ABSTRACT
This project is an attempt to explore the recurring grave concerning the academic performance of students. Though a large percentage of students in Nigeria learn English as a second language and are instructed in it, the Nigerian pidgin seems to interfere with their acquisition of the language and their performance in it much more than their mother tongues. The impact of pidgin contributes in no small measure to the dismal performance of students in their academic career
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Nigeria is a multilingual country with four hundred indigenous
languages, out of which three are regarded as major ones, namely:
Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba, representing the three major geo-political
zones – North, East and South respectively. Despite this fact, Nigerian
Pidgin is used in diverse degrees in different parts of the country and it
has become a lingua franca for many, while it is a Creole in some
Southern and Eastern States like Rivers, Lagos, Delta, Edo, and Cross
Rivers. Marchese and Schnkal (1980) confirm this after a major
evolution in the Delta area of Nigeria, they say; “… in a particular part
of Nigeria, the areas around Warri and Sapele, Nigerian pidgin is more
9
of a Creole. Creole is a mixture of an European language with a local language and is spoken as a first language.
Some view it as a variety of English, while others see it as a distinct language. A look at the structure of Nigerian pidgin (NP) portrays that it has structures and patterns of behaviour of its own. Though at its initial stage, NP was considered the language of those who could not speak good English, but many know better now. It is therefore, no wonder that it is not only used by undergraduates in Nigerian universities during conversation with the uneducated public, but it has become a fascinating medium of casual exchange among students themselves. Fisherman (1997) asserts that; “no language considered inferior is aptly logical”. This is because where two or more speech communities come in contact, a lingua franca or common language of communication emerges. He further points out that it is the social situation use popularly known as context that affects the morpho-syntactic pattern of a language. Since pidginisation, according to Hymes (1971:84), is a “complex process of Sociolinguistics”, we shall now consider the use of Nigerian Pidgin English among students of Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto.
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