The legacy of Lionel Posthumus, Professor and Senior Research Associate at the Centre for African Languages Teaching at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) has recently been honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the South African Association for Language Teaching (SAALT). This accolade, presented during the SAALT Conference in Cape Town, recognises his significant contributions to African linguistics and language acquisition.
As one of the founders of the Centre for African Languages Teaching (CALT@UJ) within the Department of Childhood Education, Faculty of Education, Prof Posthumus has been a transformative force in the field. His work spans over five decades, beginning in 1974, with a focus on isiZulu and significant contributions across phonology, morphology, semantics, and theoretical linguistics. His extensive research, the bulk of which was published in the South African Journal of African Languages, is evidence of his commitment and expertise. He has also supervised several students who completed their postgraduate studies under his supervision – the last doctoral student graduating earlier this year.
In response to the award, Prof Posthumus expressed his gratitude and surprise. “Receiving the Lifetime Award from SAALT is truly heartwarming. It is a sincere acknowledgment of the dedication and hard work I have invested in researching and developing African languages. It’s encouraging to know that my colleagues recognise the effort that has gone into this work.”
Describing his research as a ‘working grammarian,’ Prof Posthumus has uniquely integrated the various linguistic disciplines, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics, to provide clearer and more precise descriptions of language phenomena. His work in comparative linguistics has further enriched his contributions to the field enabling him to explain language phenomena which cannot be explained considering data from one language only.
As leading researcher in the Sesotho and IsiZulu Reading Project (SIRP), Prof Posthumus continues to drive research into teaching reading in the African languages, focusing on isiZulu and Sesotho. His work intersects with numerous disciplines, including education, linguistics, educational psychology, neuro- and cognitive sciences, reflecting his deep commitment to understanding and enhancing the reading process. His passion in this field stems from the realisation that the challenge we face in South Africa is not that children are unable to read for meaning, it is rather a matter of them not been taught properly to read. Teaching children who speak an African language to read in their Home language means that such instruction must take the unique characteristics of the African languages into account.
Prof Nadine Petersen, Dean of the Faculty of Education, lauded Prof. Posthumus’s achievements. “Prof. Posthumus has been instrumental in the faculty’s ability to build the capacity of academic staff in CALT. We celebrate his remarkable recognition by SAALT and are privileged to have his invaluable knowledge guiding the next generation of school educators and academic staff.”
