ADOPTING INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES IN TEACHING COMMUNICATION AND ENGINEERING EDUCATION IN TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS: LESSONS FROM SOUTH AFRICAN UNIVERSITIES

Okorie, Nelson and Oyedepo, T. and Amodu, L. O. and Adesina, E. A and Afolabi, Oluwafolafunmi (2019) ADOPTING INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES IN TEACHING COMMUNICATION AND ENGINEERING EDUCATION IN TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS: LESSONS FROM SOUTH AFRICAN UNIVERSITIES. International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology, 10 (02). ISSN 0976-6340 and ISSN Online: 0976-6359

PDF Download (329kB)

Abstract

This study sought to determine the potential place of Afrikaans and IsiXhosa as indigenous languages to promote communication education in South African Universities. This study examined the approaches and curriculum development of the use of Afrikaans and IsiXhosa to teach journalism trainees in Rhodes and North-West Universities. For the purpose of this study, uses and gratification theory was employed to examine how communication and engineering instructors have adopted Afrikaans and IsiXhosa to teach and train students in the field of engineering and journalism. The method adopted for this study was a mixed method approach combining qualitative content analysis, observation and interviews. Furthermore, a review of previous studies on the adoption of Afrikaans and IsiXhosa for communication and engineering education was examined. The result showed that many of communication and engineering trainers believed that the use of Afrikaans for communication and engineering education aids socio-cultural development among white South Africans. From the findings, it was observed that the idea of integrating Afrikaans and IsiXhosa to teach journalism was premised on promoting local identities. Interestingly, the result indicated that Rhodes School of Journalism has a course focused on IsiXhosa for Journalism, which is a compulsory course for first year undergraduate students to understand the application of IsiXhosa in journalism practice for creating community based solutions. The study, therefore, recommends that communication educators can adopt indigenous languages for teaching communication and engineering education in Nigeria and other African countries. The adoption of indigenous languages in teaching communication education would facilitate social integration and multicultural development.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Afrikaans, Communication, Engineering Education, Indigenous languages, IsiXhosa and South Africa
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Divisions:	Faculty of Law, Arts and Social Sciences > School of Social Sciences
Depositing User:	Mrs Patricia Nwokealisi
Date Deposited:	23 Jun 2021 11:20
Last Modified:	23 Jun 2021 11:20
URI:	http://eprints.covenantuniversity.edu.ng/id/eprint/14891

Actions (login required)

View Item