7 Their colonial history, coupled with the cultural traits which have characterised the
Bafut, Kom and Nso people over the centuries of their life in the Grassfields of Northwest Cameroon, have resulted in a cultural profile that includes a complex system of traditional
social structures, influential traditional leadership, and a positive and assertive self-image. The rural demographics of these language communities have allowed the continuity of this
profile over many generations. Use of the mother tongue, at least in the home regions of these language communities, is a key component of this cultural profile.
1.3. The phenomena under study
The Bafut, Kom and Nso communities have been the sites of mother tongue literacy and education programmes for the last 10 to 20 years, programmes which are currently
increasing in popularity among the population. In a related phenomenon, the written mother tongue, little seen in societies where literacy has been associated exclusively with English for
the last 90 years, is slowly gaining users; this is a significant step in maintenance of the minority languages involved. The research question addressed in this study is, what is the
impact of local education choices on maintenance of the mother tongue?
Both of these phenomena are embedded in the structures and choices of the Bafut, Kom and Nso language communities. Such choices express local priorities and agency, yet
they are also rooted in a wider historical, social and political context. For example, the mechanisms for supporting use of the indigenous languages and for using those languages in
school receive crucial institutional support from outside the community. Cameroonian academic, governmental and NGO institutions have played an important role in the
development of language maintenance and mother tongue education initiatives in Bafut, Kom and Nso over the years. Also of significance has been the support from international
institutions such as external aid agencies and SIL International. So the fact that local agency plays a crucial role in making particular educational and linguistic choices does not deny the
influence of non-local agents and structures on the character of those choices. Thus the goal of this study is to examine four components of the primary research
question: • the historical context of language use in formal education, both for its influence on the
educational environment today and for what it reveals about local values and priorities as demonstrated over time;
8 • the local individual and institutional interests involved in maintenance of the mother
tongue, and particularly promotion of its written form; • the current roles and uses of the written mother tongue in the Bafut, Kom and Nso
communities; • the language choices being made in the local primary school classrooms, and the interests
of the various primary school stakeholders in those choices. Chapters three through six of this study examine my findings on these four aspects.
To provide a framework for the study, a discussion of the theoretical discourse and research design followed is presented in chapter two. Finally, chapter seven consists of conclusions
which arise from the study.
1.4. The limits of the subject
