Title:   APPRAISAL OF ENTREPRENEURIAL ATTRIBUTES OF DRAFT REVISED BENCHMARK MINIMUM ACADEMIC STANDARDS FOR UNDERGRADUATE ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN NIGERIA

Abstract
This paper appraises the entrepreneurial attributes of the draft revised Benchmark Minimum
Academic Standards (BMAS) for English Language released by Nigeria’s National Universities
Commission in the first quarter of 2018. Critiques of the Nigerian university curriculum for English
Language revealed its inadequacies in engendering entrepreneurship and employability in
knowledge-based economy. This therefore makes regular curriculum review necessary. Curriculum
revision is a veritable instrument for making the university to develop contents that would meet
the needs of overall national development. In consequence, this paper adopted five criteria to
appraise the entrepreneurial and employability attributes of the BMAS under review. The criteria
are availability of elements that could prompt the development of: job communication skills,
critical thinking and problem-solving skills, sustainable use of resources/productivity skills,
development of self and a sense of community skills; and expansion of one’s world vision skills. It
was found that the English components meet all the five criteria. However, it was found that
except the English language programme administrator is innovative they may not utilize the
content to bring the expected results. Thus, the English language educators in the university
system should be trained on how to implement the contents to produce graduates of English that
are employable and entrepreneurial, the enabling environment should also be provided etc. Ceteris
paribus the BMAS under review has the attributes of producing graduates of English that could
use the declarative and procedural knowledge of English language to be employable and
entrepreneurial in a society that is looking up to English Studies for the projection of positive
culture and identity.

Citations:

Publication Date: 2021-07-09