Rethinking Language Policy and Implementation in Nigeria: A Case for Rivers State
Keywords:
Language, Dialect, Language Policy, Orthography, Implementation, Mutual intelligibilityAbstract
Language is at the center of every activity of man, as it is the medium for expression of thoughts. feelings, ideas and opinions. Rivers state is a multi -lingual state with an indigenously diverse population and has over fifteen languages and several dialects spoken across the twenty-three local government areas of the State. This is the main cause of communication gap among citizens of same state who wish to communicate, socialize and transact. This work seeks to propose a language policy for Rivers State. The objectives are to: find out the languages and dialects spoken in the different local government areas (LGAs); identify the ethnic groups found in the state; carry out a linguistic analysis of the LGAs and classify ethnic groups in the state based on their languages/dialects; propose a language policy for the state. This work is hinged on the Applied linguistic theory and the Interactionist theory of language acquisition. It employs the descriptive survey design. Findings reveal that there are more than fifteen languages and twenty dialects in Rivers state; most of the languages in Rivers state do not have standard orthographies giving rise to a wide communication gap; most languages are mutually intelligible across the LGAs. Based on the linguistic analysis of the LGAs, the work recommends that language functions be assigned for official purposes which may cut across regional, local or community levels; early childhood should be in a child's mother tongue and the Port Harcourt pidgin; a book on diction, grammar, treatises on pronunciation and orthography for the Port Harcourt pidgin variety be developed. In concluding, each major ethnic group in the state should strive to develop a standard dialect assigned with more sophisticated roles.
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