[lg policy] South Africa: R150K to promote isiXhosa at Maties

[Harold Schiffman]

 R150K to promote isiXhosa at Maties June 1 2015 at 11:40am
By Carlo Petersen
<http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/western-cape/r150k-to-promote-isixhosa-at-maties-1.1865953#comments_start>
[image:
Copy of CT_ct stellenbosch university0] INDEPENDENT MEDIA Stellenbosch
University has created a fund for the development of isiXhosa as an
academic language at the university. File photo: Cindy Waxa

Cape Town - Stellenbosch University (SU) has created a fund for the
development of isiXhosa as an academic language at the university.

Its management announced on Sunday that R150 000 will be awarded annually
to promote the language.

“A key component of the university’s language policy is that the
institution accepts responsibility for the promotion of isiXhosa as an
academic language and language of social interaction judiciously. The fund
will help realise this in a practical way,” said SU vice-chancellor Wim de
Villiers.

De Villiers said the initiative was in line with SU’s language policy,
which was adopted by council in November last year.

“Stellenbosch is a world-class multilingual South African university – one
of a few in this category. We are trying to ensure that language is not a
barrier to access, but a tool for success.”

He said the university will also contribute to a new prize for research in
Afrikaans. “The award is additional to the work already being done to
promote isiXhosa.

“(It will be promoted) As an academic field in the Department of African
Languages up to PhD level; short courses in basic communication skills;
career-specific communication in Education and in Medicine and Health
Sciences, and the discipline-specific terminology guides in, for example,
social work, sociology, psychology, law, and economic and management
sciences.”

The SU Language Centre also has developed sport terminology in three
languages for rugby, soccer and cricket and the terminology list for soccer
was launched just before the World Cup, he added.

Activist group Open Stellenbosch spokesperson Sikhulekile Duma called the
initiative a publicity stunt.

“They have said they will do a whole bunch of things in the past but it
never gets done. Their main aim should be making sure lectures in every
faculty are done in English, a language we can all understand,” he said.

*Cape Times*

http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/western-cape/r150k-to-promote-isixhosa-at-maties-1.1865953#.VWyo10aFLa8


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