Language Attitudes and English Proficiency Among Internally Displaced Persons in North East Nigeria: Implications for Reintegration

This study examines the language attitudes and English proficiency levels of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in camp settlements in Borno and Adamawa States, North East Nigeria, exploring implications for educational and occupational reintegration. The prolonged humanitarian crisis in North East Nigeria has displaced millions of people whose language education trajectories have been severely disrupted, yet the linguistic dimensions of displacement and reintegration have attracted minimal research attention. The study employs a mixed-methods design combining a language attitude questionnaire administered to 250 adult IDPs with proficiency elicitation tasks and semi-structured interviews. The theoretical framework draws on ethnolinguistic vitality and language attitudes scholarship. Results reveal predominantly instrumental attitudes toward English among IDPs, valued primarily as a tool for accessing formal employment and livelihood programmes rather than as a prestige marker. Proficiency levels are low to intermediate across the sample, with significant gaps in writing and formal oral communication skills. The study also identifies attitudinal barriers including distrust of formal education systems and prioritisation of immediate livelihood concerns over language learning. The research makes an original contribution to the humanitarian linguistics literature in Nigeria and recommends the integration of contextually adapted language and communication skills training into IDP livelihood and reintegration programmes. Keywords: internally displaced persons, language attitudes, English proficiency, North East Nigeria, reintegration.