Promoting Language Identity in Africa
Language plays an important role in creating coercion which has led to national development in Nigeria and Africa in general. Languages are a vehicle that can be used to promote and preserve cultural identities in a multicultural setting. Languages can also be used to preserve the mother tongue which leads to self-identification in a particular setting. English language has been at the forefront in bringing together intellectuals from different cultural background. These nationalistic tribes in the Nigerian context come together to share ideas and discuss national issues which are geared towards national development; the only language that is spoken when people come together to discuss national issues or at the federal level is the English language which is the official language used in the nation and internationally. This is paper therefore recommends among others that the national linguistic policy that promotes the use of mother tongue at some level of education as well as the promotion of English language should be put in place in order to promote language identities inAfrica as a whole.
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