Language practices and language change among transnational migrants to South Africa, 1990-2020

a survey

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18309/ranpoll.v52iesp.1588

Keywords:

Language and identity, Language as social and economic capital, Language adaptation, Migration and language

Abstract

This paper reviews research on language use among transnational migrants to South Africa since 1990, taking this as a convenient starting point as the year of the first official announcement of the renouncement of apartheid, leading to its legal dismantling in 1994. Whereas South Africa had previously encouraged European migration to the country, limited migration from Asia (mainly from Taiwan) and a controlled circular migration of mining workers from neighbouring countries of Southern Africa, it now experienced a greater scale of global flows from other parts of the world that had not been permitted during apartheid. The result has been an even greater increase in the diversity of languages in local communities.  This paper provides an overview of the main concerns and emphases of researchers covering new migrations from Asia and the rest of Africa to South Africa.

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Author Biographies

Rajend Mesthrie, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa

Rajend Mesthrie has been teaching and researching in the field of multilingualism, language contact and variation for more than forty years. He was President of the International Congress of Linguists (2013–2018). Among his publications are the edited volumes Language in South Africa (Cambridge University Press, 2002) and the Cambridge Handbook of Sociolinguistics (2011).

Heather Brookes , University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa

Heather Brookes has worked on youth language practices from a multimodal perspective since 1998. She is Director of the Child Language Development Node at Stellenbosch University and was a finalist for the 2020 Newton Prize for her work on language development in South Africa. She was a Vice President of the International Society for Gesture Studies from 2002 to 2005. She is co-editor of Youth Language Practices and Urban Language Contact in Africa (with Rajend Mesthrie and Ellen Hurst-Harosh, Cambridge University Press 2021).

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Published

2021-09-27

How to Cite

Mesthrie, R., & Brookes , H. (2021). Language practices and language change among transnational migrants to South Africa, 1990-2020: a survey. Revista Da Anpoll, 52(esp), 118–137. https://doi.org/10.18309/ranpoll.v52iesp.1588

Issue

Vol. 52 No. esp (2021): GT de Sociolinguística da ANPOLL, 35 anos depois: reflexões e cenários

Section

GT de Sociolinguística, 35 anos depois: reflexões e cenários

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