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Language Endangerment: The Echie Experience 

Bridget P. Nwaduwa1, Evelyn S. Badom2  

Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic, Port Harcourt 

princewillbridget35@gmail.com 

 

Abstract  

This paper examined language endangerment focusing on the Echie 

experience. It adopted the descriptive survey research procedure. 

The researchers employed the purposive sampling procedure, and 

the data were presented in simple frequency tables and the analysis 

done in simple percentages. The study found out that the languages 

in contact in Echie speech communities are Nigerian Pidgin, 

English, Igbo, Ikwere, Yoruba, Hausa and French. This paper 

observed that Echie is seriously losing speakers to Nigerian Pidgin 

and English language. It also revealed that Nigerian Pidgin, Echie 

and English are in serious competition in Echie speech 

communities. The study further noticed that Echie can be classified 

as an endangered language because the majority of parents in Echie 

speech communities, especially those who reside in urban cities 

such as Port Harcourt are not encouraging their children to acquire 

the language. This may be as a result of the feeling that Echie is an 

inferior language since it is not used in the domain of education, 

administration, and politics among others. Therefore, this work 

recommended that a deliberate policy should be made to encourage 

the use of Echie at home by children and linguists of Etche origin 

should as a matter of urgency document the language for the 

possible implementation of its use as language of instruction in the 

first three years of primary schools in Echie speech communities.   

Keywords: language, language endangerment, language contact, 

language shift, language    death 

mailto:princewillbridget35@gmail.com


Language Endangerment – Nwaduwa & Badom 

 

236 

 

 

1. Introduction 

The importance of natural languages in the survival of human race 

cannot be overemphasized. Without language, it is practically 

impossible for humans to express themselves, interact with one 

another, educate the people, exchange ideas, innovation or interact 

with fellow humans and carry out social and business transactions. 

This implies that language is extremely relevant in all aspects of 

human lives. Therefore, the loss of one’s language is the loss of 

one’s birthright and identity. It is difficult to imagine how one will 

feel if he notices that his language is endangered. That is, the 

language is gradually dying out. The young generation does not use 

the language but a foreign one. If he wants to interact with the 

younger generation, he must use a foreign language. This may make 

him to forget the pieces of his native language. It is also likely that 

he alone remembers the culture of his people, how they used to live; 

everyone else has moved on to live more modern lives. This may 

result in the feeling of solitude even when surrounded by people. 

This is a very devastating experience not only for those who speak 

the endangered language, but also to language scholars (linguists). 

This is because the lost of a language implies the lost of linguistic 

data and the shrinking of the scope of our ability to learn about our 

world. Endangered languages can be a great source of information, 

if only one can reach them before the death of last speakers or user. 

It is against this background that this paper seeks to investigate 

whether Echie can suitably be a classified as an endangered 

language or not. 

1.1 The language and the Speakers 
In this paper, we shall refer to the people as Etche and their language 

as Echie. Echie is an Igboid language spoken in Etche and Omuma 



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237 

 

Local Government Areas, Rivers State of Nigeria. The language is 

also spoken in Umuru and Omunbha of Abia State.  According to 

Ndimele (2003) Umuru and Omumbha were part of the Etche ethnic 

nationality before state creation and boundary adjustment placed 

them in the present Abia State. Ndimele further, said that “Echie is 

mutually intelligible with some contiguous Igbo varieties, such as 

Òwèrè, Ngwhà and Ndòkì.” The language is treated as a distinct 

language because it falls within the multilingual Rivers State. Echie 

has eleven major dialectics: Central Echie, Òzùzù/Ìsu, Ihuìè, Òwu, 

Egbu/Ògidhà, Obitè/Ìgbodhò, Ndashì, Mba, Umuoye, Àkpokù and 

Òmuma.  The degrees of relatedness of these varieties/dialects have 

not been adequately established.  Thus, the classification for now is 

said to be merely impressionistic. However, it is observed that 

Central Echie seems to be the most favoured in the few written 

literature and, also the one commonly used in pan-Etche gathering.  

 

1.2 Statement of the Problem 

Echie native speakers have been in contact with people of other 

linguistic background for many years. This is mostly due to their 

geographical location which has given rise to economic particularly 

oil exploration, religious, educational and social contact. This surely 

has sociolinguistic implications on the Echie. Also, Echie speakers 

enter into marital relationship with people of various linguistic 

groups. Previously, when a couple spoke different languages, the 

wife used to learn her husband’s indigenous language along with the 

children. Disappointingly, it is observed that most parents from 

Echie speech communities who are of diverse linguistic background 

especially those living in an urban multilingual environment such as 

Port Harcourt prefer to bring up their children as monolingual 

speakers of English. One of the main reasons for this preference may 

be because they (parents) feel that their children need English 



Language Endangerment – Nwaduwa & Badom 

 

238 

 

language to effectively integrate into the wider society. Also, the 

increasing number of influx into Etche by people of varous linguistic 

background due to oil exploration may result in a shift from the use 

of the language to either English or Nigerian Pidgin. Nowadays, 

most children in Echie speech communities grow up not knowing 

their indigenous language. The implication of this is that the 

language may be losing speakers to English and Nigerian Pidgin. In 

some cases the language is been used in lesser domains and by fewer 

people, especially children. Hence, English and Nigerian Pidgin 

seem to be expanding their home while the Echie is being relegated 

to a position of inferiority. Sometime it is regarded as the language 

of the illiterates, poor, socially and economically disadvantaged 

people. More so, it is now fashionable not to be able to speak Echie 

language. If nothing is down to reverse the trend, the language may 

be in danger of extinction or death which is usually one of the major 

consequences of language endangerment. Thus, this paper 

investigates whether Echie can suitably be classified as an 

endangered language or not. The aim of this paper is to find out 

whether Echie can suitably be classified as an endangered language. 

Its objectives are to: 

 

1. Evaluate the languages in contact in Echie speech communities. 

2. Examine the domains where Echie language is commonly used. 

3. Ascertain the attitude of Echie native speakers toward their 

language. 

4. Identify the factors responsible for the attitude toward Echie 

language. 

2. Reviewed of Related Literature 

Trudgill (1992), Mathews (1997), Salzmann (2007), McGregor 

(2009), Agbegha (2010), Udu & Swande (2015) and Yibo (2018) 



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239 

 

unanimously agree that the terms “language endangerment” is 

closely related with the terms “language shift” and “language 

death.” In their opinion, one cannot meaningfully discuss any of 

them without making reference to the others. According to Trudgill 

(1992, p. 45), “if the entire community shifts totally to a new 

language, the original language will eventually have no speakers left 

in the community in question, and the end point of the language shift 

will be language death.” Similarly, Mathews (1997) an endangered 

language is any language that shows evidence that it will or might 

cease to be spoken, soon or in the foreseeable future.  

More so, Salzmann (2007), Harrison (2007) and Hoffmann 

(2009) assert that some of the primary causes of language 

endangerment can be classified into external and internal factors or 

forces. The external forces include military, economic, religious, 

cultural, or educational subjugation. On the other hand, the internal 

forces consist of a community’s negative attitude towards its own 

language or by a general decline of group identity. Once more, 

Salzmann (2007), Harrison (2007) and Hoffmann (2009) note that 

internal pressures are usually the product of the external factors. 

Both break the intergenerational transmission of linguistic and 

cultural traditions. Many minority communities associate their 

underprivileged social and economic situation with their inherited 

culture and language. This is because they assume that their 

languages are of no use any longer and not worth retaining. Thus, 

the speakers of minority languages abandon their languages and 

cultures in the hope of overcoming discrimination, to secure a 

livelihood and enhance social mobility for themselves and their 

children. The feasibility of a language is determined first and 

foremost by the general attitude of its speakers towards their 

heritage culture, of which their language may be considered the most 

essential component. 



Language Endangerment – Nwaduwa & Badom 

 

240 

 

Additionally, McGregor (2009, p. 342) says that “language 

shift can result in language endangerment and ultimately death.” He 

also notes that language endangerment is “the process by which the 

community of speakers of a language reduces significantly, and 

fewer children acquire it.” Furthermore, Emenanjo (2010) accepts 

that language endangerment is a prevailing sociolinguistic 

phenomenon. According to Emenanjo (2010, p. 6), “language 

endangerment is no longer news in sociolinguistic discourse.” This 

is because linguists usually agree that over half of the world’s 

languages are moribund. This indicates that a greater majority of the 

languages in the world are not effectively being transmitted to the 

next generation. He also notes that like other living organisms 

(human beings, groups, plants and animals), languages: 

…become endangered when 

their original, natural, indigenous 

or auchthtonous habitats, 

ecologies or environments 

become hostile, unfriendly, 

uncomfortable, inconducive or 

spent. Phenomena react to their 

environments according to their 

species. But in the fullness of 

time when the unfriendly 

environments persist, the species 

die out completely (p. 6).  

Following Emenanjo (2010), this paper posits that languages can 

react according to their environment. For that reason, an unfriend 

or a hostile environment poses a serious danger to the existence of 

a language. It is also construed from the statement of Emenanjo 



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241 

 

(2010) that language endangerment can result to the death of a 

language. In the same vein, Alamu & Ugwuoke (2010, p. 56) 

lament that: 

…some Nigerian languages are 

being endangered; the rich 

cultural heritage is being 

gradually eroded. The surest way 

through which people can retain 

and safeguard knowledge, 

wisdom and the authentic 

cultures inherited from their 

ancestors and hand them on to 

generations yet unborn is through 

language. 

The assertion of Alamu & Ugwuoke (2010) clearly proves that 

language endangerment results in the loss of cultural identity. It is a 

common belief that a group that loses her language to another 

reduces herself to the position of a slave. In addition, Alamu & 

Ugwuoke (2010, p. 57) note that “the most important remedy to 

language endangerment is language loyalty.” This indicates that the 

speakers of an endangered language can revive the language through 

consistent use of the language in different contexts. In other words, 

an endangered language is a language that is used in fewer domains 

by its speakers. This is in line with the statement of Agbegha (2010, 

p. 280) that “an initial criterion for language endangerment is the 

number of speakers.” He says that the issue of language 

endangerment is more real than the numerical factor can reveal. This 

means that the initial criterion is obsolete. From the discussion so 

far, this paper notes that an endangered language is a language with 



Language Endangerment – Nwaduwa & Badom 

 

242 

 

a weak political status, only a few speakers and limited to certain 

functions. 

 

2.1 Theoretical Framework 

This paper employs the sociolinguistic approach. Linguists such as 

Trudgill (1992), Mathews (1997), Finch (2000), Adesanya (2002) 

and Ayuwo (2013) express different opinions about the 

sociolinguistic approach to the study of human languages. They 

unanimously assert that it (the sociolinguistic approach) involves the 

study of all aspects of the relationship between language and 

society. Mathews (1997) and Finch (2000) claim that the 

sociolinguistic framework was first advocated by William Labov 

(an America linguist), and Peter Trudgill (a British linguist) and 

their followers in the late 1960s. Mathews (1997) acknowledges that 

the approach was mostly applied or widely known in the late 1970s. 

Following the statement of Mathews (1997), it is construed that 

sociolinguistics includes the examination of the correlations 

between linguistic variables and non-linguistic variables such as the 

social class of speakers, their age, sex, multilingual or bilingual 

phenomena, endangerment among others. Likewise, Adesanya 

(2002) restates that sociolinguistic approach looks at the social 

significance of language as it relates to humans in their interpersonal 

and intercrops interactions. This denotes that sociolinguistic 

approach focuses on the way in which the structure of language 

changes in relation to its social function in different social context. 

Once more, the claim of Ayuwo (2013) shows that the 

sociolinguistic approach or framework is very pertinent to this paper 

since it involves an examination of the social phenomena commonly 

referred to as language endangerment.  

 



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243 

 

3. Methodology 

This paper employs the descriptive survey research procedure which 

comprises the study of a sample drawn from a given population in 

order to identify their basic characteristics that can be generalized to 

the entire population. It adopts purposive sampling procedure which 

is a non-probability sample; therefore, each member of the 

population has a chance of being chosen. The data for this paper was 

collected through the use of questionnaire which the researchers 

administered to a total of one hundred and eighty (180) respondents 

within eighteen communities in Echie speech communities, Etche 

and Omuma Local Government Areas, Rivers State of Nigeria. This 

implies that the researchers sampled ten (10) questionnaires in each 

of the selected community. The data obtained for this study were 

presented in simple frequency distribution tables and the analysis 

done in simple percentages in total response by one hundred (100) 

percent. This suggests that the data were arranged and recorded 

according to the responses received. The method for the calculation 

of the percentage is as follows: 

 

% = Number of responses      ×    100 

    Total number of items               1 

 

4. Data Analysis/Discussion 

In this section, the researchers present the data obtained through the 

use of questionnaire, data analysis and discussion of the data. The 

first part comprises the demographic information of the respondents. 

The data are presented in simple percentage tables. Out of the total 

number of one hundred and eighty (180) questionnaires given to 

respondents, one hundred and seventy four (174) which represents 

97% were accurately filled and returned. Thus, the analysis is based 

on the 97%. 



Language Endangerment – Nwaduwa & Badom 

 

244 

 

 

Table 1: Gender, Age, Material status, the Number of children 

and Highest Educational Qualification obtained of Respondents 

 

Demographic Data  Responses  Frequency

 Percentage  

Gender    Male   78 

 44.8%   

    Female   96 

 55.2% 

    Total   174 

 100% 

Age    18 – 25  29 

 16.7% 

    26 – 33  64 

 36.8% 

    34 – 40  32 

 18.4% 

    41+   49 

 28.1%  

    Total   174 

 100% 

 Material status   Single   55 

 31.6% 

    Married  68 

 39.1% 

    Divorced  14 

 8% 

    Widow/widower 37 

 21.3% 



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245 

 

    Total   174 

 100% 

Number of children  1 – 2   39 

 22.4% 

    3 – 5   61 

 35.1% 

    6+   17 

 9.8% 

    Nil   57 

 32.7%  

    Total   174 

 100% 

Highest Educational  FSLC   11 

 6.3% 

Qualification obtained  SSCE   37 

 21.3% 

    Grade 11/NCE/OND 46 

 26.4% 

    First degree  59 

 33.9% 

    Post graduate  21 

 12.1% 

    Nil   0  

 -  

    Total   174 

 100%  

 

The data in table 1 shows that a majority of the respondents, that is, 

96 which represents 55.2% are female while 78 which represent 

44.8% are male. The table also demonstrates that 64 (36.8%), 49 

(28.1%), 32 (18.4%) and 29 (16.7%) are within the age ranges of 26 



Language Endangerment – Nwaduwa & Badom 

 

246 

 

– 33, 41+, 34 – 40 and 18-25 respectively. It further reveals that a 

majority of the respondents, that is, sixty eight (68) which represent 

39.1% are married, 55 (31.6%) are single, 37 (21.3%) are either 

widows or widowers while 14 (8%) are divorced. More so, a greater 

number of the respondents that is, one hundred and seventeen (117) 

which represent 67.3% out of the total respondents of one hundred 

and seventy four (174) respondents claim to have 3 – 5 (61, that is, 

35.1%), 1 – 2 (39, that is, 22.4%) and 6+ (17, that is, 9.8%) children 

respectively and 57 which represents 32.7 do not have children. 

Once more, the table attests that 59 (33.9%), 46 (26.4%), 37 

(21.3%), 21 (12.1%) and 11 (6.3%) have First degree, 

Grade11/NCE/OND, SSCE, Post graduate degree and FSLC 

respectively.  

 

Table 2: The Language(s) Use in Echie Speech Community  

Items      Responses    

Frequency Percentage (%) 

1. Which of these languages do you speak Echie     143 

  82.2%   

as mother tongue?    Nigerian Pidgin  - 

 - 

      English    - 

 - 

      Others     31 

 17.8% 

Total Respondents         174 

 100%  

2. What other language(s) do you use/speak English    174 

 100%  

in addition to your mother tongue?  French     6 

 3.5% 



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247 

 

Hausa     2 

 1.2% 

Igbo     123 

 70.7% 

      Ikwere     49 

 28.2%   

      Nigerian Pidgin  174 

 100% 

      O̩gba     1 

 0.6% 

      Yoruba    7 

 4% 

 

3. What language(s) are you capable of Echie     81 

 46.6%  

reading?     English    174 

 100% 

      French     6 

 3.5%  

      Igbo     102 

 58.6% 

      Nigerian Pidgin  93 

 53.5% 

 

4. What language (s) are you capable of Echie     54 

 31%  

writing?     English    174 

 100% 

French     6 

 100%  



Language Endangerment – Nwaduwa & Badom 

 

248 

 

      Igbo     97 

 55.8% 

      Nigerian Pidgin  88 

 50.6%    

The response to item 1 in table 2 indicates that 143 (82.2%) and 31 

(17.8%) of the respondents respectively speak Echie and other 

languages such as Igbo, Ikwere, Hausa and Yoruba as mother 

tongue. Also, item 2 in the table reveal that all the respondents speak 

English and Nigerian Pidgin in addition to their mother tongues. 

One hundred and twenty three (123) which represent 70.7% of the 

respondents claim that speak Igbo. Forty nine (49), that is, 28.2%, 

7(4%), 6(3.5%), 2(1.2%) and 1(0.6%) of the respondents claim that 

they speak Ikwere, Yoruba, French, Hausa and O̩gba respectively 

in addition to their indigenous or native languages. Again, items 3 

and 4 in the table illustrate that all the respondents can read and write 

in English. In other words, all the respondents are literate users of 

English language. Item 3 in the table demonstrates that 102 (58.6%), 

93 (53.5%), 81 (46.6%) and 6 (3.5%) claim that they read Igbo, 

Nigerian Pidgin, Echie and French languages respectively. 

Additionally, item 4 in table 2 indicates 97(55.8%), 88 (50.6%), 54 

(31%) and 6 (100%) have the ability to write in Igbo, Nigerian 

Pidgin, Echie and French respectively.     

 

Table 3: The languages used in different domains in Echie 

speech communities 

Items        Responses     

Frequency Percentage (%) 

5. Which language(s) do you use when   Echie      139 

 79.9%  



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249 

 

communicating with children, parents,   English     114 

 65.5%  

siblings, and others?          Hausa     2 

 1.2% 

  Igbo      78 

 44.8% 

        Ikwere     32 

 18.4%   

        Nigerian Pidgin 166 

 95.4% 

        Yoruba     3 

 1.7% 

 

6. Which language(s) do you speak in office   Echie      29 

 16.7%   

with colleagues, boss, visitors and others   English     101 

 58% 

within Echie speech communities?    Nigerian Pidgin 44 

 25.3% 

        Total      174 

 100%  

 

Item 5 in table 3 demonstrates that most homes in Echie speech 

communities are linguistically complex. 95.4% (166) of the 

respondents claim that they use Nigerian Pidgin when 

communicating with their children, parents, siblings and others in 

Etche. Also,79.9% (139) and 65.5% (114) say that they use Echie 

and English respectively when communicating with their children, 

parents, siblings and others in Etche. The data further show that 

44.8% (78), 18.4% (32), 1.7% (3) and 1.2% (2) claim that they use 

Igbo, Ikwere, Yoruba and Hausa when communicating with their 



Language Endangerment – Nwaduwa & Badom 

 

250 

 

children, parents, siblings and others in Etche. Similarly, item 6 in 

the same table prove that 101 which represents 58%, 44 which 

represents 25.3% and 29 which represents 16.7% respectively use 

Nigerian Pidgin, English and Echie in offices within Echie speech 

communities.  

 

Table 4: Attitudes of Echie Speakers toward their Language 

Items  Responses  Frequ

ency  

Percen

tage  

7. Which language would 

you prefer your children 

to speak fluently? 

 

  

Echie  61 35% 

English  77 44.3% 

Nigerian Pidgin 34 19.5% 

Neutral  2 1.2% 

 Total  174 100% 

8. What are your reason(s) 

for your response in 7 

above? 

It is a national, 

official 

language and 

language of 

education. 

77 44.3% 

It is my mother 

tongue 

61 35% 

Other  13 7.5% 

Neutral 23 13.2% 

Total  174 100% 

9. In the office, how do 

you feel when someone 

speaks Echie? 

Positive  62 35.6% 

Negative  73 42% 

Neutral  39 22.4% 



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251 

 

 Total  174 100% 

10. In a formal native 

ceremony, which 

language do you prefer 

either as an MC or 

audience? 

Echie  62 35.6% 

English 68 39.1% 

Nigerian Pidgin 36 20.7% 

Igbo  3 1.7% 

Neutral   5 2.9% 

 Total  174 100% 

11. How do you feel 

about the view that Echie 

language is dying out? 

Positive  26 15% 

Negative  58 33.3% 

Neutral  90 51.7% 

Total  174 100% 

 

Item 7 in table 4 demonstrates that 77 (44.3%), 61 (35%) and 34 

(19.5%) indicate that they will prefer their children to speak English, 

Echie and Nigerian Pidgin fluently respectively. 2(1.2%) are neutral 

which implies that they are not interested in the language their 

children speak fluently. More so, item 8 in the table attests that the 

reasons for language preference in Echie speech communities are 

national, official language and language of education. 61 (35%) 

prefer their mother tongue 23 (13.2%) do not have any reason for 

their language preference. The data further reveal that there are other 

reasons for language preference which include intermarriage and 

trade. Furthermore, item 9 in the table illustrates that 73 (42%) 

express negative attitude when someone speak Echie language in 

their offices. Also, 62 (35.6%) express positive attitude when Echie 

is spoken in their office while 39 (22.4%) are neutral when Echie is 

spoken in their office. Item 10 indicates that 39.1% that is, 68 



Language Endangerment – Nwaduwa & Badom 

 

252 

 

respondents prefer English language in formal ceremony while 62 

which represent 35.6% and 36 which is 20.7% and 3 (1.7%) 

respectively prefer Echie, Nigerian Pidgin and Igbo in formal 

ceremony. While 5 (2.9%) are indifferent about the language use in 

formal ceremony. Once more, item 11 in the table demonstrates that 

90 (51.7%) are not bothered whether Echie language dies or not. In 

contrast, 58 (33.3%) do not want the language to die while 15% 

which is 26 respondents firmly insist that the Echie language can 

die.  

 

4.1 Discussion  

The data presented and analyzed in this paper reveal that Etche is 

one of the linguistically complex societies in Nigeria.  There is a 

high level of language contact in Echie speech communities. This 

paper found out that the languages in contact in Echie speech 

communities are Nigerian Pidgin, English, Igbo, Ikwere, Yoruba, 

Hausa and French. One of the sociolinguistic implications of 

language contacts is that the language struggle for recognition. This 

paper observes that Echie is serious losing speakers to Nigerian 

Pidgin and English language. The data collected for this research 

show that Nigerian Pidgin, Echie and English are in serious 

competition in Echie speech communities. For instance, item 5 in 

table 3 clearly shows that Nigerian Pidgin is the dominant language 

in the domain of home. This support the earlier assertions of 

Williamson (2010, p. 3) that “far from English reducing its hold over 

communication in formal contexts, it seems to be extending it. 

English or its humble cousin Pidgin seems to be steadily growing at 

the expense of Nigerian languages.” The results of this are 

bilingualism or multilingualism code-switching, code-mixing, 

borrowing, and language shift.  



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253 

 

Following Alamu & Ugwuoke’s (2010, p. 51) description of 

an endangered language as a language “whose speakers have lost or 

are losing confidence in… and thus consider it inferior or incapable 

of all the potentials believed to exist in other languages.” This paper 

insists that Echie can be classified as an endangered language. The 

data in table 4 also reveal that most parents in Echie speech 

communities prefer their children to use English language fluently 

than Echie. This is another indication that Echie may be heading to 

death if nothing is done to avert the trend. The reason for the 

negative attitude toward Echie is the role assign to English as 

language of education, judiciary, administration, etc. The findings 

of this paper prove that fewer children are acquiring Echie language. 

This is because of the negative attitude of most parents in Echie 

speech communities toward the language.  

5. Conclusion 

This paper has been able to study language endangerment focusing 

on the Echie experience. It adopts the descriptive survey research 

procedure. It employs purposive sampling procedure. The data 

obtained for this study were presented in simple frequency tables 

and the analysis done in simple percentages. It was noticed that 

Echie is serious with Nigerian Pidgin, English, Igbo, Ikwere, 

Yoruba, Hausa and French. It was also found out that Echie is 

seriously losing speakers to Nigerian Pidgin and English language. 

The study demonstrated that Nigerian Pidgin, Echie and English are 

in stern struggle in Echie speech communities. Therefore, it 

affirmed that Echie can be classified as an endangered language 

because the majority of parents in Echie speech communities, 

especially those who reside in urban cities such as Port Harcourt are 

not encouraging their children to acquire the language. This is 

because they feel that Echie is an inferior language since it is not 



Language Endangerment – Nwaduwa & Badom 

 

254 

 

used in the domain of education, administration, and politics among 

others.  

 

 

5.1 Recommendation 

This paper recommends that deliberate policy should be made to 

encourage the use of Echie at home by children. Echie linguists 

should as a matter of urgency document the language for the 

possible implementation of its use as language of instruction in the 

first three years of primary schools in Echie speech communities. 

This is in line with the language policy of the National Police on 

Education in Nigeria.   

 

 

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Emenanjo, E. N. (2010). How many Nigerian languages are safe? In 

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Finch, G. (2000). Linguistics terms and concepts. New York: 

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Appendices 

Section A 

Demographic Information of Respondents 

Gender: male [  ] female [   ] 

Age: 18 – 25 [   ]   26 – 33 [   ] 34 – 40 [  ] 41 and above [  ] 



Language Endangerment – Nwaduwa & Badom 

 

256 

 

Material status:  single [   ] married [   ] divorced [   ] 

widow/widower [  ] 

Number of children: 1 – 2 [   ] 3 – 5 [  ] 6 and above [   ] 

Highest Educational Qualification obtained: None [  ] First 

School Leaving Certificate [  ] SSCE [  ] Grade 11/NCE/OND [  ] 

First degree [  ] Post graduate [  ] 

Section A 

Endangerment of the Indigenous Languages in Rivers State 

16. Which language would you prefer your children to speak first? 

(a) English [  ], (b) mother-tongue [   ], (c) Nigerian pidgin [   ] (d) 

others …………………………… 

17. What is/are your reason(s) for your responds in 16 

above………………………………. 

…………………………………………………................................

............................................................................................................

................................................................................ 

18. Which language do you speak to your children at home? (a) 

English [  ], (b) mother-tongue [   ], (c) Nigerian pidgin [   ] (d) 

others …………………………… 

19. In a formal native ceremony, which language do you prefer 

either as an MC or audience? (a) English [  ], (b) mother-tongue [   

], (c) Nigerian pidgin [   ] (d) others …………………………… 

20. What is/are your reason(s) for your responds in 19 

above………………………………. 

…………………………………………………................................

............................................................................................................

................................................................................ 

21. In the office, how do you feel when someone speaks your 

native language (mother-tongue?)  

(a) Positive [  ], (b) Negative [   ], (c) Neutral 



          Awka Journal of Linguistics and Languages, Special Edition 1,  2022 

 

257 

 

22. What is/are your reason(s) for your responds in 21 

above………………………………. 

…………………………………………………................................

............................................................................................................

................................................................................ 

23. How do you feel about the view that our native languages or 

mother-tongues are dying out? (a) Positive [  ], (b) Negative [   ], 

(c) Neutral  

 

  

 

 

 

 

  

 

 


