Linguistic Support and the Academic Integration of Anglophone Students in Francophone Universities in Cameroon

This study explored English-French bilingualism among content lecturers as a key factor in the academic integration of Anglophone students in Francophone universities in Cameroon. The study adopted a mixed-methods approach and administered an online questionnaire comprising open-ended and closed-ended items to 277 respondents who had obtained the General Certificate of Education Advanced Level qualifications (GCE A Levels) and subsequently enrolled in Francophone universities. Descriptive statistics, chi-square test of independence, and mean comparison tests were employed to analyse quantitative data. Qualitative responses from the open-ended questionnaire items were analysed thematically using an inductive coding approach to identify recurring themes and patterns in participants’ responses. The findings revealed that 67% of respondents identified difficulty in understanding French-medium instruction as the primary academic challenge they encountered. Furthermore, Anglophone students in public universities (M = 4.31, SD = 2.60) reported receiving significantly lower levels of instructional support than their counterparts in private institutions (M = 5.36, SD = 2.60), t (259) = -3.62, p < .001, d = -0.82. These findings suggest that government bilingualism policy continues to face substantial implementation challenges in Cameroonian higher education. It is recommended that Francophone universities offering bilingual programmes adopt Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) as a pedagogical framework to support the academic integration of Anglophone students.

bilingualism, CLIL, language integration, anglophone students, Cameroon, language acquisition, higher education

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