This volume explores the central role of language across all aspects of public and private life in Africa.

H. Ekkehard Wolff has taught at universities in Germany, Finland, Nigeria, Niger, Ethiopia and South Africa. His research encompasses both major African languages and endangered languages, and he was awarded the traditional title Midala Lamang by the Emir of Gwoza in 1992. He has written extensively on language policies and their implementation in Africa, in particular with regard to the politics of language in education.

1. Introduction: approach, questions and themes; 2. Background: Africa and the 'West' - a difficult relationship; 3. Perception: between ignorance, half knowledge and distortion; 4. De-marginalisation: the cradle of mankind and home of human language; 5. Re-conceptualisation: the overdue linguistic turn in development discourse; 6. Challenges: linguistic plurality and diversity - problem or resource?; 7. Future: synopsis and options for language planning; 8. Agenda: arguments and steps; 9. Basic sociolinguistic facts: 'languages', 'dialects', numbers of speakers.