DIALECT CONTACT AND IDENTITY:

A CASE STUDY OF EXOGAMOUS SUI CLANS
A Dissertation
in partial fulfillment ofthe requirements
for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Speech Rate, Pause, and Linguistic Variation:

Speech Rate, Pause, and Linguistic Variation:
An Examination Through the Sociolinguistic Archive and Analysis Project
Dissertation submitted in partialfulfillment of
the requirementsfor the degree of Doctor
of Philosophy in the Department of
English in the Graduate School

COLONIAL LANGUAGE AND POSTCOLONIAL LINGUISTIC HYBRIDITY

A dissertation submitted to the faculty of
The University of Utah
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
Department of English

English Lingua Franca as Language of Learning and Teaching in Northern Namibia: A report on Oshiwambo teachers’ experiences. Thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree MA in Second Language Studies (SLS).

Abstract
At independence, Namibia chose English as its official language and therefore its language of learning and teaching (LOLT). Since then, government documents and other literature have revealed the poor performance of learners and falling of standards of teaching (Benjamin 2004:25). It seems that teachers are facing several challenges when using English as a LOLT in the classroom. This study therefore investigates the challenges faced by teachers in northern Namibia when using ELF as a LOLT, as well as how teachers overcome these challenges. In this regard, structured, one-on-one interviews were conducted with six
Oshiwambo-speaking teachers at a specific homogenous secondary school in the Omusati region of northern Namibia. The findings of this study suggest that teachers believe that the learners’ sole advantage of using ELF as the LOLT is that it may benefit them if they further their studies abroad, as possessing knowledge of English would enable them to communicate with people from different countries. Another main finding, in terms of how teachers overcome the challenges posed by using ELF as the LOLT, is that teachers often resort to code-switching to ensure that their students understand the concepts they are being taught.

FINDING SPACE FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN VERNACULAR ENGLISH IN A SIXTH GRADE CLASSROOM A Capstone submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English as a Second Language

CHAPTER ONE:  INTRODUCTION


Said vat you got to said, and don’t kick aftervard!
-Gust Runquist, at a church meeting, c. 1930


Growing up in northern Wisconsin, I loved hearing my mother tell stories of the immigrant characters who populated those rural woods years before my time.  How we’d all laugh when the punch line, which everyone had heard a hundred times, finally came.

There’s the guy who’s charged with setting up extra seating in church, so he’s carrying a plank which he’ll lay atop two chairs to form a bench.  Someone walks behind him, gets hit with the plank, and makes a fuss.  When repeated in a thick, Swede Finn1accent, his indignant response, “I don’t got eyes in my rear!” brings howls of laughter.  Then there’s
the guy who was chastised for not signaling as he prepared to turn from the highway into the little store owned by my grandparents.  He made clear his justification:  “Don’t you know I alvays turn here?”  By this time, we’re usually laughing so hard we’re crying.

We tell the story of my grandmother, whose father brought his hard-nosed, “old country” ways with him to Wisconsin.  Chasing the cows one cold winter night, she complained, “Nobody loves me, and my hands are cold.”  Her father’s unsympathetic reply, “God loves you, and you can sit on your hands,” still serves my family as a “stop complaining”
message in many situations.    This didn’t end her complaining, however.  Years later, as she became old and sick, she would often lament, “You don’t know what it’s like to be like this here.”

These stories themselves, of course, are not really that funny.  If I took them to an open mike night at the local comedy club, I’d draw more puzzled looks than laughs.  But to our family, they are priceless.  These stories tell our history.  They bind generation to generation, the “old country” to the new, giving us a feeling of solidarity and strength.
The thick accent and verbatim immigrant grammar with which they are always repeated remind us that not so long ago, our family – our whole community – was just recently arrived off the boats, through Canada or Ellis Island, from Finland.  They started a small church, built a school, opened a country store, worked the land, and two short generations later, sent their grandchildren, now full-fledged, English-speaking Americans, off to college.

The pride I have for my heritage is obvious.  Any editor of this paper who would dare to suggest the correction “Say what you have to say and don’t kick afterward” would be met with solid refusal.  The way these lines are delivered is as important, if not more so, than their content.  They remind us where we came from, and how very far we have come.  The accent and grammar don’t just help to tell the story, they are the story...

ASSESSING PATTERNS OF LANGUAGE USE AND IDENTITY AMONG CAMEROONIAN MIGRANTS IN CAPE TOWN A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for a Masters Degree in the Department of Linguistics.

ABSTRACT


ASSESSING PATTERNS OF LANGAUGE USE AND IDENTITY AMONG CAMEROONIAN MIGRANTS IN CAPE TOWN


Full Masters Thesis, Department of Linguistics, University of the Western Cape

In this study, I explore Cameroonian migrants’ language use and the various language forms they use to manifest their identity. I deem this subject very interesting as it deals with a multicultural/multilingual people in an equally multicultural/multilingual society – Cape Town.

The study was carried out in the wider and interdisciplinary field of applied linguistics with focus on the specific domain of sociolinguistics. I have collected data through interviews, focus group discussions and participant observation and used qualitative methods for interpretation of data guided by the concepts of space and territoriality as has been propounded by Vigouroux (2005). Finally, I consider the influence of space and territory on the language choice and above all, I show that the decision to use one language instead of the other in any given territory or space is never a neutral one.

I argue that the Cameroonian immigrants still use language in the same way, as they would do if they were in Cameroon. That is, the Cameroonian migrants would speak Cameroon Pidgin English (CPE) amongst themselves at home, in school, church, at
their jobsites, social gatherings and so on and continue to code switch between English, French, CPE and their vernaculars, although I show that they tend to use more English, and less French in Cape Town. I maintain that the immigrants still treat
CPE with as much disdain, as they would do in Cameroon. Again I argue that the indifferent attitude of Cameroonians towards their vernaculars (African languages) remains the same since they continue to attach importance to the official languages
(French and English) and finally, that Frankanglais is not being used in Cape Town.

I establish that the sluggish Cameroon language policy and the snobbish attitude of the Cameroonian elites towards the promotion of vernaculars have caused the local languages to be less decisive at the national platform. As such, it is around the official languages that two major identities can be noticed in Cape Town – the Anglophone and the Francophone identities. This situation, I further argue, stirs a kind of linguistic conflict in Cape Town just like in Cameroon, although some participants cross this boundaries and continue to live together. Ironically the conflict is based on former
colonial languages and not on the many African languages.

In sum, this study emphasises the standardisation of CPE and the need for a language policy in Cameroon that encourages the former official languages (English and French) plus CPE to be taught in schools alongside the Cameroonian vernaculars.

ATTITUDINAL REACTIONS OF STANDARD AMERICAN ENGLISH SPEAKERS TO FOREIGN-ACCENTED SPEECH A capstone submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English as a Second Language. Will, E. Attitudinal Reactions of Standard American English Speakers to Foreign-accented Speech (2010)

This study pursues four guiding questions: 1) to what extent can Standard American English speakers identify the national origins of foreign-accented speech; 2) what are listeners' attitudinal responses to foreign-accented speech;
3) do listeners' attitudinal reactions vary depending on the national origins of the speaker; and 4) do listeners react differently to foreign-accented speech from groups that are part of their community's linguistic landscape? Using a verbal
guise technique, participants identified speakers’ national origins on a map, responded to open-ended questions and evaluated traits on a Likert scale.

Results indicate that listeners are moderately successful in identifying foreign accented speech, show a positive preference for speakers from the target community and equate some accents with lower levels of income, education and social class. Therefore, NS students might be positively impacted through curricula designed to increase understanding of language diversity and ESOL students through a focus on confidence-building strategies.

A grammatical sketch of isaalo (western sisaala) thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of masters of arts in english with a concentration in linguistics and a certificate in language technology

This thesis presents a gramatical description of Western Sisaala, a previously undocumented language spoken by fewer than 10,000 individuals in the upper west region of Ghana. This work is based on three months of field work in Lambussie with two native speakers. Its main emphasis is to describe the languages phonological description, which has been the basis for the development of an orthography for its speakers. Other chapters in this work include a description of the Sisaala language complex, the sociolinguistic situation of the speakers of western Sisaala language complex, the sociolinguistic situation of the speakers of western Sisaala, and a preliminary analysis of Western Sisaala'a morphological system. Western Sisaala belongs to the Western Grusi branch of the Gur language family, of the Niger-Congo phylum. Historically it has been considered a dialect of the much larger Sisaala Tumulung of the Sisaala language complex, but this work recognizes it as a distinct language.

Describing and Analyzing English as a Lingua Franca in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts

Abstract
 
Describing  and  Analyzing  English  as  a  Lingua  Franca

 
Researchers  are  becoming  increasingly  interested  in  responding  to  the  effects  of  the  English  language’s  viability  as  a  Lingua  Franca.  English  as  a  Lingua Franca  (ELF)  is  being  used  predominantly  in  communication  from  one  non‐native speaker  to  another,  and  descriptive  studies  are  just  beginning  to  emerge  (Dewey 2007;  Jenkins,  2000;  Seidlhofer,  2004).  This  report  offers  a  theoretical  overview showing  ELF’s  increasing  relevance,  and  reviews  empirical  studies  that  have  investigated  how  ELF  is  manifesting  in  the  field  of  language  education.
 These empirical  studies  are  gaining  significant  traction,  specifically  in  relation  to  descriptive  linguistics,  sociolinguistics,  and  applied  linguistics  (House, 2003;Mauranen,  2003).  In  order  to  investigate  a  formal  description  of  ELF,  recent empirical  work  is  reviewed  after  two  seminal  articles  were  published  that  helped gain  viability  into  ELF  as  a  distinct  research  area  (i.e.  Seidlhofer, 2001;  Mauranen,  2003).  Such  reviews  of  empirical  studies  through  the  use  of  corpora  are  not  meant  to  distinguish  ELF  as  a  distinct  variety  of  English,  but  to  simply  allow  for  a  deep  description  of  how  ELF  is  being  used currently.  Also  discussed  are  the  developments  to  English  language  pedagogy  and  directions  for  future  research  as  ELF  scholars  begin  to  reconceptualize  what  is  meant  by  language  context  and  communication  in  ELF.

The effect of teachers attitude on the effective implementation of the communicative approach in ESL classrooms. Masters of Arts with specialization in applied linguistics

Summary

This study is an attempt to determine the impact of teachers attitude on their classroom behaviour and therefore on their implementation of the communicative approach.

A descriptive case study was conducted at six secondary schools in Harare, Zimbabwe (as Esl environment) to determine the effect of 38 O -level English teachers attitude on their classroom practice quantitative and qualitative methods of date collection including a questionnaire, an observation instrument and a semistructured interview were used to gauge teachers attitudes, assessing the extent to which attitudes are reflected in their classroom behaviour and eliciting teachers verbalisation of how they conceive of their professional task.

The findings show that the effective implementation of the Communicative Approach was critically dependent on teachers positive attitudes towards this approach in the five categories covered by this study.

A STORYLINE ANALYSIS IN IU-MIENH NARRATIVE DISCOURSE WITH SOME INSIGHTS FROM COGNITIVE LINGUISTICS in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN LINGUISTICS.

ABSTRACT
Storyline is a foregrounded main line of development in narrative discourse.
Longacre’s textlinguistics storyline analysis distinguishes a storyline verb that is marked by the preterite tense from supporting materials coded with other tense-aspect-modality such as imperfect, progressive, modals, irrealis, etc.  Among
these he recognizes a cline of ranking from most dynamic to most static (1981, 1996, 2003a).  In applying his theory to Iu-Mienh narrative discourse, two issues arise: 1) the advantage of a verb ranking/salience scheme approach which is
compatible with prototype analysis from a Cognitive Linguistics perspective (Taylor 2003), as opposed to the binary approach of foreground-background (Hopper 1979), and 2) the problem of strong dependence on verb morphology which Iu-Mienh lacks totally as does Thai in identifying storyline (Somsonge 1990b. 1991a).  What possible alternatives can Cognitive Linguistics suggest to such a situation?

Starting with a storyline analysis and salience scheme analysis based on seven Iu-Mienh narrative discourses within the framework of Longacre’s textlinguistics, this thesis shows first a prototype effect, or gradient relation, not only in the
supportive materials but also inside each band.  The storyline verb in Iu-Mienh is unmarked, used 1) by itself, 2) with post verb aspectual verbs, or 3) in serial verb constructions (SVCs) and topic chains.  The pivotal storyline is recognized as a
band of grounding elements mi’aqv ‘resultative aspectual marker,’ aqv ‘perfective aspectual marker’ and an adverb za’gengh ‘really, indeed, actually.’  Second, following Somsonge’s (2002) non-verb-morphology dependent storyline analysis,
transitivity and sequentiality as the major factors of storyline are analyzed, using Langacker’s billiard-ball model (1991b) and updating (i.e. increasing) Current Discourse Space (CDS) model (2001).  From a Cognitive Linguistics perspective,
storyline is foregrounded to the perception of the conceptualizer by two factors: 1) as a result of the transitivity of energy and event in a clause or sentence composed of SVCs and topic chains, and 2) as a result of sequentiality expressed by the sequential marker ziouc ‘then, so, and,’ the conjunction cingx_daaih ‘therefore,’ the topic marker aeqv ‘as for,’ and adverbial clause containing liuz ‘after doing…’ or  gau ‘after which.’

To identify storyline, Cognitive Linguistics analyzes conceptual structures of transitivity and sequentiality, which result in foregroundedness to human perception. Storyline is an epistemological outcome of transitivity and sequentiality.

LINGUISTIC CHOICES IN MULTILINGUAL SPHERES: THE CASE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA MALE STUDENTS..

1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
“A multilingual situation is always of immense interest. It can produce multiple and varied impact of the society, community and the languages themselves. Just as it may yield to diverse outcomes, it also yields itself to diverse mode of examination of the situation.” Ghosh et al (2009: 1-2) Language can often be used, albeit subtly, to define a particular society and culture. One can, indeed, argue that language is both “an individual and a group possession” (Wardhaugh, 1969:91).

Consequently, linguistic choices are influenced by the kinds of roles that speech communities assign to certain languages. In countries like Ghana where several languages are available to the people engaged in communicative events, speakers constantly make decisions as to what language(s) to speak and what language(s) to avoid during interactions in certain domains. As Ferguson rightly observed, “speakers often use more than one language variety in one kind of circumstance and another variety under another condition” (Fasold, 1984: 34).

In fact, one cannot totally separate the making of language choices from the phenomenon of bi/multilingualism in that in typical monolingual situations, speakers do not as a matter of fact have to make decisions concerning what language(s) to use within certain domains. The reason is quite obvious – only one language is available to them. The situation, however, is different  in  multilingual  societies  like  Ghana,  Nigeria,  Cameroun  and  Benin  where interlocutors operating within multilingual contexts consciously decide the appropriateness or otherwise of certain language choices within specific domains. In such societies, it can be realised that interlocutors often have different languages for different purposes and the decisions to use either of those languages available to them might be influenced by age, gender, domain and the characteristics of the interactors within a particular communicative event.

In Ghana, for instance, Student Pidgin is considered a male code and is frequently used to reinforce male group identity in universities and secondary schools (Dako, 2000: 74). This implies that it cannot be used in very formal context. As a result, male students of universities and senior high schools consciously make decisions as to which language to use (Student
Pidgin, English or a Ghanaian language) when it becomes necessary to communicate with people.

Like most senior high schools and tertiary institutions in Ghana, the University of Ghana is a cosmopolitan institution with people from different ethnolinguistic background pushed into one environment. The environment is complexly multilingual with students using certain languages when they find themselves in certain situations. Cursory generalizations have been
made about language use at the University of Ghana with a few scholars like Dako (2000:74) claiming that Student Pidgin and English Language are in a diglossic relationship on university campuses.  It is in the light of this that this paper seeks to study multilingualism among male students of the University of Ghana. The study forms part of the recent investigations into the correlation between gender on one hand and multilingualism, language choices and diglossia on another hand. The focus is to determine the kinds of linguistic choices that male students of the University make when they find themselves in various
contexts on campus.

OROKO ORTHOGRAPHY DEVELOPMENT: LINGUISTIC AND SOCIOLINGUISTIC FACTORS A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts

ABSTRACT
This thesis explores the variety of linguistic and sociolinguistic factors that need to be considered in order to develop a good Oroko orthography. Oroko is a Bantu A language of the Southwest Province of Cameroon, Africa. The thesis starts with an
overview of the Oroko’s location, population, classification, and language development status. The linguistic factors discussed are based largely on analyses of two lists: a 118-word list of nine Oroko dialects and an 821-word list of four Oroko dialects (included in the appendix). Consistent phonetic and phonemic alternations are examined in detail. The
next chapter discusses the sociolinguistic issues that arise from participant observation, historical context, and two sociolinguistic surveys: a rapid assessment of the sociolinguistic situation among nine of the Oroko dialects and an extensibility survey using a modified form of recorded text testing (RTT) done in six dialects. The next
chapter opens with a discussion of a number of options for standardizing or not standardizing across all the Oroko dialects, concluding that the various dialects are different enough to require at least introductory material to be written in at least four dialects. Then, the various linguistic and sociolinguistic factors are drawn together to form the basis for orthographic recommendations. This chapter concludes with a discussion of the practical issues of presenting these recommendations to the Oroko.

A DIGLOSSIC INVESTIGATION OF THE USE OF ENGLISH AND JUKUN LANGUAGES IN WUKARI METROPOLIS, TARABA STATE THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND LITERARY STUDIES, FACULTY OF ARTS, IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF DEGREE OF MASTERS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

ABSTRACT
This study is an inquiry into the diglossic phenomenon in the Wukari metropolis, Taraba state, with an attempt at providing solutions to the problems discovered in the usage of English and Jukun languages within the study area. Varieties of the English language exist alongside the Jukun and other indigenous languages. This situation normally gives rise to the choice of codes by certain bilinguals with respect to some given contexts. It therefore becomes increasingly difficult to decipher what language is best suited for certain linguistic contexts. It is also discovered that linguistic prejudices do exist among users who may choose to elevate one code over the other for unspecified reasons. Fishman’s (1972) theory of diglossia, involving genetically unrelated languages was adopted as suitable theoretical framework for the discussion of diglossia in the research. The data were collected through research instruments such as Participant Observation, Structured Interviews, Questionnaire and Audio-Tape Recording (ATR). The data were presented and analysed using statistical tables and excerpts from the ATR. The findings showed that there is a statistically significant interplay between language use and contextual, demographic, sociological and stylistic variables. The findings also showed that diglossia could have a significant impact on the growth and development of the Jukun language and therefore called for a greater use of the Jukun language in the metropolis.

A CONTRASTIVE STUDY OF THE PREDICATIVE SYSTEMS OF ENGLISH AND FULFULDE A Thesis Submitted to the Post Graduate School,, in Partial Fulfillment of the requirements for the Award of Degree of Master of Arts in English Language.

ABSTRACT
In this study we attempted to assess the differences that exist across the Predicative systems of English and Fulfulde.  We also tried to establish
similarities.  Some of the differences we found were as a result of the structural differences that exist between English and Fulfulde.  First of all, there was the
difference of grammatical exponents.  While in the case of English there is a clear distinction in the functions of words as opposed to morphemes, in the
sense that while words act as purely semantic exponents, morphemes play word-internal functions (morphology), in Fulfulde, morphemes play a
predominant role in syntax so that the line dividing morphemes from words is not so clear.  One other difference between the two languages was around the
VAP (voice aspect polarity) suffix that is found in Fulfulde unlike in English.  This Morpheme accounts for a great deal of the difference in the behaviour of the
Fulfulde verbal which in effect is responsible for most of the differences in the predicative system of Fulfulde, a category that does not exist in English.
In analyzing the data for this project a rather eclectic approach was taken, leaning heavily on Dik’s (1981) framework of Functional Grammar as well as
taking a leaf here and another there from other theories especially the Transformationalists as represented by Napoli (1989).
This work is divided into five chapters.  Chapter 1 is the introduction, containing the statement of the problem of the research which raises some of the central questions in the study. The aims and objective of the study are also stated in this chapter.  The scope of the work is also spelt out as focusing on a contrast
of the predicative systems of English and Fulfulde.
Chapter 2 contains the review of literature that serves as background to the study.  There is an in-depth review of literature on Fulfulde as well as on the
general theory of Predication as a linguistic concept.  The theoretical model for the project is also highlighted here.  Chapter 3 is devoted to the methodology or
procedure as to how the data for the study was gathered and processed.
In Chapter 4, there is the analysis of the corpus collected using the theoretical framework highlighted in Chapter 2. The summary, conclusions and
recommendations of the project are presented in Chapter 5 bringing this project to its end.

THESIS A SUGGESTION TO USE CODE SWITCHING AS AN L1 RESOURCE IN THE STUDENTS’ WRITTEN WORK: A PEDAGOGICAL STRATEGY In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of Master of Arts Department of English.

ABSTRACT OF THESIS
A SUGGESTION TO USE CODESWITCHING AS AN L1 RESOURCE IN THE STUDENTS’
WRITTEN WORK: A PEDAGOGICAL STRATEGY
Pakistani English has marked its presence in all genres and poses pedagogical implications for both teachers and students. Most students in English as Foreign
Language (EFL) settings are unaware of how and when to use code-switching (CS) as an L1 resource in their written work to convey local social meanings as no common
standard has been established for teachers and students. This situation negatively affects uniformity in instructional and assessment procedures. While the use of CS in
academic settings is still a relatively new area of research, recent studies advocate the use of L1 as a resource in the classroom.
This focused study provides an overview of previous CS research centered on its importance as a discourse tool in the oral and written work of multi/bilingual persons
who use CS to convey social aspects which cannot be appropriately communicated through the target language (TL). Some studies observe the CS patterns found in teacher talk during instruction and advocate its use as a potential L1 resource, but they fail to address how it can be regulated in students’ written work without hindering TL learning.


This study fills in the gap by suggesting the use of bi-directional translation methods in conjunction with acceptability judgment tasks in order to instruct students
in identifying how and when CS should be used as an L1 resource. The study is conducted with the pool of 36 students in a local university in Lahore, who read four
English newspaper articles and code-switched in Urdu in pre and post-instruction stages. Paired t-test results showed significant improved results for the acceptance rates and number of attempts by the participants in the post instruction. This suggests that students can use L1 as a resource to convey concepts in the TL when properly instructed and that further research in this connection can be useful for FL learning settings.

LEXICO-SEMANTIC FEATURES OF NIGERIAN ENGLISH THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND LITERARY STUDIES, (IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS (M.A), ENGLISH LANGUAGE)

ABSTRACT
The global spread of the English language as one of the most far-reaching linguistic phenomena of our time is already an established fact. Evidence of this worldwide phenomenon of language contact, variation and change can be seen through such designation as world English, modern English, West African English, South African English, Australian English, Indian English, Nigerian English, etc. The phrase ‘Nigerian English’ has appeared in the last four decades or so. The purpose of this study is to describe the lexico-semantic features that mark Nigerian English as a distinct variety of English.
The features are considered along ten different categories, namely: loan shift/semantic extension, semantic shift, coinages, clichés, translation equivalents, direct borrowing, acronyms, analogical process, back formation and blends. It is concluded that since Nigerian English is productive at the level of lexico-semantics, it has some implications for the pedagogy of English, as it relates to the acquisition of communicative competence in the language.

LANGUAGE BEHAVIOUR AND ITS EFFECTS IN A MULTILINGUAL SETTING: A SOCIOLINGUISTIC DESCRIPTION OF OGORI/MAGONGO PEOPLE OF KOGI STATE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND LITERARY STUDIES...

ABSTRACT
Multilingualism has been defined as the ability of an individual to speak two or more languages in any communicative event. Therefore, intra-group societal multilingualism is a situation where a speech community has access to two or more languages without any of the languages threatening the existence of the other. The study seeks to find out how Ogori/Magongo people, who are multilingual, use the various languages they speak in that setting and the effects this behaviour produces in them. The aim is to understand the impact of multilingualism on a population where more than one language is in use. Fishman’s theory of language choice in a multilingual setting has been adopted as the framework for this study because of its suitability. In doing this, the questionnaire and interview methods were adopted to elicit responses from the respondents, in addition to non-participant observation method. The findings revealed that certain factors like topic, domain of interaction and role relation determine who speaks what language to whom, when and why in that setting. Also, the study has established that intra-group societal multilingualism is stable and widespread in Ogori/Magongo as well as the fact that multilingualism has positive impact in the behavior of Ogori/Magongo which has given
them wide range of choice of languages.

VERB ACQUISITION IN STUDENTS OF ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE: LANGUAGE LEARNING BACKGROUND AND ATTITUDES A Thesis Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in The Interdepartmental Program in Linguistics

Abstract
In order to determine how learner background and learner attitudes affected English as a
Second Language students’ verb production, eleven ESL learners participated in both oral and written tasks. They were given written surveys to determine what was emphasized more in
learning English in their home countries: speaking or writing. Another survey was administered to determine which of these activities that they liked best. Next, the subjects watched a movie clip, wrote about it, and then spoke about it. Their written and spoken total amount of verbs produced and total amount of verbs used correctly were compared and analyzed to see if there was a relationship between their learning background and production in speaking and writing and activity preference and production in speaking and writing. While the sample size was too small to obtain reliable correlations, so several subjects’ samples were studied in order to determine the effects of preference on production. In the end, individual differences played the largest role in verb production and there was a slight but noticeable relationship between a preference for speaking and amount of verbs produced.

A CASE STUDY OF A TEACHER’S QUESTIONS IN AN ENGLISH SECOND LANGUAGE (ESL) CLASSROOM THESIS Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree of MASTER OF EDUCATION (ENGLISH SECOND LANGUAGE)

ABSTRACT
This research study seeks to explore and understand the way a Form C (the third year of high school) teacher asks questions in an English second language (ESL) classroom in a high school in Lesotho.
As this is a small-scale study on a teacher’s questions in a familiar setting, an ethnographic stance was adopted.  The researcher adopted the role of non-participant observer, recorded three different lesson types and took observational notes.  She transcribed the lessons and used the transcription to interview both the teacher and the students.   The interviews were recorded and transcribed by the researcher.  She then analysed the classroom and interview data and invited the teacher to respond to the analysis she had made.  The interview was also recorded and transcribed.
The findings indicated that the teacher asked most questions in the three lesson types. He asked mainly lower order question. However, the nature of the questions varied according to the intentions of the teacher, even when the lesson type was the same.
Although it is difficult to generalize from a small-scale study like this one, it is believed that this study has been beneficial in raising awareness about the nature and role of questions in classroom interaction, and also in raising awareness of the teacher. Consciousness raising may be essential to educators and researchers. Moreover, this research may enable educators to theorize their practice.

3) POSITIVE FEEDBACK LOOPS IN SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING. A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in TEACHING ENGLISH TO SPEAKERS OF OTHER LANGUAGES.

ABSTRACT

An abstract of the thesis of David Reigel for the Master of Arts in Teaching English
to Speakers of Other Languages presented February 10, 2005.

Title: Positive Feedback Loops in Second Language Learning


What are the effects of positive feedback on student learning in the English language classroom? This study applies ideas from complexity theory to find a
correlation between oral feedback and student language proficiency. The researcher collected data from digital recordings of adult students (N = 41) who attended 3
consecutive terms at the Portland State University Lab School. During the focused observation, the researcher recorded tokens of praise, affirmation, laughter, and
nodding given by teachers and students in response to target student Interlanguage. Students provide far more affirmation than praise tokens to their peers, while
teachers issue nearly equal frequencies of affirmation and praise tokens to students.  Statistical tests support the hypothesis that the rate of positive feedback
received has an impact on English as a Second Language student course level promotion. A multiple linear regression analysis controls for the effects of
confounding student variables such as initial course level, gender, and first language. A logistic regression analysis shows that rate of oral positive feedback significantly
predicts English as a Second Language course level promotion.

The role of gender and language learning strategies in learning english, THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES , IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING (09)

ABSTRACT

THE ROLE OF GENDER AND LANGUAGE LEARNING STRATEGIES IN LEARNING  ENGLISH

This study intended to investigate the language learning strategies used by learners of English as a foreign language, aiming to find the amount of strategies and the domain differences of the strategies used; to reveal the link between strategy use and success levels; and to find out the difference in strategy use between genders and its influence on their achievement in English.
(153 male, 104 female) students from Atılım University English Preparatory School participated in the study. At the time of the study all the participants were in the
same proficiency level, and were distributed to different classes of the same level. The data were gathered through strategy inventory for language learning (SILL) of
Oxford (1990), which was translated to Turkish by Cesur and Fer (2007).

The instrument, based on Oxford’s (1990) classification of the language learning strategies, is composed of 50 items in six subscales. The participants responded to the
inventory before the end of the level they were in. The data were analyzed through SPSS (15.0) to find the relationship of language
learning strategies, gender and achievement in learning the target language. To reveal the interconnections between these factors, independent t-tests and an ANOVA test, along with post hoc procedures were performed on the gathered data.
The findings of the study revealed that use of language learning strategies are positively effective in success in English, that females were significantly more successful
than males in terms of achievement tests, and that they used more language learning strategies in learning English. Depending on the statistical results, it is discovered that there is a significant connection between gender, language learning strategies and achievement in English.

1.) HELPING MAINSTREAM TEACHERS LEARN HOW TO TEACH ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS A Capstone submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English as a Second Language.

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION (in brief)

The Scenario
Vowels were something else. He didn't like them and they didn't like him. There were only five of them, but they seemed to be everywhere. Why,
you could go through twenty words without bumping into some of the shyer consonants, but it seemed as if you couldn't tiptoe past a syllable
without waking up a vowel. Consonants, you know pretty much where you stood, but you could never trust a vowel.
How many times do our students feel this same way as Maniac Magee, a character created by author Jerry Spinelli? There are only five vowel symbols in the
English language, yet these five vowels alone, or with another vowel, can create over a dozen different sounds. To an English Language Learner (ELL), these vowels can create confusion when learning how to perceive and produce vowel sounds. Which sound should they choose? There are rules to follow to help a speaker know what vowel sound to pronounce, but these rules can sometimes be confusing even to native English speakers. To further complicate things, some of these students are just being introduced to the idea of learning to read!
Any mainstream teacher who has ever taught reading knows how students experience frustration over learning the English vowels and their numerous sounds, but
what about the ELLs who are in science class and not only have to weed through science vocabulary and concepts but also have to read and understand the concepts in a language which they still do not completely understand. Or, the math classroom where the teacher explains a concept orally, using content specific words to explain a technically difficult content based problem. Words such as however, compare and contrast, likewise, until, furthermore are used in all disciplines but not taught by all teachers. ............

GOVERNMENT FINANCIAL REPORTING AND PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION LAGOS STATE

ABSTRACT

This study examined the role of Government financial reporting and public accountability in the Ministry of Education, Lagos State, the researcher used primary and secondary sources to generate data for the study. From the data collected the study concluded that political office holders which included Lagos State and other states of the country, citizens and all stakeholders in the Nigerian project should embrace integrity, transparency and accountability in the management of public funds consequently, the study recommended that the staffs of the Ministry of Education are properly remunerated and better incentives introduced for improved efficiency and commitment in the discharge of their duties.

THE ROLE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF PRIMARY HEALTH CARE: A CASE STUDY OF AHOADA-WEST LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF RIVERS STATE

PREFACE
This work is based on our desire to contribute to the Administration of Primary Health Care in Ahoada West Local Government of Rivers State. Meanwhile, Primary Health Care was introduced in this country as an integral part of the Nigerian social and economic development. It is the first level of contact of the individual and community in the national health system, thus bringing health care close to where people live and work.
To carry out this task effectively in this work, we divide it into five chapters
The first chapter titled introductions, starts with the background to the study, statement of the problem, significance of the study, and scope and limitation of the study.
The second chapter deals with the literature review and research methodology. It starts with literature review, conceptual definitions, hypothesis, research design, sources of data collection, population of the study, sample and sampling procedure and method of data analysis.
Chapter three treats the background information of the study area. It starts with the brief history of Ahoada-West Local Government and general information of primary health care.
Chapter four deals with data presentation and analysis. It starts with data presentation analysis and implication of the findings.
Finally, chapter five discusses the summary, conclusion and recommendations. It started with the summary, conclusion and recommendations. We capture the whole work with the list of the books, journals, magazines and papers from where we got information on the topic that we wrote about.

EDUCATION AND WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN NIGERIA: A CASE STUDY OF ENUGU STATE.

ABSTRACT

This research work examines the place of education as a catalyst for women empowerment in Nigeria and Enugu State as a case study. The study, using primary and secondary sources of data, has show that in spite of all the lendable goals and objectives of education, Nigeria, vis a  vis Enugu State women still suffer a lot of constraints and inhibitions which militate against their personal and national development. The study therefore recommends, among others the involvement of women in educational policy formulation, extensive enlightenment campaigns, the discarding of stereotypical division of work into men’s and women’s job, and women must organize themselves to meet the challenges of a positive and meaningful role in the struggle for personal and national emancipation, development and progress.

INTER- GOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT: A CASE STUDY OF OJO LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF LAGOS STATE (2006-2010)

ABSTRACT
 This study traces the relationship between inter-governmental relations and the national development in Ojo local government area of Lagos State within the period of 2006-2010. This research study is particularly interested in the position of the inter-governmental relations on the national development at the local government level in Nigeria and specifically on Ojo local government area of Lagos State. This study focuses on the impact of inter-governmental relations within the period of 2006-2010. The survey research design was applied in carrying out the study. Two basic sources of data collection were used- primary and secondary sources. The structured questionnaire was applied in gathering necessary information for the study. We applied the systems theory to serve as an explanatory construct to the study. The system of government refers to the interrelated over- lapping principles governing the Nigeria polity and local governments (Ojo) serving as a link between the citizen and their environments. Structurally, Nigeria is a federal polity, operating an executive presidency. Powers are distributed democratically among the three tiers of government (Federal, State and Local) and institutions, (executive, judiciary and legislature), and sovereignty lies on the institutions and the people respectively. The study sees intergovernmental relations as a necessary process and component of a federal state which must be sustained to enhance national development at all levels/tiers of government. The research regrets to note that the gains made in inter-governmental relations between the period of 2006-2010 have been depreciated. This has been attributed to the over interference of the federal and state government on the local government activities in the country. Because of the deliberate actions of state government’s development at local governments appear to be weak and sick. Local governments are now treated as appendages or state extension rather than tier of government that can effectively play their part in intergovernmental relations process. Inter-governmental relations go beyond fiscal relationship to include developmental, administrative, strategic, socio-economic and legislative relationship owing  to the weakness of Ojo local government, it is our  contention that the local government’s  position should be strengthened allowing it to decide on its activities without  interference of the state government.              

WOMEN IN GOVERNANCE IN NIGERIA

PREFACE
This paper evaluates Women in governance in Nigeria. Women constitute almost half of Nigeria population, but their participation in governance in the country has been noticed but not to be comparable to that of their male counterpart.
It is truism to state that one of the major constraints to Women’s participation in governance in Nigeria are cultural beliefs and practices, financial limitation, marginalization within the political fraternity among others.
Some solutions to the problems of women participation in governance in Nigeria include: the Nigerian cultural understandings of gender which revolve around division of labour rather than equality between the sexes, improvement of women’s rights in Nigeria, sustaining achievements, etc.
This paper has been divided into three chapters in order to elucidate its objectives. Chapter one concentrates on the introductory and conceptual definition, chapter two premised on the history of Women in governance in Nigeria and chapter three concludes the paper and it proffers some recommendations.

THE POLITICS OF AUTONOMOUS COMMUNITY CREATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF OUR RURAL COMMUNITIES

PREFACE
In this paper, the politics of autonomous community creation and development of our rural communities has been discussed. The politics of autonomous communities’ creation had more of ugly effect on the rural communities than the purpose of its creation. It had led to the untimely death of many prominent men of the rural communities and non-implementation of developmental projects in our rural communities.
This paper, in order to achieve the objectives of this paper, was divided into three chapters. Chapter one premised on the introductory phase, and conceptual definition of the key concepts in this paper. In chapter two, the issues of autonomous community creation are discussed, while in chapter three, the paper was brought to an end via conclusion.

THE IMPACT OF EDUCATION ON RURAL COMMUNITIES IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT
This article focuses on the impact of education on rural communities in Nigeria. It examines the concept of education as a vital instrument to individual and the community at large. Education provides sustainable rural development. Hence, education has to be redefined in the context of rural communities to make it responsive to the yearning for better living conditions in the rural communities. The work takes a review mirror of the indigenous education as a recipe for development and submits that integrated with formal education, indigenous education can facilitate group and community betterment. Against this premises, suggests some measures that can foster education for all round development in Nigeria.

THE EFFECTS OF NATIONAL BUDGET AND FISCAL POLICY ON SECURITY MEASURES IN NIGERIA

PREFACE
The Nigerian security system has undergo series  of security threats, and efforts had been made by the Nigerian Government to tackle these security threats and place them in a minimal level for the protection of lives and properties of the Nigerian citizen and dwellers. The Government makes use of the National Budget and fiscal policy to facilitate its activities in making sure that the insecurity condition of the country is handled, and these made the national budget and fiscal policy of the country to have its effect on the security measures in Nigeria.
    Chapter one introduced the topic to be studied, definition of terms, chapter two is on the security situation in Nigeria, forms of security threats in Nigeria and it measures.
  Chapter three deals on the effects of national budget and fiscal policy on security measures in Nigeria.

THE APPLICATION OF LOCALISTIC APPROACH IN NIGERIA LOCAL GOVERNMENT

PREFACE

This paper is a discussion of the application of the localistic approach in Nigeria local government. The localistic approach holds that the localness of local government makes it to perform its functions in the areas of citizen participation so as to ensure sustainable rural development such as noticeable in Nigeria.
This paper had been divided into three chapters; chapter one was premised on the introduction and conceptual clarification, chapter two discussed the localistic perspective while chapter three applied the localistic approach to Nigeria local government and the paper was concluded.

SURE-P (SUBSIDY REINVESTMENT AND EMPOWERMENT PROGRAMME IN NIGERIA

PREFACE
This paper has come to discuss the subsidy reinvestment and empowerment programme in Nigeria. The programme was purposely established to ensure that fuel subsidy removal would touch the lives of the poor and the most vulnerable in the country.
This paper had among others, suggested that there is need for the federal government to keep surveillance on the members of the committee to ensure practical utilization and to better the life the citizenry.

SOCIAL WORK IN NIGERIA, ISSUES, PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES

Preface
This paper is on attempt in the discussion of social work in Nigeria, issues, prospects and challenges. Social work is an important profession in a society. It is a helping profession that helps people both individually and collectively to meet up with their environments and their daily obligation.
This paper had treated the issues in social work profession such as education and poverty; it had also discussed the prospects and the challenges in social work.
The paper was divided into three chapters, chapter, one concentrated on the introductory aspect, chapter two discussed the issues, and prospects while chapter three focused on the challenges and summary.l

SIMILARITIES BETWEEN NIGERIA RURAL AREA AND BRITISH RURAL AREAS

PREFACE

The similarities of rural areas in Nigeria and Britain are inevitable because Nigeria borrowed most of her policies and programmes from their Colonalists-Britain. This paper is a clear indication of these similarities. According to this paper the similarities between rural areas of Nigeria and that of Britain include: depression, degradation, poverty and deprivation among others.
This paper also gave some suggestions to ameliorate or improve the sufferings of the rural dwellers in our society. Among the issues recommended are: the need to infer with the existing structures so as to plan for future development activities. Also to address the issue of abject poverty among the rural areas in our countries.

PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN NIGERIA

Abstract
This paper is an attempt to discuss the principles and practice of public administration in Nigeria. It is the principles and practices of Nigerian public administration that made it peculiar and differentiates it from other forms of administration. The principles of public administration in Nigeria as was discussed in this paper include the clientele, functional, process and area principles. The practice of Nigeria public administration is evident in the president, minister and national council of state. The problems facing Nigeria public administration are enormous. They include the weak institutional structure, excessive centralization of administrative power, lack of access to citizens, weak incentives, the adversarial relationship and the large scope of the public sector coupled with growing inefficiency in the public sector. Some recommendations were proffered, among which are: the need for citizens to have access to the public service providers, the need to decentralize administrative power among federal state and local governments, the need for government to make reference to the senior management categories when increasing minimum wage, etc.
Keywords: Administration, Public Administration, Principle and Practice

PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP APPROACH IN EXECUTION OF GOVERNMENT DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS AT THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS

Abstract

The thinking of government around the world for a long time now has been that of sharing the financial burden and professional expertise in the public utilities and infrastructure with the organized private sector. This gave birth to public-private partnership development initiative. The idea of the public-private partnership scheme is to provide what constitutes a social amenity without the huge financial strain that comes with the planning and execution of such projects. The paper examined using conceptual development approach the use of PPP in execution of development projects in the local government. In doing so the paper discussed the rationale for establishing PPP; examined the framework in which PPP can take place; analyzed the relevance of PPP in execution of development project and highlighted the danger inherent in PPP.  The paper discovered that PPP strategy helps to curb the huge waste in public expenditure arising from excessive and unconscionable use of political office spoils prevalent in developing countries, Nigeria inclusive. The paper concluded by making some vital suggestions that will help to strengthen the use of PPP in project execution.

THE ROLE OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT IN POVERTY ERADICATION: A STUDY OF IGBO-EZE NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF ENUGU STATE

Abstract
The problem associated with poverty has become topical issue overtime. Poverty seems to be on the increase despite all government efforts towards its eradication. Poverty increase is alarming as its effect. This trend has attracted the attentions of not only the governments at all levels but scholars as well. This equally firms the basis for this research which is: The role of Human Resource Development in Poverty Eradication: A case of Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area of Enugu State. What formed our opinion to embark on this project development is to see if poverty problem can be tackled from the right angle and charnel as other efforts by successive governments seem not to have yielded much divided. The study concentrated on Igbo- Eze North Local Government Area of Enugu State in the year 2011. The descriptive research method was applied in carrying out the study. Two basic sources of data collection were applied- primary and secondary sources. Structured interviews was applied in gathering necessary information. The structural functionist theory was used in the course of the study . This theory emphasizes certain functions that must be fulfilled in a given social system if such system must survive. The primary assignment of the government is to alleviate poverty among the  masses as a way of enhancing its economic base. In the course of this study, we discovered that poverty eradication has been wrongly pursued in Igbo –Eze North Local Government Area of Enugu State in particular and Nigeria as a whole due to wrong approach to this monster. This is because Human Resource Development seems to have  been over looked. No wonder every effort seems to b e unproductive. Based on the above problem and findings a new dimension is imperative if poverty eradication should make sense. To that effect, a number of recommendations were made. Some of them include:
Nigerian government taking a cue from the western world on measures adopted to reduce poverty. The need for political stability is another vital tool towards the achievement of poverty eradication . Change of Nigeria’s attitude and orientation to life and business should be addressed. Provision of more welfare programmes is paramount-more job creation for more employment is indispensable in the direction of poverty eradication issue in Nigeria. More attention in poverty eradication programmes will be directed to human resource development as that in turn will bring desired goal of poverty reduction even if absolute eradication is impossible. Conclusively, therefore, to fight poverty is to develop human resource that will in turn handle poverty eradication programmes which will invariably reduce poverty to its  bearest minimum if complete eradication is impossible.  

THE EFFECT OF MORBIDITY IN NIGERIA

PREFACE

Morbidity and Mortality are interrelated and the same. They constituted the problems that faces this country.
This paper was set out to discuss the effects of morbidity in Nigeria. To clearly do justice to this issue, this paper was divided into three chapters.
Chapter one concentrated on the introduction and conceptual definition. Chapter two discussed the causes and the effect of morbidity in Nigeria, chapter three concludes the paper through ways to prevent morbidity, conclusion and recommendations.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT COUNCIL STAFF AND WORK ATTITUDE ON STAFF PRODUCTIVITY

ABSTRACT

The most important asset of an organization is its human resources. The importance of employee productivity to the growth of an organization can hardly be overstated. Organizations go extra lengths to ensure that they recruit and retain employees who are best suited to their positions and who are expected to produce according to, or exceed, pre-determined standards. Consequently, finding means and ways of improving productivity has emerged as a major preoccupation of managers in organizations. In view of the above, this paper had investigated the local government council staff and workers attitude or staff productivity. In an attempt to accomplish this objective, we have explained local government, productivity and staff productivity, the causes of low productivity and proffered solution to avert low productivity at local government system in Nigeria.

INTERNAL REVENUE GENERATION AND THE SUSTAINABILITY QUESTION OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT

PREFACE
This paper has examined the internal sources of revenue accrued to local government in Nigeria. Their capability of sustaining the local government and the attendant problems of revenue generation
The paper had been divided into three chapters. Chapter one introduced the topic and gave some definition of the key words. In chapter two, we traced the history of local government revenue in Nigeria, the sources of revenue to local government in Nigeria and we proffered some answers to the question of sustainability of local government in Nigeria by internal revenue sources.
In chapter three, the paper was concluded with mention of some of the problems of revenue generation at the local government level in Nigeria.

Industrial relations

PREFACE
This paper is set to analyze the challenges of Industrial relations in public enterprises in Nigeria and their solutions to the challenges.
Industrial relations is all about interactions between workers and employers under prevailing rules and regulations at a workplace. To achieve the purpose of this paper, we consciously divided the paper into three cognitive chapters.
In chapter one, the topic was introduced along side with the conceptual clarifications. Chapter two treated the history and/or evolution of industrial relations and trade Unionism in Nigeria and chapter three clearly discussed the challenges and the solutions of industrial relations in public enterprises in Nigeria and we concludes the paper.

SINKING FUND, THE WAY OUT OF DOMESTIC DEBT IN NIGERIA: AN ANALYSIS

ABSTRACT
Public debt is a tool for governance, and domestic debt is inevitable in the financial administration of the developing countries of the World. When domestic debt rate is on the increase, it becomes worrisome to the government of a country and its management would need expatriate who will prudently manage it, as paying right away of its debt by a government would have an adverse effect on both the government and its citizens. This situation calls for the establishment of a Sinking Fund to retire the country’s matured domestic debt. A sinking fund connotes some potential advantages for a country to conveniently attend to its debt obligations This article analyzed the various fiscal monetary policies and .laws that established them in the country, it went further to state the objectives of a sinking fund, its operation, appropriation, the benefits and the problems of a sinking fund in an economy. The article among others, recommended that there is the need for the Federal Government to abide by the tenet of fiscal management law in the country, the need for expertise manager to manage the country’s domestic debt, and the need to slow down the domestic borrowing rates of the country so as to avert rising of its domestic debt.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT COUNCIL STAFF AND WORK ATTITUDE OR STAFF PRODUCTIVITY

AN ASSIGNMENT PRESENTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT FOR THE REQUIREMENT OF THE COURSE: LAS443 (POLITICS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT FINANCE)

ABSTRACT

The most important asset of an organization is its human resources. The importance of employee productivity to the growth of an organization can hardly be overstated. Organizations go extra lengths to ensure that they recruit and retain employees who are best suited to their positions and who are expected to produce according to, or exceed, pre-determined standards. Consequently, finding means and ways of improving productivity has emerged as a major preoccupation of managers in organizations. In view of the above, this paper had investigated the local government council staff and workers attitude or staff productivity. In an attempt to accomplish this objective, we have explained local government, productivity and staff productivity, the causes of low productivity and proffered solution to avert low productivity at local government system in Nigeria.

Importance of Baby sleep

Importance Of Baby Sleep

The phrase ‘sleeping like a baby’ is commonly used to describe a person sleeping soundly. It originated from what was always known about the way babies sleep – carefree, guileless, and without malice! Babies, spared with the madness and rush of the adult world, can sleep easily and peacefully without worry or guilt. But somehow people seem to have forgotten that even a baby’s sleep can be spoilt! A wet diaper, a hungry tummy, too much light or sound, all can easily turn his/her bedtimes into nightmares. What’s worse, the poor little tot can do nothing about it! Needless to say, she begins to cry, and thus, not only her sleep, but also that of her parents, gets disturbed. Whatever happened to the phrase? Well, let that one be! It is more important for us to know just how important sleep is for your little bundle of joy. For adults, sleep is a way of restocking themselves with the energy to get through the day, but for babies, it is the time their body prepares itself for growth. Learn more about the importance of baby’s sleep and how to ensure that it is sound and deep.


Benefits Of Sleep For The Baby

Just like everyone, a baby’s body, too, needs to relax, rejuvenate and recuperate from all that it does throughout the day. Since a baby’s food mainly consists of milk - which is basically more of carbohydrates and calcium - she may get exhausted very quickly even with a little bit of kicking if she is very young, or after about just ten minutes or so of crawling. It is best that a baby get her full eight hours of sleep every night, and at least one, or even two naps, preferably at regular intervals during the day.
Another reason why babies need to get enough sleep is because it helps them grow. In a baby’s newly formed body, sleep helps the body regenerate lost cells, refresh the brain, and stimulate the growth of hair follicles, fingernails, toenails and even the skin. Studies have, in fact, shown that the regeneration cycle works better and faster when the body is not controlled by the brain – which is when the body and the brain are at rest.

Ways To Improve Baby’s Sleep

Let Her Soothe Herself To Sleep
Most studies on baby sleep conducted by pediatrics and other organizations state that it is best for the baby to be calmed before she soothes herself to sleep. It is best for the parents to let the baby fall asleep on her own and, at best, to put on some soothing music or stay close to her in case she wakes up crying. Letting the baby fall asleep by herself is very important when it comes to preventing sleep difficulties.

My Late Night Snack, Mommy?
You must remember that your baby is maturing as much by day as by night. By the time your child is about three to four months old, she is less likely to wake up too many times in the night if her tummy is full right before she goes to sleep. Thus, to help her sleep undisturbed throughout the night, it is best that you give her a feeding at the same time late every evening, every day – ideally between 10 p.m. and midnight. Feed her, burp her and then put her in the crib or cot even as she is still awake. Researchers have found that feeding her after midnight, however, can actually interfere with her ability to sleep through the night.

Day Is Different, Night Isn’t The Same!
You can teach your baby the difference between day and night. This simply means that your home should be a stimulating place during the day, and a quiet one at night. At night, reduce the amount of noise and stimulation. If your infant is consistently allowed to soothe herself back to sleep and taught the difference between day and night, as well as also given a late evening or early night feeding, most of you will have your baby sleeping at a stretch right through the night at a much earlier age than seen in many cases.




Children Require Much More Sleep than Adults.

Getting enough sleep is of course vital for babies and children, as well.

A newborn infant will sleep between 16 and 20 hours in a 24-hour period.
A six-month-old requires an average of 11 hours a night, plus two daily naps totaling another 3-4 hours
A two-year-old will sleep around 13 hours, including a nap
A four-year-old sleeps from 11-12 hours, including a daily nap
A five-year-old child may or may not need a nap; his or her daily sleep requirement is 10-11 hours.
Six- to eight-year-olds also require 10-11 hours, though they probably no longer need to nap.

If you're not sure whether your child is getting enough sleep or not, the following are probable signs that he or she isn't: they routinely fall asleep in the car when you're driving; you have to wake them up every morning; they're cranky, irritable or lethargic.

Why is it important for children to get enough sleep every day?

As is the case with adults, children need to get their daily requirement of sleep for their body's systems to function at their best. Sufficient rest helps children with physical recuperation and growth; it strengthens their immune systems; it aids brain development; it helps with learning, memory, information processing and other important cognitive tasks -- all important reasons to make sure your young one is well-rested!

How to help children develop good sleeping habits
First, maintain as consistent a nightly routine as possible. A nightly bath, a back rub, a low-sugar bedtime snack, a story, soft music -- something that relaxes the child and announces in a predictable manner that it's time to go to sleep.

During sleep, keep the baby's or child's sleeping area quiet and dark. Refrain from using even a night light where baby or child sleeps. The darker and quieter the room, the better-quality sleep your child will attain.

Some adults think that they or their children will sleep better if there's low-volume music or TV left on during the night. That is not the case at all. When it comes to optimal rest, the brain can best regenerate itself when there are no outside stimuli to interfere with the restorative cycles that it will undergo periodically throughout the night. If the setting isn't dark enough or quiet enough, you may find that you or your child slept enough hours...but will still feel tired or groggy the next day.

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15 SPECTACULAR TRICKS FOR YOUR BODY !!!!

15 SPECTACULAR TRICKS FOR YOUR BODY !!!!

1.) If you've got an itch in your throat, scratch your ear. When the nerves in the ear get stimulated, they create a reflex in the throat that causes a muscle spasm, which cures the itch.

2.) Having trouble hearing someone at a party or on the phone? Use your right ear it's better at picking up rapid speech. But, the left is better at picking up music tones.

3.) If you need to relieve yourself BADLY, but you're not anywhere near a bathroom, fantasize about RELATIONS. That preoccupies your brain and distracts it.

4.) Next time the doctor's going to give you an injection, COUGH as the needle is going in. The cough raises the level of pressure in your spinal canal, which limits the pain sensation as it tries to travel to your brain.

5.) Clear a stuffed nose or relieve sinus pressure by pushing your tongue against the roof of your mouth then pressing a finger between your eyebrows. Repeat that for 20 seconds it causes the vomer bone to rock, which loosens your congestion and clears you up.

6.) If you ate a big meal and you're feeling full as you go to sleep, lay on your left side. That'll keep you from suffering from acid reflux it keeps your stomach lower than your esophagus, which will helps keep stomach acid from sliding up your throat.

7.) You can stop a toothache by rubbing ice on the back of your hand, on the webbed area between your thumb and index finger.
The nerve pathways there stimulate a part of the brain that blocks pain signals from your mouth.

8.) If you get all messed up on liquor, and the room starts spinning, put your hand on something stable. The reason: Alcohol dilutes the blood in the part of your ear called the cupula, which regulates balance. Putting your hand on something stable gives your brain another reference point, which will help make the world stop spinning.

9.) Stop a nose bleed by putting some cotton on your upper gums right behind the small dent below your nose and press against it hard. Most of the bleeding comes from the cartilage wall that divides the nose, so pressing there helps get it to stop.

10.) Nervous? Slow your heart rate down by blowing on your thumb. The vagus nerve controls your heart rate, and you can calm it down by breathing.

11.) Need to breathe underwater for a while? Instead of taking a huge breath, HYPERVENTILATE before you go under, by taking a bunch of short breaths. That'll trick your brain into thinking it has more oxygen, and buy you about 10 extra seconds.

12.) You can prevent BRAIN FREEZE by pressing your tongue flat against the roof of your mouth, covering as much surface area as possible. Brain freeze happens because the nerves in the roof of your mouth get extremely cold, so your brain thinks your whole body is cold. It compensates by overheating which causes your head to hurt. By warming up the roof of your mouth, you'll chill your brain and feel better.

13.) If your hand falls asleep, rock your head from side to side. That'll wake your hand or arm up in less than a minute. Your hand falls asleep because of the nerves in your neck compressing so loosening your neck is the cure. If your foot falls asleep, that's governed by nerves lower in the body, so you need to stand up and walk around.

14.) Finally, this one's totally USELESS, but a nice trick. Have someone stick their arm out to the side, straight, palm down. Press down on his wrist with two fingers. He'll resist, and his arm will stay horizontal. Then, have him put his foot on a surface that's half an inch off the ground, like a stack of magazines, and do the trick again. Because his spine position is thrown off, his arm will fall right to his side, no matter how much he tries to resist.

15.) Got the hiccups? Press thumb and second finger over your eyebrows until the hiccups are over - usually, in a short while.


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Surviving Studenthood

How to Get Good Grades in University

Note: Post originally comes from Surviving Student (survivingstudenthood.wordpress.com)

If you are in university, this is probably right around the time you feel like hell, with exams, papers and a million readings that you put off, even though you swore this was the year you would keep up. Don’t fear, you are not alone.

My younger sister came home for the weekend, in a rather perplexed about her current university experience. She is travelling through her first year and, like some foreign visitors, was marred by an experience of unexpected surprises. Rather than brave the university world alone, she got smart and decided not to re-invent the wheel; instead, she opted to talk to her older siblings. It was a rather rousing debate – there are four of us, all at different universities and programs, and it seemed post-worthy for any university student who needs a little guidance to the elixir of good grades. I’ll confess – none of us are geniuses – but I maintain that because we each have averages above 3.5/4.0 GPA, we feel qualified to give a few tips on improving.



This post is a tough-love post: it is for those students who have been cruising through university, and have suddenly realized their grades are not high enough – whether it is for professional school or grad school, for graduation, for your parents, or just for yourself. One thing my sister mentioned is that university students (including herself) feel lost in their student experience, and that a little tough love from some older siblings might have helped. So we've decided to play “older sibling” to all of our readers and dish it out, cold (ice-cream!) style.


1. Stop Skipping Class: I make it a rule never to skip class unless it is an emergency. Sometimes, you have a big midterm or paper due, and you've fallen behind and every minute counts – and then it is an emergency. But skipping because you feel too lazy to walk to class, or because your relaxing day was so wonderful that you can’t seem to muster enough brains to attend, or because the commute is just too damn long – those are not excuses that will increase your grades. It isn't rocket science: class is important; and your perception that missing a class or two is not a big deal is just plain stupid.

2. Adjust your Attitude: Can I confess something to you? The majority of university students go through university with the perception that fun and freedom are as equal in the “university” experience as studying. I believe the collective sibling response to my sister’s comment about this was ” Get your head out of your ass, Leah!” (Haha, sorry – it is a family catchphrase!). But in essence – that’s basically it: if you intend to get good grades, or to improve the ones you have, get your head out of you ass and realize that study and fun are not a 50-50 concept. Sorry to disappoint you!

3. Never Hand Something In Late: It is one of the biggest mistakes students can make – you lose marks for absolutely no reason other than you can’t afford a calendar to mark a correct due date.

Get an agenda! And at the beginning of the term, write in all of your important due dates. When you see a week where there four papers due, you don’t  go out clubbing the night before your paper is due and decide to miss class the next day to hand in your paper late. Even if that is an incredibly stupid example (I know people who have done it!), there are still other common mistakes students make. For example: It is not enough to start working on four papers the week before week they are due. Part of having an agenda is that it allows you to look ahead into the future (yup, it’s a crystal ball) to due dates weeks in advance. When you see four papers coming up, or a very heavy week, start a few weeks early so you aren't swamped with work the week or night before.

This also goes with …

4. Get the Readings Done on Time: this one is an obvious one – despite the fact that doing readings in advance will assist you in class and make life easier, when it comes to exam crunch time, you won’t be cursing yourself for leaving it all to the last minute.

5. Talk to the T.A.s: If I could give a person one piece of advice to succeed in university, it would be to talk in advance to the person who marks your work. It is so important – its like guessing what kind of present someone wants as opposed to just asking them!

Always schedule an appointment with your T.A., come prepared with some ideas/questions, and you will find them to be a resource of great help. Consider your meeting with your T.A. a permanent appointment rather than something you can cancel, otherwise it will be easy to change your mind because you couldn't come up with anything to discuss. The purpose of the appointment is to force you to think about the paper in advance.

6. Consider a Study Group: Although planning/putting a study group together can be work, they can be incredibly beneficial. Working with like-minded, hardworking people can help you connect with the readings and lectures better, and can ensure you don’t miss any concepts – or better, learn a new way to approach the concepts – so that everything is clear at the end. If you know someone who can help you in a study group, really use that time effectively: students often comment that they retain more from the study group than memorizing on their own, and that when it comes to discussion/essay questions (rather than multiple choice or short answer), the study group helps to better critically analyze ideas.

7. Use your Weekends More Effectively: Students often let their weekends dwindle away – particularly a day off like Friday or Monday. Your weekend should always be a catch-up time rather than a party time. While you may have commitments you can’t avoid, remember that if your fun time adds up to more than 15% of your weekend time, then you can mentally decrease your paper or exam mark by 25%. I know it sounds harsh (you would think I would say 40% fun time is too much), but it isn't. Unless you are a genius – or even naturally smart and school comes easily for you, expect to work hard if you want 80+ in all your courses.  In a three-day weekend (with Friday or Monday off), I would say an evening off would be fine, but any more than that, and I think it becomes easy to let the whole weekend slip away.

8. Stop Fooling Around: We thought we ought to hammer it home a little more than tip two of getting an attitude face-lift:

STOP FOOLING AROUND!!!

These are NOT the best years of your life, so please, celebrating these years like the next 50 will be a disaster. University is prepping you for life – and doing poorly in school, or being on academic probation/dropping out isn't going to help. If you want to be  treated like a grown-up, you have to act like one. It is hard for people to take you seriously when you spend a lot of time fooling around. When you have a busy week ahead, do not waste your time going on dates or lounging about – put a clamp on your libido, and recognize that your brain should always take precedence over your nether-regions. In the end, a little sacrificed fun time can make up big during crunch-time.
Get started early! Okay, not as early as childhood, but you get our point!

8. Hang Out with the Right Crowd and Learn From Others: Ask yourself – how many of my friends are partying it up, and how many are working hard?  Am I surrounding myself with people I want to be like, or people I have a good time with but who don’t motivate me to study?
It is so fabulous to have friends from all walks of life and I encourage that highly; but when you are in school, you need to be around people who are working hard. It rubs off on you a little easier, and you can learn from others. If you have a friend who seems to be doing well in school, ask them for some tips, and emulate their example. Think of it this way: Studying can be a bit like dieting – it is a little hard to commit to initially, but having a buddy makes it 100 times easier. If you really want to change your ways, it is about making a commitment, and being around others who make it easier, rather than harder, to keep that commitment.

9. Remember it is never too late: Somehow, when people get close to graduating, they kind of give up in frustration. Never give up: learning proper study skills will not only help you this year – still 25% of your university career left! – but it will provide you with skills for graduate school, and life.

Well, that’s some tough love from Surviving Student-hood (it comes from a good place!). We welcome all your other suggestions on helping people do better in school!

Cheers!

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The 21 Principles of Persuasion

How is it that certain people are so incredibly persuasive? Can we all harness those skills?  After  studying the most influential political, social, business and religious leaders, and trying countless techniques out myself, these are the 21 critical lessons I’ve identified to persuading people. This is an overview from a talk I’ve been giving to thousands of entrepreneurs for a few years now on “How to Persuade People.” More  examples are explained  below.

THE BASICS

1. Persuasion is not Manipulation - Manipulation is coercion through force to get someone to do something that is not in their own interest.  Persuasion is the art of getting people to do things that are in their own best interest that also benefit you.

2. Persuade the Persuadable -  Everyone can be persuaded, given the right timing and context, but not necessarily in the short term.  Political campaigns focus their time and money on a small set of swing voters who decide elections.  The first step of persuasion is always to identify those people that at a given time are persuadable to your point of view and focus your energy and attention on them.

3. Context and Timing - The basics building blocks of persuasion are context and timing.  Context creates a relative standard of what’s acceptable.  For example the Stanford Prisoner Experiment proved that overachieving students could be molded into dictatorial prison guards.  Timing dictates what we want from others and life.  We chose to marry a different type of person than we date when we’re younger, because what we want changes.

4. You have to be Interested to be Persuaded  -  You can never persuade somebody who’s not interested in what you’re saying.  We are all most interested in ourselves, and spend most of our time thinking about either money, love or health.  The first art of persuasion is learning how to consistently talk to people about them; if you do that then you’ll always have their captive attention.

GENERAL RULES

5.  Reciprocity Compels  –  When I do something for you, you feel compelled to do something for me.  It is part of our evolutionary DNA to help each other out to survive as a species.  More importantly, you can leverage reciprocity disproportionately in your favor.   By providing small gestures of consideration to others, you can ask for more back in return which others will happily provide.   (TIP: read  ”Influence” by Robert Cialdini)

6.  Persistence Pays - The person who is willing to keep asking for what they want, and keeps demonstrating value, is ultimately the most persuasive.  The way that so many historical figures have ultimately persuaded masses of people is by staying persistent in their endeavors and message.  Consider Abraham Lincoln, who lost his mother, three sons, a sister, his girlfriend,  failed in business and lost eight separate elections before he was electedpresident of the United States.

7.  Compliment Sincerely  - We are all so positively affected by compliments, and we’re more apt to trust people for whom we have good feelings.  Try complimenting people sincerely and often for things they aren’t typically complimented for, it’s the easiest thing you can do to persuade others that doesn’t cost anything but a moment of thought.

8.  Set Expectations - Much of persuasion is managing other’s expectations to trust in your judgment.  The CEO who promises a 20% increase in sales and delivers a 30% increase is rewarded, while the same CEO who promises a 40%  increase and delivers 35% is punished. Persuasion is simply about understanding and over-delivering on other’s expectations.

9.  Don’t Assume   - Don’t ever assume what someone needs, always offer your value.  In sales we’ll often hold back from offering our products/services because we assume others don’t have the money or interest.  Don’t assume what others might want or not want, offer what you can provide and leave the choice to them.

10.  Create Scarcity  – Besides the necessities to survive, almost everything has value on a relative scale.  We want things because other people want these things.  If you want somebody to want what you have, you have to make that object scarce, even if that object is yourself.

11.  Create Urgency  –  You have to be able to instill a sense of urgency in people to want to act right away. If we’re not motivated enough to want something right now, it’s unlikely we’ll find that motivation in the future.  We have to persuade people in the present, and urgency is our most valuable card to play.

12.  Images Matter  – What we see is more potent that what we hear.  It may be why pharma companies are now so forthcoming with the potentially horrible side effects of their drugs, when set to a background of folks enjoying a sunset in Hawaii. Perfect your first impressions.  And master the ability to paint an image for others, in their minds eye, of a future experience you can provide for them.

13.  Truth-Tell  – Sometimes the most effective way to persuade somebody, is by telling them the things about themselves that nobody else is willing to say.  Facing the hard truths are the most piercing, meaningful events that happen in our lives.  Truth-tell without judgement or agenda, and you’ll often find others’ responses quite surprising.

14.  Build Rapport - We like people who we are like.  This extends beyond our conscious decisions to our unconscious behaviors.  By Mirroring and Matching others habitual behaviors (body language, cadence, language patterns, etc.) you can build a sense of rapport where people feel more comfortable with you and become more open to your suggestions.

PERSONAL SKILLS

15.  Behavioral Flexibility - It’s the person with the most flexibility, not necessarily the most power, who’s in control.  Children are often so persuasive because they’re wiling to go through a litany of behaviors to get what they want (pouting, crying, bargaining, pleading, charming), while parents are stuck with the single response of “No.”  The larger your repertoire of behaviors, the more persuasive you’ll be.

16.  Learn to Transfer Energy - Some people drain us of our energy, while others infuse us with it.  The most persuasive people know how to transfer their energy to others, to motivate and invigorate them.  Sometimes it’s as straightforward as eye contact, physical touch, laughter, excitement in verbal responses, or even just active listening.

17.  Communicating Clearly is Key - If you can’t explain your concept or point of view to an 8th grader, such that they could explain it with sufficient clarity to another adult, it’s too complicated.  The art of persuasion lies in simplifying something down to its core, and communicating to others what they really care about.

18.  Being Prepared Gives you the Advantage - Your starting point should always be to know more about the people and situations around you.  Meticulous preparation allows for effective persuasion.  For example, you dramatically improve your odds in a job interview being completely versed in the company’s products, services, and background.

19.  Detach and Stay Calm in Conflict - Nobody is more effective when they are “On Tilt.”  In situations of heightened emotion, you’ll always have the most leverage by staying calm, detached and unemotional.  In conflict, people turn to those in control of their emotions, and trust them in those moments to lead them.

20.  Use Anger Purposefully - Most people are uncomfortable with conflict.  If you’re willing escalate a situation to a heightened level of tension and conflict, in many cases others will back down.  Use this sparingly, and don’t do it from an emotional place or due to a loss of self control.  But do remember, you can use anger purposefully for your advantage.

21.  Confidence and Certainty - There is no quality as compelling, intoxicating and attractive as certainty.  It is the person who has an unbridled sense of certainty that will always be able to persuade others.  If you really believe in what you do, you will always be able to persuade others to do what’s right for them, while getting what you want in return.