| This study investigated language attitudes in Abidjan, and their implications for language planning in the Ivory Coast.;The aim of this study was: (1) to determine the status of different languages as indicators of language identity, the importance of the values associated with different languages as obstacles or catalysts for cross-linguistic communication; (2) to draw the implications of the foregoing for language planning in the Ivory Coast.;The data of this study were obtained through a twofold questionnaire-interview in situ with one hundred and twenty informants from four language backgrounds; Bawle, Dyula, Guere and Wobe. The first part of the questionnaire elicited self-reported language attitudes; the second part focused on evaluative judgments of accented speech in Popular French.;The findings revealed that: (1) The informants, beyond their language, identified with a larger linguistic community; their multilingual abilities indicated developed cross-linguistic communication patterns: (2) the informants were generally either opposed to or doubtful about the choice of a local language, even their own, as a national language or as language or as a language of instruction.;The national language problem is difficult to solve for it is believed that: (1) There are too many languages with too few speakers who can neither understand or tolerate each other; (2) it is better to keep French, the language of the former colonial power, for it is superior to all the local languages. Hence, the adoption of French as the National language at independence in 1960. But, on August 16, 1977, the national assembly voted a reform calling for the introduction of the local languages in the classroom. This reform was setting the stage for a new language policy.;The present study recommends: (1) The analysis and integration of the actual language behavior of the people into the language planning process; (2) a naturalist approach to language classification, to give a more accurate view of language relationships in the country. Finally, two prolegomena to this end were explored. |
