“…Knowledge of five additional languages was reported by three respondents to be at the ‘reading only’ level; these languages are not, therefore, included in any of the calculations here. The claims for individual multilinguality are consistent with the aforementioned research (Anchimbe, ; Berry, ; Broeder et al., ; Scotton, ). A further related finding to those in Table is that the minimum number of languages known and spoken by each of the twelve subjects at the native and near native fluency level (ACTFL, L3‐3.5) is three (100%), with ten (83.33%) of them claiming fluency (ACTFL, L2.0‐2.5) in a fourth language, and two (16.66%) reporting a ‘fair’ (ACTFL, L1) proficiency in a fifth one.…”
Section: Methodology and Resultssupporting
confidence: 87%
“…Sociolinguistically, as stated previously, Africans learn several languages because they are necessitated by daily communication between individuals and groups. A ten‐year old Cameroonian boy (named Tanyi) cited by Anchimbe (, p. 82) aptly captured simply and elegantly the spirit of African multilingualism: I talk country with my mother. I talk Pidgin and country with my sister and brothers.…”
Section: Theoretical Implicationsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…See also Eric Anchimbe () in which he reports that the average Cameroonian speaks at least five languages that include a home language (HL), community language (CL), Cameroonian Pidgin English (a popular lingua franca – LF), and up to five languages (French and English, the two official languages) if the individual has had secondary education. For the youths, there is a 6th language: Camfranglais, which is a mixed French‐English youth‐speak.…”
mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The HL and CL are often acquired simultaneously in many, if not most, Sub‐Saharan African countries where this type of distinction exists. See, for example, Anchimbe (, pp. 82–83) with regard to the Cameroon.…”
This article analyzes Multiple Language Acquisition (MLA) and functioning in Africa as a case study of multilingualism. It interrogates central aspects of the dominant L2 acquisition (SLA) paradigm that is predicated primarily on mother tongue (L1) monolingualism, and presents data that document high levels of individual multilingualism (3–8 languages), and the achievement of native to near‐native proficiency in three to five of them. The article draws upon these findings to critique key tenets of SLA theories, focusing on the ‘Critical Period Hypothesis’ (CPH) and its extension to the acquisition of additional languages beyond L1; its use as an explanatory tool for the development of the so‐called ‘interlanguage’ grammars by learners; and their failure to achieve the ‘ultimate attainment’ in L2, L3, and Ln. It is argued that CPH is inapplicable to L2, L3, and Ln, because it fails to predict native‐like proficiency beyond L1. It concludes by offering an explanation for the achievement of ‘native‐like’ proficiency in several languages by post‐pubescent Africans.
“…Knowledge of five additional languages was reported by three respondents to be at the ‘reading only’ level; these languages are not, therefore, included in any of the calculations here. The claims for individual multilinguality are consistent with the aforementioned research (Anchimbe, ; Berry, ; Broeder et al., ; Scotton, ). A further related finding to those in Table is that the minimum number of languages known and spoken by each of the twelve subjects at the native and near native fluency level (ACTFL, L3‐3.5) is three (100%), with ten (83.33%) of them claiming fluency (ACTFL, L2.0‐2.5) in a fourth language, and two (16.66%) reporting a ‘fair’ (ACTFL, L1) proficiency in a fifth one.…”
Section: Methodology and Resultssupporting
confidence: 87%
“…Sociolinguistically, as stated previously, Africans learn several languages because they are necessitated by daily communication between individuals and groups. A ten‐year old Cameroonian boy (named Tanyi) cited by Anchimbe (, p. 82) aptly captured simply and elegantly the spirit of African multilingualism: I talk country with my mother. I talk Pidgin and country with my sister and brothers.…”
Section: Theoretical Implicationsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…See also Eric Anchimbe () in which he reports that the average Cameroonian speaks at least five languages that include a home language (HL), community language (CL), Cameroonian Pidgin English (a popular lingua franca – LF), and up to five languages (French and English, the two official languages) if the individual has had secondary education. For the youths, there is a 6th language: Camfranglais, which is a mixed French‐English youth‐speak.…”
mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The HL and CL are often acquired simultaneously in many, if not most, Sub‐Saharan African countries where this type of distinction exists. See, for example, Anchimbe (, pp. 82–83) with regard to the Cameroon.…”
This article analyzes Multiple Language Acquisition (MLA) and functioning in Africa as a case study of multilingualism. It interrogates central aspects of the dominant L2 acquisition (SLA) paradigm that is predicated primarily on mother tongue (L1) monolingualism, and presents data that document high levels of individual multilingualism (3–8 languages), and the achievement of native to near‐native proficiency in three to five of them. The article draws upon these findings to critique key tenets of SLA theories, focusing on the ‘Critical Period Hypothesis’ (CPH) and its extension to the acquisition of additional languages beyond L1; its use as an explanatory tool for the development of the so‐called ‘interlanguage’ grammars by learners; and their failure to achieve the ‘ultimate attainment’ in L2, L3, and Ln. It is argued that CPH is inapplicable to L2, L3, and Ln, because it fails to predict native‐like proficiency beyond L1. It concludes by offering an explanation for the achievement of ‘native‐like’ proficiency in several languages by post‐pubescent Africans.
“…Ahmadou Ali was then the Vice-Prime Minister, Minister of Justice and Keeper of the Seals of the country. His ban on English at his press conference immediately ignited strong anglophone in-group feelings for two reasons: 1) English is the in-group language of the anglophones, and 2) Ahmadou Ali is a francophone, hence an out-group member whose ban on English could be interpreted as linguistic victimisation (see Anchimbe 2007Anchimbe , 2013 directed at the anglophones at the press conference. The strong feelings recorded in the examples discussed here were somehow expected given the longstanding sociohistorial conflicts between these two groups, some of them described by Wolf (1997), Eyoh (1998), Konings and Nyamnjoh (2003), Jua and Konings (2004), Chiatoh (2006) and Anchimbe (2010).…”
Using readers' comments on an online news forum (The Post newspaper), this paper describes patterns of belonging to the historical (colonial) linguistic in-group anglophone and out-group francophone in Cameroon. These groups emerged from the British-French colonisation of the country after WW1, with anglophones representing the former British colony and francophones the French. My focus is on the use of eight plural pronouns and how they index in-group or out-group belonging. Four of the pronouns, we, our, us and ourselves are used inclusively to create a solid anglophone in-group through the narration of a common (colonial) history, linguistic background (the use of English) and experiences. The other four, they, them, their and themselves refer predominantly to francophones as an out-group that must be differentiated from the close-knit anglophone in-group. I illustrate how, in defending the boundaries of these groups, the commentators autobiographically narrate the life trajectories of their in-group, highlight its values and interrogate the moral stance of the out-group. They benefit from the digital space which provides anonymity and closes the geographical distances between them. Overall, the anglophone in-group narrative emerges as an autobiographical narrative within the bigger (national) autobiographical narrative of the country, into which it often opens and is sometimes integrated.
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