Oko Okoro

University of Lagos, Nigeria., Department of English, Faculty Member

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Oko Okoro, PhD English (Univ. of Lagos) is a Professor of English at the University of Lagos, Nigeria. His research interest is in Applied Linguistics; English Grammar; and Nigerian English.
Phone: +234 802 304 5444
Address: Department of English, University of Lagos, Nigeria

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Perception of and Attitudes to Emerging Features of Nigerian English: A Sociolinguistic Survey of Students at the University of Lagos

In this paper, we present the result of a survey of the perceptions of, and attitudes to, some ma... more In this paper, we present the result of a survey of the perceptions of, and attitudes to, some marked features of Nigerian English syntax and lexis by a sampled cross-section of students at the University of Lagos, Nigeria. Our Objectives in the survey were first , to test out the students’ ability to recognize the range of variation between features of Nigeria English (NigE) on the one hand and those of native-speaker varieties such as British or American English (BrF/AmE) on the other. Secondly, we explore the attitudes of the respondents to the identified features of NigE and the value judgements that they pass on these features . Also , to facilitate a comparison, the sample of respondents was drawn from students of English (who had supposedly acquired) formal knowledge of the tuition of variation in language through their studies) and others outside the discipline (who apparently lacked such formal knowledge, although presumably they were aware of the existence of Nigerian E...

Codifying Nigerian English: Some Practical Problems and Labelling‖

The Domestication of English in Nigeria: A Festschrift …, 2004

Nigerian English Usage and the Tyranny of Faulty Analogy: A Study of Pronunciation Challenges

In this paper, we define ‘faulty analogy’ as the impulsive thinking by the vast majority of L2 us... more In this paper, we define ‘faulty analogy’ as the impulsive thinking by the vast majority of L2 users of English that if B is similar to A in a certain linguistic respect, then B can be treated exactly like A in that respect on account of this similarity. The data used in the study was collected from a wide range of sources – spoken and written – over a ten-year period from 2005 to 2015. Our theoretical framework derives from the Behaviourist theory of language acquisition through the process of imitation - and a major criticism of this theory. Additional theoretical insights benefitted from scholarly opinions from contact linguistics. The subsequent analysis of the data reveals that faulty analogy accounts for a large proportion of the errors and sub-standard forms typical of Nigerian English usage, and that wrong pronunciation is only one of the numerous categories of faulty analogy errors in Nigerian English. We conclude that awareness of faulty analogy as a linguistic phenomenon ...

Selected Journal Articles on Nigerian English Usage

Journal articles are an indispensable source of information for academic research. But unlike boo... more Journal articles are an indispensable source of information for academic research. But unlike books, which continue to be re-printed to meet demand, each edition of a journal is a one-off publication. This means that once the last copy is sold out, subsequent access to the published articles becomes elusive. Although the Internet now enables easier access to back issues of on-line journals, this has not completely solved the problem, as not all journals are readily available on-line. This publication offers the advantage of bringing together in a single volume a series of articles on Nigerian English by the same author, all previously published in different journals, festschrifts and edited books over a 25-year period. Undoubtedly, such a volume offers instant comprehensive access to all of an individual writer's views on a particular subject matter, revealing any change of perspectives as well. These articles lay no claim to comprehensiveness but have the added usefulness of pr...

Nigerian English Usage and the Tyranny of Faulty Analogy III: Pronunciation

We define 'faulty analogy' as the impulsive thinking by the vast majority of L2 users of English ... more We define 'faulty analogy' as the impulsive thinking by the vast majority of L2 users of English that if B is similar to A in a certain linguistic respect, then B can be treated exactly like A in that respect on account of this similarity. The data used in the study was collected from a wide range of sourcesspoken and writtenover a ten-year period from 2005 to 2015. Our theoretical framework derives from the Behaviourist theory of language acquisition through the process of imitation -and a major criticism of this theory. Additional theoretical insights benefitted from scholarly opinions from contact linguistics. The subsequent analysis of the data reveals that faulty analogy accounts for a large proportion of the errors and sub-standard forms typical of Nigerian English usage, and that wrong pronunciation is only one of the numerous categories of faulty analogy errors in Nigerian English.

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