Research Article
Code-Switching and Language Interference in Yoruba Child Acquisition of English
Oluwafemi Emmanuel Bamigbade*
Issue:
Volume 11, Issue 4, December 2026
Pages:
78-83
Received:
11 June 2026
Accepted:
29 June 2026
Published:
11 November 2026
Abstract: Second language acquisition and second language learning are two linguistic phenomena studied within the ambience of applied linguistics that are interwoven. One of the most widely hypotheses used to describe language acquisition is the innateness theory amongst others. It is in the light of the innateness hypothesis that this paper intends to investigate the pattern of code-switching and level of interference and transfer of linguistic features in the language developmental stages of Yoruba child, while learning to use English language especially in an informal setting. This is significant because an average Yoruba child is exposed to using English language at a very early stage at home and in the neighbourhood thus making the child an early coordinate bilingual. The data for this work include recorded conversation of ten randomly selected Yoruba children of ages four to eight. To collect the data the researcher engaged in participant observation with the children in their school during break period and also collected some other data by interacting with a few of the children in their homes. The data were subjected to descriptive analysis. The findings reveal that an average Yoruba child either employs code-switching, code-mixing, lexical coinage or accommodates language interference and/or language transfer while attempting to use English language during his/her early exposure to the language.
Abstract: Second language acquisition and second language learning are two linguistic phenomena studied within the ambience of applied linguistics that are interwoven. One of the most widely hypotheses used to describe language acquisition is the innateness theory amongst others. It is in the light of the innateness hypothesis that this paper intends to inve...
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Research Article
Library Use and Self-Reported Intercultural Communicative Competence Among Nigerian English Undergraduates: Instrument and Analytical Framework
Basilia Igbokwe,
Nkechi Priscilla Nwanekezie*
Issue:
Volume 11, Issue 4, December 2026
Pages:
84-99
Received:
21 October 2026
Accepted:
31 October 2026
Published:
13 November 2026
DOI:
10.11648/j.ellc.20261104.12
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Abstract: Universities are increasingly expected to produce graduates with the ability to communicate across cultural boundaries, and in a multilingual country such as Nigeria this matters for domestic as well as international interaction. Academic libraries hold multicultural collections, offer access to digital resources and teach students to evaluate information, but the relationship between students’ use of these services and their intercultural communicative competence has rarely been examined, partly because suitable instruments and analytical procedures are lacking. This paper develops a proposed measurement instrument and an analytical framework for examining this relationship among undergraduate students of English and linguistics in Nigerian universities. Drawing on Byram’s model, intergroup contact theory and information literacy theory, it links four forms of library use, namely the frequency of library visits, multicultural collection use, access to digital resources and information literacy instruction, to the five dimensions of intercultural communicative competence, and proposes four testable hypotheses. The proposed instrument measures library utilisation with 20 items that distinguish services that are not offered, unknown or inaccessible from services that are simply unused, and self-reported competence with 35 items, five of them reverse-keyed, none of which refers to finding information or to the library. It is supported by a measure of scenario-based intercultural judgement, a social desirability scale, a marker variable and a library service checklist. The analytical framework specifies a class-based multisite design, sample size requirements determined through power analysis and Monte Carlo simulation, a content validation and piloting procedure, ethical safeguards, and a decision rule for each hypothesis, including model comparison for the library utilisation construct, estimation that allows for clustering in classes, correction for multiple testing and checks for common method variance. In an idealised simulation with independent, normally distributed data, about 480 students gave power of.93 to detect a latent association of.20; approximating class clustering through the effective sample size, rather than simulating it, reduced this to between.59 and.79, and power for the full clustered, covariate-adjusted model has not been established. The proposed instrument is an initial item pool for subsequent validation: expert review, piloting and psychometric testing have not yet been carried out, and no reliability or validity is claimed for it.
Abstract: Universities are increasingly expected to produce graduates with the ability to communicate across cultural boundaries, and in a multilingual country such as Nigeria this matters for domestic as well as international interaction. Academic libraries hold multicultural collections, offer access to digital resources and teach students to evaluate info...
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