Discipline-specific terminology in an indigenous language of South Africa as panacea to the inaccessibility of academic spaces: Perspectives from isiZulu L1 students

Discipline-specific terminology in an indigenous language widens English-oriented academic spaces in accessing knowledge and enhancing academic success for indigenous speakers. The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), South Africa, has embarked on the development of terminologies in isiZulu in twenty disciplines to date addressing the lack of academic vocabulary in indigenous languages. Using multilingualism and ‘language as a resource’ orientation to language planning as conceptual frameworks and through analysis of interview data, this paper explores the perspectives of isiZulu L1 students at UKZN on the use of terminology in isiZulu to determine whether these students acknowledge this terminology, and the extent to which they find this terminology resourceful. Findings indicate that these students appreciate the terminologies in isiZulu and find these helpful when studying. It is concluded that African languages are viable for use in academia and terminology in indigenous languages is one panacea to the inaccessibility of academic spaces for the speakers of these languages.