A PROPOSAL ON THE EFFECTS OF THE USE OF PIDGIN ENGLISH ON SPEAKING COMPETENCY OF STUDENTS OF SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL

Abstract

The study will investigate the effects of the use of pidgin English on speaking competency of students of senior secondary school. The following objectives will be used for the study; Find out the extent of Pidgin English usage among secondary schools in Kwara state,  determine the factors that inform students’ usage of Pidgin in secondary schools in Kwara state,  ascertain the extent of harm done by Pidgin English on the speaking competency of secondary school students in Kwara state and find out ways to mitigate the effects of Pidgin English on Standard English usage among secondary schools students in Kwara state. Descriptive survey will be used for the study. The Data will be collated and described. The analysis will demonstrated with tables using SPSS – Statistical Package for Social Science. There are four criteria for the measurement of performance in writing as stipulated by WAEC. These are content, expression, organization and mechanical accuracy. An essay is said to be good if it scores high in all of the above. The school examination scripts were graded. In the process, the presence and/ or effect of Pidgin English in the students’ speaking competency will be identified. A frequency count and description of the Pidgin usages will be provided the data for this study and showed whether or not Pidgin usages affect student speaking competency.

Chapter one

Introduction

1.1Background of the study

The English language has attained an international acceptance due to globalization. Most of the learners need to write and speak English fluently and accurately in the general and academic domains. To use English effectively, it is important to master the four language skills, namely listening, speaking, reading and writing (LSRW) of all the four language skills, writing is considered a complex process and the most important skill for the second language learners to master. The ability to communicate ideas and information effectively through the global network is crucially dependent on good writing and speaking skills. Although, learning of another language, referred to as second language acquisition (SLA) can take place either in the classroom or in a more ‘natural’ exposure situation Gass, Torres and Jose (2015) found that the complexity and abstractness contribute to the differential effects on language areas, where learners make use of externally driven enhancement devices.

 Language in multilingual societies such as Nigeria has always been a matter of concern to educators, educational planners and parents especially with regard to its appropriate use in communication. The English language is the medium of instruction in all Nigerian educational institutions at all levels. This is the basis for Olaore (2012) comments, in the countries language policy, the fact that for a long time to come, English will continue to play a prominent role in the socio-economic and political development in Nigeria as the language of administration, politics, industry, education, science and technology is of paramount importance,’ (Abdullahi-Idiagbon, 2010).

The English language, to a large extent, functions as a second language in Nigeria. Although Nigeria is believed to have more than four hundred (400) languages with over two hundred and fifty (250) ethnic groups, (Emenanjo, 2010), the English language is the only language used for all forms of official transaction. Despite the central role the English language has been playing in communication process nationwide, the language excludes the majority of uneducated Nigerians who live in rural communities. Some Nigerian communities have more than six distinct but mutually unintelligible languages. This makes communication among neighbours difficult. Emenanjo cited in Otagburuagu and Okorji (2003)notes that Nigerian linguistic geography is so complex that language communities can fall into small language groups called chontonolects. The convolutions in the Nigerian linguistics ecology as Otagburuagu (2003) noted, has made the use of Nigerian Pidgin a more universal and inconclusive language, inevitable in both formal and informal domains. Tracing the history of Pidgin English, Quirk et al (2013) pointed out that“ Pidgin historically began as simply a language marked by traditional interference used chiefly by the prosperous and privileged section of a community represents by the unskilled and illiterate class of the society”(Wardhaugh, 2010). This situation, however, is not so with the Nigeria Pidgin. Studies have shown that the Nigeria Pidgin began as an English-based Pidgin and later metamorphosed into various forms and patterns in its usage, Aziza, (2010);Elugbe (2015) and Egbokhare (2013). Nigerian Pidgin English is seen as aversion of English and ethnic Nigerian languages spoken as a kind of Lingua Franca across the country especially among students. In an attempt to define Nigerian Pidgin English, Elugbe and Omamur (2011), see it as ‘some kind of marginal language that arises to fulfill specific communication needs in a well-defined circumstance.’ Furthermore, Nigerian Pidgin is a somewhat pejorative label used by native speakers of English to describe the often hysterical violations of the basic rules of Standard English syntax by non-native speakers of the language. Kperogi, (2019) further describes Pidgin as a technical term in linguistics that refers to a “contact” or “trade” language that emerged from the fusion of foreign, usually European, language and indigenous, usually non-European languages. Here, the European language provided most of the vocabulary and the indigenous languages produce the structure of the language. The cultural language which language emanates from has far reaching influences on its predominant usage as is the case with Nigerian Pidgin. Its variation, no doubt is not unconnected with the culture of its users. It is in the light of this that Abdullah – Idiagbom (2010) in his study on “The Sociolinguistic of Nigerian Pidgin (English) on University Campus” quoting Brooks, N (1969) Posits: ‘It is through the magic of language that man comes eventually to understand to an impressive degree the environment to which he lives and still more surprising, gains an insight into his own nature and his own condition.

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