Abstract:
This study examines the levels of acceptability of some lexical forms
and grammatical features identified in the literature as Ghanaian English. It
also discusses the recognised or acceptable indexical markers of the variety.
The study explains the phenomenon of acceptability through Schneider’s
(2007) Dynamic Model of Postcolonial Englishes. Employing both qualitative
and quantitative methods, the researcher sampled 400 respondents for a survey
and 20 participants for interviews. Respondents indicated their levels of
acceptability on a scale of 1-5 where 1=Unacceptable, 2=Unacceptable
sometimes, 3=Neutral, 4=Acceptable sometimes and 5=Acceptable. The study
revealed that not all the lexical forms identified to be Ghanaian English
received the same level of acceptability. The acceptability of lexical items was
influenced by its wide and continuous use, the origin of the concept, an
individual’s knowledge of Standard English and global recognition or
acceptability. It was also found that the grammatical features which are
acceptable to Ghanaians are the use of uncountable nouns and idiomatic
expressions since these features recorded higher levels of acceptability. The
acceptability of these features was attributed to reasons such as their
conformity to Standard English rules of grammar, intelligibility and their wide
usage. Some of the acceptable and unacceptable lexical and grammatical
features were also recognised as being indexical to the variety. Based on
Schneider’s model, the study showed that Ghanaians are endonormative in
terms of lexical items and exonormative in terms of grammar. The study has
implications for theory, codification and further research.
