South Africa is a country characterised by great linguistic diversity. Large indigenous languages, such as isiZulu and isiXhosa, are spoken by many millions of people, as well as the languages with European roots, such as Afrikaans and English, which are spoken by several millions and used by many more in daily life. This situation provides a…

The ways in which literacy in English is taught in school generally subscribe to and perpetuate the notion of a homogenous, unvaried set of writing conventions associated with the language they represent, especially in relation to spelling and punctuation as well as grammar. Such teaching also perpetuates the myth that there is one…

Explores problems involved in defining Black South African English, such as whether it is a new variety of English or a dialect and relating to whose English it is: the English of those learners who have encountered only a smattering of English in informal contexts or the variety of English acquired during formal schooling. (Author/VWL)

Considers the pursuit of language rights of speakers of English varieties, particularly those collected under the category of African American vernacular English. Describes how a lack of legal language rights for African Americans have left them to appeal to attitudes in the search for democratizing teaching policies. Concludes that attempts to…

The extension of the progressive aspect to stative verbs has been identified as a characteristic feature of New Varieties of English across the world, including the English of black South Africans (BSAfE). This paper examines the use of the progressive aspect in BSAfE, by doing a comparative analysis of three corpora of argumentative student…

Examines the role of language policy in South African education. An historical overview of language planning is presented, and then several examples of current language policies are discussed, including the "Mother Tongue Principle," the introduction of Black languages into White schools, and the creation of a lexicon for the deaf. (CFM)

Discusses the sociolinguistic order in the new South Africa, traces the implications of English dominance in this order, and reflects on the difficulty of assembling an accurate picture of the sociolinguistic order of a society in times of rapid social change. Particular focus is on the processes of restandardization of standard South African…

Discusses South Africa's adoption of nine indigenous languages to join Afrikaans and English as official languages and the expanding role of English at the expense of these languages. Analyzes studies on South African Englishes, examining the way expanded use and domains for Black South African English (BSAE) speakers will have a significant…

Essays on English in South Africa and its neighboring countries include: "A History of English in South Africa" (Len Lanham); "English in South African Society: A Preliminary Overview" (Bill Branford); "Black English in South Africa" (David Gough); "Language Contact, Transmission, Shift: South African Indian…