UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA
College of Human Sciences — Department of English Studies
⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄⋄
ENG2601: Applied English Lan-
guage Studies — Further Exploration
Assignment 02 — Semester 1, 2026
⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄⋄
ENG2601
Module Code:
Applied English Language Studies: Fur-
Module Name: ther Exploration
Text Analysis: Linguistic Exclusion in AI
Essay Topic:
02
Assignment Number:
896815
Unique Number:
19 June 2026
Due Date:
50
Total Marks:
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for ENG2601 — UNISA 2026
, UNISA | ENG2601 Linguistic Exclusion in AI — Text Analysis
Language, Power, and the Digital Divide: A Textual Analysis of Maduma’s
“Linguistic Exclusion in AI”
Introduction
The convergence of language and technology has become one of the defining tensions in
post-apartheid South Africa, where constitutional multilingualism meets a digital landscape
overwhelmingly shaped by English. Simphiwe Maduma’s 2025 article, published in Wits
Vuvuzela, examines this tension by foregrounding the systemic marginalisation of South
Africa’s indigenous languages within artificial intelligence and digital service platforms. A
critical reading of the text, guided by the analytical categories of context, genre, register,
audience, and linguistic features, reveals how the author constructs a persuasive, socially
conscious argument that combines journalistic convention with advocacy. Halliday’s (1978)
framework of systemic functional linguistics provides a productive lens for this analysis,
demonstrating how field, tenor, and mode interact to shape the text’s meaning and purpose
(Halliday, 1978; Martin, 1992).
Context of the Text
The article was published on 18 August 2025 in Wits Vuvuzela, a student journalism platform
associated with the University of the Witwatersrand. Its immediate socio-political context is
the South African government’s push for digital transformation, specifically the ministerial
launch of the Roadmap for Digital Transformation of the South African government, cited
in the text itself. The article situates this national development against a well-documented
demographic reality: according to Statistics South Africa, only 8% of South Africans speak
English as a home language, yet the overwhelming majority of digital services, from online
banking to WhatsApp chatbots, operate exclusively in English. This statistical disproportion-
ality forms the evidential backbone of Maduma’s argument. The broader context draws on
South Africa’s colonial and apartheid linguistic history, in which English and Afrikaans were
privileged at the expense of indigenous languages. As Rakgogo (2024:1) observes, linguistic
imperialism continues to shape South African higher education and, by extension, the digital
economy, even decades after the Constitution accorded official status to eleven indigenous
Page 2 of 9
College of Human Sciences — Department of English Studies
⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄⋄
ENG2601: Applied English Lan-
guage Studies — Further Exploration
Assignment 02 — Semester 1, 2026
⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄⋄
ENG2601
Module Code:
Applied English Language Studies: Fur-
Module Name: ther Exploration
Text Analysis: Linguistic Exclusion in AI
Essay Topic:
02
Assignment Number:
896815
Unique Number:
19 June 2026
Due Date:
50
Total Marks:
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for ENG2601 — UNISA 2026
, UNISA | ENG2601 Linguistic Exclusion in AI — Text Analysis
Language, Power, and the Digital Divide: A Textual Analysis of Maduma’s
“Linguistic Exclusion in AI”
Introduction
The convergence of language and technology has become one of the defining tensions in
post-apartheid South Africa, where constitutional multilingualism meets a digital landscape
overwhelmingly shaped by English. Simphiwe Maduma’s 2025 article, published in Wits
Vuvuzela, examines this tension by foregrounding the systemic marginalisation of South
Africa’s indigenous languages within artificial intelligence and digital service platforms. A
critical reading of the text, guided by the analytical categories of context, genre, register,
audience, and linguistic features, reveals how the author constructs a persuasive, socially
conscious argument that combines journalistic convention with advocacy. Halliday’s (1978)
framework of systemic functional linguistics provides a productive lens for this analysis,
demonstrating how field, tenor, and mode interact to shape the text’s meaning and purpose
(Halliday, 1978; Martin, 1992).
Context of the Text
The article was published on 18 August 2025 in Wits Vuvuzela, a student journalism platform
associated with the University of the Witwatersrand. Its immediate socio-political context is
the South African government’s push for digital transformation, specifically the ministerial
launch of the Roadmap for Digital Transformation of the South African government, cited
in the text itself. The article situates this national development against a well-documented
demographic reality: according to Statistics South Africa, only 8% of South Africans speak
English as a home language, yet the overwhelming majority of digital services, from online
banking to WhatsApp chatbots, operate exclusively in English. This statistical disproportion-
ality forms the evidential backbone of Maduma’s argument. The broader context draws on
South Africa’s colonial and apartheid linguistic history, in which English and Afrikaans were
privileged at the expense of indigenous languages. As Rakgogo (2024:1) observes, linguistic
imperialism continues to shape South African higher education and, by extension, the digital
economy, even decades after the Constitution accorded official status to eleven indigenous
Page 2 of 9
