Browsing by Author "Daniel, Philip Moles"

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    An Analysis of Code-Switching and Code- Mixing in Wole Soyinka’s The Beatification of Area Boy
    (Department Of English, Nasarawa State University Keffi, 2016-06-06) Moses, Joseph; Daniel, Philip Moles
    Sociolinguistics is the study of language from the social perspective. It enables us to know about the various ways of using language in society, as well as the various ways through which our society conditions such uses. It reveals to us the extent to which language use is related to social identity. Both code-switching and code-mixing are sociolinguistic phenomena that have become unavoidable in any bilingual/multilingual society. They constitute varieties of language code used in general communication. They are used as stylistic devices to enhance interpretation of messages and the subject matter. This paper examined both language phenomena as a stylistic device applied by Soyinka in his text, The Beatification of Area Boy. The paper used the Theory of Meaning to analyze instances of code-switching and code-mixing identified in the text with a view to ascertaining how meaning is created amongst the characters in the text. It was discovered that the use of codeswitching and code-mixing enhanced the flow of conversations amongst the characters despite the differences in ethnicity and social background of the characters.
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    AUDIENCE-CONSCIOUSNESS IN CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN POETRY
    (Department of English, Nasarawa State University Keffi, 2022-01-05) Azan, Baba James; Daniel, Philip Moles; Shehu, Ibrahim Ahmad
    Since African poetry emanates from the socio-political schisms bedevilling the African cosmos, contemporary African poetry has seen a shift from exclusive euromodemist tradition of obscurantism, ‘syntactic jugglery’ which obfuscates the assimilating capacity of the common man. The aesthetics of the shift is obviously evident in the simplistic language of its medium of instruction; the infiltration of oral traditions; the special place created for the peasants in the reading and relish of poetry. Ultimately, this essay reveals, through critical comments on the poetry of the euro-modemist poets and that of Niyi Osundare’s generation, who are audienceconscious, evident in the simplified language of their poetry for the apt understanding of the layman, that the masses enjoy the poetry written in workaday English, while a selected few relish the one produced with convoluted syntax and complex imagery. After creating these dialectics, the researcher concludes that, though minimalism appeals to a vast majority of audience, poetry should not be made to yield recklessly to crafllessness, or be reduced to poetry of ‘unaesthetic’ prose statement.
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    Chukwuemeka Ike’s Toads For Supper: A new Historicist Analysis
    (Department of English, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, 2008-06-15) Daniel, Philip Moles
    The article examines Chukwuemeka Ike s Toads for supper within the theoretical context of New Historicism. Such issues as the diversity of dissonant voices which expresses the forces of an era, the embedded nature of a literary material within the framework of history, aspects of class and ethnicity prevalent in a culture, the use of techniques and symbolisms as a historicist “transaction ”, and the interchanges of diverse elements and forces (all as embodiments of the theory) are analyzed, using the internal relations of words, images, proverbs and symbols.
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    A CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF NGUGFS DEVIL ON THE CROSS FROM THE MARXIST PREVIEW
    (Department Of English, Nasarawa State University Keffi, 2006-09-09) Daniel, Philip Moles
    The paper examines Ngugi's Devil on the cross from the marxistPerspective. It looks at the opposing forces conflicting with each other *within the world of the text what Marxist school refers to as "dialectical materialism ". In other words, human history is viewed as a struggle between two forces, ideals or world views, which may be described as 'thesis' and 'anti-thesis' whose resolution brings about a "synthesis". The paper brings out elements of class struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. It shows how whereas the class of the haves set up structures (repressive or ideological) to continually subject the have-nots to the base, the latter, is bent on destroying the existing order through revolutionary within the capitalist world of Devil on the cross. This is achieved means though the author's use of parables and symbolism.
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    Folklore in the Writings of Chinua Achebe: An Overview
    (Department of English, Nasarawa State University Keffi., 2018-08-25) Daniel, Philip Moles; Ikyer, Godwin Aondofa; Magaji, Maryam Yusuf
    The field of folklore is much older than 1846 when William J. Thoms coined the word to replace “popular antiquities. ” It dates back to actual human existence and experiences and the formation of material culture and customary behaviour. The traditional beliefs, myths, legends, folktales, riddles proverbs, jokes, dance and drama, festivals, traditional medicine, traditional food and methods of preservation, costumes, folk art and material culture are some of the categories of folklore that are unifying thread to capturing the total composition of a group and attesting to the humble oral background of humanity in administering its body of knowledge to later generations for transitional harmonies in contexts of life and living. The paper explores Achebe’s deployment of folklore of the Igbo to express the contemporary challenges of colonial and post colonial subjugation and existence. The paper states the contributions of Igbo folklore to the oral and written cultures and to situational dynamics. The paper finally situates the contributions of Achebe to his alusi complex and to the rich Igbo cultural repertoire. The paper recommends that the Igbo folklore, which is gradually fading away, be used to reposition real Igbo thought, ideologies, feelings and values.
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    Language Endangerment: the Kantana Situation
    (Department of English, Nasarawa State University Keffi, 2017-06-07) David, Stephen O.; Daniel, Philip Moles
    The paper "Language Endangerment: The Kantana Language Situation", examines the language in question vis- a- vis what constitutes language endangerment globally. Kantana is a minority language spoken in the Middle Belt region of Nigeria but is fast going into extinction due to preference in the use of Hausa, English and other factors. The researchers used the interview method in collecting their data and findings reveal that the Kantana language as other languages within the region may go extinct within a decade if nothing is done to salvage the situation. This paper makes recommendations on how the language can be revitalised.
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    Learning Problems in a Nigerian Child and Intervention Strategies
    (Department of English, Nasarawa State University Keffi, 2018-09-18) David, Stephen O.; Daniel, Philip Moles
    There are so many learning problems in the life of children generally. This study is a longitudinal study of a Nigerian child who was thirteen years old when this study began. The child was studied for a year in her school and home. Data was gotten by listening to the child’s pronunciation of words and observing the child’s written words/expressions both at home and in school and thereafter, the researchers took note of some of the deficiencies of the child and documented them for analysis and discussion. After the discovery of some of the deficiencies, the child was giving some forms of assistance to alleviate the problems she was having. Suggestions were also made which included that parents/caregivers, teachers, and school authority should make efforts to identify children with learning problems at the earliest period for appropriate intervention to mitigate the problem(s). At the end, conclusions were also presented.
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    Materialism and the loss of Standard Values in Wale Okediran's Dreams Die at Twilight
    (Department of English, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, 2016-04-12) Moses, Joseph; Daniel, Philip Moles
    The activities and conduct of the individual in any society are the basis for growth and progress of such society. In a society where members engage in dishonest means as survival strategy, the consequences of such acts will ho doubt have negative impact on such society. Most contemporary African society today no doubt is battling with corruption. Everyone wants to survive in one way or the other even if it means going through dishonest means. The overpowering effects of corruption is already manifesting in the lives of the citizenry, both the government and the governed. This paper examines Wale Okediran'sDreams Die At Twilight with a view to evaluating the writer's concerns in the novel and assessing the implication of corrupt tendencies like immorality, injustice, oppression drug trafficking, necrophilia and drug addiction which he raises. The paper concludes that Okediran 's vis ion of the Nigerian society is one devoid of corruption and associate evils if the much talked about change and transformation will be realized.
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    READING IRENE SALAMI'S THE QUEEN SISTERS FROM THE FEMINIST PERSPECTIVE
    (Department Of English, Nasarawa State University Keffi, 2021-12-12) Daniel, Philip Moles
    This paper examines the situation of women who are subjugated, oppressed and dominated by men due to persistent cultural stereotypes, religious abuses and patriarchal societal structures in which economic, political and social powers are controlled by men. This is evidenced in The Queen Sisters. The attainment of gender equality is not only seen as human right issues, but as a prerequisite for the achievement of sustainable development. Thus, to respond to the challenges of gender inequalities, an analysis of Irene Salami's The Queen Sisters places women in a position where they can stand up for themselves and challenge the activities of the men who have consigned them to the corner. There is need to recognize gender issues as central to and critical to achieving women gender equality. This paper uses the feminist approach and was carried out through the library research, using books, journals and other print materials for critical discourse.
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    Revisiting WH-Movement in Basa Language: A Government Binding Account
    (Department of English, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, 2015-01-17) Philip, Imoh Manda; David, Abraham Areo; Isa, Gambo; Daniel, Philip Moles
    Basa language is classified as belonging to Kainji family, under the sub-phylum Westem-Kainji (Croizier, and Blench, 1992:32). It is spoken in North Central Nigeria, such as the Federal Councils, Niger, Nasarawa, Benue, and Kogi States. This work investigates the intricacies and complexities underlying wh-movement in^Basa. In addition to the native intuitions of the researcher, data collected for this work include discourse observation and staged discourse by fluent native speakers. The study discovered that when this movement occurs, the moved constituent moves with all the grammatical properties associated with it at the extraction site. The study uncovered six (6) wh-phrases as items that are generated within IP but are moved within the containing SPEC-CP as leftmost constituents to form non-echo wh-questions. When this happens, it leaves the extraction site and adjoins within SPEC-CP leaving an empty category in the vacated position. This empty trace is properly/antecedent governed by the moved wh-item in- line with requirement of empty category principle of Government and Binding, in the spirit of which this study is undertaken. In Basa, I-constituents remain in-situ. The interesting discoveries in this work can be replicated in related African languages, especially those characterised by a similar syntactic parameter.
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    Social Consciousness of the Niger-Delta people in Tanure Ojaide's The Activist
    (Department of English, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, 2016-07-06) Daniel, Philip Moles
    The paper examines the role of writers as agents for social change. They use their works to raise social consciousness on issues call for change. Consequently ' Social Consciousness of the Niger-Delta people in Tanure Ojaide's The Activist' looks at how Tanure Ojaide uses his work to depict the ethnic marginalization of the people Niger-Delta by bad leaders and multinational oil companies and their response in such situation. The researcher uses the Marxist approach in the analysis of the paper.
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    A SURVEY OF THE MARXIST HEROES' FALL IN SELECTED PLAYS OF FEMI OSOFISAN
    (Department Of English, Nasarawa State University Keffi, 2021-12-17) Terhemba, Shija; Daniel, Philip Moles; Anike, Adeshina
    This paper is a scholarship survey of the characterization of heroism in the context of the three selected works of Femi Osofisan in depicting the failure of presumed societal heroes of positive change with reference to Altine's Wrath, The Oriki of a Grasshopper and Birthdays Are Not for Dying. The theoretical framework is Marxism Theory. The Theory, which is driven on the platform of pitching socialists against capitalists is known for the detest of the bourgeoise class by its proprietors. The Paper negotiates the idea that the vehement agitation of the socialists may in actual fact be a mere public- display of ideology and in certain cases, have underlying admiration for the very upper class it publicly attacks. Hence, the paper captures excerpts from the selected plays in negotiating this betrayal dim hypocritical hidden disposition of the presumed positive change agents.
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    TOWARDS ERADICATING COMMON ERRORS IN ENGLISH
    (Department Of English, Nasarawa State University Keffi, 2015-12-19) Daniel, Philip Moles
    This paper examines the necessity of proper English language learning as it has great impact on both educational and communication needs of Nigeria. It also focuses on the common errors in the usage of English within the purview of our Universities, colleges of Education, polytechnics and other higher institutions; side by side these concerns are projections of roadmap to eradicating these common errors by students and other users of English. The basic areas of oral and written English will be the instruments for analysis: and the writer concentrated on interactions with students and colleagues of Nasarawa State University, keffi and other Higher Institutions, from speeches and written tasks of students as well as data sourced from literacy materials.
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    Twining Around Twins: The Theme of Twins in Folklore and Nigerian Cinema
    (Department Of English, Nasarawa State University Keffi, 2014-06-11) Ikyer, Godwin Aondofa; Daniel, Philip Moles
    The subject of twins is a fascinating area of study and has continued to reverberate in studies and research over the ages creating an age- long tradition and typology. The concept of twining is one of ambivalence, of polarities of things in co-operative antagonism yet uniting in external attacks. Twins appear in creation stories, folklores of various groups and races, in mythologies and now in cinema. There also exist folklore and myth of the spiritual twin - the Dioscuri, Romulus and Remus in a long legendary narrative which ends with Romulus carried up to the heavens by his father, Mars, and is worshipped as the god, Quirinus. Twins are associated with certain characteristics like abnormal behavior, evil, romance with the supernatural, distaste for societal vices and a semiotic symphony of benevolence and malevolence which sounds a duality of poles and a metaphor for opposing principles. The circumstances of birth, of environment and of human relationships determine conundrums and ambivalence of light and darkness exhibited by the twins. This paper explores the archetypal variants of twins - the re -unification, the scapegoat, the symmetry, the soul mate and the duality of perspectives, the rivalry of the self exhibited through the duality of twins as they exist in world cultures and mythologies, particularly Nigerian culture. The paper finally analyzes how the mythology of twins is grimly connected to the vicissitudes of daily life in Nigeria explored in Nollywood cinema, a fascinating transcript where narrative image coalesce with nature for enhanced understanding and sustainable development.