Article Citation: Ishola Rafi'u & Muhammad Ibrahim Ndagi (2018). French Language in Nigeria: An Assessment and Way Forward. DEGEL: The Journal of the Faculty of Arts and Islamic Studies, Vol. 16. ISSN 0794-9316
FRENCH LANGUAGE IN NIGERIA: AN ASSESSMENT AND WAY
FORWARD
By
Ishola Rafi’u
Department
of French
Federal
University, Lafia
&
Muhammad
Ibrahim Ndagi
Department
of Mass Communication
Federal
Polytechnic, Nasarawa
Abstract
In 1996, French was declared second
official language in Nigeria by the then Nigerian Head of State, Gen. Sani
Abacha. However, today, about 20 years after this declaration, the teaching and
learning of French language in Nigeria has not quite improved despite the fact
that the country could derive a lot of benefit from its adoption of French as
the second official language. This
paper is an attempt to re-sensitize Nigerians on the importance of French
language and particularly the role it can play in the development of Nigeria’s
economy as well as the search of a lasting solution to Nigeria’s security
challenges. Using the Language Planning Theory, this paper seeks to address some
obstacles and challenges facing the teaching and learning of French in Nigeria
and makes recommendations for a brighter future as regards French in Nigeria.
Introduction
French is a romance language derived
from popular Latin language. French language progressively got refined to
become this international language widely used among learned people in Europe
in the eighteenth century, and in the world at large, with the success of
colonialism. It is worthy of mentioning that the propagation of French language
took another dimension with the establishment in 1883 of the Alliance Française across the world. In 1960,
with the establishment of CREDIF (Centre de Recherches et Etudes pour la
Diffusion du Français) and BELC (Bureau d’Etudes pour la Langue et la
Civilisation Françaises) French language continued to spread. These
agencies put in place innovative teaching aids and revolutionary methods of
teaching.
Despite
such a commitment on the part of the French government, French language finds
it difficult to be accepted in Anglophone areas
of West Africa, particularly in Nigeria. Let us take a look back at the several
years of French language presence in Nigeria, the most populous black nation,
with the aim to assess the level of learning and its impact on the society. Afterwards
we will make the necessary recommendations for a better teaching and learning
of French language in Nigeria because, as some people say, in this twenty-first
century, not only those who cannot read or write will be considered illiterate
but also those who cannot speak at least two international languages. It is
necessary to first and foremost briefly talk about how important it is for
Nigerians to be able to communicate in French language.
Importance
of the ability to communicate in French language
French is a language of diplomacy
and one of the official languages of communication at international meetings. It
is used by more than 120 million people and is present in all the continents.
In the African continent, in many countries, French, by virtue of certain
colonial constraints, enjoys the privileges of second language and sometimes,
those of an official language. For example, out of the fifteen countries found
in the West African sub-region, eight are francophone countries. The fact that
almost all West African Anglophone countries are surrounded mostly by
francophone nations is an indication of a high presence of these francophone
nations in West Africa. Nigeria is also surrounded by francophone countries.
The use of French language as a means of communication by West African
Anglophone nations therefore has unimaginable advantages capable of fostering
commercial relationship and strengthening the ties of solidarity within the
francophone geographical belt in which many West African Anglophone nations
like Ghana and Nigeria find themselves.
Having
realized that not being part of the francophone zone is a great handicap to
her, Nigeria, the giant of West Africa, decided to adopt French as a second
official language after English. The declaration was made by the then Head of
State Gen. Sani Abacha during the 1996 French-African summit in Ouagadougou,
Burkina-Faso. Agreements in the area of linguistic cooperation were therefore
signed between Nigeria, France and the Republic of Benin. Unfortunately, with
the sudden end of the Sani Abacha regime, the set objectives were not achieved
and it is obvious today that the project is far from becoming a reality. This
is so because, according to Adjeran quoted by Owoeye (n.d.), we can observe,
‘‘a timid collaboration of Nigerian authorities with their counterparts in the
sub-region on the issue of the reinforcement of the potentials of their French
language teachers”. Besides, that declaration, in the words of Owoeye, “seems to
have become extinct, just like the person who made it”.
Despite
the fact that the first contact of Nigeria with the French people took place in
the 17th century even before the coming of the British, it should be
noted, according to Okoli, that the teaching of French language in Nigeria is
dated as far back as 1956 (Assobele 32). Today, after more than half a century,
the teaching and learning of French language in Nigeria has not experienced any
drastic improvement despite the fact that the Ministry of Education has
apparently been encouraging its learning. For example, the 3rd
edition of the National Policy on
Education, stipulates that: “For a good relationship with our neighbours,
it is desirable for all Nigerians to speak French language. French language
will therefore be a second official language in Nigeria and it will be made
compulsory in school”. In the Minimum
Standard for languages, reference material for lecturers in Colleges of
Education, the government’s objectives about French language are expressed in
these words: “the main objective of the learning of French language in Nigeria
is to make communication and bilateral understanding easy for our francophone
neighbours”
These
objectives of a more vigorous bilateral cooperation between Nigeria and her
francophone neighbours will be better achieved with the adoption of French as
an official language in Nigeria. For example, in the area of security,
strategizing for the fight against the Boko Haram terrorist group which
sometimes finds refuge in the neighbouring francophone countries will be a lot
easier for the Nigerian Army.
Nigeria
is the first business partner of France in sub-Saharan Africa. The presence of
many French companies in Nigeria testifies to the good state of the
French-Nigerian economic cooperation. This opinion is also shared by the former
French Prime Minister Mr. Francois Fillon who, during an official visit to
Nigeria in 2009, declared: “Nigeria is today the first business partner of
France in sub-Saharan Africa. More than 120 French companies are present here
in Nigeria, in key sectors like infrastructure, electricity, services; and a
good number of those companies are world leaders” (http://www.ambafrance-ng.org).
The bilateral relations between Nigeria
and France have known unprecedented development, relating in particular to the
fight against the Boko Haram terrorist threat. Following the kidnapping of more
than 200 schoolgirls in Chibok in April 2014 by the terrorist group, a Summit
for Security in Nigeria was held on 17th May 2014 in Paris and
brought together the Heads of State of Nigeria, Benin, Cameroon, Niger and
Chad, and representatives of the United States, the United Kingdom and the
European Union. The relationship between Nigeria and France have since
intensified, as demonstrated by the signing of new agreements in areas
including culture, education and security (www.diplomatie.gouv.fr).
Despite these, the weak status of French in Nigeria hinders the prompt
realization of her bilateral potentials and prospects. Some
factors have been militating against the development of French in Nigeria. Let
us take a look at some of the obstacles which slow down the growth of French
language in Nigeria.
Reasons
for a slow growth
If French language is still used by
a very small fraction of the Nigerian population today, it is due to many
factors. Among those factors are, on the one hand, the influence of the family
and teachers on the choice of the students’ course of study and on the other
hand the government policy; a policy which, instead of making the learning of
French language compulsory for students at the secondary school level, rather
gives the students the possibility of choosing if they want to continue the
learning of French or drop it depending on their choice of discipline. The
situation becomes worse as family members and other teachers (other than French
language teachers) constitute another obstacle to the very few students who
dare continue the learning of French. The point is that, many parents
ignorantly believe that only science or technology oriented subjects can fetch
the students well paid jobs while French can only land them in the teaching
profession.
In the
area of French language pedagogy, we can say that the teaching methodologies
used by most French teachers do not encourage the acquisition of communication
skills by students. This brings about the uncomfortable situation of realizing
that students have been trained to accumulate knowledge rather than developing
performance. Therefore the end products are students who have a good
understanding of the grammatical structure, of conjugation of verbs and who,
unfortunately, cannot translate this knowledge into oral and written production
that is into real life communication skills.
Most
often, it is noticed that many teachers do more of interpretation rather than
teaching. Instead of focusing on real life communication situations, such
teachers are contented with making students repeat the translation in French of
expressions to be learnt. It is most likely for instance to hear such learners
say “Bon après midi” (have a nice
day) when they mean to say “Bonjour” or “Bonsoir” (Good morning or Good
evening).
As much
as we admit that the knowledge of basic grammar is vital to the learning of
French we must also admit that this traditional method of teaching French with
focus on the explanation of the grammatical structures, of the conjugation of
verbs, on the study of literature texts, is obviously not the best. This is
because Nigeria, like any other geographical setting, has some peculiarities by
virtue of the spread of her various ethnic groups. It should be understood by a
French teacher that, the Nigerian kid who discovers French in the primary or
secondary school has, in most cases, already been in contact with his mother
tongue and English language. In some cases, in addition to the mother tongue
comes a communal language such as Hausa, Igbo or Yoruba language before English
language. It is within this group of languages that French will try and pave
way for itself. That is the reason why the teaching of French in Nigeria cannot
and should not be the same as what is obtainable in francophone countries where
French is used as a national or an official language. It is therefore necessary
to adopt the methodology of French as a foreign language in Nigerian schools
but to achieve this goal, a rigorous language planning policy relating to
French must first and foremost be put in place by the government. This position
is motivated by Nekvapil’s opinion on language planning: “Classic language
planning is based on the premise that language planning takes place at the
level of the state and the plans come into existence in the interest of the
development of the entire society.
The state (or government) is essentially the only actor determining the goals
to be achieved.
Jernudd
& Gupta go further to explain that language planning is not “an idealistic
and exclusively linguistic activity but Ɗ...ɗ a
political and administrative activity for solving language problems in society.
Ɗit isɗ orderly decision-making about language on a national
level Ɗandɗ is motivated by public effects of some language
problems and by the social context” (www.researchgate.net). It should be noted that the
adoption of a particular language by a country is a well-thought decision which
should align with national vision. Therefore, it should be carefully planned
and backed up with actions and not mere declaration as in the case of the
French language policy in Nigeria. It is on this note that Haugen, quoted by
Nekvapil, defines language planning as: the activity of preparing a normative
orthography, grammar, and a dictionary for the guidance of writers and speakers
in a non-homogeneous speech community. Planning implies an attempt to guide the
development of a language in a direction desired by the planners. It means not
only predicting the future on the basis of available knowledge concerning the
past, but a deliberate effort to influence it.” (Nekvapil, n.d). The
lack of such language planning policy right from inception is the main reason
why the policy of French as a second official language in Nigeria is still a
dream.
This is
in a nutshell the pitiful condition in which French language finds itself in
the Nigerian system of learning. These challenges shouldn’t however dissipate
all hopes for a brighter future as far as the teaching and learning of French
in Nigeria is concerned.
A
glimmer of hope
Nowadays in the teaching of French,
instructional materials, succumbing to this era of technology, are highly
dominated by the presence of audio-visual materials. For example, talking about
the learning and teaching of English language in Nigeria, Orisawayi opines
that: “There is the need for a change or review particularly at the tertiary
levels of our educational system and practice to accommodate the new skills
required for literacy and survival in the 21st century” (Orisawayi,
n.d).
Based
on the targeted group, the teaching of French language varies and is tagged: Français Langue Maternelle (French as mother tongue), Français Langue Nationale (French as national language), Français Langue Seconde (French as a
second language), Français sur Objectif
Spécifique (French for specific purpose), Français Langue Etrangère (French as a foreign language). As far as
Nigeria is concerned, French has the status of a foreign language. Thus, the
methodology of teaching French as a foreign language lays emphasis on
acquisition of communication skills through the “learn by practicing approach”
and also through the use of adequate instructional materials. This same
teaching methodology is used in the Alliances
Françaises and Instituts Français
(French language learning centres) present in Nigeria and worldwide.
The
methodology of French in Nigerian primary and secondary schools does not
encourage the practice of the language by learners. Nevertheless, we must admit
that the Alliances Françaises allow
us to heave a sigh of relief in the sense that
they reinforce the work done by teachers and even lecturers. As proof, many
undergraduates register in Alliances
Françaises during or after their university program to acquire more oral
skills. It is proven that students who attend the Alliances Françaises programs as extra-mural classes are always
more proficient in the use of French than their colleagues who only content
themselves with the Colleges of Education or University lectures.
In this
era of technology advancement, the use of audio-visual materials is an
imperative for the teacher who cares about making learners acquire
communication skills. It is on this note that, talking about innovation as
regards the learning and teaching of a language, Tswanya stresses that: “one of
the important uses of technology is its capacity to create new opportunities
for curriculum and instruction by bringing real world problems into the
classroom for teachers and students to explore and solve” (Tswanya 2006, p.6).
It is exactly those “real world problems” that the adoption of the
communicative approach in the teaching and learning of French as a foreign
language tries to solve by making learners face real life situations such as role play, total
immersion, the use of the social media as well as the internet generally have
contributed to the fast acquisition of French by learners
It is
true that the adoption of French in Nigeria is still faced with a lot of
challenges. However this reality should not make us ignore the effort put in by
French language study centers such as Institut
Français, the various Alliance
Française, and the Nigerian French Language Village Badagry, Lagos. These institutions have shown
commensurable efforts in promoting the status of French in Nigeria thereby
signifying hope for the future.
Recommendations
• The government, through the Ministry of Education,
must ensure that French is taught at all levels of secondary education.
• The choice of subject and course of study should not
discourage students who intend to study French language in the higher
institution. Therefore, government should introduce the francophone system of
flexible credit load for both science and Arts students studying French.
• The various regulatory bodies of our institutions of
higher learning must ensure that French is listed and should be taught as a
General Studies course. By so doing, all students will have the opportunity to
learn French in their various field of study to give them better job
opportunities.
• Secondary schools and institutions of higher
learning should be adequately equipped with instructional materials and
audio-visual materials compatible with the exigencies of this era of technology
advancement.
• The mass media should also participate in making
French a real second language in Nigeria with a daily broadcast for about half
an hour of programs in French on television and radio.
Conclusion
This
paper assesses and reveals the status of French in Nigeria and proffers
solution for a way forward in Nigeria’s linguistic and cultural relationship
with neighboring countries. It also shows how French can contribute immensely
to a better growth of the Nigerian economy through bilateral cooperation with
France and francophone countries. It is a fact that no economy can thrive where
there is no security. That is why this paper also seems to appeal to the
security agencies and the military to bear in mind the fact that French can
play a tremendous role in the mapping out of strategies through which their
task of protecting lives and properties of the citizens can be more effective.
Sadly, most of the issues raised here can’t be solved within the twinkle of an
eye. It is therefore of great importance that Nigeria promotes the teaching of
French at all levels of her educational system through a good language planning
policy and also a review of the curriculum as it relates to French as a
subject.
References
Adjeran, Moufoutaou. « L’enseignement du français
dans un pays anglophone de l’Afrique de l’Ouest : le Nigéria » in Le
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Minimum
Standards for Languages, National
Commission for Colleges of Education Abuja, 2012 edition.
National Curriculum for Junior
Secondary
Schools, French. Abuja: Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council, 2007.
Okoli, Simon. « L’apprentissage et l’enseignement du
français au Nigeria - De la Renaissance à l’Époque Contemporaine », in S.
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– Enhanced Curriculum: Infusing Technology into English as a Second Language
(ESL) Teaching’’. Knowledge Review, 2006. (www.ambafrance-ng.org/france nigeria /spip.php?article1195)
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