• Thadeus Marungudzi

  Author

This paper aims to review research done to date on the presence of the English language in
Zimbabwe. Recent submissions by Kadenge and Nkomo (2011) indicate that the presence of
English in Zimbabwe is a reality that Zimbabweans can only do well to put up with since it plays
vital communication functions in the country. These authors recommend that it is a prudent
compromise to nurture the Zimbabwean variety of English which captures the idiom, expression
and spirit of the Zimbabwean. This paper thus aims to review current research on Zimbabwean
English, preparatory to an analysis of the specific linguistic features of the variety. The paper
reveals that there is scanty research on the phenomenon of Zimbabwean English and thus builds
a case for further research in the variety, particularly research that adopts the corpus-based
approach. It also emerges from this review that though there are some studies that have begun to
make forays into the linguistic characteristics of Zimbabwean English, early research on the
variety has had little to do with the linguistic aspects of the variety. The paper argues that
exploring the linguistic characteristics of Zimbabwean English is an effective way of resolving
controversies over the ontological status of one of the lesser-known varieties of English.

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