Language planning in West Africa

Abstract

This paper draws attention to thefact that language planning in West Africa is largely concerned with policy making and that such planning takes place against the background of several factors, including multilingualism, the colonial legacy, education as a primary agent of change, high incidence of illiteracy, and concerns for communication, national Integration, and development. It is noted that language planning in the subregion is characterized by nonconformity with rational processes of decision making, lack of continuity, bureaucratic monopoly of planning, and eilte domination of policy making. With Illustration from three countries in the subregion, thepoint is made that the usual top-to-bottom planning needs to be complemented with a bottom-to-top alternative in which lower levels (and community attitudes at such levels) can make an input into language planning. Similarly, policy making without Implementation is shown to be a futile exercise, while a proliferation of Implementation agencies without coordination is described as activity without action.

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