The case of isiZulu for non-mother tongue speakers at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa – Is the compulsory language module promoting social cohesion?

• Autores: Shamila Naidoo, Roshni Gokool, Hloniphani Ndebele
• Localización: Journal of multilingual and multicultural development, ISSN 0143-4632, Vol. 39, Nº. 4, 2018, págs. 356-368
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The Minister of Higher Education, Blade Nzimande's, call on the 5th of April 2011 for South African universities to implement a policy which saw all university graduates exiting with a credit in an African language was the catalyst for the University of KwaZulu-Natal's decision to implement a compulsory isiZulu module for all non-mother tongue speakers of the language. One of the goals motivating the University of KwaZulu-Natal decision was the promotion of the buzzword ‘social cohesion’. This article reports on the findings of a survey conducted with a sample of 350 learners who completed the Basic IsiZulu Language Studies (ZULN101) module in 2015 at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. The survey sought to assess the extent to which the goal of promoting social cohesion is being achieved. The findings confirm the existence of a complex and ambivalent linguistic landscape in South Africa; one in which learners acknowledge the benefits of an ability to communicate in an African language but also show limited inclination towards acquiring competence in the language; thereby, decelerating the promotion of social cohesion, per se.