It is the most widely spoken language, although english is the official language of nigeria. The english language is used in the ict industries, the internet, medicine and others. The pragmatics of language use in the nigerian nollywood by taiwo o. Writing in english, the language of the imperialist conquerors of nigeria, achebes stated goal was to create a new and more african english. Having been colonised by the british, the future of english language is 100% guaranteed in nigeria. Language and education in nigeria british council nigeria. Stratified sampling technique was employed to select the sample. It is only a language which the peoples of nigeria can use to relate with one another that can be used to build the nation. Lastly, the amount of english used depends on the students language proficiency level. Key words the territorial version, nigerian english, globalization, language policy, language perspectives. Going by this historical position, it is safe to conclude that english predates colonization in nigeria. The use of the english language in nigeria dates back to the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century when british merchants and christian missionaries settled in the coastal towns called. Teaching and learning english language in nigerian schools.
Quantitative indicators from cameroon, nigeria, rwanda, bangladesh and pakistan the findings of this study were developed through primary source interviews across a wide cross section of private and public sector subjects. He scrutinizes the scholarly contentions on the subject and to what extent are divergent opinions true. From sharing our thoughts and photos to planning a night out, most people tend to organise their social lives, or at least have it significantly influence them, through some form of technologybased engagement. This paper discussed the importance of english language as official language of communication in nigeria. The sample for the study was 300 respondents selected from the total population of 6,482 respondents. Thus, the english language which serves as the official language and the medium of instruction in schools in nigeria coexists with the language. The official language of nigeria is english, the former language of colonial british nigeria. The pragmatics of language use in the nigerian nollywood.
Nigerians and their use of the english language bbc. Students perception on the use of humor in the teaching. The spectrum of english in nigeria ranges from standard english through a more general english whose structures are. Use of traditional herbal medicines in developed countries 2. Attempts to reduce the use of english as the official language have not. Korea such as the methods of learning and teaching english language in korea, and policy makers impact on the way english language is being taught and learnt in korea. In accordance with the nigeria constitution first written in 1963 when nigeria became a republic was heavily based on the us constitution. Bangladesh, and is spearheading a tuition format via mobile phones, known as. Nigeria, particularly of indigenous language usage, sketches the history of english. A main impulse of languagecentered literature teaching is to help students find ways into a text in a methodical way and for themselves. History of english language in nigeria and top 10 uses. As such, the language employed by a media house goes a long way in determining the listenership strength and effectiveness of its services. The english language of the nigeria police udo victoria chinwe general studies unit, tansian university, umunya, anambra state, nigeria.
Impact of mobile phone usage on academic performance. Communication in the english language is much more popular in the countrys urban communities than it is in the rural areas. Professional diary entries written by the researcher during a one year english language teaching experience in korea provided the core data for this research. This role falls on the english language which is the nations official and second language, as well as her lingua franca. This dictionary of nigerian english was stimulated by some enquiries from the oxford english dictionary on words of putative west african origin. The use of indigenous language in radio broadcasting. The oed faces an increasingly uphill struggle in its attempts to capture world english. Each part has five 5 questions four 4 of which were in a yes, no, and not sure scale the fifth question in each part was openended. Though the constitution has been revised in 1979, 1993, and 1999. Nigeria, the need to bring diverse ethnic nationalists under one linguistic umbrella becomes paramount. What are the functions of english language in nigeria.
Choosing an indigenous official language for nigeria. Pdf the use of the english language in nigeria dates back to the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century when british merchants and christian. The work is the use of audiovisual resources in colleges of education in benue state. English is the official language of nigeria, a former british protectorate. The status of the official language of nigeria is hot to discuss, though. Levels of english use in nigeria and pakistan, for example, are. The study of languages is becoming more and more popular every day. The use of audiovisual materials in the teaching and.
The importance of english language learning and teaching. Unlock this profile with an essentials plan see the details on every language spoken in nigeria, plus. Effects of social media on language theres no denying that social media has transformed the way we interact with each other. This has always resulted in arguments about the choice of indigenous languages for official and national purposes because. Old english originated from a germanic tribal and linguistic continuum along the frisian north sea coast, whose languages gradually evolved into the anglic languages in the british isles, and into the frisian languages and low germanlow saxon on the continent. All in all, i think that using some chinese in the classroom is necessary and the advantages of doing so outweigh any disadvantages. Language situation at the colonia era when britain took over as the colonial power in nigeria, english became the tool with which the new territory would be administered. Effects of english language on national development olofin alabi olusoji principal lecturer, the federal polytechnic, adoekiti, ekiti state, nigeria. English is one of them which become international language. The need for nigerian business people to use the language effectively will obviously contribute to. Part of that percentage can also include people who use it primarily but it is not their native language.
Nigerian english in international business communication. Pdf the article deals with the features of the territorial version of the. The need for a languagecommon to everyone has given english language much prominence and by this, the english language in nigeria polity has become a necessary and welcomed evil that people have to. Ironically, it is also nigerias dominant language, with the use of english being taught at various levels of the nigerian educational system prenursery schools, nursery schools, primary schools, secondary schools and tertiary institutions of learning. English language teaching and learning is faced with myriads of challenges ranging from. Nigerian english, also known as nigerian standard english, is a dialect of english spoken in nigeria. Nigerians and their use of the english language bbc hilarious by davidif.
English, as a medium of disseminatinginformation, enjoys high prestige to the detriment of the indigenous languages spoken in nigeria since it remains the lan guage of officialdom. Importance of english language in nigeria free essays. Language is used to defining the characteristics of every nation. Some people learn them for work, others simply because they receive immense pleasure from the learning process, thus turning this activity into their hobby. The importance of english language is spreading geographically in the world there are many languages being spoken.
English is the lingua franca used in nigerian schools and society. Nigerian english, intercultural communication, intelligibility, business discourse, varieties. Finally, it suggests that despite politically driven forces behind the use of indigenous languages in nigerian society, the prospects for the english language in. It is chosen to be the official language partially because people of some parts speak english because of the colonies ruled.
What future does the english language have in nigeria. The long period of the coexistence of the languages exerts pressure on the proper learning and use of english by students. History of english language in nigeria english is the official language in nigeria was made so to unite the country linguistically and culturally. A second language is one that comes after ones primary language. Consequently, this paper sought to highlight the roles the english language performs in the building. Its southern coast is on the gulf of guinea in the atlantic ocean. Chinua achebes new english in things fall apart neh. Nigeria borders niger in the north, chad in the northeast, cameroon in the east, and benin in the west. The english language and sustainable development in nigeria. Most of the electronic media operating in nigeria are english based. English especially the variety known as nigerian pidgin english functions as a lingua franca in this multilingual country. If their english is at an advanced level, i feel no need to use chinese. Nigeria is located on the lands of west africa and is the largest state in these parts. The instrument was divided into four parts to cater for four variables.
The use of audiovisual materials in the teaching and learning processes in colleges of education in benue statenigeria doosuur ashaver1, sandra mwuese igyuve2 benue state university, makurdinigeria abstract. Using l1 in the english classroom for english language. The work is the use of audiovisual resources in colleges of. Abstract in the present day nigeria, the quality of the english language spoken by nigerians, is perceived to have been deteriorating and needs urgent attention. This, and some other reasons which do not form the focus of this paper, makes the elec tronic media in nigeria stick to using eng lish. The paper suggests that, the language policy can be used to foster a desirable and the real nigerianism philosophy of our forefathers. As reported in 2003, nigerian english and nigerian pidgin were spoken as a second language by 60 million people in nigeria. In this file, you will find all the details of the work you must submit to your tutor for.
Thus, it is the nigerian literature in english, far more than its indigenous language counterpart, that has raised issues of culturecontact and cultureconflict, the place of tradition in the modern ethos, the problems of the administration of a modern polity, as well as notions of sexism and the place of the womenfolk in our new reality. Two main modern pronouncements on language policy in nigeria merit our attention, to wit the national policy on education 1977, revised in 1981, and the 1979 constitution, which is more cited than its 1989 reincarnation. The benefits of the english language for individuals and societies. The official language of nigeria is english, the former language of colonial. Egbe literary influence of some authors on nigerian english olapade ajeigbe. Pdf the functions of english in nigeria from the earliest times to. The use of english as the official language in nigeria defuses ethnic conflicts and yet questions the authenticity and identifies of the users. Tackling the challenges of teaching english language as second language esl in nigeria oluwayemisi florence fatiloro department of general studies education, school of education, federal college of education sp oyo, oyo state, nigeria abstract. Students are exposed to the massive use of nigerian.
Language, therefore, plays a major role in the usefulness of electronic media to the populace. English grammar pdf and word doc learning basic english. We have different uses of english language, below here are the top 10 uses of english language in nigeria. In addition to english, hausa, yoruba, igbo, fula, and english creole are widely spoken. He integrated igbo words and phrases, proverbs, folktales, and other elements of communal storytelling into the narrative in order to record and preserve african oral traditions and to subvert the. Nigerian english is the variety of english that has been used in the region of the niger, west africa, for purposes of. Hausa was an official language of the northern states from 1951 to 1967. Tackling the challenges of teaching english language as. As a second language, its acquisition makes its nigerian users either bilingual or multi lingual. Additionally, loanwords and collocations have emerged from the native languages of nigeria, which come from the need to express concepts specific to the culture of. All the former british colonies were left with the english language on the departure of the colonial government sapir 1921. Ehineni 2007, examines the existence or nonexistence of a distinct variety of english known as nigerian english.
Without the knowledge and communication of english, one cannot successfully go into this area of interest. There are over 500 native languages spoken in nigeria. Workers with solid english language skills are therefore in the best position to take the fullest. The mobile phone usage questionnaire mpuq adapted from twum 2011. Everything official in nigeria is been done with the use of english language, it is nigerias official language. Effects of english language on national development. Top 10 important uses of english language for nigerians. English is an indoeuropean language and belongs to the west germanic group of the germanic languages. History and importance of english language in nigeria. The benefits of the english language for individuals and.
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