Current Issues In Language Planning
Polity Editors: Robert B. Kaplan (University of Southern California), Richard B. Baldauf Jr. (University of Queensland) and Nkonko Kamwangamalu (Howard University)Bob and Dick are also editors of the book series Language Policy and Planning
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Volume: 3 Number: 3 Page: 317–345
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Critical Imperatives of the French Language in the Francophone World: Colonial Legacy – Postcolonial Policy
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Kamal Salhi
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French has been maintained in many of its former colonies, especially in Africa. In post-independence Africa, there has developed a sharp rivalry between Arabic and French and ongoing competition between
one of these two languages and national/ ethnic languages for the position of official language. The fact that it has been used in politically independent French-speaking countries as a medium of administration,
education and literature means that the language has become a national heritage for individual countries. However, the role of the French language in the Francophone world must be set in the context of
the preoccupations that Francophones themselves have about the importance of their own languages, in their relationship to France and post-independence governments, not only from a postcolonial point of
view but also from the standpoint of an understanding that national/ethnic languages are also an essential dimension of their development. French has become a language of communication between cultures,
not simply a vehicle for transmitting French culture.
© Multilingual Matters 2002
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