In several (colloquial) varieties of English around the world, the tag question is reduced to a single generalized invariant tag ‘isn't it?’. This is used irrespective of the general structure and semantic content of the matrix or main, superordinate clause that embeds it. Linguists started debating seriously on the actual use of tag questions in English since the early 1960s and 70s. The debates then were particularly focused on the use of tags on (elliptical) imperatives, with many concluding that the auxiliary in the imperative main clause is an elliptical will that serves as the source of input for the tag that is appended (Katz & Postal, 1964; Postal, 1966). Arbini (1969) discussed the putative parallel between tag imperatives and tag questions, and other early discussions on tags include Bolinger (1967), Huddleston (1970), and Klima (1964). The present discussion looks to a different direction. As already implied, it focuses on the emergence of isn't it? as a generalized invariant tag.

Over the last three decades, the standards of English in Cameroon as well as the performance of students in the English language at the General Certificate of Education (GCE) examination have been on a steady decline. While many Cameroonians keep making their way into the English language teaching industry as a result of the rapid expansion of English as a global lingua franca, the quality of language input administered to learners seems to leave much to desire. Thus, although a number of studies have attributed the continuous downward spiralling of standards to a variety of reasons, this study set out to investigate the extent to which teachers of English as a second language (ESL) in Cameroon master the language they teach, as a demonstration that the teacher is one of the major problems to be addressed. Our main objectives were to test teachers' language skills. Employing the Homogeneous Purposive Sampling Technique, a total of 40 ESL teachers in Tiko and Buea Sub-divisions of the South West Region of Cameroon were investigated using questionnaires and interviews. Of the 40, 36 showed difficulties with spelling, 33 with punctuation, 30 with pronunciation, 28 with capitalization, 27 with sentence construction, and five with agreement.

One tricky problem with English spelling is the variation in the nominalization suffix often represented in discourse as ‘shun’, mainly between -tion and -sion. Current ELT textbooks have generally not discussed rules for its spelling. However, following online resources, some basic rules are in current debate, with two main schools of thought, each falling in line with one of two approaches that can be called the ‘word-based model’ and the ‘base-word model’. In this article, I show the base-word model to be preferred, determine the actual suffix and its underlying form, and elaborate on base-word ending clues to yield a general synchronic rule for changing from -tion to -sion, albeit with exceptions.

Spelling is a major item on the topic of language gap. Since the 1950s, English spelling has been an attraction to scholars. What this implies is that there is need for increased research on rules of spelling in the language. This chapter examines how the rule for choosing between -tion and -sion works in a bid to render it more economical as one way of bridging the language gap. Specifically, it is demonstrated that base-words that take the t-form have a smaller set of conditions that can more easily be mastered than do those that take the s-form, thus forestalling the latter.

Although English spelling has been of significant interest to scholars since the 1950s, it has remained a major problem even to native speakers. One peculiar problem with it is the spelling variation of the noun formation suffix often represented in discourse as "shun," mainly between -tion and -sion. Current textbooks of English grammar have generally not discussed rules of its spelling with either form, even though they do many others. However, following online resources, conflicting on how to spell it are in current debate, with two main schools of thought that each fall in line with one of two approaches that can be called the "word-based model" and the "base-word model." In Achiri-Taboh (2018), I have shown that, in writing down words that end with "shun," the base-word model is to be preferred, presenting argument for a synchronic rule following the base-word model with seven conditions to warrant the use of -sion as opposed to -tion, albeit with exceptions. Following current debates and a test of Anglophone Cameroonian students for their spelling preferences, the present study establishes the problem as global and compelling enough, especially for Non-Native users and learners of English, to warrant an address in grammar textbooks by means of available recourses like the recent base-word-based rule. The study also demonstrates that the prevalence of the problem actually stems from the lack of readily available spelling rules in grammar textbooks, and that there is a need for further research on spelling rules in English.