Abstract:
Language indeed is the main tool for communication. What actually identify a language
are its morphological, phonological, and grammatical structures. However, research into
Student Pidgin (SP) has often been on its sociolinguistic aspect with just a few research
works on those aspects that actually identify a language. The study investigates the
morphology of SP, which has been neglected, with the view to establishing the fact that
SP is also a unique language or a code which employs some morphological processes in
creating new words. It further looks at how tense, aspect, and mood are expressed in SP.
The qualitative research design was selected for the study, using Valley View University
as a case study. A sample size of 20 participants was used for the study comprising both
male and female ranging between 17 years and 30 years. A purposive Sampling
technique was adopted in selecting the sample. Recordings of SP, semi-structured
interview, and non-participatory observation were the main instruments used to gather
data for the study. Key findings, among others, are: that SP makes use of eight (8) main
morphological processes in creating new words; that SP has no past tense inflections or
past tense markers; that indicative, imperative, and subjunctive mood are expressed in
SP. Regarding subjunctive mood, the study revealed that SP always uses the present
subjunctive even in wish conditions and hypothetical statements. My recommendation
was that studies on SP should not be focused on only the sociolinguistic part of it, but
attention should also be equally directed toward the other grammatical facets like syntax,
semantics, and phonology with the view of standardizing it.
Description:
A Thesis in the Department of English Education, Faculty of Foreign Languages
Education and Communication, submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, University
of Education, Winneba in partial fulfillment of the requirements for award of the Master
of Philosophy (English) degree.
OCTOBER, 2015