Abstract

This Study entitled The Promotion of Bilingualism in Cameroon: Challenges and Prospects is carried out to examine the legal and institutional framework put in place in Cameroon for the promotion of bilingualism, and to examine the challenges and provide recommendations thereto. It commences with a background to the study of Bilingualism, then proceeds to the statement of the problem and the main objective of which is to examine extent to which bilingualism is promoted in Cameroon.

To achieve this objective, the study adopts the qualitative research methodology which involves the content analysis of primary and secondary sources of data. The primary sources of data are the Constitution, statutes, regulations, and Case Law while the Secondary data consist of Books, Thesis, Journal Articles, Reports, Seminar Papers, websites and other publications.

In its findings, the study finds amongst others that finds that the promotion of bilingualism in Cameroon is faced by serious challenges ranging from lack of punitive powers by the NCPBM, lack of punitive provisions in the 2019 Law on official languages, lack of a strong political will to socio-cultural dogmatism or linguistic attitude of citizens towards the two official languages not spoken by them.

The study concludes amongst others that bilingualism remains a controversial tool that can either be used well for national integration and social cohesion or be used wrongly to rather instigate socio-cultural suspicion and separation, disintegration and infighting. This study recommends amongst other things, that the 2019 Law be amended to include punitive provisions on non-compliance with the mandatory provisions regarding the usage of the two official languages.

This punitive measure could involve administrative sanctions or financial penalty on the head of any defaulting public institution or state agency, adopting policies to encourage people to become bilingual by conditioning promotion and some other benefits on being at least bilingual. If this is implemented, in about five years time, the results on the promotion of bilingualism in Cameroon will improve.

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background To The Study

Bilingualism is a sociolinguistic phenomenon that is given special importance in some societies. It refers to the ability of an individual or the citizens of a given nation to use two languages effectively . It is a practice, a novel culture of speaking two languages, which can be traced as far back as man has evolved moving into new places and discovering people speaking languages other than your own .

Globally speaking, bilingualism can be understood in two different ways; As Nsom Joseph rightly puts it, “For some, it means an equal ability to communicate in two languages. For others, it simply means the ability to communicate in two languages, but with greater skills in one language. In fact, it may be more common for bilingual people, even those who have been bilingual since birth, to be somewhat “more effective” in one language” .

As people continued to migrate from their home communities to others, they voluntarily learned and acquired the language of their new environment, and in other cases, these travelers equally spread their own languages and thus making people becoming voluntarily bilingual.

This is the same pattern through which the practice of Bilingualism came to Cameroon officially through colonialism. Before we trace the historical origin of official bilingualism in Cameroon, it is worthy to note that there had been the practice of bilingualism in Cameroon before colonial rule, as many indigenous people could speak more than one native language which were not official languages . This continues even till date, but our focus shall be on the phenomenon of official bilingualism which is a state policy of the Republic of Cameroon relating to the official use of English and French all over the territory.

Official Bilingualism in Cameroon can be traced historically to the advent of colonialism especially between 1916 and 1961. When the former German protectorate was ceded to Britain and France partitioning the territory, Britain took her 1/5 and France 4/5 and they both administered their respective territories till 1961 .

Britain administered her own part of the territory as part of Nigeria, and within the period of 1916 to 1961, the English language and many other British cultures had been deeply implanted in the territory British Cameroons and same thing with the French counterparts whose style of administration (assimilation) greatly implanted the French language there .

French Cameroun got its independence on the 1st of January 1960, and British Cameroons had to get their independence by reunifying with LaRepubliqueduCameroun following the Plebiscite of 11th of February 1961 . This then plunged the reunion with a difficult puzzle to solve, that of dealing with a culturally segmented society with two different generally spoken languages (English and French) and differences in so many other socio-cultural and judicial aspects.

The architects of the Federal Constitution of 1961 had to address these linguistic differences by couching a provision recognizing the both languages as official languages throughout the Federal Republic of Cameroon as it provided it its Article 1(3):The official languages of the Federal Republic of Cameroon shall be French and English. Thus the beginning of official b bilingualism is traced to the Federal Constitution of 1st October 1961 which was followed by a plethora of official government acts to actualize the promotion of bilingualism like the at the opening of Bilingual Grammar School in Buea in 1962, the first secondary education institution in the country located in the English-speaking region, Ahmadou Ahidjo, Cameroon’s first president stated that “By bilingualism we mean the practical usage of our two official languages, English and French, throughout the national territory.”

The former president saw bilingualism as a means of acquiring universal civilization and to develop new cultures in order to transform the territory into the catalyst of African unity. The issue of bilingualism was supported by Dr. Benard Fonlon who advocated for individual bilingualism and even translated the Cameroon National Anthem from French to English.

After the 1972 Referendum which transformed the state from a federal system to a unitary system, there was increasing need to maintain and promote bilingualism as the government saw it as a tool for social cohesion amongst Cameroonians.

The new 1972 Unitary Constitution continued to maintain English and French as the official languages all over the Republic of Cameroon. The State of Cameroon has continued to maintain its bilingual status all through the numerous constitutional reforms up to the 1996 Constitution  as amended. In the 1996 Constitution, not only did the constitution recognize the both languages as official, it went ahead to precise that both languages shall have equal status (level of importance) also imposed an obligation on the state to guarantee the promotion of bilingualism throughout the Republic.

This is as per Article 1(3), which states:(3) The official languages of the Republic of Cameroon shall be English and French, both languages having the same status. The State shall guarantee the promotion of bilingualism throughout the country.

It shall endeavour to protect and promote national languages. To this effect, the State of Cameroon has enacted Law No.2019/019 of 24thDecember 2019 on the Promotion of Bilingualism in Cameroon and has also created the Commission in Charge of Bilingualism and Multiculturalism in 2017 .

1.2. Statement Of The Problem

Despite the fact that the 1996 Constitution in its Section 1(3) provides for official equal status in the use of English and French as the official languages all over the Republic, it is an undeniable fact that there is a sharp dichotomy between the legislative or statutory provisions and the reality. Contrary to the envisaged policy of equality in the official usage of the two languages, the French Language dominates the official acts of the state institutions, even in the pure English-speaking Regions of North West and South West as Administrators in these state institutions issue documents frequently in French only, notices, sign boards, and even speak only French in these public offices within the NW/SW regions.

This has inevitably triggered agitation of the English speaking regions of Cameroon (North West and South West regions of Cameroon) which are been dominated by the French (francophone) in all aspects of socio-economic, educational and political life.

In the pure French-speaking Regions like Littoral and Centre regions, there is usually a serious problem of communication between the English-Speaking Cameroonians living there for academic or professional reasons and the French counterparts.

These are the problems against which the researcher wants to investigate the phenomenon, the legal and institutional measures to ensure an equal official usage of English and French languages in all public institutions across the country, to find out what factors are hindering the success of bilingualism in Cameroon and to suggest policy reforms that will address the problem of unequal usage of the two official languages in Cameroon.

1.3. Research Questions

The study is based on the following research questions:

1.3.1. Main Research Question

The main research question is to what extent is bilingualism promoted in Cameroon?

1.3.2. Specific Research Questions

1. What is the notion of bilingualism?
2. What measures have been put in place to promote bilingualism in Cameroon?
3. Are the measures to promote bilingualism in Cameroon effective?
4. What can be done to effectively promote bilingualism in Cameroon?

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