Department of English

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    A bibliography of Nigerian corpus-based studies.
    (KRAFT BOOKS LIMITED, 2023) Akinola, Aderonke
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    A Corpus-based Study of Patterns of Triphthong Realisation in Educated Nigerian English
    (Journal of English Scholars’ Association of Nigeria, 2024) Akinola, Aderonke
    The existence of triphthongs in native and non-native English varieties is a controversial topic. Therefore, this paper undertakes a corpus-based study of the patterns of triphthong realisation in educated Nigerian English (NigE) to identify the phonological processes employed in their realisation. Natural phonology has been adopted as a theoretical framework based on its practical application against formal or rule-governed phonological theories. The spoken part of the International Corpus of English (ICE), Nigeria of over 600,000 words provided data for the study. Using AntConc corpus analysis toolkit (version 3.4.4.0), 26 lexical items that contain English triphthong sounds were searched for in the ICE-Nig corpus. Only 20 of the items that occurred ten times and more in the corpus were eventually selected for analysis. These were analysed quantitatively by counting the tokens of occurrence and the number of speakers and converting them to percentages. The findings revealed that triphthongs are variedly realised in NigE, through natural phonological processes of syllabification, diphthongisation and monophthongisation as a ‘natural’ solution to the general difficulty associated with their pronunciation. This marks NigE as different from RP and validates its peculiarity and uniqueness. The study re-echoes the ongoing clamour for the codification and standardisation of NigE so that it can also occupy its rightful place as a variety of World Englishes.
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    Africans and the New Diaspora
    (International Relations and Diplomacy, 2017-10) Eyeh, Stephen Obruthe
    This paper examines the life of Africans, using literature to discuss movements from Africa to other parts of the world as Diasporas. Such movements begin with slavery, to political asylum being sought and now self-initiated movements for trade, education, and labour for the facilitation of both information and industrial development. Relevant literatures are reviewed and analysed for their symbolic implications beyond the texts in order to establish the dialectic of facts and fiction. The relevant literatures include: Olaudah Equaino’s (1789) Equaino’s Travels, Joseph Conrad’s (1995) Heart of Darkness and Other Stories, and Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo’s (2008) Trafficked. This paper posits that prior to the 15th century, Africans were free in their natural milieu with either no threat to their lives or being alienated from their ancestral homes until the period of slavery. Sequel to the attainment of independence by most African countries with the hope for self-governance and development, corruption, civil wars, foreign debts, economic depression, famine, and poverty truncate the people’s hope for better living. African citizens therefore seek refuge abroad in countries with viable economy. With globalization, not only education and culture play significant roles, but also modern technology especially information and communication technology (ICT) play key roles in population drift in trade. There lies an absurdity that Africans now flee their once free homeland or countries to foreign lands which are perceived as “heaven on earth” because of their functional systems through effective governance. Thus, this paper concludes that new movements and new Africans in the Diaspora are self-initiated, imposed, and motivated irrespective of their being alienated from home and the risks involved since the end will justify the means.
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    Aspects of Non-Verbal Communication in Adichie's Purple Hibiscus
    (Ibadan Journal of English Studies, 2009) Unuabonah, Foluke
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    An Avant-Garde Re-Conceptualization of African (Yoruba) Culture in the Age Of Corona-Virus, Western Consciousness, and Globalization
    (Seventh Element Publishers, 2022) Adebayo, Abidemi Olufemi
    The paper examines the new social and cultural orientations in Africa with specific emphasis on the Yoruba society in Southwest Nigeria. Such new orientations constitute the new components of Yoruba culture as occasioned by the unprecedented negative effects of Covid-19 in Southwest Nigeria. Such novel cultural constituents are strange to the traditional African culture and social life. These novel cultural constituents include demystification of African (Yoruba) mysticism and apothecary, defeatist attack on African communalism, restriction on the showy O wambe (social gathering or fun party) philosophy, as well as cautious resentment of migration to the West or to the East which brings along with it the de-internationalization of the sensory taste. These novel cultural constituents tend to be in tandem with the contemporary global cultural and social realities. As such, the traditional African (Yoruba) cultural practices and beliefs (such as communalism) in their pristine nature are lackluster, and consequently do expose the people to the ravaging effects of Covid-19 pandemic. More evident dangers could be noted in the futility of the African cultural assumptions such as the perceptions of the traditional Yoruba people about the gods and prophets who are seen as their saviors whereas the custodians of the gods and those who claim to be of God interceding for the people possess manipulated identities. The new cultural philosophy has resulted in the progressive alliance with the Western values and a re-evaluation of globalization as a result of its both negative and positive effects. This could be deduced, respectively, from the global spread of Covid-19 and new found austerity among the Yoruba people as a novel cultural tenet. Key words: African culture, Covid-19, Globalization, Communalism, Southwest Nigeria
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    Bilingualism in the ESL Classroom: A blessing or a curse?
    (2013) Adebileje, Adebola Omolara
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    Communication and Study Skills
    (2014) Adebileje, Adebola Omolara
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    Communication Malady and the Tempering of Emotions with the Voice of Women in Global System of Mobile Communication (GSM) and Literature
    (Kaduna Journal of Humanities, 2023-11-20) Eyeh, Stephen Obruthe
    In this paper, the human speech of the female gender as it is employed using the global system for mobile communication (GSM) and the voice in conversation in dramatic texts (Shakespeare's Twelfth Night) is of major concern. Moreover, this paper analyses the various responses as recorded speeches made when a call is made by any caller using the mobile phones and the call cannot get through. It was discovered from these responses which are recorded messages are female voices. Although the veracity of some of the responses can be put to question, the feminine voice tempers emotions when a malady has occurred. In a similar vein, voice of a female character, Viola, a female character disguised as a male servant in William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night breaks the alienation and the state of incommunicado that Olivia places herself following the demise of her brother. Thus, this paper acknowledges the voice of the female gender which is soft, subtle and melodious as a necessary, natural therapy in all situations and contexts for the creation of psychological harmony and internal peace within and among persons in the home and in the public.
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    Corpus‐Based Morphophonemic Study of the ‘S’ Morph in Yoruba‐English Newscasters’ Speech
    (Association of Phoneticians and Phonologists, 2020) Akinola, Aderonke
    This paper attempts a morphophonemic study of the 's' morph in Yoruba English newscasters' (YENs) speech. The study seeks to ascertain YENs' mastery of the realisations of the allomorphs, having been exposed to training in pronunciation. The data were extracted from the spoken part of the International Corpus of English (ICE)-Nigeria using AntConc analysis toolkit version 3.4.4.0. Twenty-two newscasts of six notable YENs were selected from the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA). The newscasts were listened to and different realisations of morpheme s by each newscaster were analysed quantitatively by counting their tokens of occurrence and converting them to percentages. Findings show that out of 1,207 occurrences of 's' morph, 840 (69.60%) were realised as [s], [z] and [ɪz] following the native speakers' patterns. In contrast, 306 (25.35%) distinctive Nigerian English variants were articulated, while 61 (5.05%) were instances of deletion. The study presents YENs as sophisticated English users and identifies with the suggestion of NTA News English as a model for standard NigE variety.
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    Discourse Acts in Antenatal Clinic Literacy Classroom in South-Western Nigeria
    (LinguistikOnline, 2007) Unuabonah, Foluke
    This study examines the organization of discourse in antenatal classrooms in south-western Nigeria. Antenatal literacy classrooms are classes organized in hospitals and health centres for pregnant women to intimate them with the necessary health information needed in pregnancy. The data for this study were randomly selected from series of data recorded during some antenatal classes in some selected hospitals in Ile-Ife and its environs, all in south-western Nigeria. The data consist of tape recordings of the classroom sessions and observational notes. The study reveals that three categories of discourse act were most prominent in the data – informative, elicitation and directive. This shows that the antenatal educators were more active in the classes than the students. They maximized the use of their power in discourse, which gives them the [+ HIGHER] role. They therefore had the privilege to talk while the mothers listened. This places the pregnant women at the disadvantage of being passive learners, who cannot see the knowledge being passed across beyond the context of the class. Despite that they have access to information, they are not adequately empowered to influence the society with what they are being exposed to. Their perception of their role in the discourse was that of listeners. The findings have significant implications for health literacy programmes in Nigeria. It clearly shows that health literacy programmes, as we have observed in antenatal classrooms exist only as an aspect of functional health literacy – the aspect that recognizes that pregnant women need to know about their health by listening to experts. This makes the practice, as it is essentially transactional. The study concludes that for antenatal classrooms to achieve their goal of health security of pregnant women and their foetus, they have to be more interactive. There must be a departure from the lecture method used now to a method that actually involves the mothers.
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    Emergence of English New Native Speakers in Nigeria: reclassifying the English Speakers
    (2022-04-18) Babatunde, Samuel
    This research decolonises the concept of new native speakers to mean “those who are born in the inner circle” and establishes that, there are native speakers of English in Nigeria. More recently, a group of speakers has been identified known as; the English New Native Speakers. These speakers are mostly monolinguals, who have a good command of the English Language. They are without or with the bit of ability to speak or comprehend the local language(s) used around them. The new native speaker is a 21st-century phenomenon because these speakers have not been in existence in Nigeria before this time. This paper establishes the emergence of the New English Native Speakers in Nigeria and calls for the addition of new native speakers of English in the taxonomy of the existing classification of the speakers of English in Nigeria. This paper, therefore, advocates for the re-classification of the English speakers in Nigeria to include these new speakers. I postulate that the new taxonomy of the speakers in Nigeria should be grouped thus: English new native speakers (speakers with little or no indigenous language), English as a second language (those who developed English as a second language, English as the first language (those who speak English as the first language and later developed an indigenous language).
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    English Word Classes
    (2009) Adebileje, Adebola Omolara
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    The Essence of Good Handwriting
    (2009) Adebileje, Adebola Omolara