SEMANTIC APPLICABILITY OF SUBORDINATORS IN COMPLEX SENTENCE CONSTRUCTIONS OF SELECTED UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS OF ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES IN MAKURDI

Abstract

The paper assesses semantic applicability of subordinators in complex
sentence constructions of selected undergraduate students of English
for Academic purposes (EAP) in Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University,
Makurdi. The structural grammar description of the primary
meanings of subordinators provides theoretical basis for assessment
of semantic suitability of subordinators in the students’ written
complex sentences; the model is, also, employed to design a
proficiency test, tagged Meanings of Subordinators in English, and
administrated to forty-eight students, randomly sampled from an EAP
lecture group. The results show semantic inapplicability of
subordinators in the students’ written complex sentences, which is
evident from their incomprehension of the primary semantic imports
of subordinators in some selected standard complex sentences and
incapability to construct complex sentences with certain
subordinators to convey the semantic notions.The study proves that
some EAP students cannot employ subordinators meaningfully in
complex sentence construction. Therefore, the study recommends
that semantic imports of subordinators should be taught EAP
students.