ABSTRACT Since Simon De Beauvoir’s Second Sex (1949), various debates have taken place concerning feminism and its objectives. The definition of feminism and what it means to a group of people or region has also been very controversial. In Africa, feminism has been received with mixed feelings leading to the proposal of alternative terms and definitions in a bid to clearly define the struggle of African women. The search for diversity in feminism that is responsive to the different needs an...
ABSTRACT The interrelationship between fiction and autobiography provides the grounds for a comparative study of two literary works of Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s Weep not, Child and his Dreams in a Time of War. The two texts are therefore placed side by side to draw the intertextual links between them. Ngugi’s works, both fiction and non-fiction, often articulate issues concerning his personal experiences as well as the socio-political concerns of the Kenyan people. Undertaking the comparativ...
ABSTRACT There is the general perception that the standard of English among students in Ghana at all the levels of education is falling in recent times. Chief Examiners’ reports received from the West Africa Examinations Council (WAEC) from 2005 to 2012 have regularly indicated that most students in Senior High School who fail in English, lack in-depth knowledge of the rudiments of the English language. Students’ lackadaisical approach to the teaching and learning of the language may be a...
ABSTRACT Politics is one vocation which is indispensably yoked with language. Politicians need to be at their persuasive best to win voters over. The best speakers stand the best chance of getting elected or swaying the opinions o f others one particular way or the other. Oratory is about the best endowment in politics. This thesis is based on the part metaphors played in the political speeches of Nkrum ah and Rawlings. Nkrumah and Rawlings’ long reigns can be attributed to their oratory, t...
ABSTRACT The Transformational Generative Grammar (TGG) has been established as a pedagogical aid in teaching native speakers of English; as these native speakers have an implicit knowledge of grammatical rules. This current study is aimed to examine how the same TGG could be used as a pedagogical aid in teaching non-native speakers of English since English is their second language (L2) and they might not have the implicit knowledge of English grammatical rules. The study adopted mixed methods...
ABSTRACT Since Simon De Beauvoir’s Second Sex (1949), various debates have taken place concerning feminism and its objectives. The definition of feminism and what it means to a group of people or region has also been very controversial. In Africa, feminism has been received with mixed feelings leading to the proposal of alternative terms and definitions in a bid to clearly define the struggle of African women. The search for diversity in feminism that is responsive to the different needs an...
ABSTRACT Drawing on Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) as theorized by Fairclough, Van Dijk, and Wodak, this thesis attempts a detailed analysis of proverbs in Ewe which describe, prescribe and circumscribe ways of being male and female. Forty (40) selected proverbs, grouped into four categories, are analysed under three stages in Fairclough’s model: the Descriptive, Interpretive and Explanational stages. The literary and linguistic features of the proverbs and their socio-cultural contexts ...
Abstract The thesis is a feminist stylistic study which used the works of Ifeoma Okoye as a case study for a reassessment of the feminist discourse. It aimed at examining and unravelling how Ifeoma Okoye deployed language and style in her works to establish a non- radical and non-rebellious feminist message which preached complementarity of the sexes. It could be said that radical feminism had yielded little dividends in Africa and this was not unconnected with the fact that female radicalis...
ABSTRACT This study examined the way in which socio – cultural identities and ideological motivation permeate English language learning and the effect on language competence. The investigation looked at two diametrically distinct schools (i.e. a Grade A and a Grade C school) particularly in the area of the students` background and motivation, to ascertain the effect of these socio – cultural and motivational factors that impinge on the learning of grammar and vocabulary, which reflects in...
ABSTRACT The study investigates the performance of students in Colleges of Education in the English language.The researcher is an English language tutor at the SDA College of Education and has observed over a period that the students perform poorly in the English language examinations. The study is guided by four research questions. They are (1) Are trainee teachers’ performance in the English language affecting pupils’ performance at the basic school level? (2) What are the causes of tra...
ABSTRACT Studies show that the main English writing problem area of students in the second cycle institutions in Ghana relates to violation of English concord rules. Concord rules are taught at all levels of education in Ghana, but unfortunately, most senior high school students have challenges making their sentences concordant. This situation is not different from what the researcher observed in the writing of students of Koforidua Senior High Technical School. The study sets forth to ascert...
ABSTRACT This study seeks to make a linguistic analysis of television talk show, a case study of NTA Kaduna with the aim of describing the nature of its dialogue, providing an assessment of it, and exposing the peculiarities therein. It brings to the fore features that have otherwise not been observed in talk show. The usual assumption by discourse analysts is that language used in institutionalized or formal settings is structured and follow the tenets of discourse analysis. As a result, th...
ABSTRACT This project is an attempt to explore the recurring grave concerning the academic performance of students. Though a large percentage of students in Nigeria learn English as a second language and are instructed in it, the Nigerian pidgin seems to interfere with their acquisition of the language and their performance in it much more than their mother tongues. The impact of pidgin contributes in no small measure to the dismal performance of students in their academic career
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY This project is an attempt to study some of the semantic redundancies found in students' speech. This is with a view to identify some long observed peculiarities in the use of redundancy in the students' use of English. In the context of language studies, semantics occupies the end continuum. Semantics is at the top level because it deals with communication and interpretation. The major problem is with the definition of the subject simply as the study of meaning. Mean...
Introduction Language is characterized by set of vocal sounds which can be decoded. These are produced by human organs of speech- lips, tongue, and larynx etc. The vocal sounds produced by the vocal organs are used in various systematic and rule governed combinations. Language is thus a human phenomenon that has form which can be described in terms of the units of sound (phonemes), words, morphemes, phrases, and paragraph or discourse. Human language is unique in the sense that it has its ow...