Essays on Language in Societal Transformation

Essays on Language in Societal Transformation
Author: Tunde Opeibi
Publisher: Cuvillier Verlag
Total Pages: 330
Release: 2015-01-30
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 3736949219

This paper generally lends support to the arguments advanced by Awonusi (1989, 1990, 2004) and others in favour of an endornormative as opposed to an exonormative standard for English pronunciation in Nigeria. They include the fact that the existing, exonormative standard, British Received Pronunciation (RP), has undergone and is still undergoing changes in its homeland, and is not homogeneous. The heightened social mobility of today’s world perhaps works against the demarcation and homogenization of language varieties, and this is all the more true of the varieties or lects that have been proposed for Nigerian English when these are related, more or less explicitly, to educational attainment. Major attention is given in the paper to a schema of basilect, mesolect, and acrolect presented by Ugorji (2010), with a focus on his account of vowels and his presentation of a mechanism derived from optimality theory for evaluating vowels in contention. The basilect and the mesolect are found to be so close to each other that they might be combined. There would then be just two varieties. In contrast, the acrolect is close to British RP, albeit with many variants due to the conflict of two standardising forces, i.e. British RP and the basilect-mesolect. The vowel system of an officially adopted endonormative standard – ‘Nigerian RP’ – would mainly be the same as that of British RP, but the optimality mechanism could be employed to give preference to some of the Nigerian variants for inclusion in it.

Language, Literature and Style in Africa

Language, Literature and Style in Africa
Author: Taiwo Abioye
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Total Pages: 185
Release: 2014-11-24
Genre: Literary Collections
ISBN: 1443871737

This book brings together the seminal contributions of scholars interested in the study of language, literature and style in Africa. It marks a response to the longstanding neglect of stylistic analysis of canonical and emergent fictional and non-fictional African prose and discourse. As a reaction to this neglect of African literary artefacts, the book provides a welcome and timely deviation from the norm. The contributions to this volume include discussions that are both analytical and theoretical; analyses of style at the levels of lexis and semantics; newer and more innovative analyses that highlight the relationship between style, pedagogy and technology-mediated discourse; and a final discussion that provides an appropriate background against which issues related to language, literature and style can be understood. In terms of the volumes representation of diverse geographical contexts, the papers included here bridge the North-South divide in Africa, and there are contributions from Libya, Nigeria, South Africa and Zimbabwe. As such, the book is an interesting collection of papers that illuminate the study of literary style in Africa and highlight the need for a greater revival of it on a larger scale.

Focus on Nigeria

Focus on Nigeria
Author: Gordon Collier
Publisher: Rodopi
Total Pages: 485
Release: 2012
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 9401208476

This issue of Matatu offers cutting-edge studies of contemporary Nigerian literature, a selection of short fiction and poetry, and a range of essays on various themes of political, artistic, socio-linguistic, and sociological interest. Contributions on theatre focus on the fool as dramatic character and on the feminist theatre of exclusion (Tracie Uto-Ezeajugh). Several essays examine the poetry of Hope Eghagha and the Delta writer Tanure Ojaide. Studies of the prose fiction of Chinua Achebe, Tayo Olafioye, Uwem Akpan, and Chimamanda Adichie are complemented by a searching exposé of the exploitation of Ayi Kwei Armah on the part of the metropolitan publishing world and by a recent interview with the poet Jumoko Verissimo. Traditional culture is considered in articles on historical sites in Ile-Ife, witchcraft in Etsako warfare, and the Awonmili women’s collective in Awka. Linguistically oriented studies consider political speeches, drug advertising, and Yoruba anthroponyms. Performance-focused essays focus on Emirate court spectacle (durbar), Yoruba drum poetry in contemporary media, gospel music, indigenization and islamization of military music, and the role of the filmmaker. Contributions of broader relevance deal with Islamic components of Nigerian culture, the decline of the educational system, and the socio-economic impact of acquisitive culture.

Language Pedagogy and Language Use in Africa

Language Pedagogy and Language Use in Africa
Author: Lioba Moshi
Publisher: Adonis & Abbey Publishers Ltd
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2009-10-23
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1912234076

The study of African language pedagogy and use in the Diaspora was initiated in the 1960s as African countries attained independence from colonial powers. In the continent, the enthusiasm for the use of indigenous languages and scholarship has remained relatively moderate as scholars are conflicted in their loyalty to imperial languages. The attitude towards the use of African languages by African leaders has also hampered scholars' efforts to create and sustain the needed visibility for African languages around the world. Needless to say, the study of African languages is not only critical to the study of language theories but also important in changing Africa's overwhelming reliance on European languages to communicate with each other. The reliance has not only affected the politics of the continent but also its economic wellbeing. An analysis of the enormous developmental challenges facing the African continent will reveal that many of the economic, social, political and cultural challenges have major language components. It can actually be said that the challenges of development in Africa are either outright language challenges or are language- based. More significantly, at the social level in many parts of the continent, African languages are now perceived as inadequate means of communication. Language Pedagogy and Language Use in Africa discusses the importance of teaching and using of African languages in the African continent and beyond and provides illustrations of both their direct and indirect use a result of historical and contemporary contacts, language planning policies and pedagogical concerns. The book contributes to the on-going discussion on the pedagogy, promotion, and use of African languages both on the continent and in the Diaspora.

Four Decades in the Study of Nigerian Languages and Linguistics

Four Decades in the Study of Nigerian Languages and Linguistics
Author: Ndimele, Ozo-mekuri
Publisher: M & J Grand Orbit Communications
Total Pages: 935
Release: 2019-03-31
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9785644006

This volume is produced in commemoration of the official retirement of Professor Kay Williamson from the Department of Linguistics and Communication Studies, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The contributing essayists cover five main generations of Nigerian linguists. The collection is divided into six sections: Language, history and Society; Applied Linguistics and Orthography Design; Gender and Communication Studies; Stylistics and Literature; Pragmatics, Discourse Analysis and Translation; and Formal Linguistics. Some of the contributors include: Ayo Bamgbose, Okon Essie, Ben Elugbe, P.A. Nwachukwu, E.N. Emenanjo, P. Anagbogu, Chinyere Ohiri-Aniche, O.M. Ndimele, O.G. Harry, Levi Igwe, C.U. Omego, O. Ojukwu, A.U. Weje, O.N. Anyanwu and A. Idafuro.