Computer-Mediated Discourse in Africa [1 ed.] 9781621005452, 9781621004974

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Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved. Computer-Mediated Discourse in Africa, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated, 2012. ProQuest Ebook Central,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved. Computer-Mediated Discourse in Africa, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated, 2012. ProQuest Ebook Central,

MEDIA AND COMMUNICATIONS - TECHNOLOGIES, POLICIES AND CHALLENGES

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COMPUTER-MEDIATED DISCOURSE IN AFRICA

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MEDIA AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGIES, POLICIES AND CHALLENGES Additional books in this series can be found on Nova‘s website under the Series tab.

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MEDIA AND COMMUNICATIONS - TECHNOLOGIES, POLICIES AND CHALLENGES

COMPUTER-MEDIATED DISCOURSE IN AFRICA

ROTIMI TAIWO AND

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INNOCENT CHILUWA EDITORS

Nova Science Publishers, Inc. New York

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Copyright © 2012 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means: electronic, electrostatic, magnetic, tape, mechanical photocopying, recording or otherwise without the written permission of the Publisher. For permission to use material from this book please contact us: Telephone 631-231-7269; Fax 631-231-8175 Web Site: http://www.novapublishers.com NOTICE TO THE READER The Publisher has taken reasonable care in the preparation of this book, but makes no expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for incidental or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of information contained in this book. The Publisher shall not be liable for any special, consequential, or exemplary damages resulting, in whole or in part, from the readers‘ use of, or reliance upon, this material. Any parts of this book based on government reports are so indicated and copyright is claimed for those parts to the extent applicable to compilations of such works.

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Independent verification should be sought for any data, advice or recommendations contained in this book. In addition, no responsibility is assumed by the publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property arising from any methods, products, instructions, ideas or otherwise contained in this publication. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject matter covered herein. It is sold with the clear understanding that the Publisher is not engaged in rendering legal or any other professional services. If legal or any other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent person should be sought. FROM A DECLARATION OF PARTICIPANTS JOINTLY ADOPTED BY A COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION AND A COMMITTEE OF PUBLISHERS. Additional color graphics may be available in the e-book version of this book.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Computer-mediated discourse in Africa / editors, Rotimi Taiwo and Innocent Chiluwa. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 978-1-62100-545-2 (eBook) 1. Communication and technology--Africa. 2. Digital communications--Social aspects--Africa. 3. Discourse analysis--Africa. I. Taiwo, Olurotimi Adebowale. II. Chiluwa, Innocent. P96.T422A44 2011 302.2'0285--dc23 2011034612

Published by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. † New York

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CONTENTS Preface

vii

Acknowledgments

xi

About the Authors

xiii

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

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Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Presence Platforms, Sociability, M4L, and Presence Awareness Learning in the South African Context Chaka Chaka

1

The Discourse of Nolitics in the Naijapals Online Community Website Innocent Chiluwa

19

New Textual Terrain in Africa: Constructions of Identity through Digital Texts in South Africa Leila Kajee

41

A Stylistic Analysis of Emerging Paradigms and Prominent Features in Nigerian SMS Discourse Taiwo Abioye

55

Language Use on Facebook Asynchronous Interactional Exchanges Adetunji Adegoke

69

Discursive Forms and Functions of Flaming in Nigerian Online Forums Rotimi Taiwo

87

Culture and Some Unintended Consequencies of ComputerMediated Communication (CMC) in Africa Bolanle Olaniran, Natasha B. Rodriguez, Oladayo S. Olaniran and Olajide O. Olaniran Face in Nigerian New Media Discourse Presley A. Ifukor

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117

vi Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Contents Linguistic Creativity in Computer-Mediated Communication: Examples from Selected African Chats Taofik Olasunkanmi Adesanmi

141

Pragmatic Acts and Contextual Beliefs in Two Nigerian Online News Media Feedback Forum Foluke Unuabonah

157

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Index

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PREFACE This book is a major documentation of the discursive practices of Africans when they engage in online communication. It presents mainly linguistic perspectives on what Africans do when they interact through mobile telecommunications and the Internet. The book reveals the unique ways Africans blend their traditional communicative culture with some of the well known online behaviors. In addition, it draws attention to how Africans have been attempting to use the modes of internet and mobile telecommunications to solve their socio-economic and political problems by engaging in active agitation for reforms in those directions. Chapter 1 - This chapter explores the four roles played by MXit and mobile instant messaging (MIM) as deployed through mobile phones in the South African teaching and learning context. MXit is a South African based mobile instant messaging tool. In particular, the chapter argues that in this context MXit and MIM serve as presence platforms, technologies for sociability, and mobiles for learning (M4L) that help harness presence awareness learning (PAL). Against this backcloth, the chapter first provides an overview of MXit, MIM, M4L, and presence awareness learning. Second, it demonstrates how MXit and MIM lend themselves well as: presence platforms, technologies for sociability, mobiles for learning (M4L), and technologies for PAL. Third, it provides, in each case, relevant examples to support its main argument. For instance, Dr Math (for tutoring mathematics), MXit and MIM (for teaching and learning English grammar and for writing short English paragraphs), and Kontax (as a mobile novel) have been provided as typical case studies illustrating how MXit and MIM serve as presence platforms, technologies for sociability, mobiles for learning (M4L), and technologies for PAL. Fourth and last, the chapter outlines future trends related to MXit and MIM. Chapter 2 - Nolitics is a politically oriented discussion forum hosted by a Nigerian hosting website known as NaijaPals (or Nigerians and friends). In this forum, authors keep personal journals in which they post entries and also reply to members‘ entries by posting comments. Nolitics enables members analyze and criticize Nigeria‘s socio-political system and social developments. Thus participants lend their voices to topical issues that shape the society. In this study a total of 104 posts are analyzed in the framework of ComputerMediated Discourse Analysis (CMDA) to examine the contents and roles of social interaction in digital discourse. Analysis reveals that discourse (in this context social interaction) functions as social criticism, political mobilization and propaganda, especially towards the 2011 general elections in Nigeria. Findings also reveal that participants applied interactional norms or pragmatic strategies such as metaphors, directives acts and interrogatives to contribute to political debates as well as confront social and political anomalies in Nigeria.

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viii

Rotimi Taiwo and Innocent Chiluwa

Chapter 3 - This chapter is located within an African, and more specifically, a South African context of learning and development. It explores technological challenges unique to the country‘s developmental context. Then it explores the multimodal engagement of English as an Additional Language students in a university English classroom in Johannesburg. Within a social semiotic framework, and using constructions of design and identity to understand their multimodal engagement, the chapter agrees that multimodal representations offer English as an Additional Language students from under-resourced contexts creativity and agency to re-design meaning. Chapter 4 - This paper examines the emerging paradigms in digital discourse as exemplified in short messaging systems (SMS). Interest in SMS has recently increased appreciably in Nigeria, but less attention is given to thematic features and textual cohesion, which makes the present study pertinent. Two hundred and twenty text messages on different themes sent by educated Nigerians in different fields were randomly gathered from mobile phones of equally educated Nigerian English (precisely university lecturers) users over a period of six months. The data were subjected to a stylistic analysis based on ideational and interpersonal functions of language to ascertain whether or not innovative stylistic features are predominant in text messages used in the Nigerian socio-cultural context. The paper discusses how text messages are being used by Nigerians to bring about some positive changes in the country‘s social landscape, such as enhancing religious obligations, promoting business activities, creating awareness and building social relationships. In particular, results from the study reveal the emergence of a new variety of written informal English: the SMS variety. It equally shows the stylistic symmetry that exists between educational and economic SMS texts. The study concluded that this socio-economic synergy is capable of enhancing language skills a great deal. Chapter 5- Facebook is a famous social networking site constantly visited by various strata of human society with about 500 million active members around the world. It is an evolving virtual speech community and social context of language use with its marked and typical features of electronic discourse, which call for sociolinguistic attention. It is characterized by specific language use, language diversities, multilingualism, ethnic identities, age group and social class. Hence, the study examines the use of language in this genre of Computer mediated communication (CMC) with emphasis on the various sociolinguistic phenomena such as language mixing, codeswitching and Yoruba proverbs. The data comprises threads of exchanges/comments posted by Nigerian Yoruba-English bilingual users of Facebook. Fifty Nigerian Yoruba-English bilingual users‘ interactional exchanges were purposively selected for analysis. An eclectic analytical approach from linguistics, sociolinguistics and discourse analysis is adopted to analyze the data. The results showed how onlineidentity and group membership are constructed through the use of Nigerian English, Nigerian Pidgin, Yoruba expressions, especially proverbs and code-mixing. Chapter 6 - This study investigates the discursive forms and functions of flaming in two most popular Nigerian discussion forums: Nairaland and Nigerian Village Square. The data was taken from a 750,000 word corpus of Nigerian online discussion forum compiled between 2006 and 2009. Findings show that the kind of topic and the personalities in the news determine participants‘ flaming behaviour. Flaming occurred more in the context of political topics and participants frequently switched to the Nigerian Pidgin or any of the indigenous languages when expressing flaming behaviour. On the direction of flaming, 76 (56.7%) of the flames were directed at members, while 58 (43.3%) were directed at others.

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Preface

ix

Name-calling and personality attack were the predominant flaming forms and political threads generate more flames than other kinds of thread. Despite being branded as an impolite behaviour, flaming has become an exciting way for the youths to use the public sphere to influence political action in the country. Chapter 7 - The explosion of information communication technology (ICT) or computermediated communication (CMC) media—either through mobile telephone, Internet, e-mail among others—has allowed for global interconnection. This is often referred to as the global village, as people from rural and remote geographically dispersed areas of the world are now able to connect, communicate, and interact with one another. Nowhere, are these more evident than in some of the developing regions of the world where traditional landline telephones are often out of reach for the average person. However, the advent of cheaper mobile phones and handsets, has allowed for increased access to the digital age as a way to bridge the digital divide—although this does not eradicate it. Interactions via accompanying communication media (e.g., e-mail, Internet networks, and online collaborations) comes with certain challenges that can only be understood when one considers the role of culture from the societal contexts in which these CMC media are being utilized. Chapter 8 - This chapter examines facework in Nigerian new media discourse. It identifies three strands of virtual face dynamics – discursivity, indexicallity and relationality. Using the face constituting theory of discursive pragmatics, the chapter describes the coconstruction, negotiation and contesting of facework in selected synchronous and asynchronous Nigerian internet communication. The chapter identified the following discursive-relational face acts: digital face co-construction, phatic face work, collaborative and confrontational face actswith underlying premise that code-switching is face work. Chapter 9 - This chapter investigates the various displays of linguistic creativity by some Nigerian English as Second Language (ESL) interactants in the selected chatroom interactions. The data were samples of online text-based chats drawn from twenty online interlocutors among whom there were twelve Nigerians in diaspora (living mostly in Qatar, UK, US, and China). The choice of these interactants was informed by the fact that they were living very far from each other (and one another) spanning different axes of the globe, the reason for their communication was seriously motivated, and they were willing to contribute to the research. The data were analysed using Conversation Analysis (CA). The results reveal the different ways participants manipulate the linguistic resources, such as the orthography, vocabulary and grammar in order to communicate. The various creative features were traced to factors, like topicalisation, the mood of participants, cultural identification, group identity and nostalgia. Chapter 10 - This chapter studies the pragmatic acts held by bloggers when posting comments into the weblogs of newspapers. Fifty comments were randomly sampled from two newspaper weblogs: Punch (a Nigerian national daily) and Sahara Reporters (a Nigerian online newspaper). The comments are analysed using insights from and pragmatic acts and contextual beliefs. Through the comments, the writers of the comments in the weblogs use pragmatic acts which praise, accuse, condemn, blame, apologise, pray, thank, advise, lament and warn. The findings reveal that the comments fall into three groups: positive, negative and neutral and that the interactants write based on shared knowledge of subject/topic, referent/reference, word choices, shared socio-cultural knowledge. The writers of these comments have also expressed nationalist, feminist and ethnic ideologies.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We express our profound gratitude to the contributing authors and publishers of this volume. While discourse analyses of online communication are gradually gaining strenght in Africa, we must acknowledge that interest in this very important research area is not yet widespread. We therefore thank and congratulate the contributors for their painstaking research that led to the writing of these chapters. Our special thanks also go to our colleagues and students, who are too numerous to mention here and whose supports in one way or the other have been invaluable. To our international colleagues and readers, we hope that this non-exhaustive volume offers helpful insights into research in computer-mediated discourse in Africa. We want to specially appreciate our spouses, who had to to bear with unusual busy schedule during the period of editing the book. Finally, we thank the Almighty God for the strength, wisdom and guidance to put these chapters together.

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Rotimi Taiwo and Innocent Chiluwa Editors

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS Chaka Chaka, Chaka Chaka is a senior lecturer in the Department of English at Walter Sisulu University (Eastern Cape, South Africa). His research interests include: collaborative learning (CL); concept mapping; computer-mediated communication (CMC); electronic learning (e-learning); computer assisted language learning (CALL); mobile learning (mlearning); mobile assisted language learning (MALL); Web 2.0 learning/Mobile Web 2.0 learning; Web 3.0/Mobile Web 3.0 learning; Semantic Web/Mobile Semantic Web; online genre and discourse analysis; knowledge management (KM); and learning organisation (LO), Email: [email protected] Innocent Chiluwa, Innocent Chiluwa is a senior lecturer and he teaches at the Department of Languages Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria, He was a fellow of Alexander von Humboldt at the Department of English, University of Freiburg, Germany. His research interests are (Critical) Discourse Analysis and Pragmatics of English, Email: [email protected] Leila Kajee, Leila Kajee is Senior Lecturer in Educational Linguistics in the Faculty of Education at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. She lectures undergraduate and postgraduate students in areas of Educational Linguistics, as well as supervises research projects. Her research interests include Language and Literacy, focussing more recently on digital literacy. She holds a PhD in Language in Education, with specific focus on online learning, and has published nationally and internationally in the field, including her book ― Constructing identities in online communities of practice‖, Email: [email protected] Taiwo Abioye, Taiwo Abioye holds PhD in English from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria. Her research areas are Applied Linguistics and Stylistics. She is currently a senior lecturer and the head, Department of Languages, Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria, Email: [email protected] Adegoke Adetunji, Adegoke Adetunji is currently a Fulbright Fellow at the Department of Social and Cultural Analysis, New York University, New York, USA. He holds M.A. in English Language from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife and teaches at Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria, Email: [email protected]

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Rotimi Taiwo and Innocent Chiluwa

Rotimi Taiwo, Rotimi Taiwo holds PhD in English and he lectures at the Department of English, Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria. He was a post-doctoral fellow of The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation at Albert-Ludwigs University, Freiburg, Germany (September, 2008 – August, 2009). His research areas are (Critical) Discourse Analysis, Computer-mediated Discourse Analysis, Lexical Studies and Applied English Syntax. One of his latest books is a two-volume book titled Handbook of Research on Discourse Behavior and Digital Communication: Language Structures and Social Interaction published by IGI Global (Information Science Reference, Pennsylvania, USA in 2010, Email: [email protected] Bolanle Olaniran, Bolanle Olaniran is currently the interim Chair and professor of the Department of Communication Studies, Texas Technical University, Lubbock, Texas, United States, Email: [email protected] Natasha Rodriguez, Natasha Rodriguez is a graduate student at Texas Tech University, Email: [email protected] Oladayo Olaniran, Oladayo Olaniran is a Lecturer and Doctoral student in Metalurgical Engineering at the Federal niversity of Technology, Akure, Nigeria, Email: [email protected] Olajide Olaniran, Olajide Olaniran is the Managing Director of Niniola Enterprise in Oyo, Nigeria, Email: [email protected] Olasunkanmi Adesanmi, Olasunkanmi Adesanmi is an M.A. holder in English Language and he teaches at the Department of English, Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo, Nigeria Email: [email protected] Foluke Unabonah, Mrs Unuabonah, Foluke Olayinka is an advanced doctoral student in the Department of English, University of Ibadan, Ibadan Nigeria and teaches at the Redeemer‘s University, Mowe, Nigeria. Her main research areas are in Discourse Analysis and Pragmatics of medical discourse, Email: [email protected] Presely Ifukor, Presley Ifukor got his PhD at the Institut für Anglistik/Amerikanistik, University of Osnabrük in Germany. His research interest is in the pragmatics of computer-mediated communication, Email: [email protected]

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In: Computer-Mediated Discourse in Africa Editors: Rotimi Taiwo and Innocent Chiluwa

ISBN: 978-1- 62100-497-4 © 2012 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 1

PRESENCE PLATFORMS, SOCIABILITY, M4L, AND PRESENCE AWARENESS LEARNING IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN CONTEXT Chaka Chaka

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ABSTRACT This chapter explores the four roles played by MXit and mobile instant messaging (MIM) as deployed through mobile phones in the South African teaching and learning context. MXit is a South African based mobile instant messaging tool. In particular, the chapter argues that in this context MXit and MIM serve as presence platforms, technologies for sociability, and mobiles for learning (M4L) that help harness presence awareness learning (PAL). Against this backcloth, the chapter first provides an overview of MXit, MIM, M4L, and presence awareness learning. Second, it demonstrates how MXit and MIM lend themselves well as: presence platforms, technologies for sociability, mobiles for learning (M4L), and technologies for PAL. Third, it provides, in each case, relevant examples to support its main argument. For instance, Dr Math (for tutoring mathematics), MXit and MIM (for teaching and learning English grammar and for writing short English paragraphs), and Kontax (as a mobile novel) have been provided as typical case studies illustrating how MXit and MIM serve as presence platforms, technologies for sociability, mobiles for learning (M4L), and technologies for PAL. Fourth and last, the chapter outlines future trends related to MXit and MIM.

Keywords: mobile instant messaging, mobiles for learning, presence awareness learning, South Africa

INTRODUCTION Mobile instant messaging (MIM) is increasingly gaining currency and becoming a preferred mode of personal communication among South African young users. A majority of these users are school learners leveraging MIM through MXit. Their instant messaging

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propensity resonates with that of their counterparts in other parts of the world as reported by scholars such as Garley (2008), Jones and Schieffelin (2009), Lenhart, Purcell, Smith and Zickuhr (2010), and Ling and Baron (2007). These users are able to access MIM from mobile phones. However, MIM as a form of youth and learner communication, and MXit from which it is accessed including mobile phones from which the latter is deployed, are not yet embraced by schools for teaching and learning purposes in South Africa. In fact these three technologies are almost perceived as the axis of evil on school grounds and in classrooms. This is contrary to some of the good uses to which the self-same technologies are being put by certain sectors of the South African society. For instance, mobile phones in conjunction with MXit have been employed to investigate and promote mobile literacies and to write a mobile novel (e.g., Kontax) (see Vosloo, Walton and Deumert, 2009; Walton, 2009). In a complementary vein, both MXit and MIM have been utilised for teaching and learning mathematics to primary and secondary school learners (see Butgereit, 2007, 2009; Butgereit and Botha, 2010). In addition, the two technologies have been trialled at one junior secondary school for teaching and learning English grammar and for writing short English paragraphs (see Chaka, Ramothea and Ngesi, 2010). Given the above, this chapter maintains that MXit and MIM – as run from mobile phones – can serve as presence technologies, technologies for sociability, mobiles for learning (M4L), and technologies for presence awareness learning (PAL). Against this backdrop, the chapter sets out, first, to provide an overview of MXit, MIM (mobile instant messaging), M4L (mobiles for learning), and PAL (presence awareness learning). Second, it illustrates how MXit and MIM lend themselves well as presence platforms, technologies for sociability, mobiles for learning (M4L), and technologies for PAL. Thus, the following constitutes its major sections: MXit, MIM, M4L and presence awareness learning: an overview; presence platforms; technologies for sociability; mobiles for learning (M4L); technologies for PAL; and future trends.

MXIT, MIM, M4L, AND PRESENCE AWARENESS LEARNING: AN OVERVIEW MXit (message exchange it) is a South African mobile network-independent instant messaging software application. Having first been launched as a short messaging service (SMS) based massively multiplayer mobile game, it has since transitioned into a mobile instant messaging application. It also has a mobile social networking facet, thereby operating as a mobile instant messenger-cum-mobile social network. As a term it embodies three simultaneous references: it is a company, an instant messaging service, and a client application. Most critically, it is available to users as a freeware that can be instantly and seamlessly downloaded both to host mobile phones and to personal computers (PCs). For instance, Figure 1 showcases a screenshot of MXit displaying some of its main menu items as reflected on a user‘s mobile phone. In this regard, not only does it offer the affordance of being a convenient mobile client application for chatting, but it also serves as the cheapest mobile platform for instant messaging and social networking (Chaka, 2010a, 2010b). In this context, mobile instant messaging (MIM) is seen here as a

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form of instant messaging accessed through MXit and mounted on mobile devices such as mobile phones as deployment devices.

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Figure 1. A screenshot of MXit as reflected on a user‘s mobile phone.

As is the case with other instances of instant messaging, MIM is a synchronous or a near synchronous mode of communication (see Baron, 2010) that offers asynchronous information accessibility. This means that it has the affordance of both real time communication and sociability offered by online chatting and conferencing. However, unlike online chatrooms that enable many-to-many communication, MXit based MIM facilitates one-to-one conversation even though a feature such as MultiMx (see Figure 2) enables multimixing – one-to-many or one-to- a-group chatting. Since MXit as a platform is run on General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) or on third generation (3G) technologies, MIM lends itself well as one sub-set of computer-mediated communication. For its part, M4L is an alpha-numeric (letter-number) homophonic acronym for mobiles for learning. It draws on similar concepts such as mobiles for development (M4D) and information communication and technologies for development (ITC4D) as advocated especially by Donner, Verclas and Toyama (2008) and Donner and Gitau (2009). Here mobile devices and ICTs are perceived as technologies employed for and facilitating development in various ways. In the same vein, the concept M4L is utilized in this chapter to refer to the fact that MXit and MIM together with mobile phones on which they are deployed, are technologies that can be employed for learning and that can facilitate the learning of different school subjects for different purposes. That is, they can be used to meet different learning needs within the South African schooling system.

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Figure 2. A screenshot of MXit displaying a dropdown sub-menu that incorporates a MultiMx feature.

Finally, presence awareness learning (PAL) is learning harnessed by MXit and MIM as deployed mobile phones. It is a virtual presence driven learning that requires interlocutors to be digitally present in real time for it to have any meaning for and any bearing on them. Most importantly, PAL is grounded on the notion of presence. The latter encapsulates the quality or feeling of being there online in real time. It embodies four other variants - digital presence, co-presence, social presence, and tele-presence – all of which are mediated presences (see Chaka, 2011, in press a, in press b).Thus, both MXit and MIM serve in this chapter as presence platforms and technologies of presence awareness learning (PAL). A point worth highlighting in this case is that presence varies with the different presence platforms and technologies from which it is mediated. This means that being present on MXit and MIM is not the same as being present on Facebook, Twitter or Second Life (see Chaka, in press a).

PRESSENCE PLATFORMS As briefly mentioned above, both MXit and MIM serve as presence platforms. They facilitate a virtual and digital presence of users and enable users to see, observe and monitor each other‘s online presence. For instance, when two co-registered users are IMing each other in real time using MXit, their IM exchanges and their online presence including that of their other co-registered users who are concurrently online, are displayed synchronously on their mobile phones‘ MXit screens (see Figure 3). The other co-registered users who are offline have their details reflected as such (also see Figure 1). As shown in Figure 3, four users (Layla, Rosie, Precious, and You – the user on whose mobile phone the online presence details of the other users are displayed) are concurrently online. Here the IM exchange between You and Precious is reflected in the main screen while Layla and Rosie appear within their respective small tabs/windows at the top of the main screen.

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Figure 3. A screenshot of MXit displaying four concurrently online users and two users who are synchronously IMing each other.

In contrast, Precious features twice at the top of the main screen – as both (*)p.. and ● precious – as she is the one with whom You is currently IMing. Thus, user presence in MXit and MIM is username or identity name driven. The types of presence these two presence platforms allow users are digital presence, co-presence, social presence and telepresence, all of which are virtually mediated (see Chaka, 2011, in press a, in press b). All of these presences are evident in Figure 3 in varying degrees. For example, the four users are digitally present through the digital manifestations of their usernames. The latter are their assumed digital and online designations and identities. At the same time, their usernames are the MXit nicknames and pseudonyms by which other coregistered users are able to identify and differentiate them from other MXit users populating the MXit‘s digital screen. In a way these four users are mutually aware of each other‘s online presence – of each other‘s co-presence – as mediated by MXit and MIM. That is, through these two platforms, these users can sense, detect and monitor each other‘s co-location. In this case, You can sense that Layla, Rosie and Precious are online in the same way as they too can sense You‘s being online. Similarly, You can detect or notice any of the other three users‘ absence/disappearance as reflected especially by the two messages ―pr ecious is now offline‖ and ―pr ecious is now online.‖ They too can do likewise concerning You. In the same vein, in Figure 1 both Lil babe and Layla are aware of each other‘s online co-presence (which is signalled by the green icons next to their nicknames) relative to Dwayne Carter‘s being offline (signalled by the grey icon next his nickname).

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Chaka Chaka

Moreover, the users as depicted in the two figures under discussion can have a sense of social presence. The latter encompasses two related senses: it entails the projected presence of a participant as a social being; and it expresses the feeling of being socially present with others in a digital space. The first sense is social presence as a presentation of one‘s social self (see Dunlap and Lowenthal, 2009; Rettie, 2005; Warburton, 2009); the second sense is the desire to be socially present in a digital or an online community of practice. Thus, the users as represented in the two figures can be characterized as both digital social beings and participants who have a desire to belong to a digital community of practice. And that digital community of practice is the MXit community of practice to which they belong. Furthermore, the MXit users represented here are digitally connected to each other, and they relate to and IM with each other through a tele-presence harnessed by MXit and MIM. It is against this backcloth that both MXit and MIM are considered presence platforms.

TECHNOLOGIES OF SOCIABILITY

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Again as intimated earlier on, both MXit and MIM provide a case for technologies of sociability. On the one hand, these two technologies make it possible for users to virtually socialize, thereby establishing mobile virtual communities of practice. One such virtual mobile community of practice is exemplified by the nine MXit users as represented in Figure 4. These users can interact, chat and communicate with each other through MIM deployed on MXit. So, their socialization is primarily encoded through MIM.

Figure 4. A screenshot of MXit depicting nine users constituting a mobile virtual community of practice. Computer-Mediated Discourse in Africa, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated, 2012. ProQuest Ebook Central,

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On the other hand, MXit and MIM enable users to engage in phatic communication as part of sociability. Phatic communication in this context is communication intended to establish, maintain, or strengthen social relationships. In real life human interactions it is encoded through various comments such as ―H ello‖, ―H ow do you do?‖, ― Are you listening‖, ―By e-bye‖, and so on. Or it is actualized through eye contact, nods, signals, facial expressions, idle talk, and so on (see Vetere, Howard and Gibbs, 2005). In respect of the MXit and MIM instances under discussion in this chapter, phatic communication also serves to establish, maintain, or strengthen mobile virtual social relationships between users. Users do so by employing various phatic expressions and strategies. The case in point is comments such as: ―Wel come‖; ―H ey‖ (―H i‖); ―H w a u dn?‖ (―H ow‘re you doing?‖); (―G ud n u‖ (―G ood and you‖); ―Whrr u my darling?‖ (― Where are you my darling?‖) as instantiated in Figure 3. The four offline comments, ― F u hv nly 1 breath lft use t 2 cy ‗thank u‘‖ (― For you have only one breath left – use it to see‖), ―pr ecious is now offline‖, ―precious is now online‖, and ―pr ecious is now happy‖ –a gain see Figure 3 – serve as examples of idle chat. The first comment is, especially, an equivalent of a mute monologue or a self-talk in real life human interactions. In contrast, the next two comments are presence/absence indicators while the last one projects the user‘s emotional or attitudinal state. Phatic expressions such as these four comments tend to both confirm that communication is operational between two users (Precious and You) and reaffirm the virtual connectedness of these two users (see Vetere at al., 2005). In this instance they serve as communication redress or enhancement mechanisms. Moreover, as instances of technologies for sociability, MXit and MIM make it possible for users to access and read offline messages or what Thornton (2003) refers to as away messages. That is, any co-registered user can leave a message or comment for any other coregistered user who is offline. When the offline user gets online, they can then retrieve and read a given message or comment. It is thus possible - even though this is rare – that when two users happen to send and receive each other‘s messages or comments offline on an ongoing basis that a virtual offline social communication can take root. However, MXit as a platform and a client software tool does engage its general subscribers in offline personal communication. It does this by sending a subscribers (which can be any users) messages or information through its features such as Info, JoeBanker and Tradepost (see Figures 1 and 2). The first facility offers general information about MXit to subscribers, while the last two facilities provide information related to MXit‘s virtual currency (Moola) and to the mobile purchasing of items on MXit respectively (see Chaka, 2010a, 2010b). As users can only read and possibly oblige as per messages posted through these designated facilities and cannot IM them back, this then constitutes an asynchronous and asymmetrical communication. However, whether online or offline, what becomes clear is that MXit and MIM tend to enable users to tap into their social and relational capital: they help users harness their virtual social currency and virtual connectedness. It is this social currency or sociality provided by its subscribers that MXit seems to leverage here.

MOBILES FOR LEARNING (M4L) Furthermore, as highlighted elsewhere in this chapter, both MXit and MIM can operate as M4L (mobiles for learning). In this case they can be utilized to teach and learn almost any

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subject area that users may want to teach and learn (see Butgereit, 2007, 2009; Bugereit and Botha, 2010; Chaka, 2010a, 2010b; Chaka et al., 2010). In fact, in South Africa MXit in tandem with mobile phones has been harnessed to establishing mobile virtual communities of practice. Examples include Emily and the Battle of the Veil (a 300 page teen fantasy story) and Kontax (a teen mystery m-novel written in English and translated into isiXhosa) that is available at a mobile site (mobisite) www.kontax.mobi. A group of 14-17 year old teenagers from both the Langa and Gugulethu townships in the Western Cape Province were recruited to participate in the latter m-novel project in October 2009. Figure 5 features a mirrored bilingual (English and isiXhosa) navigation design of kontax.mobi. Of course in countries such as Japan m-novels are almost a common feature (see Vosloo, Walton and Deumert, 2009; Walton, 2009). Still within the South African context, MXit and MIM have been deployed to tutor mathematics to primary and secondary school learners and to run mathematics competitions for learners in certain parts of the country. The case in point is Dr Math which has now transitioned into a Chatter Call Center/Tutoring Online (C³TO) platform (Butgereit, 2007, 2009; Butgereit and Botha, 2010). This tutoring service is offered over five days, from Sundays to Thursdays, and between14h00 and 20h00. Exemplar A provides a sample (unedited) of an IM exchange taking place between the tutor (Dr Math) and two learners (Speedy and Beauty):

Figure 5. A mirrored bilingual navigation design of kontax.mobi (Source: Walton, 2009, p. 74). Computer-Mediated Discourse in Africa, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated, 2012. ProQuest Ebook Central,

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Exemplar A           

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 

(14:30:32) speedy: hw do u work out the area of a circle (14:30:46) dr.math: Hi, do you have the radius of the circle? (14:32:06) dr.math: If you have the radius of the circle, then the area is pi times radius squared (14:32:08) speedy: 8 mm (14:32:41) dr.math: so pi x 8 x 8 the result will be in mm squared (14:34:12) speedy: okay thanks (13:19:56) beauty: hey (13:20:09) dr.math: hello, can I help you today at all? (13:20:42) beauty: yes..wat i7 an interger (13:20:43) beauty: is (13:21:10) dr.math: an integer is a number without a decimal part or a fractional part like 1, 2, 3 but it can also be negative (13:21:32) beauty: ok..thought so (13:21:50) beauty: G2g..im in class (Butgereit, 2007, n.p.).

Similarly, both MXit and MIM have been trialled as teaching and learning platforms within the M4L framework at one junior secondary school in the Northcrest township of Mthatha in the Eastern Cape Province (see Chaka et al., 2010). This trial – which was conducted over one week each in August and September 2010 - involved the teaching and learning of English grammar (especially English adjectives) and writing short English paragraphs. The participants were a group of Grade 8a learners doing English as a first additional language and a Grade 7 learner from East London. They took part in the project privately and voluntarily after school hours as mobile phones and MXit are not allowed to be used on school premises or during school hours. Exemplar B and Figure 6 provide two samples of real-time IM exchanges captured live on MXit for English grammar teaching and learning and for short English paragraph writing respectively.

Exemplar B           

You: K. Remind me which grade r u? Lisa (20:50): 7 You: k you r abt to finish bby girl! Lisa (20:51): Yep You: Lisa (20:52): You: what hv you learnt in English classes? Lisa (20:54): Tjo You: Why? Don‘t u remember anything? Lisa (20:55): Lots You: Do you know anything abt adjectives?

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Lisa (20:57): I do You: tell me what r adjectives? Lisa (20:58): Doing wordz You: good! But remember doing words are verbs and adjectives are words that describe Lisa (21:02): Something You: doing wordz a words am sorry not adjectives Lisa (21:03): Ja You: they describe nouns eg Nomsa is a big girl. So in this sentence which word can you say is the adjective? Lisa (21:07): Big You: thas gud thanx Lisa. From these sentences can you identify adjectives. 1 The beautiful girl won the competition. 2 The boy is clever. 3 It is historical place. Lisa (21:12): Beautiful, clever, historical You: You are a shining star!

For example, Sample B shows the exchange (unedited) about English adjectives between You (the teacher) Lisa (the learner) while Figure 6 showcases the exchange about paragraph writing between You (the teacher) and Layla (the learner). This emphasizes the usability of and the prospect both MXit and MIM have for teaching and learning purposes. Of course the use of these two technologies is not devoid of an idiosyncratic text speak – in particular one version of South African textism – as is evident in Exemplars A and B and in Figures 3 and 6. And textism is generally blamed for blemishing and vitiating learners‘ formal writing by schools, teachers and parents in South Africa (Vosloo, 2009). In fact both MXit and MIM are perceived as the main culprits for all this. Hence their blanket banning by schools. This means therefore that schools in South Africa are reluctant to embrace MXit and MIM – and by implication mobile phones – if not resistant to their uptake for teaching and learning purposes. Certainly these cognate technologies – and principally mobile phones – are notorious for being mediums for exchanging undesirable images and as such are open to abuse by learners. However, in the case of this chapter, both MXit and MIM were deployed successfully as platforms for teaching and learning mathematics and English grammar and for short paragraph writing. As such they served as instances of M4L (mobiles for learning). This dovetails with the view espoused in this chapter that MXit and textism (in the form of either MIM or SMSes) – and mobile phones in general – cannot just be painted with broad strokes and be indiscriminately blamed for learners‘ inability to spell words correctly, write well, and master grammar and formal school-based writing. There is more to this deficiency than the fashionable and almost unrepentant and infectious use of textism by school learners. The latter, as part of the youth, are simply tapping into the affordances provided by these digital technologies and emulating their counterparts elsewhere (see Lenhart, Arafeh, Smith and Macgill, 2008; Lenhart et al., 2010). In effect it is ironic that in the digital age and in the era of new literacies – mobile literacies such as texting being one of them – that schools in South Africa are downplaying these literacies, the power inherent in them, their currency, and their attendant viral spread.

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Figure 6. A screenshot of MXit displaying how MIM can used to write a short paragraph in English.

For example, it would be disingenuous and too simplistic to argue that the learners spelling what as wht (see Figure 3), About what as Abt wat (see Figure 6), you as u (see Exemplar A) What up to as Wuup2 (see Figure 6) do not know how to spell these words when what they have used are the short forms and the phonetic approximations of these words. In the latter case maybe teachers, education authorities, and parents in South Africa should be asking themselves why learners are able to represent certain words or expressions in their phonetic approximations in text speak (e.g., MIM and SMSes) when phonetics is not done or taught as part of the official English language curriculum in schools. Or maybe they should be asking themselves why a Grade 8 learner from a disadvantaged township school in a povertystricken region of the Eastern Cape – using the much maligned MXit and MIM in real time -is able to write a near formal short English paragraph with a near perfect English grammar such as the one in Figure 6. So, this chapter maintains that instead of outlawing MXit and MIM together with mobile phones from which they are deployed – schools in South Africa need to embrace and use these technologies as M4L to counteract the writing ills they believe they cause to learners. Only then can their status as the axis of evil on school grounds and in classrooms be transformed.

TECHNOLGIES FOR PAL Once more, as stated earlier on, both MXit and MIM can function as technologies for PAL (presence awareness learning). This type of learning harnesses user presence as a primary enabler and driver of learning. Thus for a learner and a teacher to be able to

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participate in a given teaching and learning enterprise, they both have to be digitally present and be aware of each other‘s presence within a given digital presence environment. Exemplars A and B and Figures 3, 6 and 7 represent instances of PAL. For example, with reference to Exemplars A and B both the transcribed exchanges indicate that participants (i.e., teachers and learners) here are acutely aware of each other‘s online presence on MXit and of each other‘s participation in the ongoing and sustained teaching and learning presence encoded through MIM and facilitated by MXit. Otherwise they would not have continued and sustained their conversations to the extent to which they had done so. The sequential conversational turns – at times characterized by consecutive MIM transmissions (see Exemplar A), utterance breaks and pauses (see Exemplar B) - also pinpoint the fact that each participant is aware of and is watching and monitoring the other‘s presence. Additionally, they highlight that participants are continuously engaged in retaining each other‘s presence online. Once a participant deliberately goes offline or withdraws his/her presence unannounced, he/she is deemed to be rude or to be lacking online presence or social presence skills. This is one of the reasons in Exemplar A Beauty hints to Dr Math about her imminent leaving: ―G 2g..im in class‖ (―G o to go (Have to go). I‘m in class‖). In this context Figures 3, 6 and 7 showcase participants‘ involvement in the teaching and learning presence in real time as effected through MIM and reflected on a MXit screen displayed on the teacher‘s mobile phone screen. Here PAL is instantiated by the following distinctive digital presence indicators: MIM exchanges - captured in given colour codes between the teacher and the respective learners; the teacher‘s unique default reference, You, and learners‘ own chosen nicknames; the icon ● (usually displayed at the top of the screen) next to the nickname of the learner engaged in the currently active IM session; and the star and carrot icons – the former preceding each of Party Gal‘s IM exchanges with the teacher and the latter attached at the end of her nickname at the top of the screen (see Figure 7). Moreover, the nicknames of the learners that are currently IMing with the teacher are displayed in their respective small tabs/windows at the topmost part of the active MXit screen as is evident in Figures 3, 6 and 7. Most importantly, synchronous presence on MXit is a matter of social etiquette as an unannounced disappearance or an extended pause, silence or non-response is perceived as infra-dig. This is why in Figure 3 the teacher (You) poses the question, ―W hr r u my darling?‖ (―W here are you my darling?‖, to the learner (Precious) after the latter went offline unannounced. And the latter retorts that she is ― cooking.‖ This last factor serves as one of the critical differentiator of MXit and MIM as PAL technologies. They allow learners to digress from the main teaching and learning process and resume it once they are done with whatever it is that caused them to digress. That is, they enable learners to intersperse teaching and learning with their own micro-tasks. This practice is known as micro-tasking (doing smaller but relevant and important things between larger ones) (see Modiselle, 2010) and the time spent engaging in it is referred to as liquid time. Thus, as PAL technologies, both MXit and MIM make it possible for learners to engage in liquid time and tap into micro-tasking. This is a digressionary value these two technologies have for and an additional challenge they pose to schools, teachers and parents in South Africa. This is particularly so as both liquid time and micro-tasking are the latest enablement afforded by most emerging digital technologies (of which MXit and MIM are part). Thus, inevitably, they are increasingly becoming part of modern day digital youth embracing these emerging digital technologies. And South African school learners are, unavoidably so, part of that global digital youth.

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Figure 7. An IM exchange between the teacher (You) and the learner (Party Gal) as an instance of PAL.

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ALLAYING FEARS OF MOBILE AND MXIT In addition to some of the positive teaching and learning aspects outlined in this chapter about MXit and MIM, there are other ways in which these technologies and the mobile phones on which they are deployed, can be put to other good use in schools in South Africa and other parts of Africa including the rest of the world. But before any good use can be established for them and for their universal uptake, certain measures need to be put in place at school and community levels. For instance, schools and communities need to have mobile phone and MXit ambassadors (comprising teachers, learners, parents and other interested parties) whose primary task should be to promote the use of mobile phones and MXit for teaching and learning purposes at school level. Such ambassadorial teams will have to work in partnership with the private sector (especially mobile phone operators, mobile service providers, and MXit representatives). Most importantly, schools, parents, and learners must enter into some agreement or contractual obligation that if mobile phones and MXit are to be used at school, they must be used only for teaching and learning purposes. Of course, there are other instances in which mobile phones and MXit can be put to good use besides those discussed in this chapter. These encompass the following: employing mobile phones and MXit for teaching, learning and promoting other literacies at school level; using mobile phones and MXit as tools for teaching other school based subjects; and making both mobile phones and MXit as tools of choice or as supplemental tools for teaching and learning at school level.

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The first instance entails deploying mobile phones and MXit for teaching, learning and promoting multiple literacies. Examples of such literacies are mobile literacies (e.g., SMSes, instant messaging – collectively known as textisms), digital literacies, visual literacies, information literacy, and cultural literacies. In fact schools may not be teaching some of these literacies. However, these are the literacies learners need and are exposed to in the digital age whether or not schools teach them. The second instance involves rolling out mobile phones and MXit for teaching all school subjects by schools in South Africa. And the third and last instance is about making both mobile phones and MXit as either tools of first preference or supplemental tools for teaching and learning by South African schools. All of this is necessary if the concerns and fears harboured about the use of these technologies in South African schools are to be allayed.

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FUTURE OUTLOOK In this section the chapter attempts to briefly chronicle desirable and rosy scenarios it wishes to see happen to MXit and MIM and characterize schools in South Africa. This also serves as a wish list and it comprises the following: a dedicated client tool for teaching and learning on MXit; a continental roll out of MXit; a general uptake of mobile phones, MXit and MIM by schools; an introduction of mobile and other literacies at schools; and MXit evangelists and mavens. The first scenario relates to MXit launching and deploying a client tool dedicated to providing a 24/7 teaching and learning service for schools. This dedicated school teaching and learning service (unlike the current C³TO which is dedicated to tutoring school mathematics) should be open for teaching any school subject and must be accessible to any school, any teacher, and any learner or any MXit subscriber in South Africa. The second scenario builds on the first one in that it is about the rolling out of MXit to the rest of Africa or to launch MXit-style applications in other parts of Africa. This is more about replicating or cascading the potential successes of MXit to Africa. The third scenario calls for a universal uptake of mobile phones and MXit by all schools in South Africa. This is vitally necessary if these two cognate technologies are to make a lasting transformatory impact on schools and if they are to radically revolutionize schools with a view to placing them on the next frontier of mobile teaching and learning. The call made by the fourth scenario is loud and clear: mobile and other related literacies such as the ones fostered and harnessed by mobile phones and MXit must be introduced at schools for both teachers and learners to learn, acquire and master them. This resonates with the notion of multiple literacies. Despite the fact that these literacies are not formally taught at school, they are nonetheless vital for learners to possess for them to be able to survive in the digital age. This is more so as mobile literacies such as text messaging (e.g., SMSes) and instant messaging (e.g., IM and MIM) are a prerequisite for 21st century digital living and citizenship. They are a survival toolkit for mobile citizens and for digital learners, notwithstanding their being disliked by schools, teachers and parents in South Africa. Finally, the fifth scenario speaks for itself: there is a need for MXit evangelists and mavens. If MXit is to make its mark in South African schools, it must be promoted and marketed by people who can speak its language and who know its benefits and drawbacks for teaching and learning purposes. The most qualified people to do that are its evangelists and mavens. In this case,

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learners themselves are MXit evangelists and mavens: teachers and other stakeholders need only leverage their propensity to use both mobile phones and MXit.

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CONCLUSION This chapter has explored the use of MXit and MIM (mobile instant messaging) in the South African teaching and learning context. In this regard it has highlighted, using various relevant examples, how these two technologies play multiple but interrelated and interdependent roles. They are presence platforms, technologies for sociability, mobiles for learning (M4L), and technologies for PAL (presence awareness learning). As presence technologies, for instance, the chapter has argued that both MXit and MIM enable users to experience four types of presence: digital presence, co-presence, social presence and telepresence. All of these presences are virtually mediated. And as instances of technologies for sociability the chapter has pinpointed, inter alia, that these two cognate technologies make it possible for users to virtually socialize, thereby establishing mobile virtual communities of practice for themselves. With respect to their role as M4L, one of the points the chapter has highlighted is that these two technologies have the potential to teach and learn nearly any subject area that users may want to teach and learn within a given school curriculum. Here Dr Math (for tutoring mathematics), MXit and MIM (for teaching and learning English grammar and for writing short English paragraphs), and Kontax (as an m-novel) have been offered as classic instances showcasing how MXit and MIM serve as presence platforms, technologies for sociability, mobiles for learning (M4L), and technologies for PAL. In relation to their serving as PAL technologies, the chapter has outlined how both MXit and MIM help harness PAL and how this type of learning, in turn, taps into user presence as the primary enabler and driver of learning. Furthermore, it has attempted to briefly outline how a universal fear of the use of mobile phones and MXit in South African schools can be allayed. Finally, the chapter has argued that one of the critical differentiators of MXit and MIM as PAL technologies is that they enable learners to engage in micro-tasking, thereby optimizing their liquid time. In conclusion, given enough chance, both MXit and MIM (in tandem with mobile phones) can catapult school teaching and learning in South Africa into greater heights and new frontiers of exploration and discovery.

KEY TERMS AND CONCISE DEFINITIONS Chatter Call Centre/Tutoring Online (C³TO): It is a configuration of Dr Math and an open source framework offering wide ranging information and services over chat protocols. Digital community of practice: Also known as an online community of practice or as a virtual community of practice, this expression refers in this case to the MXit community of practice which by its nature is mobile Dr Math: This is a mobile mathematics tutoring service deployed from the MXit platform and rendered to primary and high school learners in South Africa from 14h00 to 20h00. (NB: The standard knock off time for most schools in South Africa is 14h00).

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Liquid time: This aptly captures the uncertainty and unpredictability associated with the time users/learners spent micro-tasking while IMing on MXit. It is fluid, elusive and ever shifting. Micro-tasking: Micro-tasking is analogous to multi-tasking. Phatic communication: It is conversational speech used to communicate sociability more than information. Sociability: Also part of sociality, sociability refers to the relative tendency or disposition to be sociable or to associate with one‘s fellows. Textism: This is generic term used to refer to either text messaging or instant messaging. In this chapter it also refers to mobile instant messaging (MIM) as practised on MXit. It is sometimes pluralized as textisms.

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REFERENCES Baron, N. S. (2010). Discourse structures in instant messaging: The case of utterance breaks. Retrieved November 24, 2010, from Referrnhttp://www.languageatinternet.de/ articles/2010/2651 Butgereit, L. (2007). Math on MXit: Using MXit as a medium for mathematics education. Retrieved February 28, 2010, from http://researchspace.csir.co.za/dspace/bitstream/ 10204/1614/1/Butgereit_2007.pdf Butgereit, L. (2009). How Dr Math reaches pupils with competitions and computer games by using MXit. Retrieved March 01, 2010, from http://researchspace.csir.co.za/ dspace/bitstream/10204/3391/1/Butgereit_2009.pdf Butgereit, L., and Botha, R. A. (2010). Dr Math moves to C³TO: Chatter call center/tutoring online. Retrieved May 16, 2010, from http://researchspace.csir.co.za/dspace/ bitstream/10204/4020/1/Butgereit_2010.pdf Chaka, C. (2010a). Mobile learning, mobile healthcare support, and mobile job opportunities: The case of MXit, MYMsta, and Mobenzi in South Africa. Cutter IT Journal, 23(7), 18-24. Chaka, C. (2010b). User and enterprise mobility: Mobile social networking and mobile cloud computing. Cutter IT Journal, 23(9), 35-39. Chaka, C. (2011). Consumerisation and digitisation of power, culture and identity among South African youths. D. N. Wachanga, (Ed.), Cultural identity and new communication technologies: Political ethnic and ideological implications. Hershey, PA: IGI Global. Chaka, C. (in press a). Digital identity, social presence technologies and presence learning. In S. Warburton and S. Hatzipanagos, (Eds.), Digital identity and social media. Hershey, PA: IGI Global. Chaka, C. (in press b). Second Life and World of Warcraft: Harnessing presence learning. In H. H. Yang and S. C-Y. Yuen, (Eds.), Handbook of research on practices and outcomes in virtual worlds and environment. Hershey, PA: IGI Global. Chaka, C., Ramothea, L., and Ngesi, N. (2010, September). Mobiles for learning (M4L) within education for social justice: Mobile phones and MXit. Paper presented at the Education for Social Justice Research Colloquium, University of the Free Sate, Bloemfontein, South Africa.

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Donner, J.; Verclas, K., and Toyama, K. (2008). Reflections on MobileActive 2008 and the M4D landscape. Retrieved June 12, 2010, from http://mobileactive.org/files/ DVT_M4D_choices_final.pdf. Donner, J., and Gitau, S. (2009). Four frames of social software use by mobile-centric internet users. Retrieved May 15, 2010, from http://www.cs.swan.ac.uk/ globicomp2009/papers/Paper-9-globicomp_framing_social_software_f.pdf Dunlap, J. C., and Lowenthal, P. R. (2009). Tweeting the night away: Using Twitter to enhance social presence. Journal of Information Systems Education, 20(2). Retrieved on January 03, 2010, from http://www.patricklowenthal.com/publications/Using_ Twitter_to_Enhance_Social_Presence.pdf Garley, M. (2008). LOL, what a tangled Web we weave: Strategies for coherence in instant messaging discourse. Retrieved December 04, 2010, from http://www.ideals.illinois.edu/ bitstream/handle/2142/8745/LOL.borders.final.pdf?sequence=2 Jones, G. M., and Schieffelin, B. B. (2009). Enquoting voices, accomplishing talk: Uses of be like in instant messaging. Retrieved March 15, 2010, from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=MImgand_imagekey=B6VB6-4RJ5T4S15and_cdi=5918and_user=6462037and_pii=S0271530907000468and_orig=searchand_c overDate=01%2F31%2F2009and_sk=999709998andview=candwchp=dGLbVzbzSkzVandmd5=3e5377c7206ac3dc041ff7b11dff96beandie=/sdarticle.pdf Lenhart, A., Arafeh, S., Smith, A., and Macgill, A. R. (2008). Writing, technology and teens. Retrieved March 16, 2010, from http://www.pewinternet.org/~/media//Files/ Reports/2008/PIP_Writing_Report_FINAL3.pdf.pdf Lenhart, A., Purcell, K., Smith, A., and Zickuhr, K. (2010). Social media and mobile internet use among teens and young adults. Retrieved December 04, 2010, from:http://pewinternet.org/~/media//Files/Reports/2010/PIP_Social_Media_and_Young _Adults_Report_Final_with_toplines.pdf Ling, R., and Baron, N. S. (2007). Text messaging and IM: Linguistic comparison of American college data. Retrieved November 24, 2010, from http://www1.american.edu/ tesol/Mechanics%20of%20Text%20Messaging%20and%20IM.pdf Modiselle, Z. (2010). Liquid time is the secret to modern living. Retrieved December 2, 2010, from http://www.it-online.co.za/content/view/2755189/ Rettie, R. (2005). Social presence as presentation of self. Retrieved December 04, 2009, from http://eprints.kingston.ac.uk/2097/1/Rettie.pdf Thornton, C. (2003). Social awareness, presentation, and connection: Instant messaging as a presence platform. Retrieved November 24, 2010, from http://www.brightly coloredfood.com/portfolio/files/thesis/apeer_poster.pdf Vetere, F., Howard, S., and Gibbs, M. R. (2005). Phatic technologies: Sustaining sociability through ubiquitous computing. Retrieved March 17, 2010, from http://www.vs.inf.ethz.ch/events/ubisoc2005/UbiSoc%202005%20submissions/12Vetere-Frank.pdf Vosloo, S. (2009). The effects of texting on literacy: Modern scourge or opportunity? Retrieved March 15, 2010, from http://vosloo.net/wp-content/uploads/pubs/ texting_and_literacy_apr09_sv.pdf Vosloo, S., Walton, M, and Deumert, A. (2009, October). m4Lit: A teen m-novel project in South Africa. Paper presented at mLearn2009, Orlando, Florida, USA. Retrieved

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Chaka Chaka

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December 05, 2010, from http://marionwalton.wordpress.com/files/2009/09/ mlearn2009_07_sv_mw_ad.pdf Walton, M. (2009). Mobile literacies and South African teens: Leisure reading, writing, and MXit chatting for teens in Langa and Guguletu. Retrieved September 24, 2010, from:http://m4lit.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/m4lit_mobile_literacies_mwalton_20101. pdf Warburton, S. (2009). Second life in higher education: Assessing the potential for and the barriers to developing virtual worlds in learning and teaching. British Journal of Educational Technology, 40(3), 414–426. Retrieved December 04, 2009, from: http://www.p3beta.net/projects/Academia/Fall%202009/AR%20Paper/37605538.pdf

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In: Computer-Mediated Discourse in Africa Editors: Rotimi Taiwo and Innocent Chiluwa

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Chapter 2

THE DISCOURSE OF NOLITICS IN THE NAIJAPALS ONLINE COMMUNITY WEBSITE Innocent Chiluwa

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ABSTRACT Nolitics is a politically oriented discussion forum hosted by a Nigerian hosting website known as NaijaPals (or Nigerians and friends). In this forum, authors keep personal journals in which they post entries and also reply to members‘ entries by posting comments. Nolitics enables members analyze and criticize Nigeria‘s socio-political system and social developments. Thus participants lend their voices to topical issues that shape the society. In this study a total of 104 posts are analyzed in the framework of Computer-Mediated Discourse Analysis (CMDA) to examine the contents and roles of social interaction in digital discourse. Analysis reveals that discourse (in this context social interaction) functions as social criticism, political mobilization and propaganda, especially towards the 2011 general elections in Nigeria. Findings also reveal that participants applied interactional norms or pragmatic strategies such as metaphors, directives acts and interrogatives to contribute to political debates as well as confront social and political anomalies in Nigeria.

Keywords: Nolitics, Nigeria, discourse, online, posts, politics, social interaction

INTRODUCTION Weblogs (or simply blogs) and discussion forums are among the most popular social media networks among Nigerian users. NaijaPals and Nolitics for example are among such active networking sites and forums maintained by Nigerian youths and those in Diaspora. Social interaction in NaijaPals is similar to those in LiveJournal.com (Kouper, 2010) where members participate in social and political debates and governance. Interestingly, a recent study of blogs confirms that a Nigerian brand of citizen journalism described as ‗internet punditry‘ already exists (Taiwo, 2010a). This online reporting by ‗formidable radical forces

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against bad rulership‘ in Nigeria attempts to hold politicians and ‗morally convicted‘ public officers accountable (Taiwo2010a:87). Posts or journals on NaijaPals are similar to blogs, which are frequently-updated and arranged in reverse chronological order (Herring, 2004). Social interactions are facilitated through user profiles containing biographical and contact information (Kouper, 2010). Users sign in to the hosting site with their private usernames and passwords. Personal blogs and ‗posts‘ in discussion forums are very much alike and share similar features. As online social networks become popular among Nigerians, scholarly responses to their discourse contents and features have just begun. Taiwo (2010b) for instance, establishes that through a process of turn-taking though non-sequential and often fraught with adjacency disruptions, participants in discussion forums still establish interactional and topic coherence through quoting, addressivity and topic focus. The use of code-mixing and interrogatives as discourse strategies to express sentiments and critique Nigeria‘s political failure has also been identified with Nigerian online forums (Taiwo, 2009; 2010c). Ifukor (2010) demonstrates that the dialectical relationship between discourse and social practice (Fairlough, 1989) and the process of political empowerment can be textually illustrated through the choice of vocabulary and sentiments expressed in blogs or discussion forums. Thus, a close analysis of how meaning is made in the discourse of some specialized discussion forums (e.g. Nolitics) in relation to the social context is likely to reveal opinions and different ways citizens (in the context of this study, Nigerians) attempt to achieve sociopolitical change. Ifukor, (2008) has shown that weblogs are influential political tool for mobilization, which Nigerian bloggers had used to educate, enlighten, and encourage eligible voters to perform their civic duties in the Nigerian 2007 general elections. Taiwo (2010a) also reveals that Nigerian participants in online forums construct their national identity and social practices through linguistic choices in interactions (see also Chiluwa, 2010b). As highlighted above, this chapter focuses on the contents and functions of social interactions in Nolitics referred to here as ‗discourse.‘ Brief demographic information about interactants and frequent political topics in the discussion forums are also examined.

NOLITICS The term ‗Nolitics‘ is portmanteau word (or coinage) from ‗Naija Politics‘. ‗Naija‘ (also written as 9ja) is a clipped version of ‗Nigeria.‘ The forum is frequently updated to keep up with current events in society, especially political developments. Since Nolitics takes the form of blogs, they share some general features that are common to the blog genre such as (1) asynchronicity (i.e. unlike synchronous CMD, they do not require that users be logged on at the same time in order to send and receive messages, rather messages are stored at the addressee‘s site until they are read (Herring, 2004), (2) one-way communication (3) persistence of message in archives linked from the sidebar of the blog, (4) web-based delivery and a tendency for messages to be text only (5) the display of blog entries in reverse chronological sequence, with a ‗comment‘ option below each entry (Herring, 2007). Other features of blogs are (a) regular, dated-stamped entries (timeliness), (b) links to related blogs (blogrolling), (c) RSS or XML feed (ease of syndication), (d) passion (voice) (Gill, 2004). Nolitics reflects the tendency of an online forum to form opinions that may have significant

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21

implications on development policies that may have far reaching consequences on the life and future of a people (Ifukor, 2008). Going by Herring‘s and her colleague‘s classification of blogs into three major types, i.e. filters, personal journals and k-logs (i.e. knowledge blogs), we can conclude that Nolitics combines features of ‗filter‘ and ‗k-logs.‘ Filter blogs are those that contain observations and evaluations of external, predominantly public events; personal journals (usually the most common) are used to report events in the blogger's life as well as the blogger's cognitive states; while k-logs focus on information and observations around an external topic, project or product (Herring et al 2007).

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WEBLOGS AND DISCUSSION FORUMS In addition to the works cited above, the growing literature on CMD, especially on the blog genre has attempted to characterize and examine the forms and functions of blogs. For instance (Herring, 2004; Herring et al, 2005) identifying weblogs as a distinct genre of CMC, emphasize its interpersonal nature; they argue that the assumed interactive nature of blogs and their orientation towards external events are a bit more exaggerated and tend to underestimate the importance of blogs as individualistic, intimate forms of self-expression. The present study however shows that the use of blogs or discussion forums far exceeds mere individual self expressions to include wider issues of social and political importance. Stefanone and Jang (2007) describe blogs as ‗a relationship maintenance tool.‘ They argue that bloggers who exhibit both ‗extraversion and self-disclosure‘ traits tend to maintain larger strong-tie social networks and more likely to appropriate blogs to support those relationships, age, gender and education notwithstanding. However, while proposing a general model for analyzing and comparing different uses of blogs, Schmidt (2007) argues that ‗individual usage episodes are framed by three structural dimensions of rules, relations, and code, which in turn are constantly (re)produced in social action. As a result, ‗communities of blogging practices‘ emerge—that is, groups of people who share certain routines and expectations about the use of blogs as a tool for information, identity, and relationship management‘ (Schmidt, 2007:1). Hence, different scholars agree that blogs are a social activity (Nardi et al, 2004a) or social work (Ifukor, 2010), often used for grassroots journalism (Gillmor, 2003; Gill, 2004) and for political mobilization (Cross, 2005; Drezner and Farrell, 2004). In some cases blogs have been applied to do partisan politics (Adamic and Glance, 2005). For instance, the John Kerry and George Bush political campaign teams adopted the use of blog. Incidentally, Bush‘s blog had more posts to prospective young adult voters than Kerry‘s (Trammell, 2007). In 2008, Barack Obama and his campaign team also used blog and Twitter to disseminate crucial information about Obama‘s campaign for the Presidency (Ifukor, 2010). The Iranian blogosphere liberalised political discourse in the face of a hostile media environment (Kelly and Etling, 2008) and Twitter was used by ordinary citizens to provide insider up-to-date information about the Iranian 2009 post-election protests (Ifukor, 2010). Because of its growing popularity for mediating political discourse, the credibility of blogs and discussion forums have been questioned and research shows that blogs were judged as moderately credible, but as more credible than any mainstream media or online source (Johnson, Kaye, Richard, Wong, 2007).

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METHODOLOGY

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In her ‗faceted‘ classification scheme of computer-mediated communication (CMC), Herring (2007) identifies two basic factors that shape CMD namely (1) medium factors (an attempt to discover under what circumstances specific systems affect communication and in what ways). In which case, factors such as synchronicity, message transmission, persistence of transcript, size of message etc. becomes very important. (2) Situation factors (information about participants, their relationships to one another, their purposes for communicating, what they are communicating about and the kind of language they use) are also examined. The latter factors may be sub-divided into categories such as participation structure, participant characteristics, interactional norms (attitudes, beliefs, ideologies and motivation), goal of interaction etc. This approach facilitates data selection and analysis in CMD research on the basis of empirical evidence from the CMD research literature. The present study hence, adopting Herring‘s method of Computer-mediated discourse analysis (CMDA) examines some questions that reflect Herring‘s ‗situation factors‘ such as information about participants (NaijaPals members) and their relationship to one another; topics of interaction, interactional norms and goals of interaction. Discourse features such as structures of comments, opinions and criticisms are examined to show how discourse (as social practice) may contribute significantly to shaping structures of society. Herring (2004) agrees that critical discourse analysis (CDA) is a possible methodology that may be applied alongside CMDA, hence the interpretive and qualitative discourse analysis in the analyses draw largely from CDA methodology. CDA as a type of discourse analytical research primarily studies the way social power abuse, dominance, and inequality are enacted and resisted in social and political contexts of discourse (van Dijk, 2001). Hence, the critical discourse analyst takes explicit position, and attempts to expose, and ultimately resist social inequality in a given socio-political context in our case, Nigeria.

THE CORPUS The corpus comprises 104 posts posted within a period of four months, i.e. between March and July, 2010 – a period that witnessed significant events in the history of Nigerian politics and society. The ‗events‘ include the Jos religious crisis; political crisis subsequent to a power vacuum in the Executive arm of the Nigerian government created by the absence of the President on health grounds; the death of Nigeria‘s President Umaru Yar‘Adua, and subsequent inauguration of Goodluck Jonathan, (a Niger Deltan), who was the erstwhile Vice-President as President; constant crises in the Nigerian legislature and demands for the resignation of the Speaker of the House of Representation; the beginning of political campaigns towards the 2011 general elections and the appointment of a new INEC president, (‗INEC‘- Independent National Electoral Commission). The posts in the corpus are made up of the first 104 posts (downloaded from pages 1-3 of discussion forum pages). The posts for analyses are those that mediate Nigerian internal affairs, namely politics and social/ethnic issues that reflect the main thematic focus of Nolitics itself. For purpose of easier analyses however, the corpus is classified and delineated according to topics (see Table 2). Table 1 gives brief demographic information about the post writers.

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Table 1. Number of Posts by male and female bloggers Writers

No. of Posts

Percentage

Male

96

92.3

Female

08

7.7

Total

104

100

The above table suggests that female members of the discussion forum are not active participants on political matters and debates, or are not as interested as the men. Although the posts in the corpus represent instances where a blogger posts more than one item with different themes at different times, however they still represent male ‗voices.‘ This research reveals that female bloggers that posted ‗comments‘ in response to posts by the men, much more outnumbered those that initiated discussions and debates. This is not attributable to the issue of gender asymmetry, an issue which scholars see as inherent in male dominant discourses. Herring (2001) for instance observes that in some discussion forums contentions of many male messages tend to discourage women from responding while the concerns of women are viewed as ‗waste of bandwidth.‘ The researcher also observed that there were more reactions coming from female bloggers on social and ethnic matters than they were on politics. Another research may want to investigate the participation and performance of Nigerian women on general personal blogs or discussion forums that dwell on other subjects, such as ‗life style,‘ ‗religion‘ ‗fashion‘ etc.

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Table 2. Number of Posts according to topics Topic Politics Social/ethnic Total

No. of posts 91 13 104

Percentage 88.0 12.0 100

Category Descriptions Political topics are further classified according to their thematic focus as follows: a) „Political propaganda‟ (PLP). These are posts that advertised some serving state governor(s) and their supposed ‗achievements.‘ These generally reveal subjective views and praise singing of certain politicians, ostensibly mounted by the supporters. b) „Social and political mobilization‟ (SPM). These are posts generally linked with certain political aspirants, recommending particular politicians and canvassing votes for them in the 2011 general elections. Again these reflect posts by political supporters. c) ‗Critique.‟ These are posts that comprise critical evaluation of Nigeria‘s political performance in the recent past. These include those that are highly critical of past governments and leaders and reflect how political dominance and inefficiency are resisted in discourse.

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Innocent Chiluwa d) „Anti-Corruption Campaign‟ (ACC). These are posts that are highly critical of some identified corrupt government officials (past and present) again reflecting aspects of social resistance in discourse. e) „Suggestions/recommendations for development‟ (SRD) are posts that simply give the opinions and recommendations of the writers to effect radical changes in the Nigerian political system. These reflect the desire and efforts of the citizens to participate in political governance.

The above political classifications and their number of occurrences are represented in table 3. Table 3. Topics and themes in the corpus and their frequencies

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Topic Critique SPM ACC PLP SRD Total

Frequency 42 23 12 09 05 91

Percentage 43.2 23.7 12.3 9.3 5.2 99.9

This analysis shows that most of the posts are mainly critiques of the Nigerian society and politics. Expectedly the next high frequency blogs are those that look forward to the 2011 general elections that mobilize citizens for careful selection of credible leaders. Many of the posts solicit votes for Goodluck Jonathan, the incumbent leader. Surprisingly the lowest frequency posts are those that offered definite suggestions and recommendations for Nigeria‘s development. This perhaps reflects the power of political hegemony to disciple the citizens to accept manifestations of dominance and oppression as normal and unchanging.

ANALYSES AND DISCUSSION Analyses are carried out under two (2) broad areas namely (i) Discourse and political participation (ii) Discursive pragmatics of Nolitics.

DISCOURSE AND POLITICAL PARTICIPATION Politics according to Chilton (2004) is a struggle for power between those who seek to assert and maintain their power and those who seek to resist it. In the Nigerian context, political struggle by politicians and the growing resistance for change constitute discourse that characterizes political blogs or posts. At a micro level of political struggle, persuasion, argument, threats, entreaties, lies etc. are used. These micro-level behaviours are linguistic actions or discourse (Chilton, 2004). Hence political discourse in the context of this study reflects social and political practices – a form of mediated action, showing the various levels

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of citizen‘s political participation through social networking. The various political themes in the posts under study have been identified in section 5 namely: (i) critique (ii) social and political mobilization (iii) anti-corruption campaign (iv) political propaganda and (v) suggestions/recommendations for development. Each of these is discussed in details in this section.

CRITIQUES

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In this section critical assessments and evaluations of Nigeria‘s political performance in the recent past are presented in two categories namely (i) ‗grassroots journalism‘ (Gillmor, 2003) – those reflecting the writer‘s evaluative judgement of the Nigerian socio-political situation, revealing the writer‘s preconceptions, fears, critical stance and often, pessimism (ii) media reports such as those quoted from the Nigerian local media (e.g. This Day, Tribune etc) or other online sources. Some ‗quotes‘ usually direct readers to other websites for ‗more‘ news. These reports and stories of Nigeria‘s political and historical experiences usually include persuasive interpretations and evaluative analyses of performances of governments (past and present). Most of the posts perform various speech acts such as informing, revealing, exposing, accusing or condemning. Usually the various levels of government come under attack. Thus, government policy issues; Nigeria‘s economy and prevalence of poverty in spite of rich natural resources; human rights abuses; security lapses; government spending; foreign policy; government agencies; state governments; party-system, especially the zoning and rotational presidency question etc. come under scrutiny. The following topics in the corpus reflect the various interests and frustrations of the writers: (note: P=Post)      

P2. Nigeria will never be great (by Justloveme, posted July 22, 2010, 11:58:20 AM) P3. How can Nigeria be a better place? (by Ronaldson, posted May 27, 2010,05:54.40 PM) P8. Are our politicians this bad? (by bh172, posted July 20, 2010, 01.08.46 PM) P9. Reps tell Bankole to resign (by aliaaz, posted June 10, 2010, 08:31:32 AM) P46. Can this be right in a time like this - Mr. Jonathan!!! Pleaseeeeee (by ebonyxxx, posted: July 05, 2010, 09:03:03 AM) P59. Nigeria and useless spending (by Evalastin, posted: June 22, 2010, 11:11:55 PM)

The writer of P2 ‗Nigeria will never be great,‘ appears extremely pessimistic and he explains his frustration by citing existing social practices in Nigerian communities that support underdevelopment. For instance ‗treasurer looters‘ and some corrupt government officials are rather honoured than prosecuted. Part of the post is reproduced below: Nigerians don‘t want Nigeria to be great or else how can you explain a public treasurer looter being garnished and adored with National Honours and Chieftaincy titles where in a place like China, they are publicly shot. Non Nigerians prefer us not to grow in order not to discover our ingenuity through unsolicited loans, grants and financial aids…

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P3 is similar to P2, though rather than declarative statement, P2, is put in form of a question, ‗how can Nigeria be a better place?‘ The writer (living in Europe) blames the prevalence of poverty in Nigeria on everyone and not just the government. He argues that everyone has the potential to make contributions towards making Nigeria a great nation. He further argues that the irony of being richly endowed but rated among the poorest nations in the world might still be savaged if everyone is creative and innovative in their thinking. Writers of P46 and P59 were critical of the proposed N9.5 billion budget for Nigeria‘s 50th anniversary. The Federal Government had initially budgeted N16.4 billion, which the President later cut down to N9.5 billion. P40 in a similar criticism of the government‘s extravagance described the budget as a ‗useless spending.‘ Ordinarily, the elaborate budget for marking ‗50 years of failure‘ according to the argument did not portray a nation whose citizens still lived on less than one US dollar a day. The writers doubted that developed country would be spending that much to mark an independence anniversary. Part of P46 is reproduced below:

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... N350 million has been earmarked for the National Unity Torch and Tour: N350 million just to carry a torch around the country? How ludicrous? They want to light up a country with a torch where there is no regular power supply. N20 million has been earmarked for what is called Children‘s Parliament- certainly this is money to be stolen by adults! Another N20 million is meant for a party for 1,000 children. Their children! Presidential banquet is to take all of N40 million...N40 million for National Food Week! And N1.2 billion to place adverts in local and international media and another. N320 million for local publicity. N200 million is to be set aside for a football match to mark the golden jubilee. Logistics is to take N320 million! To design the anniversary logo, N30 million has been earmarked … (Ebonyxxx).

The ‗failure‘ of political administration in Nigeria is central to all the critiques in the corpus, touching on key issues of governance and social development. Poverty and suffering are generally attributed to the failure of leadership. However, the writer of P2 touches on the sensitive issues of sycophancy and praise-singing of those accused of political leadership failure by the people themselves. Unfortunately, most of those accused of corruption are supported and encouraged by the people, some offering to serve as political thugs, agents and in-house collaborators. Thus, mobilizing supports for the same people they condemn is a lot more ironical. For instance, receiving a former state governor who was standing trials for corruption and money laundering with celebration and fanfare was an obvious manifestation of moral and judicial comprise. This also reflects loss of moral decency and social ideals necessary for development. Hence rather than solely hold politicians responsible for lack of socio-economic development, the writer suggests that Nigerian people should also blame themselves, stressing that this compromise of social morality and irrational materialism in Nigeria is condemnable. The various critiques in the corpus demonstrate the sensitive function of the electronic social media which come very close to the traditional ‗watchdog‘ role of the traditional mass communication. This also implies that the new media technology is fast replacing the popular mass media in terms of how those Nigerians who had no access to the traditional popular press have now been empowered to add their voices to check and mould government. This is by extension an influence on social forces that affect their lives directly or indirectly. In this context, discourse, viewed as ‗meaning making‘ as part of social processes, (Fairclough, 2009) reveals sensitive forms of social practice, revealing the society

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and political forces and how individuals also by means of discourse challenge and resist these social forces. The main discourage strategy in the critiques as we shall see later in the analyses is questioning, most of them rhetorical where the writers tend to question the obvious and expect no direct answers.

SOCIAL AND POLITICAL MOBILIZATION Posts under this category are further sub-divided into four sub-groups namely (i) posts that mobilize the citizenry towards their civic responsibility (ii) those that campaign for Goodluck Jonathan (iii) those that are overt attacks on Ibrahim Babangida (IBB) and (iv) those that campaign for other political aspirants. (i) Those that mobilize the citizenry towards their civic responsibility towards the upcoming 2011 general elections, while remaining skeptical of the possibility of free and fair elections also warned against multiple votes or selling of votes. Also rather than serve as political thugs, voters are advised to protect and ‗police‘ such votes. Writing in the local Nigerian pidgin, the writer of P29, advised: ‗one man, one vote.‘ ‗My fellow Nigerians our mumu don do; lets protect and police our vote, so abeg make una join us for the on going campaign against further elections for Nigeria.‘ ‗My people make we stand by One Man One Vote, One Woman, One Vote, One Boi (boy), One Vote, One Girl, One Vote etc.‘ (ii) Posts that campaign for Goodluck Jonathan ostensibly sponsored or supported by the President and his campaign team are posted by the Jonathan‘s Campaign Blog (@goodluck4ggov). Some of the posts say:

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      

P.13. Jonathan must run (by baruch, posted: June 24, 2010, 02:38:57 PM) P.14. what do you want Jonathan to do? (by goodluck4ggov, posted: June 16, 2010, 05:20:02 PM) P.21. 2011: Northern leaders give Jonathan go ahead (by Nametalkam, posted: July 16, 2010, 12:01:57 AM) P.28. Will u vote President Goodluck? (by etiese, posted: May 29, 2010, 12:10: 33 AM) P.63. Jonathan again!!! (by goodluck4ggov, posted: June 17, 2010, 03:50:14 pm) P.80. More groups ask Jonathan to run in 2011 (by newslive, posted: May 21, 2010, 01:41:29 AM » P.84. One Year Not Enough to Meet Targets, Says Jonathan (by Ayemokhia, posted: May 17, 2010, 02:10:20 PM

One Tolu Ogunlesi, (feature editor with Next - a Lagos newspaper) in his blog posted July 19, 2010 affirmed that ‗Jonathan is our Facebook President.‘ Jonathan would then go down in history as the first Nigerian President from a minority ethnic group to embrace the social networking tool of governance. According to the blog, two weeks after joining the network, Jonathan amassed more than 200,000 followers. This also attests to the growing number of internet users in Nigeria as many more people acquire internet literacy and are taking the advantage of the flexibility of social network options available in weblogs and online communities. According to Ifukor (2010) the number of internet users increased from barely 200,000 in 2000 to about 23 million by December 2009. This represents 16.1% of the

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nation‘s population, and a compound annual growth rate of 71% in five years (2003 – 2008); Nigeria alone accounts for 27.8% of internet users in Africa. Jonathan‘s ‗followers‘ were said to be hopeful that the power of social network being utilized by the President and his campaign group would achieve for him what it did for Barack Obama in 2008; (iii) Posts that overtly attacked Ibrahim Babangida (a former Nigeria‟s military dictator) and his political ambition for 2011 were apparently written by people from opposing political parties. However, Babangida‘s declaration of interest to run for presidency in the 2011 elections, had received serious attacks by many Nigerians especially from the south. Blog writers and various discussion groups claimed that the former military ruler lacked the political pedigree and reputable antecedent to leadership in Nigeria. The writer of post 57, for instance describes him as ‗the man who murdered democracy.‘ Babangida‘s annulment of the June 12, 1993 general election, which was believed to be freest and fairest election ever conducted in Nigeria has remained the reference point of his critics. (iv) Post that publicized and campaign for other political aspirants were also critical of IBB. Again this supports the claim that online social networks are being utilized for political effects in Nigeria as practised in other contexts of the world. One of the political aspirants vying for governorship is specifically publicized in P37 as follows: 

P.37. IBN SHUAIB 1 FOR KOGI STATE GOVERNOR (by belluche, posted: June 22, 2010, 11:23:47 AM)

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Support Ibn Shuaib for Kogi State Governor 2012, for better change of the state, the man who is tested and trusted, taking the state to the top is my ambition. Love you all. ‗My‘ in the last statement suggests that the writer is the ‗Ibn Shuaib‘ himself. Here he expresses his personal ambition to transform Kogi state if voted to power. These are indications that more political aspirants are creating their own blogs and joining discussion groups in order to propagate their political campaigns and mobilize followership. In this category, writers not only apply rhetorical questioning techniques, they also make declarative statements that perform speech acts of informing and revealing (e.g. P21, P80, P84). P37 performs a directive act e.g. ‗Support Ibn Shuaib for Kogi State Governor 2012.‘

ANTI-CORRUPTION CAMPAIGN Posts in this category are those that are highly critical of some identified corrupt government officials and their collaborators. Corruption, which has received frequent radical attacks and protests from the media and from scholarly writings within and outside Nigeria, has been identified as a major obstacle to Nigeria‘s socio-economic development (see Chiluwa 2007a). In Nolitics, particular references are made to James Ibori (a former Delta state governor), Ibrahim Babangida (IBB) and Sani Abacha (Nigeria‘s military dictators between 1985 and 1998), Michael Aondoaka (a former Minister of Justice) and Olusegun Obasanjo (a former civilian president from 1999 to 2007). Topics of the posts are given below:

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The Discourse of Nolitics in the Naijapals Online Community Website      

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P.25. Jonathan set to probe Babangida over 12.4 billion Scam (by newslive, posted: June 23, 2010, 03:29:47 PM) P.45. Ibori associates sentenced to 5 years in Prison (by Nametalkam, posted: June 07, 2010, 08:22:29 PM) P.55. Ribadu Has Accepted Jonathan's Offer (by Ayemokhia, posted: April 05, 2010, 12:48:21 PM) P.71. How Corruption Affected Nigeria‘s Devt. (by Aliaaz posted: June 06, 2010, 10:53:41 AM) P.77. Ibori found finally in Dubai (by wizjosh, posted: May 13, 2010, 12:13:36 PM) P.85. Ex-governors Mobilise Against Ribadu‘s Return (by Ayemokhia, posted: April 07, 2010, 08:03:52 PM) P.86. Whom to be blamed for economic doom IBB or Abacha (by dearboy, posted: May 16, 2010, 10:33:54 PM)

The post headings highlight a discourse that reveals the people‘s yearning for social justice, particularly against those that are culpable for their roles in various financial frauds and corrupt practices. It also highlights the importance of a strong legal system and rule of law, where everyone is accountable for their actions. James Ibori for example whose mistress and sister were reportedly jailed in London after they were convicted of various financial crimes (P45), had himself walked free in Nigeria despite serious corruption charges against him. The conviction of the women in United Kingdom (UK) again opened up the debate on Nigeria‘s vulnerable and weak judiciary which was said to be bought over by James Ibori. The latter described as ‗the thieving governor‘ in P45 was in 2009 discharged of 170 charges of corruption by a Federal High Court in Asaba. He later escaped to Dubai from where he was recently arrested to face corruption charges probably in UK. The debate also continued in Nolitics over the roles of Babangida and Abacha in the Nigerian socio-political and economic problems. According to P86, both men are viewed as the most corrupt leaders in the history of Nigerian government. In 1988 for instance, the Nigerian press reported that the wealth of IBB and Abacha alone far exceeded the total income of some African countries (see The News, August 17, 1998). Many political observers and critics believe that IBB‘s wealth is directly connected to his misappropriation of the oil boom money during the Gulf war. Already there are speculations in the media that Jonathan was ready to probe IBB for over $12.4 billion mismanaged funds (P25). Unfortunately rather than take responsibility and take radical actions against confirmed cases of fraud and corruption, public officer point accusing finger at one another (P71). Thus, corruption had never been approached with sincerity. Efforts by the Obasanjo‘s administration to confront corruption and financial crime through the Independent Corruption Practices Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), (though yielded partial results) have also been criticized as mere political instruments targeted at Obasanjo‘s political opponents. Critics wondered why IBB was never probed by these anti-graft agencies. Obasanjo himself and members of his cabinet have also been accused of corruption by critics at different times. In P54 for example, the debate remains: ‗is Obasanjo truly corrupt?‘ A few comments responded in the negative. A recent video of BBC interview with the former president (accompanying P54) suggests that the accusations against Obasanjo lacked definite proofs. However, the writer of P17 praised Barack Obama‘s government for refusing entry

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visas to USA persons and their relations with links to corruption. This policy had already affected a former federal minister, Michael Aondoaka, whose visa was revoked following his assumed role in the ‗power-play‘ during Yar‘Adua‘s medical trip to Saudi Arabia (Aondoaka from Benue state was the Attorney General and Minister of Justice in Yar‘Adua‘s cabinet). With the catalogue of unresolved cases of corrupt practices by politicians and government officials in Nigeria, and the failure of the judiciary in this regards, Nigerians were in high spirits at the news in April, 2010 of Nuhu Ribadu‘s acceptance of Jonathan‘s offer to serve as Special Adviser on ‗anti-corruption, good governance and sundry matters (P55). The Federal Government (FG) had subsequently dropped all charges against him (P110). (Ribadu was the anti-graft crusader and former head of the EFCC under Obasanjo who was removed from office and demoted under controversial circumstances, following his roles against corruption in Nigeria). Most of the comments to these developments in Nolitics reflected optimism and excitement. A few of the comments were:    

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At least we‘re making progress, hope it turn out well I love this God, thank you for this No matter how long it takes, truth shall prevail over falsehood. Welcome back, Mr. Cleaner It is necessary so that Nigerian can have a way forward... Justice will prevail no matter how long etc.

However some comments remained skeptical. Already Jonathan‘s government has been accused of representing Obasanjo‘s interests. In fact some critics believe that Jonathan‘s administration is a mere extension of Obasanjo‘s. Hence, a new EFCC might turn out to be another Mr. Obasanjo‘s tool to fight his political enemies even with Ribadu at the helm; after all, Ribadu had been Obasanjo‘s man. This could partly be responsible for the opposition from ex-governors to Ribadu‘s proposed return, (P85). While some governors might be jittery over their ill-acquired wealth, others might still be suspicious of Obasanjo‘s political motives.

POLITICAL PROPAGANDA The posts that are tagged: ‗political propaganda‘ are those that publicize the ‗achievements‘ of certain politicians, particularly the Kwara state governor, Bukola Saraki. Dr. Saraki was the Chairman of the ‗Nigerian Governors Forum.‘ All the posts in this category highlight his initiatives and administration‘s achievements. A few instances are listed here:   

P.43. Bukola Saraki - the Ganmo Power Project: A time elixir (by bisilawal, posted: July 07, 2010, 04:43:38 pm) P.65. Dr. Bukola Saraki - Kwara Explores Power Generation from Waste (by daudaalabi, posted: June 27, 2010, 01:32:34 PM) P.66. Dr. Bukola Saraki: Kwara Distributes Hospital Equipment (by suleyahaya, posted: June 17, 2010, 10:53:15 AM)

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P.72. NLC: Saraki has fulfilled promise to workers (by daudaalabi, posted: June 05, 2010, 02:30:40 PM) P. 89. Dr. Bukola Saraki - Arguably the Best Governor in Nigeria (by Akeredolu, posted: May 26, 2010, 09:39:23 AM) etc.

Propaganda is inherently half-truth or a misinformation with the usual political inclination to promote a politician or a political group. Interestingly, the above posts and others not listed here, though posted by the individuals whose names appear in brackets, were actually sourced from the Kwara State Government House which means that the issues were posted by Saraki‘s supporters (see P43). And since Saraki‘s achievements were not assessed by independent observers or by the people of Kwara state themselves, it justifies our claim in this study, that the so-called ‗achievements‘ might just be mere propaganda sponsored by the governor. While P43 for instance claims that the ‗Ganmo Power Project‘ was a ‗Christmas gift to the people of Kwara State‘ and ‗a replenished hurricane lamp‘ that rekindled the entire state, one of the skeptical comments lashed back: ‗what is this?‘, reflecting the level of disgust with the exaggerated achievements. The other posts about Dr. Saraki‘s propaganda were yet to receive any comments. But the significant reality is the extent to which the new electronic social media are being put to use for both political and electioneering purposes in Nigeria. The post writers might actually be members of the governor‘s campaign team as a groundwork campaign in preparation for Saraki‘s political ambitions for 2011. Dr. Saraki‘s example however, represents the strategies being adopted by other politicians in Nigeria as they prepare for the 2011general elections.

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SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Post writers‘ suggestions and recommendations for Nigeria‘s socio-political and economic growth were few but significant. Four of the posts in the corpus are listed as follows:    

P.41 The role of Technology in the 2011 Polls (by biglizzy, posted: 23/7/2010 at 08:17:21 PM) P.44 From 2011, president, govs must be graduates (Ayemokhia, posted: March 27, 2010, 02:55:54 AM) P.52 Gun Rights In Nigeria For Nigerians! (by goldenefe, posted : June 30, 2010, 04:24:37 PM) P.96 Political Parties and Check List(s). (by akutachinedu, posted: May 16, 2010, 12:26:39 PM)

Some important parts of the above recommendations are reproduced here for more careful analyses. P41‘s recommendation is based on some statistics and the reported success of the social media in elections around the world. It is no longer news that Barack Obama won the US election mainly through the power of technology and a current Nigerian governor also employed the use of technology to win a re-

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election. This trend is growing exponentially and in time to come, only those who take advantage of this earlier enough will be ahead…The just concluded Philippines election was done electronically. We are x-raying the role the SMS will play in future elections and why you should tap into it now.

Some statistics shows that Nigerians rate favourably in the world among users of the new media technologies. According to the post, 9% of Nigerians watch TV daily, while19% listen to the radio daily. Only 4% read newspapers daily. While less than 2% use the Internet daily, more than 50% use the GSM phone daily. Doubtless, the writer‘s recommendation for electronic voting was with the hope of reducing the prevalent cases of electoral fraud in Nigeria since 1999. Yar‘Adua‘s election as president in the Nigerian General Elections of 2007 for example was described as a ‗stolen election‘ (Rawlence and Chris Albin-Lackey, 2007) following confirmations that the elections were ‗marred by extraordinary displays of rigging and the intimidation of voters in many areas throughout Nigeria. In many states up and down the country very little voting took place at all as ballot papers were diverted to the offices and homes of government officials to be filled out with fabricated results. Elsewhere ballot boxes were stolen and stuffed with pre-marked ballots‘ (2007:497-98). With electronic voting the complexities of paper works and the ease of stuffing ballot papers would be eliminated. Use of moveable ballot boxes would be discontinued and the engagement of political thugs to rig elections would be discouraged. The suggestion that political office holders in Nigerian should be university graduates is probably motivated by the widespread feeling in Nigeria that modern political leadership should be run by the educated youth. It is believed that leadership by educated youths would promote initiative, vigor, energy and foresight in government. The various comments by members of the forums argue that the late Umaru Musa Yar‘Adua (a former university lecturer) had been the first educated democratically elected President of Nigeria since Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe. The late Dr. Azikiwe - Nigeria‘s first Governor-General, was an imposed leader by the colonialists. The post that recommends highly educated leaders was actually sourced from a report on the recent amendment of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution by the legislature approving that henceforth candidates for the positions of president, vice-president, governor, deputy governor and members of the National Assembly, must possess a degree from a recognized tertiary institution. This is perhaps in recognition of the role of education in capacity building and sound judgment. Nigerians have often blamed the problem of economic development in Nigeria on poor leadership - due to illiterate individuals fraudulently acquiring positions of political leadership. The suggestion that arms possession should be licensed in Nigeria received divergent opinions though with a 50-50 balance of yes and no. However, the post writer hinges his argument on four plausible points: (i) Take the United States for example; it is the constitutional right of every citizen to carry a gun. Leaders think twice before cheating the people. There is always a lingering fear of revolt (ii) Take Niger-Delta militants as another example; the government never paid any attention to the suffering of the people. With so many guns in the area, the government is FORCED to listen to their cries. (iii) It is a fact that guns are used in self-defense 2.5million times a year, both high level and low level crime rate is much lower than that of Nigeria. (iv) So many thieves and kidnappers everywhere. If they know that residents all have guns, thieves will think twice before going in.

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One of the comments against arms rights argued: ‗When the only tool you have is a hammer, all your problems begin to look like a nail. With the current socio-political and economic atmosphere in Nigeria, advocating gun rights is a horrible idea.‘ The debate remains ongoing and significantly this research reveals that Nolitics represents the voice of the Nigerian people, notably the youth. Political discourse in this context does not only reproduce the individual‘s eagerness to be heard and participate in political governance but also represents a form of resistance by the people to forces of oppression and domination. Most of the posts in this category are basically both argumentative and descriptive in nature, thus perform the representation acts of informing, making assertions, describing events, making claims, reporting and suggesting (Searle, 1969). P94 for example recalls the British election that produced David Cameron as Prime Minister as an example for Nigerian politicians. Some precise discourse analyses of the posts are carried out in 7.0 below. Post 94, recommends ‗Political Parties and Check List‘ for Nigerian politicians and aspirants for future political activities in Nigeria. Part of the post is reproduced below:

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I am sure that most political parties/political leaders in Nigeria, watched as Gordon Brown (Ex British Prime Minister) resigned from his position after accepting responsibilities, for his Labour Party defeat in (the) just concluded United Kingdom general election. Every political dynasty has an end, so did Gordon Brown‘s premiership that ended on Tuesday May 11th 2010. I am also sure that most Nigerian political parties/political leaders, watched Obama‘s electoral victory, and the opposition victory in nearby Ghana. All these elections mentioned above have thrown a lot of challenges to Nigeria, especially as we approach the 2011 general election…

The writer therefore asked Nigerians to demand the following from their politicians: (a) political parties manifestos (in order to have a clear understanding of their plans) (b) sources of campaign funding (c) academic qualifications of party leaders/contestants (d) Declaration of Assets and liabilities (e) Leadership debates by politicians (this is related to the manifestoes) (f) Health check (g) Age. The issue of academic qualifications is reminiscent of Salisu Buhari (former Speaker of Nigeria‘s House of Representatives) who was forced to resign over his conviction of forging a certificate of the University of Toronto, Canada. The question of the age of political officers again revisits the issue of the recurrent circle of retired men in government. According to the post, John McCain (the last Republican Presidential candidate of US) was 72 years when he contested the election in 2008. His age was said to be among the reasons he lost the election. In contrast, Barack Obama was 47 and the new British Prime Minister, David Cameron as the time of his election, was only 44 years old. Writers believe that younger people are likely to perform better in government, than elderly ones. However, these were mere assumptions as there are no documented research-based confirmations. Yakubu Gowon for instance was barely 32 years old when he became Nigeria‘s 2nd military leader and ruled for 10 years but there are hardly any record-breaking achievements attributable to his government. The writer also believed that it was worthwhile ascertaining the health status of individuals seeking key political positions. This recommendation must have been a follow up on the argument that the late President Yar‘Adua had a major health problem even before he became president. During the election campaigns he was so sick that Obasanjo had to campaign for him around the country; this again foregrounds the argument that Yar‘Adua couldn‘t have been the overwhelming

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people‘s choice. The writer lastly advised the electorates (Nigerians) to take active part in the electoral process in 2011. ‗Vote during elections, stay around till the votes are counted, follow the returning officer(s) or delegate people to follow the returning officers till the overall results are announced. Monitor elections in your locality. Go to pooling stations with hidden cameras or spy cameras. Better still; take pictures with your mobile phones.‘ As already noted in the above analysis, Nigerians are gradually getting involved in the political process as the social media open up a new accessible platform for the people‘s popular voice to be heard. This is visibly reflected in the tempo and passion of the recommendations. Nigerian politicians and leaders cannot pretend to be ignorant of the widespread use of the blogs, Twitter, and discussion forums for political debate. After all, many of them are already on Facebook and blogs.

DISCURSIVE PRAGMATICS OF NOLITICS

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To begin with, it must be stressed here that most of the members of the discussion forum (of Nolitics) are fairly educated Nigerians, particular those familiar with CMD and are regular users of CMC. Hence some variations that are evident in the posts reflect influence on linguistic choices of the writers. Since Nolitics demonstrates intra-group CMD, the use of discursive markers that reflect ethnic and national identity, including some culture-specific words, names and verbal genres that are particularly Nigerian are evident in the discourse (also see Chiluwa, 2010b). Because the bloggers‘ social experiences are involve in the CMD, they often transfer terms and practices from off-line cultures to CMD and this contributes to shaping their linguistic behaviour (Herring, 2001). Hence, discourse topic (or activity type) condition linguistic/pragmatic strategies that come into play. Main discursive/pragmatic strategies observable in the discussion forum are metaphors, directive acts, and interrogatives.

METAPHORS In the posts, the writers demonstrated occasional use of some common political metaphors typical of the mass media. For instance, Jonathan‘s ‗presidential posters‘ were said to ‗flood‘ Abuja, implying that the campaign poster were everywhere in the state capital. Flooding in this context is however an exaggeration which is pragmatically employed to both suggest that Jonathan is likely the people‘s choice, considering the number of supporters that could have flooded the posters. For instance P21 reports that he (Jonathan) had received ‗the green light‘ to contest the 2011 elections by the Northern political elites. ‗Green light‘ another metaphor represents approval, which in the Nigerian political context is very significant. To be given approval by the Northern leaders, notably the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is tantamount to winning the election even before the official general elections. The metaphor ‗flood‘ also functions as a form of criticism to Jonathan‘ over zealous activities towards political leadership, which he initially pretended not to be interested in. Similarly, Ibrahim Babangida was said to ‗romance‘ musicians, reminiscent of the tactics employed by the late military dictator, Sani Abacha, in 1994 commonly referred to as ‗one million-man march.‘ Babangida‘s romance with musicians was to organize music concerts at major Nigerian city

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centres to reach out to youths. The metaphor ‗romances‘ functions as a comic relief in an almost tension heightening political atmosphere surrounding Babangida, who already does not have popular leadership credibility. Bayelsa state (a Niger Delta state) was described as a ‗headache‘ because no significant development project took place there. The streets were also said to be ‗flooded‘ with dirt and the governor would rather hold a beauty pageant than pay university lecturers. ‗Headache‘ a highly critical metaphor, portrays Bayelsa state as a sick state, hence requiring urgent attention, like those recommended by some members of the discussion forum, i.e. probe and possible prosecution of the state governor. Another metaphor ‗price-tag‘ is used to describe James Ibori‘s activities in relation to the Nigerian judiciary. Two relatives of the former governor were jailed in Britain because Ibori could not find ‗a price tag‘ for justice in London. The metaphor ‗price-tag‘ indicates that justice is bought and sold in Nigeria, which is a complete indictment on the Nigerian judiciary. Generally Nigeria‘s democracy is said to face some ‗albatrosses,‘ that have defied solution. One of the albatrosses is insincerity on the part of political leaders…‗they excuse themselves from real issues and set standards of comfort for themselves,‘ (P8).

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DIRECTIVE ACTS Some previous research findings have shown that speech acts are evident in CMD produced by Nigerians (see Oni and Osunbade 2009; Chiluwa, 2010e). The present study also reveals that the political and social discourse contents of Nolitics performed the various speech acts proposed by Austin and Searle, for instance the ‗representative act‘ (i.e. describing events, also asserting, claiming, reporting and suggesting); they also performed ‗directive acts‘ i.e. requesting, pleading, inviting and directing (Searle, 1969), which are considered more significant in the context of this study. Because Nolitics involves a form of social mobilization, the post writers adopt persuasive strategies that tend to ‗direct‘ or ‗plead with‘ people to perform their civic responsibilities especially in the forthcoming 2011 general elections. This form of discursive strategy is also evident in the ‗suggestion/recommendation‘ category. The latter combines both the representative acts and directive acts. A few examples of directive acts from the social and political mobilization sub-group are reproduced here:   

P.23 Support the people mandate (ALH. TEINA ABDULMALIK FOR HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVE) P.37 Support Ibn Shuaib for Kogi state governor, 2011 for better change of state P.57. Stop IBB (Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida)

Directive acts are usually imperative sentences that issue commands, often with the tone of urgency and desperation as the above examples illustrate. Political discourse, especially those that involve campaigning for elections often apply a lot of persuasive nuances to force the listener/reader to take action in favour of certain politicians or their agents. Although much of the political struggle, involves argument, threats, entreaties, promises and lies (Chilton, 2004), the tenor of communication at political arenas are usually quite intriguing. P23 and P37 above urge the electorate to ‗support‘ the politicians named in the posts, while P57 rather urges them to ‗stop IBB.‘ Unlike the general form of commands, political

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directives as in the above examples would generally give reasons for their position. For instance, the writer of P57 claimed that Babangida ‗murdered democracy‘ in Nigeria, therefore ineligible for any political office. The kind of passion we see in the social mobilization, are also visible in the suggestion and recommendation category. While the writer of P94 for instance urges Nigerians to demand a ‗checklist‘ from political parties, he applies directive acts with active verbs such as vote, stay, follow, delegate, go etc. to mobilise political participation. The electorates are to ‗vote during elections, stay around till the votes are counted, follow the returning officer(s) or delegate people to follow the returning officers till the overall results are announced. Monitor elections in your locality. Go to pooling stations with hidden cameras or spy cameras. Better still; take pictures with your mobile phones. Hence, directive speech acts reflect the desperation and anxiety of Nigerians about the future of their beloved country. It also highlights the desperate changes which Nigeria desperately needs.

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INTERROGATIVES In his ‗interrogation in online forums: a case study of Nigerian online discourse,‘ Taiwo (2009) reveals that most of the questions where the wh-questions which were asked in the political and culture/ethnic threads. He attributes this to the complex ethno-cultural diversity and the democratic nature of the discussion forums, which tend to empower participants to probe and ‗lampoon‘ political office holders. The present study confirms Taiwo‘s findings as the few questions identified in the data of the present study are Yes/No questions (i.e. requiring ‗yes‘ or ‗no‘ as an answer). As pointed out above, some of the interrogatives are actually rhetorical questions that require do direct answers (e.g. P8). Because Nolitics is a discussion forum that demands that contributors and members respond to posts bringing out their opinions on particular socio-political issues, many of the posts are written in form of questions. Apart from sampling opinions on particular political topic, sometimes post writers would want to know how many members of the online community are conversant with some current political events or debates in the country. This explains why some posts actually sound like ‗political gossips,‘ suggesting that Nolitics is also a forum where supporters of certain political parties and politicians often engage in fierce arguments. Thus, in order not sound too direct, post writers often put their opinions and arguments in form of questions. For instance, i. ii. iii. iv.

Is it do or die for IBB? Who will you vote for, IBB or Jonathan? (P.5) Are politicians this bad? (P.8) Is he lying (referring to the state governor) (P.18) Will Biafra come back? (P. 34)

Thus, interrogatives become a pragmatic tact to avoid offences; it also functions as opinion gathering forum on a particular topic while the writer reserves his/her own opinion until another day. Normally answers and opinions at the discussion forum are not conclusive, but generally give the idea of the positions of certain members of the society on particular social or political issues. The issue of Biafra for instance ((iv) above, i.e. P34) is such that has

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recently generated a lot of anxiety and heated arguments among the group discussion members. Recent widespread activities of the Biafran campaigns on the internet and their associated links are once again bringing up the question. ‗Will Biafra come back?‘ Although the complex Biafran question has been a political one, most Nigerians have always tilted it along ethnic lines since it is about one ethnic group seeking secession from the rest. One of the posts expressed shock at how far Biafran campaigners in Diaspora especially in the United States and United Kingdom have gone in their campaign for the ‗Sovereign State of Biafra‘ or ‗the United States of Biafra (P6). The main body of the campaign group was said to maintain subsidiary media affiliates such as Radio Biafra, an on-line radio network, newspapers and magazines and also affiliated to other sub-organizations. The post writer also observed that the Biafran campaigners had a well organized and influential leadership which claimed to be recognized by most powerful and important countries of the world with its headquarters in the United States. Their activities were bolstered by a very solid financial base with its members in different sectors of the world. Reactions from these posts were mixed with most people not foreseeing a possible resuscitation of the defunct state, main reason being that the Igbo nation no longer boasted of the cohesion and the system of trust that once characterized them. Especially with the decamping of the original leader, Odumegwu Ojukwu and the frequent tussle for leadership in the ‗Ohaneze Ndigbo‘ (an Igbo elite group) it would be almost impossible to rally the Igbos again as one man. ‗Republic of Biafra‘ was a secessionist nation of the Igbos of the southeast Nigeria that existed between 30th May 1967 and 15 January, 1970. It became defunct after a civil war in which over three million Igbos died (see Dike, 2006). The defeat of the Igbos and the re-integration of the south-eastern region in ‗one Nigerian‘ have also been described by critics as ‗a forced unity‘- a mere legacy of the colonial administrative convenience. Nigeria‘s social problems have also been attributed to the size of the multi-ethnic nations that make up the country. With about 400 languages in Nigeria (Adegbija, 1997) and English as the official language, the inherent fear of ethnic domination by the various ethnic groups remains. One of the comments responding to the incessant Jos crises suggested that a break-up of Nigeria into smaller independent states was the solution to Nigeria‘s frequent inter-ethnic and religious crises. The existence of a pro-Biafran radicalist movement known as the Movement for the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) is well known in Nigeria today. This movement still advocates a separate country for the Igbo people and accuses the Nigerian state of marginalising them. MASSOB identifies itself as a peaceful group and advertises a 25-stage plan to achieve its goal peacefully (Murray, 2007; Shirbon, 2006). Its leader Raph Uwazuruike has been arrested several times by the Federal Government and is still being detained since 2005 on charges of treason.

CONCLUSION NaijaPals and Nolitics, a hosting site and a discussion forum thus provide an ample opportunity for Nigerians to participate in social and political interactions, through the new media technologies. Because online social media have the advantage of combing speed and currency with the facility that enable asynchronous CMD (e.g. blogs and posts) to be stored and archive messages at the addressee‘s site until they are read, interactants are able to

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monitor and follow-up socio-political debates to their conclusions. Discussion forums enable participants within and outside Nigeria to air their views while remaining anonymous. Interestingly, ‗Nigerian friends‘ (from other countries) are also welcome to participate in Nolitics. We can conclude therefore that the emergence of the online social media like weblog and subsequent discussion forums is enabling Nigerians to be involved in political debates much more than ever before. More voices are being heard, social problems are being discussed and more people are participating in political debates that the government of the day cannot pretend to be ignorant of. This form of political participation is likely to increase since the awareness is already created and bloggers are getting involved. Political involvement and participation in governance defines the concept of citizenship in the context of political discourse of Nolitics. A citizen is one that participates in socio-political governance using any media available to him/her. Interestingly with Nigerian politicians coming on Facebook and registering their own blogs, there is no doubt that the general influence generated from contributions by the people via the social media, would shape social morality, political performance. By the time the people and their leaders are engaged in discussion forums like we see in Nolitics, there will be better understanding between the leaders and the led.

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REFERENCES Adamic, L. and Glance, N. (2005) ‗The Political Blogosphere and the 2004 U.S Election: Divided they Blog.‟2nd Annual Weblogging Workshop, WWW 2005, May 10, Chiba, Japan. Adegbija, E. (1997) ‗The identity, survival and the promotion of minority languages in Nigeria. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 125, 5-27. Chilton, P. (2004) Analysing Political Discourse: theory and practice. London: Routledge. Chiluwa, I. (2007a) ‗Metaphors of Corruption and Power in Media Discourse: A Challenge to National Unity and Development.‘ Benson Idahosa University Discourse (BIUDISCOURSE): Journal of Arts and Education, Vol. 2(1), 95 – 110. Chiluwa, I. (2008c) ‗Religious Vehicle Stickers in Nigeria: A Discourse of Identity, Faith and Social Vision.‘Discourse and Communication 2 (4), 371-387. Chiluwa, I. (2010a) ‗Nigerian English in Informal Email Messages.‘ English World-Wide, 31(1) 40-61. Chiluwa, I. (2010b) ‗Discursive Practice and the Nigerian Identity in Personal Emails.‘ Handbook of Research on Discourse Behaviour and Digital Communication: Language Structures and Social Interaction, Rotimi Taiwo (ed). Hershey PA: IGI Global Publishers, 112-129. Chiluwa, I. (2010e) ‗The Pragmatics of Hoax Email Business Proposals.‘ Linguistik Online 43, 3/2010. Cross, R. (2005) ‗Blogging for votes: an examination of the interaction between Weblogs and the Electoral Process. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Philadelphia, PA. Retrieved from http://www.allacademic.com/ meta/p34174_index.html

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Dike, I. (2006) ‗Chronicles of Brutality in Nigeria, Issue I8, (2000-2006).‘ http://cwis.org/fweye/fweye-18.htm. Drezner, D. and Farell, H. (2004) ‗The Power and Politics of Blogs.‘ Paper presented at the American Political Science Association, July. www.utsc.utoronto.ca/ ~farrell/blogpaperfinal.pdf Efimova, L. and Fiedler, S. (2004) ‗Learning Webs: Learning in Weblog Networks.‘ Submitted to Web-based communities 2004, Lisbon, Portugal. https://doc.telin.nl/dscgi/ ds.py/Get/File-35344. Fairclough, N. (1989) Language and Power. London: Longman. Fairclough, N. (2009) ‗A Dialectical-relational approach to Critical Discourse Analysis in Gill, K. (2004) ‗How do we measure the influence of the Blogosphere?‘WWW2004, May 17–22, New York, NY, USA Acessed from: http://faculty.washington.edu/kegill/pub/ www2004_blogosphere_gill.pdf Gillmor, D. (2003) ‗Making the News.‟ E-Journal: News, Views and a Silicon Valley Diary April 11[cited in Nardi et al., 2004c]. Herring, S. (1998c) ‗Virtual gender performances.‘ Paper presented at Texas A&M University, September 25. Herring, S. (2001) ‗Computer-Mediated Discourse.‘ In D. Tannen, D. Schiffrin, and H. Hamilton. (eds.) Handbook of Discourse Analysis.Oxford: Blackwell, 612-634. Herring, S. (2004) ‗Computer-Mediated Discourse Analysis: an approach to researching online behaviour. In S.A. Barab, R. Kling and J. Gray (Eds.), Designing for Virtual Communities in the Service of Learning, New York: Cambridge University, 338-376. Herring, S., Scheidt, L., Bonus, S., and Wright, E. (2005) ‗Weblogs as a bridging genre‘. Information, Technology and People, 18(2), 142-171. Herring, S. (2007) ‗A Faceted Classification Scheme for Computer-Mediated Discourse.‘ Language and Internet. 4, article 1. Ifukor, P. (2008) ‗Elections‘ or Selections‘? Blogging the Nigerian 2007 General Elections. Paper presented at the 103rd American Sociological Association meeting, Boston, USA, August 1 – 4. Ifukor, P. (2010a) ‗Elections‘ or ‗Selections‘? Blogging and Twittering the Nigerian 2007 General Elections.‟Bulletin of Science, Technology and Society (in press). Ifukor, P. (forthcoming) ‗Spelling and Simulated Shibboleths in Nigerian Computer-Mediated Communication.‘Submitted to English Today. Igboanusi, H. (2008) ‗Empowering the Nigerian Pidgin: a challenge for status planning?‘ World Englishes, 27(1) 68-82. Johnson, T., Kaye, B., Bichard, S., and Wong, W. (2007) ‗Every blog has its day: Politicallyinterested Internet users' perceptions of blog credibility. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1), article 6. Kelly, J. and Etling, B. (2008) Mapping Iran‘s Online Public: Politics and Culture in the Persian Blogsphere Berkman Center Research Publication, No. 2008-01, Harvard University. Kouper, I. (2010) ‗The Pragmatics of Peer Advice in a Livejournal Community.‘ Language and Internet, 7, Article 1, .www.languageatinternet.de. Murray, S. (2007) ‗Reopening Nigeria‘s civil war wounds.‘ BBC News website, Nigeria. Retrieved 02.08.2010

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Nardi, B., Schiano, D., and Gumbrecht, M. (2004a) ‗Blogging as social activity, or, would you let 900 million people read your diary? Proceedings of the 2004 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work, Chicago. November 6 – 10. 222 - 231 Nardi, B., Schiano, D., Gumbrecht, M. and Swartz, L. (2004b). ‗I‘m Blogging this:‘ a closer look at why people blog. Submitted to Communications of the ACM. Oni, W. and Osunbade, N. (2009). ‗Pragmatic Force in Synchronous Computer-mediated Communication in Nigeria.‘ Language, Gender and Politics: A Festschrift for Yisa Kehinde Yusuf. Lagos: Concept Publications, pp. 354-376. Rawlence, B. and Albin-Lackey C. (2007) ‗Briefing: Nigeria‘s 2007 General Elections: Democracy in Retreat.‘ African Affairs (424):497-506. Schmidt, J. (2007). ‗Blogging Practices: An Analytical Framework.‘ Journal of ComputerMediated Communication, 12(4), article 13. http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol12/ issue4/schmidt.html Searle, J. (1969) Speech Acts. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Shirbon, E. (2006) ‗Dream of free Biafra revives in southeast Nigeria‘. Reuters. http://www.boston.com/ news/world/africa/articles/2006/07/12/Retrieved 02.08.2010 Smith, C., McLaughlin, M. and Osborne, K. (1997) ‗Conduct controls on Usenet.‘ Journal of Computer- Mediated Communication, 2(4). http://www.ascusc.org/jcmc/vol2/issue4/ Stefanone, M. and Jang, C. (2007) ‗Writing for friends and family: the interpersonal nature of blogs. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1), article 7. http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/stefanone.html Taiwo, R. (2009). ‗Interrogation in Online Forums: A Case Study of Nigerian Online Discourse.‘ In Adika G., Fabunmi F. and S. Salawu (Eds.) Current Perspectives in Phono-Syntax and Dialectology. Winneba: University of Education. 342-368. Taiwo, R. (2010a) ‗Discourse Features in Nigerian Online Discussion Forums.‘ In Jung-ran, P. andEileen Abels (Eds.) Interpersonal Relations and Social Patterns in Communication Technologies: Discourse, Norms: Language Structures and Cultural Variables. IGI Global Publishers, Pennsylvania, USA. 185 - 201. Taiwo, R. (2010b). ‗Social Identity and Discursive Practices in Nigerian Online Forums.‘ In Ekeanyanwu, N. and Chinedu Okeke (Eds.) Indigenous Societies, ICTs and Cultural Globalization in the 21st Century: is the Global Village Truly Real? Saarbrucken: VDM Verlag. 70 – 91. Taiwo, R. (2010c). ‗The Dynamics of Language Mixing in Nigerian Digital Communication. In Rotimi Taiwo (Ed.) Handbook of Research on Discourse Behavior and Digital Communication: Language Structures and Social Interaction. Pennsylvania: IGI Global Publishers, 179 – 190. Van Dijk, T. (2001) ‗Critical Discourse Analysis‘. In Taunen, D. Schiffrin and H. Hamilton (eds.), Handbook of Discourse (352-371). Oxford: Blackwell. Van Dijk, T. (2005) ‗Opinions and Ideologies in the Press,‘ in Alan Bell and Peter Garret (eds.) Approaches toMedia Discourse. Malden, Ma: Blackwell, 21-63. Walker, J. (2003) ‗Weblog.‘ Final version of weblog definition for the Routledge Encyclopedia of Narrative Theory. Wijnia, E. (2004) ‗Understanding weblogs: a communicative perspective. In T. Burg (Ed.), BlogTalks 2.0: The European Conference on Weblogs (pp. 38-82). http://elmine. wijnia.com/weblog/archives/wijnia_understandingweblogs.pdf

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Chapter 3

NEW TEXTUAL TERRAIN IN AFRICA: CONSTRUCTIONS OF IDENTITY THROUGH DIGITAL TEXTS IN SOUTH AFRICA Leila Kajee

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ABSTRACT This chapter is located within an African, and more specifically, a South African context of learning and development. It explores technological challenges unique to the country‘s developmental context. Then it explores the multimodal engagement of English as an Additional Language students in a university English classroom in Johannesburg. Within a social semiotic framework, and using constructions of design and identity to understand their multimodal engagement, the chapter agrees that multimodal representations offer English as an Additional Language students from under-resourced contexts creativity and agency to re-design meaning.

Keywords: identity, multimodal, digital, multiliteracy, new literacy

INTRODUCTION Much of the argument cautioning against the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in Africa is made around the continent‘s pressing imperatives: war, famine, poverty, and lack of basic education. Although writers are vocal about such critical issues, which are relevant to any developing nation, they do support the use of ICTs in promoting new opportunities for democracy in Africa, such as extending its use to women, providing education to geographically distant areas, and in disseminating health information. The argument therefore is that society should exploit technology to provide education for democratic, socially inclusive, economically advanced communities. The need for inclusion across the African continent is further articulated by the need to improve connectivity among its people, and closely aligned is connectivity as a strategy for

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poverty reduction thus ―i t is not whether computing skills need to be taught, but how soon it will be affordable and practicable to introduce such skills, and in what precise ways ICTs can be most helpful in a school setting‖ (Lauglo et al, 2003, p. 16 in Chisholm, Dhunpath and Paterson, 2004) (my italics). In relation to connectivity, issues of infrastructure cannot be ignored. The SADC1 e-readiness study (SADC, 2000a in Chisholm et al, 2004) considers education and curricula that introduce exposure to the use of different technologies in the eworld essential for ICT development.

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DESCRIBING THE SOUTH AFRICAN CONTEXT Specific to the South African context, government is firm in its call for ICT-based initiatives in the country. South Africans are reminded of the vital role played by ICTs in creating global economic networks for South Africa. South Africa is considered one of the most technologically advanced country in Africa, and was rated a few years ago as having the highest number of domains and websites of the SADC countries (Chisholm et al, 2004). Thus far the country has also made several initiatives into the field of ICTs at school level, largely as a result of documents such as the Draft White Paper on e-Education (2004), which is aimed at promoting the use of ICTs in schools. The document calls for all teachers and learners to have access to ICTs in order to promote socio-economic growth in the country, and to narrow the digital divide by 2013. Discussion around the document led to initiatives such as the Thutong Project2, which is the Department of Education‘s Web portal designed to support teaching and learning in South Africa. Another initiative, located in the Gauteng region to promote ICT access and use among the youth is the Gauteng Online Project3, which hopes to bridge the digital divide in Gauteng by positioning the province at the centre of technological change and innovation. The project was launched with the South African information technology (IT) industry designing IT solutions for Gauteng schools, and computers were introduced to selected classrooms for the pilot project. Recent work by Chaka Chaka (2010a, 2010b, 2009) also attests to increasing interest in the language field in terms of gaming, mobile-assisted language learning (MALL), and social participation technologies. Thus, South Africa is making inroads into technological redress at the levels of policy and education. Policies such as the Higher Education National Plan (2001) and the Green Paper on Higher Education (1996), highlight the need for an ICTs approach: Knowledge, information and culture increasingly inhabit a borderless world with new communication technologies transforming the way people work, produce and consume. As South Africa locates itself in this network of global exchanges and interactions, higher education will have to produce the skills and technological innovations necessary for successful economic participation in the global market. It must also socialize a new generation with the requisite cultural values and communication competencies to become citizens of an international global community (Section 3.1, Chapter 2, Green Paper on Higher Education, 1996) (my italics).

1

SADC – Southern African Development Community. Please refer to www.thutong.org.za for more detail. 3 Please refer to www.gautengonline.com for more detail. 2

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The overarching recommendation for the use of ICTs is joining the competitive global economic market, and the borderless world of ICTs is proposed as a route to global participation. Thus higher education is seen as playing a pivotal role in preparing the youth for the knowledge and information society. The Green Paper suggests further that one of the measures that can be introduced to improve the efficiency of the higher education system, reduce unit costs and increase productivity, is by introducing new teaching and learning strategies such as open and resource-based learning which are less labor-intensive. The document proposes that that this would lead to significant changes in traditional modes of programme delivery and staff-student ratios4. Despite the call for an ICT-based approach to global participation, the role played by ICTs in higher education teaching and learning spheres is fairly uncharted territory in South Africa. Recommendations made in discussion documents such as the Green Paper have yet to filter extensively into teaching-learning paradigms. However, studies such as those conducted over the last ten years including those by van der Merwe (2004); SAIDE5 (2000, 2003); Czerniewicz (2004), Czerniewicz and Brown (2005); Lundall and Howell (2000), and Kajee (2008) indicate a growing awareness of the value of the use of ICTs. The studies cumulatively indicate that ICTs is a growing area of research in South Africa though many of the studies also demonstrate that teachers and learners are not yet sufficiently prepared for, or trained in its use. Although studies are being undertaken in the field of ICTs within an educational context, applied research into ICT teaching-learning paradigms and pedagogies, particularly in higher education, is still in need of further consolidation. South African higher education institutions are currently in a phase of transition and transformation, and face challenges such as open learning, lifelong learning, commercialisation and quality requirements (White Paper on Education and Training, 1994; Green Paper on Higher Education, 1996). Such challenges could be answered by an ICT-based approach. For instance, the concept ‗open learning‘ encapsulates many of the features of learning in higher education, and may be defined as:      

a flexible, learner-centered approach to education, seeking to increase access to educational opportunities by removing all unnecessary barriers to learning. This involves using the full spectrum of available resources to ensure quality and cost-effectiveness in meeting diverse educational needs, including preparation of the widest possible range of learners for the process of lifelong learning (in SAIDE, 1997, p. 4).

However, my position is also that some caution in relation to the use of ICTs is necessary. As is spelt out in the documents, additional budgetary outlays are required in the form of investment in hardware, software, and the development of online materials. Further concerns are expressed about ICT utilization and its sustainability. Also, if such a technological approach were to be adopted extensively in South Africa and elsewhere on the continent, it would have serious implications for teacher-training and professional development, as improvement in the quality of teaching-learning pedagogies involving the use of ICTs is essential.

4 5

Section 5.3, Chapter 2, Green Paper on Higher Education (1996). SAIDE – South African Institute of Distance Education.

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Therefore, although South Africa is considered a prominent player in the field of ICTs in the SADC region, the country is a relatively minor player globally, and research in the field of ICTs at macro- and micro-levels in the country is valuable within its context as a developing country. As was stated earlier, in the higher education context, researchers have begun to examine ICT-based issues. However, there is a dearth of such studies, particularly in the area of English language education, and such research can help provide insight into ICTimplementation at the level of classroom pedagogy, as well as into learners and how they construct and position themselves in relation to its use.

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CONTEXTUALISING THE STUDY Human beings communicate through diverse modes and genres, and pedagogic environments by their very nature and design are semiotic environments. Teachers and learners design, produce and receive signs across a host of genres, making the classroom a multimodal space for semiosis or meaning-making, yet meaning-making is still traditionally viewed narrowly and unilaterally in many educational contexts. The constraints of learning in classrooms are critiqued for this narrowness and literacy teachers and researchers argue for Giroux‘s (1994) notion of ‗border crossings‘ (in Stein and Newfield, 2006). Therefore, in this chapter I explore how students negotiate meaning through multiple modes and materialities in the English classroom in South Africa, using digital texts as mediating tools, by arguing that a pedagogy of multiliteracies enables students to cross borders and broaden their scope for meaning-making. I ask what happens when English additional language students engage with multiple modes in the classroom, and what implications this engagement might have for English teaching and learning in Africa. The chapter address such concerns by reviewing literature on multiliteracies, multimodality and social semiotics, then goes on to analyse students‘ multimodal texts before providing some implications for the teaching and learning of English multimodally.

NEW LITERACIES MULTILITERACIES AND MULTIMODALITIES New Literacies are associated with the changes that are intrinsic to life and the requirements to be able to communicate with a world that is changing (New London Group, 1996). In a world that privileges the written word (Kress et al, 2005) only a fragment of meaning-making is accounted for. The term ‗Multiliteracies‘ (as emanated from the New London Group, 1996), focuses on multiple semiotic terrains. In essence it refers to the multiplicity of communication channels and salience of linguistic and cultural diversity (Cope and Kalantzis, 2000). The notion of multiple forms of literacy therefore indicates a shift from an autonomous notion by challenging the idea of a single universal literacy restricted to rulegoverned forms of language (Stein and Newfield, 2006). In its pluralisation of literacy, and given that the mission of education is that all students (given especially the diverse, nontraditional student complement in South Africa) should benefit from learning in ways that allow them to participate in public, private, community and economic life (Newfield and

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Maungedzo, 2006), Multiliteracies permits students broader, multiple ways of making meaning. The term multiliteracies resonates with multimodality, therefore the focus on semiotics in this paper. In essence, multimodality in its widest sense includes a combination of semiotic modes including image, gesture, oral performance, artistic, linguistic, digital, electronic, graphic and artefact related (Pahl and Roswell, 2000; Kress and van Leeuwen, 2001). Kress (2000a, p. 187) argues that ―notext can exist in a single mode‖, and that most texts use at least two modes of communication: language and image (2000b, p. 337), therefore the need to examine texts through a multimodal lens. To add, different levels of change and practices have emerged especially with the introduction of digital and electronic media, or what Lankshear and Knobel (1997) refer to as technological literacies. Reading and writing, for instance, require new practices, such as using hyperlinks, the use of semiotics in e-mails and chat rooms, and being able to read different elements of Web sites, such as icons and menus. Technological literacies have therefore changed the landscape of what it means to learn, know and do things. Therefore learners draw on or need to learn to access the linguistic as well as other semiotic modes.

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SOCIAL SEMIOTICS Semiotics concerns itself with meaning, and sign is the central concept to semiotics, bringing together meaning and form into a single unit. However, signs as argued earlier in this chapter, are multimodal and each modality shapes meaning (Jewitt and Kress, 2003; Kress et al, 2001). Social semiotics is the study of human social meaning-making practice of all types (Thibault, 1991). Therefore, as Hodge and Kress (1988) postulate, social semiotics includes the study of how people design and interpret meaning, the study of texts, and the study of how semiotic systems are shaped by social interests and ideologies, as well as how they are adapted as society changes. The channels of meaning or semiotic modes include speech, writing, and images, thus these modes include visual, verbal, written, gestural and musical resources, as referred to earlier by Kress and van Leeuwen (2001) as multimodal resources. The premise is that meaning is made (my italics) and the task of social semiotics is to develop the framework for how this occurs. Meanings are jointly made by participants in some social activity structure such as classrooms - by construing semiotic relations among social patterns and practices. However, one of the weak links in our schools is that teachers do not have a sufficiently strong semiotic sense as often this is neglected in their pre- and inservice development.

THE STUDY Students were tasked in a university English course with writing and presenting stories that they felt were representations of their lived experiences, using multimodal texts as mediating tools. Student choice included a range of modal representations such as digital presentations, blogs, visual images and performance poetry. A selection of these digital texts

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(to maintain objectivity) will be analysed within a multimodal framework to show how students constructed their identities around the new digital texts. A random convenience sample of two Powerpoint presentations6 (to maintain objectivity) are described visually and verbally in this paper, then analysed in relation to how the students constructed their identities through their multimodal representations, and through a process of designing to illustrate how they engaged in meaning-making. All students were required to present their multimodal texts to the class, and the class showed great enthusiasm in discussing, even at times participating in the presentations.

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FANISA’S DIGITAL REPRESENTATION: FANISA’S HIGH SCHOOL LIFE Fanisa called her story ― Fanisa‘s high school life: fun, friends, teachers and Limpopo‖. The seventeen slide presentation was designed around a standard Powerpoint template using brightly coloured crayons as a backdrop. The presentation opened with a map of Limpopo province, which she calls her ―Eden‖ as well as visuals of some of the animals found in the area such as rhinoceros, then scenic pictures of rivers and mud huts reminiscent of images that would be found in travel brochures, representing the natural beauty of the povertystricken province. She went on to name the village in which she grew up, the high school she attended, and its school principal. Fanisa‘s presentation was one of those that included depth of personal details, and extracts of fond memories of her journey to university. Of note, she mentioned with pride that the school was famous for its high matriculation pass rate (90 percent since 1986, the year in which it opened). Passing matric is an important milestone, and marks the transition to university. In previous years Limpopo province was notorious for its poor pass rates. A 90 percent pass rate marks a leap in improvement, and successful schools, teachers and principals are often the focus of media attention when examination results are released. She proudly provided a scanned copy of her matric certificate. At points I include short extracts from some of the discussion that ensued during presentations to create a sense of some of their deliberations. Some of the discussion centred around Fanisa‘s presentation included the following extract: Noku: I know what you mean, everytime we must remember Limpopo, poverty, HIV...this is what is projected in the media. We must also bring in the success stories, that we can go to tertiary study and we can also do it...not only death and HIV. Mpilo: Yes, but when tourists come in it‘s about 4x4s...beauty...all of that...they must see us as also working for our future, we can go back and develop. Even black people who come back, they drive all over the place like they do not belong anymore.

Noku and Mpilo are two male students also from Limpopo province. They shared Fanisa‘s sentiments that Limpopo is not only about poverty and tourism. Their views remind us that it is the responsibility of young people to study further and to bring back their skills to the province, it is the path that young people choose when they study. They express sentiments of ambition to succeed. Noku felt that while the HIV statistics in the province are 6

One of which is being analysed for another paper from a critical stance.

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high, the province has more to offer, if we consider the perseverance of its young people. Mpilo went on to comment that successful black people from the province who return do not really fit in anymore, and display an arrogance associated with outsiders looking in. He creates the impression that they do not belong, like the tourists in their 4x4s. His use of ―us ‖ and ‗we‘ indicates that developing the province would require a collective effort. In other words people from the province must contribute to its development, and not only rely on outsiders. Fanisa then went on to provide, to some extent incongruously, a recipe for banana bread, which she said she loved because it reminded her of home. Once again she provided insights into her personal life. She also displayed photographs of her school netball team, as well as mention that she played the game at a provincial level. Her baptism in Grade Eleven marked the next slide. A further proud moment in her narrative was the small town beauty pageants she won: Miss R…..High7, Miss Anti-Crime, and Miss Zoutpansberg, as well as photographs of the crownings. She added that other learners were jealous of her achievements, which resulted in her becoming more introvert and focusing on her studies instead. This led her to university. Fanisa drew on her social experiences to create a context for her journey to university. Fanisa‘s sense of self emerged through the symbolic representation of her achievements – crowns, sports achievements, religion (baptism), and academic success (a matriculation certificate). These are symbols of her personal success, and Bourdieu‘s (1991) notion of capital is relevant here. She was accorded social capital through her signs of success, and this success gave her recognition and upward mobility, and ultimately institutional capital in the form of a university education. She is shaped by these life experiences. She positions herself very strongly as being an insider in Limpopo, even though she has moved away from home to further her studies.

SIHLE’S DIGITAL PRESENTATION: HIV/AIDS Sihle‘s seven slide presentation was dominated by a red and white colour scheme. His opening slide consisted of a red HIV/Aids ribbon against a white backdrop. He did not identify himself by name as the presenter on the opening slide, as though he wanted to create some distance between himself and his presentation. The presentation consisted of slides of a factual nature, as well as a few visual images, which did not exactly narrate a story per se, rather it presented factual representations around the pandemic. He presented the main challenges of HIV as ―l ack of political will and sustainable funding‖, (the lack of) available quality and affordable drugs; the acceleration of the prevention of HIV through ―s caling-up‖ treatment; the inability to implement a public-health approach to treatment and limited public awareness campaigns. The slide on the challenges was accompanied by a visual of Nelson Mandela wearing the 8 46664 T-shirt, and a cartoon declaring ―K eep your pants zipped‖. While he presented the harsh facts using the discourse of a health information brochure, he attempted to soften the facts by reminding us of one of the country‘s heroes, former President Mandela. Mandela is 7 8

Name of school removed for ethical reasons. 46664 was Mandela‘s prisoner number during his incarceration on Robben Island.

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depicted in a victorious stance with his hands in celebratory gesture above his head. Mandela is presented as an icon, someone to observe and to whose messages we should pay attention. His messages are important, and young people should listen – this is Sihle‘s unspoken message. The cartoon declaring ―K eep your pants zipped‖ provided a lighter note to the class who passed a few comments about zipping one‘s pants. To this Sihle scolded them by saying that this was a serious issue and that zipping one‘s pants provided the opportunity for prevention. Noku, who commented on the pandemic in Fanisa‘s presentation above wondered if this didn‘t create the impression that safety measures were the domain of men. He commented ―Whatabout the girls? They must also be active and participate in condomising‖. Sihle‘s response was that he didn‘t mean to create the impression that prevention was the domain of men: ― male, female, young old, everyone must contribute‖. This point was one that many students returned to - that HIV/Aids was not only a male issue, and that females had to be particularly active in the fight against the pandemic, even though they may feel stigmatised, for example, for carrying condoms. They disapproved strongly of stereotypical constructions of male and female rols and responsibilities surrounding the disease. Sihle‘s next slide indicated the infection rate to be five million, or 21.5 percent. He provided that KwaZulu Natal had the highest percentage of sufferers, and declared the lack of appropriate burial space to be a huge problem. He sombrely reminded us of the dire statistics by providing us with visuals of stark hospital rooms and a crowded graveyard. His visuals were designed to remind his audience of the consequences of the disease. Another slide reminded us of the dire consequences the pandemic has on the workforce not only in South Africa, but in Africa at large. This slide was accompanied by visuals of emaciated sufferers. He also presented the social impact: he stated that the youth are severely affected, and this led to ―t he collapse of social order and stability‖, as well as the collapse of social institutions. At this point the class engaged in discussion around young people studying, knowing that they are infected with the virus. The discussion centred around family and community hope that was placed on young people who went off to study at tertiary institutions, often as the first members of their families to do so. Lydia: There is always hope, there may be a cure one day. What if they get better with ARVs? Sbu: Ja...but they could provide place at university for someone else who is not sick if they know they are not surviving. Lydia: But that is a selfish view, and not democratic in the spirit of survival... You could even live ten years...twenty....

In this extract Lydia comes across as optimistic that a cure will be found, and that people on medication could live a prolonged quality life. Sbu‘s jarring reminder that tertiary education is a privilege and that space is highly contested reminds us that he is presenting a harsh bitter-sweet reality with his words. Yet all sufferers live in hope of a cure. This also reminds us of tight government control over the distribution of anti-retrovirals, and whether everyone stands an equal chance for a healthy life. This decision is not one that lies in the hands of those affected, and power is only accorded to those with control over decisions made about medication.

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An especially high impact slide proclaimed ―N o need to hide‖ and presented the story of Nelson Mandela who announced the death of his son Makgatho in 2005 to HIV/Aids. At the time Mandela stated that there was no purpose to hiding the illness that killed his son. At this point the class was reminded of the many stories they knew of in their communities of people who were victimised for declaring they had the virus. In most of the stories, confessing to the virus did not help ―or dinary people‖ and it was only if someone famous said they were HIV positive that it made a difference, said the students. Most students were adamant that the truth did not help them in their day-to-day lives. Stories abounded of people who were forced to leave home and ostracised by their communities because of their illness. Usually the women were held responsible. There were however also stories of hope: of grannies who looked after children orphaned by the disease, and of communities that rallied together for support. The corollary is also evident: exploitation in the form of neighbours claiming to support orphans and child-headed households to claim government subsidies. Sihle ended his presentation with a list of causes of HIV/Aids as unprotected sex, the exchange of needles by drug-users, blood transfusions, and prostitution. The slide was accompanied by a cartoon where a male figure says ― I have been practising safer sex for years‖ and his female companion says ―P ractice makes perfect‖. On this rather ambiguous note Sihle ended his presentation, by reminding his class mates to practice safe sex and to ―condom ise‖.

DISCUSSION

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Constructing Identities Multimodally Through digital image as text, Fanisa and Sihle were able to reconstruct and redesign their identities and social worlds, and in so doing, engage students in class who participated in discussion to rethink and reconstruct their own. As Hall (1992) argues old identities, which stabilised the social world, are in decline, giving rise to new identities and fragmenting the modern individual as a unified subject. Castells (1996) adds: In a world of global flows of wealth, power, and images, the search for identity, collective or individual, ascribed or constructed, becomes the fundamental source of social meaning. .....People increasingly organize their meaning not around what they do but on the basis of what they are (Castells, 1996, p.3).

This crisis of identity (Hall, 1992) is seen as part of a wider process of change, which is dislocating the central structures and processes of modern societies, and undermining the frameworks that gave individuals stable anchorage in the world. Thus, as indicated by Castells (1996) above, we increasingly make meaning, not on the basis of what we do, but on the basis of who we are, or believe we are. Fanisa positions herself as a young ambitious female with much hope for a democratic South Africa, and her use of visual and verbal discursive markers show this: success in school, sports achievements, images of a picturesque province, and happy people. However, through discussion her construction of identity is challenged somewhat through the vast divide in which many people in rural areas find themselves. We are therefore challenged through her texts to question if the scenery is indeed

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as picturesque as it is made out to be. Underlying messages of poverty and high HIV rates filter through. Fanisa is therefore ambivalently positioned through her multimodal text, and (re)positioned in the social world through the outcome of the class discussion. Her presentation becomes a shared semiotic moment of meaning-making. Sihle, on the other hand presents a picture based on a stark reality. His visual presentation is not couched in picturesque scenery, tranquil settings, or a personal story. He creates some distance between himself and his presentation. He presents cold hard facts that are geared to convey his message quite unemotionally, and at certain unlikely points, he includes a visual of an icon, Mandela. Other images are stark – emaciated bodies and graveyards. His cartoons are presented almost tongue-in-cheek and as an after-thought reminding us of how we should proceed. His message is strong, and he appeals to his peers that HIV/Aids is a very serious matter that cannot be taken lightly. He cautions them against promiscuous behaviour indirectly through the use of cartoons. He also believes that young people have a tremendous power to halt the progress of the disease through their behaviour. His role is that of consciousness-raising. In relation to writing in a second (or as in the case of the students in this study, additional) language, Matsuda et al (2003) show that writing is not just the accumulation of technical linguistic abilities, but is related to identity, that is, how one sees oneself and is seen by others, as a student, as a writer, and as an ethnolinguistic minority. Thus, writing is interwoven with the multiple, unstable, ambivalent identities of the students as young adults, as students, rural dwellers, and as linguistically and technologically marginalised. While this paper does not focus on writing as a skill, these ideas resonate with the production of multimodal texts as well. New technologies also produce a vast array of virtual communities (Castells, 1996, p.22), as well as opportunities for English teaching and learning. Castells (1996) emphasises that we should locate technological change in the social context in which it is taking place, and by which it is being shaped. In the case of this study, the students whose work is referred to had very few previous encounters with technology. However, in Fanisa‘s and Sihle‘s cases both were able to use and manipulate technology by using a Powerpoint programme to create slides and to record sound. Where they were unable to use personal photographs, they were able to search the Web for images which, albeit second-hand, in Fanisa‘s case she was able to incorporate into her personal story. While the students were not technologically trained, it is through digital technology that she was able to reconstruct and redesign their identities.

Meaning as ‘Design’: Design to Re-Design Knowledge and meaning are historically and socially located and produced, they are ‗designed‘ artefacts (Cope and Kalantzis, 2006). Cope and Kalantzis (2006) say that the designing of meaning consists of:  

The Designed: the available meaning-making resources, and patterns and conventions of meaning in a particular cultural context; Designing: the process of shaping emergent meaning which involves re-presentation and re-contextualisation;

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The Redesigned – the outcome of designing something through which meaningmakers have remade themselves and created a new meaning-making resource.

Through their presentations, the students‘ redesigned meaning-making enabled them to reconstruct, remake and reshape their own social identities as subjective agents of change through acts of language: written, image, gesture, digital, and performed. Variability and agency are two salient aspects of design that distinguish it from more traditional approaches of literacy pedagogy (Cope and Kalantzis, 2006). Where traditional rule-governed grammar teaching tends to propose a pedagogy of transmission, ignoring agency and subjectivity, the notion of design is the opposite: agency and subjectivity are crucial in shaping social worlds. Thus redesigning makes room for Giroux‘s border crossings (in Stein and Newfield, 2006) as referred to earlier.

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Implications for English Teaching and Learning While the contribution of a transmission approach in the teaching of English has long been debated worldwide, a multimodal approach can add to the repertoire by engaging students‘ cultural histories, and harnessing their social identities. As Stein and Newfield (2007, p. 921) argue ―M odes are produced in and by the body...Bodies are repositories of knowledge, but these knowledges are not always knowable in and through language: they can be sensed, felt, performed, imagined, imaged, or dreamed.‖ The focus of the English teacher in the classroom is literacy and language, however, neither language nor literacy is only a discrete set of skills. A multimodal pedagogy does not attempt to distract from these skills, but broadens its notions. As teachers of English we need to acknowledge that different communities value skills other than writing alone, and that our students bring with them a repertoire of social histories which shape them. A multimodal approach gives rein to students by giving them space to engage and interact through their creativity and agency. As is evident from the findings reported on in this paper, students engaged in discussion stimulated by multimodal representations, creating shared semiotic moments of meaning-making. Given the possibilities of multimodal pedagogy, what we need to consider as teachers and researchers is how to rethink our current focus on transmission and subsequently how we assess in order to harness what our students bring to the classroom in the form of their own meanings through image, gesture, dress, technology, and so on. As teachers we do not have a sufficiently strong semiotic sense, which is often marginalised in our pre- and in- service training. Pre- and in-service teaching programmes in South Africa would benefit from greater input from multimodal social semiotic theory and practice. Such a focus will aid us to understand our students and their social histories.

CONCLUSION In its focus on the multimodal texts of additional language students in a classroom in Johannesburg, South Africa, this chapter set out to explore what happens when English as an

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additional language students engage with multiple modes of meaning-making in the classroom, and what implications this engagement might have for English teaching and learning. The study found that multimodality enabled students whose first language is not English to make meaning using alternate signs and symbols. Through digital visual image they were able to re-construct their identities as young black South Africans. Likewise, through discussion with students in class, they were able to construct a sense of their social world. Caught between the cusp, as it were, of a traditional background and a future that integrates a world that is dominated by the English language, they were able to interrogate who they are, where they come from, and their social responsibilities. Multimodality, through a paradigm of social semiotics has implications for teaching and learning English as an additional language by providing students with opportunities for agency and voice. The multimodal environment facilitates shared moments of learner participation, negotiation and renegotiation of meaning within the classroom as a community of practice.

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REFERENCES Castells, M. (1996). The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture. Volume 1: The of Rise the Network Society, Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing Inc. Chaka, C. (2009). Portable handheld language learning from CALL MALL to PALL. In R. de Cassia Veiga Marriot and P.L. Torres (Eds.) Handbook on research on E-Learning Methodology for Language Acquisition, pp. 539-553. Chaka, C. (2010a) Virtual Gaming A Platform for Multi-Skills and Multi-Literacies for Gamers. In Y.K. Baek (Ed.) Gaming for Classroom-Based Learning: Digital Role Playing as a Motivator of Study: Korea National University of Education, Korea, p. 252-269. Chaka, C. (2010b) From CMC Technologies to Social Participation Technologies. In R.Taiwo (Ed.) Handbook of Research on Discourse Behaviour and Digital Communication Language Structures and Social Interaction: Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria, pp. 627-641. Chisholm, L.; Dhunpath, R. and Paterson, A. (2004) The use of ICTs in the curriculum in Botswana, Namibia and Seychelles. Report presented to SACHES: Commissioned by Southern African Development Community Education Policy Support Initiative (SADC EPSI). Cope, B. and Kalantzis, M. (2006). From literacy to multiliteracies: Learning to mean in the new communications environment. English Studies in Africa, 49 (1), 1- 14. Cope, B. and Kalantzis, M. (Eds.) (2000). Multiliteracies: Literacy Learning and the Design of Social Futures. Australia: Macmillan Publishers. Czerniewicz, L. (2004) Cape of Storms or Cape of Good Hope? Educational technology in a changing environment, British Journal of Educational Technology, 35 (2), 145-158. Czerniewicz, L. and Brown, C. (2005) Access to ICTs for teaching and learning: From single aretfact to inter-related resources, International Journal of Education and Development: using Information and Communication Technology, 1 (2), 42-56. Hall, S. (1992). The question of cultural identity. In Hall, S., Held, D., and McGrew, T. (Eds.) Modernity and its Futures, Cambridge: OUP, Blackwell Publishers Ltd.

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Hodge, R. and Kress, G. (1993). Language as ideology. New York: Routledge. Jewitt, C. and Kress, G. (2003). Multimodal Literacy. New York, Peter Lang. Jewitt, C. and Kress, G. (Eds.) (2003). Multimodal literacy. New York: Peter Lang. Kajee, L. (2008) Constructing identities in online communities of practice. Oxford: Peter Lang. Kress, G (2000a). Multimodality: Challenges to Thinking about Language. TESOLQuarterly, 34(2), 337-340. Kress, G. (2000b). Multimodality. In Cope, B. and Kalantzis, M. (Eds.) Multiliteracies: Literacy learning and design of social futures. London and New York: Routledge. Kress, G. and van Leeuwen, T. (2001). Multimodal discourse: The modes and media of contemporary discourse. London: Arnold. Kress, G., Jewitt, C., Bourne, J., Franks, A., Hardcastle, J., Jones, K. and Reid, E. (2005). English in urban classrooms: a multimodal perspective on teaching and learning, London and New York: Routledge Falmer.\ Kress, G., Jewitt, C., Ogborn, J. and Tsatsarelis, C. (2001). Multimodal Teaching and Learning. The Rhetorics of the Science Classroom. London: Continuum. Lankshear, C. and Knobel, M. (1997). Literacies, texts and difference in the electronic age, In Lankshear, C. (Ed.) Changing Literacies, Buckhingham, Philedelphia: Open University Press, pp. 133-159. Lundall, P. and Howell, C. (2000) Computers in schools: A national survey of Information Communication Technology in South African schools, Education Policy Unit, University of the Western Cape. Matsuda, P. K., Canagarajah, S., Harklau, L., Hyland, K. and Warschauer, M. (2003). Changing currents in second language writing research: a colloquium. Journal of Second Language Writing, 12, 151-179. New London Group (1996). A pedagogy of Multiliteracies: designing social futures. Harvard Educational Review, 66 (1), 60-92. Newfield, D. and Maungedzo, R. (2006). Mobilising and modalising poetry in a Sowetoclassroom. English Studies in Africa 49(1), 71-93. Pahl, K. and Rowsell, J. (Eds.) (2006). Travel Notes from the New Literacy Studies. Instances of Practice. Great Britain. Cromwell Press Ltd. South Africa (1994) White Paper on Education and Training, Pretoria. South Africa (1996) Green Paper on Higher Education, Pretoria. South Africa (2001) Higher Education National Plan, Pretoria. South Africa (2004) Draft White Paper on e-Education, Pretoria. South African Institute of Distance Education (SAIDE) (2000) ICTs and South AfricanHigher Education. South African Institute of Distance Education (SAIDE) (2000) Lessons in the application of educational technology in South Africa. South African Institute of Distance Education (SAIDE) (2003) Computers in schools. Stein, P. and Newfield, D. (2006). Multiliteracies and multimodality in English in Education in Africa: mapping the terrain. English Studies in Africa, 49(1), 1-21. Stein, P. and Newfield, D. (2007). Multimodal pedagogies, representation and identity: Perspectives from post-apartheid South Africa. In Cummins, J. and Davison, C. (Eds.) International Handbook of English Language Teaching. Part 1. Springer: New York, pp. 919-930.

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Thibault, P. J. (1991). Social semiotics as praxis: text, social meaning making and Nabokov‟s Ada. US,Minnesota, University of Minnesota Press. Van der Merwe, A. D. (2004) Evaluating the integration of ICTs into teaching and learning activities at a South African higher education institution, Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Stellenbosch.

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In: Computer-Mediated Discourse in Africa Editors: Rotimi Taiwo and Innocent Chiluwa

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Chapter 4

A STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF EMERGING PARADIGMS AND PROMINENT FEATURES IN NIGERIAN SMS DISCOURSE Taiwo Abioye

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ABSTRACT This paper examines the emerging paradigms in digital discourse as exemplified in short messaging systems (SMS). Interest in SMS has recently increased appreciably in Nigeria, but less attention is given to thematic features and textual cohesion, which makes the present study pertinent. Two hundred and twenty text messages on different themes sent by educated Nigerians in different fields were randomly gathered from mobile phones of equally educated Nigerian English (precisely university lecturers) users over a period of six months. The data were subjected to a stylistic analysis based on ideational and interpersonal functions of language to ascertain whether or not innovative stylistic features are predominant in text messages used in the Nigerian socio-cultural context. The paper discusses how text messages are being used by Nigerians to bring about some positive changes in the country‘s social landscape, such as enhancing religious obligations, promoting business activities, creating awareness and building social relationships. In particular, results from the study reveal the emergence of a new variety of written informal English: the SMS variety. It equally shows the stylistic symmetry that exists between educational and economic SMS texts. The study concluded that this socio-economic synergy is capable of enhancing language skills a great deal.

Keywords: SMS, discourse, computer-mediated communication, GSM, stylistics

INTRODUCTION Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) and its communicative and pedagogical benefits is rapidly becoming one of the most dominant topics in language use. Short Messaging Systems (SMS) has triggered the emergence of new forms of written texts

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(Crystal, 2001) that have become quite significant in the field of stylistics since there is a high level of shared experiences between the senders and the receivers. The important features were in the economy of words and the effectiveness of the message. The GSM revolution began in 2001 and changed the face of the information and communication technology in Nigeria. With the return to democratic rule in 1999, the Obasanjo administration licensed two GSM service providers (MTN and ECONET) as part of its liberalization and development policy (Chiluwa, 2008 and Taiwo, 2007; 2008; 2009; 2010). According to Awonusi (2004:47), within a year of the introduction of the GSM in 2001, it had almost 1 million subscribers and had national (primary urban) spread, making the possession of a phone no longer the preserve of the upper class or nouveau riche. In 2002, the Federal Government licensed two other GSM service providers, NITEL and GLOBACOM, thereby creating competition among them and facilitating effective communication. The major challenge, however then and now, is the prohibitive telephone tariff charged by these service providers, which has been described as the highest in Africa. This has resulted in many subscribers depending on text messaging, hence the preponderance of text messages today. The growing popularity of SMS messaging, combined with the need to keep messages short in order to keep costs down, has resulted in a seemingly new variety of language; varieties of the same language or idiolects which consists of abbreviations as well as replacing letters with symbols or even creating entirely new words. Single letters are sometimes used to replace entire words and numbers can be used to replace words or parts of words. Derivation patterns of this variety are found in the following examples:  Later ---------- l8r; Why--------- y; Therefore -----------there4 or dia4 (grammatical words used as adverbs and sometimes conjunctions);  Before ---------- b4 (used as preposition, conjunction and adverb);  For---------- 4, With------------ w/ (prepositions)  See------- c, Be--------b, Ate-------8, Care---------kia or kea, Laugh------laf (verbs)  Your--------- yr or ur, Sorry----------sori (adjectives); night-------9t (noun).  Great ---------- gr8, The---------d (adjective/adverb); take-------tk (take).  Weekend ---------w/end or wkend, Answer--------ansa, Four------ 4, Fore------4 (nouns).  Something --------------s/t, sumfin, You---------u (pronouns)  Between ------------btwn or btw, Through----------tru or 2ru (prepositions/adverbs)  Tomorrow -------------tmrrw or 2moro (noun/adverb)  One or won------------1 (adjective/pronoun); How-------aw (adverb); Good-------gud (adjective).  Thanks-----------tnx or 10x, Dreams-----------drmz (plural nouns) Too--------- 2 (adverb); Two----------2 (noun/preposition); To---------2 (preposition). Might-------mite or mait (modal verb/noun); Fine------fyn (adjective/adverb). From these examples, it is clear that most of these abbreviations are based largely on the phonetics (sounds of the words) rather than their being classified as grammatical or function words of English.

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FEAUTURES OF SMS Some of the features of the SMS are derived from literature (as discussed in this study), while the others are from different examples found in the sample texts. Unique Writing System with Letter and Number Subversion: SMS language or Textese (Crystal, 2008). English language slang used in mobile phones, is an abbreviated form of English which can be used alongside the predictive text input. This type of language does not always obey or follow the rules of Standard English grammar. Furthermore, the words used in the writing system may not be found in standard dictionaries. The 160-character limit encourages text messages to be kept short. The nature of text messages are thus often in the form of greetings, invitations, congratulations, jokes or love texts. Ling (2000) observes that with usually prompt response- times from communication partners, thematically coherent conversations are possible. The language use however varies. While many teenagers write out full words and sentences the way they are used in conventional writing such as are found in dictionaries, many others ensure that their messages are as economical as possible by using their own abbreviations and short cuts. Other reasons for short messages include the fact that communication with close friends/partners/family members allow one to organize messages pragmatically because a common middle ground exists. Thus, such messages serve to tie the group together through that common history or background. For example, ―Wi ll be goin 2 d Palms 2moro. Are u comin?‖ The objective of textese is to use the fewest number of characters needed to convey a comprehensible message. Hence, punctuation, grammar, and capitalization are largely ignored. The ‗dialect‘ has a few hieroglyphs (codes comprehensible to initiates) and a range of face symbols technically referred to as ― emoticons‖. The evolution of textese is inherently coupled to a strong grasp of grammar and phonetics because although it is faster to write, it takes more time to read than normal English. It is a nascent dialect of English that subverts letters and numbers to produce ultra-concise words and sentiments and the invention of mobile phone messages may be considered as its source. Short blunt conversations are acceptable since these can guide the text partner from going ‗off topic‘ and making the conversation even longer than planned. Again, the character limit forces the sender to stick to the topic. Apart from SMS, there are other forms of discourse that use the SMS style. One of such, the instant messaging or IM is a real-time, usually text-based system where messages are sent to other users. It is the transmission of an electronic message over a computer network using software that immediately displays the message in a window on the screen of the recipient. Invariably, the receiver types a reply in the message box. It then goes back and forth for as long as it can be sustained. This can be one-to-one or one-to-many, as found in this example: ―H i, long time. ……Have 2 sign out now.‖ Or in letter and number subversion, one can come up with this: ‗10x 4 all yr kia. Have a gr8 wik ahead.‘ Textiquette: There is also the etiquette factor, sometimes referred to as ―t extiquette‖. Texting is basically an extremely secretive medium of communication - like passing a note and this means one has to be very careful about what we use it for. For instance, it would be inappropriate to send a text saying one‘s beloved parent had just passed on because of the highly emotional impact of such a message. Crystal (2008) observes that in some people‘s perception, the written language seen on mobile phone screens is new and alien, and that

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some popular beliefs about texting are wrong since its graphic distinctiveness is not a new phenomenon, nor is its use restricted to the young. Intelligibility: Many texters enjoy breaking linguistic rules even though they know they need to be understood and some alter just the grammatical words (such as "you" and "be"). It has also been observed that conventional spelling and punctuation is the norm when institutions send out information messages. These institutional messages now form the majority of texts in cyberspace - and several organizations probably do not encourage the use of abbreviations, knowing that many readers may not understand them. A text has to be intelligible for it to be understood. For instance, ‗God shal answer 4 u in all things. 10q u so much‘, implies gratitude for a favour done and the textee can easily understand this. Linguistic/Stylistic Novelty: Stylistic novelty often contains juxtapositions, some of which create forms which have little precedence apart from such as found in puzzles. There are also individual differences in texting, as in any other linguistic domain. The fact that texting is a relatively unstandardized mode of communication (without a dictionary, for instance), and is prone to idiosyncrasy, turns out to be an advantage in such a context, as authorship differences are likely to be easily detectable. This stylistic trait is one of the advantages of texting. Abbreviations were used as natural, intuitive responses to technological problems/puzzles and they soon became common as texters simply transferred (and then embellished) what they had encountered in other settings to the production of text messages. But the need to save time and energy is by no means the whole story of texting. When we look at some texts, they are linguistically quite complex. There are an extraordinary number of ways in which people play with language - creating riddles, solving crosswords, playing scrabble, and inventing new words. For instance, personal abbreviations not common or modified for SMS use can be classified as a novelty in the sense that it evolved from the texter. Arguably, texting may be said to erode children's/students‘ ability to read and write since texters use the unconventional orthography, particularly in the spelling pattern or orthographic presentation of words. However, Crystal (2008) states that literacy is believed to improve with texting and his argument is based on the fact that before one can write and play with abbreviated forms, one needs to have a sense of how the sounds of language relate to the letters, in addition to the knowledge of alternative spellings. For instance, ―f our and for‖ are phonologically related and as such, can be substituted with the figure ―4‖, particularly where one needs to be as brief as possible. Texting is the latest manifestation of the human ability to be linguistically creative and to adapt language to suit the demands of diverse settings. In texting what we are seeing, in a small way, is language in evolution. Thus, Crystal (2008) concludes that texting has added a new dimension to language use.

REVIEW OF RELEVANT LITERATURE The review of relevant literature in this area focuses on the different aspects of SMS text messaging that have been studied. Thurlow (2003) observes that only one third of SMS messages accomplished functional or practical goals and those texts helped to cover the psychological distance and sociability of the chat room. He identifies three pragmatic maxims basic to text messages, and these are: (1) brevity and speed (2) paralinguistic restitution and

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(3) phonological approximation. Awonusi (2004) in a sociolinguistic study examines the different implications of text messages on Nigerian English, the use of register as style and the discourse structure of the texts. He describes code switching and code mixing in text messages as ―t ext multilingualism‖ due to the peculiarities inherent in the writing styles. Smith (2006) observes how the Nigerian communication landscape has dramatically been changed by this new technology so much to the extent that in 2004 text messages were used to warn family and friends about some purported ―ki ller numbers‖ meant to kill or maim anyone who received a call from such numbers. Taiwo (2008) discusses extensively the effects of globalization on the Nigerian linguistic environment using text messages. He observes among other things that English, the major language of global internet communication, has expanded its domains of use and that a style of language has evolved through text messaging. Reid and Reid (2004) examine the sociopsychological effects of text messages on senders/recipients. This study made a distinction between ‗texters‘ and ‗talkers‘, and found out that texting offers a special kind of communicative relationship for which calls are no substitute. These texts helped to establish and maintain contacts within a fairly well-defined community/group of friends, thereby helping the texters to fulfill social and psychological functions/obligations. Rafi (2007) examines the language, gender and current practices of SMS texts through morpho-syntactic and lexical choices of male and female texters, as well as the influence of SMS language on the language of the media. He observed a significant linguistic difference between male and female texters in their ability to write long, complex and lexically dense texts. Perhaps, one of the most remarkable studies in this area is by Crystal (2008), who argues that texting could not lead to low levels of literacy and bad spelling because people must know how to spell before they can text and that texting helps improve literacy since it provides ample opportunities for exercising, reading and writing skills. Criticisms about the dangers posed by texts, particularly to students abound where it has been seen as a mask for dyslexia, poor spelling and mental laziness (See Thurlow 2005; 2009 for more on this). Chiluwa (2008a) assesses the Nigerianness of some SMS texts in English, where these texts were grouped into three, namely economic, social and personal texts. He concludes that little of the distinctiveness of Nigerian English is revealed in the messages. Chiluwa (2008b:19) investigates text messaging in the Nigerian Christian context and he observes that ―i ts individualistic nature tends to fit well into a context where genuine personal feelings toward God and man is emphasized‖. Taiwo (2010) focuses on the creativity and innovative constructions that help texters and textees (described here as ‗the thumb tribe‘, based on the dexterity with which they use their thumbs) fight all forms of injustice in a unique way. These stylistic attributes also form the focus of the present study. The relevance of these studies earlier reviewed to the present one is that although these authors have examined different aspects of text messages, most of them did not consider the subject from a stylistic perspective and the few that did failed to adequately articulate the stylistic features of SMS messages not having substantiated their claims with empirical data. This is the gap which this study intends to fill.

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METHODOLOGY

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The sample consists of 220 text messages collected over a period of six months (January to June 2009) in southwestern Nigeria. The texts were mainly religious, economic, institutional, educational, official, social, personal and romantic texts. These texts were merged and grouped thematically into four based on first the proportion of the texts in each category, and second, on the contiguity of these texts, namely: religious (40%), social/personal (37%), educational/institutional (13%) and business/economic (10%). Thus, congratulatory and romantic texts are grouped under ‗social/personal‘, while official texts also qualified to be grouped under ‗educational/institutional‘. First, the contextual situation and writer‘s intention of each text were determined under each of the groups. Predominant striking stylistic features were categorized, according to Halliday and Matthiessen (2004) under Halliday‘s metafunctions. These are the ideational knowledge /metafunction (the ideas, knowledge of a culture/, background knowledge prevalent within the society, content words that carry meaning, etc). The interpersonal knowledge/metafunction (the degrees of formality, social distance, negative or positive language and the roles that people assume as a consequence); the textual metafunction (knowledge of intra- and inter-textual contexts, conventions for the realization and organization of texts such as elements of coherence, intelligibility and how the entire text is structured). Instances of cohesion and content words linking/tying ideas, thoughts and concepts that enhance interpretation and intelligibility in the text were also highlighted. The totality of the stylistic make up of the texts was then discussed as well as their relevance to language use. For the aspect on cohesion, this study is guided primarily by Halliday and Hasan‘s (1976) views.

COHESION Halliday and Hasan (1976:4) argue that cohesion occurs when: The interpretation of some element in the discourse is dependent on that of another. The one presupposes the other, in the sense that it cannot be effectively decoded except by recourse to it. When this happens, a relation of cohesion is set up, and the two elements, the presupposing and the presupposed, are thereby at least potentially integrated into a text.

This means that cohesion is achieved through an integration of both the presupposing (anaphora) and presupposed (cataphora) elements in a given text; thus depending largely on the internal texture, relationship or link between one element and another. This suggests that the correct interpretation of messages cannot be achieved without recourse to the link tying one aspect of the message to the other either in a sentence or a group of sentences. In effect, when a text has unity or is unified by a link between one element and another, it is said to have texture; and if a text has texture, then it possesses a semantic relationship called cohesion. For instance, ― To keep Nigeria one, is a task that must be done”. In this sentence, ―atask‖ is the presupposing element while ―t o keep Nigeria one‖ is the presupposed element. This means that ―atask‖ refers back to or is anaphoric to ―To keep Nigeria one‖. In other words, the presupposing and the presupposed elements either

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intra-or inter- sentential, must agree or cohere for the meaning to be complete, and in this process, certain words may be repeated or substituted with the appropriate pronoun.

ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF TEXTS In this section, 5 texts were randomly selected from each category in the 220 texts grouped into 4 thematic perspectives, namely religious, social/personal, business/economic and educational/institutional. These are then presented in Table 1 for ease of identification. Table 1. Sample Text Messages on Religious, Social, Business and Institutional Themes THEMES

S/N R1

R2 RELIGIOUS

R3 R4 R5 S1 S2

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SOCIAL/ PERSONAL

S3 S4 S5 B1 B2

BUSINESS/ ECONOMIC

B3

B4

B5 E1 E2 EDUCATIONAL/ INSTITUTIONAL

E3

E4 E5

TEXT MESSAGES God isn‘t GLO but He‘ll rule ur wrld. He isn‘t CELTEL but He‘ll make ur life better. He isn‘t MTN but He‘ll b evriwhere u go. As u enter a new year, GO WIT GOD! As u logout of 2008 & browse in2 2009, may u doubleclick good things of life, download success,gud health,& enter www.divineexpansion.com. Hapi new year, ma. God bles dos dat cal me, favor dos dat text me, delit d credit of flashers & 4 dos who don‘t rememba me,may deir batry run down. Hapi new month. Dis mnth, God‘ll 1st take u 2 d ZENITH of joy, GUARANTEE ur ACCESS 2 success,pt DIAMOND in ur SKYE, SPRING u 2 hi STANDARD, & giv u INTERCONTINENTAL testimonies. This mnth & beyond ‗I AM THAT I AM‘ wil b yr Provaida, Dilivara, Refug, Hila, Peace, Joy& Fotres in Jesus name. Been trying to reach you. Pls call me. Am so sorry dat I dn‘t rememba 2 call on d 17 4 a birthday wish. Please 4giv. U r eva on my mind regardless of hw late. Congrats n best wishes in Jesus name. You are one of those who believe I CAN. Now that I HAVE, I should apprise you earnestly that I‘ve been awarded a Ph.D degree in English by the PG school, UI. Thanx 4 ur support. Bawo ni o? I hope the pressure of work is not too much. I‘m around and I feel like saying hello. I had a lot of wonderful things 2 say 2 u 2day then I found out God had already decreed better things 4 u. So I just said Amen. Happy Birthday Mummy. Will call you later. This is to inform our distributors that Ayoola Foods will be on exhibition @ Kaduna Trade Fair from 13 Feb. We look forward to seeing you there. Glo talk extravaganza. Start calling all lines in USA,CANADA & landlines in UK at 20k/sec. weekdays:10pm to 8am; weekends:24hrs. offer lasts til 31/01/09. rule your world. Want to save time and sweat? Simply order for your instant textured pounded yam flour guaranteed to satisfy your tastes from COOK EZEE STORES. We do home deliveries. Tap into your real potentials and achieve greatness. Meet Les Brown at the MTN Innovation Day for youths in UNILAG auditorium. Register at www.enrichedlifeng.com Dear subscriber, please renew your subscription before 12-April-09 at any DStv office or Bank that accepts DStv payments. Ignore this message if you have already paid. Please come for a short departmental meeting @ 12 noon today 6 April. Venue: Room B111. Thank you. Pls note that you‘re on duty-supervision with students in Faith Tabernacle on th SUNDAY 29 March 2009 @ the 1st Service; Hope Wing. Remain Richly Blessed. Happy Easter, your PhD course work examination comes up on the 2nd of May, 2009. Meanwhile liase with Exam officers and get all the questions for 400L makeup exams ready by Tuesday 14-17, April, 2009. Dear 2009 MDGs Resource Person, Pls submit your credentials 2 NTI office Abeokuta on or b4 Wed 10 June, 2009. Failure means u cannot participate this year. Thanks. NTI. A technical hitch has resulted in the suspension of result entry till tomorrow evening at 5pm & CSIS will remain open till 10pm for that purpose.

R = Religious, S = Social/Personal, B = Business/ Economic, E = Educational/ Institutional.

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Table 2 shows the analysis of prominent features in the texts using parameters such as contextual situation, writer‘s intention, and Halliday‘s metafunction categories at a glance. Percentage of abbreviations is derived from counting the total number of words as well as the number of abbreviations in a text and finding the percentage of the latter. For example, in Text B1 (Table 1), it is clear that there are a total of 29 words/figures and abbreviations out of which 27 are conventional words/figures (96.3%) and only 2 (3.7%) are abbreviations. Table 2. A Stylistic Analysis of Prominent Features in Nigerian SMS Discourse

THEMES

RELIGIOUS Text messages that deal with religious issues

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SOCIAL/ PERSONAL Text messages addressing social/personal issues

BUSINESS/ ECONOMIC Text messages concerning business/ economic matters. EDUCATIONAL/ INSTITUTIONAL Text messages that deal with educational/ institutional issues

Ideational function (context of use) Sent during Christmas, Easter seasons and at the start of a new month. (During festivities) Sent basically to keep in touch in order to sustain sociocultural relationships

Advertorial texts sent to promote business and enhance economic power

Sent to convey vital information about activities in educational institutions

Text codes R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 B1 B2 B3 B4 B5

Writer‘s intention

To pray Goodwill message To pray To keep in touch Birthday wishes Good news To keep in touch Birthday wishes To encourage distributorship To encourage patronage To encourage Subscription

E1 E2 E3 E4 E5

To inform

Textual meta-function Largely informal, lacking in systematicity, internally wellorganized with a high level of intelligibility. Unstandardized. Largely informal except for S3, but well structured with a high level of intelligibility particularly among the Yoruba. More formal, more standardized, with an internally wellorganized structure. Has a higher level of intelligibility. Formal, standardized, internally wellstructured with a high level of intelligibility within and outside the Nigerian sociocultural setting.

% of *ABS

Interpersonal meta-function (Language register/ tone)

40%

Declarative

23.3%

Supplicatory

48%

Mischief

54.8% 47.2%

Positive Affirmation Positive Affirmation

1.5%

Neutral

37.5%

Warm

16.7%

Congratulatory

4.7%

Warm

15.8%

Congratulatory

3.7% 10.3% 0% 4.2% 0%

Advertorial/Persuasive

Reminder

5.5% 4.0% 2.9% 13.8%

Informative

3.8

ABS = Abbreviations in each text. Cohesive elements are equally identified and discussed based on Halliday and Hasan‘s (1976) study. The findings on these tables are then discussed.

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DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS FROM THEMATIC PERSPECTIVES

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Reigious Texts (R1-R5) The contextual situation in R1-R5 (Table 2 above) is that the texts in this category are occasioned by festivities (in this case, a new month or year or a religious holiday). In R1 the 3 major GSM Service providers in Nigeria, namely GLO, CELTEL and MTN were used. Thus, R1 says even though God is not GLO, CELTEL or MTN, He will be every where (Table 2). Here, the writer‘s intention is to pray and declare that the textee will start a new year with God. Cohesive elements in the text include “God isn‟t,… but He‟ll” , the pronoun ―H e‖ also refers to God; and the repetition of ―G od‖ (the first and last words) thus tying the 3 sentences in the text together. In R2, the registers belong in the realm of computer literacy and they are universally the same as certain words have specific meanings. These are content words that provide the platform on which the texture in the text stands. ‗Log out‘ (exit); ‗browse‘ (move into); ‗double click‘ (a faster and surer way of getting to your destination); ‗download‘ (receive as much as possible, in most cases for free);‘www‘ (a homepage where you can get specific information). As in R1, the writer‘s intention is to pray for the textee. Cohesive elements include ― good things, success,‖ etc. R3 is an echo of Gen 12:3, ― I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth these” (KJV), it is an imprecation and it has the highest number of abbreviations (Table 2).The texter is asking for God‘s blessings and favour on those that call him. “Dos” (those) appear 3 times, and “deir batry” is used instead of repeating “dos”; the latter as a presupposing element. Eight major banks in Nigeria are the focus of R4. The prayer is that God will first take the textee to the ‗Zenith‟ of joy, through the other routes, (which refer to the other banks) to „Intercontinental testimonies‟. Elements of cohesion include ― joy, success, testimonies”; “u” appears 3 times and “ur” appears twice; all referring to the textee. R5 is equally a prayer which has elements of knowledge of phonetic transcriptions in such words as /hila/ for healer, /dilivara/for deliverer and /fotres/ for Fortress which all refer back to the “I AM THAT I AM”. The ideational metafunction in four of the texts was occasioned by the beginning of either a new month/year, and the effect is the prayer using different analogies. The interpersonal metafunction point to the declarative mood/attitude (R1) in declaring blessings on the textee; the supplicatory language (R2); an underlying tone of mischief and imprecation (R3), although the intention is very clear; the ‗texter-textee‘ persona in R4 and R 5 is that of positive affirmation. The textual metafunction in this category is an indication of a high level of intelligibility and a high degree of coherence within the Nigerian socio-cultural setting, particularly R1 and R4. The texts are mostly informal (since they are usually in form of prayers, supplications or positive affirmation) and not official texts sent in official situations. To a large extent, these are largely unstandardized because they invariably depend on the texter‘s frame of mind in the sense that little attention is paid to conforming to the standard orthography of the language.

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Social/Personal Texts (S1-S5)

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The texts (S1-S5) are meant to help build and maintain social relationships and responsibilities. The contextual situation is basically the need to keep in touch (S1, 2, 4, and 5), while S3 is the announcement of good news (Table 2). Elements of cohesion (S1, S2 and n‖ (which is an ellipsis and which is the same as ―Ihave been…‖) and ―m e‖, S5) include ―Bee which refers back to the texter (S1); …“ so sorry, remember, birthday, forgive,”;and they are all linked to the reason for the apology, which is highlighted by the word “late”. In S3, we have „you, you, and ur support” referring to the textee; “ I CAN, I HAVE and I‟ve been…” refers to the texter, and have, degree, support‟, are all linked to the purpose and content of the message. In S4, “Bawo ni o?”, is an instance of code-switching and the Yoruba expression for ‗how are you‘, usually addressed to a younger person is used here while ―I ‖ is repeated 3 times. S5 shows an emphasis on ― you‖ (the textee) which appears 4 times while reference to the texter appears twice thus, unifying the text. The ideational metafunction in all the texts point to the need to sustain socio-cultural relationships. The interpersonal metafunction is highlighted by the congratulatory messages (S2, 3, 5), and the need to keep in touch (S1 and S4). The textual metafunction in this category points to a thematic chunk that is largely informal (except for S3) and unstandardized, using mainly abbreviations that are sometimes personal creations of the texter as well as ellipsis in order to accommodate more words. Texters used lots of abbreviations probably knowing they would be understood because of the level of shared experiences between the texter and textee. In spite of the abbreviations and ellipsis, the texts are well structured with a high level of intelligibility within the Yoruba and Nigerian socio-cultural settings.

Business/Economic Texts (B1-5) Texts B1-B5 are business promotions and the main purpose is to create awareness, encourage patronage, subscription and distributorship. The contextual situations in texts B1, 2, 4 and 5 are easily understood even at the global level (Table 2). The language/registers used here are advertorial and these are exemplified in the content words that tie the text together to form a unified whole. These include ‗distributors (which also refers to „you‟),our is presupposed by Ayoola Foods, and ”there” refers back to the exhibition mentioned earlier (B1); “extravaganza, start calling‟ (B2); „subscriber collocates with payments‟ (B5); „potentials, greatness, register‟ all refer to the same thing (B4). B3 is context-bound: „instant textured pounded yam flour, supplied through home deliveries by COOK EZEE (earlier mentioned)‟.The ideational metafunction in the texts in this category relates to business promotion in order to enhance economic power. The ‗texter-textee‘ persona is advertorial and the mood/tone is persuasive. The textual metafunction in this category (B 1, 4, and 5) point to a thematic chunk that is more formal, and more standardized probably because the texter/textee relationship is formal and more attention is paid to conforming with standard orthographic spellings for avoidance of ambiguity and misinterpretation. This means most of the spellings (about 90%) are conventional, such as are found in formal texts and dictionaries. All the texts have internally well-organized structure that indicate the level of coherence, with a high level of intelligibility within and outside the Nigerian socio-cultural setting. B3 starts

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with a rhetorical question (meant to whet the appetite of the textee) whose answer is provided by the texter.

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Educational/ Institutional (E1-5) Texts E1-E5 are educational texts as they convey vital information and also create awareness about educational/institutional issues (Table 2). This is the contextual situation which is meant to facilitate the academic activities. Indications of cohesion include “dutysupervision, resume, PhD course work, exam officers, result entry; resource persons, your credentials …you cannot participate, etc”, are all linked together. The ideational metafunction in the texts in this category relates basically to the need to inform. The textertextee persona is informative. The textual metafunction in this category (E1-5)) point to a thematic chunk that is formal, standardized and straight forward. Most of the spellings (about 97%) are conventional. They have internally well-organized structures with a high level of intelligibility within and outside the Nigerian socio-cultural setting. This is because senders and receivers of such text messages are usually educated and are quite fluent in the use of the educated variety of Nigerian English. Also, looking at the socio-cultural background of the texting culture in Nigeria, the aim is not to maximize space, but to essentially inform. When it comes to issues of controversial authorship, a texter‘s style can be distinctive as it highlights deviations that may characterize one‘s texts. Texting is equally a plus for students of phonology and phonetics (Text R5) who use standard transcription a lot in the course of their studies. The registers are also an indication of varieties of language that are sometimes time–bound. Stylistically, B1-B5 and E1-E5 are similar in the proportion of orthographic presentations. The highest percentage of abbreviations in Groups B and E is 13.8% (E4), two texts (B3 and B5 have no abbreviations at all; whereas it is 48% in Group R (R3) and 37.5% in Group S (S2). This means Nigerian text messages in these categories have a socio-economic synergy as well as a stylistic symmetry that indicate specific situations. Although sometimes some texts get lost in transit, credit is deducted for undelivered messages, the same message may be delivered several times at the expense of the user, and other such challenges, people still prefer to text because it is cost-effective. Usually, if one could send a text message, then one can as well call that person. However, this does not follow in the Nigerian context since texts can be delivered where calls cannot go through. But people sometimes send texts when they are close enough to talk face to face probably because of the spatial privacy it affords them.

CONCLUSION This study has helped to establish the fact that SMS text messaging has spread rapidly probably because it appears to be a cost- effective and creative way for people to communicate and also because it is asynchronous in nature in terms of response. It is all about innovation, and those who are best at playing with words may tend to have a higher understanding of context in communication generally. The stylistic elegance, nuances, and innovations suggest a generational gap, social superiority (socio-economic status) and power

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play because language is power and only those who understand the language of texts have that power. All these factors can only help to enhance proficiency in language, particularly in such an English as a second language situation as Nigeria. The socio-economic synergy and the prominent features observed in this study will assist researchers interested in text messages not only in Nigeria, but around the global village. Clearly, new paradigms have emerged in SMS discourse in Nigeria.

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REFERENCES Awonusi, Victor. (2004). „Little‟ Englishes and the law of energetic: A sociolinguistic study of SMS text messages as register and discourse in Nigerian English. In Segun Awonusi and E. A. Babalola (eds). The Domestication of English in Nigeria: A Festschrift for Abiodun Adetugbo at 65. Lagos: University of Lagos Press. Pp 45-62. Bates, Anthony. (1995). Technology, Open Learning, and Distance Education. London, UK: Routledge. Chiluwa, Innocent. (2008a) Assessing the Nigerianness of SMS text messages in English. English Today 24(01):51-56. Chiluwa, Innocent. (2008b). SMS Text-Messaging and the Nigerian Christian Context: Constructing Values and Sentiments. The International Journal of Language Society and Culture. URL: www.educ.utas.edu.au/users/tle/JOURNAL/ISSN 1327-774X. © LSC2008 12. Issue 24. Pp 11-20. Crystal, David. (2001). Language and the Internet. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Crystal, David. (2008). Txtng: The Gr8 Db8. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Halliday, Michael. A.K./ Matthiessen, Christian. (2004). An Introduction to Functional Grammar (3rd edition). London: Arnold. Halliday, Michael. A.K./Hasan, Ruquaiya (1976). Cohesion in English. London: Longman group. Herring, Susan. C.(2001). Computer-mediated discourse. In D. Schiffrin, D. Tannen and H. E. Hamilton(Eds.). The Handbook of Discourse Analysis. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers. Herring, Susan. C.(2004). Computer-mediated discourse analysis: An approach to researching online behaviour. In S. A. Barab, R. Kling, and J. H. Gray (Eds.), Designing for Virtual Communities in the Service of Learning. New York: Cambridge University Press. Pp 338-376. Ling, Richard. (2005). The socio-lingusitics of SMS: An analysis of SMS use by a random sample of Norweigians. In Richard Seyler Ling and Per E. Pedersen (eds.) Mobile Communications: Re-negotiation of the social sphere 335 – 350. London: Springer. Muns, Raleigh C. (1995). "Online Scholarly Discussion Groups." Computer Mediated Communication and the Online Classroom in Distance Learning. Z. Berge and M. Collins (eds). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press. Rafi, Muhammed S. (2007). SMS Text Analysis: Language, Gender and Current Practices. TESOL France 28th Annual Colloquium. Retrieved February 15, 2008. Reid, Donna J. and Fraser J. M. Reid. 2007. "Text or Talk? Social Anxiety, Loneliness, and Divergent Preferences for Cell Phone Use." Cyber Psychology and Behavior 10(3):424-435.

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Smith, Daniel J. (2006). Cell Phones, Social Inequality, and Contemporary Culture in Nigeria. Canadian Journal of African Studies / Revue Canadienne des Études Africaines, Vol.40, No. 3, pp.496-523. Canadian Association of African Studies. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25433906 Accessed: 15/02/2011. Taiwo, Rotimi. (2007). Tenor in electronic media Christian discourse in south western Nigeria. Nordic Journal of African Studies 16/1: 75–89. Taiwo, Rotimi. (2008). Linguistic Forms and Functions of SMS Text Messages. In Sigrid Kelsey and Kirk St Armant (eds.) The Handbook of Research in Computer Mediated Communication. 969 – 982. Pennsylvania, USA: IGI Global. Taiwo, Rotimi. (2009). The Use of Socio-cultural Elements for Creativity in Nigerian SMS Texts. Journal of Linguistic Association of Nigeria (JOLAN). No 12, 99-108. Taiwo, Rotimi. (2010). ―T he Thumb Tribe‖ and Innovative English Usage: Creativity and Social Change in the Context of SMS Messages in Nigeria. California Linguistic Notes, Vol XXXV. Retrieved 25 September, 2010 from http://hss.fullerton.edu/linguistics/ cln/W10PDF/Taiwo-ThumbTribe.pdf Thurlow, Crispin. (2001). Language and the internet. In: R. Mesthrie and R. Asher (eds). The Concise Encyclopedia of Sociolinguistics: 287 - 289. London: Pergamon. Thurlow, Crispin. (2003). Generation txt? The sociolinguistics of young people's text messaging. Discourse Analysis Online 1(1). Retrieved 29 August 2008 from http://faculty.washington.edu/thurlow/papers/Thurlow (2003)-DAOL.pdf. Thurlow, Crispin. (2005). Deconstructing adolescent communication. In A. Williams and C. Thurlow (Eds.), Talking Adolescence: Perspectives on Communication in the Teenage Years (pp. 1-20). New York: Peter Lang. Retrieved March 24, 2006 from http://faculty.washington.edu/thurlow/papers/Thurlow(2005)-chapter.pdf Thurlow, Crispin/ Poff, Michele. (in press). The language of text messaging. To appear (2011) in S. C. Herring, D. Stein and T. Virtanen (eds), Handbook of the Pragmatics of CMC. Berlin and New York: Mouton de Gruyter.

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ISBN: 978-1- 62100-497-4 © 2012 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 5

LANGUAGE USE ON FACEBOOK ASYNCHRONOUS INTERACTIONAL EXCHANGES Adetunji Adegoke

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ABSTRACT Facebook is a famous social networking site constantly visited by various strata of human society with about 500 million active members around the world. It is an evolving virtual speech community and social context of language use with its marked and typical features of electronic discourse, which call for sociolinguistic attention. It is characterized by specific language use, language diversities, multilingualism, ethnic identities, age group and social class. Hence, the study examines the use of language in this genre of Computer mediated communication (CMC) with emphasis on the various sociolinguistic phenomena such as language mixing, codeswitching and Yoruba proverbs. The data comprises threads of exchanges/comments posted by Nigerian Yoruba-English bilingual users of Facebook. Fifty Nigerian Yoruba-English bilingual users‘ interactional exchanges were purposively selected for analysis. An eclectic analytical approach from linguistics, sociolinguistics and discourse analysis is adopted to analyze the data. The results showed how onlineidentity and group membership are constructed through the use of Nigerian English, Nigerian Pidgin, Yoruba expressions, especially proverbs and codemixing

Keywords: CMC, Facebook, social networking, asynchronous, exchanges, discourse

INTRODUCTION It is perhaps not an overstatement that Facebook (henceforth FB) is a new or emerging form of popular culture across the strata of the present human society, and the medium of national, transnational unity and active participation in global political, social, religious and economic issues. FB is a means to express concerns, complaints, stress, lamentations, and opinions on update on current issues around the world, and criticisms of government activities. Though it seems that social stratification is fizzling out through FB participation,

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one must not lose sight of evolving social interest groups, religious sects, communities, affiliations and classes on the Internet on FB. There are communities within this larger online community which could be delineated by culture, age, class, identity, gender, goals, purposes, religion, organization, and language use. Facebook was launched in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg. It was purposefully launched for academic and social use strictly among Harvard University students. However, today it has touched on almost every part of human life such as commerce, economics, religion, politics etc. Its expanding growth, roles, and purposes today across the globe cannot be downplayed. It is a new medium of gospel, religious affiliations, business, political campaign, advocacy, ideology, identity projection, and new way of community formation and relations. For instance, one of its political impacts was recorded in the United States of America in 2008 prior to the New Hampshire primary. It joined American Broadcasting Company (ABC) and Saint Anselm College to allow users to give live feedback about ―bac k to back‖ January Republican and Democratic debates. Users were privileged to register to vote, participate in the debates and message questions. Currently in the Nigerian political arena, FB is a new medium of political campaign, appeal and information. The Nigeria‘s President, Goodluck Jonathan, has used it in decision making, appeal making, soliciting support, and declaration of his intention to run in the 2011 general elections. He reversed his decision on a two-year ban placed on the Super Eagles of Nigeria because of the voices of Nigerian people on FB. Referring to President Goodluck Jonathan, Webster (2010) writes: ―H e also seized public momentum and stole a march on his rivals by choosing the hugely popular social networking site to announce his standing for the forthcoming presidential elections in 2011.‖ There is no doubt that FB is a growing and most famous virtual community among Nigerian users nowadays. From a participant observant experience, Nigerian users of the site do a number of activities such wedding announcements, child delivery announcement, flirting, making marriage/relationship proposals, keeping in touch with friends and classmates, sharing personal itineraries, advertisements of goods such as dresses, political campaigns, sermons, gossip, soliciting advice, registering opinions, suggestions on national issues, and criticisms of government policies. At times, friends leave messages for other friends on the assumption that they will read the message and send their responses on time. To some extent, FB has simplified social interactions and built community development. For example, a FB user solicited advice on the possible cure of a skin infection: 1) Initiator: I need a dermatologist to prescribe something I can use on ma face. Ve got skin discoloratn, and ds is d 4th time. Tink I'd prefer sometn natural sh. 2) Responder A: try something with kojic acid. 3) Initiator: Tnx Renee; tink u'd av 2 help me get it. Lol. Ow u doin? 4) Responder B: no wori i dey come massage ur face. Lol it cud b an allergic reaction 2 food or water. maybe u shud jst chek 4 a dermatologist at 7th day or at OAUTH. Au far now? 5) Initiator: I need a dermatologist to prescribe something I can use on my face. I have got skin discoloration and this is the fourth time. I think I would prefer something natural ―s ha‖ (sha – slang word to emphasize what you like or prefer or to denigrate something. The meaning is dependent on the context of its use) 6) Responder A: Try something with kojic acid

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7) Initiator: Thanks Renne, I think you would have to help me get it. Laugh aloud. How are you doing? 8) Responder B: Don‘t worry. I am coming to massage your face. Laugh aloud. It could be an allergic reaction to food or water. Maybe you should just check for a dermatologist at the Seventh-Day Hospital or Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital. How far now? The responders give different pieces of advice on how the initiator or information-seeker can get off the skin infection. Responder A suggests: try something with Kojic acid (Kojic acid i.e. skin lightening treatment), while Responder B opens the suggestion with a joke and he/she suggests a visit to the hospital to consult a dermatologist. He/She ends the turn with a question (How far now?) perhaps to change the topic or elicit more information about the initiator‘s well-being. In the preceding turn, the initiator also ends his/her turn/exchange with a question: how are you doing? The interrogations are important in the thread because they are used to elicit more information from the initiator. Though asynchronous, both the initiator and responders take turns and maintain the necessary coherence. For instance, the initiator takes a new turn by addressing (addresitivity) the first Responder, e.g, Thank Renee, I think you would have to help…(appreciation and request). Also, there are instances of abbreviations and switches to Nigerian Pidgin which perhaps make the conversation comprehensible only to members of this speech community. There are specific lexical items whose meanings are shared by members of this online community only because of their familiarity with a common real space community. For example, Seventh-Day Hospital is abbreviated as 7th day while OAUTH stands for Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex. This exposition further bolsters the thesis of this paper that elements of face to face interactions and offline practices have been imported to online/digital discourse. This sample thread demonstrates how Nigerian YorubaEnglish bilingual FB users help one another think as members of the same real space and virtual communities. It also gives a profound revelation of unceasing communal spirit and collectivism among the Yoruba.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Andoroutsopoulos and Beißwenger (2008) state that ―r esearch on Web 2.0: Platforms for social networking (e.g., Facebook, MySpace), content sharing (e.g., Flickr, YouTube) and collaborative authoring (e.g., Wikipedia, Wictionary) have not been given attention by language-oriented scholars so far, with the exception of blogs...‖ Also in his earlier work, Andoroutsopoulos (2006 cited in Thurlow and Mroczek 2011) gives specific suggestions on the new media sociolinguistics as follows:  

the need to challenge exaggerated assumptions about the distinctiveness of new media language; the need to go beyond early (i.e 1990s) computer-mediated communication‘s simplistic characterization of – and concern for – asynchronous and synchronous technologies;

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the need to shift away from an undue emphasis on the linguistic (or orthographic) features of new media language and related to this, the hybrid nature of new genres; the need to also to shift from ― medium-related‖ to more ethnographically grounded ―us er-related‖ approaches.

These suggestions call for a broader examination of new media language. Thurlow and Mroczek (2011:4) write ―… greater attention should be paid to the situated practices of new media users (i.e communicator) and the intertextuality and heteroglossia inherent in new media convergence…‖ Hence, it is important at this point to examine the specific language manifestations in online asynchronous exchanges and general behavior of FB users. The Yoruba-English bilinguals have formed an online community within the larger FB online multilingual community (Brenda and Herring, 2007) considering certain social factors such as participants‘ demographics, social contexts and realities, and the connection between users‘ offline and online practices. This study is set to answer the following questions: what are the specific sociolinguistic manifestations common/frequent among Nigerian Yoruba-English bilinguals? How do these features reflect the linguistic repertoire of Yoruba-English bilinguals? What are the possible implications of their language use on FB?

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COMPUTER-MEDIATED COMMUNICATION Throughout the history of human existence, several means have been devised by humankind to communicate with one another, for example face to face, graffiti, tattoos, telegram, letter writing, and telephone. Communicating through the internet is a recent phenomenon which started in the United States in the late 1960‘s for the purpose of facilitating transfer of computer program and data among remote computers in the interest of the country‘s defense (Levy, 1984; Rheingold, 1993 cited in Herring, 2003). It later became popular among ―com puter scientists, academic and business users in the elite universities and organizations in the 1980‘s‖ (Herring, 2003) as a means of interpersonal communication. CMC is a popular medium of communication across several groups, schools, organizations, countries in the world today, and the media of communication aside the early email, IRC are expanding with the evolution of social networking sites (MySpace, Facebook, Fanbook, and several others). CMC is described as the use of networked computers for interpersonal communication and transmission of messages to one or more persons. This form of communication could be carried out through e-mail, listserves, usenet groups, chat rooms, MUDs, or MOOs, and cell phone short message service (SMS). December (1996) defines CMC as ―t he process by which people create, exchange, and perceive information using networked telecommunications systems that facilitate encoding, transmitting, and decoding messages‖. Beside the hardware and software aspects, Romiszowski and Mason (1997) note the social aspects/dimension to the definition of CMC and swift departure from its technological focus. ―CM C, of course, is not just a tool; it is at once technology, medium, and engine of social relations. It does not only structures social relations, it is the space within which the relations occur and the tool that individuals use to enter that space‖ (Jones, 1995). This definition exposes one to a social dimension and perspective into research in CMC. Therefore, identity, class, age, race, and

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gender construction as part of online behavior could be studied through CMC modes and language use (Herring, 2000; 2003; Hulfaker and Calvert, 2005). CMC media can be classified into two: synchronous (real time) and asynchronous (delayed time). Herring (2003) refers to this as medium variables. Synchronous computer mediated communication is between two or more persons talking on the telephone, Instant Real Chat (IRC), real-time chat such as yahoo messenger, facebook chat, etc. Asynchronous communication involves the cell phone (SMS), MMS and emails which do not demand the Internet users to log on at the same time in order to send or receive the messages or information; rather, the information or messages are kept in the addressee‘s inbox, phone, or wall in the case of FB asynchronous interactional exchanges until they are read. Each of them has peculiar characteristics in terms of the use of language. Computer mediated discourse (CMD) and Computer Mediated Discourse Analysis (CMDA). CMD, simply put, is the use of language and language use on the Internet or computer environments. Herring (2003) defines it as ―i s a specialization within the broader interdisciplinary study of computer-mediated communication (CMC) distinguished by its focus on language and language use in computer networked environment…‖ Andoroutsopoulos and Beißwenger (2008) citing (Herring, 2001, 2004) argue that Computermediated discourse (CMD) includes all kinds of interpersonal communication carried out on the Internet, e.g., by email, instant messaging, web discussion boards, and chat channels. It might be clearer if the term ―di scourse‖ in CMD is comprehended as the use of written and spoken language in a social context, either on face to face or computer mediated communication. It is important to note as well that CMD has drawn scholarly attention from linguistics, sociolinguistics, pragmatics, semiotic, and cultural studies. CMDA, on the other hand, is a research approach to CMD or online interactive behavior. Herring (2004) writes that CMDA ― provides methodological toolkit and set of theoretical lenses through which to make observations and interpret the results of empirical analysis.‖ It can be used to study both micro-linguistic and macro-linguistic indices such as word formation, lexical choices, sentence structure, coherence, and language switching (See Cherny, 1998; Ko, 1996; Yates, 1996; Herring, 1998; Georgakopoulou, 1996 cited in Herring, (2004).

AN OVERVIEW OF EXISTING LITERATURE Research on CMC is growing in many countries and disciplines with varying theoretical perspectives and analytical paradigms. While language scholars are concerned with the transactional roles and language use in CMC (SMS, blogs, discussion forums, emails, social networking sites), the relational and functional roles of these media are the preoccupations in other fields such as medicine, language education, applied linguistics, literacy, commerce, technical education, etc. These research efforts fall beyond the immediate knowledge and interests of language researchers or scholars. For example, in foreign/second learning and acquisition (Warschauer 1996; Lee 1998; Warschauer and Healey 1998; Kern et al 2008) affirm the roles of computer and the Internet (email, chat room, Ms Word, etc) as pedagogical tools for effective language teaching and learning. Texting messaging as part of CMC according to Thurlow and Michelle (2011) is used for transactional purposes in a number of

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ways: as a recruitment strategy, pedagogical tool, as research methodology, means for reducing school truancy, as library support, political campaigning, and media broadcasting. For example in medicine, texting is used for patient reminders and aftercare treatment (Robinson, et al 2006; Weitzel, et al. 20007, Downer, et al. 2007; Leong, et al. 2006 cited in Thurlow and Michelle 2011). Language use in CMC has been investigated using different analytical approaches within the expanding aspects of linguistics – pragmatics, sociolinguistics, interactional linguistics, and discourse analysis. It is important to review a number of existing articles on CMC in Nigeria and other countries of the world. Chiluwa (2008) identifies the role of GSM textmessages in constructing Christian values, beliefs and sentiments in Nigeria. The analysis of his work shows that SMS text-messaging is used to convey faith-based pronouncement, prayer, well-wishing, admonition and assurance, appreciation, season greetings and praise to promote cooperation among church members. In another study, Chiluwa (2009) investigates discourse structures and functions of ‗419‘ emails — the Nigerian term for online/financial fraud. The study reveals that certain discourse/pragmatic strategies such as socio-cultural greeting formulas, self-identification, reassurance/confidence building, narrativity and action prompting strategies are used to sustain the interest of the receivers. Ofulue (2010) employs a different linguistic approach to analyze 419 emails and argues that unsolicited 419 emails have similar linguistic features. The findings of his work show that 419 emails have common or similar linguistic features as address message, content construction, English as Second Language (ESL) errors, and non-native English features. Chiluwa‘s (2010) article bothers on the features and manifestations of the Nigerian variety of the English language, Nigerian English (NE) in computer mediated communication, specifically in informal emails. Chiluwa argues that the new media technologies and digital communication has provided a new platform and channel to project Nigerian English with typical Nigerian cultures, habits and diverse socio-cultural practices. Chiluwa (2010), also with sociolinguistic lenses, pays attention to how people communicate their social identity and cultural matters in computer mediated communication, particularly Nigerian users of electronic emails. He identifies the most common discursive means of identity expression among Nigerian email users such as greeting forms and modes of address, religious discursive practices and assertions of native personal names. Taiwo (2008) draws attention to the gradual abandoning of traditional oral culture among the educated people due to the use of GSM and how the socio-economic and religious realities of the nation, Nigeria have constrained SMSs. The study also observes certain features of Nigerian users of GSM such as nonconventional orthographic forms and spelling, tenor consciousness, linguistic creativity, text multilingualism and predominance of local languages. Taiwo‘s (2009) study is an investigation of the use of interrogative forms of statements and their distinct meanings in threads of varying subjects on Nigerian discussion forums. The findings of his study show that most of the questions were asked in political and culture/ethnic threads. Taiwo then argues that the possible reasons for instances of interrogation in political threads might be due to the democratic nature of the electronic public space. Shoki and Wale (2009) examine from a semiotic vintage point Nigerian student internet users. It reveals the linguistic behavior of Nigerian students who use non-linguistic signs which cut across cultures to construct their messages instant message (IM). The findings reveal Nigerian students use textual signs such emotive icons (emoticons), emotive texts

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(emotexts), and abbronyms (multifarious shortenings), which have positive implications for effective computer-mediated discourse. Taiwo (2010a) studies the discourse features in asynchronous Nigerian discussion forums. His study reveals that that turn-taking process in the threads examined was rather complex because of non-sequential or coherent turns and adjacency disruptions. The participants were able to make meaningful conversation through turn-tracking device such as quoting, addressitivity and topic focus. Taiwo (2010b) examines the construction of social identity and discursive practices in Nigerian online discourse. The study shows how Nigerians at home and in the Diasporas express their socio-political concerns and affinity to Nigeria through language. He argues that the internet affords young people the opportunity to criticize government policies which is rather unsafe through the print media. Taiwo (2010c) compares the occurrence of language mixing as a linguistic phenomenon in internet forums and text messages among the Nigerian users. The variables he identifies are cultural factors, language play in text messages while in internet forums there is language mixing for identity construction and group affiliation. Onadeko (2010) examines the power relations between the opposite social agents (male and female) and discrimination against women within the Nigerian social world. His study of language use on Naijaworld chat room reveals that the status quo of stereotypical male and female representation is changing gradually as some measure or recognition is being accorded to women participants/users. Ifukor‘s (2010) article is an examination of linguistic construction of textual messages in the use of blogs and Twitter in the Nigerian general and rerun elections in April 2007 and August 2009. He opines that social media enhances the electorates‘ active participation in democratic governance, and that there is an inseparable cord between social media and political participation. Beyond the shores of Nigeria, there is a manifold research on computer mediated communication in countries and languages around the world from different linguistic perspectives and beyond, which reveal the linguistic/language peculiarities, realities and specificities of each speech community. These works touch upon topics such as language diversity on the Internet, linguistic and discourse features of CMC, gender and culture in CMC, writing systems and the internet, and language choice online (See Danet et al 2007). For instance, in discourse analysis (Nishimura 2008; Siebenhar 2008; Stommel, 2008) and sociolinguistics (Goldbarg 2009) are recent works. In Japan (Japanese CMC), we have (Nishimura 2003a; Fias and Ogura 2001; Mastuda 2002; Kim and Raja 1990). In Greece (Greece CMC), there are researchers such as (Joseph 2001; Spiliot 2005). In CMC Swahili language (Tanzania), there is Mafu (2004), and Wheeler‘s (2001) study of women use of the Internet in Kuwait and so on.). Interestingly, language scholars, as far as we know, have not directed their linguistic searchlight toward online behavior and language use on social networking sites, e‘g, Facebook, MySpace, etc.

METHODOLOGY It is a qualitative research and language-focused content analysis. Fifty sample threads of interactional exchanges/comments are purposively selected for analysis to represent Nigerian Yoruba-English bilinguals‘ online behaviors out of about 200 threads copied from FB

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friends‘ walls between June and December, 2010. These threads have varying subjects but strikingly common linguistic features. FB what is on your mind? prompts users to write whatsoever on their minds. Some could be imperative, interrogative or declarative sentences. Declarations at times could be statement of plans, itinerary, advice or information, e.g, homecoming. These usually elicit responses from other users which often lead to exchanges. The selected threads of exchanges have different subjects and topics ranging from advice soliciting, complaint about lack of infrastructures in Nigeria, materialism, to bad governance. It seems FB affords the ―com mon man‖ the medium to express their ordeals and to socialize. Sociolinguistic phenomena such as language/codeswitching, borrowing, coinages and proverbs with impoverished context are identified to explicate their socio-cultural import, for example as identity marker on FB asynchronous interactional exchanges.

DATA ANALYSIS

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Sociolinguistic Indices in the Data Herring (2004) expresses concern on the growth and spread of the English language on the Internet, particularly the promotion and popularity of American cultures, ethos and values via this medium. However, there are many languages on the Internet nowadays, particularly on social networking sites (See Danet and Herring, 2007). Language as an index of thought and identity, group marker and in-group identification among the internet users has been identified. Consequently, the common linguistic hegemony of the English language is being resisted and confronted, either consciously or unconsciously. Nigerian Yoruba-English bilinguals who are the subjects of this study use three major languages within their real and virtual speech communities. In the Nigerian sociolinguistic space, Nigerian Pidgin exists with other foreign and indigenous languages. While some scholars in Nigeria may refer to Nigerian Pidgin (henceforth, NP) as a variety of a language/language, Mafeni and Ofuani (1981) have argued that it is a language in its own right because of its separate and distinct system, structure; meaningful and systematic usage by members of its speech community; not simplified form of English because of its non-mutual intelligibility. Ofuani (1981) says ―i t serves to a reasonable degree, almost the same type of functions…in certain domains in spite of its relegation to a tertiary position.‖ Igboanusi (2008) also argues in the same line of thought with (Ofuani 1981) that Nigerian Pidgin is probably the language with the highest population of speakers or users in Nigeria, but does not enjoy any prestige or tangible function because of the thought that it is a ― bad‖ form of English. NP co-exists with indigenous languages (Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, Ibibio, etc.) and English. NP is the 'language of the street of 'the oppressed'. Nigerian Pidgin also serves as an identity marker for Nigerian students and young people in particular (Pandey and Pandey, 1993:243; Obadare, 2009 cited in Taiwo 2010b). NP is definitely common among the youth primarily for social inclusion in real space community which now has increasing use in online virtual community. It is remarkable that the English language has been pidginize and creolized in Nigeria. Therefore, there is a Nigerian variety of English, Nigerian English (NE). This variety reveals

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the Nigerian socio-cultural coloration of the English Language. Arguably, the co-existence of these languages or varieties has caused codeswitching as a sociolinguistic phenomenon. Instances of language mixing/codeswitching are present in the following sample: 1) Initiator: To you my friend(s): Happy Merry Jingle Joy-tastic Season‘s Holiday Greetings this Christmas! Jingle Bells may ring but you really rock! Have a merry, merry Christmas! 2) Responder A: E seun. Back to the sender 3) Responder B: hw u doin my lady 4) Initiator: hey mide....wats up? 5) Responder C: Aunty tolu mi, how're u? long time e tie mail wa mo,se ti gbagbe wa ni?hope u're hearing frm the Ajayi's.merry xmas to you.take care of yourself,we're really going to miss u this xmas. 6) Initiator: aww..... e n tan mi abi?....ok...lm very fine o...and was so busy... e mabinu simi.... mi o gbagbe yin o..... hope ur good too? how are my super babies...?... e ba mi toju won daada o.... ^and kip my xmas chicken o... and dont miss me too much o... i shuld call on xmas..... my love to daniel, moyin, baby first and othrs (lyk bussy..lol) cn follow.... 7) Initiator: To you my friend(s): Happy Merry Jingle Joy-tastic Season‘s Holiday Greetings this Christmas! Jingle Bells may ring but you really rock! Have a merry, merry Christmas! 8) Responder A: Thank you. Back to the sender 9) Responder B: How are you doing lady? 10) Responder C: My Aunty Tolu, how are you? Long time. You have ceased mailing us. You have abandoned us? I hope you are hearing from the Ajayi's. Merry Christmas! Take care of yourself. We're really going to miss you this Xmas. 11) Initiator: Aww… (Exclamation) You are flattering me, right? Okay. I am very fine and I was so busy. Don‘t be upset with me. I have not forgotten you. Hope you are good too. How are my super babies...? Please take good care of them for me and keep my portion of Christmas chicken o. Don‘t miss too much o. I should call on Christmas…my love to Daniel, Moyin, baby first and others (Like busy. Laugh aloud) Can follow… The Responder A‘s turn is both in English and Yoruba languages. The opening sentence is Yoruba to show appreciation to someone. The sentence that follows back to the sender, pragmatically among the Nigerian young people it can replace same to you which is popularly used as response to all sorts of greetings such as the Ramadan Festival, Christmas and New Year celebration. The sentence has militaristic and offensive connotation. It simply means that the plans and machinations of the supposed enemies should boomerang in Pentecostal church prayer discourse in Nigeria, which seems like an aggressive backlash to the enemy. There is therefore an instance of semantic extension in the turn and sentence which is interpretable to only members of the speech community. Instances of intersentential code switching are prominent in Responder C‘s turn and the initiator‘s response. This is profound because it reveals the linguistic repertoires of the interlocutors and their competence in the two languages.

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Looking at the social aspect of codeswitching in the thread, the use of Yoruba language in the exchanges shows a sense of relationship or ties, and emotions which could be best expressed in the first language or mother tongue. Invariably, the topic and intention of the conversation determine the switching of codes. For example, Responder C says: Aunty Tolu mi…se e ti gbagbe wa ni? The question in Yoruba language emphasizes the relationship, intimacy and affection between the interlocutors and need for a continuous relationship. The initiator responds and apologizes in the opening sentence of her turn, which might bridge any form of gap between them: aww..... e n tan mi abi?....ok...lm very fine o...and was so busy... e ma binu simi.... mi o gbagbe yin o. aww… (Exclamation). Exclamation is used among the Yoruba speakers to show regret and sympathy. The initiator uses …abi? (equivalent to ―r ight‖ which is commonly used to seek the truth value of a statement or argument (e.g, You are there, right?). It is an instance of intersentential codeswitching within the structure. An instance of code mixing/switching (English and Yoruba) is identifiable in another thread of exchanges. We titled the posting workplace stress and complaint. 1) Initiator: God help mi ooooo, u cnnt imagined dat i slept in d office yesterday,God u dey heaven oooooooooooooooooo!!!!,give mi comfort in all my ways Aminoooooooooooooooooo 2) Top of Form

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12. Responder A: pele ore mi owo lon wa 3) Responder B: Ore,na u sabi,hw u dey?u don marry? 4) Responder A: o ku die pray for mi how is ur baby girl and wife 5) Initiator: no bi girl na boy oooo. AKO NI OGIDAN BI,God go do am 4 u Ore,no worri 6) Responder B: u dey mind eddy, ma advice 4 u bsey make u go beg tht grl wey u fokup 4 sch. Ole agba ya ore mi 7) Initiator : Ore gidi ni e 8) Responder A: ose jare ore mi olaitan,@ akin we are more or less d same so dont talk as if u are there gbeborun 10) 11) 12) 13) 14) 15) 16)

Initiator: God help me. You can‘t imagine that I slept in the office yesterday. God, you are heaven ! Give me comfort in all my ways. Amen Responder: I am so sorry, my friend. Responder B: My friend that is your problem. How are you? Are you married? Responder A: It will soon be over. Pray for me. How is baby girl and wife? Initiator: He is not a girl. He is a boy ooo, a strong and huge boy. God will attend to you problems. Don‘t worry. Responder B: Don‘t mind Eddy. My advice for you is to beg the lady you jilted while you were in school. Old for nothing, friend of mine Initiator: You are a good friend.

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Responder A: Thank you, Olaitan. Akin, we are more or less the same. So don‘t talk as if you were a busybody.

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First, the elongation of vowel /o/ in heaven ooooooooooo and amin oooooo (amen) from personal experience as members of the Yoruba-English bilingual speech community, it is a characteristic trait of Yoruba-English speakers for emphasis or to foreground their feelings and emotions in spoken discourse. It is definitely a pragmatic marker whose meaning hinges on the context and common shared knowledge among the interlocutors. This is permitted in Yoruba discourse because of its extra-linguistic and perlocutionary effects of such vowel elongation on the audience. However, when it occurs in English sentence, it is considered a sociolinguistic interference because of the contact between English and Yoruba. There are other markers of Nigerianness in the thread pointing to the relationship between the interlocutors. Pele which might be considered the Yoruba equivalent of sorry in English might convey more meaning and some higher level of empathy the responder has for the initiator in the conversation. Possibly, it might be difficult to convey in English. Pele simply means I am so sorry. There is also an instance of prominence in the exchanges. It is realized by the capitalization of the Yoruba noun phrase AKONI OGIDAN. This could be identified as motivated prominence.The phrase simply means a giant and brave person. Usually, this phrase is used to describe Yoruba warriors who were expected to be tall, huge and brave. So, the initiator constructs a mental image of his baby son as tall, huge and brave, though in a highly exaggerated manner. Besides these Yoruba lexical items, there are NP lexical items in the exchanges: no be (aren‘t you), sabi (know), na u (You are), u dey (You are..,), don (have/has/had been), etc. This following excerpt is tagged At the Saloon. Thread initiator complains of number of hours she spends at the salon to make her hair. 18) 19) 20) 21) 22) 23) 24) 25) 26) 27)

Initiator: spending hours to make hair, me im getting tired oooo...vnt eating since morning, really getting pissed right now! Responder A: na everytime u dey do ur hair? Initiator: will i not myself happy ni.... Responder B: No be yu wan fyne? Initiator: todi,abi na...u know dats my hobby!ow re u doin? femi,sebi you dey dere 4 for me...my pocket isnt gonna b hurt. Initiator: Spending hour to make hair. I‘m getting tired oooo. I have not eaten since .I‘m really getting pissed up right now. Responder A: You make your hair every time? Initiator: Won‘t I make myself happy..? Responder B: Isn‘t you that want to look fine? Initiator: Todi, you know that is my hobby. How are you doing? Femi, are you there for me? My pocket won‘t be hurt.

Responder A‘s turn is in (NP) which is equivalent to ―I s it every time you are doing your hair?‖ Instead of ‗is it‘, ‗na‘ is used, and ‗dey‘ in the sentence expresses progressive or continuous verb ‗ am making.‘ Responder B‘s: No be you wan fine? The initiator‘s last turn in thread is a mixture of Yoruba, Pidgin and African American English (AAE) todi, abi na….u know dats my hobby! ow re u doin? Femi, sebi you dey dere 4 for me…my pocket isn‟t

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gonna be hurt. Abi is repeated in this thread for confirmation or to elicit affirmation from the interlocutors. Sebi as well is used in the beginning of a polar question, that is, Yes/No questions among the Yoruba speakers. Its use in the above excerpt is for assurance that Responder B pays the bills. Gonna is also an African American English word which is equivalent to going to. These examples reveal various influences of language contact on Nigerian Yoruba-English bilinguals who could switch between different varieties of language or languages in an informal discussion such as this. This excerpt is about a FB user who is seeking information on a place to receive therapy. Initiator: A weekend at the spa on my mind...in dire need of a massage. Responder A: go aheeeead Responder B: I am game ojare, do u know whr I cld hv one? Responder C: Have fun. Responder D: me 3! Responder E: chopping life.... Responder F: No bi u alone my sister, e do me pass u sef Initiator: So na where we go come find spa o? Responder G: Go to Venivichi spa on ligali ayorinde in vi. They are d best; at least so says a friend of mine. 37) Initiator: Seyi, tanx for the info, but I can imagine venivichi would be rather pricy...

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28) 29) 30) 31) 32) 33) 34) 35) 36)

24) Initiator: A weekend at the spa on my mind...in dire need of massage. 25) Responder A: Go ahead 26) Responder B: I am game ―oj are‖ (―oj are‖ is used to express frustration or tiredness). Do you know where I could have one? 27) Responder C: Have fun. 28) Responder D: I too. 29) Responder E: You are enjoying. 30) Responder F: It‘s only you my sister. It pains me more than you. 31) Initiator: Where can we then find a spa? 32) Responder G: Go to Venivichi spa on Ligali Ayorinde in Victoria Island. They are the best at least as a friend said. 33) Initiator: Seyi, thank for the information, but I can imagine Venivichi would be rather costly. In the first the turn in the thread is a declaration, not interrogation. Interestingly, the initiator‘s friends consider it is a request, seeking information on the best place to go for body therapy. There are short responses such as have fun, I too, (me 3), go ahead and you are enjoying. All these short responses do not give any clue to the information seeker but are supporting statements, inform of imperative statements. Me 3 (I too) in the thread is an incomplete or ellipted statement and it also reveals the deviation and creativity of the Nigerian speakers of English. The English intensifier too has the same phonetic transcription as numerical adjective two. Instead of Me too (ungrammatical though) or I too, they say Me 3, which is a sheer deviation from the correct lexical choice. For example, Chopping Life… is a typical (NP) expression to convey a state of complete fun, comfort and pleasure. ―Chop ‖ is a lexical verb in (NP) which is equivalent to English

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lexical verb ―eat ‖. And the colloquial interpretation of the phrase is I‟m eating the earth. Really, among the Yoruba-English bilinguals who also use (NP), it is means I am enjoying. The Yoruba distinct expression of enjoyment or fun, using jaye or je aye (eating the earth/world) is very profound. There is no doubt that there is deep interference in the expression because it is exactly conveyed with the coloration of the Yoruba worldview of enjoyment and how it is expressed. No bi u alone my sister, e do me pass u sef” and “So na where we go come find spa o? This expression is dense with NP features and rather ambiguous abbreviations which are understandable to members of the speech community in real space and online virtual communities. The implication of these phenomena is that the Yoruba-English bilinguals and NP users who have formed an online speech community in a way has secluded other users of the social networking site, who do not speak the languages (Yoruba and Nigerian Pidgin). This situation further emphasizes how the features of real space community have dovetailed into virtual community. There is tendency in bilinguals to mix codes or languages in informal discussions, CMC inclusive.

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Yoruba Proverbs in CMC as Sociolinguistic Nuance Yoruba proverbs are wise sayings which are vehicle of personal and effective communication. Lawal (1992b) says ―pr overbs represent the quintessence of a people‘s collective wisdom sustained and transferred from generation to generation.‖ They are traditional repositories of knowledge, history, wisdom and socio-cultural experience, and concern. It is believed among the Yoruba that proverbs ―t aste sweet in the mouths of the elders‖, while the younger people take permission from the elders to use proverbs in their speeches for seasoning. Proverbs are didactic, that is, they teach moral lessons. However, the prominence of prejudices, biases, sentiments, and discrimination against sex, ethnic groups, and race in Yoruba Proverbs cannot be downplayed (See Yusuf 1997; Lawal 1992b). There are postings on FB which are Yoruba proverbs or wise sayings. From personal experience as users of the site, some of the responders do miss the information target because there is no shared knowledge, cues nor apt context to interpret and relate the proverbs to a carryover event from real space community. 34) 35) 36) 37) 38) 39) 40) 41) 42)

Initiator: "Ko je nsinmi l'obinrin gba'le fun Responder A: uhmmmm, loaded! Initiator: uhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! Responder B: AyoT, I dont understand this. Is this a sexist comment? Why havent you responded to the mail I sent you? Initiator: Sir, i havent seen your mail. i'll check my box now.my comment, i just defined tenacity in my MT (and some other strings to it anyway). i'm amazed at the tenacity of some people. Initiator: It is the tenacity of a suitor which makes a woman accepts to be his mistress Responder A: It‘s full of interpretations Initiator: interjection Responder B: AyoT, I dont understand this. Is this a sexist comment? Why havent you responded to the mail I sent you?

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Adetunji Adegoke 43) Initiator: Sir, i havent seen your mail. i'll check my box now. my comment, i just defined tenacity in ― my toasters‖ (and some other strings to it anyway). i'm amazed at the tenacity of some people

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The proverb obviously has sexist undertone and leaves the responders to figure out its meaning. It is the tenacity of a suitor which makes a woman accepts to be his mistress. It shows how men‘s persistence forces women to become infidels or mistresses. Beyond the surface level of its interpretation, it gives a picture of gender politics and accusation leveling against a gender. Responder B asks for a definite interpretation of the proverb because it is rather difficult to contextualize it and figure out what it means exactly. Other responders exclaim because they cannot explain the proverb. The interjection uhmmm… in spoken discourse among the Yoruba speakers expresses the depth of the message and wisdom of the interlocutor. The proverb certainly has double connotations of men in Yoruba society as tenacious, stubborn, and desperate in love/romantic issues. Secondly, this negative connotation of the proverb portrays Yoruba men as infidels. A milder interpretation of the proverb will portray Yoruba men as tenacious. 44) Initiator: Egbinrin ote,bi a se npa ikan.. 45) Responder A: Guy! which one come happen? 46) Responder B: @Ade: ...ni ikan n ru. @Ayo: I guess Ade is referring to d news dat just got in dat ''a container-load of heroin has been discovered at Apapa Port (AGAIN), and it came from Iran (AGAIN).'' 47) Responder A: what? the heroin is from Iran? 48) Responder C: Awe kilo tun sele? 49) Initiator: Egbinrin ote,bi a se npa ikan. 50) Responder A: Guy! What happened? 51) Responder B : @Ade: another bad event is happening (to complete the proverb) @Ayo: I guess Ade is referring to the news that just got in that ''a container-load of heroin has been discovered at Apapa Port (AGAIN), and it came from Iran (AGAIN).'' 52) Responder A: what? the heroin is from Iran? 53) Responder C: Youngman, what‘s happening? Like the first example, it is rather difficult for the responders to relate it to an event or deluge of unpleasant news in the media. Responders A, B and C exchanges are interrogations to elicit the accurate information which the proverb coveys, show their uncertainty of the issues and the social context of its meaning. Responder B‘s turn is a declarative statement. He/She gives the information as if he he/she knew what the proverb probably on the basis of the news in about the heroin from Iran. From all indications, the interpretation of Yoruba proverbs and language on FB might be a barrier to effective communication and social relations for (non)Yoruba speakers because proverbs project deep Yoruba experiential knowledge, socio-cultural experiences, events in history, worldviews, socio-political philosophies and belief systems. The ―i mpoverished‖ context of interpretation might a challenge for non-Nigerian Yoruba-English bilinguals.

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CONCLUSION The study shows that online identity and group membership is constructed through language and certain sociolinguistic manifestations. It is an examination of the YorubaEnglish bilinguals who have formed a community online. It seems the social behavior in the real space community is transferable to the virtual online community because of its interactivity, although anonymity and impersonation could be among the limitations of this virtual community.

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REFERENCES Androutsopoulos, J. (2006), Introduction: Sociolinguistics and computer-mediated communication. Journal of Sociolinguistics, Vol.10, pp. 419–438. Androutsopoulos, J. and Beißwenger, M. (2008). Data and Methods in Computer-Mediated Discourse Analysis, language@internet, Vol. 5 Retrieved January 30, 2010 from http://www.languageatinternet.de/articles/2008. Babalola, E.T. and Taiwo, R. (2009). The English Language and Code-switching/Codemixing: A Case of Study of the Phenomenon in Contemporary Nigerian hip hop Music. Itupale Online Journal of African Studies, Vol. 1, pp. 1-26. Brenda, D. and Heriing, S.C. (Eds.) (2007). The Multilingual Internet: Language, Culture, and Communication Online. New York: Oxford University Press. 443pp. Cherny, L. (1999). Conversation and Community: Chat in a Virtual World. Stanford, CA: Center for the Study of Language and Information. Chiluwa, I. (2008). SMS Text Messaging and Nigerian Christian Context: Constructing Values and Sentiments. The International Journal of Language, Society and Culture, Issue 24, 11-20. Chiluwa, C.I. (2009). The Discourse of Digital Deceptions and '419' Emails. Discourse Studies. 11(6), 1-26. Chiluwa, I. (2010). Nigerian English in informal email messages. English World Wide, Volume 31, Number 1, pp. 40-61(22). Chiluwa, I. (2010). Discursive Practice and the Nigerian Identity in Personal Emails. In Taiwo, R. (Ed.) Handbook of Research on Discourse Behavior and Digital Communication: Language Structures and Social Interaction. Pennsylvania, USA: IGI Global, pp. 112-129. December, J. (1996). Units of Analysis for Internet Communication. Journal of Computer Mediated Communication. Vol. 1 (4). Downer, S. R., John G. M., Annette, C. D. and Kannan, S.(2006). SMS text messaging improves outpatient attendance. Australian Health Review 30 (3): 389. Fais, L., and Ogura, K. (2001). Discourse issues in the translation of Japanese e-mail. Conference of the Pacific Association for Computational Linguistics, PACLING 2001, Kitakyushu, Japan: Proceedings. Retrieved March 27, 2003 from http://afnlp.org/pacling2001/pdf/fais.pdf.

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Mafu, S. (2004). From the oral tradition to the information era: The case of Tanzania. International Journal on Multicultural Societies, 6, 53– 78. Matsuda, P. K. (2002). Negotiation of identity and power in a Japanese online discourse community. Computers and Composition, In Brenda, D. and Herring, S. C. (Eds.). Multilingual Internet : Language, Culture, and Communication. Cary, NC, USA: Oxford University Press, 39– 55. Maurer, E.G. (2008). Negotiating self, sociality, and local knowledge: metadiscourse, audience design, face-work and genre in computer mediated discourse, PhD. Dissertation, The University of British Columbia. Nishimura, Y. (2003a). Linguistic Innovations and Interactional Features of Casual Online. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. Issue 1,Vol. 9. Nishimura, Y. K. (2008). Japanese BBS websites as online communities: (Im)politeness perspectives. Language@Internet, 5, article 3. Ofulue, C.I. (2010). A Digital Forensic Analysis of Advance Fee Fraud (419 Scams). In Taiwo, R. (Ed.) Handbook of Research on Discourse Behavior and Digital Communication: Language Structures and Social Interaction. Pennsylvania, USA: IGI Global, 296-317. Onadeko, T. (2010). Gender Consciousness in Computer-Mediated Discourse in Nigeria InTaiwo, R. (Ed.) Handbook of Research on Discourse Behavior and Digital Communication: Language Structures and Social Interaction. Pennsylvania, USA: IGI Global, pp. 205-217. Pandey, A. and Pandey, A. (1993). Nigerian English Today, [Review of Nigerian English Usage: An Introduction] World Englishes, 12(3),401-41. Rheingold, H. (1993). The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronics Frontier. Reading, M.A: Addison-Wesley. Robinson, S., Sarah, P., Stephanie, B., Neil H., Janet, T. and Ulrike, S. (2006). Aftercare intervention through text messaging in the treatment of bulimia nervosa - Feasibility pilot. International Journal of Eating Disorders 39 (8): 633. Romiszowski, A. J., and Mason, R. (1997). Computer-mediated communication. In D. Jonassen (Ed.), Handbook of Research for Educational Communications and Technology. (pp. 438-456). New York: Scholastic Press. Siebenhaar, B. (2008). Quantitative approaches to linguistic variation in IRC: Implications for qualitative research. Language@Internet, 5, article 4. Stommel, W. (2008). Conversation analysis and community of practice as approaches to studying online community. Language@Internet, 5, article 5. Shoki, G. and Wale, O. (2009). Semiotic Analysis of Computer-mediated Communication in Selected Instant Message. Qwerty, Vol 4, 1. Spilioti, T. (2005, July). Managing closings and intimacy in text-messaging. Paper presented at the 9th International Pragmatics Conference, Riva del Garda, Italy. In Brenda, D. and Herring, S. C. (Eds.). Multilingual Internet: Language, Culture, and Communication. Cary, NC, USA: Oxford University Press, 37. Taiwo, R. (2009). Interrogation on Online Forums: A Case Study of Nigerian Online Discourse. Gordon, S.K. Adika, Felix Abidemi Fabunmi and Akeem Segun Salawu (Eds.) Current Perspectives in Phono-Syntax and Dialectology. Winneba: Department of Gur-Gonja, Faculty of Languages, University of Education. 342-368.

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Taiwo, R. (2010a). Discourse Features in Nigerian Online Discussion Forums. In Jung-ran, Park Eileen Abels (Eds.). Interpersonal Relatives and Social Patterns in Communication Technologies: Discourse, Norms: Language Structures and Cultural Variables. Pennsylvania, USA: IGI Global Publishers, 185-201. Taiwo, R. (2010b). Social Identity and Discursive Practices in Nigerian Online Forums. In Nnamdi Ekeanyanwu and Chinedu Okeke (Eds.) Indigenous Societies, ICTs and Cultural Globalization in the 21st, is the Global Village Truly Real? Saarbruken, Germany: VDM Verlag. 70-91 Taiwo, R. (2010c). The Dynamic of Language Mixing in Nigerian Digital Communication. In Taiwo, R. (Ed.) Handbook of Research on Discourse Behavior and Digital Communication: Language Structures and Social Interaction. Pennsylvania, USA: IGI Global. 179-190. Taiwo, R. (2010). Linguistic Forms and Functions of SMS Text Messages in Nigeria, In Sigrid Kesley and Kirk St Armani (Eds.) Handbook on Research in Computer Mediated Communication, Pennsylvania, USA: IGI Global, 969-982. The Telegraph. (2010, December 22). The rise of Facebook: history of a social network. Retrieved form. The Guardian. (2007, December 22). A brief History of Facebook. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/jul/25/media.newmedia. Thurlow, C. and Mroczek, k. (2011). Fresh Perspectives on the New Media Sociolinguistics, To appear in Thurlow, C and Mroczek, K. (Eds), Digital Discourse: Language in the New Media. Thurlow, C and Michele, P. (2011), Text Messaging. In S, Herring, Stein, D. and T. Virtanen (Eds.) Handbook of Pragmatics of CMC. Berlin and New York: Mouton de Grutyer. Warschauer, M. (1996). Telecollaboration in Foreign Language Learning: Proceeding of the Hawaii, Second Language Teacher and Curriculum Center, University of Hawaii. Warschauer, M and Healey, D. (1998), Computers and language learning: an overview. Language Teaching, Vol. 31, pp. 57-71, Cambridge University Press. Webster, G. (2010, October 01). Goodluck Jonathan: The Facebook President. CNN Tech. Retrieved February 21, 2011 from http://articles.cnn.com/2010-10-01/tech/goodluck. jonathan.facebook.profile_1_facebook-fans-popular-social-networking-site-nigerianpresident? Weitzel, J., Aungst, J. M. B., Stuart, U., Darren, M. and Karen, G. (2007). Using Wireless Handheld Computers and Tailored Text Messaging to Reduce Negative Consequences of Drinking Alcohol. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs 68 (4): 534. Wheeler, D. (2001). New technologies, old culture: A look at women, gender, and the Internet in Kuwait. In C. Ess and F. Sudweeks (Eds.), Culture, technology, communication: Towards an intercultural global village. Albany: State University of New York Press, 187– 211 Yang, C. (2007). Chinese Internet language: A sociolinguistic analysis of adaptations of the Chinese writing system. Language@Internet, Vol. 4, (2). Yates, S. J. (1996). Oral and written linguistic aspects of computer conferencing. In S. Herring (Ed.), 29-46. Yusuf, Y.K. (1997). The Sexist Correlation of Women with Non-Human in English and Yoruba Proverbs, De Proverbio, Vol. 3 (1), pp.

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Chapter 6

DISCURSIVE FORMS AND FUNCTIONS OF FLAMING IN NIGERIAN ONLINE FORUMS Rotimi Taiwo

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ABSTRACT This study investigates the discursive forms and functions of flaming in two most popular Nigerian discussion forums: Nairaland and Nigerian Village Square. The data was taken from a 750,000 word corpus of Nigerian online discussion forum compiled between 2006 and 2009. Findings show that the kind of topic and the personalities in the news determine participants‘ flaming behaviour. Flaming occurred more in the context of political topics and participants frequently switched to the Nigerian Pidgin or any of the indigenous languages when expressing flaming behaviour. On the direction of flaming, 76 (56.7%) of the flames were directed at members, while 58 (43.3%) were directed at others. Name-calling and personality attack were the predominant flaming forms and political threads generate more flames than other kinds of thread. Despite being branded as an impolite behaviour, flaming has become an exciting way for the youths to use the public sphere to influence political action in the country.

Keywords: flaming, online communication, thread

forum,

uninhibition,

impolite,

computer-mediated

INTRODUCTION The Internet is the modern means of connecting billions of people spread all over the world, providing opportunities for exchange of information and interpersonal communication. Unlike the rest of the world, the penetration of internet in Africa is very limited. Internet World Stats as at March 31 2009 gave the total number of internet users in Africa as 54,171,500. This represents 5.6% of world‘s 1,596,270,108 Internet users. Of this figure, Nigeria has 10 millions users, coming next to Egypt with 10.5 million users in Africa. The Internet did not start becoming popular in Nigeria until the early 1990s. However, today, the

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Internet represents an exciting frontier for driving the socio-economic and political lives of many young educated people in Nigeria. As the networks for enhancing internet access are being expanded rapidly in the country, there is a general increase in the use of internet by Nigerians. Although the Internet is used for different purposes, such as for academics, business and socio-relational purposes, many Nigerians use the Internet for socio-relational purposes, especially for sending and receiving emails (Jagboro, 2003; Osunade, Philips and Ojo, 2007). In recent times with an increase in direct access to internet facilities at home through their WAP-enabled mobile phones, smart phones and personal computers and laptops using their phones as a modem, many Nigerians spend more time on the Internet, thereby enabling them to participate in many of the discussion forums on Nigeria and Nigerian affairs that are springing up on the Internet daily. One of the less desirable liberating effects of CMC is flaming – the deliberate aggressive interpersonal behaviour online, which results in the use of overly provocative, rude and insulting language (Abrams, 2003). Flaming is considered an impolite linguistic behaviour online. The present study investigates the discursive forms and functions of flaming in two most popular Nigerian discussion forums: Nairaland and Nigerian Village Square. The data was taken from a 750,000 word corpus of Nigerian online discussion forum compiled by this researcher between 2006 and 2009. Nigerians‘ involvement in online activities started in the early-1990s with Nigerians in the Diaspora with the formation of a news forum called Naijanet, which emphasized news from Nigeria and discussions about social and political issues facing Nigerians both ―at home‖ and abroad (Bastian, 1999). Since then, several websites have been created with focus on discussing Nigerian issues. This study drew its data from two of such websites: Nigerian Village Square and Nairaland. These websites have become points of convergence and space for active debate of issues on Nigerian socio-political issues. Conflict is a regular feature in the course of discussions in the threads and these conflicts often resort in the use of flaming statements directed either at individual members or other people. This study looks at the forms and functions of flaming in these discussions and attempts some explanations for them.

FLAMING AS AN IMPOLITE LINGUISTIC BEHAVIOUR Despite that several benefits have been attributed to CMC, scholars have identified some behaviour in CMC as negative and meant to be discouraged. Such behaviours include trolling (purposefully antagonizing others on the Internet with the primary intent of provoking them into an emotional response); spamming (posting unsolicited bulk messages indiscriminately with the intention of forcing the message on people who would not otherwise choose to receive it); cyberbullying (aggressive comments and threats against others in online contexts) (see Ramirez, et al (2010) and flaming (hostile and insulting interaction between Internet users). The latter is our concern in this paper. Just as in any face-to-face discourse, computer-mediated discourse is often characterized by conflicts between participants which often lead to the use of hostile, rude, aggressive, sarcastic, insulting, profane and provocative language (Abrams, 2003; Turnage, 2007). Flaming is considered an uninhibited linguistic behaviour (Kaynay, 1998; Turnage, 2007). Laudry (2000: 139) refers to it as ―uni nhibited and aggressive communication.‖ Lakoff

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(2005:32) describes flaming as ―t he use of immoderate and insulting language under the cloak of anonymity provided by the net‖ and concludes that ―i mmediacy, distance and anonymity encourage violations of politeness…we feel less necessity for politeness under these conditions.‖ (p. 32). Flaming is generally considered an impolite behaviour in CMC. For instance, The Internet Encycopedia identifies flaming as ―s ending an impolite and insensitive message that is perceived as an insult or violation of group norms.‖ (p. 275). Despite its being tagged as an impolite behaviour because of the likely damaging effect it could have on the targets, some scholars emphasize the playful, expressive, and even sporting aspects of flaming and believe that flaming promotes political participation and its use on internet communication has the potential to revive the public sphere with greater diversity (Papacharissi, 2004). Wang and Hong (1996) argues that flaming educates the ignorant, tames the uncouth, deters violators of rules, inhibits commercial advertisers, and promotes effective communication. Danet (2004) observes that flaming may be seen as one aspect of a partial return to oral culture in digital writing, which tends to be dynamic and playful, and which encourages interlocutors to pay attention to how messages are packaged.

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PERSPECTIVES ON FLAMING Flaming is often associated with computer-mediated communication (CMC) and in fact some scholars identify flaming as one of the effects of CMC (Lea, O‘Shea, Fung and Spears, 1992). According to the authors, the Internet allows the early users (mainly young computer professionals and hackers) to break free of the traditional spatial boundaries of communication channels and interact outside their cultural boundaries (Bidgoli, 2004: 275). Sproull and Kiesler (1991) link flaming to reduced social context cues which are most times non-verbal and not transmitted in online communication. This context therefore makes users to feel insulated and anonymous thereby helping them to cultivate deindividuation, and promote widespread depersonalization. All these contribute to behaviours that violate social standards (Joinson, 1998). Lakoff (2005: 32) observes that the combination of immediacy of talk, and the distance of traditional writing with the anonymity of internet communication encourages the flourishing of bad behaviours, such as flaming, online. According to Turnage (2007), the word ‗flaming‘ first appeared in print in The Hackers Dictionary (Steele, 1983), where it was defined as ―t o speak rapidly or incessantly on an uninteresting topic or with a patiently ridiculous attitude‖ (p. 63). Afterwards, the expression has taken on different meanings, and there is really no agreement on what really constitutes flaming in discourse. Several other scholars have tried to define flaming. According to Abrams (2003) flaming is an aggressive style of writing in which language is ― overly provocative, incendiary and/or vulgar.‖ O‘Sullivan and Flanagin (2003: 70) define it as ―aconcept that emerged from popular discourse surrounding the online community to describe aggressive, hostile, profanity-laced interactions.‖ Some other definitions of flaming see it as ― extended flare-ups of anger, profanity and insult” (Danet, 2004); ―c omputer-mediated communicative behaviors erbal aggression, blunt that are interpreted to be inappropriately hostile‖ (Thompsen, 1993); ―v disclosure, and non-conforming behavior‖ (Parks and Floyd (1996: 81); ―v erbal attacks intended to offend either persons or organizations‖ (Reinig and Majias, 2004: 699);

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"inflammatory remarks" (Bernthal, 1995); "vitriolic online exchanges, poison pen letters" (Dery, 1993), and so forth. One of the most comprehensive definitions of flaming is that of Kaynay (1998: 1137), which see flaming as: an uninhibited expression of hostility, such as swearing, calling names, ridiculing, and hurling insults towards another person, his or her character, religion, race, intelligence, and physical or mental ability.

One thing common to all the definitions is the fact that flaming suggests hostility towards others as opposed to criticism that is directed at ideas and opinions. Other indices of flaming are some typographic attributes, such as the use of all capital letters, which Cleary and Freeman (2005) note could be considered swearing or shouting. Flaming occurs in synchronous modes of CMC (eg, Internet Relay Chats and Multiple User Dungeons), as well as in asynchronous modes (email messages, postings to electronic discussion groups, newsgroups, and bulletin boards). One explanation for the prominence of flaming in CMC was given by Danet (2004):

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the fact that the speed and interactivity of the medium create the illusion of "conversation," yet correspondents cannot see one another and the text alone must carry the message. The absence of important cues to the intention behind a message, such as intonation, body language, the age, sex, and demeanor of the writer, and physical features of the setting in which the message is composed, is thought to lead recipients to misinterpret messages.

Bidgoli (2005) asserts that people are more willing to engage in socially inappropriate behaviour when they perceive the other person to be distant. Despite that the concept of flaming emerged from and is typically discussed in the context of discourse surrounding online communities and the cyberspace, limiting flaming to CMC may suggest that interactions via computer-based communication systems are so distinctive from the rest of human communication that they have no linkage to other social phenomena. O‘Sullivan and Flanagin (2003) argues that what is labeled as ‗flaming‘ can occur in interactions through other mediated channels such as letters, telephone, fax, or even in face-to-face interactions. In this study, expressions are interpreted as flaming on the basis of the definition of Kaynay above. Such interpretation is also based on the author‘s knowledge of what Nigerian language users will typically consider as uninhibited and impolite discourse within the conventions of language use in Nigeria. These interpretations are also sometimes recognized and validated by the interactants in the online discourse, as it reflects on their reactions to such expressions. The author is aware of the possibility of the use of profane, vulgar and sometimes ‗hostile‘ language as a form of play or friendly verbal jousting as a marker of relationship closeness within a close social network. Very few studies have examined the discursive behaviour of Nigerian on the Web (see Bastian, 1999; Oha, 2001; Ojo, 2005; Adeniyi, 2007; Ifukor, 2008; Taiwo, 2009). Most of these scholars focus on language use and identity formation by Nigerian on the Web. Some authors submit that Nigerians in the Diaspora create and recreate their national identity and sustain cultural memory of members beyond the limits of the geographical borders of the Nigerian nation state (Ojo, 2005). For the Nigerian Diaspora, the Internet is a democratic

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public sphere and the major point of convergence for political activism. From the early 1990s when several Nigerians were forced to relocate to the West during the regime of the despotic military ruler, Sani Abacha, most of them who were politically active started using the Internet to project their nationalistic ideals. Ifukor (2008) in a study of face claims in blogs by Nigerians, assert that the virtual face claims by Nigerians are predicated on citizenship activism. Most of these studies have underscored the important role played by the Internet in political activism of Nigerians in the Diaspora. For instance, they are quick to pontificate the government on the poor state socio-economic conditions in the country. None of the studies however has exhaustively discussed the use of flaming by Nigerians on the Internet.

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THE DATA AND METHODOLOGY The research reported in this study is based on an investigation of instances of flaming expression in some selected Nigerian discussion forums. The sample is based on extracts from CONCOMED, a corpus of Nigerian Computer-mediated English Discourse compiled by this researcher between September, 2006 and March, 2009. The corpus consists of 750,000 words postings on Nairaland Forum, The Nigerian Village Square, two websites dedicated to reporting and discussing Nigerian issues. Some of the topics covered in discussions on these websites include: politics, religion, culture, romance, education, jobs/vacancies, career, properties, health, travel, food, business, family, entertainment, technology and so forth. Interpreting a posting as a flaming behaviour is determined by the fact that such a message is recognized by the interactants as one and can be reliably identified by an observer external to the situation. We also based our interpretation on the typical meaning they evoke within the Nigerian socio-cultural context. Flaming expressions were extracted and analysed based on Herring‘s Computer-mediated Discourse Analysis (CMDA). This approach is one to researching online behavior using primarily the discourse analytic framework. The major questions we attempt to answer in the paper are the following: a) b) c) d) e)

Why do participants in Nigerian online forums flame? In what kinds of discourse contexts do flaming utterances occur? Who are the targets of their flaming expressions? Which kinds of topic typically generate flaming expressions? What kind of language is typically used for flaming expressions?

DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS Identification of instances of flaming was based on Kaynay‘s (1998) definition of flaming presented above, which includes expressions that are considered hostile, ridiculing, insulting and aimed at other person(s‘) character, religion, race, intelligence, physical and mental abilities. Apart from the researcher‘s judgement, based on the knowledge of socio-cultural norms for (im)politeness in discursive interaction in Nigeria, the reactions of other participants in the threads to the expressions (that is, they also interpreted the chosen expressions as instances of impolite expressions) also validated the choice. In addition, the

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flamers did not hide their intentions about what they were doing. Our criteria for identifying flames agree with O‘Sullivan and Flanagin‘s (2003) submission that interpretation of flaming is a function of sender/receiver/third party perspective and normative context. In the 32 threads that were analysed, 134 instances of flaming expressions were identified, 76 (56.7%) of which were directed at members of the threads and 58 (43.3%) at others. Result of data analysis reveal excessive use of name-calling and personality attack, but very few instances of profane expressions, swear-words and sarcasm. The topic of a thread oftentimes determined the direction of the flame. Most threads in the discussion forums are generated from news in Nigerian newspapers. Many of those who start threads tend to favour news items that revolve around key personalities in Nigeria and their utterances. Using extracts of speeches to construct headlines is a very common practice in Nigerian newspapers (see Taiwo, 2004). For instance, one of the threads with the title ‗Nobody can sack me‘, a statement credited to Maurice Iwu, the chairman of the nation‘s electoral commission attracted a lot of flaming expressions, mostly targeted at Iwu. This statement in itself has the potential of generating a controversy among Nigerians, going by the outcome of 2007 general elections, which Iwu presided over and was described as a ‗flawed‘ election marred by irregularities, such as widespread violence and vote-rigging. As a result of this, many Nigerians have called for the removal of Iwu. It was against this backdrop that he made the statement. Two of the flaming expressions made in the thread are:

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FL1: He‘s a stupid boy – Maurice. That is. Nor be eim fault: na fault of us wey never carey am beat am make kelebe flow from eim donkey-like mouth FL2: Ewu electoral Umpire. Oloshi Akotileta

Some news figures naturally attract flaming statements due to some roles they have played in the nation‘s political and economic life. However, it is not the case that such flaming expressions are always directed at them. Most times participants are divided on their feelings towards such people and this becomes the basis for the use of hostile and insulting expressions to confront themselves. This eventually develops into flame wars with accusations and counter accusations. The former president of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo is one of such personalities who attract flames. As one of the comments on a thread rightly puts it: OBJ‘s gist is always the sweetest and hottest on any thread. Truth is: Love him, hate him, we all just cant let him go. He is like a woman stripped naked on the street of katsina (check the thread) everyone around openly curses for adultery, YET all secretly longing to have fun with her. Protest in London today over Obasanjo‘s lecture http://www.nairaland.com/ nigeria/topic249784.0.html

OBJ is the way Nigerians popularly refer to Obasanjo. While many Nigerians believe Obasanjo‘s performance as the president between 1999 and 2008 did not yield any benefit for Nigerians, a few others believe his government during the period had moved Nigeria forward. This was the basis for the arguments in one of the thread. Below are some of the flaming statements in the thread.

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FL3: Re: Protest In London Today Over Obasanjo's Lecture « #51 on: March 19, 2009, 03:27 PM » Quote from: JJYOU on March 19, 2009, 10:00 AM: you wonder why some people went to school. nigerians keep talking about obj giving them gsm as if it is free Nigerians have been brain-washed by the wayo OBJ played in his 8-year tenure. He is the worst President Nigeria ever had and may the devil stick a billion needles in his eyes when he gets to HELL. OBJ did nothing for Nigeria. . . . . . .How much did he spend on NEPA?? What was the outcome?? The fool even had the guts to say: "Only God can sanitise NEPA". . . FL4: Re: Protest In London Today Over Obasanjo's Lecture « #77 on: March 19, 2009, 07:37 PM »: I think those writing negative comments about obj are just fools even when Christ came some people hated him, I am very sorry, there can never be a perfect president! But As far as i am concerned obj tried his best, and the people that are protesting are the ones that have never lived up to 5 years lately in Nigeria to know changes.

FL3 and FL4 above represent two different opinions on Obasanjo in the thread. While a few of Obasanjo antagonists direct their flame to him, majority of them would rather attack his supporters in the thread. For the protagonists, they direct their flaming towards Obasanjo‘s enemies in the thread. The ultimate result is flaming and counter-flaming. The result of analysis also shows that political topics tend to dominate threads in Nigerian discussion forums more than any other issues. There are a few threads on romance, technology health, business and sports, but participants hardly flame on these threads. Although there could be arguments, especially on sports threads, they hardly develop into flaming situations. One of the major concerns of this paper is the forms of linguistic elements used for flaming in Nigerian discussion forums. The use of some adjectives and nouns cut across flaming expressions in most of the threads and this may be an indication of what impoliteness suggests to Nigerians and how they will express it in conflict situations. Name-calling is a common form of impoliteness in Nigeria. It is a form of character attack that labels the opponent with offensive names. In our data, most of such offensive names suggest a direct attack on the opponent‘s intelligence. Table 1. Frequently used expression for flaming by Nigerians SN

Expression

Meaning

1

Idiot

a person with subnormal intelligence

2

Fool/foolish

a person who lacks good judgement/devoid of good sense or judgment

3

Stupid

lacking intellectual acuity

4

Dumb

slow to learn or understand

Usage in flaming As for the idiot called General IBB, I just tighten my ignore-list screw IBB can‘t be serious (Nigerian Village Square 25.01.2009) The fool that you are, are you dare measure how much of a Nigerian that I am from them confines of your cocoons of stupidity. Nigerians abroad our worst enemies, (Nigerian Village Square 29.09.2008) You are just an irritant with the brain of a dead fish. Stupid illogical reasoning. Who is better: John O‘Shea or John Obi Mikel? (Nairaland, 11.01.2009) Plz you can‘t speak broken English, becos you sound dumb, anyway am done with your retarded ass 2face shot and robbed on arrival form UK (Nairaland, 06.10.2008)

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Rotimi Taiwo Table 1. (Continued)

5

Dull

dense: slow to learn or understand

6

Silly

ludicrous, foolish

Paranoia

developing pattern of unfounded thoughts and fears, often based on misinterpretation of actual events

7

8

Moron

a person of subnormal intelligence

9

Daft

insane, mad; silly; stupid

Imbecile

a person with limited mental capacity who can perform tasks and think only like a young child

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10

11

nincompoop

a stupid foolish person

12

demented

brainsick: affected with madness or insanity

13

Dolt

a stupid person; a blockhead or dullard

This guy is dull o; imagine the excuse he could come up with after 15 years of thinking. IBB: The real reason why I annulled June 12 (Nairaland, 05.02.2009) You know you are quiet silly. I think you are just trying to rack up your threads, otherwise, there is no reason for opening a nonsensical thread like this. African and Western names (Nairaland 25.02.2009) That guy is too belligerent which I think in his own case is due to paranoia and the delusion of mind Zain Mobile Internet (Nairaland , 06.03.2009) Get some education you moron…and you will find out that Obafemi Awolowo wanted Nigeria no less than you wanted it…but he wasn‘t daft enough to plunge his region recklessly into war of liberation but used education and enlightenment. Another killing spree in Kano State- O! God (Nigerian Village Square, 01.10.2007) Daft people. They got the wrong word for ― Rebranding‖ Nigerians abroad our worst enemies (Nigerian Village Square 29.09.2008) Where did this imbecile pop out from? Hate and tribalism still runs in the blood of Nigerians (Nairaland 19.09.2008) You‘re the one that is a nincompoop, it‘s people like you that make me wonder if there‘s hope for Nigeria. You‘re cursing people for criticizing the greatest dirt that has ever touched Nigerian soil. Protest in London today over Obasanjo‘s lecture (Nairaland, 18.03.2009) Ahbego, useless creature, I do not celebrate fools and I am not gonna start with you.. a demented micrencephalous creature Homosexiuals storm National Assembly to protest move to criminalize same-sex marriage (Nigerian Village Square, 12.03.2009) The dolt (Obasanjo) was asked to come to Abuja to defend himself, he blatantly objected to going. Yet he knows how to travel all the way to London Business School to be delivering lectures. Protest in London over Obasanjo‘s lecture. (Nairaland, 18.03.2009)

Even in instances where such name-calling was expressed in the local languages, they clearly reflect an attack on the opponent‘s mental ability. For instance, name-calling is used more than profane expressions and swear-words. There were 82 (61.2%) instances of nameComputer-Mediated Discourse in Africa, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated, 2012. ProQuest Ebook Central,

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calling as opposed to 8 (5.9%) instances of profane and swear expressions. Table 1 shows some of the offensive names participants used while flaming. Not all these expressions are necessarily considered offensive in native English context. For instance, expressions like foolish (2), stupid (3) and silly (6) may be used freely by native English speakers without meaning or causing any offence, but it is considered extremely rude to use such expressions to refer to people in Nigeria. This shows clearly that there are differences in cultural attitudes and values attached to the use of these expressions. When most Nigerians use such expressions, they imply negative disposition towards the target. Scholars on new Englishes have noted that several English words have come to acquire new meanings in non-native contexts as they are domesticated. (see Awonusi, 1990; Wong, 2006; Adamo, 2007; Taiwo, 2009). Apart from the commonly used English words identified in Table 1, several sentences are also constructed to deride the level of intelligence of the opponent, suggesting low level of reasoning FL5: Are you serious? Do you have a working brain? Calling Nigerians gullible for blaming IBB. IBB: The reason why I annulled June 12 (Nairaland, 05.02.2009) FL6: Are you drunk or this is your normal level of reasoning? Why do Nigerians bring Nigeria down most? (Nigerian Village Square, 12.03.2009) FL7: I hope you are still a teenager cos your reasoning is within that premise; if you are older then I guess you are just gon some more littles just like you and that is dangerous for the future. Zain Mobile (Nairaland, 06.03.2009). FL8: You reason like my puppy back door! CAN Wants Nigerians to Carry Arms (Religious Crisis) (Nairaland, 24.02.209) FL9: You are far from being sane. I don‘t mean to abuse you like this but I just discovered a Zero link btw your faculty of Reasoning and thinking and this your old statement. CAN Wants Nigerians To Carry Arms (Religious Crisis) (Nairaland, 24.02.209)

As observed earlier, unlike the use of offensive names, profane and abusive swearing expressions are not very common in the data. This may not be unconnected with the fact that Africans attach a lot of importance to cultural taboos and swear expressions are typically forbidden and therefore avoided. However, the nature of online communication has encouraged their use, though minimally. Few of the ones used in the data are presented below. FL10: You guys need to shut the hell up. Nobody on this forum would have done better than what Obasanjo did so y‘all better shut the F up. I know a lot will come up and claim they can do it. Bullshit. If you can, run for the fucking Presidency and let me see how you‘ll do. Protest in London over Obasanjo‘s lecture. (Nairaland, 18.03.2009). FL11: @Christ4mi, u are a Bloody asshole BaSTarD, U reason like my puppy back door! CAN Wants Nigerians to Carry Arms (Religious Crisis) (Nairaland, 24.02.209). FL12: They don‘t even neeeeeeeeed to inform anybody, no one would notice if its strike or power failure. No difference. So Good riddance PHCN. Many people are unaware of your existence. To hellllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll. PHCN staff to go on strike: Very funny! (Nairaland, 20.06.2008).

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Rotimi Taiwo FL13: Whats the F.king difference. The guy has not been alive to his responsibility as the president of Nigeria since he was sworn in. So it does not make a difference he is alive or not. Is Yar‘Adua dead? (Nairaland, 01.09.2008).

Many of the flames are typically interspersed with indigenous language expressions, normally used to insult others in conflicts. Expressions from two Nigerian languages are prominent (Igbo and Yoruba) in the data. Table 2 shows the identified indigenous flaming expressions, their meanings and usage.

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Table 2. Some abusive expressions in Nigerian Indigenous languages SN

Expression

Literal meaning

Abusive meaning

1

Olosi

A poor person

A stupid and worthless person

2

Olodo

Somebody who scores zero

a dullard or dunce

3

Yeye

Ordinary, worthless

A useless or worthless person

4

Onye ara

A mad person

A person who exhibits an unreasonable behaviour

5

Anu ofia

Game, meat from hunted animals

An unrestrained person, a person out of control

6

Isi ewu

Head of a goat

A senseless person

Usage Ewu Electoral Umpire, Oloshi Nobody can sack me (Nigerian Village Square, 20.02.2009) OLODO!!! ― African American‖ is the same thing as ― African‖, is that what they told you in Spain? (Nairaland, 25.02.2009) What are they waiting for. Do they think Nigerians will come and beg them? After all the disgrace from Festac residence, they are still talking about strike. Srtrike my foot. Yeye people PHCN staff to go on strike: Vey funny! (Nairaland, 10.07.2009) Useless idiot!! Ur hubby alloy will soon give u some dosage or calm ur head down, onye ara Africans and Western Names (Nairaland, 25.02.2009) This is a insult on igbo heritage just in case you don‘t realize why do i bother thats all you have ever done here anu ofia Biafra was a hoax (Nigerian Village Square, 25.06.2008) You‘re cursing people for criticizing the greatest dirt that has ever touched the Nigerian soil, Isi-ewu 2009. Protest in London over Obasanjo‘s lecture. (Nairaland, 18.03.2009)

These abusive expressions, which are actually common forms in face-to-face verbal conflicts have been transferred to online interaction and used more freely because of the absence of the minimal identifiable information of the commentator and absence of social cues.

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DISCUSSION Nigeria, like several other African countries has been largely an oral society and the digital communication culture is still relatively new and only popular among the young educated people in some of the major cities. Verbal insults, and impolite speech have been part of everyday conflict exchange and some expressions are known to be stereotypically used. These expressions differ from one language to another. Most Nigerians are familiar with a few of them in the three major Nigerian languages, for instance, olosi, oloriburuku in Yoruba (a stupid person and an idiot); onye oshi, onye ara in Igbo (a thief and a mad person); barawo banza in Hausa (a thief and a bastard). Just like in everyday interaction, interaction on the Internet is fundamentally social, because it involves the interpretation of and response to meanings in context by interactants. As noted in popular literature, flaming behaviour is encouraged by the online media because of reduced social cues, which correspondingly leads to reduced social constraint and reduced impact of social norms (O‘Sullivan and Flanagin‘s 2003: 89). A participant in one of the forums succinctly puts it,

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In the real world, if someone does not like you they will shun you, on the Internet, if someone does not like you they will insult you. Why is there so much more ethnic sensitivity on the internet (Nigerian Village Square, 29.02.2008)

The nature of flaming online may not be exactly the same in terms of intensity of use as that of the context of face-to-face verbal interactions. They are however similar to some extent, in terms of the forms of language used. As a nation that operates in an extremely complex multilingual and multicultural situation, Nigerian politics is highly volatile and nearly every issue is politicised. Religious and socio-cultural issues are hardly separated from politics. Any discussion that bothers on these is capable of provoking flaming behaviour. Due to censorship and fear of arrest and intimidation, very few Nigerians can speak openly against government using the traditional electronic news media of television, radio and the print media. The Internet provides for them an open platform to demonstrate their freedom of expression and these Nigerians never failed to use their liberty through this medium to vent their anger on the government and its agencies and even on themselves, when they feel the need to do so. Several reasons have been adduced for manifestation of flaming and the most popular one is that flaming is an emotional reaction to a post deemed inappropriate by members of the group, especially when such post violate the accepted norms of the group (MacLaughlin, Osborne and Smith, 1995). While Nigerian participants in online discussions flame the government and its agents for their inadequacies, they flame themselves for different reasons, but the most common one being intolerance of one another‘s opinions, especially on issues they are passionate about, such as assessing leader and opinions on ethnic issues. For instance FL5 and FL10 are flames generated by differing opinions on the leadership of two former Nigerian rulers – Babangida and Obasanjo. Some topics have potential attraction for flaming. One of such is the topic on PHCN‘s intended strike posted on Nairaland. PHCN (Power Holding Company of Nigeria) is the nation‘s electricity generating company and unreliable electricity supply continues to be one frustrations Nigerian face daily. Nigerians are therefore ready to vent their anger and

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frustrations in any thread where PHCN is discussed. In a thread on PHCN a commentator posted this in reaction to several other flaming expressions. FL14: Re: Phcn(nepa) To Go On Nation Wide Strike On Wednesday « #6 on: March 29, 2009, 07:03 AM » This matter could be resolved quite efficiently if all employees of that criminal cartel called PHCN, who have made such lucrative careers out of DEPRIVING Nigeria of grid electricity, could be issued invitations to assemble in an open field, and asked to stand in orderly columns facing several trucks parked in a line. Once full attendance of all the offenders has been verified, the tailgates of the trucks could then be dropped to reveal squads of operators manning belt-fed general purpose 50 caliber machine guns, who would then simultaneously commence to light up the assembled vermin with a withering firestorm that will both mow the grass and liquefy all living entities within 200 meters. When the smoke clears and the wounded have been finished off by teams of volunteers wielding wooden clubs, the remaining organic matter can then be shovelled into the trucks and transported out to the nearest sea port for loading unto waiting barges that will float the festering mass out to sea to be dumped overboard for the benefit of the ensuing shark and barracuda feeding frenzy.

Sometimes, topics that have potential for generating flames are posted online to allow commentators to express their feelings. The result is that the thread is filled with flaming statements usually targeted at a corporate entity as in the case of the PHCN thread or an individual. Some of such topics in the data are:

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1) 2) 3) 4)

‗IBB For President?‘ (Nairaland, March 6, 2006) ‗God Made Him Gay?‘ (Nairaland, March 14, 2006) ‗Ekiti to immortalise Abacha‘ (Nigerian Village Square, September 28, 2007). ‗PHCN (NEPA) Workers to Go On Nationwide Strike On Wednesday‘(Nairaland, March 28, 2009) 5) EFCC made me poor – Alamieyeseigha (Nigerian Village Square, November 21, 2007) 6) Is Yar‘adua Trying To Islamise Nigeria? (Nigerian Village Square, May 3, 2008) 7) Abacha's Son Set to Join PDP (Nigerian Village Square, June 24, 2009) These topics have the potential of invoking sentiments based on the political (1, 3, 5 and 7), cultural (2), social (4) and religious (6) leanings of the participants in the forum. For instance, the three personalities IBB, Abacha and Alamieyeseigha have played prominent roles in the politics of the nation and the memories of their perceived atrocities while in power is still fresh in the minds of Nigerians. IBB will always be remembered for his annulment of an election adjudged by both local and international observers as the most credible in the history of the nation. Abacha‘s human rights abuses and intolerance of opposition and looting of the Nigerian treasury are issues Nigerians will never forget. Alamieyeseigha was a former governor of Bayelsa state in southern Nigeria. He was arrested in London for money laundering and disappeared from detention, only to appear in Nigeria. He was also convicted of corruption. It is however important to state at this point that some topics, which can be considered as neutral have the tendency to unify Nigerians and thus, people will not normally use flames on threads generated from such topics. For instance sports, technology, health, entertainment and

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romance threads generate less heated controversies. Sports especially football, has a way of unifying the people. There may be arguments on the abilities of players and coaches, but this does not always degenerate into flaming. As Nigerians seek relevance in the digital world, the interest of young people in digital technology is in a way helping to unify them. Most young Nigerians see threads on Technology as places to be educated, therefore flaming hardly feature there.

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CONCLUSION Flaming has been seen in this paper as an online phenomenon. As already argued the tendency to flame as well as the intensity of flaming is more in online interactions, especially in discussion forums. The study reports that more than 56% of the flaming expressions in the data were directed at members of the forums. Also, over 60% of the flaming expressions used offensive names to refer to their targets. There were also a few instances of profane and swearing expressions. It was noted that the topic of threads determine the level of flaming. While some threads will naturally attract flaming because of participants‘ negative disposition to the people and issues that surround the topic, other topics will attract less flames. Political topics for instance, have potential for generating flames, especially when they are on controversial leaders. We will conclude by this chapter by saying that Nigerians will continue to use flaming as a means of freely critiquing the state of the nation in online threads. Even though considered an impolite behaviour, the Nigerian government seems to be getting some feedback. The nation‘s minister for information recently described statements made to ridicule people in government, Nigerians and the system as ―bad -mouthing‖, when she called for rebranding the nation. Flaming behaviour by Nigerians online therefore may be one way of using the public sphere to influence political action in the country.

REFERENCES Abrams, Z. I. (2003). Flaming in CMC: Promethus‘ fire or inferno‘s. CALICO Journal 20 (2), 245-260. Adamo, G. (2007). Nigerian English. Is it – Can it be part of a quest for cultural expression and identity? English Today 23(1), 42-47. Adeniyi, A.G. (2007). Nigerian Diaspora and the virtual construction of identity. Paper presented for the Institute of Communication Studies Post-graduate Seminar, University of Leeds. Awonusi, S. (1990) Coming of Age: English in Nigeria. English Today, 6, 31-35. Bernthal, K. (1995). Online transmission of inflammatory remarks. PC Novice, 6, 39-40. Bidgoli, H. (2004). The Internet Encyclopedia. New York: John Wiley and Sons. Cleary, M., and Freeman, A. (2005). Email etiquette: Guidelines for mental health nurses. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 14 (1), 62-65.

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Danet, B. (2004). Flaming. In V. Paul Bouisaac (ur.) The Garland Encyclopaedia of Semiotics. New York: Garland. Retrieved June 12, 2009 from http://pluto.mscc.huji.ac.il/ ~msdanet/flame.html Dery, M. (1993). Flame wars. South Atlantic Quarterly, 92, 559-568. Jagboro, K. O. (2003). A study of Internet usage in Nigerian universities: A case study of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Volume 8, Number 2 – 3. Joinson, A. (1998). Causes and implications of disinhibited behavior on the internet. In J. Gackenbach (Ed.), Psychology and the internet: Intrapersonal, interpersonal and transpersonal implications, (pp. 43-60). San Diego, CA: Academic Press. Lakoff, R.T. (2005). Civility and its discontent, or getting in your face. In Lakoff, R.T. and Ide, S. (Eds.) Broadening the horizon of linguistic politeness, 23-43. John Benjamins Publishing Company. Kaynay, J. (1998). Contexts of Uninhibited Online Behavior: Flaming in Social Newsgroups on Usenet in Journal of the American Society for Information. Science 49, 1135- 1141. Laudry. E. M. (2000). Scrolling around the new organization: The potential for conflict in the online environment. Negotiation Relations, 47, 16 (2), 133-142. Lea, M., O'Shea, T., Fung, P., and Spears, R. (1992). "Flaming" in computer-mediated communication: Observations, explanations and implications. In M. Lea (Ed.), Contexts of computer-mediated communication (pp. 89-112). London: Harvester-Wheatsheaf. MacLaughlin, M. L, Osborne, K. K. and Smith, C. B. (1995). Standards of conduct of usenet. In S. Jones (ed.), Cybersociety, (pp. 90-111), Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Oha, O. (2001) 'This is what they now call reality': Otherness and the rhetoric of the hyperreal. Mots Pluriels, 18. (Special issue on ― The Net: New Apprentices and Old Masters‖, guest-edited by Mark Pegrum, Queen Margaret University College, Edinburgh). Retrieved on December 19, 2008 from: http://motspluriels.arts.uwa.edu.au/ MP1801oo.html Ojo, T. (2005). ICTs and the Construction of ―I magined African Communities‖ Online. In Brigitte, Hipfl and Theo Hug (Eds.) Media Communities. 167-188. Münster: Waxmann Verlag. flaming‖ and other problematic O'Sullivan, P., and Flanagan, A. 2003). Reconceptualizing ― messages. New Media and Society, 5(1), 69-94. Osunade, O. Phillips, O. F., and Ojo, O. (2007). Limitations of knowledge sharing in academia. A case from Nigeria. Knowledge Management for Development Journal 3 (1): 26-34. Acceseed on January 11 2009 form: www.km4dev.org/journal Papacharissi, Z. (2004). Democracy online: civility, politeness and democratic potential of online political discussion groups. New Media and Society, 16(2), 259-283). Parks, M., and Floyd, K. (1996). Making friends in cyberspace. Journal of Communication, 46 (1), 80-97. Ramirez, A., Palazzolo, K.E., Savage, M.W., and Deiss, D.M. (2010). New Directions in Understanding Cyberbyllying. In Rotimi Taiwo (Ed.) Handbook of Research on Discourse Behavior and Digital Communication: Language Structures and Social Interaction. (pp 729-744). Hershey, Pennsyvania, USA: IGI Global. Reinig, B. A., and Mejias, R. J. (2004). The effects of national culture and anonymity on flaming and criticalness in GSS-supported discussions. Small Group Research, 35 (6), 698-723.

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Sproull, L. and Kiesler, S. (1991). Connections: New ways of working in the networked organization. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Steele, G. L. (1983). The Hacker's Dictionary. New York: Harper and Row. Taiwo, R. (2009). Polysemous usage in domesticatd English varieties: A case study of the verb see in Nigerian English. Samara Alt-Linguo E-Journal, 4. Retrieved April 2 from http://samaraaltlinguo.narod.ru/ejournal/409_rtaiwo.pdf Taiwo, R. (May, 2009). Language and Cultural Identity in Nigerian Online Diaspora Community: A Case Study of Nigerian Village Square. A paper presented at The 20th Annual Association for the Study of the New Literatures in English, May 21-24, 2009, Münster,Germany. Thompsen, P. A. (1994). An episode of flaming: A creative narrative. ETC: A Review of General Semantics, 51 (1), 51-72. Turnage, A. K. (2007). Email flaming behaviours and organisational conflict. Journal of Computer-mediated Communication, 13 (1). Retrieved on 5th March, 2009 from http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/turnage.html Wang, Hongjie and Yan, Hong (1996). Flaming: more than a necessary evil for academic mailing lists. Electronic Journal of Communication, 6 (1). Retrieved on June 11, 2009 from http://www.cios.org/EJCPUBLIC/006/1/00612.HTML Wong, J. (2006). Contextualizing aunty in Singaporean English. World Englishes, 25 (3/4), 451-466.

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Chapter 7

CULTURE AND SOME UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCIES OF COMPUTER-MEDIATED COMMUNICATION (CMC) IN AFRICA Bolanle Olaniran, Natasha B. Rodriguez, Oladayo S. Olaniran and Olajide O. Olaniran

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ABSTRACT The explosion of information communication technology (ICT) or computermediated communication (CMC) media—either through mobile telephone, Internet, email among others—has allowed for global interconnection. This is often referred to as the global village, as people from rural and remote geographically dispersed areas of the world are now able to connect, communicate, and interact with one another. Nowhere, are these more evident than in some of the developing regions of the world where traditional landline telephones are often out of reach for the average person. However, the advent of cheaper mobile phones and handsets, has allowed for increased access to the digital age as a way to bridge the digital divide—although this does not eradicate it. Interactions via accompanying communication media (e.g., e-mail, Internet networks, and online collaborations) comes with certain challenges that can only be understood when one considers the role of culture from the societal contexts in which these CMC media are being utilized.

Keywords: computer-medisted communication, culture, online, digital divide, global, unintended consequencies, Internet

INTRODUCTION There has been few works concerning the role of culture in CMC and ICT usage in Nigeria—or Africa at large. Thus, the goal in this paper is to explore the role of culture in CMC while addressing the unintended consequences of adopting CMC media developed in one culture (e.g., westernized culture) for usage in another. Specifically, this paper will look

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at the dimensions of cultural variability by Geert Hofstede to analyze certain cultural dynamics and elements of Nigerian culture while focusing on specific implications of CMC technologies that may be present in that environment, as individuals engage and interact with these technologies. Among some of the specific cultural issues that will be addressed are language and linguistic implications that CMC technologies hold. Addressing language is important when dealing with Africa given its linguistic diversifications. For example, Nigeria, in particular, has three major languages, yet there are over 360 languages (Bisong, 1995; Salawu, 2006). As a result, it is paramount to explore how well CMC media allows or supports the various language needs in the region. The issue of values and belief structures will be examined as well. Whenever, technologies such as e-mails and Internet are transferred, they must be adapted from within the local culture and often, such adaptations by users do or do not align with the designers‘ intent. For instance, as CMC matures around the globe so has criminal activities such as 419 scams that has come to be attributed to Nigerian citizens around the world. This paper will attempt to address this issue while attempting to offer recommendation on how CMC might be used to help move the country forward. The authors realize that each of the areas identified in this proposal are worthy of a book in and of itself. However, the approach in this paper is to present a general overview of issues that scholars and practitioners must address, as they struggle to understand CMC technologies and begin to develop theories that help in informing CMC use in Nigeria and other African regions. First, there is a need to discuss the dimensions of cultural variability.

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DIMENSIONS OF CULTURAL VARIABILITY There are four dimensions of cultural variability consisting of power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism, and masculinity (Hofstede, 1980, 1983, 2001; see also Dunn and Marinetti, 2002 for overview of cultural value orientations and cultural dimensions). These four categories result from data collected from fifty countries and three world regions (Hofstede, 1980, 1983). Past research use these four dimensions to operationalize cultural differences and their effects on uncertainty reduction in intercultural communication encounters (Gudykunst, Chua and Gray, 1987; Olaniran, 1996, 2004; Roach and Olaniran, 2001; see also www.worldvaluessurveys.org). A brief description of the four dimensions follows. Power distance, which is explained as "the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organizations accept that power is distributed unequally" (Hofstede and Bond, 1984, p. 418). Uncertainty avoidance describes "the extent to which people feel threatened by ambiguous situations and have created beliefs and institutions that try to avoid these" (Hofstede and Bond, 1984, p. 419). Individualism-collectivism acknowledges the fact that in individualistic cultures, "people are supposed to look after themselves and their family only," while in collectivistic cultures, "people belong to in-groups or collectivities which are supposed to look after them in exchange for loyalty" (Hofstede and Bond, 1984, p. 419). Masculinity-Femininity refers to cultures "in which dominant values in society are success, money and things," while femininity refers to cultures "in which dominant values are caring for others and quality of life" (Hofstede and Bond, 1984, p. 419-420). One of the challenges

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to dimensions of cultural variability is that comparisons are relative and restricted to two objects (e.g., cultures, regions, countries etc.). Notwithstanding, these dimensions can serve as a starting point for assessing CMC use in Nigeria and the Africa region. It is noted that cultural variability among people plays a significant role while representing the foundation for which assessment must be based (Henning, 2003; Van Dam and Rogers, 2002). The impact of culture on the use of ICTs is not new. For instance, Structuration theory addresses how communication activities and actions of individuals in a social collective create a structure that both allows and "constrains" future activities (Poole and DeSanctis, 1992, 2004). Technology, therefore, influences people in structuring communication processes. It becomes an important mediator for communication at different levels. Moreover, structuration theory, by emphasizing communication, emphasizes structural properties such as rules and resources guiding communication at different levels (Giddens, 1979; Poole and DeSanctis, 2004, 1992). Poole and DeSanctis (1992) argued that rules and resources embodied in a social system are "appropriated" by actors in bringing about production and reproduction of a social system. However, the appropriation of technologies is not always for purposes intended by the designers. Therefore, one may argue that communication and technology as they constitute messages and the medium of interaction create and are created in the globalization process (e.g., Mesdag, 2000).

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Gender Disparity In Nigeria women are believed to represent the majority of the rural poor at about 70%, and they play a significant role in the survival of rural households (Kazanka and Dada, 2008). Nigerian women are involved in the agrarian economy of the country through participation in planting, harvesting, storage, and marketing but their purchasing power is estimated at $652 when compared to $1,592 for males (Kazanka and Dada, 2008). This point is important because ICTs offer users an acquired social status that further divides or reinforces gender inequities. ICTs, such as computer and mobile phone ownership is rapidly becoming another symbol of the gender gap between men and women, given that women are primarily charged with taking care of the children and elderly. Thus, they are seldom able to migrate to townships where opportunities to learn and use technologies abound (Kazanka and Dada, 2008, Mulama, 2007). The gender inequity gap between men and women‘s use of ICTs in Nigeria and other African countries alludes to the idea of power distance dimension of cultural variability that characterizes ICT use in the region. This point is vividly illustrated in a study finding that women complained that their husbands would rather spend their limited household budget topping up phone cards than give such money for household expenses (Kazanka and Dada, 2008).

Oral Culture and Relationship Furthermore, as a collectivistic culture where emphasis is put on relationships, one finds that Nigeria‘s oral cultural tradition puts emphasis on face-to-Face (FtF) interactions (Olaniran, 2009). Hence, while mobile phones provide a cheaper way to stay in touch with

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friends and relatives, a premium or preference is given to FtF communication. The mobile phone is seen as a threat to cohesion. Kazanka and Dada (2008) found that people complained that mobile phones increased distance from home. For example, they indicated a participant claimed that ― I can hear his voice all right, but I need to see his face to be sure he understands what I said‖ (p. 49). The distance and sense of isolation is even more pronounced when the voice quality is poor. Or the call fails to go through, which is often the case. The gradual loosening of the traditional close family ties as members move to townships for economic reasons is believed to render mobile phones to what is termed as a ―bet ter than nothing option‖ (Kazanka and Dada, 2008, p. 50). The concern is that close bonds that exist within the culture of the extended family as a source of help and mutual support is hindered by the increased use in mobile phones. At the same time, a strong oral culture implies that good conversation takes longer; whereas, with mobile phones one has to keep the conversation short and therefore heightens the sense of isolation, which is considered disempowering.

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DIGITAL DIVIDE From the digital divide - measured by numbers of people with access to Internet, in spite of the tremendous growth in Internet penetrations around the world and in Nigeria, the world Internet usage paints a gloomy picture, as the percentage of world users stands at less than 29% (i.e., 28.7%) of the world population (6.85billion) (www.worldInternetstats.com). Africa has Internet penetration rate of 11% according to the June 2010 figures (www.worldInternetstats, 2010). The reality is that ICTs have greater presence in affluent regions of the world (i.e., economically developed countries (EDCs)) (Marshall, 2004; Olaniran 2004, 2007). Nigeria with close to 150 million people has 16.1% Internet penetration and 67,800 broadband subscribers (4.5%) as of December 2009 (www.worldInternetstats, 2010). Since most Nigerians live in rural communities and towns with no electricity and landline phones, it becomes increasingly difficult to take advantage of the modern ICTs. To this end, accessibility and affordability creates potential challenges to ICT usage as a choice must be made between meeting basic economic needs versus ICT needs (Kazakan and Dada, 2008; Olaniran 2008, 2009; Omojola, 2009). In order to overcome the lack of access to expensive landlines, mobile phones become the technology of choice in Nigeria, given its ability to offer coverage in some rural areas. While mobile phones offer a cheaper way to stay in touch, rather than traveling to see relatives and friends, some users, however, are still disadvantaged due to a lack of cell phones and coverage; thus, they have to travel (i.e., taxi, motorcycle, or trekking) from their village to a nearby town to make calls (Kazakan and Dada, 2008). However, the cost of travel and possibility of poor signal reception adds to users‘ frustration. It is possible to use one‘s credit and still not be able to make a call. Kazakan and Dada (2008) allude to the fact that service providers may offer no service and very poor receptions can go on for days with no explanations or apologies given to the users while units on the calling cards are still debited as they have very short shelf life (two weeks).

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LINGUISTIC CHALLENGES IN CMC English has been dubbed ―t he global language,‖ a status achieved by no other single language (Crystal, 2003; Kayman, 2004). History suggests that English came to achieve a dominant position on the Internet when ARPNET was developed as a national network for disseminating important information and linking American academic and government institutions in a speedy and secure way (Olaniran and Edgell, 2008). English was the language at the inception of the Internet and when other countries and regions of the world began to form and extend links with the network, it was necessary to use English (Crystal, 2003). Eventually, the dominance of the language continued as programmers and content developers created information for use on the Internet when the network was opened to private and commercial organizations in the 1980s. Since the majority of Internet content is in the English language, this threatens nations whose primary language is not English making them feel that their languages need protection. The problem with English as a primary language of communication also emanates from the issue of identity. There are countries that believe English as part of their colonial heritage and are trying to move away from it (Kayman, 2004). Furthermore, some view an increase in the use of English within communication technology creates a divide that widens the gap between the ―h aves‖ and the ―hav e-nots‖ (Crystal, 2003, Kayman, 2004). Kayman (2004) went on to argue that the association of English with communication technology reinforces its claim as the primary medium of globalization branded as the language of interaction. Universally, the reliance on the English language as the vehicle of global communication creates difficulty—especially among those individuals with little competence in the English language; consequently, restricting their usage of communication technologies (Gimenez, 2002; Olaniran and Edgell, 2008). Language puts a significant number of people at a major disadvantage when it comes to benefiting from ICTs. There is an inherent assumption about ICTs that users should be able to understand the language and information provided through ICTs by design. The inability of indigenous people to comprehend and use technologies because of a language barrier is vivid (Olaniran, 2007; Olaniran and Edgell, 2008; Kawachi, 1999). Consequently, language hindrances prevent the accomplishment of the professed socio-economic benefits from ICTs in less economically developed countries (LEDCs) in particular, Nigeria and other African nations (Kazakan and Dada, 2008; Olaniran, 2007, 2008; Omojola, 2009). Furthermore, language is viewed as the most important element of a culture (Omojola, 2009; Salawu, 2006). As a result, African countries with diverse indigenous languages are left with a colonial legacy of acculturation where they are to communicate in a second language (i.e, English or French depending) but their primary language is subjugated to second category and often no position at all (Mbagwu and Obiamalu, 2009; Omojola, 2009). Particularly, in Nigeria there are over 360 languages and dialects, yet individuals are compelled to communicate in English or some version of English which categorizes English speakers to the elite group while non-fluent speakers are erroneously dubbed as illiterates. Omojola (2009) argued that this problem is even more pronounced in Francophone countries. Furthermore, the oral tradition of Nigerian and African cultures hinders ICT adoption and consequent use, given that ICTs favor digitization of written cultures (Olaniran, 2009). In essence, the elite group or fluent English speakers are advantaged in accessing and using

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various ICTs. Hence, academicians, upscale professionals, civil servants, and students in tertiary institutions are potential candidates of the elite group that use ICTs (Omojola, 2009). The non-elite group is several years away from developing competencies in using ICTs— if at all. Unfortunately, this group categorizes the bulk of people in the African region. Prominent among the non-elite group are future generations of students aspiring to enter tertiary or post secondary institutions that are unable to. At the same time, the brain drain has seen the elite group dwindling as many bright minds are leaving their homelands for overseas or economically developed countries (EDCs) in search of greener pastures or better job. Omojola (2009) puts it this way:

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The indigenous population of a country, most of which cannot read or write, is usually on the lower rungs of the social ladder. Their culture is at the mercy of foreign forces, they suffer environmental degradation and infrastructural inadequacy, unrewarded exploitation of natural resources, poverty, neglect by the ruling class, lack of basic amenities, invasion of land rights and so on (p. 2).

ICTs are supposed to help communicate and distribute information and resources in a way that brings improvement to the socio-economic and democratic lives of users. Further, ICTs are supposed to offer opportunity for empowering people; instead, they are ridden with challenges including the fact that they are made available in foreign language or languages that local people couldn‘t speak or understand. Omojola (2009) illustrates this through the Firefox browser, which is available in 40 different languages but none of which feature any African language. The same is said for Apple iPods and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) that originate in the USA but the manuals come with few language options. Similarly, Google introduced its new Google Insight, which is supposed to help with web searches and search engine optimization; it is however biased towards English. It was not until recently, that Microsoft office began making the attempt to offer Office products in 15 of the African languages (Loubser, 2010). Even at that, the keyboard design and letters on computers make it difficult to write some words in local languages thereby rendering some of these languages as gradually becoming extinct. This is not unique in Nigeria or Africa but rather around the globe. A case in point is Dyirbal in Australia (Dixon, 1991; Omojola, 2009). Linguistically, it appears unfeasible for ICT designers to acknowledge varieties of languages, particularly African languages, because they are considered not viable economically, as fewer individuals speak them. Notwithstanding, when one considers the percentage of the world population that speaks English, it is still spoken by a minority when compared to Mandarin, which is spoken by more than one third of the world population (Mbagwu and Obiamalu, 2009). In essence, there is some level or evidence of cultural assimilation with ICTs. Of course with globalization, these ICT designers make and are making linear assumptions about user biases and differences with regard to technology adoption. However this linear assumption of ―onesize fits all‖ or ―i f we build it they will come‖ to ICTs overshadows the benefits to be derived from ICTs (Olaniran, 2007; Omojola, 2009). It is said that the bias towards language selection for ICTs is more pronounced when one gauges the proportion of people speaking a particular language. For instance, Microsoft office, which is offered in over 27 languages, was offered in Italian, which is spoken by 60 million people located in Italy, Switzerland, and Croatia; on the other hand, other languages that come close to, or exceeded, this figure are not given the same treatment (Omojola, 2009).

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A case in point is Hausa spoken by over 70 million, Swahili, by 100 million, Yoruba by another 40 million are not given the same level of priority when compared to English or French. By implication, locals that speak different languages are compelled to access software applications in languages foreign to them and often that they do not understand (Omojola, 2009). Hence, their access to technology is directly determined by their knowledge of the foreign language that in most cases they do not understand. This challenge must be addressed, for ICTs to help in the development of various LEDCs. From a cultural standpoint, language is critical to identity and it needs to be reiterated that the pitting of one language against others especially in Nigeria further creates a hegemonic divide between the majority and minority groups. For instance, Nigeria has three major languages—Hausa, Yoruba, and Igbo. Whereas the three languages are spoken by about 100 million people, the rest of the population (about 50 million) from over 200 ethnic groups speak languages that are not recognized as part of the dominant groups (Omojola, 2009). Thus from a power relation and power distance perspective, the recognition of one language over others, as Microsoft and Google are experimenting with, further marginalize the minority groups while putting their respective languages on the edge of extinction. It should be emphasized that the challenge of the digital divide is not only about accessibility, or differential use of ICTs among people, rather, a social division between those who are very involved with technologies and those who are not (Omojola, 2009). ICTs are enablers of globalization because they are creating universal attitudes and ideals (Olaniran, 2001, 2004, 2007; Omojola, 2009). To such end, Omojola (2009) posits that if globalization is seen as a vehicle to convey ideals and interests of the majority of the world‘s population, it would have been a globally acceptable concept. On the other hand, individuals especially in the LEDCs have seen globalization as an agenda purported to spread Western values across the world (Omojola, 2009; Yau, 2004). In essence, indigenous cultures are considered insignificant as ICTs, which are manifested in Internet and World Wide Web, relegate them into irrelevance and non-consequential (Omojola, 2009; Salawu, 2006). Furthermore, language is considered as a potent tool of acculturation. Thus, Western languages have become such tools, as they offer a platform for indigenous people to commit to Western ways of meaning and value. Consequently Omojola (2009) argues that a system that wishes away indigenous cultures cannot be a suitable solution for addressing the socioeconomic and cultural challenges that confront Africa. Therefore, cross-cultural communication through ICTs is open to diverse beliefs, attitudes, perceptions, power relations, and behavioral norms, consequently misattribution (Olaniran, 2001, 2004, 2009; Omojola, 2009).

THE DARK SIDE OF ICTS IN NIGERIA Along with general access, culture plays a significant role in how people perceive technology. The appropriation of technologies is not always in alignment with designers‘ intended purpose(s). The increased use of ICTs adds a different dimension to Nigeria‘s perceived culture and value systems or its image. The label Nigeria/Nigerian has a negative connotation in the global community. ICTs further heighten or reinforce the values entrenched within the country. For instance, Adegoju (2007) talks about the security system

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of the country in an unflattering way, where the Nigeria police do not have the confidence of the people in view of the bribery that thrives in the system. Policemen do not enforce laws but instead extort money from motorists, giving defaulting criminals the license to operate at will. Besides the police force, there are Customs and Immigration, as well as other government officials, who often seek bribery from the people they are paid to serve. The degrading value system is increasingly permeating the use of ICTs through the worrisome Nigerian scam called 419 or the ‗advance fee fraud‘ attributed to the country. Thus, Nigeria is rapidly becoming known as the business fraud capital of the world. It is not surprising, therefore, that the Transparency International‘s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) of 2000 ranked Nigeria the most corrupt country in the world; the second most corrupt in 2001-2003. Accordingly, Asemota‘s and Yesufu‘s (2002) indicate:

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There is something fundamentally wrong with our value system. Nigeria is a classic example of ―r epresentation without taxation‖, ―r eaping without planting‖ and ―sh aring without contributing‖. Nigerians need to work hard, not scheme hard for what they want and get. Hard work must be made to pay in Nigeria of the 21st century (p.19).

While most of the advance fee fraud do not necessarily emanate from Nigeria, the country and its people have come to be identified with online scams to the extent that some Nigerians overseas often pretend to come from a different country (Adegoju, 2007). Linguistically, these acts of electronic fraud have been proclaimed to be an attempt by many African businessmen and entrepreneurs to ‗reinvent‘ the global but in a way that questions moral and ethical codes and law (Ndjio, 2008). The emergence of unprecedented forms of criminal activities and business practices violates ethical business rules and economic conventions and promotes what is known as the normalization of an ―econom y of deception‖ (Ndjio, 2008). Underlying, this new economic reinvention is the ability to cover one's activities and conceal real motives and intentions (Ndjio, 2008). To convince victims, fraudsters artistically pretend to be someone else. Notwithstanding, it takes a critical and persuasive message design, coupled with the logic to know how to communicate and be perceived as honest business people that have something valuable to offer in a convincing tone. As Ndjio (2008) indicates, they come across as experts who know how to generate money and as good persons (benefactor) whose only intention is to help their men or women, rather than the crook that they really are. It takes linguistic persuasive power to convince unbeknown and gullible strangers/victims to part with either their money or identities. In many respects, the Nigerian advance fee fraud and other online scams represent new types of digital age business malpractices that characterizes what is known as ―an ec onomy of illusion‖ and ―t rickery‖ from a context of disappointed expectations, broken contracts, and unfulfilled national development plans (Apter 2005; Ndjio, 2008). Others went as far as justifying it as adaptation from failed government structural adjustment programs (Konings, 2006). Regardless of the logic, the advance fee fraud challenges both ethical and judicial codes of neo-liberal capitalism that ICTs in the globalization process are supposed to manifest when dealing with economic activities. Nigerian international swindlers are believed to be perpetuating their crimes around the world (Perry 2003). Holt and Graves (2007) specifically examined the writing techniques of the Nigeria advance fee fraud and found that the fraudsters use multiple writing styles to prey on their victims. They argued that half of all messages examined in the study asked recipients to

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forward their personal information to the sender which promote or enable identity theft. There is evidence of persuasiveness as well. This is done with messages beginning with fraudsters asking potential victims for a small donation to get an account or fund out of a holding process or the country. The scammer then continues to receive payments from victims because of ―c omplications‖ in meeting the proposed obligations (Holt and Graves, 2007; Smith, Solinger, and Topik, 1999, p. 4). The monetary solicitation then continues perpetually until the victim is no longer willing to pay. However, by the time this happens most victims are too vested in the process that retreat appears not to be an option. Another techniques and perhaps a less obvious fraud techniques is to require victims to provide the fraudster with personal information, such as their name, address, employer, and bank account information. The request however, may be made under the disguise that the victim has won a lottery or assuring the sender that the recipient is a genuine business person (Adomi, 2008; Blommaert and Omoniyi, 2006; Chiluwa, 2009; Edelson, 2003; Holt and Graves, 2007; Ofulue, in press). Provided information is usually used by the fraudster to drain the unsuspecting victim‘s accounts and thus ensuing in identity theft (Holt and Graves, 2007). Holt and Graves (2007) also examined the content of fraudsters‘ messages and found some common elements. For instance, scammers used language in the subject line of the message, which may compel recipients to open the e-mail. Some used language with a critical and serious tone, such as Urgent Attention or Read and Reply As Soon As Possible. Other messages used cordial phrases, such as Attention Friend, whereas lottery notifications typically use expressions like: Congratulations or Attention Winner, while business messages used expressions like Payment Agent Needed. Other messages had no subject, providing little indication regarding what the message contains. The body of these messages illustrated that the phrasing seldom contained gender specific information or greetings and some used religious overtures like blessed ones or beloved in Christ (Adomi, 2008; Blommaert and Omoniyi, 2006; Chiluwa, 2009; Holt and Graves, 2007; Ofulue, in press). The vague greetings allowed solicitation messages to be sent out in bulk to attract increased responses from large numbers of the targeted audience. A cordial greeting makes the recipient feel special or emotionally connected to the sender and also to increase the likelihood of a response. The main content of the e-mails offer self-introductions from the sender and contained information that helped the sender establish credibility with the recipients. Holt and Graves (2007) found that about 75% of the sampled messages were sent by people professing to be male, and employed as a bank manager, attorney, or doctor. However, a good portion of the messages were said to give no indication of their credentials and provide no physical business address indicating a possibility of the scammers knowing that they are engaging in illegal activity. Most messages often gave no real indication of how a sender identified the recipient. Instead, a common theme is to tell the recipient of the need to get the money outside of the country and hence a trustworthy foreigner is indeed needed for the transaction. From personal experience, some of the scammers, instead of writing a long persuasive message, often sent out a brief teaser that only signified a proposal for a business partner identifying the large sum of money and then asking the recipient to contact the sender only if interested in forming a partnership. In other words, perpetrators of the advance fee scam are getting sophisticated and recognizing the fact that most of their targeted audience may not have the patience to read a lengthy message and also the need to weed out those not interested in the business without

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wasting too much effort on an idea that may not work. In other words, nothing venturednothing gained. For a more specifically persuasive strategy, some senders stressed that they found the recipients‘ information online but with emphasis on recipients‘ reliability and trustworthiness (Buchanan and Grant, 2001; Holt and Graves, 2007). Given that the sender always stressed the desire to transfer funds, an attempt is made to make the offer too tempting to resist. For example, the transaction amounts are always in the millions of dollars and the percentage or commission share ranges anywhere from 20% to 40% (Holt and Graves, 2007). From this standpoint, the authors believe this is why this type of fraud is so attractive to educated professionals such as professors, lawyers, and physicians that often they would become victims of this fraud. One wonders why an educated person will fall for such a blatant fraud, but the offer of becoming an instant millionaire is too tempting to resist. Furthermore, message senders attempt to mitigate the risk even though it is an illegal activity by telling the recipients that ―t his transaction is totally free of risk and troubles,‖ or ―t his will be a proper and legal money transfer and there is no risk!‖ (Holt and Graves, 2007, p. 148).

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IMPLICATIONS There are considerable implications for ICT use in Nigeria from a cultural and brand equity standpoint. A good portion of this chapter addressed the cultural challenges and socioeconomic challenges that influence whether Nigerians have access or can afford most computer-mediated communication or general ICTs. The paper also discussed the fact that there might not be a cultural-technology fit for Nigerians from an oral culture standpoint. However, the paper emphasizes those few Nigerians who are able to afford ICTs and how they use the technology, some for the purpose intended by designers—such as information dissemination and staying in touch or for maintaining social status—while on the other hand, others use ICT media for purposes not intended by designers—in terms of using the technology media to reflect internal political and social culture entrenched in the Nigeria community. The negative usage of the technology has been portrayed as affecting Nigeria‘s ―b rand equity,‖ which in this case is how Nigerians are perceived by the rest of the world (Viosca, Jr., Bergiel, and Balsmeier, 2004). It is hard for a country to control types of impressions or stereotypes that others have about it no matter how unrepresentative of the people (Viosca et al., 2004). Thus isolated experiences when vivid can affect the impression a potential consumer has of another country. For those outside the country, Nigeria has become synonymous with advance fee fraud even though it is a practice that is not exclusive to Nigeria and is only representative of a few individuals. Nwankwo (2003) reinforces this notion when he lamented the fact that economic crimes have ruined the international image of Nigeria. The continued explosion of fraudulent e-mails from Nigeria and the African region will continue to be an albatross to the image of the country and other African organizations as viable business partners. The electronic fraud presents new challenges to Nigeria, Africa, and their companies and governments. As a result, fraud further heightens the digital divide that may come from the lack of direct foreign investments that lead to technological transfers, because the country and its community members are viewed as corrupt (Olaniran, 2001, 2008, 2009). Nigeria, and

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Africa as a whole, needs to figure out a way to explore technology use, in order to resolve its internal corruption (individual and government). Also, redirecting technology use in a way that improves the lives of citizens (i.e., education, healthcare, economic, and social development) and its true cultural values will be beneficial. Future directions in this area need to emphasize how to use the digital nature of technologies to preserve the oral traditions, such as: story telling, traditional healings, and education that serve interests of the community, rather than theories. A movement in this direction, per chance, will begin to move the country in a direction where ICT users can adapt technologies to solve human problems and carve a niche to begin erasing the current atmosphere of a negative brand equity and transition to a more positive one. Moreover, this new approach might propel Nigeria to a first-tier developing economy like Malaysia, India, or China. Businesses within Nigeria and Africa will also have to continue efforts to reassure consumers that their products and operations are legal in a way to make their marketing strategies globally successful in the near future (Viosca, et al., 2004).

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CONCLUSION Computer-mediated communication can play positive and negative roles in the life of users and countries. For instance, ICTs through e-mails and Internet can expedite communication activities. At the same time, these same technologies can be used for fraudulent acts on a global scale because they allow users to hide their identities. Therefore, individuals or users need to be more vigilant in the way they interact with technology and how they develop trust within these media (Olaniran, 2004, 2009). Holt and Graves (2007) acknowledged that individuals are at risk from all sorts of deception and fraud through the use of ICTs, in which advance fee fraud is only one of the many dark sides of such technologies. However, advance fee e-mail scams are just one part, as scammers sell fraudulent and faulty products online while also using e-mail to artificially inflate stock prices (i.e., pump and dump) and other phishing techniques (Taylor,Caeti, Loper, Fritsch, and Liederbach, 2006).

REFERENCES Adomi, E., and Igun, S. E. (2008), ‗Combating Cybercrime in Nigeria‘ The Electronic Library 26(5). 716-725. doi: 10.1108/02640470810910738. Apter, A. (2005). The Pan-African nation: Oil and the spectacle of culture in Nigeria. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Bisong, J. (1995). Language choice and cultural imperialism: a Nigerian perspective. ELT Journal, 49(2), 122-132. Blommaert, J. and Omoniyi, T. (2006). Email Fraud: Language, Technology, and the Indexicals of Globalisation. Social Semiotics, 16(4 ). 573 – 605. Buchanan, J., and Grant, A. J. (2001, November). Investigating and prosecuting Nigerian fraud. United States Attorneys‟ Bulletin, 29-47. Chiluwa, I. (2009). The discourse of digital deceptions and email ‗419‘ solicitations. Discourse Studies, 11 (6), 1-26.

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Crystal, D. (2003). English as a global language (2nd ed). NY: Cambridge University Press. Dunn, P. and Marinetti, A. (2002). Cultural adaptation: necessity for global e-learning. Retrieved March 10, 2008, from http://www.linezine.com. Edelson, E. (2003). The 419 scam: Information warfare on the spam front and a proposal for local filtering. Computers and Security, 22(5), 392-401. Giddens, A. (1979). Central problems in social theory. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Gudykunst, W. B., Chua, E., and Gray, A. J. (1987). Cultural dissimilarities and uncertainty reduction processes. In M. McLaughlin‘s (Ed.), Communication Yearbook (Vol. 10, pp. 457-469). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. Henning, E. (2003). I click therefore I am (not)': Is cognition 'distributed' or is it 'contained' in borderless e-learning programmes? International Journal of Training and Development, 7(4), 303-317. Hofstede, G. H. (2001). Culture's consequences: Comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across nations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Hofstede, G. (1996). Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind. New York: McGraw Hill. Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture‟s consequences. Beverly Hills, Ca: Sage. Hofstede, G., and Bond, M. (1984). Hofstede's cultural dimensions: An independent validation using Rokeach's value survey. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 15, 417-433. Holt, T. J., and Graves, D. C. (2007). A qualitative analysis of advance fee fraud e-mail schemes. International Journal of Cyber Criminology. 1(1), 137-154. InternetWorldStats (2010) World Internet usage statistics. Retrieved August 2, 2010, from www.Internetworldstats.com/stats.htm. Kayman, M. (2004). The state of English as a global language: Communicating culture. Textual Practice 18(1), 1-22. Kawachi, P. (1999). When the sun doesn‘t rise: Empirical findings that explain the exclusion of Japanese from online global education. Retrieved August 26, 2009, from http://www.ignou.ac.in/Theme-3/Paul%20%20KAWACHI.html Kazakan, C., and Dada, J. (2008). Rural women‘s use of cell phones to meet their communication needs: A study from northern Nigeria. In H. Emdon‘s African Women and ICTs: Investigating Technology, Gender, and Empowerment, (pp. 44-55). International Development Research Center. Konings, P. 2006. ‗Bendskin‘ drivers in Douala‘s New Bell neighbourhood: Masters of the road and the city‘, in P. Konings and D. Foeken,(Eds.), Crisis and creativity: Exploring the wealth of the African neighbourhood, (pp. 46-65). Leiden and Boston: Brill. Loubser, H. (2010, August 10). We speak your language. Technet Blog. From http://blogs.technet.com/b/microsoft_on_the_issues_africa/archive/2010/08/10/we-speakyour-language.aspx Mesdag, M. V. (2000). ‗Culture-sensitive adaptation or global standardization - the duration of usage hypothesis‘, International Marketing Review, 17, 74-84. Mbagwu, G., and Obiamalu, O. (2009). Documentation of African languages: A panacea for the negative effects of globalization. OGIRISI: A New Journal of African Studies, 6, 8692.

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Ndjio, B. (2008). Cameroonian feymen and Nigerian ‗419‘ scammers: Two examples of Africa‘s ‗reinvention‘ of the global capitalism. ASC Working Paper, 81. Retrieved July 30, 2008 from, https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/1887/13016/2/ASC075287668-263-01.pdf Nwankwo, O. (2003, December 29). Fighting economic, financial crimes in Nigeria, [online]. Available: http://allafrica.com/stories/200312290872.html Ofulue, I.C. (in press) A digital forensic analysis of Advance fee fraud (419). In Taiwo R. (Ed.) Handbook of Research on Discourse Behavior and Digital Communication: Language Structures and Social Interaction. Hershey, Pennsylvania: IGI Global. 296-317. Olaniran, B. A. (2009). Culture, learning styles, and Web 2.0. Interactive Learning Environment: International Journal, 17(4) 261-271. Olaniran, B. (2007). Challenges to implementing e-learning and lesser developed countries. In A. L. Edmundson (Ed.), Globalized e-learning cultural challenges, (pp. 18-34). Hershey PA: Idea Group, Inc. Olaniran, B. A. (2004). Computer-mediated communication in cross-cultural virtual groups. In Chen, G. M., and Starosta, W. J. (Eds.). Dialogue among Diversities, (pp. 142-166). Washington, DC: National Communication Association. Olaniran, B. A. (2001). The effects of computer-mediated communication on transculturalism. In V. Milhouse, M. Asante, and P. Nwosu (Eds.) Transcultural Realities, (pp. 83-105). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Olaniran, B. A. (1996). Social skills acquisition: A closer look at foreign students and factors influencing their level of social difficulty. Communication Studies, 47, 72-88. Olaniran, B. A and Edgell, D. (2008). Cultural implications of collaborative information technologies (CITs) in international online collaborations and global virtual teams. In P. Zemliansky and K. St-Amant (Eds.), Handbook of Global virtual workspaces, (pp. 118133). Hershey, PA: IGI Global. Omojola, O. (2009). English-oriented ICTs and ethnic language survival strategies in Africa. Global Media Journal: African Edition, 3(1), 1-13. Perry, J. (2003, June 16). Ripped off the headlines.' US News and World Report pp. 54-59. Poole, M. S., and DeSanctis, G. (1992). Microlevel structuration in computer-supported group decision-making. Human Communication Research (19), pp. 5-49. Poole, M. S., and DeSanctis, G. (2004). Structuration theory in information systems research: Methods and controversies. In M. E. Whitman and A. B. Woszczynski‘s (Eds.), The Handbook of Information Systems Research, (pp. 206-249). Hershey, PA: Idea Group. Roach, K. D., and Olaniran, B. A. (2001). Intercultural willingness to communicate and communication anxiety in international teaching assistants. Communication Research Reports, 18, 26-35. Salawu, A. (2006). Paradox of a milieu: Communicating in African indigenous languages in the age of globalisation. In A. S. Salawu (Ed.) Indigenous language media in Africa. Lagos: Centre for Black Arts and Civilization. Salawu, A. (2004). Social status as a factor for the readership of Yoruba newspapers in Nigeria Nordic, Journal of African Studies, 13(2), 200–215. Smith, A. D., Solinger, D., and Topik, S., Eds, (1999). States and sovereignty in the global economy. London: Routledge.

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Taylor, R.W., Caeti, T.J., Loper, D.K., Fritsch, E.J., and Liederbach, J. (2006). Digital Crime and Digital Terrorism. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Van Dam, N., and Rogers, F. (2002, May). E-Learning cultures around the world: Make your globalized strategy transparent. Elearning (www.elearningmag.com). 28-33. Viosca, Jr. R. C., Bergiel, B. J., and Balsmeier, P. Effects of the electronic Nigerian money fraud on the brand equity of Nigeria and Africa. Management Research News, 27(6), 1120. Ya‘u, Y. (2004). Globalisation, ICTs and the new imperialism: Perspective on Africa in the global electronic village. Review of African political economy, 99, 11-29.

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In: Computer-Mediated Discourse in Africa Editors: Rotimi Taiwo and Innocent Chiluwa

ISBN: 978-1- 62100-497-4 © 2012 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 8

FACE IN NIGERIAN NEW MEDIA DISCOURSE Presley A. Ifukor ABSTRACT

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This chapter examines facework in Nigerian new media discourse. It identifies three strands of virtual face dynamics – discursivity, indexicallity and relationality. Using the face constituting theory of discursive pragmatics, the chapter describes the coconstruction, negotiation and contesting of facework in selected synchronous and asynchronous Nigerian internet communication. The chapter identified the following discursive-relational face acts: digital face co-construction, phatic face work, collaborative and confrontational face actswith underlying premise that code-switching is face work.

Keywords: facework, new media discourse, face, Nigeria, CMC, code-switching Social interaction is remarkable for its emergent properties which transcend the characteristics of the individuals that jointly produce it; this emergent character is not something for which our current theoretical models are well equipped. [...] our own account suffers from ... 'cognitivism'. Work on interaction as a system thus remains a fundamental research priority, and the area from which improved conceptualizations ... are most likely to emerge. Brown and Levinson (1987:48, italics added)

INTRODUCTION: NIGERIAN NEW MEDIA DISCOURSE AND RESEARCH While introducing the very first volume of the journal, New Media and Society, Jankowski, Jones, Samarajiva and Silverstone (1999:6) proposed that ―dev elopments – digitalization, convergence, networking, regulation, consumption, interaction – all require examination and critique, albeit at different levels and with different possible consequences‖ and they cautioned that ―[ t]he notion of newness – in reference to 'new' media – is a relative

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concept‖. Therefore, because it is still a young enterprise in Nigerian scholarship, Nigerian 1 new media discourse is conceptualized as a convergence of 'old' digital media (e.g. email, listserv, Usenet newsgroups, bulletin board system) and the 'new' social networking sites (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube). Following Herring (2004a, 2007), mobile phone texts are an integral part of the new media technologies. Whereas email and listserv represent Web 1.0, 2 blog and social networking sites (SNS) are examples of Web 2.0 media . In this paper, however, new media discourse is used interchangeably with computer-mediated communication (CMC) and computer-mediated discourse analysis (CMDA) (Herring, 2001, 2004b, 2007). Ifukor (2011a, 2011b) has proposed a grouping of Nigerian textual CMC activities and 3 studies in the years 1990-2010 into three broad categories viz. (i) Web 1.0 communicative exchanges (e.g. Bastian, 1999; Blommaert and Omoniyi, 2006; Chiluwa, 2009, 2010a; Deuber and Hinrichs, 2007; Moran, 2000; Ofulue, 2010; Olateju and Adeleke, 2010; Oluwole, 2009), (ii) mobile telephony and text messaging (e.g. Awonusi, 2004, 2010; Chiluwa, 2008; Ekong and Ekong, 2010; Elvis, 2009; Obadare, 2006; Ofulue, 2008; Taiwo, 2008a, 2008b) and (iii) social media and multi-platform Web 2.0 discourse (e.g. Ifukor, 2008, 2009a, 2009b, 2010; Jonathan, 2010; Oni and Osunbade, 2009; Taiwo, 2010a, 2010b). Moreover, going by mode features (Murray, 1988), examples of Nigerian CMC include mobile phone text messaging (Awonusi, 2004, 2010; Chiluwa, 2008; Ifukor, 2011a; Ofulue, 2008; Taiwo, 2008a, 2008b); Instant Messaging (Oni and Osunbade, 2009); email (Blommaert and Omoniyi, 2006; Chiluwa, 2009, 2010a, 2010b; Ofulue, 2010; Olateju and Adeleke, 2010); listserv (Bastian, 1999); Usenet newsgroup (Moran, 2000); Internet discussion forums (Deuber and Hinrichs, 2007; Ifukor, 2011b; Taiwo, 2010a, 2010b); blog (Ifukor, 2008, 2009a, 2009b, 2010); Twitter (Ifukor, 2010, 2011c); Facebook (Ifukor, 2011d; Jonathan, 2010), and surveys on CMC usage (Ifukor, 2011a; Oluwole, 2009; Pyramid Research, 2010; Sesan, 2010). Refreshingly, the year 2010 is a scholarly defining one in Nigerian CMC for four reasons enumerated below. First, Taiwo (2010c) published two edited volumes of a handbook on digital behaviours consisting of, among the collection, 16 papers (single and co-authored) on various aspects of text-based Nigerian CMC. Therefore, Taiwo's (2010c) handbook represents the single largest collection on Nigerian CMC to date. Second, it is the same year that published works on Nigerian social networking media (Ifukor, 2010; Jonathan, 2010) emerged. For instance, Ifukor's (2010) paper on electoral activities by Nigerians in the blogosphere and Twittersphere highlights the relevance of blogging and social media to modern Nigerian democratization. Thirdly, beginning from his inaugural post on Facebook on June 28, 2010, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GEJ) experimented with what, for want 4 of a better terminology, can be called the first Nigerian Facebook presidency .

1

As expressed by Baron (1998, 2005), the first ever written email was sent in 1971, listservs prototype emerged in the mid 1970s, the Usenet newsgroups were developed around 1979/1980, and Internet Relay Chat appeared in 1988. 2 Web 3.0 is already a buzzword although it is still largely regarded as an extension of Web 2.0 unlike the marked differences between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 (Anderson, 2007; O'Reilly, 2007). 3 See Ifukor (2011a, 2011b) for the specifications. 4 http://www.facebook.com/jonathangoodluck

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5

On October 1, 2010 CNN named GEJ the Facebook President. This is a remarkable endorsement of not just the person of the Nigerian president, but also of how a global product (Facebook) is being appropriated for internal governance in Nigeria. Eventually, a book based on GEJ's interactions with Nigerian netizens was published and titled My Friends and I: Conversations on Policy and Governance via Facebook (Jonathan, 2010). It is argued here that the embrace of new media technologies by the Nigerian government has ushered in a new era of Nigerian politics, reflecting modern trends in digitally-aided democratization. Finally, but not the least, two national surveys on the digital habits of connected Nigerians were released by Pyramid Research (2010) and Sesan (2010) in the same year. Looking at the topical pre-occupations in Taiwo's (2010c) handbook in relation to Nigeria, three of the 16 papers (i.e. Chiluwa, 2010b; Ofulue, 2010; Olateju and Adeleke, 2010) examine aspects of Nigerian email communication for identity construction, 419 or hoaxes, and code switching. Six papers (i.e. Akande and Akinwale, 2010; Balogun, 2010; Odebunmi and Alo, 2010; Olaosun, 2010; Olubode-Sawe, 2010; Taiwo, 2010c) respectively dwell on mobile telephony and SMS as follows: the spelling practices by Nigerian students, a philosophical criticism of abbreviations, contextual beliefs in the 160-character discourse by Nigerian academics, an Eco-semiotic examination of visual codes in mobile phone directories, typography and orthographic conventions in Yoruba NOKIA phone terminologies, and language mixing for phaticity and invocations. The remaining seven papers are concerned with pedagogical and systemic issues. As rich as all the previous Nigerian CMC studies are, virtual face has not been properly accounted for in the literature at least in terms of discursive pragmatics. Hence, the present study seeks to contribute to the collection of papers in this book by disembodying face in Nigerian new media discourse. The specific objectives of this study include: (a) To explore Arundale's (1999, 2006, 2009, 2010) Face Constituting Theory (FCT) and its suitability for interactional text-based digital face act; (b) To contextualize how typography can be discursively employed to enact relational meanings in CMC face act (Danet, 2001; Nørgaard, 2009; Spitzmüller, 2007; van Leeuwen, 2005, 2006); and (c) To illustrate how face is 6 echnolectal Nigerianisms‖ instantiated in the user-generated Nigerian new media as per ―t (Ifukor, 2011e) i.e. the use of language in digital discourse with socio-cultural manifestations. My arguments are as follows: (1) That online typography can simultaneously depict 'relational' (Arundale, 2009, 2010; Locher and Watts, 2005) proximity and distance; (2) Language choice in textual CMC interactions indexes face concerns (Brett et. al., 2007; O'Driscoll, 2001); (3) Therefore, face dialectics (Arundale, 2010) and face disembodiment are discursively emergent in text-based interactive CMC. In informal Internet and SMS7 discourse, the diversity of languages and cultures in Nigeria is reflected in the way Nigerian netizens and textizens compose and transmit their 5

Webster, George. 2010, October 1. Goodluck Jonathan: The Facebook President. CNN. http://articles.cnn.com/2010-10-01/tech/goodluck.jonathan.facebook.profile_1_facebook-fans-popular-socialnetworking-site-nigerian-president?_s=PM:TECH 6 Major Nigerian newspapers now provide digital versions of their dailies with a semiotic elicitation of readers' response(s) and so it is appropriate to distinguish between digital versions of print papers, for example, and readers' comments which are in principle user-generated though sometimes moderated by a Webmaster. Nevertheless, Web 2.0 is ontologically user-generated. 7 SMS (short message service) is conceptually broader in application to include the texting practices which occur in mobile phone, instant messaging (IM), and microblogging such as Twitter. IM, microblogging and mobile phone text messaging share many medium, character and space-delimited features; all the more so because of

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messages via computers and mobile technologies (Awonusi, 2004, 2010; Chiluwa, 2008, 2010a; Elvis, 2009; Ifukor, 2010, 2011b; Ofulue, 2008; Olateju and Adeleke, 2010; OlubodeSawe, 2010; Taiwo, 2008a, 2010c). Ifukor (2011b) provides a ranking of language use in Nigerian new media discourse, and argues that English is the dominant language followed by Nigerian Pidgin while other Nigerian languages are ranked lower depending on the literacy levels of netizens in the respective indigenous languages. However, the use and mixture of Nigerian languages in electronic discourse (Ifukor, 2011b; Olateju and Adeleke, 2010; Taiwo, 2010c) is a linguistic strategy for indexing face. Therefore, the infusion of Nigerian Pidgin and indigenous lexical items into new media discourse is purposeful, and has sociocultural identity implications.

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GOFFMAN'S AND BROWN AND LEVINSON'S FRAMEWORKS IN PREVIOUS NIGERIAN RESEARCH Goffman's (1955) seminal treatment of face is somewhat ambivalent. On one hand, he defines face as ―t he positive social value a person effectively claims for himself by the line others assume he has taken during a particular contact‖ as well as ―anmage i of self delineated in terms of approved social attributes‖ (Goffman, 1955:213)‫‏‬. This posits face as a socio-psychological phenomenon of 'self' which integrates personhood and the desire of people to be seen in a positive manner. That is, it is construed as a theoretical construct of positive self image projection and attribution: a self-centred exhibition of individualism in the web of social actions. In other words, face is a societally accorded self-worth phenomenon. On the other hand, however, he explains that ―t he person's face clearly is something that is not lodged in or on his body, but rather something that is diffusely located in the flow of events in the encounter‖ (Goffman, 1955:214, emphasis added)‫‏‬. There appears to be a contradiction of terms here by Goffman himself but it is this latter view of his that has been advocated by several scholars as a more fruitful path to a better understanding of face dynamics in linguistic interactions (Arundale, 1999, 2006, 2009, 2010; Bargiela-Chiappini, 2003; Eelen, 2001; Haugh, 2010; Kasper, 2009b; Locher and Watts, 2005; Spencer-Oatey, 2007; Watts, 2003). Brown and Levinson (1987 [1978]) build on Goffman's (1955:216) notion of facework ―t he actions taken by a person to make whatever he is doing consistent with face‖ - by preoccupying themselves with Anglo-American individualism in view of face threatening acts (FTA), and by so doing they equate face with politeness. Although Goffman never used the word 'politeness', it is Brown and Levinson's generalisation about its universal patterns ―t hat is at the heart of their model and that departs most radically‖ (Bargiela-Chiappini, 2003:1460) from Goffman's facework. In their model, ―s ome acts are intrinsically threatening to face and thus require 'softening'‖ (Brown and Levinson, 1987:24) and therefore Brown and Levinson bifurcate facework into positive face and negative face. While it is true that Brown and Levinson's (1987) work has given impetus to research in many politeness studies over the years, modelling politeness on the basis of positive and negative face conflates two notions that ought to be treated separately because ―t he link between politeness and facework is not the ― always online‖ trend (Baron, 2008; Patterson et. al., 2008) in modern computer-mediated communication devices. Computer-Mediated Discourse in Africa, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated, 2012. ProQuest Ebook Central,

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so straightforward‖ (Arundale, 2006:211). In the words of Watts (2003:117), ― politeness theory can never be fully equated with face theory‖ and Bargiela-Chiappini (2003:1455) has cautioned that ―w e need to distinguish between the two‖. While Goffman partly locates face in interaction, Brown and Levinson exclusively treat it outside of the interaction (Golato and Taleghani-Nikazm, 2006; Watts, 2003). Previous studies on Nigerian facework link the body metaphor to the folk term. For instance, with respect to the Yoruba cosmology, Lawal (2001) holds that ―f ace is an index of identity‖ while Watermann (2002: 21) explicates this connection between self and identity in relation to society as follows: One of the primary anatomical metaphors for the mutually constitutive interaction between self and society is ojú, a Yoruba term designating ―f ace‖ or ―e yes‖. In its external aspect, ojú is the primary social organ, the locus of self-expression and the tactics of selfconstruction through sentient interaction with others. In its inward-facing aspect ojú (more specifically, ojú inun, the ―in ner eye‖) is the locus of contemplation, imagination, and creativity. These two dimensions of the Yoruba metaphor ojú point toward a conception of identity which indeed recognizes 'inner' and 'outer' dimensions of the self, but nonetheless does not map neatly onto the western bourgeois notion of an essential, autonomous, subjective interiority which 'expresses itself' in the world. Instead, the face and eyes are configured as portals between society and the self, crucial synapses in the process of personhood.

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In the Igbo culture, face represents a person's personality and ―i s used metaphorically for shame, negative or positive dispositions towards others, honor, good and bad fortune‖ (Nwoye, 1992:314). As is the case in most ethnic groups in Nigeria, 'group' and 'individual' face are hierarchically ranked, ―w ith group face ranking higher than individual face‖. Nwoye (1992:315) maintains that: The Igbo's greater concern for the collective self-image of the group than for the selfimage of the individual is the motivation and justification for the distinction ... between group and individual face. Group here is taken to be any social unit larger than the individual; it is constituted concentrically by the nuclear family, the extended family, the clan, the village, the town, and the ethnic group in expanding order.

Basden (1921: preface) alludes to this assertion when describing the relationship between man and society in traditional Igbo world view by saying that, ―Thewill of the tribe or family, expressed or implied, permeates his whole being, and is the deciding factor in every detail of his life.‖ However, I do not want to create the impression that group and individual face do not overlap in Nigerian facework because as recently argued by Grainger, Mills and Sibanda (2010:2159), ―i n the case of African face, a sense of group belonging may be foregrounded in certain speech events but this does not imply that individuation does not exist‖. In fact, older Nigerians frequently complain these days that traditional Nigerian values of group face especially the prestige of societally accorded self-worth are being eroded by modern cosmopolitanism and the effect of globalisation. In a cross-cultural study of Nigerian English, Yoruba and Ogori, Adegbija (1989) employs Brown and Levinson's framework to analyze recorded role playing / informal interview data. In the analysis, Adegbija (1989) identifies four main strategies of positive politeness (greetings, making small talks, cooperation, and the use of honorifics) and three

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cardinal strategies of negative politeness (voice tone modulation, the use of titles, and indirectness). He argues by agreeing with Brown and Levinson that utterances are interpretable as (im) polite and that ―t he greater the age and the higher the cultural and social status attained by an addressee, the greater the need the speaker feels to employ politeness strategies‖ (1989:78). Nwoye (1992) is one of the most cited literature on the variability of face in a nonWestern culture. The author illustrates with examples from Igbo how facework differs from the one articulated by Brown and Levinson. He faults Brown and Levinson's FTA as robbing social interactions of the pleasure and potentials of relationships. With respect to impositions, ―cr iticisms become speech acts that frequently neither threaten the face of the maker nor impose on the Speaker or the Hearer‖ (Nwoye, 1992:314). Since the collective good of the group is mostly the reason for expressing antagonisms and objections, such a ―cr iticism made directly and in good faith has a corrective, socializing effect, and is usually received with gratitude‖ (Nwoye, 1992:326) by interactants. Interestingly, though a troubled metaphor (Arundale, 2010; Bargiela-Chiappini, 2003; Eelen, 2001; Locher and Watts, 2005), that an originally socially-oriented Chinese concept (Ho, 1976; Hu, 1944; Yu, 2001) can be domesticated and integrated into the Western world view as Goffman (1955) and Brown and Levinson (1987 [1978]) have done goes to show that face should be recast as an interactionally intercultural disembodied construct rather than replacing the label with a newer metaphor. Thereby 'face' and 'facework' can continue to serve as sites of interactional, intercultural, international and multimodal discourse analysis. Arundale's (1999, 2006, 2009, 2010) FCT offers a pragmatic grounding for this.

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DIGITAL FACEWORK AND RELATED PHENOMENA – A REVIEW Hiemstra (1982) is the first study on digital facework in which the transcript of a computer conference was analyzed. The synchronous and asynchronous computer-mediated conference involves two expert computer users and two amateur users (n = 4) who jointly produced a research report as an actual working activity. In all, there were 71 entries (utterances) in the course of a 43-day period. The transcript is divided into parts by adapting Sinclair and Coulthard's (1975) segmentation of discourse for Hiemstra's (1982) analysis units segmented into the double interact, the utterance, and the move. The three findings are that, first, concern for face is strongly evident in the use of language: almost every utterance is interpreted to involve a face-threatening act; second, although concern for face is high, a pattern of politeness strategies emerged which created a particular ethos for the computer conference; and thirdly, there is a noticeable lack of 'off-record' (it occurred only once) which indicates that ―t he computer conference may alter the intersubjective process of communication‖ (Hiemstra, 1982: 900). Hiemstra concludes that Brown and Levinson's framework of politeness is feasible for CMC analysis. Whereas Hiemstra (1982) provides sufficient methodological details about her study there is not a single example of what the transcript contains or how the utterance is structured. Simmons (1999) improves on the issue of data deficit by supplying samples of bulletin board service (BBS) discourse in an eclectic combination of conversation analysis, ethnographic,

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and discourse analysis methods for the enunciation of CMC pragmatics. He considers Gricean maxims in terms of Brown and Levinson's (1987) politeness theory and makes four claims as follows: (1) Participants have positive face; (2) They also have negative face; (3) Participants have the ability to select the most appropriate means to attain a goal (i.e. rationality); and (4) Participants will depart from the Gricean standard of cooperation in relation to perceived risk to the addressee's face (i.e. the writer will employ strategies that meet the addressee's face wants) (Simmons, 1999:523). In Morand and Ocker (2003) and Morand (2010), a sociolinguistic implementation of Brown and Levinson's (1978) politeness theory is methodologically expounded by means of nine propositions, and the proposed framework ―s hows how politeness is operationalized relative to a definable set of linguistic indices that are used throughout everyday discourse to communicate respect and esteem for others' face‖ (Morand, 2010:776) in studying relational CMC. The authors unquestionably adopt Brown and Levinson's formulation of Goffman's dramaturgy as regards politeness and facework, and they suggest that politeness theory will be useful for CMC research. Indeed, from an implementation point of view, the ordered rules can serve as algorithmic formulations. Maricic's (2005) monograph based on the author's doctoral thesis is the first CMC monograph on text-based digital facework and it is titled Face in Cyberspace. Using two data sets collected from a moderated listserv and a non-moderated Usenet newsgroup, the author explores the discourse strategies and linguistic resources online interactants employ in English electronic discussions for facework. The three major facework categories enumerated in the study are: confrontational, cooperative and evasive. Confrontational facework is predominant in the Usenet threads whereas in the moderated listserv ―i nterpersonal conflict emerged gradually, counterbalanced by Cooperative and Evasive facework‖ (Maricic, 2005: 3). The study acknowledges the complexity of online discourse as the author emphasizes the interactional styles members ―j ointly develop‖, and she proposes a facework typology especially as ― Face and facework are sensitive to linguistic, socio-cultural and situational context‖ (Maricic, 2005:212, 213). Brett et. al. (2007) use text data from 386 disputes between eBay buyers and sellers to expatiate on how the choice of words people use online 'gives and attacks face'. The authors employ the software, Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC), to statistically parse the affective and cognitive linguistic dimensions of social interactions, and they assert that Goffman's face theory ―pr ovides an overarching framework for understanding the relationship between what disputants say and the likelihood that they will resolve disputes‖ (Brett et. al., 2007:86). By so doing, the use of language online is linked to the definition of social roles and exchange relationships. In the typical Goffmanian fashion, Brett and her colleagues opine that (i) A claim in a dispute represents an attack on face; (ii) A claim or claims may have an especially strong effect on face or little impact on the disputants' face individually; (iii) The impact a claim has on interactants depends on how the claim is expressed. Therefore, face dynamics online favours the choice of words that gives rather than attack face because giving face facilitates a quicker resolution of disputes. Radford, Connaway, and Williams (2007) demonstrate how Goffmanian facework can be used to explicate virtual rituals in live chat reference encounters. With Goffman's (1955) framework, interpersonal dynamics in live chat encounters is displayed. The study reports the results of an analysis of 746 chat reference transcripts from the Online Computer Library Center, Inc. (OCLC), Rutgers, USA. Similarly, LeBlanc (2009) finds out that bloggers

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employ two correction rituals in online interactions: the first correction ritual, the interchange, allows offending interactants a chance to save face; while the second ritual, the points making game, is a way for interactants to cause other participants to lose face. To him, facework in blogs is a matter of either saving or losing face. My comments on these fascinating studies follow. First, the arguments and explanations in the studies above are premised on (i) Brown and Levinson's model which I conceptually object to following Arundale (2010), Bargiela-Chippini (2003), de Kadt (1998), Eelen (2001), Mao (1994), Locher and Watts (2005), Nwoye (1992), and Watts (2003) as well as (ii) those aspects of Goffman's framework that are typically individualistic. Second, there is no clear demarcation between face (work) and politeness as distinct concepts (as has been argued for by Watts, 2003 and Bargiela-Chippini, 2003): they are rather treated as two sides of a coin or sometimes almost synonymously. A framework should be able to specify where to draw the borderline when applying it to face (work) and politeness. Nonetheless, Golato and Taleghani-Nikazm (2006) and Alevizou et. al. (2010) offer fresh insights on how to adapt existing theories to enunciate the interactional and discursive features of social media. Alevizou et. al. (2010) embed Goffman‘s notions of ‗facework' and ‗ritual performance‘ into social networking sites' (SNS) principle of collective intelligence for the analysis of 'sociality' in an educational SNS called Cloudworks (Conole and Culver, 2009). The authors explore facework ―i n the context of analysis of emergent patterns of behaviour and activity‖ (2010:508, emphasis added) and argue that ―Clo udworks is a platform for expressive interactions and collective intelligence‖ and they further stipulate what this means for both ―t he emerging design trajectories of the site and the outcomes for networked learning‖ (2010:514).

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DATA The data analysed are selected from a million-word untagged corpus (as of December 2010) of Informal Nigerian Electronic Communication (INEC) collected by the author over a period of six years. INEC is user-generated and comprises systematically but intermittently culled synchronous and asynchronous data from several Nigerian Instant Messaging, Web chat, email, listserv, online discussion forum, online newspapers readers' comments, blog, Twitter, Facebook and SMS text messages. The Web-based component of the corpus is built by manual browsing and Web crawling while the SMS data are sourced from the author's network of Nigerian friends and colleagues in Nigeria, Germany, the US and the UK. Specific contextual information about each data type analysed will be provided in the respective sections.

ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK: FACE CONSTITUTING THEORY Moving away from the person-centredness of Goffman's (1955) framework and Brown and Levinson's (1987) politeness theory to a more nuanced and socially-oriented discursive pragmatics of face requires an emergentist stance. Therefore, I subscribe to Cameron's (1999:4) postulation that:

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Language in use in human interaction […] can usefully be considered as a complex, dynamic system in which language resources - both forms of language and skills in using language - are employed in particular contexts to achieve interactional goals under particular processing demands. Language as text, in the sense of the language as words actually used as well as the linguistic system that can be abstracted from it, then becomes an 'emergent' feature of interaction between language as resource and discourse contexts.

That face is emergent in and through linguistic interactions is the crux of Arundale's (1999, 2006, 2009, 2010) FCT. Philosophically and methodologically differing from earlier frameworks of face (i.e. Goffman's and Brown and Levinson's), FCT treats face as ―a phenomenon arising in relationships between persons, where relationships are understood in the strong sense as human systems defined by the non-summative properties arising among independent persons‖ (Arundale, 2010:2086, emphasis added). In other words, face emerges endogenously in ―l anguage use as interactional achievement‖ and as ―r elational connectedness and separateness‖ among participants who jointly co-create, co-constitute and co-construct talk/conduct-in-interaction. Therefore, according to Arundale (2010:2088), ― Face Constituting Theory's conceptualization of face as a non-summative, relational phenomenon represents a marked departure from the conceptualization of face as a summative, person-centred attribute found in existing theories‖. Crucial to FCT is face dialectics. Drawing on relational dialectics theory, for FCT, face arises as an interplay between sociality and individuality. That is, ― 'Connectedness' in relationships indexes a complex of meanings and actions that may be apparent as unity, interdependence, solidarity, association, congruence, and more, between the relational partners‖ (Arundale, 2009:43). This 'connectedness' is what enhances 'sociality' in interactions. In a dialectically related manner, nonetheless, ― 'connectedness' is always linked reflexively with 'separateness', which indexes meanings and actions that may be voiced as differentiation, independence, autonomy, dissociation, divergence, and so on‖ (2009:43). It is this 'separateness' that yields 'individuality'. I can map a procedural connection between FCT and Bucholtz and Hall's (2005) sociocultural linguistic approach for the mere fact that they are both methodologically grounded in conversation analysis and they both hold 'relationality' to be foundational to their operations. Then, aspects of both frameworks can be used to highlight the emergent features of relationality and virtual face. Suffice it to say, however, that face and identity are regarded as different concepts but in a conversation analytic approach both are disembodied in interaction. Thus, if Bucholtz and Hall's (2005) framework enunciates identity-in-interaction, Arundale's (2010) FCT expatiates face-in-interaction. Different relational preoccupations but with similar theoretic assumptions: whereas Bucholtz and Hall (2005) opine that identity is interactionally accomplished, Arundale (2010) posits that face is interactionally achieved. For my analysis, face dialectics will be relevant in depicting face dynamics in samples of text-based Internet discourse similar to what is done in conversation analysis. Methodologically, concepts from conversation analysis have been used severally by CMC researchers depending on individual researcher's goals as in the following: sequentiality and turns (Anderson, Beard and Walther, 2010; Antaki et al., 2005; Gibson, 2009; GonzálezLloret, 2011; Herring, 1999; Neuage, 2004; Reed, 2001; Vayreda and Antaki, 2009); preference-organization (Golato and Taleghani-Nikazm, 2006); membership categorisation

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(Lamerichs and Te Molder, 2003; Sneijder and Te Molder, 2005; Stommel, 2008; Stommel and Koole, 2010); and virtual repair (Andrews, 2010; Schönfeldt and Golato, 2003).

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DISCURSIVE-RELATIONAL DIGITAL FACE ACTS Inspired by FCT, I employ three strands of virtual face dynamics in this chapter viz. discursivity (Edwards and Potter, 1992; Haugh, 2010; Kasper, 2006, 2009a, 2009b; Lamerichs and Te Molder, 2003; Sneijder and Te Molder, 2005), indexicality (Ruhi, 2010; Silverstein, 1976, 2003, 2004, 2005) and relationality (Arundale, 2010; Bucholtz and Hall, 2005; Locher and Watts, 2005). This DIR triad is adapted in describing how face semiotically emerges [in light of Silverstein's (2005) framing of discourse as semiotic production], how it is co-constructed, negotiated and contested in new media discourse. Discursivity is understood in its discursive pragmatics sense manifested through Internet interactants' ―cont ingent, emergent, joint accomplishment‖ (Kasper, 2006:307) of face. Indexicality involves the semiotic processes of instantiating reflexivity and relational associations especially as indexicals are 'indicators' and 'pointers' of discourse phenomena in certain contexts (Silverstein, 1976, 2004, 2005). According to Silverstein (2003:193), ―' indexical order' is the concept necessary to showing us how to relate the micro-social to the macrosocial frames of analysis of any sociolinguistic phenomenon‖. Explaining what he calls orders of indexicality, he maintains that: ―an y n-th order indexical presupposes that the context in which it is normally used has a schematization of some particular sort, relative to which we can model the ― appropriateness‖ of its usage in that context‖ (2003:193). Ruhi (2010) has argued that face is an indexical and that it is in turn indexed by linguistic acts in interaction. And relationality is the component for negotiating interpersonal meanings (Locher and Watts, 2005) as well as the 'tactics of intersubjectivity' (Bucholtz and Hall, 2005) among interactants.

FACE CO-CONSTRUCTION Face is performed, enacted, constructed, contested and negotiated through language in text-based interactive CMC. By co-construction, I mean ―t he joint creation of a form, interpretation, stance, action, activity, identity, institution, skill, ideology, emotion, or other culturally meaningful reality‖ (Jacoby and Ochs, 1995:171). Arundale's (1999, 2006, 2009, 2010) FCT is currently the most coherent framework that explicates the discursive co-construction of face-in-interaction. Interactionally achieving face (Arundale, 2010) results in face disembodiment (Gómez, 2010) in the sense that face is no longer conceptualized as residing in or being a possession of the individual as Brown and Levinson's (1987 [1978]) model has held for the past decades. Rather, it is emergent in and through interaction or, as Goffman (1955:214) is wont to say, ― diffusely located in the flow of events in the encounter‖. It should be remarked that Goffman (1955) is actually the first to hint at face disembodiment but he did not develop this line of argumentation due to his Anglo-American individualistic interpretings of face. However, explanations of face disembodiment in textual

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CMC are necessary in order to juxtapose and differentiate virtual face from Yu's (2001) grounding of linguistic and cultural expressions in 'bodily experiences' because virtual encounters do not require the physical co-presence of interactants. Since face is discourse-internal, I hereby illustrate its emergence in microblogging through semiotic and linguistic resources. That is, the discursive and interactional achievement of face (co-creating relational connectedness and separateness) can be indexed with the following typographic registers of social networking media: 'RT', '#' and '@'. In essence, the relational and interactional uses of these signs in contemporary digital networking qualify for what Agha (2007) refers to as 'semiotic registers'. Light Up Nigeria8 (LUN) is an Internet advocacy movement championed by Nigerian youths to act as a pressure group on the Nigerian government in order for the government to fulfil its constitutional role of providing the Nigerian people with basic social amenities especially electricity. From archival evidence, it was started in July 2009 via Twitter and the earliest hashtagged tweet in INEC is dated July 14, 2009. Tweets 1-25 above are composed in chronological order and they represent the first set of publicly available tweets on the subject matter. As an Internet-based microblogging tool, Twitter prompts users to share brief 140character text updates (otherwise known as tweets) about their current activities either publicly or within a social network of friends and followers. Since Twitter's emergence in 2006, it has been used for conversational exchanges, collaboration among users with common interests and goals, co-ordination of events, and the dissemination of news and information (Boyd, Golder and Lotan, 2010; Honeycutt and Herring, 2009; Java et al., 2006; Mischaud, 2007; Sousa, Sarmento and Rodrigues, 2010; Thelwall, Buckley and Paltoglou, 2011). Embedded in Tweet 1 is a nested interrogative from an interactant called 'bubusn' whose original message is: Hey guys, how about we make something like #lightupnigeria a trending topic? thereby producing a dialogue between the two interactants: 'bubusn' and 'lowla360'. No doubt, linguistic and non-linguistic signs are conversationally appropriated in microblogging (Boyd, Golder and Lotan, 2010; Efron, 2010; Honeycutt and Herring, 2009; Huang, Thornton and Efthimiadis, 2010; Java et al., 2006; Sousa, Sarmento and Rodrigues, 2010). In fact, Herring (2010) while defining computer-mediated conversation notes that the nomenclature of what is regarded as 'conversation' always depends ―t o some extent on the available communication technologies, and that technological change is presently driving an expansion of its meaning‖. RT stands for retweet. Retweets can occur as forwarded tweets as well as nested conversations (i.e. conversations within conversations a la Hodson-Champeon, 2010) because of their recursivity. Referring to 'bubusn' as babe in Tweet 1 specifies that 'bubusn' is the primary recipient of the message in that 'lowla 360' is responding to his call for a collective digital action (note the choice of pronoun we) to create visibility for their cause. Other interactants in the LUN social movement are secondary recipients of this particular tweet and the message is publicly available for all to read and add their response(s). One can safely say, therefore, that relational connectedness between the two primary discussants in Tweet 1 is enacted while at the same time relational separateness between 'lowla360' and the other addressees to whom bubusn's message is directed is indicated. 8

http://www.lightupnigeria.org ; Ebuka (2009, July 18), ― Nigeria: Forget Seven-Point Agenda, Light up The Country‖ ThisDay Newspaper Online

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Table 1.

9

No

Initiator/ Sender9

Tweet Addressee and/or Subject Matter [ #LightupNigeria (LUN) on July 14, 2009 ]

1

lowla360:

RT @bubusn: Hey guys, how about we make something like #lightupnigeria a trending topic? i agree babe, i agree.and pray it goes a long way

2

SL419:

@bubusn #lightupnigeria is a great idea

3

lowla360:

Let the poor have cause to relax and enjoy their family after a hard days work #lightupnigeria

4

akingbayo:

We are tired of heavy-hearts... 'Light'en us up #lightupnigeria

5

Olufunmike:

#lightupnigeria We won't stop until something happens.

6

Zwagger:

i had my power cut for 1 day...nearly died. i cant try to remember how i survived over ten yrs ago...guess ill move 2 ghana #lightupnigeria

7

kamizee:

RT @bubusn: #lightupnigeria... 140 million people, 2 million barrels of oil a day yet still no electricity.

8

babsbote:

RT @bubusn: Hey guys, how about we make something like #lightupnigeria a trending topic? * 9ja tweepples lets do this*

9

SL419:

#lightupnigeria we are tired of having spending hundreds of thousands of naira to buy diesel for generators just cos PHCN aint working

10

lowla360:

Supplying oil and even power supply to other nations yet she doesn't have power supply for her own people #lightupnigeria

11

SL419:

#lightupnigeria I'm tired of scheduling my time around the two hours of light a day that PHCN provides

12

SL419:

RT @Olufunmike: #lightupnigeria We won't stop until something happens.

13

MsLalaFoxx:

RT @bubusn: #lightupnigeria... 140 million people, 2 million barrels of oil a day yet still NO ELECTRICITY. **ENOUGH IS ENOUGH**

14

kamizee:

We need electricity in our homes and businesses for productivity #lightupnigeria

15

akingbayo:

We will remain an import-dependent country till we have constant powersupply.. #lightupnigeria

16

lowla360:

Claims she is the so called Giant of Africa,yet no power supply for her people to live their daily lives. #lightupnigeria

17

xolubi:

#lightupnigeria cos i dont like the dark

18

pokusrama:

I'd would be nice to see lights down below when ur flying into Nigeria#lightupNigeria

19

olalekt:

#lightupnigeria am tired of people dying cos of generator fumes and hospitals not having girl for their Gens http://myloc.me/a6s9

20

edeanijames:

#lightupnigeria need to be able to race in the streets without crashing!!

I decided to use the public identities of interactants because for the most part, these are aliases and not the authors' real names

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Face in Nigerian New Media Discourse No

Initiator/ Sender10

Tweet Addressee and/or Subject Matter [ #LightupNigeria (LUN) on July 14, 2009 ]

21

SL419:

We need to #lightupnigeria to enable growth of smaller businesses

22

lawwyy:

#lightupnigeria rise up ye mighty race

23

MsLalaFoxx:

#lightupnigeria because its about time! 50years and nothing to show for it! A fool at 40 is a fool forever....what does that make us???

24

SL419:

#lightupnigeria for the future of our country.we cannot continue to exist in darkness

25

qaywee:

#lightupnigeria... we've been in the dark long enough...

129

Contrast this with Tweet 8. The interactant, 'babsote', is also responding to the call for collective action but gives a general response addressed to Nigerian netizens in the Twittersphere: 9ja is the apha-numeric shortening for Nigeria, tweepples is a coinage from ―t weet + people‖, and the two asterisks function as quotation marks to differentiate the forwarded tweet from the forwarder's own text. Again, this tweet is conversational although not as affirmative as the responder in Tweet 1 is but more of a directive supporting the initiator's call to group action. A similar discursive pattern is noticeable in Tweet 13. The initiator of the nested tweet is 'bubusn' but 'MsLalaFoxx' employs upper case for emphasis and uses double boundary asterisks to enclose her contribution. The two remaining Retweets (i.e. 7 and 12) are forwarded messages composed by other interactants. A tweet not prefaced with RT is an original composition but by using the '@' sign in Tweet 2, for example, 'SLA419' directly addresses the opinionated message to 'bubusn'. In microblogging, the @ sign is a marker of addressivity (Honeycutt and Herring, 2009). Note that all the 25 tweets above are composed or sent with an issue-oriented relationship in mind: to light up Nigeria. Thus, the emergent use of the hashtag (#) is for issue-driven relationship in the Twittersphere and as a discourse topic managing device whereas @ is indexical of people-centred relations and for preference selection (Atkinson and Heritage, 1984; Golato and Taleghani-Nikazm, 2006). By and large, '@' and '#' semiotically and simultaneously coconstitute relational connectedness and separateness in social networking discourse. In another sense, these devices for portraying addressee selection and discourse topic management in an environment with tons of thousands of digital interactions depict what Silverstein (2005:8) has called ―acontingent and time-sensitive work of achieved separation that is always subject to interpretative revision, both by participants in an event and by analysts of it‖ (emphasis not in original).

PHATIC FACEWORK Phaticity in new media discourse is pervasive mostly in discourse openings and closings. It is formulaic and occurs for negotiating relational rituals such as greetings, jokes, humour and other forms of 'small talk' (Malinowski, 1923; Coupland, Coupland and Robinson, 1992). 10

I decided to use the public identities of interactants because for the most part, these are aliases and not the authors' real names

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All the data classes in INEC contain instances of phatic facework but I present a few here for illustration. Example 26 is culled from an Ukwuani listserv (Ndokwa-web August 14, 2006). (26) Dear Brothers and Sisters,

1

Ajieh n Otofenio!

2

I bring you greetings from Ghana and Nigeria.

3

I have been out of the country on an official business,

4

and thank God, I made it back to Atlanta safely

5

given the recent problems with air travel.

6

I hope you all had a wonderful summer.

7

The composer of this message is a US-based Nigerian of Ukwuani ethnicity in Delta State, Nigeria. Ukwuani is both an ethnic group as well as the language of people in Delta State of southern Nigeria. It is one of the Igboid languages. In line 1, the writer addresses interactants in the listserv as recipients of his salutation; line 2 is a formulaic collective Ukwuani greeting translated as Greetings to you men and women, a repetition of line 1; line 3 restates the salutation and shows that this individual has just arrived from Ghana and Nigeria where he has brought his greetings from. In a way, this is merely a ritual to reconnect with others and implicitly stating the reason why he has been away from the list on a so-called leave of absence (lines 4 - 6). Line 7 is the closing ritual. Another example is found in 27 below from the same listserv on January 20, 2008: (27) Dear Moderator,

1

Onotu Uku Abi, Osa Ajie Ajie, Ndioum opu ili Ni ili O.

2

I wish to introduce the following son's (sic) of Ndokwa land

3

to the web group for registration: ...

4

Unlike 26 that is addressed to everyone on the list, this is directed at the list moderator (line 1). Line 2 is a relational ritual deferentially recognizing first the esteemed position of the moderator who hails from Abi in Ukwuani Local Government Area and then saluting the men and women in the virtual Ukwuani community. In lines 3-4, the writer tables his request to the moderator. Showing deference to the moderator and greeting others well indicates that the interactant acknowledges that he is aware of his social obligations to other members and dutifully does so to oil the engine of their social relations not minding the fact that his request is not primarily directed at them. His individuality is, however, emphasized in his choice of the first person pronoun in line 3.

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Excerpt 28 involves another Nigerian language, Yoruba, from another Internet discussion forum.

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11

(28) Do You Speak Yoruba? (NRL October 03, 2007, 12:58 PM) A: Do you speak yoruba?

1

Oya lets start on this thread:

2

(so / okay ...) E kaasan o ,eyin temi

3

(Good afternoon, my people) Bawo ni ile aye yin se n lo si?

4

(How are you all doing?) B: be like say U no get work, make urself useful

5

(looks like you haven't got much to do ...) C: ROFLMAO, HA, HAAAA, HAAAA

6

What a joke! HAAA HAAAHAA, ROF, LOL

7

A: Mo ni ki e so Yoruba,

8

(I'm nudging you guys to speak Yoruba) abi ki lo n worry gbogbo yin?

9

(what's wrong with you all?) D: Bawo ni ise? (How's work?) so wapa? (Are you alright?) keep on working, E: O se my dear (thanks, my dear)‫‏‬ [English-Nigerian Pidgin-Yoruba]

10 11 12 13

Typical of phatic talks, excerpts from 28 are multilingual online polylogues on how proficient members of this forum are in the Yoruba language. Lines1- 4 introduces the thread, the first respondent trivializes the issue in line 5 and the second respondent makes a joke out of it in lines 6 - 7. In lines 8 - 9, the initiator of the thread is exasperated that no one has

11

http://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-83218.0.html

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indeed responded to his query in Yoruba. Thereafter, other two respondents write in Yoruba as the thread becomes more interactive with different views expressed by interactants.

COLLABORATIVE FACE ACTS

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Showing solidarity and support for others can be face acts of collaboration. This can be in the form of creating an interactive atmosphere for interactants to communicate their shared bond of humanness, commonality and nationality. For instance, help is solicited in Example 29 for a prominent Nigerian broadcaster who was diagnosed with cancer. (29) How to help YC? (NVS Square 2008/05/13) If you are (sic) guys are really interested in the above question,

1

then we should all join heads to do something,

2

I don tire for plenty cry wey no dey yield result...

3

(I'm tired of too much talk without action) Many NVS members are Medical Personnels,

4

so make we dey feel them and their contribution

5

(let's feel their impacts ...) afterall na Human beings make up Goverment

6

so let's act and stop plenty talk talk jare! [English-Nigerian Pidgin-Yoruba]

7

That this is a conversation is obvious from the dialogic structure. In the thread, several matters about health care in Nigeria are discussed but this interactant interjects that trend of discussion by appealing to the compassion in the human nature of Villagers (this is how members in this Internet forum refer to themselves). Line 1 draws the attention of interactants to the thematic subject of the thread and this Villager makes an appeal for a collaborative action in line 2. In lines 3-7, interactants are reminded that qualified medical practitioners of this virtual community can render professional services to the patient in question. It is important to note the use of pronouns of solidarity (we and us) in lines 2, 5 and 7 because this conveys relational connectedness among members. Discursively, a relational sense of responsibility is therefore enacted as collaborative face is projected. This stance coheres with Nwoye's (1992) characterization of communality and the willingness of Nigerians in traditional communities to be one another's burden bearer. Compare the desire to offer assistance to a fellow Nigerian in need in Example 29 to another call for a collaborative act as per civic activism in lines 5-7 of Example 30 (a blog entry by a popular female TV anchor called Funmi Iyanda).

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12

(30) Do or Die ― Selections‖ (April 17, 2007) The President said it was going to be do or die,

1

apparently he was serious.

2

Found this story by the Independent of UK,

3

which confirms what we already known.

4

Question is

5

what will Nigerians do about it?

6

We go sidon look ? (Shall we not do something about it?) [English-Nigerian Pidgin]

7

Apparently, the manifest use of the inclusive we (line 7) elicits or is intended to spur communal actions of civic participation (Planchenault, 2010).

CONFRONTATIONAL FACE ACTS

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Confrontational facework is discernible in Excerpt 31 below. (31) The Pathetic Nigerian Police Force (GWP/February 18, 2006) The Problem with our Police Force is they all individually (sic)

1

believe they are superior human beings. Why wouldn't they? Inferiority Complex!, I would say.

2 3

Majority of them are recruited into the Force

4

without the minimum basic educational qualification.

5

They find it so hard to express themselves in our official 'lingua franca'.

6

They have therefore adopted 'broken english' as their means of communication

7

in and out of the force - 'a la' "wetin u carry" syndrome. [English-Nigerian Pidgin ] [literally ―w hat do you have on you‖ syndrome = bribery] 12

http://fiyanda.blogspot.com/2007/04/do-or-die-selections.html

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When the above discourse was composed in February 2006, the Guardian online portal had not been so user-friendly as it is today, allowing readers' comments to be appended directly to a news story. Readers could only comment by using the Web poll and as of 2010, there were over 28,000 comments archived on this portal. Interactants had commented severally on a proposed strike action by the Nigerian Police which prompted a castigation of the act by netizens. The use of code switching by this online participant is derogatory and serves as an indictment on semi-literate members of the Nigerian Police Force. ―W etin you carry‖ is a euphemism for bribery (line 8). This individual challenges the arrogance of some Nigerian police(wo)men and their inability to communicate properly in Standard English (lines 6-8). Similarly, Excerpt 32 is a sarcastic comment on a news story (Vanguard Online/May 11, 2008) that the Enugu State House of Assembly was to pass a law on the use of Igbo language for legislative duties as part of efforts to promote the language and preserve the cultural heritage of the people. (32) As you make your bed so you will lie on it. NDI IGBO CHORO INA ASU OYIBO, good for them. [English – Igbo] [The Igbos want to converse in English, good for them.] Probably a diasporan Nigerian in Washington USA (as the IP address of his message shows then), this commenter switches from English to Igbo to mock this move by Enugu lawmakers.

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CODE-SWITCHING AS FACEWORK The underlying premise of this work is that code-switching is facework (Brett et. al., 2007; O'Driscoll, 2001) as language mixture indexes face concerns which are either phatic, supportive or confrontational. It has been shown in the foregoing that online discourse among multicultural, multilingual netizens can contain elements from several languages in netizens' linguistic repertoire. Therefore, the use of a particular language or a mixture of languages can communicate audience affiliation or alienation.

CONCLUSION Following Silverstein's (2005) framing of discourse as semiotic production, this chapter has argued within the FCT framework that face is discourse-internal, relational and interactionally achieved. Thus, it is a disembodied but socially-oriented construct which involves how interactants conjointly co-create, co-constitute and co-construct relational ―connected ness and separateness‖ by a simultaneous enactment of participants' sociality and individuality. Three strands of virtual face dynamics explored here are discursivity, indexicality and relationality. This DIR triad is adapted in describing how face semiotically emerges, how it is co-constructed, negotiated and contested in new media discourse. Through the explication of eclectic Nigerian Internet data, discursive-relational face acts include: digital face co-construction, phatic facework, collaborative and confrontational face acts with

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the underlying premise that code-switching is facework. Therefore, if the arguments put forth in this chapter have been effectively communicated as intended, these should result in understanding ―t he richness and diversity in the ways humans are continually achieving both connection with and separation from one another in [textual] talk, and in so doing are achieving both their sociality and their individuality‖ (Arundale, 2010:2097). In conclusion, ―t ext-as-emergent is effectively constituted by a set of indexical and (metasemiotically) iconic relationships that have a semiotically real and logically manifest simultaneity‖ (Silverstein, 2005:8).

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Language Structures and Social Interaction. Philadelphia, Pa : IGI Publishers. pp. 296317. Oluwole, David. 2009. Spirituality, Gender and Age Factors in Cybergossip Among Nigerian Adolescents. CyberPsychology and Behavior 12(3): 323-326. Oni, Wale and Niyi Osunbade. 2009. Pragmatic Force in Synchronous Computer-Mediated Communication in Nigeria. In Akin Odebunmi, Arua E. Arua and Sailal Arimi (Eds.) Language, Gender and Politics, A Festschrift for Yisa Kehinde Yusuf. Lagos: Concept Publications Limited, pp. 354-376. Pyramid Research. 2010. The Impact of Mobile Services in Nigeria: How Mobile Technologies are Transforming Economic and Social Activities. Presentation in Abuja, Nigeria. March 16. Ruhi, Şükriye. 2010. Face as an Indexical Category in Interaction. Journal of Pragmatics 42:2131-2146. Sesan, Gbenga. 2010, November. Digital Lifestyle of Connected Nigerians. Paradigm Initiative Nigeria Report. http://www.pinigeria.org/download/gsocf.pdf Silverstein, Michael. 1976. Shifters, Linguistic Categories and Cultural Description. In K. Basso and H. Selby (Eds), Meaning in Anthropology. Albuquerque: University of Mexico Press, pp. 11-55. Silverstein, Michael. 2003. Indexical Order and the Dialectics of Sociolinguistic Life. Language and Communication 23:193-229. Silverstein, Michael. 2004. ‗‗Cultural‘‘ Concepts and the Language-Culture Nexus. Current Anthropology 45 (5):631-645. Silverstein, Michael, 2005. Axes of Evals: Token vs. Type Interdiscursivity. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 15 (1): 6-22. Taiwo, Rotimi. 2008a. Linguistic forms and functions of SMS text messages in Nigeria. In S. Kelsey and K. St. Amant (Eds), Handbook of Research on Computer Mediated Communication. Hershey and New York: Information Science Reference, pp. 969-982. Taiwo, Rotimi. 2008b. Respelling and Creativity in SMS: Challenges for Literacy in the Digital Age. In T. Lê, Q. Lê and M. Short (Eds.), Language and Literacy Education in a Challenging World. , New York: Nova Science Publishers. 289 - 302 Taiwo, Rotimi. 2010a. Discourse Features in Nigerian Online Discussion Forums. In P. Jungran and E. G. Abels (Eds), Interpersonal Relations and Social Patterns in Communication Technologies: Discourse Norms. Language Structures and Cultural Variables. Philadelphia, Pa: IGI Global Publishers, pp 185-201. Taiwo, Rotimi. 2010b. Social Identity and Discursive Practices in Nigerian Online Forums. In Nnamdi Ekeanyanwu and Chinedu Okeke (Eds.) Indigenous Societies and Cultural Globalization in the 21st Century. Leipzig: VDM Verlag. 70-91. Taiwo, Rotimi. (Ed.). 2010c. Handbook of Research on Discourse Behavior and Digital Communication: Language Structures and Social Interaction. Pennsylvania, USA: IGI Global Publishers. Taiwo, Rotimi. 2010d. The Dynamics of Language Mixing in Nigerian Digital Communication. In R. Taiwo (Ed.) Handbook of Research on Discourse Behavior and Digital Communication: Language Structures and Social Interaction. Pennsylvania, US: IGI Global Publishers, pp. 179-190. van Leeuwen, Theo. 2005. Typographic Meaning. Visual Communication 4:137-143.

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van Leeuwen, Theo. 2006. Towards a Semiotics of Typography. Information Design Journal and Document Design 14(2):139-155. Waterman, Christopher. 2002. Big Man, Black President, Masked One: Models of the Celebrity Self in Yoruba Popular Music in Nigeria. In M. Palmberg and A. Kirkegaard (Eds.), Playing with Identities in Contemporary Music in Africa, Uppsala, Finland: Nordiska Afrikaininstitutet, pp. 19-34. Watts, Richard. 2003. Politeness. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

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ISBN: 978-1- 62100-497-4 © 2012 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 9

LINGUISTIC CREATIVITY IN COMPUTER-MEDIATED COMMUNICATION: EXAMPLES FROM SELECTED AFRICAN CHATS Taofik Olasunkanmi Adesanmi

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ABSTRACT This chapter investigates the various displays of linguistic creativity by some Nigerian English as Second Language (ESL) interactants in the selected chatroom interactions. The data were samples of online text-based chats drawn from twenty online interlocutors among whom there were twelve Nigerians in diaspora (living mostly in Qatar, UK, US, and China). The choice of these interactants was informed by the fact that they were living very far from each other (and one another) spanning different axes of the globe, the reason for their communication was seriously motivated, and they were willing to contribute to the research. The data were analysed using Conversation Analysis (CA). The results reveal the different ways participants manipulate the linguistic resources, such as the orthography, vocabulary and grammar in order to communicate. The various creative features were traced to factors, like topicalisation, the mood of participants, cultural identification, group identity and nostalgia.

Keywords: creativity, chat, computer-mediated communication, synchronous, orthography, creativity, chatroom

INTRODUCTION Language users are not just interested in simply reproducing but recreating, refashioning and recontextualizing linguistic and cultural resources in the act of communicating. In a way, this can still go further into the poetic application of language i.e. instances of language use that are temporarily and reflexively framed as being distinctive from on-going interaction (Maybin and Swann, 2007). Although linguistic creativity should be universally acknowledged, the ―L 2 setting forms a potential site for investigating‖ this phenomenon in

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language (Alo, 2006: 17). Apart from the casual conversation situation, conversation in textbased chatroom interaction, an integral branch of Computer-mediated Communication (CMC), constitutes a veritable place for investigating linguistic creativity constantly carried out by the internet users. Fortunately, the presence of internet cafes and availability of various grades of mobile handsets in major cities and towns offers the public access to internet services. This has helped greatly in the use of the internet for online communication, a new linguistic domain that has been under the searchlight of researchers/linguists for over a decade (Blashki and Nichol, 2005), especially chatroom conversation. This study employs the methods of Conversational Analysis (CA) to explore what can be revealed about linguistic creativity and discursive practices in the data. Herring (2004) observes that CA is one of the paradigms and methods for studying online community from a discourse perspective.

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BACKGROUND Language is central to communication (Okon, 1970; Alo, 2003). In fact, Lyons (1977:32) concludes that there can hardly be any satisfactory definition of language that does not touch on the idea of communication in the human society. This crucial function of language then requires certain level of ability on the part of the language user(s) while communicating. The concept of communicative competence was coined and introduced by Hymes (1966; 1972) as a modification to the linguistic competence propounded by Noam Chomsky (1965). Chomsky thought of competence as an ideal concept to account for the intuitive linguistic knowledge and capability of Mother Tongue (MT) users of language by which they are able to produce grammatically acceptable utterances in communicative situations. However, various scholars (Canale and Swain, 1980; Bachman, 1990; Leung, 2005) found that Chomsky‘s linguistic competence is not adequate to explain the whole process and activities involved in the use of language for communication, hence the Hymes‘ notion of communicative competence which focuses on fundamental issues like: ―l anguage functions and context‖ encapsulating grammatical/linguistic competence, social-linguistic competence, strategic competence, and discourse competence. Several studies have been carried out on both synchronous and asynchronous aspects of the CMC. A good number of them focus the linguistic forms commonly used in chatroom discourse and how the chat texts hang together. For instance, McDaniel, Olson, and Magee (1996) looked at coherence as a quality of chat discourse; Cherny (1999) worked on the identification of online community in conversation situation; Cornelius and Boos (2003) worked on how to consider a coherence measure based on the topics of discussions; Herring and Kurtz (2006) considered the structures and the topical coherence in certain chats; Androutsopoulos and Beißwenger (2007) presented methodological issues on online analysis; while some other linguists have shown interest in the activities and language behaviours of users of non-native varieties of English in communication on the Web - Herring (1999); Hinrichs (2006); Taiwo (2010); and Silva (2010). Taiwo (2010) examines language mixing in two text-based asynchronous modes— internet forums and text messages. He observes that the limited space of the latter encourages the stylistic short forms of language there whereas the former has unlimited space. According

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to him, language mixing in text message is constrained mainly by cultural factors like greetings and prayers. He notes further that ―l anguage play‖ (180) is another vital factor that motivates people to mix languages in this context but in internet forums, mixing is as result of the apparent mutual linguistic influence that English and the Nigerian languages have on each other. In addition, there is conscious and deliberate language mixing influenced by participants‘ need for identity. The study carried out by Silva (2010) is very relevant to this work. She describes chat discourse as involving ―t he use of cohesion mechanisms present in other texts, as well as new devices that allow chatters to compensate for the absence of physical clues‖. Thus,―r eal-time casual chats are a medium in which language is being changed and (re)created‖ (p.266). This is not unconnected to the fact that, real-time communication chat requires writing fast, without previous planning and posterior revision, and with limited editing possibilities (Veronis and Neef, 2006). And as a result, the chatters have to employ strategies to make their discourse expressive and attractive to others. Language at this level is, consequently transformed due to the need for economy, on the one hand, and the need to be expressive and convey one‘s feelings, on the other. She notes further that all these changes are ―pr oudly made to create the sense of belonging to a new group—a virtual community in which people can communicate online and share their interests and beliefs‖ (p.267). This position therefore justifies the need for (as well as relevance of) this work to really explore the linguistic (re)creation or (re)invention in CMC. Neuage (2004) in his PhD thesis: ― Conversational analysis of chatroom talk‖ argues that ―t here are many reasons why a person may be in a chatroom and this may determine how the text is read‖ or understood. These reasons he summarised as: pleasure, identification, information seeking, looking for companionship, assertion of personal beliefs, and beliefs. While all these may not manifest simultaneously, every texter has at least one of these prompting them to stay on in the chatroom, and this perhaps determines in part the level and forms of creativity involved within their communicative competence. While most of the studies that exist on chat have focused on the West and some other developed parts of the world, this chapter looks the nature of chat discourse among Africans in the Disapora and the ones at home.

OBJECTIVES While this study generally aims at exploring the linguistic creativity in the synchronous internet communication (chatroom interaction), the specific objectives of the study, therefore, are to: 1) identify the forms of linguistic creativity involved in chatroom communication as different from other genres of CMC; 2) classify the linguistic creativities found in the data for the study; and 3) describe the effects of these creativities on interpersonal communication involving English language usage online.

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COMPUTER-MEDIATED COMMUNICATION (CMC) AND CHAT Computer-mediated Communication (CMC), is sometimes used interchangeably with Computer-mediated Discourse (CMD) (Androutsopoulos and Beißwenger, 2007). It encompasses all kinds of interpersonal communication carried out on the Internet, e.g., by email, instant messaging (IM), web discussion boards, and chat channels (Herring, 2001, 2004). This definition obviously takes a cue from the fact that CMC is the process by which people create, exchange, and perceive information using networked telecommunications systems that facilitate encoding, transmitting, and decoding messages. The general notion expressed by these views indicates that all computer gadgets including telephones with internet facility can be used to in the CMC. The interest in CMC researches so far is not just to explore it as a modern tool of information management or mere data processing device. It is a technology, medium, and an engine of social relations. Apart from structuring social relations, it is believed that CMC acts as the space within which the relations of different age groups of computer users occur and the tool that individuals use to enter that space‖ (Jones, 1995). Synchronous (real-time) communication is between two people in a face-to-face discussion, or talking on the telephone, or as in a one-to-many form, such as a lecture. It has its equivalent within CMC in chatroom discussion and other similar Instant Message (IM) environments. Much software exists to mediate this form of communication (e.g. Internet Relay Chat (IRC) and various forms of instant messaging). Synchronous CMC (e.g. chat) is more similar to face-to-face interaction because of its instantaneity. Sotillo (2000) indicates that synchronous CMC, like face-to-face interaction, contains more informal speech and various discourse functions (e.g. requests, responses, apologies, greetings, complaints, and reprimands). According to Kitade (2006) asynchronous CMC is considered to be different from synchronous CMC with respect to discourse functions, speech styles, complexity, formality, and accuracy. On the other hand, in general, asynchronous communication is a delayed-time form that seems to predominate, wherein there is a potentially significant time delay between sending a message and its receipt (or being read). In offline communication, this latter form is similar to letter writing (i.e. email and SMS), or sending faxes. Other asynchronous manifestations include discussion lists, and most forms of bulletin board and computer conferencing. It should be noted that a prominent distinguishing feature of asynchronous communication is its flexibility and ability to fit into everyone's schedule. This then means that individuals can access the system at their own convenience, and many kinds of information including documents and file attachments can be shared, not just text discussions. Chat as an internet facility for linguistic interaction is unique in its own place in CMC. There is a substantial body of work within the discussion of CMC practice and research on the nature of CMC, in particular whether it is akin to oral discourse (spoken) or to written texts, or whether it is a different form (Kaye, 1991; Yates, 1994). CMC, especially chat (or Instant Message-IM) has been likened to speech, and to writing, and considered to be both and neither simultaneously by these scholars. Some have even criticized this oral/literate dichotomy, believing that it ―obs cures the uniqueness of electronic language by subsuming it under the category of writing‖ (Poster, 1990). However, Kennedy (2001: 205) describes chat

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as a snappy medium of designing short messages that attract fast responses and it has become an avenue for people, especially the young minds, to ―t alk‖ even from a good distance apart. Chat communication has been, and remains, one of the primary areas of interest in ComputerMediated Discourse Analysis (Herring, 2004) and an avenue for unending linguistic creativities that are not necessarily borne out of inexpertise. Chatroom talk, despite its apparent artificiality (in that it is constructed through CMC and represented in script) is such a form of ―nat ural‖ language in use (Neuage, 2004) in which the interactants, however, constantly, follow a large number of social rules (many of them unconscious) that constrain the way they speak (Crystal, 2001:120-122). So, what creates this clearly new and developing form of interactive ―t exted‖ talk exchange, and moves it towards the directions we are beginning to see in its distinctive development? Before one can engage in a chatroom conversation, one has to fulfil certain technical requirements – and some of these technologically controlled contexts influence the posting behaviours we see in internet discussion. The chatroom ―t alkers‖ need the means such as a personal computer (or a conducive cybercafé where commercial public computers are available at an affordable cost), or other transmission device with which to communicate. Currently mobile phones, palm computers, laptop computers as well as desktop computers are used in chatroom dialogue. As a matter of fact, the use of mobile telephones for chatting has led to the invention of the phrases ‗Mobile (Phone) Speak‘ and ‗Mobile Crazy‘ (Daerr, 2010). Communicating via chatroom is available in many airports worldwide, as well as on planes, trains, buses and ships and within shopping centres, and even restaurants (Zakon, 1993; Lynch, 2002). In text based chat analysis, we may take away the two skills of listening and speaking (despite the ‗talking‘ nature of chat) i.e. operating on reading and writing as the only means of sharing information. In this study, I want to equate ―l istening‖ with reading and ―s peaking‖ with writing, especially if we are to uphold the opinion that reading and listening are as active as writing and speaking are (Fiumara, 1995 and Ihde, 1973, 1991). In addition to the language skills and the computer devices needed by the chatters in a webline discussion, Northedge (2008:70) re-echoes the position of Alexander (2000) that ―s ome rules and conventions are required‖ to be observed by the discussants in order to be acceptable as in any social forum. This situation is now known as ―net iquette‖ i.e. the good manners of chatting on the internet.

LANGUAGE CREATIVITY IN CHATROOM DIALOGUE There are millions of chatrooms on the Internet on a huge range of discussion topics. Majority of conversations in chatrooms however appear to have become stuck in the ―hel lo‖ or ―an yone wants to chat privately?‖ categories. The chat texts used here have been randomly selected from non-formal setting involving known acquaintances of Nigerian English users mostly in diaspora. Apart from being rich in turn-taking and developed conversation, they exhibit an open air of familiarity that encourages linguistic creativity. The following are the language features noticeable in the chatroom conversation in connection with the creativity as will be discussed in this study: skills of shared language; linguistic skills; knowledge of the world skills, and metalinguistic knowledge and skills. Each has relevance for our interpretation of the texts in this study, and every aspect of CMC discussion (Bruti, 1999).

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Below are the noticeable linguistic creativities in the sampled chat-texts of the Nigerian (ESL) users of the internet. Orthographical manifestations: At this level, the chatters engaged in different manipulations of orthography. The following reflected in the data for this study. Letters (consonants/vowels) replacing words: As seen in the communication between akinbells and dejavu370 here, letters u, r and d were used as replacements for you, are and the respectively: Chat1: akinbells: u r still at the airport akinbells: how is d airport akinbells: is an international right? dejavu370: Yeap, I'm still at the airport. It is an international airport.... akinbells: u r in d local wing Absence of capitalisation: Virtually all the exchanges flouted the punctuation rules especially by starting their utterances with small letters as in: Chat2: akinbells: my dad died dis yr bobo_forus: dats gud akinbells: we had his burial bobo_forus: ohh.. bobo_forus: may his soul rest in peace

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Omission or replacement of letters/wrong spelling as in the interaction between yommy and Me below: Chat6: yommy : good morning sir how is family Me: Pls dyu hav yur own line yommy : yes Multiplication of letter: One of the instances of eccentric displays in orthography is the unnecessary multiplication of letter(s) to show emphasis as in: Chat5: Me: Just tht one is not uprooted yombok : I knowwwwwww But at the end of every dark turnnel, Light , I mean glorius Light will come

Vocabulary Manipulation The predominant instances of vocabulary manipulation reflect in deliberate interference and neologism as in: Interference: At every convenient time, interlocutors in chatroom leaned on their first language for certain communication effect or remark. Such situations manifest in the following:

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Chat1: akinbells(19:26:06): that 89 dollars is d cheapest abi dejavu370(19:26:36): It is a standard room... Chat2: akinbells (20:42:58): so none of us back in naija bobo_forus (20:43:04): in naija? bobo_forus (20:43:17): well.. it is well my broda jare Chat5: yombok: Oyinbo never wish to amaze wealth at the expense of others Me: we'll evn kill relations bcos of wealth abi as a Yoruba conversational routine denotes: ‗Is that not true?‘ This was employed to further emphasise the fact that the previous statement or opinion should not be doubted. However, jare implies self-satisfaction on the part of the speaker. In addition, Oyinbo as used in Chat5 above was meant for a positive remark here. Innovation/coinages (new words): Examples of words found to have been created by the interlocutors in this study include chico, b4, l8r,9ja and scool as found in the interactions below:

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Chat3: wummyone (19:37:13): i attended 2 parties on the 24th wummyone (19:37:28): it's was great fun akinbells (19:37:32): how was the party akinbells (19:37:42): chico party or african party? wummyone (19:37:42): bt i was pd 4 it wummyone (19:38:13): chico's children xmas party Still at this level, the chatters create new words by letter-number homophones as in the interaction between Chat2 (a): akinbells (20:41:21): i still have up to two yrs contract here bobo_forus (20:41:25): and i passed by wen going to dubai in june akinbells (20:41:31): on or b4 the end bobo_forus (20:41:32): dats wonderful akinbells (20:41:39): i may leave finally (b): bobo_forus (21:12:26): l8r i guess bobo_forus (21:12:36): its 6 here Chat4: akinbells (21:03:46): ok later akinbells (21:03:53): am doing my assignment akinbells (21:03:57): may be later opehihop (21:03:57): here now..in Dec im going to 9ja i wont pay any bills at all Chat8: Me: ask him if he knows me John: he‘s using scool bshop to make the connection

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Abbreviated/vague nouns: As part of the linguistic creativities in this work, certain abbreviation i.e. oxf was used perhaps to stand for ‗Oxford‘ in Chat2 between akinbells and bobo-forus below: Chat2: akinbells (20:39:33): How r u now akinbells (20:39:36): where r u now bobo_forus (20:40:00): am fine.. in oxf Slangy words: Another linguistic creative strategy on the part of the chatters was the introduction of effort reducing slangs in their utterance. Chat7 between charlo and sylverbull really exemplifies this in the highlighted parts below. Chat7 (a): charlo: miss ya so much charlo: whaz up now? sylverbull: me I dey o o o o sylverbull: miss you guys too (b): charlo: I know that he will come over it soonest sylverbull: yeah

Grammar

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‗Telegraphic‘ language: The most obvious thing about all the chatters is that they all seemed to understand and agree on the grammaticality or otherwise of their use of language in the chatroom. Most expressions found in the study were telegraphic in forms (very short utterances just like telegrams). Chat8: Me: oga mi sir 1:37PM John Iwuh: oga Charlie 1:38PM Me: Thanks for message 1:38PM John Iwuh: did u c it? 1:38PM Chat9: akinbells: no problem 12:13PM Ok 12:13PM Me: Have a 1dafl day 12:18PM akinbells: alright 12:18PM thanx The reasons for this shortness of utterances are not unconnected to the fact that the chatters decided to be abreast of the discussion and within the time unconsciously allotted to each speaker. And to do this appropriately, their utterances have to be made as short as possible. As such, abbreviation/one-letter words were employed as in did u c it (Chat8), fragmented expressions as in no problem, ok and alright (Chat9). Further instances of telegraphic expressions manifest in Chat10 below specially in the opening as well as all underlined parts:

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adelekefakoya (9:36 AM): My love to your family. Enjoy the bliss of the Lord. Adesanmi (9:37 AM): Thanks for the attentions. adelekefakoya (9:38 AM): Any time. Kind of like you much. Adesanmi (9:38 AM): And concerns. I will show up. It was also noted that the creativity of the chatters at this grammatic level lured them into ungrammaticality as found in am back to Qatar and dats gud (i.e. thats good) (Chat2) which ordinarily should have been: I‘m/ I am back to Qatar and That is good Chat2: akinbells (20:40:25): am back to Qatar akinbells (20:40:32): since i have a gud work bobo_forus (20:40:32): well still searching for one akinbells (20:40:44): it is well for sister bobo_forus (20:41:02): hnm bobo_forus (20:41:04): dats gud

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Paralinguistics and Graphics This can be found in superfluous capitalisation/reduction of the font size in the utterance. Colouring and heightening of letters: In Chat10 above, the writer/speaker chose to adorn his Garamond high font size (32) utterances in different colours perhaps to depict his happy mood or to simply make his listener feel good as expressed in his responses. Multiple letters: This simply involves irrational (but intentional) multiplication of one or more letters in an utterance with the purpose of exclaiming any of happiness, surprise, disappointment, disapproval, etc. Instances of this can be noticed in byeeeeeeeeeeee and yesssss in Chat2 and Chat5 respectively: Chat2: bobo_forus (21:12:26): l8r i guess bobo_forus (21:12:36): its 6 here akinbells (21:12:45): just 3hrs difference bobo_forus (21:12:50): yeah akinbells (21:13:22): ok bobo_forus (21:13:22): ok byeeeeeeeeeeeee akinbells (21:13:25): bye Chat5: yombo: you ask why? you ask me what do I mean? Me : yesssss Capitalisation: In the same vein, chatters in this study engaged in capitalisation of their utterances at different stages in their communication particularly for emphasis as noticed in Chat4 and Chat5 Chat4: ophop (21:02:30): there is no how someone wont live with debt here akinbells (21:02:40): yes that is d system ophop (21:02:43): even the credit card companies own Govt Computer-Mediated Discourse in Africa, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated, 2012. ProQuest Ebook Central,

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Taofik Olasunkanmi Adesanmi akinbells (21:02:51): abi o ophop (21:02:58): they won bILLIONS DOLLAR Chat5: yombo: for how long will you be at ife now Me: SIR.We are in ONDO NOW yombo: cool

Little or excessive punctuation: Apart from the fact that most of the expressions in this study flagrantly flouted the rules of punctuation either by not applying comma and or full stop where they are naturally expected, eccentric use of punctuation mark like the exclamatory mark can be seen in Chat7 between sylverbull and charlo below: Chat7: sylverbull: hoping that sometime soon will come visiting charlo: beautiful!!!!!!! sylverbull: ok take care charlo: amen The use of punctuation (!!!!!!!) by charlo was to appreciate the promise made by his cointeractant. Charlo therefore succeeded in creating linguistically his happy mood in the discussion

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DISCUSSION The discussion above has shown linguistic creativities in diverse forms. These creativities manifest at four main levels of Orthography, Paralinguistics and Graphics, Vocabulary manipulations, and Grammar. Meanwhile, the causes of these creativities are presented in the table below. From the discussion so far, it could be established that the linguistic creativity efforts of the internet chatters did not just come to be, there were reasons for their manifestations. The reasons behind all the creativities, as seen in the table, could be attributed to timemanagement, topicalisation/thematization, speaker‘s mood, cultural identification, second language acquisition show-off, group identification, and nostalgia.Time-management was found to be one of the causes of linguistic creativity in this study. As the chatters continued in their discussion on-line, and because they were not physically present before each other, the urge to catch up with the dialogue forced them to either create or recreate. In the same vein, topicalisation/thematization was responsible for some of the creativities noticed in the use of language among the interactants who chose to emphasise the focal part of their discussion by highlighting through heightening, colouring and abnormal punctuation of their utterances. The speaker‘s mood was another cause of creativity found in the study. This reflected much in the use of abnormal application of punctuation, telegraphic expression, and others. The appearance of indigenous language (interference) in the chatters‘ utterances shows the urge to identify culturally via language with each other. This factor, interalia, further indentifies the discussants as a group of on-line users. By and large, nostalgia was the primary raison d‘être of all the linguistic creativities employed in this study.

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Causes of Linguistic Creativities S/N

Causes of Creativity

1

Time Management

2

Topicalization/ Thematization

3

Mood (hurriedness, joy/anger, etc )

4

Cultural Identification

5

2nd Language Acquisition Expertise and Show-off

6

Group Identification

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7

Nostalgia

Manifestations Letters replacing words e.g. u r (= you are) in chat1; Omission/replacement of letters (wrong spelling) e.g. ‗pls dyu hav yur own line‘ in chat6; Letter-number homophone e.g. b4 and l8r in chat2, 9ja in chat4. Capitalisation of words either segmentally or wholly e.g. DOOLAR and ONDO NOW in chat4 and 5 respectively All the above: Items of time management; De/Capitalisation items; coluring of letters (chat10), heightening of inscription (chat10), irrational multiplication of letters (‗byeeeee‘ chat5, ‗yessss‘ chat2 and 5 respectively); and abnormal use of punctuation mark(‗beautiful!!!!!‘, chat7). Indigenous use of language/ interference e.g. ‗abi‘, ‗broda‘ jare, oyinbo in chats1,2 and 5 respectively.

Linguistic Areas

All the items.

All the areas.

All the items including: telegraphic use of language e.g. ‗Thanks for message‘ chat8, ‗alright, thanx‘ chat9, ‗chico‘ chat3. Indigenous use of language/ interference e.g. ‗abi‘, ‗broda‘ jare, oyinbo in chats1,2 and 5 respectively; Slangy words e.g. ‗miss ya‘ ‗whaz up now?‘, ‗me I dey o o o o‘ in chat7; Innovations/coinages e.g. ‗chico‘ (the Chinese) in chat3.

Orthographical Manifestations

Paralinguistics and Graphics

Orthography, Paralinguistics and Graphics

Vocabulary Manipulations

All the areas including Grammar. All the areas but predominantly ‗vocabulary manipulation‘.

This was borne out of the fact that most of the chatters resided abroad and their ‗homesickness‘ spurred the linguistic manipulations noticed in them in all the areas covered in this study especially the vocabulary manipulations encompassing coinages, interference, slangs, etc.

FUTURE TRENDS In normal reading situations the reader is able to re-read a statement, passage, chapter or even a whole book to locate what the author is saying. In writing as well, even in e-mails, we can change what we wish to say, and edit the text or re-run our comments after posting, if we feel there is need to correct things. There is control over what is conveyed. However, in chatrooms we seldom have the time to reread, let alone rewrite text because of the natural time restriction. The questions then are these: Are we to trust the words we read in chatroom situation? What about the words we write as co-interactants? If we are in a conversation on

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the Internet, and we want to have an exchange of meaning, and our spelling and typing are a disaster, how do we say what we have to say? What linguistic skills do we need to communicate effectively on the Internet? All these questions and even more depict the appropriateness of this work at this time of technological advancement in communication. While this text and the chapter in particular must have exposed some sensitive areas of linguistic perspectives in CMC, it is expected that various education policy-makers, institutions of learning, as well as the governments at all levels will begin to incorporate the internet and its language into the English language teaching strategies in our schools. It is therefore the duty of researchers in linguistics and communication beam more of their searchlight on the metalinguistic knowledge and skills needs of the language users (and linguistic students) on internet. This suggestion is borne out of the fact that chat, mediated through IRC chat and other software, such as the many proprietary forms of instant messaging now available, can be used for educational purposes, especially as an adjunct to other modes of delivery in the country. For example, chat might be used to provide an additional communication channel to accompany a web broadcast of a lecture, and to provide the facility for students to pose questions to the lecturer and to other students. One of the major advantages of such synchronous CMC is to bring together geographically dispersed students, and in doing so, add immediacy and increase motivation. This whole area, therefore, merits further study, as we may be on the verge of seeing some really significant changes with real time electronic communications in developing social presence and hence a viable education community.

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CONCLUSION In this chapter, we have been able to explore, albeit broadly, the various linguistic creative strategies and forms in some selected text-based chatroom interactions of some Nigerians with most of them domiciled in China, UK, USA, and Qatar. Through this study, it has been shown that the ability to communicate in a chatroom is not based on conventional assessments of command of language, but on an entirely new set of skills. As these evolve, the formal rules governing the language in use are overturned and adapted. At some point in our language acquisition, we learn for instance rules of sentence structure and word order. We learn how to use pronouns to replace noun phrases, or the order of adjectives before a noun or when to use plurals. In chatrooms it is obvious that chatters pay little attention to such rules of grammar. This was noticed in this study. The chatters communicated with one another using the: skills of shared language; linguistic skills; knowledge of the world skills, and metalinguistic knowledge and skills. Through these skills, the chatters were able to create and recreate utterances befitting their conversational situation.

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Taiwo, R. (2010) ― The Dynamics of Language Mixing in Nigerian Digital Communication‖ in Taiwo, R. (ed) Handbook of Research on Discourse Behavior and Communication: Language Structures and Social Interaction Vol. 1, USA: IGI Global. Jean Véronis, Émilie Guimier De Neef (2006). ‗Le traitement des nouvelles formes de communication écrite‘, in G. Sabah (éd.), Compréhension automatique des langues et interaction, Paris: Hermès Science pp. 227-248. Yates, S. J. (1994). The textuality of computer-mediated communication:Speech, writing and genre in CMC discourse. PhD thesis (unpublished), The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK.\ Zakon, R. (1993). Hobbes' Internet Timeline. Retrieved March, 30, 2001, from: http://www.zakon.org/robert/internet/timeline/.

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In: Computer-Mediated Discourse in Africa Editors: Rotimi Taiwo and Innocent Chiluwa

ISBN: 978-1- 62100-497-4 © 2012 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 10

PRAGMATIC ACTS AND CONTEXTUAL BELIEFS IN TWO NIGERIAN ONLINE NEWS MEDIA FEEDBACK FORUM Foluke Unuabonah

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ABSTRACT This chapter studies the pragmatic acts held by bloggers when posting comments into the weblogs of newspapers. Fifty comments were randomly sampled from two newspaper weblogs: Punch (a Nigerian national daily) and Sahara Reporters (a Nigerian online newspaper). The comments are analysed using insights from and pragmatic acts and contextual beliefs. Through the comments, the writers of the comments in the weblogs use pragmatic acts which praise, accuse, condemn, blame, apologise, pray, thank, advise, lament and warn. The findings reveal that the comments fall into three groups: positive, negative and neutral and that the interactants write based on shared knowledge of subject/topic, referent/reference, word choices, shared socio-cultural knowledge. The writers of these comments have also expressed nationalist, feminist and ethnic ideologies.

Keywords: shared contextual beliefs, pragmatic acts, ideologies, weblogs, newspapers

INTRODUCTION Online news media feedback forums are forums created by newspapers, magazines and TV stations where readers can comment on articles written on their websites, Schultz (2000). These online comments can be compared to letters to the editors of traditional newspapers, Landert and Jucker, (2011). Online feedback forums are forums where private voices are heard in public and it is suggested that the authorship and readership of online comments are more international that that of letters to editors, Landert and Jucker, (2011). However, a big difference between online newspapers and traditional newspapers is that the comments on an online newspaper are informal and the editors do not edit the comments of the readers.

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Editors only remove comments which violate editorial guidelines. Although it is expected that the journalist should respond to these comments, it has been discovered that these feedback forums have become discussion sites for readers (Schultz, 2000). These forums increase the interactivity of the mass media as there is great opportunity for reader-reader communication, Schultz (2000). It is also expected that the readers share some basic background knowledge. Since the comments will be related to the newspaper article posted, there will be a certain level of coherence. Online news media feedback forums present a democratic space in which readers become active members of the public by responding to news on the web page (see Matheson, 2004). They also have the advantage of speed, easy reach and low cost but this is only possible in countries where the internet is readily available. However, much attention has not been paid to the language of online news media feedback forums, particularly in an African setting. The present study is therefore interested in the language, pragmatic functions and contextual beliefs shared by interactants in two Nigerian online news media feedback forums.

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STUDIES ON COMPUTER-MEDIATED COMMUNICATION (CMC) Several studies have been carried out on computer-mediated communication (CMC). These research works have focused on emails (Kirkgoz, 2010; Habil, 2010; Kaul and Vaibhavi, 2010), social network (Caroll and Landry, 2010; Sanderson and Cheong, 2010) discussion forums (Tufekci, 2008; Cravioto, 2009; Prentice, 2010), weblogs (Huffaker and Calvert, 2005; Qian and Scot, 2007, Albrecht et al 2007; Stefanone and Jang, 2007; Sweetser and Kaid, 2008; De Zuniga et al, 2009) text messages (Thurlow and Poff, 2009; Sotillo, 2010) and chats (Panyametheekul and Herring, 2003; Rellstab, 2007; Silva, 2010). Some of these studies have analysed CMC from the perspectives of discourse structures (Turoff, et al, 1998; Unuabonah, 2010), conversational analysis (Holmes, 1987; Beiwenger, 2008), ethnography of communication (Androutsopoulos, 2008), gender studies (Herring, 1994; Calvert, 2005; van Doorn et al, 2007), critical discourse analysis (Cravioto, 2009; Prentice, 2010) and generic structure (Panyametheekul and Herring, 2003; Goustos, 2005). The few studies on CMC in Nigeria have focused on SMS (Chiluwa, 2008; Taiwo, 2008; Akande and Akinwale, 2010; Odebunmi and Alo, 2010), emails (Ofulue, 2010; Olateju and Adeleke, 2010; Onadeko, 2010), blogs (Ifukor, 2010) and discussion forums (Taiwo, 2009, 2010a, 2010b, 2010c). Most of the works in CMC in Nigeria have tilted towards pedagogy (Ayoola, 2010; Soneye, 2010; Fola-Adebayo, 2010). These studies have looked at other linguistic issues other than pragmatic acts and contextual beliefs in online news media feedback forums in Nigeria. Although Odebunmi and Alo (2010) looked at contextual beliefs, their focus was on text messages. Studies on online news media feedback forums have concentrated on interactivity among journalists and readers (Scultz, 2000; Robinson, 2010). The language-based study of online feedback forums focused on a comparative study between online comments and letters to the editor of a British newspaper, which is located in a native English speaking country (Landert and Jucker, 2010). Landert and Jucker (2010) carried out a comparative study between online comments of Times Online and letters to the editor of The Times newspaper. They discovered that traditional letters are characterised by non-private contents and the language of distance

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while online comments are characterised by private contents and the language of immediacy. This study, of course, is different from what we have set out to do as the data for this study is situated in a non-native English setting. In addition, the study did not look at the pragmatic functions of these comments or the contextual beliefs of the writers of these comments. Taiwo, (2009, 2010a, 2010b, 2010c) are studies on Nigerian discussion forums which are closely related to feedback forums. Taiwo (2009) investigates the use of interrogatives in Nigerian online forums and observes that Wh- and polar questions dominated the interrogatives used. Taiwo (2010a) concentrates on the discourse features of Nigerian online discussion forums which include turn-taking, topic focus and coherence. In his study of discussion forums, Taiwo (2010b) suggests that participants in these forums use language to construct their social identity while Taiwo (2010c) focuses on language mixing in Nigerian online discussion forums and text messages. Some of the results of the investigations on language use in these studies are also reported in the present study. However, none of these works concentrated on the pragmatic acts and contextual beliefs in Nigerian online news media feedback forums. This chapter attempts a linguistic study of Nigerian online news media feedback forums, with a view to investigate the pragmatic functions of the comments as well as the contextual beliefs held by the writers of these comments.

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THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Pragmatic acts (Mey, 2001) as well as insights borrowed from contextual beliefs (Odebunmi, 2006a), serves as the theoretical framework for this study. Both theories are context-based. According to Mey (2001), speech acts are not effective as they are not situated. Mey posits that there are no speech acts but situated speech acts or instantiated pragmatic acts. A pragmeme is a general situational prototype which is instantiated through individual pragmatic acts or practs. In order words, these are acts that incorporate the context of situation (Allan 2010). A pragmatic act may or may not contain a speech act but ‗it is the context that determines the nature of the pragmatic act‘, (Mey 2001:211). For example, in a conversation between two lovers, the lady may perform the pragmatic act of ‗fishing for compliments‘ without mentioning the word ‗compliment‘. She may for example request: Nick, tell me what you really love about me.

Here, the speaker wants the hearer to say positive things about her. A pragmatic act has two parts which include the activity part and the textual part. The activity part is concerned with other acts or options that are available to the language user such as direct and indirect speech acts, conversational acts, psychological acts, prosody, body movements, facial expressions and other extra linguistic acts. The textual part is concerned with contextual features which influence communication. This includes inference, reference, relevance, voice, shared situation knowledge, metaphor and metapragmatic joker, an element which represents ‗something happening on the metapragmatic lane,‘ Mey (2001: 222). In writing, Tseng (2010:1986) posits that conversational acts, prosody and physical acts are downplayed since they are ‗normally associated with face-to-face conversation or non-faceto-face oral communication.‘ However, these are realised through appropriate textual

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strategies such as typographical features, exclamation mark and deviant spelling. This is relevant to this study as the text is a written one and these textual strategies are used in the pragmemes within the discourse. Mey‘s pragmatic acts incorporate context, which reveals the beliefs shared among the interactants. Shared cultural knowledge, which is absent in Mey‘s pragmeme is important for the current discourse on online feedback forums and therefore has been added to the contextual features of the pragmeme (See Odebunmi, 2006b). Contextual beliefs, according to Odebunmi (2006a: 26) comprise two levels of beliefs which include language level belief and subject matter belief. Language level beliefs are indicated by interactants‘ understanding of the verbal and non-verbal codes of communication. Beliefs at the subject matter level cover interactants shared knowledge of subjects/topics; shared knowledge of word choices, referents and references; and shared socio-cultural experiences. He believes that the interactions move smoothly when interactants share the same linguistic codes and when they are familiar with the lexical choices and ‗what referring expressions point to in the real world,‘ (Odebunmi and Alo, 2010:470).These beliefs at the different levels are important to this study as writers who post comments do so based on the shared beliefs that they have. These writers post comments when they read the topic at hand and earlier comments written by other people. In fact, some comments are responses to earlier comments.

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METHODOLOGY The data for the study includes fifty randomly selected comments posted on the Punch Newspaper and Saharareporters feedback forums on the memo written by the Nigerian Information Minister to the Federal Executive Council of Nigeria (FEC), on the need for the President to hand over to the Vice-President. The data are chosen because the matter at hand had a significant impact on the political situation in the country which centred on the fact that the President did not appoint the Vicepresident as the Acting President during his absence. Thus, several national issues which needed the President‘s attention had not been attended to and this had led to a standstill in the socio-economic sectors in the country. The writing of this memo generated a lot of interest in the country. There were about 300 comments posted unto these websites in response to the articles on the memo. After this incidence, the legislature made a ruling that the Vice–President should be appointed as the Acting President. The data are analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. The Punch newspaper is a Nigerian national daily which also has a website where articles are posted and readers have a chance of responding to their article of interest. In this particular case, an article was written on the memo written by the Information Minister, Dora Akunyili by Chiawo Nwankwo and Everest Amaefule on the 4th of February, 2010. The article is titled: ―Y ar‘Adua should hand over to VP now - Akunyili.‖ Saharareporters is a website dedicated to reporting Nigerian news. Saharareporters posted the original copy of the memo written by the Information Minister with the picture of the Minister and called for comments from readers. This was also posted on the 4th of February, 2010.

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ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS The memo studied in this paper was written as a result of the long absence of the President due to an illness. The President left the country on November 23, 2009 for Saudi Arabia for treatment at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Jeddah. The memo was released to the press on the 3rd of February, 2010. Already, there were different protests across the country, calling the FEC and the National assembly to start the process of ensuring a successful handover to the Vice president. The council, by the provision of Section 144 of the 1999 Constitution, is empowered to initiate the hand over process. The President later came back to the country on the 24th of February. The comments posted unto the forums are of three types: positive, negative and neutral. The positive comments are written in support of the minister‘s actions; the negative comments are written as a protest against the minister actions‘ while the neutral comments do not express any attitude or opinion towards the actions of the minister. Out of these fifty comments, 68% was positive, 18% was negative while 14% was neutral. This shows that most of the writers were in support of the action taken by the Information Minister. The pragmatic functions of these comments are to praise, accuse, condemn, blame, apologise, pray, thank, advise, lament and warn. These comments were written based on the assumption of the interactants‘ understanding of linguistic codes, shared knowledge of the subject/topic, shared knowledge of word choices, referent and reference as well shared socio-cultural knowledge. These different varieties of comments are discussed below

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Positive Comments There are comments in support of the actions of the minister. The pragmatic acts carried out include that of praising, thanking and apologising. One of such comments is given below: Example 1 Prof. Dora more power to your elbow everyone knows that the truth can never be diluted you have done what is right for the progress of this country Nigerians let''s stop been bias about Yar''Adua''s saga Dora has done it the right way.

In this comment, the writer praises the Minister for writing the memo to the FEC and also advises other readers to avoid taking sides on the subject of the President‘s absence. The comment is based on shared knowledge of the subject matter, which is the memo written by the Minister, Prof Dora. ‗You have done what is right‘ refers to the writing of the memo. Thus, there is no need to explicitly refer to the memo. This shows the economy of language use and effort (See Davies, 2007). S/he also writes based on a shared knowledge of the referents and shared social-cultural experiences. Readers of the comments and other writers know who Prof Dora and Yar‘Adua are. Also, there is no explanation about Yar‘Adua saga. The saga relates to the absence of President Yar‘Adua from the country due to a chronic illness. The language is informal as the writer uses the personal names of the people s/he writing about and avoids the use of punctuation marks. This is what makes it different from a typical letter to the editor in a traditional newspaper. Another example which shows the pragmatic act of praising is given below:

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Foluke Unuabonah Example 2 What man can't, woman did. She really impressed me. I believe she dreamt and saw the truth. The truth is that Yar'Adua can no longer continue as president. The next thing is for the Vice President whoever, to take over constitutionally and end the tenure. This does not mean the North will not fill for the next presidential eletion. But they say what a man can do a woman can do better.

In the example above, the writer makes comments based on shared knowledge of the referent and shared knowledge of the subject matter. S/he does not state the Minister‘s name neither does s/he mentions the memo that was written. This also shows the economy of language use and effort. The writer praises the Minister and explicitly advises the Vicepresident to be the President. The pragmatic effect of this praise in previous comments is seen when the next writer comments: ―Iam happy now we are now responding like responsible citizens. Sister Dora deserves commendations‖. Also, there is an emphasis on the good deeds of the in-group (men) and the bad deeds of the out-group (women). The women have been able to achieve what the men could not do. In the example below, writer also praises and thanks the Minister for writing the memo. Example 3

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Ada di ora mma, nwanyi ka nwoke ike, dalu! (Good daughter of the nation, a woman stroger than a man, thank you!).

In the pragmatic act of praising, the Minister is portrayed as one who is stronger than men. Here, the comments are meant to praise the Minister and the group she represents, that is the Igbo people. By translating the statement made, the writer recognises that s/he is speaking to a wider audience who may not understand Igbo. The use of the exclamation mark reveals psychological acts which is part the pragmeme. The exclamation mark shows the emotion of the writer. Here, the writer does not only express feminist opinion but also expresses ethnic sentiment by writing in Igbo, the language of the Igbo people which is the ethnic group of the Minister. Thus, the writer identifies herself and the Minister as members of this ethnic group. However, s/he also expresses nationalist view because s/he sees the Minister as one who is interested in the good of the nation. By implication, she identifies the out-group: anti-nationalist, people who are not good children of the nation. This may refer to people who want the country to be ruled by an absent President. In another example below, the pragmatic act of praising and warning are performed: Example 4 You are witnessing before your own very eyes how a courageous Ibo woman is going to get you all (Nigerians) out of a dangerous pickle…This time it is NOT a myth such as is filled in your heads. And you Yoruba people insulting the Igbos know you are cowering in your knees. Stop insulting the Igbos in this forum!

In the comment above, the writer responds to previous comments in which the Ibos had been insulted. He warns such people and at the same time, he praises the Minister for her Computer-Mediated Discourse in Africa, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated, 2012. ProQuest Ebook Central,

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action of writing the memo to the FEC. The use of capital letter in NOT shows emphasis based on the fact that it is an Ibo person who is liberating the entire nation. The writer is writing based on shared socio-cultural knowledge of the ethnic groups in the country as well as shared knowledge of the subject. The use of ellipsis indicates what is unstated, that is, what the dangerous pickle is all about, which is the continued absence of the President without an Acting President in the country. This shows the economy of language use and efforts. In some other comments, writers also apologise to the Minister on behalf of other writers who have condemned her and her actions as seen in the example below: Example 5 Madam no vex about the comments people are making

In the example above, the writer makes use of capital letters in bold forms to emphasise the fact that s/he is actually sorry for those wrong comments. S/he also makes use of codemixing by using Pidgin English and English, which shows that s/he writes based on shared socio-cultural knowledge and linguistic code. S/he knows that most of the readers would be Nigerians, who definitely understand Pidgin English, which is fast becoming a lingua franca is some parts of Nigeria.

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Negative Comments The negative comments in the forums are written by persons who do not support the action of the Minister simply because they believe that the action was carried out based on the selfish motives of the Minister. Some of the writers see the act as a scheme on the part of the Minister to entrench herself into the next government. Most of these comments are meant to warn and condemn the Minister. One of such comments is given below: Example 6 forget Dora jare!!! too late for her to redeem her image. all na political propaganda

Through this comment, s/he totally condemns the Minister‘s action as mere political propaganda and warns readers to disregard her actions. The writer comments based on shared socio-cultural knowledge of the interactants as well as shared linguistic codes. S/he writes based on the assumption that most readers in this forum will be Nigerians who would understand Nigerian Pidgin used in the text. Thus, s/he employs code-mixing between English and Nigerian Pidgin in the statement, all na political propaganda which is translated as it is all political propaganda. The writer also makes use of exclamations marks for emphasis and to reflect his/her opinion about the Minister. The use of exclamation marks here reveals the emotions of the writer and therefore it is a psychological act. As it has been observed in Nigerian SMS text messages (Awonusi, 2004), there is the avoidance of the use of capital letters, particularly when the word is at the beginning of a sentence in this comment. This may be due to sheer laziness, non-familiarity of the writer with the method of changing the case of the character in the comment box or the view that doing that would

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waste time. It is significant, however, in this comment that the writer uses the first letter of the name of the minister in capital letter, which shows that s/he actually knows the use of the capital letter and knows how it can be used in the comment box. This makes the comments quite informal and this is part of what makes the comments different from the traditional letter to the editor. The pragmatic act of condemning and warning can also be seen in the comment below: Example 7

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Is too late for Madam Rebrand. Why can‘t she say all this when the sun is stil shinning. I think after she has making much money while running up and down to defend Yaradua even when he is not perfoming, she now make u turn when Yaradual is not arund and when there is nothing to wack.Igbayi laaro. Let her go and sit down somewhere and stop making unloud noise. She will soon see the wrath of God and Nigeria. She tought we are fulls. She better resgin and get out of the country.

The writer of this comment above makes comments based on shared knowledge of the subject as well as shared socio-cultural knowledge. There is the economy of language use as she does not explicitly refer to the writing of the memo by the Minister. S/he also acts on the background knowledge surrounding Madam Rebrand. The minister had already started a programme called Rebranding Nigeria as the Minister for Information and Communication (This programme centers on transforming the bad image of the country both within and outside). From then on, she had been named Madam Rebrand. This programme had not been well received from some quarters in the country. The writer in the comment below also condemns the action of the Minister and makes reference to the rebranding programme which shows that s/he writes based on shared socio-cultural knowledge of the events going on the country at the time. The writer also makes use of contracted forms (can‘t). The first word in the comment is, is actually ‗it‘s, the contracted form of ‗it is‘. S/he also makes use of English proverbs: this when the sun is stil shinning. The inference here is that the Minister should have spoken up when the President was in the country. S/he reiterates this fact in the code-mixing that s/he employs. Three languages are used here: English, Nigerian Pidgin and Yoruba. She now make u turn when Yaradual is not arund and when there is nothing to wack is translated as she turns around when Yar‟Adua is not around and when there is nothing to gain. Igbayi laaro is a Yoruba proverb which points to the fact that it is already too late for the Minister to carry out such an action. The implicature here is that she should have cried foul play when the President was in the country and should not have been part of the government at all. The writer is also not careful about spellings. This makes the language informal and different from the traditional letter to the editor. The editor, of course, would correct such spellings. In some other cases, the writer makes use of sensational abbreviated spellings, which are influenced by the Nigerian press, computer language, and Americanisms (Awonusi, 2004). Examples include bcos for because and 4give for forgive as seen in the comment below:

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Example 8 Dora should bury her head in shame.she has rubbish her NAFDAC integrity.Let her start rebranding with herself and household bcos history wont 4give her hypocritism.she lacks good character

In the comment above, the writer also condemns the Minister and not the action of writing the memo to the FEC. He makes use of acronyms, which shows that s/he writes, based on shared knowledge of word choices and shared socio-cultural beliefs. NAFDAC is the acronym National Agency for Food and Drug administration and Control. The Minister was formerly the Director-General of the agency before she became the Minister. The implicature in this comment is that the Minister had destroyed her good image as the boss of NAFDAC by taking the job of the Minister of Information and Communication.

Neutral Comments Neutral comments are comments which do not centre on negative or positive opinions and attitudes towards the Minister and the action of writing the memo to the FEC. Here, the writers are rather concerned with how such a secret memo could get into the hands of the press. The pragmatic acts of warning, praying and advising are performed in these comments. The concern of one of the writers can be seen in the comment below:

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Example 9 What I wonder in all of this, albeit great intentions and courage by Saharareports...did a secret FEC memo get out. Naija we hail thee

In the comment above, the writer makes his comment based on shared knowledge of the subject matter, word choices and referents. The secret FEC memo is none other than the one written by Akunyili. Also, the readers are already familiar with the referent, Saharareporters. In addition, the word choices, FEC (an acronym) and Naija (a sensational or a deviational spelling for Nigeria) shows that the writer assumes that the readers of his comments know the referents. In the example below, the writer warns readers of the dangers of the action carried out by Saharareporters. Example 10 Is this a CLASSIFIED or DECLASSIFIED documnent? the first word in the document said secret. How does SR got hold of it? If any or you guys in this forum has worked with classified documents and be brief about secrecy in the United States, you will agree with me that Nigeria is indeed in big trouble. I hope Nigeria never get into war with any other country

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In the comment above, the writer is worried about the security of the nation since it shows that the country will find it difficult in keeping secrets, particularly when a war comes up. The writer makes this comment based on shared knowledge of the subject matter as the writer comments on the secret nature of the document. He also makes use of capital letters in ‗CLASSIFIED‘ and ‗DECLASSIFIED‘ in order to emphasise the fact that such a memo should not be a public one since it has ‗secret‘ written on it. The writer also makes this comment based on the assumption that the readers know that SR refers to Saharareporters. The writer of the comment below uses pragmatic acts that advise and warn: Example 11 The only way we can help this country is if we stick together and wipe this stupid sense of superiority we all have in our heads

In the example above, the writer advises readers on the way to help the country move forward and warns them to desist from superiority complex. In this case, the complex is based on the feeling that one‘s gender or ethnic group is better than the other. This is a reaction to previous comments that have focused on the superiority of the female gender or the Igbo race. The writer comments based on the shared knowledge of the referent: ‗this country‘ which refers to ‗Nigeria‘. The pragmatic act of praying is also performed by writers in the comments posted unto the online feedback forums. One of such comments can be seen in example 6 below: Example 12

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May Nigeria be free one day (Amen)

In this comment, the writer prays for Nigeria. Some other readers equally pray for Nigeria based on shared socio-cultural knowledge of the country as they see Nigeria as a country that is held under the bondage of corruption and poverty. The writer also makes use of capital and bold letters, which are textual strategies which replace conversational acts, prosody and physical acts in speech (Tseng, 2010). These textual strategies are part of the pragmatic act of praying.

FUTURE TRENDS The study of computer-mediated communication in Africa is a relevant one as it showcases the language and socio-cultural peculiarities of African communities. This chapter has focused on the pragmatic functions and the contextual beliefs of writers of comments in two Nigerian online feedback forums. Further work can be carried out on a comparative study between Nigerian online news media feedback forums and feedback forums of other nonnative English speaking countries.

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CONCLUSION This chapter has focused on the pragmatic functions of comments in two Nigerian newspaper online feedback forums, which are based on the memo written by Nigeria‘s Information Minister, Professor Dora Akunyili to the Federal Executive Council of Nigeria on the need for the President Musa Yar‘Adua (now Late) to hand over to Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan (the current President). The analysis of the data reveals that there are more positive comments than negative or neutral comments. This shows that most people are in support of her action. The study shows that the readers use pragmatic acts which praise, accuse, condemn, apologise, pray, thank, advice, and warn. The pragmatic acts employed by the writers are based on shared contextual beliefs of the interactants, which are based on shared situational and cultural knowledge, word choices, referents/references, and shared knowledge of the subject matter. In addition, online comments are written in a conversational style rather than in a formal letter format as words used are highly informal and can be compared to that used in SMS text messages. This can be seen in the use of contractions, abbreviated words, sensational spellings, acronyms, incorrect spellings, capital letters for emphasis, bold letters, Pidgin English; and avoidance of capital letters and punctuation marks. The writers rarely use their names as evident from the data collected. Thus, their identity is hidden. The advantage in this is that the writers of these comments have a high freedom of expression. Thus, they can say whatever they like, the way they like it. In conclusion, this study has revealed discursive practices of Nigerians in online commentaries.

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REFERENCES Akande, A. and Akinwale, O. 2010. Spelling practices in text messaging. In Taiwo R. (Ed.) Handbook of Research on Discourse Behavior and Digital Communication: Language Structures and Social Interaction. Pennsylvania: IGI Global, 349-362. Akunyili, D. 2010. State of the nation. Memo to the Federal Executive Council, Abuja. Retrieved April 6, 2010 from http://www.saharareporters.com-Gallery-Category:Dora memo. Albrecht, S., Lubcke, M., and Hartig-Perschke, R., 2007. Weblog campaigning in the German Bundestag election 2005. Social Science Computer Review, 25 (4), 504-520. Allan, K. 2010. Referring as a pragmatic act. Journal of Pragmatics, 42, 2919-2931. Awonusi, V. 2004. Little Englishes and the law of energetics: a sociological study of SMS text messages as register and discourse in Nigeria. In V. Awonusi and E. A. Babalola (Eds), Domestication of English Language in Nigeria: a Festschrift in Honour of Abiodun Adetugbo, (pp 45-62). Lagos, University of Lagos Press. Ayoola, K. 2010. An appraisal of a computer-based continuing professional development (CPD) course for Nigerian English teachers and teacher-trainers. In Taiwo R. (Ed.) Handbook of Research on Discourse Behavior and Digital Communication: Language Structures and Social Interaction. Pennsylvania: IGI Global, 642-650. Caroll, B. and Landry, K. 2010. Logging in and letting out: using online social networks to grieve and to mourn. Bulletin of Science, Technology and Society, 30 (5), 341-349.

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Chiluwa, I. 2008. SMS Text Messaging and the Nigerian Christian Context:Constructing Values and Sentiments. International Journal of Language, Society and Culture, Issue 24, 11-20. Cravioto, M. T. 2009. Racism and xenophobia in immigrants‘ discourse: the case of Argentines in Spain. Discourse and Society, 20 (5), 571-592. Davies, B. L. 2007. Principles we talk by: testing dialogue principles in task-oriented dialogues. Pragmatics, 17(2), 203-230. De Moor, A. and Efimova, L. 2004 An Argumentation analysis of weblog conversations. Proceedings of the 9th International Working conference on Language-Action Perspective on Communication Modelling, Rutgers University, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, USA. De Zuniga, H. G., Puig-I-Abril, E., and Rojas, H. 2009. Weblogs, traditional sources online and political participation: an assessment of how the internet is changing the political environment. New Media and Society, 11 (4), 553-574.\ Fola-Adebayo, T. 2010. Students‘ evaluation of a MOODLE resource in the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria. In Taiwo R. (Ed.) Handbook of Research on Discourse Behavior and Digital Communication: Language Structures and Social Interaction. Pennsylvania: IGI Global, 670-686. Gordon S.K. Adika, Felix Abidemi Fabunmi and Akeem Segun Salawu (Eds.) Current Perspectives in Phono-Syntax and Dialectology. Winneba: Department of Gur-Gonja, Faculty of Languages, University of Education. 342-368. Huffaker, D. A., and Calvert, S. L. 2005. Gender, identity, and language use in teenage blogs. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 10(2), article 1. http://jcmc.indiana.edu/ vol10/issue2/huffaker.html Ifukor, P. 2010. ‗Elections‘ or ‗Selections‘? Blogging and Twittering the Nigerian 2007 General Elections.‟ Bulletin of Science, Technology and Society, 30(6), 398-414. Johnson, T. J., Kaye, B. K., Bichard, S. L., and Wong, w. J. 2007. Every blog has its day: Politically-interested Internet users' perceptions of blog credibility. Journal of ComputerMediated Communication, 13(1), article 6. http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1 /johnson.html Landert, D. and Jucker, A. H. 2010. Private and public in mass media communication: from letters to the editor to online commentaries. Journal of Pragmatics, 43: 1422-1434. Matheson, D. 2004. Weblogs and the epistemology of the news: some trends in online journalism. New Media and Society, 6 (4), 443-468.] Mey, J. L. 2001. Pragmatics: an Introduction. US: Blackwell Publishers. Odebunmi, A. 2006a. Meaning in English: an introduction. Ogbomoso: Critical Sphere, LAUTECH. Odebunmi, A. 2006b. A pragmatic reading of Ahmed Yerima‘s proverbs in Yemoja, Attahiru, and Dry Leaves on Ukan Trees. Intercultural Pragmatics, 3(2), 153-169. Odebunmi, A. and Alo, M.O. 2010. Beliefs in GSM test messaging among academics in two Nigerian universities. In R. Taiwo (Ed), Handbook of Research on Discourse Behavior and Digital Communication: Language Structures and Social Interaction. Pennsylvania: IGI Global , pp 468-478. Ofulue, I.C. (2010) A digital forensic analysis of advance fee fraud (419). In Taiwo R. (Ed.) Handbook of Research on Discourse Behavior and Digital Communication: Language Structures and Social Interaction. Pennsylvania: IGI Global, 296-317.

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Taiwo, R. (2008). Linguistic Forms and Functions of SMS Text Messages in Nigeria. In Sigrid Kelsey and Kirk St Armant (Eds.) Handbook of Research in Computer Mediated Communication. Pennsylvania: IGI Global, 969 – 982. Taiwo, R. (2009). Interrogation in Online Forums: A Case Study of Nigerian Online Discourse. In G. S. K. Adika, F. A. Fabimmi and A. Salawil (Eds) Current Perspectives in Phono-Syntax and Dialectology. Winneba: University of Education, 242- 367. Taiwo, R. (2010a) Discourse Features in Nigerian Online Discussion Forums. In Jung-ran, Park Eileen Abels (Eds.) Interpersonal Relations and Social Patterns in Communication Technologies: Discourse, Norms: Language Structures and Cultural Variables. Pennsylvania: IGI Global Publishers, 185 – 201. Taiwo, R. (2010b). Social Identity and Discursive Practices in Nigerian Online Forums. in Nnamdi Ekeanyanwu and Chinedu Okeke (Eds.) Indigenous Societies, ICTs and Cultural Globalization in the 21st Century, is the Global Village Truly Real? Saarbrucken, Verlag: VDM, 70 – 91. Taiwo, R. (2010c). The Dynamics of language mixing in Nigerian digital communication, in Rotimi Taiwo (Ed.) Handbook of Research on Discourse Behavior and Digital Communication: Language Structures and Social Interaction. Pennsylvania: IGI Global Publishers, 179 – 190. Tseng, M. 2010. The pragmatic act of fishing for personal details: from choice to performance. Journal of Pragmatics, 42: 1982-1996. Tufekci, Z. 2008. Can you see me now? Audience and disclosure regulation in online social network sites. Bulletin of Science, Technology and Society, 28 (1) 20-36. Unuabonah, F. 2010. Thematic organisation and the analysis of selected online academic scientific journals‘ sites. In Taiwo R. (Ed.) Handbook of Research on Discourse Behavior and Digital Communication: Language Structures and Social Interaction. Pennsylvania: IGI Global, 376-387. Van Dijk, T. A. 2006. Discourse, context and cognition. Discourse Studies, 8(1), 159-77. Van Doorn, N., van Zoonen, L., and Wyatt, S. 2007. Writing from experience: presentations of gender identity on weblogs. European Journal of Women‟s Studies, 14 (2):143-159. Wall, M. 2005. ‗Blogs of war‘: weblogs as news. Journalism, 6 (2), 153-172.

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INDEX

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A abuse, 10, 22, 95 academic success, 47 access, 2, 7, 26, 42, 43, 45, 88, 106, 109, 112, 142, 144 accessibility, 3, 106, 109 acculturation, 107, 109 acid, 70, 71 activism, 91, 132 adaptation, 110, 114 adaptations, 86, 104 adults, 26 advertisements, 70 advocacy, 70, 127 Africa, 1, iii, iv, xi, 2, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 28, 41, 42, 43, 44, 48, 51, 52, 53, 56, 87, 103, 105, 106, 108, 109, 112, 115, 116, 128, 135, 139, 166 African languages, 108, 114 age, viii, ix, 10, 14, 21, 33, 53, 69, 70, 72, 84, 90, 103, 110, 115, 122, 144 agencies, 25, 29, 97 aggression, 84, 89 airports, 145 alienation, 134 allergic reaction, 70, 71 ambassadors, 13 American culture, 76 analytical framework, 169 anchorage, 49 anger, 89, 97, 151 anxiety, 36, 37, 115 appetite, 65 arrest, 97 assessment, 105, 168 assimilation, 108 asymmetry, 23 Asynchronous, v, 69, 73, 154

asynchronous communication, 144, 154 atmosphere, 33, 35, 113, 132 atrocities, 98 attitudes, 22, 95, 109, 165 Attorney General, 30 attribution, 120 authorities, 11 autonomy, 125 avoidance, 64, 104, 163, 167 awareness, vii, viii, 1, 2, 4, 11, 15, 17, 38, 43, 55, 64, 65

B backlash, 77 ban, 70 bandwidth, 23 banks, 63 barriers, 18, 43 base, 37 basic education, 41, 133 Behavior, xiv, 40, 66, 83, 85, 86, 100, 115, 136, 138, 154, 155, 167, 168, 169, 170 behaviors, vii, 75, 114 belief systems, 82 benefits, 14, 55, 88, 107, 108 bias, 108, 161 blame, ix, 26, 157, 161 Blog, 27, 28, 38, 114 blogger, 21, 23 Blogging, 38, 39, 40, 84, 137, 168, 169 blogs, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 28, 34, 37, 40, 45, 71, 73, 75, 84, 91, 114, 124, 158, 168, 169 blood, 49, 94 blood transfusion, 49 blood transfusions, 49 bonds, 106 border crossing, 44, 51

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Index

Botswana, 52 brain, 93, 95, 108 brain drain, 108 Britain, 35 browser, 108 browsing, 124 bulimia, 85 bulimia XE "bulimia" nervosa, 85 business partners, 112 businesses, 128, 129 buyers, 123

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C caliber, 98 Cameroon, 136 Campaign, 24, 27, 28 campaigns, 22, 28, 33, 37, 47, 70 cancer, 132 candidates, 32, 108 capacity building, 32 capitalism, 110, 115 cartel, 98 cartoon, 47, 48, 49 case studies, vii, 1 case study, 36, 100, 101, 169 category a, 27, 28, 33, 63, 107 cell phones, 106, 114 censorship, 97 certificate, 33, 46, 47 challenges, viii, ix, 33, 41, 43, 47, 65, 103, 104, 106, 108, 109, 110, 112, 115, 134 changing environment, 52 Chat, 73, 83, 118, 144, 153, 154, 169 chat rooms, 45, 72 chatroom interactions, ix, 141, 152 Chatrooms, 84 Chicago, 40, 113, 154 chicken, 77 children, 26, 49, 58, 105, 147, 162 China, ix, 25, 113, 141, 152 chopping, 80 chronic illness, 161 cities, 97, 142 citizens, 14, 20, 21, 24, 26, 42, 104, 113 citizenship, 14, 38, 91 civil servants, 108 civil war, 37, 39 classes, 9, 70, 130 classification, 21, 22 classroom, viii, 41, 44, 51 CMC, viii, ix, 21, 34, 52, 55, 67, 69, 72, 73, 74, 75, 81, 84, 86, 88, 89, 90, 99, 103, 104, 105, 107,

117, 118, 119, 122, 123, 125, 126, 136, 142, 143, 144, 145, 152, 153, 154, 155, 158 CNN, 86, 119 coaches, 99 cognition, 114, 137, 170 coherence, 17, 20, 60, 63, 64, 71, 73, 142, 158, 159 Cohesion, 66 collaboration, 127, 132 collectivism, 71, 104 commerce, 70, 73 commercial, 89, 107, 145 Communication, v, vi, xiv, 38, 39, 40, 52, 53, 55, 66, 67, 72, 83, 84, 85, 86, 99, 100, 101, 103, 114, 115, 124, 135, 136, 137, 138, 141, 142, 144, 152, 153, 154, 155, 158, 164, 165, 167, 168, 169, 170 communication systems, 90 communication technologies, 16, 41, 42, 107, 127 communicative behaviors, 89 communities, xiii, 13, 21, 25, 27, 39, 41, 49, 51, 53, 70, 76, 85, 90, 106, 132, 166 community, viii, 6, 13, 15, 36, 42, 44, 48, 52, 59, 69, 70, 71, 72, 75, 76, 77, 79, 81, 83, 84, 85, 89, 109, 112, 130, 132, 142, 143, 152, 153, 154 comparative analysis, 84 compassion, 132 competition, 10, 56 complement, 44 complexity, 123, 144, 154 complications, 111 composition, 129 computer, ix, xi, xiii, xiv, 3, 16, 22, 55, 57, 63, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 100, 103, 105, 112, 115, 118, 120, 122, 127, 141, 144, 145, 153, 154, 155, 158, 164, 166, 167, 169 computer conferencing, 84, 86, 144, 154 computer use, 122, 144 computer-mediated communication (CMC), ix, xiii, 22, 73, 85, 89, 103, 113, 115, 154, 118, 158 Computer-Mediated Discourse, iii, vii, 1, 19, 39, 83, 85, 136, 145, 153 Computer-Mediated Discourse Analysis (CMDA), vii, 19 computing, 16, 17, 42 concept map, xiii conception, 121 conceptualization, 125 Concise, 15, 67 conference, 40, 122, 168 configuration, 15 conflict, 93, 97, 100, 101 congruence, 125 connectivity, 41 consciousness, 50, 74, 169

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Index consolidation, 43 Constitution, 32, 161 construction, ix, 49, 73, 74, 75, 99, 117, 119, 121, 126, 134 consumers, 113 consumption, 117 content analysis, 75 context, v, 1, 42, 66, 67, 83, 154, 168 contiguity, 60 contradiction, 120 controversial, 30, 65, 99 controversies, 99, 115 convergence, 72, 88, 91, 117 Conversation Analysis (CA), ix, 141, 143, 154 conversations, 12, 57, 127, 145, 154, 168 conviction, 29, 33 cooking, 12 cooperation, 74, 121, 123 corruption, 25, 26, 29, 30, 98, 113, 166 cosmopolitanism, 121 cost, 43, 65, 106, 145, 158 course work, 65 CPI, 110 creativity, viii, ix, 41, 51, 59, 74, 80, 114, 121, 141, 142, 143, 145, 149, 150 Creativity, vi, 67, 138, 141, 145, 153, 154 credentials, 65, 111 crimes, 110, 112 criminals, 110 crises, 22, 37 criticism, vii, 19, 26, 34, 90, 119, 122 Croatia, 108 crowns, 47 cues, 81, 84, 89, 90, 96, 97 cultural beliefs, 165 cultural differences, 104 cultural heritage, 134 cultural imperialism, 113 cultural memory, 90 cultural norms, 91 cultural practices, 74 cultural tradition, 105 cultural values, 42, 113 culture, vii, ix, 16, 34, 36, 42, 60, 65, 69, 74, 75, 86, 89, 91, 97, 103, 104, 105, 107, 108, 109, 112, 113, 114, 121, 122, 137 culture, v, 39, 52, 66, 67, 83, 84, 85, 86, 103, 105, 114, 115, 136, 138, 168, 169 cure, 48, 70 currency, 1, 7, 10, 37 curricula, 42 curriculum, 11, 15, 52 cyberbullying, 88

cyberspace, 58, 90, 100

D dailies, 119 damages, iv data analysis, 92 data processing, 144 data set, 123 decoding, 72, 144 deficiency, 10 deficit, 122 degenerate, 99 deindividuation, 89 Delta, 28, 32, 35, 130 delusion, 94 democracy, 28, 35, 36, 41 Democracy, 40, 100 Democratic Party, 34 democratization, 118 Department of Education, 42 depersonalization, 89 depth, 46, 82 dermatologist, 70, 71 designers, 104, 105, 108, 109, 112 detectable, 58 detention, 98 developed countries, 106, 107, 108 development policy, 56 deviation, 80 dialogues, 168 Diaspora, 19, 37, 88, 90, 99, 101 dichotomy, 144 digital communication, 74, 97, 170 digital divide, ix, 42, 103, 106, 109, 112 digital technologies, 10, 12 direct foreign investment, 112 directives, vii, 19, 36 disappointment, 149 disaster, 152 disclosure, 21, 89, 169, 170 discourse, v, xiii, xiv, 16, 19, 22, 24, 38, 39, 40, 52, 55, 62, 66, 67, 73, 83, 85, 86, 91, 100, 113, 115, 117, 135, 136, 137, 138, 144, 153, 154, 155, 167, 168, 169, 170 discourse comprehension, 169 discrimination, 75, 81 Discursive, v, 24, 34, 38, 40, 83, 86, 87, 126, 136, 138, 170 Discussion forum, 38 discussion groups, 28, 90, 100 disgust, 31 disposition, 16, 95, 99

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Index

dissociation, 125 distribution, 48 divergence, 125 diversity, 36, 44, 89, 119, 135 dominance, 22, 23, 24, 107 dosage, 96 Douala, 114 Dr Math, vii, 1, 8, 12, 15, 16 drugs, 47 dyslexia, 59

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E Easter, 62 eBay, 123 economic development, 26, 28, 32 economic growth, 31, 42 economic power, 62, 64 economic problem, 29 economic status, 65 economics, 70 editors, 157 education, 11, 16, 21, 32, 41, 42, 43, 44, 73, 84, 91, 94, 113, 152 educational institutions, 62 educational opportunities, 43 Egypt, 87 elders, 81 e-learning, xiii, 114, 115 election, 21, 28, 31, 32, 33, 34, 92, 98, 167 electricity, 97, 98, 106, 127, 128 electronic communications, 152 elongation, 79 emotion, 126, 162 empathy, 79 employees, 98 empowerment, 20 encoding, 72, 144 enemies, 77, 93, 94 energy, 32, 58 English as Second Language (ESL), 74 English Language, xiii, xiv, 53, 77, 83, 84, 167 entrepreneurs, 110 environment, 12, 16, 21, 52, 59, 73, 100, 104, 129, 168 environmental degradation, 108 environments, 44, 73, 144 epistemology, 168 equity, 112, 113, 116 ethnic groups, 37, 81, 109, 121, 163 ethnicity, 130 etiquette, 12, 57, 99 Europe, 26

evidence, 22, 108, 111, 127 evil, 2, 11, 101 evolution, 57, 58, 72 exaggeration, 34 exchange relationship, 123 Exchanges, v, 69, 84, 154 exclusion, 114 exploitation, 49, 108 exposure, 42 extinction, 109 extracts, 46, 91, 92 extraversion, 21

F Face, v, 105, 117, 119, 123, 124, 125, 126, 132, 133, 135, 136, 137, 138 Facebook, v, viii, 4, 27, 34, 38, 69, 70, 71, 72, 75, 86, 118, 119, 124, 137 face-threatening, 122 face-to-face interaction, 90, 144 Facework, 122, 129, 134, 135, 136 facial expression, 7, 159 faith, 74, 122 families, 48 family members, 57 famine, 41 fantasy, 8 fear, 15, 32, 37, 97 fears, 14, 25, 94 FEC, 160, 161, 163, 165 Federal Government, 26, 30, 37, 56 feelings, 59, 79, 92, 98, 143 femininity, 104 filters, 21 financial, 25, 29, 37, 74, 115 financial crimes, 29, 115 Finland, 139 fish, 93 fishing, 159, 170 flame, 91, 92, 93, 97, 99, 100 Flaming, v, viii, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 99, 100 flaming behaviour, viii, 87, 91, 97, 101 flexibility, 27, 144 flour, 64 fluid, 16 food, 70, 71, 91 football, 26, 99 force, 35, 110, 133 foreign language, 84, 108, 109 foreign policy, 25 formation, 70, 88, 90 framing, 17, 126, 134

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Index France, 66 fraud, 29, 32, 74, 110, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 168 freedom, 97, 167 funding, 33, 47 funds, 29, 112

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G GDP, 137 Gender, 40, 66, 84, 85, 105, 114, 138, 168, 169 gender gap, 105 gender identity, 170 general election, vii, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 27, 28, 33, 34, 35, 70, 92 genre, viii, xiii, 20, 21, 39, 69, 85, 155 Germany, xiii, xiv, 86, 101, 124, 136, 137 gill, 39 global economy, 115 global education, 114 global scale, 113 global village, ix, 66, 86, 103 globalization, 59, 105, 107, 108, 109, 110, 114 God, xi, 30, 58, 59, 63, 78, 93, 94, 98, 130, 164 good deed, 162 governance, 19, 24, 26, 27, 30, 33, 38, 75, 76, 119 government policy, 25 government spending, 25 governments, 23, 25, 112, 152 governor, 23, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 35, 36, 98 grades, 142 graffiti, 72 grants, 25 grass, 98 grassroots, 21, 25 Great Britain, 53 Greece, 75 grounding, 122, 127 group identification, 76, 150 group identity, ix, 141 group membership, viii, 69, 83 grouping, 118 growth, 28, 70, 76, 106, 129 GSM, 32, 55, 56, 63, 74, 168 guardian, 86 guidance, xi guidelines, 158 Gulf war, 29

H hair, 79 happiness, 149

harvesting, 105 Hawaii, 86 headache, 35 health, 22, 33, 41, 47, 91, 93, 98, 132 health care, 132 health information, 41, 47 health status, 33 hegemony, 24, 76 height, 35, 149, 150, 151 heroin, 82 high school, 15, 46 higher education, 18, 42, 43, 44, 54 history, 22, 27, 29, 57, 72, 81, 82, 86, 98, 165 HIV, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50 hobby, 79 homes, 32, 128 homophones, 147 host, 2, 44 hostility, 90 House, 22, 31, 33, 134 House of Representatives, 33 human, viii, 7, 25, 45, 58, 69, 70, 72, 90, 98, 113, 125, 132, 133, 142 human existence, 72 human interactions, 7 human nature, 132 human right, 25, 98 hybrid, 72 hypothesis, 114

I icon, 5, 12, 48, 50 ICT(s), ix, 3, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 52, 53, 54, 86, 100, 103, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 170 ideal, 142 ideals, 17, 26, 91, 109 identification, ix, 61, 74, 141, 142, 143, 150 identity, viii, 5, 16, 21, 38, 41, 49, 50, 52, 53, 70, 72, 74, 75, 76, 83, 84, 85, 90, 99, 107, 109, 111, 119, 120, 121, 125, 126, 143, 167, 168 Identity, v, 38, 40, 41, 83, 86, 101, 135, 136, 137, 138, 170 ideology, 53, 70, 126 idiosyncratic, 10 illusion, 90, 110 image, 45, 49, 51, 52, 109, 112, 120, 121, 163, 164, 165 images, 10, 45, 46, 49, 50 imagination, 121 immigrants, 168 imperialism, 116

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176

Index

Impolite, 88 inauguration, 22 incarceration, 47 incidence, 160 income, 29 increased access, ix, 103 independence, 26, 125, 169 indexing, 120 India, 113 Indigenous, 40, 86, 96, 115, 138, 151, 170 individual differences, 58 individualism, 104, 120 individuality, 125, 130, 134 individuals, 27, 31, 32, 33, 49, 72, 104, 105, 107, 108, 109, 112, 113, 117, 144 individuation, 121 industry, 42 inefficiency, 23 inequality, 22 inequity, 105 infection, 48, 70, 71 Information, xiv, 17, 39, 52, 53, 83, 100, 114, 115, 136, 138, 139, 154, 160, 161, 164, 165, 167 information communication technology, ix, 103 information seeking, 143 information technology, 42 infrastructure, 42 insane, 94 insanity, 94 institutions, 43, 48, 58, 104, 107, 108, 114, 152 integration, 37, 54, 60 integrity, 165 intelligence, 90, 91, 93, 94, 95, 124 interdependence, 125 interest groups, 70 interference, 79, 81, 146, 150, 151 Internet, vii, ix, 32, 39, 66, 70, 73, 75, 76, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 94, 97, 99, 100, 103, 104, 106, 107, 109, 113, 114, 118, 119, 125, 126, 127, 131, 132, 134, 135, 136, 137, 144, 145, 152, 153, 154, 155, 168 Internet Relay Chat, 90, 118, 144 Interpersonal, 40, 62, 86, 135, 136, 138, 170 interpersonal communication, 72, 73, 87, 143, 144 interpersonal conflict, 123 Interrogation, 40, 85, 170 interrogations, 71, 82 Interrogatives, 36 intervention, 85 intimacy, 78, 85 intimidation, 32, 97 intonation, 90 introvert, 47

investment, 43 IP address, 134 Iran, 39, 82 IRC, 72, 73, 85, 144, 152 irony, 26 isolation, 106 issues, vii, 19, 21, 22, 25, 26, 31, 35, 36, 41, 42, 44, 62, 65, 69, 70, 82, 83, 84, 88, 91, 93, 97, 98, 99, 104, 114, 119, 142, 158, 160 Italy, 85, 108

J Japan, 8, 38, 75, 83 Java, 127 journalism, 19, 21, 25, 168 journalists, 158 judiciary, 29, 30, 35 justification, 121

K Keynes, 155 kill, 59, 147 knees, 162 knowledge and interest, 73 Kontax, vii, 1, 8, 15 Korea, 52 Kuwait, 75, 86

L landscape, viii, 17, 45, 55, 59 language acquisition, 152 language barrier, 107 language diversity, 75 language skills, viii, 55, 145 languages, viii, 37, 38, 74, 75, 76, 77, 80, 81, 84, 87, 94, 96, 97, 104, 107, 108, 109, 115, 119, 130, 134, 143, 164 laptop, 145 laws, 110 lawyers, 112 lead, 43, 59, 76, 88, 90, 112 leadership, 26, 28, 32, 35, 37, 97 learners, 1, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 42, 43, 44, 45, 47 learning, vii, viii, xiii, 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 41, 42, 43, 44, 50, 52, 53, 54, 73, 86, 115, 124, 137, 152, 153, 154 learning process, 12 learning styles, 115

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Index lens, 45 lesser developed countries, 115 liberalization, 56 liberation, 94 liberty, 97 life experiences, 47 lifelong learning, 43 light, 26, 34, 98, 126, 128, 129 Limpopo, 46, 47 linguistic rule, 58 linguistics, viii, 67, 69, 73, 74, 152 Linguistics, xiii, 83, 136, 137, 153, 154 literacy, xiii, 14, 17, 27, 41, 44, 51, 52, 53, 58, 59, 63, 73, 120 live feed, 70 loans, 25 locus, 121 love, 30, 57, 77, 82, 149, 159 loyalty, 104 lying, 36

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M magazines, 37, 157 majority, 1, 58, 93, 105, 107, 109 Malaysia, 113 man, 27, 28, 30, 34, 37, 59, 76, 121, 162 management, xiii, 129, 144, 150, 151 Mandarin, 108 manipulation, 146, 151 mapping, 53 marketing, 105, 113 marketplace, 137 marriage, 70, 94 masculinity, 104 mass, 26, 34, 98, 158, 168 mass communication, 26 mass media, 26, 34, 158, 168 materialism, 26, 76 materials, 43 mathematics, vii, 1, 2, 8, 10, 14, 15, 16 mathematics education, 16 matter, 12, 30, 50, 98, 112, 124, 127, 145, 160, 161, 162, 165, 166, 167 meat, 96 media, iii, v, vi, ix, 1, 2, 16, 17, 19, 21, 25, 26, 28, 29, 31, 34, 37, 38, 45, 46, 53, 59, 67, 72, 73, 75, 82, 84, 86, 97, 100, 103, 112, 113, 115, 117, 118, 119, 120, 124, 127, 136, 137, 157, 158, 159, 166, 168, 169 medical, xiv, 30, 132 medication, 48 medicine, 73

membership, 125 mental ability, 90, 94 mental capacity, 94 mental health, 99 mental image, 79 messages, viii, 5, 7, 20, 23, 37, 48, 50, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 62, 64, 65, 66, 70, 72, 73, 74, 75, 83, 88, 89, 90, 100, 105, 110, 111, 120, 124, 129, 138, 142, 144, 145, 158, 159, 163, 167 metaphor, 34, 121, 122, 159 methodology, 22, 74 Mexico, 138 Microsoft, 108, 109 military, 28, 33, 34, 91 minority groups, 109 mission, 44 mixing, viii, 20, 59, 69, 75, 77, 78, 83, 119, 142, 159, 163, 164, 170 MMS, 73 mobile device, 3 mobile instant messaging (MIM), vii, 1, 2, 16 mobile instant messaging tool, vii, 1 mobile phone, vii, viii, ix, 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 34, 36, 55, 57, 88, 103, 105, 106, 118, 119, 145, 153 mobile telecommunication, vii mobile telephony, 118, 119 mobiles for learning (M4L), vii, 1, 2, 15 modelling, 120 models, 117 momentum, 70 money laundering, 26, 98 morality, 26, 38 mother tongue, 78 motivation, 22, 121, 152 multi-ethnic, 37 Multiliteracies, 44, 45, 53 Multimodal, 53, 137 multimodal engagement, viii, 41 multiplication, 146, 149, 151 music, 34 musicians, 34 MySpace, 71, 72, 75

N Naijapals, v, 19 Namibia, 52 national culture, 100 national identity, 20, 34, 90 nationality, 132 NATO, 154 natural resources, 25, 108

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NDI, 134 negative effects, 114 neglect, 108 negotiating, 126, 129 negotiation, ix, 52, 66, 117 Nelson Mandela, 47, 49 Netizens, 137 networking, 2, 19, 86, 117, 119, 127 neutral, ix, 98, 157, 161, 167 New Hampshire primary, 70 new media, ix, 26, 32, 37, 71, 72, 74, 117, 118, 119, 120, 126, 129, 134 newsgroup, 118, 123 Nigerian English, viii, ix, 38, 55, 59, 65, 66, 69, 74, 76, 83, 85, 99, 101, 121, 135, 136, 137, 141, 145, 167 Nigerian Pidgin, viii, 39, 69, 71, 76, 81, 87, 120, 131, 132, 133, 136, 163, 164 Nolitics, v, vii, 19, 20, 22, 24, 28, 29, 30, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 nostalgia, ix, 141, 150 nuclear family, 121 nurses, 99

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O Obama, 21, 28, 29, 31, 33 objectivity, 46 offenders, 98 officials, 24, 25, 28, 30, 32, 110 oil, 29, 128, 130 Online, v, vi, 8, 15, 19, 38, 39, 40, 42, 66, 67, 83, 85, 86, 87, 99, 100, 101, 123, 127, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 153, 157, 158, 170 online collaborations, ix, 103, 115 online learning, xiii online media, 97 operations, 113, 125 opportunities, 16, 41, 50, 52, 59, 87, 105 oppression, 24, 33 optimism, 30 optimization, 108 oral tradition, 85, 107, 113 organ, 121 organic matter, 98 organize, 34, 49, 57 orthography, ix, 58, 63, 141, 146 outpatient, 83 overlap, 121 ownership, 105

P Pacific, 83 paints, 106 Paralinguistics, 149, 150, 151 paranoia, 94 parents, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 Parliament, 26 participants, vii, viii, ix, 6, 9, 12, 19, 20, 22, 23, 36, 38, 45, 72, 75, 87, 88, 91, 92, 93, 95, 97, 98, 99, 124, 125, 129, 134, 141, 143, 159 pastures, 108 peace, 146 pedagogy, 44, 51, 53, 158, 169 pedigree, 28 permission, iv, 81 perpetrators, 111 perseverance, 47 personal communication, 1, 7 personal computers, 2, 88 personal life, 47 personality, ix, 87, 92, 121 personhood, 120, 121 persuasion, 24 pessimism, 25 Philadelphia, 38, 138 Philippines, 32 phonology, 65 photographs, 47, 50 physical features, 90 physicians, 112 platform, 2, 3, 7, 8, 15, 17, 34, 63, 74, 97, 109, 118, 124 playing, 43, 58, 65 pleasure, 80, 122, 143 PLP, 23, 24 poetry, 45, 53 poison, 90 polar, 80, 159 police, 27, 110, 134 policy, 30, 42, 152 politeness, 85, 89, 91, 100, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124 political anomalies, vii, 19 political crisis, 22 political enemies, 30 political force, 27 political leaders, 26, 32, 33, 34 political participation, 24, 25, 36, 38, 75, 89, 168 political parties, 28, 33, 36 political problems, vii political system, vii, 19, 24 politics, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 70, 82, 91, 97, 98, 119 population, 28, 76, 106, 108, 109

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Index portfolio, 17 Portugal, 39 poverty, 11, 25, 26, 41, 42, 46, 50, 108, 166 poverty reduction, 42 Power, 30, 31, 38, 39, 97, 104 power relations, 75, 109 praxis, 54 prayer, 63, 74, 77 preparation, iv, 31, 43 presence awareness learning (PAL), vii, 1, 2, 4 Presence Platforms, v, 1 presidency, 25, 28, 118 President, 22, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, 47, 70, 86, 92, 93, 96, 98, 118, 119, 133, 139, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 167 President Mandela, 47 prestige, 76, 121 prevention, 47, 48 principles, 168 private sector, 13 probe, 29, 35, 36 profanity, 89 professional development, 43, 167 professionals, 89, 108, 112 project, 8, 9, 17, 21, 35, 42, 74, 82, 91 propaganda, vii, 19, 23, 25, 30, 31, 163 Propaganda, 30, 31 protection, 107 prototype, 118, 159 Proverbs, 81, 86 psychological functions, 59 public awareness, 47 purchasing power, 105

Q qualifications, 33 qualitative research, 75, 85 quality of life, 104 query, 132 questioning, 27, 28

real time, 3, 4, 11, 12, 73, 152 reality, 31, 48, 50, 100, 106, 126 reasoning, 93, 95 reception, 106 recognition, 32, 47, 75, 109 recommendations, 24, 25, 31, 34 reflexivity, 126 reforms, vii regions of the world, ix, 103, 106, 107 relationship maintenance, 21 relationship management, 21 relatives, 35, 106 relativity, 153 relevance, 59, 60, 99, 118, 143, 145, 159 reliability, 112 relief, 35 religion, 23, 47, 70, 90, 91 religious obligations, viii, 55 repair, 126 reproduction, 105 requirements, 43, 44, 145 researchers, 44, 51, 66, 73, 75, 125, 142, 152 reserves, 36 resistance, 24, 33 resolution, 123 resources, ix, 43, 45, 50, 52, 105, 108, 123, 125, 127, 141 response, 12, 23, 48, 57, 65, 77, 88, 97, 111, 119, 127, 129, 160 restaurants, 145 restitution, 58 rhetoric, 100 rights, 33, 108 risk, 112, 113, 123 role playing, 121 root, 7 routes, 63 routines, 21 rule of law, 29 rules, 21, 57, 89, 105, 110, 123, 145, 146, 150, 152 rural areas, 49, 106

S

R race, 72, 81, 90, 91, 128, 129, 166 radio, 32, 37, 97 radius, 9 Ramadan, 77 rationality, 123 reactions, 23, 90, 91 readership, 115, 157 reading, 18, 59, 145, 151, 168

safety, 48 sarcasm, 92 Saudi Arabia, 30, 161 scaling, 47 scholarship, 118 school, 1, 3, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 42, 45, 46, 47, 49, 53, 72, 74, 78, 93, 152 science, 17 scope, 44

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Index

second language, 53, 66, 107, 137, 150 security, 25, 109, 166 self-expression, 21, 121 self-image, 121 self-worth, 120, 121 sellers, 123 semiotics, 44, 45, 52, 54 Semiotics, 45, 100, 113, 135, 137, 139 senses, 6 sensitivity, 97 separateness, 125, 127, 129, 134 service provider, 13, 56, 106 services, 15, 132, 142 sex, 49, 81, 90, 94 Seychelles, 52 shame, 121, 165 shape, vii, 19, 22, 38, 51 shelf life, 106 shock, 37 shores, 75 showing, 24, 126 signals, 7 signs, 44, 45, 47, 52, 74, 127 Silicon Valley, 39 skin, 70, 71 SMS, v, viii, 2, 32, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 62, 65, 66, 67, 72, 73, 74, 83, 86, 119, 124, 135, 136, 137, 138, 144, 158, 163, 167, 168, 170 SNS, 118, 124 sociability, vii, 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 15, 16, 17, 58 social, xiii, xiv, 16, 17, 19, 23, 27, 38, 40, 45, 52, 54, 61, 64, 66, 67, 83, 84, 85, 86, 100, 113, 115, 117, 135, 136, 138, 154, 155, 167, 168, 169, 170 social attributes, 120 social behavior, 83 social capital, 47 social class, viii, 69 social context, viii, 20, 50, 69, 72, 73, 82, 89 social development, vii, 19, 26, 113 social distance, 60 social identity, 74, 75, 159 social institutions, 48 social interaction(s), 19, 20, 70, 117, 122, 123 social interests, 45 social justice, 16, 29 social landscape, viii, 55 social network, viii, 2, 16, 20, 21, 25, 27, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 75, 76, 81, 86, 90, 118, 124, 127, 129, 158, 167, 170 social norms, 97 social obligations, 130 social order, 48 social participation, 42

social phenomena, 90 Social presence, 17 social problems, 37, 38 social relations, viii, 7, 55, 64, 72, 82, 130, 144 social relationships, viii, 7, 55, 64 social roles, 123 social rules, 145 Social semiotics, 45, 54 social status, 105, 112, 122 social theory, 114 socialization, 6 society, vii, viii, 2, 19, 20, 22, 24, 26, 36, 41, 43, 45, 60, 69, 82, 97, 104, 121, 142, 169 software, 2, 7, 17, 43, 57, 72, 109, 123, 144, 152 solidarity, 125, 132 solution, 35, 37, 109 South Africa, v, vii, viii, xiii, 1, 2, 3, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 41, 42, 43, 44, 48, 49, 51, 53, 54 Southern African Development Community, 42, 52 sovereignty, 115 Spain, 96, 168 spam, 114 specialization, 73 specifications, 118 speech, viii, 16, 25, 28, 35, 36, 45, 69, 71, 75, 76, 77, 79, 81, 97, 121, 122, 144, 159, 166 spelling, 11, 58, 59, 74, 119, 146, 151, 152, 160, 165 spending, 25, 26, 79, 128 stability, 48 stakeholders, 15 standardization, 114 state, 7, 23, 25, 26, 28, 30, 31, 34, 35, 36, 37, 71, 80, 90, 98, 99, 114, 162 states, 21, 32, 37, 58 statistics, 31, 32, 46, 48, 114 stereotypes, 112 stock, 113 stock price, 113 storage, 105 stratification, 69 stress, 69, 78 structural adjustment, 110 structural dimension, 21 structure, 22, 45, 59, 62, 64, 73, 76, 78, 105, 132, 152, 158 structuring, 105, 144 style, 14, 23, 57, 59, 65, 84, 89, 167 subjectivity, 51 subscribers, 7, 56, 106 supervision, 65 survival, 14, 38, 48, 105, 115 sustainability, 43, 152

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Index Swahili, 75, 109 Sweden, 153 Switzerland, 108 symmetry, viii, 55, 65 sympathy, 78 Synchronous, 40, 73, 138, 144 syndrome, 133

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T tactics, 34, 121, 126 Tanzania, 75, 85 target, 81, 95 tariff, 56 taxation, 110 teachers, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 51, 167 teaching strategies, 152 teams, 13, 21, 98, 115 techniques, 28, 110, 113 technological advancement, 152 technological change, 42, 50, 127 technologies, vii, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 42, 50, 74, 104, 105, 107, 109, 113, 115, 119, 120 technology, 17, 26, 31, 41, 50, 51, 52, 53, 56, 59, 72, 86, 91, 93, 98, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 112, 113, 144 teens, 17, 18 telecommunications, vii, 72, 144 telephone, ix, 56, 72, 73, 90, 103, 144 telephones, ix, 103, 144, 145 tempo, 34 tension, 35 tenure, 93, 162 territory, 43 tertiary education, 48 testing, 153, 168 text messaging, 14, 16, 56, 58, 59, 65, 67, 83, 84, 85, 118, 119, 167 Text messaging, 17 Textiquette, 57 Textism, 16 textuality, 155 texture, 60, 63 theft, 111 therapy, 80 thoughts, 60, 94 Thread, 79 threats, 24, 35, 88 time use, 16 tourism, 46 training, 43, 51, 153

traits, 21 transcription, 65, 80 transcripts, 123 transformation, 43 translation, 83 transmission, 22, 51, 57, 72, 99, 145 treatment, 47, 71, 74, 85, 108, 120, 161 trial, 9, 84 trustworthiness, 112 tutoring, vii, 1, 8, 14, 15, 16 Tweet, 127, 128, 129

U United Kingdom (UK), ix, 29, 29, 33, 37, 66, 93, 124, 133, 135, 141, 152, 155 under-resourced contexts, viii, 41 unit cost, 43 United, xiv, 29, 32, 33, 37, 70, 72, 113, 165 universities, 72, 100, 168 university education, 47 upward mobility, 47 urban, 53, 56 United States (US), xiii, xiv, 17, 30, 32, 37, 39, 40, 54, 67, 70, 72, 83, 84, 85, 86, 100, 108, 113, 123, 134, 136, 137, 138, 152, 154, 155, 165, 168

V vacancies, 91 vacuum, 22 validation, 114 variables, 73, 75 variations, 34 varieties, 56, 65, 77, 80, 101, 108, 142, 161 vein, 2, 3, 5, 149, 150 Vice President, 162 victims, 110, 112 violence, 92 virtual communities, 6, 8, 15, 50, 71, 81, 153 visual images, 45, 47 vocabulary, ix, 20, 141, 146, 151 vote, 27, 36, 70, 92 voters, 20, 21, 27, 32 voting, 32

W war, 41, 94, 165, 166, 170 Washington, 115, 134 waste, 23, 164 water, 70, 71

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X xenophobia, 168 XML, 20

Y yield, 92, 132 yin, 77, 78, 131 Yoruba, viii, 62, 64, 69, 71, 72, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 81, 82, 83, 86, 96, 97, 109, 115, 119, 121, 131, 132, 135, 137, 139, 147, 153, 162, 164 young adults, 17, 50 young people, 46, 48, 50, 67, 75, 76, 77, 99

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wealth, 29, 30, 49, 114, 147 web, 20, 73, 108, 120, 130, 144, 152, 153, 158 weblog, 38, 40, 167, 168 websites, 25, 42, 85, 88, 91, 157, 160 well-being, 71 West Africa, 135 Western Cape Province, 8 White Paper, 42, 43, 53 windows, 4, 12 word format, 73 workers, 31 workforce, 48 workplace, 78 World Wide Web (WWW), 38, 109, 154 worldview, 81 worldwide, 51, 145 worry, 71, 78, 131

Index

Computer-Mediated Discourse in Africa, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated, 2012. ProQuest Ebook Central,