Full Project – THE YORUBA LANGUAGE INTERFERENCE IN THE STUDY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN NIGERIA

Full Project – THE YORUBA LANGUAGE INTERFERENCE IN THE STUDY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN NIGERIA

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

It is a well-known truth that the English language has a stronghold in Nigeria. Thereforet, its significance cannot be overstated. Apart from serving as an official language, English serves as the thread that connects people of the various speech communities in ongoing interrelationships. According to Adegbite (2004), “English should be anticipated to play a co-ordinating function in interethnic and international communication. It is the most often used instrument for sociocultural identification.

Odebunmi (2003) agrees that English is the only medium of communication available to persons from diverse ethnic and linguistic groupings. This demonstrates the English language’s gigantic standing in Nigeria. Additionally, there are connections that involve the growing importance of English in Nigeria. As Akindele and Adegbite (1999 explain, “English serves three fundamental functions: accommodation, participation, and social mobility.” This means that English’s worldwide stature qualifies it for special responsibilities, and its ease of adaptation to contextual circumstances is an added benefit. On a worldwide scale, English serves as a global integrator and has developed into the world’s language franca par excellence. English also satisfies the desire and craving for science and technology. Odebunmi’s (2003) remark that English has developed into a significant identification symbol in international politics, economics, and diplomacy supports this perspective. English has a dual purpose in Nigeria. It is used as a medium of teaching and as a subject of study at Nigerian universities.

English is claimed to be a uniquely human way of idea expression using verbal and non-verbal means (i.e spoken and written). With this, we will reaffirm that the English language is unavoidably beneficial to people in a variety of ways. English is supposed to have a significant effect on man’s cognitive growth since it enables him to communicate his thoughts and opinions.

 

“The vast majority of English speakers worldwide speak it as a second language and live in an environment where, at the very least, bilingualism is the norm” (Shaibu 2013). English is the predominant language of teaching in schools in a number of nations, including Nigeria (especially after primary education level). It is often utilized in commercial transactions and other formal contacts.

 

According to Olagoke (1982), “English is a legacy of colonialism that many Nigerians struggle to reconcile.” According to one hypothesis, “many Nigerians today believe that English is the greatest legacy left to the nation after the end of British colonialism” (Bamgbose 1971). English arrived in Nigeria centuries ago as a result of British colonization, and three distinct groups of people evolved as a result of English’s contact with Nigeria’s indigenous languages. These are the British, the new Nigerian elite educated in the United Kingdom, and the indigenous indigenous people educated in Nigeria. Due to the mingling of these groups of people, a regional dialect of English developed. This regional dialect of English was influenced by indigenous languages. For example, this interaction results in the borrowing of indigenous concepts and vocabulary into English. These borrowed terms are referred to as ‘loan words.’

In the view of Shaibu (2013), today, as English is used in almost every facet of life in Nigeria, it still comes in contact with practically all indigenous Nigerian languages. When Nigerians speak English, words from their various indigenous languages occur in their speech. Achebe (as quoted by Bisong, 1995) said, ‘‘I think that the English language will be able to carry the weight of my African experience. However, it will have to be a new English, still in full harmony with its ancestral home but altered to fit its new African surroundings”. This has been the shift of mother tongue attributes to English construction and the result is called Nigerian Pidgin English. For example, in vocabulary and grammar, certain styles are used for acquiring a method of translating expressions as is usual with the indigenous languages, e.g. “you one dey go?” for “are you people going?”, “Give me my change” for “can I have my change”, “not on seat” for “not presently in the office”, or “senior brother” for “elder brother” etc.

1.2       Statement of the Problem

Before the advent of British traders, missionaries and colonialists, indigenous Nigerian languages were capable of defining every aspect of their speech, ranging from religious, cultural, political, economic, social to every other aspects. The languages functioned effectively to deal with everything relating to the day to day existence of the people.

However, arrival of the British, concomitant with the English language provided a language contact situation with an attempt to a language shift in the population. New sets of ideas, concepts and values were introduced to the system where indigenous local languages had previously been self-sufficient, rendering them inadequate to deal with the new concepts introduced by the British particularly in the areas of formal education, Western law etc. The result was the initial subtle and later blatant intrusion and influence of English language on domains that were the exclusive preserve of indigenous languages.

One of the problems is that English sentences are characteristically uttered with variation in pitch which is referred to as intonation. This is often an area of difficulty for second language users of English who have tonal Languages as their first language. This is one of the major problems encountered by learners of English language. Other areas of problem encountered are’, Sentence and word stresses, vowel sounds and English pitch identification.

1.3       Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the study is to examine the Yoruba Language Interference in the Study of English Language among Secondary School Students in Nigeria. The objectives are to:

  •  Find out if the phonology of Yoruba Language interfere in the use and proficiency of English language by secondary school students.
  • Examine the syntax of Yoruba Language interfere in the use and proficiency of English language by secondary school students.
  • Find out the semantic system of Yoruba Language interfere in the use and proficiency of English language by secondary school students.
  • Examine the morphological system of Yoruba Language interfere in the use and proficiency of English language by secondary school students.

1.4       Research Questions

  • Does the phonology of Yoruba Language interfere in the use and proficiency of English language by secondary school students?
  • Does the syntax of Yoruba Language interfere in the use and proficiency of English language by secondary school students?
  • Does the semantic system of Yoruba Language interfere in the use and proficiency of English language by secondary school students?
  • Does the morphological system of Yoruba Language interfere in the use and proficiency of English language by secondary school students?

1.5       Hypothesis

  • The phonology of Yoruba Language does not interferes in the use and proficiency of English Language by secondary school students.
  • The syntax of Yoruba Language does not interfere in the use and proficiency of English language by secondary school students.
  • The semantic system of Yoruba Language does not interfere in the use and proficiency of English language by secondary school students.
  • The morphological system of Yoruba Language does not interfere in the use and proficiency of English language by secondary school students.

1.6       Scope of the Study

The study examines The Yoruba Language Interference in the Study of English Language among Secondary School Students in Nigeria. The scope of this study will be limited to selected secondary schools in Nigeria. The criteria for this selection are government established, privately established and religious institution established.

1.7       Significance of the Study

This study will help individual speakers of Yoruba Language to identify the lexical, syntactic and phonological problems they encounter while learning the English Language. This study will urge at least some Yoruba Language speaker learning English to be conscious of the way they speak English and how they pronounce words and construct sentences in English language. It will help them to correct and subdue negative influences of their Yoruba Language on English Language usage. It will also help teachers of English language in owo kingdom to be aware of the problems facing the owo learners of English. By this the teachers will be able to choose the most effective teaching method that can address the learners’ deficiencies as regards English language speaking. Finally, it will be a very good material for further research works.

1.8       Definition of Operational Terms

Language

Lado (1964) view language as a system of using vocal sounds, visual sign and graphic symbols to which meaning is attached as a matter of common conventions and used for communication among the members of the speech community, social group or society that owns it.

Dialect

A dialect is a variety of a language that characterizes a particular area, community or group, often with relatively minor differences in vocabulary, style, spelling and punctuation.

First Language

Afolayan (1988) posits that “first language is the only language of a monolingual person which is acquired naturally in his native environment and which meets all his linguistic needs.

Second Language

A second language (SL) is a non-native language that is widely used for purposes of communication, usually as a medium of education, government, or business. English Language for example, has second language status in Nigeria.

Interference

Interference refers to the instances of deviation from the norms of either language in a bilingual situation which occurs in the speech of bilinguals as a result of their familiarity with more than one language (Akindele and Adegbite 2005).

 

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Full Project – THE YORUBA LANGUAGE INTERFERENCE IN THE STUDY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN NIGERIA