In postcolonial settings, local varieties of the language of the former colonizers often develop, exhibiting unique structures and social norms of use. While research into the structure and socio-historic backdrop of post-colonial Englishes is burgeoning, scholars have focused primarily on non-Western contexts where colonial forces gained power against the wishes of indigenous residents. This project examines the structure of the English spoken in a distinctive postcolonial, bilingual locale, the island-nation of Malta, as well as local ideologies surrounding English use. Malta, a member of the European Union, stands apart from other postcolonial contexts in its amicable relations with former British colonizers, its reliance on tourism and imports, and residents' expectations of out-migration as well as their Western cultural allegiances. This project will investigate whether, given these distinctions, Maltese English exhibits patterns similar to other postcolonial English varieties, which have been found to distance themselves linguistically from former colonizers through the development of local norms of correctness and appropriateness of use. Under the direction of Dr. Robert Bayley, Lisa Bonnici will investigate linguistic variation in Maltese English, a postcolonial "new" variety of English spoken as a first language in Malta, through an analysis of informal sociolinguistic interviews with men and women from four generations. The research combines the quantitative study of linguistic forms with a detailed study of speakers' ideas about language. Malta offers an understudied distinctive case of stable societal bilingualism with English in both a postcolonial and a Western context, providing an opportunity to further understandings of language use in postcolonial settings. Furthermore, through informal discussions with participants, this project will raise local awareness about the legitimacy of this English variety, which has yet to gain much attention locally and which some regard as simply "bad English." Finally, this project contributes toward the study of bilinguals and bilingualism.
