The Speech Acts of Requests in Cameroon Francophone English (Published)
Cameroon Francophone English (CamFE) is a fast-growing sub-variety of English in Cameroon. The field of pragmatics and especially the speech acts of requests remain unexplored in this sub-variety of English. This paper aims to investigate the types of requests in CamFE, their structure, as well as the lexical and syntactic features. Data were collected through Discourse Completion Test (DCT) administered from some 40 students in the Department of English Language and Literature of the University of Maroua. The DCT was made up of six described situations, and 240 request utterances were elicited. The data were analysed through the coding scheme of the Cross-Cultural Speech Act Realisation Patterns propounded by Blum-Kulka and Olshtain (1984). The results of the study show that CamFE speakers have six types of request content structures established as S1, S2, S3, S4, S5 and S6. The most preferred request strategy is the reference to preparatory conditions technique (81.67%) followed by the mood derivable technique (10%). In addition to this, the analysis further reveals that CamFE requests display some specific lexical and syntactic features.
Keywords: Cameroon Francophone English, Pragmatics, Requests, Speech Acts., varieties of English
Wrong Usage as Threat to English Language in Nigeria (Published)
: English is a second language in Nigeria because it is non-indigenous, it was introduced by British Colonialists and Missionaries into the country. The roles and functions English language has assumed since its introduction into the country are outlined. Since Nigeria functions in virtually all spheres of life in English language, a variety known, internationally acceptable and intelligible exists as the Standard Nigerian English. What is really of concern is the increasing deviations noticeable in the speech and writings of Nigerians from the grammar of English. The error laden English spoken by many people in the country may well be replacing the Standard Nigerian English if the situation is not checked. The root causes of the problem are pointed out recommendations are made towards curbing the negative trend.
Keywords: English Language, Errors, Grammar, Mother tongue, Second Language, Standard Nigerian English, varieties of English
