| Abstract: |
Refugees are usually faced with identity dilemma, due to their peculiar circumstances as minorities within a dominant ethno linguistic group. The concern of this study is to examine the manifestations of identity among Liberian refugees in Oru camp, in the course of discourse. This is with a view to delineating the identities they actually preferred in relation to their indigenous languages, Yoruba (the host community language), Krio (Sierra Leonean Pidgin) and English. The Ethno linguistic Identity Theory was used as guide while interviews and participant observation were adopted to elicit data from 30 adult respondents. The result revealed that code switching among the respondents was motivated by greetings, emphatic expressions, formal situations, emotional outbursts and proverbs. The trajectory of the switches, were from Krio to indigenous language, and English to indigenous language. The respondents also manifested identities through code mixing, that is intra-sentential alternations, involving their indigenous tongues, Krio and English. Liberian refugees in Oru camp are bilinguals and manifest multiple linguistic identities and in this way indicated their psychological belonging to multiple spheres and groups in the camp. However, the pattern or trajectory of their code switching revealed that they identified more with Krio and English, and less with their indigenous languages, and least with Yoruba, the language of the host community. In this way, they underlined their preference for a metropolitan and modern identity, over an ethnic identity. It is recommended that refugees should identify more with their indigenous languages and the host community language for reasons of language vitality, inclusion and the benefits of diversity. |
EBONYI JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE
