The History of English Language Attitudes within the Multilingual Ecology of South Africa

Attitudes towards English and other South African languages have received considerable attention since the 1990s, but earlier periods have not been studied extensively. In this chapter, we combine a corpus study with a close textual reading of historical documents identified as relevant through a pre-screening of the historical corpus of Black South African English, going back to 1869.

We find that the favourable attitudes towards a language were closely related to favourable attitudes towards its speakers. Issues of political freedom and economic opportunity were far more pressing in the history of Black South Africans’ contact with English than the language issue as such. The desire for the best possible education outweighed the question of the language of instruction.

Attitudes have to be understood within the multilingual ecology of the entire environment in South Africa. Thus, attitudes towards English were further shaped by the presence of Afrikaans, and the less favourable nature of interaction between Black South Africans and Afrikaners. This enhanced favourable attitudes towards English. Attitudes towards the indigenous African languages were not unfavourable, but due to external factors, their use remained limited in public domains. They continue to perform important communicative but also attitudinal functions to the present.