The plight of African languages in the Globalised Post-independence Era

Abstract

A language is far from a mere empty medium of communication. It is, rather, an all encompassing resource as it is a repository of a people’s values, customs, culture and history. Our language is, therefore, the embodiment of who we are, since it is key to our understanding of the environment in which we live as well as the possible means through which we have traditionally endeavoured to tame the hostile factors characterising it. This makes the extinction of a language tantamount to the destruction of the entire community that has traditionally spoken it. In the light of this position of language in people’s lives and inspired by the Critical Language Policy (CLP) theory as well as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis’ idea of linguistic relativity, the chapter explores the plight of Africa’s multilingual heritage in this globalised post-independence era. It argues that the obsession for the colonial legacy and the desire to fit in the global village are the two main threats to the survival of African languages. The chapter adds that the languages’ existence is currently more threatened than before due to increased efforts by the speakers to avoid acquisition by their offspring at a time societies are immensely threatened by frequenting pandemics of unprecedented magnitudes. It recommends that countries have to speak with collective voices in calling for suppression of the linguistic effects of colonial and global policies on the continent if the imminent sociocultural genocide is to be effectively evaded.