Influence of cultural background on appropriacy of understanding of English by learners
It is difficult for learners of a foreign language to understand and correctly use the features of appropriacy. This occurs because appropriacy is not only specific in the context, but also in terms of culture. Among the brightest models of appropriacy there is the development of English in Africa. English is widespread in Africa due to domination of the British Empire. In total, Africa has about 430 languages and dialects of the black Africans. Most of these languages have no written codes.
The penetration of European settlers to Africa began in the 15th century. During the 17th, 18th and 19th century almost all indigenous peoples in Africa were attacked by the Europeans who, in addition to this, waged wars among themselves in the African territory. In 17 and 18th centuries, Africa exported slaves, which were cheap labour resources. Following the slave killed about 100 million black Africans.
It is worth to say at this point that, despite entrenched features of English and its subsequent rule Nigerian regime, Yoruba had an interesting history of growth and development of literary education at all levels’ education. Yoruba was investigated in rigorous academic research at tertiary level. Furthermore, the use of Yoruba language in publishing, journalism and broadcasting was a major boost for communication in Nigeria and beyond. Such as English, language Yoruba however had a checked history of development as a dynamic means of communication.
The Nigerian situation is a feature that obtains in many countries in West Africa where English has gained ascendancy over the many ethnic languages as official lingua franca. People acquired several sociolinguistic requirements that include the use of English as the medium of education and the language of politics, trade and even religion. Of course, some of location must occur, since the language needs to reflect the new environment and to present ideas that did not exist in its original home. However, we can say that these applications represent examples of the influence of Americanisms in contemporary social interactions.
For example: My father told me to tell you to come.
This is considered random because the model is not widespread and the speaker will not be consistent in his / her faulty marking double-time, and can be easily corrected.
Similarly, many African languages have had their fair share of colonial influence caused by contact with European languages such as French and English., 1987). This led to a ‗reinventing 'of the linguistic repertoire of Yoruba-English bilingual speaker to include words of English loan and similar forms. In these examples, it is clear that the stress in English words is converted to a corresponding set of sound patterns when taken in Yoruba. Another feature of the influence of English on Yoruba in the use of loan words is the establishment of pitching and segment correspondence between the two languages. According Ufomata (2004), in most cases, loans simply take these correspondences in consonant groups that are absent in Yoruba phonological system are solved by epenthesis or deletion as in the examples: barber (BABA), soldier (Soja ), halfpenny (pronounced / eipni /) (éékpìnì), street (titi), kettle (Ketu), bike (báísíkù)
However, at the semantic level, there are notable exceptions to correspondence mentioned above. In such cases, Yoruba tonal patterns do keep meaning to share in English homonyms.
Methodology
The purpose of this study is to explore the linguistic resources available to the Yoruba-bilingual English and the ways in which these resources are used to reinvent both languages for the expression of the contemporary dynamics of urban life. In this regard, this study is based on a corpus of natural speech Lagos bilingual citizens in different social contexts. The speakers cut in all strata of society, but are united by the common trait of being pregnant Yoruba and English L1 L2 with the common history of the acquisition of English at an early age. However, the levels of proficiency in both languages vary depending on the level of education and the duration of exposure to both languages. Using spontaneous interviews and non-participant observation method, researchers isolated forms (lexical, morphological or semantic) which have the characteristics of linguistic engineering in the use of both Yoruba and English.
Conceptual review
The description of the language, whether oral or written, is the main business language. Similarly, the use of languages studies in human societies belong in the field of sociolinguistics. This article explores the relationship between the change in language and linguistic engineering in the bilingual behaviour in a non-native English speaking environment. Our exploration of these areas also includes the issue of code-switching and changing the language since the bilingual behaviour, code-switching and borrowing represent some of the essential characteristics of sociolinguistic influences that promote language change worldwide. The term ‗code-switching ", we refer to any type of speech in which words from two different linguistic systems are used side by side. Gumperz (1972, 1982) described the code-switching phenomenon as ‗the juxtaposition in the same exchange passages of the speech from two systems or sub-systems "speech grammar. In the same vein, (East, 1941) describes bilingual code-switching as language alternation in the same interactional episode. Gafaranga and Torras (2002) argue that the concept of code-switching has always been understood to mean any occurrence of two languages in the same conversation. They also identify a switching code as a specific type of language alternation they describe the ‗interactional otherness, "a term that refers to a kind of internally motivated deviance (that is, in the service of a specific interactional function (East, 1941)
These different perspectives emphasize that the various postulations of researchers on the proper definition of code-switching should be considered beyond the scope of the various terminologies. These different points of view and code-switching categorizations are based in fact on different theoretical orientations and different views on the concept of language and that of the code in social interactions. Gafaranga and Torras (2002) argue that these views reflect the different epistemological orientations. To this end, they describe the views of Gumperz and Myers-Scotton explanation as ‗identity- related "because they are interested in the social values of language and social motivations for switching code, respectively. In the opinion of the other represents what is Auer described as a sequential perspective, a perspective that is based on conversation analysis approach Auer about.
Write English, i.e. the language of official documents, newspapers, periodicals, artistic, technical and scientific, no different from the standard English of England, but Speaking undergone various changes and in particular the influence of the Afrikaans language and indigenous population. Special features of Nigerian English are marked as in the pronunciation, and in vocabulary and sentence structure. However, some linguists believe that formal changes in a language can be recorded at different levels of abstraction. Backus (ibid) argues therefore that it is quite inaccurate to say that order‖ -word changed in a given language. Therefore, before accepting a form as ‗new ', it is necessary to show that it was not part of the language all along. According to Backus, the clearest evidence of this would be of course the absence of the function of the variety of pre-contact, but this type of evidence is not always easy to obtain in the syntax. In addition, Emenanjọ (1990) observe that many languages which are currently largely dominated by another language (such as Yoruba) are monolingual more that can act as a standard, while the pre-contact records have often disappeared or nonexistent.
Given all the factors involved, it is clear why it is difficult to arrive at a generally accepted theory. In addition to this, there is the question of whether the induced touch the change must be separated from a general theory of change, mainly because bilingualism is one of the major factors promoting social change and the internal and external factors conspiring often in this type of change. In addition, Backus (ibid) notes that in addition to direct import (loan), there is also the indirect change induced by the contact circumstances, but this does not concern the actual loans. Indirect changes are particularly likely to involve a combination of internal and external causes (Barbag-Stoll, 1983)
Lexical
Yoruba-English bilingual situation in the cosmopolitan city of Lagos is the kind of speech that speakers use alternately Yoruba and English words or phrases for a variety of reasons. This type of language ability cannot always available to speakers with less skills in both languages. (8. Federal Ministry of Education 1977. Lagos national education policy: Federal Government Press, 2016)
Personal identity
Personal or individual identity involves self-identification in the large space of the company, term and within the groups to which people. This is most exemplified in personal naming system by which these bilingual reinvent the prevalence of personal names mixed-codes, a trend that cuts across age and gender divides. For example, people are generally identified by the use of a Yoruba name followed by an English name that indicates professional or professional identification. (Naidorf, 2014)
Group identity
Linguistic features and the various identities they generally depict imply a limit function. The particular socio-linguistic structure of the community of speech Lagos means that individuals find their relevance in the group's identity. This means that people perceive themselves and are perceived by others as more relevant individually when they are recognized as part of a group. Therefore, everyone tries to define within a group structure. The bilingual common standard is also reflected in the name of social groups to show the sophistication and willingness to follow the trend of contemporary usage. Thus, we have a preference for Yoruba-English group names against Yoruba monolingual or English names monolingual as in the examples: Ricca Gents, Inabiri Ladies, Waka Club, The Great Offin Gents, Balogun Yuppies, Fila Connection, New Generationext Olowogbowo of Upper Olowogbowo Gents, etc. (Bratman and Girman 2003)
Some group names, however, are kept in English but with phonological and / or orthographic changes as in the examples: Sunday Skool for Sunday school, Faya One for Fire I.
Semantics
At the semantic level of use, Yoruba-English bilingual Lagos Urban attempt to restructure their speech with the following strategies:
Nativization
The speech of many educated young bilinguals often has the use of some mixed-code phrases that have the form of English usages nativised. The original English expressions usually have certain elements translated into Yoruba to create a new code. (Joseph Babasola, 2014)
Morphologic
This involves the adaptation of English loan words to the morphology of the borrowing language. On the contrary, there is also the case of the adaptation of Yoruba words and phrases to the morphology of English by which an English morphological feature is affixed to a Yoruba word to form a new phrase-Yoruba English. Some speakers described such use as ‗Yorubanglish '(Garfinkel, 1972). Most of these expressions are often confined to the use of slang, or relexicalisations group registers for the purpose of solidarity and to show the emotional content of the word bilingual (gene expression post-transcriptional modifications (2C-01 - 2C-09), 2004)
Phonological
Some lexical functions Yoruba-English code-switching also have the considerable linguistic integration phonological level. This is normally characterized by the superposition of native speaker pronunciation models on the representation of English phonetic loan words. (Wolfson, 1976)
Error characteristics in Yoruba-English Engineering
It is interesting to note that most of the examples cited above represent the use of bilingual language of educated speakers. Speakers of English in Nigeria were classified into three groups based on their language skills. Speakers are classified along a continuum as linguistic acrolectal, mesolectal and basilectal respectively. This categorization is important in assessing the linguistic content of social interaction bilingual in terms of the concept of communicative competence underlined earlier. While many Yoruba-English bilingual urban Lagos fall into the category identified as acrolectal Nigerian speakers, some may be classified as belonging to the group mesolectal. Speakers (Delano, 1964) acrolectal are those with higher education while speakers mesolectal generally possess academic qualifications. (Anda, 1996) The group identified as basilectal are at the extreme of the spectrum and are characterized by a relatively small number education such as primary education or in extreme cases, no education at all. Yet everyone acquires the second language, English, and communicatively use in the bilingual speech general standard of the community. Differential levels of use may however be established when the concept of communicative competence is applied. (Zamaratskaia et al., 2012)
It has been observed that different categories of speakers draw on the community speak directory according to their language proficiency. Accordingly, aspects of the naturalist discourse of our respondents had different characteristics of speech basilectal. (Chambers, 2003)
Conclusion
In this article, we reviewed some of the salient features of sociolinguistic language engineering and studied it on the pattern of Yoruba and English bilingual lexical level, and semantic and phonological and morphological ones. Basically, we have demonstrated that English and Yoruba exert considerable influence over the other and the different strategies for language engineering are supported by factors in the use of speech. In addition, our examples have clearly shown that Yoruba English bilingual appropriacy finds a place in the explanation of the unique socio-linguistic elements of language change in contemporary communication.
Works cited
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Barbag-Stoll, A. (1983). Social and linguistic history of Nigerian Pidgin English. Tübingen: Stauffenberg Verlag.
Bratman, S. and Girman, A. (2003). Mosby's handbook of herbs and supplements and their therapeutic uses. St. Louis: Mosby.
Chambers, J. (2003). Sociolinguistic theory. Oxford: Blackwell.
Delano, I. (1964). Conversation in Yoruba and English. New York: Praeger.
East, R. (1941). A vernacular bibliography for the languages of Nigeria. Zaria: Literature Bureau.
Emenanjọ, E. (1990). Multilingualism, minority languages, and language policy in Nigeria. Agbor, Bendel State, Nigeria: Central Books Ltd. in collaboration with the Linguistic Association of Nigeria.
Federal Ministry of Education. 1977. National Policy on Education. Lagos: Federal Government Press., (2016). .
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