Cameroon
From AASL
| Name of the country/area | Cameroon |
|---|---|
| Formal name of the country/area | Republic of Cameroon |
| Country/area information | The World Factbook (CIA) |
| Wikipedia (English) |
Local sign for "Cameroon"
Illustrations in the literature
"Cameroon" (In: Japanese Federation of the Deaf ed. Supervisor: Hedberg, Tomas. 2003. Country name-signs. Helsinki, Finland: World Federation of the Deaf. 94.)
Major cities
Spoken languages
French
English
Sign languages
Francophone African Sign Language
Related sign languages:
Population of Deaf/deaf people
National Association of the Deaf of Cameroon's official or approximate number of Deaf people:60,000. (WFD. 2008. Global Survey Report. : See Bibliography below.)
Legal status of sign languages
- Status of the National Sign Language(s) from WFD. 2008. Global Survey Report. (See Bibliography below).
1. The country’s government does not formally recognise the country’s sign language(s).
2. Deaf Association/Deaf Group lobbies the government for the recognition of the country’s sign language(s).
Organizations and associations of the Deaf/deaf
- Association Nationale Des Sourds du Cameroon (WFD member; established in 1992. (WFD. 2008. Global Survey Report. : See Bibliography below.))
- Cameroon National Association of the Deaf (WFD member, data in 2002, cited from "Signs of country names" (Japanese edition, Japan Institute for Sign Language Studies ed. 2002. Tokyo: Japanese Federation of the Deaf))
Institutes, associations and universities for sign language studies
Education for the Deaf
L'E.S.E.D.A (Ecole Spécialisée pour Enfants Déficients Auditifs)
Institut National Evangelique des Enfants Deficients Auditifs et Visuels en abrege INEDAV-CAMEROUN
Deaf Children with Additional Disabilities in Developing Countries : Cameroon
- Access to Education from WFD. 2008. Global Survey Report. (See Bibliography below).
1.The government recognizes that Deaf children and Deaf students have the right to receive an education.
2.Legislation or policies on Deaf Education:
- Special Education
3.The government provides those educational settings for Deaf children and Deaf students:
- Early intervention (Up to 5 years old)
- Kindergarten (Between 3/4 years old to 5/6 years old)
- Primary (From 5/6 years old to 12/13 years old)
- Secondary (From 12/13 years old to 17/18 years old)
- Vocational Education/Training
4.The government provides bilingual education using the country’s sign language(s) for Deaf children and Deaf students in those educational settings:
- Primary (From 5/6 years old to 12/13 years old)
5.Total number of schools specifically for Deaf children and Deaf students in the country, and the educational approach for communicating with Deaf children and students at the Deaf School:
- 30 Deaf Schools
- Bilingual Education
- Oral and Sign Language (Total Communication)
6.Deaf people’s access to a University education and sign language interpreting services at University:
- None, lack of sign language interpreters.
Sign language interpretation
- There are comments by a sign language interpreter from this country who participated in WASLI 2011 conference in Durban, South Africa (from WASLI Sponcorship Programme 2011, see See Bibliography below).
- Status of Sign Language Interpreting Services from WFD. 2008. Global Survey Report. (See Bibliography below).
1.The number of sign language interpreters in the country:
- 2 interpreters
2. Sign language interpreting qualifications.
- None
3.The provider of the sign language interpreting services:
- None
4.The payment for interpreting services, and those who are responsible for paying:
- Sign language interpreters receive payment for interpreting services
- Government pays
- National Association of the Deaf/Deaf Group pays
5.The average hourly rate of payment for sign language interpreters:
- 1,000FCFA (1.53€ on 31st May 2008)
6.Sign language interpreters sometimes provide voluntary service for sign language interpreting assignments.
7.National Association of Sign Language Interpreters:
- None
8.National Code of Ethics for sign language interpreters:
- None
9.Legislation or policy in the country which states that the government has a responsibility for the provision of sign language :
- None
Deaf communities and cultures
Deaf and Dumb Sensitised On HIV/AIDS (Cameroon Tribune : All Africa Global Media)
Religious activities by the Deaf
Life of Deaf
Famous Deaf persons and hearing persons concerned with sign languages
Sign language dictionaries
The country does not have a sign language dictionary ( WFD. 2008. Global Survey Report. (See Bibliography below)).
Bibliography
Henri, Evouna Etoundi. 2015. The publication of the Francophone Africa Sign Language for education and communication - Cameroon dictionary (LSAF-Cam) "Learn to listen my hands" . WOCAL8. 23 Aug. 2015. Kyoto, Japan.
WASLI (World Association of Sign Language Interpreters). 2011. WASLI Sponsorship Programme 2011. Kampala, UGANDA.
Kamei, Nobutaka. 2009. Research on Langue des Signes d'Afrique Francophone (LSAF): How to share the product of the DVD sign language dictionary project. In: Lingua-Culture Contextual Studies in Ethnic Conflicts of the World (LiCCOSEC) (Research Institute for World Languages, Osaka University). 8 (Annual report (2008)): 367-380.
Kamei, Nobutaka. 2008. The Deaf community in Cameroon: A preliminary essay on the ethnography of African Deaf communities. In: Japanese Journal of Sign Linguistics (Japanese Association of Sign Linguistics). 17: 99-112.
World Federation of the Deaf and Swedish National Association of the Deaf. 2008. Global Survey Report. WFD Regional Secretariat for Western and Central Africa Region (WFD WCAR). Global Education Pre-Planning Project on the Human Rights of Deaf People. World Federation of the Deaf. Finland.
Kamei, Nobutaka. 2006. History of Deaf people and sign languages in Africa: Fieldwork in the "kingdom" derived from Andrew J. Foster. Tokyo: Akashi Shoten. [2007 JASID Award for Excellent Work by Young Researchers, Japan Society for International Development, November 2007]
Kamei, Nobutaka. 2006. Liberty of sign language in the development process: A paradox of language liberty of the Deaf and the economic affluence. In: World Trend (Institute of Developing Economies). 135 (December 2006): 16-19.
Kamei, Nobutaka. 2006. The Birth of Langue des Signes Franco-Africaine : Creole ASL in West and Central French-Speaking Africa. In Sign Language Communication Studies (Japan Institute for Sign Language Studies, Japanese Federation of the Deaf) 59(2006.03):67-68.[ Report of the session at the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Washington DC Dec. 1. 2005 7:45 PM–9:30 PM. "Endangered World Languages : Sign Languages and Their Variations". Including information of Benin, Cameroon and Gabon ]
Kamei, Nobutaka. 2005. The Deaf in Africa (10) Teacher training by the Deaf Foster generation of today. In:Sign Language Communication Studies(Japan Institute for Sign Language Studies, Japanese Federation of the Deaf) 57(2005.09):41-47.
WASLI (World Association of Sign Language Interpreters). 2005. Cameroon. In: Country report 2005. 14-15. Kampala, Uganda.
Kamei, Nobutaka. 2004. The Deaf in Africa (8) Total communication by Foster. In:Sign Language Communication Studies(Japan Institute for Sign Language Studies, Japanese Federation of the Deaf) 54(2004.12):58-64.
Kamei, Nobutaka. 2004. The Deaf in Africa (5) Deaf views of America In:Sign Language Communication Studies (Japan Institute for Sign Language Studies, Japanese Federation of the Deaf) 51(2004.03):55-62.
Kamei, Nobutaka. 2003. The Deaf in Africa (4) Controversies over foreign sign languages. In:Sign Language Communication Studies (Japan Institute for Sign Language Studies, Japanese Federation of the Deaf) 50(2003.12):44-53.
Kamei, Nobutaka. 2002. A cultural anthropological study on the sign languages and the Deaf community in the Republic of Cameroon. Abstract of the field research in 2002. A Report to Cameroon National Association of the Deaf, 24 December 2002, Douala, Republic of Cameroon.
Kamei, Nobutaka. 2002. A cultural anthropological study on the sign languages and the Deaf community in the Republic of Cameroon. Report of the preliminary research 1997-98. A report to the Ministry of Science and Technological Research, Republic of Cameroon.
Kamei, Nobutaka. 2000. Another multilingual community: Education and languages of the Deaf in Cameroon. In: Nakamura, Yuichiro & Yasuko Ichibangase eds. Social welfare in the world (11) Africa, Latin America and Spain (Sekai no shakai-fukushi (11)). Tokyo: Junposha. 83-108.
Sorin-Barreteau L. 1996. Le Langage Gestuel des Mofu-Gudur au Cameroun. Doctoral thesis, University of Paris V - René Descartes.
Sorin-Barreteau L. 1982. Gestes narratifs et langage gestuel chez les Mofu (Nord-Cameroun). in : Cahiers de Littérature Orale. 11: 37-93.
Researchers
Goedele De Clerck
History of sign language research
Events
Sign language workshop is held in WOCAL7 (the 7th World Congress of African Linguistics) (August 23-24, 2012, University of Buea, Buea, Cameroon). The following presentations are included:
- Introduction and aims of workshop (organising committee): welcome from Cameroon Deaf community
- Goedele De Clerck (Belgium): Cameroon Deaf community
- Nobutake Kamei (Japan): Database of proper noun signs in Africa
- Henri Evouna Etoundi (Cameroon): Dr Andrew Foster and the LSAF in the deaf community
- Bob Achgill (Cameroon): HHR - Cameroon Hand Signs DVD
Links
Deaf cultures and Sign Languages of the world: Cameroon
CAMEROON DEAF EMPOWERMENT ORGANISATION
Notes
| Africa (general) | Africa (general) |
|---|---|
| North Africa | Algeria | Egypt | Libya | Morocco | Tunisia |
| West Africa | Benin | Burkina Faso | Cote d'Ivoire | Gambia | Ghana | Guinea | Guinea-Bissau | Liberia | Mali | Mauritania | Niger | Nigeria | Senegal | Sierra Leone | Togo |
| Island states in the Atlantic Ocean | Cape Verde | Sao Tome and Principe |
| Central Africa | Burundi | Cameroon | Central African Republic | Chad | Democratic Republic of the Congo | Equatorial Guinea | Gabon | Republic of the Congo | Rwanda |
| East Africa | Djibouti | Eritrea | Ethiopia | Kenya | Somalia | South Sudan | Sudan | Tanzania | Uganda |
| Southern Africa | Angola | Botswana | Lesotho | Malawi | Mozambique | Namibia | South Africa | Swaziland | Zambia | Zimbabwe |
| Island states in the Indian Ocean | Comoros | Madagascar | Mauritius | Seychelles |
| Areas and others | Western Sahara |
