Paper short abstract:

The study investigates language use in banking transactions by identifying the languages of transactions and discussing the prospects of using such languages. Data are drawn mainly from responses to a questionnaire and analysed based on insights from relevant theories and models.

Paper long abstract:

Nigeria, apart from being the most populous black African country, is characterised by high linguistic multiplicity and complexity. Its complexity is due mainly to the fact that apart from the over 500 indigenous languages most of which have different dialects, there are also non-indigenous languages such as English and French in addition to Nigerian Pidgin which is neither completely exogenous nor entirely indigenous. Of these indigenous languages, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba each of which is dominant in each of the three major regions of the country and is spoken natively by more than twenty five million people are national languages while English is the official language. Nigerian Pidgin spoken by over 110 million speakers (Faraclas, 2021) is used mainly as a lingua franca in the country and sometimes as a means of communication among West African immigrant communities (Mair, 2021). Also, banking and remittances constitute a new dimension in international use of Nigerian Pidgin and this deserves attention in order to complement existing works on social media. Until very recently, the official language in the banking sector is English. However, this is gradually changing as customers now have the opportunity of selecting a language of transaction especially when they want to pay bills, withdraw or transfer money through Automated Teller Machine (ATM). Given this background, the present study is aimed at investigating how the banking sector typifies the linguistic landscape of Nigeria by focusing on transactions through ATM. The study will identify the languages being used for transactions on ATM, examine which of them is dominant and also discuss the challenges and prospects of using such languages. The data for the study will be drawn from the scanned (and downloaded) texts of the languages on the ATM of Guarantee Trust Bank and Access Bank of Nigeria. In addition, a questionnaire containing items related to the use of multiple languages on ATM will be administered on some bankers. The data gathered will be analysed based on insights from Myer-Scotton’s Markedness Model and Auer’s notion of structural sedimentation.