Journal of African Studies and Sustainable Development

Language is considered a vital tool for identification, existence, survival and functioning of man in a given society. In other words, it is meant to be eco-friendly. However, language becomes an instrument of exclusion when an individual finds himself in an environment where the language used is alien to him. This paper, thus, links language to migration drawing signpost of tongue failure and of exclusion as problematics of language for migrants. Interactivism and functionality defines an individual’s effectiveness, however where there is loss of tongue, it dwindles the individual’s dialogicity, functionality and productivity thus leading to total exclusion from the society. The paper highlights various instances where language excludes migrants’ access to employment opportunities, social justice and health facilities. It is of the view that in trans –national migration, because of linguistic distance, migrants are excluded from basic rights of living and participation in the society. Although the language policy of most host countries have provided free tuition for language learning to solve this problem of exclusion for migrants, this seems to be a long term goal. To this end, the paper recommends that the services of translators and interpreters are needed for immediate response to the problem of language exclusion.

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