english and indigenous languages in nigeria

8
Forms and Functions of ENGLISH AND INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES IN NIGERIA A FESTSCHRIFT IN I-IONOUR OF AYO BANJO Edited bj, Kola Owolabi & Ademola Dasylva GROUP PUBLISHERS Email: grouppublishers~vahoo.com

Upload: others

Post on 11-Apr-2022

6 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: ENGLISH AND INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES IN NIGERIA

t Emeritus Professor Ayo Banjo

1 .

Forms and Functions of ENGLISH AND INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES IN NIGERIA

A FESTSCHRIFT IN I-IONOUR OF

AYO BANJO

Edited bj,

Kola Owolabi & Ademola Dasylva

GROUP PUBLISHERS Email: grouppublishers~vahoo.com

Page 2: ENGLISH AND INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES IN NIGERIA

. ( 1 980) "Tl~c P K I ~ I I I ~ I ~ ~ C S of NOII-native Vi~ricties of Englisl~ in Smitl~. L. (cd).

. ( 1982) (cd). 7h1# Orlicr 7hngue: Eqclish .4ctu.v.v ( 'ultures London: Pcrg:~nion Prcss. 10.3 45-56

Lcccl~. G.N. ( 19x3) 1'rinciple.v c?f'lJrnn~~rtnticv. London: Longman. L c ~ i nson S. ( 1 '183 ) IDrn,crt~ntics Ci111i bridgc: ( 'nnrhric!~~ I Jniver.vip 1'res.v.

. ( 2t 11 It )) I 'rc~surrtpti~~r~ rrrenningv: The theoy o/ ,yc.nc~rnlizcd c ~ c ~ r r l ~ c * r - ~ r r r r ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ l I~~rplrr.aturp. Ci~nibridgc. M. A. and London: MIT Prcss.

(3 N 1 I I .\ ltrsrrrr. h ' q 1crrrr.s in lan,ctrn,v!r nntl culture. cd. by Alcssi~nro Doranti. 13942. London: Blacksvcll.

Lyons. J. 1977 .\i*ln,r1111( 8 Ciltnbridge: Ca~nbridgc Univcrsih Prcss. - - ( Iq)',5) /.rli.~!rrr.dir .S*1ttnntic.4n /ntrocluction: Cambridge: Uni~crsily

Prcss. Oyctade. S.O. (1995) "A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Addrcss Fonns in Yon~ba"

Ln~~,vr~o.vr~ in Socic,/i: 24. Ciunbridge University Prcss. pp. 5 15 - 535. '. K. A. ( 1 973 ) (ittcmainn Engli.vtt: An Exploratorv Sunyv London: Macmnilliln

Sofola. J. A. ( 1978). ,lj-icnn Cuhure and the Africnn 1~vr.vonnlip Ibadiin: Africi~n Resources Publishers. Co.

~ ~ ~ r c c l l a . R. (1981) "On Spcaking Politely in a Second Langui~gc" lnternntional .Journal c!f the Sr)ciolo,qv oJ1,anguoge 27, The Ilague: Alouton. pp. 40-4.;

Spcnccr. J. (cd) (1971) The English Lnngunge in West A,fica. London: Long~niin. Ub i~h i~k~~c . E.( 1980). 'The dilcnuna in tcacl~ing English in Nigeria as il Langwgc

of I nlcrnat ional Comnlunicat ion" In English /,nn,quage Tenchirl#cr, 34. pp. 1-$6-/63

Ub;~li:~knc. E.(1979). I 'orieties anrl Functions OJ En,e/ish in ,\'igc.ria. Ihnclnr~: ..!fi-icnn I !ni\w-.vi& Prc..\:\:

TOWARDS A DELIMITATION OF THE STATUS AND FUNCTIONS OF ENGLISH IN NIGERIA

- I)r Wale Adegbitc

Introduction Bani0 ( I 979: t;, nntcs:

We niay at this poiat post: the qucstion: \ v l ~ i ~ t . as inf'onned observers, sllould bc or~r i~ttiti~dc: to tliz m:lny social and geographical varieties ofI;nglid that lia\~e sprung up in Nig~ria? We must begui by saying th;~t cvev single \lariel?' has s right to exist. for it would ilot be there it' it wen: not sustained by u sociolinguistic reillih. Wl~en Illat reality vanisb~?;. \vt: lnay. without liavuig to do anytl~ing about it expect tliat v:~riee to \fatush. Otir. rtrcrirl concerw sltoltltl he. not \\.it11 the llillilcmia ~llicr~-st:ttitig~. . . UI

whicli tlie Englisli languagc is L L ~ in tlic couritn but ~crith lire nrcrcrn-serring of infer.-erltrtic corrrtrrtirticcr~io~r arrt/t~c~~iorru/a~Ikrt. (In~phasis ours).

Wc presume that the quotation abo\,c providcs an appropriate basc for an asscssmcnt of the current status of English usc and usage in Nigeria. vis-a-vis its numerous varictics and functions. and a possiblc review of tllc present position of scholars on thc issuc. Arising from thc quotation. four main qucstions i~nnicdiatcl~. comc to mind hcre \vliich IVC shall attcmpt to addrcss in this papcr:

(i) Holy has Nigcrian English been cliaractcrizcd'?

(ii) What status docs English ha\,c and what functions docs it scnlc in an English-dominant ~nultilingual socict).. Nigeria'?

(iii) What status and functions of English are relevant in a >complementan= English plus indigenous mother tongues bilinglial

Nigerian contest''

( i ) What cffccts can a change from an English-dominant multilinbwal perspective to a complementary English - mother tongues bilingual pcrspccti\.e lia\.c on thc character and characterization of English in Nigcria?

While the first qucstion prcparcs thc ground for a rcview of the perception of scholars about thc numerous varieties of English in Nigcria. as recorded in thc existing litcraturc on tlic sub.icct. the sccond and third qucstions prompt a

Page 3: ENGLISH AND INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES IN NIGERIA

Forms and Functions of English and I~icfigenous Languages in Nigeria , i

I

I

.rile Status and Functions of English in Nigeria - H i r k . - l ( /c:qhi~~, 1

discussion oftlie need to rcnsscss tlie status and t i~nc~ions of botli English and other Nigerian languages. within a restricted macro-social context. The last question then invites a discussion of the effect of changes in status and f~~nct ions of English on the characterization of tlie language.

2. English in the Context of Societal Bilingualism The distinction made between micro- and macro-setting by Banjo (I 979) in tlie opening quotation in this paper is parallel to that between 'individual' and 'societal' bilingual ism in sociolinguistics (Fishman. 1966, Stewart. 1 968). In the context of 'individual bilingualism' or 'societal multilingualism', English is learnt sequentially as a first, second, third, or even fourth, language by different individuals, whereas there are also many monolingual or niultilingual Nigerians who may not speak the language at all. Also, in terms o f uses. the language serves several formal and informal purposes for individuals depending on the multifarious micro- and macro-social settings. For example. it may be used for academic purposes. for accommodation and integration, to show off, to raise one=s status. create social distance between speaker and listener, to acquire further knowledge and to acquire modernity.

However, in the context of societal bilingualism, the characterization of E~iglisli in terms of its learning and use situation is less cumbersome. For esample, Englisli is tagged as a second language (ESL) in Nigeria, irrespective ofthe sequence of learning by individuals. because ofthe official and nationa! roles assigned to it. Also, the typical Nigerian bilingual is assumed to have acquired a mother tongue such as Hausa, Igbo or Yoruba, wliicli serves as tlie primary mealis of communication before learning English for becondary use.

Societal bilingualis~n provides a base for national rather than personal considerations. In this regard. the foc~is of English learning and use in the context is geared towards enhancing tlie achievement of national goals, viz. dcniocracy. unity. peace. internationai cooperation, promotion and preservation of positive cultural values and socio-economic and technological develop~nent (Con.~titvtivn ( ! f ' l i~e Federaf Republic ofNigeria 1999. Section f3 f f ) . Frorn all indications. it seems apparent that the sociolinguistic means of attaining these goals can be harnessed through the efficient learning and eflkctive use of English alongside indigenous Nigerian languages both for the promotion ofattainment offilnctional literacy in the general citizenry and for the mass mobilization of the citizens for social development. What this means is that appropriate roles will be assigned to English and the indigenous Innguages, whereby the total langt~agc resources of the nation- are well

? % - - 1 -

organized and utilized to tilltill tlie ob-jectives above. Also. tbllo\ving tliis I

o f tlie societal bilingual contest in Nigeria as 'stable'. rather than 1 I .transitional' . tlie promotion of 'additive'. ratlisr than 'subtractive''.

bilingualism must become of paramount consideration at this point. I

, - 3. The Characterization of English in Nigeria I

Several attempts have been made by scholars to cliaracterize and codify Nigerian Englisli arid the need to further intensify research in these areas has been expressed (Bamgbose cl ul.. 1995). Three major considerations are

i i crl~cial for such intensification. The first consideration pertains to the

identitjcation of (sub) varieties of Nigerian Englisli. while the other two pertain to \\,hat aspects of tlie language to cover and tlie data collection procedure.

2 . I . l't~~.ic~iev r?f.E~~gli.vh in Nigc#ri[r Bamgbose ( 197 1 ) describes tlie reality of English language in multilingual Nigeria by observi~ig that there are several varieties in Nigeria. which ra~ige fro111 >something very near Standard English to the patois of the niarket place=. hlany scholars have also described Nigerian English and characterized tlie varieties tiom various perspectives. geographical (regional and ethnic). social. and sociolinguistic and register studies (Salami 1968. Ball-jo 197 1 and 1995. Adekunle 1974. papers by Adeniran. Adesanoye and Acletugbo in lJhaliah\ve (ed.) 1979. Aliere 1982. Jibril 1986. Odumuli 1987 and Afbla\nn 1987 and 199 1 ). Altliougli some classitications by some scl1ola1-s might Ilave heen too broad and unlielpfi~l. e.g. tlie distinction made in rcgional terms hctueen 'Nortlier~i- and bSoutlier~i. Englisli. some other clnssilications made lia1.e t~sefi~lly served one purpose or the other. Akindcle i111d Atlegbite ( 1990: 1 7- 1 8. 145- 146) sunimarize tlie classitications as follows:

I t l i i c : Hnusa Englisli. Igbo English. Yoruba English. etc.

( a ) Social: Educated.'Standurci versus Nnri-cducatcdiNo11-stmldard (h) Sociulinguistic:

( i ) I'nglisli as Second Language (ESL). as ;)gainst Englisli as btotliel- -langue (LMT) and Englisli as a Foreign Langitage (EFL)

(i i) 13ilingual f'nylisli (ils against Monolingual or Multilingual I :~iglisli).

(6.1 I~~gi~lr i11: ' I ' C C ~ I I ~ C ~ I ~ , l.ilcri~r!,, l~iteri~ctio~~:~l: I . ' U ~ I I I ~ ~ ~ V , ~ ~ l f ~ r ~ l l i ~ ~ (~)fIi~iill V.

I'crso~ial j: Ilookiali \ . Ilirc~~i~s~ivc: i111tl Spirkc~i v . Written).

'l'lic in i t i :~ l nttcmpt lo clcsc~-il,c Nigsriiin L:nglisli \\.;IS bascd 011 tlilta tlint were I

Page 4: ENGLISH AND INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES IN NIGERIA

wieldy and non - selective. The collection procedureivas non-discriminatory because it lumped together correct and incorrect forms of the language tliat were produced in diverse educated and non-educated sources and tlie analysis was done within tlie descriptive framework of native speakers= English (e.9. Prator 1968. Quirk er U I . 1972). I,ittle wonder then why scliolars characterizccl Nigerian English as an >interference= variety and regarded all features tlia~ deviated from British English as errors (Salami 1968). A later percept ion ol' the Nigerian Englisli varict) from a riioltilingual ESL perspecti\.c 1;ltcr pronipted an identification of >inclusive= and >exclusive= usage ofhligcrian Englisli. \\;hereby >exclusive= refers to only Standard English features I\ liilc >inclusive= covers both standard and [ion-standard features (Barijo 1005 ).

Forms and Functions of English

Although it is sometimes important to describe both tlie non-standard and standard features for socioliriguistic and pedagogical reasons (Banlgbosc 1995), it is nevertheless essential to separate tlie lion-standard for~iis ti0111

standard features when the focus of study is tlie codification of Nigerian English. When Professor Randolph Quirk and others set out to describe tlie grammar of British Englisli (see Quirk, et al. 1972), the databasc l'or their model was 'educated English' and not 'English in the market placc' or a mixture of the two. Otherwise, no tangible results could have bee11 achieved from a description of defective or mingled data. It is for this reason. tlicreti>rc. that the suggestion is being made that English be nurtured in Nip . - ' "CI la as an ESL variety. a discipline and an applied linguistic policy f i ~ - tlevelopment' (Afolayan 1987, 1991 and 1995).

and Indigenous Languages in Nigeria

3.2. Aspects of the Description of Nigerian English Bamgbose ( 1995) and Banjo ( 1995) state the aspects of Engl isli that I~at e to be covered and indeed are being considered by language scholars in rhc description of Nigerian English as 'linguistic' (Bamgbose 197 1 a~ i t l 1902: Jibril 1982 and 1986; Kujore 1985 and 1993; Obanya rr trl. 1979: Otluri~rlli 1984). 'pragmatic' (Barngbose 197 1, Adetugbo 1979a and 1 979b. AAcrc 1984, Awonusi 1994) and 'creative' (Adejare 1992. Johnson 198 I ant1 Osundare 1979). It is our view in this paper tliat. not only s l ~ o ~ ~ l d researches co~itinue in all these areas. but also sucli researclies are to be conducted \\ itliin tlie framework suggested by Afolayan above.

111 ~[iaracterizing Nigerian English as an HI. varict!. 11ic \;lric~! Iiiis to bc 'nativized'in sucli a way that its staridard l2arclrcs ci111 ac.co~iiriioclarc not onl!. features tliat are adjudged correct I?!. 1.31'1' sl;~~ltl;~~.ds (e.g. UI-. ti. 01. Am.1.) bill

and acccptablc to tlic i~itcnlational (World) English audicnce (Adcniran 1979. Afola!,an 19x7. Ba~ngbosc 1995. Ban-io 1995). Bamgbo~c (1 995:26) observes tliat although scholars (Kujore 1985, 1995: Bamgbosc 1992 and Bokamba 1992) have estensively discussed features of standard Nigerian English, there is yct no standard reference work to turn to for what constitutes correct and acceptable usage in Nigerian English.

With regards to ESL as a discipline. the major conceni is how the aspects of tlic variety mentioned abovc will be catered for in the teaching of English lan~wagc in the scliool system, in terms of coniponcnts and mcthodolog~. Tlic coniponcnts suggested b!' Afola\.an (1 979: 13) arc: (a) tlic 'practice‘ or -Use of English', comprising tlic four skills of listening. speaking. rcading and \\riting: (b) tlic English Ianguagc component. conccrncd uith tlic dcscription of stnlcturcs arid tlicorics about tlic Ianguagc: and (c) tlic literature in Englisli component. comprising English. African and otlicr non-African litcraturc in thc Ianguagc. On mctl~odolog~~. Adcgbitc (2000 and 2003a) suggcsts a -sequential' bilingual approach that is Icarning-centered and encourages 'participatory' and -collaborati~.e' teaching and learning to make pupils achieve con~municative conipctence.

Lastl!,, conccrning ESL as an applied linguistic policy for development, ,4fola!.an ( 1995: 126- 127) suggests that two vital steps need to be taken, 1 . i ~ . accepting tlic ESL polic). as a national ideolog* and spclling out the ESL policy goals. Thc goals suggested b!. Afola3,an (ibid.) arc as follo\vs: (i) optimum rcali~alion of biling~lalism-biculturalisni at all levels of education: (ii) assignmciit of cn~cial and ucll-defincd roles to thc individual citizen's motlicr tonguc as \cell as the English languagc: and (iii) thc priniac!. of tlie iiiotlicr tonguc. This Talls in line with tlic discussion in this paper, \vhicli focuses on thc nccd for a proper dclimitation of ~lic rolcs of Ellglish \.is-&\;is the indigenous ~ i ~ c r i a n languages beforc tlie language can be \veil cliaracterizcd. A proper dclimitation of rolcs of English as Ivell as tlic cailtious and sclcctive characterization oS standard fcaturcs of tlic language should provide the bases Ibr tlic production of rcfcrc~icc'~vork(s) rcquircd on Nigcrian English.

3 . 3 llara C'ollcction l'voccd~rre I t is cspcdicnt to cmpliasi~c the nccd to strea~lilinc tlic data collected for the dcscription of dil'fcrcnt \,arictics of Nigerian English. Tlic sampling mctliod for cach \faricty 1111ist bc dctenliincd b!. the contest and goal of the dcscription. In thc light of this. a dcscription of Standard Nigcrian English ought to bc bascd on cautious and sclccti~~c data collected fro111 cducatcd usagc in. cspcciall!.

215

Page 5: ENGLISH AND INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES IN NIGERIA

I-. 5 - .-.

Page 6: ENGLISH AND INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES IN NIGERIA

- v

~o

z~

-

I -;

II -.z y

II -. - r

rr - r

, 2 7 z

s - -

Z'

OT

C

"%

3

d

"=

?

- -.

(1:

$2

=

PC

0

6

5s

- II

=,

- 5

-.

-2;

2;

s

, ,

f-J

3

2, a 2

, -

... -

7

-=:

s-

=

- - -G

0:

C1 ?

I-.

5 - 0

ccg

20

5,

d

L $

m.

7 -

C_

0

=' =

L- c

-Q

c

2 T

WE

'

*

&

2Z

":

- 1

..

-. " ;:

-'.

-

-.

y, 9

z-

-

c.

=-5

'3

2

r,=

d

-.

z :

"2

20

=

c,<

0=2

c. c

2 %7 5

' C

-C

d'

.

z

tw

,

75

32

=%EZz

; c

z.c

7

- "

c=

CD

z

.=

ZS

r

E%

-.

- g

5 2-

4. ,

c

k

-s

-

r

-4

-

5

z

E.

.; rf=

Q

r, 3

-

E v (1

2 k i E

- -

.(

-'

c.

2'2

r<

.?

F

5.

/

- "

2-

v-

fi

-

- Y

G;

T -

-> -

7-

- r.'

2.

= a -

3 r

s

6 ; 2-2

%

fir.

-. - ' Z

a' -

2 ,

c. :

s c

r.

J;

r.

- 0 2

.--

- -

- 7

2 2

rz

fE.

- u rr

- -.

~7

0' 5 -

7

-. -

C -y

r'.

- ;2;g

;

sg

z

t) - v

. r.

6

d

-. on

~c

C

-

Y_

,v

I_

2

.'. 11

"-

2

g. 5 5

. 4

d

?

. -

" -

4

d

c

'Z ,

2, 2 ,E

. L

.

0

E.

r, rz

2 c,;.=

7

-,

2 -

',.

_3

3:

-

7

. d

C

22

- .J

-.

S

c-

5

-. r.'/ 7

'X.

5

-7

lo,

Page 7: ENGLISH AND INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES IN NIGERIA

'_

.'I. - - - - C - -

'C'

- C - - - - - - - - - -.

.

-. >

F

Z.

rE -2-

'I.

--

,..

-. - c 5

'. ?

%

CX

=-

='

5 g

?J

- ;g

g

5 .;:

q

: - 7

2. =

. 2

E .-

"

< 5

g. 7 g,<

, c

-:

sc

>

7 c

-.->

% c

g

.f

S=

- ,,,

."%

$

- -

3:

., F. -

p$

3

=, E

,w %

g. -:

? g

5.2

. =

" k

c >

Ed

. c

+z

z

UC

c 3

5

*- ; Y

zE

..N

"

In

c: 3

i$ 6

6'

qc

g

-. 2 2

. s

7.'

2 s

2 "F

'T! cJ

- 2. 2

L5 g .

Z

55.

Z?

c

- a.

J

- P: d

Page 8: ENGLISH AND INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES IN NIGERIA