The British Council has embarked on a three-part project to help the growing number of people learning English in Cameroon. UK experts from the British Council’s global network will be in Cameroon over the next couple of weeks to help deliver a new programme of training for English language teachers. 40 teachers from across the country will travel to Yaoundé for six days of training, working with British training courses and qualifications – they will go on to deliver training courses via their institutions across the country. A further group of 40 teachers will attend workshops on the use of literature in language teaching.

 The initiative follows the launch of a series of radio programmes, broadcast on CRTV national radio every Tuesday after the 10 pm news and on CRTV Centre regional radio just after 2pm. These are intended to motivate teachers and provide a catalyst to encourage more learner-centred strategies. From the end of 2010, the British Council will introduce a second set of radio programmes for learners of English, supported by language-focused newspaper articles and the British Council’s English language web-sites www.teachingenglish.org.uk and http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org

In a third strand of activity, the British Council has initiated a regional policy dialogue with senior stakeholders in 13 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The aim is to identify opportunities for capitalising on the national development benefits of bilingualism and multilingualism. A high-level conference is planned for December in Rwanda, to share best policy practice in the teaching and use of English in Africa, with two delegates due to travel from Cameroon. A UK academic, Prof Edward Williams, will then come to Cameroon in January to support senior stakeholders in taking forward the agenda here.

British High Commissioner to Cameroon Bharat Joshi has welcomed this dynamic new approach to promoting English by the British Council. “Cameroonians are well-placed to reap the benefits of globalisation, with a competitive advantage gained from speaking two of the world’s main business languages and from the country’s standing in the region. I’m pleased that we are marrying 21st Century technology with the British Council’s tried and tested teaching standards to ensure that English standards continue to develop,” he said.

 British Council Cameroon Director Paul Norton said, “The UK is a world leader in English language teaching. Over 600,000 people every year come to the UK to learn the language and millions more study English in their home countries. By focusing our work in Cameroon on capacity building for teachers, with additional on-line and radio support for teachers and learners, we hope to help many more Cameroonians improve their English language learning.”