Series | SAIL
Edited book | Policies and Practices for Linguistic Education, Multilingualism and Intercultural Communication
Chapter | Le politiche linguistiche nell’Unione africana

Le politiche linguistiche nell’Unione africana

Abstract

This paper illustrates the language policy implemented by the African Union (AU). It highlights the impact of language choices within AU institutions on local populations. Sixty years after the independence of most African countries and despite the fact that over two thousand languages are spoken in this continent, language policy is still highly Eurocentric. Moreover, the exclusive use of these few ex colonial languages, not known by the vast majority of the population, has social and linguistic repercussions on Africans who are unable to participate in the political life of their respective countries. AU has made some interesting proposals for the promotion and diffusion of local African languages, but much remains to be done.


Open access

Submitted: Oct. 16, 2020 | Published May 24, 2021 | Language: it

Keywords Colonial languagesMultilingualismAfrican UnionLanguage policyAfrican languages


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