The Effect Of Pidgin English On The Academic Performance Ot Tertiary Students In Nigeria

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY

The advent of the colonial master in African presumably marked the beginning of the use of the English language in the West Africa sub-regions. In other words, English which is also Nigeria’s official language was brought to Africa by her former colonial masters.Nigeria, being a multilingual nation, is one of the reason why English is accepted as the language of official communication. The fact that most Nigerians are illiterate and semi-illiterate made the using of English language as the language of official communication a big problem. As a result, the English language started having varieties, among which is, Pidgin English also known as Nigerian English.  

 Adedoyin (2009. 40) is of the opinion that Pidgin English is developed from a contact English (ce). He sees it as a first variety of the Nigerian English. He stressed that when two people come in contact, the necessity for communication would necessitate the evolvement of a language of communication, a kind of inter-language, which will be a mixture of the two languages in contact. He stressed that Nigeria Pidgin English is a variety which is very strong among the less educated and educated people too. Pidgin English is therefore defined as a language variety used for inter-ethnic context. The oxford advance learners dictionary defines pidgin as any of several languages resulting from contact European traders and local people, for example, in West Africa and the far east, containing elements of the local language(s) and French or Dutch, still used for internal communication.  

Yule (2006.) is of the view that it is a variety of a language which was developed for some practical purposes, such as trading among groups of people who had a lot of contact, but who do not know each other’s language. According to Opara (2009.52), pidgin English in Nigeria originated as a trade language that is made up of foreign language and the local language. It also originated as a result of the need for communication among Nigerians living in towns and cities from different ethnic groups who have no common language. Spencer (2001) opined that Nigerian pidgin English developed as a result of intertribal marriages. The importance of Pidgin English in Nigeria cannot be over emphasized.

This version of English cuts across institutions, establishments and societies yet it remains the unofficial lingua-franca in Nigeria. It is the most effective means if interaction among the illiterate servants of the learned masters, the market women, and several other groups of people. The popularity of Pidgin English can be seen in the various ways in which Nigerian business world and the media use it. Apart from using pidgin English for advertisements on radio and television, some bill boards disseminate their information using the pidgin English to communicate to their readers.

For example, Ken Saro Wiwa (2005) in his work, Sozaboy (2005) used pidgin English. Also the work of Amos Tutuola, the Palm Wine Drinkard is also written in the Pidgin English. Soyinka (2004.65) in his work, The Trial of Brother Jero and The Road respectively used the pidgin English to accent the socio-economic aspects of Nigeria of them. In most of his works, the level of pidgin compared with English seems to increase in favour of the former with the degree of informality of its speakers particularly worth mentioning is the road.   Notwithstanding, pidgin English though plays an important role in Nigeria, it also has some adverse effects on students’s learning of the English language. They learn this language early in life too. They may learn it from their parents of within the environment which they live. Subsequently, they carry the language to school where it becomes difficult for them to learn the proper language.

Often, several families live in the same compound or in a geographical area who do not understand one another’s language; Pidgin becomes a convenient means of communication among them. Children growing up in such area use the Pidgin English officially and do not anything wrong in it.   At school, especially in the southern Nigeria, where we have different ethnic groups residing in same settlements, for instance, cities like Lagos, port Harcourt, Warri and other urban areas, Pidgin English is the commonest means of communication especially outside the classroom.

This makes it difficult for the children of such settlements to use the correct or proper English in the class room because they have learnt Pidgin early in life. It is against this background that analysts have expressed concern over its continued use. They believe that students who speak the Nigerian Pidgin English stand the risk of losing fluency in the standard English going by the fact that the English language is not just Nigeria’s official language but an internationally recognised medium of communication in the contemporary world.