This book discusses the existing sociolinguistic order in Africa, how it is sustained, how it might be changed to the advantage of those who are dominated by it and, most importantly, how it affects the development potential of the Continent. It raises issues about African languages that the average person is not always aware of. For example, why must the African child learn how to read and write in a foreign language? Why must all African doctors be trained in languages that their patient population do not understand? Why must African leaders address their people in languages they know the people do not understand? What are the flow-on effects of these language practices on Africa's development goals? The book also proposes sustainable and development-oriented alternatives to these practices.

This book discusses the existing sociolinguistic order in Africa, how it is sustained, how it might be changed to the advantage of those who are dominated by it and, most importantly, how it affects the development potential of the Continent. It raises issues about African languages that the average person is not always aware of. For example, why must the African child learn how to read and write in a foreign language? Why must all African doctors be trained in languages that their patient population do not understand? Why must African leaders address their people in languages they know the people do not understand? What are the flow-on effects of these language practices on Africa's development goals? The book also proposes sustainable and development-oriented alternatives to these practices.

Language is a sensitive issue in the developing world, because language choice and behaviour are integral to the social, economic and political stability of multicultural societies. To what extent does this argument hold? Does language make a difference when it comes to development, and is there a perceptible difference in development between countries that is attributable to their choice of language? This book sets out to answer these questions by investigating how language has been and is being used in four countries of the Greater Mekong Sub-region (i.e. Cambodia, the Lao PDR, Myanmar and Viet Nam), especially in the critical areas of education, health, the economy and governance.