Articles · Vol. 29 No. 3 (2004): Africa Development

The Status of Yorùbâ Dialects in Communicative Competence and Language Proficiency

DOI: 10.4314/ad.v29i3.22202

Vol. 29 · 2004 No. 3 Africa Development AD

Abstract

This paper attempts to explore the status of Yorùbâ dialects in communicative competence and language proficiency. Dialectal identities are quite strong among the Yorùbâ people; they form an integral part of sociolinguistic behaviour in any of the Yorùbâ communities. So, during speech acts or communication, the centralised version of the language will invariably depict the native speaker's version as deviating from the so-called standardised rules of speaking. But such dialectal identities and expressions actually mirror the people's mind, most covertly when deciding the topics that are appropriate to a particular speech event. This is the essence of communicative competence. It is however discovered in this paper that such proficiency could not be enhanced among the Yorùbâ people unless skilled dialectal knowledge is allowed to thrive. The Yorùbâ people appear to have rather strong views on the appropriateness of their dialects in different situations. The work is conceptualised within the framework of Chomsky's 'states' of mind where the adult native speaker's knowledge is fully developed static competence. Our corpora are largely taken from various dialectal renditions and written texts. Oral and structured interviews were also conducted among Yorùbâ language students and among Yoruba native speakers. This was decided in order to reduce introspection in diverse forms.

 

Keywords

dialectal identities Yoruba Dialects Yoruba people language proficiency communicative competence

Statistics

Abstract views
1,523
Downloads
94

Citations

0 citations

Google Scholar

Citations counted by OpenAlex, an open index of scholarly literature, updated weekly. Google Scholar may count more.

References

  1. Adetugbo, Α., 1982, Towards a Yorùbâ Dialectology,' in Yorùbà Language and Literature, ed., Adebisi Afolayan, Ile-Ife: University Press Limited, pp. 207-224. Bamgbose, Α., 1966, A Grammar of Yorùbâ, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chambers, J.K., and Trudgill, P., 1980, Dialectology', London: Oxford University Press. Chomsky, N., 1965, Aspects ofthe Theory of Syntax, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. Chomsky, Ν., 1977, Essays on Form and Interpretation, New York: North Holland. Chomsky, N. 1995., 'Language and Nature', Mind, Vol. 104, N° 413, pp. 1-62. Fabunmi, F.A., 1998, 'Tense, Aspects and Modal System in Ijesa Dialect', M.A. Dissertation, Department of African Languages and Literatures, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Fishman, J. Α., 1972, The Sociology of Language, The Hague: Mouton. Francis, W.N., 1983, Dialectology: An Introduction, London: Longman Group Limited. Oyelaran, O., 1978, 'Linguistic Speculations on Yorùbâ History', Department of African Languages and Literatures Seminar Series 1, éd., O.O. Oyelaran, Ife University Press Limited, pp. 624-651. Petyt, Κ. M., 1983, The Study of Dialect: An Introduction, London, Andre Deutsch. Radford, Α., 1988, Transformational Grammar, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Richards, J.C., 1985, The Context of Language Teaching, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Robins, R.H., 1964, General Linguistics: An Introductory Survey, London: Longman Group Limited. Traugott, E.C., and M.L. Pratt., 1980, Linguistics for Students of Literature, New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. Wolfson, N., 1983, 'Rules of Speaking', in J. C. Richards and R. W. Schmidt, eds., Language and Communication, London: Longman, pp. 61-87

In this issue

Vol. 29 No. 3 (2004): Africa Development →