CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

Background Statement

 

Language forms the fundamental function of communication. As social beings, we use it as our medium of communication to help us communicate with people that live both within and beyond our regional/geographical locations just as it is the case that other people from within and outside our environment do communicate with us. Language occurs almost wherever we come into contact with other people and will be different according to the nature of the contact. It is noted that our lives take us through a succession of activities requiring the use of language. The activities are very diverse and, what ever dialect we speak, have specific feature of language associated with them. Many activities are connected with our jobs. One may be an engineer giving instructions to a draughtsman; a lawyer advising a client; a trade union official discussing fringe benefits; a bus conductor collecting transport. Fares; A sergeant instructing a soldier; or a scientist reading a technical report. Other activities are part of our leisure. We may be playing tennis, football, or

 

volley ball. Or relating to our home life, we may be acting as a mother, a father, a husband, a wife, a son or a daughter.

To acquire language in the actual sense seems to depend on the linguistic atmosphere in which the child is brought up. Skinner (1957) stresses that language is not a mental phenomenon but a behavioral one. Alllen and Burren (1971:135) hold the view that language is essentially an adventitious construct, taught by conditioning or drill and explicit explanation,, or by built-up elementary data processing procedures. “language acquisition is controlled by the condition under which it takes place and that as long as individuals are subject to the same conditions they will learn the same way”, (Wilkins, 1972:169-4). This might be the reason why a child raised in Hausa speaking community will acquire Hausa language. One brought up in China acquires Chinese and vice verse incase that happens to take place.

It is worth to note that there are linguists that do not give much emphasis to the linguistic atmosphere that language learner/acquirer finds himself; but rather stress much emphasis on a learners’/acquirer’s innate language learning/acquiring capacity. According to Atchison (1989,p.55) ‘Human are genetically imprinted with knowledge abut language”. This

claim  seems  to  have  gone  inline  with  the  observation  made  by Fodor

 

(1974), Bever and Garrett (1974) who stressed that training a dog to walk on its hind legs does not prejudice the claim the bipedal gait is genetically coded in humans. “The fact that human begins can learn/acquire to whistle like a lark does not prejudice the species-specificity of birdsong” Fodor, Bever and Garrett (12974, p. 451).

With these claims in mind therefore, it might be right to assume that other animals’ inability to talk, acquire or learn language in its actual sense supports the assumption that language is restricted to human race alone.

The aim of the study is to establish the fact that language is so important to human beings that we can not exist without it as the medium through which we transact all our worldly affairs I equally intend to establish that there is a need for all of us (students of English language to realize that there exists distinction between language acquisition and language learning. Then I finally want to state that in this project, I will critically examine some of the theories of language acquisition. The views of mentalists and behaviorists are specifically the ones that will be discussed in this write up.

 

     The Purpose of the Study.

 

In this project I intend to explore and discuss, very critically, some of the theories of language acquisition. In essence, particularly aim to critically examine the strengths and weaknesses of behaviorists and mentalists theories before we eventually state our stand. The project topic has been given different titles in different periods, suggesting angles and different foci by different people especially scholars of linguistics and psycholinguistics. However, I am of the view that the plausibility of their words needs to be accepted or rejected on marital basis. It is with that fundamental objective in mind I decided to undertake this project.

I hope among other things that some of the important contributions of this research work would include additional knowledge or all theories of language acquisition, provide additional data on language acquisition research works especially those that’s elected and critically examine Behaviorists and mentalists views. I hope it would equally assist towards contributing to the growing literature on acquisition/learning of language generally.

     The Objectives of the Study

 

The objectives of the study are:

 

• To critically evaluate two of the theories of language acquisition and learning (Behavourism and Mentalism).
• To explore the extent to which behaviouralist and mentalist theories of language acquisition influence in acquisition of language.

     THE DELIMITATION/SCOPE OF THE STUDY

 

The project, due to time and space factors, will only attempt to critically discuss two theories of language acquisition/learning with special attention or contrastive Analysis of the behaviorist and mentalist theories.

     METHODOLOGY APPLIED

 

In the course of this project, both primary and secondary source materials would be used. I would mainly make use of fact gathered from text books, periodicals and consultations with the project supervisor, lecturers, colleagues and friends who seem to have got reasonable quality and quality data materials that could help make this project a big success.Download Full Material-N5000

Comparative Analysis Of Oswald Mtshali’s Just A Passer By And An Abandoned Bundle

CHAPTER ONE/INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

The words of poetry are carefully chosen because they not only bear the deep emotions of the poet but also reflect his innocent views of matters. Poetry is life in writing or viva voce. Through poetry, poets expose the true identity and remote contents of their tender hearts. Whereas writers of other genres of literature express their emotion, the message of the poet sinks deeper and usually, it is only meant for a few.

According to geographical regions, poetry can be divided into African poetry, Asian poetry, Caribbean poetry, African American poetry, English poetry etc. Since poetry, as a genre of literature, draws her strength from the society, the peculiarities of the different societies would be reflected in the poems of such societies. The focus of this material is African Poetry.

In writing, many scholars trace the different beginnings of poetry in Africa. Ruth Finnegan dedicated so much in the study of oral literature in Africa which includes the African poetry. However, two main categories are distinguishable: the traceable beginning of poetry and the untraceable beginning of African poetry. The latter is often referred to as “time immemorial.” African poets write about African experiences, virtues and heritage. The experiences include slavery, colonization and apartheid. One of such writers who capture these experiences is Oswald Mbuyiseni Mtshali.

This work studies African poetry through the windows of Oswald Mtshali. The windows are accessed through two of Mtshali’s poem. These are: “Abandoned Bundle  and “Just a Passerby,” These poems are analyzed briefly with a highlighted extract. In conclusion, a critical judgment of Oswald Mtshali is made in line with the observations found in the analyses of the poems. This critical judgment is then related to Africa poetry at large.

Oswald M. Mitshali is one of black South Africa’s most talented poet. He was born in Natal and was a victim of the apartheid system which denied him admission into the University of Witwatersrand. But this did not dampen his desire for literary progress as he published his first volume of poems titled Sounds of the Cowhide Drum, which established him as a significant poet.

Mitshali’s poems are about the people and their life in a hostile society which he is part of. The theme of survival in a defiant and hostile society runs through a number of his poems. The quiet control and the colloquial tone is noticed when the poet writes of his peoples’ sufferings. There is no venom of hatred expressed but most of the themes are conveyed through distilled lyrical verses and ironic humour. Similarly, irony and cynicism are the main characteristic features of his poetry as can be seen in the poem below.

1.2 OSWALD MTSHALI BIOGRAPHY

Oswald Mbuyiseni Mtshali, (born 1940, Vryheid, Natal, South Africa), South African poet who wrote in English and Zulu and whose work drew deeply upon the immediate experience of life in the Johannesburg township of Soweto.

Mtshali worked as a messenger before his first collection of poems, Sounds of a Cowhide Drum (1971), won the Olive Schreiner Prize for 1974. After studying in the United States at the University of Iowa and Columbia University (New York), Mtshali returned to South Africa in 1979 and taught at a private school in Soweto. His second volume of poems, Fireflames (1980), was banned by the South African government because it was dedicated to the schoolchildren of Soweto, an obvious reference to the uprising there in 1976. Mtshali later edited the nonfiction work Give Us a Break: Diaries of a Group of Soweto Children (1988).

Mtshali’s poetry inevitably reflects his harsh experiences under the apartheid regime. He observes with a bitter and sardonic eye the grimy beer halls, the crowded trains, the slum housing, and the harsh working conditions that make up the lot of black Africans in South Africa. His bitterness finds expression in brilliantly controlled lines etched with an acid irony. Mtshali’s poetry is remarkable for its evocative imagery, and his confident and unexpected similes have a rich emotional impact.

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The East African poet Oswald Mstshali’s selected poem will be analysed thematically and stylistically.

Specifically, the study will

1. Examine the theme of the poems.
2. Identify the poetic techniques employed.

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MEME AS IDEOLOGICAL REPRESENTATION IN THE 2019 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS IN NIGERIA

Abstract

This paper explicates the linguistic and non-linguistic aspects of ideological representation in selected Nigerian political campaign advertisement memes on Instagram. Four memes pertaining to each of Muhammadu Buhari and Atiku Abubakar’s presidential campaigns on Instagram were selected and analysed using a combination of Kress and van Leeuwen’s (2006) Social Semiotics and van Dijk’s (1998) Critical Discourse Analysis. Key ideological stances of positive self-presentation and negative otherpresentation were discovered in the memes and the aspirants largely deployed both stances. However, while aspirant Muhammadu Buhari maintained the positive selfpresentation strategy for continuity of government, aspirant Atiku Abubakar concentrated more on the negative other-presentation in order to undermine the incumbent candidate/ party. All these were achieved with the reinforcement of social semiotic resources such as the meta-functions: facial and body gestures/expressions, and bright colours.Download Full Material-N5000