ASSESSING PATTERNS OF LANGUAGE USE AND IDENTITY AMONG CAMEROONIAN MIGRANTS IN CAPE TOWN MBONG MAGDALINE MAI A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for a Masters Degree in the Department of Linguistics of the University of the Western Cape Supervisor: Professor Felix Banda November 2006 ASSESSING PATTERNS OF LANGUAGE USE AND IDENTITY AMONG CAMEROONIAN MIGRANTS IN CAPE TOWN MBONG MAGDALINE MAI KEYWORDS Cameroon Frankanglais Francophone Anglophone Identity Immigrants Cameroon Pidgin English Language Multilingual Vernacular II ABSTRACT ASSESSING PATTERNS OF LANGAUGE USE AND IDENTITY AMONG CAMEROONIAN MIGRANTS IN CAPE TOWN MBONG MAGDALINE MAI Full Masters Thesis, Department of Linguistics, University of the Western Cape In this study, I explore Cameroonian migrants’ language use and the various language forms they use to manifest their identity. I deem this subject very interesting as it deals with a multicultural/multilingual people in an equally multicultural/multilingual society – Cape Town. The study was carried out in the wider and interdisciplinary field of applied linguistics with focus on the specific domain of sociolinguistics. I have collected data through interviews, focus group discussions and participant observation and used qualitative methods for interpretation of data guided by the concepts of space and territoriality as has been propounded by Vigouroux (2005). Finally, I consider the influence of space and territory on the language choice and above all, I show that the decision to use one language instead of the other in any given territory or space is never a neutral one. I argue that the Cameroonian immigrants still use language in the same way, as they would do if they were in Cameroon. That is, the Cameroonian migrants would speak Cameroon Pidgin English (CPE) amongst themselves at home, in school, church, at their jobsites, social gatherings and so on and continue to code switch between English, French, CPE and their vernaculars, although I show that they tend to use more English, and less French in Cape Town. I maintain that the immigrants still treat CPE with as much disdain, as they would do in Cameroon. Again I argue that the indifferent attitude of Cameroonians towards their vernaculars (African languages) remains the same since they continue to attach importance to the official languages (French and English) and finally, that Frankanglais is not being used in Cape Town. I establish that the sluggish Cameroon language policy and the snobbish attitude of the Cameroonian elites towards the promotion of vernaculars have caused the local III languages to be less decisive at the national platform. As such, it is around the official languages that two major identities can be noticed in Cape Town – the Anglophone and the Francophone identities. This situation, I further argue, stirs a kind of linguistic conflict in Cape Town just like in Cameroon, although some participants cross this boundaries and continue to live together. Ironically the conflict is based on former colonial languages and not on the many African languages. In sum, this study emphasises the standardisation of CPE and the need for a language policy in Cameroon that encourages the former official languages (English and French) plus CPE to be taught in schools alongside the Cameroonian vernaculars. IV DECLARATION I declare that Assessing Patterns of Language Use And Identity Among Cameroonian Migrants in Cape Town is my own work and that it has not been submitted for any degree or examination in any other institution and also that all the sources I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references Mbong Magdaline Mai November 2006 Signed……………………. V ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My sincere gratitude goes especially to Mrs Amanda Branda for her loving care and morale at the time that it was most needed. I appreciate the entire Branda family for their sincere friendship, understanding and above all, their confidence and support for my baby Sarah Muh and I. Were it not for them, this project would forever remain a farfetched dream. Fieldwork for this study was carried out in South Africa and involved the Cameroonian immigrants in Cape Town. My gratitude to them all and particularly to those in the Parow Market, the Grand Parade, the Cameroonian students in the Hector Peterson Residence in the University of the Western Cape, and all the members of the Cameroon North Westerner’s Association (CANOWACAT) whose active participation has lead to the realisation of this project. My greatest thanks goes to the staff members of the Linguistic Department among whom are Mrs Avril Grovers for always being there to assist the students and cheer them up, Ms Zannie Bock to whom I mostly attribute my transition from the Honours level to a Masters Level and from whom I got constant support and concern for the progress of my thesis. I am greatly indebted to Professor Felix Banda for making it possible for me to meet Professor Rajend Mesthrie of the University of Cape Town whose financial support has been behind my completion of this project. I again thank Professor Banda for his time, patience and humble assistance that acted as a source of inspiration and made it possible for me to complete the Masters project in a relatively shorter period. To my parents, Mai Winifred Ewi and Ntuh Thomas Mai, I find no words suitable enough to express my sincere recognition of their sacrifices, motivations and prayers. I equally appreciate them for bringing me up in a way that enabled me to cope in any environment. VI Last but not least, my sincere gratitude to Fuzile Mbuyana for her selfless help in typing some of my transcriptions and Dr. Hashim Mohamed for his constructive advice and support in giving this thesis the shape it has. Most importantly, I sanctify God almighty for all His wonders and complete control over every circumstance that directed me to the end of this project. VII TABLE OF CONTENTS Title Page No. KEYWORDS II ABSTRACT III DECLARATION V AKNOWLEDGEMENTS VI CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.0 Introduction 1 1.1 Linguistic Background 6 1.2 Geographical Background 6 1.2.1 The Linguistic Diversity of Cameroon 6 1.2.2 Historical Background 9 1.3 Rationale 12 1.4 Aims and Objectives 12 1.4.1 Aims 12 1.4.2 Objectives 13 1.5 Statement of Research Problem 13 1.5.1 Research Questions 13 1.6 Hypothesis 14 1.7 Scope of Study 14 1.8 Research Methodology 14 1.8.1 Research Design 14 1.8.2 Focus 15 1.8.3 Data Processing 15 1.9 Organisation of Thesis 15 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 17 2.0 Introduction 17 2.1 The Effects of Migration 18 2.2 The Concept of Identity 25 2.3. Analytical Framework 36 2.3.1 The Concept of Migration 36 VIII 2.3.2 The Concept of Space 38 2.3.3 The Concept of Territoriality 40 2.3.4 The Notion of Territoriality, Language Attitude and 41 Practice 2.3.4.1. The Paradigm of Mobility 41 2.3.4.2 The Notions of Outsideness and Insideness. 43 2.3.4.3 The Impact of Language Choice on Discourse 46 2.4 Summary 48 CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY 49 3.0 Introduction 49 3.1 Research Design 49 3.2 Sampling and Sample Selection Techniques 49 3.3 Data Sources and Data Collection Procedures 51 3.3.1 Data Collection Procedures 51 3.3.2 Interviews 52 3.3.3 Participant Observer Discussions 54 3.3.4 Focus Groups 56 3.3.5 Instruments 57 3.5 Ethical Considerations 57 3.6 Data Processing 58 3.7 Qualitative Approach 58 3.7.1 Research Limitations and Bias 58 3.7.2 Discourse Analysis 59 3 3.7.3 Scope and Limitation to the Data 59 3.8 Summary 59 CHAPTER 4 DATA INTERPRETATION AND DISCUSSIONS 61 4.0 Introduction 61 4.1 Solutions to the Research Problem 62 4.1.1 The Influence of the South African Socio-linguistic 62 Situation on the Speech Forms of the Cameroonians 4.1.2 The Cameroonness of Cameroonians: Code Switching 75 4.1.3 Perceptions Towards Cameroonian Vernaculars 87 4.2 Thematic Interpretation in Relation to Literature Review: 104 Summary IX 4.2.1 The Dominance of the Official Languages 104 4.2.2 The Dominance of French and Name-Giving to 108 Anglophones 4.2.3 The Francophone/Anglophone Divide 113 4.2.4 Globalisation and Anglophone Culture 116 4.2.5 Room-sharing 119 4.2.6 The Immigrants’ Attitudes Towards CPE and the 121 Anglophone Problem 4.2.7 Immigrant Culture, Xenophobia and Transformation 126 4.2.8 More Rights to the Women 128 4.2.9 Migration 129 4.3 New Themes Emerging from the Data 130 4.3.1 The Anglophone Divide 130 4.3.2. Frankanglais 131 4.3.3. Cohabitation 132 4.3.4 A Language for all Africans 132 4.4 Summary 133 CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 134 5.0 Introduction 134 5.1 Conclusions 134 5.2 Implication of the Study to Cameroonians and 141 Recommendations For Policy Makers 5.3 Recommendations For Scholars 143 BIBLIOGRAPHY 144 APPENDIXICES X CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.0 Introduction The plurality of Cameroon and its French – English official bilingualism have constituted various linguistic strata identification for Cameroonians in the past decades. The people have at different times, for different reasons and under different circumstances, always demonstrated linguistic and emotional attachment to the many home languages that number up to 285 (Anchimbe, 2005a:1), and to their official languages (French and English) in addition to the Cameroonian pidgin English (CPE) and the regional lingua franca: Fulfulde, Ewondo, Basa’a, Douala, Hausa, Wandala, Kanuri; and Arab Choa (Anchimbe, 2005a:7-1).