Language Planning for Endangered Languages in Taraba State: A Case Study of Mambilla Plateau Communities

This study examines the current status of language planning activities for endangered languages in the Mambilla Plateau communities of Taraba State, North East Nigeria, with a focus on the Kamkam, Ndunda, and Sate language varieties. The Mambilla Plateau hosts one of Nigeria's highest concentrations of micro-languages, many of which are critically endangered due to population pressures, limited educational integration, and the dominance of Fulfulde and English as inter-community languages. The study adopts a qualitative policy analysis methodology informed by Cooper's language planning framework, covering status, corpus, and acquisition planning dimensions. Data were collected through community surveys, interviews with local government education officers, and analysis of available literacy materials in the target communities. The findings reveal a near-total absence of formal status planning for the targeted languages, minimal corpus development activity, and no acquisition planning mechanisms in state schools. Community attitudes toward language maintenance are mixed, with older residents expressing stronger preservation sentiments than younger adults. The study proposes a community-centred language planning model adapted to the resource constraints of Taraba State, recommending collaborative documentation projects between the state government and university linguistics departments. Keywords: language planning, endangered languages, Mambilla Plateau, Taraba State, language documentation.