Wits Multilingual Landscape: Developing Language Use Guides For Inclusive Communication

Wits Multilingual Landscape: Developing Language Use Guides For Inclusive Communication

Celimpilo Piety Dladla & Soyiso Khetoa

Issue: Vol.6 No.13 Article 5 pp.68-80
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.20256135| Published online 30th December, 2025
© 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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ABSTRACT

South Africa has a rich linguistic diversity and progressive policies aimed at including indigenous languages; however, English continues to dominate academic discourse, while the university policy promotes multilingualism. As a means of interrogating this issue, this paper explores the role of digital language use guides in promoting multilingualism. Drawing on the Causality and Effect-Based Model and Communication Accommodation Theory, the study aims to demonstrate how these resources facilitate effective communication and address the linguistic imbalance prevalent in South African higher education. A qualitative desktop research approach was employed, involving a systematic analysis of the content and design of isiZulu and Sesotho language guides. Findings reveal that these guides, which are accessible online, provide essential linguistic and cultural knowledge, including forms of address, months of the year, and grammatical rules such as noun classes. The study discusses how these resources serve as transformative instruments that promote inclusivity and mitigate language degradation by integrating indigenous knowledge with standardised language use. It is recommended that more collaborative, digitally-focused initiatives be undertaken to revitalise and promote previously marginalised languages. This research contributes to scholarship by presenting a practical and innovative model for academic institutions to implement their language policies and foster a more equitable, culturally responsive academic environment.

Keywords: Higher Education, Language Use Guide, Language Learning, Multilingualism

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ABOUT AUTHOR(S)

Dr Celimpilo Piety Dladla is a lecturer in the Department of Translation and Interpreting Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. She is a seasoned language specialist working between English and isiZulu. Her undergraduate and postgraduate studies are in Language Practice; Management, Translation and Interpreting Studies; IsiZulu Studies; African Languages and Linguistics; and Teaching in Higher Education. Her postdoctoral research, published in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters, focuses on the language policy, translation, and interpreting practice. She is also the author of two novels: The Pastor With A Criminal Mind and Ngumhlaba-ke lowo!

Dr Soyiso Khetoa is the Head of the Department of African Languages at the University of the Witwatersrand. He serves on the Gauteng Provincial Language Committee as Convener of the Language-in-Education Subcommittee and is a founding editorial board member of the Journal of Linguistics, Literary and Communication Studies. His research explores sociolinguistics and language education by focusing on language attitudes and ideologies in African language education, translanguaging and decolonial approaches to teaching, curriculum transformation and indigenous language integration, socio-onomastics and cultural hybridity, and African literature and oral traditions in contemporary contexts. Dr Khetoa has published widely in peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes and has presented his work at national and international conferences. He has successfully supervised postgraduate students from honours to PhD and continues to mentor emerging scholars.

TO CITE ARTICLE

Dladla, Celimpilo Piety, and Soyiso Khetoa.“ Wits Multilingual Landscape: Developing Language Use Guides For Inclusive Communication.” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 6, no. 13 (2025): 68 – 80, https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.20256135.