Browsing by Author "Moses, Joseph"

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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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    Analysis of Person Deixis in Buhari’s 2019 Victory/ Democracy Day Speech of June 12,2019
    (Department of English, Nasarawa State University Keffi, 2019-09-09) David, Stephen O.; Moses, Joseph
    Politicians resort to ‘soft power' to influence others and to persuade them to support their attitudes about given issues through the use of language as a persuasive power. Among the linguistic tools adopted to achieve specific goals is the pronominal system. The present study> tries to investigate the use of person diexis in the democracy day speech of President Muhammad Btihari of Nigeria. It adopts van Dijk's(2001) Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) approach as the theoretical model which is an attempt to unmask ideologically permeated and often obscured structures of power, political control and dominance as well as strategies of discriminatory inclusion and exclusion in language use. The study adopts quantitative method of analysis which is based on the use of statistical approach to get empirical data. The statistical approach consists of counting the number of occurrences of the person diexis. The analysis done reveals that among the three person diexis that were recurrent in the text, the plural personal pronoun ‘we ’ has the highest number of occurrence showing that President Muhammad Buhari through her speech tries to foster a bond of unity and togetherness with the Nigerian people.
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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.