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ABSRACT

The refusal strategies produced by Berom speakers have been a prominent area of interest. Refusal is a face threatening act (FTA) for it can risk the face of persons in the interaction (the speaker and the hearer). However, it is found no studies concerning refusal strategy in Berom had been carried out.  The current study is carried out with three research questions as the focus, which are; to seek the refusal strategies applied by the speakers of Berom, What are the points of intersection between English language and Berom refusal strategies? and How are refusal strategies initiated. This study is based on mixed-method approach. The writer uses triangulation in obtaining the data needed which is to cross validate data from different sources for the similar phenomenon. They are the observation and interview. The participants taking part in this study are 10 senior students. They were selected based on the accomplishment of speaking and Discourse Analys subjects. The result of this study showed that the participants frequently applied indirect strategy when refusing regardless the person’s power status. They use it to interact with all status

Keywords: Refusal strategies; speech act; pragmatic competence; face threatening act.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Every language has its own system of expressing politeness through the use of different speech acts such as complaints, apologies, requests, refusals among others. This because politeness is understood to be a social characteristic before being a linguistic act, as such, different cultures express acts of politeness in different ways., in a multi-cultural community where English is used as a lingua franca like in the Nigeria, for instance, misunderstanding and breakdown in communication might occur if the speakers as well as the listeners were not aware of these cultural and linguistic differences. Human beings are endowed with communicative and linguistic abilities, as such they have the innate ability to learn how to form infinite sets of sentences based upon a finite set of rules. This fact has attracted researchers into investigating the working mechanisms of language in a deeper fashion in order to unearth the intertwined relationship between language and the society or people that use it. The term "language" has in the cause of time left many questions about its nature unanswered. Language and society are interwoven. That is, one (the society) cannot go without the other (language), they go hand in hand. In Berom language, refusal as a speech acts is used in every day communication among the Berom people. The presentation of a refusal or to deny someone of a requested favour is often presented through the use of certain language strategies in order to appear modest and well behave.

Refusal strategies has drawn our attention because to refuse to lend someone something might cause the person to lose his/her face or as put in lay man’s language: a refusal that is not courteously presented could lead to the loss of the self-esteem of the person that is making the request. As a result, language users are required to exhibit certain degree of linguistic performance by choosing the appropriate refusal strategies that will enable them decline ascending to a request and at the same time save the face of the other speaker. As such, refusal  must be done appropriately and carefully through deliberate choice of words in order to avoid being rude.

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1.1.0 The Berom Language

The Berom language is the language spoken by the Berom people of Plateau State, Nigeria. The Berom language is one of the most widely spoken languages in Plateau State. The Berom people are spread across four Local Governments of the 17 Local Governments of Plateau State. The Berom people are found in Jos North, Jos South, Barkin Ladi [Gwol], Riyom. Berom dialect clusters are: Fan, Ropp, Rim, Gyel, Kuru, Vwang, Du, Foron, Rahos, Tahos, Gashish, Bachit.

It is estimated that Approximately 1 million people speak this language. The Location of the State Capital in Jos North, a part of Berom land means that there are quite a number of second language speakers of the language. The language also serves as the language of immediate communication in the suburbs and as the language of commerce in many locations.

The Berom people have been linked to the ancient civilization of the Nok culture. A civilization that existed between 200BC to 1000AD. Generally, the Berom language speakers are identified and known to live in the core Jos Plateau and down the low plains of Kaduna state. In the Beron language, Refusal strategies are termed `ma-kye`. Refusal strategies means ways of denying someone something. The notion of refusal strategies among the Berom majorities of North Central has become a very important aspect of culture in Africa. Norms, values and Code of conducts such as refusal and request and other strategies were being established since its inception in order to maintain orderliness in the society. Even though they are not documented, people learn to adhere to it, and also pass it from one generation to the other in the society. Here, the aim of this work is to explore the concept of refusal strategies and its significance and relevance in the Berom culture.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Generally, refusal has received attention from different scholars who have investigated it from a wide range of perspectives. The Berom language has been investigated from different linguistic perspectives by different scholars. For instance, Mwanti (7) looked at the structure of the verb in Berom language vis a vis the structure of the English verb. The Berom language is wide, broad and is not being spoken by every Nigerian which explains the basis of this work. Refusal as a speech act has been used by the Berom people to communicate with each other. The language which the Berom people used to communicate to each other contains some linguistic devices as well as their sociocultural peculiarities which are being explained in this research project. The main focus of this research is to investigate use and function of refusal strategies from the perspective of the language user within a specific situational context.

1.3 AIM AND OBJECTIVES

The aim of the project work is to carry out a research on the refusal strategies among the speakers of Berom language. The research is hinged on the following objectives;

(1) To find out the types of refusal strategies that are used in Berom Language.

(2)  To unravel the distinction between Berom refusal strategies and the English language refusal strategies.

(3) To explain the process of initiating a refusal strategy.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

This research focuses on ways of expressing refusal in Berom speech as a speech act so therefore, this research attempt to give answers to the following research questions:

(1) What are the types of refusal strategies in Berom language?

(2) What are the points of intersection between Berom and English language refusal strategies?

(3) How are refusal strategies initiated? 

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