Chapter published in:
The Dynamics of English in Namibia: Perspectives on an emerging variety
Edited by Anne Schröder
[Varieties of English Around the World G65] 2021
► pp. 21–42

Chapter 2
English in Namibia

A socio-historical account

| The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
This chapter provides a socio-historical account of the English language in Namibia from early colonial times to the present. Although its current dominant status in Namibia may at first sight appear historically incongruous, English was locally acknowledged as a prestige language along with Afrikaans and German from the earliest stages of the South African occupation (1915–1990), one with which SWAPO, the dominant liberation movement, as well as its populous northern support base, strongly identified. This chapter pays attention to the considerations that led to English becoming Namibia’s only official language upon independence. Furthermore, this chapter reviews indications that – despite the challenges besetting its implementation as medium of instruction – English is developing distinctively local spoken varieties.
Keywords: Namibian English, colonial language policy, language policy, multilingualism, nativization
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Namibia’s sociolinguistic landscape from early colonial times to the transition period (1978): Early presence of English
  • 3.The transition period and Namibia’s new English-only language policy
  • 4.English in Namibia today
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 10 September 2021
https://doi.org/10.1075/veaw.g65.02ste
References
AGN
1982 Ondersoek na die onderwys in SWA/Namibië. Verslag van die navorsingsprojekkomitee: Knelpunte in ’n veeltalige onderwyssituasie. Windhoek: Advieskomitee vir Geesteswetenskaplike Navorsing in SWA/Namibië.Google Scholar
Ausiku, Justus K.
2010 An Evaluation of the Implementation of the Namibian Language-in-Education Policy in the Upper Primary Phase in Oshana Region. MA thesis. University of South Africa, South Africa.Google Scholar
Bertelsmann, Werner
1979 Die deutsche Sprachgruppe Südwestafrikas in Politik und Recht seit 1915. Stuttgart: Steiner.Google Scholar
Botha, Christo
2007 Internal colonisation and an oppressed minority? The dynamics of relations between Germans and Afrikaners against the background of constructing a colonial state in Namibia, 1884–1990. Journal of Namibian Studies 2: 7–50.Google Scholar
Britz, Rudolf G., Lang, Hartmut & Limpricht, Cornelia
1999 A Concise History of the Rehoboth Basters until 1990. Windhoek: Hess.Google Scholar
Brock-Utne, Birgit & Holmarsdottir, Halla B.
2001 The choice of English as a medium of instruction and its effects on the African languages in Namibia. International Review of Education 47(3–4): 293–322. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Buschfeld, Sarah
2013 English in Cyprus and Namibia: A critical approach to taxonomies and models of World Englishes and Second Language Acquisition research. In The Evolution of Englishes: The Dynamic Model and Beyond [Varieties of English around the World G49], Sarah Buschfeld, Thomas Hoffmann, Magnus Huber & Alexander Kautzsch (eds), 181–202. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Buschfeld, Sarah & Kautzsch, Alexander
2014 English in Namibia: A first approach. English World-Wide 35(2): 121–160. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Buys, Gerhard & Nambala, Shekutaamba
2003 History of the Church in Namibia. 1805–1990. Windhoek: Gamsberg Macmillan.Google Scholar
CSO
1994 1991 Population Housing Census: Basic Analysis with Highlights. Windhoek: Central Statistical Office.Google Scholar
Coetzee, Ernst R.
1982 Die geskiedenis van landelike vestiging van Blankes in Suidwes-Afrika, 1915–1931. MA thesis. Rand Afrikaanse Universiteit, Johannesburg.Google Scholar
Cohen, Cynthia
1994 Administering Education in Namibia: The Colonial Period to the Present. Windhoek: Namibia Scientific Society.Google Scholar
Combrink, Johannes G. H.
1985 Afrikaans in Afrika. In Afrikaans: Stand, taak, toekoms, Karel P. Prinsloo & Marthinus C. J. van Rensburg (eds), 43–58. Pretoria: HAUM.Google Scholar
Dabrowska, Marta
2017 Global English in its local contexts: Manifestations of the social English language stratification in Namibia, Part 2: Analysis of selected written texts. Studia Linguistica Universitatis Iagellonicae Cracoviensis 134: 67–78. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Dale, Richard
2014 The Namibian War of Independence, 1966–1989: Diplomatic, Economic and Military Campaigns. Jefferson NC: McFarland.Google Scholar
Dedering, Tilman
1997 Hate the Old and Follow the New: Khoekhoe and Missionaries in Early Nineteenth Century Namibia. Stuttgart: Steiner.Google Scholar
Dobell, Lauren
1998 Swapo’s Struggle for Namibia, 1960–1991: War by Other Means. Basel: Schlettwein.Google Scholar
Du Plessis, Theo
1992 Veranderende opvattings rondom Afrikaans in die sewentigerjare. In Victor Webb (ed.), Afrikaans ná apartheid, 92–115. Pretoria: Van Schaik.Google Scholar
Dubow, Saul
2014 Apartheid, 1948–1994. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
Düsing, Sandra
2002 Traditional Leadership and Democratization in Southern Africa: A Comparative Study of Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa. Hamburg: LIT.Google Scholar
Elischer, Sebastian
2013 Political Parties in Africa: Ethnicity and Party Formation. Cambridge: CUP. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Fourie, David J.
1991 Language conflict in Owamboland. South African Journal of Linguistics 9(3): 69–73. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Freeman, Linda
1992 Contradictions of independence: Namibia in transition. Transformation 17.Google Scholar
Fredericks, Niklaas J.
2013 A Study of Dialectal and Inter-Linguistic Variations of Khoekhoegowab: Towards the Determination of the Standard Orthography. PhD dissertation, University of the Western Cape, Belville, South Africa.Google Scholar
Frydman, Jenna
2011 A critical analysis of Namibia’s English-only language policy. In Selected Proceedings of the 40th Annual Conference on African Linguistics: African Languages and Linguistics Today, Eyamba G. Bokamba, Ryan K. Shosted & Bezza Tesfaw Ayalew (eds), 178–189. Somerville MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar
Giliomee, Hermann
2004 Die Afrikaners. ‘n Biografie. Cape Town: Tafelberg.Google Scholar
Gordon, Robert J.
1997 Vagrancy, law and ‘shadow knowledge’: Internal pacification. 1915–1939. In Namibia Under South African Rule: Mobility and Containment 1915–46, Patricia Hayes, Jeremy Silvester, Marion Wallace & Wolfram Hartmann (eds), 51–76. Athens OH: Ohio University Press.Google Scholar
Harlech–Jones, Brian
1990 ‘You Taught me Language’: The Implementation of English as a Medium of Instruction in Namibia. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
Hopson, Rodney K.
2010 Reconstructing ethnography and language policy in colonial Namibian schooling: Historical perspectives on St Mary’s High School in Odibo. In Teresa L. McCarty (ed.), Ethnography and Language Policy, Teresa L. McCarty (ed), 99–118. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Horrell, Muriel
1969 Bantu Education to 1968. Johannesburg: South African Institute of Race Relations.Google Scholar
Kachru, Braj
2005 Asian Englishes: Beyond the Canon. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.Google Scholar
Kaela, Laurent C. W.
1996 The Question of Namibia. London: McMillan. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Kangumu, Bennett
2011 Contesting Caprivi: A History of Colonial Isolation and Regional Nationalism in Namibia [Basel Namibia Studies Series 10]. Basel: BAB Publishing House.Google Scholar
Katjavi, Peter H.
1988 A History of Resistance in Namibia. Paris: UNESCO.Google Scholar
Kaulich, Udo
2003 Die Geschichte der ehemaligen Kolonie Deutsch-Südwestafrika (1884–1914): Eine Gesamtdarstellung. Frankfurt: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Kleinz, Norbert
1984 Deutsch im Kontakt in Südwestafrika: Der heutige Gebrauch der Sprachen Deutsch, Afrikaans und Englisch in Namibia. Stuttgart: Steiner.Google Scholar
Kotzé, Carol
1990 A Social History of Windhoek. 1915–1939. PhD dissertation. UNISA, Pretoria, South Africa.Google Scholar
Kros, Cynthia
2010 The Seeds of Separate Development: The Origins of Bantu Education. Pretoria: UNISA Press.Google Scholar
Lanham, Len W. & McDonald, Callum A.
1979 The Standard in South African English and its Social History. Heidelberg: Groos. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Lau, Brigitte
1987 Namibia in Jonker Afrikaner’s Time. Windhoek: National Archives of Namibia.Google Scholar
LeBeau, Debie
1991 Namibia: Ethnic Stereotyping in a Post-Apartheid State. Windhoek: NISER.Google Scholar
Lehtonen, Lahja
1999 Schools in Ovamboland from 1870 to 1970. Helsinki: The Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission.Google Scholar
Malherbe, Ernst G.
1977 Education in South Africa: 1923–1975. Cape Town: Juta.Google Scholar
Maho, Jounie
1998 Few People, Many Tongues: The Languages of Namibia. Windhoek: Gamsberg Macmillan.Google Scholar
Marais, Johannes S.
1968 The Cape Coloured People, 1652–1937. Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press.Google Scholar
Melber, Henning
2014 Understanding Namibia: The Trials of Independence. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
Miescher, Giorgio
2012 Namibia’s Red Line: The History of a Veterinary and Settlement Border. New York NY: Palgrave Macmillan. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Ministry of Education and Training
1992 Towards Education for All: A Development Brief for Education, Culture and Training. Windhoek: Ministry of Education and Training.Google Scholar
Morawa, Alexander H. E.
2002 Minority languages and public discrimination: A comment on issues raised in Diergaardt et al. v. Namibia [ECMI Working Paper 16]. Flensburg: ECMI.Google Scholar
NPC
2012 Namibia 2011: Population and Housing Census Main Report. Windhoek: National Planning Commission.Google Scholar
NSA
2003 Namibia 2001: Population and Housing Census. Windhoek: Namibia Statistics Agency.Google Scholar
2017 Namibia Inter-Censal Demographic Survey. Windhoek: Namibia Statistics Agency.Google Scholar
NERA
2000 The Implementation of the Namibian Language Policy in Education: Lower Primary Grades and Pre-Service Teacher Education. Draft Report on Language Policy Research. Okahandja: National Institute for Educational Development.Google Scholar
Ngololo, Elizabeth N. & Nekongo-Nielsen, Haaveshe
2017 Teachers’ view on the implementation of the English Language Proficiency Programme in Namibia. International Education Studies 10(11): 155–163. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
NIED
2015 The National Curriculum for Basic Education. Okahandja: National Institute for Educational Development.Google Scholar
Oermann, Nils O.
1999 Mission, Church and State Relations in South West Africa under German Rule (1884–1915). Stuttgart: Steiner.Google Scholar
Ohly, Rajmund
1987 The Destabilization of the Herero Language. Windhoek: The Academy.Google Scholar
Orman, Jon
2008 Language Policy and Nation-Building in Post-Apartheid South Africa. Dordrecht: Springer.Google Scholar
Pendleton, Wade
1996 Katutura: A Place Where We Stay: Life in a Post-Apartheid Township in Namibia. Athens OH: Ohio University Press.Google Scholar
Peyroux, Elisabeth
2004 Windhoek, capitale de la Namibie. Changement politique et recomposition des périphéries. Paris: Ifas-Karthala.Google Scholar
Prinsloo, Karel P., Stoker, D. J., Lubbe, A. M., Strydom, A. M., Engelbrecht, H. A. & van Vuuren, D. P.
1982a Aspekte van taal- en kommunikasie-aangeleenthede in SWA/Namibië, Deel XIII: Totale bevolking. Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council.Google Scholar
1982b Aspekte van taal- en kommunikasie-aangeleenthede in SWA/Namibië, Deel VIII: Wamboe’s. Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council.Google Scholar
Pütz, Martin
1995 Official monolingualism in Africa: A sociolinguistic assessment of linguistic and cultural pluralism in Namibia. In Discrimination through Language in Africa? Perspectives on the Namibian Experience, Martin Pütz (ed.), 155–173. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Schneider, Edgar
2007 Postcolonial English: Varieties around the World. Cambridge: CUP. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Schröder, Anne, Zähres, Frederic & Kautzsch, Alexander
2020 Ethnic variation in the phonology of Namibian English: A first approach to Baster English. English World-Wide 41(2): 193–225. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Simon, David
1983 Aspects of Urban Change in Windhoek during the Transition to Independence. PhD dissertation. Oxford University.Google Scholar
Sohn, Christophe
2003 Changement gestionnaire et recompositions urbaines post-apartheid. La question foncière à Windhoek (Namibie). PhD dissertation, Université Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg.Google Scholar
Stals, Ernst & Ponelis, Fritz
2001 Só het Afrikaans na Namibië gekom. Windhoek: Gamsberg Macmillan.Google Scholar
Steigertahl, Helene
2019 Introducing a corpus of English(es) spoken in post-independence Namibia: Insights into corpus design and quantitative analyses. In Corpus Linguistics and African Englishes [Studies in Corpus Linguistics 88], 98–117. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
2020 English(es) in Post-Independence Namibia: An Investigation of Variety Status and its Implications for English Language Teaching. Frankfurt: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Stell, Gerald
2014 Uses and functions of English in Namibia’s multiethnic settings . World Englishes 33(2): 223–241. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
2016 Trends in linguistic diversity in post-independence Windhoek: A qualitative appraisal. Language Matters 47(3): 326–348. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Stell, Gerald & Groenewald, Gerald
2016 Perceptions of Afrikaans in Namibia: Between lingua franca and socially exclusive language. Tydskrif vir Geesteswetenskappe 56(4–2): 1128–1148. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Stell, Gerald
2019a Tracing emergent multilectal styles: Forms and functions of code-switching among Ovambos in urban Namibia. Pragmatics 29(3): 436–462. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
2019b Indexicalities in code-switching across Namibian ethnicities. Language Matters 50(2): 3–28. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Stell, Gerald & Fuchs, Robert
2019 Intergroup dynamics and variation in postcolonial ESL varieties: A preliminary view of Namibian English vowels. English World-Wide 40(2): 144–169. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Stell, Gerald
2020a The Founder Principle and Namibian English. World Englishes. 10.111/weng.12493. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
2020b Shifting prestige norms in postcolonial contexts: Interpreting phonetic trends in Namibia’s lingua francas. Journal of Multicultural and Multilingual Development. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Steyn, Jacob C.
1980 Tuiste in eie taal. Die behoud en bestaan van Afrikaans. Cape Town: Tafelberg.Google Scholar
Sturges, Paul
2005 Information in the Namibian national liberation struggle (1966–1989): Applying a model. Proceedings of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 41(1): 45–53. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Szmrecsanyi, Benedikt & Kortmann, Bernd
2009 Vernacular universals and Angloversals in a typological perspective. In Vernacular Universals and Language Contacts: Evidence from Varieties of English and Beyond, Markku Filpulla, Juhani Klemola & Hell Paulasto (eds), 33–53. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Tötemeyer, Andree-Jeanne
2012 Multilingualism and the language policy for Namibian schools [PRAESA Occasional Papers 37]. Cape Town: PRAESA.Google Scholar
Trudgill, Peter & Hannah, Jean
2008 International English: A Guide to the Varieties of Standard English. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
UNIN
1981 Towards a Language Policy for Namibia: English as the Official Language: Perspectives and Strategies. Lusaka: United Nations Institute for Namibia.Google Scholar
1986 Namibia: Perspectives for National Reconstruction and Development. Lusaka: United Nations Institute for Namibia.Google Scholar
van der Merwe, Johannes H.
1983 National Atlas of Southwest Africa (Namibia). Windhoek: Directorate of Development Co-ordination.Google Scholar
von Weber, Otto
2002 Geschichte des Schutzgebietes Deutsch-Südwest-Afrika. Windhoek: Namibia Scientific Society.Google Scholar
Wallace, Marion
2011 A History of Namibia. London: Hurst.Google Scholar
Walther, Daniel
2002 Creating Germans Abroad: Cultural Policies and National Identity in Namibia. Athens OH: Ohio University Press.Google Scholar
Watermeyer, Susan
1996 Afrikaans English. In Vivian De Klerk (ed.), Focus on South Africa [Varieties of English around the World G15], 99–124. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Webb, Victor N.
2002 Language in South Africa: The Role of Language in National Transformation, Reconstruction and Development [Impact: Studies in Language, Culture and Society 14]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Williams, Christian A.
2015 National Liberation in Postcolonial Southern Africa: A Historical Ethnography of SWAPO’s Exile Camps. Cambridge: CUP. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Wolfaardt, Dolores
2001 Facilitating Learning: An Investigation of the Language Policy of Namibian Schools. PhD dissertation, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa.Google Scholar
2005 Namibia: A case for a gradual transitional bilingual programme. In Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Bilingualism, James Cohen, Kara T. MacAlister, Kellie Rolstad & Jeff MacSwan (eds), 2357–2366. Somerville MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar