Dynamics of English in Namibia
Perspectives on an emerging variety
1st Edition
Published on 10. September 2021
315 pages
978-90-272-5967-7 (ISBN)
Description
The English language as spoken in Namibia has virtually been overlooked in most textbooks, handbooks, and surveys of varieties of English around the world, or else has only been mentioned in passing. However, this variety of English has recently attracted the attention of several researchers and the present volume brings together most scholars actively involved in the research on English in Namibia from various linguistic fields to present their current research. It covers a wide range of linguistic issues, such as empirical analyses on various levels of linguistic description and use, as well as the application of diverse methodologies, from questionnaire surveys, sociolinguistic interviews and focus group discussions, to corpus linguistics, linguistic landscaping, and digital ethnography. This book represents the first comprehensive collection of articles and in-depth discussions of this emerging variety of World Englishes.
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Content
- Intro
- The Dynamics of English in Namibia
- Editorial page
- Title page
- Copyright page
- Dedication page
- Table of contents
- Acknowledgements
- Chapter 1. The dynamics of English in Namibia: An introduction
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Background information on Namibia
- 2.1 Geography and demography
- 2.2 Linguistic situation
- 2.3 Historical background
- 3. The genesis and contents of the present volume
- 3.1 The beginnings
- 3.2 The articles of this volume
- 3.3 A final note on labelling English in Namibia/Namibian English(es)
- References
- Part I. Setting the scene
- Chapter 2. English in Namibia: A socio-historical account
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Namibia's sociolinguistic landscape from early colonial times to the transition period (1978): Early presence of English
- 3. The transition period and Namibia's new English-only language policy
- 4. English in Namibia today
- 5. Conclusion
- References
- Part II. Communicative practices
- Chapter 3. Voices from the post-independence classroom: Language use and attitudes towards English in Namibia
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Namibia's educational policy
- 3. Data collection and methodology
- 3.1 Questionnaires and interviews
- 3.2 Participants
- 3.3 Settings
- 3.4 Data collection and analysis
- 4. Language use and attitudes
- 4.1 Learning English
- 4.2 Medium of instruction
- 4.3 Problems with English
- 4.4 Proposed solutions?
- 4.5 Summary and discussion
- 5. Conclusions
- References
- Appendix
- Chapter 4. English and multilingual repertoires in healthcare: Communicative experiences of expatriate healthcare providers in Windhoek
- 1. Introduction
- 2. The use of English and multilingual repertoires in healthcare
- 3. Research design and methodology
- 4. Findings of the study
- 4.1 Linguistic biographies and repertoires of HCPs in Windhoek
- 4.2 Knowledge and use of languages including English
- 4.3 Sex, age, and employment history
- 4.4 Age and place of language acquisition of HCPs in Windhoek
- 4.5 Language in the work place
- 4.6 Linguistic and communicative practices established by HCPs to facilitate the provision of quality healthcare
- 5. Summary and conclusion
- Acknowledgements
- References
- Appendix. HCPs' linguistic repertoires
- Chapter 5. The linguistic landscape and soundscape of Windhoek
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Public language use in Namibia
- 2.1 Previous linguistic studies
- 2.2 Language policy and census data
- 3. Linguistic landscaping
- 4. Language use in Windhoek
- 4.1 Data and methodology
- 4.2 The linguistic landscape of Windhoek
- 4.3 The linguistic soundscape of Windhoek
- 5. Discussion and conclusion
- References
- Part III. Linguistic features
- Chapter 6. The phonetics of Namibian English: Investigating vowels as local features in a global context
- 1. Introduction
- 2. On the characteristics of Namibian English (NamE): A focus on vowels
- 3. The trap-dress merger and the nurse-work split in NamE revisited
- 3.1 Data collection and analysis
- 3.2 The trap-dress merger revisited
- 3.3 The nurse-work split revisited
- 3.4 Discussion
- 4. Conclusion and outlook
- References
- Chapter 7. Broadcasting your variety: Namibian English(es) on YouTube
- 1. Introduction
- 2. YouTube and World Englishes
- 2.1 Digital perspectives in World Englishes research
- 2.2 YouTube and World Englishes
- 3. Navigating YouTube for linguistic research
- 4. Namibia on YouTube
- 4.1 YouTube in Namibia and Namibian YouTubers
- 4.2 A sample corpus of Namibian YouTuber data
- 5. Case study: Acoustic analysis of Namibian YouTube data
- 5.1 Data collection
- 5.2 Methodology
- 5.3 Results
- 5.4 Discussion of acoustic analyses
- 6. Discussion and conclusion
- 6.1 Discussing YouTube and World Englishes
- 6.2 Conclusions for the Namibian context
- 6.3 Outlook
- References
- Chapter 8. The question of structural nativization in Namibian English: Some answers from extended uses of the progressive
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Contextualizing the progressive: Diachronic and synchronic perspectives
- 3. Progressive marking and the question of structural nativization in Namibian English(es)
- 3.1 Some remarks on structural nativization
- 3.2 Data collection and participants
- 3.3 Data analysis
- 3.4 Results
- 4. Discussion of results
- 5. Conclusion: Structural nativization in NamE?
- Acknowledgements
- References
- Chapter 9. A variational pragmatic approach to responses to thanks in Namibian English: From quantitative to qualitative analysis
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Responses to thanks: An overview
- 3. Responses to thanks in NamE from a quantitative perspective
- 4. Responses to thanks in NamE from a qualitative perspective
- 4.1 Data collection
- 4.2 Data analysis
- 4.3 Discussion
- 5. Conclusions and outlook
- References
- Part IV. Literary creativity in Namibian English
- Chapter 10. Namibian literature in English: An overview
- 1. Introduction: Namibian literature and the challenges of cultural identity
- 2. Prose literature
- 3. Drama
- 4. Poetry
- 5. Conclusion
- References
- Primary sources
- Secondary literature
- Chapter 11. A land in transition: The representation of linguistic diversity in Joseph Diescho's Born of the Sun and Troubled Waters
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Historical background: The struggle for liberation
- 3. Theoretical and methodological considerations
- 4. Text analysis
- 4.1 Born of the Sun
- 4.2 Troubled Waters
- 5. Discussion
- 6. Conclusion
- Acknowledgements
- References
- Part V. Namibian English and beyond
- Chapter 12. The dynamics of English in Namibia: A World Englishes perspective
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Select findings from the present volume in view of modelling NamE as a new variety
- 3. Namibian Englishes compared to other World Englishes
- 3.1 Sociohistorical embedding and sociolinguistic settings
- 3.2 Structural properties
- 3.3 NamE vs. south African and Southern African Englishes
- 4. NamE and World English modelling revisited
- 4.1 Early models
- 4.2 NamE in the dynamic model and the extra- and intra-territorial forces model
- 4.3 Recent and other modelling approaches
- 5. Conclusion
- References
- Index
