252 Finally, a developing-world orientation caused me to seek local interpretations of
language and education alternatives. I sought to understand and use local terms, perspectives and patterns of communication as much as possible; these attempts kept reminding me of the
need to focus on how the people around me saw the world. The highlighting of the effects of local agency in the study also arose from this determination to find and hear the voices of the
language community members in their history and in the present day as well. The result is a thesis that is textured with multiple voices and explores the confluence
of social, historical, political and sociolinguistic influences on the phenomena under study. Further, the thesis highlights the issues of power and agency at play in the language and
education choices being made in these communities. The application of such a methodological orientation in the specific research site of the Bafut, Kom and Nso
communities constitutes an original contribution to the field of language, literacy and education in sub-Saharan Africa.
7.2. Clues to sustainability
An important theme in the findings of this study is sustainability. The theme has two facets. One is the sustainability of minority languages themselves: how can use of minority
languages be maintained? The other is sustainability of language development initiatives: how can programmatic efforts at maintaining and revitalising minority languages themselves
be sustained long enough to have significant impact? And relevant to both facets, how does community ownership, that elusive goal of sustainable development, come about? What are
the limits of community acceptance of language-based development initiatives, particularly when they impinge on formal education? This study provides some clues to answering these
questions. Educational choices and language maintenance have been interwoven in the Bafut,
Kom and Nso language communities in unusual ways. The sustained programmes of mother- tongue promotion being implemented by BALA, the KLDC and the NLO are not the norm
for African minority language communities, even though many of the contextual features are common to rural communities in Africa. Nor are these language committees themselves are
the sole source of the sustainability of these mother-tongue promotion programmes. As is mentioned in section 4.6.1, the language committee as a structure exists in various parts of
sub-Saharan Africa, including South Africa, Benin and Senegal. Sometimes these committees are able to maintain effective local language development initiatives, but not always. The
253 sustained nature of the BALA, KLDC and NLO programmes are not solely sue to the
existence of these languages committees, even though the language committee in each case is a key institution. Other characteristics of the programme and its wider environment are also
crucial. The examination of this environment in this study has elucidated a number of
contextual features. In addition to identifying those common to the educational and language use context of much of Africa, this study has discovered several less common features of the
BALA, KLDC and NLO initiatives which may serve as clues for solving the broader problem of sustained promotion and vitality of Africas minority languages.
7.2.1. Common features The sociopolitical environment in which education is carried out in the Bafut, Kom
and Nso communities is certainly not unique. The prevalence and outcomes of formal education in the colonial language as described in this study are comparable across the
African continent, as are the ambivalent attitudes towards minority languages held by influential institutions and individuals section 2.3.2.
The cognitive impact of mother-tongue use on learning is also well known. Whatever the sociopolitical environment for such a programme may be, it is accepted that
pedagogically sound instruction in the language a child speaks results in stronger learning outcomes than does instruction in a language less well known to the child section 2.3.2.
The connections seen in this study between mother-tongue-medium instruction and increased content understanding, greater classroom participation and improved examination results
sections 6.1.1 and 6.1.3, come as no surprise. Yet another common feature of the language and education environment in Africa is
the current popularity of the discussion regarding using African languages in formal education section 2.3.4. The inclusion of local languages in formal education, particularly
early primary education, has been a topic of interest across the African continent, as the language barrier is now being recognised as a significant obstacle to school success.
Linguistically, the challenges faced by Bafut, Kom and Lamnso are not unique either section 2.1.1. Minority languages of Africa are noted for the lack of development of their
written form. Many hundreds of these languages have yet to be written at all. Others, such as Bafut, Kom and Nso, do have functional alphabets, but the number and type of publications
available in these languages are very limited. Such linguistic underdevelopment, particularly compared with the development of the European languages being used in the country,
254 impedes the viability of these minority languages for use in wider written contexts, as well as
the political credibility of incorporating them in an educational environment. 7.2.2. Features that contribute to sustainability of language development
Certain features of the Bafut, Kom and Nso cases are less common to African minority language communities, and have been identified in this study as contributing
particularly to sustainable language development.
Cultural features. This study suggests that certain cultural characteristics of a language community predispose it towards mother-tongue education and promotion of the
mother tongue in general. The strongly cohesive cultures of Bafut, Kom and Nso have provided fertile ground for mother-tongue promotion initiatives. The traditional sociopolitical
hierarchy, still vital in the culture of the homelands, has favoured the maintenance and development of the mother tongue section 4.1.3. The positive attitudes of the Bafut, Kom
and Nso people towards their cultures and languages are also a significant factor section 5.1. These characteristics are not universal among minority culture communities around the
continent.
Homogeneous homelands. In this study, the rural and semi-rural homeland settings are crucial to the achievement of the language committees tasks section 4.4. The cultural
and linguistic homogeneity of the Bafut, Kom and Nso homelands provide a protected environment in which the local language is maintained and passed on from generation to
generation.
237
In much of urbanised sub-Saharan Africa the homogeneity of language and culture no longer exists, and promoting oral and written use of the mother tongues in those contexts
would be difficult. However, where a minority language community exists which is culturally and linguistically homogeneous, there are grounds to expect that mother-tongue education
could be successful. In the case of larger minority minority in this case referring not to group size but to a language not recognised in current national education policy languages of
the continent, the homogeneous language community may easily encompass urban areas.
238
237
This feature is also found in current Maori language revitalisation initiatives in New Zealand, which include the creation of sheltered linguistic environments Tuhiwai Smith 1999, Durie 1999 in the recognition that such
environments are critical to minority language maintenance.
238
See section 1.4 on the possibility that so-called urban areas may be linguistically homogeneous.
255 A confluence of cooperating entities. One important feature of the Bafut, Kom and
Nso cases, which is shared to some extent with other Cameroonian language communities participating in the PROPELCA programme, is that a mother-tongue promotion programme
with the scope and vision of PROPELCA has been conceptualised, implemented and consistently supported over more than two decades section 3.2.1. This speaks to the long-
term, synergistic cooperation of key individuals such as the founders of PROPELCA, the local language committee leaders and local church leaders as well as long-term support from
institutions such as NACALCO and SIL.
239
Resources: finances, personnel, time. Related to the above point, this study shows that effective implementation of mother-tongue development initiatives requires a variety of
resources. Resources are needed for linguistic development of the target languages, preparation of appropriate written materials and training of the teaching force. Particularly in
the case of mother-tongue education, sustained promotion of the programme among the stakeholders in the educational system is crucial. Parents and teachers are at least as likely to
view mother-tongue education with suspicion as to welcome it sections 6.1.2 and 6.1.3. Despite the benefits which mother-tongue education can offer to a community, the
communitys suspicions are valid and must be addressed section 4.6.4. Such resources must come from some institution or network of institutions large
enough to be able to contribute them on an ongoing basis. In the case studied here, as described above, several local and non-government institutions have until now been the
primary support structures for PROPELCA. However, at some point government commitment to helping provide needed resources is essential to the programmes long-term
sustainability. A permissive policy environment is not sufficient. That is why the current increase in government interest in PROPELCA section 4.3; section 6.3.1 is received as such
good news by the language committees and NACALCO. Still, all of this takes time. It is no accident that the Bafut, Kom and Nso mother-
tongue development programmes, which are currently seeing a certain level of successful
239
This same feature also characterises a 20-year-old community literacy movement among the Pulaar of Senegal, which counts on the cooperative efforts of community leaders, national NGOs, the Senegalese
government, and individual volunteers with a high level of commitment to the programme Fagerberg-Diallo 2001.
256 community impact, have been operating for many years sections 3.2.3-3.2.5. Effecting real
change in the educational language practices of these communities has required a committed cadre of supportive personnel and institutions, and a willingness to invest resources over the
long-term.
Curriculum goals. This study has noted two curriculum-related characteristics of the PROPELCA programme: its conformity with the national curriculum, and the self-imposed
curricular limitations of the programme. Both of these characteristics have added to the acceptance of the programme at national and local levels.
The strategy of PROPELCAs architects has been to build on the learning goals of the national Cameroonian curriculum, concentrating on facilitating the success of minority-
language children in achieving those goals section 6.3.1. Such a cooperative stance is possible for PROPELCA because the flexibility in local interpretation of the national
curriculum allows space for the implementation of the mother-tongue programme section 3.2.1. Fitting the PROPELCA programme into the established curriculum responds to the
predominant community desire that its children succeed in the current educational system. This decision to support rather than to challenge the national curriculum has positioned
PROPELCA as an ally to the Ministry of National Education rather than an opponent. It also reassures local parents who are concerned that participation in PROPELCA might impair
their childrens performance on national examinations. PROPELCA also demonstrates limited goals in terms of its use of the mother tongue
and the official language. In lower primary formal PROPELCA, the mother tongue is used as a medium of instruction only through the first four years of school, decreasing in
proportion to English as medium of instruction each year Figure 5.6. Oral English is introduced, as a subject, from grade one. In upper primary school informal PROPELCA, the
mother tongue is only a medium of instruction for mother-tongue literacy section 3.2.1. Compared to other mother-tongue education models which utilise the mother tongue
as medium of instruction throughout primary school or even into post-primary education Baker 1996:182-3, this model gives a fairly limited role to the mother tongue.
240
However,
240
This somewhat limited approach to the use of local languages in formal education has also been an important aspect of the national education reform in the Pacific nation of Papua New Guinea, where over the past ten years
more than 380 languages have been incorporated into the basic education system. Klaus 2003:109 notes that an important strategy of this reform has been to limit the number of grades in which indigenous languages are
used. Transition to English in this programme occurs by grade three.
257 it also demonstrates a fairly pragmatic approach to the insertion of local language into
Cameroonian national schooling, and a recognition of the privileged position of English- language education in the national education system. In order for PROPELCA to succeed, the
local language must not be seen by either parents or education authorities to be challenging the status quo section 7.3.1. Implementation is the priority goal for PROPELCAs
advocates: many African countries have policies which recommend the use of local languages in early primary school,
241
but few actually have sustained programmes which implement that policy effectively.
Local ownership and the limits of outside intervention. External change agents have had crucial roles in the process of language development among the Bafut, Kom and Nso
section 3.2.1, particularly at the initial stages. The University of Yaoundé I, NACALCO, the national government, SIL, and external funding agencies have all served over the years as
extra-community agents of language development in the Bafut, Kom and Nso communities. Their roles have been extremely important, and yet the value of such outside intervention has
very real limits because the process can only be effective if it takes place via the advocacy and ownership of local actors.
In the cases of Bafut, Kom and Nso, the responsibility and authority for implementation of mother-tongue promotion activities quickly devolved onto the respective
language committees section 4.6.1. As those committees are functioning today, they are autonomous entities comprised solely of language community members. Awareness of the
language committees activities is growing in the local community, and support by community members is slowly increasing. Yet even so, the leadership of at least BALA and
the KLDC continue to encounter the local notion that the entire mother-tongue promotion programme is being sustained as an outsider initiative; a perception that impedes the growth
of local support for the committees activities section 4.6.1. Thus, although intervention by outside agencies and individuals has been key to the establishment of the language
committees and their programmes, the involvement of such outsiders also challenges the committees attempts to build a sense of ownership by the community.
The involvement of these non-local agents has declined over the years section 4.6.2, however. External consulting and advocacy work has decreased as the language committees
241
For example, Kenya Mule 1999, Zimbabwe Thondhlana 2002, Nigeria Afolayan 1995, Botswana Arthur 2001 and Zambia Williams 1996.
258 gain the capacity to take on the technical aspects of curriculum development and preparation
of pedagogical materials, and the credibility to speak to local authorities on behalf of mother- tongue education. External funding has also decreased sharply in recent years, forcing the
language committees to increase their efforts to find additional financial support locally.
242
The language committees recognise that, despite the crucial place of facilitative national-level policy frameworks and external expertise, responsibility for minority language
maintenance and development ultimately has to be taken by members of the language community, because the language belongs to them. Outside agents can do much to facilitate
language maintenance and development: orthography development, training, and promotional activities both within and outside the language community. But ultimately language
development cannot be owned or sustained by any other than the speakers of that language. Minority language advocates from outside the community cannot by themselves bring about
the revitalisation or maintenance of a minority language, no matter the level of resources and enthusiasm which they bring. Language maintenance - or loss - is a daily choice, made by the
speakers as they live and interact in their society. 7.2.3. Keys to the continuity of language development initiatives
The confluence of these uncommon features in the Bafut, Kom and Nso communities constitute the source of sustained language development. Specifically:
• the unusually strong attachment of these language communities to their traditional culture and language, and the existence of homelands to provide support to both;
• the cooperation between stakeholder institutions with interests in seeing use of the mother tongue in formal education, and the variety of resources provided by each;
• the PROPELCA approach to instruction in the primary classroom, which minimises disruption of the national curriculum and maintains a nonthreatening posture towards
national education authorities; • the development of effective local advocacy and implementation, in the form of the
language committees.
242
The decline in funding has been a good newsbad news situation for the language committees; they find it very difficult to make ends meet, yet at the same time the shortfall reinforces their ability to show their reliance
on the community for support.
259 The PROPELCA programme, along with the language committees other initiatives in
literacy, publications and advocacy, owe their current existence, and presumably their sustainability in future, to this combination of features.
7.3. Local agency, education choices and minority language maintenance
