Syntactic Variation in Nigerian English and Students achievement in english language

Abstract

-This paper examined the issue of syntactic variation in Nigerian English as it relates to students achievement in English language. Syntactic variation stems from the fact that no two languages are the same. The concept of Nigerian English was discussed. It was observed that when English language is not the mother tongue of the speakers who use it for communicative purpose, another variety is bound to emerge. Nigerian English has been described as being strikingly different from the standard British English variety. Characteristics of the Nigerian English were analyzed viz-a-viz the Standard British English. It was observed to be full of errors and variants. Students‟ achievement in English language over the years has been a cause of concern to not only the students‟ but to the generality of Nigerians. One may blame the failure on the interference of the mother tongue on the target language coupled with the insistence that English language exam should be marked based on the standard British English. Based on the above, one of the recommendations is that English language curriculum should be structured to include areas of syntactic variation in Nigerian English vizaviz the standard British English.