Igbo Language as an Endangered Language: Causes and Possible Solutions

Abstract

This paper tries to examine the reason why Igbo language has been classified as one of the languages that will be endangered within the next five decades. An endangered language is a language that is at the risk of going into extinction as its speakers die out or choose to speak other languages instead of their own. Language preservation on the other hand is the taking care of endangered language. Therefore, the major objectives of the study are to x-ray the causes of Igbo language endangerment, the steps government and some individuals have taken to avoid the endangerment and the possible measures to be adopted to avoid the language being endangered. The paper adopts Ethno-linguistic Vitality Theory of Bourhis, Giles and Taylor (1977). The work is a descriptive survey one and the data for the work are sourced from relevant literature. Findings of the paper show that influence of foreign culture, negative attitude of the owners of the language, migration among others contribute to the endangerment. Hence the study suggests that government should improve upon the existing efforts through the provision of incentives and award of free scholarships to candidates that intend to study Igbo language at higher levels and also create job opportunities for them. In addition, more days should be added to the one day already earmarked per week for the promotion of the Igbo language and culture in Igbo land and finally authors and writers in different aspects of the language should be celebrated as an encouragement. Finally, it is believed that language teacher, language students, parents, schools, government, and the entire Igbo language owners will benefit immensely from the paper while the use of Igbo language will improve generally.