ALASA Conference: African languages beyond expansion and preservation in the digital age

Polokwane Royal Hotel, Polokwane, South Africa 08-11 July 2025 The 26th International Conference of the African Language Association of Southern Africa (ALASA) was held at Polokwane Royal Hotel, Polokwane, from Tuesday, 08 July to Friday, 11 July 2025. The theme, African Languages Beyond Expansion and Preservation in the Digital Age, highlighted the urgent need to advance African languages from mere preservation and expansion to active scholarship in academic spaces. It provided delegates the opportunity to demonstrate the maturity of African languages for such endeavours from the perspectives of literature, translation terminology and lexicography, language policy and planning, language in society, language and decolonisation, language and technology, and theoretical linguistics. The conference engaged with issues around language policy; languages of learning, teaching, and science; Indigenous African languages online; and localised digital content. There were 211 paper presentations and five keynote addresses. The conference sub-themes were: • The literature and literary scholarship of African languages. • The language of languages in translation, terminology, and lexicography. • The implications of language planning in African languages development and strengthening. • Societal forces in communities and elitist structures of education in the utility of African languages. • The development and strengthening of African languages in the digital space. • Structural systems of African languages.