230267 Southern African Englishes (S) (WiSe 2024/2025)

Aspects of this class are part of this semester’s over-arching topic of Democracy.

Southern Africa is famous for its linguistic diversity, with dozens of languages used by speakers in the region. English is one of these, and is (one of) the official language(s) of all countries in the region.

English is not a monoloith, though, and there is considerable variation not just between the English in each country, but also within the countries. These are owed to their history, to other languages used, and political decisions. Some of these Englishes challenge core notions that research into World English has previously worked with.

In this class, we will discover a number of these varieties; their features, their social functions and perceptions, how they came into existence, and how they have developed over time.

Requirements for participation, required level

Students in the old BA programme (who started before SoSe2023): it is strongly recommended that you have completed BM1 (by passing the language proficiency test) and BM3 (by passing the exam).

Students in the new BA programme (who started in SoSe2023 or later, or switched programmes voluntarily) are required to have completed Basis1 (by passing the language proficiency test). I also strongly recommend that you have completed Basis3 – especially the introductory lectures.
If you are in the M. Ed., these requirements are not relevant for you.

Bibliography

Readings will be made available in the moodle.