Linguistic plurality is a situation in which a speech community speaks more than one language. It is a complex sociolinguistic phenomenon that helps explain the complexity of human nature. Human beings cannot exist in isolation and are therefore inclined towards interaction and transaction. The need and desire to interact leads to language…

An utterance is neither seen nor touched but capable of making or marring an individual, group or a nation depending on how it is used. Thus, positive utterances ensure peace and tranquility in a society while negative utterances usually tear a nation apart. Language of insult is a negative utterance that usually produces, hatred, war, or disunity…

This article examined the Igbo native speakers' perception of request act as well as the linguistic politeness strategies used to achieve this communicative intention in their conversational English as bilinguals. The study participants were 2748 undergraduate Igbo native speakers purposively selected from different Federal and State Universities…

The ethnography of communication, particularly of greetings, among speakers of some Yoruba dialects is the major concern of this paper. The author observed that the much-cherished, rich culture of greetings, among Yoruba, which the author grew up to know, by linguistic globalization and modernization is being eroded fast. The study and…

Xhosa-speaking South African children in school settings face several academic and emotional challenges. These may be due to family obligation, conformity to authority figures and over expectations from parents, teachers and society. This study examines the differences in the number and types of reported fears and worries in 200 South African…

Investigated was the effect of presenting arithmetic word problems in the students' native language or in English on Nigerian students mathematics skills and strategies. Findings indicated that both private and public school students performed better when the word problems were presented in their native language. (CW)

Describes experiences of being actively involved in the development of an English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) program at Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria. The goal of the program is to help French-speaking students who have passed their baccalaureate in neighboring West African francophone countries to meet the English language requirement…