The dynamics of multilingualism: The case of Senegal

• Autores: Gerda Mansour
• Localización: Journal of multilingual and multicultural development, ISSN 0143-4632, Vol. 1, Nº. 4, 1980, págs. 273-293
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • This study is essentially an attempt at linking micro and macro approaches in the study of societal multilingualism, while at the same time introducing a diachronic perspective.

    The sociolinguistic profile of Senegal is being used as a point of departure, establishing linguistic relationship, demographic distribution of ethnolinguistic groups and the functional range of the local languages, and summarizing the state of language‐planning. Then follows a brief outline of sociohistorical factors which contributed to language use in the past and affected the development of certain languages as lingua franca. For the purpose of examining the micro and macro patterns of language use a redefinition of domain categories is proposed, and language choice is looked at from the perspective of the individual, whose choice is, in turn, determined by dominance patterns established over a long period of time.

    Finally the social implications of the language policy, such as the choice of the official language and the proposed goal of bilingualism and biculturism, are discussed. In the conclusion those points which seem to be of general methodological validity for the study of multilingualism are once more brought into focus.