Cameroon English accent: Issues of standardization, attitudes and pedagogic concerns
Year: 2010
Type: article
Abstract: The twists and turns that the English language has undergone in Cameroon, as a result of the ecological, sociolinguistic and cultural realities of this postcolonial multilingual setting, make this New English, like other New Englishes, significantly different from older or traditional native Englishes, such as British and American Englishes. In spite of efforts made so far to describe Cameroon English at all linguistic levels as one of the World Englishes (Masanga, 1983; Mbangwana, 1987; Bobda, 1994; Sala, 2005; Kouega, 1991; Anchimbe, 2006; Ngefac, 2008), no concrete effort has been made to place its phonological features at different levels of the continuum to indicate which of the features should be included in the linguistic spectrum of what can be called standard and substandard Cameroon English. No effort has equally been made to elect the Cameroon English pronunciation model for educational practices. This study describes Cameroon English phonological features in terms of a continuum, proposes what should constitute standard Cameroon pronunciation, the model for educational practices, and investigates attitudes towards the different varieties that make up the continuum of Cameroon English pronunciation.
Key words: English, continuum, Cameroon
Source: Journal of Languages and Culture
DOI: 10.5897/jlc.9000008
Author: Aloysius Ngefac
Language: English
Subfield: Linguistics and Language
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W2145235650