South African Indigenous Languages and Digital Technologies: Access, Promotion and Preservation

Abstract

This study has adopted the non-empirical research design: a systematic review. The purpose of the study was to explore the access, promotion and preservation of South African indigenous languages using digital technologies. As a research methodology, the researcher used the "Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis" (PRISMA) guidelines. Thus, the data for the study was obtained by using scientific search engines such as Google Scholar, EBSCOHost, ResearchGate, ScienceDirect, Scopus, Sabinet, and Taylor & Francis. A review of the literature, which included sources from 2001 to 2022, informed the study's data. According to the findings of this study, access to digital technologies that support South African languages is limited – and this negatively affects the promotion and preservation of these languages. Therefore, the study recommends that the South African government in partnership with the Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB), the South African Centre for Digital Language Resources (SADiLaR), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), language experts, researchers, policymakers, and information and communications technology (ICT) companies should implement strategies that could help to prevent barriers to effective access, promotion, and preservation of South African indigenous languages, using digital technologies.