Abstract
This study was an enquiry into the problem of decolonization from the perspectives of certain university students, and students of South African higher education institutions as expressed during the ‘Fees Must Fall’ uprisings in 2015. The fact that students demanded the decolonization of curricular content because they felt estranged from the curriculum, coupled with the fact that the medium of instruction is mainly ‘English’ drew the attention of many scholars and researchers, including young researchers of which I am one. This has resulted in several studies investigating what changes have been made, particularly via the language policies of universities, to implement functional multilingualism. Challenges have been encountered with policy implementation, in particular those aimed at supporting functional multilingualism not only in South Africa but in countries such as India, Singapore, Canada and even the USA (Ricento,2005 and Schiffman,2006). The theory of social justice and Vygotsky’s interactionist learning theory, which lays emphasis on the zone of proximal development (ZPD) and the critical nature of scaffolding in learning, were used in this study. These gave a better understanding of the challenges faced by the University of Bhuta (UB; pseudonym) towards its implementation of functional multilingualism as stated in the language policy of the institution. Data collected by use of interviews, questionnaires to students, analyses of websites and observations on campus, portrayed the extent to which functional multilingualism has been practised. Two main findings of the study are the preference of English and the silent non-inclusivity of the other adopted languages in the institution due to lack of funds. Finally, recommendations were made to assist with the future realisation of functional multilingualism not only at this institution but in higher education institutions in general. The government and the management of the institution were advised to make funds available for the implementation of functional multilingualism in the institution even as UCT has done.
M.A. (Education)