Teaching French as a Foreign Language in Multilingual and Anglophone Contexts: The Experiences of Teachers in Nigeria and Ghana

Oct 15, 2026

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Nigeria and Ghana are two Anglophone countries in West Africa that adopted French in education because of proximity to francophone neighbors and the need for regional integration. The paper compares language policy and French teaching at secondary and post-secondary levels, analyzing primary data from teachers. Findings show different levels of official status, yet notable similarities in policy structures and in challenges to full implementation. Country-specific solutions address existing barriers.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

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Pages37

Reading Time1 h 33 min

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Educational Considerations Volume 49 Number 2 Cultivating International Connections Article 7 Through Education 2023 Teaching French as a Foreign Language in Multilingual and Anglophone Contexts: The Experiences of Teachers in Nigeria and Ghana Michael Akinpelu University of Regina, Canada, [michael.akinpelu@uregina.ca](michael.akinpelu@uregina.ca) Stella Afi Makafui Yegblemenawo Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana, [samyegblemenawo.cass@knust.edu.gh](samyegblemenawo.cass@knust.edu.gh) Follow this and additional works at: [https://newprairiepress.org/edconsiderations](https://newprairiepress.org/edconsiderations) Part of the Other French and Francophone Language and Literature Commons This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License. Recommended Citation Akinpelu, Michael and Yegblemenawo, Stella Afi Makafui (2023) "Teaching French as a Foreign Language in Multilingual and Anglophone Contexts: The Experiences of Teachers in Nigeria and Ghana," Educational Considerations: Vol. 49: No. 2. [https://doi.org/10.4148/0146-9282.2345](https://doi.org/10.4148/0146-9282.2345) This Article is brought to you for free and open access by New Prairie Press. It has been accepted for inclusion in Educational Considerations by an authorized administrator of New Prairie Press. For more information, please [contact](contact cads@k-state.edu)[ cads@k-state.edu](contact cads@k-state.edu). Teaching French as a Foreign Language in Multilingual and Anglophone Contexts: The Experiences of Teachers in Nigeria and Ghana Cover Page Footnote Acknowledgements: The authors wish to thank all survey participants in Nigeria and Ghana. Funding: The authors did not receive any funding for conducting and publishing this research. Declaration of Conflict of interest: The authors declare no known or potential conflict of interest with regards to this study, the publication or authorship of this article. Ethics Statement: This research did not directly involve any animal and human subjects. However, since data was collected using an online survey, details related to the purpose of the study, including the anonymity of data collected and how data collected are intended to be used were provided in the first section of the survey and participation was voluntary. This article is available in Educational Considerations: [https://newprairiepress.org/edconsiderations/vol49/iss2/7](https://newprairiepress.org/edconsiderations/vol49/iss2/7) Teaching French as a Foreign Language in Multilingual and Anglophone Contexts: The Experiences of Teachers in Nigeria and Ghana Michael Akinpelu and Stella Afi Makafui Yegblemenawo Abstract Nigeria and Ghana are two Anglophone countries in West Africa that have adopted the teaching of the French language in their education systems because of their proximity to francophone countries and the necessity for regional integration. Whereas the language has gained some official status in the national curriculum (National Policy on Education) in Nigeria and made a required subject at some levels of education, French continues to enjoy a privileged status in Ghana but without an official status yet. Using a comparative approach, this paper explores the language policy in favour of the French language and its teaching at the secondary and post secondary levels in both countries. The analysis of primary data collected with teachers at both levels in these countries show that, although French does not enjoy the same status in the two geographical spaces, similarities abound in terms of the policy regulating its teaching and the challenges impeding the full implementation of the policy. Country-specific solutions are offered to existing challenges. Keywords: Anglophone setting, language policy, French, teaching, Nigeria, Ghana, multilingualism. Introduction Although Africa is home to 30%(2,158) of

FAQs

Why do Nigeria and Ghana teach French despite being Anglophone countries?

French is adopted to support regional integration and cooperation with nearby francophone nations. The proximity and shared borders motivate its inclusion in education.

What approach does the paper use to study French teaching in Nigeria and Ghana?

It uses a comparative approach and draws on teachers’ experiences to examine language policy and French teaching across secondary and post-secondary levels.

What do the findings indicate about policy and implementation challenges?

Although French does not have the same status in the two countries, similarities appear in how the teaching is regulated and in the challenges that hinder full implementation. The paper also proposes country-specific solutions.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by acoobca