Enseignement-apprentissage de la langue camerounaise seconde (Batanga) : rôle du matériel didactique et impact de l'environnement linguistique

Abstract

Entitled ‘the teaching-learning of Cameroonian second language (batanga) : the role of didactic material and the impact of linguistic environment’, this thesis examines the impact of the linguistic environment and the lack of didactic materials for national languages on the learning of second language (Batanga). The primary goal of the study is to highlight the negative impact of the linguistic environment and the lack of teaching materials on the learning of the second language. Further, the study seeks to propose game pedagogy as well as three didactic materials (bilingual and trilingual) as solutions for an efficient second language (L2) learning. The proposed pedagogy and materials seek to minimize the students’ learning difficulties and improve on their level of acquisition of communicative skills in the language they are taught (Batanga). Two theories were used for the study, namely socioconstructivism and the theory of L2 Learning by Vygotsky (1934/1997). The data were collected by means of questionnaire, interview guide and observation protocol. The sample population was composed of 219 students of the orientation sub-cycle as well as 3 teachers of Cameroonian Languages and Cultures from Government Bilingual High School Kribi and Government Bilingual High School Kribi Town. The study also made use of the blindly non- probabilistic sampling technique which implies only the informants available during the data collection. Additionally, the software Stata 11 was used for data processing. From the results of the study, the relationship between the hypotheses and the predefined variables has been established and the proposals are twofold: a strictly pedagogic proposal, namely the game pedagogy, and other didactic solutions which recommend the use of bilingual textbooks for reading practice, and trilingual lexicons. The test of the pedagogic game revealed an amelioration of the students’ linguistic attitudes and representations towards the learning of the Cameroonian language they are taught. It permitted the increase of class attendance in national languages discipline and facilitated the amelioration of the students’ performance in this discipline. As far the proposed didactic materials are concerned, they help share the course content in Batanga language. The trilingual lexicon and the bilingual reading books (Batanga- French and Batanga-English) handle the sound system of the language. They contain the grammatical aspect of Batanga and contribute in the mastery of the pragmatic aspects of the use of Batanga in daily communication. They are used in the android tools of the students and are therefore in line with the quest by the Ministry of Higher Education for the digitalization of the learning process.