Language of Science and Language for Science: The Way to Sustainable Development in Africa

Abstract

Africa is almost fully known for the great number of its local languages, number diversely appreciated by natives and non-natives, mainly researchers in linguistics. Some take the great number of local languages in individual countries as a handicap to national language use whereas others consider it as a cultural prosperity. Today, the question is about the real linguistic needs for Africa to start science transmission in them for competitive and sustainable development. The researcher believes that African development cannot be effective and sustainable without scientific acquisitions and applications of its own. The present paper aims to discuss the needs through which African languages could be used to conduct instructions and scientific researches. The results of the study show that some effort started with functional literacy classes in rural areas with limited contents and that today, with formal learners from universities in local language literacy classes, the main condition along with linguistic policies is lexical needs to express new cultural realities and conduct scientific writing in local languages as they try them in western languages.