Journal of Linguistics and Language in Education Volume 13

Abstract

AbstractIt is increasingly recognized that most minority language speakers tend to give up their languages in favour of a vehicular language as they move to urban centres.In recent years, the degree of endangerment of indigenous languages seems to be accelerating due to the increased dominance of Fulfulde.Thisstudy seeksto find out whether theseeming progressiveabandonment of local languagesin the Far North region of Cameroon isdue to Fulfulde or French.Data wasobtained through participant observation and questionnaire administration. The resultsindicate that Fulfulde, and to a certain extent French tend to monopolize most of the proposed domains of language use. The findings show that the respondents have limited fluency in theirMother Tongues. Theyalso reveal that Fulfulde is gradually becoming participants ' Mother Tongues, and they considereditas a potential threat to minority languages. It concludesthat minority languages arethreatened more by Fulfulde than French in Maroua.