The Nexus between Good Command of English and Social Respectability in the Nigerian Society

Abstract

Several decades ago, from the pre-colonial to the earliest part of the post-colonial era, individuals were accorded respect on the basis of certain cultural values such as high sense of moral standing, wisdom, custodianship of truth and knowledge of tradition, martial skills for war, holding of titles, and wealth which is largely determined by having large expanse of lands, yam barns, and herds of goats. Contrastively, this is not the case in our contemporary times, with the advent of Western education and the dominance of the white man’s culture and its associated language, the English language. A lot of scholars have extolled the role of English language as a unifying force in Nigeria, but little attention has been directed to the cons and disservices done to our cultural values vis-a-vis social respectability in Nigeria. Apart from the idolization of materialism in the country, a good command of English language is a prime prerequisite for social recognition. The paper therefore seeks to ascertain if this yardstick of good command of English is adequate for measuring individual’s acceptability, and respect in society, especially amongst the elites. The work tries to investigate this using the qualitative research of Sapir-Whorfian theory of language. It was discovered that even though a good command of English can earn an individual respectability in social circles, even on the global scene, it does not guarantee an outstanding personality since there are more enduring traits such as integrity and high moral values, which should mark a celebrated personality.