Potential words in English: examples from morphological processes in Nigerian English

English Today ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 47-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dare Owolabi
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
World View ◽  
Common Knowledge ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
British English ◽  
Figures Of Speech ◽  
Linguistic Family ◽  
Global Language ◽  
Local Languages

It is now common knowledge that the English language has become part of Nigeria's linguistic family, albeit as a second language that has been ‘home-grown…adapted and tamed to suit the Nigerian environment’ (Adegbija, 2004: 19). Summarizing Alamin A. Mazrui (2004), Akere (2006: 9) describes this domestication as ‘the transformation of English as an alien medium, to make it respond to local imagery, figures of speech, sound patterns and the general cultural milieu of the region’. This has been the practice of many writers where English is the colonial masters' language and is now adopted as a second language, but with ‘local colour’, as noted by Emenyonu (2006: xi). This dynamic and creative variety has helped Nigerians express their world view in a more international medium. In addition, there are more ‘pragmatic’ sub-varieties, including what Omolewa (1979: 14–15) calls ‘working English’. This is, however, different from the widespread Pidgin English, which continues to serve as the linguistic bridge across the linguistic Babel of Nigeria. While Pidgin is greatly influenced by the immediate local languages, thus making uniformity difficult to achieve, the emerging Nigerian English (henceforth NE) is not as heavily dependent on indigenous local languages. According to Igboanusi (2002: 4), ‘NE has its origin in British English, and the lexicon of NE has therefore shown a strong British influence.’ In other words, while Pidgin is common among the uneducated and spoken by the educated when necessary, NE is spoken by the educated and the level of education determines the variety of NE used by individuals. NE should be seen as an autonomous variety, showing acceptable departures from the rules of standard diction, pronunciation and grammar. The contact of English with indigenous languages in Nigeria is bound to lead to greater deviation from the standard in the future. Since Nigeria has one of the largest populations of speakers of English as a second language in the world (Akere, 2009; Jowitt, 2009), this is bound to have implications for English as a global language.

The nature and significance of English as a global language

English Today ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith Davidson
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
British English ◽  
English Only ◽  
Global Language ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Received Pronunciation ◽  
Global Population ◽  
Initial Literacy

THE DEMOGRAPHICS of the English language are well known, and the following approximations are based on figures, always provisional, projected by Crystal, Graddol, and McArthur. Anglophones (to use a broader term than ‘native’ or ‘mother tongue’ speakers of English – terms which in any case pose problems) make up some 12% of the global population. Speakers of English in the UK constitute about 16% of the 380 or so million Anglophones worldwide. In the UK, some 2% of the population speaks English as a second language, and perhaps only 15% regularly speaks a southern British form of standard English. Only a small minority of these have a form of Received Pronunciation (RP) as their normal accent, even though RP is predicated as the basis of ‘phonics’ in initial literacy, and is assumed to be the default accent in the second-language teaching of British English, in the UK and elsewhere (with however the notable exception of North America).

scholarly journals ACOUSTIC MEASUREMENT ON VOWEL PRODUCTION OF ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE BY INDONESIAN EFL LEARNERS

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 71
Author(s):  
Rudha Widagsa ◽  
Ahmad Agung Yuwono Putro
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Acoustic Analysis ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
British English ◽  
Formant Frequencies ◽  
English Vowels ◽  
Second Formant

Indonesian is the most widely spoken language in Indonesia. More than 200 million people speak the language as a first language. However, acoustic study on Indonesian learners of English (ILE) production remains untouched. The purpose of this measurement is to examine the influence of first language (L1) on English vowels production as a second language (L2). Based on perceptual magnet hypothesis (PMH), ILE were predicted to produce close sounds to L1 English where the vowels are similar to Indonesian vowels. Acoustic analysis was conducted to measure the formant frequencies. This study involved five males of Indonesian speakers aged between 20-25 years old. The data of British English native speakers were taken from previous study by Hawkins & Midgley (2005). The result illustrates that the first formant frequencies (F1) which correlates to the vowel hight of Indonesian Learners of English were significantly different from the corresponding frequencies of British English vowels. Surprisingly, the significant differences in second formant (F2) of ILE were only in the production of /ɑ, ɒ, ɔ/ in which /ɑ/=p 0.002, /ɒ/ =p 0,001, /ɔ/ =p 0,03. The vowel space area of ILE was slightly less spacious than the native speakers. This study is expected to shed light in English language teaching particularly as a foreign language.Keywords: VSA, EFL, Indonesian learners, formant frequencies, acoustic

Teaching and Irish English

English Today ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 58-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne O'Keeffe
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
First Century ◽  
English Studies ◽  
British English ◽  
Irish Language ◽  
Research Agendas ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
Global Language

The first decade of the twenty-first century has been characterised in Irish English studies by a diversification of research agendas. Whereas studies before 2000 were largely concerned with internal issues in the development of Irish English, more recent research has been marked by the desire to view Irish English in the context of international varieties of English, as demanded by Barker and O'Keeffe (1999). Much has changed in the study of Irish English in the last decade or so. This is in part due to a broader perspective adopted by researchers and also to the emergence of new ways of looking at Irish English: see Barron and Schneider (eds) 2005; Hickey, 2005, 2007a; Corrigan, 2010; Amador-Moreno, 2006, 2010. There seems to be a less exclusive concern with Irish English within the strict orbit of British English and the effects of contact with the Irish language. This is perhaps aided by looking at Irish English in the context of English as a global language (Kirkpatrick ed. 2010). A function of this globalisation is variation and that in itself brings richness and diversity. In the context of English language teaching, Irish English is one of many types of English.

scholarly journals Native-speakerism and professional teacher identity in L2 pronunciation learning

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharif Alghazo ◽  
Mahmoud Zidan
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Effective Teaching ◽  
Teacher Identity ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Professional Teacher ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
Global Language ◽  
L2 Pronunciation

Many studies in different contexts have examined both English as a second language (ESL) and English as a foreign language (EFL) students’ convictions about the connection between nativeness in English and professional teacher identity; however, very few studies solely focused on that connection in second language (L2) pronunciation teaching. This paper explores EFL university students’ experiences in learning English pronunciation from ‘native’- and ‘nonnative’- English-speaking teachers (NESTs and NNESTs). Based on an empirical study of undergraduates-prospective English language teachers-at the University of Jordan, the paper finds that most students still view ‘nativeness’ as the main descriptor of effective teaching, strongly believing NESTs to be the ‘authority’ and source of ‘correctness,’ both of which convictions are emblematic of native-speakerism, which in turns leads to both cultural panic and voicelessness on the part of NNESTs and learners. The study concludes with calling for the need to raise awareness among EFL students of the various manifestations of English as a global language-particularly the irrelevance of nativeness to effective teaching-and incorporating NNESTs into teaching L2 pronunciation and rejecting their marginalisation in teaching pronunciation in EFL contexts.

scholarly journals Globalization as a Factor for Language Endangerment: Nigerian Indigenous Languages in Focus

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (9) ◽  
pp. 521-527
Author(s):  
Sale Maikanti ◽  
Austin Chukwu ◽  
Moses Gideon Odibah ◽  
Moses Valentina Ogu
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Values ◽  
English Language ◽  
World View ◽  
Indigenous Languages ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Native Languages ◽  
Language Endangerment ◽  
British Colony ◽  
Global Language ◽  
Major Factors

Globalization can be viewed from economic, cultural and socio-political perspectives including information and communication technology (ICT). In view of this, it is seen as the increasing empowerment of western cultural values including language, philosophy and world view. In many African countries Nigeria inclusive, English language which is the language of colonization is gradually becoming a global language due to its influence and subsequent adoption as the official language by many African nations which are largely multi-cultural and multilingual under the British colony. This trend has not only relegated the status of Nigerian Indigenous languages to the background but has also threatened their existence in Nigeria which accommodates over 500 native languages. If this trend is left unchecked, the ill-wind of globalization will gradually sweep the native languages including the so-called major ones (Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba) out of existence particularly in Nigeria. This paper discusses globalization as one of the major factors for language endangerment with respect to Nigeria as a nation, with a view to proffering possible solutions capable of sustaining and empowering the nation’s socio-cultural and economic stability.

scholarly journals Global Language: Status, Scope and Challenges

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 89-96
Author(s):  
Lal Bahadur Bohara
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
English Language ◽  
Quality Education ◽  
Common Language ◽  
Growing Up ◽  
The Status ◽  
Global Language ◽  
International Identity ◽  
Positional Value ◽  
Culture Tradition

The world becomes shareable, narrow, familiar, and accessible for all since we have a common language (English) despite having culture, tradition, territory and idiosyncratic variation. Because of its commonness, it is accepted as an international, global, foreign/ second language or as a lingua-franca among thousands of diverse language speakers. It becomes the global language since its form is cozily perceptible and scope is being open-ended in nature. Having its scope unlimited, the status is automatically broadened and the positional value will be transformable from fewer to more, lesser- users to frequent, foreign to second language, etc. As the status and scope of English growing up, the opportunities and challenges have been raised as well. In the forms of opportunities, people are liable to get better jobs, quality education, and international identity and so on. In contrary, challenges oppose the regular development of it which may result minimizing the status and scope sooner than later. Whatever the situation, English language is stepping forward rather than pushing back.Journal of NELTA Surkhet,  Vol. 5 January, 2018

1. What is English?

2018 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Simon Horobin
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
New Testament ◽  
Old English ◽  
English Language ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
British English ◽  
The Future ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
The Status

Over 1 billion people speak English either as their first or second language. Are all these people speaking the same language, or are we witnessing the emergence of new Englishes? English has been in use for 1,500 years and has changed to such an extent that the form of the language used by the Anglo-Saxons—Old English—is unrecognizable to contemporary English speakers. ‘What is English?’ considers five different translations of a passage from the New Testament, each of which has a claim to represent a kind of English. These translations raise different questions about the status of the English language, its linguistic forebears, and progeny. What does the future hold for Standard British English?

Error Analysis for English Language Teachingat Primary Level

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (9) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
Dr. Shreeja Sharma ◽  
Prof. Shubhra Tripathi
Keyword(s):  
Error Analysis ◽  
English Language ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Primary Level ◽  
Indian Schools ◽  
Prime Concern ◽  
School Teaching ◽  
Linguistic Code ◽  
Global Language

The prime concern of every language teacher, and to some extent every linguist, is to device pedagogical methods and strategies which facilitate language acquisition. The concern of any teacher or applied linguist is, though not explicitly stated anywhere, to equip the learners with “correct” features of the language being learnt. Emphasis on “correctness” is due to the presumption that erroneous structures or deviations from linguistic code will lead to incomprehensibility and impediment in communication.As a result of such convictionsContrastive Analysis (CA) and Error Analysis (EA) focussed their attention on “correct” grammatical, lexical and syntactical features of Target Language (TL), in this case English.Both  Contrastive Analysts and Error Analysts analysed the language and tried to predict areas of ease or difficulty. This was often achieved with ‘some’ degree of success. However, in the present socio-educational milieu of Indian schools, where English language teaching is a significant stake, insights from CA and EA, particularly the latter, are either not taken into cognizance, or found inadequate. CA is taken into consideration, though obliquely, indirectly and cursorily, where English language is taught resorting to bilingualism. EA is usually ignored completely. Even when teachers correct students’ assignments and copies, they point out mistakes/errors, suggest corrections, but neither take into account why these mistakes/errors have occurred, nor how to prevent such cases in future. With the ever growing importance of English as a global language and a second language in India, no stakeholder in education can afford to undermine the significance of ELT.The time is therefore ripe to take a fresh look at Error Analysis (EA) and assess how it can be deployed as a powerful tool in school teaching.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document