The Virtual Institute for Afrikaans (VivA) is a research institute and service provider for Afrikaans
in digital contexts. It is a registered non-profit company, with the Afrikaanse Taal- en
Kultuurvereniging (ATKV), North-West University (NWU), Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir
Wetenskap en Kuns (SAAWK), and Trust vir Afrikaanse Onderwys (TAO) as its founding members.
In order to make informed choices regarding VivA’s product and service offering, mixed
method research was conducted to determine shortcomings in the Afrikaans offering of digital
language products. For purposes of the quantitative research, an online questionnaire was
completed by 319 respondents (demographic representation of mostly white, mother-tongue
speakers of Afrikaans between the ages of 30 and 65), while a focus group with ten respondents
(mostly white, mother-tongue speakers of Afrikaans between 15 and 62) was used to gather
qualitative information. The focus group session was recorded, transcribed, coded and then
analysed to derive seven key themes that are associated with VivA.
One of the key fi ndings is that a large part of the Afrikaans users in this sample did not know
of the existence of the Afrikaans Wiktionary and Wikipedia. This fi nding directed VivA’s priorities
in other directions, although it will keep on exploring ideas and methods to change this perception.
It was also clear that Afrikaans users have a need for four specifi c Afrikaans electronic aids,
namely an online/mobile version of the Afrikaanse Woordelys en Spelreëls (Afrikaans Word-list
and Spelling Rules); an Afrikaans grammar checker; a terminology bank; and automatic
translation tools. Despite the fact that the majority of respondents had a fairly negative experience with regard to automatic translation assistance, it was found that a signifi cant number of
respondents are still positive about it, and have a strong need for such a high-quality product.
On the basis of this research, the needs of the Afrikaans community related to language
products and services were determined, and various products and services were introduced in
order to meet these identifi ed needs. Hence, VivA’s initial products and services offering includes:
a dictionary portal (where users can access various free and commercial dictionaries online, as
well as via an online and offl ine Android and iOS app); grammar portal (where users, especially
international researchers, can access extensive information about the phonology, morphology
and syntax of Afrikaans, presented comparatively with Dutch and Frisian as part of the
international Taalportaal project); language advice portal (where users can get telephonic and
online answers to language-related questions from a professional language advisor); corpus
portal (where users can do online corpus queries in a large and growing collection of written
and transcribed spoken Afrikaans corpora); and information portal (with access to a blog,
competitions, etcetera).
The article concludes with an overview of potential future research and development topics,
including a motivation for the need for regular technology audits.
Die Virtuele Instituut vir Afrikaans (VivA) is ʼn navorsingsinstituut en diensverskaffer vir Afrikaans
in digitale kontekste. Ten einde verantwoorde keuses met betrekking tot VivA se produk- en
diensaanbod te maak, is kwantitatiewe en kwalitatiewe navorsing gedoen om tekortkominge in
die Afrikaanse mark van digitale taalprodukte te bepaal. Sewe temas is uit die fokusgroepgesprek
geïdentifi seer. Een van die belangrikste bevindinge is dat ʼn groot deel van die Afrikaanse gebruikers
in hierdie steekproef nie geweet het van die Afrikaanse Wiktionary en Wikipedia nie. Dit het
duidelik geblyk dat Afrikaanse gebruikers veral ʼn behoefte het aan vier elektroniese Afrikaanse
hulpmiddels, te wete ʼn aanlyn/mobiele weergawe van Afrikaanse Woordelys en Spelreëls; ʼn
Afrikaanse grammatikatoetser; ʼn terminologiebank; en outomatiese vertaalhulpmiddels. Ofskoon
die meerderheid respondente ʼn redelik negatiewe belewenis met betrekking tot outomatiese
vertaalhulp gehad het, is bevind dat ʼn beduidende aantal tog positief daaroor is en ʼn sterk behoefte
aan so ʼn hoëkwaliteitproduk het. Op grond van hierdie navorsing is die markbehoeftes van die
Afrikaanse gemeenskap bepaal en verskeie produkte en dienste is voorgestel. Ten einde aan die
geïdentifi seerde markbehoeftes te voldoen, sluit VivA se aanvangsprodukte en -dienste onder
andere die volgende in: Woordeboekportaal; Taalportaal; Adviesportaal; Korpusportaal; en
Inligtingsportaal.
