GASPRO International Journal of Eminent Scholars

ABSTRACT

The study was to assess the Ibibio and Igbo languages: a critical analysis of the learning difficulties of the two languages. Language is an integral part of human behaviour and it serves as the primary means of interaction between people learning Ibibio and Igbo languages. The ability of an Igbo learner of Ibibio and an Ibibio learner of Igbo to communicate effectively is hinged upon the appropriate selection and ordering of phonological structures. Igbo learners of Ibibio and vice versa would ordinarily experience a learning and pronunciation problem bordering on interference as a result of differences between Igbo and Ibibio phonology. The problem could make it difficult for the Igbo learners in Ibibio and vice versa to achieve success in their learning endeavors. The study concluded that human beings need languages to share ideas, experiences, and emotions with other people in society or in the environment. The Ibibio and Igbo languages are the surest ways through which people can retain and safeguard knowledge, with wisdom authenticated by culture and transmitted from one generation to another. However, the process of imparting knowledge has to be carried out through the Ibibio and Igbo languages in Nigeria. The speakers of these languages usually come into contact in areas of endeavour such as tourism, trade or business, education, and even in hospitals and law courts. One of the recommendations made was that the government should improve the standards of all academic institutions studying the Ibibio and Igbo languages and also equip the language laboratories.