This report presents a sociolinguistic survey conducted in the Obanliku speech communities of Obanliku LGA, Cross River State, Nigeria. The purpose of the survey was to determine the best possible way by which the Obanliku can gain access to the Scriptures and other kinds of literature in their language. Through participatory methods and group interviews, the researchers collected data concerning reported levels of dialect inter-comprehension, language use in public and private domains, peoples’ attitudes towards the dialects, reported levels of bilingualism in various languages, as well as education and literacy levels. While the elicitation and comparison of wordlists was used in determining extent of shared vocabulary between the dialects, the administration of dialect intelligibility testing provided insights into the level of inherent dialect intelligibility. Our findings show that all Obanliku dialects have very strong vitality and are very much in use. Considering all factors, Bette Scripture would not sufficiently serve the Obanliku. If a language development programme is embarked upon in the Obanliku language, Bisu is the most favoured to be the reference dialect for such a programme.

Publication Status:

Published

Table of Contents:

1. Introduction -- 2. Language Identification -- 2.1. How many varieties are spoken in the Obanliku language area? -- 2.2. How are the Obanliku varieties related to neighbouring languages? -- 2.3. How similar are the varieties of the Obanliku language? -- 3. Social Identity -- 3.1. How many ethnic groups are there? -- 3.2. How do they relate to each other? -- 3.3. What varieties do the Obanliku speak? -- 4. Contact Patterns -- 4.1. What are the church networks like in the area? -- 4.2. What are the government units in the area? -- 4.3. What are the local development associations in the area? -- 4.4. What are the economic/commercial centres in the area? -- 5. Language Vitality -- 5.1. Do the children speak the local language fluently? -- 5.2. In which domain(s) is the local language the primary language? -- 5.3. Which language is dominant in which domains? -- 5.4. What is the peoples’ perception of the vitality of their language? -- 5.5. What are the people’s attitudes towards their own language? -- 5.6. What are their attitudes towards languages of wider communication? -- 6. Language Acceptability -- 6.1. Which varieties are people willing to read/write? -- 6.2. How do the people feel about related languages? -- 7. Intelligibility -- 7.1. Which varieties can people score over 75% (RTT) on? -- 7.2. Is there one variety all groups score over 75% on? -- 7.3. What do the people think they can understand? -- 8. Potential Project Support -- 8.1. Do the Obanliku church leaders feel Scripture in Obanliku will be helpful? -- 8.2. Does the Obanliku church want Scripture in their language? -- 8.3. What will they do to get Scripture translated into their language? -- 9. Bilingual Proficiency/Language Use -- 9.1. What other languages are spoken by this people? -- 9.2. Are any neighbouring languages spoken by the Obanliku? -- 9.3. Which segments of society use which languages? What is the perceived proficiency of the different social segments in each language? -- 9.4. How/where do people learn these languages? -- 10. Literacy -- 10.1. How many of each age group read and write in which languages? -- 10.2. How well does each age group read and write in which languages? -- 10.3. Are the people interested in reading and writing their language? -- 10.4. What Obanliku literature is available within the community? -- 11. Conclusions and Recommendations

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Nigeria

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