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LANGUAGE IN INDIA Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow Volume 11 : 1 January 2011 ISSN 1930-2940 Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D. Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D. Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D. B. A. Sharada, Ph.D. A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D. Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D. K. Karunakaran, Ph.D. Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D. S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D. G. Baskaran, Ph.D. Contents List Love and Language - A Socio-rhetorical Analysis of Love Texts on a Ghanaian Radio Network ... Wincharles Coker, B.Ed., M.Phil. 1-19 Cross-Cultural Conflict in Bharati Mukherjee's The Tiger's Daughter ... Solaimalai Rajaram, M.A. M.Phil., B.Ed. and S. Kanagaraj Ph.D. 20-26 A Comparative Study of the Study Habits of the Students of The Islamia University of Bahawalpur in Pakistan ... Aijaz Ahmed Gujjar, Ph.D. Scholar, Naeem Ullah Bajwa, Ph.D., and Muhammad Ramzan, Ph.D. 27-49 Analysis and Categorization of the Most Prevalent Errors of Intermediate and Elementary Iranian EFL Learners in Writing in Iran ... Gholam Reza Zarei, Ph.D. (Applied Linguistics) and Sara Mansoori, M.A. in TEFL 50-60 Phonological Adaptation of English Loan Words in Pahari ... Abdul Qadir Khan, Ph.D. Candidate and Nadeem Haider Bukhari, Ph.D. 61-73 A Study of Sexual Health Problems among Male Migrants in Tamilnadu, India ... T. Pugalenthi, M.A., M.Phil., B.Ed. and A. Subbiah, Ph.D. 74-84 Arun Joshi and Eco Consciousness - A Study of The Strange Case of Billy Biswas ... P. Bala Shanmuga Devi, Ph.D. 85-94 Language in India www.languageinindia.com i 11 : 1 January 2011 Contents List Code-Mixing as a Communicative Strategy among the University Level Students in Pakistan ... Furrakh Abbas, Ph.D. Scholar, Sahar Aslam and Abdul Majid Khan Rana 95-108 Oatesian World of Violence and Female Victimization - An Autopsy ... J. Samuel Kirubahar, Ph.D. 109-124 Importance of Practicum in Teacher Training Programme - A Need of the Hour ... Aijaz Ahmed Gujjar, Ph.D. Scholar, Naeem Ullah Bajwa, Ph.D., Ghazala Shaheen, Ph.D., and Saifulla Saifi Ph.D. 125-141 Mentoring Teachers to Motivate Students ... B. Reena, M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D. Candidate and Rosalia H. Bonjour, Ph.D. 142-147 Exploring the Preferences of Aesthetic Needs of Secondary School Students in Faisalabad in Pakistan ... Abdul Ghafoor Nasir, Ph.D. Scholar, Muhammad Mirza, Ph.D. and Muhammad Naseer Ud Din, Ph.D. 148-159 Affinity and Alienation - The Predicament of the Internal Migrant in Anjum Hasan's Neti Neti ... Anita Balakrishnan, M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D. 160-168 Effect of Inquiry Lab Teaching Method on the Development of Scientific Skills Through the Teaching of Biology in Pakistan ... Muzaffar Khan, Ph.D. Scholar and Muhammad Zafar Iqbal, Ph.D. 169-178 Rate of Speech in Punjabi Speakers ... Deepti Kaushal, B.Sc., Anuradha Sharma, M.Sc., Sanjay Munjal, Ph.D., and Naresh Panda, Ph.D. 179-191 A Study of Orthographic Features of Instant Messaging in Pakistan - An Empirical Study ... Rana Faqir Muhammad Aslam, Ph.D. Scholar, Ali Ahmad, Ph.D. Scholar and Muhammad Akbar Sajid, Ph.D. Scholar 192-205 The Call for Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) at the Undergraduate Level with Special Reference to Andhra Pradesh ... V. Anuradha, Ph.D. and K. V. Madhavi, M.A., Ph.D. Candidate 206-211 Case and Case-like Postposition in Surjapuri ... Md. Shahzad Alam, M.A, Ph.D. Scholar 212-226 Rabindranath Tagore's Views on Education ... Prabha Parmar, M.A., Ph.D. (English) 227-234 A PRINT VERSION OF ALL THE PAPERS OF JANUARY, 2011 ISSUE IN BOOK FORMAT. This document is better viewed if you open it online and then save it in your Language in India www.languageinindia.com ii 11 : 1 January 2011 Contents List computer. After saving it in your computer, you can easily read all the pages from the saved document. 1-234 Language in India www.languageinindia.com iii 11 : 1 January 2011 Contents List LANGUAGE IN INDIA Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow Volume 11 : 1 January 2011 ISSN 1930-2940 Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D. Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D. Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D. B. A. Sharada, Ph.D. A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D. Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D. K. Karunakaran, Ph.D. Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D. S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D. G. Baskaran, Ph.D. Love and Language - A Socio-rhetorical Analysis of Love Texts on a Ghanaian Radio Network Wincharles Coker, B.Ed., M.Phil. ===================================================================== Abstract While research in rhetorical analysis has focused predominantly on academic writing, little is known of the moves employed in relatively new modes of computer-mediated communication. This paper, therefore, examines the rhetorical structure of text messages posted by listeners, most of whom are university students, to express love to their partners on one of the most patronised shows of a local campus radio network in Ghana. Based on a combined framework of Mann and Thompson‟s rhetorical structure theory and Swales‟ rhetorical move approach, results show that radio love text mesages bear a generic four- move structure. The study also reveals that the elaboration step is the nucleus of a love text, given that it involves a three-tiered sub-move which tends to be either romantic or erotic in nature. Further, the research shows that men deployed more affectionate lover address forms than their female counterparts, thereby contradicting the extant literature on gendered language. These Language in India www.languageinindia.com 1 11 : 1 January 2011 Wincharles Coker, B.Ed., M.Phil. Love and Language - A Socio-rhetorical Analysis of Love Texts on a Ghanaian Radio Network findings hold implications for further research in gender studies, computer-mediated communication and mass communication research. Key words: rhetoric, move, nucleus, text message, texter Introduction For decades, the concept of „rhetoric‟ in language studies has been predominantly rooted in academic writing. In recent times, however, current research emphasises disciplinary variation with the goal to enable learners to function aptly in specific discourse communities (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Kusell, 1992; Thompson, 2001). From this perspective, rhetoric is seen as the generic or organisational structure of language use beyond the sentence, taking into account such elements as purpose, context and audience (Afful, 2005). The organisational structure is segmented by so-called moves, that is, sub-commuicative units that help to realise a writer‟s or speaker‟s communicative purpose. However, following the emergence of SMS in the early 1990s research into its rhetorical strucutre has largely been ignored. This gap is understandably clear given the fous of past research on texting. In what follows, I first sketch a vignette of the extant literature with the view to pointing out what remains untreated. Next, I discuss the theoretical framework underpinning the study and present the methodology adopted. This will be followed by a detailed analysis and discussion of data, whereupon I will conclude with a summary and implications for future research. Review of Previous Scholarship on Texting Research on texting spans exactly two decades. As said earlier, previous studies have largely focused on the linguistic, sociolinguistic and communicative approaches to texting. Three Basic Sociolinguistic Maxims in Texting Thurlow‟s (2003) analysis of text messages among first-year language and communication students at the University of Cardiff has revealed that texting is characterised by three basic sociolinguistic maxims. These are brevity and speed, paralinguistic restitution and phonological approximation. Examples of linguistic processes instantiated by brevity and speed include the abbreviation of lexical items, the minimal use of capitalisation, standard and grammatical punctuation. Additional Features Bieswenger (2006) also identifies similar findings in his comparative analysis of shortenings in English and German private SMS corpora. These include initialism (e.g. acronym), clipping and Language in India www.languageinindia.com 2 11 : 1 January 2011 Wincharles Coker, B.Ed., M.Phil. Love and Language - A Socio-rhetorical Analysis of Love Texts on a Ghanaian Radio Network letter/number homophones. Thurlow‟s findings are confirmed by Crystal (2008) and Chiluwa (2008) in terms of initialism, clipping and contractions. Texting Negatively Influencing Literacy? Elsewhere, Thurlow (2006) analyses the metadiscursive construction and popular exaggeration of new technologies such as instant messaging and text messaging. Rooted in folk linguistics and critical discourse analysis, the author argues that many people misconstrue what he terms “the evolutionary trajectory of language change” (Thurlow, 2006: 18). According to him, one major narrative thread in public discourse is that texting negatively influences literacy among learners, though Crystal (2008) and Coker (2010) diametrically oppose this claim. Abounds in Grammatical Errors Al-Khawalda (2008) contends that the language of texting is a new variety replete with errors. The author‟s analysis of Arabic university students‟ text messages shows that the messages bore many grammatical mistakes, were devoid of temporal references and contained elements of code-switching. Away from the error analysis position, Chiluwa (2008), on the other hand, asserts that in SMSing grammatical correctness takes a backseat. This is because “what matters is not that it conforms to grammatical rules, but the fact that it communicates and is recognised by its receivers as coherent” (Cook, 1989 as cited in Chiluwa, 2008: 12). Also Gender-sensitive As well, research has shown that texting is gender sensitive. The recent work of Zelenkauskaite and Herring (2008), for instance, reveals that women write longer messages, using more emoticons and abbreviations compared to their male counterparts. This claim supports Fortunati and Magnanelli‟s (2002) as well as Ling‟s (2005) observations. In their study of Italian youth‟s use of mobile phones, Fortunati and Magnanelli (2002) explain that girls text longer messages than boys who typically do not utilise the entire space of their screens but rather opt for messages of about 40 to 50 characters.