A study by a master’s Linguistics graduate, Ms Thandeka Maphumulo, highlights the beauty and complexity of urban isiZulu narratives but also challenges educators, parents and communities to re-centre language and culture in children’s lives. 

The work was titled: ‘Urban isiZulu Meets African Storytelling: Narrative Structure in 10-12-year-old Children’s Narrations of Two Wordless Picture Books’.

Maphumulo’s research explored how children draw on language, imagination and culture when telling stories and how urban isiZulu, with its unique blend of English and isiZulu, shapes the way they narrate. By focusing on 10 to 12-year-olds retelling two wordless picture books, Frog, Where Are You? and Abongi’s Journey, Maphumulo highlighted not only language skills, but also the children’s creativity, confidence and cultural grounding. 

‘When children are given the option to perform tasks in their mother tongue, they are more comfortable and confident,” she explains. “Their stories are more expressive and lively. In English, it feels like they are being tested, like there’s a right or wrong answer. But storytelling doesn’t work that way,” said Maphumulo. 

Never imagining she would one day be a linguist analysing storytelling in isiZulu classrooms, she once dreamt of becoming a chef. “I love food, that was my first choice. Shona ekhishini, uma ufuna ukupheka (Go to the kitchen if you want to cook) – that’s what I was told,” she recalls. 

After leaving her job at a call centre, she was registered at UKZN, initially gearing towards a career in Law. But after she failed Legal Studies, an Academic Development Officer stepped in. “He listened to my story and told me I could change my modules. That scared me into taking ownership of my life. That’s how I found Linguistics.” 

Her turning point came when her supervisor Professor Heike Tappe invited her to join the National Research Foundation (NRF) research project on southern African text and discourse structures. There she discovered a love for research, fieldwork, working with children and contributing to curriculum development – especially the inclusion of African languages in the classroom. 

Her dissertation investigated how urban isiZulu speakers bring stories to life, and how code-switching and cultural familiarity influence narrative structure. 

Primary school children in Durban provided rich material with Maphumulo saying that their personalities were impossible to miss. ‘Some were bold, others shy, but in isiZulu their creativity shone,” she said. 

“The animals had voices. When they didn’t know a word, they found descriptive ways to explain it. In English, you saw the nerves – stuttering, struggling for the right words or code-switching, like saying a“zwingi” for swing or a“bhayisikili” for bicycle. That revealed how an urban socialisation has shaped their language use.” 

Maphumulo’s research also raised concerns about how storytelling traditions are being lost in the age of technology. ‘Children today are handed tablets and phones so young. They don’t sit with their elders to hear stories or create imaginary worlds outside. They struggle with storytelling. It’s sad.” 

This was reinforced in her data. “Children performed better when working in their home language and when narrating a culturally familiar story (Abongi’s Journey) rather than a foreign one (Frog, Where Are You?), demonstrating how important culturally relevant resources are. It led to greater participation and broadened understanding in the classroom.” 

Maphumulo thanked the Linguistics department at UKZN and calls them family. “We were taken care of, even when the department was underfunded. I had mentors like Prof Zeller, Prof Khumalo, and Dr Sibisi. The Tutor’s Room was home for many of us.” 

She also honours her family including her mother, gogo (grandmother), great-grandmother and brothers, who prayed for her for ancestral support. “It wasn’t easy, but they carried me through. Siphila ngomusa wakhe (We live by His grace).” 

Reflecting on her work, Maphumulo believes it has relevance beyond academia. “We are responsible for how our children are growing up. If my niece moves away from usiko (our traditions), it’s because we as parents and families are not instilling them. It starts in the home. If we’re not elevating our languages, why would our children?”