What syntactic patterns emerge in students' use of articles and modals? What are the reasons for these patterns? What implications do the findings of the study have for English language instruction in Botswana? Exactly 1556 essays comprising class assignments, written seminar presentations, test papers and examination scripts from 514 randomly selected students of the University of Botswana were analysed. The findings indicate that there were systematic omissions, substitutions and insertion of the definite and indefinite articles as well as recurrent use of the expression can be able. Students' indication of different forms of epistemic modality was confined to the use of could while complex verb phrases involving negation had their constituents reordered such that the negative operator not consistently succeeded the perfective auxiliary. The study shows that the reasons for these errors are both intra-and interlingual, namely the complexities of the two grammatical structures, articles and modals, and the influence of L1. Since the Botswana Senior Secondary Assessment Syllabus specifies 'accuracy' in the use of grammatical forms, by demanding high language achievement standards, this paper argues that a return to the teaching of basic grammar in the high school is important for the students' mastery of articles and modals.

Concerted efforts to characterise Botswana English (BE), though still referred to as 'a variety in development', have validated its existence. However, the teaching and assessment of English in the high schools do not seem to have responded to the development of this variety. This paper discusses the viability of using Standard British English as the model for teaching and assessing students' proficiency in high schools in Botswana. It examines the country's education focusing on language policy, the teaching methodology advocated in schools and teachers' preparedness and how these factors affect English language teaching and assessment. It also highlights areas of contradiction in policy documents regarding the teaching methodology and the model/variety taught and examined. The paper then proposes the recognition of BE as an appropriate model/variety for instruction in schools in Botswana, noting that this will not only eliminate the contradictions in the current English language teaching and assessment syllabi, but also reflect some of the ways by which English mirrors the linguistic ecology of the country.

Many African countries exhibit complex patterns of language use because of linguistic pluralism. The situation is often compounded by the presence of at least one foreign language that is either the official or second language. The language situation in Botswana depicts this complex pattern. Out of the 26 languages spoken in the country, including Afrikaans, a language with European roots, only two, English and Setswana, dominate the public domain; the former is the official language, the language of government, business, media and international diplomacy, while the latter is the national language, the language of instruction in Standard 1, an alternative medium of communication in Parliament, the language of deliberations in Ntlo ya Dikgosi (House of Chiefs) and the language of the media for some specific programmes. The other 23 indigenous languages are relegated to local or tribal use, resulting in a pattern of language use which depicts an ''imperfect triglossia'' (Batibo in English language and literature: cross-cultural currents. Cambridge Scholars, New Castle upon Tyne, 2008: 18). Also, the problem of overlaps in the functions of English and Setswana has generated the concern that the roles of these minority languages in the family and immediate community domains are gradually being eroded. There are concerted efforts, through cultural renaissance on the part of many community groups, to preserve their languages. Such instances of cultural reawakening are discussed as types of micro language planning. Using the examples of two cultural groups, Kamanakao Association (KA) and the Society for the Promotion of Ikalanga Language (SPIL), the paper argues that the nonrecognition of the need to develop and support the use of Botswana's minority languages beyond the home domain is a major reason for the resurgence of cultural This is a revised version of the paper presented at the First Multidisciplinary Approaches to Language Planning and Policy Conference, associations functioning as local language advocacy groups. The paper also contends that these associations have become extremely effective in influencing language policy makers to begin to acknowledge and celebrate Botswana's linguistic and cultural diversity as national assets. The change is indicative of the fact that the linguistic terrain is gradually shifting, a situation which might herald the emergence of an inclusive language policy that harnesses both macro and micro level language planning.

Using samples from local newspapers, letters and public speeches, this article argues that English assimilates to and reflects the Botswana culture through borrowing and semantic modification. It discusses those terminologies and expressions that depict the cultural values of Batswana in the usage of English in Botswana. Two types of borrowed items are discussed: those depicting old traditional practices that cannot be translated into English (kgosi and mophato) and those reflecting recent socio-political experiences in Botswana including the HIV/AIDS threat (tebelopele and omang). The people's culture is also expressed by items such as brigade and the lands that have been semantically modified.

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