Zambians Talking

Published in a series of occasional papers for the prestigious Institute of Economic and Social Research at the University of Zambia, this volume transcribes and analyses in detail twenty five informal conversations of Zambians speaking in English. The sociological and linguistic study of informal conversation and the analysis of real language use: the technique adopted by this author, is intended to reveal the strategies which particular communities amongst the Zambian peoples use to establish, maintain and change interpersonal and power relationships, and social norms. Particular attention is given to the peculiarities of Zambian English usage, and the communication strategies adapted by predominantly second language speakers of English, and the influence of local languages on patterns of speech.