Abstract/Overview For over two decades now, linguists, educators and anthropologists have directed their efforts at researching about factors that occasion and result from language shift (Trudgill, 1991; Fishman 1991, 2001, Crystal, 2000; Edwards, 1992; Sasse, 1992; Landweer, 2000; Crawford, 1995; Blair and Freeden, 1995; Dorian, 1981, 1989; Brenzinger et. al. 2003; Paulston, 1994; and Lewis, 2006). However, since the formulation of the Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale (GIDS) by ...
Abstract/Overview Conflicts and conflict resolutions among pastoral communities are not new phenomena. Among the pastoral communities living in arid and semi arid environments of Kenya, conflicts over control of and access to natural resources area common phenomenon. Despite the increase in peace building initiatives conflicts inthese areas are far from ending resulting in conflict-torn pastoral regions. The current study investigated conflict and conflict resolution strategies in West Po...
Abstract/Overview The study of conceptual interaction has attracted the attention of many scholars in Cognitive Linguistics. Primarily, the analysis has focused on the role of image schemas in the construction of metaphors. This study explores the PATH image- schema and the role it plays in conceptual formation of metaphors in political discourse in Kenya. It presents the PATH image-schema and the subsidiary image schemas it activates in metaphors of politics in Kenya. The study’s aim i...
Abstract/Overview Opinions are important in raising public awareness and assessing government on development issues. Understanding opinion of the electorates is a critical aspect for political success and service delivery. The objective of this study was to conduct a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of recurring themes from opinions on Kenya’s Jubilee Government’s performance from local digital dailies between April 2013 and December 2015. Opinions in local digital dailies have conti...
Abstract/Overview This study was mounted to provide better understanding of the role non-state actors (NSAs) are currently playing in the context of community-based ecotourism in the western tourist circuit of Kenya. The motivation to carry out this research stemmed from the fact that there is dearth of information on this important area of scientific inquiry. While the existence of NSAs engaged in various aspects of ecotourism development in the western circuit is not contested, this con...
Abstract/Overview Teenage motherhood is a worldwide problem with 36.4 million girls giving birth before the age of 18 years in developing world. The present study investigated the relationship between attitude towards guidance and counseling programme and adjustment of re-admitted teenage mothers in selected Kenyan secondary schools. The study employed Ex-post facto Research Design. The target population of the study was 242 readmitted teenage mothers from selected schools in Ugenya Sub C...
Abstract/Overview Colonial policies and practices were very instrumental in the creation of the Luo Diaspora. This Diaspora extended far beyond the physical and cultural boundaries of Central Nyanza as was constituted by the colonial administration. To colonial officials, this Diaspora represented ‘detribalized natives’ responsible for social decay and immorality in the colonial townships. Similarly, to the male elders in the rural areas, this Diaspora was an affront towards destabili...
Abstract/Overview The aim of this article is to give an account of the Ber gi dala exhibition at the Kisumu Museum, Kenya. It focuses on the customs, traditional buildings, and intangible cultural heritage of one of the major tribal groups in Kenya, the Luo. The development and use of this innovative exhibition, insofar as it recreates traditional Luo homesteads is first analysed. The exhibition's relevance in the framework for preserving and interpreting intangible cultural heritage is t...
Abstract/Overview The purpose of this note is to draw attention to a number of discoveries along the Sondu Miriu River, made during a recent Archaeological Impact Assessment (AIA) conducted by the National Museums of Kenya (NMKJ, with assistance from the British Institute in Eastern Africa. The ALA formed part of a wider, ongoing programme of Cultural Resource Management and environmental assessment of the areas likely to be affected by the construction of a 60Mw hydro-electric dam, headr...
Abstract/Overview Globally language is very important since it is a means of communication that leads to international development and cohesion. Kiswahili is a language taught in the pre-school curriculum in Kenya and a national language in the Republic of Kenya. Kiswahili has been faced with challenges in pre-schools emanating not only from teachers academic and professional preparation but also from attitude. This study focused on school based factors affecting the teaching of Kiswahili...
Abstract/Overview Metaphors are an ambiguous and complex genre in Kiswahili Literature which slips into the forms of other literary genres and figurative language. This is potrayed in their definitions and manner of classification. Although metaphors are classified as a genre of sayings in Kiswahili oral literature their use goes above and below the saying. Kyallo Waddi Wamitila is one of the scholars of literature who besides having classified metaphors has also written literary works in...
Abstract/Overview An investigation into the distribution, design and origins of 'Gunda-Buche' -the Luo term for the bank-and-ditch enclosures unique to the northern Nyanza region of western Kenya. No archaeological work had been undertaken on these structures prior to this study. Pressure for land means these unique sites are now fast disappearing.
Abstract/Overview This paper discusses Manifestations of Code Switching in Nairobi. The main objective is to examine the influence of Variables such as Formality and Informality of the conversation context in Code Switching and Code selection. The researcher tape- recorded spontaneous speech from the respondents, then the tape recorded data was transcribed on paper and the extracts from the transcribed text were analyzed based on the tenets of Speech Accommodation Theory and Markedness Mo...
Abstract/Overview The image of youth characters portrayed in South African literature has traditionally focused on their manifest responses to the political issues of the different moments of the country’s history, with little attention on the interiority of the concerned individuals’ being. Unlike their counterparts in the apartheid regime, the post-apartheid generation of youth has lived in a supposedly freer environment, yet some have continually exhibited errant behaviour. Guided ...
Abstract/Overview While studies indicate that agriculture is the main source of income for rural households and the main occupation for women, it has been hypothesized that development process in rural areas has marginalized women in the agricultural sector, reducing their productivity and control over resources. This paper examines women’s labour conditions in subsistence agriculture in Samia for which limited studies have been conducted. The study investigates the nature and trends of...