A Learnt Accent as “Received” Model in an English-as-a-Second-Language Context

Abstract

The task of codification and elaboration of the educated varieties of Nigerian English are the ones in current contention among scholars of Nigerian English. Pronunciation issues have however been the bane of Standard English all over the world. While most non-native speakers of English have been able to cross the hurdle of learning the syntax and semantics of Standard English, a recurrent issue in academic discussions has been their inability to approximate the native-like accentual competence. In this paper we have presented submissions of scholars on Nigerian English in comparison with other regional varieties of English belonging to the inner circle. The quality of phonemes in terms of closeness or distance from the prestige, Standard British English, RP has been examined. Considering the close approximation of the phonemic inventory of the Educated Nigerian English model to that of the standard British English, we have found that very few Educated Nigerians use English language effectively. This assessment is made from the perception of how these few Nigerians (i.e. broadcasters) articulate fricatives, affricates, stops or plosives, continuants and central vowels, correctly.   The Nigerian RP spoken by these very few ‘educated’ people should qualify to be referred to as a regional RP.