Faculty of Arts and Design

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Avoidance of complex grammar by senior high school L2 english students : motivations and cognition
(2024-03-12) Adedokun, Elizabeth Temilade; Adedokun, Theophilus Adedayo
This study investigates the motivations and thought processes behind grammar avoidance in senior high school second language (L2) English learners during grammar learning. Twelve suburban public school intermediate proficiency L2 English learners were selected. Data was collected through qualitative semi-structured interviews and thematically analyzed. Using Bourdieu's sociological theory, the following themes emerged from the data analysis: (i) Strategic Simplification: Navigating Linguistic Capital and Habitus for Effective Communication, (ii) Strategic Avoidance: Navigating Complex Sociolinguistic Forces to Optimize Communication, (iii) Managing Perceived Communication Risk, and (iv) Strategic Avoidance as Temporary Adaptation: Ambivalent Linguistic Simplification. Cognitively, limited working memory hindered processing and producing complex syntax, while avoidance helped manage high cognitive load. Insufficient explicit grammatical knowledge also prevented consolidating new structures. Avoidance allowed time to acquire the declarative knowledge needed. The findings suggest grammar avoidance balances complexity and accuracy, motivated by affective and cognitive constraints. Implications include building confidence, knowledge, and skills to enable early practice with complex constructions rather than prolonged avoidance. The study recommends that further research is required to determine optimal thresholds for avoidance and levels of optimal challenge for introducing complex grammar.
A critical appraisal of the role of retribution in Aníkúlápó : the movie
(Universitas Djuanda, 2023-12) Adedokun, Theophilus Adedayo; Olanrewaju, Abolaji Christianah
This study examines Aníkúlápó, a Yoruba historical movie, to elucidate cultural perspectives on retributive justice. The study is grounded in the Yoruba worldview, which frames retribution as essential for restoring cosmic and social equilibrium when moral norms are violated. The data analysis used textual analysis of Aníkúlápó’s narrative depictions of crime and punishment as insights into traditional Yoruba principles of retributive justice. The findings reveal that the movie accurately portrays customary public punishment processes in precolonial Yoruba society aimed at communal justice and harmony. Beliefs in supernatural forces dispensing divine retribution are also authentically represented. While punishments seek to deter crime and rehabilitate offenders, scholarly critiques note occasional unfairness and excess. Overall, the analysis of the movie illuminates the pivotal role of retribution in Yoruba's cultural identity and moral philosophy. The key themes in the study relate to retribution's links to cosmic balance, supernatural dimensions, and functions as deterrence and rehabilitation. By situating the analysis of Aníkúlápó within scholarship on African jurisprudence, the study elucidates Yoruba perspectives on fate, choice, proportionality, and pragmatism when responding to moral complexities and wrongdoing. This study contributes original humanistic insight into indigenous African philosophies of social harmony beyond punitive justice. This study recommends comparing diverse narratives and contemporary attitudes to enrich the understanding retribution's nuanced cultural significance.
Factors affecting language academics’ attitudes towards Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL)
(2019) Adedokun, Theophilus Adedayo; Eyono Obono, Seraphin Desire; Zulu, Sylvia Phiwani
Despite the known benefits of Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL), evidence from existing literature still indicates that many language instructors have a negative attitude towards it. There are many possible factors behind this negative attitude, and the aim of this study was to devise a theoretically sound conceptual model of these factors. The methodology used by this study for the achievement of its aim was to review existing literature published during the past twelve years on CALL attitude factors. The conceptual model proposed by this study posits that instructors’ attitude towards CALL is dependent on the following factors: demographics; computer usage; language teaching ability; prior CALL usage; and Technology Adoption Model (TAM) related factors. One of the biggest gaps identified from this literature review was that English seems to be the only language that is being probed by existing research on CALL attitude factors.
Greetings as a politeness strategy in a Yoruba short story taught to high school learners
(CJEAS Ltd, 2023-08-03) Adedokun, Theophilus Adedayo; Marais, Eugene Patrick
This study investigates the cultural and linguistic aspects of politeness found in selected Yoruba greetings within a short story that is taught to high school learners. To examine the politeness strategies used in Yoruba greetings, a simple textual analysis was employed. The concept of politeness considers greetings as significant in all human conversational interactions since they contribute to establishing and maintaining rapport between speakers. This study identifies several functions of greetings, including discourse initiation and termination, gap filling, solidarity, security and acceptance, courtesy and respect, and comradeship. Additionally, the study explores the social distance between interlocutors, the power dynamics between the speaker and the listener, and the formal relationships between them, which influence the specific types of politeness strategies employed. This research provides valuable insights into the behavioural characteristics and cultural values of Yoruba language speakers and individuals from other linguistic backgrounds worldwide.
Investigating health care providers’ attitudes towards victims of sexual violence and abuse in a university in south west Nigeria
(Journal of Critical Reviews, 2020-07-21) Adedokun, Theophilus Adedayo
Health care providers play a fundamental role in the society as the foremost members of the health care service team for the victims of sexual violence and abuse and their attitudes towards victims of sexual violence and abuse can play an essential role in the standard of health care services provided for sexual violence and abuse victims. Thus, this study investigates the attitude of care providers towards sexual and abuse victims in a university health center in Nigeria, Obafemi Awolowo University in South west Nigeria. A random sampling of 40 students of Obafemi Awolowo University and 15 health care providers from Obafemi Awolowo University health center was conducted. A survey and focused group discussion were used as the research instrument of this study. The result of the study shows that the females are mostly the victims of sexual violence and abuse and this is because of the attitude of culture towards female gender. The finding also reveals that sexual violence is a function of power relation between the abused and the abuser and this study concludes that sexual violence is an abuse of power. The study also showed that health care providers have insufficient knowledge in dealing with sexual violence and abuse victims. This study therefore recommends that health care providers should be more professional in dealing with victims of sexual violence and abuse. Health facilities should also provide posttraumatic intervention within the health facilities to complement the work of health care providers and to soothing the pains of the victims.
Social media as a strategy for protest movements : a study of #EndSARS in Nigeria
(Center for Strategic Studies in Business and Finance SSBFNET, 2022) Adedokun, Theophilus Adedayo
The 2020 #EndSARS protests in Nigeria gained global attention. The protests drawn thousands of youths to the streets in a wave of rolling fury that built into one of the largest demonstrations for years in the country. Unlike previous protests in the country, the 2020 year's protests played out across social networks in a buildup of videos, images, and stories on Twitter Facebook, and other platforms displaying pictures and footage from the streets. This study employed the Social Network Theory in identifying the influence of social media as a strategy for protest movements and for the diffusion of information about #EndSARS and the sustenance of this movement over a long period, despite forces that have tried to silence it. This study argued that the sustenance of protests such as #EndSARS over a long period was dependent on factors such as: (i) that some individuals were more resistant to being influenced than others; (ii) that some individuals tended to be more responsive than others; and (iii) that some individuals seemed to be more affected than others (and were, therefore, more likely to pass the information on to others). The findings revealed that protesters used emotional dynamics, collective identities, symbolic artifacts, and mutual values to sustain protests if their demands were not met on time.
A sociological exploration of language lecturers' journey into African language teaching
(University of Brawijaya, 2024) Adedokun, Theophilus Adedayo; Usadolo, Sam Erevbenagie; Awung, Felix Nkwatta
Post-apartheid policies aimed to promote African languages in higher education, yet lecturers face lack of institutional support and resource scarcity. This qualitative study explores experiences of African language lecturers at South African universities, using Bourdieusian theory to understand broader discourses around language, identity, and power shaping efforts to revalue these languages. In-depth interviews were conducted to gain insights into lecturers' journeys and lived experiences. The findings revealed that their habitus was oriented towards language teaching by familial, socio-political, and educational contexts. In addition, accumulating cultural capital through credentials facilitated academic lecturers’ progression while leveraging social capital through professional networks provided them crucial access and advocacy. Within competitive academia, lecturers continuously pursued prestigious positions and various forms of capital. Collaborating with language communities enabled developing localized, culturally validating pedagogies to counter institutional barriers. Technology access empowered effective role performance, research publishing, and career advancement. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by African language lecturers and highlights the need for institutional support, resource availability, and community engagement to promote and sustain African language education in higher education institutions.
Surveying KwaZulu-Natal universities’ language academics for the modelling of factors affecting their attitudes towards computer assisted language learning tools for African indigenous languages
(2020-06-10) Adedokun, Theophilus Adedayo; Zulu, Sylvia Phiwani; Eyono Obono, Seraphin Desire; Zulu, Sylvia Phiwani; Eyono Obono, Seraphin Desire
Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) has been proven by literature to be of immense benefit to the teaching and learning of language at all levels of education. However, it is interesting that university language academics seem to have a negative attitude towards CALL. The aim of this study, therefore, is to design a conceptually sound model of the factors that affect the attitudes of language academics towards Computer Assisted Language Learning Tool for African Indigenous Languages (CALLTAIL) and to examine the relationship between CALL and language attrition, especially for marginalised African languages. Supporting this study are these four theories, namely, the Theory of Reasoned Action, the Theory of Planned Behaviour, Hume’s Theory of Beliefs, and the Digital Divide Theory. The study uses content analysis review of suitable literature and a survey of fifty (50) language academics from three (3) public universities in the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. The factors identified to affect the attitudes of language academics are their computer experience, their subjective norms, and their perceived usefulness of CALLTAIL. The findings of this study indicate that subjective norms and perceived usefulness of CALLTAIL are the two factors that affect other variables in this study. The findings also indicate that all the variables in this study are interlinked and interrelated. The study recommends the optimization of language academics’ computer experience, subjective norms, and perceived usefulness of CALLTAIL. The chief contribution of this study is to have investigated the use and adoption of Computer Assisted Language Learning Tools in the context of African indigenous languages and this can be considered as a new research in comparison to the reviewed studies of this research. Keywords: instructors, teachers, academics, attitude, Computer Assisted Language Learning
Towards digital inclusion in South Africa : the role of public libraries and the way forward
(CJEAS Ltd, 2022-05-13) Adedokun, Theophilus Adedayo; Zulu, Sylvia Phiwani
Digital inclusion continues to be a recurring theme and pose serious challenge in achieving the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goal. Factors such as growing population, age, gender, education, economy etc., continue to play a major role in inhibiting people’s digital access. As a result of the instant exchange of information, people now have access to knowledge, information, data, and other useful things to them than the world has ever recorded in history. People then see the need to be digital inclusive and to be part of the fascinating historical development of ICTs. To enhance people digital inclusiveness, the role of public libraries cannot be overemphasized. This study explores the role of public libraries in making ICTs more accessible to the populations of South Africa, and how these libraries increase ICTs relevance to people’s lives, needs, aspirations, and ultimately, in bridging the digital divide. This study adopts the digital divide approach in discussing the state and role of public libraries in South Africa in bridging the digital gap among its citizens. The authors integrate data from studies on digital inclusion and from Public Library Access studies to give clearer picture on the issue of digital inclusion and the role of public libraries in South Africa. This study found that digital inclusion goes beyond internet literacy and computer access, but it signifies technical proficiency and people’s ability to access appropriate digital services and contents as and when needed. This study also found that the public libraries play an indispensable role in providing and sustaining digital inclusion for people across South Africa, however not without some challenges.