- 347 pages
- English
- PDF
- Available on iOS & Android
About this book
The book proposes a paradigm shift in language planning and language policy in Africa. For the past fifty years, the dominant model has been the hegemonic model whereby a language of wider communication (LWC) is imposed on minority languages. It is now time for a paradigm shift in favor of a more egalitarian model in which all the languages spoken in the same country, irrespective of their size, are planned. The paradigm shift concerns four critical areas: status planning, cost-benefit planning, acquisition planning, and corpus planning.
Such a shift is justified for the following reasons: First, the hegemonic model has a dismal track record of success in Africa and elsewhere. Second, the hegemonic model exacerbates linguistic conflicts in many countries. Consequently, policy makers shun it for fear of jeopardizing the fragile social fabric in their respective countries. Last, a shift away from the hegemonic model is recommended because it is too costly to implement. The "democratic model" is undergirded by the Strategic Game Theory proposed by David Laitin. It forecasts a 3±1 language outcome for most African countries. This outcome supports the "three language formula" now called for by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
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Table of contents
- Acknowledgments
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- 1 Ten deadly impediments to language planning in Africa Introduction
- 2 The strategic Game theory and 3±1 language outcome
- 3 A Game-theoretic assessment of language of education policies in French and Portuguese colonies
- Introduction
- 4 A Game-theoretic assessment of language of education policies in Belgian, British, and German colonies
- Introduction
- 5 Case study: Rethinking mother-tongue education in Cote d'Ivoire
- 6 Game-theoretic assessment of language of education policies in African megacities
- 7 Framework and rationale for literacy planning in rural Africa
- 8 Planning multiple languages on a shoestring budget for profit Introduction
- 9 Individual efforts in language planning
- References
- Index