English is today considered the global lingua franca. It dominates in spheres of international business, technology, science and academia. In political circles, where global economic competitiveness continues to demand the scrutiny of countries' internal educational policy, English has become a formidable 'gatekeeper' (Pennycook, 2008), with the fortunes of individuals and countries at stake. Supporters of English as an International Language (EIL) claim that the language is 'neutral', pointing out its universal international utility. Opposing viewpoints maintain that the continued proliferation of the language is endangering the other languages spoken in the world, increases economic division, and in fact continues to serve mainly western interests through education systems that have seen little change in their language policies since colonial times (Phillipson, 2001). Using a brief sociolinguistic history of the Afrikaans language as a point of departure, this paper highlights and...