ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Commun.
Sec. Culture and Communication
Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcomm.2025.1483997
Exploring "linguistic complementarity" for intercultural communication in postcolonial African states
Provisionally accepted
- Department of Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology, University of South Africa, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa
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This paper explores the concept of linguistic complementarity as a philosophical framework for intercultural communication in postcolonial African contexts. As a conceptual research paper, the studyIt explores the idea of linguistic complementarity to highlights the significance of cultural diversity in fostering effective communication and mutual understanding. The paper argues that linguistic complementarity provides a panacea to the 'language question' in postcolonial African society and, by extension, African philosophy. The paper also explores the advantages and difficulties associated with the application of linguistic complementarity in postcolonial Africa, as well as its implementation in education, government, and the media. The conclusion emphasises the importance of promoting intercultural dialogue and understanding through linguistic complementarity and recommends further research and implementation of linguistic complementarity in intercultural communication.
Keywords: Intercultural communication, Linguistics, African philosophy, language development, social cohesion, postcolonial
Received: 21 Aug 2024; Accepted: 18 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Oyekunle. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Akinpelu Ayokunnu Oyekunle, Department of Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology, University of South Africa, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa
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