D02K01

Post date: Sep 27, 2016 5:32:5 AM

Epistemic violence in higher education

Presenter

Mbulungeni Madiba is an Associate Professor and Acting Dean in the Centre of Higher Education Development (CHED) at the University of Cape Town (UCT). He is a Mandela Fellow at Harvard University and an Oppenheimer Fellow at the University of London. He obtained his MA in African Languages and DLit et Phil in Linguistics at the University of South Africa. His main areas of research include language planning and policy, politics of language, language education, multilingual higher education and concept literacy. He has various publications in language planning and policy and multilingualism in South Africa. 

Abstract

The purpose of this presentation is to discuss the notion of epistemic violence in South African higher education and its manifestation through colonial academic discourses. Resulting in what will be referred to as discursive violence, throughout the presentation. 

While the notion of epistemic violence has been the subject of much discussion in South African higher education, not enough attention has been given to its manifestation through language and discourse. 

The English academic discourse, which emerged in the 17th century as a vehicle for the new rationalist/scientific paradigm, continues to be perceived in most South African universities as a panacea for educational problems. Particularly pertaining to students of whom English is not the first language. This discourse is considered prestigious and its mastery is perceived to be essential for academic success or for one to be able to play a role on the international stage. 

While the hegemony of this discourse seems to continue to be unchallenged in South African universities, not even by the fallist movements of the last two years, the claims of this being structurally and historically the only appropriate vehicle for knowledge in the modern world have started to be seriously challenged in other parts of the world. 

In this presentation, I will argue against the current beliefs in English academic discourses, which perpetuate discursive violence and epistemicide in multilingual and multicultural contexts, in favour of multilingual approaches to academic development. I will illustrate my arguments by examples drawn from the Multilingual Education projects at the University of Cape Town.

Presentation & Resources