Language as an Instrument for African Development

Abstract

African Linguistics and the Development of African Communities. by Emmanuel Chia, ed CODESRIA, 2006, xv+253 pp., ISBN: 2-86978-160-1 (pbk)

The volume is a collection of papers presented at the 23rd Congress of the West African Linguistics Society (WALS) held at the University of Buea, Cameroon, on August 7-9, 2002. The theme of the conference was “African Linguistics as a Tool for Development of African Communities” and the chapters in this book were intended to reflect the spirit of the conference theme. The title of the book is also a derivation from the theme and is certainly in line with current thinking among African scholars: to make linguistics research relevant to the development efforts made by communities and to define areas where linguists can contribute meaningfully in the areas of policy formulation and implementation and in advocacy.