Uses and functions of English in Namibia's multiethnic setting
dc.contributor.author | Stell, Gerald | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2015-08-19T07:06:54Z | |
dc.date.available | 2015-08-19T07:06:54Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2014-06 | |
dc.description.abstract | In a context where new English varieties from the Outer Circle have been receiving increasing attention, I propose to outline a descriptive approach to their uses and functions on the basis of their patterns of co-occurrence with local languages across intra and inter-ethnic boundaries. The case study I offer is Namibia, a multiethnic and multilingual African country where English has been the sole official language since 1990 without having had much local history prior to that date. The general question that I pose is to what extent and how English is used in informal interactions in Namibia. Considering Namibia’s ethnolinguistic diversity as well as the locally widespread practice of code-switching, the questions I more specifically ask are: What are the patterns of code-switching with which English finds itself associated both within and across Namibia’s inter-ethnic boundaries, and how can they be characterized in terms of social function? On the basis of a corpus of intra- and inter-ethnic interactions involving a range of Namibian ethnicities, I show evidence of a continuum of linguistic usage ranging from different patterns of code-switching involving English and local languages to more or less monolingual English varieties. I finally place that evidence within the perspective of new Englishes theory, emphasizing the possible relevance of code-switching patterns to the emergence of indigenized English varieties in general, and of an indigenized Namibian variety in particular. | en_ZA |
dc.description.librarian | hb2015 | en_ZA |
dc.description.uri | http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1467-971X | en_ZA |
dc.identifier.citation | Stell, G 2014, 'Uses and functions of English in Namibia's multiethnic setting', World Englishes, vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 223-241. | en_ZA |
dc.identifier.issn | 0883-2919 (print) | |
dc.identifier.issn | 1467-971X (online) | |
dc.identifier.other | 10.1111/weng.12082 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/2263/49393 | |
dc.language.iso | en | en_ZA |
dc.publisher | Wiley | en_ZA |
dc.rights | © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article : Uses and functions of English in Namibia's multiethnic settings, World Englishes, vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 223-241, 2014. doi : 10.1111/weng.12082. The definite version is available at : http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1467-971X. | en_ZA |
dc.subject | English | en_ZA |
dc.subject | Namibia | en_ZA |
dc.subject | Multiethnic settings | en_ZA |
dc.subject | Local languages | en_ZA |
dc.subject | Intra-ethnic boundaries | en_ZA |
dc.subject | Inter-ethnic boundaries | en_ZA |
dc.title | Uses and functions of English in Namibia's multiethnic setting | en_ZA |
dc.type | Postprint Article | en_ZA |