German is the holy grail: language, migration and ethnolingual belonging in transnational spaces

ABSTRACT

This study explores the dynamics of migration in the growing prominence of German in Nigeria, and the ways self-perception of language competence shapes ethnolingual belonging and future trajectories of transmigrant Nigerians residing in Germany. Drawing on promotional texts of German language schools and migration-themed discourses on Nairaland, I show that while German is mainly espoused for migration purposes back at home, most Nigerians in Germany conceptualise belonging and otherness through the lens of language proficiency—a perspective that rationalises their inclination towards relocating to Anglophone destinations for greater linguistic capital and social inclusion. I argue that the narrowed view of German as a migration asset impedes its wider adoption and mainstreaming in the Nigerian linguistic market, and illuminate the complex nexus between language, racialisation, migration, and belonging, as well as the tenuous link between language learning and acculturation. The paper offers insights into the ways language competence shapes ethnolingual membership and migration patterns in a globalised world and suggests a nuanced understanding of new language acquisition.

KEYWORDS:

• German language learning
• Germany
• migration
• transmigrant Nigerians
• ethnolingual belonging

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to Hanse-Institute for Advanced Study for supporting this study through my fellowship at the Kolleg. I would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers and editors of this journal for their constructive feedback, all of which have made for a much-improved article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 Kachru in his famous paper published in 1985 modelled the diffusion of English in terms of three Concentric Circles: The Inner Circle, the Outer Circle, and the Expanding Circle. The Inner Circle refers to territories where English is first or the native language, comprising Australia, UK, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and the US. The Outer Circle includes post-colonial Anglophone nations in which, although English is not the native language, it remains as L2, and serves as the language of education, religion, governance, commerce, and popular culture. the Expanding Circle are countries where English remains a foreign language and used sparsely used only mainly for communicating with the other Circles.