Pub Date : 2023-01-02DOI: 10.1080/10228195.2023.2197252
Victor Adedayo
Abstract Presidential interviews carry significant socio-political weight. Despite this, there is a dearth of research on Nigerian political interviews from the vantage of common ground. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the grounding techniques in two interviews of President Muhammadu Buhari and identify the pragmatic relevance of these strategies in accessing, building, and maintaining common ground. Using the theory of grounding as a theoretical basis, the top-down analysis revealed that the interviewer and interviewee utilised three main grounding techniques: alternative descriptions, referential instalments, and instalments. These three techniques were established by the use of proper nouns, appositives, relative clauses, and brief explanations. The study also demonstrated that the techniques (i) help to institute contexts to enable interlocutors and their audience to infer meaning appropriately, and (ii) indicate presuppositions and implicatures. The study concludes that grounding is a joint activity through which communication sails smoothly.
{"title":"Grounding Mechanisms in Selected Interviews of President Muhammadu Buhari","authors":"Victor Adedayo","doi":"10.1080/10228195.2023.2197252","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2023.2197252","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Presidential interviews carry significant socio-political weight. Despite this, there is a dearth of research on Nigerian political interviews from the vantage of common ground. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the grounding techniques in two interviews of President Muhammadu Buhari and identify the pragmatic relevance of these strategies in accessing, building, and maintaining common ground. Using the theory of grounding as a theoretical basis, the top-down analysis revealed that the interviewer and interviewee utilised three main grounding techniques: alternative descriptions, referential instalments, and instalments. These three techniques were established by the use of proper nouns, appositives, relative clauses, and brief explanations. The study also demonstrated that the techniques (i) help to institute contexts to enable interlocutors and their audience to infer meaning appropriately, and (ii) indicate presuppositions and implicatures. The study concludes that grounding is a joint activity through which communication sails smoothly.","PeriodicalId":43882,"journal":{"name":"Language Matters","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2023-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43067859","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-02DOI: 10.1080/10228195.2022.2147579
Marita Jordaan, J. Nel
Abstract This study investigated the possible facilitation of communicative competence development in adult beginner learners of Setswana in a set of self-access course materials. The overarching aim was to evaluate this set of self-access course materials to determine whether, and how, it facilitated the successful development of everyday communicative competence. Following a material evaluation procedure, a mixed method of data evaluation was used, including qualitative and quantitative data. New criteria were created to evaluate the set of self-access course materials. Results suggest that successful communicative competence development in Setswana is only possible if the self-access set of course materials is tailored to emphasise communication within varying social and cultural contexts. This can be accomplished by focusing on both form and function, while equipping learners with the necessary strategies to combat any external factors that might inhibit their language development.
{"title":"Material Evaluation of Communicative Competence in a Setswana Beginner Language Learning Course","authors":"Marita Jordaan, J. Nel","doi":"10.1080/10228195.2022.2147579","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2022.2147579","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This study investigated the possible facilitation of communicative competence development in adult beginner learners of Setswana in a set of self-access course materials. The overarching aim was to evaluate this set of self-access course materials to determine whether, and how, it facilitated the successful development of everyday communicative competence. Following a material evaluation procedure, a mixed method of data evaluation was used, including qualitative and quantitative data. New criteria were created to evaluate the set of self-access course materials. Results suggest that successful communicative competence development in Setswana is only possible if the self-access set of course materials is tailored to emphasise communication within varying social and cultural contexts. This can be accomplished by focusing on both form and function, while equipping learners with the necessary strategies to combat any external factors that might inhibit their language development.","PeriodicalId":43882,"journal":{"name":"Language Matters","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2023-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41631599","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-02DOI: 10.1080/10228195.2023.2202923
Y. Majola, M. Cekiso
Abstract Native speakers’ learning of dialects is often hampered where a standard language is used. Most learners in Umzimkhulu are members of the Baca people, who use Baca as a home language. Baca is regarded as a dialect of Xhosa, which is the only subject for learners to choose as a home language. The study investigated teachers’ experiences in teaching Xhosa as a home language to Baca-speaking learners from Umzimkhulu. Semi-structured interviews were administered to eight Foundation Phase Xhosa teachers who were purposively selected from three schools. A qualitative case study design was used. The theoretical framework for the study was sociocultural theory, and content analysis was used to analyse the data. The findings showed that learners’ conceptualisation of and expression in Xhosa was not up to standard. The authors propose that the government revisit the issue of learners who speak dialects but have to take standard languages as a home language in schools.
{"title":"Foundation Phase Teachers’ Experiences with Teaching Xhosa Home Language to Baca-Speaking Learners in Umzimkhulu","authors":"Y. Majola, M. Cekiso","doi":"10.1080/10228195.2023.2202923","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2023.2202923","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Native speakers’ learning of dialects is often hampered where a standard language is used. Most learners in Umzimkhulu are members of the Baca people, who use Baca as a home language. Baca is regarded as a dialect of Xhosa, which is the only subject for learners to choose as a home language. The study investigated teachers’ experiences in teaching Xhosa as a home language to Baca-speaking learners from Umzimkhulu. Semi-structured interviews were administered to eight Foundation Phase Xhosa teachers who were purposively selected from three schools. A qualitative case study design was used. The theoretical framework for the study was sociocultural theory, and content analysis was used to analyse the data. The findings showed that learners’ conceptualisation of and expression in Xhosa was not up to standard. The authors propose that the government revisit the issue of learners who speak dialects but have to take standard languages as a home language in schools.","PeriodicalId":43882,"journal":{"name":"Language Matters","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2023-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44381834","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-02DOI: 10.1080/10228195.2023.2203509
Folajimi Oyebola, Kingsley O. Ugwuanyi
Abstract Despite their increased functional load and widespread usage, no West African Pidgin English (WAPE) variety enjoys official recognition. In 2017, the BBC launched a Pidgin news service targeting the West African audience through its World Service branch in Nigeria. Now that WAPE is being promoted by the BBC, it remains to be known what attitudes speakers of WAPE varieties hold towards Pidgin in general and BBC Pidgin in particular. This study investigates the attitudes of Nigerian respondents towards the emergence of BBC Pidgin and their perception of Nigerian Pidgin, using the interview-questionnaire approach. The findings show that, generally, respondents have positive attitudes towards Nigerian Pidgin and BBC Pidgin. However, their attitudes towards considering using either of the two varieties for official purposes in Nigeria were generally negative, claiming that BBC Pidgin differs from the pidgin variety they use, especially with regard to its orthography and vocabulary.
{"title":"Attitudes of Nigerians Towards BBC Pidgin: A Preliminary Study","authors":"Folajimi Oyebola, Kingsley O. Ugwuanyi","doi":"10.1080/10228195.2023.2203509","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2023.2203509","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Despite their increased functional load and widespread usage, no West African Pidgin English (WAPE) variety enjoys official recognition. In 2017, the BBC launched a Pidgin news service targeting the West African audience through its World Service branch in Nigeria. Now that WAPE is being promoted by the BBC, it remains to be known what attitudes speakers of WAPE varieties hold towards Pidgin in general and BBC Pidgin in particular. This study investigates the attitudes of Nigerian respondents towards the emergence of BBC Pidgin and their perception of Nigerian Pidgin, using the interview-questionnaire approach. The findings show that, generally, respondents have positive attitudes towards Nigerian Pidgin and BBC Pidgin. However, their attitudes towards considering using either of the two varieties for official purposes in Nigeria were generally negative, claiming that BBC Pidgin differs from the pidgin variety they use, especially with regard to its orthography and vocabulary.","PeriodicalId":43882,"journal":{"name":"Language Matters","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2023-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48623884","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-02DOI: 10.1080/10228195.2023.2188244
E. Nyamekye, G. Anani, Getrude Kuttin
Abstract Language and identity are two distinct but inextricably intertwined concepts. This implies that people—especially bilinguals—may manipulate their linguistic repertoires in different social settings to portray different identities. In this regard, we examined the language choices of university students in different social settings and how they use language to construct identity. The study employed a sequential transformative mixed method design; thus, qualitative and quantitative data were collected in two separate periods for analysis. In total, 627 participants took part in the study. Sixty students were personally interviewed, whereas 567 participants filled out an online survey. The results of the study indicate that students speak English in formal communicative situations and speak their L1 in informal settings. They speak English to portray an intellectual identity, while their first languages are spoken to divulge their affiliation with their family and ethnicity.
{"title":"Language Choice and Identity Construction among Bilinguals at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana","authors":"E. Nyamekye, G. Anani, Getrude Kuttin","doi":"10.1080/10228195.2023.2188244","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2023.2188244","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Language and identity are two distinct but inextricably intertwined concepts. This implies that people—especially bilinguals—may manipulate their linguistic repertoires in different social settings to portray different identities. In this regard, we examined the language choices of university students in different social settings and how they use language to construct identity. The study employed a sequential transformative mixed method design; thus, qualitative and quantitative data were collected in two separate periods for analysis. In total, 627 participants took part in the study. Sixty students were personally interviewed, whereas 567 participants filled out an online survey. The results of the study indicate that students speak English in formal communicative situations and speak their L1 in informal settings. They speak English to portray an intellectual identity, while their first languages are spoken to divulge their affiliation with their family and ethnicity.","PeriodicalId":43882,"journal":{"name":"Language Matters","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2023-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42308664","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-02DOI: 10.1080/10228195.2023.2184416
Mayowa Akinlotan
Abstract Discourses in Nigeria are fixated on core cultural ideologies through a multidimensional interface. The present study tests this interface by mapping out ideologies in crisis-driven political discourse centred on the herdsmen crisis. The paper argues that certain ideologies are characteristic of Nigerian political discourse and form the meaningful units of a wide range of its discourses. Drawing on 757 news headlines reporting the herdsmen crisis, the study further attests that crisis discourse in Nigeria is often patterned around certain prevalent ideologies, that is, religious divide, ethnicity, nationhood, power abuse, and citizen distrust, which can further be mapped onto the socio-political landscape of the country. The paper argues that since crisis-driven discourse in Nigeria is a construct of its building block ideologies, such discourse is best deconstructed from such underlying ideological architecture.
{"title":"Mapping Patterns of Ideologies in Nigeria’s Socio-political Discourse: Evidence from Herdsmen Discourse","authors":"Mayowa Akinlotan","doi":"10.1080/10228195.2023.2184416","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2023.2184416","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Discourses in Nigeria are fixated on core cultural ideologies through a multidimensional interface. The present study tests this interface by mapping out ideologies in crisis-driven political discourse centred on the herdsmen crisis. The paper argues that certain ideologies are characteristic of Nigerian political discourse and form the meaningful units of a wide range of its discourses. Drawing on 757 news headlines reporting the herdsmen crisis, the study further attests that crisis discourse in Nigeria is often patterned around certain prevalent ideologies, that is, religious divide, ethnicity, nationhood, power abuse, and citizen distrust, which can further be mapped onto the socio-political landscape of the country. The paper argues that since crisis-driven discourse in Nigeria is a construct of its building block ideologies, such discourse is best deconstructed from such underlying ideological architecture.","PeriodicalId":43882,"journal":{"name":"Language Matters","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2023-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44245463","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-02DOI: 10.1080/10228195.2023.2185903
O. Adebomi
Abstract This study extends scholarship on COVID-19 discourse by identifying the discourse strategies in Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari’s COVID-19 speeches and the persuasive intentions each strategy serves. It examines the aptness of Buhari’s choice of words and tropes in the heat of the pandemic. It adopts Douglas Walton’s rhetorical pragmatics as theoretical anchor. Excerpts were selected using purposive sampling. The study reveals that Buhari deployed eight discourse strategies, which fall within the logos, ethos, and pathos categorisation, in his argumentation. These strategies include use of numbering, figures and dates, avoidance of courtesies, portrayal of government as proactive, deployment of negative adverbs, rolling out safety measures, acknowledgements, emphasis on collaboration, and referencing. He also deploys tropes such as repetition, pun, and personification to establish the need for compliance with COVID-19 protocols. The study recommends that further sociolinguistic analysis of COVID-19 texts would demystify linguistic barriers associated with the pandemic.
{"title":"A Pragma-Rhetorical Analysis of Speeches of Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari on COVID-19","authors":"O. Adebomi","doi":"10.1080/10228195.2023.2185903","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2023.2185903","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This study extends scholarship on COVID-19 discourse by identifying the discourse strategies in Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari’s COVID-19 speeches and the persuasive intentions each strategy serves. It examines the aptness of Buhari’s choice of words and tropes in the heat of the pandemic. It adopts Douglas Walton’s rhetorical pragmatics as theoretical anchor. Excerpts were selected using purposive sampling. The study reveals that Buhari deployed eight discourse strategies, which fall within the logos, ethos, and pathos categorisation, in his argumentation. These strategies include use of numbering, figures and dates, avoidance of courtesies, portrayal of government as proactive, deployment of negative adverbs, rolling out safety measures, acknowledgements, emphasis on collaboration, and referencing. He also deploys tropes such as repetition, pun, and personification to establish the need for compliance with COVID-19 protocols. The study recommends that further sociolinguistic analysis of COVID-19 texts would demystify linguistic barriers associated with the pandemic.","PeriodicalId":43882,"journal":{"name":"Language Matters","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2023-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45275935","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-02DOI: 10.1080/10228195.2023.2208451
L. Barnes
The opening article in this first issue of the year focuses on the two distinct but inextricably intertwined concepts, language and identity. Ernest Nyamekye, Gifty Anani and Getrude Kuttin examine how bilinguals manipulate their linguistic repertoires in different social settings to portray different identities. Their examination focuses on the language choices of university students at the University of Cape Coast in Ghana and how they use language to construct identity in different social settings.
{"title":"Editorial","authors":"L. Barnes","doi":"10.1080/10228195.2023.2208451","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2023.2208451","url":null,"abstract":"The opening article in this first issue of the year focuses on the two distinct but inextricably intertwined concepts, language and identity. Ernest Nyamekye, Gifty Anani and Getrude Kuttin examine how bilinguals manipulate their linguistic repertoires in different social settings to portray different identities. Their examination focuses on the language choices of university students at the University of Cape Coast in Ghana and how they use language to construct identity in different social settings.","PeriodicalId":43882,"journal":{"name":"Language Matters","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2023-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46843186","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-02DOI: 10.1080/10228195.2023.2193035
{"title":"Call for Contributions: A Special Issue on Afrikaans Sociolinguistics","authors":"","doi":"10.1080/10228195.2023.2193035","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2023.2193035","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":43882,"journal":{"name":"Language Matters","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2023-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49219702","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-09-02DOI: 10.1080/10228195.2022.2149969
Theodorus du Plessis
{"title":"Editorial","authors":"Theodorus du Plessis","doi":"10.1080/10228195.2022.2149969","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2022.2149969","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":43882,"journal":{"name":"Language Matters","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45673221","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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