Paper short abstract:

The situation of African Languages today, facing the multipolar world cannot be reduced to a single destiny. With concrete cases taken from the Bantu area (Central, Eastern and Southern Africa) we will show how type of language, language policy and local consciousness are deciding factors

Paper long abstract:

Despite the rich diversity of languages in the continent, African languages remain underrepresented in the international sphere. The worst thing is that even though their dynamism does not belong to the past in Africa itself, their local domination is not always observed.

The situation of African Languages today, facing the multipolar world is not homogeneous and cannot be reduced to a single destiny. With concrete cases taken from the Bantu area, a linguistic area covering Central, Eastern and Southern Africa, ) we illustrate several different situations and perspectives: a local language with a national destiny nicely facing a strong promotion of English. An African language killing the smaller ones, crossing borders but unable to get international status. Or even an African Creole reaching the status of National Language, promoted to be one of the languages of instruction but meeting resistance.

All the case studies help understanding that type of language, language policy and local consciousness are deciding factors.