239079 English in South Africa - South African Englishes (S) (SoSe 2011)

In this course we are going to have a closer look at South Africa’s ethnic and
linguistic diversity with particular focus on the prominence of English. In the beginning
we will concentrate on the country’s historical background starting with the settlement
of Bantu-speaking peoples, covering the consequences of Dutch and British
imperialism, as well as the increase of immigration due to the discovery of diamonds
and gold. After having dealt with the South African English varieties and their position
within the different ethnic groups we will face the problems of multilingualism, i.e.
language use, language planning and language attitudes. This course is also
intended to enhance student’s methodological qualification, thus a part of the
seminar is devoted to the measurement of sociolinguistic phenomena.