Rethinking language use in digital Africa: Technology and communication in Sub-Saharan Africa (a review)
In 2019/2020 just before the pandemic broke out in Europe I was part of a team exploring the teaching of English in technical institutes in Francophone countries to ease the access to employment of high school and technical college graduates. We went on to produce an English for special purposes course for learners wishing to integrate international companies. The company we created was a Nigerian online communication site (name made up) with branches in Kenya and South Africa. As 'Rethinking Language Use in Digital Africa' shows, Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa are leading nations in establishing online sites not only for the establishment of online communication but also for the opportunity to establish native languages as a means of establishing communication online between different language groups and in the process helping local languages develop and spread across communities. The purpose of the book is to show how online and social media resources have developed the use of African languages throughout the continent. Using a widely spread group of contributors from Africa itself, the US, Canada, the UK and Ireland, its research has lessons for those interested in the survival and growth of minority languages in Europe and beyond, such as the Welsh language in the UK and Luxembourgois in Luxembourg and those interested in the development of plurilingualism, including international organisations.