A Lead Discussion by George Ngwane, Member National Commission for the Promotion of Bilingualism and Multiculturalism.
Date: 3 March 2022; Target Audience: Women of the National School for Local Administration (NASLA) Buea
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Our discussion is focussed on Official Bilingualism which is the use of English and French in the public domain. Right from the grassroots level of participative development women have had a 3 P role (Pedagogic, Professional and Policy) in the promotion of bilingualism.
Women are naturally endowed with a flair for languages and so as home teachers (use of MOTHER tongue or MATERNAL language), school teachers (mostly language teachers) and social teachers (bridge builders in communication) they have become vectors or agents of language learning and language acquisition.
Professional role
There is a need to first of all understand the various shades of individual bilingualism which include Simultaneous, Sequential, Late, Elective and Circumstantial bilingualism. It is also worth mentioning that there are levels of bilingual proficiency which include Biliterate, Passive, Incipient and Limited.
One of the most important but sometimes neglected professional office function within the public or private entity is the Front Desk Staff. It is a function responsible for welcoming and informing users about the institution. No doubt most Receptionists, Secretaries, Janitors, Counter workers are women and their bilingual proficiency makes them gatekeepers of good bilingual practice as well as a smooth landing for the user.
Policy role
This constitutes a cocktail of policy Resolutions and Recommendations aimed at getting more women into the bilingual pool and further positioning them and by extension other citizens in greater productive development channels.
Bilingualism and Local development
Languages have now become a form of symbolic development CAPITAL generating wealth creation, job opportunities and career mobility at the individual level and encouraging council twinning and bilateral cooperation at institutional level. In a world where priority is sometimes given to the girl and/or the woman-led institution in terms of vocational profile, bilingualism is now for the girl or woman an ADDED VALUE.
However, recent statistics from a Sama-Kouega article titled The bilingual competence of local council staffers in the Centre and Littoral regions show a disparity between Francophone and Anglophone local council staffers towards their responses to their second official languages.
The statistics reiterate the urgency for local development agents that you are to take bilingualism more seriously especially as local agents are responsible for duties that impact on the lives of their immediate communities. It is a call to duty for local agents to take advantage of their learning environment in order to improve on their second official languages.
End Note
Since WOMEN have a greater population, more BILINGUAL women at any level of development shall translate into more bilingual citizens in a more bilingual nation.
Since DEVELOPMENT is bottom-up, bilingual women are considered today and the day after tomorrow as drivers of development from their local to the national level.
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