ABSTRACT
With Independence in 1990, English became the sole official language of Namibia. It was considered the “language of liberation” while the former official language Afrikaans was repealed as the “language of the oppressor”. Many arguments have been put forward for the choice of English as it was expressed in the first drafts of the country’s language policy during the liberation struggle in the 1970s. Since then, English has been seen as a “neutral” language that would support the progressive future of this new nation. However, English has also caused several challenges in education, for instance, as English proficiency of both teachers and learners remains low.
This chapter assesses the country’s language policy and educational policy by analysing voices from Namibian teachers qualitatively. In this context, the consequences of English as the sole official language in the multilingual classroom are further illuminated. The data stems from 77 interviews conducted in early 2015, which were then compiled into a corpus of spoken English(es).
