INSÉCURITÉ ET BILINGUISME DANS LE SUD-OUEST CAMEROUN: ANALYSE DES INTERACTIONS NUMÉRIQUES AUTOUR D’UN CAS INÉDIT D’ENLÈVEMENT D’ÉTUDIANTS

Abstract

In Cameroon, the current crisis affecting the two Anglophone regions strongly influences media and language people use to communicate. This paper focuses on the bilingual interaction amongst ASTI students in their shared WhatsApp group at a moment when one of their mates has just been kidnapped by unidentified individuals. The corpus analyzed is thus part of messages shared by those seeking solutions to the release of their mate. Our study is meant to be qualitative, using methodological tools of conversation analysis as well as the sociolinguistic theory related to language use in context. We aim to investigate the use of the two linguistic codes, especially English and French, within the body of the conversation about kidnapping. The paper begins with an overview of the usefulness of  communication in social media in the context of crisis and follows with analysis of the  alternate use of English and French by group members, and lastly, we assess how borrowing  and code-switching used by the group members accommodate with the bilingualism promoted  by the State of Cameroon. Our main conclusion is that the mixed use of English and French in the same body of conversation must in our context be regarded as a sign of cohesion, solidarity or togetherness amongst speakers.