Language Matters in Namibia History, Development, and Contemporary Dynamics

1. Namibia and her “few people and many tongues”: The multilingual linguistic landscape of Namibia

Collen Sabao, Petrus Angula Mbenzi and Gerda-Elisabeth Wittmann

2. Tracing Language Contact: A Corpus-based Study on the Nativisation of Loanwords in an Emerging Dialect of Oshikwanyama in Oshana Region

Clarina Mabuku Museta, Salomo Fikameni and Petrina Batholmeus

3. The Effects of Urbanisation on African Mother Tongues: Implications for Linguistic Diversity in Namibia

Rauha Ndayaamena Nekongo and Coletta Kandemiri

4. The Role of Mother Tongues in Shaping Namibian Ethnic Identities

Sylvia Ndapewa Ithindi

5. African Languages: A tool for Decoloniality in Namibia

Martha Nahole, Natalia Intja and Helena Miranda

6. Quo vadis, German? Reflections on the Role and Status of a Colonial National Language in its Former Colony

Gerda-Elisabeth Wittmann

7. When a Language of the Majority Becomes a Minority in its Own Home: Language Shift and Minoritisation of Indigenous Namibian Languages

Clarina Museta, Mercy Simataa and Marinela Maghiar

8. Sign Language and Belonging: Language and Cultural Identity Among Deaf People in Namibia

Beausetha Juhetha Bruwer

9. Instructional Design and Language Development in the Digital Age: CALL Integration through the UCALM Framework 

Lazarus Gawazah and Collen Sabao

10. The Impact of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) on Learners’ Speaking Skills in Secondary Schools in Namibia

Daniel Kwalipo Mbangula

11. Teaching Afrikaans Second Language in the Junior Primary Phase in Namibia

Jessica Mary-Ann Jansen and Elsabe Potgieter

12. Corrective Feedback on Spoken Errors During ESL Class: ESL Lecturers’ and Students’ Perceptions, Practices and Preferences at the University of Namibia 

Saara S. Mungungu-Shipale

13. Towards a Model for Terminology Modernisation for Kavango Languages (Rumanyo, Rukwangali, Thimbukushu)

Erwina Mushinga Josef

14. The Historical Development of Oshikwanyama Orthography: From Missionary Influence to Post-independence Reforms

Edward Shikesho and Eliaser Nghikongwa Joseph

15. The Right to Justice in Namibia: A Language Rights Perspective

Eventhough Ndlovu and Paul Svongoro

16. Language, National Identity, and Presidential Rhetoric in Namibia: A Discourse Analysis of Selected Speeches

Frieda Nanyeni-Kanyemba

17. Epilogue: The Complex, Yet Fascinating, Nature of Multilingualism in Varied Contexts in Namibia

Collen Sabao and Gerda-Elisabeth Wittmann

Biography

Collen Sabao is a Professor of Linguistics, Literature and Communication, and Head of Department for the Department of Humanities and Arts at the University of Namibia. He is a Research Associate in the Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages at the University of South Africa (UNISA). Prof. Sabao’s research interests lie in the areas of Phonetics and Phonology, Political Discourse, Media Discourse, Pan Africanism, Afrocentricity, Appraisal Theory, Argumentation, World Literatures and Rhetoric.

Petrus Angula Mbenzi is an Associate Professor for Oshiwambo at the University of Namibia. He teaches Oshiwambo advanced linguistics, orature and Oshiwambo for beginners. He acts as an ambassador for the annual Oshakati Totem EXPO and regular presenter of oral tradition on Oshiwambo Radio Service. His research interests include lexicography, onomastics, orature, sociolinguistics, and linguistics.

Gerda-Elisabeth Wittmann is a Senior Lecturer in German at the University of Namibia. Dr Wittmann’s research interests lie in the teaching and learning of German as a Foreign language, German in Southern Africa, language politics and teacher professional development. She is an educationalist at heart and serves in the Scientific Advisory Committee for the International German Teachers’ Conference. Dr Wittmann is responsible locally, for the DAAD-funded project SANDD – Sub-Saharan Africa Network GFL Digital.