Nigerian Secondary Schools use pidgin to teach, most especially public schools. Is this right?

no is not normal.

National Policy on Education states that, in addition to English, the major Language in the student's environment could be used.

Therefore, the evidence of codification and elaboration of functions and the partial or technical acceptance of Nigerian Pidgin is clearly visible.

While it is a tad strange given the circumstance of Pidgin English being a wrong version of the English language. The 're-branding' minister can use her time to work towards producing a standard version of this distinctive Nigerian language that somewhat unites all of us and IS the native language to many children of the low to middle class families in the major cities of Nigeria.

Even in London, new versions of the language are accepted as dialects and are standardised (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multicultural_London_English)

Pidgin is our slang. So what's wrong with students using it?

It is perfectly okay and should be encouraged. Hausa, Yoruba and Ibo should even be used.
A long time ago, there was this kid in my GCE centre. I asked him for clarification of some things but he couldn't explain. As soon as he noticed my name, he started speaking in Yoruba. If you see the way this guy perfectly explained Organic Chemistry in Yoruba, you go bow.
Research as shown that students grab information easily in their local dialect/most used language.
A lot of people speak local languages at home. English is just a language and should not be seen as a mode of becoming "literate"
Countries like Japan, Germany and most french colonies teach in their languages.

Local languages should be encouraged as a mode of teaching while English should be taught as what it is supposed to be - a language.

You all said it all, why we go dey run from our language, Na brton colonize Hong kong yet them still dey speak theri language, I just belive say na mental slavery dey worry some Nigerian,

yes, student should speak quuen's english in secondary school and the university.

@ poster, what is the positioning of english in the context of nigerian language answer that question first

obxddon:

You all said it all, why we go dey run from our language, Na brton colonize Hong kong yet them still dey speak theri language, I just belive say na mental slavery dey worry some Nigerian,

Exactly.

pidgin is ok, it should be used!

soloreal:

pidgin is ok, it should be used!

okay give reason? maybe u will be the pidgin english teacher.

This should not be allowed in our schools please! Only illitrates - who missed out on basic education would support this lazy idea so don't even bother with the crap topic.

it already part of our culture that haas even strech beyond seconday schools. let roll with it,at least i will make naija unique

NO!!

Theblessed:

This should not be allowed in our schools please! Only illitrates - who missed out on basic education would support this lazy idea so don't even bother with the crap topic.

Your grasp of standard British English is suspect as shown by your spelling and punctuation errors. This would not be noticeable if we as Nigerians had our own dialect of the English language that is indigenous to us. Many countries have their own dialect different from the standard BE and many youngsters have this informal English we speak in Nigeria as their native language. So I do not think it is out of place to use this means to help a child understand a topic of discussion better.

Rather than scream blue murder, we should see how we can work round this situation and try to produce a standardised version of this language that can be used in formal settings.Everyone knows how easy it is to understand better if spoken to in your native tongue.

In fact I would suggest the language "pidgin english" be clearly documented as a unique language. Educationists _{if d word dey for english} should consider setting up d structure of the language including grammar, sentence construction and spelling, and could be taught in schools as a Nigerian Language together with Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo.

I was arguing with my friend the other day how to write "my pikin dey come" or "my pickin they come". We still haven't come to an agreement. There are no rules to d language and as such cannot be accepted as a distinct language. By teaching the language in school, we would better appreciate it.

I dont see anything wrong in studying in pidgin english, or even working in a company with pidgin english. No matter how much we claim to be very fluent in English Language and most of us even claim English as a first language, e get some kain things that are better expressed with pidgin. Our feelings and emotions are gradually getting subdued all in d name of speaking oyinbo man language. For example, babe go understand wen I say "I feel u die" than saying "I have the hots for u". Most of my innermost feelings and desires are better expressed in pidgin.

I was wondering the other day if there are any novels or storybooks written in pidgin english. We dont even have a national newspaper that is written in pidgin english. Na wa oh. . . I guess we can start from there.

Play play play play I don talk plenty forget to answer the main question for the thread.
@ Poster Pidgin in Secondary School, Is It Right? Yes.

@ topic. Absolutely no. It is absurd. Remember, pidgin english is actually broken english. It is okay to communicate at a lower level, but not for teaching at secondary school level

Is this a joke?

NO. Makes no sense unless it is a pidgin english class.

Some people are missing the drift, who said pidgin is our local language? who made it one?

Teaching Igbo, Hausa or Yoruba are acceptable

But pidgin, hell no and do not see why any reasonable or educated person will give in to that.

What exactly do u want to impact into students or scholars? leaving me wondering

Ridiculous

which school?

But seriously, what is wrong in speaking PE? PE is a very good tool and helps in fostering unity and understanding each other (70% of Nigerians speak it and very well if I may add). Must everyone speak QE or AE?

Perhaps its time we make it the official language?

Lets see if foreigners can learn it. At least we are forced to learn English/French in schools.

English is a universal and an official language,dats just the way it is,we cant change it while we av to accept destiny.meanwhile nothing wrong with pidgin english cos its our slang and student can use it to interact with each other in school but i think queens english sounds more formal,polite,decent and acceptable world wide. 70%.

We shouldn't use pidgin in schools, because it'll limit our students very strongly if they happen to step beyond the shores of Nigeria.

Yes, France and China use French and Chinese in their schools. But French and Chinese have the popularity and international acceptance that Yoruba, Ibo and Hausa do not have. Therefore we shouldn't compare.

I don't know

r u guyz serious? pidgin english is not n will never be a formal language. there's nothing unique about it, as it was born of an inability to speak good english. many nationalities speak broken english so wats indigenous bout it. I wonder y mediocres keep advocating for mediocrity all over the place. y don't u go to a job interview n speak freakin pidgin, let's see. I have nothing against pidgin coz I dey blow am on d regular, but teach these kids right n let them have quality options in speech, instead of trying to limit them to pidgin.

ow11:

Your grasp of standard British English is suspect as shown by your spelling and punctuation errors. This would not be noticeable if we as Nigerians had our own dialect of the English language that is indigenous to us. Many countries have their own dialect different from the standard BE and many youngsters have this informal English we speak in Nigeria as their native language. So I do not think it is out of place to use this means to help a child understand a topic of discussion better.

Rather than scream blue murder, we should see how we can work round this situation and try to produce a standardised version of this language that can be used in formal settings.Everyone knows how easy it is to understand better if spoken to in your native tongue.

Didn't declare myself an English language expert, lecturer or professor neither did I claim to have a Doctorate (PhD) in English Language so what's the heck about my English grammer/spelling? No one cares if it's correct or not on here except you and I'm not the only one on here with bad grammer either, am I? Obviously, you are not an Enlgish lecturer either and that disqualifies you from judging my grammer/spellings on here.

There is nothing wrong in making children learn the correct way of doing things instead of the easy way hence, laziness.  When the British came, our fore-fathers' learned English language the hardest way than our generation yet, they wrote it well, spoke it gramatically well and correct even till this day.  Evidently, my 85 years old father was one of the early scholars the British Catholic fathers taught English language when they were there, and they learnt first hand.  Now, imagine our generation with grammer/spellings, otio!

The fact is that, the English people we all borrowed this language from also have their own native and local way of speaking and using the language and as such had not forced these native/local dialects on to the academic arena in order to simplify or make it easier for their children.  Everyone knows that English language is a difficult and complex language to master yet the whole world manages to use and speak it their own way whilst still maintaining the  basic grammer and spellings at academic levels.  So, why should we destroy our unique and authentic Nigerian PIDGIN English by trying to make it acadmic worthy or credible, when most Nigerians can read/write and understand it their own way and no harm done to anyone?  So, what's the problem?

Pliiz liv ma pidgin Inglish alone - we no want am standadized and standardization can only lead to one thing or the other and by the time we realised it, it's uniqueness and authenticity, would have gone and we'd have nothing to be proud of.  So, leave our pidgin English the way it is, Nigerians are happy with it because, it's the only one common language majority of Nigerians can communicate and understand each other very well indeed so, don't tamper with it, please.  Cheers!!

Me na pidgin english champion o! No wayo