Why is the English Language skills of Nigerian graduates appalling? Is the fault of teachers, parents, government or students? Is it the lack of sufficient Internet time to prepare their resumes?

We received hundreds of application for job positions in our start-up company within 24 hours of publicizing them. Without even bothering to look at the suitability of the applicants for the positions, 90% of the CVs( yes 90% so far) deserve to be disqualified because of poor English Language skills:
[list]
[li]bad grammar.[/li]
[li]Spelling mistakes.[/li]
[li]Beginning sentences and proper nouns with small letters.[/li]
[li]Not following application instructions.[/li]

[/list]
If our microscopic experience is anything to go by then, the comments that the quality of Nigerian graduates are nothing to write about may be sadly true.

---

Uche k. Oparah

because most Nigerians will not read anything beyond academic texts. i cannot begin to count the number o people who look at me in amazement when they see me reading big novels. some go as far as to say - you never read enough book for school ?


good english goes beyind the classroom. its like a muscle you have to keep flexing, and you do that by reading

Did you two notice spelling/grammatical errors in your posts?

Very true. . . . . . . . no thanks to the Nigerian educational system and the people who wrecked it.
However, its clear that most of these people you are referring to are far better than half of the citizens of the an english country where you are blabbing from.

Nigerians are no worse than the English themselves in that department.

@ Poster: Notice that your post too has mistakes
Why is the(?) English ,,,,,,,,,
Is(?) the fault ,,,,,,,,,,
e.t.c.

In any case, I think it is the fault of Govt., Teachers, Parents and the students.
Govt.- Unsuitable learning environment
Teachers- Some unqualified, some dont have enough time with students
Parents- Pressing teachers/exam bodies to buy marks for they wards
Students- Dont have much time with they books,,,,,

Uchek:

We received hundreds of application for job positions in our start-up company within 24 hours of publicizing them. Without even bothering to look at the suitability of the applicants for the positions, 90% of the CVs( yes 90% so far) deserve to be disqualified because of poor English

Sadly,nobody holy pass.

habumaks:

Did you two notice spelling/grammatical errors in your posts?  

@poster

I guess the main cause is the lack of personal discipline. Most people are not just bothered. I thought I was the only one bothered by this issue.
Others are:
constant use of slangs and short words esp. on the internet;
poor educational background;
low level of exposure;

I could go on and on

Very true. . . . . . . . no thanks to the Nigerian educational system and the people who wrecked it.
However, its clear that most of these people you are referring to are far better than half of the citizens of the an english country where you are blabbing from. [quote][/quote]

Couldn't agree more.

Uchek:

Why is the English Language skills of Nigerian graduates appalling? Is it the fault of teachers, parents, government or students? Is it the lack of sufficient Internet[b](the I should not be capitalised)[/b] time to prepare their resumes?

We received hundreds of application for job positions in our start-up company within 24 hours of publicizing them. Without even bothering to look at the suitability of the applicants for the positions, 90% of the CVs( yes 90% so far) deserve[b]d[/b] to be disqualified because of poor English Language skills:
[list]
[li]bad[b](B)should be capitalised[/b] grammar.[/li]
[li]Spelling mistakes.[/li]
[li]Beginning sentences and proper nouns with small letters.[/li]
[li]Not following application instructions.[/li]

[/list]
If our microscopic experience is anything to go by[b], then[b];[/b] the comments that "the quality of Nigerian graduates are nothing to write about may be sadly true."[/b]

---

Uche k. Oparah

 Going through the mistakes I noted in your post,you are just one of those Nigerian graduates,,,,Its always easier to criticise than act! Iam waiting for you to come prove yourself right here.

Uchek:

We received -past tense
deserve  instead of deserved to be disqualified

Now I know why job applications are rejected.

The same reason why a British Man who graduated in Ogun State can never speak perfect Yoruba.
What was born inside you can never be the same with what you were studied

Like I told a friend, when you begin to experience scarcity of dictions in your spoken English, then you are too far from good books. Maybe I should say that very few Nigerian youths grew up with a good reading culture. In any case, to speak and write good English, you need to read good English.

If your thread is infering in any way that it's the university system that is bad then I beg to disagree. There's no telling how many people out here who never attended university but speak and write english eloquently. The time to develop good skills with language is the primary and secondary school levels, thats when you pick interest in stuff like novels abi @ oyb I lie? In university you just build on what you have and master it. Just like the National soccer team is not a place to start learning how to trap the ball. Personal zeal to improve also play a large role in this too and it goes a long way.
Maybe you guys should start considering non graduates, then I'll introduce you to my 5 year old nephew. Seriously he can almost spell encyclopedia!

Its not the graduate's fault.Its the educational system we practice in nigeria.And sometimes the fault comes from the parent who dont care to speak english to their wards when they are stil young wen their brain can pick up tins very fast.

MUZBO:

If your thread is infering in any way that it's the university system that is bad then I beg to disagree. There's no telling how many people out here who never attended university but speak and write english eloquently. The time to develop good skills with language is the primary and secondary school levels, thats when you pick interest in stuff like novels abi @ oyb I lie? In university you just build on what you have and master it. Just like the National soccer team is not a place to start learning how to trap the ball. Personal zeal to improve also play a large role in this too and it goes a long way.
Maybe you guys should start considering non graduates, then I'll introduce you to my 5 year old nephew. Seriously he can almost spell encyclopedia!

Can he speak his local lingo

@ asha 80, nice one. He can but his english is better. I get your point though.

.

Uchek:

Why is the English Language skills of Nigerian graduates appalling? Is the fault of teachers, parents, government or students? Is it the lack of sufficient Internet time to prepare their resumes?

We received hundreds of application for job positions in our start-up company within 24 hours of publicizing them. Without even bothering to look at the suitability of the applicants for the positions, 90% of the CVs( yes 90% so far) deserve to be disqualified because of poor English Language skills:
[list]
[li]bad grammar.[/li]
[li]Spelling mistakes.[/li]
[li]Beginning sentences and proper nouns with small letters.[/li]
[li]Not following application instructions.[/li]

[/list]
If our microscopic experience is anything to go by then, the comments that the quality of Nigerian graduates are nothing to write about may be sadly true.

---

Uche k. Oparah

ROFLMAO

@ Poster,

You belong to the same category.

Abeg my brothers, I think we should first of all clear The Clog in our eye by trying to do more work on our grammar than trying to show oneself.
1love

Believe it or not, this applies to every country - no need to single out Naija so you can have a thread going.

Here in the states, it is easy to speak good American english (just like it is easy for most yorubas to speak yoruba easily abi?) but tell some graduate Americans to write down what they have just said in words - you'll be surprised and dissapointed!

There was this Lockeed Martin's employee who was in grad school with me. He was pissed and went to meet the professor when he somehow found out I got an 'A' in a course while he had a 'B'. He complained that I hardly participated in class discussions so there was no way I coulda gotten a better grade than him. The professor asked him to compare his project work with mine (in terms of layout and grammar).  I saw his written English and I could not believe it - terrible. But these are guys who are good in presentations and technicalities . . and they have ready-made proposals anyway.

99% of the posts above contains one or more grammatical blunders. Any Wole Soyinka in the house?
@ poster, the teachers are not motivated enough and the culture of "broken"

tundewoods:



@ Poster, you have posted a question or better still a riddle that you will only be able to solve once you also learn to write and speak correct English Language.

LOL ! Your case seems like a pot calling a kettle black !

ROFLMAO

Nezan:

@ Poster: Notice that your post too has mistakes
Why is the(?) English ,,,,,,,,,
Is(?) the fault ,,,,,,,,,,
e.t.c.

Dont have much time with they books,,,,,

Hmmm!

@kokoye, I feel you. Some people talk the talk but cannot 'write the write'. lol.

@poster,shame no dey worry u!!!!!!!!!!!!u dey talk of another man language skill i no knw weather  u go sabi spell am well if u get one sef.na which person 4 dis house wey english language na him papa language?english wey no matter how u master am reach d owners go modify am any how/time wey dey want naim u d talk abi na d one wey b say if u get enuf influence 4 int'l sys/market place u go create ur own & dey go include am dictionary 4 u?mind ur sef oh!!!!!!!!!

@poster
Good English language skills is not the hallmark of a sound educational system.
You really need to change your mentality because that is how slaves think.
Indians are very bad at speaking/writing the so called English language yet, India today is the world's back office inspite of there poor English.
China has the fastest growing economy yet they don't speak English.
I live in London and i can categorically tell you that even the ENGLISH themselves do not know how to read and write properly but nobody will accuse of them of being less intelligent or endowed than those who can read and write properly.
Please understand that English is not our first language.
Nobody cares if you can speak and write English when you can't even afford the basic necessities of life like electricity,good roads and affordable primary health care.
You were sent to university not to learn how to speak/read/write English like the Queen but to acquire the skills needed to place Nigeria in the world map like technology,science,financial skills etc

I for once advocate that universities start teaching science with local languages or even pidgin so that communication can be opened up and knowledge can easily be transfered.
Others like India and China are doing that already.
Those candidates with poorly written CV could be dedicated,intelligent and hardworking candidates.
It is not a sign of inferiority when you can't speak the language of the Imperialists.

To be honest with you there are so many graduates who are not too good with English. The fact remains that most of our universities now are producing half baked graduates and this is not just a fault of the government alone. However, grammatical errors sometimes should not be a big deal, I have been living in England for three years and also spent about 2 years in Ireland and I can say boldly that they do not speak or write in perfect English! As a matter of fact some of them who are graduates cannot even spell properly, in this regard i believe our nigerian graduates should still be given some credits to say the least. However, we should avoid celebrating mediocrity, there are so many opportunities to improve.

Uchek:

Why is the English Language skills of Nigerian graduates appalling? Is the fault of teachers, parents, government or students? Is it the lack of sufficient Internet time to prepare their resumes?

We received hundreds of application for job positions in our start-up company within 24 hours of publicizing them. Without even bothering to look at the suitability of the applicants for the positions, 90% of the CVs( yes 90% so far) deserve to be disqualified because of poor English Language skills:
[list]
[li]bad grammar.[/li]
[li]Spelling mistakes.[/li]
[li]Beginning sentences and proper nouns with small letters.[/li]
[li]Not following application instructions.[/li]

[/list]
If our microscopic experience is anything to go by then, the comments that the quality of Nigerian graduates are nothing to write about may be sadly true.

---

Uche k. Oparah

@ poster, recruitment and selection is a serious business, these applicants are actually making your job easier! those who do not comply with the application instructions should only have themselves to blame

The last time someone started this English language debate, she couldn't spell 'appalling' . . . now this

To be honest, Im not really bothered if a student can speak/write impeccable English but since its our official language, I believe as pupils/students, we should make more effort to improve our competency in this language at least until pigin becomes our official language!

People who have mentioned India and China should remember that these two countries have their own local official languages. For us, its English so if someone who has gone through 6 yrs of primary, 6 years of secondary and another 4/5/6 years at tertiary levels cannot express himself well, then that signifies that there is a problem somewhere that needs to be fixed. Mainly, the problem is at the primary school level. Thats where the focus should be.

oyb:

because most Nigerians will not read anything beyond academic texts. i cannot begin to count the number o people who look at me in amazement when they see me reading big novels. some go as far as to say - you never read enough book for school ?


good english goes beyind the classroom. its like a muscle you have to keep flexing, and you do that by reading

@oyb,
Verily I say unto thee, thou saith truer words than most.