Dr. phil. Folajimi Oyebola (Wiss. Mitarbeiter)

Education

PhD English Linguistics, University of Münster, Germany (April 2020)

M.A. English Linguistics, University of Lagos, Nigeria (2015)

B.A. English Studies and Literature, University of Benin, Nigeria (2011)

Academic Appointments

Advanced Postdoctoral Researcher, English Linguistics, University of Bremen (Since 2025)

Contract Lecturer, English Linguistics, University of Bremen (2024-2025)

Contract Lecturer, English Linguistics, University of Bonn (2024)

Contract Lecturer, English Linguistics, University of Münster (2024)

Walter Benjamin Postdoctoral Researcher (DFG), University of Bremen (2022–2024)

Contract Lecturer, English Linguistics, University of Münster (2024)

Research Assistant, English Linguistics, University of Münster (2017–2022)

Lecturer, English Linguistics, Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria (2015–2017)

Lecturer, Media and Communication Studies, Yaba College of Technology, Nigeria (2015)

Visiting Research Positions

• University of Nairobi, Kenya (2023)
• University of Ghana, Ghana (2023)
• University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria (2020)
• University of Lagos, Nigeria (2020)

Grants and Awards

• CRDF Advanced Postdoctoral Award, University of Bremen (2025)
• Walter Benjamin Postdoctoral Fellowship, German Research Foundation (DFG) (2022)
• Multiple CRDF Research Grants, University of Bremen (2022–2023)
• Doctoral Grant, Evangelisches Studienwerk Villigst, Germany (2020)
• Best Graduate Student, University of Lagos (2015)
• United Nations 2013 My World Survey Commendation Awards (2013)
• Multiple Academic Excellence Awards, University of Benin (2008–2011)

Editorial and Professional Service

• Associate Editor, CLAN Journal: Working Papers in Corpus Linguistics
• Managing Editor, CLAREP Journal of English and Linguistics
• Member, International Society for the Linguistics of English (ISLE)
• Member, English Scholars’ Association of Nigeria (ESAN)

Scholarly Conferences and Invited Lectures with Paper Presentations

June 2024 Cologne Center of Language Sciences (CCLS) Lecture Series, 17 June, 2024. Paper:Investigating Varieties of Spoken English: Attitudes and Identity in a Postcolonial Context

May 2024 The Centre for Language Research and English Proficiency (CLAREP) Conference, Virtual, held from 7th to 8th March 2024: Doing Research in African Linguistics: Existing Challenges and the Way Forward.

March 2024 The Centre for Language Research and English Proficiency (CLAREP) Conference, Virtual, held from 7th to 8th March 2024: Doing Research in African Linguistics: Existing Challenges and the Way Forward.

May 2023 44th International Computer Archive of Modern and Medieval English Conference (ICAME 44), North-West University, South Africa , held from 17-21 May, 2023. Paper presented: Verb Complementation Patterns in African Englishes: A Corpus-based Study.

April 2023 Corpus Linguistics Association of Nigeria (CLAN) Webinar Series 1.0, held on 17 April, 2023. Paper presented: Exploring English with Corpora: A Step-by-Step Guide.

Jan 2023 1st EUT Conference on Languages: Inter/Multilingualism in a Postcolonial Era - Languages and European Values, held from 24-26 January, 2023. Paper presented: Verb Complementation Patterns in Postcolonial Englishes.

Dec 2022 Corpus Linguistics Workshop 2022: Exploring Language through Corpora, Redeemer’s University, Nigeria, held from 1-2 December 2022. Paper presented: Corpus and Grammar.

June 2021 6th International Conference of the International Society for the Linguistics of English (ISLE 6), University of Eastern Finland School of Humanities, Finland, held from 2- 5 June 2021. Paper presented (with Dagmar Deuber and Muhammad Shakir): Orthographic Standardisation of .Nigerian Pidgin in Computer-mediated Communication Revisited.

November 2019 66th StuTs Conference on Linguistics, University of Munich, Germany, held from 27th to 30th, 2019. Paper presented (with Helena Moronova): Is Black English really black? Attitudes of Americans towards Black English

September 2019 8th Biennial International Conference on the Linguistics of Contemporary English, University of Bamberg, Germany, held from 26th to 28th September 2019. Paper presented (with Warsa Melles): Question Intonation in Educated Nigerian English.

August 2019 International Congress of Phonetics Sciences (ICPHs) 2019, Melbourne, Australia, held from 5th to 9th August 2019. Paper presented (with SinYu Bonnie Ho and Zeyu Li): Sociophonetic Study of Dental Fricatives in Standard Nigerian English.

June 2019: 8th Bonn Applied English Linguistics Conference (baelc8), University of Bonn, Germany, held from 28th to 29th June 2019. Paper presented: Accents of English in Nigeria.

June 2019 40th International Linguistics Conference, University of Groningen, the Netherlands, held from 20th to 21st June 2019. Paper presented (with Kingsley Ugwuanyi and Adetunji Adepoju): Attitudes of Nigerians towards BBC Pidgin.

May 2019 65th StuTs Conference on Linguistics, University of Cologne, Germany, held from 23rd to 26th May, 2019. Paper presented: Accents of English in Nigeria: An Attitudinal Study

July 2018 5th International Conference of the International Society for the Linguistics of English (ISLE 6), Institute of English Studies, Malet Street, London, held from 17- 20 July 2018. Paper presented: Discourse Intonation in the Non-native English Environment.

May 2018 International Workshop 2018, “Modelling the Linguistic Architecture of English Theories and Methods”, Universidad de Vigo, Spain, from 24th to 25th May 2018. Paper presented: Language Attitudes in Nigeria.

February 2017 9th University of Uyo Conference on Language and Literature (UCOLL), University of Uyo, Nigeria, held from 21st to 24th February 2017. Paper presented: Anywhere but Washington: A Critical Discourse Intonation Analysis of Donald Trump’s Election Victory Speech.

October 2016 International Conference on Postgraduate Academic Writing, Networking and Mentoring in the Humanities (PAWNAM), Benson Idahosa University, Nigeria, held from 11th to 12th October 2016. Paper presented: Discourse Intonation and Pedagogy.

September 2016: 32nd Annual National Conference of the English Scholars’ Association of Nigeria (ESAN), Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria, held from 5th to 8th September 2016. Paper Presented: Imagining the Future of English Studies: Discourse Intonation in the Nonnative English Environment.

Publications

Monograph

Oyebola, F. (2020). Attitudes of Nigerians towards Accents of English, PhD thesis, University of  Münster.

Oyebola, F. (2016). Training Effects on Perception and Production of the Vowel Schwa:A Study of Selected Yoruba Speakers of English. Saarbrücken: Lambert.

Publications with peer review process

Unuabonah, F. O, Daniel, F. O, Fifelola, D. A, Oyebola, F. (2026). “Yeeees, Thank You Please!”: the Pragmatics of Please in African Englishes. Contrastive Pragmatics, 1–34

Oyebola, F., Unuabonah, F. & Daniel, F. (2025). General Extenders in African Englishes: A Corpus-Based Study. In I. Kecskes, A. Buregeya, A. Odebunmi, F. Unuabonah, K. Agyekum & H. Dinh (Ed.), Pragmatics of African Varieties of English (pp. 405-430). De Gruyter Mouton.

Gut, U., Unuabonah, F., & Oyebola, F. (2025). Apologies in Nigerian English. World Englishes.

Oyebola, F. & Ilekura, O. (2025). Sociolinguistic variation in the rhythm of Nigerian English speech. World Englishes.

Deuber, D., Shakir, M. & Oyebola, F. (2025). Conventionalization and variation in computer-mediated communication: New perspective on Nigerian Pidgin spelling. English World-Wide.

Ugwuanyi, K. & Oyebola, F. (2024). “English as a native second language”: The problem of taxonomy of speakers in the outer circle. Journal of the English Scholars’ Association of Nigeria (JESAN), In Honour of David Jowitt, Vol 26, No. 1 (Mar).

Callies, M. & Oyebola, F. (2024). Pidgin English Proverbs as a Source of Structural Nativisation in Nigerian English. World Englishes.

Gut, U., Unuabonah, F., Daniel, F., Gerfer, A., Oladipupo, R. & Oyebola, F. (2024). Offers in Nigerian English. Lingua 303, 1-25.

Oyebola, F. & Ugwuanyi, K. (2023). Attitudes of Nigerians towards BBC Pidgin: A Preliminary Study. Language Matters 4:1, 78-101.

Ugwuanyi, K. & Oyebola, F. (2023). Incorporating Standard Nigerian English into the Higher Education Curriculum: Insights from Language Attitude Studies. In Esimaje T., Van Rooy, B., Jolayemi, D., Nkemleke, D, & Klu, E. (Eds), pp. 161-178. African Perspectives on the Teaching and Learning of English in Higher Education. UK: Routledge.

Oyebola, F. & Melles, W.. (2023). Question Intonation Patterns in Nigerian English. In Westphal, M. & Wilson, G. New Englishes, New Methods, pp. 108 - 138. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Oyebola, F. (2023). Verb Complementation Patterns in African Englishes: A Preliminary Corpus-based Study. In Unuabonah, F.O., Oladipupo, R.O., & Daniel, F.O. Readings in Corpus Linguistics: A Teaching and Research Guide for Scholars in Nigeria and Beyond, pp. 271 - 299. Ibadan: Krafts Books.

Oyebola, F. (2023). Corpus and Grammar. In Unuabonah, F.O., Oladipupo, R.O., & Daniel, F.O. Readings in Corpus Linguistics: A Teaching and Research Guide for Scholars in Nigeria and Beyond, pp. 171 - 199. Ibadan: Krafts Books.

Oyebola, F. (2023). Humour in Cyberspace: Laughter as a Coping Mechanism in Nigeria. Israeli Journal of Humour Research, 12:1, 34-52.

Ugwuanyi, K. & Oyebola, F. (2022). Attitudes of Nigerian Expatriates towards Accents of English. Poznan Journal of Contemporary Linguistics.

Unuabonah, F. & Oyebola, F. (2022). “He’s a lawyer you know and all of that” General extenders in Nigerian English. English World-wide.

Oyebola, F. (2021). Speaking English the Nigerian Way: Acceptable or Not? In Daramola, A., Anyagwa, C. & Adepoju, B. (Eds.), Functional Approaches to Language and Literary Studies: Essays in Honour of Segun Awonusi. Ile-Ife: Obafemi Awolowo University Press.

Oyebola, F. (2021). Me too: A Corpus-based Critical Discourse Analysis of Sexual Discoursein News on the Web. In M. Ademilokun, A. Onanuga, F. Oamen & B. Alfred (Eds.) Critical Discourse Analysis and the Linguistics of Social Media Interaction: Essays in Honour of Professor Rotimi Taiwo. Ile-Ife: Obafemi Awolowo University Press.

Alfred, B. & Oyebola, F. (2021). Discourse Strategies in President Buhari’s Speech on the #EndSARS Protests in Nigeria. Language and Semiotic Studies, 7(4), 121-144.

Unuabonah, F. Oyebola, F. & Gut, U. (2021). “Abeg na! We write so our comments can be posted!” The Borrowing of Nigerian Pidgin Pragmatic Markers in Nigerian English. Pragmatics. https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.19038.unu

Oyebola, F. & Gut, U. (2020). Nigerian Newscasters’ English as a Model of English in Nigeria? Poznan Journal of Contemporary Linguistics 56(4), 651-680.

Oyebola, F. (2020). Theorising World Englishes: Attitudes and Identity in the Nigerian Context. In Adepoju T. (Ed.), Linguistics and Literary Theories: An Empirical Exploration. Lagos: University of Lagos Press.

Oyebola, F. (2020). Relative Clauses in Standard Nigerian English. Clarep Journal of English and Linguistics 2: 80-95.

Oyebola, F. & Alfred, B. (2020). Verb complementation Patterns in Nigerian English: A Corpus-based Study. Clarep Journal of English and Linguistics, 2, pp. 57-76.

Alfred, B. & Oyebola, F. (2019). Media Perspectives on Boko Haram Insurgency and Herdsmen-Farmers’ Crises in Nigeria: An Analysis of Transitivity in Newspaper Editorials. Linguistik Online, 95(2), 3-16. doi.org/10.13092/lo.95.5513

Oyebola, F. Ho, Sin Yu Bonnie, & Li, Zeyu (2019). A Sociophonetic Study on TH Variation in Educated Nigerian English. In S. Calhoun, P. Escudero, M. Tabain & P. Warren (Eds.), Proceedings of the 19th International Congress of Phonetics Sciences, Melbourne, Australia 2019 (pp. 2320-2323). Canberra, Australia: Australia Speech Science and Technology Association Inc. icphs2019.org/icphs2019- fullpapers/pdf/full-paper_730.pdf

Oyebola, F. (2018). Number Marking in BBC Pidgin. International Journal of Linguistics, 3(1), 35-44.

Oyebola, F. (2017). The Future of English Studies: Discourse Intonation in the Non-native English Environment. Journal of the English Scholars Association of Nigeria, 19 (1), 138- 150.

Oyebola, F. (2016). A Night of a Thousand Laughs: A Pragmatic Study of Humour in Nigeria. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications (IJSRP), 6(6), 433-437. http://www.ijsrp.org/research-paper-0616/ijsrp-p5460.pdf

Resource Publications

Oyebola, F. & Ugwuanyi, K. (2023): Who Sounds Competent and Who Sounds Trustworthy? Attitudes of Nigerian expatriates towards accents of English. In Amanda Cole & Dan Clayton (Eds), New Directions: Language Diversity research and resource pack.

Research Projects

The Dynamics of the Preposition System in African Englishes (CRDF-funded, since 2025)

Verb Complementation Patterns in African Englishes (DFG Walter Benjamin Project, 2022–2024)

BBC Pidgin Corpus (Own Resources Project, since 2017)

External profiles

www.researchgate.net/profile/Folajimi-Oyebola

orcid.org/0000-0003-4528-0563

Courses

World Englishes in the Media and Pop Culture

Key Topics in Linguistics: Contemporary English

English‐based Pidgins and Creoles

English-based Pidgins and Creoles in Digital Media

Applied Linguistics