Prioritizing African Languages: Challenges to macro-level planning for resourcing and capacity building

Abstract

This paper addresses key considerations and challenges involved in the process of prioritizing languages in an area of high linguistic diversity like Africa alongside other world regions. The paper identifies general considerations that must be taken into account in this process and reviews the placement of African languages on priority lists over the years and across different agencies and organizations. An outline of factors is presented that is used when organizing resources and planning research on African languages that categorizes major or critical languages within a framework that allows for broad coverage of the full linguistic diversity of the continent.

Keywords

• language prioritization
• African languages
• capacity building
• language diversity
• language documentation