Examining Language Shift from Yoruba to English Among Upper-Middle-Class Families in Lagos

Language shift in economically privileged urban families represents a culturally significant form of language endangerment driven by aspirational identity construction rather than language suppression. This study examines language shift from Yoruba to English among upper-middle-class families in Lagos State, South West Nigeria, investigating the social, economic, and ideological drivers of Yoruba abandonment in elite domestic contexts. Using a qualitative case study design, data were collected from 20 upper-middle-class Yoruba families in Victoria Island, Lekki, and Ikoyi through family observation sessions, in-depth parent interviews, and child language assessments. The study applies language shift theory, Bourdieu's linguistic capital framework, and elite bilingualism research to analyse the mechanisms and motivations of intra-generational language shift. Existing research on Yoruba language shift has focused on rural-urban migration contexts and border communities, with elite urban domestic language shift receiving limited dedicated empirical analysis in the Yoruba sociolinguistics literature. This study fills that socioeconomic context gap. The research examines how parental educational background, professional sector, peer group composition, school language medium, and aspirational identity framing predict the degree of language shift, and whether any upper-middle-class families maintain effective Yoruba transmission despite elite status. Findings are expected to reveal that English-medium schooling, professional peer networks, and explicit parental positioning of English as career capital are the strongest predictors of complete domestic language shift. Recommendations will address family language planning interventions tailored to elite Yoruba urban contexts and policy advocacy for Yoruba maintenance in elite school settings. Keywords: language shift, Yoruba, upper-middle class, Lagos, family language policy.