The Language & Literacy research group has a high research output in terms of past and present higher degree students registered at the Durban University of Technology, as well as in research publications generated. While most of our master’s and doctoral registrations are in the area of language and literacy (as well as computer literacy), we are members of a multidisciplinary group, and methodologies from other fields, for example, systemic modelling, artefact design, and various types of electronic protocols, have relevance for language and literacy research in the context of a University of Technology. Literacy research includes use of and research into digital literacy, i.e. use of digital resources. In keeping with the DUT mission and vision, this webpage links up research with exemplary teaching/learning and community projects. Our motto is “Phendukela Olimini”: “Transform through language”.

Research projects include studies into literacy development, use of English as medium of instruction at schools, initiatives to communicate educational concepts holistically using integrated arts, and formulating models of interpreting service delivery. In the area of digital literacy, projects include a model of blended learning delivery and artefacts developed to assist subject-specific competences and language learning. While a variety of research orientations are applied in this research area, we are leaders in pioneering the critical realist approach and systemic modelling in the social sciences.