28th inaugural lecture: Your Pronunciation is an Asset, Maximise It!” Prof. Sogunro Warns
Prof. Bolanle Olufumbi Sogunro, a Professor of Sociophonetics in the Department of English, Faculty of Humanities of the Ajayi Crowther University (ACU) Oyo, has declared that Nigerians ignore their accents at their own peril, arguing that pronunciation is not merely a technical communication skill but a powerful social tool that can open or close doors to opportunity.
Delivering the university’s 28th Inaugural Lecture titled “’Shorsh’, ‘Sors’ or ‘Church’ — Who Cares? Accents and Linguistic Capital in Nigeria,” Prof. Sogunro presented a stark warning in a hard-hitting Inaugural Lecture, saying listeners automatically make value judgments about people as soon as they begin to speak, and those who refuse to care about their accent risk depreciating their social worth.
“Pronunciation is not merely a technical communication skill; it is a social tool that reveals so much about you beyond the words that you form with your accent,” she told the audience.
“Accent is a form of capital that people invest strategically to position themselves in society, or unwittingly spend carelessly to depreciate their social value and worth.”
Drawing on decades of fieldwork, Sogunro introduced her Accent-Capital Framework (A-CF), an adaptation of sociologist Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of linguistic capital, tailored to Nigeria’s English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) context. She argued that while British English was once upheld as Nigeria’s “gold standard,” granting higher social advantages and employability to those who could imitate it, the modern reality is more complex.
“People who refuse to care about their accent have a limited recognition of, or disregard for, the symbolic value attached to conformity with standard accents,” she said. “Not necessarily native speaker English accent, but standard accents within particular linguistic markets.”
To illustrate her point, Prof. Sogunro recalled the controversy surrounding the late fuji icon, Chief Dr. Sikiru Ayinde Barrister’s 2001 album, _Omo Ibadan Kíni Sóò re,_ which parodied Ibadan English pronunciation features, such as pronouncing “chicken” as “sikin” and “cushion” as “cusin.”
She further drew historical parallels that were even more chilling. Citing the Biblical account in Judges 12:6, where she recalled how the Gileadites identified and beheaded Ephramites who could not pronounce “shibboleth,” saying “sibboleth” instead. Closer to home, she said, during Nigeria’s Civil War, soldiers separated Igbo captives from others by asking them to pronounce “toro” (three pence). Those who said “tolo” were slain.
However, Prof. Sogunro also acknowledged shifting tides in the global and local employment landscape. She noted that employers today are increasingly interested in job performance, skills, and intelligibility, not whether an applicant speaks with a “King’s English” accent.
“Once you can express yourself in English coherently and communicate intelligibly with colleagues from different linguistic backgrounds, accent is a secondary criteria for employment,” she said, citing the frameworks of World Englishes scholar Braj Kachru and English as a Lingua Franca proponent Jennifer Jenkins.
The 28th Inaugural Lecturer gave an unambiguous final answer to the lecture’s title question, saying, “When we ask, ‘Who cares?’ the simple answer is: everyone must care.”
The Don also announced her intention to champion a new interdisciplinary field she called “econolinguistics,” the study of language using economic concepts, exploring how language influences economic activity and vice versa.
Earlier, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ebunoluwa Oduwole who was also the chairman of the day described the Inaugural Lecturer as an astute scholar, who has held several positions in the university.
Reading Prof. Sogunro’s citation, the Vice-Chancellor summarised the Inaugural Lecturer’s academic journey, how she rose through the ranks to becoming a professor, while charged all attendees to enjoy the lecture which promises to be revealing.