A SYNTACTIC ANALYSIS OF THE USE OF AUXILIARY VERBS IN OFFICE DOCUMENTS:

2.2.3 Theories of language		15
2.3	Auxiliary verbs and their Classification		21
2.4Characteristics and syntactic roles of Auxiliaries28
2.5Halliday‟s Perspective of Modality57
2.6	Modal Idioms		67
2.7Catenatives Verbs Construction			71
2.8	Theoretical Framework		72
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY
3.0	Introduction		76
3.1	Sources of Data		76
3.2	Data Gathering Technique		77
3.3	Analytical Procedure	77

 

CHAPTER 4: DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS

 

4.0	Introduction
4.1	Presentation of Data	80
4.2	Analysis of Data	80

 

4.2.1 Analysis of modal auxiliary verbs in selected IBB University, Lapai.

 

Office documents 81

 

Would	81
Can	83
Should	85

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Must	87
Will	88
4.2.2 Non Modal Auxiliary Verbs	91
Be (am, are, is, was, were, being, been)	91
Have	94
4.3Discussions 97
4.4Findings100

 

CHAPTER 5: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

 

5.0	Introduction
5.1	Summary		102
5.2	Conclusion		103
5.3	Recommendations		104
5.4	Research‟s Contribution to knowledge 105
	References		106
	Appendix	111

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

viii

 

ABSTRACT

 

 

This study is specifically concerned with the syntactic analysis of the use of auxiliary verbs in office documents by writers of office documentsusing Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) University,Lapai Niger State and the interpersonal meanings, and the various interpretations deduced from the use of the English auxiliary verbs in the office documents using as a case study from selected departments in Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai,Niger State.The study aimed at identifying which auxiliary verbs are more wrongly used by writers of office documents in IBB University, Lapai and also highlighting the context to which writers of office documents misuse auxiliary verbs. The extent to which some office documents in IBB University, Lapai convey wrong information due to wrong use of auxiliary verbs were analysed in the office documents at IBB University, Lapai. The data used for this study were collected;thirty samples of office documents were obtained from the university Library, office of the Registrar, Student Affairs department as well as the following departments: Chemistry, Biology, Political Science, Public Administration, and Counselling Psychology provide the data for the study. The analytical procedure adopted for this study was based on the adoption of the systemic functional grammar and traditional grammar as the theoretical framework, those expressions that contain the use of auxiliary verbs from the office documents were analysed, and interpretations of the auxiliary verbs used to give insights into the difficulties faced by the writers in their use of auxiliary verbs in writing office documents. Their level of understanding of the interpersonal meaning of auxiliary verbs, most especially the non-modal and modal auxiliary verbs was also focused on for analysis. Eight and seven columns were provided to show non-modal and modal auxiliary verbs in the analysis table contained the serial numbers, the text for the analysis, the modality, the verb used, the verb intended, the interpersonal meaning, the writer‟s intention and reference in relation to the data for analysis. The data were analysed using the relevant aspects of eclectic theoretical framework of analysis, specifically, Halliday (1985) and Quirk et al (1972, 1982, 1985) interpersonal meaning of auxiliary verbs. In the course of the analysis of data, the study arrived at the following findings: The writers of office documents used for analysis seem to be selective in the application of English auxiliary verbs (modal verbs) such that they limit their choices to only those they are familiar with. There are exhibitions of indiscriminate use of some English auxiliary verbs like „has‟ and „have‟, will‟ and „would‟ and „can‟ and „could‟. The writers of the office documents use them as if they all have one meaning.The English auxiliary verbs „may‟, „might‟, ‟shall‟ and „should‟ have been scantily used by the writers of office documents in their writing. The writers of office documents experience difficulty in the application of English auxiliary verbs in their documents.The results of the analysis presented leads to the conclusion that all types of auxiliary verbs in English are problematic to some writers of office documents, but the modal auxiliary verbs that pose more problems to the writers of office documents than the primary auxiliary verbs. That is, they have limited knowledge on the uses and proper application of the rules guiding the auxiliary verbs usage. This study recommends that seminars, conferences and workshops should always be organized by the University for writers of office documents. Through attendance of such programmes writers of office documents could also gain more knowledge and even be exposed to those things which they do not know. In addition, writers of office documents should be encouraged to read widely so as to increase their knowledge in English language. That is, they should engage themselves with other educative materials outside their place of work, as these

 

will                   improve                    their                   spoken                   and                   written                   English.

 

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CHAPTER ONE

 

INTRODUCTION

 

1.1 Background to the Study

 

Language is very important to human beings. If life is to be lived to the fullest, language must be acquired, taught, learnt and studied well because life without language in modern civilization will be disastrous since each community is formed by the activity of a language (Bloomfield, 1945:13). Therefore, this research considers writing skills in the learning of language to be very essential. The ability to read and write is regarded as very important compared to the ability to speak (Stevense, 1974: 65) and writing is regarded as the most difficult of the language skills. Without writing, the human mind or thought could hardly be read or represented (Ong, 1993: 78)

 

The use of auxiliary verbs by the writers of office documents is what this study is concerned with. Auxiliary verbs are of two kinds: non-modal and modal auxiliary verbs. Nesbitt, (2001) Non-modal verbs are different frommodal auxiliary verbs in the sense that the former can be used as lexical verbs. This means that they sometimes exist on their own, apart from functioning as helping verbs, while the latter cannot; they only perform the function of helping verbs in a sentence where they occur, which shows that they are as important as the lexical verbs. Therefore, any misuse or misinterpretation of the auxiliary verbs can bring about distortion of the meaning meant to be conveyedin office documents. It is interesting to note that proper use of these auxiliary verbs helps to make our writing faultless and to convey meaningful information.

 

The present researcher has observed that office documents from some offices and departments, especially at Ibrahim Badamasi University, Lapai in Niger State, are

 

 

 

1

 

 

characterized bythewrong useof auxiliary verbs. In a country such as Nigeria where English Language performs an official function, the use of English in offices should display less obvious errors and the need for proficiency is not only desirable but absolutely necessary. The English language is not only used as a medium of instruction from the pre- primary school to the university level, but it is also taught as a subject at every level of education. It is little wonder that English enjoys a prestigious position in our day-to-day activities. The need for office administrators to attain proficiency in English cannot be overemphasized as it will enable them to use the language correctly and efficiently.

 

Although such grammatical deviation as the wrong use of auxiliary verbs does not usually result in serious unintelligibility, it is indicative of the user‟s imperfect knowledge of the English Language. Crystal (2008) opines that a verb is an element which can display morphological contrast of tense, aspect, voice, mood, person and number. Auxiliary verbs, as the name implies, are generally referred to as helping or supporting verbs (Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary of Current English, 1995). They are so called for the fact that they help to make up the verbal phrase in a sentence and in particular, they performthe function of helping or supporting the main verbs, which could either, be transitive or intransitive, to carry out their functions meaningfully in sentences where they are used.

 

This work is specifically concerned with analysing interpersonal meanings, which are the various interpretations deduced from the use of the English auxiliary verbs in the office documents using as a case study documents of some selected departments from Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai. The interpersonal meanings are contained in communicative functions such as possibility, probability, necessity, ability, certainty, insistence, permission, obligation, prohibition, and doubts. These meanings are expressed via

 

 

 

 

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the interpersonal metafunction which helps a speaker to take part in communicative acts with other people. The interpersonal metafunction is used to show the interpersonal relationships among the participants when they express meanings like degrees of possibility, probability, obligation, necessity, permission and certainty. This research is concerned with only letters of invitation to meetings, letters of query and letters or written documents on notice boards in some selected offices and departments of IBB University, Lapai.Below are some, among many of the difficulties that some office documents exhibit which reflect the misuse and misinterpretation of auxiliary verbs. Examples of such wrong use are as follow:

 

1. He would submit the proposal now.

 

Some of the office documentsshow the exchange of the modal auxiliary verb „would‟ for „will‟ as in the above sentence which renders the sentence faulty.

 

2. Contractors doesn‟t come for work any longer.

 

This sentence is an example of how some writer of office documents use the auxiliary verb form of (do) is used together with the negative particle („n‟t) which is doesn‟t in place of don‟t and vice versa.

 

3. He have many assignments to carry out.

 

Many writers of office document at IBB University, Lapai sometimes use the auxiliary verb form „have‟ for „has‟ in their sentences, thereby making the sentences grammatically faulty.

 

4. I used to come for practice every day.

 

Writers of office documents sometimes misuse the modal auxiliary form „used to‟ on most occasions in their sentences. They do not know or forget that this verb form can only be used as past tense indicating habitual behaviour, so they use it in sentences about present events. Consequently, the poor readers also have a problem of not being able to identify obvious

 

 

 

 

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errors committed by the writers of office documents, except for advanced and average readers.

 

1.2 Statement of the Research Problem

 

This study is a syntactic analysis of the use of auxiliary verbs in office document at IBB University, Lapai.Boadi, et al (1968), Oji, (1988), observed that most Nigerian office documents are full of grammatical errors and misinterpretation at the syntactic and semantic levels. The wrong use of main and auxiliary verbs is seen to be prominent. The way the main and auxiliary verbs are used in office documents brings to question the competence levels of the language users. Most of the offices visited, and interviews carried out showed that some officials do not have much knowledge of what the auxiliary and main verbs are and their applications. Hence, they misuse and misinterpret some verbs, most especially the auxiliary verbs.An examination of the way some of the office documents are written indicates that there are instances of misuse and misinterpretation of some verbs.

 

It is therefore based on the above that this study seeks to investigate the extent to which the poor performance in drafting and writing the documents which could be as a result of inadequate knowledge of the rules of grammar, ignorance and nonchalant attitudes to the subject matter. Obviously, these may be why some of the writers of office documents perform poorly with regard to the use of auxiliary verbs in their writing.

 

1.3     Research Questions

 

This study seeks to answer, the following questions:

 

1. Which of the auxiliary verbs (non-modal auxiliary verbs and modal auxiliary verbs) are often wrongly used by the writers of office documents in Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai?

 

 

 

 

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1. In what contexts do writers of office documents in Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai misuse auxiliary verbs?

 

1. To what extent do office documents in Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai convey wrong information due to misuse of auxiliary verbs?

 

1.4 Aim and Objectives of the Study

 

The major aim of the research is to do a syntactic analysis of the use of auxiliary verbs in some selected office documents from Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai. Consequently, the specific objectives of carrying out this research are to:

 

1. identify which auxiliary verbs are more wrongly used by writers of office documents in Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai;

 

1. highlight the contexts in which writers of office documents misuse auxiliary verbs;

 

1. analyse the extent to which some office documents in Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai convey wrong information due to wrong use of auxiliary verbs.

 

1.5 Scope and Delimitation of the Study

 

The focus of this research is mainly on the use of auxiliary verbs in office documents of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai. Therefore, the study examines: 1. the primary auxiliary verbs (non-modal) „Be‟, „Have‟, „Do‟. 2. The modal auxiliary verbs: „ can‟, „could‟, „will‟, „would‟, „shall‟, „should‟, „may‟, „ must‟, „might‟, „ought‟, „dare‟, „need‟ and „used to‟. The work is also limited to interpersonal meanings of Halliday (1985) and Quirk et al (1972,1982) which they identify as „possibility‟, „necessity‟, „probability‟, „usuality‟, „inclination‟, etc. The study hopes to bring out the various interpersonal meanings put across by the writers of office documents and make relevant recommendations where necessary. Thirty (30) samples of office documents were randomly selected from

 

 

 

 

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theuniversity library, office of the registrar, student affairs office, biology department, chemistry department, public administration, political science and Arabic department analysed in the study.

 

1.6 Justification of the Study

 

The need for this study came up when it was observed that the rate of grammatical errors being committed by writers of office documents is on the rise. The research is anchored on the fact that it is important to master the rules guiding the application of English auxiliary verbs in office documents in order to ensure effective communication. Although other studies may have been carried out on office documents, this one is with emphasis on the use of auxiliary verbs in office documents particularly, by officials of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai.

 

It is hoped that this present study will throw more light on some of the errors that pertain to the use of auxiliary verbs in office documents. Rich knowledge of the uses of auxiliary verbs is needed,especially in syntactic signification and structures, in order to reduce the many errors inherent in official documents in most offices in Nigeria. It is important that the writer of office documents understand:

 

1. How to use English auxiliary verbs.

 

1. Which English auxiliary verbs to use.

 

1. When to use English auxiliary verbs.

 

1. Why it is necessary to use English auxiliary verb.

 

 

 

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