Multilingual practices in Nigerian army barracks

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyse the multilingual practices in Nigerian army barracks with a view to showing the sociolinguistic profile of the Nigerian army barracks, establishing the patterns of language use of the Nigerian army and demonstrating how they make use of language choice in different domains to express multiple identities. Data were collected from 46 military men comprising soldiers and officers in four army barracks through face-to-face interviews, observation and questionnaire. The study revealed that army barracks are profoundly multilingual settings in which soldiers and officers had at least a minimum of three languages in their repertoire. It was also found out that most of the soldiers and officers are receptive multilinguals as the majority of them can speak English, Nigerian Pidgin English, their own native language but also understand the indigenous languages of other soldiers and officers. Furthermore, it was shown that the army engaged in functional differentiation of the languages in their repertoire as each of the languages they had competence in was being used in a specific domain. Finally, the study showed that our participants expressed their occupational, ethnic and religious identities through language choice.