German Language Maintenance Among Nigerian Returnees from Germany: A Sociolinguistic Study

This study examines German language maintenance patterns among Nigerians who have returned to Nigeria after extended residence in Germany, focusing on returnees settled in Edo State, South South Nigeria. Edo State has one of Nigeria's highest rates of return migration from Germany, making it an ideal context for investigating the sociolinguistic dynamics of language maintenance, attrition, and identity negotiation in diaspora return settings. The study employs a sociolinguistic survey design combined with ethnographic observation, collecting data from 60 returnees who had lived in Germany for a minimum of three years and returned within the past decade. The survey measures current German language use across five social domains: family, friendship, employment, religion, and media. Follow-up interviews with 20 participants explore subjective language attitudes, identity construction, and perceived social utility of German in the Nigerian context. Findings reveal considerable variation in maintenance patterns, influenced by factors including the age at return, length of stay in Germany, the presence of German-speaking social networks in Nigeria, and professional occupation. German language use declines most rapidly in family and social domains but is better maintained in professional and media contexts. The study contributes to the literature on language maintenance in diaspora return communities and has implications for heritage language policy in Nigeria. Keywords: language maintenance, German, Nigerian returnees, sociolinguistics, Edo State.