Professor of Applied Linguistics

Faculty of Commerce, Human Sciences and Education

Inaugural Lecture

Title LINGUISTIC VITALITY, MARGINALISATION, AND LANGUAGE ENDANGERMENT IN NAMIBIA: TOWARDS A POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR LANGUAGE PLANNING AND REVITALISATION

PROFILE OF PROF HAILELEUL ZELEKE WOLDEMARIAM

Haileleul Zeleke Woldemariam (PhD) is Professor of Applied Linguistics in the Department of Communication and Languages at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), where he serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Namibian Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Communication Studies and Director of the PhD in Applied Linguistics Programme. He holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics (Languages) from Panjab University (India); an MA in Applied Linguistics specialising in Linguistic Stylistics and Forensic Stylistics from the University of Bangalore (India); a BA Honours degree in Foreign Languages and Literature from Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia); an MA in Sociology (Ethiopia); a Higher Diploma in Teacher Education (Adama University, Ethiopia); and two Professional Higher Certificates in Research Methodology (Germany and Ethiopia).

Prior to his appointment at NUST in 2014, Professor Woldemariam held senior academic leadership and administrative positions in Ethiopia including Head of Department, Assistant Professor, Dean, Director of Research and Publications, Vice-President for Research and Postgraduate Studies, and Coordinator of the World Bank’s Development Innovation Fund (DIF). He has managed several research projects and funds sponsored by the World Bank, the European Union, UNDP, and three public universities.

His research encompasses pragmatics and communication, cognitive linguistics and creative writing/thinking/memory, forensic linguistics and the law, functional linguistics and language use, language education, computational linguistics, endangered languages, artificial intelligence and language development, and Natural Language Processing (NLP) and semantics. He has published over 42 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, 41 conference papers, and edited 3 journals (as a Chief Editor).

Professor Woldemariam has supervised 48 MA graduates of Applied Linguistics at NUST, 7 at Adama Science and Technology University, and 2 PhD graduates in Cognitive and Structural Linguistics at the University of Namibia. He currently supervises 7 PhD candidates in Applied Linguistics at NUST and co-supervises a PhD candidate and an MSc candidate in Natural Language Processing (NLP).

He has contributed to the needs assessment and curriculum development tasks of several NUST and Adama Science and Technology University (ASTU/Ethiopia) postgraduate programmes including the PhD in Applied Linguistics, MA in Communication and Master of English and Applied Linguistics at NUST.

In Namibia, with EU and NUST IRPC funding, he coordinated language revitalisation and endangerment projects for the Chifwe, !Kung, OvaZemba, and maTotela communities of Namibia, which resulted in the publication of 6 books and two journal articles as part of his community engagement duties at NUST.

Professor Woldemariam received a Gold Pin from the Ethiopian Minister of Education and a Medal of Honour from the President of Ethiopia in recognition of his contribution to the establishment of the then Adama University. At NUST, he received the award for the Best Established Researcher in 2015, 2016, 2023 (Faculty and University wide), and 2025. His academic philosophy is expressed in the principle: “The success of one is the success of all.”