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Language in Higher Education Transformation: Contrasts and Similarities between Two African Universities

The Development of Higher Education in Africa: Prospects and Challenges

ISBN: 978-1-78190-698-9, eISBN: 978-1-78190-699-6

Publication date: 4 October 2013

Abstract

This chapter discusses the role of language in the transformation of two African institutions of higher education, namely the University of Botswana (in Botswana) and the University of KwaZulu-Natal (in South Africa). The transformation of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, which is aimed at addressing the inequalities and other ills of the apartheid era, has taken on board language issues. For instance, isiZulu is being developed and promoted to join English as a language of scholarship. In contrast, the University of Botswana’s transformation does not stem from a political background of oppression. The institutional transformation has to do internationalization and the conversion into a research-intensive university. This transformation, unlike at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, has not taken a strong move to develop and promote Setswana (Botswana’s national language) as a language of scholarship.

Citation

Kamwendo, G.H. (2013), "Language in Higher Education Transformation: Contrasts and Similarities between Two African Universities", The Development of Higher Education in Africa: Prospects and Challenges (International Perspectives on Education and Society, Vol. 21), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 265-283. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-3679(2013)0000021012

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2013 Emerald Group Publishing Limited