Language and Belonging | Prof Richard Stevens on the Language Policy and Multilingualism at Stellenbosch University
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The SU Language Policy is under review — and the process is about more than words on a page. Prof Richard Stevens, Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Learning and Teaching at Stellenbosch University, joins Thoriso on AM2PM to explain what the review entails, why it matters, and what the University's commitment to multilingualism means in practice for students and staff.
The current policy was approved in December 2021 and implemented in 2022. A five-year review cycle is built into the policy framework, and 2026 marks the year for structured reassessment. Prof Stevens walks through the review process — including who serves on the task team, how student voices are represented through the SRC, and what the task team does with the feedback it receives.
He also makes the case for why language policy is not a bureaucratic exercise: it is directly tied to whether students succeed academically, whether staff feel included, and whether Stellenbosch University can genuinely claim to be a place where everyone belongs.
What we cover in this episode:
- The purpose and aims of the SU Language Policy: What the policy is designed to do, what it protects, and what it is trying to achieve for the SU community.
- The five-year review cycle: How the review process works, who is involved, and what happens to the feedback gathered from students and staff.
- Why everyone's voice matters: Why input from students and staff — not just policy experts — is essential to a review that reflects the lived reality of campus life.
- Language and student success: The evidence linking mother-tongue education to academic outcomes, and what it means for a student to study in a language that is not their own.
- Multilingualism at SU: What the University means by institutional and individual multilingualism — and why fostering a multilingual mindset is central to its vision for inclusivity, diversity, and access.
- Technology and the future of language: How advances in AI and translation technology are opening new possibilities for multilingual learning environments — and what that could mean for SU in the years ahead.
Stream MFM 92.6: www.mfm.co.za
Follow us on socials: @mfm926
The current policy was approved in December 2021 and implemented in 2022. A five-year review cycle is built into the policy framework, and 2026 marks the year for structured reassessment. Prof Stevens walks through the review process — including who serves on the task team, how student voices are represented through the SRC, and what the task team does with the feedback it receives.
He also makes the case for why language policy is not a bureaucratic exercise: it is directly tied to whether students succeed academically, whether staff feel included, and whether Stellenbosch University can genuinely claim to be a place where everyone belongs.
What we cover in this episode:
- The purpose and aims of the SU Language Policy: What the policy is designed to do, what it protects, and what it is trying to achieve for the SU community.
- The five-year review cycle: How the review process works, who is involved, and what happens to the feedback gathered from students and staff.
- Why everyone's voice matters: Why input from students and staff — not just policy experts — is essential to a review that reflects the lived reality of campus life.
- Language and student success: The evidence linking mother-tongue education to academic outcomes, and what it means for a student to study in a language that is not their own.
- Multilingualism at SU: What the University means by institutional and individual multilingualism — and why fostering a multilingual mindset is central to its vision for inclusivity, diversity, and access.
- Technology and the future of language: How advances in AI and translation technology are opening new possibilities for multilingual learning environments — and what that could mean for SU in the years ahead.
Stream MFM 92.6: www.mfm.co.za
Follow us on socials: @mfm926
