INVESTIGATION INTO THE COMPETENCE AND PERFORMANCE OF SPOKEN ENGLISH OF SELECTED NIGERIAN SPEAKERS OF ENGLISH
This paper is an investigation into the spoken English in Nigeria, focusing on the distinctions between competence and performance among Nigerian speakers of English. Research findings of several studies have it that there are individual nonnative English speakers with impeccable ability to communicate in written English and are admired internationally without a matching ability in spoken English. This paper sets out to examine the spoken English of fifty (50) randomly selected educated Nigerian speakers of English through a structured questionnaire (SQ). Mixed methods comprising a quantitative method for data collection and a descriptive method for data analysis were adopted to form a decision on the data collected. The principal findings, among others, reveal that Nigerians’ spoken English can be analysed through the lenses of both competence and performance. The paper considers the implications of these findings for language policy, education, and intelligibility in communication. It advocates for a more nuanced understanding of spoken English in Nigeria, emphasizing the need for pedagogical approaches that will balance the skills of literacy and those of oracy. This will, by so doing, address the interplay between competence and performance in spoken English among Nigerian users of English
Keywords: Spoken English, Competence, Performance, and Perspective.