The English Language and Education in Nigeria (original) (raw)
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English Language, the Nigerian Education System and Human Development
UJAH: Unizik Journal of Arts and Humanities, 2017
The role English language plays in human development in Nigeria is the focal point of this paper. Basically, language is the most frequently used and the most highly developed form of human communication. Through language, people interact, share ideas and express their feelings. Without language, man would be incapable of a sustained and result oriented thinking. Education is unarguably an essential instrument for change and human development. At different levels of schooling in formal education, students are equipped with life-long knowledge and skills that would enable them realize their full potentials as human beings. However, all forms of education (formal, informal and non-formal) are realized through language; hence, language and education are inseparable. In the Nigerian polity, English language plays the role of a second language, considering the multilingual nature of the country. English is also the language of instruction in the Nigeria education system. Not only is it t...
The Place of English Language in the Development of Nigeria
2020
The target of every good government is to provide her citizenry with the basic amenities of life. Such has not been fully realized in Nigeria and cannot be realized at least for now, through her numerous vernaculars since none of them unites the nation. 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. This role falls on the English language which is the nation's official and second language, as well as her lingua Franca. Consequently, this paper sought to highlight the roles the English language performs in the building of the Nigerian nation. The English language developed from Germanic and Romance (Latinate) sources and is traced to the Indo-European language family. It is spoken as a native language in Britain, America, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, South Africa, Ireland, and the Caribbean and as a non-native language in many other nations of the world. In fact, Rogers (2000:17) stated that "En...
2021
The role of the English Language in the development of the Nigeria as a country is major and crucial to the fulfilment of SDG 2030 goal in the nation as a whole. The English language is used for education, trade, unity and link with the entire world. Lack of proficiency in English language therefore is equivalent to illiteracy or worst still poor educational achievement; consequently, the Nigerian child will find it difficult to compete in the world of work and employment. This paper highlights the challenges facing the teaching and learning of English language in secondary schools: facts are drawn from the researcher's over twenty years of teaching English language in a typical Nigerian secondary school that feature students from the six geo-political zones of the country. Stakeholders of education in Nigeria must work tirelessly to ensure success in the acquisition and learning of the English language. The English language has incontrovertibly become the second language (L2) in Nigeria and at the secondary level, the language of classroom interaction: it is therefore essential that English language learners (ELL) at this level attain high level of competence.
ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN NIGERIAN MULTILINGUAL CONTEXTS: A REFLECTIVE PERSPECTIVE
The authors examine the status of English Language in a Multilingual Nigerian Society by reflecting on the shift from being an "elitist" language to that of a consolidated language apparently in use even amongst school children and the educated Nigerians with a high proficiency level. They assert that the status of English in Nigeria is rising steadily due to its functional position as enshrined in the Federal Constitution of Nigeria 1979, revised in 1999 and National Policy on Education 1977, revised in the Fourth Edition of 2004. Using evidence from available studies on the subject, their knowledge of the language, experience on English usage and uses and as teachers of English, they make a case on the strides it is making amidst concurrence usage with other languages. The conclusion is that a new framework for "indigenizing" and "nativizing" English in a non-native environment like Nigeria in the absence of a non-indigenous linguistic tradition that integrates the inhabitants will go a long way to foster a usage and use competence of English in Nigeria.
Teaching and Learning English Language in Nigerian Schools: Importance and Challenges
Teacher Education and Curriculum Studies, 2018
The importance of English language cannot be overemphasized, due to its role in social, political economical, and environmental development. English language functions as a vehicle of interaction and an instrument of communication. This paper discussed the importance of English language as official language of communication in Nigeria. The paper tries to highlight the challenges of teaching and learning English language in Nigerian schools. The paper also, discusses useful strategies the teachers and learners of English language in Nigerian schools may adopt so that teaching and learning of English would be simple.
Nigeria, a state with well over 367 indigenous languages and dialects had during the colonial domination before the 1914 amalgamation fallen under British Empire and had similarly from its amalgamation had its political, socioeconomic and linguistic settings of its various peoples, and nationalities altered, and or undermined. Those resulted in imposition of the English language over and above the numerous and indigenous ones. Since then English has become Nigeria"s official and to some extent indirectly national language. This paper examined the use, relevance, politics, connections and ins and outs of using English language in Nigeria with respect to its heterogeneous composition. The paper found that English language is a foreign and an imposed one, it has so far been the most expedient language for Nigeria"s politics, administration and lingua franca, has on one ways greatly helped to sustain the bonds of unity and cohesion in Nigeria, despite avoidable and unavoidable problems, English has also grown at the expense of other indigenous Nigerian languages, English is the most popular medium of communication among diverse Nigerians, it is, similarly gaining more ground and influence all over the world. The paper recommends the improvement and promotion of our indigenous cultural values, greater literacy in our local languages, filtering the influx of social media facilities to check infiltration of foreign and inappropriate practices, adequate attention should be given to our cultural preservation and promotion centres and institutions.
Language Teaching and Language Policy in Nigeria
Social Science Research Network, 2011
In recent years there has been renewed interest in the study of languages in Nigeria. There is no doubt that we have multiplicity of languages among different ethnic groups in Nigeria with each group guarding its language jealously, yet there has not been a separate language policy, other than the bits and fragments in the National Policy on Education (1977) revised in (1981). This paper therefore tries to examine the language situation in Nigeria, the need for the language policy that will address the national language question and the pedagogical relevance of such policy. The paper does not lose sight of the efficacy of the English language in the advancement of the nation's technological, social, economic, educational and in fact, all round development. The language, which is being used by a large percentage of the world population, has come to stay in Nigeria. However, there is also the need to develop our local languages even though the task of evolving a national language in Nigeria is a Herculean one. The paper therefore agrees with Banjo's suggestion of a gradualist approach since a lot of operational factors will be taken into consideration in a pluralistic nation like Nigeria.
THE ROLES OF ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE IN NIGERIA
Academia Letters, 2022
This paper describes the functions of English as a second language in Nigeria, revealing the necessity for effective teaching and learning of the English language at various levels of education in Nigeria. Among other things, English in Nigeria is useful in the educational and career development of the citizens and is a very important part of the country's development and national culture.
English as a Second Language in Contemporary Nigerian Society, a Reality or Farce?
2016
It is no longer news that the English language in Nigeria has been the official language and the language of teaching and instruction in Nigerian schools, of legislature and governance ever since the coming of the colonial master. This stance occupied by the language in Nigeria has resulted in the use of the language for daily linguistic activities both in Nigerian homes and outside of it. The persistent preference and the prestigious stance assigned to the English language have led to a dramatic shift from the use of the indigenous languages to English which threatens to dislodge the Igbo language from its natural position in the society. This study therefore strives to discover the actual status of English language as L2 and the indigenous languages, in this case Igbo, as L1 in Nigerian homes and schools, particularly, in the urban areas. The study also hopes to direct its search effort towards the root causes of the linguistic status assigned to the two languages in the contempor...
LANGUAGE POLICY: NIGERIA AND THE ROLE OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Abstract This article examines the role of English in Nigeria as a medium of communication, political activities-social and academic guidance from its historical perspective, and the duration of gradual transition to the present status of bilingualism and its democratization of language in conformity with national unification. It shows how English occupied an influential role in the formation of the national expectations and integration of the Nigerian nation through its ‘‘official language" status. We find that even a decade after decolonization in Nigeria, English continues to enjoy its primacy, especially in the formation of political and educational systems as a medium of instruction. It highlights the transition from English monopoly to bilingualism in accordance with indigenous demands for language change in educational policy that could be the form in line with mother tongue languages. It also evaluates and shows the current relationship between language shift and language death in another case with the emergence of the Nigerian Pidgin English. Specifically, it critically analyses how language issues are politically motivated in educational, political and social life of the nation in pre- and post-colonial administration. This paper scrutinizes the current response from society on the language issues as it moves toward global democratization of the language situation in Nigeria. Finally, it suggests that despite politically driven forces behind the use of indigenous languages in Nigerian society, the prospects for the English language in Nigerian national affairs are extraordinarily slim, and if the English language survives, it could mean a Nigerian kind of African English as observed by Chinua Achebe: English language, ‘‘but in African tones.’’