The South African Centre for Digital Language Resources (SADiLaR) hosted its third successful externship for the Department of Languages, Cultural Studies and Applied Linguistics (LanCSAL) students from the University of Johannesburg on 12 June 2025. The day-long online engagement was designed to give students practical exposure to the diverse and evolving career paths available in the language practice field, particularly in digital and computational contexts.
The programme kicked off with presentations from a few SADiLaR staff members who showcased the organisation’s work in their areas of expertise. Students were pleasantly surprised at the number of opportunities available for language practitioners. “It was interesting to see the different fields that exist within language practice,” said Matsheo Telela, adding that the externship helped her realise how broad and rewarding the discipline can be.
SADiLaR’s digital humanities researcher specialising in Afrikaans, and facilitator of the externship programme since its inception in 2023, Dr Benito Trollip, made a presentation on “The tools SADiLaR offers and their possible impact on the way you work”, which offered students a guided tour of SADiLaR’s free digital tools available on the SADiLaR website and/or the SADiLaR repository. From access to corpora to terminology support, the resources were presented with practical examples, showing how they can assist both academic research and professional language work.
Students were particularly appreciative of the openness and interactive atmosphere from the SADiLaR staff. “I liked how the team answered our questions patiently and gave us real insights on how to use the tools correctly. They really showed us the importance of making linguistic data more accessible, especially for indigenous languages,” said Nokwanda Cele.
During the afternoon session, Deon du Plessis (digital humanities researcher in English) led a thought-provoking session titled “The role language practitioners can play in Natural Language Processing (NLP)”. He explained the process of building NLP systems, including corpus collection, adding linguistic features, and model training while keeping the focus on the value of linguistic knowledge in this field. Du Plessis also shared examples of South African projects like ZulMorph, African Wordnet, and CTexT’s NCHLT tools, illustrating how computational linguistics is already being applied locally. “NLP is a collaborative field, and linguistic insight matters just as much as computational skill,” du Plessis emphasised.
The session left a lasting impression on students with Mpho Morake remarking that it was encouraging to see African linguistics being put into practice. The externship also served as a source of motivation, as some students said the experience challenged perceptions about their degree and broadened their vision for the future.
“Sometimes our degree is looked down upon, but after the session, I realised just how much we can do with it. This experience gave me hope and made me believe in my path again. Some of us may never get this close to the industry, and I’m incredibly grateful to have had this opportunity,” shared Nonkosi Msimango.
Others expressed how the experience encouraged them to think beyond undergraduate studies. “Before the externship, I had doubts about pursuing a postgraduate degree in computational linguistics, but after this, I feel more confident and inspired. It truly helped me believe in myself,” commented Mmatshepo Sekhukhune.
The University of Johannesburg’s externship showcased the impact of connecting students with real-world language practitioners. It demonstrated how academic knowledge that is linked to practical experience can inspire confidence and ambition in the next generation of South African language professionals.
