1st Edition
Multilingualism in Southern Africa Issues and Perspectives
This collection showcases perspectives from established and emerging scholars on the contemporary landscape of multilingualism in Southern Africa. The book explores the broader impact of colonialism and neocolonialism on language policies and practices, drawing on case studies from such countries as Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and Zambia.
The volume is organized thematically around four different sections, looking at issues around linguistic diversity across different sectors including contemporary debates on African languages, language education, youth languages, and language documentation. Taken together, the collection seeks to offer readers with a more nuanced understanding of fundamental issues in the development of multilingualism across different countries in Southern Africa today and encourage future research on multilingualism in Africa more broadly.
The volume will be of interest to students and scholars in multilingualism, sociolinguistics, language policies, language education, and African studies.
Contents
List of Contributors
Foreword
Introduction: Wellman Kondowe, Chimwemwe M.M. Kamanga and Precious Madula
Part One: Theme 1 - Multilingualism in Education
Chapter 1: Towards embracing multilingualism in Malawi’s primary education system, Andrew Chimpololo
Chapter 2: Problematising normalised assumptions in English for Academic Purposes instruction: Monolingual expectations versus multilingual realities of transitioning undergraduate students from community day secondary schools at a Malawian university., Kondwani Kelvin Mkandawire
Chapter 3: Translanguaging as means to optimising multilingual education: a Zambian perspective, Hambaba Jimaima and Gabriel Simungala
Chapter 4: Language Incompatibility: Assessing Speakers' Tolerance for Swahili Translated University-related Neologisms in Tanzania, Nichodamus Robinson
Chapter 5: Language Policy in Education: Rethinking the Teaching of Vernacular Languages in Schools in Malawi, Lydia Kishindo-Mafuta
Part Two: Theme 2 - Multilingualism policies and debates on African languag
Chapter 6: The State of Multilingualism in Tanzania: A Debate on its Stability and Survival, Yusuph Nyandai Masinde
Chapter 7: Entrenching effective multilingualism in Malawian courtrooms through interpreting services: What do we learn from the 2019 Presidential Elections Case?, Evans Lwara, Wellman Kondowe & Deborah Ndalama-Mtawali
Chapter 8: An evaluation of Zimbabwe's advancements in the field of judicial interpreting in multilingual courtrooms, Paul Svongoro & Wellman Kondowe
Chapter 9: Sign Language in the Zimbabwean Media: A Proposal for Multilingual Broadcasting, Eventhough Ndlovu & Pedzisai Mashiri
Part Three: Theme 3 - Multilingualism and Youth language evolution
Chapter 10: Multilingualism and the evolution of new language repertoires in Africa: Common features that Chibrazi of Malawi shares with other urban contact vernacular languages of Africa, Chimwemwe M.M. Kamanga & Precious Madula
Chapter 11: Shona Slang and Zimbabwe’s evolving linguistic terrain: An examination of Shona Slang as the new way of speaking by the youths in Zimbabwe, Paul Svongoro, Monwabisi Ralarala & Tawanda Matende
Chapter 12: Multimedia communication technologies and their impact on communication by the deaf in Zimbabwe’s multilingual contexts, Tawanda Matende, Lovemore Chidemo & Paul Svongoro
Chapter 13: Multilingualism on Facebook: Globalising the ‘Local’ Languages of Malawi and Zambia, Gabriel Simungala & Deborah Ndalama-Mtawali
Chapter 14: Language choice, attitudes, and identity issues among non-Chichewa native speakers: A case of Mzuzu University students in Malawi, Agness Chimangeni Chaliwa Hara & Immaculee Harushimana
Part Four: Theme 4 - Language Documentation in Multilingual Contexts
Chapter 15: The Interface of Multiculturalism and Multilingualism: Interrogating Idioms in Metropolitan Contexts of Zambia, Eunice Mukonde-Mulenga
Chapter 16: Multilingualism in the Linguistic Landscape of Karonga District in Northern Malawi, Agness Chimangeni Chaliwa Hara & Amani Lusekelo
Index
Biography
Wellman Kondowe is a senior lecturer in the Department of Language, Cultural, and Creative Studies at Mzuzu University in Malawi
Chimwemwe M.M. Kamanga is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Language and Cultural and Creative Studies at Mzuzu University, Malawi.
Precious Madula is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Communication Studies and the Deputy Dean in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Mzuzu University, Malawi.
"This book presents a well-curated selection of articles on multilingualism that are both essential and relevant to current themes of interest in Southern Africa. Language planning has been a major concern in Africa, and the informative and illuminating articles in this book contribute to broader debates on theoretical and terminological controversies while offering ways to settle these controversies through historical and contemporary research. It is exciting to read chapters that incorporate legal concerns in language policies. For anyone interested in multilingualism, this book is essential reading and is timely indeed!"
- Everlyn Kisembe (PhD), Moi University, KENYA.
"Here is a book that provides a comprehensive look at one of the world's hottest pots of language planning and language policy in Southern Africa. All sixteen chapters speak with one voice and suggest that an adequate characterization of multilingualism and translanguaging experiences, practices and theory must go beyond traditional settings such as the classroom and beyond recognition of official or national languages."
- Prof. Winfred Mkochi, University of Malawi.
"I am excited to have found a book that delves into critical issues surrounding the ongoing debates on Multilingualism in the Global South. What makes it even more captivating is the broad range of themes it covers, making it a valuable resource for both practical and theoretical purposes. The chapters are interrelated and tackle pivotal topics in education, the judiciary, social media, and the language employed by young people. The book's language is straightforward, making it comprehensible for researchers, academics, students, and policymakers at all career stages. This book is a must-read for contemporary universities, and I wholeheartedly endorse it."
-Dissake Koumassol Midinette Endurence (PhD), University of Bamenda, CAMEROON
