Language Policy and Minority Language Education in Nigeria ： Cross River State Educational Experien.docVIP

Language Policy and Minority Language Education in Nigeria ： Cross River State Educational Experien 　　Department of Linguistics and Communication Studies 　　Abia State University, Uturu. Nigeria 　　Abstract 　　The politics of language is a very sensitive issue in Nigeria as language can hardly be detached from the apron strings of the peoples senses of identity and loyalty. This paper examines the concept of language policy and planning in Nigeria and its implication for education in the minority languages, with emphasis on the languages of Cross River State. The study discovers that there is no robust and well-articulated language planning framework in the country but only a language provision of the National Policy on Education (NPE). This reinforces the operation of language in education planning process, which unfortunately does not guarantee or strengthen literacy in the indigenous languages especially the so-called minority languages of Nigeria. The paper goes ahead to recommend the development of a functional and articulate language policy framework which can arrest the imminent crisis of endangerment and extinction of the indigenous languages in Cross River State. 　　INTRODUCTION 　　There is no comprehensive census on Nigerian languages to date but there are varying accounts of the number of languages spoken in Nigeria by linguists and language experts based on approximations and estimations. Grimes ( 1996) puts the figure at 515, Blench and Crozier (1992) agreed on 440, Bendor-Samuel and Standford (1976) enumerated 394 among others. Out of this number, only 36 have approved orthographies while the development of orthographies for another 6 is on-going (based on the figures released by the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC).The implication is that these 36 are the only languages with the prospects of literacy, literature and cultural expression. In spite of this potential, it is discovered that only a handful, possibly. Yoruba, Igb