Language and the cocurriculum: the need for decolonizing out-of-classroom experiences

Language is an important element in the struggle for social change and decolonization within South African tertiary education. We explored the relationship between indigenous languages and cocurricular involvement to sense of belonging. Data were collected via a survey of 4210 students that included demographics, cocurricular involvement, and self-reported perceptions of sense of belonging. Culturally relevant frameworks by Jama et al. (South African Journal of Higher Education 22(5):992–1005, 2008 ) and Case (Higher Education 55(3):321-332, 2008 ) and previous work on student engagement in South Africa framed the exploratory model. Analyses revealed that indigenous languages and cocurricular involvement, among other variables, were significant predictors of sense of belonging.