Being Anglophone is not enough’: language, nationality and group membership in Cameroon

ram1002@cam.ac.uk

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  Exoglossic language policy
  
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  French and English are sole official languages
  
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  No national language
  
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  No majority language
  
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  Large urban population (about 55%)
  
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  High literacy rate (about 85%)
  

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  8 Francophone provinces and 2 Anglophone provinces – Anglophones are about 20% of the population. Existing literature reports a French-English schism (Nanfah 2006, Biloa & Echu 2008)
  
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  248 - 285 local languages.
  
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  Dialect-language problem (Nurse & Philippson 2003).
  
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  5-9 lingua francas: Fulfulde (N), Beti-Fang (A70) dialects (C, S, E), CPE (NW, SW, coast and W), Basaa (coast, C, S), Douala (coast and SW), Hausa (N), Arabic (N), Kanuri (NW), Wandala (NW)
  
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  Local languages play no official role in education
  

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  109 respondents, data collected in Douala and Limbe in 2012. Average age 21, gender and SES in equal proportions
  
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  Focus of the questionnaire: self-reported proficiency in the local languages, perception of the relevance of local languages and culture to the education system, attitudes towards the official language policy, perception of the role of language, ethnic group and race as identity markers
  

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  84% from a monoethnic background
  
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  36% of respondents were born in Douala.
  
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  49 different ethnic groups altogether.
  
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  Bamileke predominates: 50% of respondents.
  
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  All languages are of the Bantoid branch of Niger-Congo (apart from Guiziga (Chadic) and Moundang (non-Bantu).
  
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  Grassfields, A40 (Bassa), A10 (Bakossi & Oroko), A20 (Douala & Bakweri), A15 (Mboh), A60 (Yambassa, Manguissa) and A70 (Eton, Ewondo, Beti & Bulu)
  

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  Extent of French and English as identity markers is well documented (Biloa and Echu 2008, Anchimbe 2006)
  
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  20% ‘Anglophone’, 74% ‘Francophone’, 5% ‘bilingual’
  
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  Many respondents cited bilingualism as a defining and desirable characteristic of being Cameroonian.
  
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  4% disapprove of the bilingualism policy. Contradicts Kouega (2008).
  

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  Reduction of the linguistic repertoire in the home.
  
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  Child-parent discourse: 23 non-European languages reported. 57% say their parents speak to them mostly in French or English.
  
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  Parent-child discourse: 31 non-European languages reported. 73% speak to their parents in French or English.
  
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  dialect, langue maternelle, patois, mother tongue, langue camerounaise, langue traditionelle, native language, local language, vernacular.
  

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  25% considered ‘French’ and ‘English’ to be ‘Cameroonian languages’.
  
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  Only 10% cannot speak a local language at all.
  
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  Linguistic competence is lower in those who do no visit the village.
  
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  Ongoing linguistic and cultural attrition: the rural population is not being replenished.
  
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  Rural languages in crisis: Twendi in Sanga village (1000 speakers or fewer), Njen in Njen village (1,800 speakers),Tuotomb in Bonek village (1000 speakers), Pam (30 speakers), and Mbule in Mbola village (100 speakers)
  

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  56% propose a language other than their own: suggests high level of linguistic security. Contradicts Kouega (2008)
  
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  Preference for established lingua francas, eg. Douala (16%): symbolic identiary role
  
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  Bamileke: geographically predominant, protective of culture, renowned for business acumen.
  
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  ‘Bamileke, because it’s similar to English’.
  
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  2nd most popular choice: English (16%), cf. French (6%) .
  
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  Suggestion of one language per province.
  

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  10% believe bilingualism is a prerequisite for Cameroonian identity.
  
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  Only 5% equate being Cameroonian with the mastery of a local language.
  
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  Linguistic diversity: positive rather than divisive.
  
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  ‘to be a Cameroonian one must learn how to speak the 2 national languages’.
  
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  ‘being capable of expressing myself in my mother’s tongue, being bilingual’
  
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  ‘to be Cameroonian is to know your country and all its languages’
  
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  ‘it’s to speak a Cameroonian language and be Francophone/Anglophone’
  
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  Chumbow & Sima Bobda (1996) note the symbolic value of the local languages.
  

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  3-tier identity system proposed for Gabon: racial, national, ethnic group [Anglophone/ Francophone] (Mitchell 2012)
  
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  Resulting order: African, Cameroonian, ethnic, Anglophone/Francophone.
  
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  47% placed Anglophone/Francophone last. Challenges existing claims that being Anglophone/Francophone is central to identity construction (Biloa & Echu 2008), Schmied (1991)
  
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  New variables: name, appearance, ethnic group, nationality, language, class, character and race.
  
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  Nationality (82%), name (79%), ethnic group (57%) and race (27%).
  
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  Ethnic group is a relatively weak identity marker
  

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  45% can identify a stranger by his language use.
  
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  13% cited competence in an indigenous language as necessary for ethnic group membership
  
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  ‘I must be able to speak the language’ (cf. (Anchimbe 2005)
  

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  French and English have been indigenised as ‘Cameroonian languages’.
  
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  Ongoing attrition of local languages in domestic discourse
  
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  Self-reported competence in the local languages is fairly high
  
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  Linguistic security is robust
  
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  Strong sense of national unity
  
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  Bilingualism is a salient characteristic of nationhood but speaker-perceived bilingualism is very low
  
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  Risk of cultural and linguistic attrition > ethnolinguistic levelling favouring majority languages.
  

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  Community initiatives.
  
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  Cameroonian cultural studies in schools:
  

Basic language instruction

Introduction to history, music, oral literature etc.

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  Obviates need for actual standardisation but absence of written records could be problematic
  
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  Role of the sociolinguist or social anthropologist in raising awareness.
  

Anchimbe, E. Slippery Pathways in the Implementation of Official Bilingualism in Cameroon // Mbangwana, P., Mpoche, K., Mbuh, T. (eds.). Language, Literature and Identity. Gottingen: Cuvillier, 2006. P.191-200.

Anchimbe, E. Cameroonian English: Authenticity, Ecology and Evolution. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2006.

Biloa, E., Echu, G. Cameroon: Official Bilingualism in a Multilingual State // Simpson, A. (ed.). Language and National Identity in Africa. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. P.199-214.

Chumbow, B, Simo Bobda, A. The Life Cycle of Post-Imperial English in Cameroon // Fishman, J, Conrad A, Rubal-Lopez A (eds). Post-Imperial English: Status Change in Former British and American Colonies 1940-1990. The Hague: Mouton. 1996

Kouega, J.P. Minority Language Use in Cameroon and Educated Indigenes’ Attitudes to their Languages // International Journal of the Sociology of Language, vol. 189, 2008. P.85-113.

Mitchell R. Language, education and identity in Gabon // Esch, E., Solly, M. (eds.). The Sociolinguistics of Language Education in International Contexts. Bern: Peter Lang, 2012. P.123-147.

Nanfah G. Exoglossic Language Policy and National Unity in Africa: the Cameroonian Model // Mbangwana, P., Mpoche, K., Mbuh, T. (eds.). Language, Literature and Identity. Gottingen: Cuvillier, 2006. P.129-144.

Nurse, D, Philippson, G. (eds). The Bantu Languages. London: Routledge. 2003.

Schmied, J. English in Africa: an Introduction. London: Longman. 1991.