Read the following passage carefully and then answer the questions on it.
A study conducted in Nigeria recently recognized three varieties of spoken English. Speakers of the first variety exhibit characteristics of a very long and difficult process of ‘internal interpretation from the mother-tongue into English. Thinking and expression do not go closely together. A listener would notice this from the way the speaker pauses before expressing himself, apparently deciding which words to use and how to arrange them. Thus, thinking is exclusively through the medium of the mother-tongue and English is thus a poor shadow of the original thoughts of the speakers. Utterances heard invariably have to be translated silently into the mother-tongue to be maximally meaningful, and then responses are translated from the mother-tongue into English. Consequently, the long, indirect routes make statements slow, halting and jerky.
The second variety speakers exhibit features described above but to a much lesser degree. internal translations from the mother-tongue to English still take place during the speaker’s expression of opinions and complex concepts but the process now takes a shorter span of time. With ordinary words or simple ideas, internal interpretations need not intervene between the points at which the thought is conceived and the time it is given verbal expression. Discussions are quicker and smoother though these might not always be entirely free from minor halting gaps.
With the third variety speakers, thought is almost entirely in English and translation is not needed. The speaker has a wealth of linguistic weapons to choose from to express the minute distinctions between similar concepts – and these come quickly and easily. Thus for instance, whereas speakers of the lower varieties have only the word ‘rain’, the speaker of variety III recognizes distinctions between ‘shower’, down-pour’ drizzle’. ‘mist’. ‘deluge’, etc.. and uses each in the appropriate context. Also, his mastery of the sounds and features of the English Language equips him to express the utterances accurately and automatically without having to pause and think of the correct version of a sound since he masters the various distinctions in the pronunciation of each vowel and each consonant.
We need to recognize, however, that most Nigerian learners of English ‘graduate’ from one variety to another, from the lowest stratum of variety Ito the highest stratum of that variety. and then to variety II and so on until they achieve variety III. Length of periods of education. exposure to standard English and a personal conscious effort play major roles in deciding what variety a particular speaker uses.
Finally, we must recognize that most speakers of the higher varieties are still capable of reverting to the lower ones, if they choose. Thus we can find even a Nigerian professor of phonology switching to the lowest stratum of variety I if he feels so inclined when discussing with a house-servant or a porter.
(a) In three sentences. one for each, summarize the distinctive characteristics of the speakers of the three varieties of English described in the passage.
(b) In two sentences, one for each, describe the conditions under which a person can:
(i) move from lower varieties to the upper ones: (ii) switch from a higher variety to a lower one.
Explanation
(i) The speaker of the first variety of English translates his thoughts and words silently before making a meaningful statement.
(ii) The second speaker goes through the same process as the first but within a shorter time
(iii) The speaker of the third variety speaks fluently exhibiting the knowledge of vocabulary and pronunciation.
(b) (i) A person can move from lower to upper variety if he has long period of education and gets exposed to standard English
(ii) A person can move from higher to a lower variety if his listener is of lower educational ladder.