Referential Multimodality, Multilingualism and Gender How German Namibians use Afrikaans and English Brocatives in their CMC

This chapter investigates the role of gender in a multimodal and multilingual (multimulti) environment through the example of the German-Namibian diaspora in Germany. It investigates the proportion of Afrikaans and English items among male and female users in mixed-mode and single-mode groups. Mixed-mode groups exist in both computer-mediated communication (CMC) and face-to-face (FTF) communication whereas single-mode groups only exist in CMC. Results show that Afrikaans and English contribute asynchronously to German-Namibian CMC and that communication in mixed-mode groups prompts the use of multilingual brocatives. They often accompany referential claims between FTF and CMC modes. These claims serve to develop an extended definition of the concept of referential multimodality.