Theorising (from) Ugandan English as one example of post-protectorate Englishes in contexts of globalisation

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Christiane Meierkord
• Subject Area: Individual Linguistics, Historical Linguistics
• Term: from 2017 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 395350430

Ugandan English is one of the least researched varieties of English, which is, at least partially, due to the country´s troubled political past and the long standstill at many universities. Yet, the variety is of particular attraction for discussions of the English language complex, as it is shaped by Uganda´s status as a multilingual post-protectorate (where English was acquired in schools rather than from settlers) and by the linguistic processes accompanying globalisation. Uganda is home to 41 different languages, belonging to four different language families. Potentially all of these have influenced their speakers' second language English. Also, contact with English today involves not only British English, but also American, Nigerian, Kenyan and potentially Indian and Jamaican English, through trade and business contacts but also via the media. As a result, Ugandan English seems to be shaped by its speakers´ different first languages and these external influences. To theorise the resulting processes and products, this project seeks to relate these to some of the currently offered models of world Englishes: Schneider´s Dynamic Model postulates a trajectorial development of post-colonial Englishes through the stages of foundation, exonormative stabilisation, nativisation, endonormative stabilisation, and differentiation. Second, Mair´s World Model of Englishes describes the transnational impact that both standard and non-standard varieties of English may have on others, depending on their demographic weight and institutional support. Finally, Meierkord´s (2012) Interactions across Englishes model proposes that, when interacting with each other, speakers contribute features of their own variety to a pool, from which they can then be selected by others.Focussing on the grammatical concepts of modality, futurity and spatial & temporal relations, the project investigates how these are expressed in English by speakers of different Ugandan first languages, whether the dominant language, Luganda, is a nation-wide factor explaining these realisations, and whether influence from exogenous varieties other than British English can be detected. This will be done based on analyses of authentic conversational data, as well as through acceptability tests and attitudinal data collected through interviews, questionnaires and verbal guise tests, in close collaboration with a Ugandan expert at Gulu University.The project contributes to the further description of Ugandan English but particularly discusses the explanatory power of the models as well as appropriate modifications and mergers. Its results may lend themselves to describe and theorise post-protectorate Englishes, which have hitherto received scarce attention, in general. Besides, it further familiarises Ugandan linguists with current methodology and theory and thus enhances their research capacity and productivity to participate more intensively and visibly in the international academic community.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Uganda
• International Co-Applicant: Bebwa Isingoma, Ph.D.