A SOCIOLINGUISTIC DESCRIPTION OF THE ENGLISH USAGE OF IGBO-ENGLISH BILINGUALS

Abstract

The study investigated the spread and consistency of the use of Nigerian English lexical and syntactic forms among Igbo-English bilinguals from different socio-educational strata. Specifically, the author seeks to explore the various points at which the highly educated and the less educated Igbo-English bilinguals diverge and converge in their use of English. The data used for the study were sought primarily through questionnaire and observation of natural speech events. The study sample size was one hundred. The findings of the study reveal that in spite of variations in the use of English by the highly educated and the less educated subjects, there are also convergences. Convergences in the use of English by the highly educated and the less educated speakers of Nigerian English in the first instance, attest to their status as L2 speakers of English, operating within the same sociolinguistic and cultural contexts. Secondly, they provide evidence of the tendency for Nigerians (the educated and the less educated alike) to deviate from native speakers of English in their use of English, and, thirdly, they provide the bases for the selection of NE features for codification.