Abstract
The rush to English and English medium education (EMI) is fashionably a global tendency, and research in the domain has extensively explored the effects of such rush on social justice, quality education, economic and power dynamics across contexts. Given the multifaceted challenges related to the provision of English and accessibility to EMI, the relationship between UNESCO’s Education For All vision and access to English tends to be complicated. This paper examines the commonly-stated quest for English in Cameroon with a focus on attitudes towards English and EMI. The purpose is to understand the interface between the rush to EMI and attitudes towards English in the essentially French-speaking country. Data were collected from 1367 students and 29 teachers in two urban and two rural schools, specifically on their attitudes towards school subject disciplines in their curriculum through open-ended questionnaires. Overwhelming negative attitudes from students towards English were confirmed by the teachers sampled. Significant differences in attitudes towards English between student samples from the two contexts were noticed. The paper clarifies that attitudes towards English contradict the rush to EMI and examines the economic motives for the rush to EMI in Cameroon. This raises policy concerns regarding social injustice, cohesion, and equity amongst people expected to live together.
Recommended Citation
Ekembe, E. E. (2021). Revisiting Attitudes Towards English in Cameroon and the Rush for EMI: Positioning Education For All Vision. Journal of English Learner Education. (12)1.
Retrieved from https://stars.library.ucf.edu/jele/vol12/iss1/8
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