Conversational Translanguaging in Everyday Language Use among Urban Anglophone Cameroonians — The Association Specialists

Conversational Translanguaging in Everyday Language Use among Urban Anglophone Cameroonians (20061)

Eric A. Ambele 1
  1. Mahasarakham University, Maha Sarakham, Thailand

This study investigated patterns of translanguaging among urban Anglophone Cameroonians in their everyday conversational use of  Standard English (SE) and Cameroon Pidgin English (CPE). The research collected and analyzed 20 natural conversations through observation and audio recordings, employing both corpus-based quantitative and content-based qualitative analysis. The findings revealed that urban Anglophone Cameroonians engage in conversational translanguaging, seamlessly using their linguistic resources without consciously considering which language to use. This practice underscores their metalinguistic awareness and the integration of linguistic resources, such as lexical, grammatical, morphological, phonological, and syntactical forms, from their repertoire, forming an integrated system within urban conversations in Anglophone Cameroon that blended SE and CPE. Despite the fluidity in their linguistic choices, several translanguaging patterns emerged. The analysis showed that the participants favored shorter forms when multiple realizations shared the same root (e.g., -am verbs) and polysemous forms for words with distinct roots, especially when specific meanings were required (e.g., "repe" for "father"). They also showed a preference for a specialized gender-neutral form ("ih") instead of gender-specific forms like "he" or "she". Furthermore, the study noted a preference for SE vowel sounds in syllables with identical consonant sounds (e.g., "talk") and voiceless interdental consonant plosives when a choice involved a "th" sound. These findings have practical implications for understanding how people navigate language choices in social interactions in diverse linguistic environments.