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A major characteristic of Cameroon's language policy during the colonial era as well as during the first four decades of the postcolonial era, is discrimination against all indigenous Cameroonian languages. This began when German was introduced after the arrival of the first colonisers in 1844 and lasted until the end of the First World War, after which the policy was continued by the French (in eastern Cameroon) and the English colonial administrators (in western Cameroon). Even after Independence in 1960, this policy was perpetuated and defended, now by the Cameroonian government who fostered so-called "Official Bilingualism", a policy securing the development of French and English as languages of education, and of administration and general public use in the entire country. The first attempt to put an end to this aspect of colonial policy occurred in 1996. Since then, a lot has been done to overcome and correct the policy of banishment of local languages, so that the Cameroonian languages are now being introduced into the educational system.

According to the 2006 national census 71,06% of Burkina Faso’s estimated 14 million inhabitants are functionally illiterate. This staggering number is referred to in explaining the slow social, economical and political development of the country; it is also linked to the high incidence of poverty in Burkina Faso. The government is aware of these connections between literacy and social circumstances and thus is determined to combat poverty through a literacy campaign. This article describes some of theseattempts and critically reflects on the importance of the mastery of literacy in national languages, linking this also to the teaching and learning of foreign languages.