English in Language Policies and Ideologies in Africa

Abstract This chapter examines the relationship between African languages and the economy by addressing vernacularization against the language ideologies from the perspective of theoretical approaches to the spread of English on the one hand, and recent developments in the economics of language on the other. First, it summarizes postcolonial language-in-education policies in Africa, and the role of English and other former colonial languages in those policies. Next, the chapter discusses theoretical approaches to the spread of English in Africa to provide the background against which the ideologies that inform the spread of English can be understood better. It argues that, for vernacularization to succeed in Africa, especially in the era of globalization, African languages must be assigned an economic value at least in the local linguistic market place.