Between first language influence, exonormative orientation and migration: Future time expressions in post-protectorate Ugandan English

Abstract

Like other Englishes, Ugandan English is not a homogeneous variety. Being a second language to the vast majority of its multilingual speakers, it is, inevitably, influenced by their first languages. However, first language influence is just one factor that continues to shape Ugandan English. This paper reports on how influence from exonormative teaching models and the effects of migration, which constantly results in frequent and regular contact between second language speakers of various first languages, contribute to its architecture. It does so by focusing on and carefully investigating future time expressions in a corpus of authentic spoken interactions across Ugandans, the face-to-face conversations of the Uganda component of the International Corpus of English.