Minority language maintenance: The case of the Efik language in South Eastern Nigeria

Abstract

Language maintenance is a common feature amongst minority group and it is a phenomenon which will retard whole language shift for a minority language group. Language maintenance will only be possible if there is a high degree of contacts with a very influential language like English and conscious efforts by the language group itself. This paper examines the maintenance of the Efik language being a minority language in Nigeria, looking at the fact that the language is endangered. It takes into account some of the factors that lead to language endangerment worldwide and how to improve, standardize, revive, modernize its lexicon and ginger the Efik speakers. The Efik community of speakers have become bilingual over the years in the English language and are gradually shifting allegiance to English therefore losing their original heritage. We have used the 'reversing language shift theory' by Fishman (1991) as a framework to propose a checkmate to the extinction and the gradual shift the Efik language is experiencing. This paper highlights some preventive measures for the Efik language to be able to overcome the danger of losing domains in today's flow of globalization. © 2012 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland.