by Jon Smythe

Teaching English in Cameroon, Central Africa, is a study in diversity and a case of teaching English in challenging circumstances. Often referred to as Africa in miniature because of its mix of climatic zones, language dialects, and plant and animal life, Cameroon offers a wide range of teaching and learning opportunities for EFL teachers. As a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer from 1996-1998, I taught English in a rural public secondary school in the arid north of Cameroon in a small, primarily Muslim, village. Other EFL volunteers taught in villages that were in forest, grassland, or tropical areas, some of which were predominantly Christian and others more traditional in their beliefs. Despite the different circumstances in which we found ourselves, many of our EFL teaching experiences were similar. In this article, I point out some generalizable challenges that the EFL instructor in Cameroon may face, namely, the language backgrounds of the students, the lack of English teaching materials in the classroom, and the lack of qualified, local EFL instructors.

Although English is one of Cameroon's national languages, only two of Cameroon's provinces are Anglophone; the other eight are Francophone. This reflects Cameroon's British and French colonial history. Students in French-speaking Cameroon begin studying English at an early age, yet most arrive in secondary school with little knowledge of English. This does not mean, however, that they are not skilled language learners. They learn their tribal language at home and often another language for doing business with other tribes. Some study Arabic as part of their Islamic education. In public schools, students learn French as the language of instruction and English as one of a number of required courses. Because English is not widely used for social, business, or religious practices, a major challenge for me was to stimulate interest in studying English and to encourage students to use English. With these goals in mind, I tried to create social situations for English to be used through mini-role-plays and the use of realia. More importantly, I provided positive feedback as students made progress.

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