Linguistic Marginalisation and Multilingual Policy Gaps: African Language Speakers’ University Experiences Explored

Abstract

Making access to South African higher education institutions available to formerly excluded student groups has presented language policy and practice issues. Currently, most universities characterise themselves as multilingual institutions; however, bi-/multilingual practices in the formal teaching and learning spaces are mostly diminishing rather than expanding. This study investigated the experiences of students whose secondary school education was largely supported alongside English by an African language which is not a medium of education at university. Drawing on seven participants’ data, we identified language-related conflicts, contradictions, and compliances that the participants experienced as they settled into a tertiary education institution. Although a limited data-set cannot give generalisable insights, the study gives valuable pointers for sensible follow-up studies. The participants expressed either ambiguous (often contradicting) positions or compliance to formal classroom and learning experiences. Most pertinently, the language conflict they experienced became manifest in the informal social spaces. Admirable policy aspirations of multilingualism seem rarely to be honoured, signalling the study’s language policy implications.