This research is a sociolingui stic study of language use in the African Union (A U). It isrndivided into four chapters. In the first chapter, an attempt i3 made to briefly discuss thernprofile of African and fore ign languages in the Union. Here, it is shown that Africanrnlanguages have been at a great disadvantage from becoming the media of continentalrnaffairs while fore ign languages are enj oying their linguistic expansion. In the past, slaverntrade, colonial occupation, neo-colonial int'"rference and now globalization have allrnplayed against the d eve lop~1ent of African languages an-d cultures . Furthermore, deci sionrnmakers considered the issue of language use in the AU as a 'soft issue'. Due to this factrnthere could exist language attitudinal probl ems (';:1 the African languages byrngovernmental bodies. In order to create awareness among pol icy makers and languagernplanners, this study attempts to survey the opinions of AU worker s, personnel of Afri canrnEmbassies and African intellectuals.rnIn chapter two, an attempt is made to observe the language use situation of the AUrnhi storicall y. Though the question of language use has become ce ntral after thernestablishment of OAU, it was not of course satisfactorily recognized and answered .rnCurrent ly, AU seems to be in a position to upgrade the status of African languages. Tornperform these activities, an institution called ACALAN was established and has beenrngiven the responsibility for the activation oft]'e process.rnIn chapter three, data anal ysis and discussion are presented. The data is interpreted basedrnon the attitudes of three groups of people: African Uni!"l offic iHls and workers, Embassyrnpersonnel of African countries in Addis Ababa and African intell ectuals. Therninterpretation of the data is based on the current situation of language use and suggestsrnthe potential working languages in the Union in the future. Finall y, the conclusion, thernsummary of maj or findin~s and recommendations are represented in chapter four.