Selected Topics in Languages and Linguistics

Language acquisition, development and learning are unique and mandatory areas in the growth and life of any human being. If cultivated fully and early in the life of a child, future use of language in the classroom, at work and at play will be easy and well grounded. In this book, some pertinent issues and challenges related to and surrounding language acquisition, development and learning in Sub Saharan Africa are addressed. One of the driving forces behind these issues and challenges is the preference of foreign languages to local or vernacular languages. There has always been fear by language policy makers that one day people will wake up and find local languages extinct gauging by the way parents prefer English Medium schools to schools that prefer the local languages as modes of instruction. To try and help the ailing speech communities, the young and old in Sub Saharan Africa have to change their attitudes or else most languages will die natural deaths. In that case, the foreign languages will continue running the show. To curb this, the author attempts to give some suggestions and solutions.