This monograph examines the language situation in Cameroon, a Central African country where fewer than 20 million people speak close to 250 languages. Specifically, the monograph addresses the issues of language use and spread, language policy and planning, and language maintenance and prospects. The study is divided into five parts. The introduction provides background information on Cameroon, giving an overview the country's historical evolution from colonisation to the present, while Part I looks into language use in the country, describing how official, indigenous and religious languages cohabit. Part II considers language spread, with a focus on language-in-education, in the media and in other relevant social domains. Part III takes up language policy and planning and decries the absence of a language agency in the polity. Finally, Part IV discusses the implications of the current situation for the development of the various languages analysed.
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