The Place of the English Language in the Language Ecology of Ngamo: Implications for Applied Linguistics

Abstract

This study was conceived with establishing the consequences of the interaction between English (a Germanic language) and Ngamo (a Chadic language) in Ngamo language environments. In order to achieve the primary objective of this study, survey was adopted as research design. Five Ngamo communities in Yobe State were visited by the researchers where participatory observation was conducted. In addition, one hundred Ngamo speakers of English as a second language in the state were interviewed. Similarly, two hundred Ngamo speakers of English as a second language in the state responded to a researcher-made questionnaire. It was found that even though Ngamo is actually endangered, English language has no significant role in its endangerment. In consequence, it was recommended that conscious language revitalization processes – corpus planning, language education, etc. should be intensified to save Ngamo from extinction.