Interviewer: So how about teaching? You’re now teaching Japanese students. Do you find any difference between teaching in Nigeria and in Japan?

Alamu: Yeah, there are some differences, obviously. One is the problem of a mother-tongue interference because I forget you’re teaching foreigners your own language. And then the pronunciation, you should expect, should be quite different. And that is why __ foreign language, for any foreign language teaching you need to elaborate it. __. We have the sound system, you know, the language, you know, could be, you know, taught and then you correct some of these problems. And second is the issue of culture. Because if you’re teaching foreign students, you know, you should expect that there should be some differences in their culture. And you cannot separate language from culture because they are intertwined. Yeah. So there is a difference in culture and then as a teacher you try as much as possible, you know, to. . . to kind of teach gradually the culture of your own language so that the people, the student they’re teaching can grasp some aspect of the culture. And that is why the last point I want to make, the issue of acculturation, is important in any foreign language teaching. You should be __ the __ language. I think it’s important. I interact with the people. That is the essence of acculturation. But we found out because of financial issue and some, you know, this is quite difficult. But where it is possible __ crucial for any second language teaching. That there might be a feel of the country, of the people. They are studying their language. This we have them better, you know, in studying the language. And know what you are studying. Yeah, I think so. Yeah.

Interviewer: So, the culture and its language is intertwined, as you said. That’s what I’m trying by myself to teach to my students. And this video is also for that end.

Alamu: Yeah, thank you very much. Thank you. And then I don’t know the issue of. . . even if you can __ out. Well, I don’t know. You teach English? Well, I don’t really know there’s any English culture because. . . because that makes difference between English and some African languages like where I come from. Because I’m talking about the artifacts now, the cultural artifacts of the people. So these things, you know, procure __ of students, so that they can understand the people better.

Interviewer: So, as you said, there is no single English culture. It’s also diverse. It’s one of the difficulties of teaching English and its various cultures.I know that English is a kind of official language in Nigeria. How is it, eh, how English is understood and spoken in Nigeria?

Alamu: Like you said, you rightly said the English language is the official language spoken in Nigeria. And it’s used for formal education. And then to some extent, in Nigerian education system, the English language is the medium of expression. It is used for teaching. So that will tell you the importance of language, you know, the English language in Nigeria. And don’t forget, of course, Nigeria gained an independence from Britain; it used to be a former British colony. And that is why the English language for now is the official language. Yeah, it is so because. . . and I believe it will continue to be for some time because Nigeria is highly multilingual. For instance, in Nigeria you have more than four hundred languages. Though you have the prominent, the major ones like my language, for instance, Yoruba. And then you have the Ibo and you have the Hausa languages. But you have some other minority languages, so to say. And then the problem associated, you know, with any multiethnic—because when you talk of multilingual, you have to talk of ethnicities and then cultural aspects—and the problem of any highly multilingual state of country is quite obvious. The ethnic problem is associated with it. Then that is why we have some of these struggles in Nigeria. These ethnic groups want to come to be in control, these now want to be in control. So, for now the English language is the unifying force. But unfortunately you still have some percentage of Nigerians that are non-literate, that do not still understand the English language, except their own mother tongue, indigenous languages. So that is the language situation in Nigeria.