2026/06/30 by Aradhana Ramnund-Mansingh
paper · doi:10.38140/pie.v44i2.9137
This study examines how second-language instruction in South African higher education can be strengthened to foster critical thinking and creativity in multilingual, structurally unequal learning environments. Positioned within broader debates surrounding 21st-century competencies, the study explores how pedagogical practices, institutional structures, and technological systems shape opportunities for learner participation, critical engagement, and creative expression. Framed by socio-cultural theory and the design justice framework, the study critically examines how linguistic hierarchies, curricular rigidity, unequal digital access, and exclusionary educational practices continue to shape second language learning in South Africa and the broader Global South. The study adopted a systematic literature review methodology guided by the PRISMA framework to synthesise interdisciplinary scholarship published between 2017 and 2025 and sourced from multiple academic databases, and analysed using thematic synthesis. Comparative insights from India, Brazil, China, Kenya, and other Global South contexts were incorporated to examine emerging approaches to curriculum reform, project-based learning, technology-enhanced instruction, and competency-based education within multilingual higher education environments. The findings reveal that while Global South higher education systems are increasingly embracing learner-centred and technology-supported pedagogies, implementation remains constrained by structural and institutional barriers, including curriculum inflexibility, limited teacher preparedness, unequal access to digital infrastructure, assessment practices centred on memorisation and linguistic accuracy, and limited student participation in curriculum and technology design. However, while technology-enhanced learning environments create opportunities for collaboration, creativity, and learner engagement, it often reproduces broader socio-economic and linguistic inequalities (accessibility and inadequate inclusion). In response, the study proposes a risk matrix and intervention framework centred on four interconnected areas: curriculum transformation, continuous professional development, inclusive digital infrastructure, and assessment reform. The study concludes that fostering critical thinking and creativity in multilingual classrooms requires more than isolated pedagogical innovations; it demands broader institutional and systemic commitments to equity, multilingualism, learner agency, and epistemic inclusion in South African higher education.