Bibliography: leaves 253-298 / This study examines the language, identity and intercultural communication dynamics in the
Xhosa communities of Cape Town where some immigrant Shona speakers dwell. Language is a
complex and nuanced repertoire of culture and the choice of language constitutes part of an
individual’s identity construction. Owing to these identity dynamics, the Shona speakers resident
among the Xhosa communities find themselves entangled in the politics of belonging and identity
that define the Shona-Xhosa immigrant landscape in Cape Town. The Shona speakers engaging
in intercultural communication in Xhosa communities are confronted with language and cultural
hurdles. Orbe’s Co-cultural Theory among others was central to the unpacking of the intricacies
of culture and the Xhosa hegemony. Results show that Shona people speak Xhosa for social
acceptance and to secure economic benefits. Nevertheless, this seems not to offer them profound
indulgence with the Xhosa culture. Even if they comprehend the culture, their Shona cultural
identity hampers their full admission into the Xhosa culture. This lack of cultural acceptance
leaves the Shona speakers alienated from both Xhosa and Shona cultures. In that regard, Shona
speakers among Xhosa communities in Cape Town live a fluid life in which relentless cultural
change is the only constant. This transitory life promotes intercultural concession in the personal
layer of self, leading to the emergence of a hybrid multicultural self-concept. The study thus
contributes towards scholarship by revealing that the differences in individual linguistic
circumstances in the process of intercultural negotiation appear to produce different levels of
acquisition of the Xhosa culture and Xhosa by the Shona speakers. This is corroborated by the
fact that Shona speakers who could not speak English learnt Xhosa faster than those who could
speak English. This study argues that the maintenance of the Shona language by its speakers in
Xhosa communities is as much their duty, as it is their right. Ultimately, the study posits that
ethnocentrism stifles the intercultural communication process and leads to tiffs in multicultural
communities / Linguistics and Modern Languages / D. Phil. (Languages, Linguistics and Literature)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/27460 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Mambambo, John |
| Contributors | Mutasa, D. E. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (xvi, 305 leaves; charts, tables (mostly color)), application/pdf |
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