Volume: 27  Number: 3  Page: 196–210

Local Agency in the Development of Minority Languages: Three Language Committees in Northwest Cameroon

Barbara Trudell University of Edinburgh and SIL International, Nairobi, Kenya

Examples of effective community-based action in defence of minority indigenous language are relatively few. However, three indigenous language committees of Northwest Cameroon, the Bafut, Kom and Nso' language committees, provide dynamic models of the role that community-based organisations can play in the development and maintenance of minority indigenous languages. These language committees are seen to have the support of local authorities, and yet they are also highly vulnerable to changing contextual factors. As a result, negotiation and collaboration with local power bases are a key aspect of the committees' ability to accomplish their agenda of local-language promotion. This paper examines the character, role and history of the Bafut, Kom and Nso' language committees. The role of community institutions and community members in the ability of these committees to achieve their goals is considered, as well as the committees' role in the process of identity formation that the language communities are undergoing.

Keywords: African languages, Cameroon, language committee, minority language

© 2006 B. Trudell

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