INVESTIGATING NIGERIAN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS' PERCEPTION TOWARDS ENGLISH LANGUAGE DOMINANCE OVER THEIR INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES

Year 2016, Volume: 5 , 206 - 213, 01.09.2016

Mohamed M. Adriosh Ozge Razi

Abstract

The language policy in
Nigeria granted English language the status of being the sole official
language, and the language of instruction in the country. This approach
influenced the educated people's competence, and subsequently, attitudes
towards English and their native languages respectively. The study aims to
investigate the perception of the Nigerian university students regarding the
dominance of English over their indigenous languages and the role of the
language policy of the country in this concern. The qualitative data collected
by interviewing eight students from two universities in the Northern side of
Cyprus answers the following questions: 1) what is the Nigerian university
students' perceptions of the dominance of English over their national languages?
2)How do the Nigerian university students evaluate the language policy in their
country and what they think about its potential effect on their national
languages?The findings revealed that Nigerian university students use English
frequently for both formal and informal contexts in their daily conversations.
They also felt that their native language competence decreases gradually while
their English mastery develops constantly. Although they hold positive
attitudes towards English as the official language of Nigeria, they feel the
need to reconsider the language policy and adopt the main national languages as
official languages in addition to 
English. This study contributes to our understanding of multi-lingual
people`s attitudes towards their heritage language and supports the research
literature which shows that personal connection to the heritage language plays
a significant role in individuals` attachment to the language rather than the
actual proficiency of speakers.

Keywords

Language attitude, language policy, ethnolinguistic vitality, language dominance

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