CHAPTER 1

The arrival of the English language

There are few articles that relate the arrival of the Englishlanguage in our country. But Dr. Steve NDINGA-KOUMBA-BINZA anauthor whose articles I used most to edify you raised this issue likeme now.

To him, "English seems to have been introduced in Gabon inthree periods", i.e colonization, evangelization and World War II.

*Colonization

As previously stated, English is among the eight languages ofcolonization ( the rest are, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Italian,Spanish and Portuguese) which enabled white men to settle inall part of the world by establishing navigators, traders, soldiers,settlers, bureaucrats, goods and religions from the fifteenth centuryonwards (Mc. Arthur, 1998: 36).

In Gabon the first contact was due to British imperialism andcolonial ambitions by the end of the eighteenth century. As forAfrica in general, it said to be by the fifteenth century (Dr. SteveNDINGA-KOUMBA BINZA, 2005).

In Gabon, right to the present the English presence ismanifested through the places that bear English names. Forinstance in Libreville the capital, we have London and Glass.In the Northwestern of Gabon, a town is called Coco Beach.Historically, "Glass" was King Glass' village (he was given his nameby Europeans). It "was the most important trading center in theregion. It was the head quarter for British and American tradersand after June 1842, it became the site of American protestant"(Dr.Steve NDINGA-KOUMBA BINZA, 2005). Currently, that former bigvillage is split into small areas: Nombakélé, Toulon, Baraka, Centreville, London and of course Glass itself.

*Evangelization

Undoubtedly religion played a great role in the spread ofEnglish in Gabon according to Dr. Steve NDINGA-KOUMBA BINZA.American missionaries settled there with the support of King Glassin 1842. They belonged to the American Board of Commissioners forForeign Missions (ABCFM). They started preaching the Gospel in thename of "their God". They created "churches, protestant schoolsand coined denominations as Eglise Evangélique du GABON (EEG)and that of Eglise de l'Alliance Chrétienne et missionnaire duGabon (EACMG)". Then, "they introduced modern school system,were the first English teachers taught linguistics. As linguists, theycreated a writing system in our local languages (Mpongwe, Kélé,Séké, Benga, Fang, Yipunu, etc.) Here is a list of these pioneers whospread the English language in Gabon: Rev. John Leighton Wilson(1809-1886), he founded the American Prostestant Mission of theEstuary in Gabon. He founded the Baraka church and he was itsfirst pastor. He was also among the fighters of slavery.

William Walker (1808-1896) from the ABCFM. He completed thetranslation of the Holy Bible into Mpongwe.

Robert Hamill Nassau (1835-1921), had become an expertin Benga, Galwa, Kélé and Fang languages. He was a "giftedlinguist".

Finally, James Benjamin Van Renssalaer (1814-1869) was the firstprinter in Gabon. The first works in Mpongwe were printed thanksto his support. The "evangelic movement" helped our forefathersto be able to write their native tongues and English as well aspreaching the Gospel.

*World War II

It is said that the spread of English was not yet high beforeWorld War II. So, after the war, the German colonies were given toFrance and England (the allies) as a reward for the victors.

Indeed, a treaty known as "the Prado agreement" signedbetween France and Germany delt with it. Cameroon and theNorthern Province of Gabon (Woleu-Ntem) were part of thatchange. They were given to England. But, before the war, Ntem(from a treaty signed in June 27th 1900) was German. Corisco andElobichico Islands belonged to Spain; Mbanié and Coco BeachIslands to France (from another treaty signed on March 16th 1901,between Spain, France and Germany).

There after, Ntem became French since Gabon belongedto France ("French Overseas District"). After the year 1960,Gabon remained Francophone with French as the sole officialadministrative language (see the Constitution of Gabon) whereasCameroon is bilingual with both French and English.

The pre and colonial period is also said to be responsible forthe presence of English in our native tongues (via...