The Survival of the English Language in Cameroon in the Context of pre- and post-electoral Crisis.
Abstract
This paper questions the survival of the English language in Cameroon in the context of the
Anglophone crisis and the 2018 post-electoral crisis through the sociolinguistic approach. The
Anglophone crisis is a conflict in the south-west region of Cameroon initiated by separatists in
the Anglophone territories in 2017 “declaring their independence”, and which ended up with a
civil and military war, as we can read in the Cameroonian newspaper le Journal du Cameroun:
“Deadly clashes between troops, ADF forces leave Nguti on the brink” (13th March 2018). For
a language to survive, it needs a number of speakers, as well as a purpose of usage; but the
French language domination (80%) and the Anglophone crisis has an inevitable impact on the
future of English language in Cameroon. First, because French is the most used language for
academic, socioprofessional and juridic affairs. Indeed, “the French language overwhelmingly
dominates the sociolinguistic landscape in Cameroon” (Bobda: 2013:290). Another factor is
the fact that over 500.000 people have been deported, according to the United Nations, and this
results in a situation where many of English-speakers are exposed to another language, and
either integrate themselves or assume to be marginalized, and this situation is an obvious
application of the acculturation Model in SL acquisition by John Schumann (1978). But
although the survival of English language here tends to be focused on the Anglophones, we
should not forget that this survival is overall related English-speaking people, which is not the same.
So, even if the future of the English in language in Cameroon is hard to anticipate- due to the
several aspects to consider, “What is certain, however, is that (...) those who fight linguistic
change tend to lose” (Atechi 2015:31).
Key words: Anglophone crisis, language survival, sociolinguistic approach,
acculturation.
About Frank-Steve Nankep:
Frank- Steve Nankep is a Cameroonian student from the university of Bremen. He holds a
Bachelor in French studies (July 2016) and a Bachelor in English studies (October 2016) from
the University of Buea in Cameroon; and he actually studies MA English-Speaking Cultures
3rd semester. His research interests include the relationship between linguistics and
sociopolitics. His master thesis investigate the future of English language in Cameroon
through the linguistic and social perspective and overall in the frame of the political crisis in
Cameroon in the recent years.
Woks cited:
Atechi, Samuel. The emergence of Cameroon francophone English and the future of English in Cameroon. In “British Journal of English Linguistics” Vol3, No.3, pp.23-33, Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development (eds) UK, July 2015
"Deadly clashes between troops, ADF forces leave Nguti on the brink". Journal du Cameroun. 13 March 2018. Archived from the original on 21 April 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
Simo, Bobda, A. (2013). The Emergence of a Standardizing Cameroon Francophone English Pronunciation in Cameroon. In Nils-Lennart, J.; G. Melchers & B. Björkman (eds.). “Of butterflies and birds, of dialects and genres”. Essays in honour of Philip Shaw.
Schumann, John H (1978). The Pidginization Process: A Model for Second Language Acquisition. Rowley: Newbury House Publishers, 1978.