Acquiring literacy in the mother tongue

156 in the case of Kom - sometimes a large Kom alphabet chart mounted on the wall CO: CS Balikumato class 1, 6 Feb 03. This divide between oral mother tongue and written English - particularly with the dominance of English in the educational setting - is well known in post-colonial Africa. As Korang and Slemon 1997 note, African nations today comprise peoples speaking many languages, and the question of which group will control the means for representing a people to itself has been settled largely with the uncritical acceptance of English and French as the inevitable medium for educated African writing p.252. In Northwest Cameroon, the use of English as written medium has been uncritically accepted in this way. Korang and Slemon observe that the question of writing is already positioned within larger debates about the politics of language use p.250; emphasis in the original. Indeed, the fact that most African languages have remained unwritten for so long itself the result of a series of political decisions has meant that the alternative of written mother tongue often does not exist. In the case of Bafut, Kom and Lamnso, viable written forms of the language were not available until after 1979 section 3.2.1; written English, meanwhile, has been part of the formal school curriculum since at least 1922. Not only is the identification of English and French with writing evident in national- level education policy and implementation Ministry of National Education 1998, 2000, but the place given to written English in the language communities themselves is evidence of what Griffiths calls the impact of concepts of the modern Griffiths 1997:140. English writing is identified with the modern world, and so is privileged over other kinds of inscription, including written mother tongue. Thus, the uses of written mother tongue in the language communities of Bafut, Kom and Nso take place in a context in which the mother tongue dominates oral communication and English dominates written text. Instances of written mother tongue use are therefore significant in that they run counter to the norms of language choice. The uses of written mother tongue are discussed in detail in section 5.4.

5.2. Acquiring literacy in the mother tongue

For a Bafut, Kom or Lamnso speaker, literacy in the mother tongue can be acquired through formal or nonformal classes or, if one is already literate in another language, 157 informally. 149 Several institutions are involved in implementation of programmes of mother-tongue literacy acquisition, lending their own character and priorities to those programmes. 5.2.1. PROPELCA classes and adult literacy classes In the Bafut, Kom and Nso language communities, literacy in the mother tongue is most often acquired either through the PROPELCA mother-tongue education programme or through an adult literacy programme. The PROPELCA programme, as described in section 3.2, offers both the formal programme, in which the mother tongue is used as a medium of instruction alongside English in grades 1-4; and the informal programme in which instruction in mother-tongue literacy is offered in the three higher primary grades and occasionally in secondary school. Both programmes are intended to result in mother-tongue literacy after three years of study, although the efficacy with which they do so depends partly on the continuity of the instruction from year to year. It is worth emphasising here that the two programmes build upon two different approaches to the use of local language in formal instruction, one being as medium and one as subject. As discussed in section 3.2.1, the formal PROPELCA programme is considered by PROPELCA advocates to be the ideal way to implement mother-tongue instruction, but it is also more demanding of teachers and schools. The informal PROPELCA programme is less demanding of staff, and is used in some cases to build interest and support for programmed mother tongue use in school. The adult mother-tongue literacy programmes are serving both illiterate i.e. nonschooled and semiliterate those who have been to school and are familiar with English reading and writing, yet who cannot actually read 150 adult populations. Noë Ngueffo, NACALCOs adult literacy programme director, puts the proportion of semiliterate to illiterate class attendees at 60:40 OI: Ngueffo 13 Jan 03. The adult literacy programme takes between one and three years to complete OI: Suuyren 2 March 03; OI: Ambe 3 Feb 03. 149 However, reading in these languages is easier to learn informally than is writing, as is discussed in section 5.4.3. 150 NACALCOs adult literacy programme director Noë Ngueffo believes that many of those who have finished primary school are nevertheless unable to read; he counts these people as semiliterate OI: Ngueffo 13 Jan 03. 158 However, attempts to track the numbers of people actually learning to read in Bafut, Kom and Lamnso are seriously hampered by irregular reporting and uncertain estimates. A few very tentative conclusions may be drawn from the data available. The estimates available for mother-tongue literacy learners in Bafut, Kom and Lamnso, from both adult literacy classes and the PROPELCA programme, are listed in Figures 5.1 - 5.3. Figure 5.1. Estimated numbers of mother-tongue literacy learners in Bafut, 1998-2003 151 Dates Formal PROPELCA students Informal PROPELCA students Total PROPELCA students Adult literacy classes 1998-99 306 1999-2000 631 2000-2001 1,005 6 schools 2,000 19 schools 3,005 2003 3 schools 24 schools 5,400 22 classes, 518 learners Figure 5.2. Estimated numbers of mother-tongue literacy learners in Kom, 1989-2003 152 Dates Formal PROPELCA students Informal PROPELCA students Total PROPELCA students Adult literacy classes 1989 9 schools 1993 20 schools 1998-1999 2,250 1999-2000 4,592 2000-2001 2,260 26 schools 2,261 27 schools 4,521 2003 48 schools 12 schools 5000+ 50+ classes 151 Source of Bafut data in this table: NACALCO records 1998-2001; LCO: BALA 21 Mar 03. 152 Source of Kom data in this table: NACALCO records 1998-2001; GIS 8 Feb 03; OI: Jones 16 Jan 03. 159 Figure 5.3. Estimated numbers of mother-tongue literacy learners in Lamnso, 1998-2001 153 Dates Formal PROPELCA students Informal PROPELCA students Total PROPELCA students Adult literacy classes 1990-1991 12 schools 1998-1999 500 1999-2000 2,294 2000-2001 1,000 19 schools 1,083 20 schools 2,083 446 learners Even though the categories being measured are not uniform for all the years, the trends shown in the tables are noteworthy. Figure 5.1 shows a marked acceleration in participation in PROPELCA in Bafut from 1998-2003, as well as the relatively large proportion of PROPELCA students who are in the informal programme. Figure 5.2 demonstrates likewise the recent acceleration in participation in PROPELCA in Kom. Figure 5.3, on the other hand, provides evidence to support the NLO staffs account of a serious disruption in the PROPELCA programme in Nso the early-mid 1990s section 3.2.3. Given that the formal and informal PROPELCA programmes are structured to produce literates in a maximum of three years, it can be estimated that one-third of the number of PROPELCA students listed in Figures 5.1 - 5.3 for a given year are completing literacy instruction that year. Thus, 1,800 PROPELCA students in Bafut, 1,600-1,700 students in Kom, and possibly 700 students in Nso extrapolating from the 2001 number could be estimated to have become literate in the mother tongue in 2003. For Kom and Bafut at least, these numbers might be expected to stay the same or increase each year in the near future. 154 This also, of course, assumes that every PROPELCA participant successfully learns to read and write in the mother tongue, which may or may not be accurate. Figures for adult literacy classes are even more difficult to track. The adult classes listed in Figures 5.1-5.3 are meant to produce literates in 1-3 years time, depending on how much prior schooling the adult learners have had. In addition, new literacy classes are beginning, held in churches and based on reading the New Testament in the mother tongue. No reliable figures were available for how many of these classes exist, although SIL literacy 153 Source of Nso data in this table: NACALCO records 1998-2001; Grebe 17 Aug 04. 154 In the case of Lamnso, the number appears to be holding steady between 2000-2001. Given the numbers of new Nso teachers currently being trained, it is reasonable to expect that the Nso PROPELCA programme increased in numbers by 2003. 160 consultant Truus Babila OI: 3 April 2003 estimated that 20-25 such classes are operating in Kom area. Some church-based classes may in fact overlap with the adult literacy classes reported in Figures 5.1-5.3. From this data, therefore, it is impossible to tell how many adults are becoming literate annually in the mother tongue through the literacy classes. On the other hand, the increasing identification by the Christian churches Baptist, Presbyterian, Church of Christ and Catholic with mother-tongue literacy acquisition is significant. A further complication to tallying the numbers of mother-tongue literates stems from the fact that, for English-literate mother-tongue speakers, it is possible to learn to read the mother tongue without attending classes, with written materials called transition primers see Appendix 16, Figure 1. These primers outline the differences between the orthographies of English and mother tongue, focusing particularly on tone and other linguistic features not used in the English alphabet. They also provide controlled reading practice of the mother tongue. Transition primers have been available in Bafut and Lamnso since 1980, and in Kom since 1984. However their use is so informal that it is impossible to track their impact on mother-tongue literacy levels. Given all these irregularities and uncertainties in tallying literates, perhaps a more global view is in order. Looking back on his thirty years of involvement with Lamnso, SIL linguist Karl Grebe personal communication estimates that at this point, after at least 20 years of literacy classes and mother-tongue education, perhaps 10-15 of the Nso population can read Lamnso. If the numbers for Kom and Bafut literates listed in Figures 5.1 and 5.2 are trustworthy, an estimate of 10 mother-tongue literates in those languages could be reasonable in perhaps five to ten more years. These estimates are of course hampered by the lack of accurate population counts and historical records of mother-tongue literacy programmes. The PROPELCA and adult literacy programmes each tend to reinforce interest in the other. Noë Ngueffo, the NACALCO adult literacy programme director, described the attitude of mother-tongue literate parents towards the PROPELCA programme: Where literacy classes 155 are, there is an impact on whether children go to PROPELCA schools. . . [Where adult literacy classes had been held,] parents who in fact knew the importance of mother-tongue learning were encouraging children to do well at school. Even sometimes they were talking to the headmasters and 155 It is significant that Ngueffo did not distinguish between English-language and mother-tongue literacy classes; possibly this was due to the context, but it also highlights the lack of such classes in English. To teach literacy in English is a fruitless task in the homelands; those who are illiterate tend to have low English skills as well, since both skills have traditionally been acquired in formal education. 161 saying, We know this [PROPELCA] is a good programme OI: Ngueffo 13 Jan 03. The benefits of parental literacy for a childs success in school are also evident where literacy is in the mother tongue. NACALCO PROPELCA director Gabriel Mba has noted that when you have a family where the mother and the father are attending mother- tongue literacy classes, there is more success from the child. The parents can now help their children with homework OI: Mba 11 Oct 02. Conversely, Mary Annett, an SIL literacy consultant, has noted that the results of PROPELCA classes may convince a parent to attend mother-tongue literacy classes. Visiting a Lamnso literacy class, Annett found that this was the case: One woman in the class said she was there because her child was attending a PROPELCA school. When that child came home there was an old piece of [English-language] newspaper lying in the house and he picked it up and read dy- na-mo. He had learned to decode syllables. She was amazed, as even much older children [not in PROPELCA classes] could not have done this. That convinced her to come to literacy class OI: Annett 7 Oct 02. Thus, the data available on numbers of mother-tongue literacy learners, limited though it is, nevertheless suggests that the numbers of people in both PROPELCA programmes and adult mother-tongue literacy programmes are increasing. 5.2.2. Cooperating institutions The institutions involved in delivery of mother-tongue literacy programmes operate in a collaborative network in which each institution contributes according to its priorities and competencies. In this context, Brandt and Clintons notion of the literacy sponsor - agents who enable or induce literacy, and gain advantage by it in some way 2002:349 - helps to clarify the role of institutional agency in defining and promoting literacy in the Bafut, Kom and Nso language communities. The language committee. The language committee for each community BALA, the KLDC and the NLO is the lead agency for mother-tongue literacy classes, by both self- definition and the language communitys recognition of their role. For language committees, literacy acquisition programmes are tightly focused on promoting the written mother tongue. One might expect such literacy classes to have developed as a component of development projects in health, conservation or animal husbandry; 156 similarly, one might have expected 156 NGOs and churches in Northwest Province have carried out development initiatives of different kinds in these areas. 162 mother-tongue education to grow out of community concerns for relevant education. But such is not the case here. The primary goal of the language committees is quite specifically that of language development. The role of the language committee in promoting written mother tongue has been described in section 4.6; it includes training and supervision of teachers and facilitators, production of learning materials, teaching of classes and general local-level advocacy. Denominational and government education authorities. These institutions, when supportive of the mother-tongue education programme, demonstrate that support by permitting or even requiring their headmasters and teachers to take the PROPELCA teacher training and participate in the PROPELCA programme. Christian mission philosophy in Northwest Cameroon was historically pro-local language, as is discussed in sections 3.1.2.2 and 3.1.3.1; this was primarily due to the conviction that conversion and religious instruction of a people are most effectively done in their first language. Had their Cameroonian clients been so inclined, local languages would have been developed and used even more in the mission schools than they were. The English-medium education system that developed among the colonial-era missions was more in response to the wishes of government and citizens than an expression of mission philosophy of language sections 3.1.3.7 and 3.1.4. The colonial government education system was not so supportive of local language use in schools sections 3.1.3.3-5; 3.1.4, and since independence the government likewise has not demonstrated much enthusiasm for it section 3.1.5.2. However, over the last decade the national and international climate have grown increasingly sympathetic to use of local languages in education Bamgbose 2001; UNESCO 2003b; Intergovernmental Conference of Ministers of Language Policy in Africa 1997; section 3.1.5.2, and the government education officers in Northwest Cameroon are beginning to implement the pro-local language stance of the new Law on Education of 1998 Ministry of National Education 1998. NACALCO. The National Association of Cameroonian Language Committees, NACALCO, facilitates the efforts of BALA, the KLDC and the NLO by means of financial, consulting and advocacy support. NACALCOs African language-promotion agenda is geographically fairly broad. The organisation has been heavily involved in national-level lobbying in the last several years, with the goal of seeing national languages accepted as a normal means of school instruction in Cameroonian public education. NACALCO is currently promoting the assessment and development of all Cameroonian languages, and is 163 also pursuing ties with the African Union as a civil society organisation with expertise in African language development. SIL. SIL is the only expatriate institution which has had ongoing involvement over the past 40 years in the development of Cameroonian languages. SIL Cameroon had an influential hand in the formation of the Bafut, Kom and Nso language committees as well, as discussed in section 4.6.1. Currently SIL provides limited financial support to NACALCO, and its personnel may participate in training language committee personnel and producing learning materials. Personnel of SIL Cameroon continue activity in Bafut, Kom and Lamnso languages, primarily as translators, exegetes and consultants to the Bible translation programmes in those languages section 3.2.6. SILs stated goal is the facilitation of language-based development through research, translation and literacy in minority languages. 157 SILs interest in promoting mother-tongue literacy acquisition is thus multifaceted, encompassing goals of sustainable language use in both religious and secular spheres. The Cameroonian Association for Bible Translation and Literacy CABTAL. 158 CABTAL is interested primarily in church-based applications of mother-tongue literacy acquisition. CABTAL has programmes in Kom and Nso, where it not only carries out Bible translation but also sponsors church-based classes in literacy and use of the mother-tongue Scriptures. Christian churches. The individual Christian churches in the Bafut, Kom and Nso homelands are increasingly sites of mother-tongue literacy acquisition and use. This is a reflection of the willingness of local church authorities to collaborate with CABTAL and the language committees, allowing their premises to be used and their congregations to be encouraged to learn to read the mother tongue in order that Scriptures and other religious materials written in the mother tongue may be freely used in the churches. All four of the 157 Source: ht tp:www.sil.org . Accessed 9 March 2004. 158 CABTAL is the Cameroonian counterpart to SIL in the area of Bible translation. CABTAL was formed in 1987, and is registered with the Cameroonian government as a non-profit association. See http:www.cabtal.org. 164 local denominations, Catholic, Presbyterian, Baptist and Church of Christ churches were observed in this study to be interested in development of the written mother tongue. 159 The complementary interests of these institutions allow them to collaborate in the various mother-tongue literacy initiatives available in the homelands. Together they have created an environment for local language development that is based in linguistic research and focused on sustained use of the mother tongue in oral and written forms. The overtly Christian character of some of the partner institutions also gives a Christian flavour to the programme aspects they are responsible for; on the other hand, it does not inhibit partnership between secular and religious institutions. Indeed, as was described in chapter three, such secular-religious partnerships are common in the educational history of Northwest Cameroon. 5.2.3. Summary: acquiring literacy in the mother tongue As Figures 5.1-5.3 indicate, approximately 5,000 Bafut, 5,000 Kom and 2,500 Nso children and adults are now participating in mother-tongue literacy acquisition activities, with an estimated one-third of those numbers becoming literate in the mother tongue each year. These literacy acquisition programmes are regularly offered, and, according to the data available in Figures 5.1-5.3, the number of people who participate in them is increasing. The mother-tongue literacy programmes are supported by a range of institutions, although in each community the language committee is the lead agency for programme implementation.

5.3. Mother-tongue literacy and language maintenance