Our Blog
New energy for bilingual education in SA schools
In March this year, Basic Education minister Angie Motshekga announced the government's plan to introduce Mother Tongue Based Bilingual Education for all South African children. We welcome this direction by the DBE and wrote a piece in The Conversation outlining ideas...
iSayensi Yethu: bilingual Science learning materials
As the year draws to an uncertain close, we have some good news to share. In the latter half of 2021 bua-lit initiated its first materials development project. iSayensi Yethu is a project conceptualised and produced by bua-lit members and affiliates along with new...
First-ever trilingual Kaaps dictionary: A recognition of language heritage
While many people think of Kaaps (or Afrikaaps) as ‘slang’ or as a variety of Afrikaans, scholars like Quentin Williams contend that Kaaps first cohered as a language during intercultural encounters in the 1500s between indigenous Africans in the Cape, traders,...
Kaaps and the Professor
In this Afrikaans/Kaaps interview Prof Dyers describes her upbringing in Elim, Western Cape, and how she struggled to choose a ‘mother tongue’ on school forms as she and her family used many different varieties in her home. She is a ‘Kaapse kind’ but adapts to...
Translanguaging activities for high school teachers
Some South African student teachers began their first and only teaching practice for the year this week in schools. As well as the novel challenges that Covid-19 has thrown their way, they are faced with the usual questions about the language practices they observe in...
