A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF THE SURVEYS OF ENGLISH IN NIGERIA

Abstract

English varies with group in terms of place and class. A survey of one of the English variant refers to an either quantitative or qualitative study conducted to determine the overall state of the English variant used by a group. While a systematic review of surveys of the English is an evaluation of selected surveys conducted on the English used by a group within a period to provide an up-to-date account of the English used in Nigeria. Systematically reviewing the existing surveys on the English used in Nigeria is what has been neglected. Consequently, the study identifies the criteria used by the surveyors for categorising the English used by Nigerian and examines the pattern of development in the surveys. In achieving these, six key surveys of the English in Nigeria, conducted within 1958 to 2025, are selected and systematically reviewed within the theoretical framework of sociolinguistics. The results indicate that linguistics, intelligibility, sociolinguistics, region and social class are the variables used by scholars to categorise the use of English in Nigeria, with the variable of education considered as the most influential. Developments in the English categorisation was first determined by criterion of education, through others to the criterion of sociolinguistics. However, early and frequent exposure to the English are observed to be the overriding criterion for the acquisition of highly categorised competence in the use of English by Nigerians. Using the criterion of early and frequent exposure to the English should therefore be used in further surveys to categorise the English used by Nigerians.