English is the study of the English language. The goal is to improve communication skills by practicing listening, speaking, reading, writing, and understanding language rules like pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar.
The emergence of a standard dialect produces the phenomenon known as ‘accent’ which is quite different from dialect. In the process of learning a foreign language, it is normal to transfer the patterns of an indigenous language to those of the foreign language. With time, however those of form and most of orthography and phonology gradually get eliminated. This is because these can easily be identified and corrected. They are easy to correct because they do not involve patterns of muscular movement. It is necessary to correct them because otherwise they could seriously impair intelligibility.
With phonetic patterns, on the other hand, there is a great deal of intelligibility tolerance because muscular patterns are involved thus making correction difficult when observed. Besides, phonetic patterns do not impair intelligibility much. Hence the transference of phonetic habits from one language to another is both easier to tolerate and more difficult to avoid than transference at the lexico-grammatical level. It follows that a speaker who is learning a second dialect does so with an accent since the muscles of his speech organs would have crystallized in response to the phonetics of his native language which he learnt first. The speaker therefore speaks the second dialect with the phonetic features of his native dialect. The learning of a standard language is simply the learning of a second dialect- that which has been standardized.
Members of a language community control at least two dialects and use both dialects in different situations. In the rural areas, the native dialect is used in most situations since there is less movement. Therefore, rural dwellers tend to be parochial and maintain the homogeneity of their dialect. In the urban community, on the other hand, there is more demand on the standard dialect than on the rural one. This is because people from different regions converge here. In order to ensure mutual intelligibility resulting from the pressure of communication, a great deal of demand is made on the standard dialect which now becomes the lingua frenca amongst them.
In the question below choose the option nearest in meaning to the word(s) or phrase(s) Underlined:
The terms of the contract stuck in my throat
Options:Choose the option that best completes the gap.
I was seriously disappointed when the __________ between the two teams ended in a goalless draw.
Options:Choose the option nearest in meaning to the underlined word.
Scientists have invented ways of preserving fruits much longer?
Options:In order to approach the problem of anxiety in play, let us consider the problem of anxiety in play, let us consider the activity of building and destroying a tower. Many a mother thinks that her little son is in a 'destructive stage' or even has a 'destructive personality' because after building a big, big tower, the boy cannot follow her advice to leave the tower for Daddy to see, but instead must kick it and make it collapse. The almost manic pleasure with which children watch the collapse in a second of the product of long play-labour has puzzled many, especially since the child does not appreciate it at all if his tower falls by accident or by a helpful uncle’s hand. He, the builder, must destroy it himself. This game, I should think, arises from the not so distant experience of sudden falls at the very time when standing upright on wobbly legs afforded a new and fascinating perspective on existence. The child who consequently learns to make a tower 'stand up' enjoys causing the same tower to waver and collapse; in addition to the active mastery over a previously passive event, it makes one feel stronger to know that there is somebody weaker ----and towers, unlike little sister, can't cry and call, 'Mummy!'
According to this passage, it gives the child great pleasure
Options:Choose the option nearest in meaning to the underlined word(s).
He commands the confidence and respect of all his subordinates.
Options:From the words lettered A to D, choose the word or group of words that best completes each of the following sentences.
The soldiers pledge their ________ loyalty to the new government
Options:In the question below, choose the option nearest in meaning to the underlined:
Had she known he was a highway robber she would not have married him. This means
Options:You all know how friendly we are with Okperi. Do you think that any Umuaro man who goes to prison there will come back alive? But that apart, do you forget that this is the moon of planting? Do you want to grow this year’s crops in the prison house in a land where your fathers owe a cow? I speak as your elder brother. I have travelled in Olu and I have travelled in Igbo and I can tell you that there is no escape from the white man. He has come when suffering knocks at your door and you say there is no seat left for him, he tells you not to worry because he has brought his own stool. The white man is like that. Before any of you here was old enough to tie a cloth between the legs I saw with my own eyes what the white man did to Abame. Then I knew there was no escape. As day light chases away darkness so will the white man drive away all our customs. I know that as I say it now it passes by your ears, but it will happen. The white man has power which comes from the true God and it burns like fire. This is the God about whom we preach every eighth day………..
Unachukwu’s opponents were now shouting that this was a meeting of an age group that they had not assembled to join with him in chewing the seed of foolishness which they called their new religion.
‘We are talking about the white man’s road’ said a voice above the others.
‘Yes, we are talking about the white man’s road. But when the roof and walls of a house fall in, the ceiling is not left standing. The white man, the new religion, the soldiers, the new road-they are all part of the same thing. The white man has a gun, a machete, a bow and carries fire in his mouth. He does not fight with one weapon alone’.
'There is no escape from the white man' in the passage means that the Options:Fill in the blank spaces in the following sentences making use of the best of the five options:
If _____ one day we would talk about it for weeks
Options: