A SYSTEMIC TEXT LINGUISTIC STUDY OF SELECTED NIGERIAN NOVELS
A SYSTEMIC TEXT LINGUISTIC STUDY OF SELECTED NIGERIAN NOVELS
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Date
2012-08
Authors
JIBRIN, MUHAMMED-BADAR SALIHU
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Abstract
The aim of this research was to do an in-depth study of the variations in
language as used by the various novelists in the novels selected for this
study. The objectives of the study were to investigate the divergent ways in
which these writers have creatively used English to perform the functional
role of communication in a non-native environment, show the extent to
which their various choices succeed in the supposed semantic function, show
how systemic text linguistic approach is a departure from other stylistic
approaches and to show how the features of these “Englishes” contribute to
the development of the concept of global English. The novels studied are
Chukwuemeka Ike’s Our Children Are Coming, Festus Iyayi’s The Contract
and Abubakar Gimba’s Witnesses to Tears. The study is a text linguistic one
based on the Systemic Functional model. The two text linguistic concepts of
“projection” and “procedure” were used in the selection of data from the
chosen texts for analysis. The data gathered were analyzed according to the
three meta-levels of Primitive, Second order and Prime order developed
from the three levels of thesis, immediate situation and wider situation in
text linguistics. The study revealed that all the three novels studied project a
central message each. This is contrary to the age long belief and tradition of
multiple messages in a second order text. The study also revealed that each
author projects the message of his text using the three aforementioned levels
of meaning. However, each author uses these levels in a manner that is
peculiarly functional. The study as well revealed that the messages projected
by the novels are interrelated, as they all bring human nature under scrutiny
based on the philosophical and linguistic idiosyncrasies of these authors.
Description
A Thesis Submitted to the Postgraduate
School in Partial Fulfilment of The
Requirements for the Award of Doctoral
Degree [Ph.D] in English Language
Department of English and Literary Studies,
Faculty of Arts
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria
Keywords
SYSTEMIC,, TEXT,, LINGUISTIC,, SELECTED,, NIGERIAN,, NOVELS.