From foreign to national: a review of the status of the French language in Gabon

Abstract

This article provides a review of the various statuses of the French language in Gabon, a French-speaking country in Central Africa. It reveals a process in which different generations of Gabonese people are increasingly learning, and thus conceptualising, French as a second language rather than a foreign language. Furthermore, some are also learning and conceptualising French as a mother tongue or initial language, rather than a second language. This process of reconceptualisation has somehow been encouraged by the language policy of the colonial administration and the language policy since the attainment of independence, the latter being a continuation of the former. The final stage of this process is that the language has been adopted among the local languages within the Gabonese language landscape

Towards a Comprehensive Dictionary of Gabonese French

“…(iii) "Gabonese French" depicts language appropriation as it has been reflected in several studies (Pambou 1998;Mabika Mbokou 2008, 2012Ndinga-Koumba-Binza 2011;Massinga Kombila 2013;Boussougou and Menacere 2015).…”

Lexikos 32(2): Huldeblyk aan/Tribute to D.J. Prinsloo

“…(iii) "Gabonese French" depicts language appropriation as it has been reflected in several studies (Pambou 1998;Mabika Mbokou 2008Ndinga-Koumba-Binza 2011;Massinga Kombila 2013;Boussougou and Menacere 2015).…”

“…The appropriation of the French language as understood in the projected DGFG is in line with the conception of the Gabonese language landscape (Ndinga- Koumba-Binza 2005 in which French is viewed as a local language rather than a foreign language. At the same time, the constitutional disposition making French as the sole official language of Gabon is the legal ground for the nationalisation of the French language in Gabon as a Gabonese language (Ndinga- Koumba-Binza 2011. As such, the term "Gabonese French" (français gabonais) is believed to be more appropriate to designate the language as it is spoken in Gabon.…”