Adenrele Gabriel

A LINGUISTIC STUDY OF VERBAL GROUPS IN SELECTED ONLINE NIGERIA NEWS REPORTS ON HERDSMEN ATTACKS. BY MUKADAM BISOLA T. EGL/2014/314 A PROPOSAL FOR A LONG ESSAY TO BE SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH, FALCUTY OF ARTS, OBAFEMI AWOLOWO UNIVERSITY ILE-IFE, NIGERIA IN PARTIAL FUFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF BACHELOR OF ARTS (B.A. HONS) DEGREE I N ENGLISH LANGUAGE JULY 2O18. CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE 1.0Introduction 1.1 Background to the study 1.2 Statement of research problem 1.3 Aim and objectives of the study 1.4 Research Questions 1.5 Significance of the study 1.6 Expected contribution to knowledge CHAPTER TWO Literature review Introduction Grammar The groups Verbal group CHAPTER THREE Research methodology Theoretical framework BIBLIOGRAPHY CHAPTER ONE This section is going to give us an overview of what this study entails. It includes the background information to the study, statement of the research problem, aim and objectives, significance and what this research study aim at contributing to existing knowledge. Background to the study This study will focus on the structure of verbal elements, it use and implication to the projection of meaning paying close attention to digital media. Language is a method of human communication either spoken or written. Human beings rely highly on language to express themselves, communicate with one another and the world. As early as 2000 years ago, the ancient Greek scholars have begun to study language. Till now language has become the central topic of western humanities. In respect to this, different scholars have made various efforts in providing myriad of definitions on language. Downing and Locke(2006, pg 3) states that language is for communication. People communicate with each other; make apologies, give directives, ask questions utter statements and language is that medium they use to achieve these functions. Honey (1997) perceives language as a codified linguistics structure supported by established rules. The research work is focused on grammatical discourse i.e. how people use the verbal groups creatively to communicate meanings, ideas, views and opinions to the masses. Grammar is a concept under linguistics or language that deals with rules. It is a system of rules that determines the grammatical structure of a language. Since the theoretical framework employed for this research study is the systemic functional linguistics which was introduced by MAK Halliday (1985), most of our definitions in this study will dwell more on this approach. The principal aim of the systemic functional grammar is to represent the grammatical system as a resource for making meanings. Political leaders, lawyers, teachers, doctors, students, news reporters etc. use grammar in their daily interactions (whether formal or informal) to communicate meaning. This research work aims to examine how the verbal group which is a concept under grammar is employed in selected online news reports on herdsmen issues to communicate views and ideas to the public. The verbal group is typically a group with verb as its head word. Downing and locke (2006) asserts; the verbal group is the grammatical unit by means of which we most typically express our perception on events. News about different events happening in the world is being disseminated to the public every day. This is done mainly through the mass media; digital media, print media etc. their role is to disseminate information to the large audience either in a written or audio form. However, in this research work our total attention will be payed to the digital media i.e. the internet or online news. This is because there is a more easy access to the online news as opposed to others. Digital journalism is the contemporary form of journalism where editorial content is distributed via the internet as opposed to print or broadcast. The primary product of journalism is ### which is news and features on current affairs, is presented mainly as text, audio and video and are disseminated through digital media technology. The first type of digital journalism called teletext was invented in UK in 1970. Teletext is a system allowing viewers to choose which stories they wish to read and see immediately. Online news reports began to proliferate in the 1990s. It allows for connection and discussion at levels print does not offer on its own. People can comment on articles and start discussion boards to discuss articles. Online sources are able to provide quick, efficient, and accurate reporting of breaking news like the herdsmen attacks which has been for some years now. It provides the society with a synopsis of event as they occur. The news reports will be culled from the punch, The Vanguard and the guardian and an attempt will be made at discussing the implications of those verbal groups on the projection of meaning on social issue. Statement of the Research problem There have been different scholarly contributions to the linguistics study of verbal groups, mainly of the structure and form. However, this research seeks to examine and look critically at how they are categorized and the various functions these verbal elements employed by the selected online Nigeria news reports perform. Quite a number of people use the modal verbs without a good knowledge of their semantic implications. This study aims at investigating the latter. Aim The aim of this research work is to investigate use of the verbal groups and their implications in selected Nigeria news reports paying close attention to social issues. Objectives of the study In this study, I will: i. Identify different verbal groups used in the selected online Nigeria news reports ii. iii. Categorize the identified verbal groups into their respective classes. And demonstrate the effects or the implications of the verbal groups in the English clauses. Research questions i. ii. iii. What are the different verbal groups used in the selected news reports? How can these identified verbal groups be categorized? What are their implications in the English clauses where they have been used? Scope of the study The scope of this research study will be limited to manageable proportion for productive and effective result. The study will be carried out using two prominent online news reports ( the vanguard and the Sun). Also, because of the demand that the research study will place on us, focus will be on herdsmen attack between January and July, 2018. Two news reports will be selected each from May, June and July, reason being that the insurgencies were more prominent during these periods. The study will focus on how news reports employ the use of the verbal elements (simple or complex) to communicate ideas, views on social issues prevalent in the country, paying close attention to the herdsmen attack. The research includes identifying, studying, categorizing and doing a thorough study on the implications of these verbal groups as used in the selected online Nigeria news reports on herdsmen attack. Significance of the study Research on the functions of the English verbal group is very essential to give news reporters, students, editors etc. an in depth understanding of the structure of the verbal groups, functions and their implications in different clausal structures or sentences. Expected contribution to knowledge This research study aims at contributing to knowledge by doing a close and in depth study on how the verbal groups are employed to communicate views, opinions and ideas on social issues through the digital media (online news reports). The study expects to show the implications of the use of these verbal groups to the meaning contained in the selected texts. CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter will be reviewing various works of scholars who have contributed to the subject ’verbal group”. Scholarly attention will be paid to reviewing related literature on grammar, the grammatical unit, groups and the verbal group. GRAMMAR According to wale Osinsanwo 1999, grammar is a body of systemic statements about the systemic interrelationships of structures within a language. He says further that grammar is the totality of language description. THE CONCEPT OF GROUPS VERBAL GROUP Downing and Locke (2006, pg. 317) states; the verbal Group is the grammatical unit by means of which we most typically express our perception of events. Muir quoted in J. O. ojo (2002); verbal group is one of the most complex areas of the English grammar. He mentions further that this complexity is brought about by the fact that a relatively large number of systemic choices are made here, and there is no correspondence netween a term in a system and an element of structure realizing this choice. The verbal group has been variously defined as a group of words with a verb as its head word, Osinsanwo (1999 ; 42), Aremo (2004; 58). According to Halliday, (2014), the verbal group is an expansion of a verb and it is the constituent that functions finite plus a predicator This research seeks to examine how the verbal groups are being employed and the implications of the used verbal groups to the project the meaning or message contained in the selected texts, THE STRUCTURE OF THE VERBAL GROUP The structure of the verbal group given by the systemic functional linguistics can be graphically represented thus: Verbal Group Auxiliary Finite tense non-modal Past present Lexical modal semi-modal passive forms particles CHAPTER THREE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY This chapter explains the methodology that would be employed for this research. Data sampling method and procedure of data selection The process of data selection to be employed for this research is the purposive data sampling. The data samples are selected primarily from secondary sources. The data are 6 in number and were culled from the news reports of (2) online Nigeria newspapers that dwell on herdsmen insurgencies, they include; the punch and Tribune. Two news reports each in May, June and July, 2018. Justification for data sampling The online Nigeria newspapers selected for this study are the prominent online and offline Nigeria newspapers. They are read by elites and the common, old and youths and they have a strong influence on public opinion. This study focuses on the herdsmen insurgencies between May and July because these months were the period when the insurgencies reached its climax. The news was all over and was really pathetic. Killings happen almost every day during these months. In plateau state for example, it was recorded that around 25 persons were massacred early July. Finally, restricting the data sampling to these two online Nigeria newspapers is for effective, speedy and detailed results. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK The theoretical frame work for this study will focus on a descriptive linguistic theory espoused by MAK HALLIDAY. This frame work is known as the systemic Functional Linguistic (SFL). The field of systemic functional linguistics is a social semiotic approach to language. It sees language as a network of system BIBLIOGRAPHY Downing, A. and Locke, P. (2006). English Grammar: A University Course. (second edition ). New York: Routledge Halliday, M. (2014). An introduction to functional grammar. (fourth edition). USA: Routledge Bloor, T. & Bloor, M. (2004). The functional analysis of English: A hallidyan Approach. (second edition), Great Britain: Arnold Ojo, J. (2002). A contemporary functional grammar of English. Nigeria: OOU press Bolaji Aremo (2016). An introduction to English Sentences. (fourth edition ). Nigeria: SCRIBO publications limited Halliday, M. & Matthiessen, C. (2004). An introduction to functional grammar. (third edition). London: Arnold Halliday, M. (2002). Linguistics study of text and discourse. London, New York: Continuum Flint, L. (2009). A study in effectiveness of writing. USA: B ibliolife.