Nigerian Pidgin English : How it could affect TOEFL Test Score

[Temi Odurinde]

Nigerian Pidgin English can potentially affect TOEFL performance mostly in a negative way,
For many Nigerians, the biggest TOEFL challenge is not “understanding English,” but adjusting from conversational English or Pidgin into the highly formal academic English that TOEFL tests.
Here are the main ways Pidgin can affect TOEFL:

1. Grammar Transfer Problems
Many students unconsciously carry Pidgin sentence structures into TOEFL speaking and writing.
Examples:
“He dey go school” instead of “He is going to school”
“I no understand” instead of “I do not understand”
TOEFL strongly checks:
verb tense
subject-verb agreement
sentence structure
academic grammar
Research on Nigerian students has shown that frequent Pidgin use can influence formal English writing and grammatical accuracy.

2. Pronunciation and Listening Issues
Pidgin pronunciation patterns sometimes affect TOEFL speaking scores.
Examples:
dropping endings (“walk” instead of “walked”)
stress placement
vowel sounds
reduced clarity in formal speech
TOEFL speaking graders look for:
pronunciation clarity
intelligibility
rhythm and fluency in standard academic English
Some students also struggle with TOEFL listening because the test uses mainly American academic accents, while they are more used to Nigerian English or Pidgin speech patterns.

3. Vocabulary Style
Pidgin encourages informal and shortened expressions.
Examples:
“Wetin happen?”
“I dey try”
“No wahala”
But TOEFL expects:
formal vocabulary
academic connectors
structured explanations
Instead of:
“The thing make people happy”
TOEFL prefers:
“The development improved public satisfaction.”

4. Code-Switching Habit
Many Nigerians naturally switch between:
local language
Pidgin
Nigerian English
formal English
This is normal socially, but during TOEFL speaking tasks, code-switching can reduce fluency and coherence scores.
A student may begin formally and suddenly slip into conversational Nigerian speech patterns without noticing.

5. Confidence Can Actually Improve
Interestingly, Pidgin can also help.
Because Pidgin is English-based, many Nigerians become:
confident communicators
fast conversational speakers
socially expressive
That confidence can help in TOEFL Speaking — especially compared to learners who are too shy to speak English at all.
The problem is usually not confidence. The real issue is adapting from informal communication to academic communication.
The Good News
Most Nigerian students do very well once they intentionally practice:
academic vocabulary
formal grammar
listening to American academic speech
structured essay writing
speaking slowly and clearly
The goal is not to “stop speaking Pidgin.”
The goal is learning when to switch into formal academic English.
Think of it this way:
Pidgin = street/social communication
TOEFL English = university/professional communication
Both are useful — but for different environments.
A lot of Nigerians who grow up speaking Pidgin still score very high on TOEFL after focused preparation. The trick is to wear two hats as if were: When you enter TOEFL test centre, forget about Pidgen and put on your formal English hat. Good luck.

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You may find can I prepare for TOEFL in 30 days useful as well.

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