Exploring the positioning of multilingual Kaaps and Cape Flats English-speaking university students' linguistic choices and identities

Ariefdien, Salaamah

Exploring the positioning of multilingual Kaaps and Cape Flats English-speaking university students' linguistic choices and identities

Thesis / Dissertation

2025

Publisher

University of Cape Town

Department

School of Education

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Abstract

“English is the language of the colonisers, but Afrikaaps is the language of my ancestors” -Teddy. Language ideologies have played a significant role in marginalising speakers of racialised languages within society. The dominance of standardised colonial languages has led to the suppression of indigenous languages, such as Afrikaaps and Cape Flats English (CFE). This phenomenon not only influences people's language choices but also encourages them to adopt dominant identities. As a result, many speakers, including myself, grapple with balancing our identities with our cultural heritage and our connections to indigenous communities. This study delves into the complex power dynamics involved in language ideologies, particularly how colonialism affects them. It focuses on indigenous Afrikaaps and CFE- speaking students at an English-medium university in Cape Town. While numerous studies have examined the relationships between colonialism, language, and racial identity, few have specifically addressed Afrikaaps and CFE. This research aims to contribute towards filling that gap. I utilised critical sociolinguistics, which frames language as a social practice, as the foundation of my research. This approach is grounded in Fairclough's Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) framework, combined with a decolonial perspective and Bourdieu's theorising of symbolic dominance. To collect data, I employed ethnographic methods, particularly linguistic ethnography, to explore the language and identity experiences of eight university students (both male and female) who speak Kaaps and CFE. I explore how these students understand their language choices and the identities they construct. To this end, I utilised various data collection methods, including language body portraits and questionnaires, audio-recorded semi-structured interviews, audio recordings of naturally occurring conversations, participants written texts, and my own field notes. I employed Fairclough's three-dimensional discourse analysis and thematic analysis to analyse the data. The findings illustrate how participants navigate their hybrid identities as multilingual speakers of Kaaps in a predominantly English-speaking environment. Prevailing ideas in different spaces, such as home and university, shape their identities. Participants indicated that the university environment—often seen as a hybrid space—required them to perform particular identities. At the same time, home, provided a supportive environment where they felt free to express rather than perform themselves. Consequently, many participants maintained a separation between their academic and home identities, with a few notable exceptions. Additionally, the research highlights how colonial ideologies, such as Anglonormativity and language purity, influence participants' identity construction and language choices. Other significant factors include family language policies and the racialisation of languages. For instance, Kaaps are frequently associated with being “Coloured”, serving as a marker of an “authentic” Coloured identity. However, using Kaaps can also challenge narrow views of race and ethnolinguistic characteristics. Overall, the study also emphasises the complex racial dynamics surrounding the perception of being Coloured in post-colonial South Africa, often placing individuals in an “in-between” space.