Department of English-Journal Articles
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- ItemOpen AccessThe Structure of Texts from Herbalist-Client Encounters in Yoruba Traditional Medicine(1995) Adegbite, WaleUsing data from Yoruba therapeutic communication, this paper describes the structure of texts from herbalist-client encounters in the practice of Yoruba traditional medicine. The study reveals, among other things, that some Yoruba traditional medicine texts have solely dialogical structures which are constituted by diagnostic and prescriptive transactions, while some others combine the dialogical structures above with monological narratives, descriptions, arguments and requests made in divinatory, incantatory and supplicating transactions. It also reveals that the herbalist controls the interaction in the practice of Yoruba traditional medicine and takes very long turns which are used mainly to give information and directives to clients in the practice.
- ItemOpen AccessThe Pragmatic Relevance of Ironical Utterances in Yoruba Interactive Discourse(1999) Adegbite, WaleIn this paper we have maintained that ironical utterances are features of communicative interaction generally. They characterize conversations, interviews, drama dialogues, orations and stories. We thus observed the need to collect and study the occurrences of the utterances both within and outside literary studies. It was observed that ironical utterances performed referential, expressive, conative and phatic functions; did not perform poetic and metalinguistic functions. The utterances were also used to give remarks, scold, warn, tease, assure, tickle and greet. Thus, contrary to earlier impressions about what ironical utterances were used for, it was observed that these utterances were used to express both contemptuous and salutary intentions. It was observed that the utterances revealed a lot of cultural stereotypes among the Yoruba regarding the fear of the evil eye, sociability and social control and morality. They thus serve as a linguistic window through which attitudes and beliefs of the society can be viewed.
- 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 AccessTeaching Reading Comprehension in English through Vocabulary: A Demonstration of Some Strategies(2000) Adegbite, WaleThe effective teaching of reading comprehension to children requires the development of certain skills (viz: perceptive, cognitive and linguistic skills). These skills can be focused on severally during teaching or, otherwise, they can be integrated. Current thinking in teaching reading comprehension, however, would seem to favour the latter, in view of the maximum input benefit which pupils can derive from it.
- ItemOpen AccessSequential Bilingualism and the Teaching of Language Skills to Early Primary School Pupils in Nigeria(2000) Adegbite, WaleThis paper argues that the poor mastery of language skills in Nigeria's educational system can be attributed partly to the poor methods of teaching language skills in the system especially in early primary education. Given the fact that the bilingual concept is entrenched in the 1977 (revised 1981) Nigerian National Policy on Education, the approach of simultaneous bilingualism has been utilised in teaching mother tongue and English language skills - listening, speaking, reading and writing - in the primary schools for a long time now. The use of this approach is noticeable, especially, in classroom presentation and text book development. However, it is apparent that the approach has not been effective and, thus, has not enhanced the inculcation of permanent literacy which is a major objective of the educational policy. Using illustrations from some common Yoruba (mother tongue) and English course books for pupils in early primary education in Nigeria, the paper observes some of the limitations of simultaneously presenting language skills to children in early primary education, and suggests that the sequential presentation of skills be done to promote efficient bilingual education in the school system. The paper suggests that teachers and writers of course books of Yoruba and English should present language skills in a way in which some skills learnt earlier will facilitate the learning of later ones.