Cameroon Pidgin English at the Service of Local Culture, Science and Technology

Valentine Njende Ubanako

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.35

| Peer-Reviewed

Cameroon Pidgin English at the Service of Local Culture, Science and Technology

Valentine Njende Ubanako

Published in International Journal of Language and Linguistics (Volume 3, Issue 6)

Received: 9 August 2015 Accepted: 6 November 2015 Published: 25 January 2016

Views: Downloads:

Download PDF

Share This Article

Twitter
Linked In
Facebook

Abstract

Despite divergent views about the status of Cameroon Pidgin English (henceforth CPE), some researchers such as Atechi (2011); Chia (1983); Mbangwana (2004) etc. are nevertheless unanimous that the language is the most widely spoken lingua franca in the country. Kouega (2008), came up with a dictionary of Cameroon Pidgin English to buttress the fact that it is an autonomous language which has attained maturity. Alobwede (1998: 54) carried out a survey on the acquisition of Pidgin English and English as a first language in some major towns in Cameroon and indicates that CPE is the majority language in Bamenda, Mamfe, Kumba, Buea, Limbe, Douala and Yaounde when compared to the acquisition of English. Equally, Mbangwana (2004:23) posits that 97.8% Anglophone and 61.8% francophone Cameroonian urban dwellers speak CPE. From the statistics above, it is evident that more people are proficient in CPE, feel at home with it, and use it more than the official languages (English and French). Consequently, most cultural, scientific and technological knowledge is concealed from the majority of speakers since it is essentially available in English or French, languages they are not very conversant with. In this paper, I am examining how widespread CPE is, as well as the potential and capacity of the language in expressing local cultural, scientific and technical knowledge and how such knowledge could be captured in CPE. Data will be collected through participant observation, literary works of arts, local newspapers published in English and from Kouega’s (2008) dictionary on Cameroon Pidgin English. The data will be analysed using the Domain Analysis approach propounded by James Bradley (1980).

Published in	International Journal of Language and Linguistics (Volume 3, Issue 6)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.35
Page(s)	510-515
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2016. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Lingua Franca, Potential and Capacity, Majority Language, Local Culture, Knowledge

References

[1]	Anchimbe, E. (2004) “Creating new names for common things in Cameroon English”. The Internet TESL Journal, X(8), August 2004. http://iteslj.org/Articles/Anchimbe-CameroonEnglish.html.Creating New Names for Common Things in Cameroon English.
[2]	Atechi, S. (2011). “Pidgin English in Cameroon: To teach or not to teach”. In International Journal of English Language Studies (IJLS), Vol 5(1). 53-66.
[3]	Atechi, S. (2011). “Is Cameroon Pidgin flourishing or dying?” English Today, 27 (3), pp.30-34.
[4]	Ayafor, M. (1996). “An orthography for kamtok.” English Today, 48, Vol. IV, pp.53-57.
[5]	Chumbow, B.S. & Simo Bobda A. (1996). The Life-Cycle of Post-Imperial English in Cameroon. In Joshua A. Fishman, Andrew W. Conrad & A. Rubal-Lopez (eds) Post Imperial English: Status Change in Former British and American Colonies, 1940-1990 (Contributions to the Sociology of Language, 72) Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 401-429.
[6]	Chumbow B. S. (1995) “The Language Factor in the Development of Science and Technology in Africa”. Paper Presented at the Human Sciences Research Seminar, Cape Town and Pretoria, 24-27 March 1995.
[7]	Echu, G. (2008) “Forms of address as a politeness strategy in Cameroon Pidgin English” In Bernard Mulo Farenkia (ed). Linguistic Politeness in Cameroon: Pragmatic, Comparative and Intercultural Approaches. Frankfurt: Peter Lang, pp 311-323.
[8]	Ethnologue (2005). Languages of the World. (Available from: http://www.ethnologue.com.).
[9]	Fonka, H. (2011). “Cameroon Pidgin English: Evolution in Attitudes, Functions and Varieties”. Unpublished PhD Thesis. University of Yaounde.
[10]	Higgins, C. (2003) ‘Ownership’ in the outer circle: An alternative to the NS-NNS dichotomy. TESOL Quarterly 37 (4), 615-644.
[11]	Kachru, B.B (1986) The Alchemy of English. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.
[12]	Kouega, J.P. (2001). “Pidgin English Facing Death in Cameroon.” Terralingua. Hancock, pp.11-22.
[13]	Kouega, J.P (2008) “A Dictionary of Cameroon Pidgin English Usage: Pronunciation, Grammar and Vocabulary”. Lincom Studies in Pidgin & Creole Linguistics. Munich: Lincom Europa.
[14]	Mbangwana, P. (1992) Some Grammatical Sign-Posts in Cameroon Standard English. In Schmied (ed) English in East and Central Africa. Bayreuth: Bayreuth University Press, p93-102.
[15]	Mbangwana, P. (2004). “Pidgin English in Cameroon: A Veritable Linguistic Menu.” In Africa meets Europe: Language Contact in West Africa. George Echu and Samuel Gyasi Obeng (eds), Nova Science publishers, inc. pp.23-44.
[16]	Norton, B. (1997) Language, Identity and Ownership of English. TESOL Quarterly 31 (3), 409-429.
[17]	Spradley, J. (1980) Participant Observation. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
[18]	Strevens, P. (1992) English as an International Language: Directions in the 1990s. In B.B. Kachru (ed) The Other Tongue (2^nd edn) pp 27-47. Urnana: University of Illinois Press.
[19]	Tajfel, H. and Turner, J. C. (1986). “The social identity theory of inter-group behavior”. In S. Worchel and L. W. Austin (eds.), Psychology of Intergroup Relations. Chicago: Nelson-Hall.
[20]	Tiayon, C. (1985) “Camspeak: A Speech Reality in Cameroon”. Unpublished Maîtrise Dissertation, University of Yaounde.
[21]	Widdowson, H. (1994) The Ownership of English. TESOL Quarterly 28 (2), 377-388.

Cite This Article

Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Valentine Njende Ubanako. (2016). Cameroon Pidgin English at the Service of Local Culture, Science and Technology. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 3(6), 510-515. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.35

Copy | Download

ACS Style

Valentine Njende Ubanako. Cameroon Pidgin English at the Service of Local Culture, Science and Technology. Int. J. Lang. Linguist. 2016, 3(6), 510-515. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.35

Copy | Download

AMA Style

Valentine Njende Ubanako. Cameroon Pidgin English at the Service of Local Culture, Science and Technology. Int J Lang Linguist. 2016;3(6):510-515. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.35

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.35,
  author = {Valentine Njende Ubanako},
  title = {Cameroon Pidgin English at the Service of Local Culture, Science and Technology},
  journal = {International Journal of Language and Linguistics},
  volume = {3},
  number = {6},
  pages = {510-515},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.35},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.35},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijll.20150306.35},
  abstract = {Despite divergent views about the status of Cameroon Pidgin English (henceforth CPE), some researchers such as Atechi (2011); Chia (1983); Mbangwana (2004) etc. are nevertheless unanimous that the language is the most widely spoken lingua franca in the country. Kouega (2008), came up with a dictionary of Cameroon Pidgin English to buttress the fact that it is an autonomous language which has attained maturity. Alobwede (1998: 54) carried out a survey on the acquisition of Pidgin English and English as a first language in some major towns in Cameroon and indicates that CPE is the majority language in Bamenda, Mamfe, Kumba, Buea, Limbe, Douala and Yaounde when compared to the acquisition of English. Equally, Mbangwana (2004:23) posits that 97.8% Anglophone and 61.8% francophone Cameroonian urban dwellers speak CPE. From the statistics above, it is evident that more people are proficient in CPE, feel at home with it, and use it more than the official languages (English and French). Consequently, most cultural, scientific and technological knowledge is concealed from the majority of speakers since it is essentially available in English or French, languages they are not very conversant with. In this paper, I am examining how widespread CPE is, as well as the potential and capacity of the language in expressing local cultural, scientific and technical knowledge and how such knowledge could be captured in CPE. Data will be collected through participant observation, literary works of arts, local newspapers published in English and from Kouega’s (2008) dictionary on Cameroon Pidgin English. The data will be analysed using the Domain Analysis approach propounded by James Bradley (1980).},
 year = {2016}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Cameroon Pidgin English at the Service of Local Culture, Science and Technology
AU  - Valentine Njende Ubanako
Y1  - 2016/01/25
PY  - 2016
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.35
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.35
T2  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
JF  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
JO  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
SP  - 510
EP  - 515
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-0221
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.35
AB  - Despite divergent views about the status of Cameroon Pidgin English (henceforth CPE), some researchers such as Atechi (2011); Chia (1983); Mbangwana (2004) etc. are nevertheless unanimous that the language is the most widely spoken lingua franca in the country. Kouega (2008), came up with a dictionary of Cameroon Pidgin English to buttress the fact that it is an autonomous language which has attained maturity. Alobwede (1998: 54) carried out a survey on the acquisition of Pidgin English and English as a first language in some major towns in Cameroon and indicates that CPE is the majority language in Bamenda, Mamfe, Kumba, Buea, Limbe, Douala and Yaounde when compared to the acquisition of English. Equally, Mbangwana (2004:23) posits that 97.8% Anglophone and 61.8% francophone Cameroonian urban dwellers speak CPE. From the statistics above, it is evident that more people are proficient in CPE, feel at home with it, and use it more than the official languages (English and French). Consequently, most cultural, scientific and technological knowledge is concealed from the majority of speakers since it is essentially available in English or French, languages they are not very conversant with. In this paper, I am examining how widespread CPE is, as well as the potential and capacity of the language in expressing local cultural, scientific and technical knowledge and how such knowledge could be captured in CPE. Data will be collected through participant observation, literary works of arts, local newspapers published in English and from Kouega’s (2008) dictionary on Cameroon Pidgin English. The data will be analysed using the Domain Analysis approach propounded by James Bradley (1980).
VL  - 3
IS  - 6
ER  -

Copy | Download

Author Information

Valentine Njende Ubanako

Department of Bilingual Studies, the University of Yaounde 1, Cameroon

Download PDF

Sections

Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Valentine Njende Ubanako. (2016). Cameroon Pidgin English at the Service of Local Culture, Science and Technology. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 3(6), 510-515. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.35

Copy | Download

ACS Style

Valentine Njende Ubanako. Cameroon Pidgin English at the Service of Local Culture, Science and Technology. Int. J. Lang. Linguist. 2016, 3(6), 510-515. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.35

Copy | Download

AMA Style

Valentine Njende Ubanako. Cameroon Pidgin English at the Service of Local Culture, Science and Technology. Int J Lang Linguist. 2016;3(6):510-515. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.35

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.35,
  author = {Valentine Njende Ubanako},
  title = {Cameroon Pidgin English at the Service of Local Culture, Science and Technology},
  journal = {International Journal of Language and Linguistics},
  volume = {3},
  number = {6},
  pages = {510-515},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.35},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.35},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijll.20150306.35},
  abstract = {Despite divergent views about the status of Cameroon Pidgin English (henceforth CPE), some researchers such as Atechi (2011); Chia (1983); Mbangwana (2004) etc. are nevertheless unanimous that the language is the most widely spoken lingua franca in the country. Kouega (2008), came up with a dictionary of Cameroon Pidgin English to buttress the fact that it is an autonomous language which has attained maturity. Alobwede (1998: 54) carried out a survey on the acquisition of Pidgin English and English as a first language in some major towns in Cameroon and indicates that CPE is the majority language in Bamenda, Mamfe, Kumba, Buea, Limbe, Douala and Yaounde when compared to the acquisition of English. Equally, Mbangwana (2004:23) posits that 97.8% Anglophone and 61.8% francophone Cameroonian urban dwellers speak CPE. From the statistics above, it is evident that more people are proficient in CPE, feel at home with it, and use it more than the official languages (English and French). Consequently, most cultural, scientific and technological knowledge is concealed from the majority of speakers since it is essentially available in English or French, languages they are not very conversant with. In this paper, I am examining how widespread CPE is, as well as the potential and capacity of the language in expressing local cultural, scientific and technical knowledge and how such knowledge could be captured in CPE. Data will be collected through participant observation, literary works of arts, local newspapers published in English and from Kouega’s (2008) dictionary on Cameroon Pidgin English. The data will be analysed using the Domain Analysis approach propounded by James Bradley (1980).},
 year = {2016}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Cameroon Pidgin English at the Service of Local Culture, Science and Technology
AU  - Valentine Njende Ubanako
Y1  - 2016/01/25
PY  - 2016
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.35
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.35
T2  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
JF  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
JO  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
SP  - 510
EP  - 515
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-0221
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20150306.35
AB  - Despite divergent views about the status of Cameroon Pidgin English (henceforth CPE), some researchers such as Atechi (2011); Chia (1983); Mbangwana (2004) etc. are nevertheless unanimous that the language is the most widely spoken lingua franca in the country. Kouega (2008), came up with a dictionary of Cameroon Pidgin English to buttress the fact that it is an autonomous language which has attained maturity. Alobwede (1998: 54) carried out a survey on the acquisition of Pidgin English and English as a first language in some major towns in Cameroon and indicates that CPE is the majority language in Bamenda, Mamfe, Kumba, Buea, Limbe, Douala and Yaounde when compared to the acquisition of English. Equally, Mbangwana (2004:23) posits that 97.8% Anglophone and 61.8% francophone Cameroonian urban dwellers speak CPE. From the statistics above, it is evident that more people are proficient in CPE, feel at home with it, and use it more than the official languages (English and French). Consequently, most cultural, scientific and technological knowledge is concealed from the majority of speakers since it is essentially available in English or French, languages they are not very conversant with. In this paper, I am examining how widespread CPE is, as well as the potential and capacity of the language in expressing local cultural, scientific and technical knowledge and how such knowledge could be captured in CPE. Data will be collected through participant observation, literary works of arts, local newspapers published in English and from Kouega’s (2008) dictionary on Cameroon Pidgin English. The data will be analysed using the Domain Analysis approach propounded by James Bradley (1980).
VL  - 3
IS  - 6
ER  -

Copy | Download