Chapter 11 From Africa to Africa: Globalization, Migration and Language Vitality Cécile B. Vigouroux 11.1 Introduction Migration has long caught linguists’ attention as an ideal domain for investigat- ing language dynamics that can shed light on especially language spread and language change. In line with the title of the present book, I wish in this chapter to address dynamics of language vitality in Africa by focusing on language practice within a diasporic population of Black African Francophones who immigrated recently to Cape Town, South Africa. Because the migration is very recent, about ifteen years, it would be premature to draw any reliable gen- eral conclusions about language maintenance and shift. However, the study sheds light on social factors that drive these phenomena. The position in this chapter is in line with Mufwene (2001), who argues that language change within a population relects the cumulation of individuals’ choices during speciic communicative acts. Those choices are to be seen both as speakers’ adaptive responses to the communicative events in which they engage and as shaped by the relevant macro-scale social dynamics. The intersection of micro- and macro-scales is particularly signiicant in the context of migration, which is both a private affair and an institutional one. It can be argued that the status of migrant starts long before the relevant indi- vidual sets foot in the host land, as he/she plans the journey, saves money, applies for a visa, says goodbye to loved ones and so on. It is only ratiied institu- tionally when he/she settles in the host country. Being a migrant is also constantly actualized at the micro-scale of interactions, as he/she is indexed as a foreigner because of his/her accent, is misunderstood or is denied a job or housing. 1 Migrating is thus more than crossing transnational boundaries; it entails entering new discursive spaces and socially stratiied organizations. I submit that all this affects speakers’ management of their language repertoires, as they may have to reshufle their language resources, learn one or more of the host languages, and change language functions in the new ecology. SMufwene_11_Rev.indd 229 SMufwene_11_Rev.indd 229 8/29/2008 3:52:07 PM 8/29/2008 3:52:07 PM