International Journal of English Literature and Culture

Vol. 9(5), pp. 149-162, August 2021

 ISSN: 2360-7831

https://doi.org/10.14662/ijelc2021215

 

Review

 

Abstract

 

This paper investigates the contextual beliefs in the reportage of crime stories in selected newspapers, with a view to identifying the shared knowledge that underlie communication between the writers and readers of such stories. The study is hinged on the model of contextual beliefs proposed by Odebunmi (2006), where contextual beliefs are categorised into the language level of beliefs and situation level of beliefs. The language belief emphasises that meaning interpretation can only be possible if interactants have access to the same linguistic code. The situation level of belief emphasises the relevance of the shared linguistic or non-linguistic codes and experiences. The study reveals that aspects of contextual beliefs operate between the writers of crime stories and their audiences. The analysis identified language level beliefs as well as situation level beliefs as core aspects which aid meaning interpretation in crime stories. While the language level beliefs emphasise the fact that the readers can make meaning out of the stories because they share knowledge of the same linguistic code used by the writer, the situation level beliefs point to the importance of having a shared knowledge of the topic of discourse, word choices and socio-cultural experiences before meaning decoding can occur and before communication can be successful. The study has established the relevance of context in meaning decoding of crime stories in Nigerian newspapers by the audiences. The writers of such stories appeal to certain contextual features to aid their reader’s consumption of the texts..

 

Keywords: Contextual beliefs, crime, language level, situation level..  

 

Cite This Article As: Arogundade, R.S. (2021). Contextual beliefs in selected newspaper stories on crime in Nigeria. Inter. J. Eng. Lit. Cult. 9(5):149-162