Linguistics-Scholarly Publications

Permanent URI for this collection

https://ir.unilag.edu.ng/handle/123456789/3366

Browse

Browsing Linguistics-Scholarly Publications by Author "Nwagbo, O.G."

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Item
    Open Access
    Identity and Code Switching among Liberian Refugees in Oru Camp, Nigeria
    (Ihafa: A Journal of African Studies, 2016-09-01) Nwagbo, O.G.
    In the course of interaction, bilinguals usually alternate between languages in order to project different faces. This study aims at examining the manifestations of identity among Liberian refugees in Oru camp, Nigeria, through code-switching. This is with a view to delineating the motivations behind the phenomenon coupled with the trajectories of the switches in relation to their indigenous languages, Yoruba (the host community language), Pidgin, and English. The study employed Ethno-linguistic Identity Theory as guide and adopted participant observation to elicit data from 20 adult respondents. The result revealed that code switching among the respondents was triggered by greetings, announcements, quotations, and proverbs. The trajectories of the switches were mainly from English to indigenous languages and Pidgin to indigenous languages. However, the respondents also manifested momentary identities with Yoruba through emblematic code switching. Liberian refugees in Oru camp were bilinguals who manifested multiple linguistic identities which indicated their psychological membership of multiple spheres and groups in the camp. However, the pattern or trajectory of their code switching revealed that they identified more with English and Pidgin, and less with their indigenous languages, and least with Yoruba, the language of the host community. In this way, they underlined their preference for modern and metropolitan identity over ethnic identity. The paper recommends that refugees should identify more with their indigenous languages and the host community language for reasons of language vitality, inclusion, and the benefits of diversity.
  • Item
    Open Access
    Identity and Language Attitudes among Sierra Leonean Refugees in Oru Camp, Ogun State, Nigeria
    (Lagos Notes and Records, Faculty of Arts, University of Lagos, 2020-03-11) Nwagbo, O.G.
    The concern of this study is to investigate the language attitudes of Sierra Leonean refugees in Oru camp with respect to their indigenous languages and the language of the host community, Yoruba. This is with a view to ascertaining their identity patterns. A mixed method (qualitative and quantitative) was adopted and consequently questionnaires and interviews were used to elicit data from teenagers, young adults and full adults purposively drawn from each of the three ethnic groups sampled: Mende, Temne, Limba. The result indicated that a significant majority of teenagers and young adults positively evaluated their indigenous languages although their proficiency was very poor. The full adults expressed a high evaluation of their indigenous tongues and also reported a high proficiency in them. In terms of attitude towards Yoruba, the teenagers highly evaluated Yoruba and correspondingly had a high proficiency in it. The young and full adults negatively regarded Yoruba (as a result of the negative attitude of the host community towards them) and had a very poor proficiency in it. Refugees need to identify with their host community for purposes of inclusion and the benefits of diversity.