L’insécurité linguistique en anglais chez les étudiants francophones : cas des étudiants du département d’études bilingues de l’université de Yaoundé I

Abstract

This study, which focuses on linguistic insecurity, arises from an observation made of the Francophone students in the Department of Bilingual Studies at the University of Yaoundé I. It appears that learners experience discomfort when speaking in English, especially during classroom activities. This work, therefore, addresses the impact of this sociolinguistic phenomenon on all processes of English teaching and learning. This reflection identifies and explains the causes and manifestations of the linguistic insecurity observed among these students, while highlighting its effects, particularly on the promotion of bilingualism in the Cameroonian context. Hence, the issue arises regarding the importance or not of this phenomenon in English classroom practices. From this problematization, the hypothesis emerges that the predominance of the French language in the Cameroonian educational system in Francophone areas is the root cause of this situation. To confirm or deny this hypothesis, we have divided our work into two main parts. The first is essentially theoretical and provides a general overview of the context of our study. The second part focuses on the analysis of the corpus data. In this regard, our observations have allowed us to note that the linguistic situation in Cameroon is the origin of linguistic insecurity. This phenomenon, through its manifestations, has repercussions on the English teaching and learning process and also affects the development of the bilingualism policy implemented by the Cameroonian government.