Social software as a tool of promoting indigenous African languages in Higher Education

ABSTRACT

Within the discourse of language planning and policy, there is an increasing realisation of the strategic role of information and communication technologies in the promotion of indigenous African languages. The article discusses the strategic role that social software, in particular blogs and wiki, can and should play in the development of African languages in South African Higher Education. The paper argues that while the colonial and apartheid legacy can be blamed for the underdevelopment of African languages, the reality of entrenched misconceptions about the use of African languages and poor language policy implementation in the post-apartheid era continue to hinder the promotion of these languages. The increase in the adoption of such social software tools in Higher Education institutions is therefore envisaged to present a platform for the development and promotion of African languages in the Higher Education domain.

KEYWORDS:

• Social software
• African languages
• language planning
• localisation
• Higher Education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

ORCID

Hloniphani Ndebele http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1063-1944