THE COMING AND THE COEXISTENCE OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE WITH THE INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES OF GOMBE STATE: IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING

Abstract

The purpose of this paper was to examine the coming of the English
Language to Gombe State, the outcomes of its coexistence (contact) with the
indigenous languages of the State, and the implications of the outcomes for
teaching. Indeed, the English language having coexisted with the
indigenous languages for over a century has produced some outcomes
worthy of highlighting, together with the implications for its teaching in
institutions of learning. Specifically, the paper considers the position of
English language as a world language, the functions and roles it plays in
Nigeria in general and Gombe State in particular which earned it the status
of ‘second Language’. Furthermore, the paper treats the coming of the
language from the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Australia,
and New Zealand. It identifies the indigenous languages with their
locations. The outcomes of the coexistence of the English language with the
indigenous languages include the borrowing of words, the indigenisation of
some aspects of pronunciation, grammatical structures, lexis, codeswitching and code-mixing, which resulted in what is today known as
Nigerian English. The paper also treats the relevant phenomena of codeswitching and code-mixing. Finally, it considers the communicative method
for English language teaching.