Volume: 29  Number: 2  Page: 110–126  doi:10.2167/jmmd533.0

Truncated Multilingualism or Language Shift? An Examination of Language Use in Intimate Domains in a New Non-racial Working Class Township in South Africa

Charlyn Dyers Department of Linguistics, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa

The dominance of English in particular domains of language use in South Africa, such as higher education and the economy, has led to the fear that other languages may be threatened by an increasing shift to English in all domains, especially among the young. However, this paper reveals the strong vitality of the mother tongues in the intimate domains and increasing multilingualism becoming the norm in new shared spaces.

Keywords: domains, multilingualism, space, marginalisation, South Africa

© 2008 C. Dyers

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