A History of Language Planning in the Gold Coast, 1874-1957

Abstract

This thesis examines the history of language planning in the Gold Coast with emphasis on the deliberate efforts that were made to influence the learning, orthographies and usage of languages in during British colonial rule. Several scholars have dilated on language planning during the colonial era focusing mainly on language in education policies of governments and the official language question. Extant literature has concentrated on the efforts of the British colonial administration to promote the English language and the usage of indigenous languages in education in the Gold Coast to a certain extent. The efforts made by other language planners such as Christian missions, traditional authorities, educated elites and international cultural organizations to improve the learning, orthographies and usage of the at least sixty-eight indigenous languages have not been given equal attention. This work therefore aims to contribute to filling this lacuna. The study is qualitative and it relies on sources such as archival documents, newspaper articles, interviews, personal files, books, journal articles and unpublished dissertations. It also employs the linguistic colonialism framework. This thesis reveals that between 1874 and 1957, not only British colonial officials but also Christian missions, traditional authorities, educated elites and international cultural organizations played significant roles in language planning in the Gold Coast in the form of policies, research, advocacy and publishing. This phenomenon was not new but started with Europeans and educated elites during the pre-colonial era. This study argues that the essential efforts made by language planners in the Gold Coast during the colonial era to promote indigenous languages left much to be desired, with respect to the few number of languages they focused on and, the dominance and indispensability of the English language in the country.