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Nigerian newscasters’ English as a model of standard Nigerian English?

  • Folajimi Oyebola EMAIL logo and Ulrike Gut
Published/Copyright: March 1, 2021

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate whether the form of English spoken by Nigerian newscasters enjoys the status of a standard in Nigeria. The study employs a verbal guise test and a questionnaire to measure the attitudes of 137 Nigerian participants towards the variety of English used by Nigerian newscasters. The findings show that an exonormative orientation is still present in Nigeria: both British and American English accents are preferred over a Nigerian one for Nigerian newscasters, and a British accent is perceived to be more prevalent than a Nigerian one in Nigerian newscasting. However, the results of the verbal guise test demonstrate that there are very positive attitudes towards all Nigerian newscasters’ accents. The results also show that neither gender nor a stay abroad has a significant effect on Nigerians’ attitudes towards newscasters’ English, but that the age group of the participants significantly influences their evaluations: the older participants rated the newscasters’ English accents higher than the younger ones. Overall, the findings of the study suggest a limited potential of Nigerian newscasters’ English becoming a model of English in Nigeria, as British English as an exonormative norm seems to continue to play a major role.

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Appendix I

Questionnaire on Newscasters’ English in Nigeria

Dear Participant,

We are undertaking an investigation with focus on Newscasters’ English in Nigeria. In the questionnaire, you will be asked about your thoughts on Nigerian newscasters’ English. Your participation will involve listening to some recordings and doing a rating task. The whole process should not take more than twenty minutes of your time.

The exercise is anonymous so please answer as truthfully as possible; there is no particular correct answer that is being sought. If you do not wish to complete any part of the questionnaire, you are free to leave it blank.

We assure you of complete confidentiality and anonymity. Furthermore, any information you give will be used only for the purposes of this particular research project.

Thank you for your cooperation!

Section A: Background Information

Please complete this section with information about yourself

  1. Gender. MaleFemale

  2. Age Group: ☐ (16–19) ☐ (20–29) ☐ (30–39) ☐ (40–49) ☐ (50+)

  3. Occupation: ________________

  4. Country of Birth: _________________

  5. First language/s: _____________________

  6. Other languages:

    _______________________________________________________

  7. Have you ever been to any English speaking country outside Nigeria? ☐ Yes ☐ No

If yes,

country(ies) and the duration of stay

  1. _____________________________ ______________________

  2. _____________________________ ______________________

  3. _____________________________ ______________________

Section B: Nigerian English Evaluation

  1. Do you speak Nigerian English? ☐ Yes ☐ No

  2. What accents of English are you familiar with?

    American English ☐

    British English ☐

    Ghanaian English ☐

    Jamaican English ☐

    Nigerian English ☐

  3. What accent of English do you aim at when you speak English?

    American English ☐

    British English ☐

    Ghanaian English ☐

    Jamaican English ☐

    Nigerian English ☐

  4. In your opinion, is there a Standard Nigerian English?

    ☐ Yes ☐ No ☐ Don’t Know

  5. If yes, what category of people do you think use Standard Nigerian English?

    ☐ All category ☐ non-literate ☐ semi-literate ☐ literate

Section C: Newscasters in Nigeria

  1. How often do you listen/watch Nigerian newscast on the Radio/TV etc?

    ☐ Everyday ☐ sometimes ☐ hardly ☐ not at all

  2. Which English variety do you prefer in a newscast?

    ☐ American English ☐ British English ☐ Nigerian English

    ☐ Ghanaian English

    Other ______________________________________

  3. What accent of English do newscasters in Nigeria use?

    ☐ Nigerian English ☐ American English ☐ British English

    ☐ Ghanaian English

    Other _________________________________________

  4. Are Nigerian newscasters influenced by their native languages while reading news?

    ☐ Yes ☐ No ☐ Not sure

  5. How do you feel when Nigerian newscasters use an American accent or a British accent on the radio/TV?

    ☐ Satisfied ☐ not satisfied ☐ indifferent ☐ I don’t know

  6. Is the Nigerian newscasters‘ English accent intelligible to you?

    ☐ Yes ☐ No ☐ Not sure

  7. Should newscasters‘ English accent be adopted as the standard English variety in Nigeria?

    ☐ Yes ☐ No ☐ Not sure

  8. Would you like to talk like Nigerian newscasters?

    ☐ Yes ☐ No ☐ Not sure

Section D: Accent Rating

Listen carefully to the recording and indicate your impressions of Speaker 1.

Strongly disagreeDisagreeSlightly disagreeSlightly agreeAgreeStrongly agree
The newscaster’s pronunciation is refined
The newscaster’s pronunciation is clear
The newscaster’s pronunciation is pleasant
The newscaster’s pronunciation is standard
The newscaster’s pronunciation is intelligible
The newscaster’s pronunciation is proper
The newscaster sounds professional
The newscaster sounds modest
The newscaster would be a good newscaster in Nigeria
The newscaster would make a good linguistic role model for Nigerians

Section E: Accent Recognition

Please indicate by ticking from the options in the table below what you think the ethnicity of the newscaster is.

Newscaster 1
Hausa
Igbo
Yoruba
Others
Published Online: 2021-03-01
Published in Print: 2020-12-16

© 2020 Faculty of English, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland

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