Speaker Perceptions of Americanisms in Nigerian English

ABSTRACT This study investigates the perceptions of Americanisms among three generations of Nigerians. While prior research has provided quantitative evidence for American influence in contemporary Nigerian English, the role of language beliefs and ideologies in mediating such changes remains underexplored. Developing a sociolinguistic perspective of mobile linguistic resources, this study construes an individual's linguistic repertoire as an identity‐construction resource, agentively mobilised across geographical, social and digital spaces. Interview data indicate that younger speakers orient towards multiple linguistic norms, while older speakers remain critical of Americanisms and favour British norms. Reading task results further indicate that American realisations are most frequent among younger speakers. The study demonstrates that multinormativity extends beyond linguistic production to speakers’ evaluative orientations and perceived repertoires. This finding advances the sociolinguistics of mobility and World Englishes research by showing that shifting language ideologies – rather than usage patterns alone – constitute a key mechanism driving linguistic change in postcolonial varieties.