The North-West University (NWU) is home to a diverse community of people who speak different languages and come from different cultures. It is an institution that promotes an inclusive environment in which students and staff can communicate, learn, and participate in different languages and cultures.
The 2026 Multilingual Awareness Week, led by the Language Directorate, brought this commitment to life as the NWU celebrated its linguistic and cultural diversity across its three campuses from Monday, 14 September to Friday, 18 September.
Officially launched on the Vanderbijlpark Campus, the programme this year explored the theme, “Digital transformation and the reimagining of indigenous languages within a multilingual academic world.” The theme invited the NWU community to reflect on the diverse culture at the institution while celebrating the identities that unite the purple army.
The School of Languages, Student Life, the Centre for African Languages Teaching (CALT), and the South African Centre for Digital Language Resources (SADiLAR) collaborated on the activities during the week.
Prof. Rosemary Cromarty, director of the Language Directorate, said the awareness week promoted the rights of students to use their languages and linguistic repertoires.
“Through the activities this week we promoted multilingualism, encouraged students to engage with different languages and cultures and equipped lecturers with multilingual pedagogies that create opportunities to enhance learning,” she said.
Throughout the week the programme took staff and students through a series of webinars and interactive activities designed to promote multilingualism and strengthen a sense of belonging. The opening online seminar on Monday explored digital resources available in African languages, highlighting the relationship between technology, language, and the academic environment.
On Tuesday, 15 September, the programme turned to multilingual riddles, idioms, and proverbs. Students and staff also participated in an online seminar that introduced participants to Sesotho, Setswana, and Afrikaans – all official languages used at the NWU.
Wednesday, 16 September placed language and identity at the centre of the programme under the theme “My language, my identity”. This theme encouraged the NWU community to reflect on the relationship between the languages people speak and the identities they carry. Thursday featured an online seminar on South African Sign Language and a lively karaoke activation that formed part of the build-up to the Cultural Integration Day celebration on Friday, 18 September.
Through the Multicultural Awareness Week, the NWU continues to reinforce that it is building an institution where everyone belongs, one language and one culture at a time.
Students performing traditional Sesotho songs during the karaoke session
