By Phenyo Mokgothu and Gofaone Motsamai
In a significant move to enhance multilingualism at the North-West University (NWU), a team of Setswana language experts is assisting the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences (FNAS) to translate study guides into Setswana. This initiative aligns with the NWU’s commitment to its functional multilingualism policy, which recognises Afrikaans, English, Setswana and Sesotho as official languages at the university.
The project, led by Thatayaone Dire, a Setswana language specialist at the FNAS, aims to make scientific and technological content more accessible to Setswana-speaking students. This effort is designed to bridge language barriers and ensure that complex academic material is more comprehensible for students within the FNAS.
Professor Thebe Medupe, the NWU’s deputy dean for Teaching and Learning at the FNAS, emphasised the crucial role language plays in academic success. “Setswana is an integral part of our identity, and ensuring that study guides reflect this language helps our students engage with the material more effectively. If we can translate everyday terms like 'cell phone' into Setswana, there is no reason why we cannot discuss complex topics like quantum mechanics in Setswana,” said Professor Medupe.
The translation team comprises several prominent Setswana language experts, including renowned Setswana authors and linguists like Mr Manfred Molebalwa, Mr Sethunya Kgafela, Dr Solly Magaleta and Mr Steve Selemale. These experts bring a wealth of knowledge in Setswana literature and linguistics, ensuring that the translated terms are not only accurate but also culturally relevant and widely understood.
Their work involves not just translating existing terms but also standardising them to ensure consistency across educational resources at the university. This is a crucial step in creating a uniform scientific vocabulary in Setswana that can be adopted across the NWU and beyond.
The project aims to extend beyond just the FNAS. Professor Medupe shared his long-term vision: “While we are starting with the FNAS, the goal is to make this initiative available across other faculties and institutions. We aim to create a unified scientific vocabulary in Setswana that will benefit the broader educational community.”
The translated study guides will serve as valuable resources for students, educators and researchers, ensuring that Setswana becomes a more prominent language in academic discourse. By integrating Setswana into the scientific lexicon, this initiative strengthens the role of indigenous languages in higher education and supports the NWU’s policy of multilingualism.
Through this project, the NWU is setting a positive example for other institutions, demonstrating how the inclusion of indigenous languages in education can make academic content more accessible, inclusive and relevant to a wider audience.
