A Comparative Study of Language Planning Policies for Yoruba in Nigeria, Benin Republic, and Brazil

Yoruba is a transnational language with significant speaker communities in Nigeria, the Benin Republic, and Brazil, where distinct national contexts have produced divergent language planning approaches. This study undertakes a comparative analysis of language planning policies for Yoruba in Nigeria, the Benin Republic, and Brazil, examining how each country's political history, educational system, and cultural institutions have shaped official and community-level language planning for Yoruba. Using a qualitative comparative policy analysis methodology, data were collected through documentary analysis of language education policy documents, cultural promotion programme records, and scholarly literature from all three countries, supplemented by interviews with language planners and community leaders in Nigeria and online correspondence with community informants in Benin Republic and Brazil. The study applies language planning theory, specifically Haugen's model of language planning and Cooper's three-dimensional framework, to structure the cross-national comparison. Existing comparative language planning studies have focused on European minority languages and colonial language cases, with cross-national comparisons of Yoruba planning being largely absent from the scholarly literature. This study fills that transnational research gap. Findings are expected to reveal that Nigeria's formal policy framework is the most comprehensive but implementation remains weakest relative to declared intentions, while Brazil's Yoruba revitalisation is driven by Afro-Brazilian religious community initiative with minimal state support. Recommendations will address transnational Yoruba language planning cooperation and the transfer of effective planning models across national contexts. Keywords: language planning, Yoruba, comparative study, Nigeria, Brazil, Benin Republic.