Uses and functions of English in Namibia's multiethnic settings

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2293585
AutoresGerald Stell (0000-0001-9620-2288, F.W.O./V.U.B./University of Pretoria Centrum voor Linguïstiek; Pleinlaan 2 1050 Brussel Belgium, autor correspondente)
Ano2014
Volume33
Fascículo2
Páginas223-241
Data de publicação2014-06-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoWorld Englishes (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0883-2919 • E-ISSN: 1467-971X
EditoraWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/weng.12082
OpenAlexW1793775039
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas10
Referências citadas22

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

Code (set theory · Code-switching · Context (archaeology · Diversity (politics · Ethnic group · Geography · Linguistics · Perspective (graphical · Sociology · Varieties of English · Variety (cybernetics · World Englishes · Anthropology · Computer Science · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Multilingual Education and Policy