The following documents relate to the revision of the Language Policy. They include the recommendations by the Rector’s Management Team, as approved by Council at their meeting on 16 November 2007.
During the last Council
Meeting of 2005, the Council requested that the Management
of the University activate the review process and that
it consider all input. The Council also noted the concerns
that existed in various circles for the future of Afrikaans
as language of teaching.
The review commences
Prof. Chris Brink, (see
his communication here (.pdf)), informed the staff
and students on 6 February 2006 that the review process
had been activated and that a Language Task Group had been
appointed to complete the project in 2006. In terms of
structure, the process is dealt with in the line function
of the Vice-Rector (Teaching), since language at SU is
considered an academic matter. Prof Leon de Stadler, Director
of the Language Centre, is the project leader. Prof Russel
Botman is the project owner and the University’s
Spokesperson on Language.
In addition to the Language Task Group, a larger Reference
Group (.pdf) has been appointed to accommodate input
from the University’s statutory bodies, the campus
community, experts on academic functions, and the public,
among others. As a preliminary step, the Task Group invited
both individuals and institutions to make written submissions
regarding the SU Language Policy by 31 March 2006.
Current language debate
The decision by the Faculty of Arts in May 2005 to extend
the so-called T option – the use of Afrikaans and English
as languages of teaching – to the third year of study
rekindled the language debate. However, the Arts Faculty
Board confirmed its decision unanimously, after which, in
November, Senate recommended
to Council that the existing recommendations regarding language
specifications be upheld. These included the Arts Faculty’s
proposals for the T option, although the language specifications
of every faculty (with the exception of Military Science,
which is managed according to a contract with the state)
were discussed separately. On 15 December 2005 the University
Council accepted, with a large majority, Senate’s recommendations
regarding language specifications for 2006, including the
extension of the T option to the third year of study in the
Faculty of Arts.
At this meeting, Council also reiterated its commitment
to the sustainability of Afrikaans as language of teaching
within the context of the University’s Strategic
Framework and Vision
2012. With this in mind, Council made a specific request
to Management that it should, during the review process,
obtain feedback on the implementation of the T option in
2006 and consider the continuation of the T option with other
possible approaches. Management was also asked to suggest
practical measures for the promotion of Afrikaans as language
of science.
Please consult News from the
Language Task Group regularly for the latest developments
in and progress with the process.
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News
from the Language Task Group
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Goals and
deliverables
What does the Language Task Group
need to complete before the end of 2006 to carry
out its brief and reach its goals?
Project plan:
the time scales
A revised Language Policy, should
this be necessary, will be implemented in 2008.
The time frame according to which the Language
Task Group functions is set out in an approved
project plan.
Consultation/Deliberation
Thus far, the number of submissions
received by the Language Task Group or discussions
held with it amounts to approximately 45. This
was in reaction to the Task Group’s invitation
to individuals and bodies to make written submissions
on the University’s Language Policy. The
closing date for submissions was 31 March 2006.
Scholarship
of the process of policy formulation
As part of its aim of ensuring that
the process of policy formulation is scientific,
the Language Task Group has already initiated
two investigations that currently in progress. |
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