Language identity construction through the use of Nigerian pidgin

This study aims to highlight how Nigerians in Nigeria and in the diaspora construct their language identity through the use of Pidgin. Pidgin is one of the commonly used languages in Nigeria but its status and usefulness have been highly debated, thereby impacting how speakers perceive their langu...

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Main Author: Odebunmi, Verena
Other Authors: Humanistis-yhteiskuntatieteellinen tiedekunta, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Kieli- ja viestintätieteiden laitos, Department of Language and Communication Studies, Jyväskylän yliopisto, University of Jyväskylä
Format: Master's thesis
Language:eng
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access: https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/103513
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author Odebunmi, Verena
author2 Humanistis-yhteiskuntatieteellinen tiedekunta Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Kieli- ja viestintätieteiden laitos Department of Language and Communication Studies Jyväskylän yliopisto University of Jyväskylä
author_facet Odebunmi, Verena Humanistis-yhteiskuntatieteellinen tiedekunta Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Kieli- ja viestintätieteiden laitos Department of Language and Communication Studies Jyväskylän yliopisto University of Jyväskylä Odebunmi, Verena Humanistis-yhteiskuntatieteellinen tiedekunta Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Kieli- ja viestintätieteiden laitos Department of Language and Communication Studies Jyväskylän yliopisto University of Jyväskylä
author_sort Odebunmi, Verena
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description This study aims to highlight how Nigerians in Nigeria and in the diaspora construct their language identity through the use of Pidgin. Pidgin is one of the commonly used languages in Nigeria but its status and usefulness have been highly debated, thereby impacting how speakers perceive their language identity. This study is from the viewpoints of Nigerians who are still living in Nigeria and the ones in the diaspora. Additionally, this study expands on the limited available study on the link between Pidgin usage and language identity. The study is conducted through focus groups and analyzed through Bamberg’s narrative positioning with a focus on small stories, Woolard’s language ideology and Bucholtz & Hall’s language identity framework. The research questions focus on how location shapes the perception of Pidgin among users and how Nigerians construct their language identity with Pidgin in Nigeria and the diaspora. The focus group data was collected from nine participants; five from Nigeria and four from Jyväskylä, Finland. The findings reveal that existing language ideologies largely impact speakers’ positioning and linguistic identity. Participants from both groups held similar stances about Pidgin and their language identities and there was no hyper-awareness of identity from the participants in Jyväskylä. In conclusion, there is a need for more studies to be conducted on the link between the use of Nigerian Pidgin and language identity. These studies also need to be extended to the diaspora to get a well-rounded view of how language identities may change or remain the same.
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Pidgin is one of the commonly used languages in Nigeria but its status and usefulness have been\nhighly debated, thereby impacting how speakers perceive their language identity. This study is from the viewpoints of Nigerians who are still living in Nigeria and the ones in the diaspora.\nAdditionally, this study expands on the limited available study on the link between Pidgin usage and language identity. The study is conducted through focus groups and analyzed through Bamberg\u2019s narrative positioning with a focus on small stories, Woolard\u2019s language ideology and Bucholtz & Hall\u2019s language identity framework.\nThe research questions focus on how location shapes the perception of Pidgin among users and how Nigerians construct their language identity with Pidgin in Nigeria and the diaspora. The focus group data was collected from nine participants; five from Nigeria and four from Jyv\u00e4skyl\u00e4, Finland. 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spellingShingle Odebunmi, Verena Language identity construction through the use of Nigerian pidgin narrative positioning Nigeria Intercultural Communication (maisteriohjelma) Master's Degree Programme in Intercultural Communication pidginkielet ideologiat diaspora identiteetti kielellinen identiteetti
title Language identity construction through the use of Nigerian pidgin
title_full Language identity construction through the use of Nigerian pidgin
title_fullStr Language identity construction through the use of Nigerian pidgin Language identity construction through the use of Nigerian pidgin
title_full_unstemmed Language identity construction through the use of Nigerian pidgin Language identity construction through the use of Nigerian pidgin
title_short Language identity construction through the use of Nigerian pidgin
title_sort language identity construction through the use of nigerian pidgin
title_txtP Language identity construction through the use of Nigerian pidgin
topic narrative positioning Nigeria Intercultural Communication (maisteriohjelma) Master's Degree Programme in Intercultural Communication pidginkielet ideologiat diaspora identiteetti kielellinen identiteetti
topic_facet Intercultural Communication (maisteriohjelma) Master's Degree Programme in Intercultural Communication Nigeria diaspora identiteetti ideologiat kielellinen identiteetti narrative positioning pidginkielet
url https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/103513 http://www.urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:jyu-202506135326
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