In the post-apartheid era, South Africa has adopted a language policy that gives official status to 11 languages (English, Afrikaans, and nine Bantu languages). However, English has remained the dominant language of business, public office, and education, and some research suggests that English is increasingly being spoken in domestic settings.…

The academic and public debates about language maintenance and language shift in the post-1994 South Africa distract attention from the more productive and important endeavour of explaining the nature of the multilingualism observed among users of African languages in urban contexts. An explanation for this phenomenon is offered here, based on…

Reports on a study that investigated the role and status of Xhosa in a prison located in Grahamstown, a large town in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Explored the extent to which members of the prison were aware of language policy, especially with regard to the role and status of Xhosa. (Author/VWL)