This shows that multilingusim does not pose for Africans the problems of communication that Europeans imagine and that the mismatch between policy statements and their pragmatic outcomes is a far more serious problem for future development

This volume explores the central role of language across all aspects of public and private life in Africa.

This text examines the social and political impact of the Swahili language.

This book is an analysis of modernisation informed by the place of language in education, health, the economy and governance in the African context. It paints a wide canvas of Africa in its different facets, and shows how language is used as an instrument to deny access to socioeconomic and political emancipation.

This shows that multilingusim does not pose for Africans the problems of communication that Europeans imagine and that the mismatch between policy statements and their pragmatic outcomes is a far more serious problem for future development

This book is a must-read for every language teaching professional and researcher working in a multilingual context. Multilingualism and Education in Africa: The State of the State of the Art is an up-to-date exploration and wide-ranging review of the symbiotic relationship between multilingualism and education in Africa. The African continent is rich in languages. Most of her inhabitants are multilingual and many of the nations have embraced multilingual education. This book examines multilingualism in education from three broad perspectives: multilingualism and language in education policy in Africa; multilingualism as an educational resource in Africa; and attitudes and challenges of multilingualism and education in Africa. The book’s nineteen chapters discuss these three perspectives from East, West, Central and South Africa. All the contributors are leading authorities in multilingualism and education. The chapters combine a wide range of viewpoints based on theoretical, empirical and personal experiences. The reader is left with a deeper understanding of the unique features of multilingualism and education in Africa that have seldom been addressed by those who experience them first-hand. The book demonstrates successful practices in multilingualism and education; showing how African nations have determined what works for them without ignoring challenges such as policies on paper, attitudes towards African languages and limited resources. The benefits of multilingual education override the challenges. The book’s extensive coverage makes it an important resource for scholars and policy makers in the field of multilingualism and education. Overall, this book represents an important contribution to an important subject in education globally. The editors have provided an introductory overview to the book and commentaries on the three sections.

How do governments in Africa make decisions about language? What does language have to do with state-building, and what impact might it have on democracy? This manuscript provides a longue durée explanation for policies toward language in Africa, taking the reader through colonial, independence, and contemporary periods. It explains the growing trend toward the use of multiple languages in education as a result of new opportunities and incentives. The opportunities incorporate ideational relationships with former colonizers as well as the work of language NGOs on the ground. The incentives relate to the current requirements of democratic institutions, and the strategies leaders devise to win elections within these constraints. By contrasting the environment faced by African leaders with that faced by European state-builders, it explains the weakness of education and limited spread of standard languages on the continent. The work combines constructivist understanding about changing preferences with realist insights about the strategies leaders employ to maintain power.