In this chapter, we explore the destabilization and endangerment of not only individual languages but also multilingual practices and language ecologies in two quite different Cameroonian contexts: the area of Lower Fungom, in the North-West Region, and Campo Sub-Division, in the South Region. Despite being only a few hundred kilometers apart, the language ideologies and multilingual practices in these areas differ in important ways. Language communities in these areas are also experiencing significant destabilization—again, in different ways—due to armed conflict, migration and internal displacement, and the effects of climate change. This chapter explores how different (and changing) language ideologies and types of community destabilization are shaping the endangerment and maintenance of languages, as well as multilingual practices more generally, in Lower Fungom and Campo Sub-Division. The chapter aims to highlight the diversity of language ideologies, multilingual practices, and endangerment factors within Cameroon, in the hopes of contributing a comparative case study which can be drawn on to better understand and address the endangerment of languages and multilingual practices in Cameroon and neighboring countries. Beyond simply describing current issues in the endangerment of these languages and multilingual practices, the chapter also aims to offer suggestions for supporting language maintenance in destabilized communities, drawn from the authors’ experiences in the two contexts being discussed.

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Documenting and Sustaining Multilingualism in the Face of Crisis: Language Endangerment and Destabilized Language Ecologies in Two Cameroonian Contexts

  • Rachel Ayuk Ojong Diba,
  • Anna Belew

摘要

In this chapter, we explore the destabilization and endangerment of not only individual languages but also multilingual practices and language ecologies in two quite different Cameroonian contexts: the area of Lower Fungom, in the North-West Region, and Campo Sub-Division, in the South Region. Despite being only a few hundred kilometers apart, the language ideologies and multilingual practices in these areas differ in important ways. Language communities in these areas are also experiencing significant destabilization—again, in different ways—due to armed conflict, migration and internal displacement, and the effects of climate change. This chapter explores how different (and changing) language ideologies and types of community destabilization are shaping the endangerment and maintenance of languages, as well as multilingual practices more generally, in Lower Fungom and Campo Sub-Division. The chapter aims to highlight the diversity of language ideologies, multilingual practices, and endangerment factors within Cameroon, in the hopes of contributing a comparative case study which can be drawn on to better understand and address the endangerment of languages and multilingual practices in Cameroon and neighboring countries. Beyond simply describing current issues in the endangerment of these languages and multilingual practices, the chapter also aims to offer suggestions for supporting language maintenance in destabilized communities, drawn from the authors’ experiences in the two contexts being discussed.