The Transformative Power of Language

Russell H. Kaschula is Professor of African Language Studies at Rhodes University. He holds the NRF SARChI Chair in the Intellectualisation of African Languages, Multilingualism and Education. His most recent edited volumes include Multilingualism and Intercultural Communication (2017) and New Frontiers in Forensic Linguistics (2019). In 2019 he was selected as the Mellon Global South Senior Fellow at AUC, Cairo. H. Ekkehard Wolff is Professor and Chair Emeritus of African linguistics, Leipzig University. Recently published works include The Cambridge Handbook of African Linguistics (2019), A History of African Linguistics (2019), and Language and Development in Africa: Perceptions, Ideologies and Challenges (2016).

• Introduction: Transformative power and resourcefulness of African languages in the information and knowledge age Russell H. Kaschula and H. Ekkehard Wolff; Part I. Mental decolonisation and cultural diversity: 1. The role of African languages in decolonising South African universities Thulani Mkhize; 2. Adapt or die – Maintaining or decolonising language practices? Theodore Rodrigues; 3. Decolonising our minds, decolonising our languages: A mentalist approach to language attitudes Mantoa Motinyane; Part II. Multilingualism and intellectualisation of African languages: 4. Transformative power of language policies in higher education: A legal English approach or a linguistic African language approach? Zakeera Docrat and Russell H. Kaschula; 5. African languages in transformation: Challenges and opportunities for Zimbabwe and South Africa Emmanuel Sithole and Ziyanda Yola; 6. Linguistic diversity in higher education: inclusion or exclusion? Zakhile Somlata; 7. An impact study with reference to isiXhosa and Afrikaans multilingual glossaries for 1st year Law of Contracts students at Cape Peninsula University of Technology Linda Manashe, Boniface Kabaso, Monwabisi K. Ralarala, and Eunice Ivala; 8. The need for multicultural and multilingual sensitivity in transforming Graphic Design curriculum in a University of Technology Lindie Bhebhe, Monwabisi K. Ralarala, and Alettia Chisin; 9. An analysis of the language legislation effects in the banking sector: Towards the realisation of multilingualism in South Africa Menzi Zamokwakhe Thango and Wisdom Ntando Moyo; Part III. Digitalisation and democratisation of knowledge: 10. African language resources for knowledge societies Justus C. Roux; 11. Wikipedia as transformative multilingual knowledge resource Laurette Pretorius and Friedel Wolff; 12. Corpora as agency in the intellectualisation of African languages Langa Khumalo; 13. From postcolonial African language lexicography to globally competitive e-lexicography in Africa D. J. Prinsloo and Nompumelelo Zondi; Part IV. Interlingual and intercultural cross-fertilisation: 14. Orality in the Digital Age Janet Hayward; 15. Interpreting research in South Africa: Where to begin to transform? Herculene Kotzé and Kim Wallmach; 16. Exploring the potential of increasing epistemological access for university students of African languages through the translation of English academic texts Ntombovuyo Ngaphu; 17. Translation in foreign language teaching – cultivating critical reflection and symbolic competence Natasha Engelbrecht.

'A welcome and important contribution to the study of the role of language in its broader social context. The focus on language as an agent of development and societal change, and particularly the use of local languages in the decolonization of higher education and knowledge creation in Africa, is especially welcome.' Bruce Connell, Professor of Linguistics, York University