Complementarity or Conflict: The Role of English in the Nigerian Linguistic Context

This paper argues that English plays a complementary rather than a conflicting role in the Nigerian linguistic context. Nigeria is the most linguistically heterogeneous country in the African continent, with more than 500 indigenous languages spoken within its borders. With such a linguistically diverse landscape, a common language is needed to facilitate inter-ethnic communication and social interaction among the people. English, like French and Portuguese in other parts of Africa, has played this role since the post-colonial era. As an exoglossic lingua franca and the official language of the country, the use of English has helped to minimize inter-ethnic rivalry and conflict that would erupt if any indigenous language were imposed to play these roles in Nigeria. The paper further argues that there is a stable diglossic relationship between English and the indigenous languages in Nigeria because these languages have maintained clearly distinct linguistic domains in which they function; the High language (English) in formal domains and the Low (indigenous languages) in informal domains. With proper language planning and the formulation and implementation of a pragmatic language policy, especially in the domain of education, English and the indigenous languages can continue to co-exist and complement one another. This paper has used the concepts of diglossia and domain analysis as the theoretical framework