Assessing Korop Vitality on the Basis of Intergenerational Language Transmission

Abstract

One of the major concerns of sociolinguistic research in recent years has been to assess the vitality of languages. This has led to the development of various methods of assessing linguistic vitality (Fishman 1991; UNESCO 2003; Lewis & Gary 2010). A number of authors have tested these models on individual languages (for example, Tehan & Nahhas 2009; Obiero 2010; Gao 2015; Puthuval, 2016; Tehan & Makowski 2017) and established them as endangered. As a result, about 50-90% of the world’s over 7000 languages have been established as endangered languages (Krauss 1992; Crystal 2000; Campbell, Heaton, Lee, Okura, Simpson, Ueki & Van 2013) with different degrees of endangerment. However, given the varied environmental factors that languages are subject to, it is hard to claim comprehensiveness when all of the world’s languages have not been studied. This paper seeks to assess the level of vitality of Korop language, based on intergenerational language transmission as an indicator for language endangerment. Being a cross-border language spoken in Cameroon and Nigeria, the study focuses on the section of the language spoken in Cameroon. Primary data collection was guided by Lewis & Gary (2010) (EGIDS) framework of vitality assessment with the use of the following instruments: observation, interviews and focused group discussions, while data analysis and interpretation was done quantitatively and qualitatively using figures, tables, percentages. The study found out that Korop falls under EGIDs Level 7, meaning that the language is shifting.. The study is significant in that it will not only call the attention of native speakers to intensify the transmission of their language to their children, but also inspire research on vitality assessment of the language, based on other indicators for language endangerment in the section spoken in Cameroon and also in the section spoken in Nigeria. This, in a long run will help to make a more comprehensive conclusion on the vitality level of the language.