| 1 |
Author(s):
Innocent Ejimofor Agu, Evangelista Chimebere Agu , Faith Aba Olijeh.
Page No : 1-12
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Proverbs as a Discourse Strategy in Some African Literary Texts
Abstract
This paper examines the proverb genre as a discourse strategy in some African Literary texts. Specifically, eight (8) proverbs are purposively selected from Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God. The qualitative and descriptive research designs are adopted for this study. These approaches use few data for the analysis to be more detailed and explicit. The qualitative approach is deemed appropriate for our analysis because the study is a corpus based. Referential and Contextual Theories of Meaning are adopted as the main analytical framework for the study. It is discovered that pragmatics or contextual theory is a veritable analytic linguistic framework which studies the meaning of utterances in the context which they are used. Since proverbs are aspects of culture, this study has shown the inextricable link between proverbs, specifically African or Nigerian proverbs and language. It is also shown that context plays a major role in deriving the meanings of these proverbs. it is discovered that young adults or children do not make use of proverbs when talking to elders, because the proverb genre is the wisdom attached to elders in the African society. The study thus concludes that the proverbs in Achebe’s novels are more rhetorical, epistemological and didactic than analytical.
| 2 |
Author(s):
Abubakar Tukur Liman, Innocent E. Agu, Abdulmalik Yusuf Ofemile, Evangelista C. Agu.
Page No : 13-24
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A Stylistic Examination of The Cobweb Plot- Structure in Wole Soyinka’s The Interpreters
Abstract
This paper examines the plot structure of Wole Soyinka’s The Interpreters. The novel has been adjudged difficult in terms of language especially on the choice of lexical items and syntactic structure. Another area that has proved difficult is the plot structure of the novel which is rather cobweb-like. Using a discursive approach, the paper analyses the various characters that move the fictional universe of the novel. With the aid of a web-like diagram, the paper demonstrates that the novel indeed does not have any linear but a twist of stream of consciousness episodes that give rise to the web plot.
| 3 |
Author(s):
Emmanuel Akaana Tarhemba (Phd), Michael Otebo Osori, Emmanuel Agbu Envoh .
Page No : 25-33
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Class Structure, Social Relations and Dialectics of the Class Struggle: A Marxist Reading of Ngugi Wa Thiong’o’s Petals of Blood
Abstract
The novel has become the predominant creative work for analyzing and commenting upon life of a people at a given time. It is a kind of portable mirror which conveys or reflects the socio-political and economic aspects of life of a given society. It also enlarges our understanding of life generally. This paper examined the role of literature in a dysfunctional and conflictual social system. It critiqued Ngugi’s Petals of Blood in its Marxist ideological posture. Findings revealed that, in every social organization, conflict or class struggle is rooted in the prevailing mode of production and that economy is the ultimate determinant of all other aspects of life. The paper then concluded that, conflict or struggle will continue to manifest in capitalist societies so long there is income inequality due to unequal distribution of resources.
| 4 |
Author(s):
Dr. Mohammad I. Al-Khawalda, Baha Shwater.
Page No : 34-45
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The Effect of 1st Language on 2nd Language Acquisition: The Acquisition of English Prepositions by Arabic Native Speakers
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to investigate the source of the problem which Arab learners of English face when dealing with English prepositions. It has been noted that Arabic native speakers encounter serious problems when using English prepositions. Mainly, in the situation in which Arabic uses one preposition which stands for more than one preposition in English. For instance, it is difficult for our subjects to distinguish between prepositions like ‘on’, ‘at’ and ‘in’, among others, since Arabic uses on preposition (fii) to stand for all these prepositions. One hundred fifty subjects participated in this research. All are Arabic native speakers studying English as a second language at secondary level. The subjects were asked to answer a multiple choice test designed for this purpose. The test consists of 20 items. The study reveals that Arab learners of English face serious problems in using English prepositions. It turns out that their mistakes could be attributed to the effect of their first language That is, linguistic transfer or negative transfer is clear.
| 5 |
Author(s):
Abadu Judith Uchamma, A. A. Chahur (PhD).
Page No : 46-52
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The Role of Language Education in Restraining Global Terrorism and Hooliganism
Abstract
concern of this paper is that language education, among others, is a means of controlling terrorism and/or hooliganism in our society. It maintains that terrorist or hooliganist activities result in destruction of properties, physically wounded victims and deaths. With any, or all of such consequences, every member of a community becomes a casualty. This is a social problem that brings about considerable influence on a number of individuals and has negative consequences for a large number of people within a society. Based on personal observation and relevant literatures, it is demonstrated that wrong use of language can ignite misunderstanding, with attendant anti-social activities such as terrorism and/or hooliganism. And it is the same language, if appropriately used, can assist in limiting or curbing such deadly activities. It is concluded that any language to be used as a medium of communication should be mastered by a speaker, and especially, the teacher, whose mis-use of language in classroom can only lead to mis-understanding and lack of interest with negative consequences.
