Meet the Team
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Simthembile Xeketwana is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Stellenbosch University. His research focuses on language and education, with particular emphasis on genre-based pedagogy, isiXhosa education, and multilingual teaching strategies in diverse South African classrooms. He specialises in teaching different literary genres according to CAPS specifications and explores the use of language as a meaning-making tool in education. Additionally, he investigates the role of language in ensuring effective communication and promotes the visibility of African languages through literature and literary analysis. Dr Xeketwana has published extensively on applied linguistics (language education, isiXhosa education, and multilingualism) including peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and has co-edited a book in isiXhosa. He is also an associate editor of the Per Linguam Journal.
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Cebisa Bingwa is the Department’s administrative officer and first point of call for enquirers and visitors. She studied auditing and supply chain management and has many years of work experience in the financial and higher education sectors.
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Mawande Dlali has vast experience in university teaching and in research on African languages and linguistics. He has published high-quality journal articles and several book chapters. His main interests are pragmatics, sociolinguistics, political discourse and interpersonal communication. He is involved in the description and documentation of highly endangered languages, investigating the circumstances and processes of language endangerment and marginalisation. Prof Dlali is a member of several editorial boards and academic associations. He has also been involved in many national initiatives aimed at promoting South Africa’s national and endangered languages.
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Lukhanyo Ngamlana’s teaching and research activities reflect his strong interest in the relationship between theory and praxis within African linguistics and language pedagogy. Holding a BA in Law and a BA Honours and MA in African Languages (cum laude), Mr Ngamlana lectures isiXhosa to non-mother-tongue speakers, focusing on the formal properties of syntax, morphology and lexical semantics. His research centres on the development of a task-based syllabus for isiXhosa as a second language for legal scholars and practitioners, employing educational theory and psycholinguistic insights to meet the practical demands of isiXhosa language learning for specific purposes.
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Dion Nkomo obtained his MPhil and PhD in Lexicography from Stellenbosch University. His academic career began in Zimbabwe where he studied English,
isiNdebele and Theatre Arts at the University of Zimbabwe, before obtained an Honours degree in isiNdebele. He has worked at the Universities of Zimbabwe and Cape Town as well as at Rhodes University where he held a SARChI Chair on Intellectualisation of African Languages, Multilingualism and Education. His
academic interests include language planning and policy, language teaching, lexicography, multilingualism, sociolinguistics, translation, and terminology. He is the current President of the African Association for Lexicography, Associate Editor of Lexikos and serves on the editorial boards of journals focusing on language studies. He also collaborates on various national and international research projects.
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Zameka Sijadu’s areas of specialisation includes pragma-dialectical theory in political discourse, humour in socio-political discourse, persuasion theory, multilingualism, translation, and appraisal theory. Dr Sijadu serves as external examiner for various South African universities, regularly reviews articles for accredited journals and edited volumes and is associate editor of the South African Journal of African Languages. She teaches communication and discourse analysis at undergraduate, Honours and MA level. Dr Sijadu is actively involved in social impact initiatives in the Department and Faculty.
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Thulani Simayile’s lecturing areas include isiXhosa communication skills for home and non-isiXhosa language speakers from the undergraduate level to the master's level. His teaching courses include appraisal theory and culture in literature. His research interest is in academic literacy in language learning and teaching, in particular genre-based pedagogy underpinning systemic functional linguistics. His main focus is on literacy and language teaching and promoting multilingualism. Thulani is the author of several isiXhosa-language fictional works, including dramas, short stories, and poems, as well as the award-winning novel Unolali.