The Acquisition of Socio-cognitive Competence by Nso Children in the Bamenda Grassfields of Northwest Cameroon

Abstract

Among the Nso of Northwest Cameroon, the primary purpose of socialisation is the development of social intelligence and a sense of social responsibility. This process is dependent on and shaped more by "tacit lessions" built into children's apprenticeship in routine tasks and interpersonal encounters with both peers and adults than on role instruction. Nso children are co-participants in their own "hands-on" socialisation. The traditional niche is now in total flux. In order to compare the ideas and values of different parental cohorts inherent in the tension of continuity and change, we interviewed 389 Nso men and women using the Lamnso Parent Interview Guide. The results revealed both similarities and differences in the values of various parental cohorts. Although traditional values were widely endorsed, mothers, parents, and urban respondents tended to manifest less indigenous viewpoints than fathers, grandparents, and rural subjects, perhaps because of their greater exposure to alien modifiers of cultural knowledge and values.