Language policies and language teaching in Africa: the case of French in the African Union

Abstract

Our work analyses the language policy implemented by the African Union, highlighting the impact of language choices within the institutions of this organisation on local African populations. In fact, many years after the independence of most African countries, and despite the fact that over two thousand languages are spoken on the continent, language policy is still very Eurocentric. However, the African Union has made some interesting proposals for the promotion and dissemination of local African languages, although much remains to be done. In addition to these considerations, the study of certain aspects of the history of the use of the French language in Africa during the colonial era allows us to reflect on the fact that linguistic policies had a considerable influence on the choices made by independent African governments in terms of language teaching and its dissemination within continental organisations.