Mompoloki Mmangaka Bagwasi
Biographic Data
| ID | 3789387 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Mompoloki Mmangaka Bagwasi |
| GIVEN NAMES | Mompoloki Mmangaka |
| FAMILY NAME | Bagwasi |
| SIGNATURE | BAGWASI M M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Botswana |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-0898-0448 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 13 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 21 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 13 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2003 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2023 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Emerging principles for researching multilingually in linguistic ethnography
This paper discusses collaborative ethnographic work investigating multilingualism within education in Botswana, Tanzania, and Zambia. The paper takes a reflective perspective on how research is conducted and the role that multilingualism and collaboration can play in the research process itself. As a team of thirteen individuals, working across four countries, we bring a range of multilingual repertoires to the project. In this paper we discuss …
A critique of linguistic borrowing from a translanguaging perspective
This paper analyses borrowing from a sociolinguistic and translanguaging perspective through which it is viewed as a site for linguistic contestation, struggle, and power where some languages benefit while others lose out. The paper problematizes the process of borrowing and presents it as both empowering and disempowering. Empowerment is realized when borrowing is viewed as a translanguaging strategy through which loanwords are seen as represent…
Education, multilingualism and bilingualism in Botswana
Botswana is a multilingual country. It has about 28 languages (see Anderson, Lars-Gunnar & Tore Janson. 1997. Languages in Botswana. Gaborone: Longman Botswana). Although multilingualism breeds bilingualism or vice versa, bilingualism in Botswana is not as extensive and as widespread among the 28 languages. It is mostly concentrated amongst certain groups of people and a limited number of languages. This paper interrogates the pattern of bilingua…
A critique of Botswana’s language policy from a translanguaging perspective
This paper critiques the language practices and language-in-education policy of Botswana from a translanguaging perspective. By so doing, it revisits our commonly held perceptions about multilingualism, bilingualism and language and its boundary. We commonly perceive languages as autonomous and as having boundaries and we perceive bilingualism or multilingualism as consisting of two or more of these fixed languages. Such views have come under att…
Multilingual universities in South Africa reflecting society in higher education
Hibbert and van der Walt's collection of essays on the strategies that some South African universities and higher education institutions utilize to promote multilingualism is a timely publication i
Englishising African cultures
Many ‘African English’ researchers (see Kachru, B. B. (1983). The Indianization of English. The English language in India. Singapore: Singapore University Press.) have argued that when English is used in non-native environments, many aspects of its lexicon, grammar and pronunciation are modified and ‘acculturated’ to suit the local culture. However, Bagwasi challenges such an interpretation of the modifications that the English language undergoes…
Linguistic struggles within and beyond the Southern African Development Community
This paper argues that the linguistic struggles faced by the Southern African Development Community (the SADC) represent common linguistic struggles found in Africa and the world where some languages are accused of dominating, stifling and suppressing others. However, the language situation within the SADC is interesting because it offers us a rare opportunity in which we can observe two types or stages of a linguistic struggle at the same time; …
Perceptions, contexts, uses and meanings of silence in Setswana
The study investigates silence (tidimalo) as communicative behaviour in Setswana and fills in a gap in scholarship by showing the cross-cultural meanings and contexts of silence. The article presents the role of silence in various contexts, such as the family, the church, meetings, the constitution, and conversations, and argues that, in such contexts, silence conveys positive meanings such as peace, humility, order, and respect and negative mean…
The sociolinguistics of development in Africa
Aspects of Culture and Meaning in Botswana English
Using samples from local newspapers, letters and public speeches, this article argues that English assimilates to and reflects the Botswana culture through borrowing and semantic modification. It discusses those terminologies and expressions that depict the cultural values of Batswana in the usage of English in Botswana. Two types of borrowed items are discussed: those depicting old traditional practices that cannot be translated into English ( k…
Pragmatics of letter writing in Setswana
The Role of Language in Adult Education and Poverty Reduction in Botswana
The Functional Distribution of Setswana and English in Botswana
In multilingual societies such as Botswana, language use is an extremely complex matter, further compounded by the fact that the languages involved are themselves dynamic phenomena that often elude the planned outcomes of policies which try to shape and constrain them. The paper describes the functional distribution of the national language Setswana, spoken as a mother tongue by 80% of the population, and English, the official language in Botswan…
The Functional Distribution of Setswana and English in Botswana
In multilingual societies such as Botswana, language use is an extremely complex matter, further compounded by the fact that the languages involved are themselves dynamic phenomena that often elude the planned outcomes of policies which try to shape and constrain them. The paper describes the functional distribution of the national language Setswana, spoken as a mother tongue by 80% of the population, and English, the official language in Botswan…
Emerging principles for researching multilingually in linguistic ethnography
This paper discusses collaborative ethnographic work investigating multilingualism within education in Botswana, Tanzania, and Zambia. The paper takes a reflective perspective on how research is conducted and the role that multilingualism and collaboration can play in the research process itself. As a team of thirteen individuals, working across four countries, we bring a range of multilingual repertoires to the project. In this paper we discuss …
Aspects of Culture and Meaning in Botswana English
Using samples from local newspapers, letters and public speeches, this article argues that English assimilates to and reflects the Botswana culture through borrowing and semantic modification. It discusses those terminologies and expressions that depict the cultural values of Batswana in the usage of English in Botswana. Two types of borrowed items are discussed: those depicting old traditional practices that cannot be translated into English ( k…
The Role of Language in Adult Education and Poverty Reduction in Botswana
A critique of Botswana’s language policy from a translanguaging perspective
This paper critiques the language practices and language-in-education policy of Botswana from a translanguaging perspective. By so doing, it revisits our commonly held perceptions about multilingualism, bilingualism and language and its boundary. We commonly perceive languages as autonomous and as having boundaries and we perceive bilingualism or multilingualism as consisting of two or more of these fixed languages. Such views have come under att…
Multilingual universities in South Africa reflecting society in higher education
Hibbert and van der Walt's collection of essays on the strategies that some South African universities and higher education institutions utilize to promote multilingualism is a timely publication i
Linguistic struggles within and beyond the Southern African Development Community
This paper argues that the linguistic struggles faced by the Southern African Development Community (the SADC) represent common linguistic struggles found in Africa and the world where some languages are accused of dominating, stifling and suppressing others. However, the language situation within the SADC is interesting because it offers us a rare opportunity in which we can observe two types or stages of a linguistic struggle at the same time; …
The Functional Distribution of Setswana and English in Botswana
In multilingual societies such as Botswana, language use is an extremely complex matter, further compounded by the fact that the languages involved are themselves dynamic phenomena that often elude the planned outcomes of policies which try to shape and constrain them. The paper describes the functional distribution of the national language Setswana, spoken as a mother tongue by 80% of the population, and English, the official language in Botswan…
The Role of Language in Adult Education and Poverty Reduction in Botswana
Pragmatics of letter writing in Setswana
The sociolinguistics of development in Africa
Aspects of Culture and Meaning in Botswana English
Using samples from local newspapers, letters and public speeches, this article argues that English assimilates to and reflects the Botswana culture through borrowing and semantic modification. It discusses those terminologies and expressions that depict the cultural values of Batswana in the usage of English in Botswana. Two types of borrowed items are discussed: those depicting old traditional practices that cannot be translated into English ( k…
Linguistic struggles within and beyond the Southern African Development Community
This paper argues that the linguistic struggles faced by the Southern African Development Community (the SADC) represent common linguistic struggles found in Africa and the world where some languages are accused of dominating, stifling and suppressing others. However, the language situation within the SADC is interesting because it offers us a rare opportunity in which we can observe two types or stages of a linguistic struggle at the same time; …
Perceptions, contexts, uses and meanings of silence in Setswana
The study investigates silence (tidimalo) as communicative behaviour in Setswana and fills in a gap in scholarship by showing the cross-cultural meanings and contexts of silence. The article presents the role of silence in various contexts, such as the family, the church, meetings, the constitution, and conversations, and argues that, in such contexts, silence conveys positive meanings such as peace, humility, order, and respect and negative mean…
Multilingual universities in South Africa reflecting society in higher education
Hibbert and van der Walt's collection of essays on the strategies that some South African universities and higher education institutions utilize to promote multilingualism is a timely publication i
Englishising African cultures
Many ‘African English’ researchers (see Kachru, B. B. (1983). The Indianization of English. The English language in India. Singapore: Singapore University Press.) have argued that when English is used in non-native environments, many aspects of its lexicon, grammar and pronunciation are modified and ‘acculturated’ to suit the local culture. However, Bagwasi challenges such an interpretation of the modifications that the English language undergoes…
A critique of Botswana’s language policy from a translanguaging perspective
This paper critiques the language practices and language-in-education policy of Botswana from a translanguaging perspective. By so doing, it revisits our commonly held perceptions about multilingualism, bilingualism and language and its boundary. We commonly perceive languages as autonomous and as having boundaries and we perceive bilingualism or multilingualism as consisting of two or more of these fixed languages. Such views have come under att…
Education, multilingualism and bilingualism in Botswana
Botswana is a multilingual country. It has about 28 languages (see Anderson, Lars-Gunnar & Tore Janson. 1997. Languages in Botswana. Gaborone: Longman Botswana). Although multilingualism breeds bilingualism or vice versa, bilingualism in Botswana is not as extensive and as widespread among the 28 languages. It is mostly concentrated amongst certain groups of people and a limited number of languages. This paper interrogates the pattern of bilingua…
Emerging principles for researching multilingually in linguistic ethnography
This paper discusses collaborative ethnographic work investigating multilingualism within education in Botswana, Tanzania, and Zambia. The paper takes a reflective perspective on how research is conducted and the role that multilingualism and collaboration can play in the research process itself. As a team of thirteen individuals, working across four countries, we bring a range of multilingual repertoires to the project. In this paper we discuss …
A critique of linguistic borrowing from a translanguaging perspective
This paper analyses borrowing from a sociolinguistic and translanguaging perspective through which it is viewed as a site for linguistic contestation, struggle, and power where some languages benefit while others lose out. The paper problematizes the process of borrowing and presents it as both empowering and disempowering. Empowerment is realized when borrowing is viewed as a translanguaging strategy through which loanwords are seen as represent…
Sociology (11 works) · Multilingual Education and Policy (10 works) · Linguistics (9 works) · Second Language Learning and Teaching (9 works) · Political science (7 works) · Pedagogy (5 works) · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning (4 works) · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies (4 works) · Multilingualism (4 works) · Philosophy (4 works)