Masters Degrees (General Linguistics)

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Language shift within two generations : Afrikaans mother tongue parents raising English mother tongue children
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2015-04) Beukes, Johannes Daniel; George, Erica; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of General Linguistics.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The community of Paarl, in the Western Cape, is traditionally Afrikaans-speaking. This research investigated whether a language shift has occurred in some middle-class communities in Paarl. Certain Coloured neighbourhoods were identified. The emphasis was also on whether Afrikaans-speaking parents chose to raise their children in English. It was found that a language shift, predominantly towards English, has indeed occurred where Afrikaans first language (L1) parents were raising their children in English. This finding differs from earlier studies by Anthonissen and George (2003) and by Fortuin (2009), in which only two or three families were studied, whereas this study engaged with 50 households. This study focused mainly on the parents and their views about their decisions. Not only was the occurrence of a language shift confirmed, but the complexity of the matter was also highlighted. An attempt to preserve Afrikaans as heritage language was also noted.