Contextual Constraints Affecting the Learning of Languages in Host Speech Communities

Abstract

This contribution draws on the experiences of four respondents to delve into conditions in destination speech communities that militate against learning African languages. The chapter argues that any speech community is a potential environment for immigrants to learn a language based on compelling and constraining factors. Learning a language could be likened to ‘investing’ one’s resources into the process with the ultimate dividend of proficiency. Not learning a language in an environmentally rich speech community underscores a choice not to make effective use of the available resources and abandon them to waste. Contextual constraints promote immigrants’ dismissive attitudes towards destination languages. The data for the study was gathered through a questionnaire and in-depth interviews. The following were the main contextual constraints: predominance of English and immigrants’ affinity for its use, unfounded perceptions towards host community members, anxiety regarding residential status in the destination country and failure to capitalise on existing affordances.