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<h1>UKZN lecturer Muhle Sibisi wins linguistic award</h1><p class="gmail-meta"><a href="https://www.iol.co.za/sunday-tribune/news">News</a><span> / </span><span>13 November 2018, 2:47pm</span><span> / </span><span><strong>Kwandokuhle Njoli</strong></span></p><div><div class="gmail-social-icons"><ul><li><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.iol.co.za%2Fsunday-tribune%2Fnews%2Fukzn-lecturer-muhle-sibisi-wins-linguistic-award-18099858" title="Share on Facebook"><img src="https://www.iol.co.za/assets/images/social-icons/facebook-rnd-ico.svg" alt="Share on Facebook" id="gmail-article-facebook-share"></a></li><li><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?via=IOL&text=UKZN%20lecturer%20Muhle%20Sibisi%20wins%20linguistic%20award&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.iol.co.za%2Fsunday-tribune%2Fnews%2Fukzn-lecturer-muhle-sibisi-wins-linguistic-award-18099858" title="Share on Twitter"><img src="https://www.iol.co.za/assets/images/social-icons/twitter-rnd-ico.svg" alt="Share on Twitter" id="gmail-article-twitter-share"></a></li><li><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&title=UKZN%20lecturer%20Muhle%20Sibisi%20wins%20linguistic%20award&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.iol.co.za%2Fsunday-tribune%2Fnews%2Fukzn-lecturer-muhle-sibisi-wins-linguistic-award-18099858" title="Share on LinkedIn"><img src="https://www.iol.co.za/assets/images/social-icons/linkedin-rnd-ico.svg" alt="Share on LinkedIn" id="gmail-article-linkedin-share"></a></li><li><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.iol.co.za/sunday-tribune/news/ukzn-lecturer-muhle-sibisi-wins-linguistic-award-18099858#email-share" class="gmail-show-popup" title="Share via Email"><img src="https://www.iol.co.za/assets/images/social-icons/email-rnd-ico.svg" alt="Tell a Friend" id="gmail-article-email-share"></a></li></ul></div></div><div class="gmail-article-body"><div class="gmail-sixteen-nine"><img class="gmail-imgLandScape" src="https://image.iol.co.za/image/1/process/620x349?source=https://inm-baobab-prod-eu-west-1.s3.amazonaws.com/public/inm/media/image/nt/2018/11/13/18099488/HumanitiesLecturerwinsYoungLinguistAward.JPG&operation=CROP&offset=0x125&resize=1984x1114" alt="" title="Humanities lecturer wins young linguist award"></div><span class="gmail-imageCaption">Humanities lecturer wins young linguist award</span><div class="gmail-articleBodyMore" id="gmail-article-more-body"><p><span>Durban - Linguistics lecturer Muhle Sibisi recently won the Young Linguist Award at the 20<sup>th</sup> annual International Congress of Linguists, held for the first time on African soil since its inauguration in 1928. The </span><span>congress,
which takes place every five years, took place at the Cape Town ICC and
was attended by esteemed linguists from around the globe.</span></p>
<p><span>Sibisi, whose research interest lies in language policy,
believes that isiZulu and other African languages are ‘under-used’ in
accessing knowledge including academic knowledge.</span></p>
<p><span>"The use of African languages in higher education would enhance opportunities </span>of<span> access and success for the speakers of these languages," she said. </span></p>
<p><span>Sibisi won the Young Linguist Award. She was </span>was given the award based on her work entitled <i>Exploring attitudes towards the use of poetry in the presentation of academic content in isiZulu</i>, in which she conducted an exploratory study wherein poets recited a Linguistics academic concept as a poem in isiZulu.</p>
<p><span>Sibisi said choosing linguistics as a field of study was driven
by her desire to learn how languages work as well as the politics and
power dynamics underlying language use. </span></p>
<p><span>Her </span>PhD<span> study is on the attitudes of
isiZulu-speaking students towards the use of discipline-specific
terminology in isiZulu and isiZulu as an academic language.</span></p>
<p><span>"The use of African languages in higher education would enhance opportunities </span>of<span> access and success for the speakers of these languages," she said.</span></p>
<p><span>She hopes to engage in future studies that impact on people’s
lives such as research on the use of isiZulu (and possibly other African
languages) to disseminate knowledge in the education sector and in the
public sphere.</span></p>
<p><span>"To the student fraternity I would like to say – hang in there.
We need to work hard, not just for ourselves but for the future
generations. </span><span>Such an award is both motivating and challenging one to work even harder. As a budding linguist, it is an honour</span><span> to be </span><span>recognized</span><span> for
the work I do. It gives me confidence to soldier on, now that my foot
is in the door. It gives me a sense of belonging in linguistics as a
field of study on the one hand and to the international community of
linguists on the other hand," said Sibisi. </span></p>
<p><span>Sibisi was given the award based on her presentation entitled </span><i>Exploring attitudes towards the use of poetry in the presentation of academic content in isiZulu</i><span>, in which she conducted an exploratory study wherein poets recited a Linguistics academic concept as a poem in isiZulu.</span></p></div></div>
<br>-- <br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div></div>