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16 - Exploring the Potential of Increasing Epistemological Access for University Students of African Languages through the Translation of English Academic Texts

from Part IV - Interlingual and Intercultural Cross-Fertilisation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2020

By
Ntombovuyo Ngaphu
Edited by
Russell H. Kaschula  and
H. Ekkehard Wolff
Russell H. Kaschula
Affiliation:
Rhodes University, South Africa
H. Ekkehard Wolff
Affiliation:
Universität Leipzig
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Summary

This chapter seeks to explore the potential of increasing epistemological access for university students of African languages through the translation of English academic texts. It uses charts and tables to illustrate the negative effects that the scarcity of academic texts written in African languages has on students’ academic performance. A scientific text based on periodontal examination was translated from English to isiXhosa. Thereafter, ten test questions based on this text were drawn up using Bloom’s Taxonomy model. These questions were made available in both English and isiXhosa and were distributed among twenty-five first-year students of an isiXhosa mother tongue course. In this group, thirteen students wrote the test in isiXhosa, while twelve of them wrote it in English. The test results were compared to investigate whether students obtain higher marks when taught and examined in their first language or in their additional language. Ultimately, the researcher tried to investigate whether or not there is a relationship between students’ academic performance and their language of teaching and learning (LoTL). Furthermore, the study investigated the significance of mother-tongue-based education for curriculum access.

Keywords

Translationacademic textsisiXhosaAfrican languagesmother-tongue-based educationacademic accessepistemological accesseducationcourse contentRhodes University
Type
Chapter
Information
The Transformative Power of Language
From Postcolonial to Knowledge Societies in Africa
 , pp. 326 - 350
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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