Prof. Tobie van Dyk is an extensively published author of applied linguistic work, focusing on academic literacies theory and practice, academic reading and writing development, and in particular academic language ability testing. He is considered an authority in particularly the fields of academic literacies and language testing – all focus areas under the broad theme of language for specific purposes within applied linguistics.

After completing my BA degree, I enrolled for a BA Honours degree in Language Practice at the NWU’s Vanderbijlpark Campus, which I obtained with distinction. I then enrolled for my masters degree at the same institution, under the supervision of Dr Ia Esterhuizen and Prof. Haidee Kruger. The dissertation sprouted from two subjects that I completed in my Honours degree, namely editing and text linguistics combined with my own curiosity as to how writers and readers interact through written discourse; more specifically study guides.

After completing a degree in Language Practice I worked as a classroom interpreter and freelance language practitioner. I started work at the NWU in 2007 as junior lecturer where I presented modules in Academic Literacy, Language Practice and English Linguistics. The modules that focussed on the influence of various linguistic theories on translation theory contributed to my interest in linguistics.

Johanita Kirsten, senior lecturer in Afrikaans Linguistics at the Vanderbijlpark Campus of the North-West University, is interested in recent and ongoing changes in Afrikaans language use. She completed her MA and PhD in Afrikaans and Dutch (Historical Linguistics) at the NWU under supervision of prof. Bertus van Rooy, and received the ABSA Bronze Medal for her MA dissertation.

I am a lecturer and researcher working in the field of linguistics, and a member of the UPSET research focus area, at the Vanderbijlpark Campus of the North-West University.