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Unisa’s College of Human Sciences (CHS) offers signature modules, including a course titled ‘Language through an African Lens’ (AFL1501). This module, which is taught completely online under the guidance of the lecturer and teaching assistants (TAs), integrates different aspects of learning, including issues relating to language, culture, and identity. Students who successfully complete this module can demonstrate linguistic and cultural diversity awareness, self-discovery, and an understanding of the principle of ubuntu as it manifests in a variety of cultural settings. The module itself accommodates students from different backgrounds and disciplines, such as College of Law students, African-language students, and students of psychology, but the vast majority hail from the Department of African Languages. Although the module is presented online, students are still taught, amongst others, the fundamentals of polite communication (a tenet of ubuntu) with the university and their peers. The module also instructs them on how to navigate the Unisa system, as some students struggle not due to the work requirements but because they do not understand the system itself, including where to acquire the content and information pertaining to the module.
In AFL1501, the lecturer uses the communication triangulation model (CTM) whereby communication involves three parties: the author (lecturer), the TAs, and the students. Communication might take place in different directions: sometimes it can originate from a student, pass to a TA, and then go to the lecturer. This is helpful in terms of teaching, learning, and assessing the students. Between 11,000 and 22,000 students take the AFL1501 module every semester, therefore, each TA is linked to four groups of 50 students each (Nene, 2017). TAs are responsible for marking the students’ scripts, while the lecturer is tasked with teaching the students. This method allows both the lecturer and the TA to assist students with their queries, or to clarify the requirements needed to pass and succeed when studying online.