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AN ANALYSIS OF ERRORS ON BILLBOARDS USING PORT HARCOURT METROPOLIS AS CASE STUDY
Abstract
The study examined an analysis of errors on billboards using port Harcourt metropolis as case study. population is made up of all the beverages companies in Port Harcourt that uses billboard advertisement. Simple random sampling techniques were used to select 50 respondents out of the population. The instrument used for data collection was questionnaire. The instrument was validated by two experts in evaluation and Test. Data from 50 completed questionnaire forms were subjected to chi-square analysis. the study concluded that there is significant effect of the types of errors like error in design, text, font, spelling, pictorial elements in the writings of the billboards. The errors also affects the intended communication and as such in returned affects the profit margin of the company. Recommendations were that management should endeavor to develop more effective error free advertising campaign that attracts consumer’s attention and capture their interest. At this stage the company’s advertising messages should both be persuasive and reminder-oriented. The messages must be strong and appealing enough to persuade and build brand preferences, encourage switching to the company’s brand by changing the perception of the consumers of rival brands the product and services. Comparative advertising, a variant of persuasive advertising, could be useful in this regard as it seeks to establish the superiority of one brand through specific comparison with one or more other brands in their product and service class.

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY
Advertising is pervasive in all societies due to the duplication of goods, ideas and services, by different companies, industries establishments or individuals, especially in this era of technological advancement. Messages on the availability and desirability of these products and services are communicated to the consumers through advertisements. Advertising, therefore, thrives when abundance begets competition. It is “the blood of an organization” or “a push that makes things happen” (Jefkin, (2003) and Norrish, (3005). It is the heartbeat of most successful businesses. Consequent upon this, most big multinational companies like Coca Cola, Amstel Malta, Apple, have invested huge sums of money in advertising to maintain their brand names and remain on top for several years. Other companies or industries that produce similar goods are not necessarily producing substandard goods, but simply have not spent the kind of money and time required to promote their own brand names.
Advertising is a specialized form of communication, the language in which it is transmitted notwithstanding. The major language of advertising in Nigeria is the English language. It is the second and official language of Nigeria used in journalism, sports commentaries, education, administration and others. In addition to this, Nigerian Pidgin, vernaculars, and other foreign languages like French, Chinese, German, and Arabic are used to transmit advertising messages to specialized audience.
1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEMS
Billboard advertisements represent a company’s branding. It is the reflection of the company’s ideologies and social responsibilities toward society. These advertisements may be a marketing strategy, but the companies cannot deny that they influence the society through these advertisements. These advertisements also represent our culture to the tourists who come to visit Bangladesh on vacation. Therefore, it is essential that the billboard advertisements represent the true culture of the country.
1.3 OBJECTIVE OF STUDY
2 To examine the types of errors in the writings of the billboards?
3 To examine the errors affecting the intended communication?
4 To examine if the errors have negative impact on the development of the language?
4.1 RESEARCH QUESTION
1. What are the types of errors in the writings of the billboards?
2. To what extent the errors affect the intended communication?
3. Do the errors have negative impact on the development of the language?

1.5 SIGNIFICANT OF STUDY
Therefore, as long as the company considers it necessary to advertise its goods and services, there is every need to seek higher efficiency and effectiveness in promotion of business. The outcomes of the study will bring to consciousness of the management how errors in billboard advertising affects the image of company and it effect on the organizational profit margin
1.6 SCOPE OF STUDY
The scope of the study was delimited to analysis of errors in billboards in port Harcourt city of rivers state of Nigeria.
1.7 ORGANIZATION OF STUDY
Chapter one which is the introduction of the project work, contains among other items, the statement of the problem, the objective of the study, the research questions and the significance of the study. Chapter two which is the review of related literature, reflects the current views of some writer on the topic and variable upon which the study is based. Chapter three, which is the research design and methodology, highlights the research methodology used including the design of the study and the data analysis technique. Chapter four deals on data presentation and analysis. The project ends in chapter five with findings, conclusions and recommendations.
1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS
Errors:
Billboard:
Marketing: According to (AMA, 2000): marketing is defined as a process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion and distributions of ideas, goods and services to create exchange that satisfy individual and organizational goals.
Advertising: Advertising is the practice of attracting the attention of prospective customers to the benefit of goods and services and incentive for them to buy. Advertising is defined as any form of displayed non-personal presentation of ideas, goods and services by an identified sponsor.
Effectiveness: The ability to cause a desired result in goods and services in business.
Service: It is a product of human activity meant to satisfy a human need but not constituting an item of goods

A STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF CHIMAMANDA
NGOZI ADICHIE’S THE THING AROUND YOUR NECK

ABSTRACT
Stylistics is the study and interpretation of texts from a linguistic and literary perspective. This work was done to examine the basic linguistic features that have been used by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in The Thing Around Your Neck to pass some messages across to the readers and the society. A functional approach was adopted; an approach where particular note is taken of the stylistic function, effect and thematic significance of linguistic features in a literary text. The stylistics tools employed were morphology, graphology, phonology, syntax, lexico-semantics and point of view. After applying these tools the novel, it was discovered that language is an integral part of any work of art and that the success of a work depends on how the writer has been able to manipulate language. Adichie had effected changes through a systemic use of language which helped a better understanding of her work.
CHAPTER ONE
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Stylistics is the study and interpretation of texts from literary and linguistic perspectives. As a discipline it links literary criticism and linguistics. A stylistic analysis entails studying in details the features of written or spoken texts and stating what functions they perform in the context of the texts. The features chosen from any text are dealt with in three ways; identification, description and purpose. The method of analysis is purely scientific.
Carter (1989, p.162) suggests that the practice of stylistics comes about at any point of intersection of the language of a text with the elements which constitute literariness of that text. The point of focus in stylistics is the recognition of how a text works as a whole. It attempts to establish principles capable of explaining the particular choice made by social groups in their use of language and the production or reception of meaning. Stylistics is practiced as a part of understanding the possible meanings in a text. It is also generally assumed that the process of analysis will reveal the qualities of a work.
Stylistics is the study of style used in literary and non literary texts and the effect a writer or speaker wishes to communicate to the reader or hearer. It is mainly concerned with the idea of style, the analysis of literary texts and the application of linguistics to literary and non literary texts. Since every writer possesses his or her own particular way of writing and thinking, language use is different from one writer to another. To appreciate a literary work, it is important to see how the language and style used by the writer affect the interpretation of the work. Stylistics focuses on texts and gives much attention to the devices and style. It therefore, discusses theoretical matters alongside whatever practical analysis they provide.
Stylistic analysis besides helping one to acquire an explicit basis for deciding between interpretations also helps one to become more consciously aware of the processes of interpretation which are used in order to get to grips with the text one has read.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Adichie, being a young writer in exile, has written many books which have won several awards including her latest novel The Thing Around Your Neck. So many reviews have been done on the book and that is why the Daily Telegraph (UK) says this about the book “Adichie writes with an economy and precision that makes the strange seem familiar, she makes story telling seem as easy as a bird song”.
It is therefore important to study how Adichie has been able to manipulate language to create stylistic effects to pass her message across to the readers.

1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The purpose of this work is to examine the basic linguistic features that have been used by ChimamandaNgoziAdichie in The Thing Around Your Neck to pass her message across to the readers and the society.
Since language is an important tool used in literature, and language use differs from one writer to another, how then has the writer been able to employ language to create stylistic effects? The effect of her language use on the overall appreciation of the work will be studied.

1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
This work will make use of Adichie’s The Thing Around Your Neck as its primary source. A stylistic analysis shall be done to know how the writer has been able to manipulate language to achieve certain effects. This analysis shall be conducted using the following elements of stylistics, graphology, morphology, phonology, syntax, lexico-semantics and point of view.

1.5 JUSTIFICATION
A study of this nature is important as it helps us to know how language contributes to meaning generation in Adichie’s The Thing Around Your Neck which has qualified the book published in 2009, to win various prizes. Since a literary work cannot be complete without an effective use of language, it is significant to study how Adichie has employed language to create stylistic effects.
This work will expand the frontiers of knowledge. It will make a place in the body of knowledge and help upcoming researchers to understand how Adiche has employed stylistic devices in her text.

1.6 METHODOLOGY
This research will adopt a functional approach, an approach where particular note is taken of the stylistic function, effect and thematic significance of linguistic features in a literary text.
The essay will study the society created by the writer through the character and situations in the text. The Thing Around Your Neck will serve as the primary source. There will also be reliance on secondary materials such as text books, stylistics dictionary and internet sources.

1.7 THE AUTHOR
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was born in 1977 in Enugu, Nigeria. She studied medicine and pharmacy at the University of Nigeria then moved to the US to study communications and political science at Eastern Connecticut State University. She obtained an MA in creative writing from Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore.
After initially writing poetry and one play, For the love of Biafra (1998), she wrote several short stories published in literary journals. She has won various competition prizes. The first novel Purple Hibiscus was published in 2003 and is set in the political turmoil of 1990’s Nigeria. The narrative was told from the perspective of a 15-year-old Kambili Achike. Purple Hibiscus won the 2005 commonwealth writers prize (overall winner, best book) and was shortlisted for the 2004 orange prize for fiction. Her second novel, Half of a Yellow Sun 2006 was set before and during the Biafra war. It won the 2007 orange broadband prize for fiction.
Her latest book is a collection of short stories; The Thing Around Your Neck (2009), shortlisted for the 2009 John Llewellyn-Rhys Memorial prize and the 2010 commonwealth writers prize (Africa Region, Best Book). Chimamanda lives between Nigeria and the United States

1.8 DATA DESCRIPTION
In the novel published in 2009, the writer turns her penetrating eye on not only Nigeria but America, in twelve dazzling stories that explore the ties that bind men and women, parents and children, Africa and the United states with a few telling details that do not portray one culture superior to the other.
In “A private experience”, a medical student hides from a violent riot with a poor Muslim woman whose dignity and faith force her to confront the realities and fears she has been pushing away. In “Tomorrow is too far”, a woman unlocks the devastating secret that surrounds her brother’s death. In “Imitation”, a young mother finds her comfortable life in Philadelphia threatened when she learns that her husband has moved his mistress into their home in Lagos. “The Thing Around Your Neck” depicts the choking loneliness of a Nigerian girl who moves to America that turns out to be nothing like the country she expected though falling in love brings her desires nearly within reach, a death in her homeland forces her to re-examine them.
“Searing and profound, Suffused with beauty, sorrow and longing, the collision of two cultures and the deep human struggle to reconcile them”. The Thing Around Your Neck according to the back cover of the book, “is a resounding confirmation of the prodigious literary powers of one of our most essential writers”.