International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) |Volume VI, Issue X, October 2022|ISSN 2454-6186
Nwani-Grace UGWU* & Kingsley Onwuka AGBIOLE
Department of English, Ebonyi State College of Education, Ikwo, Nigeria
*Corresponding Author
Abstract: The study was carried out to access the impacts of language use in conflict and conflict resolution among principals of senior and junior secondary schools in Ebonyi State. To guide the study, three research questions were formulated. Literatures by scholars that are relevant to the study were reviewed to close existing gap in scholarship. The design of the study was descriptive survey. The population consisted of all the principals in all the government-owned secondary schools in the education zones of the five South Eastern states. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select 30% of the public secondary schools in the South Eastern States of Nigeria, and each state in the South East formed a stratum. All the principals (both senior and junior) from the schools selected were used. A 31-item researcher-developed questionnaire was constructed, validated, trial-tested and used to elicit data from the respondents. The administration of the instrument was done by the researchers and three research assistants in three education zones from each of the states. Data obtained were presented and analyzed using frequency and simple percentage to answer the research questions. The study revealed that principals in the study area do not show consideration for the feelings of their counterparts in interaction, although they converse calmly and amicably with their counterparts; majority of the respondents prefer to apply strategies for avoiding conflict instead of those for minimizing conflict after it has ensued. The researchers recommended, among other things that, in addition to conversing calmly and amicably with their counterparts, principals in the study area must begin to show consideration for the feelings of their counterparts in interaction.
Keywords: Language use, rapport management, linguistic politeness, conflict resolution, principals.
I. INTRODUCTION
Conflicts are common features of social life. In fact, no human society is devoid of conflict. As [1] observed, conflicts occur in all kinds of human relationships and in all social settings. Conflict is a process where people’s interests and activities confront, block and disable the realization of one party’s objectives. [1] further added that the potential differences among people are wide and so any meaningful interaction can signal conflicts. More so, conflict in secondary school is multifaceted – teacher versus teachers, teacher(s) versus principal(s), students versus teachers, principals versus students, etc. Financial (mis)managements, preferential treatments, and ineffective communication even where there