English in Cameroon / Edition 1

by Hans-Georg Wolf

Overview

The multilingual situation in Cameroon and the status of English as a co-official language constitute a unique and fascinating case for sociolinguistic investigation. Drawing from first-hand material, the author investigates several aspects of this complex configuration, including the historical development of English in Cameroon, the various languages and lingua franca areas, the linguistic policy, the de facto status of English and the situation in the anglophone provinces. The speech community of the Anglophones is highlighted as a rare example of an ethnicity tied to the second language. Apart from important sociolinguistic findings, the work includes a novel, corpus-based analysis of Cameroon English. Certain lexical phenomena are explained by the cognitive coding of culture - particularly the African cultural model of community, which also underlies the self-perception of the Anglophones - a perspective hitherto neglected in the study of the New Englishes.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783110170535
Publisher:	De Gruyter
Publication date:	05/11/2001
Series:	Contributions to the Sociology of Language [CSL] , #85
Edition description:	Reprint 2013
Pages:	369
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.06(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Hans-Georg Wolf is Assistant Professor at the Humboldt-Universityät Berlin, Germany.

Editorial Reviews

Arguing that "it is a myth to assume that a language is a homogenous entity and can be studied as such," Wolf (English and American studies, Humboldt U., Germany) identifies Cameroon English as an independent English second language national variety and examines it through the lens of sociolinguistics. He further attempts to integrate cognitive anthropology's concept of "cultural models" into the discussion in order to understand the natural processes of language- culture interaction. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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