Language-in-Higher-Education Policy and the Intellectual Marginalisation of Setswana in South African Universities

Authors

  • Koketso Botlholo

    Department of Language and Social Sciences Education, Central University of Technology, Welkom P.O. Box 1881, South Africa
  • itumeleng

    Department of African Languages, University of South Africa, Pretoria P.O. BOX 392, South Africa

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v8i3.13187
Received: 15 December 2025 | Revised: 11 February 2026 | Accepted: 18 February 2026 | Published Online: 12 March 2026

Abstract

South Africa’s higher education language policy framework formally recognises indigenous African languages, including Setswana, and mandates their development as languages of teaching, research, and institutional governance. Despite these commitments, Setswana remains marginal in high-status academic domains, with English continuing to dominate disciplinary instruction, postgraduate scholarship, research publication, and institutional administration. This article examines the structural, ideological, and institutional factors constraining the intellectualisation of Setswana within South African universities. Drawing on Critical Language Policy theory and intellectualisation scholarship, the study adopts a qualitative document analysis approach to interrogate national policy frameworks, institutional practices, and existing literature on African language development in higher education. The analysis reveals a persistent policy–practice gap shaped by English-dominant promotion systems, global publication pressures, limited integration of Setswana into disciplinary curricula, and entrenched institutional language ideologies. The article argues that Setswana’s limited intellectual expansion is not a consequence of linguistic inadequacy but of structural design within higher education systems. It concludes by proposing a systemic model of Setswana intellectualisation that integrates policy alignment, disciplinary expansion, postgraduate capacity building, research incentives, and ideological transformation. Meaningful intellectualisation requires coordinated institutional reform that positions Setswana as a legitimate language of advanced scholarship and epistemic authority.

Keywords:

Setswana; Higher Education; Intellectualisation; Language Policy; Critical Language Policy; African Languages; Epistemic Justice

References

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How to Cite

Botlholo, K., & Shoke, I. (2026). Language-in-Higher-Education Policy and the Intellectual Marginalisation of Setswana in South African Universities. Forum for Linguistic Studies, 8(3), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v8i3.13187

Issue

Vol. 8, Iss. 3 (March 2026): In Progress

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Article

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Copyright © 2026 Koketso Botlholo, itumeleng

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This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.