Identity and Code Switching among Liberian Refugees in Oru Camp, Nigeria

Abstract

In the course of interaction, bilinguals usually alternate between languages in order to project different faces. This study aims at examining the manifestations of identity among Liberian refugees in Oru camp, Nigeria, through code-switching. This is with a view to delineating the motivations behind the phenomenon coupled with the trajectories of the switches in relation to their indigenous languages, Yoruba (the host community language), Pidgin, and English. The study employed Ethno-linguistic Identity Theory as guide and adopted participant observation to elicit data from 20 adult respondents. The result revealed that code switching among the respondents was triggered by greetings, announcements, quotations, and proverbs. The trajectories of the switches were mainly from English to indigenous languages and Pidgin to indigenous languages. However, the respondents also manifested momentary identities with Yoruba through emblematic code switching. Liberian refugees in Oru camp were bilinguals who manifested multiple linguistic identities which indicated their psychological membership of multiple spheres and groups in the camp. However, the pattern or trajectory of their code switching revealed that they identified more with English and Pidgin, and less with their indigenous languages, and least with Yoruba, the language of the host community. In this way, they underlined their preference for modern and metropolitan identity over ethnic identity. The paper recommends 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.