Challenges to the implementation of bilingual/multilingual language policies at tertiary institutions in South Africa (1995–2012)

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between bilingual/multilingual language policies and their effective implementation at historically white tertiary institutions in South Africa. It analyses the policies of five of the country's major universities, and their implementation, within a Language Policy & Planning (LPP) and Literacy Acquisition (LA) theoretical framework. Data were collected on the stated intentions of these policies and the extent of their implementation by means of an electronic questionnaire survey and telephonic interviews. The results are then discussed with reference to the status quo of the African language disciplines at these universities in terms of their perceived status, student numbers in both first and second language streams, and their actual capacity to support the language policy of their institution. The article then discusses the various challenges to implementation and proposes a possible way forward.

Keywords:

• African languages
• bilingualism implementation
• language attitudes
• language planning
• language policy
• literacy acquisition
• multilingualism