Nigerian English in Germany

Abstract

The study investigates language use and language attitudes among Nigerian immigrants in Germany, thus contributing to the study of World Englishes in mobility and migration. The data comprises ca. five hours of recorded interviews and is analysed both for the linguistic features it displays and the language attitudes expressed by interviewees. In the German environment, Nigerian Standard English has to be adapted to the needs of lingua-franca interaction, which leads to intensive borrowing and other contact influences from German. In its conclusion, the study takes issue with prevailing policies in Germany, which promote rapid acquisition of German and look on lingua-franca English as an obstacle in the way of achieving this goal. It argues that for a transitional period lingua-franca interaction should be seen as taking place within a multilingual repertoire that minimally requires English and German, but – depending on domain and context – may also include further components, such as Nigerian Pidgin.