230067 The Dynamics of English in Namibia (S) (WiSe 2016/2017)

Namibia is located in Southern Africa, the southernmost region of the African continent. The linguistic map of this region is complex and has attracted the interest of linguists from various backgrounds. From an Anglicist perspective, however, it is rather the language situation and the varieties of English in the Republic of South Africa that are among the best described. But more recently the development of English in Namibia has also come into focus, most notably at Bielefeld University. In this class, we will look at the historical/colonial background of the region, take into consideration language policy and language planning or educational issues as well as the contemporary linguistic make-up of the country. In addition, we will explore linguistic practices, such as code-switching and code-mixing strategies, or pragmatic phenomena, and we will try to describe the linguistic features of the English(es) spoken in this part of the world. The latter will include – among other things – the analysis of hitherto largely unpublished and publicly unavailable data from Namibia collected in the framework of ongoing research projects. Eventually, we may also look at the use of English (and other languages) in various forms of cultural expression, such as music, literature, and the media.