Teaching Innovation for the 21st Century | 2024

2023). There are various language tools that educators at the UJ can be familiar with to ensure there is no language barrier. As an example, the InkubaLM natural language processing model is being designed to underpin and enhance low-resourced African languages such as Swahili, Yoruba, isiZulu, and isiXhosa with close to 364 million speakers (Mzekandaba, 2024). According to Mzekandaba (2024), Lelapa AI and InkubaLM (Dung Beetle Language Model) are “robust, compact models created to serve African communities without requiring extensive resources” (2024, p.2). It consists of two datasets: Inkuba-Mono and InkubaInstruct (Mzekandaba, 2024). As such Inkuba-Mono “is a monolingual dataset collected from open-source repositories in five African languages, along with English and French data, to pre-train InkubaLM models” (Mzekandaba, 2024, p. 2). They are focused on machine translation, sentiment analysis, speech tagging, and question-answering. For each endeavour, they covered five African languages: Hausa, Swahili, isiZulu, Yoruba, and isiXhosa (Mzekandaba, 2024). While this solution might still be in progress, it is pertinent to recognise its significance in personalising learning in Africa and, significantly, the UJ, as some of its educators are already doing, to include itself in such initiatives and make them mandatory. In my teaching, I have found it crucial to incorporate and educate students about AI language models. However, it is important to highlight the limitations of these tools, particularly in their representation of African languages. Despite these shortcomings, AI language models are invaluable for helping students understand course material in their native languages. I strongly believe this approach has and will continue to enhance learning, cognitive abilities, and self-esteem in academic spaces. This concept, referred to as ‘teaching for AI,’ can be effectively shared through WhatsApp groups to help students better understand their content. Consequently, integrating AI language tools with WhatsApp can significantly enhance the educational experience at UJ, ultimately benefiting its students, who remain the primary focus of these innovations. References Abrar-ul-Hassan, S. (2021). Linguistic Capital in the University and the Hegemony of English: Medieval Origins and Future Directions. SAGE, 11(2). Altbach, P.G. (2007). The Imperial Tongue: English as the Dominating Academic Language. Economic and Political Weekly, 42(36). Cetinkaya, L. (2017). The Impact of Whatsapp Use on Success in Education Process. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 18(7). Cifuentes, O. E., & Lents, N. H. (2011). Increasing student-teacher interactions at an urban commuter campus through instant messaging and online office hours. Electronic Journal of Science Education, 14(1). Goddard, C., & Wierzbicka, A. (2011). Semantics and Cognition. WIREs Cognitive Science, 2. Lemmens, M. (2015). Cognitive Semantics. Nick Riemer. Routledge Handbook of Semantics, Routledge. Marzeda, W. (2021). Two Dogmatic Assumptions of Cognitive Semantics. Argument, Biannual Philosophical Journal, 11. Makeleni, S., Mutongoza, B.H., & Linake, M.A. (2023). Language Education and Artificial Intelligence: An Exploration of Challenges Confronting Academics in Global South Universities. Journal of Culture and Values in Education, 6(2). Mataka, T.W., Mukurunge, T., & Bhila, T. (2020). Language in Education Policy: A Barrier to Academic and Cognitive Development of Learners across grades: A case study of South African Teachers’ narratives. International Journal of All Research Writings, 2(1). Monyai, S.C. (2010). Meeting the Challenges of Black English Second-Language South African Learners in Ex-Model C Primary Schools. Master of Arts Dissertation: University of Pretoria. Mzekandaba, S. (2024). Local AI model is melting pot for African languages. Accessed from https://www.itweb.co.za/ article/local-ai-model-is-melting-pot-for-african-languages/j5alr7QABQo7pYQk Ngidi, S.A., & Mncwango, E.M. (2022). University students’ perspectives on an English-only language policy in Higher Education. The Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern Africa, 18(1). Rao, V.C.S. (2018). The use of English in Research. Journal of Research Scholars and Professionals of English Language Teaching, 2(8). Smit, I. (2012). WhatsApp with BlackBerry; Can messengers (BBM) be MXit? In Proceedings of the 14th annual conference on world wide web applications. Cape Town, South Africa: Cape Peninsula University of Technology. Thamaga-Chitja, J.M., & Mbatha, T. (2012). Enablers and barriers to multilingualism in South African university classrooms. Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, 30(3). Webb, V. (2003). English as a Second Language in South Africa’s tertiary institutions: A case study at the University of Pretoria. World Englishes, 21(1). Teaching Innovation for the 21st Century | Showcasing UJ Teaching Innovation Projects 2024 50

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