Attitudes of Nigerians Towards BBC Pidgin: A Preliminary Study

Abstract

Despite their increased functional load and widespread usage, no West African Pidgin English (WAPE) variety enjoys official recognition. In 2017, the BBC launched a Pidgin news service targeting the West African audience through its World Service branch in Nigeria. Now that WAPE is being promoted by the BBC, it remains to be known what attitudes speakers of WAPE varieties hold towards Pidgin in general and BBC Pidgin in particular. This study investigates the attitudes of Nigerian respondents towards the emergence of BBC Pidgin and their perception of Nigerian Pidgin, using the interview-questionnaire approach. The findings show that, generally, respondents have positive attitudes towards Nigerian Pidgin and BBC Pidgin. However, their attitudes towards considering using either of the two varieties for official purposes in Nigeria were generally negative, claiming that BBC Pidgin differs from the pidgin variety they use, especially with regard to its orthography and vocabulary.