Investigating Linguistic Ambiguity in Headlines of some Sudanese Newspapers Published in English Language

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate linguistic ambiguity in headlines of some Sudanese newspapers published in English language. It also aims to detect the linguistic source of ambiguity and the extent to which these sources are operative in the Sudanese newspapers, in order to capture the exact interpretation. To achieve this aim, the researcher adopted the descriptive analytical approach. The sample of the study consisted of (5) participants; language experts. The researcher used two instruments to achieve the aim of the study. The first instrument was the pre-test which consisted of (10) items and the second instrument was the productive test which also consisted of (50) items. The second instrument was the written interview which was designed to measure the participants' level of exposure to the language. The collected data were analyzed and treated statistically through the use of (SPSS). The findings indicated that the linguistic ambiguity is commonly used in the Sudanese newspaper headlines. It also shows that there are two kinds of linguistic ambiguity involved in both target newspapers headlines; grammatical ambiguity, and semantic ambiguity. The findings confirmed that the readers of the Sudanese newspaper sometimes get confused in interpreting the exact meaning of such headlines. Moreover, Sudanese journalists preferably use semantic ambiguity rather than grammatical ambiguity in headlines in order to attract readers' attention. In the light of those findings, the study recommended the students of English language with the necessity of shedding more light on linguistic ambiguity in the headlines of Sudanese newspapers published in English language. It also recommended the readers of the newspaper; in order to figure out the right interpretation and the exact meaning, they should understand the topic of the articles and the context of the headline beside reading the whole paragraph. The study recommended that the journalists; should consciously, use ambiguous headlines in the acceptable amount otherwise they may lose those readers. In the same way, the study suggested further researches in Arabic newspapers headlines, beside the ambiguity in the language of advertisements.