An intercultural approach to implementing multilingualism at Rhodes University, South Africa

The work of intercultural communication theorists such as Ting-Toomey (1999) and Gudykunst (2003) has informed curriculum design and teaching methodology of the courses developed for teaching isiXhosa for vocational purposes to second language (L2) learners. This seems to be an appropriate theoretical paradigm within multilingual South Africa, where intercultural communication is becoming a daily reality for a growing portion of the population. We make use of this theory to introduce and develop experiential understanding of multilingualism at Rhodes University in various departments and, more generally, on campus