CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1       BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Language is a critical component of the educational process. It is an essential component of communication. It has extremely strong fundamentals for creative thought, and without it, civilisation and culture would make no significant advancement, Abimboye (2021). The preceding reference investigates the abilities of language as a tool for communication and creative thought. Language is used to transmit ideas through the process of thought, which is then transformed into voice or writing. As a result, a country's language of wider communication is critical to its advancement and growth, even academically.

Historically, Nigeria is a varied and multi-ethnic country with around 410 languages Martha (2020). However, since the arrival of English in 1842, these multiple languages have altered, or should we say, interfered with, the way Nigerians utilize language on the lexical, grammatical, and phonological levels of communication. Despite the fact that English is Nigeria's lingua franca, a distinct brand of English has arisen to meet the country's sociolinguistic and communication demands (which is to an extent a deviation from standard British English). As a result, localization or domestication has occurred. Because English has been impacted by our indigenous languages, our writing will reflect this transformation. These deviations were dubbed "unusual Nigerianisms."             On the phonological level, Adegbite (2019) points out a reduced vowel system reduced intonation systems, voicing of non-voiced consonants endings. For example: thumb, song, lamb, the insertation of vowel in syllabic consonants and so on. In day-day communication, we hear people erroneously stretch or contact words. For example, the post-vocalic/L/ is deleted in coda position: “bulk” is pronounced as [bÉ], “help [hep] in addition, the word “sit” is pronounced as [si:t], “ship” as [ςi:p], and the word “beat” is contracted to [bit]. It is possible, therefore, that these wrong pronunciations can translate to bad writing and poor spellings.

Basically, the grammatical level focuses on how several aspects of the English language are given a Nigeria flavour. For example, a statement as the following is common in Nigerian English users: "He is guilty, isn't it?" (Wrong), "He is guilty, isn't he?" (Correct). The lexical level is characterized by coinages (chewing stick, cash madam, go-slow, senior brother, co-wife), hybridization's (kiakia bus, bukateria) and direct translations (eran igbe "bush/mea!", ese gigun" long leg). All these border on communication and communication processes. The major essence of it is to get a message across. All the factors and features of Nigerian English play a role in our linguistic and communicative competences.

Importantly Linguistic proficiency is sometimes defined as the native speaker's command of his language. Communication competence, on the other hand, refers to an individual's aptitude and ability to make and comprehend statements that may or may not be grammatical but are suitable in the socio-linguistic context in which they are used. This indicates that how Nigerians use language will have an impact on communication. Writing as a mode of communication will be the focus of this research.

Writing, according to Maduekwe (2017), is a  a personal act, an expression of oneself. It is based on intuition as well as reasoning about experience and emotion, facts and meaning.   Language, as previously said, serves as the foundation for creative thought and communication. Because what is in the mind is transmitted to writing, the way Nigerians think in their lingua franca will influence the quality of written communication. According to Olatunji Felicia Funsho (2016)'s research, some university instructors code switch for the impact and the enjoyment of it. When instructing, they utilize terminology like "Oyinbo" and "Ogbanje." The idea is that if a teacher code switches or code mixes because they really do not know the English translation of particular phrases or just for fun, their students will undoubtedly mimic them and include these deviations into their works.

Implicitly, the employment of two or more linguistic varieties in the same discourse or engagement is known as code switching. According to Poplack (2017), code switching is the alternation of two languages inside a same discourse, phrase, or component. Code switching is described in an educational environment as the activity of switching between a primary and secondary language or discourse (Coffey, 2008). It is frequent in bilingual and multilingual communities in Africa, India, and among European and American immigrants. The actual linguistic behavior involved in Code Switching (CS) changes depending on the sociolinguistic settings. In terms of language learning and writing, Code has emerged as a global issue, with a particular focus on secondary schools. In light of this, the purpose of this study is to determine the implications of the communicative functions of Nigerian English and how it affects the teaching of writing skills, with a focus on Senior Secondary School level students who are second language (L2) users of English, as well as the implications for English teachers who use Nigerian English in the classroom.

1.2  STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

            It is clear that "Nigerianisms," code switching, and code mixing are prominent in our Senior Secondary schools; such that mastery of the art of English writing among students has become a mirage. Cheta (2021) observed that students at the Senior Secondary Level are still quite unimpressive, so researchers have argued that learning to write fluently and expressively is the most difficult of the macro-skills for all language users, regardless of whether the language in question is a first, second, or foreign language: Orjiugo's (2019) b ased on the relative difficulty of writing, stated that  it is clear that factors such as interference from mother tongue and our "unusual Nigerianisms" could mar or pose a threat to the quality of writing that comes from our youth, particularly SSS students who are still in their formative years and can be assisted in improving their writing skills. Adeoye (2019) responds to this situation by stating that educators must recognize that interference factors and "Niqerianisms" affect not only students but also teachers, and especially teachers because they are the ones who teach writing to their students, which is a critical matter, and thus teachers education must be taken seriously.

Owing to the gap in literature on structure and communicative functions of Nigerian English and its implications on teaching writing skills. The researcher seeks to

1.3       PURPOSE OF STUDY

The broad objectives of this study is to examine the  implication of Nigeria English code switching on  teaching writing skills at the senior secondary school. Specifically the study seeks to:

i.          Appraise the level of student writing skills in English at senior secondary school

ii.        Determine areas of difficulty faced by English teachers who teach writing to English as second language user.

iii.      Find out the effect of  code switching  on the writing skills of  senior secondary students.

iv.      Suggest ways of promoting proficiency in the writing skills  senior secondary students.

  1.4       RESEARCH QUESTIONS

This research seeks to provide answers to the following questions.

i.          What is the level of student writing skills in English at senior secondary school?

ii.        What are the areas of difficulty faced by English teachers who teach writing to English as second language user?

iii.      Does instructor’s code switching  to Nigeria English affect the writing skills of  senior secondary students.

iv.      In what ways can proficiency in the writing skills  senior secondary students be promoted?

1.5       SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study will help teachers of the English language to determine areas they should improve on a regards teaching and modifications that can be made to already existent teaching skills. It will improve the quality of writing in students at the SSS level and help parents and the society at large to acknowledge the importance of writing as one of the components of the four language skills necessary for academic excellence and societal growth. In addition, curriculum developers will benefit from this research, as they will get information on variables such as the teacher, students and society. Empirically, the study will contribute to the general body of knowled and serve as a reference to scholars and study who wishes to conduct further studies in related field.

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