Mother Tongue Eclipsing in the Linguistic Repertoire of Yoruba/English Bilingual Children in Nigeria

Abstract

This paper examines a trend in Nigeria whereby children of Yoruba-speaking parents acquire English as their First Language and Yoruba as their second language. It assesses the socio-cultural implications of this practice on the country’s socio-political development. Forty school children and their parents were purposively selected and administered questionnaires aimed at eliciting their language preferences in different domains. The results showed that English was the preferred language used by the children in eight out of the twelve domains of language use.
The paper concluded by recommending that indigenous languages be used for legislation, administration, and education in Nigeria.