure meningococcal carriage prevalence, acquisition, and risk factors among first-year university students in South Africa. Methods In summer–autumn 2017, after consenting to participate, we collected oropharyngeal swabs and questionnaires on carriage risk factors and tested students for HIV at 2 universities, during registration week (survey 1) and 6–8 weeks later (survey 2). Meningococci were detected by culture and polymerase chain reaction. Results We enrolled 2120 students at registration. Mean age was 18.5 years, 59% (1252/2120) were female and 0.8% (16/1984) had HIV. Seventy-eight percent of students returned for survey 2 (1655/2120). Among the cohort, carriage prevalence was 4.7% (77/1655) at registration, increasing to 7.9% (130/1655) at survey 2: 5.0% (83) acquired new carriage, 2.8% (47) had persistent carriage, 1.8% (30) cleared the initial carriage, and 90.3% (1495) remained carriage free. At both surveys, nongenogroupable meningococci predominated, followed by genogroups Y, B, W, and C. On multinomial analysis, risk factors for carriage acquisition included attending nightclubs (adjusted relative risk ratio [aRRR], 2.1; 95% CI, 1.1–4.0), having intimate kissing partners (aRRR, 1.8; 95% CI, 1.1–2.9) and HIV (aRRR, 5.0; 95% CI, 1.1–24.4). Conclusions Meningococcal carriage among first-year university students increased after 2 months. Sociobehavioral risk factors were associated with increased carriage for all analyses. HIV was associated with carriage acquisition. Until vaccination programs become mandatory in South African universities, data suggest that students with HIV could benefit most from meningococcal vaccination.

The Contradictions of Bantu Education

1981 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 126-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mokubung Nkomo
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South African ◽  
The South ◽  
Education Policies ◽  
Black South African ◽  
South African Universities ◽  
Official Curriculum ◽  
Class Instruction

The South African apartheid government has used higher education as a tool for promoting a policy of separate development. Disturbances in black South African universities over the last decade, however, appear to be the result of both "Bantu education"policies that have spawned a "culture" that contradicts the government's ultimate aims,and circumstances external to in-class instruction that have exerted as great an influence as the official curriculum. Mokubung O. Nkomo argues that the interplay of these forces constitutes a catalyst that may contribute to the demise of the apartheid system.

Protest of the South African Universities Act

ASA News ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-33
Author(s):  
Nzongola-Ntalaja
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
The South ◽  
South African Universities

scholarly journals The Impact of Using Code Alternation in Teaching Life Science to English First Additional Language learners in South African Schools

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 175
Author(s):  
Mzamani Johannes Maluleke ◽  
Ernest Kwesi Klu ◽  
Vincent N. Demana
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Medium Of Instruction ◽  
The South ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Code Mixing ◽  
Teaching Life ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact

The study aimed at investigating the extent to which English is used as a medium of teaching and learning Life Sciences in a South African rural high school. As the government has given recognition to the country’s multilingual, multi-ethnic and multicultural composition, School Governing Bodies are mandated to choose any of the eleven official languages as a medium of instruction (RSA, Act 108 of 1996), but the power of deciding which language to use as a medium of instruction has been taken by teachers to shield their own shortcomings. To be able to explore and understand the prevailing situation, the researchers employed a qualitative design which translated into researchers observing classes, evaluating learners’ written texts and interviewing the teachers as methods of collecting data. The findings are that: first, learners’ and teachers’ proficiency levels in English are very low, as such, the English language is not a pivot of learning and teaching in the South African education system. This emanates from the fact that although in theory the majority of the South African schools have adopted English as a medium of instruction, in practice, this is far from the truth as teachers employ code alternation in the form of code switching, code mixing and sentence translation as viable means of scaffolding the learning of content subjects.

scholarly journals Promotional Tools Employed by Medical Insurance Companies to Attract International University Students

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 191
Author(s):  
Faith Rudairo Chibvura ◽  
Darry Penceliah
Keyword(s):  
Health Insurance ◽  
International Students ◽  
University Students ◽  
South African ◽  
Market Share ◽  
Medical Insurance ◽  
Insurance Companies ◽  
The South ◽  
Insurance Cover ◽  
International University

The South African Immigration Act 19 of 2004 requires that all international students have proof of medical insurance cover for the academic year of study. The medical insurance cover must be from a registered provider with the South African Council for Medical Schemes. Some medical insurance companies provide gifts to students to gain a larger market share within the educational institutions. Health insurance products are very crucial in the lives of university students and therefore the students must be familiar with medical product benefits and exclusions. It seems that many students lack relevant knowledge of health insurance products. Students seem to have a perception that medical insurance products cover all healthcare expenses. Dissatisfied customers may tarnish the image of the respective medical insurance company and result in customers seeking alternate products. The purpose of this paper is to determine the influence of promotional tools in creating awareness amongst international university students’ selection of medical insurance products. The study was descriptive and quantitative in nature. Four hundred international students studying at two state universities in Durban, South Africa completed a structured questionnaire. The results indicate that the respondents are very sensitive to price and the majority of them are influenced by advertising and word of mouth. The results of the study indicated that medical insurance companies should consider the quality of service and price as being very important factors when designing a promotional mix. Awareness creation is the backbone of sales growth and market share.

scholarly journals “Narratives of Social Cohesion”: Bridging the Link between School Culture, Linguistic Identity and the English Language

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tarryn De Kock ◽  
Yusuf Sayed ◽  
Azeem Badroodien
Keyword(s):  
Identity Formation ◽  
South African ◽  
Social Cohesion ◽  
School Level ◽  
Medium Of Instruction ◽  
South African Context ◽  
The South ◽  
School Cultures ◽  
African Context ◽  
The Relationship

This paper argues that processes of self-creation are significantly influenced by experiences of schooling, of which language forms a critical aspect. The school is a central site in which identities are contested, negotiated and affirmed, but it is also imbibed with a particular identity that, in the South African context, often remains expressly raced and classed. Existing research has pointed to the salience of language for questions of identity in education, and moreover the relationship between school cultures and the inculcation of particular norms and values. However, in the South African context research should also be focusing on the relationship between the major medium of instruction in schools, English, the values and behaviour encouraged at the school level, and how these influence learners’ linguistic and social identities. This paper engages with research conducted in three Cape Town schools and develops the idea of “narratives of social cohesion” to articulate the ways in which different school cultures influence learner-identity formation. It posits that the assumed neutrality of the primary medium of instruction, and its historic association with whiteness, represents a continued undervaluation of black learners’ linguistic and social experiences.

Applications of additive manufacturing at selected South African universities: promoting additive manufacturing education

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 752-764 ◽  
Author(s):  
Micheal Omotayo Alabi ◽  
Deon De Beer ◽  
Harry Wichers
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Additive Manufacturing ◽  
South African ◽  
Swot Analysis ◽  
Future Prospects ◽  
The South ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
South African Universities ◽  
Support Programmes

Purpose This paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the recent applications of additive manufacturing (AM) research and activities within selected universities in the Republic of South Africa (SA). Design/methodology/approach The paper is a general review of AM education, research and development effort within selected South African universities. The paper begins by looking at several support programmes and investments in AM technologies by the South African Department of Science and Technology (DST). The paper presents South Africa’s AM journey to date and recent global development in AM education. Next, the paper reviews the recent research activities on AM at four selected South African universities, South Africa AM roadmap and South African AM strategy. The future prospects of AM education and research are then evaluated through a SWOT analysis. Finally, the paper looks at the sustainability of AM from an education perspective. Findings The main lessons that have been learnt from South African AM research activities within selected universities are as follows: AM research activities at South African universities serve as a platform to promote AM education, and several support programmes and investments from South Africa’s DST have greatly enhanced the growth of AM across different sectors, such as medical, manufacturing, industrial design, tooling, jewellery and education. The government support has also assisted in the actualisation of the “Aeroswift” project, the world’s largest and fastest state-of-the-art AM machine that can 3D print metal parts. The AM research activities within South Africa’s universities have shown that it is not too late for developing countries to start and embrace AM technologies both in academia and industry. Based on a SWOT analysis, the future prospects of AM technology in SA are bright. Practical implications Researchers/readers from different backgrounds such as academic, industrial and governmental will be able to learn important lessons from SA’s AM journey and the success of SA’s AM researchers/practitioners. This paper will allow the major investors in AM technologies and business to see great opportunities to invest in AM education and research at all educational levels (i.e. high schools, colleges and universities) in South Africa. Originality/value The authors believe that the progress of AM education and research activities within SA’s universities show good practice and achievement over the years in both the applications of AM and the South African AM strategy introduced to promote AM research and the educational aspect of the technologies.

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