Language biographies and language repertoires : changes in language identity of indigenous African language speakers in a town in the Northern Cape

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study investigates the language shift from isiXhosa to Afrikaans in a group of indigenous African language speakers in a rural Northern Cape community. It plots the process that took place over three generations and focuses on the language identity of some members of this community as portrayed by their language biographies and linguistic repertoires. This phenomenon was researched after preliminary enquiries into linguistic identities and bilingualism in the Hopetown area revealed that although most inhabitants use Afrikaans as L1 at home, at school and in public, a considerable number did not present the anticipated monolingual Afrikaans with minimal L2-English repertoires. People from indigenous ethnic groups like the Xhosa were also found to be speaking Afrikaans as home language rather than isiXhosa.The thesis gives a description and explanation of how a process of language shift from isiXhosa to Afrikaans took place. The findings suggest that a number of Xhosas started to migrate from the Eastern Cape to the Hopetown area in the Northern Cape during the 1960s when employment opportunities in the State‟s water and irrigation development scheme became available. The Afrikaans-speaking employers expected their workforce to speak Afrikaans and in the interest of economic survival, the disenfranchised workers learned to speak Afrikaans.In addition to the employment situation, the accommodation situation was unusual in that Hopetown‟s township was seen as a Coloured area. In the time when the Group Areas Act dictated that ethnic segregation had to be enforced, the influx of Xhosa and other ethnic groups was not expected. When it happened, it was either overlooked or remained unnoticed. The Xhosa workers, with their families, had to blend in with the Coloured population in order not to attract attention.The research follows the language shift based on information gained from questionnaires and by means of narrative analysis. Case studies of selected respondents reveal how the individuals gradually settled into a new language identity without complete loss of their traditional ties to language and cultural practices. A small story analysis sheds light on how selected members of the community experienced the shift and how they perceive their roles in the process. This thesis ultimately shows the contribution that language biographies can make to sociolinguistic research.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University