150 Mueller was for three decades producing Kom publications in competition with the KLDC
and in a different orthography, although the scope of distribution and influence of those materials seems to be quite limited. In Banso, mention was made of a well educated man
who has developed a mathematics book in Lamnso which uses the traditional Lamnso right- to-left convention for reading numbers. Despite the objections of the NLO, this unnamed
person has continued to promote his unique approach to the written representation of Lamnso.
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However such opposition is not well supported institutionally, and the language committees do not seem overly worried about it threatening their authority and community-
based support. As Suuyren concludes:
Those are some of the few problems we have been having; it only comes from the few who are claiming to be quite literate. But when you get to the real Nso man
who is here at home, he welcomes it [the NLOs programme] with absolute satisfaction OI: Suuyren 29 March 03.
4.7. Summary: Leadership and its relation to language use and attitudes
Examination of the authorities and institutions which have influence in the Bafut, Kom and Nso homelands yields some helpful insights into the extent to which the mother
tongue is institutionally supported in these language communities. 4.7.1. Authorities
The traditional authorities maintain a strong degree of influence on people in the homelands. The legitimacy of traditional authority and that of the mother tongue appear to be
mutually reinforcing, as the language frames and expresses the authority of the traditional leaders. Interest by traditional leaders in the written mother tongue, not just
its oral form, is also evident; perhaps written mother tongue represents the stabilising and sustaining of traditional ways in the face of modernisation. The language committees
recognise and are cultivating this interest. Financial support from this sector of the community has not yet, however, matched the level of interest expressed.
The government authorities, both local leaders and representatives of the national government, represent mainly the ability to provide needed financing for mother-tongue
promotion activities. Though not antagonistic towards it, neither has this group been particularly vocal about supporting local language development.
145
The interviewees giving this information were very reluctant to name this person to me, and so I did not press the point. I find this a further indication that language committees are bent on forming alliances, not antagonists.
151 Education authorities wield a great deal of influence over the local programmes which
promote use of mother tongue for learning. The influence of national policy on language use in schools is significant. As is shown in the history of PROPELCA described in chapter three,
both denominational and government authorities have the power to either foster or destroy the PROPELCA programme. At the current time, the government position on local languages
in primary school is having a significant positive effect on PROPELCA; the position of denominational education authorities, which appears to be formulated more locally than is the
governments national position, seems to vary from neutral to supportive. Those charged with local implementation of education policy - inspectors, school
managers, headmasters, teachers - are also capable of stalling or facilitating PROPELCA. Their cooperation is actively sought by the language committees, either through persuasion or
by force of appeal to those above them in the educational hierarchy. 4.7.2. The homeland
The role of the homeland itself is a significant factor in support for Bafut, Kom and Lamnso languages. The cultural and linguistic homogeneity of the homeland provides a
context in which mother-tongue education is feasible, and where the power of the traditional authority structure and its institutional support of the local language may be sustained. The
homelands thus constitute a shelter for ongoing use of the oral mother tongue. Support for written mother tongue is less evident in the homeland, possibly because of
the strong influence of the English-language formal education system which has defined literacy and reading as being English-language activities. This will be discussed further in
chapter five. 4.7.3. The elite
The place of the elite of each language community is a crucial one. Of all the language community, the elites most directly bear the strain of the meeting of tradition and
modernisation. Their earning power and knowledge of the world outside the homeland make them both influential in, and indebted to, their homeland community: influential because of
their potential financial resources and connections, and indebted because of the social obligations which the well-off bear to their family and community. At the same time, the fact
that the elite have left the homeland and made a life elsewhere works against their ability to fit comfortably into that community again. Members of the elite face an uncomfortable set of
choices about identity and obligation.
152 In this environment, members of the elite have several options regarding the mother
tongue. In each case, the interests being played out have to do with individual identity and power. A small but active group of elite those in the language committees have chosen
solidarity with the homeland community. They champion use of the mother tongue in school and society, believing that it can result in both better education for their home communities
and increased cultural stability for the homelands. Other members of the elite, having found their identity in the outside world, look at the issue more pragmatically. Accepting the mother
tongue in its place, they know that English and French are the languages that count in any economic context outside the homeland. Still others of the elite embrace urban and global
culture, discarding the mother tongue altogether as no longer relevant. 4.7.4. The language committee
The language committee has institutionalised its solidarity with the mother tongue and those who speak it. Its members, primarily elite and educators with some local representation
thrown in, demonstrate a strong commitment to promotion of the mother tongue which goes beyond the possibility of financial gain. This volunteerism appears to be driven equally by
two convictions: that Bafut, Kom and Nso people should not have to give up their language and cultural heritage in order to move into the 21
st
century; and that school success in the homelands is attainable by using the PROPELCA mother-tongue education programme. At a
meeting of the NLO, the following remark was made:
Look outside. You see those two women and the child? They are talking in the mother tongue, and the child is participating in the discussion. If you bring him in
here [English environment], he will act like he doesnt know his right from his left. . . . There is no way out for better education other than to use the mother tongue in
school. Very bright children get to school and they look like they are dull, like they dont know anything LCO: NLO 29 March 03.
This indignation over the frustration of homeland childrens potential in school fuels the commitment of those educators involved in the language committees.
The language committee is anxious to make alliances among each of the power groups described in sections 4.1-4.3 and 4.5. The language committees want to gain the full
support of the language community, both in the homeland and outside of it - partly in order to legitimise their goals and partly to strengthen their resources and reach. They have
concluded, similarly to Stroud 2003:18, that
indigenous language programmes require the support of the community, and ideally should be designed and managed by the community in order to succeed
emphasis in the original.
153 This represents an ongoing struggle of the language committee: to be seen as a
community-based organisation despite its genesis in the extra-community institutions of the University of Yaoundé I, NACALCO and SIL.
4.7.5. Conclusion If, in the words of Ngugi wa Thiongo, people without their languages are but slaves
quoted in Mazrui 1986:65, then the three language communities under study here have little to worry about in terms of their linguistic freedom. The combination of a linguistically
supportive homeland, strong traditional authority and sense of cultural pride have shaped the Bafut, Kom and Nso language communities for over 200 years. In this environment, use of
the oral mother tongue has flourished. This cultural environment has also facilitated the formation of active language committees. In addition, a positive national language policy
environment gives further support from beyond the homeland. However, sociocultural environment is not the only, or perhaps even the primary,
determinant of minority language use. As the homeland communities move into the 21
st
century, they face economic pressures and social change. Values and goods from outside the homelands exert their own influence on language choices. In the realm of education, contact
with the values and worldview borne by the powerful English-based formal education system has affected the Grassfields homelands for more than 100 years. Its influence in fact seems to
have increased over time. At the same time, development of the local languages has meant the emergence of
mother-tongue alternatives for written language use. This new option for written communication highlights the possibility that orality and literacy as cultural characteristics
among the Bafut, Kom and Nso people have up until now been language-linked, and that the mother tongue moving into the domain of written language may offer competition to the
English-language hegemony promoted by the school system. These issues of language and literacy will be considered in chapter five.
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Chapter 5. Roles and uses of the written mother tongue
