Sociolinguistics and applied linguistics

Abstract This chapter provides an overview of sociolinguistics and applied linguistics research in sub-Saharan Africa, highlighting the significant contribution made by Bantu languages. The chapter discusses the sociolinguistic and applied-language situation before and after colonialism in Africa, followed by a discussion on the effects of language contact. From a poststructuralist perspective, the chapter explores contemporary understandings of multilingualism, including developments in theories and practices relating to languaging, translanguaging, code-meshing, and metrolingualism. It outlines notions of multivocality and heteroglossia, among others, to explore the performance and negotiation of identities in multilingual and multicultural African societies. The chapter also delves into the characteristics of urban, rural, and youth languages, the emergence of linguistic landscape studies as a sociolinguistic enquiry, developments in language planning and policy, and models of multilingual education in Africa and the decolonial turn. Lastly, the chapter reviews studies on the debate surrounding the harmonization of orthographies of related languages.