The Importance of Activating Indigenous Languages in the Drive for Development

Abstract

It is generally accepted that true societal development is a people-centred, bottom-up process. It should therefore follow that the working language of any development programme ought wherever possible to be the language of the target community. Occasionally it will be found that the language of an impoverished group is too moribund for such use – languages are dying out at an average rate of two per month. However, all too often an exogenous ‘language of power’ is used instead of a viable indigenous tongue. The author contends that, in the day-to-day running of development programmes, the very use of an exogenous tongue as a working language militates against the development process. Two instances from experience in Cameroon are described, and some practical recommendations are offered.