Academic Literacies
Academic language is nobody's first language.
Academic reading and writing are key components of academic literacies. The Language Centre teach and help students develop and hone these abilities in an integrated way.
The Language Centre offer credit-bearing academic literacies modules with a focus on the development of academic language skills and thinking strategies that are essential for successful study in the faculties of Law, Medicine and Health Sciences, Science and Theology.
If your programme does not include an academic literacies module, and you need assistance with structuring an essay; criticial thinking skills in how to analise text; how to take class notes or go about writing a research paper, the Writing Lab is here to help. They offer one-to-one and small-group writing consultations for students of all disciplines and at any level of study.
Good academic reading skills are essential for academic success, as students need to manage the volumes of required reading they have to do at university. Whether you’re looking to read and study with greater ease and understanding, need help with general or academic reading skills, struggle to finish test and exam papers on time, or spend hours studying but don’t achieve your desired results – the Reading Lab can support you.
- MobiLex is a multilingual glossary app developed by Stellenbosch University's Faculty of Education. It's an effort to improve the academic literacy of undergraduate students by explaining subject vocabulary encountered at university in a student's home language.
- You can use this site to look up terms and definitions in English, isiXhosa and Afrikaans. You will find the following subject terminologies here: Sociology, Social Work, Psychology, Law, Economic & Management Sciences, Theology and Engineering. You will also find terminologies for Soccer, Cricket and Rugby.
- If you have ever wondered about using a certain term or how best to resolve a particular language issue. The resources provided on this page could help you.
As a leading university in Africa, Stellenbosch University believes multilingualism matters. We believe that multilingualism is about more than just being able to use multiple languages. It is about giving people a voice, regardless of the language(s) they use. It is about recognising the value of what is said, no matter what language is used, and whether it is said in English, Afrikaans, isiXhosa or South African Sign Language. It talks to our diversity as a country – and allows us to connect in ways we otherwise could not. Multilingualism is therefore also an attitude.
Individual multilingualism is an asset that we would like to develop because of the clear academic advantages this presents, both nationally and internationally. Creating opportunities for individual multilingualism allows people to develop their ability to use languages or varieties of languages in different forms and at different levels of mastery. If you have ever tried to learn a new language, you will know that the learning experience can transform your life. As your experience of a language in its cultural context expands, you will find that you do not keep these languages and cultures in strictly separated mental compartments, but rather build up a communicative, plurilingual competence or ability to which all your knowledge and experience of language contribute, and in which languages interrelate and interact.
Translanguaging in the classroom is one such plurilingual practice or behaviour. While it is important to create space for students to use tools such as translanguaging to communicate informally in the classroom, there is also a need for students to study language(s) formally and use the academic and technical registers of these languages.