The Role of Language and Communication in National...

THE ROLE OF LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION IN NATIONAL TRANSFORMATION BY ONUOHA BEATRICE N. (MRS.) DEPARTMENT OF GENERAL STUDIES HUSSAINI ADAMU FEDERAL POLYTECHNIC, KAZAURE, JIGAWA STATE BEING A PAPER PRESENTED AT WOMEN IN TECHNICAL EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT (WITED) NATIONAL CONFERENCE AT THE FEDERAL POLYTECHNIC ILARO, OGUN STATE 8TH – 11TH OCTOBER, 2012 ABSTRACT The relationship between language and communication in the business of information encoding and dissemination cannot be over looked. Despite the fact that the two concepts are different in meaning, the roles they play are complementary in many ways. Language is a process by which information can be carried out from one party to another, while communication refers to the chain†¦show more content†¦Bolinger (1975:14), views language as: â€Å"a system of vocal-auditory communication interacting with the experiences of its users, employing conventional signs composed of arbitrarily patterned sound units and assembled according to set rules†. In another development, Essien (1998:2) sees language as: A system of structured arbitrary vocal symbols by means of which human beings make meaning and communicate with each other in a given community†¦. These definitions recognize the communicative role of language which is specifically used by human beings for the purpose of interaction. By implication, language is in essence a perfect means of expression among every known people. It is important to note that language determines the world-view of a people. It is the connection between language and communication in information delivery for national transformation that is the fulcrum of this discourse. In as much as human beings use language, communication remains its primary target. 2.1: FUNCTIONS AND CHARACTERISTICS OF LANGUAGE These can be seen as some special qualities and role that are common to a typical human language. Human language is used in a number of functions and topmost among which is communication. In the same vein, language is known with the following properties: LANGUAGE IS A LIVING PHENOMENON: This is attributed to a