Thesis Abstract

Abstract
The use of non-standard English by university students has been a topic of interest for researchers in the field of linguistics. This study focuses on the syntactic perspective of non-standard English usage among university students. The research aims to investigate the manifestation of non-standard English in terms of syntax, analyzing the specific syntactic features that characterize non-standard English usage among university students. The methodology employed in this study includes a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches. Data collection involves the analysis of written texts produced by university students, ranging from essays to social media posts. The syntactic features of non-standard English identified in the data are then categorized and analyzed to determine the prevalence and patterns of non-standard syntactic usage among university students. The findings of this study reveal a variety of syntactic features that characterize non-standard English usage among university students. These features include but are not limited to subject-verb agreement errors, double negatives, absence of auxiliary verbs, and non-standard word order. The analysis also highlights the influence of factors such as language background, social context, and educational experience on the manifestation of non-standard syntactic features in English usage among university students. The implications of the findings point to the importance of understanding and addressing non-standard English usage in higher education settings. By identifying the specific syntactic features that characterize non-standard English among university students, educators and policymakers can develop targeted interventions to support students in improving their syntactic proficiency in English. This study contributes to the existing literature on non-standard English usage by providing a detailed analysis of syntactic features and shedding light on the factors influencing the manifestation of non-standard English among university students. Overall, this research underscores the complexity of non-standard English usage from a syntactic perspective and emphasizes the need for tailored linguistic support for university students. By recognizing and addressing the syntactic features of non-standard English, educators can better support students in developing their language skills and academic success.

Thesis Overview

1.0 Introduction

Language is characterized by set of vocal sounds which can be decoded. These are produced by human organs of speech- lips, tongue, and larynx etc. The vocal sounds produced by the vocal organs are used in various systematic and rule governed combinations. Language is thus a human phenomenon that has form which can be described in terms of the units of sound (phonemes), words, morphemes, phrases, and paragraph or discourse. Human language is unique in the sense that it has its own structure, its own system of organizing its component units into meaningful patterns.

English, Nigeria’s official language, occupies a unique place in Nigerian education today; not only has English been adopted as the principal medium of instruction in Nigeria’s educational institutions but it has also been institutionalized as the language of educational evaluation in Nigeria school system. However, Kujore notes that it is alarming how in spite of the tremendous functions that English performs as the language of instruction and evaluation in Nigeria and the bold effort made over the years to encourage its effective usage, the vast majority of speakers record in recent years is an appalling low level performance in the language (Kujore, 1995).

This research is going to investigate the instances of the non standard use of English. Whenever a language functions as a borrowed second language, problems of usage are bound to arise. This is because when a language moves out of its original speech community, it is inevitable to have some super imposed linguistics features and frictions resulting from the meeting of two systems and cultural pattern. Moreover, when the English language (being outside its native environment) there is bound to be deviation from the norms in usage (Olagoke 1981). An adult will have learnt one language, which is his mother tongue, which feature she naturally transfers some features to the second language. The study will identify and describe some sub varieties of English usage in Nigeria, which are instances of the use of non Standard English because of the multiplicity of ethnic groups in the country.