GLOBALIZATION AS A CAUSE FOR LANGUAGE EXTINCTION: A CASE STUDY OF NIGERIAN INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES

Abstract

One can look at globalization from economic, cultural and socio-political perspectives including Information and Communication Technology (ICT). For this reason, it is seen as the increasing empowerment of Western cultural values, including language, philosophy and world view. In many African countries, of which Nigeria is inclusive, English language, which is the language of colonization, is gradually becoming a global language due to its influence and subsequent adoption as the official language by many African nations, which are largely multi-cultural and multilingual. This trend has not only relegated the status of Nigerian Indigenous languages to the background, but has also threatened their existence in Nigeria which accommodates over 400 native languages. If we fail to check this trend, the ill-wind of globalization, which blows no any good, will gradually sweep the native languages, including the so-called major ones (Igbo, Hausa, and Yoruba) out of existence, particularly in Nigeria. This paper therefore uses the descriptive method to discuss globalization as one of the major factors for language endangerment with respect to Nigeria as a nation, with a view to proffering possible solutions capable of sustaining and empowering the nation’s sociocultural and economic stability.The study recommends areas necessary for sustaining indigenous languages from extinction.