PIDGIN LANGUAGE: IT'S NECESSITY AND EFFECT

 

There have been many speculations about the origin of language over the years. Jespersen (1921) proposed that human language originated while humans were enjoying themselves in one of the more enduring speculations concerning the origin of language. It remains however, a speculation. We simple  do not know how language originated. However, Yule (1985 1-4) argued that the origin of language could be divine, according to one view, God created Adam and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof – (Genesis 2:9) and so on and so forth. 

 

Language origin is inconsequential though, it is one of the major distinguishing factors of man from animal because it forms the basis for communication which essentially is a human characteristic. Effective communication, is spoken of when there has been a large language well-conceived and articulated but of course fathomable by the receiver who in turn decoded and send a feedback. 

 

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, I suppose 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.

 

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

 

Well, it can also be viewed as a variety of language which was developed for some practical purposes, such as trading among groups of people who had a lot of contact.

 

Notwithstanding, pidgin English though plays an important role in Nigeria, it also has some adverse effects on children’s learning of the English language. They learn this language early in life too. 

 

They may learn it from their parents or 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 see 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, Benin City, 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.

 

The Necessity. 

Pidgin plays a major role as it enables students from different cultural backgrounds to communicate with each other in any informal environment because there are no rules guiding its usage unlike the standard English where you have to abide by the rules of concord, syntax, phonology and semantics among others. 

 

 

The Effects. 

It is becoming increasingly difficult if a particular student really went to school or perhaps was well schooled in the rudiments of English. It is not an over statement if we say that most of the students cannot make simple, clear and error-free sentences in English language.  This has been attributed to the frequent use of pidgin by students either by way of code switching or code mixing in communication at home, school and their neighbourhood.

 

Though Pidgin English is fast becoming more and more important as a language but notwithstanding, English remain the only official language of communication in Nigeria. Therefore Pidgin English, when it is first learnt by children, poses some problems in their later life. They will find it difficult to differentiate between pidgin and Standard English both in their spoken and written form.

 

Again the use of pidgin impeded proper communication in the sense that the children have limited language as a means of communication in a country like ours. Where English becomes a problem for a child when he gets to school as he cannot understand the teacher because the only language he/she understands in pidgin English. 

 

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Name: Ozor Abigail 

STATECODE: Os/21C/0233

COURSE OF STUDY: Public Administration 

INSTITUTION: Niger State Polytechnic 

STATE OF ORIGIN: Edo state