Early English medium instruction in Francophone Cameroon: The injustice of equal opportunity

• Published in: System (Linköping) Vol. 73; pp. 37 - 47
• Main Author: Kuchah, Kuchah
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.04.2018; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Children; Elementary education; Elementary schools; English as a second language instruction; Francophones; French language; Medium of instruction; Motivation; Politics; Socioeconomic status; Cameroon
• ISSN: 0346-251X; 1879-3282
• DOI: 10.1016/j.system.2017.10.001

The English language has fast become the language of the world and many countries, eager to train citizens to be competitive in the global market are including English language in school curriculums. Dearden reports that in many parts of the world, there has been a fast-moving shift from English as a foreign language to English as medium of instruction for academic subjects. This paper examines the motives behind this surge in a country where socioeconomic status (SES) and in some cases, potential SES is often intertwined with political identities. Then it explores the educational experiences of children from different socioeconomic backgrounds to show how English-medium education might perpetrate socioeconomic divisions between children from rich and poor backgrounds. The aim of the study reported in this paper was to explore and examine the motivations of Francophone parents to send their children to English medium primary schools and to investigate the school and home affordances for learning as well as the learning experiences of Francophone children from two socioeconomic backgrounds.