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ABSTRACT
Anglo-Saxon campuses in the Francophone section of the country instruct
their learners in English Language. This paper examines the language used out of
class by learners after receiving instructions in English in the classroom. Two
secondary and one higher institutes of learning, which have English as the
language of instruction, were sampled. From the observation, which was
conducted by silently monitoring pairs or groups of learners conversing with one
another, it was discovered that the most spoken language by learners is French.
French is just a subject in some of these institutions. The reason for French being
highly spoken language on Anglophone campuses is the fact that more
Francophones attend these schools than Anglophones and Anglophones struggle
to speak French rather than English since they believe that it is already their
language. The consequences of frenchifying the Anglophone campuses is that
spoken French is on the steady rise while spoken English is on the steady decline
even among Anglophones on these campuses. This paper therefore proposes that
the use of English, out of the classroom, should be encouraged through
sensitization and rewards.
Suggested Citation:
Fonka Hans M. (2014) Decline in spoken English on Anglophone campuses in the Francophone Regions
in Cameroon. International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies. 2(2), 11-22 Retrieved from
http://www.eltsjournal.org
IJ-ELTS
Volume: 2
Issue: 2
1. Introduction
Depending on the context in which
education is carried out, students can start
school already having two or more languages
in their linguistic repertoire. In a monolingual
situation, a situation which is not evident in
any nation in the world, children may start
school with only one language common to all
of them involved in the study. This is not the
case in multilingual situations where students
already command a number of languages
before beginning school. The language used
in school may not always be the language the
students used at home. This is the
commonest linguistic scenario in countries
where English is used as a second language.
Most children, who go to school, speak their
vernaculars and only an insignificant
proportion of them speak English they are
expected to use on a daily basis in school.
This view is elaborated by Schlepeggrell
(2004) as follow:
Language use is always socially and
culturally situated. What we learn and how
we learn it depends on the contexts in
which we learn. Not all students come to
school with the same background and ways
of using language. School language tasks
are not familiar to all students from their
experiences in their homes and
communities. For some children, the
socialization contexts in which they have
participated have prepared them well for
the ways of using language they encounter
at school. For many other children,
however, this is not the case. (P.04).
April-June, 2014
Cite this article as: Fonka, Hans M. (2014) Decline in spoken English on Anglophone campuses in the Francophone
Regions in Cameroon. International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies. 2(2), 11-22 Retrieved from
http://www.eltsjournal.org
Page | 12
IJ-ELTS
Volume: 2
Issue: 2
April-June, 2014
Cite this article as: Fonka, Hans M. (2014) Decline in spoken English on Anglophone campuses in the Francophone
Regions in Cameroon. International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies. 2(2), 11-22 Retrieved from
http://www.eltsjournal.org
Page | 13
IJ-ELTS
Volume: 2
Issue: 2
April-June, 2014
Cite this article as: Fonka, Hans M. (2014) Decline in spoken English on Anglophone campuses in the Francophone
Regions in Cameroon. International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies. 2(2), 11-22 Retrieved from
http://www.eltsjournal.org
Page | 14
IJ-ELTS
Volume: 2
Issue: 2
April-June, 2014
Cite this article as: Fonka, Hans M. (2014) Decline in spoken English on Anglophone campuses in the Francophone
Regions in Cameroon. International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies. 2(2), 11-22 Retrieved from
http://www.eltsjournal.org
Page | 15
IJ-ELTS
Volume: 2
Issue: 2
April-June, 2014
Cite this article as: Fonka, Hans M. (2014) Decline in spoken English on Anglophone campuses in the Francophone
Regions in Cameroon. International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies. 2(2), 11-22 Retrieved from
http://www.eltsjournal.org
Page | 16
IJ-ELTS
Volume: 2
Issue: 2
Fokam
Total
30
100
April-June, 2014
Mario
Total
30
100
Cite this article as: Fonka, Hans M. (2014) Decline in spoken English on Anglophone campuses in the Francophone
Regions in Cameroon. International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies. 2(2), 11-22 Retrieved from
http://www.eltsjournal.org
Page | 17
IJ-ELTS
Language
Pairs
/groups of
students
Percentage
Volume: 2
French
English
18
06
Pidgin
/Creole
06
60
20
20
Issue: 2
Total
100
30
school
Total
90
100
April-June, 2014
Cite this article as: Fonka, Hans M. (2014) Decline in spoken English on Anglophone campuses in the Francophone
Regions in Cameroon. International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies. 2(2), 11-22 Retrieved from
http://www.eltsjournal.org
Page | 18
IJ-ELTS
Volume: 2
Issue: 2
April-June, 2014
Cite this article as: Fonka, Hans M. (2014) Decline in spoken English on Anglophone campuses in the Francophone
Regions in Cameroon. International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies. 2(2), 11-22 Retrieved from
http://www.eltsjournal.org
Page | 19
IJ-ELTS
Volume: 2
Issue: 2
5. Conclusion
This study examined the language
used on the campuses of anglophone schools
in Cameroon. It is very clear that English
language is gradually leaving the anglophone
schools and giving its place to French as
more and more students from the
francophone background become interested
in anglophone schools in Cameroon.
Something needs to be done to reverse this
trend as anglophone schools cannot, at the
same time, become French campuses. This
does not mean stopping students from the
francophone backgrounds from attending
anglophone schools; it simply has to do with
enforcing the language meant for the
anglophone institutions to be used both in
class and out of class. This should be done
by encouraging and not by forcing or
punishing. This has been going on in an
increasing measure because it is considered
normal and nobody really cares about the
language used out of the classroom. Research
has proved that speaking and listening allows
children to organise and rehearse ideas in
advance of putting them on paper and it is a
key factor in securing successful learning
(Scott 2009:4). The speaking aspect, which is
missing in these students, should be
encouraged since it affects even performance
in class. Students, especially those from
French backgrounds, who make good use of
spoken English, should be rewarded so that it
can serve as motivation to others. It should
be borne in mind that their different out-ofschool experiences with language affect their
knowledge about expectations for language
use at school (Schleppegrell 2009:24). There
is increase in this trend because French is
one of the official languages in Cameroon
and it is considered normal for it to be used
anywhere and anyhow. To sum up, the
languages used in class should be encouraged
April-June, 2014
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Regions in Cameroon. International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies. 2(2), 11-22 Retrieved from
http://www.eltsjournal.org
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Regions in Cameroon. International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies. 2(2), 11-22 Retrieved from
http://www.eltsjournal.org
Page | 21
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Cite this article as: Fonka, Hans M. (2014) Decline in spoken English on Anglophone campuses in the Francophone
Regions in Cameroon. International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies. 2(2), 11-22 Retrieved from
http://www.eltsjournal.org
Page | 22