INTRODUCTION

It may seem scholarly unprofessional itemizing and illustrating

the factors that influence language planning without examining

what language is, what planning is and what language planning

itself is. For this reason, we shall examine the concepts of language,

planning and language planning.

Language, according to oxford advanced learners dictionary, is

the system of communication in speech and writing that is used by

people of a particular country or area. Language can also be

regarded as a non-instinctive system of communication which

employs arbitrary and conventional symbols that are in accordance

to the laid down set of rules that are used for human

communication. This is what Kunle Adebayo (2011) has in mind

when he says: “Language is the representation of the world.

Metaphorically, it is the carbon copy of the world made specifically

for communication.

Planning by its own definition is an arrangement especially

one that has been carefully considered for carrying out some future

activity. There is common saying that “to fail to plan is to plan to

fail‟‟. Planning cuts across many spheres of life: business, marriage,

education, etc. without proper planning, human endeavor may not

escape failure.

With language examined and planning defined, the next thing

now is to know what language planning is. Language planning

refers to various ways of influencing a language either to raise its

status or to modify its system and structure. Language planning

could be carried out by Government, Department and Agencies,

Academies committees, popular societies or an individual. The

concept of language planning dates back to 1960s. Since then it

has proven that it is quite possible for social groups or Government

to alter the status or structure of a language and that question of

desirability is a highly controversial one.

It needs be said that language planning can be of various

types and levels and that each level and type has various factors

that has to be considered. For instance and individual planning a

language may consider a factor that may not necessarily be

considered by Government. Factors to be discussed below range

from language planning at individual level to language planning at

Government level.
 THE FACTORS INFLUENCING LANGUAGE PLANNING

One of those factors that influence language planning

linguistic factor. Linguistic factors can be regarded as those that are

needed to be considered on the part of a language in relation to

other languages. It relates to the status and characters of a

language as well as similarities between languages. Such

considerations would inform why a speech community, a country

for instance, would prefer language like English to language like

Chinese. The former has simpler characters as opposed to the

complicated characters of the latter. In Indonesia, for instance,

Malay was preferred to Japanese as a national language because it

is less complicated in terms of characters, though it is a minority

language. The status that a language presently enjoys can also

influence its preference as national language of a country. This is

why many multilingual countries in Africa would choose an

European language. In terms of similarities and dissimilarities

between languages, it is the case that languages with common

origin do share some similarities and vice versa. If a language lacks

adequate lexicon for day-to-day usage, it is imperative that

language planning is done so as to rectify this anomaly. In terms of

its status, this has to do with the level of development as well as

literary tradition. The structure, lexis and grammar of the language

have to be considered too. Differences and similarities between

languages are important in language planning. For example in

Nigeria, the chance of choosing either Yoruba or Igbo as a national

language among the major languages is high, because of visible

similarities between the two languages.

Political factors are considerations that relate the general

policy of a country to its language policy. It is not a gain saying that

the Government is the Chief-actor in the process of language

planning. Government uses language planning to achieve its other

aims such as political stability and economical benefits from other

nation(s). Government also provides funds for implementing any

language policy. In maintaining political stability in Nigeria, the

Government has always avoided choosing any indigenous language

as the official language in order to prevent geo-political conflicts.

Thus, the highest status any indigenous language has enjo yed is

the status of a national language. The three major Nigeria

languages recognized as the national language are: Hausa, Igbo,

and Yoruba. As an illustration, it was for political-economic reasons

that General Sani Abacha imposed French on the Nigerians during

his military regime. He single-handedly recognized French as an

official language just because France supported his oppressive

ruling while the United States and the Commonwealth of nations

opposed it. Also in the time of apartheid in South Africa, the policy

which promoted segregation was supported by the language policy

adopted. Such language planning helped in undermining the

language of the South African. Moreover, it is the responsibility of

the (Nigerian) Government to fund the implementation of language

planning, particularly the policy on the use of mother tongue in

teaching school children in the lower primary level. The failure or

success of meeting this responsibility or otherwise is one major way

in which politics influences language planning. A language could

also be planned for political reasons. The Government, Quasi

Governmental institutions and even individuals can undertake

language planning so as to give the speakers of that language a

spirit of togetherness and enable them to use their numerical

strength to gain political power. The political factor is a very crucial

one in language planning because the existing political structure

determines the direction to be taken in language planning in any

given society. Politics and language planning can‟t be separated.

The strong effect of political factor on language planning can be

elucidated with the case of bilingual education or minority language

education. That is, the State national policy on education is

determining the language of instruction in the school.

Socio-demographic factor relates to the numbers of speakers

of the languages and their geographical distribution. The actors in

language planning usually consider not only the majority language

but also the minority languages. Thus, ethno linguistic

consideration made Tanzania chose a minority language as a

national language. There are about hundred languages and none of

them could compete with the official language. India chose Hindi as

the official language which is language of the northern majority

ethnic group. While that of Tanzania might be said to be partially

successful, India has not succeeded in appeasing the other ethno

linguistic groups which continue to protest the choice of Hidi:

[Akinnaso, 1989]. This factor influence language planning in the

sense that if the majority of people for whom the language is being

planned do not speak the language, it will lead to the failure of the

language planning process. Also, if the language planning does not

reflect the social lives of the speakers, the planning process may not

see the light of the day. The society and its geographical

distributions in which language planning have to be carried out is a

contributing factor that influences language planning. This has to

do with the physical structure of the society in terms of its

population, the number of spoken languages, its speakers and also

their geographical boundaries. For instances in East Africa,

Tanzania, to be precise, has more than 126 ethnic groups and each

groups has its language [constituting about 126 languages]. The

result is that these ethno-linguistic units were numerically small.

This paved way for Swahili language as a social and political

language [national language] of Tanzania.

Socio-psychological factor relates to language attitudes. In

language planning both the attitudes of majority language speakers

and that of the minority language speakers must be taken into

consideration. In South Africa, for instance, the arbitrariness of

apartheid government did not obviously consult the majority for

whom the language policy was designed, so it failed. Language

planning must be followed by acceptance, if not, a crisis of

legitimacy may arise in which authority behind the system and the
policy on which it is based are questioned, challenged and

ultimately rejected. The riots of 1976 in South Africa are a good

example of this assertion. Hence, initial fact finding stage of

language planning should be done with care because language

loyalties can override all other social and political ones. Although,

language attitude and language choice are very difficult to assess,

yet once can observe a given population‟s bilingual behaviour. It is

often the case that language attitudes can be more political rather

than linguistic. Code-switching can show language loyalty and

group solidarity. Socio-psychological factor concerns the attitudes

of people towards a language. These attitudes are related to the

social distribution of languages in the speech community and the

social meanings attached to the various languages. Many languages

in developing African Countries are closely identified with a single

ethnic group. Other ethnic groups may develop negative attitudes

towards such one language if it were to become the national

language. The national hegemony of one ethnic language seems to

imply domination by the original speakers of that language. Socio-

psychological factor is concerned with the feelings of people towards

a language. These feelings are associated with the social

distribution of languages in a speech community and the social

importance and meaning affiliated to the various languages. The

need to consider how an ethnic group will feel or react when

another ethnic group‟s language is been assigned a national role,

most especially in a heterogeneous society, should be considered in

language planning.

It is always safe to consider religion when planning a

language. Since a multilingual society is often not mono-religion.

For instance, since Hausa is very close to the Arabic language

(language of Islam) and subsequently the Islamic religion, choosing

Hausa as an official language in Nigeria may be considered as a way

of imposing Islam on Nigerians. Also, for example, in India, when

Hindi was chosen as the national language; speakers of other

language protested because Hindi is associated with the Hindu

religion. And also, there have been wars in Sudan due to the

imposition of Arabic language on the people. Language is also

planned so as to foster the spread or a religion. It is related to the

use of local languages in spreading religion. An instance is the way

some Catholic and orthodox churches in Nigeria are having

different section of services in different languages of the immediate

environment.

International factors relates to the affiliation of a country to

international bodies. Continental pressures as well as global

pressures can influence the language planning of a country. African

Union (AU), for instance, has always called for rejection of European

or colonial languages. It preaches that indigenous national

languages should be adopted as the official language. On the global

level, the UNESCO declaration on mother tongue education had

influenced Nigeria language planning in particular.

In pedagogical factor, the need for qualitative education also

influences language planning. Since it is being scientifically proven

that it is better to teach a child with his/her mother tongue in his

early years. Language policy in Nigeria, for instance, has always

reflected the need for mother tongue in education. This is not just

to preserve culture but also to aid the cognitive ability of the school

children.

The six year primary project in the University of Ife (now

Obafemi Awolowo University) championed by Prof. A.B. Fafunwa is

the famous of such pedagogical projects that have been considered

in language planning. Another one is the Primary Education

Improvement Project (PEIP) in Amadu Bello University, Zaria for

four northern languages – Hausa, Nupe, Kanuri, and Fulfude. In

planning a language, one should consider how that planning will be

effective for education system.

The financial factor has to do with the consideration of finance

in the process of planning a language. Language planning can be

financially draining, so adequate planning of financial resources is

essential. What we are actually reiterating here is that whatever one

does is affected by the resources one puts into it and that one of

those resources in language planning that has to be present is the

financial resource. The presence of enough financial resources can

make a language planning work as its absence can equally make it

fail. When a government, a group of individuals, or an individual is

making a plan for a language consideration has to be taken of the

financial cost of the plan. For instance, if Nigeria is making a move

to make Igbo, Hausa, or Yoruba a national language, the financial

cost of such a move should be consider just as a husband planning

for the use of Yoruba in his home would consider the cost of the

materials (e.g. Yoruba dictionaries, texts written English, etc.) to be

used in carrying out such a plan. So, financial factor is one of those

crucial factors that have to be considered in planning a language.

Another factor that has to be considered in language planning

is the people. People who own languages of a particular territory

should also be considered in language planning. If the argument

that language is the people who use it is anything to operate by,

then it will never fall out of scope to take an examination on the

people who use the language to be planned for. Here, we look at the

history of the people and try answering some questions such as:

what have been the dealings of these people? Have they once been

colonized, enslaved? ( a reason which may account for certain

linguistic borrowings in their language)? Have they conquered a

group or groups of people and lorded their ways of life on them?

What do this people like? Hunting, Adventure, etc.? What is the

current status of this people? What do these people think of

themselves? What do others think of them? The essence of these

raised questions is to find data on certain information that needs to

be considered while planning a language. To test-run this factor by

empirical justification, an example should be made here of the

Fulani nomadic people in Oyo State. While planning for, as an

example, an official language in the state Fulani language cannot be

considered, at all, as a candidate of such planning because

Yorubas‟ idea of them is nothing sort of the one humans have

towards animals. There is a particular saying among the Yorubas

which follows thus:

“Ise eniyan ni ise eranko, Fulani kose ese n seje”. This can

roughly be translated to mean: „What happens to human beings

also happens to animals, if not, how would a Fulani stumbles and

blood would come out. What we are saying here in essence in that

before carrying out a language planning one, key factor that also

need be taken cognizance of is the people who use the language.

This factor is different from socio-demographic factor in that here

we do not concern ourselves only with the numbers of speakers and

languages in the place where the planning is to be done. We

concern ourselves with the status, the history and the dealings of

the people who use the language(s) to be planned in order to enable

our activity in the planning. Therefore in making plan for a

language, the people who use the language are one of those crucial

factors to reckon with.

 Cultural factor is another factor that can influence language

planning. When a language exists, it does not exist alone, there is a

culture attached to it. Culture refers to the beliefs, the ways of life,

the custom, the art, and the social organization of a group of

people. Learning the culture with which a particular language is

attached is crucial to planning such a language especially in corpus

planning. For instance, Yoruba people have respect as an aspect of

their culture and this is shown in their language. When Yoruba is

being planned either to accommodate new terminologies and

discoveries, to serve as official language or for other purposes, care

needs be taken so as not to temper with the culture that is reflected

through it. People may rise against a language planning that tends

to temper negatively with their mode of expression. As has been

seen above, the respect aspect of the Yoruba culture accounts for

the presence of the respect system found in the language. The

respect system is such that there are words readily available to refer

to some one who is older than one is. Few examples of are as the

list follows:

(i) Ohun – Meaning „he‟ or „she‟

(ii) Iwo – Meaning you (singular)

 (iii) Eyin – Meaning you (Plural but used to refer to someone

older than one)

(iv) Awon – Meaning they (Plural but used to refer to a single

person older than one.

When talking to one‟s age mate, one makes use of items (i) and (ii)

but when referring to someone older than one, one makes use of

item number (iii) and (iv) to show respect to the person. Yoruba

people so much value this respect that it may cause fight and

animosity if not properly handled or employed. So, while planning

for Yoruba, this respect system of the language must not be

tempered with so as not to cause confusion and chaos. At a macro

language planning level, when making move to set a national

language, especially where there are numerous people of different

linguistic backgrounds, one needs to study the culture of these

different peoples to see their areas of divergence and convergence so

as to know which ethnic groups are likely to fight or not likely to

fight at the end of the day when the planning had been

implemented. To put all these, in a single sentence, one factor

whose consideration must also be taken in language planning is the

culture attached to a language as it may contribute towards the

success or failure of the planning.

Time they say dictates the pace of everything we do. If

language has to be planned at all, then time factor must be taken

into cognizance. Time of language planning is worth considering

because of the goal we want to achieve at the end. Language

planners need to see that there is an absence of political imbroglio

or instability in the society where they are planning the language.

An attempt to overlook this may either jeopardize or prolong the

achievement of set goal in the blue print. Time of ethnic clashes will

not be convenient for language planning especially if the language

belongs to one of the ethnic groups. However, before plannin g

language, time-frame within which the language planning will take

effect should be carefully considered. This should not be ignored;

otherwise the goal of the plan might not come to fruition. Hence,

there will be a waste of energy and resources spent in the process of

the planning.

Certain factors have been identified by researches as

influencing language planning, one of which is the economic factor.

 Usually, for any society that is at the verge of language

planning, this factor should highly be regarded else the whole

process flops. In this regard, issues that have to do with the

economic implications of the planning process will be raised while

the economic benefits of the language that is likely to be favoured in

the planning would also be considered. Take for instance, if Togo as

a French-speaking nation is undergoing language planning and

close attention is not paid to the second language (i.e.) which

should be English owing to their economic transactions with

English speaking nations like Nigeria, their economy will suffer for

it.

However, there is a belief that a well planned language will in a way

have positive effect on the economy so also if not well planned the

economy will bear the loss. In the same trend, it will be very unwise

of a country whose economic relationship with a country like

France to promote policies that will contribute greatly in fostering

the relationship else the economy short-falls. In another regard, if

the language planning process will gulp a large amount of money

from the nation‟s coffer than it has, such process should be

redefined or reconsidered so as not to bail down negatively on the

economy. It will be highly uncalled-for for a country that can boast

of only $10,000,000 in her reserve to carve out 60% of such in

language planning, the economy will suffer for it. In a nutshell, the

economic factor can however be considered as an influence in

language planning. As a matter of fact, the whole process of

language planning revolves round the economy of the society that is

involved. Language are planned to perform viable functions in

promoting the economy of the society or nation.

 CONCLUSION

With everything discussed so far above, it is discovered that

language planning is a careful exercise. Language planners need to

pay serious attention to some factors influencing language

planning. Meanwhile, this work has been to justify some of these;

ranging from linguistic factor to economic factor. It is therefore a

crucial thing to be meticulous in analyzing those factors that

determine whether the goal of language planning will be achieved or

not.

In a nutshell, if factors that influence and motivate language

planning are well considered and addressed such that language is

planned with full regard to those factors, the society will be of high

benefit. Take Japan as an example today Japan as a monolingual

state is enjoying high rate of socio-political development based on

their well planned language. Scholars believe Japan is a living proof

of what a brilliant language planning can result to.

 REFERENCES

Oxford Advanced Learner‟s Dictionary 7 th edition

The material given for the assignment by the lecturer in charged:

Factor Influencing Language Planning:.

Kunle Adebayo (2011) “Defining Language”,

www.facebook.com/adebayoknl , notes, Defining Language.

Janet Holmes[ 2008], An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. UK:

passing education limited

Oyetade S. O. [2003], "Language Planning and Identity Multi–ethnic

state." The Majority/Minority Dichotomy. Nudic Journal of African

Studies.