Social Differentiation in Cameroon English: Evidence from Sociolinguistic Fieldwork

Social Differentiation in Cameroon English investigates the correlation between some extra-linguistic variables (gender, age, level of education, ethnicity, regionality, occupation, and mood) and phonological variables in a New English setting that is sociolinguistically and culturally different from most Western contexts. The investigation reveals that the type of correlation patterns between linguistic and sociolinguistic variables reported in the Western world are lacking in Cameroon because of contextual factors and the fact that English Language Teaching (ELT) goals in Cameroon continue to be based on Inner Circle English norms. It is therefore predicted that if mainstream Cameroon English is promoted and standardized and Cameroonian speakers of English are evaluated in terms of their knowledge of Cameroon Standard English, some of the correlation patterns reported in the Western world can equally be observable in Cameroon.

The Author: Aloysius Ngefac is Senior Lecturer at the University of Yaounde I, where he received his Ph.D. in English linguistics. He also holds two graduate diplomas in ELT and Education (DIPES I and DIPES II). Dr. Ngefac has resided at the University of Regensburg, Germany, as a fellow of the German Academic Exchange Service and at the University of Pennsylvania, as a Fulbright African Senior Research Scholar. Dr. Ngefac has lectured at many universities, including the City University of New York, Drexel University, Indiana State University, and Indiana University. His research interests include sociolinguistics, pidgins and creoles, ELT, and World Englishes. He has published numerous scholarly articles in Africa, Europe and America.