Linguistics, Languages and Literature Research Papers/Topics

Evaluating language revitalization in Kenya: The contradictory face and place of the local community factor

Abstract/Overview As a result of the necessity to revitalize languages that have shown clear signs of endangerment, several proposals have been put forward by various studies (Paulston, 1994; Yamamoto, 1998; Landweer, 1998; Crystal, 2000; Hinton and Hale, 2001; Tsunoda, 2005; UNESCO, 2003; and Grenoble and Whaley, 2006), all of which appear to agree with Fishman (1991) on the centrality of the community whose language is endangered in leading the advocacy for the revival. Some other studi...

Textese and writing skills: aid or interference for high school learners of English

Abstract/Overview There seems to be no end to the debate about whether textese positively or negatively affects writing skills of high school learners of English. For instance, Carrington (2005:171) observes that “text messaging „infects‟ Standard English…leading to lower scores on written examinations”. Plester, Wood and Joshi (2009) similarly found evidence that text literacy is positively associated with Standard English literacy. However, Crystal (2008:157) does not just dis...