Assignment 3 2025
Unique Number:
Due Date: September 2025
Language, Identity, and Nation-Building: A Comparative Analysis of Silva (1997) and
Schneider (2007) on South Africa’s Linguistic Diversity
Introduction
Language is central to South Africa’s identity and future. Under apartheid, language policies
enforced segregation and inequality, leaving deep scars. After 1994, the new democratic
government recognised eleven official languages to reflect the country’s diversity and heal
past divisions. Yet, English continues to hold a powerful position as a lingua franca. Both P.
Silva (1997) and E.W. Schneider (2007) discuss these tensions but approach them
differently. Silva examines how South African English mirrors the country’s multilingual
society through vocabulary and borrowing, linking linguistic diversity to social realities.
Schneider, using his Dynamic Model of Postcolonial Englishes, places South African English
within a broader global and historical framework, exploring how English adapts and
indigenises after colonialism. This essay compares their arguments on linguistic diversity,
the role of English, and national unity, highlighting where their ideas converge and diverge.
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Understanding their perspectives helps to evaluate how language policy can shape a just
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