Botswana
The project
The project investigates the role of English in Botswana, focusing on its status, functions, and societal attitudes within the country’s multilingual ecologies. English, the de facto official language, is predominantly used by a small, educated urban elite, while Setswana, the de facto national language, is widely spoken as a first language and learned by most other citizens as a second language. English provides opportunities for social and economic mobility, whereas Setswana fosters national unity and social cohesion.
In addition, dozens of minority languages are largely confined to home use, with minimal presence in public domains. The study expands on previous research which focused on the educated elite in Gaborone, Botswana’s capital, by incorporating participants from various social backgrounds across three urban centres: Gaborone, Maun, and Ghanzi.
Through sociolinguistic surveys and interviews, the project examines language use, ideologies, and attitudes, culminating in the creation of a digital corpus of “Botswana English”. The project aims to document Botswana’s multilingual ecology and contribute to discussions on language dynamics in diverse multilingual settings.
The team
Dr. Sheena Shah is Research Associate at the Institute of English and American studes of the University of Hamburg, a Research Fellow at the University of the Free State in South Africa, and PI of the Botswana project within the DFG Research Unit CODILAC.
Her research interests include language documentation, description and revitalisation, language maintenance and shift, language policy, language contact, and language and education. My work focuses on linguistic diversity and minorities. I work predominantly with multilingual individuals and communities, who speak heritage, minority and/or endangered languages.
Contacts: sheena.bharat.shah"AT"uni-hamburg.de, https://www.sheenashah.co.uk
Erika Herrmann is a PhD student at the Institute of English and American studies of the University of Hamburg.
Her research interests are multilingualism, language teaching, language acquisition and language policy. Within the Botswana project, she is looking at language policy and how it has shaped the role of English in the multilingual ecology of Botswana.
Contacts: erika.herrmann"AT"uni-hamburg.de
Dr. Naledi Kgolo-Lotshwao is a linguist and senior lecturer at the University of Botswana, with years of experience in language work – research, teaching, translation, editing and proposal writing. She has published journal articles, book chapters, and technical reports on various issues within linguistics. Her research interests are in experimental linguistics, language processing, comprehension, and acquisition.
For more information: https://naledikgolo.com/