Abstract

BORNMAN, Elirea; STEENKAMP, Conrad; WDZRENGA, Rone  and  CARSTENS, WAM. Afrikaans in tertiary education: Some trends evident from the studies Staat van het Nederlands and Stand van Afrikaans. Tydskr. geesteswet. [online]. 2025, vol.65, n.1, pp.285-316. ISSN 2224-7912.  https://doi.org/10.17159/2224-7912/2025/v65n1a13.

This article examines the vitality of Dutch and Afrikaans in the higher education sector. Initially, the article considers the UNESCO (2003) report on the vitality of languages and the role of education - and higher education in particular - in determining the vitality of a language, the extent to which the language is transmitted from one generation to the next, and the modernisation of the language, which includes its ability to expand into new and emerging domains, such as new media, technological and scientific developments, and new professions. The discussion of the state of Dutch is based on the results of three Staat van het Nederlands studies conducted in 2016, 2018 and 2020 among panels of respondents from the Netherlands, Flanders and Suriname. The results indicate that Dutch is increasingly threatened by English in the higher education sector. Although tuition in career-orientated institutions was still predominantly offered in Dutch only, the use of Dutch was declining in university tuition. Of the different regions under consideration, the situation in the Netherlands was the worst. Only 28,1% of the students said that they received tuition in Dutch only. The corresponding percentages were 43,5% in Flanders and 64,3% in Suriname. The option "English only" was chosen by respondents in all three countries. The authors of the reports also voiced concerns about the fact that most Dutch academics and researchers strive to publish their articles in high-ranking English journals. English is furthermore increasingly becoming the dominant language at academic conferences - even conferences focusing on the Dutch language. In 2024 the Afrikaans Language Board (Afrikaanse Taalraad) initiated a similar investigation into the state of Afrikaans. This study took the form of a questionnaire survey among a random sample of 2 083 Afrikaans-speaking respondents. The sample included 114 respondents who indicated that they were studying at a higher education institution and answered the questions on language use in the higher education sector. Since there are no longer any public universities in South Africa that can be regarded as "Afrikaans only" universities, it can be predicted that the situation of Afrikaans is worse than that of Dutch in the above-mentioned three Dutch-speaking regions. Surprisingly, the percentage of students who indicated that they received tuition in Afrikaans only (27,3%) compared quite well with the corresponding percentage for the Netherlands (28,1%), but were far lower than that for Flanders and Suriname. Most of the respondents (53,0%) indicated that they received tuition in Afrikaans and English, while only 8,5% of the respondents said that they received tuition in English only. The conclusion is that the majority of Afrikaans-speaking students - even those studying at institutions that still offered a range of courses through the medium of Afrikaans - received tuition in English and Afrikaans, and not in Afrikaans only. Responses to questions examining various dimensions of university teaching revealed the limited use of Afrikaans in the higher education sector. Of the full respondent group, only slightly more than a quarter indicated that they spoke only Afrikaans to lecturers and that lecturers always presented classes in Afrikaans (27,4% and 28,0%, respectively). Less than a quarter of the respondents said that study material was always in Afrikaans (23,2%), that handbooks were in Afrikaans (20,9%), that they always did assignments in Afrikaans (22,5%), and that they always wrote examinations in Afrikaans (24,8%). The study also examined language use in social interaction on campuses of higher education institutions and in official communication from these institutions to students and parents. Only 26,8% of the respondents indicated that they always spoke Afrikaans with fellow students. The percentages were even lower for always using Afrikaans in discussions with fellow students outside lecture halls (24,6%) and in student accommodation (23,4%). Newsletters that were always in Afrikaans from higher education institutions were reported by only 16,3% of the students. Only 21,0% of the students indicated that the websites of their institutions were fully available in Afrikaans. The responses indicated that English was the only other language used in their higher education institutions. The conclusion is that the position of Afrikaans in higher education is a cause for serious concern. In higher education, Afrikaans is still used and heard only in small pockets here and there. That is the case not only at universities and colleges, which are predominantly English, but also at institutions that still claim that they offer a range of qualifications through the medium of Afrikaans. This article makes recommendations for further research. In particular, it is recommended that research be conducted among students of Northwest University and Stellenbosch University to establish the reasons why they do not receive tuition in Afrikaans only while they are registered for courses the universities claim to offer through the medium of Afrikaans.

Keywords : higher education; position of Afrikaans; position of Dutch; teaching in Afrikaans; assignments; examinations; discussions with lecturers; discussions with fellow students; websites.

        · abstract in Afrikaans     · text in Afrikaans     · Afrikaans ( pdf )