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- ItemOpen AccessAssessing the Quality of Translations into English as a Second Language(1987) Adegbite, A. B.This paper proposes a two-dimensional approach to describing translation texts from a mother tongue into a second language. The approach observes and describes the process(es) of message transfer from the source to the target language along one dimension and describes the reactions of interpretants to the source and target language messages along the other dimension. The binary-comparative approach is expected to explicate the intricate processes of transferring and interpreting messages in translation more than the unidimensional method of comparing source and target language forms, hitherto being used.
- ItemOpen AccessBilingual Competence and the Suppressive Influence of English on Yoruba(2011) Adegbite, Adewale BandeleThe contact between English and Yoruba, a Nigerian language, is a typical example of the language contact situation that has existed between English and many other Nigerian languages since the middle of the 19th Century. The contact between the languages has yielded some linguistic and sociolinguistic features, which overlap bi-directionally in the contact languages as aspects of linguistic facilitation or interference.
- ItemOpen AccessBilingualism-Biculturalism and the Utilization of African Languages for the Development of African Nations(2004) Adegbite, WaleThe slow rate of development of African nations vis-a-vis their counterparts all over the world has been a major concern throughout the 21st c. As we enter the century, it behoves African scholars and intellectuals and other non-Africans who have some goodwill for Africa to rise up and challenge this ugly situation. This paper argues that the lack of development of African nations can be mainly linked to the lack of recognition and underutilization of African languages and cultures. It has consistently escaped the attention of African policy-makers planners that language has the greatest potentials and capacity to enhance the development of human beings, as individuals or societies, hence their consistent neglect and silence about language when discussing matters of development. Using Nigeria as a point of reference, the study observes the patterns of social and language policies in Africa. It then examines the basis of government policies in order to identify the sources of socio-linguistic problems militating against national development. Lastly, it suggests the application of a bilingual-bicultural policy towards tackling the problems facing the nations of Africa. The key principles of bilingualism-biculturalism, viz (i) the conception of societal bilingualism-biculturalism, (ii) appropriate integration of tradition and modernity, and (iii) adequate utilization of mother-tongue and second language resources are explained and related to three key areas of national development -- politics, language choice and development, and education. The paper concludes by suggesting that new comprehensive language policies be formulated in African nations which will incorporate all features pertaining to the principles of bilingualism-biculturalism stated above.
- ItemOpen AccessBook Review Guy Cook. Discourse. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989, vi + 165pp.(1997) Adegbite, WaleDiscourse introduces the reader to the theories properties and presentation of the communication phenomenon known as discourse in language learning and teaching. The book is divided into three sections; theory and properties of the discourse, demonstration of discourse in language learning and teaching, and exploration of discourse development in the classroom. The first and second sections are equally developed in six chapters each while the third section has only one chapter.
- ItemOpen AccessCockroach in the Bath-Tub: Globalisation and the Trope of the Absurd(Faculty of Arts, Obafemi Awolowo University, 2004) Adeoti, Gbemisola AderemiUsing insights from dramatic literature, the paper seeks to enhance our perception of the ideals of globalisation vis-a-vis postcolonial African States. This is done through a fresh reading of Al hakim's Fate of a Cockroach, a play written from the perspective of the theatre of the absurd. Indeed from the suggestive nature of this theatrical approach, we can realise its relevance to our reflections on globalisation. What kind of philosophical and artistic temper does the theatre of the absurd articulate? What are the links between the dominant thought that inspired this theatrical approach in the 20th century and the current phenomenon of globalisation? What critical insights can we draw from the absurdist aesthetics toward the illumination of the new global order? What are the concrete lessons derivable from the textual exposition of the chosen play for contemporary Africa? What is Africa's contribution to and benefit from the "villagisation" of the globe? These are some of the pertinent questions that the paper addresses.
- ItemOpen AccessCurriculum Development and English Studies in Nigerian Secondary Schools(2005) Adegbite, WaleThis study points out some inadequacies in the English studies programme in secondary schools and suggests ways to collect them. The paper observes that in spite of the vital role that English plays in the lives of Nigerians, learners have not been able to use the language to communicate as effectively as they should. One reason for this is that there is yet to be a viable curriculum of English studies in the schools. Since the bulk of English learning takes place in school, it becomes essential to improve on the curriculum by identifying its inadequacies and suggesting ways of correcting them. The inadequacies pointed out in the work are mainly in respect of the syllabus and teaching methods. Suggestions are given in respect of the rectification of these and some other problems of the English studies curriculum in Nigerian secondary schools
- ItemOpen AccessDevaluation Aesthetics in Soyinka's Requiem for a Futurologist(1997) Adeoti, Gbemisola RemiQuite a great deal, once is aware, has been written on Wole Soyinka's satiric corpus. Many more would still have to be written because like other great writings. Soyinka's works are such that rarely court exhaustive and decisive interpretations. It is observable from many available studies dealing with Soyinka's satire that not much attention has been given to the formal and constitutive elements of this literary mode. They are either ignored or accorded little significance.
- ItemOpen AccessDiscourse Features of Feminism in Some of Flora Nwapa's Novels(2003) Adegbite, Wale; Kehinde, AyoThis study describes the discourse features of feminism in some of Flora Nwapa's novels, while focusing on two of them. Efuru (1966) and Women are Different (1981). The study identifies the discourse features in the texts and describes them under relevant discourse categories. Lastly, it interprets the messages of the texts by relating them to the social context of the Igbo/African reader. The findings of the study reveal several features pertaining to narrative technique, interaction, transaction, presence/absence/silence, turn taking and contributions of characters, moves and acts. For example, they reveal the following features under the narrative technique: the third-person omniscient narrator, collective heroinism and documentation/historicization. The above features and others which present control, dominance, as well as sex and social roles in the texts are illustrated, and some of them are discussed in order to foreground the literary-linguistic and feminist consciousness of Nwapa.
- ItemOpen AccessDiscourse Tact in Doctor-Patient Interactions in English: An Analysis of Diagnosis in Medical Communication in Nigeria(2006) Adegbite, Wale; Odebunmi, AkinThis study describes discourse tact in diagnoses in doctor-patient interactions in English in selected hospitals in South-western Nigeria. Using recorded conversations between doctors and patients in those hospitals as data, the mutual contextual beliefs of participants, speech act patterns, including linguistic patterns, and other pragmatic features are analyzed from the perspective of the pragmatics of discourse. The findings indicate the predominance of doctor-initiated spoken exchanges in which doctors elicit and confirm information and give directives to patients, while the patients give information and attempt to respond appropriately to the doctors' moves. It is also observed that conversation maxims are flouted and politeness maxims exploited in order to enhance successful diagnosis in the interaction. Finally, it is observed that doctor-patient interaction is only one out of many aspects of medical communication that require the attention of language scholars in order to gain insight into language as an act of social behaviour and action, especially with respect to the institution of medicine.
- ItemOpen AccessDrama and the Quest for Democracy in Post-Military Nigeria(Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa., 2005) Adeoti, Gbemisola RemiThis chapter focuses on the crucial intersection between the goals of politics and drama. While it identifies certain factors militating against the development of a genuinely democratic polity in postcolonial Nigeria, it highlights the prospects for a more democratically engaged dramaturgy and a reformed polity where democracy thrives and endures.
- ItemOpen AccessEnlightenment and Attitudes of the Nigerian Elite on the Roles of Languages in Nigeria(2003) Adegbite, WaleThis study describes the effect of enlightenment on attitudes of the Nigerian elite to the roles assigned to English and indigenous languages in Nigeria. From the results of a preliminary investigation into the attitudes of undergraduate students in a Nigerian University, it was presumed that enlightenment of citizens on the importance of indigenous languages vis-a-vis English in Nigeria might bring about a positive shift in their attitudes towards their mother tongues. The study then delves into available literature on enlightenment efforts and shifts in attitudes of Nigerians towards their indigenous languages and examines these issues in the wider context of language planning and national development. From all indications, it seems that, although a greater number of the elite class still do not have favourable dispositions towards their indigenous languages as they do towards English, the seed of the positive realisation of the complementary roles of indigenous languages and English in national development has been sown among a few Nigerians. What remains is for these few people to water this seed so that it can germinate and spread among all Nigerians in order to enhance collective participation towards national developmental efforts.
- ItemOpen AccessEthnography of Meaning Cues in Nonverbal Communication in South-western Nigeria(2006) Ayoola, Kehinde A.This study is a survey of nonverbal communication cues in the south-western Nigerian socio-cultural context. The paper's aim is to elicit features of nonverbal communication with unique cultural meanings in the context. The method of participant observation, often used by ethnographers of communication was employed for data collection and assigning of meaning cues to them. The writer, who resides in the Lagos metropolis, compiled a catalogue of nonverbal cues by observing the social and linguistic behaviours of the people in the area over a period of time. Categories and concepts of nonverbal communication such as kinesics, proxemics and chronemics were employed for the analysis of the data. It was discovered that, while several nonverbal cues observed have universal meanings, several examples have unique cultural meanings. It was also observed that nonverbal cues are frequently used both as complement to verbal communication and as alternatives to speech in the socio-cultural milieu studied.
- ItemOpen AccessFace Threats in Conversational Interactions in Orthodox and Traditional Medicines among the Yoruba in Southwestern Nigeria(2010) Adegbite, Wale; Odebunmi, AkinThis study describes face-threatening acts (FTA) in conversational interactions between medical practitioners and patients in orthodox and traditional medical practice among the Yoruba in Southwestern Nigeria. It utilizes as data base tape recorded conversations collected from doctors and patients in selected hospitals in the area, on the one hand, and conversations between practitioners (herbalists and divination priests) and patients in their consulting places, on the other hand. The findings reveal that language use in interactions between practitioners and clients in both Yoruba traditional medicine (YTM) and orthodox medicine (OM) features instances of FTA with redress (positive politeness) and FTA without redress (bald-on-record). YTM has more of the former features while OM has more of the latter features. Also, while the data do not show any instances of FTA with redress (negative politeness) and non-performance of FTA, there are however 'off record' strategies utilized in divination as an indirect means of diagnosing illnesses in YTM, while instances of non performance of FTA are observed in situations where doctors take notes, without making verbal responses to clients, while the latter are making complaints. It is further observed that expectations of indirectness in communication and social familiarity are carried into the consultative context of YTM and that clients are sometimes disappointed by the social distance and scary bluntness of communication in orthodox medicine.
- ItemOpen AccessGrammar and Meaning in Two Yoruba Texts: A Systemic Linguistic Description(1991) Adegbite, WaleA piece of language use or "text" can be described from different points of view using different levels of language as tools of description. A description of text along a semiotic dimension is perhaps the widest viewpoint of studying language use in social situation, a study along this dimension will cater for all features of language pertaining to the pragmatic, linguo-pragmatic and linguistic levels of a text. At the level of pragmatics, relevant features of situation(s) and uses of the text are accounted for as they can relate to and stimulate the selection of formal items of language in the text. At the level of linguistics, the meaning and form of the text are focused as they can respectively represent and realise the features of situation and use mentioned above. Lastly, at the linguo-pragmatic level, the message content and communicative functions of the text are the point of attention as they represent the interaction of the pragmatic and linguistic features in socio-communicative transactional events.
- ItemOpen AccessIdentity, Multiculturalism and the Democratic Imperative in Ahmed Yerima's the Silent Gods: A Critical Discourse(2002) Adeoti, G. R.One major factor that has hindered the growth of democracy in many post-independent African countries is the invidious manipulation of identities, especially by the elites, in the competition for limited national resources. Identities may be ethno-geographical, sexual, religious or generational in nature. It becomes difficult to secure a consensus on issues of democratisation among the people and in combating autocratic tendencies of postcolonial leaders, whether military or civilian. It breeds electoral fraud, nepotism, thuggery and arson. The consequence is that democratic governance is imperiled in such a dispensation.
- ItemOpen AccessIntroduction: African Politics and Letters after Soyinka's Nobel Prize(2006) Adeoti, Gbemisola; Evwierhoma, MabelAs it has been well acknowledged across the globe, Wole Soyinka is a leading figure when it comes to assessing Africa's contribution to world literature in contemporary times. He is, no doubt, a committed writer whose literary oeuvre blends in laudable measure, political engagement with artistic virtuosity. Here is a writer who is also a political activist, social crusader, cultural philosopher, literary theorist, mythopoet, dramatist, director, actor, film producer, essayist, critic and translator among other designations. Soyinka's works well exemplify the interventionist role of the African writer in politics, not only because the literature itself is born in the labour room of politics, but also because of the historical role of midwife constantly placed on the shoulders of statesmen, philosophers and intellectuals (among whom writers are) in the birth of a liberated and truly developing continent. Hence, his arts and politics leap beyond the text into the bewildering realm of everyday reality confronting absurdities on the streets as well as in the State House. Soyinka's adroit exploration of the indigenous African and Western artistic resources, written and oral, in this regard, has been well accounted for in literature. This much was not lost on the judges of the Nobel Prize when he was awarded that of Literature in 1986.
- ItemOpen AccessLanguage, Culture and Local Government Administration in Nigeria(2004) Adegbite, WaleThis study describes the role of language as an agent of effective communication in local government affairs in Nigeria. First, the paper establishes the relationship between language and culture and describes language as the most vital but neglected tool for cultural development. Second, with a conception of the local government as a cultural, albeit politico-cultural institution in the Nigerian nation, the paper then describes the patterns of language choice for communication in local government affairs in Nigeria. The paper specifies the domains of language use in local government affairs in Nigeria and observes the patterns and problems of language choice for effective communication in these domains. Then adopting some principles of bilingualism-biculturalism as a theoretical base, the paper suggests ways of promoting efficient language choices in order to enhance efficient local government administration. The paper suggests that for external communication the English language should be used for local-local, local-state and local-federal intergovernmental interactions. However, at the internal level, the indigenous language(s) should be used for official and public functions, while the room is also created for alternation between languages in cosmopolitan areas. Furthermore, interpretation and translation are useful interlingua facilities that can enhance the projection and modernization of languages in external communication and also in cosmopolitan internal communication. From the bilingual-bicultural perspective, it is observed that both the indigenous and second languages have vital roles to play in the evolvement of cultural identity at the local government level in Nigeria. However, the primacy of mother tongues must be recognized.
- ItemOpen AccessLanguage, Gender and Politics: a general perspective(Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization, 2009) Adegbite, WaleThe requirements of this short introduction to a festschrift on language, gender and politics are to provide scholarly definitions of the terms, explain the connection between the terms and justify the necessity for research in these areas and examine approaches to research in the areas.
- ItemOpen AccessThe Limitations of Yoruba-English Bilingual Undergraduate Students in the Expression of Yoruba Greetings(Linguistic Association of Nigeria, 2008) Adegbite, Wale; Akinwale, LayiThis study investigated the limited ability of some Yoruba-English speakers to express Yoruba greetings in either Yoruba or English. The responses of 120 Yoruba-English bilingual undergraduate students in a Nigerian university were elicited via the questionnaire and interview techniques and then analysed to determine, first, the strategies employed by the students in the expression of greetings and, second, their levels of competence in expressing greetings in both languages. The findings revealed that the students expressed the greetings via specific or general (socially acceptable), individual non-acceptable, and silence (no response) forms in both Yoruba and English; and that they found it more problematic to express greetings in English than in Yoruba. It was concluded that the non-expression of greetings as well as inability to express greetings appropriately is fast becoming a habit among the youths and that education and enlightenment efforts should be made to reverse this retrogressive trend.
- ItemOpen AccessLiterary Drama, Literacy and the Quest for Democracy in Nigeria: An Appraisal(2002) Adeoti, Gbemisola RemiThis paper, therefore, appraises Nigeria's literary engagement in drama with the democratic imperative. Specifically, it discusses the genre's efforts at information (especially political) dissemination –a cardinal goal of literacy toward democratic changes. The discussion is done within the context of a perceived convergence of interest in the interface of literacy, drama and democracy.
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