The development of African languages as mediums of instruction in higher education: from policy to practice

African languages and speakers were severely disadvantaged under South African colonialism and apartheid due to a "Eurocentric" linguistic worldview . Apart from English, Afrikaans was the sole language used as a medium of instruction across all disciplines in the country's higher education system. The Language Policy for Higher Education ordered in 2002 that indigenous African languages be developed and promoted as "Languages of Learning and Teaching" (LoLTs) at university level. UKZN has taken the effort to cultivate, modernize, and elaborate isiZulu as a medium for knowledge production and dissemination through its language strategy and plan.

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Publication Details

Journal
Human Science Research Council SA
Published
2026-05-22
DOI
https://doi.org/10.14749/32365122
Primary Topic
Multilingual Education and Policy
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

The development of African languages as mediums of instruction in higher education: from policy to practice

Human Sciences Research Council
Human Science Research Council SA
Multilingual Education and Policy
article

The development of African languages as mediums of instruction in higher education: from policy to practice

Human Sciences Research Council
article en

Abstract

African languages and speakers were severely disadvantaged under South African colonialism and apartheid due to a "Eurocentric" linguistic worldview . Apart from English, Afrikaans was the sole language used as a medium of instruction across all disciplines in the country's higher education system. The Language Policy for Higher Education ordered in 2002 that indigenous African languages be developed and promoted as "Languages of Learning and Teaching" (LoLTs) at university level. UKZN has taken the effort to cultivate, modernize, and elaborate isiZulu as a medium for knowledge production and dissemination through its language strategy and plan.

Human Science Research Council SA
Quality Education
Openalex Percentile: Top 4%
Multilingual Education and Policy
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