LANGUAGE POLICY REFORMATION: ROUTE TO CULTURAL PRESERVATION.

Abstract

Language is the most vital instrument for all ethnic cultural preservation. There will be no ethnic relationship without a well organized indigenous language and there will be no language without culture. This is because culture is the mother to every language. In Nigeria as a case study, there are more than five hundred different ethnic groups with different cultural backgrounds, but the national policy stipulated that only three Nigerian languages; Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba must be taken in West African Examination Council (WAEC) or Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE) endangering other languages and their culture. Just of recent that Efik/Ibibio was added to the School certificate. This paper contends on the threats some cultural groups are encountering in Nigeria due to the said policy and the effects on their cultural and language preservation. Using the ethno linguistics vitality theory as a framework (Gile, Bourhis, and Taylor, 1977) the study necessitates why the policy should embrace other minority languages in Nigeria for proper cultural preservation and sustainability of their languages which is part of human existence. Summary and suggestions were given.