Identity Features in Nigerian Students’ Descriptive Writings

Abstract

The main aim of this paper is to explore the features of identity found in the context of descriptive essays. This study seeks to identify how students in diaspora often create a dominant impression, theme, and idea while revealing their identity. The samples utilized in this study consists of essays written by Nigerian students pursuing different levels of postgraduate courses in Universiti Utara Malaysia, a public university situated at Kedah, Sintok; a northern state in Malaysia. The participants were international students originating from the three Nigerian major ethnic groups, namely; Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. The findings of this study indicated that the students tend to relate identity in writing within the society and academic contexts. The findings also showed that the students tend to express their identity in writing cognitively, using linguistic and socio-linguistic features based on their logical knowledge and on their level of awareness in ESL writing.