English as a second language in South Africa's tertiary institutions: a case study at the University of Pretoria

Abstract

This paper uses the University of Pretoria as a point of reference and explicates that the use of a second language as language of learning and teaching (LoL/T) could be detrimental to the academic development of students as well as to the assessment of their progress, if the students concerned do not have the expected proficiency in the LoL/T, which, in the case of the University of Pretoria, is English. The argument is motivated on the basis of the role of language in academic training and on the proficiency of the students concerned in English. The article then lists the language and language‐related problems at the University of Pretoria, evaluates the measures taken by the University to resolve these problems, and closes with a description of the language planning steps which are necessary if the language issue at the University is to be handled in a satisfactory way. Although directed at circumstances at one particular South African university it is hoped that the discussion may be applicable to similar institutions in the country, in particular institutions which formerly wholly or mainly used Afrikaans as LoL/T, and have had to adopt a dual‐medium approach to training since the country's democratisation in 1994.