• Mika Nyoni

  Author

The following article is a reaction to a number of emotional ones which appear in various literatures bemoaning the continued marginalization of African languages even in independent countries. This paper argues that globally dominant languages especially English, French, Spanish and Arabic have ceased to be preserves of their original countries-they have become part of African culture and should be embraced. It would be foolhardy to throw away the said languages because of the way in which they found their way to Africa. Implementing language policies is an expensive undertaking that many African countries cannot afford. Expenses aside, there is also the question of feasibility and logistics. For instance out of the 220 African languages in the D.R.C. which one/s should be the official one/s? It is not a question of replacing a former colonizer’s language with an African one because very few African countries are monolingual. Such decisions have far-reaching sociopolitico- economic implications and are very likely to be vehemently and violently resisted. A global village requires a global language, or a few languages, for wider communication. Reality dictates that not all languages can be used thus. Therefore some languages will be, in the eyes of society (and not intrinsically), more equal than others. It should be stressed again that this is a societal construct and may it be emphasized that this paper is not advocating the death of local languages. On the contrary these will continue to be indispensable for intranational and limited international communication. The educational satchel has limited space and cannot therefore carry everything our hearts desire. This may sound cruel, callous and unAfrican to some (who might even call for my tongue!) but it is reality not Utopian idealism.

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