I think its about our education.
We're more likely to be fluent in the language when our educators are also fluent.
We can improve our use of the language by reading alot.

Bottom line: we cam right many wrongs of the past by simply accepting our weakness, and trying to improve.

9jaRealist:



Absolutely agree that “intelligence is way different from English speaking” but…
Those folks have textbooks and academic literature, and are taught, in their languages (even same for most Arabs)!

In Nigeria, where our academic textbooks and literature are virtually all in English language, there really shouldn’t be any rational excuses for any Nigerian graduate, who has purportedly studied in English (and/or English) for a minimum of 10-15 years (under the 6-3-3-4 system), should be struggling with the basics of the language of learning and instruction.

We shouldn’t be making excuses for blatant MEDIOCRITY in Nigeria…
Nonetheless, I don’t blame Nigerian graduates, because the reality is most of their teachers are even WORSE.
>

I am not encouraging mediocrity and I haven't said anything different from your submission. However, we should be mindful that we are not native speakers of English. Like I said earlier, since it is a medium of instruction in many schools in Nigeria, students should learn to improve and be intentional about it since doors can even be opened for opportunities......

Must I spark good English to impress you? You cannot fit mind your business.

9jaRealist:



Proficiency simply means competence…
>

Maybe ,maybe not if that is all it means why is it calibrated? Replacing
one word with another does not provide any illumination as to "meaning"
Messi is competent so also was Rooney

Anyway what it "simply means" is tangential to the point.The post I quoted mentioned different degrees of competence . My point is that there is no need for us to prioritize higher degrees of competence in English over the same in Yoruba Igbo or any of our own languages

Kingsley1000:
Don't mind him.
How I wish I can unlearn my English and substitute it with French, Chinese or German.
Most Nigerisns suffer from inferiority complex.
Most non Uk immigrants that have stayed more than 8yrs in England are still struggling with the Language

First, it’s irrelevant to the OP’s point….
Nonetheless, it’s different learning ANY language as an adult rather than as a kid.

Furthermore, it’s nothing to with “inferiority complex” (many of us proudly speak our native languages abroad)…
However, as our textbooks, academic literature and instruction is in English, basic proficiency in the language is IMPORTANT.
>

Luu40:
I think its about our education.
We're more likely to be fluent in the language when our educators are also fluent.
We can improve our use of the language by reading alot.

Bottom line: we cam right many wrongs of the past by simply accepting our weakness, and trying to improve.

KPOM! On all points…
>

U can't speak good English when u are having a rough time.

Even in d middle of a crazy argument, you change to your mother's language.

sherylbaky:
Articulacy is the ability to speak fluently, and this can be done in any language in the world.

Education is the acquisition of "personal development", knowledge, skill development, habit, morals and values, These are the essence of education.

Therefore, education could be acquired in any language.
Out of this personal development is 'exposure'.

Exposure teaches that we have different people around the world with different languages.
German speaks their language
Spanish speaks theirs
Portuguese with theirs as well.

Hence, if someone can not speak a foreign language or other dialects, it doesn't mean the person is not educated.
But if someone has failed in the area of skill, value,moral, habit or personal development, it's an evidence that the person is not well educated.

I usually don't make comments but I have to say you are of high intelligence. Thank you for that educative and responsible response that's devoid of insults.

So, you think the main or only reason to obtain a degree is to learn how to speak English because English was the language of taught? Oh, no... think rightly mehn! You can do better than this.

Truvelisback:
Good day, fellas. Why do some graduates find it difficult to speak good English? I mean, even to construct a simple sentence. Funny enough, most of these guys brag about their educational Degree and most of them tend to be very arrogant.

The funny part of it is that, they are even confident and proud with the blunders they make while speaking.

Has anyone met such graduate?

aribisala0:
Even higher than expert is "Master" at which point you can make your own rules or even your own words as Chaucer did. That is a privilege for English folk so we should mind our business and pursue proficiency in our own languages .I do not see any expert speakers of Yoruba from England so I see no reason to become an expert user

"Hello, You I like , we go my house , we sleep, Good? " is all I need as I once learnt from a room mate who brought home a deaf and mute woman home one night and they were able to communicate

Thanks for the response jare. Lagbaja had one song titled vernacular. Make people go listen and cool off the heat over a language whose origin and original speakers agreed it has grades ranging from beginner to master as pointed out by you.


Gbo gbo gbosa
Ko lori gbo ri
Oya je kaa tabon
Gbo gbo gbosa.
English no get expression like your mother tongue.
Talk make I understand,
O tan.

Idea is need

9jaRealist:


First, it’s irrelevant to the OP’s point….
Nonetheless, it’s different learning ANY language as an adult rather than as a kid.

Furthermore, it’s nothing to with “inferiority complex” (many of us proudly speak our native languages abroad)…
However, as our textbooks, academic literature and instruction is in English, basic proficiency in the language is IMPORTANT.
>

It does have to do with inferiority complex even in our vocabulary there is a strong tendency to "English Shame" people for solecisms
We do need to question where all of this is leading. It is obvious to any thinking being that it is leading to THE DEATH OF OUR OWN LANGUAGES.
So should we accept that as an inevitability or take action

Well looking around the world in Wales(United Kingdom) , Tanzania, India and New Zealand(Maori) we can see that action can be taken and crucially that IT WORKS.

Say NO TO ENGLISH

Do not speak English to your children

remirez07:
Even John bull is not perfect.

That John Bull my son who cannot spell his name

achorladey:
Competency Abi Na proficiency get level or grade.

Almost EVERYTHING “get level or grade” - health, height, education, skill, farming, marriage, eating, driving, swimming, etc…
Doesn’t detract that after studying, studying in, and/or daily practicing a language for 15 years, competence is a rational expectation.
>

Truvelisback:
So, what is the essence of going to School if u can't express urself well? What is the evidence that u are a graduate or u are well educated?

No one goes to a university or polytechnic to study how to speak good English and no reasonable lecturer should fail a student for grammatical errors as long as he/she understands the message the student is passing. It's a foundation problem ie it started from nursery/primary and it wasn't tackled/corrected in their secondary school hence the bad English some graduates speak. The worst of it is that they don't even know they are expressing themselves incorrectly

Truvelisback:
Good day, fellas. Why do some graduates find it difficult to speak good English? I mean, even to construct a simple sentence. Funny enough, most of these guys brag about their educational Degree and most of them tend to be very arrogant.

The funny part of it is that, they are even confident and proud with the blunders they make while speaking.

Has anyone met such graduate?

- You can always trace the issue to the schools they attended. Elementary, Primary and Secondary especially.

- They were never taught by good teachers who could speak well. Or, they skipped English classes.

- Their environment.

aribisala0:
It does have to do with inferiority complex even in our vocabulary there is a strong tendency to "English Shame" people for solecisms
We do need to question where all of this is leading. It is obvious to any thinking being that it is leading to THE DEATH OF OUR OWN LANGUAGES.
So should we accept that as an inevitability or take action

Well looking around the world in Wales(United Kingdom) , Tanzania, India and New Zealand(Maori) we can see that action can be taken and crucially that IT WORKS.

Say NO TO ENGLISH

Do not speak English to your children

You keep missing the point….

Wouldn’t be interested in this discourse if it was merely one of cultural pride, because I am extremely proud of mine…
The discourse though is why would graduates who study in a language for 15 years struggle with basic competency in it.

Are the textbooks and academic literature they used from kindergarten to uni written and taught in their local languages?
>

OBoy50:
Your English is very bad sir!

Mr Attacker, it would have been better if you underlined the errors in the write up.

I guess it touched deep inside your bone marrow.

9jaRealist:


Almost EVERYTHING “get level or grade” - health, height, education, skill, farming, marriage, eating, driving, swimming, etc…
Doesn’t detract that after studying, studying in, and/or daily practicing a language for 15 years, competence is a rational expectation.
>

Now you are coming to terms with what I am trying to state here. Some Footballers go into Football Academy at an early age and still don't get called professional even after spending 15 years training and learning football everyday.

From your words above, when you come across a graduate who still struggle with the English language this is the opportunity to appreciate the fact that the language get grades.

Even all those who eventually graduated from school and are seen as expert in speaking the English language by their fellow colleagues still go through the below and you still see them practice, read and practice questions to achieve the required grades.

What is IELTS?
The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is designed to help you work, study or migrate to a country where English is the native language. This includes countries such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and USA.

Your ability to listen, read, write and speak in English will be assessed during the test. IELTS is graded on a scale of 1-9.

IELTS is jointly owned by the British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia and Cambridge Assessment English.

Fiscus105:





Mr Attacker, it would have been better if you underlined the errors in the write up.

I guess it touched deep inside your bone marrow.

OGAAAAAA This English is very bad sir!
You can do better than this by simply writing a very simple well-spoken good English

reservd:
No one goes to a university or polytechnic to study how to speak good English and no reasonable lecturer should fail a student for grammatical errors as long as he/she understands the message the student is passing. It's a foundation problem ie it started from nursery/primary and it wasn't tackled/corrected in their secondary school hence the bad English some graduates speak. The worst of it is that they don't even know they are expressing themselves incorrectly

I may be reading the OP wrong…
But a “university graduate” in Nigeria implies English language learning of 10-15 years (including nursery, primary and secondary).

Meanwhile, in a subject like Law, the difference between “may” and “shall” could be several years in prison…
So, a reasonable law lecturer should absolutely fail a student for such “grammatical errors” that have a substantive effect.
>

Prolificgiant:
English language is our official language,for someone to have gone through education to level of been a graduate then he or she should be able to express themselves eloquently lets say 70% .,if u are good in cleaning and reside around yaba ,bariga lagos axis chat me up ,lets talk

Hello I'm interested

achorladey:
Now you are coming to terms with what I am trying to state here. Some Footballers go into Football Academy at an early age and still don't get called professional even after spending 15 years training and learning football everyday.

And you know what they are called wrt professional football?! Failures!
Nonetheless, I bet that almost all of them would be basically competent in football.
>

9jaRealist:


And you know what they are called wrt professional football?! Failures!
Nonetheless, I bet that almost all of them would be basically competent in football.
>

They don't call them failures for crying out loud . They rather call them AMATEUR.

Nonetheless, I bet that almost all of them would be basically competent in football

Competent in football in varying grades or degrees.

that is where we make mistakes, is English our language. the so call poeple that English is there language, dint they shoot gun. Why is then important for me to speak it correctly when the real owner cant. bro as long as u understand the msg he or she is passing across. then what is the headache. the main objective of any borrowed language is communication. thanks

Truvelisback:
English language is our official language. Anyone who pass tru Primary, Secondary and higher instutition and is poor in it, has a problem. By the way, do ur teachers or Lecturers in School teach or lecture u in Yoruba language?

So if you can't speak English language that well but always come out first when it comes to science subjects and you are very good at science, you are uneducated abi? Do you know how many people who speak English Fluently but are dump ass, like blockhead, uneducated. Education is knowing and understanding and practicalizing a field, but the real Education is the knowledge and wisdom of life, which many people are lacking and unfortunately schools can't teach you that.

Kingpin1000:
Because even English people don't speak good English.

9jaRealist:


You keep missing the point….

Wouldn’t be interested in this discourse if it was merely one of cultural pride, because I am extremely proud of mine…
The discourse though is why would graduates who study in a language for 15 years struggle with basic competency in it.

Are the textbooks and academic literature they used from kindergarten to uni written and taught in their local languages?
>

Seems to me like YOU are missing my point. Maybe I am missing yours so we are mutually missing each others points.
Maybe we would not be if we were not using English
Discourse? Well if that is what you want to call it?
There is always more than one perspective to any "discourse" and participants cannot narrow the discourse unilaterally

Perhaps a more relevant perspective is that if people are " struggling with basic competency" after so long maybe they should not be receiving instruction in English

English People
French People
Japanese People

etc do not have this problem
So maybe we need to see the problem as it is for what it really is and set a long term strategy for how to get from A to B
The problem is not Nigerians or Nigerian students
Why should we insist that a duck should fly

Truvelisback:
Good day, fellas. Why do some graduates find it difficult to speak good English? I mean, even to construct a simple sentence. Funny enough, most of these guys brag about their educational Degree and most of them tend to be very arrogant.

The funny part of it is that, they are even confident and proud with the blunders they make while speaking.

Has anyone met such graduate?

English is a just a language. As a graduate, can you speak good french?

maryikpaha:
that is where we make mistakes, is English our language. the so call poeple that English is there language, dint they shoot gun. Why is then important for me to speak it correctly when the real owner cant. bro as long as u understand the msg he or she is passing across. then what is the headache. the main objective of any borrowed language is communication. thanks

WRONG SIR. THE NATIVE SPEAKERS OF ENGLISH (OR ANY LANGUAGE) USE BICS WHILE GRADUATES USE CALP OF THE SAME LANGUAGE. IT IMPLIES THAT A FOREIGNER COULD TEACH YOU THE CALP OF YOUR MOTHER TONGUE.

9jaRealist:


That’s not the OP’s point or question…
Rather, it’s essentially why Nigerian graduates who’s supposedly studied in English for a minimum of 12-15 years struggle with it.

Obviously, English proficiency is NOT intelligence…
Even education is NOT intelligence, but merely LEARNING.

Nonetheless, until we write academic books in our own 400-plus indigenous languages…
Proficiency in the language of instruction and learning in Nigeria is still a RELEVANT consideration.
>

Same difference.. I know people with first class, a lot but aren’t fluent in English. I prolly do not know the level of proficiency you expect. Speaking English as an Educated Nigerian shouldn’t be used as a measure of anything. Also, it is probably not so bad.. maybe op is expecting a very high level … but think about it too.. 15 years in school. In Nigeria - do the teachers speak better English, do the student communicate in English, do parents communicate in English… it is either pidgin or local dialect.. So you shouldn’t even measure the years with proficiency of English language.. realistically.. most of us, na movies and books naim make us fit dey join words together.. and small exposure..

udomonday:
you are one of them.it is met such graduates not met such graduate.

How am i wrong in my expression? Is it because i didn't add "s" ?

Oyiboman69:
why are you equating education to English language?

English language is part of education. There are Adults looking for people who would teach them how to read and write.