Rosemary Wildsmith-Cromarty
Biographic Data
| ID | 6175498 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Rosemary Wildsmith-Cromarty |
| GIVEN NAMES | Rosemary |
| FAMILY NAME | Wildsmith-Cromarty |
| SIGNATURE | WILDSMITH-CROMARTY R |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of KwaZulu-Natal |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1770-6873 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 13 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 11 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 13 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2009 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Bridging Language Challenges in Technology Teacher Education
Technology teacher preparation is continuously evolving to stay relevant and responsive to the educational context of students and to bridge the theory–practice divide. The (multi-)language barrier significantly contributes to the theory–practice divide in South African schooling. This article reports one adaptation that was implemented to provide more inclusive and equitable education for Technology education student teachers in their preparatio…
Sanskrit, Classical Arabic, Latin and now English – a case of a special kind of lingua franca use and status
This article puts forward the hypothesis that a small number of lingua francas (LFs) can be historically observed as having reached a special status and manner of use. Termed here lingua cosmopolitanas (LCs), the proposed distinctive group is exemplified by languages such as Sanskrit, Classical Arabic and Latin, representing a distinctive quasi-universal communicative phenomenon not adequately observed in research. To test this hypothesis, our st…
Scaffolding understanding of disciplinary concepts using African Languages in Higher Education
The paper reports on a study to implement multilingualism using African languages at a university in South Africa. We report on how scaffolds and translations were designed and used by lecturers in their implementation of multilingual pedagogies in classes. Findings revealed how the use of informal translations and explanations by lecturers using students themselves as resources, what Heugh refers to as ‘horizontal multilingualism’, encourages st…
Enhancing visibility of local African languages in South Africa through learning to read
This article examines the visibility of an African language, isiZulu, in the public domain of education in South Africa. It explores synergies and disjunctures in language use and exposure for children across the continuum from home to ECD centre and early primary school, and how they affect children’s competence in reading in two languages by Grade 4. Our qualitative cross-sectional study finds isiZulu is visible in the homes, communities and at…
Investigating the opportunities and challenges for African languages in public spaces
This introduction to the Special Edition provides a rationale for the inclusion of the selected articles. We begin with a consideration of various factors that led to the marginalisation of African languages, including the hegemony of English, colonialism and ensuing language policies that still hold today. Such policies proclaimed languages exogenous to the continent as official languages for formal public discourses, including the education dom…
A multilingual pedagogies initiative in higher education
The research reported on in this article examines the attitudes towards student linguistic diversity and multilingual pedagogies of 30 university lecturer participants enrolled for an accredited short course on multilingual pedagogies at a South African institution. The aim of the course is to support lecturers in helping students gain access to their disciplines using multilingual strategies including translation and translanguaging. Staff from …
Linguistic inequality and access to education
Language learning and teaching in South African primary schools
South Africa's history of segregation and the privileging of English and Afrikaans as the only languages of teaching and learning beyond primary schooling, make the post-apartheid period a complex one, especially in light of the Constitutional commitment to multilingualism in the 11 official languages. Research on literacy and language teaching contextualises the impact of curriculum and language policy initiatives aimed at improving learner perf…
Bilingual instruction at tertiary level in South Africa
The University of KwaZulu-Natal has a bilingual language policy (2006) where students may receive instruction in isiZulu as well as in English. An online survey was carried out for all academic and support staff to gauge their linguistic capacity in isiZulu. Staff profiles were created in relation to their respective Colleges, Schools and Disciplines, and included age, language group, language use, language of schooling and years of experience in…
Report on Baal ‘Language in Africa’ SIG meetings Reading in African languages
This report describes ongoing research on reading in African languages. It draws mainly on contributions from two British Association for Applied Linguistics (BAAL) ‘Language in Africa’ (LiA) Special Interest Group (SIG) meetings: the LiA SIG strand at BAAL 2013 and the seminar on Reading Methodologies in African Languages held at The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London in January 2014. This report will only cover …
Issues of identity and African unity surrounding the introduction of an exogenous African language, Swahili, at tertiary level in South Africa
This paper reports on a study that examines the attitudes of university students and immigrants to the introduction of Swahili at a tertiary institution in South Africa. Data were obtained from a questionnaire survey and interviews with questions that covered the domains in which Swahili could be most useful, who should learn it and the reasons why they should learn it. The data were analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively within a theoret…
Challenges to the implementation of bilingual/multilingual language policies at tertiary institutions in South Africa (1995–2012)
This article examines the relationship between bilingual/multilingual language policies and their effective implementation at historically white tertiary institutions in South Africa. It analyses the policies of five of the country's major universities, and their implementation, within a Language Policy & Planning (LPP) and Literacy Acquisition (LA) theoretical framework. Data were collected on the stated intentions of these policies and the exte…
Aila Africa Research Network Launch 2007
The aim of the one-day symposium was to bring together scholars in applied linguistics with an interest in the African languages for the launch of the new AILA Africa regional network. Contributions were in the form of invited research papers from several African countries. This report focuses on the South African contribution, which highlighted current research into the use and development of the African languages for academic purposes in respon…
Language learning and teaching in South African primary schools
South Africa's history of segregation and the privileging of English and Afrikaans as the only languages of teaching and learning beyond primary schooling, make the post-apartheid period a complex one, especially in light of the Constitutional commitment to multilingualism in the 11 official languages. Research on literacy and language teaching contextualises the impact of curriculum and language policy initiatives aimed at improving learner perf…
A multilingual pedagogies initiative in higher education
The research reported on in this article examines the attitudes towards student linguistic diversity and multilingual pedagogies of 30 university lecturer participants enrolled for an accredited short course on multilingual pedagogies at a South African institution. The aim of the course is to support lecturers in helping students gain access to their disciplines using multilingual strategies including translation and translanguaging. Staff from …
Enhancing visibility of local African languages in South Africa through learning to read
This article examines the visibility of an African language, isiZulu, in the public domain of education in South Africa. It explores synergies and disjunctures in language use and exposure for children across the continuum from home to ECD centre and early primary school, and how they affect children’s competence in reading in two languages by Grade 4. Our qualitative cross-sectional study finds isiZulu is visible in the homes, communities and at…
Linguistic inequality and access to education
Bilingual instruction at tertiary level in South Africa
The University of KwaZulu-Natal has a bilingual language policy (2006) where students may receive instruction in isiZulu as well as in English. An online survey was carried out for all academic and support staff to gauge their linguistic capacity in isiZulu. Staff profiles were created in relation to their respective Colleges, Schools and Disciplines, and included age, language group, language use, language of schooling and years of experience in…
Aila Africa Research Network Launch 2007
The aim of the one-day symposium was to bring together scholars in applied linguistics with an interest in the African languages for the launch of the new AILA Africa regional network. Contributions were in the form of invited research papers from several African countries. This report focuses on the South African contribution, which highlighted current research into the use and development of the African languages for academic purposes in respon…
Aila Africa Research Network Launch 2007
The aim of the one-day symposium was to bring together scholars in applied linguistics with an interest in the African languages for the launch of the new AILA Africa regional network. Contributions were in the form of invited research papers from several African countries. This report focuses on the South African contribution, which highlighted current research into the use and development of the African languages for academic purposes in respon…
Issues of identity and African unity surrounding the introduction of an exogenous African language, Swahili, at tertiary level in South Africa
This paper reports on a study that examines the attitudes of university students and immigrants to the introduction of Swahili at a tertiary institution in South Africa. Data were obtained from a questionnaire survey and interviews with questions that covered the domains in which Swahili could be most useful, who should learn it and the reasons why they should learn it. The data were analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively within a theoret…
Challenges to the implementation of bilingual/multilingual language policies at tertiary institutions in South Africa (1995–2012)
This article examines the relationship between bilingual/multilingual language policies and their effective implementation at historically white tertiary institutions in South Africa. It analyses the policies of five of the country's major universities, and their implementation, within a Language Policy & Planning (LPP) and Literacy Acquisition (LA) theoretical framework. Data were collected on the stated intentions of these policies and the exte…
Report on Baal ‘Language in Africa’ SIG meetings Reading in African languages
This report describes ongoing research on reading in African languages. It draws mainly on contributions from two British Association for Applied Linguistics (BAAL) ‘Language in Africa’ (LiA) Special Interest Group (SIG) meetings: the LiA SIG strand at BAAL 2013 and the seminar on Reading Methodologies in African Languages held at The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London in January 2014. This report will only cover …
Bilingual instruction at tertiary level in South Africa
The University of KwaZulu-Natal has a bilingual language policy (2006) where students may receive instruction in isiZulu as well as in English. An online survey was carried out for all academic and support staff to gauge their linguistic capacity in isiZulu. Staff profiles were created in relation to their respective Colleges, Schools and Disciplines, and included age, language group, language use, language of schooling and years of experience in…
Language learning and teaching in South African primary schools
South Africa's history of segregation and the privileging of English and Afrikaans as the only languages of teaching and learning beyond primary schooling, make the post-apartheid period a complex one, especially in light of the Constitutional commitment to multilingualism in the 11 official languages. Research on literacy and language teaching contextualises the impact of curriculum and language policy initiatives aimed at improving learner perf…
A multilingual pedagogies initiative in higher education
The research reported on in this article examines the attitudes towards student linguistic diversity and multilingual pedagogies of 30 university lecturer participants enrolled for an accredited short course on multilingual pedagogies at a South African institution. The aim of the course is to support lecturers in helping students gain access to their disciplines using multilingual strategies including translation and translanguaging. Staff from …
Linguistic inequality and access to education
Enhancing visibility of local African languages in South Africa through learning to read
This article examines the visibility of an African language, isiZulu, in the public domain of education in South Africa. It explores synergies and disjunctures in language use and exposure for children across the continuum from home to ECD centre and early primary school, and how they affect children’s competence in reading in two languages by Grade 4. Our qualitative cross-sectional study finds isiZulu is visible in the homes, communities and at…
Investigating the opportunities and challenges for African languages in public spaces
This introduction to the Special Edition provides a rationale for the inclusion of the selected articles. We begin with a consideration of various factors that led to the marginalisation of African languages, including the hegemony of English, colonialism and ensuing language policies that still hold today. Such policies proclaimed languages exogenous to the continent as official languages for formal public discourses, including the education dom…
Bridging Language Challenges in Technology Teacher Education
Technology teacher preparation is continuously evolving to stay relevant and responsive to the educational context of students and to bridge the theory–practice divide. The (multi-)language barrier significantly contributes to the theory–practice divide in South African schooling. This article reports one adaptation that was implemented to provide more inclusive and equitable education for Technology education student teachers in their preparatio…
Sanskrit, Classical Arabic, Latin and now English – a case of a special kind of lingua franca use and status
This article puts forward the hypothesis that a small number of lingua francas (LFs) can be historically observed as having reached a special status and manner of use. Termed here lingua cosmopolitanas (LCs), the proposed distinctive group is exemplified by languages such as Sanskrit, Classical Arabic and Latin, representing a distinctive quasi-universal communicative phenomenon not adequately observed in research. To test this hypothesis, our st…
Scaffolding understanding of disciplinary concepts using African Languages in Higher Education
The paper reports on a study to implement multilingualism using African languages at a university in South Africa. We report on how scaffolds and translations were designed and used by lecturers in their implementation of multilingual pedagogies in classes. Findings revealed how the use of informal translations and explanations by lecturers using students themselves as resources, what Heugh refers to as ‘horizontal multilingualism’, encourages st…
Multilingual Education and Policy (12 works) · Second Language Learning and Teaching (11 works) · Pedagogy (10 works) · Linguistics (9 works) · Sociology (9 works) · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning (8 works) · Multilingualism (8 works) · Languages of Africa (6 works) · Political science (5 works) · Psychology (5 works)