The Language Question in Cameroon

Source:Linguistik online 18, 1/04

The Language Question in Cameroon

George Echu (Yaounde/Bloomington)

Abstract

In multilingual Cameroon, 247 indigenous languages live side by side with English and French (the two official languages) and Cameroon Pidgin English (the main lingua franca). While the two official languages of colonial heritage dominate public life in the areas of education, administration, politics, mass media, publicity and literature, both the indigenous languages and Cameroon Pidgin English are relegated to the background.

This paper is a critique of language policy in Cameroon revealing that mother tongue education in the early years of primary education remains a distant cry, as the possible introduction of an indigenous language in the school system is not only considered unwanted by educational authorities but equally combated against by parents who believe that the future of their children lies in the mastery of the official languages. This persistent disregard of indigenous languages does not only alienate the Cameroonian child culturally, but further alienates the vast majority of Cameroonians who are illiterate (in English and French) since important State business is carried out in the official languages. As regards the implementation of the policy of official language bilingualism, there is clear imbalance in the use of the two official languages as French continues to be the dominant official language while English is relegated to a second place within the State. The frustration that ensues within the Anglophone community has led in recent years to the birth of Anglophone nationalism, a situation that seems to be widening the rift between the two main components of the society (Anglophones and Francophones), thereby compromising national unity.

The paper is divided into five major parts. After a brief presentation of the country, the author dwells on multilingualism and language policy since the colonial period. The third, fourth and last parts of the paper focus on the critique of language policy in Cameroon with emphasis first on the policy of official language bilingualism and bilingual education, then on the place of indigenous languages, and finally on the national language debate.

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Cameroon: Orthography and Identity

Posted by sociolingo on January 2, 2008

Source: Cogprints

Orthography and Identity in Cameroon

Bird, Steven (2001) Orthography and Identity in Cameroon. [Journal (Paginated)] (In Press)

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Abstract

The tone languages of sub-Saharan Africa raise challenging questions for the design of new writing systems. Marking too much or too little tone can have grave consequences for the usability of an orthography. Orthography development, past and present, rests on a raft of sociolinguistic issues having little to do with the technical phonological concerns that usually preoccupy orthographers. Some of these issues are familiar from the spelling reforms which have taken place in European languages. However, many of the issues faced in sub-Saharan Africa are different, being concerned with the creation of new writing systems in a multi-ethnic context: residual colonial influences, the construction of new nation-states, detribalization versus culture preservation and language reclamation, and so on. Language development projects which crucially rely on creating or revising orthographies may founder if they do not attend to the various layers of identity that are indexed by orthography: whether colonial, national, ethnic, local or individual identity. In this study, I review the history and politics of orthography in Cameroon, with a focus on tone marking. The paper concludes by calling present-day orthographers to a deeper and broader understanding of orthographic issues.

Academic paper: Standardization of national languages

 The following UNESCO paper (pdf doc) has several African papers which may be of interest. You will need Adobe Reader to access it. (Download it here.)

STANDARDIZATION OF NATIONAL
LANGUAGES
SYMPOSIUM
ON LANGUAGE STANDARDIZATION
2-3 February 1991
edited by
Utta von Gleich and Ekkehard Wolff

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Majority and Minority Languages in South Africa.

Majority and Minority Languages in South Africa.
Alexander, Neville

This paper discusses three categories of languages in post-apartheid South Africa: high-status, low-status, and endangered. The first section presents demolinguistic profiles and their representation in the media, offering data on the relative numerical importance of the main languages used in South Africa and the average and proportional allocation at three South African Broadcasting Corporation stations in 1996. The second section examines the sociolinguistic status of South Africa’s languages, noting the processes that shaped language policy and attitudes during the past 50 years. The third section discusses language in education, explaining that most educators in South Africa continue to think of the indigenous African languages as impediments to be overcome on the way to mastering the English language. The fourth section describes prospects for African languages in South Africa and its education system. The paper concludes that a series of language planning steps is necessary to ensure that the theoretically unchallengeable policy positions of the new South Africa are realized. Recommendations include large scale generalized critical language awareness campaigns, multilingual or bilingual signposts and nameboards for all government buildings and roads, and large-scale training for interpreters, translators, journalists, media practitioners, and teachers. (SM)

Dissertation: A benchmarking study of West African language policy - Focus on Ghana and Burkina Faso

The following dissertation is available through Perdue University

 http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/dissertations/AAI3191431/

A benchmarking study of West African language policy: Focus on Ghana and Burkina Faso
James Kwaku Bukari

Date: 2005
Advisor: Alan Garfinkel

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Abstract
This study examined the social attitudes of Ghanaians towards the French language in order to determine whether or not they believe Ghana needs to implement a new language policy in which the French language is given a more prominent legal status and made a compulsory subject in Ghanaian schools. The study deployed a mixed methods approach in which surveys were administered to 130 Policy Makers, 25 Policy Implementers, 24 Parents, 41 Students, 19 Business Executives, and 15 Officials of Non-Governmental Organizations. A Likert scale was used to analyze participants’ responses to the surveys. In addition, seventeen interviews were conducted with the foregoing participants. The interviews were audio taped and transcribed verbatim. Furthermore the study deployed the strategy of benchmarking to compare the language policies of Ghana and Burkina Faso and suggested ways in which the two countries can learn from one another’s language policies for the improvement of their future language policy decisions.

Results of the study indicate that a majority of participants believe that based on the geopolitical situation of Ghana knowledge of the French language will yield economic, politico-diplomatic, socio-cultural, and technological benefits to Ghana.

Subject Area
EDUCATION, BILINGUAL AND MULTICULTURAL (0282); EDUCATION, CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION (0727)

Academic Paper: LANGUAGE POLICY DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA

The following academic paper is available from

 http://www.up.ac.za/academic/libarts/crpl/language-dev-in-SA.pdf

LANGUAGE POLICY DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA

V. N. Webb
Centre for Research in the Politics of Language
University of Pretoria
The aim of this paper is to present a critical overview of language policy development in
South Africa. Three issues will be discussed: the current state of language policy
development in South Africa; the challenges and tasks of language planning in the
country; and an evaluation of the process of language policy development.

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