Clarep Journal of English and Linguistics Academic Writing for Africa: the Journal Article 2
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See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339300631 A case for Nominalised Focus in Yorùbá Article · February 2020 CITATIONS READS 0 293 1 author: Francis Adefabi University of Benin 4 PUBLICATIONS 1 CITATION SEE PROFILE Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: Split-Focus Constructions in Ṣúpárè View project All content following this page was uploaded by Francis Adefabi on 17 February 2020. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/336832444 CLAREP JOURNAL OF ENGLISH AND LINGUISTICS ACADEMIC WRITING FOR AFRICA: THE JOURNAL ARTICLE 2 Article · October 2019 CITATIONS READS 0 105 1 author: Mayowa Akinlotan University of Texas at Austin 21 PUBLICATIONS 16 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: Noun phrase in New Englishes; the case of Nigerian English View project Corpus approach to the analysis of meaning View project All content following this page was uploaded by Mayowa Akinlotan on 26 October 2019. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. CLAREP JOURNAL OF ENGLISH AND LINGUISTICS C-JEL VOLUME 1, 2019 ACADEMIC WRITING FOR AFRICA: THE JOURNAL ARTICLE 2 CLAREP Journal of English and Linguistics (C-JEL) is a publication of the Centre for Language Research and English Proficiency. CLAREP JOURNAL OF ENGLISH AND LINGUISTICS C-JEL VOLUME 1, 2019 Edited by Alexandra Esimaje and Josef Schmied GALDA VERLAG2019 Clarep Journal of English and Linguistics (C-JEL) is an annual journal of the Cen- tre for Language Research and English Proficiency. C-JEL publishes empirical and original research in the fields of English and Lin- guistics. Investigations into both the theoretical and applied aspects of English and linguistics are explored in this forum. C-JEL covers a wide scope of research. It accepts works on both the core areas of language study such as lexis, phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics of English and other African languages as well as research on the applications of these fields. © 2019 Centre for Language Research and English Proficiency, Benin City, Nigeria ISSN: 2698-654X ISBN Vol. 1: 978-3-96203-100-8 Ordering Information Order print subscriptions or single volumes from: Galda Verlag, Franz Schubert Str. 61, 16548 Glienicke, Germany, [email protected] Notes for Contributors C-JEL invites original contributions relevant to the aims and scope of the journal. Submission guidelines and technical details of formatting can be found on our website at www.clarep.org. Online submissions can be made at [email protected] All correspondence concerning editorial issues should be sent to the Chief Editor at [email protected] C-JEL Editors Editor-in-chief: Alexandra Esimaje Centre for Language Research and English Proficiency; Benson Idahosa University. Series Editors: Uche Betty Gbenedio University of Benin, Nigeria Rotimi Taiwo Obafemi Awolowo University. Bode Ekundayo University of Benin, Nigeria Christine Ofulue National Open Univ., Nigeria Editorial Advisers: Daniel Nkemleke University of Yaounde 1 Bassey Antia University of Western Cape, SA Susan Hunston Birmingham University, UK Ulrike Gut University of Munster, Germany CONTENTS Ambiguity in News Headlines: A Predictive Corpus/Variationist Approach Mayowa Akinlotan 1 Writing Right in Academese: The Language of Academic and Research Report Writing Omowumi Bode Steve Ekundayo and Stanley Sokari 31 The Semiosis of Personal Names in Igbo and Itsekiri Cultures Alexandra Esimaje and Kate Ojukwu 61 A Critical Examination of Presentation-Practice-Production and the Task-Based Methods of Teaching English as a second Language in Large Secondary School Classes Uche Betty Gbenedio and Omawumi Doreen Osa-Omoregie 77 Vocalic Sounds Articulation by Selected Nigerian Television Newscasters: A Nigerian RP? Omotosho Moses Melefa 97 A Pragmatic Study of Language Use in Pentecostal Christian Church Posters Temple Chibueze Odoemenam 119 A Critical Discourse Analysis of Hate Speech Comments on Nigerian News Websites Frank Onuh 137 Phonological Patterns in Ukwuani Children of Three to Five Years Old Franca Okumo 169 A Case for Nominalised Focus in Yorùbá Olayinka Adefabi Francis 185 Vowel Harmony Peculiarities in Ekwulobia Igbo Chibunma Amara Ezenwafor 201 Bokyi Noun Class System David U. Etta 215 A Study of Style in Adimora-Ezeigbo’s House of Symbols with comparisons to Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart Chinyere Uchegbu-Ekwueme 233 1 A Corpus/Variationist Approach to Ambiguity in Nigerian News Headlines Mayowa Akinlotan University of Texas at Austin, Austin, USA [email protected] Abstract The language of news headlines requires that the specific meaning being constructed is without ambiguity, and thus be clearly identifiable by the readers. But ambiguity and meaning-making are so related that the former is, to a varying degree, almost always present in news headlines, given a number of linguistic and non-linguistic factors influencing the writer, reader, and the language at hand (Hirst, 1987, Akinlotan 2018d, Eckert 2018). This study shows (1) the extent to which ambiguity is present in online Nigerian newspaper headlines; (2) the linguistic nature of the ambiguity, and (3) how a total of 14 linguistic predictors clearly show where we might find ambiguous headlines, the nature of the ambiguity, and the different scenarios characterising (1) and (2). A total of 14 predictors is investigated on the basis of over a thousand news headlines extracted from a Nigerian national newspaper, The Punch, showing that ambiguity has a likely incidence of 22%. Of the ambiguous proportion, 47% is lexically-motivated while 53% is structurally motivated. A logistic regression shows a combination of factors including animacy and structural complexity as important predictors showing the nature and where/ when we might find (non) ambiguous news headlines. Keywords: ambiguity, construction, Nigerian English, linguistic variable, meaning, corpus pragmatics, news headlines 2 AKINLOTAN. Ambiguity in News Headlines C-JEL, Volume 1, 2019 1. Introduction Newspaper headlines are a field of language use where clarity of thought, including identification of ideas and referents, is a topmost threshold motivating lexical and syntactic choices that make up the phrasal/clausal/ sentential construction. Such writing requires expeditious processing of meaning. Hence ambiguity, the possibility that a construction offers more than one interpretation where only one is intended, is usually prevented in such writing because it may obstruct the focus and weight of the headline. Then, achieving mono-expeditious meaning in news headline writing is itself subject to a range of variation, owing to considerations of style, and also to a range of variables motivating ambiguity-free and ambiguous news headlines (Eckert 2018), Also, given the complexity of language, especially the fact that meaning processing is a negotiation between a writer and a reader who never operationalise exactly the same mechanisms of cognitive meaning, then achieving mono-expeditious meaning becomes important for both the writer and the readers (Hawkins 1994). Although a considerable number of previous works have examined the phenomenon of ambiguity in news headlines in Nigerian newspapers, none has approached it from a corpus/variationist framework. Nor do they engage a significant number of datasets with statistical analysis of (socio) linguistic variables. In fact, almost all of the previous works available are based on a handful datasets (for examples, see Ayodele 1998, Ehineni 2014, Chinelo 2015, Nwala and Umukoro 2017), and do not show specific contexts where we might find ambiguity-free and ambiguous headlines. Further, these previous studies did not show how different determinants influence inhibition and exhibition of ambiguity, or how they influence different sorts of “ambi-type” (i.e., types of ambiguous headlines being lexically or syntactically motivated). The present study complements these previous studies, combining different approaches to studying ambiguity, a phenomenon that correlates with linguistic complexity and difficulty (Housen et al. 2019). Housen et al. (2019) have shown a variety of approaches to studying linguistic complexity including the fuzziness characterising relative and absolute (structural) complexity. Although the present work essentially lies within the purview of absolute complexity, the fact that the issue of ambiguity and meaning processing could not be completely extricated from cognitive processes suggests there is a link between relative and absolute complexity. AKINLOTAN. Ambiguity in News Headlines C-JEL, Volume 1, 2019 3 Furthermore, the present study contributes to the previous works by showing the extent to which ambiguity and different ambi-types are present in Nigerian newspaper headlines, together with how a range of (socio) linguistic variables independently and interactionally influence these issues. A little over a thousand news headlines (1006) collected from the online version of the widely national newspaper in Nigeria, Punch, were critically analysed, quantitatively and qualitatively, in relation to a total of 14 variables: • complexity of the headline structure; • animacy of the subject of the headline; • animacy of the direct object in the headlines; • occurrence of citation;