The Exclusion of Minority Languages in Communicating COVID-19 Information in a Multilingual Context: A Case Study of Five Towns in the Far North and Adamawa Regions in Cameroon
Abstract
Although Cameroon is a multilingual nation, the majority of its citizens were sensitized exclusively in official languages when the COVID-19 crisis broke out in the country in March 2020. The advent of COVID-19 clearly confirmed the government’s inability to provide information to all citizens in their respective minority languages. This study seeks to find out if the use of official languages was effective in the sensitization of the population of Mokolo, Maroua, Meiganga, Ngaoundere and Yagoua, both in the Far North and Adamawa regions, against the pandemic. The study uses Chumbow’s (2012) Social Engineering theory. Data were obtained from participant observation, focus group discussions, and questionnaire administration to 250 respondents. The findings revealed that the majority, 123(49.2%), of the respondents preferred information on COVID-19 in Fulfulde and 99(39.6%) in their respective minority languages, while only a minority, 25(10%), were comfortable with the information in French and 3 (1.2%) in English.
Downloads
References
Akumbu, P. W. (2020). Legitimizing the development and use of Cameroon's national languages: Lessons from COVID-19. In Revue de l’académie des Sciences du Cameroun, Vol. 15 No. 3 (June 2020):193-206.
Akumbu, P. W. Pierpaolo Di Carlo (2022). Multilingualism: The language of health in Cameroon. Germo Nzweundji. Responding to disease outbreak in Cameroon: Lessons from COVID-19., Rüdiger Köppe Verlag, pp.1-17, 2021, 978-3-89645-855-1. Hal-03691704.
Bamgbose, A. (2000). Language and Exclusion. Münster-Hamburg-London: LIT VERLAG.
Batibo, H. M. (2005). Language Decline and Death in Africa: Courses, Consequences. Multilingual Matters.
Bodomo, B.A. 1997. Linguistics, Education and Politics: Interplay on the Study of Ghanaian Languages. In Africa linguistics at the crossroads. 1st World Congress of African Linguistics, Swaziland 18-22, Rüdiger Köppe Verlag, Köln, 1997.
Chia, Emmanuel. 2001. Doctor-Patient Communication in a Multilingual Setting. African Journal of Applied Linguistics. No. 02 April, Yaoundé: CLA (Centre ANACLAC de linguistique appliquée)
Chumbow, B.S. (2013). Mother tongue-based multilingual education: Empirical foundations, implementation and recommendations for new nations. Multilingual education in Africa: lessons from the Juba Language in Education Conference. Hamish McIlwraith, British Council 2013. www.britishcouncil.org.
Chumbow, B.S (2012). Social Engineering Theory: A Model for the Appropriation of Innovations. In Lopez-Varela, A 2012 (ed) Social Sciences and Humanities: Applications and Theories. Vol.2, INTECH Publications, Rijeka, Croatia.
Chumbow, B. S (2010b) The Language Factor in the Attainment of the Millennium Development Goals. University of Cape Town Lecture.
Chumbow, Beban Sammy and Augustin Simo Bobda. 1996. The Life Cycle of Post-Imperial English in Cameroon. In: Fishman J. et al. (eds.) Post-Imperial English. Status Change in Former British and American Colonies, 1940- 1990. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Chumbow, B. S. 1987. Towards a Language Planning Model for Africa. JWAL XXII. SIL International. Constitution of the Republic of Cameroon (1996). Article 1(3).
Decree created by decree No: 2017/013 of the 23rd January 2017, the National Commission for Bilingualism and Multilingualism (NCBM).
Eberhard, D. M., Gary F. S., & D. Fennig (eds.). (2019). Ethnologue: Languages of the World. Twenty-third edition. Dallas, Texas: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com.
Echu, G. (2003b). Multilingualism as a Resource: The Lexical Appropriation of Cameroon Indigenous Languages by English and French. TRA0S. Kulturwissenschaften.No.13/2003.
Kayum, C. 2012. Language use and Communication in the Appropriation of the Health Millennium Development Goals in Cameroon. MA Thesis, University of Yaounde I.
Phubon & Atoh (2021).Challenges of Language Barrier on the Health Services in Multilingual Cameroon: The Case of the North West Region. In the International Journal of African Language and Media Studies (IJALMS).
Starkey, Hugh (2002). Democratic Citizenship, Language Diversity and Human Rights. Language Policy Division Monographs. Strasbourg: Council of Europe.
Tasah N. James. (2025). Prospects of Fulfulde as a Regional Language in a Socioculturally Heterogeneous Region in Cameroon. In Interdisciplinary Themes of Sociolinguistic Studies-Language Learning, Technology, and Identity in the Age of AI and Globalization
Tasah N. James. (2021). The Role of Posters written in Local Languages in Disseminating Health-Awareness Information within the Far North Region of Cameroon. In European Scientific Journal, ESJ, https://doi.org/10.19044/esj.2021.v17n33p18.pp 181- 197.
Copyright (c) 2026 James N. Tasah
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
