Bachelor of Science in Computational Linguistics and African Language Technologies
This programme replaces standalone foreign language and translation degrees, whose market general machine translation has largely collapsed, and reconstitutes the discipline on the other side of the technology: students here build the trans...
Employment thesis
What this programme is designed to produce
Forward publishes the destination of every programme before you enrol. If the thesis stops holding, the programme is reviewed and, where necessary, retired. Next review: 2031.
Roles
- Computational linguist
- speech technology engineer
- natural language processing engineer
- language data and annotation lead
- localisation engineer
- conversational systems developer
- language resource researcher
- digital inclusion specialist.
Employer types
- Technology companies building African language capability
- telecommunications operators and banks deploying voice services
- research institutes and language technology hubs
- broadcasters and media
- government digital services
- health and agriculture programmes requiring local language delivery
- and international localisation firms.
Target outcomes we hold ourselves to
- A scarce specialisation with strong international research and industry demand, and a clear self-employment route in language data services.
Compulsory · The Forward Core
How the Core works →Every Forward programme, including this one, carries the same five cross-cutting requirements. They are graded, not optional.
- AI Fluency
- Quantitative Reasoning
- Ethics and African Context
- Human-Advantage Skills
- Enterprise
Includes 12 months paid work-integrated learning
Am I eligible?
Check yourself against the published requirements
7 questions written specifically for Bachelor of Science in Computational Linguistics and African Language Technologies. Every answer is checked against a requirement Forward has published, and the result tells you which page that requirement comes from. Indicative only, the admissions office decides on your full file.
What is the highest qualification you hold or are completing?
Curriculum structure
The same degree, in both pathways
Every Forward programme is published in both pathways: Path One, the term plan of two six-month terms, and Path Two, the block sequence of twelve four-week blocks. Same competencies, same assessments, same award. Toggle to see this programme in each.
Path One term plan shown
Path One · The Term Model
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 101 | AI Fluency I: How Intelligent Systems Work Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| CTM 110 | Introduction to Linguistics: Sound, Structure and Meaning Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| CTM 111 | Programming and Data Handling for Language Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| CTM 112 | Bantu and East African Language Structures Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| CTM 113 | Mathematics and Statistics for Language Technology Objective | 4 | 3-2-0 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 102 | Quantitative Reasoning and Evidence Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| CTM 130 | Phonetics, Phonology and Speech Science Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| CTM 131 | Morphology, Syntax and Computational Grammar Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| CTM 132 | Corpus Construction and Annotation Practicum Performance | 5 | 1-0-8 |
| CTM 133 | Machine Learning Foundations Performance | 4 | 1-2-4 |
| COP 190 | Workplace Immersion (4 weeks, recess term) Performance | 0 | 0-0-0 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 201 | Ethics, Society and the African Context Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| CTM 210 | Speech Recognition and Synthesis for Low Resource Languages Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| CTM 211 | Natural Language Processing and Language Models Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| CTM 212 | Machine Translation and Evaluation Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| CTM 213 | Language Data Ethics, Consent and Benefit Sharing Objective | 3 | 2-2-0 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 202 | Human Advantage: Argument, Writing and Teams Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| COP 290 | Co-operative Education Placement I (6 months) Performance | 10 | 0-0-0 |
| CTM 230 | Language Technology Practicum: Field Data Collection Performance | 5 | 0-0-0 |
| CTM 231 | Conversational Systems and Voice Interfaces Performance | 3 | 1-0-4 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 301 | AI Fluency II: Building, Evaluating and Auditing Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| COP 390 | Co-operative Education Placement II (6 months) Performance | 10 | 0-0-0 |
| CTM 310 | Deploying Language Technology in Low Connectivity Services Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| CTM 311 | Sociolinguistics, Policy and Digital Language Rights Both | 3 | 1-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 302 | Enterprise, Employability and Financial Literacy Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| FDC 401 | AI Fluency III: Domain Deployment, Governance and Assurance Both | 3 | 1-2-0 |
| FDC 402 | Capability Portfolio and Day One Preparation Both | 3 | 1-2-0 |
| CTM 330 | Language Technology Capstone: Deployed System or Released Resource Performance | 8 | 0-2-14 |
| CTM 331 | Cultural Heritage Computing and Digital Archives Performance | 4 | 1-2-4 |
Total credit units: 134
Curriculum source
Forward University Curriculum Compendium
Assessment
Coursework + project + integrated exam
Work-integrated learning
12 months paid co-operative education
Your week at Forward
A typical week on Bachelor of Science in Computational Linguistics and African Language Technologies
Path One, the Term Model: your own pace across a six-month term, one live session a week, short flexible lessons, and assessment on demand.
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Curriculum explorer
Drill into the degree, step by step
Choose a study path, then a year, then a term or block, then a course. Credit totals add up as you go, and every course shows what comes before it and what it unlocks.
Step 1, choose a year
Step 2, choose a term
TERM 1 (SIX MONTHS) | FORMERLY YEAR 1, SEMESTER 1
Year 1 · this step is worth 23 CU
Cumulative
23
Programme total
132
23 CU of 132 CU completed by the end of this step (17%)
Step 3, choose a course
Pick a course to see the detail
Credits, assessment, prerequisites and what each course unlocks later.
The twelve Forward capabilities
What this programme develops in you
Every Forward degree develops the same twelve cross-cutting capabilities. The profile below is the level this programme is designed to develop and verify by graduation, on the four-level scale in Part B2 of the Curriculum Compendium. Every claim above Level 2 is verified by someone other than the teaching lecturer.
- C1Intelligent Systems Fluency CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C2Quantitative and Evidential Reasoning CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C3Ethical and Contextual JudgementLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C4Communication and PersuasionLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C5Disciplinary Mastery CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C6Technical Production and CraftLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C7Problem Framing and Systems ThinkingLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C8Collaboration and Multidisciplinary TeamingLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C9Enterprise, Value and Commercial LiteracyLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C10Professional Conduct and Workplace PerformanceLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C11Learning to Learn and Adaptive CapacityLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C12Stewardship and Public Contribution CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
Critical capabilities for this programme: Intelligent Systems Fluency · Quantitative and Evidential Reasoning · Disciplinary Mastery · Stewardship and Public Contribution. A graduate cannot pass out of this programme below the stated level on any capability marked critical.
Programme Learning Outcomes
What you will be able to do
Each outcome is assessed, and each is tagged with the Forward capabilities it is verified against.
- PLO 1Analyse the phonology, morphology and syntax of a language and formalise it computationally.
- PLO 2Build speech recognition and synthesis systems for low resource languages.
- PLO 3Build translation and text processing systems and evaluate them meaningfully.
- PLO 4Design, collect, annotate and govern language datasets ethically.
- PLO 5Fine tune and evaluate language models for African linguistic contexts.
- PLO 6Deploy language technology in real services for low connectivity users.
- PLO 7Apply community consent, benefit sharing and cultural rights to language data.
Why this programme exists
This programme replaces standalone foreign language and translation degrees, whose market general machine translation has largely collapsed, and reconstitutes the discipline on the other side of the technology: students here build the trans...
Admission requirements
UACE with two principal passes in any subjects, plus UCE with five passes including Mathematics and English. Fluency in at least one African language other than English is required and is assessed at admission. Alternative pathways: Foundation Year, diploma entry with advanced standing, mature age entry and recognition of prior learning, all governed by Part A5 and Part G. Online applicants additionally complete the compulsory Digital Readiness orientation under Part D6.
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