ABSTRACT This study evaluated textbooks approved by KICD for teaching reading in Kenyan secondary schools with particular focus to the form one class. The motivation for the study is the poor performance in English in national exams more so in areas that require application of the Reading comprehension Skill (RCS). Besides, reading is a basic literacy skill which is crucial in the acquisition of communicative competence of English as SL. However, there is a challenge in the acquisition of thi...
ABSTRACT The study investigated the role of graphological features used in the Kiswahili novel Mkamandume authored by Said A. Mohamed. It looked at various graphological features used in the novel and their impact on the reader. The research was guided by the theory of stylistics pioneered by Baally (1909) and propagated by Jakobson (1958), Halliday (1971) and expounded by Leech and Short (1981). More emphasis was however placed on the views of Leech and Short (1981). According to these theo...
ABSTRACT This study investigates the phonological processes found in nasal consonant sequences and vowel hiatus resolution of Olumarama a dialect of Luhya spoken in Kakamega County, of Western Kenya. Olumarama is an under described language thus the need for further linguistic description of the language. The overriding objective of the study was to investigate the phonological processes found in Nasal Consonant sequences and vowel hiatus resolution in Olumarama and how Optimality Theory cons...
ABSTRACT This is an analysis of how the style in two works of Shafi Adam Shafi were influenced by his attitudes. This work analyses the style and attitudes of the writer by using foregrounding and deviation as styles of writing. The choosen texts are Kuli (1979) and Haini (2002). This novels were choosen randomly because there was usage of the two writing styles which could be used in this research. The research dealt with foregrounding and deviation of words and meaning in the novels. Then...
ABSTRACT The study investigated narration in the Kiswahili novel, Dharau ya Ini (2007) by Kyalo Wamitila. The research aimed at identifying various narrative voices and narrative levels used in the selected novel; manifesting the role of narrative time in narration and to demonstrate how presentation of speech and thoughts of characters has been used in structuring of the narrative. The research was guided by the theory of narratology as expounded by Gennette (1980). The theory was used in in...
ABSTRACT Teacher education is a very vital factor for successful second language teaching. It determines the quality and quantity of teaching and learning. This study sought to investigate the early establishment and development of English language teacher education in the country. Looking at the history provides us with an opportunity to reflect on and analyze the practices of the past. Consequently, we can learn what lessons the past may have for us. It also provides us with a point of...
ABSTRACT This dissertation is a study focusing on the nature of talk in Ekegusii. It specifically analyzed the forms of politeness in Ekegusii, examining how Ekegusii varies depending on power relations and the context of usage. Samples of spoken Ekegusii, collected from at least four contexts were tape recorded, transcribed and analyzed in order to meet the following objectives: To identify the turns from the spoken excerpts, to describe the forms of politeness in the spoken excerpts, and t...
ABSTRACT This study investigated the endangerment of Gera language. It investigated the level of the endangerment of Gera language; the demographic variables associated with the endangerment, the impact of the shift on the structure of Gera language, and endeavored to find out if the Gera language is useful in defining the Gera identity. This was achieved through the use of two theoretical approaches: Sasse‟s Theory of Language Death and Gile‟s Ethno-linguistic Identity Theory (ELIT). Th...
ABSTRACT This research aimed to investigate the motif of orphans in children’s written literature using selected Kiswahili Children stories. The study aimed at analyzing the situations in the portrayal of orphans in selected works of children’s literature. In addition, this research has made it possible to understand challenges that orphans face in the society. Moreover, the research aimed at elaborating how orphans liberate themselves from the challenges facing them in the society. ...
ABSTRACT The study examines the English pronunciation patterns of Hausa broadcasters. The research was carried out based on the presupposition that the English spoken by Hausa broadcasters is different from RP English and is likely to mislead or distort the communication process. The study was guided by three objectives which centred on an examination and analysis of the way Hausa broadcasters articulate RP English consonants, vowels and consonant clusters. The research used Optimality Theor...
ABSTRACT The study sought to identify lexical borrowing and describe the nature of lexical borrowing among the 2-7 year old children acquiring Olutachoni as their first language. The study also investigated and established the correlations between the age and gender of the children and the degree of lexical borrowing. The role of the linguistic environment to the acquisition of Olutachoni as a L1 was also investigated. The UsageBased Acquisition Theory, Levelt’s Theory of Speech Production...
ABSTRACT This study undertook a critical analysis of power asymmetry among discourse participants in sampled Kenyan courts. Specifically, the study investigated the questioning and pragmatic strategies used by lawyers, police prosecutors and unrepresented accused persons during direct examination and cross examination phases of trial, as well as the use of various speech act functions and background contributions by the examiners. In addition, the study also looked at how witness responses e...
ABSTRACT This study investigated lexical variation in spoken Lubukusu, a language spoken by the Bukusu people in the Western part of Kenya. Research has shown that all languages vary at all levels and that these variations are caused by certain characteristics of the speakers of a language. Such variations cause incomprehensibility among speakers of different social groups. Lubukusu being a heterogeneous language exhibits variations at various linguistic levels. This study identified lexical...
Abstract This thesis presents a comparative genre analysis between scholarly electronic mail and basic electronic message schema. This was by evaluating the relationship between scholarly electronic mail and basic electronic message schema. The study also examines communicative functions of the discrete parts as communicated by subscribers to the mailing list. Lastly, the study established and described the linguistic features that signal the discrete parts of scholarly electronic mail. A qu...
ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate the Gĩkũyũ verbal extensions: their individual occurrence and their co-occurrences. Gĩkũyũ, just like other Bantu languages, has a rich and complex morphology. The complexity is more evident in derivational morphology than inflectional morphology. A feature that makes derivational morphology complex is the concatenations of the derivational affixes such as the verbal extensions under investigation in this study. The five affixes, na...