Lecturers’ Discourses on the Role of English Language in Sustaining or Erasing the Three Major Indigenous Languages in Nigeria (Published)
This examined lecturers’ discourses on the role of English Language in either sustaining or erasing the three major indigenous languages in Nigeria. Using an analytical method, the study deciphered and categorized the views of lecturers from three purposively selected universities representing Nigeria’s major linguistic zones: Alvan Ikoku Federal University of Education, Owerri in the Igbo-speaking zone, University of Ibadan in the Yoruba-speaking zone, and University of Abuja in the Hausa-speaking zone. Data were drawn from academic discussions, seminar presentations, and departmental discourses. The analysis revealed six distinct schools of thought. Three schools of thought argued that English Language would sustain the three indigenous languages through its role as a lingua franca, a medium for documentation, and a tool for bilingual education that promotes cross-cultural intelligibility. The other three schools of thought contended that English Language would erase the three indigenous languages by dominating domains of power, education, and prestige, thereby causing language shift and attrition. The study concluded that English occupies a paradoxical position in Nigeria’s linguistic ecology.
Keywords: English Language, Indigenous languages, Nigeria, language shift, lecturers' discourses
Implications of the Negative Attitude towards Nigerian Indigenous Languages on National Development (Published)
Most parents, schools and the society at large in Nigeria today refer to the indigenous languages as the language of the uncivilized and speaking it is an abomination. Surprisingly, the English language is becoming the first language of most children in the nation. Worrisome still is the fact that the indigenous languages are going into extinction and this has not received much attention. The government has been paying lip service to various policies, just as parents are discouraging their children to speak their mother tongue even on informal occasions. It is for this reason that this study set out to highlight the implications of the negative attitude towards Nigerian indigenous languages on national development. It examines the status of indigenous languages and the possible reasons for the negative perceptions as well as their implication on National Development in Nigeria. The study submits that the neglect of indigenous languages results in mistaken identity, self-patriotism, low self-extreme and self-concept, low productivity, polluted social integration, importation of foreign habit, weak social institution, low educational product and language incompetence among others on part of the individual and society at large which have a direct impact on national development. Consequently, the paper concludes that when education, science, technology and moral virtues are led away from the indigenous languages, sustainable national development will continue to be a fallacy
Citation: Opeyemi Emmanuel OLAWE (2022) Implications of the Negative Attitude towards Nigerian Indigenous Languages on National Development, International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research, Vol.10, No 2, pp.60-73
Keywords: Extinction, Implications, Indigenous languages, National Development