Sociolinguistic configuration of a regimented workforce: a study of the Nigerian army’s workout songs

Uwen, God’sgift Ogban; Ekpe, Stella I.

doi:10.1080/14790718.2023.2200254

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Also, the code mixed and multilingual elements in the songs, portray the interethnolinguistic interface of the personnel drawn from the Nigerian multilingual setting. Uwen and Ekpe (2023) have examined the two songs (1A and 1B above) among others, to establish the contents as evidence of the sociolinguistic configuration of the Nigerian Army as a regimented and multilingual workforce. The authors argue that songs in this category are narrations of Nigeria's multilingualism exemplified in the Army as a regimented institution that utilise the multilingual identities to function maximally in the protection of the nation's sovereignty.…”

Section: Masculine Codification Of Nigerian Army's Workout Songsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Officers and men and fallen heroes: The discursive construction of regimented masculinity in the Nigerian Army

Uwen,

Alruwaili

2024

Forum Linguist. Stud.

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This paper examines the use of gendered language in the Nigerian Army’s community of practice through the application of insights from language ideology and theory of masculinity. Data were generated by means of participant observation and semi-structured interviews in a one-year fieldwork involving representative sample of 18 personnel of the 6 Battalion, Ibawa and 2 Brigade, Uyo, both in Akwa Ibom State in South-eastern Nigeria. The findings show that the Nigerian Army maintains institutional gendered language practices used among its personnel in regimented functions and social events. The gendered registers occur in the soldiers’ generic use of male address terms, adaptation to male-coded voice pattern in parades, masculinisation of Army’s workout songs, and the subordination of femininity in institutional associations, all combined to construct the regimented and performative masculinisation of the profession. This practice is observed to be informed by the numerical domination of men in the profession that was originally perceived as males’; a conception that has shaped the linguistic ideology and performance of the Nigerian Army to rehearse masculine orientations. It is however recommended that the Army’s language practices should capture modern ideals of a gender sensitive world that connect to the clamour for gender equality and equal social belonging through the inclusion of feminine linguistic markers in workplaces.

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Section: Masculine Codification Of Nigerian Army's Workout Songsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Officers and men and fallen heroes: The discursive construction of regimented masculinity in the Nigerian Army

Uwen,

Alruwaili

2024

Forum Linguist. Stud.

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“…Also, mbok (an Efik expression for 'please') used by D3 (go and drive in the streets, mbok) further shows the multilingual composition of discourse involving Nigerians. Uwen and Ekpe [40] maintain that such code mixed expressions that show the inclusion of lexical items from Nigerian indigenous languages help in deepening the re-enactment of the ethnolinguistic identities that foster sense of belonging among communication partners…”

Section: Inferiorisation Of Womenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emotive language as construction of situational aggression among drivers at gridlock scenes in Nigeria

Uwen,

Ghevolor,

Bassey

2023

Environ. Soc. Psychol.

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This paper 1investigates the use of emotive language in the construction of situational aggression among drivers in gridlock scenes along the failed Calabar-Uyo highway, in Southern Nigeria. Data were derived through participants’ observations, informal interactions and semi-structured interviews in an eight-month fieldwork involving 26 drivers who formed the representative sample. Insights from Frustration-Aggression and Conceptual Act Theories were utilised to account for how emotive language instantiate displaced aggression. Findings show that the emotive cues used by drivers were principally informed by the bad road which occurred as a result of failed leadership and endemic corruption, and other cues used to exemplify inferiorisation of women, driving incompetence, superiority complex and economic hardship. The exchanges are combined to situate the collective excruciating experience of drivers and a protest against Nigerian political establishment. The emotive language impliedly re-enacts participants’ patriarchal beliefs, driving attitudes, multilingual identities and myriad of challenges that describe the Nigerian sociocultural context.

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“…Attenborough (2013, p. 223) maintains that such songs "demonstrate how discourses allow for a more nuanced understanding of the ways in which gender cuts across, and inflects processes of sexualisation". These stereotypes are often re-echoed not only to boost personnel morale during walkouts and exercises but also to represent the military as a powerful institution where male hegemony is constructed and sustained (Uwen and Ekpe, 2023).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

It's better to die before dishonour: Linguistic creativity and the negotiation of meaning in the Nigerian Army community of practice

Mensah,

Oreoluwa,

Ebong

et al. 2024

Forum Linguist. Stud.

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This article investigates emblematic language use and the negotiation of meaning with particular emphasis on generative mechanisms like jargon and slang in two Nigerian Army barracks in Calabar municipality, Cross River State, south-eastern Nigeria. The study is anchored in a linguistic ideology framework which is grounded in beliefs and values people have towards explicit and implicit language use in a particular communicative context. Drawing on qualitative ethnographic data sourced through participant observation and semi-structured interviews with 30 participants who were purposively sampled, the authors argue that jargon and slang are indexical linguistic resources that enable military personnel to create diverse new meanings in the informal linguistic ecology of the army. We conclude that beyond helping to create a new linguistic convention in the barracks, jargon and slang also facilitate the construction of professional identity, enact inclusion/exclusion and sustain dominant values and professional ethos. The study focuses on ways of interpreting the specificity of the military world and the reality of dominance through the prism of these linguistic specimens. Jargon and slang, therefore, offer a firmer lens to appreciate the army’s social universe and subjectivities, and more broadly to enhance an understanding of contextually embedded social practices in the military.

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Sociolinguistic configuration of a regimented workforce: a study of the Nigerian army’s workout songs

Cited by 5 publications

References 29 publications

Officers and men and fallen heroes: The discursive construction of regimented masculinity in the Nigerian Army

Officers and men and fallen heroes: The discursive construction of regimented masculinity in the Nigerian Army

Emotive language as construction of situational aggression among drivers at gridlock scenes in Nigeria

It's better to die before dishonour: Linguistic creativity and the negotiation of meaning in the Nigerian Army community of practice

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