The case of isiZulu for non-mother tongue speakers at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa – Is the compulsory language module promoting social cohesion?

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe Minister of Higher Education, Blade Nzimande's, call on the 5th of April 2011 for South African universities to implement a policy which saw all university graduates exiting with a credit in an African language was the catalyst for the University of KwaZulu-Natal's decision to implement a compulsory isiZulu module for all non-mother tongue speakers of the language. One of the goals motivating the University of KwaZulu-Natal decision was the promotion of the buzzword ‘social cohesion’. This article reports on the findings of a survey conducted with a sample of 350 learners who completed the Basic IsiZulu Language Studies (ZULN101) module in 2015 at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. The survey sought to assess the extent to which the goal of promoting social cohesion is being achieved. The findings confirm the existence of a complex and ambivalent linguistic landscape in South Africa; one in which learners acknowledge the benefits of an ability to communicate in an African language but also show limited inclination towards acquiring competence in the language; thereby, decelerating the promotion of social cohesion, per se.