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