There are few studies on the attitudes of linguistic outsiders, of people that are not from Nigeria, towards Nigerian English (NigE). Thus, this paper presents a small-scale study of attitudes of Non-Nigerians towards the NigE variety, intending to find out which attitudes the German-speaking participants show towards NigE. Herefore, the participants were asked to fill out an online questionnaire which used an indirect approach to eliciting language attitudes. The participants were not only asked to rate NigE on different scales, but to also rate General American English, which has been chosen since it is a prestigious inner circle variety, on the same scales as a means of comparison.
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. The linguistic situation and the status of English in Nigeria
2. Methodology
2.1 Participants
2.2 Materials and Procedure
3. Results
3.1 Competence
3.2 Power
3.3 Aesthetic Value
4. Discussion
Conclusion
Research Objective and Scope
This study investigates the language attitudes held by German speakers toward Nigerian English (NigE) compared to General American English (GA), aiming to determine if inner circle varieties maintain a superior normative status among non-native speakers.
- Analysis of attitudes toward Nigerian English by linguistic outsiders.
- Comparison of perceptions between an outer circle variety (NigE) and an inner circle variety (GA).
- Measurement of competence, power, and aesthetic value through an indirect questionnaire approach.
- Evaluation of the influence of speaker characteristics (education, reputability) versus accent perception.
- Examination of social desirability bias in the assessment of non-standard varieties.
Excerpt from the Book
3.3 Aesthetic Value
The category “aesthetic value” was measured only through one bipolar pair, which is ugly – beautiful. Together with the scale on comprehensibility, this is the only pair that all participants could assess. The aesthetic value of NigE is low with 2,06, clearly indicating that the respondents’ attitudes towards NigE in terms of aesthetic value are negative. GA has a considerably higher mean value, with 3,71. Thus, the results for the aesthetic value of the varieties are unambiguous, with the difference between the mean values being 1,65 and the attitudes towards NigE being negative, while attitudes towards GA are positive. The results appear even more unambiguous when considering that the difference between the mean values for bad English – good English was as great as 1,29.
Participants with English competence levels A1-B1 hold even more negative attitudes towards the aesthetic value of NigE. The mean value of 11 participants with competence levels A1-B1 is as low as 1,82, while participants aged 50-69 rated the aesthetic value of NigE slightly more positive than all participants taken together (mean value of all participants: 2,06, mean value of participants aged 50-69: 2,11). The group of older participants also rated GA worse than the average of all participants (mean value of all participants: 3,71, mean value of participants aged 50-69: 3,44). Participants with English competence A1-B1 rated GA 0.02 points higher than the total mean value.
Summary of Chapters
Introduction: Provides the motivation for the study, highlighting the lack of research on attitudes toward Nigerian English from the perspective of linguistic outsiders.
1. The linguistic situation and the status of English in Nigeria: Details the diversity of languages in Nigeria and the crucial role of English as a lingua franca in education, business, and governance.
2. Methodology: Outlines the participant demographics and the indirect questionnaire approach involving sound clips to elicit language attitudes.
3. Results: Presents the statistical findings regarding how participants rated the two English varieties across categories of competence, power, and aesthetic value.
4. Discussion: Interprets the findings in the context of World Englishes theory, noting the persistent preference for inner circle varieties despite neutral perceptions of speaker education.
Conclusion: Summarizes the study’s insights on language attitudes and suggests future research priorities, specifically concerning the affective dimension of language interaction.
Keywords
Nigerian English, General American English, Language Attitudes, World Englishes, Inner Circle, Outer Circle, Linguistic Outsiders, Phonological Features, Competence, Power, Aesthetic Value, Social Desirability Bias, Accent Perception, Language Variation, Sociolinguistics.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research?
The study examines the language attitudes of German speakers toward Nigerian English compared to General American English to understand prestige and perception dynamics.
What are the central themes of this work?
The core themes include language variety perception, the normative dominance of inner circle Englishes, and the distinction between assessing language competence versus the speaker's portrayed personality.
What is the primary goal of the study?
To identify whether German-speaking participants hold negative attitudes toward the Nigerian English accent when directly compared to a prestigious variety like General American English.
Which scientific method does the author employ?
The author uses a small-scale empirical survey involving an online questionnaire and audio samples, utilizing an indirect attitudinal approach to elicit raw participant reactions.
What topics are covered in the main body?
The main body covers the sociolinguistic status of English in Nigeria, the participants' demographic profiles, the phonological features of the audio samples, and a detailed analysis of results based on competence, power, and aesthetics.
What are the key descriptive characteristics of this paper?
The key characteristics are its focus on non-native listener perception, the comparative analysis of World Englishes, and the use of bipolar semantic differential scales.
Why was General American English chosen as a comparison?
It was chosen because of its established prestige, wide visibility in global media, and its status as a "norm-providing" variety within the inner circle of the World Englishes model.
Did the participants find the Nigerian English speaker less educated?
Interestingly, no; while the accent was judged less "flawless," the participants' evaluations of the speaker's education remained relatively neutral, suggesting that accent does not automatically lead to negative judgments of education.
- Quote paper
- Anonym (Author), 2021, Attitudes of German speakers towards Nigerian English in Comparison to American English, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1254832
