Is Zimbabwean English a Type of New English?

Abstract

The concepts of interlanguage and "new Englishes" have generated a considerable amount of interest in applied linguistics and language teaching. This paper divided into parts the first part argues that the variety of English used in Zimbabwe by African users of English is a type of interlanguage, and not a type of "new Englishes" for two main reasons. The second section of the paper attributes interest in "new Englishes, " in part, to sentiments generated by the subtle influence of British colonial language policy. It argues there are powerful sociolinguistic and practical factors in Zimbabwe which militate against the standardisation of an interlanguage in the presence of a more prestigious, full-fledged native speaker variety.