Slightly edited
Gloria,
So you attributed to me a statement I didn't make as evidence for your shallow, intellectually impoverished characterization of my scholarly temperaments. When I called you out, you briefly went quiet, then shamefacedly crawled out of the woodwork, slyly admitted to your dishonesty, but still choose to stick to your false, totally groundless conclusion about me. In rhetorical studies we often talk of the scholarly sin of finalism, defined as a conclusion in search of evidence. Yours is worse: it's a conclusion that insists on being in spite of contrary evidence staring it right in the face.
As early as March 11, 2010 I wrote a column titled "Top 10 Irritating Errors in American English" where I pointed out, among other things, that even native English speakers violate the rules of their own language. "You see, even native speakers of the English language make mistakes, too. They grapple with as much anxiety and insecurity about the grammatical correctness of, especially their written, English as those of us for whom English is a second language. As linguists know only too well, there is no such thing as a native writer of any language; there are only native speakers of languages," I wrote.
You don't have even the tiniest thread of evidence to hand your reckless and malicious charge against me, so you resort to cheap, uninformed innuendos.
I have just been told that you are a Caribbean, not the Nigerian that I'd always thought you were because of your last name. I now know the source of your perpetual anxieties about race, which I frankly understand. You think I'm dissing English-based creoles, your native language, and you're getting all hot and worked up. But you are completely mistaken. I haven't said a thing about Creole languages that is even remotely disparaging. Point to me where I said a disparaging thing about creoles. And, please, don't attribute someone else's statement to me this time around.
I did say pidgins have limited utility, especially as media of literary expression and high-minded scholarly thought.. Agbetuyi agreed. Several linguists say the same thing. But my position on pidgins, especially Nigerian Pidgin English, is informed by my own intimate experiential familiarity with it. The fact that some MIT linguistics scholar (whose work you didn't cite) said something nice about pidgins (what precisely he said you haven't even told us) isn't sufficient to delegitimize my experience. That's weak, disappointing logic.
Farooq
Farooq A. Kperogi, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Journalism & Emerging MediaSchool of Communication & Media
Social Science Building
Room 5092 MD 2207
402 Bartow Avenue
Kennesaw State University
Kennesaw State University
Kennesaw, Georgia, USA 30144
Cell: (+1) 404-573-9697
Personal website: www.farooqkperogi.com
Cell: (+1) 404-573-9697
Personal website: www.farooqkperogi.com
Twitter: @farooqkperog
Author of Glocal English: The Changing Face and Forms of Nigerian English in a Global World
"The nice thing about pessimism is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised." G. F. Will
"The nice thing about pessimism is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised." G. F. Will
On Wed, Nov 2, 2016 at 12:03 PM, Farooq A. Kperogi <farooqkperogi@gmail.com> wrote:
Gloria,So you attributed to me a statement I didn't make as evidence for your shallow, intellectually impoverished characterization of my scholarly temperaments. When I called you out, you briefly went quiet, then shamefacedly crawled out of the woodwork, slyly admitted to your dishonesty, but still choose to stick to your false, totally groundless conclusion about me. In rhetorical studies we often talk of the scholarly sin of finalism, defined as a conclusion in search of evidence. Yours is worse: it's a conclusion that insists on being in spite of contrary evidence staring it right in the face.As early as March 11, 2010 I wrote a column titled "Top 10 Irritating Errors in American English" where I pointed out, among other things, that even native English speakers violate the rules of their own language. "You see, even native speakers of the English language make mistakes, too. They grapple with as much anxiety and insecurity about the grammatical correctness of, especially their written, English as those of us for whom English is a second language. As linguists know only too well, there is no such thing as a native writer of any language; there are only native speakers of languages," I wrote.You don't have even the tiniest thread of evidence to hand your reckless and malicious charge against me, so you resort to cheap, uninformed innuendos.I have just being told that you are a Caribbean, not the Nigerian that I'd always thought you were because of your last name. I now know the source of your perpetual anxieties about race, which I frankly understand. You think I'm dissing English-based creoles, your native language, and you're getting all hot and worked up. But you are completely mistaken. I haven't said a thing about Creole languages that is even remotely disparaging. Point to me where I said a disparaging thing about creoles. And, please, don't attribute someone else's statement to me this time around.I did say pidgins have limited utility, especially as media of literary expression and high-minded scholarly thought.. Agetuyi agreed. Several linguists say the same thing. But my position on pidgins, especially Nigerian Pidgin English, is informed by my own intimate experiential familiarity with it. The fact that some MIT linguistics scholar (whose work you didn't cite) said something nice about pidgins (what precisely he said you haven't even told us) isn't sufficient to delegitimize my experience. That's weak, disappointing logic.FarooqFarooq A. Kperogi, Ph.D.Associate ProfessorJournalism & Emerging Media
School of Communication & MediaSocial Science BuildingRoom 5092 MD 2207402 Bartow Avenue
Kennesaw State UniversityKennesaw, Georgia, USA 30144
Cell: (+1) 404-573-9697
Personal website: www.farooqkperogi.comTwitter: @farooqkperogAuthor of Glocal English: The Changing Face and Forms of Nigerian English in a Global World
"The nice thing about pessimism is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised." G. F. WillOn Tue, Nov 1, 2016 at 9:58 PM, Emeagwali, Gloria (History) <emeagwali@ccsu.edu> wrote:--
First of all, let me say that, in error, I attributed to you a statement made by someone else. I went back to previous emails and discovered the mistake.
If you believe that I deliberately cited it to "dishonestly" make a point, so be it. But this is not what actually occurred.
The fact is that there is so much irrationality in your discussions that there is no need for me to fake it.
Your intransigence about what is correct and what is not, and your disdain against linguistic systems spoken by millions of people around the world, have convinced me that although the citation was an error, in this case, the overall conclusion I came to was 100% appropriate.
I advise you to look at the work of Dr. Michel De Graff, Professor of Linguistics at MIT who has taken a more respectful position to pidgins and creoles. At the center of his research is a recognition and appreciation of the full potential of these linguistic systems.
Gloria Emeagwali
vimeo.com/user5946750/videos
Gloria Emeagwali's Documentaries onAfrica and the African Diaspora
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com > on behalf of Farooq A. Kperogi <farooqkperogi@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, October 31, 2016 3:27 PM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: SV: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Farooq, Funmi and Yona--
On Mon, Oct 31, 2016 at 2:47 PM, Emeagwali, Gloria (History) <emeagwali@ccsu.edu> wrote:
But some days ago this is what you stated:
"No matter how good a Nigerian speaks and writes English it can never be as perfect as a born English native of England. ....................... A native of England with primary school education can write and speak better English than the best Nigerian Professor of English language because as native of England he/she is born with the language."
Do not allow naive and contradictory statements undermine your intellectual integrity.
Show me exactly where I wrote that. If you can't, then admit to your dishonesty. That's not even my prose. I don't write like that. Plus, that's a crassly ignorant statement I would never make even in my sleep. "..a born English native of England." And you think I would write that? What the heck does that mean?
A little honesty won't hurt anybody. Attributing things to me that I never said just to "win" an argument is beneath contempt.
Farooq
Farooq A. Kperogi, Ph.D.Associate ProfessorJournalism & Emerging Media
School of Communication & MediaSocial Science BuildingRoom 5092 MD 2207402 Bartow Avenue
Kennesaw State University
Kennesaw, Georgia, USA 30144
Cell: (+1) 404-573-9697
Personal website: www.farooqkperogi.comTwitter: @farooqkperogAuthor of Glocal English: The Changing Face and Forms of Nigerian English in a Global World
"The nice thing about pessimism is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised." G. F. Will
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