CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.0       Preamble

This chapter focuses on the purpose of the study, the scope of the study, the justification, the methodology, data description and the author’s background.

1.1       Background of the Study

The gift of language is the single human trait that marks us all, genetically setting us apart from the rest of life. Language is, like nest building or hive making, the universal and biologically specific activity of human beings. We engage in it communally, compulsively, and automatically. We cannot be human without it; if we were to be separated from it our minds would die as surely as bees lost from the hive (Algeo 87). Language is a unique endowment from God to human which makes us totally distinct from other creatures. Although, these other creatures communicate using sounds, their communication is certainly different from human language and is not categorized as language. Communication can therefore take place between human, or between animals and even between humans and animals, whereas language is human specific.

Language is simply man’s instrument of expression through sound. It is an instrument of thought, that is, a psycho-social interactive measure, which binds human society together in communities and linguistics group. According to Sapir (8), language is purely human and non-instinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions and desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols. The use of language in communication is called Discourse.

The word “Discourse” originates from the Latin word “discursus” which denotes ‘conversation or speech’. It is the actual instances of communication in the medium of language. Barbara Johnstone (2) defines discourse as an institutionalized way of speaking that determines not only what we say and how we say it, but also what we do not say which can be inferred from what we say. It follows that Discourse Analysis is also concerned with language use in social contexts, as interaction or dialogue between speakers. One major approach to doing Discourse Analysis is Critical Discourse Analysis.