Volume: 7  Number: 4  Page: 377–414  doi:10.2167/cilp108.0

Zimbabwe Colonial and Post-Colonial Language Policy and Planning Practices

Sinfree B. Makonia, Busi Dubeb and Pedzisai Mashiric aCollege of Liberal Arts, Pennsylvania State University, bCRL Commission, Braamfonteein, Republic of South Africa and cFaculty of Arts, University of Zimbabwe, Harare

This monograph focuses on the development of colonial and post-colonial language policies and practices in Zimbabwe, attributing changes to evolving philosophies and politics in colonial and post-colonial Zimbabwe. In colonial Zimbabwe, we argue that the language policies had as one of their key objectives the development of a bilingual white colonial ruling class proficient in both English and at least one African language. Contrary to what some scholars might think, we will show that what was being imposed during the colonial era was not English on Africans but European variants of African languages on Europeans. The monograph also describes how, through linguistic description, Europeans appropriated African languages as a prelude to the imposition of European variants of African languages on Africans under the guise of the promotion of indigenous language. Despite the power and influence of the colonial regime, we demonstrate how Africans still retained a strong sense of agency during the colonial period which enabled them to select, albeit within restricted limits, the nature and type of education they received, the languages through which they were taught, and indeed even the materials which were used in teaching them languages, particularly English.

Keywords: Zimbabwe, language planning, language policy, Africa, ethnicity, identity

© 2006 S.B. Makoni et al.

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