Dr. Y Chigwedere

Senior Lecturer and Chairperson of the Communication and Language Centre Current Position/Designation: Senior Lecturer and Chairperson of the Communication and Language Centre Qualifications: DLitt et Phil (English), University of South Africa Master’s in English, University of Zimbabwe Graduate Certificate in Education, University of Zimbabwe/ University of Tampon, Reunion B.A. Special Honours in English, University of Zimbabwe B.A. General (English, French, Linguistics, Sociology), University of Zimbabwe Area of Specialisation: Language and Communication Research Interests: Language, Communication, African Literary Studies, Cultural Identity, Decoloniality and Gender Studies Professional Biography: Dr. Yuleth Chigwedere is an educationist with vast experience as both a university lecturer and a high school teacher. She is an Advisory Board Member of Imbizo: International Journal of African Literary and Comparative Studies and a peer reviewer for several international academic journals. She has also provided language consultancy services in Zimbabwe and Ethiopia for organisations such as the African Union, OSSREA, and the British Council. She has also had exposure under a U.S. Language Fellow programme to Best Practices in English Language Teaching using the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) Model, as well as to English for Academic Purposes and Second Language Acquisition Research. Dr Chigwedere has presented academic papers both locally and internationally in countries such as Zambia and South Africa. Brazil. U.S., the Netherlands, Portugal, and Poland. She has several publications in her research areas of interest, namely Language, Communication, Literature, Cultural Identity, Decoloniality and Gender Studies. __________________________________________________________________________________ Mrs Felistus Tafadzwa Makumbe Current Position/Designation: Lecturer and Communication Skills Coordinator in the Communication and Language Centre Qualifications:  MA Applied Linguistics, University of Zimbabwe  B.A. Dual Honours in Linguistics and Ndebele, University of Zimbabwe Areas of Specialisation: Applied Linguistics Research Interests: Applied Linguistics, Theoretical Linguistics, and Forensic Linguistics Professional Biography: Makumbe Felistus Tafadzwa is a distinguished linguist and academic, holding a Master’s in Applied Linguistics and a Bachelor of Arts Dual Honours in Linguistics and Ndebele, both from the University of Zimbabwe. She is an experienced lecturer with expertise in Communication Skills, English Language for Academic Purposes, Court Interpreting, Court Intermediary, Translation, Forensic Linguistics, Corpus Linguistics, and Sociolinguistics. Her research interests focus on Forensic Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, and Theoretical Linguistics, where she has contributed to advancing both scholarship and pedagogy. She currently serves as a Lecturer and Communication Skills Coordinator in the Communication and Language Centre at the Women’s University in Africa, playing a central role in programme coordination, curriculum development, academic instruction, and student mentorship. Mrs Makumbe recently participated in Hundzula, a prestigious funded research retreat designed to foster collaboration between linguists and Natural Language Processing (NLP) researchers meant to encourage interdisciplinary innovation at the intersection of language and technology. Her involvement in Hundzula reflects her commitment to bridging linguistic theory with computational applications, contributing to the development of tools and frameworks that enhance language analysis and processing in African and global contexts.