The Language Situation in Cameroon

Kouega, Jean-Paul

doi:10.2167/cilp110.0

Cited by 37 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…These works all show that CPE is a major lingua franca in Cameroon and, above all, it is used even in the localities where other major and minor lingua francas like Ewondo Populaire, Fulfulde, Arab Choa (Kouega [40]) are dominant. In Anglophone Cameroon, in particular, Pidgin English is the most frequently used language in the home, the neighbourhood and the schoolyard.…”

Section: Background To the Studymentioning

confidence: 93%

“…It is common in religion (Mbangwana [32]; actually, the Catholic Church has adopted it as the language of preaching in rural areas (Kouega and Emaleu [41]), and it has been publishing prayer books and extracts of the Gospel in it (Catholic Mission [42] [43]). Recently, the proportion of its use in the spoken media became significant, as all new private radio stations have programmes in it (see list in Kouega [40]. [49] do not share.…”

Section: Background To the Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Some Features of the Syntax of Proverbs in Cameroon Pidgin English

Kouega¹

2017

OALib

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This paper examines the structure of Cameroon Pidgin English proverbs. The data are drawn from a sample of proverbs which seem to have originated from the context of use of the language itself and are therefore not translations from foreign languages and cultures. The analysis, which is done following Quirk et al.'s model of syntactic study [1] [2], reveals that simple sentences occur more frequently than compound and complex sentences, with compound sentences being very limited in number. The SVO and SVC clause patterns are dominant in simple sentences and so are positive structures as opposed to negative ones in the whole corpus. Complex sentence proverbs usually contain adverbial and relative clauses. While the position of relative clauses is fixed, that of adverbial clauses is mobile and as a result, cases of fronting are common. Another thematisation technique is clefting, where the element "na" (it is… that) reproduces an earlier sentence constituent and introduces a relative clause in an otherwise simple sentence. This is one of the structural features of Cameroon Pidgin that obviously does not come from the superstrate English; seemingly, it does not come from the substrate Cameroon indigenous languages either.

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Section: Background To the Studymentioning

confidence: 93%

Section: Background To the Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Some Features of the Syntax of Proverbs in Cameroon Pidgin English

Kouega¹

2017

OALib

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“…In addition, successes have also been noted in such countries as Tanzania (see BrockUtne, Desai & Qorro 2003), Ethiopia (see Heugh et al 2007 and2010), and, to a certain extent, Cameroon (Kouega 2007).…”

Section: Successful Experiences In Mother-tongue Education In Africamentioning

confidence: 98%

‘To understand lessons, think through your own languages.’ An analysis of narratives in support of the introduction of indigenous languages in the education system in Senegal

Diallo

2011

Language Matters

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“…The sociolinguistic environment with over 200 languages (Wolf 2001, Atechi 2006and Kouega 2007) is more of a mixed blessing to the ESL learner in Cameroon. The intricacies in the language (structural ramifications) have made scholars to refer to the English language as mad.…”

Section: English Language Teaching and Learning In Cameroon: Evolutiomentioning

confidence: 99%

What English for the Cameroonian Classroom Today?

Mbibeh¹

2013

IJL

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The linguistic imperialism of the English language across the globe and the consequent adoption of various identities has plunged the L2 speaker and learner into a kind of bewilderment, owing to the difficulty in choosing the variety of English to use. This article examines the foregoing question with the specificity of the ESL acquisition context in Cameroon. To a common user of English, the question of variety may sound inconsequential. However, the pedagogue finds this question primordial given his status as the beholder of the linguistic etiquette in the classroom context. The survey research design is used to sample opinions of 60 ESL teachers within the North West Region of Cameroon on this question. According to the findings, the choice of CamE is related to its simplicity and closeness to the learner"s social realities, whereas the choice of BrE is based on the necessity to meet the exigencies of the global village. AmE is rejected on stereotypical bases, with the claim that the variety is related to youthful language imbedded with crime oriented undertones. Statistically speaking, CamE should be used in the classroom, but given that language revolves around a plethora of other sociolinguistic intricacies, it is necessary to consider the challenges of codification and documentation raised by previous researchers. However, there is need for a take off point.

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The Language Situation in Cameroon

Cited by 37 publications

References 9 publications

Some Features of the Syntax of Proverbs in Cameroon Pidgin English

Some Features of the Syntax of Proverbs in Cameroon Pidgin English

‘To understand lessons, think through your own languages.’ An analysis of narratives in support of the introduction of indigenous languages in the education system in Senegal

What English for the Cameroonian Classroom Today?

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