Wits Abafunde-ba-hlalefe Multilingual Literacies Programme

Sawubonai! Dumela! Hurini! Avuxeni! Thobela! How are you?

Welcome to the Wits Abafunde-ba-hlalefe Multilingual Literacies Programme (WAMLiP) blog. WAMLiP is based at the Wits Education Campus, in the Languages, Literacies and Literatures (LLL) unit.

The mandate of Wits Wamlip is to debunk myths that posit, as noted by Professor Leketi Makalela (the Director of WAMLiP), “…that the use of one language [in schools] creates mental confusion”; to this end, Wits Wamlip uses qualitative and quantitative research, interventions and assessments; and monitoring and evaluation to “…advocate for the simultaneous use of more than one language in developing multilingual speakers’ literacy trajectories. This programme seeks to develop balanced bilingual reading development in English, isiZulu, Sepedi, SiSwati, Xitsonga and Venda. Here at WAMLiP, we do not believe that there should be strict boundaries between English and African languages in our schools: we are sending out this message to parents, learners, teachers and education officials.

“…the prosperity and economic prowess of modern Asia is…attributable [inter alia] to the use of languages confidently understood, spoken and written by the overwhelming masses of people” – Multilingualism: An African advantage (edited by Birgit Brock-Utne and Kwesi Kwaa Prah.