Nigerian Pidgin English: Focus on the novel 'My sister, the serial killer' and on two Nigerian radio stations

The English language has grown rapidly over the last centuries. This language has become a lingua franca and has established its dominance in different fields of daily life. This dominance has led to the birth of new varieties of English in several parts of the world, some of which are strongly discriminated because considered inferior or incorrect manifestations of the language. Some varieties enjoy low consideration and status due to social, historical or political factors connected to them. This dissertation will focus on Nigerian Pidgin English, a language that arose from the contact between English and the local languages existing in Nigeria and perceived as a marginal language. The aim of this study is to analyse and describe some features of Nigerian Pidgin English, which still does not find a concrete space in the national panorama due to the negative perception of the population. My aim is to discuss its socio-cultural role within the nation and the reasons why the language should be granted official recognition. Furthermore, this dissertation attempts to draw the readers’ attention on the topic of linguistic imperialism by describing the phenomenon of “Global Englishes”, varieties of the language occurred in different parts of the world, in order to raise awareness among native and non-native speakers about linguistic prejudices towards non-standard varieties.