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This paper considers the sociolinguistic repercussions of the language policies (in the Southern Sudan) of the various governments, colonial and postcolonial, that have mied the Sudan since the 1820s. The paper argues that since the 1820s to the present, the Southern Sudanese have never had a chance to determine their destiny, including the use of their languages.
The rapidity with which governments change, and the conflicting language policies that they come up with, have given rise to a lot of confusion in education, leading to cultural decay and general retardation in all spheres of development in the south. Further changes in language policy after independence resulted in armed resistance, leading to a civil war.
Postcolonial policy makers in the Sudan sought to redirect language policy in favor of Arabic, to the total exclusion of othert non-Arabic, languages in the country, which number over 100. Bearing in mind that the Sudan has two distinct identities, African and Arab, and the historical relation between the twot the imposition of the Arabic language on the other half of the population naturally gave rise to suspicion and finally active resistance.
The paper concludes by suggesting a multilingual approach äs a solution to the problem if the country is to be savedfrom endless conflict.
