An Overview uf Sudan Language Pulley and Planning

Abstract

This paper gives an overview of Sudan language policy and planning. Efforts made to address the problem of language in Sudan will be the main focus of the paper. We discuss the problem of language in two different periods: colonial period and the post-colonial one. Language of education, arabicisation of education and the status of indigenous Sudanese languages are among the issues specifically addressed by this paper. A number of efforts made by Sudans successive governm~ cuts to organise the use of language/languages in different domains will also be reviewed. The paper emphasises on the prolonged debate on Arabicisation between scholars and decision makers in the North and the South. The paper concludes that 'mdigenous languages in Sudan (North and South) will remain marginalised and that Arabic will maintain its dominance in the North while English will gradually assume the role of a hegemonic language in the South