Abstract
This chapter argues that the English language assumed the hegemonic status of language of access to political power and social and economic opportunities in southern Africa from the early years when it was introduced by the first waves of British immigrants. The superior and preponderant position of the English language that was imposed through the Anglicization policy that followed British occupation of the Cape Colony continues to this day. Therefore, the social and political history of English in southern Africa reflects the history of the global spread of the Anglophone version of Euro-North American modernity such as colonial imperialism, Western models of development (‘progress’) and Christianity as the ‘normative’ religion. For this reason, it is concluded that any discussion on the English language in southern Africa and the African continent in general has to be always located within broader social, political and economic contexts of world history dating back to the onset of the expansion of the so-called Western civilization.
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Notes
- 1.
The countries that fall within southern Africa are those that belong to the regional economic and political organization known as the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Prior to 1992, SADC was known as the Southern African Development Co-ordination Conference (SADCC), established in 1980.
- 2.
The Nziramasanga Commission was set up by the Government of Zimbabwe in 1998, to inquire into the state of the country’s education system. This commission was made up of 12 members and named after the chair of the commission, Dr. C.T. Nziramasanga.
- 3.
The term sociological minority, also known as a subordinate minority, refers to a group that does not constitute a politically dominant section of the total population of a given society. It is not necessarily a numerical minority but may include any group that is disadvantaged with respect to a dominant group in terms of social status, education, employment, wealth and political power.
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Literature: Grammars, Dictionaries and Other Works
The number of grammar books, dictionaries and other reference works that specifically focus on English in southern Africa is relatively small. This is because the teaching and learning of English in the region has always been based on material imported from the United Kingdom and other parts of the Anglosphere (usually, the British Commonwealth, or recently from the United States) where English has a very long history of documentation. The following are amongst the best known grammar books and dictionaries of the discussed varieties of English in Southern Africa.
Branford, J. (1991). A dictionary of South African English. Oxford: University Press.
Branford, W. R. G. (2002). South African pocket Oxford dictionary (3rd ed.). Oxford: University Press.
Kavanagh, K., Mantzel, D., van Niekerk, T., Wolvaardt, J., & Wright, M. (2002). South African concise Oxford dictionary. Goodwood: South Africa Oxford University Press.
Longman, M. M. (Ed.) (2001). Francolin illustrated school dictionary for Southern Africa (2nd ed.) (first edition Francolin Publishers, 1997). Edited by Dorothea Mantzel and Bernd Schulz.
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Silva, P., Dore, W., Mantzel, D., Muller, C., & Wright, M. (1996). A dictionary of South African English on historical principles. Goodwood: Oxford University Press.
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Ndhlovu, F., Siziba, L. (2018). English in Southern Africa. In: Kamusella, T., Ndhlovu, F. (eds) The Social and Political History of Southern Africa's Languages. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-01593-8_5
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