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JOURNAL OF SOCIAL AND POLICY RESEARCH CENTRE FOR DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES IN AFRICA PORT HARCOURT, RIVERS STATE NIGERIA VOL. 7 NO. 3, SEPTEMBER 2 0 1 2 G RAMMATIC A L BLUNDERS IN NIGERIAN NEWSPAPERS: CAUSES, CONSEQUENCES, COUNTERMEASURES Barigbon Nsereka, Department of Mass Communication Rivers State University of Science and Technology Nkpolu-Oroworukwo, Port Harcourt Tel: 0 8 0 3 7 7 1 9 0 4 8 E-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT Worried by the high incidence of grammatical errors in the Nigerian mass media, this study was carried out, essentially, to probe into the causes of the errors, determine their effects on the perception and behaviour of audience members and gauge the possible effects of the errors on the media themselves. The paper discusses some linguistic blunders that are transmitted by the media, specifying the class each error falls under - syntactic, semantic, and morphological or concord. Findings show that the blunders committed are largely due to societal, professional and personal weaknesses such as absence of a comfortable study environment, lack of refresher courses for writers and editors, inadequate teaching of basic English grammar in mass communication programmes, shoddiness in writing and carelessness with the prescriptive rules of grammar. It notes that while too many grammatical errors in a medium constitute a nuisance to the educated audience member, they pose a threat to the affected medium's patronage. The paper, therefore, recommends, among other things, that without prejudice to the peculiar language and tradition of journalism, English grammar be taught by well qualified hands in mass communication or the equivalent departments in the institutions offering them, from the students' first year in the programme to their graduation year; and refresher courses be conducted periodically for editors and reporters by media houses. More hard work, thorough editing and proper proofreading as well as a re-orientation of pressmen are also recommended to keep grammatical errors in check. Key Words: Grammatical errors, causes, rules of grammar, consequences, countermeasures INTRODUCTION Every communication is meant to influence the beliefs, a t t i t u d e s or behaviour of the audience as desired by the communicator. For this reason, every g o o d speaker or w r i t e r takes

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into consideration the lexical, morphological as well as syntactic structures of the language he uses in order to communicate effectively in a clear and precise manner. He has in mind the truism that the first criterion for all writing is grammatical accuracy. "In fact, one may not expect a (writer) to write with beauty, grace and clarity but one can expect him to handle his language with grammatical competence", says a journalism scholar, Dr Warren K. Agee, in his introduction to the book, Grammar for Journalists by Callihan (1969). This means, in specific terms, that words should be conjugated and spelt correctly, sentences well structured and punctuation marks properly incorporated to make communication meaningful. Background to the Study A word incorrectly used may be misunderstood, and certainly offend the educated reader. In addition, a journalist who is careless w i t h w o r d usage or spelling is a nuisance to the sub-editor and a great danger to the reputation of his m e d i u m (Oguntunase, 1990). Worse still, as Candlin, cited in Oguntunase (1990) says, nothing is more destructive of self-confidence in a writer than uncertainty in the command of correct English; and to be caught in a serious grammatical error is to forfeit the confidence of the reader as well. In spite of this, wrong grammar is so commonplace in the Nigerian media that one wonders why correct grammatical expressions have been thrown to the winds. Many journalists simply do not know the rules of English grammar or they choose to disobey them thereby becoming "arrogant bohemians" as they are described by Oguntunase. The journalists concerned ridicule themselves before knowledgeable readers or listeners by committing such blunders as wrong agreements, dangling modifiers, poor sequence of tenses, wrong use of determiners and prepositions as well as other errors bordering on morphology, syntax, semantics, idioms, concord and so on. It need not be said that a communicator in public glare cannot afford to be shoddy in speech or in writing. All that has been said is without prejudice to the fact that English grammar can, sometimes, be confusing. For example, while it sounds better to say (a) "Our house is in shambles" than to say (b) "Our house is in a shambles", it is sentence (b) with the article a preceding shambles that is correct. It is also correct to omit the preposition in the sentence and make it read: Our house is a shambles. Why the word "shambles' which ends w i t h "s' is preceded by the indefinite article o is that the second s in the word is not a plural marker but an inherent part of it. Such is also the case with words like crossroads, series and species, which have a similar morphological structure. (i)l'm at a crossroads. (ii)We've had a series of meetings. (ii)This is a good species. Other words which resemble them are whereabouts, headquarters and minutes. But while whereabouts and headquarters can take plural or singular verbs, minutes is invariably plural and so takes only a plural verb. Hence to say the minutes was read is wrong while the minutes were read is right. Thus, grammar is not a precise logical or mathematical system Nevertheless, it is observed that people who know the prescriptive rules of English are not happy with the blatant and excruciating violations of these rules by the press of our time. Many

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journalists cash in on the flexibility of language t o i n v e n t w r o n g English expressions. It is true that: ...what was stigmatized by the purists of one generation as a corruption of the language may, a f e w generations later, be accepted as an enrichment and w h a t was then common currency may have become a pompous archaism or acquired a new significance (Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1954, p.31). Yes, language is flexible. Ekwelie (1992) nods t o t h e fact that it is neither static in vocabulary nor in grammar w h e n he observes t h a t "language does metamorphose, decaying or flowering with morals and phrase-makers"( p.58). And so, he volunteers an explanation for the trend: Oppression and supremacy give vent to opposing phraseologies. Colonial domination and self-rule are sources of differing linguistic intensity; the former brings off braggadocio speech while the latter dictates oratorical sobriety. While mendicancy breeds humble speech, perceived well-being gives birth to rhetorical flourish. Owing to this flexibility of language, it can be manipulated by the users to suit their purposes. This accounts for the existence of the various styles of language such as those of politics, medicine, law, the pulpit, and journalism. Argots, slang and specialized vocabulary of schools and colleges are also used for a variety of reasons. But w h e t h e r here or there, old words drop out and new words are admitted. "The choice of one symbol above another provides clues to the orientation of the c o m m u n i c a t o r and perhaps of his audience, as when anti-British newspapers in the United States play up the 'Empire' and ignore the 'Commonwealth" (Lasswell, 1957:272). Language flexibility and its manipulation by each user t o achieve the desired objective remain valid only so long as grammatical rules are not violated. This means that journalists can employ flowery expressions and manipulate language t o record the desired effect on their audience provided that this is done w i t h i n the confines of standard rules of grammar. All said, the main purpose of language is to c o m m u n i c a t e ideas, thoughts and feelings, and when language fails in this all-important function, "it either confuses issues or dis-communicates, because the limits of language are the limits of t h o u g h t " (Sopuluchi, 1995:1). Statement of the Problem All who wish to educate others must be well-educated and, therefore, proficient in the English language and w o r d usage. Reporters and editors are not just educators but also gatekeepers. The practice of gate keeping is not merely a m a t t e r of accepting or rejecting information but also of processing - that is, m o d i f y i n g and shaping or reshaping the accepted messages. This informs the warning by Idemili ( 1 9 9 8 , p . l 2 5 ) that " W h a t e v e r language is used to communicate to a mass audience, some sort of editing is essential." Through this filtering process, gatekeepers not only decide what occurrences come to the public awareness but also, 189

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through the editorial treatment given to t h e reports of t h e occurrences, they influence the ways in which the happenings are perceived (Babatunde, 1998). In this all-important function of processing messages for the print or broadcast media, w r i t e r s and editors have "strong and supple" English words to play with. Despite the availability of such a large stock of words, many journalists still prostitute w i t h words and expressions t h a t are un-English. They obey the Highway Code but fail to obey grammar code (rules). On t h e excuse of economy of space and air time, many media often publish poor English. The result of all this is a negative effect on the perception and behaviour of audience members and even, in the long run, on the media themselves. This is our concern in this discourse. Objective of the Problem It is the belief of this writer that no educated journalist (or Nigerian, for that matter) intentionally speaks or writes incorrect English except, perhaps, t o entertain, as in the case of "Zebrudaya" or "Wazobia" kind of English. Ordinarily, he does so out of ignorance. Hence this work is aimed at identifying the causes of c o m m i t t i n g errors and d e t e r m i n i n g their effect on the perception and behaviour of consumers of media messages. Specifically, it intends to 1 identifies and examines the causes of grammatical errors in the media; 2 establish the existence of these errors; 3 show that the errors have some effects on audience perception and behaviour; and 4 determine the effects of such errors on the media themselves. Research Questions To guide this study, the following questions are f o r m u l a t e d : 1 What are the causes of grammatical blunders in the media? 2 How can the existence of blunders be established? 3 What effects do the grammatical blunders have on audience perception and behaviour? 4 How do the blunders affect the media themselves? Operational Definitions Operationalized hereunder are key terms in this paper and some seemingly unfamiliar words. Grammatical Blunders: all serious errors c o m m i t t e d as a result of the violation of the rules of English grammar. Blunders or errors, used without the qualifier "grammatical" refers to the same thing except w h e r e otherwise specified. Nigerian Newspapers: Newspapers published in Nigeria, particularly Vanguard, The Post Express and The Punch that are analyzed for errors in this work. Audience: receivers or users of Nigerian media messages or communication. Audience perception: opinion(s) formed by the recipient(s) of media communication on the basis of its w r o n g grammatical structure. Audience behaviour: a physical reaction or activity made or embarked upon by a receiver(s) of a media communication on the basis of its erroneous grammatical rendering. Argot: a set of words or phrases used by a particular group and not easily understood by others. Standard English/Expressions:

British (or Queen's) English; acceptable expressions. 190

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Usage; usage problem/error: the w a y in w h i c h w o r d s are used in a language; difficulty/ mistakes in the use of English words. Bad/Poor English: incorrect usage. Literature Review on Standard English Usage in Nigeria Wilson (1997) recalls that English, the m o s t used language in print worldwide, is over two centuries in contact with Nigeria. These years, he believes, have witnessed some growth in the number of speakers through a "discriminatory e d u c a t i o n a l policy" (p.2) which still places a premium on proficiency in the language. The p e r i o d , he observes, has bred varieties of English — Ibibio English, Hausa English, American English, English, Pidgin English and countless others. Supporting this view, Okoro (1998) says English language usage in Nigeria has been a subject of controversy for some time now, attributing t h e t r e n d t o t h e increasing popularity of the notion that Nigeria has invented a variant of English. He argues t h a t if this is true as many scholars believe it is, then that variant is w o r t h studying. Hence his study entitled Nigerian English — A Variant or a Wild Goose Chase. Oji (1997) is a m o n g t h e o t h e r scholars who have written on the subject. In his article, "Nigerian English: An U n t e n a b l e Goal", he is worried that although educated Nigerians (including journalists) possess enough comprehension competence to understand any variety of English spoken a n y w h e r e , t h e same cannot be said of them with regard to expression competence. He explains t h a t c o m p e t e n c e in expression presupposes the ability of the speaker to differentiate b e t w e e n, and enunciate, the phonemes of the language he is trying to master. "It presupposes", Oji adds " t h a t he has got a working active vocabulary of the language as well as the syntactic r u l e s " ( p . l 6 0 ) . Fortunately, "although there are as many varieties of English in Nigeria as there are ethnic groups", there is a consensus that t h e r e should be some standard for the written form of the language. It is expected that in the face of t h e n u m e r o u s spoken varieties, journalists should restrict themselves to certain international standards especially in serious academic matters. Nwosu (1992) finds out that the mastery of any language involves not just having a working knowledge of the usage and applications of t h e n o r m a l words, phrases, clauses and such elements that constitute that language but t h a t it also involves a mastery of its nuances, idioms, proverbs, history, cultural applications and so on. One way t o ensure that thoughts are clearly or faithfully conveyed to target audiences, in his view, is by mastering the language or what is popularly called grammar or lexis and structure. Still on grammar, Okenwa (1990) writes that just as the speaker eats in a particular way, so is he required to communicate in a certain manner (i.e. by obeying some rules). Brooks, q u o t e d by Okenwa, maintains that it has to be recognized that grammar is to language w h a t a n a t o m y is t o the body. "Every living body and even the dead one — is bound to have a n a t o m y " ( p.164) , he asserts. The same is true of language studies and grammar. Therefore Brooks warns: " t o say that grammar can be brushed aside as inconsequential or irrelevant is, of course, nonsense". Proficient use of a language reduces the possibility of vagueness and ambiguity w h i c h can h a m p e r effective communication. Nevertheless, the spoken Nigerian variety still intr udes in the daily writings especially in the mass media. Many non-standard expressions have been accepted as vintage Nigerian English since all efforts by pedants to banish t h e m have failed to yield fruits. Bad grammar makes reading difficult (Harrigan, 1993). And as if t o give credence to this point, George (1999), 191

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in her warning against errors in The Guardian newspaper in Nigeria, w r o t e , inter alia: "The Guardian is known to have high journalistic standards. Such mistakes, if they occur frequently, may mar readers' perception of the quality of your p a p e r " ( p . l 6 ) . That is w h y writers of all sorts need editors. The newspaper has a special need for sub-editors because most news writing is done at a high speed. Reporters are usually under such a pressure t h a t they are bound to make grammatical slips, among other things. Their w o r k , t h e r e f o r e , needs t o be improved upon by an eagle-eyed vigilant sub-editor, w h o is an expert in language and a flexible and tolerant person capable of appreciating the value in the w o r k s of others. Hence Harrigan's plea that "newspapers should try to preserve the English language" (p.138). Methodology The study was designed to use t w o research m e t h o d s : c o n t e n t analysis and survey. The content analysis method was used to analyze errors in selected newspapers while the survey procedure was used to elicit information on the effects of errors on the perception and behaviour of the audience of mass communication. The p o p u l a t i o n of t h e study comprised two subsets namely (i) newspapers of nationwide circulation represented by The Post Express, Vanguard and The Punch and (ii) final-year undergraduates on t h e main (Nsukka) campus of the University of Nigeria, w h o read newspapers. The study used t h e multi-stage sampling procedure to draw sample of 150 subjects f r o m the p o p u l a t i o n of final-year students of the University of Nigeria Nsukka and purposively sampled t h e t h r e e newspapers. An 18-item structured questionnaire was used to elicit i n f o r m a t i o n on t h e effects of errors on audience perception and behaviour while the errors were content-analyzed. Data f r o m the research were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Grammatical Blunders Oji (1988) fears that in the not-too-distant f u t u r e , erroneous English usage might be preferred to what is globally acceptable in English. Secondly, he believes that a good knowledge of the whys and wherefores of such errors will result in p e r m a n e n t appreciation of the wellformedness of sentences. Equally disturbed by the high incidence of errors in the media are journalists who, at one time or another, have d e v o t e d their newspaper columns to correcting grammatical errors. Bayo Oguntunase started the enterprise under the column "Mind Your Language" in the Sunday Concord; Adidi Uyo does it in b o t h Media Review with the title "Rite it Right" and in The Guardian on Sunday under the title "Language on Parade". Then in the Doily Times, Ebere Wabara's contribution in that regard is e n t i t l e d " W o r d s w o r t h . " Analysis of Errors in sampled Issues of Vanguard, The Post Express and The Punch (Culled f r o m Nsereka, 2001) To ease the analysis, the following symbols are used to give the particulars of the stories analyzed: FPH: Front page headline EDT: Editorial title OPT: Opinion story title BPT: Back page story title E/C: Error/Correction

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Pa: Paragraph The byline is left out for courtesy p u r p o s e s . By t h e u s e o f t h e s e s y m b o l s w h i c h i d e n t i f y t h e e l e m e n t s in the analysis, there is no n e e d t o e n c l o s e t i t l e s o f s t o r i e s a n d e r r o n e o u s e x p r e s s i o n s in quotation marks. However, i m m e d i a t e l y a f t e r t h e s t a t e m e n t o f e v e r y e r r o n e o u s u s a g e , a paragraph number is inserted in p a r e n t h e s e s t o s h o w t h e p a r a g r a p h in t h e s t o r y w h e r e t h e e r r o r is committed. So is a page n u m b e r i n d i c a t e d i n p a r e n t h e s e s a t t h e e n d o f each story t i t l e e x c e p t in the front page and back page s t o r i e s w h i c h n e e d n o p a g e n u m b e r s because of t h e i r l o c a t i o n names. Vanguard, Monday, M a y l 5 , 2000 FPH: I won't be daunted by NEPA's crisis, says Ige E / C ... t h e ... governor... admonished the w a r r i n g f a c t i o n s t o ceasefire ( p a . 5 ) . This error is semantic. Ceasefire w h i c h is a n o u n is h e r e Verbalized. The correct expression c o u l d b e : ... t o n e g o t i a t e a ceasefire. EDT: M u r t a l a M o h a m m e d A i r p o r t I n f e r n o ( p . 12) E/C: ... buildings have gutted fire in various p a r t s o f t h e c o u n t r y ( p a . 12). The error is also semantic. It is fire t h a t g u t s b u i l d i n g s a n d o t h e r t h i n g s a n d n o t vice versa. OPT: Facing Realities in Serra- Leone (P. 29) E/C: ... Kabbah had no alternative than t o c o h a b i t w i t h h i m (pa 8). T h i s e r r o r is syntactic. The w o r d than cannot be used w i t h o u t a c o m p a r a t i v e . T h e s t a n d a r d e x p r e s s i o n is: no alternative but to .... One can also say: n o o t h e r / b e t t e r a l t e r n a t i v e t h a n to... The Post Express, Friday, May 26, 2000 EPT: AD Crisis: NEC Meeting ends in Fracas E/C: Majority of the members p r e s e n t a c c u s e d Yusuf...(Pa. 1). T h i s is a s y n t a c t i c error. Grammar demands that majority be p r e c e d e d b y a n a r t i c l e — " a " or " t h e " . OPT: For Mrs Obasanjo Governors' W i v e s E/C: ... in dirty tattered clothes, w i t h u n k e p t nails a n d h a i r s , d i r t y t e e t h . . . (Pa. 4). There are two morphological e r r o r s in t h i s s e n t e n c e : u n k e p t a n d hairs. U n k e p t is unEnglish. The w o r d is u n k e m p t : Hairs is i n c o r r e c t w h e n it refers t o the substance on the human head. In t h a t case, it is n o n - c o u n t ; so it is hair. The Punch, Wednesday, May 17, 2000 EPT: Confusion over AD Convention E/C: Adekojo who spoke on their b e h a l f d i d n o t s t a t e t h e e x a c t o f t h e a m o u n t (Pa. 14). The use of exact in place o f t h e n o u n , e x a c t n e s s , w h i c h is r e q u i r e d in this context, is a serious m o r p h o l o g i c a l m i s t a k e . Exact is b o t h a n a d j e c t i v e (meaning precise or specific) and a v e r b ( m e a n i n g t o d e m a n d a n d o b t a i n something, especially a payment). Exact d o e s n o t s e r v e as a n o u n in a n y sense until the suffix ness or itude is added t o it. A n o t h e r w a y o f p u t t i n g it is: Adekojo... did not state the exact amount. OPT: Zimbabwe and a W i t c h d o c t o r ' s C u r s e ( p . 3 3 ) E/C: ...to enable Zimbabweans a c q u i r e t h e l a n d s (Pa. 3). T h e v e r b enable is obligatorily intransitive; so it goes w i t h a f u l l i n f i n i t i v e . T h e s e n t e n c e should 193

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read: enable Zimbabweans to acquire the land.... That settles the syntactic blunder. They forgot that he who pays the piper dictates the tune (Pa. 5). This is an idiomatic error! Correct usage:... he w h o pays the piper calls the tune.

Vanguard, Friday, June 16, 2000 EPT: Labour, Northern States' Governors Meet on New Wage E/C: While the state government complained of scarcity of fund to meet the demand of the workers, the workers pointed out that government could afford the N7, 500.00 being an oilproducing state... (Pa. 18). There are two errors in this sentence, one semantic and the other syntactic. The semantic error is the use of fund (a pool of money saved for a particular purpose) to mean funds (money to spend). This error occurred twice in the same paragraph. The second error is a dangling modifier... government could afford the N7, 500.00 being an oil-producing state. Is it government that is an oil-producing state? Correct construction: While the state government complained of scarcity of funds, the workers pointed out that as the state was an oil-producing one, government could afford the N7, 500.00. E/C: The arrears would be paid alongside the June salaries (Pa.20). The error is that of morphology. Personal emoluments paid to workers for one m o n t h is not more than one salary. So, June salary would be correct. EDT: The Arrogance of Power (P. 12) E/C: Actually, what concerns us here was the Peremptory manner with which Obasanjo terminated the meeting with labour leaders (Pa. 11). Both syntactic and morphological errors are committed here. To avoid a long story on this, the sentence is correctly rendered thus: Actually, what concerns us here is the peremptory manner in which Obasanjo terminated the meeting with labour leaders. OPT: Between Noise-Making and Social Responsibility (p. 29). E/C:

E/C:

One wonders if the press we have some few years back is still alive (Pa. 4). The morphological error here is the use of the present tense have instead of the past tense had as "some few years back" is past. Meanwhile, a few should have been preferred to some few, which is too informal. Noise-makers saw the sense in the conference which is recently gaining tremendous support ... (Pa. 5). The use of recently in place of currently (or at present) is a semantic

mistake. Recently cannot go with which is but w i t h which has/had (conveying the sense of an immediate past). Correct versions: (a) ... which is currently gaining tremendous support; (b)... which has recently gained tremendous support. E/C: What can best accounts for this than a share double-face hypocrisy (Pa. 5). There are two syntactic mistakes and one semantic one. The modal auxiliary verb con cannot go with the verb accounts but with account. Secondly, best, a superlative adjective cannot go with than. What goes with than is the comparative adjective, better. Again, shore should be replaced with sheer. By the way, "double-face" is otiose since hypocrisy itself is a double-face attitude. The Post Express, Wednesday, June 7, 2000 EPT: BCC...

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E/C:

The former minister... is also accused ... of being t h e brain behind the militant posture of his kinsmen over the BCC deal (Pa. 4). In this figurative sense, the correct morphological use of the w o r d is brains.

E/C:

It would have been so much the better if t h e NFA could reassure the nation that indeed there is no cause for alarm (Pa. 2). There is a problem of syntax here. There is a lot to explain about verbs, which are in t h e subjunctive mood. For our purpose here, however, it can only be said that would have been does not agree w i t h could. Since the writer is only expressing a wish, the correct version should be: It would be so much the better if the NFA could reassure the nation...

E/C:

Were the undesirable to come to pass, some of us will be crying out for heads to roll (Pa. 2). Correct morphological version: w e r e the undesirable to come, some of us would be crying out...

E/C:

And for that reason, all nations focus a t t e n t i o n on football than they do on other sports (Pa 3). This is another syntactic error. Than must not go w i t h o u t a comparative. So, there should be the comparative, more, b e t w e e n "focus" and "attention" for the sentence to be correct. E/C: ...Probed the causes for that dismal performance. Replace for w i t h of. E/C: What input has that performance on us (Pa. 5)? A case of semantics! Replace input w i t h impact. BPT: Indecorous: Toothless PDP E/C: Less than 10 days ago, the party claimed t h a t it had settled the rift (Pa. 1)). The error here is syntactic. Less is better used w i t h non-count nouns while fewer should be used with countable nouns. Since days is an countable noun, the right word is fewer. The Punch, Friday, June 30, 2000 FPT: Cultism: FG May Sanction VCs E/C: ...take urgent steps to reduce poverty and the scale at which Nigerian youths become vulnerable to ... (Pa. 7). The use of scale instead of " r a t e " is semantically erroneous. E/C: In as much as one is not against the decision ... it is regrettable that they have chosen to throw all caution to the wind (Pa. 3). This sentence is guilty of one semantic mistake and one idiomatic one. In as much as means since, because or to the extent that; and so in this context, it is not in asmuch as that is needed. W h a t is needed is much as meaning although. Secondly, the correct version of the idiom is: t h r o w all caution to the winds. FPT: Sharia: Two MPs clash over NYSC Posting E/C: Corp members (NYSC members) will c o n t i n u e to be posted to Sharia states (Pa. 1). Except as an abbreviation for c o r p o r a t i o n , Corp is unEnglish. It is even used three times in the story (in paragraphs 1, 2 and 9). The correct morphology is corps. E/C: All along, we have rules and regulations t h a t w e follow... we shall do the posting of the corpers (Pa. 6). Corpers is unEnglish. Yet it is repeated in paragraph 8 of the same story. Correct sentence: All along, we have had rules and regulations that we follow ... we shall do the posting of the corps members. 195

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E/C:

They have found an indulgence in Bonfrere w h o s e famous hatred for any player not based abroad is responsible for the population of t h e Super Eagles w i t h all manners of players so long as they are playing f o o t b a l l outside Nigeria (Pa. 8). Wrong semantics! Wrong morphology! Famous is used w i t h s o m e t h i n g positive and not w i t h something negative like "hatred". The correct w o r d is notorious. Equally, in this context, it is all manner, not manners. In addition, it is better t o say " t h e y play football outside" not are playing which means that the action is on. The Post Express, Monday, June 3 1. FPT: Conference on Separation of Powers holds Today E/C: The benefits of separation of powers in a democracy will f o r m the kernel of discourse at a national conference holding today (Pa. 1). Poor semantics! Hold has several connotations. But when it is used to mean " t o cause a meeting, conference etc to happen" (Special Price Edition, Advanced Learners Dictionary, p. 567), it is wrong to use it as above: An occasion, lecture, w o r k s h o p or m e e t i n g must be held by an agent; it cannot just hold on its own. Hence the f o l l o w i n g correct versions: (a) ... at a national conference that will take place today, (b) ... at a national conference that will be held today, (c) w e shall hold a national conference today. EPT: G.8., G.77 and Debt Burdens E/C: Finally, it is time that Nigeria sits d o w n t o map o u t a strategy... to become the ninth member of the G. 8 (Pa. 4). Here, it is a m a t t e r of a confusion arising f r o m the lack of knowledge of the use of verbs in the subjunctive m o o d . W h e n one is expressing a mere wish sometimes introduced by "it is time or it is high t i m e " , the relevant verb is used in the subjunctive mood. Hence the correct sentence is: Finally, it is t i m e that Nigeria sat down to map out a strategy... OPT: Debt Burden won't go away soon (p. 9). E/C ...For it is only when the economy is given buoyancy t h a t it can absorb the shock of the burden without much hiccups (Pa. 4). This is a m a t t e r of concord. Plural verbs take plural determiners. The correct determiner here t h e n is many - i.e. many hiccups — since hiccups is countable and plural. Otherwise it should be: ... absorb the shock of the burden w i t h o u t much hiccup (placing hiccup in a generic sense). E/C: Therefore, one needs not necessarily be caught in the act of committing a crime before he or she is lynched or burnt (Pa. 7). Morphologically, the use of needs here is wrong. So is the substitution of "he or she" for the p r o n o u n , one, which started the sentence. When used in this negative sense, the subject, even if singular (as one in this case) takes a plural verb. This is why the correct expression is: ... one need not necessarily be caught in the act... before one (not he or she) is lynched or b u r n t . The Punch, Monday, June 31, 2000 FPT: Soldiers advised against Coup E/C:

The commandant

said that

the

58

officers

performed

excellently well both in

academic and conduct (Pa. 18). Syntactically and semantically, this sentence is better rendered thus: The c o m m a n d a n t said that the 58 officers performed excellently both in

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learning and in conduct. Reason? Excellent is a l r e a d y s u p e r l a t i v e in f o r m a n d s h o u l d not be v i t i a t e d by using it with well which is much less in d e g r e e o f p e r f o r m a n c e . Causes of Grammatical Errors To w h o m or what do we pass t h e b u c k f o r t h e i n c r e a s i n g n u m b e r o f grammatical b l u n d e r s in t h e Nigerian media, in this case, n e w s p a p e r s ? S o m e f a c t o r s a d d u c e d as causes of t h e p r o b l e m include: (i) the contemporary s c h o o l e x p e r i e n c e in w h i c h g r a m m a r has become a c a s u a l t y ; (ii) undue interest in journalese a m o n g p r e s s m e n ; (iii) m i s c o n c e p t i o n o f journalism 's e m p h a s i s o n t h e economy of words; (iv) guessing t h e m e a n i n g o f w o r d s in t h e i r c o n t e x t ; and (v) m o t h e r - t o n g u e interference. T h e C o n t e m p o r a r y School Experience T h e present situation in our schools, c o l l e g e s a n d u n i v e r s i t i e s , is i n s t r u m e n t a l in the d w i n d l i n g f o r t u n e s of grammar, which u l t i m a t e l y r e s u l t in h a v i n g s o m e j o u r n a l i s t s t o o ille q u i p p e d t o achieve good media o u t p u t in t e r m s o f English u s a g e . T h e l a m e n t a t i o n of W a r r e n A g e e 4 1 years ago (in 1969) concerning t h e r e l e g a t i o n o f g r a m m a r is still valid in our c o n t e m p o r a r y society. He had observed t h a t : Grammar does not appear to be t a u g h t as e f f e c t i v e l y in m a n y high schools today as it once w a s . G r a m m a r has b e e n a casualty of student-motivated learning. As o n e college English i n s t r u c t o r commented: "it has been difficult t o establish a d e q u a t e motivation for (the) study of g r a m m a r ... T h e e f f o r t is unrewarding in an educational era w h e n s t u d e n t i n t e r e s t s dominate curriculum. Teaching of g r a m m a r has b o g g e d d o w n . O v e r c r o w d e d conditions in many schools h a v e b e e n s e e n as r e s p o n s i b l e f o r a reduction i n t h e n u m b e r of writing assignments and s p e l l i n g a n d g r a m m a r d r i l l s as w e l l as a t t e n t i o n to i n d i v i d u a l s t u d e n t weaknesses. So Mencher ( 1 9 8 3 : 2 4 1 ) s t a t e s r a t h e r r i d i c u l o u s l y t h a t g r a m m a r s e e m s t o have disappeared from the English d e p a r t m e n t . A n d , a c c o r d i n g t o M a r s h a l l Mcluhan, q u o t e d in Callihan (1969), the situation is c o m p o u n d e d by t h e a p p e a r a n c e o f a g e n e r a t i o n of y o u n g p e o p l e w h o have grown up in the t e l e v i s i o n age a n d w h o s e c o m m u n i c a t i o n skills appear t o b e m o r e oral than writing-oriented. C o n s e q u e n t l y , as A g e e a n d M e n c h e r (1983) concur, j o u r n a l i s m lecturers and editors find it necessary t o t a k e o n t h e t a s k o f t e a c h i n g basic g r a m m a r a s p a r t o f beginning their reporting and e d i t i n g c o u r s e s . U n d u e Interest in Journalese A n o t h e r factor that can be adduced as r e s p o n s i b l e f o r b a d English is t h e over-use of j o u r n a l e s e by journalists. Journalese is the d e a t h o f f r e s h n e s s in a n y b o d y ' s s t y l e . It is a quilt of i n s t a n t , cheap, made-up words patched t o g e t h e r o u t o f o t h e r p a r t s o f speech (Zinsser, 1 9 9 4 : 3 4 ) . Adjectives are used as nouns (e.g. " g r e a t s " f r o m g r e a t ; " n o t a b l e s " f r o m notable). N o u n s a r e extended into adjectives (e.g. " i n s i g h t f u l " f r o m i n s i g h t ) . N o u n s a r e c h o p p e d off to f o r m v e r b s (e.g. " e m o t e " from emotion). Any p e r i o d l o n g e r t h a n a n h o u r is " l o n g h o u r s " . Facts r a i s e d in meetings are always "cold facts" or " h a r d f a c t s . " C h e a t s o r t r i c k s t e r s are "fraudsters". O n e is n o t just making an impact but is certainly m a k i n g w a v e s " . O t h e r e x a m p l e s of journalese a r e " f l a g g e d o f f " (for started); "fire o f f " (for write); " s e t u p " ( f o r implicated); " c o m i n g on the h e e l s o f " (for following); against the backdrop o f " ; " p r o v e d a b o r t i v e " ( f o r foiled) a n d " t o p 197

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government functionaries"(instead of top government officials or simply government functionaries). The problem remains that the more journalese is used, the more chances of deviating from the direction of correct English. For instance, in t h e above examples, "making waves" (idiom for causing trouble) and "raise the red carpet" are w r o n g l y used, while "fraudsters" and "long hours' are unEnglish. To "roll out the red carpet", meaning " t o give a grand reception to an important person", is the standard expression for t h e aber r ant version of "raise the red carpet." The mass media the w o r l d over, use journalese b u t the Nigerian media seem to be very guilty of using it ungrammatically. One appreciates this v i e w p o i n t w h e n one listens to foreign broadcast stations and reads foreign magazines and newspapers, particularly the BBC and Time magazine which use (arguably) impeccable English. Economy of Words "Words are the raw materials of speech and, like any valuable raw material, words should be used w i t h economy. ... A speech is likely t o make little or no impact if it uses more words than it needs, is not direct and is unnecessarily long"(lnyama, 1992, p.98). Economy of words is a hallmark of journalism. There is so much t o air and print t h a t any waste of words is a waste of time and space and, therefore, of money. M o r e s o , like Alexander Pope, journalism believes that "Words are like leaves: and w h e r e they most a b o u n d , much fruit of sense beneath is rarely found". All this notwithstanding, the grammaticality of expressions cannot be sacrificed on the altar of economy of words. But it is observed t h a t t o d a y , t h e need for economy of words in the Nigerian media results in a waste of g r a m m a r principles. For instance, one finds that obligatorily intransitive verbs like arrive and enable w h i c h should go w i t h full infinitives are used without the preposition to as in: (i) So I thought initially of going on leave t o enable m e w e i g h the situation ..." (Tell, 2000, p. 50). (ii) Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka ... arrived the c o u n t r y nearly t w o weeks ago ... (Tribune, February 29, 2000, p.23). The non-insertion of " t o " b e t w e e n me and weigh in (i) above and " i n " between arrived and the country in (ii) above, is a b o m i n a b l e t o basic grammar. So, it can be seen f r o m the foregoing that t h e shorter pressmen try to be in their expressions, the more likely they are to make mistakes. Guessing the Meaning of W o r d s in their Context and M o t h e r - t o n g u e Interference Ohale (1992, p. 153) observes that w h e r e one has guessed the meaning of certain words from their context w i t h o u t checking up the exact meaning of those words in a dictionary, the assumptions may produce grammatical blunders if the w o r d s have been misused in their context. That is why some speakers and w r i t e r s ignorantly use the following pairs of words interchangeably. (a) (b) (c) (d)

Economic (connected w i t h economy) and economical (being frugal). Historic (noted in history) and historical (connected with history). Frown at (crease the face to express anger or w o r r y ) and frown on/upon (disapprove of). Likeness (semblance) and liking (soft spot or fondness)

Besides c o m m i t t i n g errors because of guessing the meaning of words, another source of errors is the interference of the c o m m u n i c a t o r ' s tongue in English. As for Nigerians, 198

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" c o n v e n i e n c e to their mother tongue is t h e s t r o n g e s t f o r c e b e h i n d m a n y English expressions h e a r d across the country" (Okoro, 1995, p.14). O f t e n , t h e e x p r e s s i o n s a r e w h a t t h e French call morte a morte (word for word), that is, r e n d e r i n g English d i r e c t f r o m t h e n a t i v e language's v e r s i o n . An example of this is: (i) This is a watery tea (Nigerian English). (ii) This is a weak tea (correct English). This 'Nigerianization" of English is m o r e c o m m o n w i t h i d i o m s w h e r e t h e r e seems t o be a d e l i b e r a t e a t t e m p t to make explicit that which an English i d i o m is " c o n c e a l i n g " . W e can see this in t h e f o l l o w i n g examples: (i) The taste of the pudding is in the eating (Nigerian v e r s i o n ) . The proof of the pudding is in the eating (English). (ii) W h a t is good for the goose is good for t h e gander ( N i g e r i a n v e r s i o n ) . W h a t is sauce for the goose is sauce for t h e g a n d e r (English) T h e foregoing shows that somebody hardly t h i n k s a b o u t s o m e t h i n g t h a t e v e r y b o d y takes f o r g r a n t e d . Many users of the English language feel t h a t because t h e y h a v e h e a r d s o m e t h i n g e x p r e s s e d very often and over a long time, it must be c o r r e c t . C o n s e q u e n c e s Of Grammatical Blunders: Effects Of Errors O n A u d i e n c e Perception And Behaviour T h e n u m b e r and frequency of grammatical b l u n d e r s v a r y w i t h p a r t i c u l a r newspapers. T h e s e e r r o r s are however, detected only by t h o s e w h o a r e c o n s i d e r a b l y k n o w l e d g e a b l e in E n g l i s h g r a m m a r . The educated readers on s p o t t i n g t h e e r r o r s f e e l v e r y u n c o m f o r t a b l e and r e a c t perceptively and attitudinally in such a w a y t h a t it is d i s a d v a n t a g e o u s t o t h e corporate i m a g e o f t h e media concerned. The danger of t h e w i t h d r a w a l o f p a t r o n a g e f r o m erring media i n t h e l o n g run should they not improve cannot be d i s c o u n t e n a n c e d . Readers c o u l d d u m p some n e w s p a p e r s in preference for those printed in b e t t e r English. W h a t t h e n h a p p e n s t o readers w h o a r e n o t educated enough to notice the errors? Such p e o p l e w i l l s w a l l o w c o r r u p t English a n d p o s s i b l y help spread it themselves in the belief t h a t t h e m e d i a w h i c h g a u g e t h e pulse of s o c i e t y can hardly be wrong. As Shaw (1979) posits, a t t i t u d e s a n d b e h a v i o u r are usually g o v e r n e d by cognitions - what a person knows, thinks and believes. W h e n an a u d i e n c e m e m b e r h a s l i m i t e d knowledge of the content of a mass c o m m u n i c a t e d m e s s a g e , he t e n d s t o believe it w h o l e s a l e . It is in cases such as this that the long-discredited " a l l - p o w e r f u l e f f e c t " t h e o r y of the m e d i a t e n d s t o have some traces of merit. W h a t ' s more, audience reaction to errors is t h e s a m e i r r e s p e c t i v e o f t h e m e d i u m i n v o l v e d . The danger here is that once errors are n o t i c e d in e v e n o n e o f t h e best edited n e w s p a p e r s ( such as The Punch ), readers may have t h e s a m e i m p r e s s i o n of it as t h e y do of the v e r y g r a m m a t i c a l l y guilty ones. One is, however, d o u b t f u l t h a t t h e d a n g e r s o f s o m e newspapers r e c e i v i n g an audience sanction on account of errors, is really t o be f e a r e d . W h y ? Although N i g e r i a is growing, many of its educated people do n o t s e e m t o be g r o w i n g in t h e knowledge of t r a d i t i o n a l grammar. Thus, Mencher quips that " g r a m m a r s e e m s t o h a v e d i s a p p e a r e d f r o m the s y l l a b u s o f (even) the English department."

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Conclusion and Recommendation Conclusion Apart from a couple of factors which can be associated w i t h the socio-economic situation in the country, most causes of errors are personal, professional and media management-related. The mistakes that arise f r o m t h e m are, therefore, believed to be "the result of poor thinking, or no thinking at all" (Mencher, 1983,p. 233). Every professional has his tools and knows what each does for him. It cannot be debated that one of the most important intellectual tools of the journalist is language competence. Just as it will, for example, be absurd for an auto-mechanic to use an air pressure to measure the gap of a spark plug, so it is for a journalist to use wrong tenses to express and disseminate information that is meant to be effectively understood. Yet pressmen, as Mencher laments, "sometimes fling words around with ... abandon. They reach into their word kit and haul out something t h a t looks or sounds as though it can do the job". Recommendations:

Countermeasures

As Nigerians, whether we like it or not, the English language is going t o stay with us for a long time to come, perhaps throughout our lifetime. "There is, indeed, a very great likelihood that even if a Nigerian language emerges as our lingua franca, English will remain our window in the world: our language of scholarship, of creative art, of science and technology, of international trade, and diplomacy. It is one of the five w o r l d languages" (Nwaegbe, 1978, p.37). If the above facts are anything to go by, then, it is necessary that standard English (that of the educated owners of the language) be taught and used not only in t h e Nigerian print media but also in the broadcast stations. It should be remembered that grammar (rules of usage) is the key to self- expression and effective communication. English teachers recognize that for the language to be used well, its speakers and writers need to command grammar. Efforts should then be made in Nigeria's educational institutions to hand over the teaching of English to those who are well qualified to teach traditional grammar, for it is on this grammar that other grammars are hinged. Specifically, mass communication or journalism departments in tertiary institutions should employ tested grammarians - be they journalism or English scholars - who should teach students grammar courses from the first to their final year. The present practice whereby mass communication students' knowledge of grammar is acquired chiefly f r o m the Use of English classes (for just one year) and partly from, maybe, just one grammar-related departmental course (Elements of Journalistic Style in the case of UNN's mass communication department) is not enough. Teaching grammar in the affected departments will solidify the students' knowledge of Standard English by making them internalize fundamental rules. They will then graduate as confident grammarians who will excel in journalism practice as mirrors of society or in other areas with regard to language power. It is a truism that language does change. Language is living, so it grows. What is considered unacceptable usage one day is acceptable the next day. But some things die hard. "Periods will always be used to end sentences, and the verb will always have to agree with the subject. The spelling of grommor will always have ar at the end, not er and sophomore (for example) will undoubtedly always be spelled that way and never sophmore (Mencher, 1983: 200

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233). W h a t this amounts to is that journalists s h o u l d be as m u c h a b r e a s t o f changes in usage as t h e y should remain conscious of the rudiments t h a t are static. Since t h e p r i n t m e d i a are run by m e n , n o t angels, human and mechanical errors are b o u n d t o exist. But t h e s e s h o u l d n o t be too o u t r a g e o u s to be ignored. A little more hard w o r k , p e r s o n a l s t u d y , t h o r o u g h editing, careful p r o o f - r e a d i n g and refresher courses for pressmen can d o t h e magic. References A w o y i n f a , M . (2000, February 7): Why I quit. Tell, p.50 F o l a r i n , B. (1998): Theories of mass communication: Publishers (Nig) Ltd. Black, J. and Bryant, J. (1995): Introduction Benchmark.

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B r a d e n , W . W . and Gehring M. L. (1958): Speech practices. publishers.

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C a l l i h a n , E. L. (1969): Grammar for journalists. Radnor: Chilton Book C o m p a n y . C u l t i s m : FG may sanction VCs (2000, June 30): The Punch,p.l D e b t B u r d e n W o n ' t go away soon(2000, June 3 1): The Post Express, p. 9. E k w e l i e , S.A. (1992): The meaning and application of style in e f f e c t i v e w r i t i n g . In Nwosu, I k e c h u k w u and Idemili, Samuel O. (eds) Public relations speech, media writings and E n u g u : ACENA publishers. G e o r g e , M . (1999, April 16): Errors on your website. The Guardian

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H a r r i g a n , J. (1993): The editorial eye. New York: St. M a r t i n s press Inc. I d e m i l i , S.O. (1998): Newspaper editing . In D. Wilson (ed.) Introduction to print in Nigerian journalism. Ibadan: Stirling-Horden Publishers (Nig.) Ltd.

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I k a r a , A. B. (1984): English as a communicative m e d i u m and c u l t u r a l d i l e m m a in Nigeria. In F. Richard et al (ed) English language studies in Nigeria higher education. London: T h e British Council. l y a m a , F.N. (1992): Writing original, memorable and clear speeches. In I.E. N w o s u and S.O. Idemili (eds). Public relations: Speech, media, writings and copy. Enugu: ACENA publishers. L a s s w e l l , H. (1957): Language of politics. In Ashen, Ruth N a n d o (ed) enquiry into its meaning and function. New York: Harper a n d B r o t h e r s

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Nwosu, I. (1992): Language and communication: Conceptual overview, relationship and implications for public relations writing. In I.E. Nwosu, and S.O. Idemili, (eds) Public relations: Speech, media writings and copy. Enugu: ACENA publishers Ltd. Oguntunase, B. (1990, July 8): Modern English usage. Sunday Concord, p.13. Ohale, C.N. (1992): Common errors in English. In Otagburuagu et al (eds) Comprehensive English for higher education. Enugu: ACENA publishers. Oji, N. (1988): English grammar for advanced students. Uruowulu-Obosi: Pacific publishers. Oji, N. (1997): Nigerian English: An untenable goal. Journal of Liberal Studies (JOLS) 5(2) 160. Okenwa, N. (1990): Language as a problem to broadcasting in Nigeria. In I. Nwosu, (ed). Mass communication and national development. Aba: Frontier publishers Ltd. Okonkwo, J.D.E (1997): Principles, concepts, theories and practice of mass communication. Owerri: CRC publications Ltd. Okoro, F.U. (1998): Nigerian English - A variant or a wild goose chose. Unpublished master's degree project, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Soldiers advised against Coup (2000, June 31): The Punch,p.l. Sopuluchi, U.C. (1995): 4 morphosyntactic study of the language of Nigerian Unpublished undergraduate project, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The arrogance of power ( 2000, June 16): Vanguard,

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Uyo, A. (1993, March): Rite it right. Media Review, p.28 Vanguard (2000, M a y l 5 ) : pp.1,12, 29. Wabara, E. (1997, February 19): Wordsworth, Daily Times, p.21. Wilson, D. (1997: Communication and social action, Port Harcourt: Footstep Publications. Zimbabwe and a witchdoctor's curse ( 2000, May 17) The Punch, p.33. Zinsser, W. (1994): On writing well. New York: Harper Collins publishers.

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