Work

Languages Are Not the Problem: Re-thinking Language Planning in Post-colonial Ghana Through African and Africana Philosophical Frameworks

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: This article extends discussions on decolonizing language policy and planning in African contexts to include African and Africana philosophical concepts. Drawing on Kwasi Wiredu’s project of conceptual decolonization and Molefi Asante’s concept of Afrocentricity, the article argues that the challenges facing Ghana and other African contexts in terms of educational language planning are primarily ideological which means “language-focused” concepts (e.g. mother–tongue bilingual education) alone might not be able to describe the complexities of the situation, instead theories that emphasize emancipation of the African mind might help us better understand the genesis of this problem and how it could be re-envisioned.

Source: Journal of Asian and African Studies

DOI: 10.1177/00219096251365487

Author: Edwin Appah Dartey

Institution: Pennsylvania State University

Language: English

Topic: African cultural and philosophical studies

Subfield: Education

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Quality education

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,650