THE PLACE OF THE ORAL TRADITIONAL TECHNIQUES OF COMMUNICATION IN A DIGITAL ERA: THE CASE OF THE KENYANGSPEAKING COMMUNITY

Abstract

Kenyang is a language spoken in the Southwest region of Cameroon precisely by people of KManyu. This paper seeks to investigate the place of oral traditional techniques ofcommunication within the Kenyang-speaking community, in a time when large amount ofinformation are widely available to many people, through computer technology. Data for this workis collected from both primary and secondary sources. Interviews, discussions and observation areinstruments for the primary data collection. The theoretical framework use for this work is the verbalcommunication theory. The findings reveal that the oral traditional communication techniques usedby the Kenyang-speaking community are still useful and they still fulfil the functions ofcommunication within the community. Also important is the fact that, the Kenyang traditional waysof communicating which include the oral and other symbolic non-verbal modes of communication,like /enok/,"drumʺ /gong/ / "ɲkanɛka" /bell/ ʺɛfɛpʺ /whistle/ clapping of hands, have served thepeople of Manyu from time immemorial and still remain powerful and useful as far ascommunication among the peoples is concerned. We also discovered that, the Kenyang oraltechniques of communication can work alongside modern techniques of communication. Thearticle recommends that more attention be given to traditional techniques of communication by theKenyang speakers to equate sensitisation, mobilisation and collective efforts to help upgrade andstrengthen the use of these traditional communication techniques in this digital era.