IIARD International Institute of Academic Research and Development

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION STUDIES (IJELCS )

E-ISSN 2545-5702
P-ISSN 2695-2157
VOL. 7 NO. 1 2022

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From Mother Tongue towards English: An Assessment of Language Shift and the Ethnolinguistic Vitality of the Igbo Language

Okoro, Gladys Onyinyechi

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Abstract

Language shift is a process which may lead speakers to use their language in fewer domains with respect to another language or even lose proficiency in their language altogether in favour of another language. Among the various consequences of globalization that is most alarming to linguists is the high rate of disappearance of languages worldwide. Several reasons have been advanced by linguists to explicate why people shift from their own culture and language. In the Nigerian context, the English language is regarded as a second language (L2) yet it occupies an enviable position in Nigeria’s linguistic repertoire. However, this research was geared towards investigating language shift among Igbo bilinguals in Owerri Metropolis in order to find out the vitality of the Igbo language and the burden of the study was to establish the attitude of the native speakers of Igbo to their language. Consequently, the research was guided by three research questions, using structured questionnaires. One hundred and twenty respondents were selected for study. The data got were analyzed with mean calculation and 2.5 were the criterions mean score for acceptance. The findings revealed that the Igbo people still have a positive attitude to their language; that there is no significant shift from L1 to L2 and that Igbo language still has a high level of vitality despite the quest for modernization and globalization of the English language in Nigeria. However, the researcher recommends that more Igbo grammar books be written to promote and enhance the learning of Igbo language in Nigeria.

keywords:

language, language shift, ethnolinguistic vitality, bilinguals, mother-tongue

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