Language shift from Afrikaans to English in Coloured families in Port Elizabeth three case studies

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis investigates whether language shift is occurring within the community of thenorthern areas of Port Elizabeth. These areas are historically predominantly 'coloured andAfrikaans-speaking, and are mixed in terms of the socioeconomic status of their inhabitants.Lately, there is a tendency for many of the younger generation to speak more English. Usingthe model of another study (Anthonissen and George 2003) done in the Cape Town area, threegenerations (grandparent, parent and grandchild) of three families were interviewed regardingtheir use of English and Afrikaans in various domains. The pattern of language shift in thisstudy differs somewhat, but not totally, from that described in Anthonissen and George (2003)and Farmer (2009). In these two studies, there was a shift from predominantly Afrikaans inthe older two generations to English in the youngest generation. In this study, the shift is alsoalmost exclusively to English in the youngest generation, but the shift at times took placefrom English-Afrikaans bilingualism and not predominantly from Afrikaans. In two cases,the first generation was raised in English but raised their children in Afrikaans, and then thegrandchildren were raised in English again. The reasons why the shift took place in thenorthern areas of Port Elizabeth appears to be similar to the reasons in the Cape Town area,namely perceived better education opportunities and better socio-economic prospects.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University