The South African Centre for Digital Language Resources (SADiLaR) has funded the digitisation of historic printed editions of the Journal for Language Teaching (Tydskrif vir Taalonderrig), covering issues published between 1977 and 2000. The project aims to preserve nearly five decades of South African language-teaching scholarship and improve access for researchers, educators and students.
Why this matters locally
Many of the journal’s issues published before 2001 existed only in print. That scarcity became evident during a 2024 study that examined the journal’s research themes and collaborations; researchers discovered a substantial portion of scholarship remained unavailable online. SADiLaR’s intervention was prompted by that gap, and the subsequent collaboration between the Journal for Language Teaching, the South African Association for Language Teaching (SAALT), Sabinet and SADiLaR has begun to address it.
For educators in North West and across the country, digitising these volumes removes a barrier to historical materials that inform language policy, classroom practice and multilingual teaching approaches. Academics who depend on longitudinal studies will now be able to follow changes in research focus and methodology across decades without travelling to consult fragile print archives.
How the project has progressed
The first phase used printed copies supplied by the University of the Free State to digitise the available editions. After an extensive search for the remaining historic issues, the missing volumes were located in early 2026 and enabled the project to move into its second phase.
| Phase | Period covered | Source / partner | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 | 1977–2000 (available copies) | University of the Free State | Digitisation of available printed editions completed |
| Phase 2 | Remaining historic volumes pre-2001 | Found during searches in early 2026 | Underway — will complete the archive |
What the completed archive will offer
- Online access to nearly five decades of language teaching scholarship.
- Improved discoverability through indexing and hosting of the complete archive.
- Easier use of historical materials for research, teaching and knowledge development.
According to project notes, the digitised collection will be prepared for indexing and online hosting once digitisation is complete. This will make the journal’s history more discoverable and reduce dependency on fragile printed copies.
Collaboration and institutional roles
The initiative grew out of cooperative discussions between the journal’s editorial team, the South African Association for Language Teaching (SAALT), the digital publisher Sabinet and SADiLaR. SADiLaR funded the digitisation effort as part of a broader strategy to preserve language resources and support multilingual research and teaching.
Digitisation projects like this depend on partnerships with universities and archives that hold physical copies. In this case, the University of the Free State supplied the printed volumes used in the first phase, while a successful search for remaining issues in early 2026 enabled the second phase to begin.
Practical implications for teachers and researchers
Teachers, postgraduate students and researchers who study language education, multilingualism and curriculum development will gain remote access to primary sources previously locked in print. That will help with literature reviews, historical comparisons of teaching approaches and evidence-based curriculum design. It may also support policy-makers and teacher trainers who seek long-term perspectives on language-in-education issues.
For local institutions such as North-West University and teacher education centres, the archive will be a resource for supervising research and for informing classroom materials that reflect South Africa’s multilingual context.
Looking ahead
SADiLaR’s investment reflects a wider recognition that digital preservation is essential to sustaining South Africa’s scholarly record. Once the indexing and hosting phase is complete, the digitised journal will be a permanent, searchable resource available to future generations of educators and researchers.
The project also sets a precedent for other scholarly journals that still exist predominantly in print: coordinated searches for missing volumes, collaborative funding and partnerships with digital publishers can rapidly transform access to historical scholarship.
