For most former French colonies in Africa, the transition from colonial policies to independence remains incomplete as colonial languages continue to serve as privileged official languages of greater usefulness in economic and social development. In Francophone west Africa, the role of French as official language in education, mass communication, and in administration means that majority of the population is exempted from actively participating and benefitting from the educational and economic development of their societies. This is because about 90% of the population are not literate in the official language. Consequently, the post-colonial advocacy of "French-only" medium of instruction that had been established through France's policy of cultural assimilation has received criticisms for several decades. Academic inefficiencies, high school drop-out rate, and illiteracy have been attributed to the use of French as the language of learning and teaching of school children who mostly use variety of African languages in their linguistic communities. Hence, linguists and educators have argued for language policies that place African languages at the center of African nation's education and national development. The benefits for every child to receive literacy through his or her mother tongue has been extensively and less arguably established, but limited focus has been placed on the level of implementation that appear to have remained a challenge due to lack of political will, and sociolinguistic developments within each nation. Through educational framework, this study systematically reviews selected work on educational language policies and implementations in francophone west Africa from 1960s to today. Recent work has shifted away from a long-standing focus on French-only and African language-only models. Currently, more emphasis is being placed on bilingual and multilingual language policies where French and African languages co-exist in education. Results from experimental models in Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso have demonstrated how French and African languages used as languages of instruction impacted student learning. These experiments showed challenges but also successes that indicate ways in which they represent a prospective choice for francophone nations. Nevertheless, these models have not been fully embraced for reasons that will be presented. This paper also aims at evaluating the current status and roles of African languages and French in various functions. For instance, the widespread use of French as the first language in a significant number of African children in urban areas has been identified. This sociolinguistic development calls for educational considerations that were not necessary during early post-colonial era. This study ends with suggestions for future research deriving from recent developments in language shift between colonial languages, advocacy for maintenance of colonial language and/or the possibility of promoting more African languages to higher or more impactful status. Reviewing how French language has evolved will help linguists, educators, and policymakers, to consider a more informed, historically grounded and politically engaged policies that will allow francophone nations in west Africa to benefit from their multilingual settings to improve on their learning of African and colonial languages and advance in education as a whole.
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