A Pragmatic Profile of Namibian English: Exploring norms of communicative behaviour in a multilingual ecology

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Anne Schröder
• Subject Area: Individual Linguistics, Historical Linguistics
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 497900728

The present project aims to fill a research gap that exists in the field of World Englishes (WE) as well as Variational Pragmatics (VP). Taking Namibian English (NamE) as its primary research object, it will construct a pragmatic profile of this African variety of English that characterizes the unique aspects of the pragmatic norms and practices entertained by its speakers. The methodological framework for this endeavour will be developed specifically for the case of Namibia, taking into account its particular linguistic ecology. At the same time, we envision the framework as a valuable tool for future research on the pragmatics of WE, one that can be adjusted to the specific parameters of other varieties while maintaining its methodological viability and principles. The research project addresses the following desiderata: First, it will update the still nascent body on the pragmatics of African Englishes in general and NamE specifically, adding much needed data to the endeavour of compiling a comprehensive account of the pragmatics of Englishes worldwide. Second, in this it will pay specific attention to the impact of pragmatic transfer from a variety of first and second languages spoken in Namibia, underlining the relevance of this factor for the pragmatic description of multilingual, post-colonial language ecologies such as found in Namibia. To this end, it will thirdly develop a research methodology that serves these goals by adapting a robust empirical framework to the specific characteristics of the Namibian linguistic ecology, carried out in close collaboration with local research partners. This centrally includes a systematic and synergistic combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods, allowing us to adhere to the principle of contrastivity central to VP while properly taking into account the emic perspective and socio-cultural complexity of the language community in question. As a fourth point, this framework will function as a proposed blueprint for systematically introducing pragmatic inquiry into WE research, and establish a reliable starting point for further investigating the pragmatics of NamE, e.g. through natural language data or corpus methodology.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants