Research Article
‘Tears in Verses’: Leadership and Social Disillusionment in Tanure Ojaide’s Poetry
Kufre A. Akpan, Naomi Okon
Middle East Research Journal of Linguistics and Literature; 1-8.
DOI: 10.36348/merjll.2021.v01i01.001
Abstract: This paper examines leadership, nationhood and social disillusionment in Tanure Ojaide’s poetry. The paper notes that one phenomenal trait characterising Nigerian writers, especially the one christened as second generation, is their innate susceptibility and strong resolve in confronting leadership and other socio-political ruptures in the society. Right from the dawn of independence, Nigerian writers have always been on the defensive and, in varying degrees, have depicted poignantly, corruption, injustices, oppression, exploitation and other forms of malfeasances perpetrated against the people by the leadership class. This orientation, to a large extent, informs the writings of Tanure Ojaide. Against this backdrop, this paper examines not only the creative depth of his poetry, but also the potency of his works in addressing socio-political foibles in the Nigerian society. Through an analysis of select poems in The Endless Song and Delta Blues and Home Songs, this research establishes that leadership is simply the cog in the wheels of the nation’s path to greatness and has, consequently, rendered the nation and her people miserably dispossessed, traumatised and disillusioned. The paper adopts New Historicism as theoretical framework and concludes that Nigeria may plunge into a precipice, if visionless leaders continue to parade the country’s leadership space.
Research Article
The Nature of Speaking in the Classroom: An Overview
Boutaina Guebba
Middle East Research Journal of Linguistics and Literature; 9-12.
DOI: 10.36348/merjll.2021.v01i01.002
Abstract: This article is a short review of a vital asset in language acquisition process. It addresses speaking as a language skill which is used to be disregarded for many years with traditional instructional approaches to language acquisition or learning. This article probes into the main two types of speaking which are speaking in terms of use and speaking in terms of usage. It also addresses the significance of speaking activities in improving learners’ language proficiency. To achieve this aim, the present paper is divided into seventh subsections. The first subsection provides an operational definition to speaking. The second subsection tackles two major types of speaking, namely speaking in terms of use and speaking in terms of usage. The third deals with the significance of adopting speaking activities in the classroom. The fourth probes into the various roles teachers play during speaking activities in the classroom. The fifth reviews the main components of communicative competence as cited by Canale and Swain (1980). The sixth explores the different conversational strategies speakers and students can resort to while speaking. The last subsection looks into the major speaking performances employed by teachers in their classrooms namely imitative, responsive, transactional and interpersonal, to name but few. The paper concludes with a sketchy sum up of what has been reviewed and addressed in this paper.
Research Article
A Linguistic Analysis of Selected Excerpts from Two Literary Genres
Murana, Muniru Oladayo
Middle East Research Journal of Linguistics and Literature; 13-17.
DOI: 10.36348/merjll.2021.v01i01.003
Abstract: English language is used in different ways and forms and each of these ways results in a variety. Variety differentiation is often intuitively done on the basis of the preponderance of certain lexical items or sets. Paradoxically, expressions rather than lexical items are the basis for identifying an excerpt as literary. This paper focuses on a linguistic delineation of the topography of literary script with reference to excerpts from Zaynab Alkali’s The Stillborn, Elechi Amadi’s The Concubine and Michael Echeruo’s Lullaby. It argues that literary language is eternally fresh on the basis of the emphasis on form achieved through special manipulation of the linguistic code. The paper identifies parallelism, syntactic dislocation, and heavy modification of noun, tense consistency cum flexibility and multiple points of view as the hallmark of creative flexibility in literary texts and consequently concludes that only creative readers can appreciably decipher the entire communicative value of a literary script.
Research Article
Revisiting what is termed as Anomalous Formulaic Expressions in the Qur'anic Discourse: A Cognitive Study from a Pragma-Stylistic Perspective
Dr. Sami Al-Heeh
Middle East Research Journal of Linguistics and Literature; 18-32.
DOI: 10.36348/merjll.2021.v01i01.004
Abstract: This cognitive, small-scale study reviews the formulaic expressions used in the Quranic discourse. From a pragma-stylistic view, it examines the extent to which the Quranic expressions identified by Arab linguists as ‘odd’ words are used as discourse markers. Based on more recent denotational theories, the paper claims that these expressions are unlikely to be anomalous. It theorizes that these phrases are verbal clues that work on the discourse level. The study utilizes corpus linguistics for data collection. Theoretically, it builds on discourse analysis (DA) as a main approach to data categorization and analysis. Thus, it models on Fairclough (2013) and Van Dijk's (1998) analytical framework to describe, interpret and explain the senses of these expressions in the various processes of meaning production, consumption and realization. A systematic, linguistic analysis is carried out on the syntactic, semantic and schematic levels. It has been found that these expressions fit into some formulaic sequences in which the components refer either directly to the discourse or indirectly to the context in which the embolic term is used. The contexts in which the formulaic patterns are selected and used are mainly characterized by hypersensitivity to sex and abstractedness of comprehension. The linguistic features of the expressions suggest that the Quranic discourse uses them for language politeness to keep face, for more linguistic interactions to clarify meaning and for hedging to sustain other potential senses. Finally, the study implicates for research on pragmatic and translation studies.
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