Language policy and Politics in Cameroon

Research in the field of language policy has established language as a means of solving problems. In Cameroon the problem to be addressed is that of maintaining national unity and integration.

At independence and upon reunification in 1961, the first independent government of Cameroon did not opt for one, two or more of the 286 indigenous Cameroonian languages as official and national in the country because this was considered a potential recipe for contention and strife (Grimes 2000). Instead, it opted for an official English-French bilingual policy. These two languages, which are the languages of its ex-colonial masters, were to be the languages used for official communication by Cameroonians. Future generations of Cameroonians were expected to be bilingual in English and French (Tchoungui Reference Tchoungui, Koenig, Chia and Povey1983); for this reason, both languages were made compulsory in the school system. Institutions such as the Linguistic Centers were established to foster this bilingual policy.

Nevertheless, the Cameroon National Forum on Education of May 1995 recognized the need to develop and use indigenous Cameroon languages in education in the school system. This eventually was translated in 2004 and 2012 to laws empowering local regions to support the promotion of indigenous languages through education and literacy and to create an inspectorate in charge of literacy of non-formal basic education and of the promotion of mother tongue education at the Ministry of Basic Education, respectively (see Mba Reference Mba, Akumbu and Chiatoh2013).

The attitude-acquisition conundrum

As we observed above, significant endeavors have been undertaken by policy makers to promote English and French as the official languages of Cameroon. The steps taken include the enactment of the compulsory teaching of these two languages at all levels of the school system, and students being expected to pass in either of them as a prerequisite to pursue higher education in the country or to be employed in the civil service. English therefore would be seen as a means of guaranteeing or at least promoting upward social mobility.

As a corollary to these measures and especially to protect the English language, CPE was and is still banned on campuses of prestigious anglophone schools such as St Paul's Comprehensive school in Bamenda and at the universities of Buea and Bamenda, the two English-speaking Universities in the Country. Those of this strand of thinking refer to CPE as ‘Broken English’, ‘Bad English’ or ‘Bush English’.

The thought that feeds this belief tends to lean on the closeness that CPE bears to Standard British English in terms of syntax and lexicon British English. Given this, learners of Standard English are perceived as having the tendency to bring in certain pidgin structures and lexical items when speaking standard English, without being conscious of their perceived inappropriateness in Standard English usage. CPE, to this school of thought, thus carries the stigma of illiteracy. Those who use it are considered not to have mastered Standard English.

Yet in spite of all the resolve to plan for and promote the use of standard English (and French), because of the drive for national cohesion and the instrumentalism of these languages in the globalizing world, the paradox remains that it is neither French nor Standard English but rather Cameroon pidgin English that is gaining more and more of a national character. As Povey (1983: 15) puts it:

One of the early sociolinguistic surveys on the usage of CPE, carried out by Mbangwana (Reference Mbangwana, Koenig, Chia and Povey1983), identified the nation-wide status the language entertains and how it has even gained a mother tongue status with some anglophones (see also Shroder Reference Shroder2003). Given its spread and function in Cameroon specifically, and West Africa in general, he recommended its acceptability and formalization in the Cameroonian educational system. This argument has found adherents in Echu (Reference Echu2003), Mbufong and Tanda (Reference Mbufong and Tanda2003) and Ayu'nwi (Reference Ayu'nwi, Fogwe and Atindogbe2006), among others.

A more recent survey by Lewis et al (Reference Lewis, Simons and Fenning2013) confirms that while CPE continues to conjure a rather negative attitude in Cameroon, it remains at the same time by far the most widespread lingua franca in the country, being used by about half the population. The question that arises, then, is what motivates more and more Cameroonians and visitors to Cameroon to learn this language despite its lowly prestige and the negative attitudes it engenders in elite Cameroonian circles? The following section addresses this question.

CPE as the lingua franca of Cameroon

Of late, Cameroon Pidgin English has established itself as a recognized medium of interaction in multifarious spheres, and it has become the language of widest communication. As the years go by, it is creating new niches for itself in several domains. It is the language of interethnic interaction, used for greetings, socializing and in many other domains, as has been discussed in Shroder (Reference Shroder2003). It is also the language of popular politics and television and radio news. The acquisition of CPE is not limited to Cameroonian nationals. In fact, American Peace Corps volunteers to Cameroon are expected to learn it to enable them interact with people in the villages where they often work. Even the educated elite have been seen to use it albeit in informal circles. Given this increasingly widespread usage, CPE is now finally starting to lose its stigma as the language of illiterates. Consider this table by Shröder (Reference Shroder2003: 181) on the functions of CPE in Cameroon.

The economic value of CPE

Arcand (Reference Arcand1996: 119) states that languages are the lubricant of trade. A cost-benefit analysis of CPE would bring to light a wide range of financial benefits gained by individual Cameroonians or foreigners who use it. For instance one will note that in the domains of trade, commerce and tourism, CPE plays an important role. As key to individuals' economic activity in the country, CPE is the primary language of national trade and commerce. One can in fact state here that CPE gives demonstrable economic returns to its speakers. Povey (1983: 16) observed that in the francophone city of Douala, which is also the major economic center of Cameroon, 83% of the population used CPE when buying in the market, a figure that indicates the near monopoly of CPE for day-to-day services, in this city especially. More recent studies by Ojongnkpot (Reference Ojongnkpot2014: 139) and others seem to corroborate this trend for Mamfe and other Cameroonian towns.

CPE as a cultural binder

There is no gainsaying that members of cultural communities have strong emotional attachments to their identities. This is because identity is what makes these members of the community recognizably the same. This is precisely the emotion that binds all anglophone Cameroonians whose origins are in the former British trust territory of the Southern Cameroons.

Cameroon Pidgin English is an integral part of anglophone Cameroonian identity first and foremost, before one even considers the other parts of the country. CPE is seen to bind all anglophones, and their willingness to speak this language has an integrative dimension. Indeed, while the purely instrumental and functional values of English and French have been emphasized in Cameroon as a crucial goal of building a modern country and a means of plugging unto the global economy, the integrative goal of CPE among anglophones should not be underestimated. Inevitably, anglophones will express how they view and interpret the world around them more naturally in CPE than in Standard English. For instance, if we consider some very familiar CPE proverbs such as (1) and (2), we want to note that they have direct correlates with indigenous Cameroonian proverbs as in (3) and (4). This is a pointer to the fact that they are translations from the indigenous proverbs, which mimic the Cameroonian worldview.

1. (1) Goat di chop for place where they tie hi. (CPE) goat Asp feed for place where they tie it ‘A goat feeds where it is tethered.’

2. (2) When your broda dey ontop plum tree you go chop black plum. (CPE) If your brother is on plum tree you will eat black plum ‘If you have a brother on a plum tree you should expect to eat the best plums.’

3. (3) Bisi’ zi ma senke yu ngwu kadze. (Babungo) Goat feeds Asp where it is tied ‘A goat feeds where it is tethered.’

4. (4) Ni muma gho a nda nifor o tee abee meke? (Bafut) With brother yours in house royal you stand outside how ‘How can you have one of yours in government and suffer want.’

Cameroonians will be familiar with these proverbs in the sense that they represent the typical Cameroonian worldview: It is commonly to be expected that one should benefit from the perks of one's office, or that when you have kindred occupying an influential position in government you should naturally expect to be favoured. Some other cultures will refer to such a way of appreciating such issues as misappropriation or nepotism respectively.

Table 1: The functions of CPE in Cameroon

●●●●●very high ●●●●high ●●●medium ●●low, ●very low frequency use.

Acquisition of CPE

CPE is acquired informally in Cameroon. There are no schools wherein it is taught and learned. Within their multilingual background, anglophones acquire Pidgin English naturally as they grow up. It is only recently that textbooks have been written to teach CPE, especially to tourists and American Peace Corps volunteers. Because anglophone Cameroonians acquire the language on an informal and ad hoc basis, they feel less constrained by rules of grammar and conceptions of ‘proper’ use. It is their language; they make the rules within the boundaries of communicative competence, and it does not matter to them which variety of CPE they are using.