| Content | CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
This research is on Awareness of realism through the eyes of two renowned authors Chinua Achebe (A man of the people) and Adamu Kyuka Usman (The siege).
Realism is an approach to life that means dealing with the way things are. If you see the world through the lens of realism, you accept what's in front of you and don't pretend it's otherwise.
Realism is the belief that some aspects of reality are ontologically independent of our conceptual schemes, perceptions, linguistic practices, beliefs, etc. Realism may be spoken of with respect to other minds, the past, the future, universals, mathematical entities (such as natural numbers), moral categories, the physical world, and thought. Realism can also be promoted in an unqualified sense, in which case it asserts the mind-independent existence of the world, as opposed to skepticism and solipsism. Philosophers who profess realism often claim that truth consists in a correspondence between cognitive representations and reality.
Realists tend to believe that whatever we believe now is only an approximation of reality but that the accuracy and fullness of understanding can be improved. In some contexts, realism is contrasted with idealism. Today it is more usually contrasted with anti-realism, for example in the philosophy of science. The oldest use of the term "realism" appears in medieval scholastic interpretations and adaptations of Greek philosophy.
Broadly defined as "the faithful representation of reality" or "verisimilitude," realism is a literary technique practiced by many schools of writing. Although strictly speaking, realism is a technique, it also denotes a particular kind of subject matter, especially the representation of middle-class life. A reaction against romanticism, an interest in scientific method, the systematizing of the study of documentary history, and the influence of rational philosophy all affected the rise of realism. According to William Harmon and Hugh Holman, "Where romanticists transcend the immediate to find the ideal, and naturalists plumb the actual or superficial to find the scientific laws that control its actions, realists center their attention to a remarkable degree on the immediate, the here and now, the specific action, and the verifiable consequence" (A Handbook to Literature 428).
Many critics have suggested that there is no clear distinction between realism and its related late nineteenth-century movement, naturalism. As Donald Pizer notes in his introduction to The Cambridge Companion to American Realism and Naturalism: Howells to London, the term "realism" is difficult to define, in part because it is used differently in European contexts than in American literature. Pizer suggests that "whatever was being produced in fiction during the 1870s and 1880s that was new, interesting, and roughly similar in a number of ways can be designated as realism, and that an equally new, interesting, and roughly similar body of writing produced at the turn of the century can be designated as naturalism" (5). Put rather too simplistically, one rough distinction made by critics is that realism espousing a deterministic philosophy and focusing on the lower classes is considered naturalism.
In American literature, the term "realism" encompasses the period of time from the Civil War to the turn of the century during which William Dean Howells, Rebecca Harding Davis, Henry James, Mark Twain, and others wrote fiction devoted to accurate representation and an exploration of American lives in various contexts. As the United States grew rapidly after the Civil War, the increasing rates of democracy and literacy, the rapid growth in industrialism and urbanization, an expanding population base due to immigration, and a relative rise in middle-class affluence provided a fertile literary environment for readers interested in understanding these rapid shifts in culture. In drawing attention to this connection, Amy Kaplan has called realism a "strategy for imagining and managing the threats of social change" (Social Construction of American Realism ix).
Realism was a movement that encompassed the entire country, or at least the Midwest and South, although many of the writers and critics associated with realism (notably W. D. Howells) were based in New England. Among the Midwestern writers considered realists would be Joseph Kirkland, E. W. Howe, and Hamlin Garland; the Southern writer John W. DeForest's Miss Ravenal's Conversion from Secession to Loyalty is often considered a realist novel, too.
Other Views of Realism
"The basic axiom of the realistic view of morality was that there could be no moralizing in the novel [ . . . ] The morality of the realists, then, was built upon what appears a paradox--morality with an abhorrence of moralizing. Their ethical beliefs called, first of all, for a rejection of scheme of moral behavior imposed, from without, upon the characters of fiction and their actions. Yet Howells always claimed for his works a deep moral purpose. What was it? It was based upon three propositions: that life, social life as lived in the world Howells knew, was valuable, and was permeated with morality; that its continued health depended upon the use of human reason to overcome the anarchic selfishness of human passions; that an objective portrayal of human life, by art, will illustrate the superior value of social, civilized man, of human reason over animal passion and primitive ignorance" (157). Everett Carter, Howells and the Age of Realism (Philadelphia and New York: Lippincott, 1954).
"Realism sets itself at work to consider characters and events which are apparently the most ordinary and uninteresting, in order to extract from these their full value and true meaning. It would apprehend in all particulars the connection between the familiar and the extraordinary, and the seen and unseen of human nature. Beneath the deceptive cloak of outwardly uneventful days, it detects and endeavors to trace the outlines of the spirits that are hidden there; tho measure the changes in their growth, to watch the symptoms of moral decay or regeneration, to fathom their histories of passionate or intellectual problems. In short, realism reveals. Where we thought nothing worth of notice, it shows everything to be rife with significance."
-- George Parsons Lathrop, 'The Novel and its Future," Atlantic Monthly 34 (September 1874):313 24.
“Realism is nothing more and nothing less than the truthful treatment of material.” --William Dean Howells, “Editor’s Study,” Harper's New Monthly Magazine (November 1889), p. 966.
"Realism, n. The art of depicting nature as it is seen by toads. The charm suffusing a landscape painted by a mole, or a story written by a measuring-worm." --Ambrose Bierce The Devil's Dictionary (1911)
Context and Controversy
In its own time, realism was the subject of controversy; debates over the suitability of realism as a mode of representation led to a critical exchange known as the realism war. (Click here for a brief overview.)
The realism of James and Twain was critically acclaimed in the twentieth century. Howellsian realism fell into disfavor, however, as part of early twentieth century rebellion against the "genteel tradition." For an account of these and other issues, see the realism bibliography and essays by Pizer, Michael Anesko, Richard Lehan, and Louis J. Budd, among others, in the Cambridge Guide to Realism and Naturalism.
Chinua Achebe (born Nov. 16, 1930) is a Nigerian novelist, critic and poet; he is one of the most-read African authors. His works have primarily focused on “African politics, the depiction of Africa and Africans in the West, and the intricacies of pre-colonial African culture and civilization, as well as the effects of colonization of African societies” (Achebe, 1988b). His well-known literary critique An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” (Achebe, 1988a) is considered by many to be the most assertive, debated, and seminal treatise of its type. Achebe rejected Joseph Conrad as “a thorough going racist” who projected Africa as “a metaphysical battlefield devoid of all recognizable humanity, into which the wandering European enters at his peril” (Ibid: 38). This said, the present paper investigates various aspects of realism that appear in Achebe’s novel A Man of the People, and describes various political and social changes that have taken place in Nigeria since its publication in 1967. It also evaluates A Man of the People as a work of fiction among other realistic novels.
Adamu Kyuka Usman, hails from Bafai-Kanai in the middle part of Nigeria. He holds a Bachelors, Masters and PhD degrees in law and is a Professor at the Faculty of Law, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Other law books by the author include: The Law and Practice of Equity and Trust, Environmental Protection Law and Practice, and Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry: Institutions, Issues, Law and Policy.
Generally, English-language fiction falls into the categories of romance or realism. Romances tend to represent life as one might think it to be, and create a relatively heroic, adventurous, or picturesque world. In contrast, works of realism portray the world as it really appears. Books by realists such as Defoe tend to use a reportorial manner, presenting material in a circumstantial, matter-of-fact kind of way, and create for the reader an illusion of actual experience. Abrams (1971: 141) noted that the term ‘realistic novel’ “is more usefully applied to works which are realistic both in subject and manner ... throughout the whole rather in parts ....” Additionally, Gray (1992: 241) has noted that realism “is best used for writers who show explicit concern to convey an authentic impression of actuality, either in their narrative style, or by their serious approach to their subject matter”. Among English-speaking African novelists, Chinua Achebe has been particularly successful in creating a realistic representation of an African environment. He is one of the major writers from the African subcontinent who have given a new direction to English-language African literature by representing, realistically, an African environment and giving expression to a sense of increasing disgust and unrest within its population. Carroll wrote that Achebe and Adamu appears to be continually haunted by nostalgia for the “rediscovery of Africa’s past” (Caroll, 1975: 11). Their novels appear to be an attempt to come to terms with a struggle, or, “as it were, to sensitively register their encounter with history, his people’s history” Ngugi (1975: 39) as well as to help his “society regain belief in itself and put away the complexes of the years of denigration and self-abasement” (Achebe, 1975: 43). Such realism is explicit in Achebe’s novels; he has written about the subjugated, exploited majority of the African population, and their vision of the future after gaining independence from colonial rule and emerging from the “colonial complex” (Duerden & Pieterse, 1972: 8). Explaining that this history dominates their lives, Achebe says, “I would be quite satisfied if my novels (especially the ones I set in the past) did no more than teach my readers that their past with all its imperfection was not one long night of savagery from which the first European acting on God’s behalf delivered them” (Achebe,1975: 44). Novels such as Things Fall Apart (1958), Arrow of God (1964), No Longer at Ease (1960), A Man of the People (1967), and Anthills of the Savannah (1987) exemplify his goal of social realism and his attempts to restore the lost dignity of his people by allowing his readers to examine their past and to resolve what he terms a ‘crisis in the soul.’ Anthills of the Savannah (1987) portrays modern, independent, post-colonial (in this case, neo-colonial) urban Africa. It details the general, societal and individual turbulence within a fictional late 20th century African country named Kanga, which clearly represents Nigeria. The novel dramatizes political struggles between Africans, illustrates the continuing influence of Britain and other Western countries on African economics and culture, and ends with a government being overthrown by a coup.
Most Nigerians especially the ones born in the present Republic seems not to be able to comprehend the reasons behind the present condition of Nigeria, how Nigeria got where they are and how possible it can be to leap frog from the current situation. Realism is seen as an approach to life that means dealing with the way things are. The problem of Nigeria lies in their inability to accept things the way they are and think of a possible way of changing it. The two novels was chosen as to explore the concept of realism enshrined in them in attempt to teach Nigerians the needs to accept things the way they are before working towards improving them.
The objective of this study is to create an awareness of realism through the eyes of two renowned authors Chinua Achebe (A man of the people) and Adamu Kyuka Usman (the siege).
This project concentrates on the theme of political suppression in A man of the people and the siege. The intention of the researcher is to show that the problem the country and her citizens are passing through did not start from nothing rather, it is something that started a long time ago through a gradual process.
- SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY:
The scope and limitation is on the theme of political apathy etc. in A man of the people and The siege by Chinua Achebe and Adamu Kyuka Usman so as to prevent the project from being untidy and ambiguous in nature. From intense research, we believe that A man of the people and the siege, an eye witness account is accurate enough to fully express the terms of political apathy because it has made a strong impact on African literature with its strong commentary on the cultural, political, racial and social issues going on during the period of 20th century.
The very title of the book “A man of the people and the siege” already gives us an idea of our thematic discussion because he uses the term ‘man of the people and siege’ in the title to emphasize the fundamental political facts of the country; the good citizens against bad politicians who hides under the pretense of having the people interest at heart.
The methodology used in this project is a Carl Jung (1952) psychological approach in literature. It is believed that this approach will best expose the inner mind and psychological torture of the people in A man of the people. Political and social responsibilities are better analyzed, examined and portrayed through the workings of the intellectual thinking of those affected. This approach is the only approach that has helped to review visual and close insight of confrontations and conflicts between the haves and have not. | CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Nigerias political problems sprang from the carefree manner in which the British took over, administered, and abandoned the government and people of Nigeria. British administrators did not make an effort to weld the country together and unite the heterogeneous groups of people. Though, many things we have today is due to their enlightenment, they still left us hanging. According to Adewele Ademoyega in his book Why We Struck 1981, he said that when the British came, they forcibly rubberstamped the political state of the ethnic groups of Nigeria, and maintained that status quo until the left. According to him upon their departure nearly a hundred years later, the people resumed fighting for their political rights.
When the British came to Nigeria as an imperial nation to take over the rulership of the country from 1861 with the cession of Lagos, they met the people of the south totally free, only observing and regulating their own monarchies and institutions Adewele Ademoyega: Why We Struck. Chinua Achebe in his work or novel Things Fall Apart, 1958, tries to portray the life Africans lived before and during the arrival of the Europeans in Nigeria.
Things Fall Apart tells the tragic story of the rise and fall of Okonkwo and the equally tragic story of the disintegration of Igbo culture, symbolized by the agrarian society of Umofia, under the relentless encroachments of British Christian imperialism.
For Achebe, Mister Johnson represents the worst kind of portrayal of Africans by Europeans. To him, the portrayal was all the more disheartening because John Cary was working hard to achieve and accurate depiction, unlike many British authors during the imperial colonial period who deliberately, often cynically, exploited stereotyped of Africans and African society. It was precisely because John Cary was a liberalminded and sympathetic writer, as well as a colonial administrator that Achebe felt the record had to be set straight. Achebes purpose then is to write about and for his own people. His first novels form a continuum over one hundred years of Igbo civilization. The Europeans have not yet penetrated Umuofia, the setting of the first novel, when Things Fall Apart beings. When the novel ends colonial rule has been established. His other novels talk about the different changes that took place before independence and after it.
The British governed Nigerian indirectly through their traditional rulers, as a result, the true leader of the masses hamstrung and held down. Just because Africans were given authority to rule over her own people, they saw it as a means to maltreat those that have wronged them, extort from those that have more than them and sell his/her own brother and sister for favours from the superior leaders The British. Adewele Ademoyega: Why We Struck.
These actions by the local and foreign leaders made the people to sort for independence. Many of them were not thinking straight any more. Many people now saw the need to transfer their faults to others using others as an excuse. The present leader blame the colonial masters and fore runnersforindependence for their actions for not doing what is expected of them well and also for the embezzlement and stealing of public funds. They claim that the colonial masters taught them to do so. The political elites in other to become rich and influencial in the society, steal and blame it on the economy and leaders. No one takes responsibility for his own crime and faults.
Between the politicians and the military they blame one another for a bad government no one agrees that the other is better than himself. In the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, people do all type of things just to steal from the petroleum companies they believe that it is their own right and bunkering which is a common business there is not stealing. That is why Tanure Ojaide uses his novel The Activist to enlighten the people of what is happening in the Niger Delta areas. He says those that claim to be literate in the society are the Chief Criminals sabotaging one another. Everybody in the country is in one way or the other suffering from the harms political corruption brought, we are psychosocial disordered.
Kole Omotoso in his fictions focuses on identifying the problems in Nigerian society and proposing solution. He lived his childhood and adolescence, sharing the nationalist dreams of peace, progress, and prosperity, as an adult and as a writer, he was forced to watch the systematic deferment of these dreams after independence for decades after freedom from colonial rule, Nigeria was cursed by civil strife, including a civil war 1967 1970 and incessant military coups detat. These events, together with undemocratic rule political chicanery and bureaucratic cynicism resulted in a steady decline in the quality of life in a nation that, because it is the most populous black nation on earth is often looked upon as representative of the black race. Omotoso tries to use fiction to talk about the decay and chaos in the society but he tries to make it less real like Armah did in his The Beautyful Ones are not yet Born.
1.1 Definition of Terms
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality is also considered political corruption.
Forms of corruption vary, it include: bribery, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, patronage, graft and embezzlement. While corruption may facilitate criminal enterprises such as drug trafficking, money laundering and trafficking, it is not restricted to these activities. While political corruption is an illegal abuse of power, psychosocial disorder is the mental reaction one gets from it.
Psychosocial disorder is a mental illness caused or influenced by maladjusted cognitive and behavioural processes.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Due to the political dictatorship and the high rate of starvation and poverty in the country, many of the people are suffering from problems caused by the many ways they are treated and controlled.
Their manner of thinking have been blurred with the idea that if they steal or kill to survive, it is not a crime because their leader are also thieves who loot the national treasure and put is in their foreign accounts.
Again due to this, the citizens are psychosocially disordered and their minds corrupt. The key problem is the government. Because of the corrupt nature of the society, the government sells her pride and glory to foreign companies and enterprise. This people now treat the natural inhabitants of the areas where the companies are located like animals without dignity. Example is the Niger Delta area of Nigeria which is the oil producing state.
The major problem is between the people and her government. Both are psychologically and socially sick. The pain of poverty and starvation in abundant money have destroyed the peoples mind that they no longer think or reason straight.
1.3 Aim and Objectives
The objectives of this research are;
To identify the problems caused by political corruption and
To provide suggestion to the prevention of political corruption and psychosocial disorder and find a way to eliminate it completely from the society in general.
1.4 Significance of the study
Political corruption and psychosocial disorder using The Activist by Tanure Ojaide and Arrow of Rain by Oke Ndibe, will serve as a good material to students researchers.
This work will show how the government and the citizens and foreign companies helped in the corruption of the society and her environment and how the act of corruption has disordered everything.
1.5 Scope of Research
This project is restricted to the study of the political corruption and psychosocial disorder, using Tanure Ojaides The Activist and Okey Ndibes Arrow of Rain and other relevant literary work of some other Nigerian and African prose writers and commentaries on corruption.
The research is divided into five chapters, chapter one consist of the introduction, definition of term, statement of the problem, aims and objectives, significance of the study, scope of research and research methodology. Chapter two is the review of related literature, chapter three is textual analysis of the novel The Activist by Tanure Ojaide, Chapter four is textual analysis of the novel Arrows of Rain Arrow of Rain by Okey Ndibe and chapter five is the summary and conclusion.
1.6 Research Methodology
The main source of this research work is textual analysis of The main source of this research work is textual analysis of The Activist by Tanue Ojaide and Arrow of Rain by Okey Ndibe.
The secondary materials are from the library, texts, magazine and some works on African prose writers. | CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction of the Background
This research is on the impact of the mother tongue in English language among Englishary school students in Oju local government, Benue State. Learning English language has been important to human beings from earliest historical times. The Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics states that “the Sumerians of the third millennium BC used bilingual tablets in Sumerian and Akkadian to educate their children, and compiled the world’s oldest known bilingual dictionaries. Bilingual tablets were used in ancient Egypt, and, in the Ptolemaic period, the upper classes in Egypt received their education in Greek. In the Hellenistic period, the majority of people in Asia Minor who could read and write did so in Greek, their English language. Until the fourth century BC, bilingual education in Greek and Latin was an important part of the curriculum for Roman children” (Simeons, 2001).
In line with this, Otagburuagu states that “English language learning could arise from a social or political factor. For instance, colonization, trade and commerce could create a conducive atmosphere for the development of a English language” (David, 2003). He continued by saying that “the colonization of Nigeria, Ghana etc by Britain must be seen as the primary factor that gives rise to the adoption of the English language as the English language in these countries. Multilingualism as well as the desire for social integration could give rise to English language learning too” (Otagburuagu, 2001). In support of this view, Verghese also states that “it is a historical accident that led to English taking deep roots in Canada, Australia and the United States” (Verghese, 2008). He further states that “history again has played a part in English being used widely in other countries in Africa and Asia. Those countries were the colonies of Great Britain, and since the day they came under Britain rule, English has been taught and used as a medium of communication there” (Verghese 2008).
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Interference is the impact of one language, dialect or other linguistic features upon another’s phonology, grammar and vocabulary. In the course of using English as a English language, there is inter-lingual interference. That is, the impact of one language upon another’s phonology, grammar and vocabulary. The language which a group of people considered to be inhabitants of an area acquire in their early years and which normally becomes their natural instrument of thought and communication may interfere with the English language, and these interferences may manifest itself in any aspect of the language such as phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics. When an Igbo man for instance says; “I hear a smell” to mean “I perceive an odour” or when the Hausa man says “I am coming here yesterday” to mean “I came here yesterday; or also when the Igede man says “did you hear me” to mean “did you understand me?”; they transliterate the syntax of their respective mother- tongue into English Language. It is also a well known fact that Igbo learners’ interference problem is different from that of the Hausa and Yoruba learners’ and vice versa.
This research work, therefore, seeks to identify the ways in which the mother-tongue ‘Igede’ impacts the learning and Impact of the target language which in this study is the English language.
1.3 Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of the mother- tongue ‘Igede’ on the learning and Impact of English among the junior Englishary school students of Oju local government area of Benue State, where Igede is an indigenous language and is mostly used in communication.
1.4 Research Questions
The research questions are as follows:
- Does phonology of Mother Tongue Impact on English Language
- How does syntax impact on English Language
- How does semantics impact on the use of Mother Tongue in English Language
1.5 Hypothesis
The following hypothesis are used in this research:
- The phonology of Mother Tongue has no significant impact on English Language.
- The syntax of Mother Tongue has no impact on English Language.
- The semantics of Mother Tongue has no impact of English language.
1.6 Significance of Study
The significance of study include:
- Identify the phonology of Mother Tongue on English Language
- Investigate the syntax of Mother Tongue on English Language
- Examine the semantics of Mother Tongue on Englidh Language
1.7 Scope of the Study
The study will focus only on the Igedes’ people’s experience. It will focus on learner-users of English as a second language, taking note of its phonological, and lexical impact on English language. The study covers some Government schools located in Oju local government area where Igede is their indigenous language and the English language is usually learnt in school.
The population will be made up of junior secondary school students of JSS 1 and 2.
1.8 Operational Definition Of Terms
Phonology : The study of the speech sounds of a particular language.
Phonetics: The study of speech sounds, and how they are produced.
Semantics: The study of the meaning of words and phrases, used in a sentence.
Syntax: The manner in which words are put together, to form sentences. |
ABSTRACT
This research work is geared towards assessing the similarities and differences of marking plurality in English and Igbo languages. This long essay is organized in five chapters. The first chapter is the introduction that entails the background of study, objectives of study, significance of study, research problem questions, scope and delimitation of the study and the research methodology. Chapter two contains the review of literature, which is the analysis of peoples opinion of plurals and the theoretical framework. Chapter three treats the description of population of the study, research instrument, the questionnaire method, the textual material method, the procedure for data collection, sampling procedure, research design and data analysis techniques. Chapter four is the presentation of the data analysis that is used in the research and findings. Finally, chapter five is the summary of the work, conclusion and recommendation.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE I
CERTIFICATION II
APPROVAL PAGE III
DEDICATION IV
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS V
ABSTRACT VI
TABLE OF CONTENTS VII
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY 1
1.2 OBJECTIVES OF STUDY 10
1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY 10
1.4 RESEARCH PROBLEMS 11
1.5 SCOPE AND DELIMITATION FOR THE STUDY 12
1.6 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 12
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW 13
2.1 THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK 29
2.2 THE TRADITIONAL DESCRIPTION OF WORD FORMATION OF
THE PLURALITY IN ENGLISH AND IGBO LANGUAGE 29
CHAPTER THREE
3.0 INTRODUCTION 31
3.1 DESCRIPTION OF THE POPULATION OF THE STUDY 31
3.2 RESEARCH INSTRUMENT 31
3.3 THE QUESTIONNAIRES METHOD 32
3.4 THE TEXTUAL MATERIAL METHOD 32
3.5 PROCEDURE FOR DATA COLLECTION 32
3.6 SAMPLING PROCEDURE 33
3.7 RESEARCH DESIGN 33
3.8 DATA ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES 34
CHAPTER FOUR
4.0 INTRODUCTION 35
4.1 ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA 35
4.2 METHOD OF DATA ANALYSIS 35
4.3 FINDINGS 45
CHAPTER FIVE
5.0 INTRODUCTION 47
5.1 SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS 47
5.2 CONCLUSION 48
5.3 RECOMMENDATION 51
WORK CITED 52
APPENDIX 54
| ABSTRACT
This research presented in this study aimed at investigating the problems of noun phrase word order in English among the second language learners, using 190 undergraduate students of English Department, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka as a case study. The study explored the structure of English noun phrase, particularly the complex ones. The researcher observed that the arrangement of components of complex noun phrase often caused difficulties for the ESL students who have attained the level of making complex constructions in their academic writings. The researcher critically examined the problems the students have in dealing with the arrangement of words in the English noun phrase using questionnaire test questions in the form of: formation of noun phrase with simple sentences; rearrangement of premodifiers of the noun phrase, and identifying noun phrases from a passage. These test questions were given to test students proficiency level in the English language. Four research questions guided the study with a view to discovering the extent of these students problems in the construction of the English noun phrase. Information needed for analysis was also gotten from library research. Based on the investigation made, it is observed that the source of the students problem in learning the English Noun phrase word order is because they have little or no knowledge of the infinite number of grammatical forms, the modifiers with their fixed rule of ordering which adversely leads to wrong ordering of NP structure. This study resorted to the theory of group of elements of structural MHQ as expounded by Halliday in his NeoFirthian model of grammatical analysis. On the basis of these findings, pedagogical implications are discussed and recommendations for more research on the construction of complex noun phrases were suggested.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
One of the most important subjects vital to ESL students success in mastering the English language is grammar. The fundamentals of grammar are crucial for achieving fluency in any language, and acquiring the degree of difference between the speakers native language first language or L1 and the language being learned second language L2. To cover any nuance of English grammatical structure would require a great deal of extensive research, and is beyond the scope of this work. The focus, instead, will be on one aspect of English grammar word order within the English noun phrase.
Table of Contents
Tile page i
Approval ii
Certification iii
Acknowledgements iv
Dedication v
Abstract vi
Table of Contents vii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study 1
1.2 Statement of the Problem 4
1.3 Purpose of the Study 5
1.4 Scope of the Study 6
1.5 Significance of the Study 6
1.6 Research Questions 7
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1 Conceptual Framework 8
2.1 Different Perspectives of Language 8
2.1.1 Meaning Construction 9
2.1.2 Word Order 9
2.1.3 The Phrase 11
2.1.4 The Structure of the Noun Phrase in English
13 2.1.5 Structural Patterns of the Element of Noun Phrase 23
2.1.6 The Concept Modification 31
2.1.7 Theoretical Framework 34
2.1.8 Empirical Review 35
2.1.9 Summary 42
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research Design 43
3.2 Area of Study 43
3.3 Population of the Study 43
3.4 Sampling Technique 44
3.5 Sample Size 44
3.6 Research Instrument 44
3.7 Method of Data Collections 45
3.8 Method of Data Analysis 45
CHAPTER FOUR:
4.0 DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
4.1 Data Presentation 46
4.2 Analysis 48
CHAPTER FIVE:
DISCUSSION OF RESULTS, CONCLUSION
AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1 Discussion of Results 59
5.2 Conclusion 68
5.3 Recommendations 68
Works Cited 71
Appendix 74s | Abstract
This study was conducted with the aim of identifying the errors in the use of English adjectives among second language learners with particular reference to selected secondary schools in Awka South Local Government Area of Anambra State. Also with the intention of possibly recognizing error competence as a new variable related to L2 learners structural weakness. It explored the nature of English adjectives; the errors committed by L2 learners and proffered solutions to alleviating the problems. The researcher observed that the English adjective main syntactic role is to qualify a noun or noun phrase, giving more information about the object signified. The adjective category performed the syntactic function of ascribing superiority or inferiority of quality and property to persons, objects etc. Both field and library researches were used to get the facts needed for the analysis. Five research questions guided the study with a view to discovering the degree to which L2 learners commit errors in their use of English adjectives. Also the relationship between error competence and structural competence of L2 learners in the use of English adjectives were examined. Three secondary schools were selected using simple random sampling. Forty students were selected from each school which comprised SS1 and SS2 students. The total number of students selected were one hundred and twenty in all. The researcher made use of questionnaire and structural test questions as the research instruments. The structural test was divided into two parts: a blank filling test and a multiple-choice test. These tests were given to test students proficiency level i.e. real knowledge in the use of English adjectives while the questionnaire was used to assess error competence of learners. The result, therefore, revealed that the blank filling test questions depicted the students real knowledge of the English adjectives. Also the result showed that certain error types are problematic to L2 learners thereby increasing their tendency in committing errors on their usages. Effective assimilation is required by users to attain mastery of the use of English adjectives. Based on the findings some recommendations which aimed at improving the learning of English language were made. The researcher suggested that further studies of this kind be conducted in other word class to know where lapses existed for improvement. In conclusion, this investigation has paved the way to support the idea of having error competence as a strategy which needs training and management.
Table of Contents
Title page i
Approval page ii
Certification iii
Acknowledgements iv
Dedication v
Abstract vi
Table of contents vii
CHAPTER ONE
1.1 Background to the Study 1
1.2 Statement of the Problem 2
1.3 Purpose of the Study 3
1.4 Significance of the Study 3
1.5 Scope and Limitations of the Study 4
1.6 Research Questions 5
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF SCHORLASHIP
2.0 Introduction 6
2.1 Conceptual Framework 6
2.2 Theoretical Framework 27
2.3 Empirical Studies 29
2.4 Summary 38
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research Design 40
3.2 Area of Study 40
3.3 Research Instrument 40
3.4 Sample and Population of the Study 41
3.5 Method of Data Collection 41
3.6 Reliability of Instrument 42
3.7 Method of Data Analysis 43
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
4.1 Data Presentation 44
4.2 Data Analysis 48
CHAPTER FIVE
DISCUSSION OF RESULTS AND CONCLUSION
5.1 Discussion of Results 55
5.2 Recommendations 58
5.3 Suggestions for Further Studies 59
5.4 Conclusion 61
Works Cited 63
Appendix 70 |
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