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According to a document recording the most recent census conducted in South Africa, "censuses are the principal means of collecting basic population and housing statistics required for planning, decision-making and monitoring of policies in all sectors of the economy in a country". (Click here for the source.)
The results of the 2022 South African census were released on 10 October 2023.
Here is the link to the census results, in downloadable PDF format.
According to this recent census, Zulu and Xhosa are the most widely spoken languages in South Africa, followed by Afrikaans.
The multilingual project you refer to goes by the acronym BAQONDE, a word which in Nguni languages means “(let them) understand”. In full BAQONDE stands for Boosting the Use of African Languages in Education. A Qualified Organized Nationwide DEvelopment Strategy for South Africa.
BAQONDE is a collaborative capacity-building project and it seeks to facilitate and promote the incorporation of indigenous African languages into teaching and learning arrangements at participating South African Higher Education institutions. It seeks to do so through initiatives such as the following:
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- Establishment and equipping of units to drive initiatives related to indigenous African languages
- Developing innovative multilingual teaching methodologies and training lecturers in these methodologies
- Developing resources for teaching and learning in African languages
- Fostering inter-institutional coordination.
In the light of the new census statistics, Naomi now talks to everyone involved in the BAQONDE project about South African languages and education, as well as the recent statistics regarding South African languages.
Dear Pedro Álvarez Mosquera, Bassey Antia, Johan Blaauw, Lorna Carson, Nobuhle Hlongwa, Dion Nkomo Kea Seshoka and Rosemary Wildsmith, you are all involved in the Baqonde project. Thank you for discussing my questions with Lorna Carson.
I have discussed this project with Bassey Antia, as well as Lorna Carson, in the past. Would you please share with our readers what this project is about?
Lorna Carson (after discussions with the abovementioned): The Baqonde project is a capacity-building project involving a collaboration between four South African universities (UWC, NWU, UZKN and Rhodes University) and three European universities (Salamanca, Groningen and Trinity College Dublin).
https://baqonde.usal.es/polokelo/ (click to access the resources available)
The work of this international consortium, co-funded by the European Union’s Erasmus+ programme, aims to support and develop the use of African languages in higher education. The project is achieving this aim through several actions, including a multilingual open access repository of teaching materials (polokele - see above); training for lecturers; a collaborative network which seeks to establish an inter-institutional network of African Language Development Units (ALDUs) in each university, in order to optimise training strategies, coordinate the production of materials and harmonise teaching standards for multilingual teaching in higher education; and finally, a schools outreach programme to share this work with younger pupils. The project partners, experts in African languages and multilingualism, all share the same aim. This aim is to enable South Africa’s university students to reach their potential through access to learning through maintaining their proficiency in their own African languages, and to accessing advanced studies in a range of subjects through these languages.
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The project partners, experts in African languages and multilingualism, all share the same aim. This aim is to enable South Africa’s university students to reach their potential through access to learning through maintaining their proficiency in their own African languages, and to accessing advanced studies in a range of subjects through these languages.
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I immediately thought about the access it would give South Africans to one another’s worlds if we all could learn to speak at least an Nguni language (Zulu or Xhosa) and our own home language. From an educational perspective, I also think how wonderful it would be if learning materials could be made available for children in languages like Xhosa or Zulu. From a practical perspective, how can this happen? What do you think?
Lorna Carson: This is a really interesting and worthwhile proposal to consider. It is along the lines of what the European Commission has tried to do across Europe to promote integration, linguistic diversity and multilingualism. This was described as “mother tongue plus two”, and the idea was that young people would maintain their own home language, add most likely English or another dominant language for purposes of work/travel, etc, and also learn a third language, which could be a heritage or minority language, a neighbouring language, etc.
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Creating the conditions where this kind of multilingualism is fostered involves commitment, leadership in education policy, and an understanding that the long-term benefits of such an approach are worth the time, cost and effort, because it will contribute to social cohesion, individual well-being and the development of new opportunities for speakers.
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Creating the conditions where this kind of multilingualism is fostered involves commitment, leadership in education policy, and an understanding that the long-term benefits of such an approach are worth the time, cost and effort, because it will contribute to social cohesion, individual well-being and the development of new opportunities for speakers.
Please could you tell me about the Baqonde project at this point and what you have done so far – and where you are heading? I know that the lockdown influenced this project in the beginning as it kicked off (it wasn’t possible to travel, etc).
Lorna Carson: The project is coming to a formal end in December 2023, soon after a final wrap-up meeting at North-West University in November to plan for how the project’s outputs can be used for concrete change in the higher education space.
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We are particularly looking at our online repository of materials, which are free for anyone across South Africa, and indeed the world, to access. We will also be ensuring that our inter-institutional network of new African Language Development Units in the four South African universities takes over the work of the project and continues to support the intellectualisation of African languages.
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We are particularly looking at our online repository of materials, which are free for anyone across South Africa, and indeed the world, to access. We will also be ensuring that our inter-institutional network of new African Language Development Units in the four South African universities takes over the work of the project and continues to support the intellectualisation of African languages.
Also read:
Afrikaans kom derde: kommentaar op Suid-Afrika se jongste sensusverslag
Don’t upset ooMalume: A guide to stepping up your Xhosa by Hombakazi Mercy Nqandeka – a review
BAQONDE and multilingual education in South Africa: An interview with Lorna Carson