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Course Description
ENG 101: Elements of English Grammar and Usage I
This course is designed to explore the salient features of English grammatical structure in a fairly practical way. The students will be exposed to the general principles of language, what grammar is, starting with the most basic elements of meaning, classification, forms, features and functions of the parts of speech closed and open system.
ENG 102: Elements of English Grammar and Usage II
This course is a continuation of ENG101. Its focus is on the most basic elements of meaning and grammatical form i.e. the morphemes, words, phrases, clauses and sentences in English. The aim of this course and ENG 101 above is to improve students’ proficiency in English by indirectly highlighting their areas of difficulty and helping to sharpen their sense of grammatical correctness vis-a.-vis communication effectiveness.
ENG 111 and 112: Introduction to General Linguistics I and II
The two courses will run consecutively for two semesters. The courses are geared towards introducing students to the basic concepts and facts about language as a purely human capability. Topics to be covered include language origins (theories of), language structure (levels of linguistic analysis) and language functions. Relationship/differences between communication among human beings and other communication systems, e.g by animals, will be discussed. Students should also be made to appreciate the general misconceptions about, and unique properties of natural human languages. Other issues to be covered include different approaches to the study of linguistics, the origins of written language, etc. Emphasis should always be laid on the scientific study of language.
ENG 131: Basic English Composition
The major emphasis of this course is to expose students to writing and developing the topic sentence, paragraph and essay. Writing of either the paragraph or the essay entails giving the reader a word picture of an event, a thing or a situation which he did not know before. Basic composition writing using the controlled expression method is taught. Qualities of effective writing such as economy, simplicity, clarity and coherence will be stressed. Emphasis is placed on narrative, descriptive, expository and argumentative essays.
ENG 141: Mechanics of Reading Comprehension
The main emphasis of this course is exposing students to the different skills involved in intensive, extensive and faster reading to equip them for the numerous reading assignments in their course. Students will be exposed to effective way of analyzing comprehension passages, handling summary assignments and determining the readability of a text material. Suitable passages to enable students practise the necessary skills will be provided.
ENG 151 and 152: Introduction to Oral Literature I and II
These courses will introduce students to the major genres of oral literature: oral prose, oral poetry and traditional drama. The importance of these types as literary forms and their impacts on the traditional society will be introduced to field work.
ENG 161/162: Introduction to Nigerian Literature I and II
These two-semester courses are designed to introduce the “New” student to Nigerian literature. Major and minor genres of literature will be discussed in the course, as well as the general milieu that has informed the literature. Also to be discussed is the inter-relationship between this literature and the oral tradition with which it co-exists, and the socio- political milieu.
ENG 171: Elements of Drama
Using representative texts, the course is designed to introduce students to drama, as an important and serious literary genre. Basic concepts and facts such as types, origins, nature and form will be explored. Illustrative tests will span the centuries and will reflect works of authors from different literary backgrounds such as Africa, Europe and elsewhere.
ENG 173: Introduction to Poetry
This course introduces students to the nature and form as well as other unique characteristics of poetry. Different types of poetry (epic, lyric, ballad, etc.) will be studied to enable students to imbibe the process and techniques of literary appreciation. The assumed general fear and difficulty often erroneously attached to the comprehension and application of poetry will be demystified.
ENG 202: Language and Society
This course focuses on language as an indispensable binding force in any society. Students should also appreciate the function of language(s) in society. It covers such areas as language and societal world view, and the contributions of ethnographers in our understanding of the phenomenon of language.
ENG 221: Introduction to Phonetics & Phonology I
This course covers the principle of phonetic description, vocabulary and taxonomy, using English and other languages for illustration. It also involves the identification, classification, description of speech sounds as basic raw materials with which human speech is formed and establishes the relationship between human anatomy and sounds of speech. Students are here introduced to broad (simple) phonetic transcription.
ENG 222: Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology II
This course complements ENG 221. Here, in addition to studying how speech sounds (in every language) combine systematically to form higher units of phonological structure, to form meanings and the effects of these combinations in speech production, interpretation and meaning, students study the prosodic features (syllable structure, stress, intonation, etc.) that contribute to meaning in the language (especially English). Students are made to see that accent in L2 is a function of linguistic interference and other ethno-linguistic and socio-linguistic factors. The course is, therefore, designed to introduce students to some of the analytical procedures and approaches involved in the understanding of English phonology, hence the identification of phonemes of English, the taxonomic principles of phonemic analysis (contractiveness, similarity, random and non-random variations, etc.) introduction to generative phonology (notion of distinctive features, phonological processes, phonological rules in English, underlying representation, systematic photometric, etc.).
ENG 241: Advanced English Composition I
This course deals with specialized composition writing. The focus will be on the writing of minutes of meetings, various types of letters, invitations, public announcements. Attention will be paid to correct language use and technical matters connected with these kinds of writing. Emphasis should be on guidelines for writing essays such as:
(a) Technical Analysis
(b) Interpretation
(c) Evaluation
(d) Pitfalls to avoid when writing
(e) etc.
ENG 242: Advanced English Composition II
This course is a follow up to ENG 241. The focus is on specialized composition writing, with special attention on the writing of reports, long essays and speech writing. As in ENG 241, attention will be paid to correct language use and other technical matters connected with these kinds of writing.
ENG 251 & 252: Survey of Literature I and II
These courses survey the history and development of English literature from the earliest time to the present. The first part surveys the period between Old English (Anglo-Saxon literature and the Renaissance, the second from the Restoration (1660) to the present. Major inspirations as well as the prominent writers that affected the development of the literature will be discussed.
ENG 281: Modern Comedy
Modern Comedy is a course aimed at a study of the main forms of comedy from Moliere to Soyinka. Representative texts are to be studied in detail.
ENG 282: Literary Appreciation
The course will embrace such areas like definitions of literature and literary studies, fictional terms and general literary principles and will serve as a bridge to the study in the criticism and of their application in the analysis of selected extracts from fictional and non-fictional writings.
ENG 283: English Literature of the Neoclassical Period
This course covers the literary period from John Dryden to Samuel Johnson i.e from the Restoration period to the Late Augustans. Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift will be treated too. Emphasis will be laid on the period’s preoccupation with society, reason and satire; and its reflection of the classical times.
ENG 301: Discourse Analysis
Introduction to the principles and practice of discourse analysis with emphasis on practical analysis, study and description of relevant textual materials such as advertisement, obituaries, delivered lecturers (in print) political deliveries, cartoons, etc.
ENG 302: English Language in Nigeria
The course is designed to study the history of English in Nigeria, the consequent emergence of virile local variety(ies) and changes leading to the evolution of a Nigerian Standard. It also covers the influence of indigenous Nigerian Languages on English (and vice-versa) – influences that have led to distinct written and speech characteristics of Nigerian English (NE) , especially along ethno-linguistic lines, and how these influences affect performance and mutual intelligibility both locally and internationally. The introductory part of the course will discuss the circles of English users and the concept of “new Englishes, the economics of English in Nigeria. The study should show that today, NE a1though still evolving has gradations from basolect through mesolect to acrolect, which are not discrete and mutually exclusive in terms of phonology, syntax and usage.
ENG 303: English as a Second Language (ESL)
In this course, the learning of English as a second language will be examined as well as problems and prospects associated with it. The following will be explored: the differences between a second language and a foreign language, the difference between the acquisition of L1 and L2, the status of English as an L2 in Nigeria, the salient features of language, errors in second language learning, sources of errors, error analysis and contrastive analysis, etc. will be discussed. Textual examples and practice exercises would be provided.
ENG 304: Introduction to Socio-linguistics
This course provides an introduction to the history, methodology, basic concepts and applications of socio-linguistics. It considers the relationship between language and society, focusing attention on attitudes towards language varieties and social dialects, and the problem of multilingualism. It includes discussion on the importance of language in relation to development. Emphasis should also be laid on language variation.
ENG 311: Introduction to Applied Linguistics
This course examines the contributions which the science of language and the theories of language can make in other areas of human knowledge, especially in such areas as second language learning and teaching, language planning and policies in a multilingual nation, psychology, textbook writing, etc. The course also includes discussions on the influence of different linguistic theories on approaches to language acquisition and learning.
ENG 321: Phonology of English
This course provides a detailed study of segmental and prosodic features of RP English and their organization in concrete discourse. It also includes practical exercises on transcription and an introduction to various approaches to the description of English phonology, taxonomic (phonemic), prosodic, and generative.
ENG 331: Contemporary English Usage
The focus of this course is on the use of English (written and spoken) in English speaking communities, both as a world language and a lingua franca in different communities. In this study, emphasis will be on the notions of variation, grammaticalness as indices in definition of standards of correctness and acceptability.
ENG 332: Introduction to Semantics
This course introduces students to the different possible approaches to the study of “meaning”, situating the investigation within the general framework of linguistic structure. It also looks at “sense properties and sense relations, problems of word vs sentence meaning, semantic markedness”, etc. It will also include areas of pragmatics. That is, the utterance-meaning as distinct from sentence meaning on socio-cultural and linguistic rules that determine correct interpretation of terms in the real world.
ENG 333: Modern English Structure
This course examines some theories of grammar, traditional, structural, transformational generative. Modern English structure parsing (encompassing the idea of case) of traditional grammar, bracketing or chain diagram of structural grammar, phrase structure rules or tree diagram of generativism and such principles embodying functionalism as ideational, interpersonal and textual will form the basic structural teachings of the course. The grammatical units: morphemes, words, phrases, clauses and sentences as well as the various roles they perform (SVOCA) in sentences will be looked into. Other structural considerations are paradigmatic and syntagmatic relation of mood, voice, aspects and how they influence change in sentence constructions.
ENG 334: Morphology of English
This course examines the formation of words and the internal structures of words formed. Such elements or derivation and inflection generally called affixation are emphasized to enable students to understand and exemplify the complexities made possible by morphemic components. Also, such technical terms as root, base, stem, bound/free morphemes, word, functional and lexical morphemes will be explained.
ENG 341: Creative Writing
This course is designed to stimulate the creative potentials of students. It will provide instructions in imaginative writing – prose, drama, and poetry. It will be run on a seminar or workshop basis, with available writers leading the discussions.
ENG 361: African Fiction
This is a course designed to introduce students to novels by African (or/and expatriate) authors, dealing with African themes, life and experiences. The course will cover the regions of Africa: (Francophone and Anglophone) West Africa, East Africa, South Africa and the Islamised North.
ENG 363: African Drama
The course is envisaged to focus on written drama by playwrights of African descent both in the continent and in the Diaspora. The course will trace the development and growth of the genre from emergence to the present in different parts of the continent. Thematic, aesthetic and structural trends will be studied alongside the in-depth study of the major playwrights. The course will offer deep insights into the practice of drama as theatre.
ENG 382: Literature of the Victorian Period
This course bridges the gap from the Romantic to the Modern period. Major writers and major movements of the period will be studied
ENG 383: Literature of the Modern Period
This course is a study of the twentieth century literature. Major literary movements and representation authors will be studied.
ENG 402: Language and National Development
This course focuses on constraints placed on national Development by the linguistic situation in developing African nation, language being the most effective means of human communication and also the corner-stone of mass participation in the development process itself.
ENG 431: New Trends in Syntax
This course introduces functional loads and information contents of syntactic elements, as well as more technical names of subject as agent, object as recipient, and instrument referring to element acting on another element. Also, major syntactic constructions- endocentric, exocentric and clause will be explained. In addition to this is the introduction of linguistic minimalism, X Bar Theory, GB Theory, etc.
ENG 432: English For Specific Purposes (ESP)
This course studies the reasons for making English functional in particular circumstances for the purposes of effective communication and understanding. Emphasis is on specialized varieties of English such as the language of journalism, bureaucracy , science and technology, public speaking, law, medicine, ordinary conversation, etc. will be given. Students will write a fieldwork project on any of the areas covered.
ENG 434: Modern English Grammar and Usage
The course, Modern English Grammar and Usage, gives a detailed study of modern English structure and usage with reference to syntax and word choice. Emphasis is on an in-depth study of the relationship between the grammatical and lexical characteristics that mark contemporary usage in selected areas of English grammar which co-relate English structure, vocabulary and usage in both writing and speech. Thus, elements of the English sentence would be considered from both syntactic and functional perspectives; the basic sentence patterns, different kinds of concord, special characteristics of the sentence constituents, an in-depth examination of adjuncts, disjuncts, the verb and its complementation, the complex noun phrase etc, would be studied in detail. Besides, there would be some critical analysis of the English spelling system, passivization, the use of figurative expressions, etc. As usual, textual examples and practice exercises would be provided.
ENG 441: Psycho-linguistics
This course presents the psycho-linguistic account of language and the relationship between language and the mind. Topics are to cover language acquisition and language learning, language, thinking cognition, language and the brain, language localization, linguistic behaviour, production, comprehension, language impairment, etc.
ENG 442: Speech Writing
This course is designed to focus closely on speech writing as a, communicative skill. Topics to be included are speech wording, organization of speeches and different types of speeches.
ENG 443: Creative Writing Workshop
ENG 443 is a continuation of ENG 341. It is meant to be a practical course through which the students’ works are read and discussed. At the end of the course, students should be able to write fairly publishable works in genres of their interest.
ENG 452: Commonwealth Literature
Since this is a study of commonwealth literature, selection of representative texts will be made from different zones of the commonwealth including Britain, Australia, Canada, West Indies, India, New Zealand. Thematic and stylistic issues in the literature of the commonwealth will be studied. Comparative issues vis-a-vis the uniting thematic factors will be studied too. Concentration will be more on poetry and short stories form of literary expression. The special characteristics of fiction as a form as well as the intellectual and socio-political situations and movements which informed these developments will be highlighted. A textual analysis of selected novels written in or translated into English will be critically studied in order to understand this historical development. Since these situations and movements will be studied in great detail, one of them (for instance, existentialism and literature or folklore and literature), will be selected each year, relevance being the major criterion.
ENG 455: Stylistics
This is an introduction to the significant features, principles, ideas and concepts related to English stylistics. The definition of stylistics is used to reinforce its relationships and distinctiveness from linguistics and literary criticism. The course is designed to utilize the resources or the principles of linguistics in the analysis of texts. The importance of foregrounding, deviations, grammatical, lexical, morphological as well as context and coherence are highlighted. The usefulness of register and other relevant aspects of language use are discussed in order to emphasize how stylistic value could be derived in texts.
ENG 471: Studies in Poetry
This course involves a concentrated study of major forms of poetry-epic, lyric, ballad, etc, – with a view to understanding the special characteristics of the poetic forms as well as the intellectual and socio-political situations and movements which informed these poetic forms. The language of poetry will be given a special attention. Instruments for critical appreciation of poetry as well as major theories of poetry will be studied.
ENG 473: Studies in Drama
This is a study of the development of dramatic traditions through a selection of significant texts from the Greeks to the modern era. It traces the evolution of drama through the classical, middle ages, Elizabethan, Neoclassical period to the modern age. It discusses the texts and relates them to the various concepts that have influenced the course of drama: realism, naturalism, theatre of the absurd, etc. Modern African drama is placed in its proper perspective as a 20th century enrichment of world drama in terms of subject matter and theoretical concepts.
ENG 491: Research Methods
This course is a prerequisite for the project or long essay. The students are introduced to methods and tools of research, differences between field and library research are highlighted. The format of the research paper will be discussed. Emphasis is on content, organization, data analysis, description and bibliography, to prepare students for the project/long essay and future research.
ENG 492: Project
Under the supervision and direction of a lecturer, each student is expected to present an original independent research on any topic of interest related to the different courses studied throughout the programme. The final product should be a sustained and well- organized work and should demonstrate sound knowledge of the field and the theoretical and methodological issues involved. Emphasis should also be placed on appropriate documentation and knowledge of referencing. The final product should not exceed 40 pages. ENG 491: Research Methods and Seminar is a prerequisite for this course.
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