ipl-logo

Cameroon English Language Essay

982 Words4 Pages

This study investigates the contribution of the Cameroonian print media to the development of Cameroon English (CamE) and the English language as a whole. Insights are drawn from suppositions on new or world Englishes (Schneider 2003, 2007, 2008; Kachru 1986, 1992; Platt, Weber & Ho 1984) who maintain that factors such as the function, socio-cultural, educational and political factors motivate the spread of New Englishes. Analysis of some 200 issues of Cameroon Tribune, The Herald and The Post newspapers collected from 2008 – 2014 reveal that print media sources enrich CamE with loan words from mother tongues, borrowed nominal elements from Cameroon Pidgin English (CPE) and French, coinages, idioms, stylistic devices, deviant prepositions, etc. Cameroonians value these distinctive linguistic forms because it helps them …show more content…

The author’s findings reveal that modals occur less frequently in CamE, the blurring of the distinction between formal and informal use of modals like must and should, and the divergence of the structure of questions in CamE from those in native English. According to the researcher, questions like “you will come when?” have some semblance with those of Cameroonian home languages of the Bantu origin. The author argues that interplay of the syntax of these home languages and English could be responsible for such questions. In other research, Nkemleke (2006a, 2006b: 166- 184) found that texts such as Cameroon students’ essays, dissertation acknowledgments and private letters portray cultural-specific indicators which make them different from those in Standard English (SE). The scholar found nativised rhetorical style, expressions of difference and metaphor of “community” in some of the texts. Ngefac (2010: 149- 164) explains that factors like age, native language, official language background and intimacy motivate the choice of language used by

Show More
Related

  • Mali DBQ Essay

    649 Words  | 3 Pages

    “This king is the richest and most noble lord of all of this region due to the abundance of gold which is collected in his land. ”(Mansa Musa). During the Empire of Mali, Mali was considered a site of cultural exchange thanks to all the money that they had. Cultural exchange means there was an exchange of ideas and different cultures.

    Read More

  • A Rhetorical Analysis Of Who Owns Global English By Dennis Baron

    295 Words  | 2 Pages

    The English language has been around for a number of years, but now it is taking the world by storm. In Dennis Baron 's article titled "Who Owns Global English," he discusses how English has taken root in different countries to the dismay of their Governments. English has taken a new meaning in some countries that native speakers would call improper English. " Yes, we want" (Baron, 35) is the new battle cry of Madrid 's campaign on English. This may be bad English, but Baron is considering the possibility of it becoming a new form of English.

    Read More

  • A Rhetorical Analysis Of Mother Tongue By Amy Tan

    216 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the article “Mother Tongue,” Amy Tan cogitates about how her mother’s spoken English is compared to the Standard English language. Tan believes that language is not only a tool of communication, but also a sociological tool of measuring self worth. She’d always loved language, but never had she appeared expressive and rhetoric in front of her mother, due to the fact that her immigrant mother could not speak the Standard English language, but rather a “broken” English language. She discloses that between her mother, the outside world, and herself, only three languages exist: “broken” English (as her mother speaks to her), “simple” (as she speaks to her mother), and “watered down” (as she translates her mother’s tangled up broken English to

    Read More

  • Dbq Creoles Essay

    710 Words  | 3 Pages

    Casta paintings were used to show different ranks in race and status. Most would think since the Creoles were high on the hierarchy there would be no purpose of creoles revolting. However problems ran deeper than hierarchical status, the Creoles did not have a voice that one would think they had. There are three main reasons as to why the Creoles led the for Latin American Independence is because they wanted control over politics, social status, and economics. Politically, Peninsulares monopolized all administrative positions since the Creoles were Americans by birth and Europeans by law which made their position complicated.

    Read More

  • Creoles Dbq Essay

    574 Words  | 3 Pages

    From the 1500s - 1800s there were many independence movements across the globe. One of the most highlighted ones is the uphill battle for the Creoles against the Spainards. In the early 1800s the Creoles started revolting against their rulers, the Spaniards. There were a handful of unfair laws placed against the Creoles that were intolerable. Not only did the Creoles have to break free from the Spaniards they also had to become independent from all the other social classes surrounding them.

    Read More

  • Lera Boroditky Lost In Translation Analysis

    1539 Words  | 7 Pages

    Boroditsky begins her article by looking at the classic nursery rhyme “Humpty Dumpty”. Boroditsky breaks down this classic tale by analyzing how people who speak different languages perceive and understand this same form of media. Boroditsky starts her analyzation by stating that “In English, we have to mark the verb tense…” (Boroditsky 437) she then continues her analysis by comparing English to how “In Indonesian you need not (in fact you can’t) change the verb to mark tense.”

    Read More

  • Essay On Conga To Congo

    864 Words  | 4 Pages

    Loneliness and depression throughout children’s lives is an issue that affects the future of the world. Congo, a small country in Africa, suffers greatly from these issues. The organization “Conga to Congo” makes it a priority to help. The Democratic Republic of Congo is the poorest country in the world.

    Read More

  • Mother Tongue Thesis

    1108 Words  | 5 Pages

    While at a public speaking, Tan realized that she was using all these large words that her audience understood but her mother did not. “I was saying things like, “The intersection of memory upon imagination” and “There is an aspect of my fiction that relates to thus–and-thus…the forms of English I did not use at home with my mother” (Tan 58). Tan’s mother was in the room while Tan was giving the speech and that was when she realized that language could be a powerful tool that can connect each other in different ways. The English language can also bring people together who speak English but not in such a common way. “We were talking about the price of new and used furniture and I heard myself saying this: “Not waste money that way” (Tan 58).

    Read More

  • Selena Quintanilla Research Paper

    762 Words  | 4 Pages

    (Garcia, 2013). So I agree with this, children in order to be accepted in the culture of the country they are living they choose to speak only English, to feel part of the

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Richard Rodriguez And Anzaldúa

    701 Words  | 3 Pages

    Confident Relationships Built on Language Wouldn’t it be exciting to grow up learning more than one language? Imagine being in Japan for a week on vacation with a group of friends, and one day decided to go to the oldest zoo in Japan, Ueno Zoo. To get to Ueno Zoo, riding the bullet train was a necessity, except knowing which line was the correct line, when to get off the bullet train, or even which ticket to buy was a daunting task. Nobody in your group has the confidence to ask the workers for help since they don’t have the knowledge of Japanese to help them.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Mother Tongue

    458 Words  | 2 Pages

    Rhetorical Precis #4: “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan Amy Tan’s purpose in her article “Mother Tongue” is to show the influence of her mother’s style of english. She also relates this to a more broad topic of the idea that there are many different types of english that people speak that are tailored to whoever they are speaking to. She begins this piece by stating plainly that she is not an english scholar. Instead of decreasing her credibility it actually increases it and paints this piece as a more personal set of observations rather than a bland overview of the entire language.

    Read More

  • Always Living In Spanish By Marjorie Agosin Analysis

    1095 Words  | 5 Pages

    Throughout generations cultural traditions have been passed down, alongside these traditions came language. The language of ancestors, which soon began to be molded by the tongue of newer generations, was inherited. Though language is an everlasting changing part of the world, it is a representation of one’s identity, not only in a cultural way but from an environmental standpoint as well. One’s identity is revealed through language from an environmental point of view because the world that one is surrounded with can cause them to have their own definitions of words, an accent, etc. With newer generations, comes newer forms of languages.

    Read More

  • Summary Of The Aria By Richard Rodriguez

    1218 Words  | 5 Pages

    Having the same language as others is something that brings people together-- whether it is around the dinner table, in an office, or in a grocery store. Language helps to bring people together and is a curator for community building. And in the eyes of many, this community that stems from a language is true, as long as the language being spoken is one that they prefer. For a long while there has been a “hierarchy” of language, and English sits a top of the food chain. When English is glorified, it is seen as the key to success and continuously other languages have been pushed out and looked down upon-- resulting in closed off cultures for others.

    Read More

  • Foreign Language In Schools Essay

    1086 Words  | 5 Pages

    Learning a second language at a younger age is beneficial Most little kids first day of school is when they are approximately five years old, and about to enter kindergarten. Kids go to school from about age five till graduation from high school at about age eighteen. Most schools focus on the basic core subjects, such as math, reading, science and history. Until junior high or high school, foreign language is not even offered.

    Read More

  • Learning Foreign Language Essay

    851 Words  | 4 Pages

    “You can’t see other people’s point of view when you have only one language,” declared psycholinguist, Frank Smith. Just as it is mentioned in this quote, foreign language is important; therefore, people should learn a foreign language at an early age. When learning a foreign language at an early age, it helps people to concentrate and increase comprehension skills. Also, at a young age, the mind is fresh, so the person can take in more information and can easily master a foreign language. In addition, most secondary schools, universities, and jobs require a foreign language to be known.

    Read More

More about Cameroon English Language Essay

Open Document