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Teaching particular languages

English is still taught in Nigerian universities more or less as it is taught in the English-speaking world. The paper examines features of the pragmasociolinguistic context of English in Nigeria to suggest alternative models more adapted to the Nigerian context. Four features of the use of English in Nigeria are discussed: (1) the ambivalence in Nigerian attitudes to English, which is seen both as a prestigious international language and as a colonial language, (2) the lack of environmental support for English, which results in a long period of 'interlanguage' before standard Nigerian English is attained and a tendency towards fossilisation of learner forms, (3) the fact that Nigerian social norms, which can differ strikingly from those of Britain or America, must nonetheless be respected in Nigerian English usage, and (4) the distinctive system of registers in Nigerian English. The paper discusses these and other features of English as a second language in Nigeria and makes recommendations about the way it should be taught. In general, it is argued, there should be more teaching of English and less teaching about it.