The Effect of the Nigerian Pidgin English on the Academic Performance of University Students in Nigeria

The Effect of the Nigerian Pidgin English on the Academic Performance of University Students in Nigeria

Chapter One

Significance of the Study

This study is important because its results can go a long way to finding out the causes of students’ negative or positive academic performance and if Nigerian Pidgin contributes negatively or positively to the students social interaction.

This work will in no doubt contribute to one’s knowledge and it will highlight some issues in educational planning. It will be a guide for the Federal Government in planning for an effective educational system.

Scope and Limitations:

The scope of this project is on The Effect of the Nigerian Pidgin English on the Academic Performance of University Students in Nigeria. It will assess the extent NOUN students use Nigerian Pidgin English in communicating with staff and students. This research is limited to National Open University, Benin Study Centre even though the findings might be generic.

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

The Language Composition of Nigeria Pidgin English

Nigeria is a multilingual country. According to Ayo and Bamghose (1970) “the number of language by various ethnic is not certain. They, however, rather than leaving their leaders in the vacuum. They put it at over 400”. Premised on the above, therefore, we have been placed in the midst of the multiplicity of languages in this great but vast country. It becomes a little bit hard to determine which of the languages is to be recommended as lingua franca to be used centrally for easy communication. Ijiga (1989) asked in one of his commentaries about chosen language for national use, “if others will not be affected in terms of rejection where only one is taken”. He concluded by saying, “that due to high level of multiplicity of language or dialects, English (Pidgin) the most acceptable and spoken should be used nationally”.

Language composition as its choice for official language has to do with decisions relating to such things as its acceptance, easy way of living among others. So uncertain is the issue of using one Nigerian language or a combination of several others that a number of researchers came or still continue to come up with conflicting figures or statistics. For instance, Adegbiji (1994) stated that, “in fact, Nigeria alone has between 459 – 500 languages”. By this assertion, Nigeria can be said to be multilingual and heterogeneous in nature.

Apart from the 450 – 500 languages and different central background existing already, there exists English language. The official language for transaction in Nigeria is English, also used for correspondents, education and language of the elites. According to section 55 of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which relates to official language of communication, it stated that: the business of the National Assembly shall be conducted in English, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba when adequate arrangements have been made from there (Constitution 99). For now, however, apart from English which has been in use before and after independence, no one language has been accepted as a national language among Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo, even though the trio known as ‘WAZOBIA’ have long been groomed for that but yet to materialize.

There is no doubting the fact that English, the colonial language left by the British, is still playing the role. Adegbija however disagreed a bit here as in his words: English language is not playing the role effectively due to its colonial origins and too, it is spoken by minority elite group whose percentage is less than 40 (62). A lingua-franca or national language is a language described by linguists as that used by all the people in a country and which serves as symbol by national awareness. English is therefore misconstrued in this respect that it is taught all over Nigeria and also has every part of the country as its constituency geographically. One basic fact is that its area of coverage or ethnic constituency still remains small. However, the Nigerian Pidgin as a language is no doubt widely spoken, understood by the people and accepted for effective communication by all classes, illiterate and literate, all over Nigeria. By this, one cannot but agree that Nigerian Pidgin has an advantage over any other language to be officially adopted as a lingua franca for Nigeria and Nigerians.

Oyelaran  (1990)  (as  cited  in  Akande,2008:74)is  of  the  view  that,  out  of  many common  manifestations  of  language  marginalization,  only  one  has  been  extensively researched  in  Nigeria:  the  non-recognition  of  minority  languages  at  the  local,  state  or national  level.  However,  marginalization  can  also  come  in  the  form  of  limited  space  or attention  given  to  a  particular  language  in  printed  or  electronic  forms.  A  language  is considered  marginal  only  when  there  are  other  languagesto  which  we  can  compare  it within  the  same  speech  community.  There  is  a  sense  in  which  NP  can  be  regarded  as  a marginal language when we consider the fact that its written form, compared to the written forms  of  languages  like  English,  Yoruba,  Hausa  and  Igbo,  is  on  the  margin.  Not  many literary works have been produced in NP in Nigeria. When we compare the literary works written  in  any  of  the  four  languages  mentioned  above  (i.e.,  English,  Yoruba,  Hausa  and Igbo)  in  Nigeria  with  the  few  ones  written  in  NP,  it  would  be  apparent  that  NP  has  been marginalized in the print medium. Apart from the fact that only a few novels or drama texts exist  in  NP,  most  Nigerians  do  not  often  read  or  pay  any  serious  academic  attention  to works written in NP. This is born out of the attitudes that they have to the language. More importantly,  while  English  and  the  other  three  national  languages  are  codified,  NP  is  not. (Akande 2008).

An  investigation  into  the  use  of  Pidgin  English  in  Nigeria  is  necessary  in  order  to  understand the social structures of the society and the language behaviour itself. Writing on NP, Jowitt (1991) also remarked that recently the pidgin has attained the feat of dignity not only  among  the  illiterates  but  also  the  literate  members  of  the  society.  He  instantiated  the use of pidgin signals proximity and informality and states that it is good for cracking jokes.

CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGY

Method of data collection

The instrument used in the study was the questionnaire. It was personally administered by the researcher to the respondents selected from the study. The administration of the questionnaire took three weeks. At the end of each visitation, the researcher collected the answered questionnaire and analyzed and interpreted the data collected.

Method of data analysis

The method to be adopted in this research is based on statistical table by distributing the respondent according to their answers from the surveyed for the purpose of data analysis. Simple statistical tools will be used in most cases, frequency in tabular form and percentage would be used. This is necessary because the data obtained are qualitative and fixed.

CHAPTER FOUR

DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS

Table 1: “Respondents Demographic Variables”

VARIABLE		NO. OF RESPONDENTS	PERCENTAGE (%)
SEX	MALE	53	42.4
	FEMALE	72	57.6
	TOTAL	125	100.0
LEVEL	100	32	25.6
	200	15	12.0
	300	19	15.2
	400	59	100.0
	TOTAL	125	100.0
AGE GROUP	19-24	60	48.0
	25-30	27	21.6
	31-35	38	30.4
	TOTAL	125	100.0

The presentation data in table 1 revealed the respondents sampled. it showed that a total of one hundred and twenty-five (125) respondents were sampled. Amongst the sampled population, 53 of them representing 42.2% were male while 72 of them representing 57.6% were female. On academic level, 25.6% are 100L, 12.0% are 200L, 15.2% are 300L while 47.2% are 400L. Also on age group, 48.0% are 19-24years, 21.6% are 25-30years, and 30.4% are 31-35years of Age group.

Research question 1: How frequently do NOUN students use Nigerian Pidgin English?

Table 2:”frequent use of Nigeria pidgin by NOUN students”

S|N	STATEMENT	Agree	%	Disagree	%	Unde-cided	%
1.	Students frequently use pidgin in their daily communication within the school premises.	89	71.2	27	21.6	9	7.2
2.	The use of Nigeria pidgin English by students has become a major communication setback	76	60.8	39	31.2	10	8.0
3.	Most Noun student’s spoken language is mostly pidgin, which has affected them academically.	63	50.4	34	27.2	28	22.4
4.	Lack of effective usage of English language has prompt student to use pidgin in their communication.	58	46.4	48	38.4	19	15.2

The data in table 2 reflected on frequent use of Nigeria pidgin by NOUN students. 71.2% of the respondents agreed that students frequently use Pidgin in their daily communication within the school premises, 21.6% of the respondents disagreed that students does not frequently use pidgin in their daily communication within the school premises while 7.2% of the respondents were undecided to the statement posed to them.

60.8% of the respondents agreed that the use of Nigeria pidgin by students has become a major communication setback, 31.2% of the respondents disagreed that the use of Nigeria pidgin by students has not become a major communication setback while 8.0% of the respondents are un-decisive. 50.4% of the respondents that most Noun student’s spoken language is mostly pidgin, which has affected them academically, 27.2% of the respondents disagreed that most Noun student’s spoken language is mostly pidgin, which has not affected them academically while 22.4% of the respondents are un-decisive to the statement.

Also from the respondents 46.4% of the respondents agreed that lack of effective usage of English has prompted students to use Pidgin in their communication, 38.4% of the respondents disagreed that Lack of effective usage of English language does not prompt student to use Pidgin in their communication while 15.2% of the respondents are un-decisive to the statement.

CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

Recommendations

Based on the findings of this study, the following were recommended to enhance proper use of language which can promote positive communication within learning institution;

1. The Nigerian government should improve on his language policy and accommodate Nigerian Pidgin as Nigeria’s lingua franca and a second official language of the country.
2. Nigerian Pidgin has no stable orthography. There are different variants of the language. Linguists should endeavor to collate these variants and developed a standard form of the language.
3. Staff and students in tertiary institution across the federation should engage the use of Standard English language in the communication rather than use of Nigerian Pidgin.
4. The use of Nigerian Pidgin by students during communication should be discouraged by implementing laws that can combat wrong use of English in the school environment.
5. Students should positively engage in the use of standard English more often than the use of Nigerian Pidgin in order to improve the right usage of language in communication
6. The National Orientation Agency, the National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-formal Education will also play significant roles in propagating, mobilizing and re-orientating the populace on the imports and rationale of using Nigerian Pidgin.

REFERENCES

• Mafeni B (2005). Nigerian Pidgin, in J. Spencer (ed.). The English Language in W est Africa. London: Longman.
• Naro A (2004). The Origin of West African Pidgin. Chicago: Chicago Linguistics Society
• Okon E (1995). The English Language and Code-Mixing: A Case Study of the Phenomenon in Ibibio, in A. Bamgbose et al. (ed.) New English: A West African Perspective. Ibadan: Mosuro Publishers and Book Sellers.
• Okonkwo R (2003). Nigerian Pidgin Language Primer. Port Harcourt: Mercy Christian Ministry International (MCMI). (http:www.mercy-christian-ministry.org/Nigerian-pidgin-language-alphabet.html).
• Onakpo, 0. J. (2005) Pidgin English in Ogot-. A term  paper presenled in partial fulfilment of the requirement  for the coursc, G.S. 208.
• Omonzejele P (1998). ‘The Logic and Language of Advertising in Nigeria’. J. Philosol. Dev. 4:1,2.
• Rickford   JR   (1998).   The   Creoles   Origins   of   American Vernacular English:  Evidence  from  Copular  Absence,  in  Salikoko et-al  (ed.), African American English London: Routledge.
• Reineleck  J.E  (1999).  Trade  Jargons  and  Creole  Dialects  as  Marginal Languages,  in  Dell  Hymes  (ed.),  Languages,  Culture and  Society.  New York: Harper and Row.
• Sunday FK (2011). Broken English, Pidgin English, and Nigerian English http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/farooq-a kperogi/broken-english-pidgin-english-and-nigerian-english.html.[Accessed May, 2012].
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• Nigerian Lcmg~iages and Cultrrre. Vol. 6 (1) 48 -52.

QUESTIONNAIRE

Dear Respondents,

I am a student of the NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA (NOUN). My research examines the effect of Nigerian Pidgin English among National Open University of Nigeria Students in Benin Study Centre. Kindly responds to each statement by ticking (√) on the appropriate column.

SECTION A: BIO-DATA

Complete the following information by checking (√) that which applied to you

1. GENDER: Male (   ) ,Female (   )
2. LEVEL: 100 (   ), 200 (   ), 300 (   ),400(  )
3. AGE: 19-24 (    ), 25-30 (    ), 31-35 (   )

SECTION B

To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements?

SN	STATEMENT	AGREE	DISAGREE	UNDECIDED
1	Students frequently use pidgin in their daily communication within the school premises.
2	The use of Nigeria pidgin English by students has become a major communication setback
3	Most Noun student’s spoken language is mostly pidgin, which has affected them academically.
4	Lack of effective usage of English language has prompt student to use pidgin in their communication.
5	The often use of pidgin by NOUN students has reduce their confidence in expression in English language
6	Shortage of English words in expressing themselves cause students to frequently use Nigeria pidgin English in their communication
7	Environmental factor is one of the reason students frequently use pidgin in their day to day activities.