Sociolinguistic variables in the "Degeneracy" of English in postcolonial ("non-native") contexts

This paper tackles from a broad historical perspective the attitudes, media and strategies of transmission, and the interplay of English and identity in the world today. It traces the negative tendencies towards non-native Englishes resultant from British colonialism to the hangovers and strategic linguistic schemes adopted during colonialism. Here the appellations non-native, postcolonial, indigenised, New Englishes are used interchangeably without purporting to make a profound evaluation of the bias linked to them, especially the non-native. The paper concludes with the note that the claim of degeneracy of the New Englishes was ignited by colonial linguistic projects and later fuelled by social prejudices built basically on colonial skeletons. It has less linguistic evidence and if any exists its roots are strongly founded in colonialism

The native-speaker fever in English language teaching (ELT): Pitting pedagogical competence against historical origin

This paper discusses English language teaching (ELT) around the world, and argues that as a profession, it should emphasise pedagogical competence rather than native-speaker requirement in the recruitment of teachers in English as a foreign language (EFL) and English as a second language (ESL) contexts. It establishes that being a native speaker does not make one automatically a competent speaker or, of that matter, a competent teacher of the language. It observes that on many grounds, including physical, sociocultural, technological and economic changes in the world as well as the status of English as official and national language in many post-colonial regions, the distinction between native and non-native speakers is no longer valid

Multilingual backgrounds and the identity issue in Cameroon

This paper seeks to establish at what point the language issue is relevant to the establishment of a Cameroonian identity which is devoid of complications (difficult though it may be) and which reflects the ideal citizen in this multilingual setting. It traces some of the historically linked sociolinguistic problems encountered in Cameroon to the quest for an adequately recognised identity vehiculated in a given language. This brings to light the divergent attachment to the official languages and the native Cameroonian languages and the various strata of identity they engender

Socio-Ethnic Stereotypes and The Refusal of Offers

The aim of this paper is to establish the impact of stereotypes directed at social and ethnic groups in interpersonal interaction in collectivist postcolonial societies. Focus is on the refusal of offers whose acceptance is otherwise supposed to be default. I illustrate using interviews conducted in two Cameroonian towns, Bamenda and Yaounde in 2009, that knowledge of socio-ethnic stereotypes plays a significant role in speakers’ decision to accept, or refuse offers from people of certain ethnic backgrounds or origins. From a postcolonial pragmatics theoretical standpoint, the analysis shows that the desire to enhance in- group cohesion, adhere to societal norms and defend in-group collectivist face while attacking out-group collectivist face is salient in interlocutors’ verbal and physical behaviour

Multilingual backgrounds and the identity issue in Cameroon

This paper seeks to establish at what point the language issue is relevant to the establishment of a Cameroonian identity which is devoid of complications (difficult though it may be) and which reflects the ideal citizen in this multilingual setting. It traces some of the historically linked sociolinguistic problems encountered in Cameroon to the quest for an adequately recognised identity vehiculated in a given language. This brings to light the divergent attachment to the official languages and the native Cameroonian languages and the various strata of identity they engender

The native-speaker fever in English language teaching (ELT): Pitting pedagogical competence against historical origin

This paper discusses English language teaching (ELT) around the world, and argues that as a profession, it should emphasise pedagogical competence rather than native-speaker requirement in the recruitment of teachers in English as a foreign language (EFL) and English as a second language (ESL) contexts. It establishes that being a native speaker does not make one automatically a competent speaker or, of that matter, a competent teacher of the language. It observes that on many grounds, including physical, sociocultural, technological and economic changes in the world as well as the status of English as official and national language in many post-colonial regions, the distinction between native and non-native speakers is no longer valid

Digital Narratives of Belonging as Anglophone or Francophone in a Cameroon Online News Forum

Using readers’ comments on an online news forum (The Post newspaper), this paper describes patterns of belonging to the historical (colonial) linguistic in-group anglophone and out-group francophone in Cameroon. These groups emerged from the British-French colonisation of the country after WW1, with anglophones representing the former British colony and francophones the French. My focus is on the use of eight plural pronouns and how they index in-group or out-group belonging. Four of the pronouns, we, our, us and ourselves are used inclusively to create a solid anglophone in-group through the narration of a common (colonial) history, linguistic background (the use of English) and experiences. The other four, they, them, their and themselves refer predominantly to francophones as an out-group that must be differentiated from the close-knit anglophone in-group. I illustrate how, in defending the boundaries of these groups, the commentators autobiographically narrate the life trajectories of their in-group, highlight its values and interrogate the moral stance of the out-group. They benefit from the digital space which provides anonymity and closes the geographical distances between them. Overall, the anglophone in-group narrative emerges as an autobiographical narrative within the bigger (national) autobiographical narrative of the country, into which it often opens and is sometimes integrated

Anglophonism and Francophonism : The Stakes of (Official) Language Identity in Cameroon

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