American Research Journal of English and Literature

Dr. Abdel Rahman Abdalla Salih

The phenomenal spread and growth of English in recent years and its eventual dominance in the international arena has represented unprecedented challenges and opportunities to the practice of English Language Teaching (ELT) and learning, particularly in the ESL/EFL contexts. This paper examines the implications of the phenomenal spread of English around the world on the learning experience and preferences of English as foreign language (EFL) learners. A total number of (108) undergraduate students in an institution of higher learning in the Sultanate of Oman took part as data source by responding to a questionnaire survey administered to them. The study specifically explores the challenges ‘outer circle’ learners face in learning varieties of English and the effects of that on their views and learning a particular variety of English. The paper draws conclusion on the significance of understanding the nature of codes learners use and get exposed to.

Solomon Ali Dansieh

 The pervasiveness and compulsoriness of the English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course in tertiary education environments in Ghana is such that irrespective of first-year students’ course offerings they must of necessity take it, even if for a short period. This makes it imperative that the quality assurance principles for enhancing its teaching and learning be examined. The object of this study has been to explore and compare the application of quality assurance principles to the teaching and learning of EAP in four higher education institutions in Ghana with the aim of identifying: (a) how context-specific QA systems work in the case study institutions; (b) what is being done differently there and (c) to offer suggestions for quality enhancement and replication elsewhere. The study asserts that since every tertiary-level course in Ghana is taught in English, assuring the quality of English language teaching and learning would naturally have a “multiplier effect” on the quality of the other courses. Findings of this research were derived largely from a student survey and, to a lesser extent, from interviews with senior members and subject lecturers at the case study institutions. Institutional context, quality culture, quality assurance mechanisms, pedagogy, and curriculum designs of the case study institutions were found to be very similar. Through its cross-case analysis of QA strategies in the public and private sectors of higher education in Ghana, the study contributes to the identification of the differences between the two sectors as regards the enhancement of the quality of EAP teaching and learning. 

Brent T Strom

 Shakespeare is the author most taught in American secondary schools, yet no empirical evidence exists to support one methodological approach over another in its teaching. This study employed the California Critical Thinking Skills Test to measure growth in critical thinking skills that students obtained through a traditional ‘seat-bound’ versus a ‘performance-based’ approach to the teaching of Shakespeare at the secondary level. Its purpose was to determine whether there would be a statistically significant difference between the two. Subjects were selected based on their teacher’s methodological approach: one who had learned the performance-based approach from the Folger Library; and the second, a National Board Certified instructor who employed traditional seat-bound methods. Between the two classes there were ninety participants involved in a four-week unit on a particular Shakespeare play (n=90). Control group students were taught Shakespeare in the traditional manner; experimental group students received the treatment of a performance-based approach. All subjects were given a pre and posttest. Results indicate that students who learn Shakespeare through a performance-based approach had a statistically significant gain in overall critical thinking skills. This study provides empirical evidence to the benefit of using a performance-based approach in the teaching of Shakespeare at the secondary level.

*1Acheoah, John Emike, PhD, 2Olaleye, Joel Iyiola, 3Hamzah Abdulraheem, PhD

Candidates (students) aspiring for posts in Nigerian tertiary institutions usually engage in pre-election discourses (election campaigns) to convince prospective voters that they have clear, comprehensive manifestoes to actualize if voted into power as Student Union President, Treasurer, Public Relations Officer (PRO), and other positions of authority in their respective campuses. The campaigns take a more organized, elaborate and persuasive dimension on the day popularly known as “Manifesto Night”. This study investigates the pragmatic and stylistic features of Student Union Election discourses in Nigerian tertiary institutions, using a university as a case study. Only five micro-structures are selected from a campaign speech (macro-structure) of an aspirant who is popularly known as Plato. Hinging on Bach and Harnish’s Speech Act Theory and Lawal’s Communicative Model Theory, this study finds out that Student Union Election discourse in Nigerian tertiary institutions is characterized by a wide range of pragmatic and stylistic strategies which essentially make it persuasively potent. These strategies include: good introduction, allusion, elaboration, skilful selection of speech acts, use of people-inclusive personal pronouns, reliance on figurative language, reminiscences, repetitions, direct call to action and blunt attack on status-quo. 

Nisreen M. Sawwa, Shadi S. Neimneh*, Raja K. Al-Khalili

 The present article provides new insights into Joseph Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness (1899) and Rudyard Kipling’s short story “The Man Who Would Be King” (1888), by applying two Marxist notions, namely class struggle and subsequent alienation. It argues the Marxist orientation of such texts against prevalent postcolonial parameters. In Heart of Darkness, the Company arguably represents the bourgeoisie, while workers like Kurtz represent the proletariat. Kurtz exerts himself in order to procure ivory so that the Company makes profit. Thus, Kurtz is alienated from the product of his labor. As a result, he alienates himself from Africans as well as Europeans. In “The Man Who Would Be King,” the imperialist Europeans in India represent the capitalists, while Dravot and Carnehan represent the proletariat because they cannot benefit from the resources of India. Consequently, Dravot and Carnehan alienate themselves from Europeans and go to Kafiristan, where they establish themselves as kings and gods. However, Dravot and Carnehan do not benefit considerably from their positions and their crowns. Hence, the analysis shows that Kurtz, Dravot, and Carnehan are exploited in stratified societies, and they all die after experiencing alienation from the product of their labor and from other human beings. It is our contention that both texts interrogate different facets of oppression operating within imperialistic endeavors, not only racial but also class-related oppression. Since this social and economic oppression extends across different racial and ethnic boundaries, it is argued that colonialism replicates on its own agents the different sorts of exploitation it exercises on the colonized.   

Saleh M. Al-Salman

The history of modern linguistics has witnessed ongoing row over the relationship between grammaticality meaning, and acceptability. The meaning of an expression remained controversial over the years. It varied from being a function of usage, to a matter of reference. Whereas meaning is the focal point of grammar for some theorists, others are still investigating how sentences are linked together to form meaningful and acceptable discourse. With this uncertainty about how meaningful discourse may be interpreted, this paper aims to identify the most plausible linguistic paradigm on which the interpretation of meaning and the acceptability of a piece of discourse may be established. And while the paper recognizes the role each level of linguistic analysis plays in determining acceptability, it argues for the interdependence of all levels: grammatical, lexical, and semantic. However, while the findings of the present study acknowledge the key role of structure --based on understanding the interrelationship between sentential elements-- and semantics as a key element in determining discourse meaning, other equally important factors need to be explored. The findings lead to the conclusion that acceptability is not the product of purely linguistic factors, but exceeds it to entail key variables of context, situation, purpose, and audience, together with the pragmatics of discourse as to how the speech act relates to the real world.

Acheoah, John Emike (PhD)

This study is very significant because it presents a new model for reading English words and stretches. The English phonemes are segmental (vowel and consonant sounds) and suprasegmental (stress, intonation, rhythm). The analysis of tone in English and any other language cannot be clear without knowledge of segmental phonemes which produce tone in a stretch of utterance. The literature of phonetics and phonology shows that there are different frameworks for reading tone in English. In this study, I simply advance knowledge in the literature by evolving a notational structure for tone-reading (the “Notational Model”). Tone and intonation are potent in connected speech (sentences of conversational exchanges). The rising and falling of voice-pitch during speech is known as intonation. English intonation types include: falling intonation (tune I which moves from a high pitch to a low pitch), rising intonation (tune II which moves from a low pitch to a high one) and combined intonation.

Acheoah, John Emike

This paper is an integrative appraisal of Searle’s speech act theory. The nature of speech acts makes them worthy of scholarly attention. Most speech acts are focused and directed as they are encoded by the speaker and decoded by the hearer. They are intended to have a certain point, and they are intended to be understood as such. This investigation explores Lawal’s Communicative Model Theory and Acheoah’s Pragma-crafting Theory to contend for a vibrant, all-encompassing speech act theory and establish the strengths and weaknesses of Searle’s speech act theory. This study finds that: the notions “speaker’s intention” and “linguistic convention” mentioned in Searle’s speech act theory are loosely used. Context-phenomenon is not extensively discussed in Searle’s theory in which speakers’ intention is the core. Without a context-sensitive, integrative theoretical framework, the investigation of the contextual nuances which determine the use and interpretation of language remains a futile endeavour. Like Austin’s speech act theory, Searle’s speech act theory strongly recommends “linguistic conventions” for the performance of speech acts at the expense of a wide range of discourse constraints. 

Elahe Soleimani  Reza Biria

 This study focused on the analysis of instructional scaffolding and socioeconomic status (SES) on the articulation of English utterances in Iranian preschoolers’ English classes. For garnering the relevant corpora, two kindergartens from both High and Low SESs were randomly selected. They were then scrutinized based on preschoolers’ portfolio and two classes from each kindergarten were selected as experimental and control groups respectively. During the course of studies, preschoolers in experimental groups were exposed to instructional scaffolding techniques while the presence of such a treatment for control groups was limited to textbook. As such, at the end of the course, preschoolers’ English oral performances in each SES strata were compared by administrating only a post-test. The results indicated that scaffolding techniques regardless of their usage in high or low socioeconomic levels had a dramatic effect on preschoolers’ performance. All in all, the application of scaffolding tools may pave the way for teachers who are involved in teaching children and also the researchers in such areas.

Jalaludeen Ibrahim & Sadiya A. Gwandu

Despite the fact that the importance of language is recognized in National Policy on Education (NPE), the language of instruction in multilingual Nigeria has always been a matter of concern to educators and educational planners. This study investigated the current situation of educational policy in Nigeria, highlighting the challenges of multilingual education and future of English language. A total number of one hundred (100) teachers at basic education level (this comprises lower primary and junior secondary school as contained in the National Policy on Education) in Gusau the capital city of Zamfara State, Nigeria, were selected as participants. The findings revealed that provisions of multilingual education contained in the National Policy on Education are not properly implemented by the majority of the teachers and the government has not taken the implementation of the provisions any serious. The findings also revealed that the future of English in the Nigerian educational sector is very bright since it now seems to be the language of officialdom. The findings further revealed that some of the challenges of multilingual education provisions include: the multilingual challenge; poor policy planning and implementation; and teacher quality and curriculum materials. This study recommends that the Federal Government of Nigeria should do more in the enforcement of the multilingual provisions in all sectors of education and also develop more educational resources and orthographies of indigenous languages to meet the demands of multilingual education.