SIT Graduate Institute/SIT Study Abroad SIT Digital Collections Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection SIT Study Abroad Spring 2017 "Ewondo in the Classes, French for the Masses." Mother-Tongue Education in Yaoundé, Cameroon. Parker Henry SIT Study Abroad Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection Part of the African Languages and Societies Commons, Applied Linguistics Commons, Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons, First and Second Language Acquisition Commons, Language and Literacy Education Commons, and the Other French and Francophone Language and Literature Commons Recommended Citation Henry, Parker, ""Ewondo in the Classes, French for the Masses." Mother-Tongue Education in Yaoundé, Cameroon." (2017). Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection. 2572. https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/2572 This Unpublished Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the SIT Study Abroad at SIT Digital Collections. It has been accepted for inclusion in Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection by an authorized administrator of SIT Digital Collections. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. “Ewondo in the Classes, French for the Masses” Mother-Tongue Education in Yaoundé, Cameroon Parker Henry Academic Director: Christiane Magnido Academic Supervisor: Professor Valentine N. Ubanako Yaoundé, Cameroon Development and Social Change, SIT Study Abroad ISP Key Words: Bilingual and Multicultural Education, Curriculum and Instruction, Applied Linguistics Indiana University Linguistics and International Studies 1 Abstract Cameroon is home to over two hundred eighty native languages coming from three language families, making it one of the most linguistically diverse countries on Earth. Despite this, native languages hold very few domains in Cameroonian society. In recent years, several experimental programs have begun to implement native languages in schools citing that children learn best in their mother tongue.