It is difficult for researchers to find funding for research in African languages and more work needs to be done to promote African languages as languages of research, teaching and learning.
This was mentioned at the inaugural Batho Abantu African Languages Association (BAALA) conference that was hosted by the North-West University’s (NWU’s) School of Languages, the NWU Language Directorate and SEFALA.
The conference brought together local and international researchers in African languages and took place at the Riverside Sun Hotel in Vanderbijlpark.
Themed “Trans-creation and Re-imagination of African Languages in the 21st Century and Beyond”, the event also saw the launch of the BAALA. This association seeks to promote the intellectualisation of African languages and multilingualism across the spectrum.
Researchers, academics and language practitioners from various universities attended the conference. They included Wits, Unisa, the University of Mpumalanga, the University of Fort Hare, the University of the Western Cape, the University of the Free State, Walter Sisulu University, and the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Delegates from the University of Salamanca in Spain and from three universities in Zimbabwe also joined the event. The Zimbabwean universities are the National University of Science and Technology, the Great Zimbabwe University and the Zimbabwe Midlands State University.
The NWU’s Prof Robert Balfour, deputy vice-chancellor for teaching and learning, and Prof Linda du Plessis, deputy vice-chancellor for planning and Vanderbijlpark Campus operations, officially opened the inaugural conference.
In her address, Prof du Plessis highlighted the importance of multilingualism and praised the organisors of the conference for hosting it.
“We have learned that the ability to speak more than one language is an advantage. We lose a lot of educational value by deferring to English. This conference comes at the right time and is exactly what our country needs,” she said.
Prof Balfour said multilingualism was fairly new in the higher education sector and was something not spoken about.
“It is high time that the issue of multilingualism is featured on the agenda. We hope that many publications and resolutions will come from this conference. We do not want academic tourism; we want to see change and action.”
Prof Langa Khumalo, director of language planning and development at the South African Centre for Digital Language Resources and one of the speakers, called for re-intellectualising African languages.
“English remains the only resourced language in the country. Languages continue to be a barrier to student success. African languages have been characterised as resource-scarce languages. It is difficult for researchers to find funding for research in African languages. Developing a language policy is not enough; we need an implementation strategy,” he added.
Prof Liqhwa Siziba, director of the School of Languages and event organiser, said she was very happy with how the conference turned out.
