4. Mother Tongue

In episode three, British-Nigerian journalist Seun Matiluko spoke with British-West Africans across the UK: from Peckham to Belfast. There was one thing that united everyone she spoke with...the desire to learn their heritage language. Seun does not know her heritage language, Yoruba. With the encouragement of Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka, she decides to take one of the online West African language classes that have become increasingly popular among young British-West Africans. She takes a class run by Blessing Kayode, of Yoruba Lessons.com.Many young British-West Africans do not know their heritage languages. Seun speaks with academic Professor Paul Kerswill about this, who informs her that a recent study suggests West African immigrant parents are less likely to pass on their heritage languages to their children than other immigrant groups. The study cited by Professor Paul Kerswill is Sophie Liggins, Heritage languages in plurilingual secondary school cohorts: Exploring students’ diverse linguistic repertoires (2022).Gbemisola Isimi concurs with the findings of the study. Gbemisola is the founder of Culture Tree, a UK-based organisation that promotes and preserves West African languages, arts, and culture. She suggests many West Africans value English more highly than their heritage languages. Writer Aminatta Forna and Danica Salazar, the World English editor at the Oxford English Dictionary, argue that English should be considered a West African language in its own right. Meanwhile British-Ghanaian dramaturg Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu (who recently directed the Olivier-nominated play For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Hue Gets Too Heavy) and Sierra Leonean-British writer Dr Kadija George MBE explain why language can make or break an identity.Producer and Presenter: Seun Matiluko. Supervising Producer: Jessie Bland. Researcher: Richard Ampeh. Theme music: Richard Olatunde Baker. Sound design: Kalua. Artwork: Tinuke Fagborun. A Three Arrows Media production for BBC Sounds Audio Lab. Commissioning Editor: Khaliq Meer.