Journal of African Studies and Sustainable Development

English is a major language spoken in Nigeria. It is being taught in Nigerian schools, from the nursery schools to the higher institutions. Being Nigeria’s second and official language, as well as the lingua franca, the English language has received great prominence within the country and has been accorded a prestigious position. Despite this, most Nigerians find it difficult to interact with the native speakers of the English language when they migrate to native English speaking countries. This problem brings about the inability of some of these migrants to secure good jobs on time and make honest livings in those countries. To ascertain the major cause of this communication barrier, the researcher reviewed the experiences of fourteen individuals – seven native speakers of English, who had encounters with Nigerians, and seven Nigerian migrants to native English speaking countries. These experiences were relayed to the researcher through electronic social media and online training classes. The researcher discovered that the major cause of their communication barrier is the Nigerian English, which is commonly spoken and taught in Nigerian schools. Based on Communication Accommodation Theory and Behavioural Theory of Language Learning, the researcher recommended, among others, that Nigerians should be made to undergo intensive trainings on the variety of the English language spoken in the country they wish to migrate to before they are granted visa.

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