Language and diplomacy: Harnessing English and French for inter-border communication in Africa

Abstract

Human language is heterogeneous as languages are culturally transmitted and human beings are scattered apart in different speech communities and life endeavours. A speech community in which one grows up from childhood determines the language one speaks and the occupation one finds oneself determines the diatypic variety of the language one frequently uses. Language varies from area to area, person to person and situation to situation as speakers are not in a single geographical location, social class and career. There is no monolingual nation as half of the population of the world is bilingual. Bilingualism is a sociolinguistic phenomenon. There are 1500 to 2000 estimated languages in Africa and this wealth of languages is a tribute to the rich cultural diversity of this continent. Africa was colonized by different colonial masters: France, Britain, Spain, Germany, Portugal, Belgium, Italy etc. This leads to the many foreign languages in Africa, each country using the language of the former colonial masters as its L2 or official language while other countries use the language of the colonial masters of others as their foreign language. English is a legacy of the British colonialism in Nigeria, while French is a vestige of French colonialism in Cameroun, Niger Republic, Gabon, Togo, Cote d'Ivoire, Benin Republic etc. The British and French colonial administrations in Africa implanted English and French in the continent. Nigeria is bordered by Francophone countries and the two foreign languages' contact results in word borrowing, interference etc. Language is the store-house of possibilities. The English/French contact between Nigeria and her neighbours lead to inter-border communication, diplomatic relation, peace and development. Language is the essence of diplomacy. Diplomats engage in negotiations, presentation and persuasion using language. A mutually intelligible language is a sine qua non for effective conduct of diplomatic work as a common language binds its speakers together. Many speakers of English in Africa are lukewarm about learning French and vice versa. This constitutes a problem to inter-border communication and diplomacy. Harnessing English and French for inter-border communication and diplomacy in Africa is the main thrust of this paper.