Rethinking Native Speakerism in Nigerian German Language Education: An Ideological and Empirical Critique

This study conducts an ideological and empirical critique of native speakerism in Nigerian German language education, challenging the persistent assumption that native German speakers represent the appropriate pedagogical and linguistic norm against which Nigerian learners' competence should be measured. Native speakerism, the ideological positioning of the native speaker as the ideal model for language learning and teaching, has been extensively critiqued in English language education globally but has received limited systematic attention in the context of German language education in Africa. The study combines critical discourse analysis of programme documents, textbooks, and pedagogical materials from ten Nigerian German language departments with an empirical investigation of teacher and student beliefs about native speaker authority. The empirical component administers a validated language ideology questionnaire to 200 German language students and 40 German language instructors across the South West, North Central, and North East geopolitical zones, supplemented by focus group discussions. Findings reveal pervasive native speakerist ideologies among both students and instructors, manifesting in preferences for German-born teachers, systematic devaluation of non-native instructors, and internalised deficit beliefs about Nigerian varieties of German. The study develops a post-native-speakerist framework for Nigerian German language education. Keywords: native speakerism, German language education, Nigeria, language ideology, World Englishes analogy.