ABSTRACT
The efficiency of English as a general vehicle for communication appears even less when we remember that many of those who claim to know some English in fact know very little. Some went to school rather briefly, and were either poorly taught or later forgot most of what they had learned. Others learned it informally, without attending school. Many such people, and even some who went to school, speak and understand the local Pidgin English, rather than a standard variety, or at least are most comfortable with a type of English that is more like Pidgin than the English of books or of Englishmen. Linguists nowadays generally regard 'pidgin' languages as languages in their own right, that have developed and continue to be used under special social circumstances. Usually these circumstances involve people from varied linguistic backgrounds, who need a common language in which to communicate, but do not need it very often, or do not use it in connection with very many or very complicated topics. As a result, a pidgin language tends to have a
somewhat limited vocabulary and range of structures, although not so limited as is commonly thought. The people who actually use or are acquainted with a pidgin tend to regard it as merely a simplified or 'corrupted' version of the standard language, or an elementary form of it, which can be 'improved' given the desire and the opportunity to do so. There may be several intermediate types of more or less 'good' English between Pidgin and educated standard English, and there are individuals who can switch back and forth among two or more types. A pidgin or pidgin-like variety may be useful in most situations involving face-to-face communication with other Ghanaians whose English is similar, but it is likely to become quite inefficient in any but the simplest encounters where literacy or the understanding of any feature of modern literate culture is involved.
