Impact of Linguistic Insecurity on the English Oral Productivity of Students of Selected Colleges of Education in South-Western Nigeria

Authors

  • Dr. Okedigba Segun Ogunniyi Oyo State College of Education
  • Omowon Aderonke Abiodun Oyo State College of Education
  • Adelowo Abimbola 'Dapo Oyo State College of Education

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47604/ijl.2150

Keywords:

English Language, Linguistic Insecurity, Oral Productivity, Colleges of Education, South-Western Nigeria

Abstract

Purpose: This work studied the phenomenon of linguistic insecurity among colleges' of education students in South-Western Nigeria to determine its impact on their English oral productivity. Casual observation has shown that a good number of colleges' of education students in South-Western Nigeria are usually not at ease communicating in the English language. So, they seldom communicate in the English language when they interact with one another.

Methodology: The Deficit Hypothesis as postulated by Bernstein (1971) provided the theoretical underpinning. It used purposive sampling to sample three colleges of education in South-Western Nigeria. Random sampling technique was employed to sample 120 respondents from each of the colleges; yielding a study sample of 360. A self-constructed questionnaire tagged "Impact of Linguistic Insecurity on English Oral Productivity Questionnaire (ILIEOPQ)" was the instrument employed. Data generated were analysed using frequency counts and simple percentages.

Findings: The results showed that majority of colleges' of education students in South-Western Nigeria did experience linguistic insecurity whenever they communicated with their friends and course-mates in English language; a phenomenon which is not unconnected with their deficiency in English language. Lack of confidence was found to be a major factor for this. Linguistic insecurity in English language also had negative effects on the English oral productivity of students of colleges of education in South-Western Nigeria resulting in many of them speaking their first language more than they did speak English language while in school. Findings also showed that colleges' of education students in South-Western Nigeria employed some strategies to cope with their linguistic insecurity in English language. This notwithstanding, the standard or quality of the English language they spoke was not good enough.

Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy:  The findings have shown linguistic insecurity as a major cause of the poor oral performance of Nigerian learners in English language. The findings could help stimulate the initiation of appropriate measures by concerned stake-holders. Such measures could include learners of English as a second language endeavouring to speak the English language more regularly at school. Similarly, teachers should lay more emphasis on the spoken English of their pupils/students.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Bernstein, B. (1971). Class, codes and control. Applied Studies Towards a Sociology of Language, Vol. 2. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

Bucci, Wilma & Baxter. M. (1984). Problems of linguistic insecurity in multicultural speech contexts. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 433 (1), Discourses in reading and linguistics, 185-200. http://www.academia.edu/15209048/Production_and_perception_of_stop_consonants_inSpan

Daftari, G. E. & Tavil, Z. M. (2017). The impact of non-native English teachers' linguistic insecurity on learners' productive skills. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, Vol. 13. Issue 1, pp. 379-398. www.jlls.org .

Kanwal, S. & Aftab, S. (2021). The effect of linguistic insecurity on ESL learning: A case study of L1 Punjabi speaker. Jahan-e-Tahqeeq, Vol. 4. Issue 3, pp. 36-46. https://jahan-e-tahqeeq.com/index.php/jahan-e-tahqeeq.

Kim, L.S., Siong, L.K., Fei, W. F. & Ya'acob, A. (2010). The English language and its impact on identities of multilingual Malaysian undergraduates. GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies, Vol. 10. Issue 1, pp. 87-101.

Labov, W. (1972). The reflection of social processes in linguistic structure. In Joshua A. Fishman (Ed.). Readings in the Sociology of Language. Massachusetts: Mouton.

Nordquist, R. (2018). Linguistic Insecurity. https://www.thoughtco.com/richard-nordquist-1688331.

Richards, J. C. & Schmidt, R. (eds.). (2009). Communication strategy. Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics. NewYork: Longman.

Tchoutouo Ketchassop, A. C. (2020). Solving linguistic insecurity by an application of the Haugen model of language planning: The case study of the Nda'nda' language in Cameroon. American Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Research (AJHSSR), Vol. 4. Issue 9, pp. 307-315. www.ajhssr.com.

Tomioka, T. (1989). The Silent Period Hypothesis. Sanno Junior College Bulletin, 22, 150-162

Trudgill, P. (2003). A glossary of sociolinguistics. Edinburg: Edinburg University Press.

VanPatten, B. & Benati, A. G. (2010). Key terms in second language acquisition. London: Continuum.

Downloads

Published

2023-10-20

How to Cite

Okedigba, O., Omowon , A., & Adelowo, D. (2023). Impact of Linguistic Insecurity on the English Oral Productivity of Students of Selected Colleges of Education in South-Western Nigeria . International Journal of Linguistics, 4(2), 40–53. https://doi.org/10.47604/ijl.2150

Issue

Section

Articles