<p>This thesis is an exploration of the historical, socio-cultural, economic, and political settings in which identities are negotiated and performed among Cameroonian immigrants in Cape Town. Focusing on language as localized practices and different interaction regimes, the thesis investigates how Cameroonian immigrants maintain and reconfigure the Anglophone/Francophone identity options in novel and hybrid ways. In addition, the study examines how ideologies favouring different languages are reproduced and challenged in translocal and transnational discourses. Guided by the poststructuralist theories the thesis explores the stance that reality is socially constructed, based on symbolic and material structural limitations that are challenged and maintained in interaction. That is, whatever we do or believe in, is supported by some historical or cultural&nbsp / frames of meanings in our lived world, which often gives room to some manoeuvre to do things in a new way. The study adopts a multiplex interpretive approach to data&nbsp / collection. This entails a qualitative sociolinguistic approach where interviews, discussion and observations at different socio-economic places namely / meetings, workplaces,&nbsp / homes, restaurants, drinking spots and many sites from all over Cape Town, were explored. The study suggests that Cameroonians have a multiplicity of identity options, which are manifested and negotiated performatively through language, dress code, song, food, business, and other practices that comprise their lifestyles. These identities are&nbsp / translocal and transnational in nature, and tend to blend South African, Cameroonian, and even American traits. It is also suggests that the different identity options which they manifest are highly mobile, enabling Cameroonians to fit into South African social structures as well as the Negotiation of Identities and Language Practices Cameroonian ways of doing things. Additionally, the multiplicity of identities that Cameroonians manifest, blur the fault-line between Anglophone/Francophone identities. It is evident from the study that hybridity and the reconstruction practices are not only confined to languages. Hybridity also extends to discourse orders especially in terms of how meetings are conducted. The Cameroonian meetings captured through the activities of Mifi Association and CANOWACAT are characterised by &lsquo / disorder of discourse&rsquo / in which both formal and informal versions of English and French are used separately or as amalgams alongside CPE and their national languages, not only in side talks, but also when contributing to the meeting proceedings. Ultimately, the study concludes that Cameroonians are social actors making up an indispensable part of the social interaction in the Cape Town Diaspora. Just as they influence the languages, the entrepreneurial practices, and spaces in which they interact, the Cameroonian immigrants are also transformed. The major&nbsp / contribution of the study is that it adds to the recent debates about the nature of multilingualism and identities in late modern society. It emphasises that languages and identities are fluid, complex, and unstable. The distinction or boundaries between the various languages in multilingual practices are also not as clear-cut. This leads to a reframing of voice and actor hood as meaning is constructed across translocal and transnational contexts and domains in a networked world transformed by the mobility of endless flows ofinformation, goods, ideas, and people. Thus, the study contributes to those arguing for a paradigm shift in sociolinguistic theory in which language is not a property of groups, nor is it an autonomous and bounded system fixed in time and space. Thus, identities, languages and the spaces of interaction are not fixed systems / identities, languages, and spaces are dynamic and in a state of flux. This in turn questions the notions of multilingualism and language itself, as well as the veracity of concepts such as code-switching,&nbsp / speech community, language variation, as the search for a sociolinguistic framework that can deal with phenomena predicated by motion, instability, and uncertainty, continues.</p>

<p>This thesis is an exploration of the historical, socio-cultural, economic, and political settings in which identities are negotiated and performed among Cameroonian immigrants in Cape Town. Focusing on language as localized practices and different interaction regimes, the thesis investigates how Cameroonian immigrants maintain and reconfigure the Anglophone/Francophone identity options in novel and hybrid ways. In addition, the study examines how ideologies favouring different languages are reproduced and challenged in translocal and transnational discourses. Guided by the poststructuralist theories the thesis explores the stance that reality is socially constructed, based on symbolic and material structural limitations that are challenged and maintained in interaction. That is, whatever we do or believe in, is supported by some historical or cultural frames of meanings in our lived world, which often gives room to some manoeuvre to do things in a new way. The study adopts a multiplex interpretive approach to data collection. This entails a qualitative sociolinguistic approach where interviews, discussion and observations at different socio-economic places namely / meetings, workplaces, homes, restaurants, drinking spots and many sites from all over Cape Town, were explored. The study suggests that Cameroonians have a multiplicity of identity options, which are manifested and negotiated performatively through language, dress code, song, food, business, and other practices that comprise their lifestyles. These identities are translocal and transnational in nature, and tend to blend South African, Cameroonian, and even American traits. It is also suggests that the different identity options which they manifest are highly mobile, enabling Cameroonians to fit into South African social structures as well as the Cameroonian ways of doing things.&nbsp / Additionally, the multiplicity of identities that Cameroonians manifest, blur the fault-line between Anglophone/Francophone identities. It is evident from the study that hybridity and the reconstruction practices are not only confined to languages. Hybridity also extends to discourse orders especially in terms of how meetings are conducted. The Cameroonian meetings captured through the activities of Mifi Association and CANOWACAT are characterised by &lsquo / disorder of discourse&rsquo / in which both formal and informal versions of English and French are used&nbsp / separately or as amalgams alongside CPE and their national languages, not only in side talks, but also when contributing to the meeting proceedings. Ultimately, the study concludes that&nbsp / Cameroonians are social actors making up an indispensable part of the social interaction in the Cape Town Diaspora. Just as they influence the languages, the entrepreneurial practices, and&nbsp / spaces in which they interact, the Cameroonian immigrants are also transformed. The major contribution of the study is that it adds to the recent debates about the nature of multilingualism&nbsp / and identities in late modern society. It emphasises that languages and identities are fluid, complex, and unstable. The distinction or boundaries between the various languages in multilingual practices are also not as clear-cut. This leads to a reframing of voice and actor hood as meaning is constructed across translocal and transnational contexts and domains in a networked&nbsp / world transformed by the mobility of endless flows of information, goods, ideas, and people. Thus, the study contributes to those arguing for a paradigm shift in sociolinguistic theory in which&nbsp / language is not a property of groups, nor is it an autonomous and bounded system fixed in time and space. Thus, identities, languages and the spaces of interaction are not fixed systems / &nbsp / identities, languages, and spaces are dynamic and in a state of flux. This in turn questions the notions of multilingualism and language itself, as well as the veracity of concepts such as&nbsp / &nbsp / &nbsp / code-switching, speech community, language variation, as the search for a sociolinguistic framework that can deal with phenomena predicated by motion, instability, and uncertainty, continues. <br /> &nbsp / </p>

Ce mémoire porte sur les paysages québécois de William Brymner (1855-1925). Quarante-sept scènes paysagères réalisées entre 1891 et 1914 sont envisagées à la fois comme témoins et acteurs de leur époque. La problématique vise à dégager des liens entre le corpus et la formation de l'identité canadienne. Nous estimons que l'oeuvre de Brymner est intéressant à étudier dans cette perspective d'histoire culturelle parce que le parcours et la notoriété de ce peintre, professeur et porte-parole du milieu artistique en font une figure emblématique de son époque marquée par une quête identitaire. Les paysages de Brymner participent de la construction de l'identité canadienne dans un contexte idéologique où le nationalisme et l'impérialisme correspondent aux visions concurrentes des Canadiens français et des Canadiens anglais. La peinture de paysage offre un ancrage territorial à l'imaginaire de la nation. Le paysagiste William Brymner est imprégné des deux visions nationales par son appartenance à l'élite anglophone et sa proximité avec la communauté francophone. L'analyse formelle et iconographique du corpus fait ressortir une recherche artistique marquée par l'expérimentation et des incursions vers le modernisme dans un rapport nature/culture franchement dominé par une nature familière et sereine, où la présence canadienne-française est récurrente bien que discrète. La mise en relation des oeuvres avec leur contexte nous amène à revoir notre hypothèse de départ voulant que le corpus traduise un projet identitaire canadien respectueux des deux peuples fondateurs. En effet, en dépit d'une ouverture sincère de l'artiste à la nation francophone, une tendance lourde concernant les productions artistiques anglophones et des interventions de diffusion parrainées par des anglophones, campées dans le Québec rural de la première moitié du XXe siècle, aboutissent, avec le recul, à une forme d'appropriation plus ou moins consciente de la culture canadienne-française pour le bénéfice d'une identité canadienne anglo-saxonne. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : William Brymner, Paysage, Peinture, Art canadien, Histoire culturelle, Identité canadienne, Anglophones du Québec.

Le lexique est à la base de tout langage. Son apprentissage dans une langue seconde prend du temps et peut parfois être ardu. Cependant, une certaine parenté entre la langue première et la langue seconde d'un apprenant peut en accélérer l'apprentissage. Bien que la présence de congénères interlinguaux (mots de même origine étymologique) dans des textes puisse aider l'élève à comprendre plus facilement, il n'en demeure pas moins que leur reconnaissance n'est pas nécessairement simple et peut poser certains problèmes d'interprétation, liés à l'existence des faux amis. En effet, les variations orthographiques ou sémantiques entre les deux langues peuvent l'induire en erreur et, à la longue, le faire hésiter par méfiance dès qu'il rencontre un mot apparenté. Nous savons, grâce à de nombreuses études sur le sujet, que les congénères interlinguaux ne sont généralement pas reconnus spontanément, sans enseignement préalable. Certains sont reconnaissables, d'autres pas. Est-il possible de prédire systématiquement lesquels seront reconnus et lesquels ne le seront pas? Notre recherche descriptive vise donc, de façon globale, à mesurer la capacité de 21 élèves anglophones de première secondaire apprenant le français, langue seconde de base, à reconnaître des congénères avant même qu'on ne leur enseigne l'origine étymologique des mots ou la présence de mots apparentés. Pour ce faire, nous reproduisons partiellement et élargissons une étude menée par Moss (1992) auprès d'étudiants hispanophones apprenant l'anglais. Ainsi, trois objectifs sont poursuivis. Le premier consiste à déterminer, parmi des variables lexicales à plusieurs niveaux (longueur du mot, nombre de différences orthographiques, classe du mot, type de changement orthographique), celles qui peuvent prédire la récognition ou la non-récognition des congénères chez des élèves anglophones de première secondaire apprenant le français, langue seconde. Le second objectif est de vérifier si la présence d'un contexte peut également prédire cette récognition. Le dernier vise à observer si ces mêmes variables peuvent prédire la rapidité de reconnaissance des congénères. Sur le plan méthodologique, nous avons créé et utilisé principalement deux types de tests: un test de traduction (sur papier) et un de temps de réaction (sur support informatique). La partie A du premier test contenait une liste de congénères (hors contexte) et la partie B, des congénères soulignés dans des phrases (en contexte). Chaque élève devait tenter de traduire sans aide chacun des congénères. Le deuxième test, quant à lui, présentait à l'écran d'un ordinateur une suite de congénères (hors contexte): chaque élève devait indiquer le plus rapidement possible si elle reconnaissait le mot ou non (le temps de réaction était calculé en millisecondes). Tous les congénères utilisés ont ensuite été codés dans un tableur électronique en fonction des différentes variables étudiées, de façon à permettre le calcul de coefficients de corrélation entre la reconnaissance, la rapidité de reconnaissance et les aspects. Les résultats du test de traduction ont révélé que la combinaison de sept des niveaux de variables (nombre de lettres différentes, différence proportionnelle, classe nominale, voyelles ajoutées, voyelle remplacée par une consonne, consonne remplacée par une voyelle, total des différences sur les plans des voyelles et des consonnes) avec l'absence de contexte ont prédit une non-récognition des congénères. En contexte, trois niveaux de variables ont prédit une non-récognition (classe adjectivale, voyelle remplacée par une consonne et consonne remplacée par une voyelle) alors que deux ont prédit l'inverse (voyelle effacée et consonne remplacée par une autre consonne). Ainsi, seulement deux niveaux de variables, soit le remplacement d'une consonne par une voyelle et d'une voyelle par une consonne, ont donné une prédiction similaire dans les deux parties du test. Pour ce qui est des résultats du test de réaction, sept niveaux des variables (nombre de lettres différentes, différence proportionnelle, classe adverbiale, dernière lettre différente, voyelle remplacée par une autre voyelle, consonne effacée et total des différences sur le plan des voyelles et des consonnes) ont prédit un ralentissement de la reconnaissance des congénères. Nous confirmons que la reconnaissance des congénères ne va pas de soi et recommandons aux enseignants de planifier et de structurer l'enseignement des congénères en tenant compte des facteurs pouvant en prédire la reconnaissance ou la non-reconnaissance lors de l'apprentissage (le nombre de lettres différentes, la différence proportionnelle et les différences sur le plan des consonnes) par exemple en misant davantage sur le contexte interne du congénère, en enseignant diverses stratégies de lecture et en ayant recours à une variété de support dont l'informatique. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Congénères interlinguaux, Faux amis, Vocabulaire réceptif, Français langue seconde, Temps de réaction, Mémoire, Transfert.

Tout a commencé lorsque nous avons rencontré une experte en mentorat d'une université francophone montréalaise et celle-ci nous dit : « Au fil des années de 1995 à 2001 je me suis occupée du programme de mentorat [...] en 2001, moi j'étais prêtée par l'UQAM pour faire la recherche québécoise de mentorat [...] alors quand je suis revenue le programme de mentorat n'était plus là. Il est mort de sa belle mort. Alors, depuis ce temps-là il n'y a plus de programme de mentorat au service de la vie étudiante ». De là est venue notre principale interrogation. Quelles sont les raisons pour lesquelles les pratiques mentorales ont de la difficulté à garder le cap dans la communauté francophone tandis que celles de la communauté anglophone semblent aller bon train? Quantité d'auteurs ont étudié les principales dimensions d'une relation mentorale et les effets sur le mentoré, mais aucune étude ne regarde les aspects culturels des pratiques mentorales dans le cadre de l'intégration des immigrants au sein de la région montréalaise. Cette thèse ne cherche pas comme tant d'autres à expliquer le phénomène du mentorat, mais à comprendre les diverses facettes des pratiques culturelles. Cet objectif fait appel à trois champs disciplinaires : le développement psychosocial de l'adulte, le développement professionnel et l'immigration. Ces champs font principalement appel aux travaux de Levinson, Kram, Houde, Thomas et Clutterbuck. De plus, comme notre attention porte sur les éléments contextuels entourant les pratiques mentorales des deux communautés montréalaises dans le cadre de l'intégration des immigrants, nous avons emprunté aux autres disciplines les travaux de Lipiansky, Abdallah-Preitcelle, Cohen-Emerique, Vatz-Laaroussi et Charbonneau, Stoiciu, etc. Au départ, trois prémisses sont posées : 1) La communauté francophone a été plus lente à s'ajuster que l'anglophone à la diversification ethnique. 2) La communauté anglophone montréalaise tire profit des pratiques mentorales de nos voisins du sud, tandis que la communauté francophone semble avoir de la difficulté à garder le cap. 3) Le mentorat est une relation d'aide favorable à l'intégration des immigrants. Des études historiques et sur le terrain explorent ces prémisses et en viennent aux mêmes conclusions. Cette étude comporte trente-huit (38) entrevues avec des intervenants et des immigrants, dont seize (16) entrevues de groupe et vingt-deux (22) entrevues individuelles. L'étude qualitative permet de dégager plusieurs constats, dont ceux-ci : La communauté anglophone « montre ce qu'il faut faire » tandis que la communauté francophone « montre comment on doit être ». La première s'insère dans le sens d'une vision plus pragmatique, mécanisée et structurée, dans le fait d'aider l'immigrant dans ses multiples besoins comme ceux de l'accompagner dans son cheminement scolaire et d'emploi tandis que la seconde s'insère dans une vision plus normative dans le fait de transmettre des valeurs, des attitudes, de respecter des normes, etc. Le jumelage est différent selon les communautés. La communauté anglophone ne jumelle pas les partenaires en fonction de la « langue commune » comme le fait la communauté francophone, mais selon les besoins pragmatiques des individus. Le mentorat peut favoriser l'intégration de l'immigrant sur le plan linguistique, personnel, professionnel, scolaire, etc. Ce mode d'accompagnement n'est pas seulement une relation, une pratique et un outil d'intervention, mais aussi un fait social total. Outre les contributions théoriques concernant le mentorat dans le cadre de l'intégration des immigrants, cette étude peut avoir une influence sur les institutions et les immigrants de la région montréalaise. Pour les institutions, il est possible que les discours permettent à certains acteurs du milieu de prendre conscience du fait qu'ils se dévouent pour une même cause, l'éducation, la formation et l'intégration des étudiants de toutes origines. La conjoncture est d'ailleurs propice à un tel changement; nous parlons de plus en plus de partenariats, d'alliances et d'ouverture sur l'Autre. Pour les immigrants, il est possible que les discussions de la présente étude leur donnent l'audace et le courage d'aller de l'avant en ayant toujours en tête leurs propres responsabilités et engagements à l'égard de la société d'accueil. En outre, la présente étude analyse les principales particularités des pratiques mentorales des deux communautés principales montréalaises; cette étude n'aurait pas été la même si celle-ci avait été tenue à Québec ou dans ses régions. Il est clair que cette recherche tient sa force dans l'engagement du chercheur et dans le souci de l'éthique. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : mentorat, jumelage, pratiques mentorales, intégration, immigrants.

For years, critics have used Black writers' interweaving of African-derived oral textual features and European written forms to reject the concept of the Great Divide between orality and writing in literacy studies. These critics primarily see the hybridized texts of writers of African descent as a model that assists in the complex union of writing and orality. My argument is that the integrationist model is not the only way, perhaps not even the most fruitful way, to read the hybridized texts of writers of African descent. I develop a reading of Anglophone African, African-Caribbean, and African-Canadian literature that sees the synthesis of orality and writing as an emergent discourse, free of the dogmatisms of textuality and of colonial literary standards, that contributes to the cultural and political aspirations of writers of African descent. In transcribing African-derived orality into writing, Black writers emphasize the ethnic component of their African identity, thereby decolonizing their literature. Consequently, the literature functions as locus or epitome of community-created culture and counter-colonial discourse, portraying the Black writer as a self-assertive community agent with the potential for forging a new historically informed identity. My introduction identifies the scope of the study, defining what constitutes African-derived oral textual features and outlining the critical theories that will be instrumental to my analysis. I also explain why I selected the writers Wole Soyinka (African), Edward Kamau Brathwaite, Louise Bennett (African-Caribbean), Lillian Allen, Marlene Nourbese Philip, and Clifton Joseph (African-Canadian) as examples of writers who have utilized orality in writing as political and cultural expression. Chapter One provides a background to pre-colonial African oral discourse. Chapters Two, Three, and Four respectively focus on Anglophone African, African Caribbean, and African Canadian poets' uses of orality in writing to reflect an eclectic cultural heritage. A brief conclusion follows these chapters. It reaffirms my primary thesis that the dynamic union of orality and writing in Anglophone African, African-Caribbean, and African-Canadian written poetry functions as the expression of a new kind of cultural and political discourse, in search of a new audience and a critical approach that requires both Africanist and European critical perspectives.

Selon le modèle de motivation L2 de Gardner (1985), dominant dans le domaine depuis plusieurs années, une orientation intégrative, c'est-à-dire des attitudes positives envers la communauté L2 et un désir de s'intégrer à celle-ci, soutient l'apprentissage réussi de la L2. L'universalité de l'orientation intégrative a été remise en question dans certains contextes socioculturels, notamment chez les francophones au Canada, pour qui la peur de l'assimilation et de la perte de l'identité première pourrait empêcher le développement d'un désir d'intégration à la communauté anglophone. Récemment, Dörnyei (2005) a proposé un nouveau modèle de la structure interne de la motivation L2, selon lequel l'apprenant L2 motivé serait celui qui désire incorporer la L2 à son concept du « soi ». Cette étude a vérifié la fidélité interne du modèle de motivation de Dörnyei auprès d'une cohorte d'étudiants francophones au Québec (n=68). Au moyen d'un questionnaire, le premier objectif de cette étude a été de confirmer le lien entre le construit central du modèle de Gardner, la dimension intégrative, et celui de Dörnyei, le soi L2 idéal. Ensuite, l'étude a examiné lequel de ces deux construits était l'indicateur le plus fiable de l'intention d'effort de l'apprenant. Les résultats ont confirmé la corrélation entre le soi L2 idéal et la dimension intégrative; de plus, ils ont soutenu l'intégrité du modèle de Dörnyei dans le contexte québécois, à savoir que son construit central, le soi L2 idéal, était un prédicteur fiable de l'intention de l'apprenant de déployer des efforts pour apprendre la L2. Par la suite, les attitudes envers l'apprentissage de l'anglais ont été examinées ainsi que la relation entre l'instrumentalité et l'intention d'effort. Les résultats ont confirmé que ces deux derniers construits sont également des indicateurs de l'intention d'effort. Ces résultats sont discutés en référence à la pertinence de resituer la motivation dans un cadre psychologique du soi, ce qui permettrait d'explorer la motivation L2 dans une ère de mondialisation, où l'anglais n'est plus associé à des communautés précises, mais constitue plutôt une lingua franca. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : acquisition des langues secondes, motivation, soi L2 idéal, dimension intégrative, francophone

<p>This thesis is an exploration of the historical, socio-cultural, economic, and political settings in which identities are negotiated and performed among Cameroonian immigrants in Cape Town. Focusing on language as localized practices and different interaction regimes, the thesis investigates how Cameroonian immigrants maintain and reconfigure the Anglophone/Francophone identity options in novel and hybrid ways. In addition, the study examines how ideologies favouring different languages are reproduced and challenged in translocal and transnational discourses. Guided by the poststructuralist theories the thesis explores the stance that reality is socially constructed, based on symbolic and material structural limitations that are challenged and maintained in interaction. That is, whatever we do or believe in, is supported by some historical or cultural frames of meanings in our lived world, which often gives room to some manoeuvre to do things in a new way. The study adopts a multiplex interpretive approach to data collection. This entails a qualitative sociolinguistic approach where interviews, discussion and observations at different socio-economic places namely / meetings, workplaces, homes, restaurants, drinking spots and many sites from all over Cape Town, were explored. The study suggests that Cameroonians have a multiplicity of identity options, which are manifested and negotiated performatively through language, dress code, song, food, business, and other practices that comprise their lifestyles. These identities are translocal and transnational in nature, and tend to blend South African, Cameroonian, and even American traits. It is also suggests that the different identity options which they manifest are highly mobile, enabling Cameroonians to fit into South African social structures as well as the Cameroonian ways of doing things.&nbsp / Additionally, the multiplicity of identities that Cameroonians manifest, blur the fault-line between Anglophone/Francophone identities. It is evident from the study that hybridity and the reconstruction practices are not only confined to languages. Hybridity also extends to discourse orders especially in terms of how meetings are conducted. The Cameroonian meetings captured through the activities of Mifi Association and CANOWACAT are characterised by &lsquo / disorder of discourse&rsquo / in which both formal and informal versions of English and French are used&nbsp / separately or as amalgams alongside CPE and their national languages, not only in side talks, but also when contributing to the meeting proceedings. Ultimately, the study concludes that&nbsp / Cameroonians are social actors making up an indispensable part of the social interaction in the Cape Town Diaspora. Just as they influence the languages, the entrepreneurial practices, and&nbsp / spaces in which they interact, the Cameroonian immigrants are also transformed. The major contribution of the study is that it adds to the recent debates about the nature of multilingualism&nbsp / and identities in late modern society. It emphasises that languages and identities are fluid, complex, and unstable. The distinction or boundaries between the various languages in multilingual practices are also not as clear-cut. This leads to a reframing of voice and actor hood as meaning is constructed across translocal and transnational contexts and domains in a networked&nbsp / world transformed by the mobility of endless flows of information, goods, ideas, and people. Thus, the study contributes to those arguing for a paradigm shift in sociolinguistic theory in which&nbsp / language is not a property of groups, nor is it an autonomous and bounded system fixed in time and space. Thus, identities, languages and the spaces of interaction are not fixed systems / &nbsp / identities, languages, and spaces are dynamic and in a state of flux. This in turn questions the notions of multilingualism and language itself, as well as the veracity of concepts such as&nbsp / &nbsp / &nbsp / code-switching, speech community, language variation, as the search for a sociolinguistic framework that can deal with phenomena predicated by motion, instability, and uncertainty, continues. <br /> &nbsp / </p>

<p>This thesis is an exploration of the historical, socio-cultural, economic, and political settings in which identities are negotiated and performed among Cameroonian immigrants in Cape Town. Focusing on language as localized practices and different interaction regimes, the thesis investigates how Cameroonian immigrants maintain and reconfigure the Anglophone/Francophone identity options in novel and hybrid ways. In addition, the study examines how ideologies favouring different languages are reproduced and challenged in translocal and transnational discourses. Guided by the poststructuralist theories the thesis explores the stance that reality is socially constructed, based on symbolic and material structural limitations that are challenged and maintained in interaction. That is, whatever we do or believe in, is supported by some historical or cultural&nbsp / frames of meanings in our lived world, which often gives room to some manoeuvre to do things in a new way. The study adopts a multiplex interpretive approach to data&nbsp / collection. This entails a qualitative sociolinguistic approach where interviews, discussion and observations at different socio-economic places namely / meetings, workplaces,&nbsp / homes, restaurants, drinking spots and many sites from all over Cape Town, were explored. The study suggests that Cameroonians have a multiplicity of identity options, which are manifested and negotiated performatively through language, dress code, song, food, business, and other practices that comprise their lifestyles. These identities are&nbsp / translocal and transnational in nature, and tend to blend South African, Cameroonian, and even American traits. It is also suggests that the different identity options which they manifest are highly mobile, enabling Cameroonians to fit into South African social structures as well as the Negotiation of Identities and Language Practices Cameroonian ways of doing things. Additionally, the multiplicity of identities that Cameroonians manifest, blur the fault-line between Anglophone/Francophone identities. It is evident from the study that hybridity and the reconstruction practices are not only confined to languages. Hybridity also extends to discourse orders especially in terms of how meetings are conducted. The Cameroonian meetings captured through the activities of Mifi Association and CANOWACAT are characterised by &lsquo / disorder of discourse&rsquo / in which both formal and informal versions of English and French are used separately or as amalgams alongside CPE and their national languages, not only in side talks, but also when contributing to the meeting proceedings. Ultimately, the study concludes that Cameroonians are social actors making up an indispensable part of the social interaction in the Cape Town Diaspora. Just as they influence the languages, the entrepreneurial practices, and spaces in which they interact, the Cameroonian immigrants are also transformed. The major&nbsp / contribution of the study is that it adds to the recent debates about the nature of multilingualism and identities in late modern society. It emphasises that languages and identities are fluid, complex, and unstable. The distinction or boundaries between the various languages in multilingual practices are also not as clear-cut. This leads to a reframing of voice and actor hood as meaning is constructed across translocal and transnational contexts and domains in a networked world transformed by the mobility of endless flows ofinformation, goods, ideas, and people. Thus, the study contributes to those arguing for a paradigm shift in sociolinguistic theory in which language is not a property of groups, nor is it an autonomous and bounded system fixed in time and space. Thus, identities, languages and the spaces of interaction are not fixed systems / identities, languages, and spaces are dynamic and in a state of flux. This in turn questions the notions of multilingualism and language itself, as well as the veracity of concepts such as code-switching,&nbsp / speech community, language variation, as the search for a sociolinguistic framework that can deal with phenomena predicated by motion, instability, and uncertainty, continues.</p>

This thesis is an exploration of the historical, socio-cultural, economic, and political settings in which identities are negotiated and performed among Cameroonian immigrants in Cape Town. Focusing on language as localized practices and different interaction regimes, the thesis investigates how Cameroonian immigrants maintain and reconfigure the Anglophone/Francophone identity options in novel and hybrid ways. In addition, the study examines how ideologies favouring different languages are reproduced and challenged in translocal and transnational discourses.Guided by the poststructuralist theories the thesis explores the stance that reality is socially constructed, based on symbolic and material structural limitations that are challenged and maintained in interaction. That is, whatever we do or believe in, is supported by some historical or cultural frames of meanings in our lived world, which often gives room to some manoeuvre to do things in a new way.The study adopts a multiplex interpretive approach to data collection. This entails a qualitative sociolinguistic approach where interviews, discussion and observations at different socio-economic places namely; meetings, workplaces, homes,restaurants, drinking spots and many sites from all over Cape Town, were explored.The study suggests that Cameroonians have a multiplicity of identity options, which are manifested and negotiated performatively through language, dress code, song, food, business, and other practices that comprise their lifestyles. These identities are translocal and transnational in nature, and tend to blend South African, Cameroonian, and even American traits. It is also suggests that the different identity options which they manifest are highly mobile, enabling Cameroonians to fit into South African social structures as well as the Cameroonian ways of doing things. Additionally, the multiplicity of identities that Cameroonians manifest, blur the fault-line between Anglophone/Francophone identities.It is evident from the study that hybridity and the reconstruction practices are not only confined to languages. Hybridity also extends to discourse orders especially in terms of how meetings are conducted. The Cameroonian meetings captured through the activities of Mifi Association and CANOWACAT are characterised by ‘disorder of discourse’ in which both formal and informal versions of English and French are used separately or as amalgams alongside CPE and their national languages, not only in side talks, but also when contributing to the meeting proceedings.Ultimately, the study concludes that Cameroonians are social actors making up an indispensable part of the social interaction in the Cape Town Diaspora. Just as they influence the languages, the entrepreneurial practices, and spaces in which they interact, the Cameroonian immigrants are also transformed.The major contribution of the study is that it adds to the recent debates about the nature of multilingualism and identities in late modern society. It emphasises that languages and identities are fluid, complex, and unstable. The distinction or boundaries between the various languages in multilingual practices are also not as clear-cut. This leads to a reframing of voice and actor hood as meaning is constructed across translocal and transnational contexts and domains in a networked world transformed by the mobility of endless flows of information, goods, ideas, and people. Thus, the study contributes to those arguing for a paradigm shift in sociolinguistic theory in which language is not a property of groups, nor is it an autonomous and bounded system fixed in time and space. Thus, identities, languages and the spaces of interaction are not fixed systems; identities, languages, and spaces are dynamic and in a state of flux. This in turn questions the notions of multilingualism and language itself, as well as the veracity of concepts such as code-switching, speech community, language variation, as the search for a sociolinguistic framework that can deal with phenomena predicated by motion, instability, and uncertainty, continues. / Philosophiae Doctor - PhD