Modern Languages (French)

Dr. (Mrs.) Florence E. Datuboye

Ag. Head of Department

Department of Modern Languages (French)

The Department of Modern Languages (French) is one of the six Departments created to kick start the Faculty of Humanities established by Senate during her 250th regular meeting held on Thursday, April 26th 2018. The establishment of the Department follows need for the University to accommodate other Programmes relevant to the manpower needs of both the state and the nation.

The B.A. Honors French Programme is intended for the production of accomplished graduates, competent in spoken and written French, who with their multilingual background and broad general outlook, have an acute understanding of societal realities for the achievement of self-actualization and contribution to the attainment of the national objectives.

The Programme began Academic activities in September 2021 in the 2021/2022 Academic Session with a total of ten students admitted. A total of ten teaching staff and one non-teaching staff are employed in the department.

PROFILE OF THE AG. HOD

Dr. (Mrs.) Florence Ezinne Datuboye, a PhD holder in Francophone African Literature is the Acting Head, Department of Modern Languages.  She was appointed in May 2022.

She obtained her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and Master of Arts (MA) from Ignatius Ajuru University of Education in 2017 and 2020 respectively. Post Graduate Diploma (PGD) in Management from University of Port Harcourt in 2010, Bachelor’s degree from Rivers State College of Education, an affiliate of University of Ibadan in 2002. National Certificate of Education (NCE) from Alvan Ikoku College of Education Owerri, Imo State.   She also attended Centre International de Recherche et d’Etude des Langues (CIREL), Village du Benin, Lomé, Togo. 2019.

The erudite Lecturer has over 18 publications to her name which includes national journals, foreign journals, chapters in books and Festschrift. She has attended over 13 academic conferences. She has been appointed as chairman and member of over 10 various departmental, faculty and university committees. Dr, (Mrs.) Florence Datuboye is a member of various professional bodies such as University French Teachers Association (UFTAN), Reading Association of Nigeria (RAN), Linguistics Association of Nigeria (LAN) amongst others.

Some of her publications are:

  1. Datuboye, Florence E. (PhD) (2021) et Nwankwo Mercy (PhD)  (2021) Le rôle de la Littérature dans l’intégration Culturelle en Afrique.  Icheke Journal of the faculty of humanities, Ignatius Ajuru university of Education, Port Harcourt, Vol 19 No.4, December 2021.
  2. Datuboye Florence Ezinne (PhD)(2022) et Tebowei Marie-Therese (PhD) (2022) Prospects of Ijaw- French Bilingual Dictionary for more efficient L2 learning. SGI- Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, Plymouth University, Drake Circus, United Kingdom. Volume 6 ISSUE:1 April 2022.
  3. Datuboye, Florence E. (2021) et Gilbert, Lysias Patience (2021) L’analyse théorique de Le Mandat de Sembene Ousmane et Les soleils des indépendances d’Ahmadou Kourouma. South-South Journal of Humanities, Vol 4. No, 4 December 2021.
  4. Gilbert, Lysias Patience (PhD) (2021) et Datuboye, Florence E. (PhD) (2021) Soumission comme roman des désillusions et désespoir. Icheke Journal of the faculty of humanities, Ignatius Ajuru university of Education, Port Harcourt, Vol 19 No.4, December 2021.
  5. Datuboye, Florence (2021) et Ante, J. E. (2021) La violence sous ses diverses formes dans certains romans d’Ahmadou Kourouma. Niger Delta Journal of Gender, Peace & Conflict Studies Vol.1 No. 1 March 2021. Pp.41-53
  6. Datuboye, Florence (PhD) (2021), Nsijilem, Benjamin (2021) et Walton, Miebi Knight (2021) L’étude comparée des termes présentes dans Quant on refuse, on dit non d’Ahmadou Kouroma et dans Les espoirs perdu d’Uninma Angrey. Niger Delta Journal of Gender, Peace & Conflit Studies Vol.1 No. 3 September 2021. Pp. 363-374
  7. Datuboye Florence (2020) et Nsijilem Benjamin (2020) Une lecture analytique de conflit religieux dans Le Pauvre Christe de Bomba. South-South Journal of Humanities and International studies vol.3 No.3 September 2020. Pp. 277-288
  8. Datuboye Florence (2020) et Ante J. E. (2020) Les Proverbes et Leurs Utilisations Dans Les Romans Africains: Une étude de quelques romans d’Ahmadou Kourouma. Port Harcourt Journal of History & Diplomatic Studies. Vol 7. No.4 December, 2020. Pp.73-83
  9. Ante J. E. (2019) et Datuboye Florence (2019) deux mères de Guillaume Ismaël future Camionneur de Mongo Béti et de La vie et demie de Sony Labou Tansi. South-South Journal of Humanities and International studies vol.2 No.4 October 2019. Pp. 73-83

She is happily married to Mr. Tubotamuno Datuboye from Tombia kingdom in Degema Local Government Area of Rivers State and blessed with children.

Staff list in the Department

NameRankArea Of SpecializationEmail
Dr. (Mrs.) Florence E. DatuboyeAg. Head of DepartmentFrancophone African Literature/Managementflorence.datuboye@ust.edu.ng
Dr. Jeremiah Felix NwachukwuSenior LecturerApplied Linguistics/Didactics/Translationfelixnwachukwu@ust.edu.ng
Dr. (Mrs.) Blackduke, Sarah EbenezerLecturer ILiterature/Translationduke.ebenezer@ust.edu.ng
Dr. Hannah Ayibakuro SuobiteLecturer IFrancophone African/Caribbean Literaturehannahsuobite@ust.edu.ng
Nyama Joseph BaribiaLecturer IITranslationbaribianyama@ust.edu.ng
Jaja Ethel KalanneLecturer IITranslation/Pedagogyethelkalanne.jaja@ust.edu.ng
Omubo Pepple BomaLecturer IIFrancophone African Literatureboma.omubo-pepple@ust.edu.ng
Chioma Gladys UchennaAssistant Lecturer Francophone Literaturegladysuchenna.chioma@ust.edu.ng
Chituru-Wike FaithAssistant Lecturer Francophone Literaturefaith.chituru-wike@ust.edu.ng
Acheru Augusta Assistant Lecturer Linguisticsaugustansalem.acheru@ust.edu.ng
Elechi ChichebemAministrative Officer Ielechichichebem@gmail.com

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE DEPARTMENT

The Head of Department directs, organizes and coordinates the various efforts of members of staff into a large whole and also keeps up the department in operation to attain its goals and the general goals of the University in teaching, learning and research.

All the members of staff of the department are accountable for all their activities to the Head of Department or some superior officers as the case may be who in turn is answerable to the Dean of the Faculty, to the Vice Chancellor and to the Senate of the University. As such all acts are recorded and kept in files.

STRUCTURE OF THE DEPARTMENT

The Department of Modern Languages French Programme has a well-structured Chain of command.

At the apex is the Head of department, who is a seasoned staff appointed by the Vice Chancellor. Currently, the Acting Head of Department is Dr. (Mrs.) Florence Datuboye, a Doctor of Francophone African Literature.

Besides the HOD are other staff of the Department (Teaching and non-Teaching). Currently, the Department has ten (10) Teaching Staff, one and (1) non-teaching staff all contributing to the efficiency of the Department.

PHILOSOPHY OF THE DEPARTMENT

Majority of the countries within West and Central Africa are Francophone including all of Nigeria’s four neighbors. In addition to France, Canada and some central European countries, where it is an everyday language, French has shaped the politics and history of a number of nations around the world. As one of the official languages in the United Nations and of several international organizations, French is used in their sundry key decision making deliberations. To effectively interact with these nations and conveniently participate in the world’s socio-economic and political activities, it is necessary for Nigeria to accord French a pride of place in its institutions of learning at all levels.

In Rivers State University, the Department of Modern Languages (French) is structured to expose students to the level of proficiency (in both oral and written French) relevant within the diplomatic sector, administrative and academic domains. This is planned in order to stand our graduates in good stead to take advantage of the several competitive opportunities created by the 21st century global economy.

OBJECTIVES OF THE DEPARTMENT

The objectives of the Modern Languages Department (French) are to:

  1. train students to acquire adequate communicative competence in both the spoken and written French language
  2. equip students with the knowledge of the forms and features of the varieties of French language used in different domains
  3. arm students with adequate linguistic knowledge of the French language through the study of sound system, lexicon, syntax, semantics and application
  4. prepare students to pursue postgraduate studies in French language (Linguistics, Literature, Translation, etc) and to take up teaching and research at the appropriate level of education
  5. orient students towards self-employment, focusing on skills such as writing (e.g. of articles in magazines, of speeches; designing and presenting special programmes on radio or TV, designing and publishing magazines, etc.), creative writing, and other kinds of original output through independent thought, inventiveness and creativity.