ANALYSIS OF ORAL COMMUNICATION FIDELITY BY DIGLOSSIA OF NIGERIAN PIDGIN ENGLISH AMONG SOUTH-EAST RESIDENTS OF PORT HARCOURT, NIGERIA

Abstract

he essence of oral communication is for ideas, information and knowledge to be expressed and understood as communicated. This study analyzed the level of comprehension of oral English communication in diglossic relationship among the residents of Rivers South-East District of Port Harcourt in South-South Nigeria. Ferguson’s theory of diglossia and communication theory of symbolic interactionism by George Herbert Mead were used in investigations into oral communication fidelity and feedback in this community. Participant observation was employed as well as survey research method to collect data from 623 purposively sampled respondents. The findings of the study revealed that all the residents used low level diglossia more frequently than high level formal English. The study recommends that Nigerian Pidgin English should be standardized for usage in this region and concludes that Nigerian Pidgin English and high level English should be used diglossically together based on their different contexts.