African sociolinguistics between urbanity and rurality

In African sociolinguistic studies a dichotomy between approaches focusing on urban centres with newly developing linguistic codes and languages used by the elite, as opposed to approaches concentrating on language documentation in rural areas has long been prevalent. That dichotomy has often been the point where English and African studies diverge in that the first have traditionally concentrated on urban locations, while the latter have focused on rural settings. The special issue at hand brings together sociolinguistic studies in urban and rural Africa as two intertwined spaces, e.g. with regard to high mobility in many African areas. Thus, it directly relates to several of the key issues discussed in Sociolinguistic Studies, such as language planning, language policies as well as sociolinguistic theory development.