Journal of Linguistics, Literary and Communication Studies
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Algorithmic Amplification versus Cultural Extraction: The Media Dynamics of AI Music Activism in Kenya's 2024 Gen Z Protests
The integration of generative artificial intelligence (AI) into political resistance marks a consequential shift in the mediation of dissent. This paper examines a paradox at the heart of AI music activism: generative audio tools appear to democratise sonic production for marginalised dissidents, yet the surrounding infrastructures operate through logics of cultural extraction, principally the ingestion of uncredited African musical material into foundation-model training corpora and the capture of engagement value by platform distribution algorithms. Drawing on a retrospective qualitative digital ethnography of discourse concerning the 2024 Kenyan #RejectFinanceBill2024 and #OccupyParliament protests, the study analyses how activists and suspected state-aligned actors deployed AI audio systems across X and adjacent networks. The corpus comprises purposively selected creator posts, reception threads and named commentary from X and cross-posted TikTok material, analysed through reflexive thematic analysis and supplemented by computational audio analysis of the disputed Tujadiliane track. The analysis triangulates mass self-communication, networked counterpublics, Oramedia, platform capitalism and data colonialism. Findings show that Kenyan activists engineered what the paper terms Digital Oramedia by prompting generative systems to synthesise Sheng lexicon, isukuti-inflected rhythmic textures and chant-like sonic structures, enabling rapid mobilisation beyond legacy gatekeepers. Audiences simultaneously perceived a countervailing flow of suspected state-aligned material, most prominently the synthetic reggae track Tujadiliane, producing epistemological anxiety alongside outrage at the appropriation of an anti-colonial idiom. Audience discourse indicates a substantive shift in verification norms from source authenticity toward cultural-political alignment. The paper argues that sustainable AI music activism requires decolonial interventions at both the training-data and distribution layers.
Copyright (c) 2026 Journal of Linguistics, Literary and Communication Studies https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Exploring the Expression of D-Features within Swahili Determiner Phrases
This study examines how Swahili’s DP structure encodes definiteness, specificity, and focus without relying on overt articles, showing that its nominal system requires analytic tools beyond those developed for article”‘based languages. Rather than invoking broad cross”‘linguistic generalities, the analysis focuses on Swahili’s internal mechanisms: word”‘order alternations such as N > DEM for deixis and DEM > N for focus, alongside flexible patterns where N > DEM may also mark focal prominence. Definiteness is further shaped through possessive constructions, whose interaction with demonstratives contributes to familiarity and identifiability. These patterns demonstrate that Swahili projects a functional D”‘layer, but one realised through discourse”‘sensitive configurations rather than article morphology. The study’s broader theoretical contribution lies in showing that DP theory must accommodate languages where D”‘features surface through syntactic position and pragmatic inference, thereby expanding cross”‘linguistic models of nominal architecture.
Copyright (c) 2026 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Voicing the Voiceless: Developing a Dholuo Parallel Corpus for Natural Language Processing
Despite the exponential growth of Natural Language Processing (NLP) technologies worldwide, African indigenous languages remain severely underrepresented in digital language resources. Dholuo, a Western Nilotic language spoken by approximately four million people in Kenya and Tanzania, lacks the structured parallel corpora needed to support machine translation, speech recognition, and other AI-driven language tools. This paper reports on the design, methodology, and preliminary findings of a corpus development initiative funded by United States International University-Africa (USIU-Africa) to build a Dholuo–English parallel corpus comprising 20,000 translated sentence pairs and 30 hours of transcribed speech data. Preliminary findings indicate that approximately 18,400 parallel sentence pairs have been collected, of which 31% contain at least one figurative element, confirming the centrality of figurative expression in authentic Dholuo discourse and validating the native-speaker-led, community-engaged collection methodology. Drawing on community-driven data collection, crowdsourced translation platforms, and the Living Dictionaries digital lexicography tool (livingdictionaries.app), this study integrates culturally embedded linguistic features, including metaphors (weche mitiyo kodo kakaranyisi), proverbs (Ngeche), riddles (Ponge), and folktales (sigendni mochuogi), into the corpus architecture. The paper situates the initiative within broader debates about digital linguistic equity, FAIR data principles, with text data deposited in CoNLL-U format and speech archived as WAV with TextGrid annotation files to ensure interoperability, the role of indigenous languages in sustainable development, and the decolonisation of computational linguistics. It argues that Dholuo corpus construction must go beyond lexical tokenisation to capture the pragmatic and metaphorical richness that characterises oral-indigenous discourse; figurative items are tagged with semantic domain labels in the Living Dictionaries companion platform. The findings demonstrate that native-speaker validation using an 80% accuracy threshold, combined with the Living Dictionaries platform for orthographic consistency checking and open-access deposition on Zenodo and Mozilla Common Voice, constitutes a replicable and community-empowering model for enabling NLP in low-resource African languages. The corpus is partially multimodal: the Mozilla Common Voice speech recordings are sentence-aligned with the text pairs, while the interview and narration recordings constitute a separate spontaneous speech sub-corpus intended for ASR development.
Folktales as Inclusive, Culturally Relevant Teaching Resources to Enhance Engagement and Participation in Sesotho Language Classrooms: Teachers’ Perceptions
Folktales are old enduring oral stories which have been passed from generation to generation and serve as conveyers of Basotho traditions and customs. Their rich cultural and social content make them an inspiring and interesting topic to most learners in the Sesotho subject. This multiple-case study investigated how folktales as inclusive and cultural teaching resources enhance engagement and participation among Sesotho language secondary school learners. It also sought to explore the challenges faced by Sesotho language teachers in teaching folktales. The study is guided by Social Constructivism theory which emphasizes the critical significance of social interaction and cultural contexts in learning. Using a qualitative research approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight Sesotho teachers working in four Leribe district secondary schools. Six teachers were female, while two were male and they all taught Sesotho language as a subject from Grade 8 to Grade 11. Thematic analysis was used to analyse data guided by the objectives of the study. The findings show that teachers reported that Sesotho folktales appeared to enhance engagement and participation in their classrooms. Teachers reported that teaching strategies like role-playing, students’ involvement in narrating folktales and critical thinking classroom discussions seemed to increase students’ levels of participation and engagement. Although the findings show positive aspects of teaching folktales, they also reveal challenges for both teachers and learners. Teachers noted some challenges in teaching folktales including learners’ and teachers’ limited knowledge of folktales and learners’ skepticism regarding belief in folktales. The study therefore highlights concerns about how teachers can pedagogically bridge belief and disbelief in folktales.
Unmasking Greenwashing in Africa: A Digital Oramedia Perspective on Environmental, Social, and Governance
As Africa moves toward its goals for sustainable development, corporate reliance on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) narratives is growing, all the while the level of trust from stakeholders toward corporations continues to dwindle. This decline in trust is largely attributable to traditional public relations tactics used in Western countries that do not align with the realities of Africa. Utilising Kenya as a representative microcosm, this study investigates how digitally literate stakeholders collectively challenge performative corporate sustainability–specifically concerning recent controversies like the UAE carbon-offset land concessions–within the digital public sphere. Anchored on Frank Ugboajah's Oramedia theory, the research conceptualises social media (X, formerly Twitter) as a 'digital village' operating on traditional principles: multidirectional flow, communal consensus, and accountability; rejecting Western, one-way communication. Employing a convergent mixed-methods design, this study combines a quantitative survey of targeted digital professionals (N=38) with a longitudinal netnographic analysis (November 2023–March 2026) of fifteen high-engagement X discursive threads, encompassing over 20,000 peer-to-peer interactions. Civic responsibility is measured by quantifying public scepticism and real-time social media ”˜greenwashing’ call-outs. Findings reveal digital stakeholders actively reject asymmetrical corporate broadcasts. They collaboratively use social media to expose disingenuous ESG claims in real-time, ensuring greenwashing fails to establish legitimacy and triggers reputational harm. Crucially, the data demonstrates that rather than digital interference distorting the 'village' consensus, rigorous peer-to-peer cross-checking acts as an epistemic filter that preserves authentic communal truth. This offers a critical lesson for global corporate governance: multinational entities must abandon imported PR tactics. Securing sustainable legitimacy requires embracing the localised, bidirectional engagement demanded by today’s digital villages.
Historicising through Song: A Semiotic Analysis of Selected Luhya Popular Songs
This paper explores the construction and negotiation of Bukusu identity through popular songs, examining how these musical narratives historicise the community, represent particular localities, and portray political figures. The selected popular Bukusu songs analysed are Wanyonyi Omukoyi’s Mayi”¯Muro, the Webuye Jua Kali’s Mama”¯Mzazi, and Wanjala Okumu’s Likumba. By employing a Peircean semiotic framework, the study attends to signifiers and signifieds in textual (lyrical) analysis of how Bukusu popular songs encode and transmit historical narratives related to geography, community formation, and political authority. The analysis reveals that these songs function as ”˜living archives’; for instance, Likumba recounts the colonial community leaders like the paramount chief, Nabongo Mumia; and foregrounds local leaders like the late Wamalwa Kijana, the vice president from the community while at the same time critiques (the then) contemporary political leaders like Musikari Kombo, preserving collective memories that complement official records and illuminate lived experiences of the Luhya of Western Kenya. The findings indicate that popular music constitutes a valuable, though presently under”‘exploited, archive for reconstructing local histories. Scholars have traditionally privileged written documents and oral testimonies, overlooking songs because they are often dismissed as entertainment rather than systematic records of communal experience. This omission is especially salient today, as rapid sociopolitical change threatens the survival of everyday narratives that music routinely preserves. Furthermore, the songs’ lyrics contain explicit references to political figures, portraying leaders’ rhetoric in the pre”‘electoral period and reflecting public response in the post”‘electoral phase; in doing so, the songs dramati and critique these leaders, thereby revealing how authority is imagined, contested, and reaffirmed within particular locales and communities. Consequently, a focused investigation of popular music is essential for a fuller understanding of local historiography and leadership dynamics.
Variation in English Vocabulary Depth among Tanzanian Secondary School Learners: The Role of Sociolinguistic Background
This study examines how sociolinguistic background affects the development of English vocabulary depth among secondary school learners in Tanzania’s multilingual context, where English serves as the medium of instruction from secondary to tertiary education, despite being primarily learned as a foreign language. Despite growing interest in vocabulary acquisition, there is limited empirical evidence on how sociolinguistic factors shape vocabulary depth among secondary school learners in Tanzania. A convergent parallel mixed-methods design was adopted to triangulate quantitative and qualitative data. Using stratified random sampling, the Word Association Test was administered to 320 Form 3 and 4 students from eight secondary schools in Dodoma, and interviews were conducted with eight English teachers to provide deeper insight. Multiple regression and thematic analyses revealed that sociolinguistic background significantly affects learners’ vocabulary depth (p < 0.05). Students who reported using English in informal settings, such as the playground or at home, demonstrated greater vocabulary depth than those who used English only in formal classroom contexts. In addition, learners whose parents had attained at least Form Four education and those who began learning English in early schooling exhibited more developed lexical networks than their peers. These findings highlight the importance of sociolinguistic exposure and early language-learning experiences. The study suggests that language-teaching and language-learning policies should consider learners' sociolinguistic diversity and provide a basis for targeted pedagogical interventions.
Language in Education Policy Debates in Africa Today
Through critical research methods using document analysis, this study investigated the current Language in Education Policy (LiEP) debates in Africa. There are many such debates going on across the continent, but the literature available is very thin. Three multilingual African countries, the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Republic of Congo, and the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, were selected for the study. The study found that colonial languages are dominant and are the languages mainly used as media of instruction in schools and languages of assessment in the sampled countries. Although three countries were selected, the debates are not any different in the rest of the African countries. The findings of this research are generalisable to the situation across the entire continent, thus critical in influencing future LiEP on the content. It is imperative to note that the use of colonial languages in education should not be at the expense of African languages.
An Analysis of Kiswahili in Secondary Schools Instructional Dynamics: A Case Study of Secondary School Classrooms in Temeke Municipality
This study investigates Kiswahili as the primary language of instruction in secondary classrooms in Temeke Municipal Council, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, to assess its capacity to foster lasting, meaningful learning among adolescents. While English remains the official medium, many students lack proficiency, prompting an exploration of how Kiswahili can enhance classroom interactions. The study used a qualitative design supplemented by descriptive statistical analysis, involving 30 purposively selected participants (teachers and students). Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews, direct classroom observations, and focus-group discussions, documenting questioning strategies, response scaffolding, and the resolution of conceptual misunderstandings in both languages. Interviews probed participants’ comfort, comprehension, and perceptions of the sociocultural value of English versus Kiswahili, while focus groups examined the emotional and cognitive impacts of instruction in a non-native language versus the mother-tongue. Analysis revealed that English-medium lessons often resulted in superficial understanding, lower engagement, and difficulty keeping pace. In contrast, Kiswahili-mediated instruction correlated with higher participation rates, deeper conceptual grasp, and stronger peer collaboration. Descriptive statistics reinforced these patterns, indicating average comprehension scores rose by over 30 percent under Kiswahili instruction. Participants also highlighted Kiswahili’s role in honouring local identity and cultural continuity, making classroom content more accessible and relevant. Based on these findings, the study recommends a strategic policy shift to strengthen Kiswahili’s role in secondary curricula across Tanzania. By leveraging a language that aligns with students’ lived experiences, educational stakeholders can enhance learning outcomes and support more sustainable, culturally grounded pathways to academic success.
The Hybrid Aesthetics of the Underdog: A Postcolonial Reading of Wadagliz’s Viral Song, Anguka Nayo
This paper seeks to characterise Gengetone popular music as a site for understanding the nature and function of postcolonial cultural productions. The study is largely inspired by Homi Bhabha’s proposition that the present is often a meeting place of the past and the present. A place of constantly changing, as opposed to perpetual, identities; a fluid space of what was and what is ensuing. The study is therefore founded on the premise that just like its unstable context, Gen-Z music–often coming through as non-conformism–may best represent the artistic value of popular art in an increasingly modernising context that is intensely shaped by the mass culture. The song that forms the basis of the present study, Anguka Nayo, was purposively sampled and subjected to close reading through the lenses of Homi Bhabha’s theory of hybridity. The main finding of the study is that, just like most other contemporary cultural artefacts, popular music can indeed provide interesting insights into the hybrid nature of contemporary cultural artefacts. The study, therefore, adds to existing perspectives on postcolonial discourses, especially hybridity.
A Comparative Analysis of Language-Based and Non-Language-Based Instructors in Tanzanian Universities: Exploring Perceptions Towards a Shift to Kiswahili as a Medium of Instruction
This study examines Tanzanian university instructors’ views on the shift from English to Kiswahili as the medium of instruction (MoI), comparing language-based and non-language-based instructors. Drawing on Language Planning and Policy Theory and Sociolinguistic Theory, the research examines how social, structural, and personal attitudes shape instructors’ views on language use in higher education. Through a survey of 74 university instructors, we investigated their opinions on the feasibility, benefits, and challenges of adopting Kiswahili as a MoI. The results show that language-based instructors (LBIs) are generally supportive, highlighting how Kiswahili can improve understanding, boost student engagement, and promote cultural identity. In contrast, non-language-based instructors (NLBIs), particularly in technical and scientific fields, expressed cautious support, raising concerns about resources, specialised vocabulary, and alignment with international standards. The study suggests that successfully introducing Kiswahili requires practical steps, such as developing teaching materials, training instructors, and aligning with national education policies. These findings reveal the diverse perspectives across disciplines and the complex realities of implementing language policy in higher education. By understanding these challenges and opportunities, policymakers, university administrators, and educators can make more informed decisions to support effective and culturally relevant language practices in Tanzanian universities.
Copyright (c) 2025 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Gendered Identities, Media Narratives, and Violent Extremism in Kenya: Rethinking Peacebuilding in the Gospel of Christ
Kenya’s struggle with violent extremism is shaped not only by security dynamics but by the narratives through which communities interpret identity, harm, and belonging. This study examines how gendered identities and theological commitments influence Kenyan media and faith-based communication on VE, and identifies practices that support ethical, inclusive, and dignity-affirming public discourse. Anchored in Feminist Media Theory, intersectionality, and Gospel-Anchored Public Theology, the study integrates gender, representation, and theological ethics to illuminate how media and faith actors shape public meaning-making around extremism. A convergent mixed-methods design was employed where Kenyan media guidelines, regional P/CVE policy, African feminist hermeneutics, and public theology literature were synthesised through systematic content analysis. The second phase included primary data collection via an anonymous online survey. Data were analysed thematically and integrated across phases. Findings reveal persistent gendered tropes in VE reporting, yet counter-publics, particularly women’s groups and Muslim youth initiatives, are actively producing alternative, dignity-centred narratives. Media practitioners exhibit strong ethical instincts but face institutional gaps, including limited Islamophobia training, weak verification systems, and inadequate duty-of-care protocols. Faith leaders demonstrate commitment to gender justice and restorative communication but express low confidence in applying “do-no-harm” approaches under pressure. Both sectors affirm that ethical, contextualised reporting and theologically informed truth-telling can reduce tension and strengthen social cohesion. The study concludes that integrating gender-aware media ethics with gospel-anchored public theology offers a transformative framework for narrative-justice in Kenya’s VE landscape.
Early-Career Teachers’ Vowel Phoneme Knowledge in Ghanaian Basic Schools: Leveraging Flipped Micro-Professional Development
Early-career teachers in Ghana’s basic schools often have limited explicit preparation in vowel phonemes, yet they are expected to support learners’ early reading development under constrained conditions. This paper reports on a qualitative descriptive study of an online flipped micro-professional development (micro-PD) programme designed to strengthen teachers’ understanding of vowel letters, vowel sounds, monophthongs, and diphthongs. The study is underpinned by Adult Learning Theory and Guskey’s Model of Teacher Change, which together informed the design of the micro-PD and the interpretation of teachers’ reported learning. An online, low-bandwidth intervention was offered to early-career basic-school teachers across Ghana and combined short preparatory screencasts with two live sessions. Data were generated from entry and exit checks, chat transcripts, and written reflections, and analysed using descriptive and thematic approaches. The findings indicate clearer separation of vowel letters and vowel sounds, improved recognition of monophthongs and diphthongs, and increased reported confidence in modelling pronunciation, although these confidence gains were self-reported. Despite connectivity and data constraints, teachers engaged actively through the chat and made specific links between the content and their classroom practice. The study suggests that a theoretically informed flipped micro-PD model can support conceptual development in phonology and offer a practical, scalable approach to CPD for teachers in low- and middle-income contexts.
A Description of Grammatical Competence in the Written English of First Year University Students in Kenya
This study delineates grammatical competence in the English of first-year university students in Kenya. This is a descriptive research that involves 405 students who were admitted by the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (KUCCPS) into 15 private and public universities in Kenya in 2021. The study measures how far the study subjects can communicate clear meaning, choose vocabulary correctly, use correct sentence structures, punctuation, tense, aspect, spelling, as well as subject-verb agreement. Measured on a scale of 1 to 5, the level of grammatical competence of first-year university students who comprise the study sample is 3.34 for formal English and 3.28 for informal English. The indicator of grammatical competence with the highest score is the ability to communicate a clear meaning with a score of 3.9. This is followed by choice of vocabulary and use of correct sentence structure, both of which have an average score of 3.3. Punctuation and syntax: tense, aspect, spelling, and subject-verb agreement have the lowest scores of 3.2 and 3.0, respectively. These findings suggest that at the end of the Kenyan secondary school English curriculum, learners have slightly above average competence in grammar: 66.8 percent for formal English and 65.6 percent for informal English. These levels are low for a curriculum that cites communicative competence as the goal of teaching English in secondary schools. The findings also imply that the study subjects are ill-prepared for the language demands of academic writing necessary at the university level.
Bearing Witness through Fantasy: Narrative Voice and Reclamation of Agency in Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Anguish and Anarchy
This paper examines the representation of female trauma and the reclamation of agency in Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Anguish and Anarchy (2024) the third installment of the Legacy of Orà¯sha trilogy. Focusing on the female protagonists, the study interrogates how narrative voice functions as a strategy for articulating the complexities of trauma within a postcolonial context. The paper draws on literary trauma theory, to analyse how fragmented narration and testimonial modes of storytelling bear witness to the enduring psychological and political effects of violence. Simultaneously, strands of feminist theory are deployed to understand how Adeyemi positions her female character voices as sites of resistance, where personal suffering is transformed into collective empowerment. Through a close reading of the text to foreground the intersections between trauma, voice, and agency, the paper argues that the interplay of narrative voice and female solidarity, enables Adeyemi to communicate the silenced histories of oppression and re-imagine the possibilities of female agency in a fractured postcolonial landscape. An array of trauma and postcolonial theoretical tenets and snippets of feminist perspectives are used in textual analysis, to demonstrate how Adeyemi’s narrative strategies challenge dominant structures of power and foreground the resilience of marginalised women.
Language, Identity, and Cultural Preservation: The Role of Kiswahili in Shaping African Narratives in a Globalised World
This study investigates the role of Kiswahili in shaping African identity, preserving cultural heritage, and contributing to global narrative formation, with a particular focus on the challenges posed by globalisation. Anchored in postcolonial theory and cultural identity frameworks, the research employs a mixed-methods design to capture both statistical patterns and narrative depth. Data were collected from a purposive sample of 360 participants across East and Central Africa, including cultural practitioners, academics, media professionals, NGO representatives, and community members. Structured questionnaires with closed- and open-ended items enabled the integration of quantitative and qualitative insights. Key findings indicate that Kiswahili significantly reinforces African identity (73.6%), safeguards cultural heritage (73.7%), and promotes Pan-African unity (68%), while also serving as a conduit for oral traditions (76.4%) and indigenous knowledge systems through proverbs (76.3%). However, the study identifies critical limitations in Kiswahili’s global visibility, with low ratings in international media representation (36.1% poor/very poor) and literary translation (48.6% poor/very poor), alongside intergenerational concerns over declining youth engagement (61.1%). The study argues that despite Kiswahili’s regional vitality, structural barriers-linguistic hierarchies, digital exclusion, and weak policy frameworks-continue to constrain its global influence. It calls for strategic interventions, including language policy reform, educational integration, digital resource expansion, and systematic translation efforts to elevate Kiswahili’s status as a vehicle for cultural preservation and global epistemic inclusion.
The Visuality of Virtue: Pre-Iconographic Analysis of Constructive Pride in Disney’s The Lion Guard
This study investigates how The Lion Guard visually constructs pride as a constructive virtue, challenging the dominant view of pride as a destructive vice. Drawing on Panofsky’s pre”‘iconographic methodology, the study identifies and interprets visual markers that encode pride at the level of form before symbolic meaning emerges. A systematic analysis of selected episodes (Seasons”¯1–3) reveals three interrelated dimensions: (1) Self”‘Image, wherein characters’ postures, coloration, and personal artifacts signal individual dignity and self”‘respect; (2) Collective Existence, which depicts communal rituals and shared spaces that foster group cohesion, cultural continuity, and hierarchical stability; and (3) Existential Ecology, which links pride to the stewardship of the Pride Lands through recurring motifs such as Pride Rock, the Lion Guard’s lair, and the “Circle of Life” narrative. These visual strategies demonstrate that pride functions as a foundational moral force that sustains both personal agency and ecological balance. The findings contribute to media”‘ecocritical scholarship by illustrating how animated texts can revalorize traditionally negative virtues, offering a nuanced model for future analyses of ethical representation in children’s animation.
Women Politicians’ Political Communication Strategies in Kenya’s Digital Space: An Afrocentric Perspective
This study explores how Kenyan women politicians articulate and negotiate political representation within the digital public sphere. Grounded in Afrocentricity (Asante, 1980, 2003) as both a philosophical paradigm and theoretical framework, the study examines women’s political communication in online spaces through African epistemologies, socio-cultural values, and community agency. The study addresses two key questions: (1) How do Kenyan women politicians use digital platforms to enact political representation from an Afrocentric perspective? (2) How do ethnic, cultural, and gendered narratives shape women politicians’ perceived political legitimacy and the strategies they employ in online spaces? To address these questions, 20 posts comprising of 11 FB posts and nine tweets by women politicians, published in 2020 and 2022, were purposively selected from a larger dataset of 58. The posts were chosen for their relevance to the research questions and the traction they gained during the two periods. Analysis of data was done using interpretative repertoires, a discourse analytical methodology articulated by Potter and Wetherell (1987), and Wetherell (2015). Findings reveal that in their digital representation and communication practice, Kenyan women politicians strategically employ Afrocentric discursive practices, including invoking ethnic identities, drawing on communal values, and incorporating spiritual symbolism rooted in African socio-political traditions. These culturally grounded political strategies enhance their digital visibility, legitimise political authority, and foster resonance with constituencies.
Domestic Neocolonialism through Narrative Structure: A Comparative Analysis of Mia Couto’s Sleepwalking Land and Jose Eduardo Agualusa’s The Society of Reluctant Dreamers
This article provides a comparative analysis of Mia Couto’s Sleepwalking Land and José Eduardo Agualusa’s, The Society of Reluctant Dreamers, examining how domestic neocolonialism is represented through narrative form. Informed by Frantz Fanon’s theory of Decolonisation and Achille Mbembe’s concept of Necropolitics, the study investigates how fragmented structures, temporal disjunctions, and layered perspectives convey the persistence of colonial domination within post-independence Mozambique and Angola. Couto employs a frame narrative and embedded texts to evoke the collapse of order and identity in a war-torn society, while Agualusa blends metafiction and shifting viewpoints to critique the internalisation of neocolonial power. Both authors reject linear realism in favour of disrupted and hybrid storytelling, transforming narrative architecture into a political act that resists imposed epistemologies and affirms African modes of meaning-making. Ultimately, the analysis argues that these formal strategies both expose the realities of domestic neocolonialism and function as decolonial interventions, positioning the novels as critical engagements with the instability and contested sovereignty of postcolonial African states.
The discourse functionality of argument schemes in county assembly debates in Kenya using the pragma-dialectical approach
The communicative interaction between discussants in parliamentary debates is aimed at exchanging different viewpoints through discussion to arrive at a policy decision. Discussants in Nairobi County assembly debates present their standpoints in a persuasive language that helps build conversations, minimise potential conflict, and maximise personal profit. This study aimed to examine the discoursal functionality of argument schemes in county assembly debates using the pragma-dialectical theory. A descriptive case study design was used with qualitative approaches to allow a deeper enquiry into the phenomenon of debates using data from online archival Hansard records of the Nairobi County assembly. The study systematically sampled 48 debate transcripts of the print version of the Hansard from a total target population of 132 debates for a period of ten months. The study then purposively sampled 20 debates, which consisted of motions of the Nairobi County assembly over the ten months, for analysis from February to November 2023. Public documents from the Nairobi County assembly registry, consisting of schedules of the sectoral committees and the Standing Orders of the assembly, were collected from the website. Qualitative data were analysed with speech acts forming the unit of analysis. The data were subjected to analysis using the criteria recommended in the pragma-dialectical theory. The study established that discussants employed pragmatic and symptomatic argument schemes purposefully to resolve differences of opinion on the merits in debates. The study was useful in suggesting procedural interventions aimed at improving parliamentary argumentative practices that could benefit discourse practitioners.
The Construction of Fragile Identities: African Women’s Narratives of Post-colonial Trauma in Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions and Chimamanda Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus
The paper explores how post-colonial trauma is depicted in African women’s literature. It examines the close connection between historical colonial trauma and the identities of African women in Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga. The two authors act as literary historians addressing traumatic histories to rewrite and reframe the portrayal of African women in a global context. The paper examines how colonial and postcolonial traumas influence the identities of female characters in these texts. However, the female characters will be examined not in isolation but through their relationships with indigenous males who impose fractured identities on their women and children. By highlighting the connections between recalling traumatic events and promoting community healing, the paper underscores the significance of a specific post-colonial feminist trauma theory in understanding these texts. It further proposes that this approach helps reveal how women’s fiction articulates and creates pathways for collective healing from traumas unique to the experiences of African women in post-colonial settings.
Multilingual Communication Strategies in African Religious Music: A Linguistic Study of Dholuo Ohangla Gospel Expression
This study explores multilingual communication strategies employed in contemporary Dholuo Ohangla gospel music, analysing how artists utilise various linguistic resources to enhance spiritual messages and engage audiences across cultural and linguistic boundaries within Kenya's multilingual religious environment. The research adopts a qualitative descriptive approach based on Relevance Theory to analyse four intentionally selected Dholuo Ohangla gospel songs. Data analysis focuses on identifying metaphorical expressions, patterns of code-switching between Dholuo, English, and Swahili, and stylistic devices that facilitate effective multilingual spiritual communication. It reveals sophisticated multilingual strategies, including the deliberate use of English military and technological terminology, inventive metaphorical structures combining animal, modern, and traditional imagery, and culturally embedded communication tools that preserve Luo cultural authenticity while reaching diverse audiences efficiently. The study concentrates on four songs from a single linguistic community, which limits the generalisability of the findings across African gospel music traditions. Future research should involve broader comparative analyses across multiple African languages and larger sample sizes to validate the results in different contexts. The findings inform multilingual education policies by demonstrating successful indigenous language adaptation strategies, guiding religious organisations in creating artistic expressions that serve as genuine cultural heritage, and thus warrant documentation and promotion.
Influence of Social Media Advertising on Student Enrolment in Private TVET Institutions in the Central Economic Bloc, Kenya
It has become paramount for higher education institutions, such as Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions, to invest heavily in their advertising budget. Despite significant resources being invested in advertising, growth in enrolment has not been witnessed in private TVETs. This study, therefore, sought to analyse the influence of different social media advertising platforms on student enrolment in private TVET institutions in the central economic bloc in Kenya. Principals of these institutions and heads of marketing were the respondents in the study. A census of all 174 private TVETs was conducted, resulting in 348 respondents. The study had a 90.5% (n=315) response rate. Questionnaires and interviews were used to collect information for the study. Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation analysis were conducted on the quantitative data while thematic analysis was performed on the qualitative data. Results were presented using tables and narration. All TVETs in the study were found to have a website and social media presence, with 73.4% spending under KES 100,000 on digital ads. Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok were the most cited social media platforms utilised. Pearson correlation analysis showed that social media marketing had a strong, positive, and significant association (r = 0.690, p < .001) with student enrolment. The study concluded that social media advertising is a powerful medium for reaching prospective students and influencing their enrolment decisions. The researcher recommended that TVETs ought to invest heavily in social media marketing. They should hire professionals to ensure that they are visible online.
The Portrayal of Nouns and Figures of Speech in the Expansion of the Standardisation of Swahili Language in Tanzania
In this era of science and technology, the standardisation of the Swahili language in Tanzania has been developed due to the emergence of new words in various fields such as health, politics, ICT, and education. This article focuses on the portrayal of nouns and figures of speech in the expansion of Swahili language standardisation. The research in this article is evaluative. The data was collected in the field and libraries, where interviews and text analysis methods were used. The discussion was guided by Einar Haugen’s (1966/1972) theory, concerning standardisation of languages whose main foundation is expansion aimed at broadening the use of language in fields such as education, politics, law, health, science, business, architecture, and sports. The results of this research have shown that language expansion gives language the ability to fill gaps in vocabulary and to eliminate the shortcomings in discussing various activities across all areas of life. It also gives the language the capacity to be used in the relevant contemporary contexts. This means that it allows the language to keep pace with the time, development, and changes in society.
Enhancing English Language Skills Among Female Science Students in Tanzania: Insights from the Special Foundation Programme
This study examined the English language skills of Special Foundation Female Science Students (SFFSS) at the Open University of Tanzania (OUT). involved total of 127 SFFSS admitted into the Open University of Tanzania under the Special Foundation Programme sponsored by the HEET Project participated in this study. Sociocultural theory and the theory of Krashen's Input Hypothesis guided the research. Employing a quantitative research approach, data were collected through closed-ended questionnaires with four Likert scale levels. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS Version 23, with results presented as means and standard deviations. Findings revealed that students demonstrated confidence in their listening and speaking skills but faced difficulty in reading and writing. These results highlight the strong relationship between reading and writing skills, supporting existing theoretical frameworks. The study recommends that basic educational teachers, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education Science and Technology, strengthen English language instruction, particularly in reading and writing, to support higher-level learning. Additionally, efforts should be made to change the perception that English language proficiency is unrelated to science education. Further research is needed to assess the effectiveness of intervention strategies aimed at improving literacy among secondary science students to inform future educational practices.
Integrating Total Physical Response with Traditional Pedagogical Approaches in English Oral Skills Instruction among Grade 3 Learners in Kenya
The integration of innovative pedagogical approaches with traditional teaching methods presents significant opportunities for enhancing English oral skills instruction in multilingual educational contexts. This study examined how Total Physical Response (TPR) can be systematically integrated with conventional teaching approaches to optimise learning outcomes. To examine how Total Physical Response is integrated with traditional teaching methods in English oral skills lessons to enhance communication and collaboration competency among Grade 3 learners in Kakamega County, Kenya. A mixed-methods quasi-experimental design was employed with 116 Grade 3 learners and 8 teachers from public primary schools. Experimental group teachers implemented systematic TPR integration over four weeks using three distinct models: Sandwich, Spiral, and Bookend approaches. Data collection included classroom observations, teacher interviews, and lesson time allocation analysis. TPR activities comprised 42.3% of total lesson time whilst maintaining traditional instruction at 57.7%. Three integration models emerged: The sandwich model (34% of lessons), the Spiral model (28%), and the Bookend model (38%). Integration effectiveness improved systematically from Week 1 to Week 4, with teacher confidence ratings increasing from 2.3 to 4.1. Transition times decreased from 2.8 minutes to 1.1 minutes, demonstrating improved efficiency. TPR can be successfully integrated with traditional teaching methods through systematic approaches that complement rather than replace established instructional practices. The integration models provide practical frameworks for educators implementing kinaesthetic learning approaches within existing curricular structures.
Voicing Familial Struggles: A Critical Analysis of Child Images in Selected Kenneth Khaemba’s Popular Songs
Familial struggles, though often glossed over and rarely voiced, form the very cartography of a community’s history. Considering this, scholarship accords so little attention to the multifaceted meanings embedded in child images, particularly as these images can themselves be powerful expressions of those same familial struggles, especially within popular songs. The neglect seems to emanate from the relegation of Indigenous knowledge and foregrounding the adult in an adult/child dyad. Nevertheless, popular songs, as one of the popular cultural forms, provide a platform for reading about the familial struggles in contemporary society. In this paper, using the Luyia community, and Kenneth Khaemba’s popular songs the paper seeks to investigate the child images as a (re)presentation of the family as a site of struggles. The paper is anchored on the premise that popular songs, vide child images, are a vital avenue in understanding the contemporary community. In achieving this end, the paper uses the ideas of Globalectics theory as propounded by Ngugi wa Thiong’o in particular, the perception of a community’s verbal arts, specifically folklore, as being at the center of comprehending the lives of members of any community. Individual community, globalectically, is equidistant to any community in the globe. Before subjecting the songs to discourse analysis, Khaemba’s popular songs were listened to and transcribed and translated into the two purposely sampled songs, namely ”˜Mayi Mutiti’ (Little Mother) and ”˜Mayi Muro’ (Step Mother). The study used the presence of a child narrator in the songs as the parameter for the selection. The findings of the study demonstrated that the child image in Khaemba’s songs is literary and, therefore, is a canvas for insights into the struggles of Luhyia community.
Sources of Frames for Organic Farming Practices in Kenya’s Newspapers: Analysis of Seeds of Gold and Smart Harvest Articles
Organic farming practices are being promoted as a sustainable farming system that has less effects on both humans and the environment at large. Research shows that there is a low adoption of organic farming methods in Kenya. One of the reasons could be due to lack of adequate skills and knowledge in organic farming technologies. Hence, this paper analyses the source of mass media frames on organic farming practices as covered in Kenya’s newspapers. The focus of the study was on two Kenya’s national newspapers; Daily Nation and The Standard which have weekly news articles (pullouts); ”˜Seeds of Gold’ and ”˜Smart Harvest’ every Saturday. This study employed content analysis to achieve the objectives. Two pull-outs from leading newspapers ”˜The Seeds of Gold’ from the Daily Nation and ”˜The Smart Harvest’ from the standard Newspaper were used for this study. Data was collected using a coding sheet (book). The key sources of information on organic farming frames were organic farmers (through interviews, and farm visits), institutions and advocacy groups on organic farming, scientists (including crop and agronomists), entrepreneurs on organic foods, and industries involved in organic food products. However, government institutions' sources promoting the organic farming systems were found to be low and therefore show that the government is not committed to advancing the sustainable agenda in Kenya. It is therefore recommended that newspapers amplify the voice of organic farmers through their news articles rather than relying on sponsored articles for publication purposes which are dominated by inorganic farming players.
Eco-narratives and Bukusu Traditional Music through Time: A Linguistic Analysis
Music is a powerful tool that speaks to the environment as it fosters human-nature relations for mutual benefit; this is despite its negative effects. Taking a linguistic perspective, the study investigates the place of eco-narratives in ecological im/balance through the Bukusu traditional music, arguing that despite the changing times, this music is still relevant in ecological sustainability. Specifically, the study identifies and discusses eco-narratives that are embedded in Bukusu traditional music, and how they speak to the ecology, it examines how eco-narratives are used in the sustainability of the Bukusu traditional music and Cultural Heritage, and finally, it conceptualises the future of the Bukusu traditional music in the face of change. Primary and secondary data in the form of songs were purposively sampled, translated into English, and analysed using He’s (2021) Ecological Discourse Analysis framework, and Kress’ (2012) Multimodal theory. Findings from the study make explicit how, and for what purpose the Bukusu traditional music is preserved, and they predict the future of the sustainability of the Bukusu traditional music in the shifting environment.
Semantics of Affixes in Kemunang’weli dialect of Kisukuma
The article dwells on the semantics domains of affixes in Kemunang’weli dialect of Kisukuma under Lexical morphology and prototype theories. For example, tema ' cut' to n-teng’-w-a can fit in the lexical morphology as in ”˜the one who has been cut’ or the one who is lead under the prototype model. The motivation behind the examination was that Many if not most of the Sukuma linguists have investigated tonal transfer, phonology, and verb extensions but less is done in noun affixes and their semantic functions, thus the need for investigation to fulfill this gap. The study used an interpretivism paradigm veiled in a qualitative approach, based on the fact that the data comes from natural settings. The study used a descriptive study design to describe the semantics of affixes in Kemunang’weli dialect of Kisukuma from Sukuma population in Njingani village, Geita rural district, in Mwanza region. Three methods of data collection were used namely, focus group discussion, intuition knowledge, and critical documentary analysis. Ten Sukuma native speakers were selected purposively for the discussion. Sukuma native speakers were selected for the study. The study revealed inflectional and derivational affixes, the former are prefixes as in diminutive {ka, tu}, hugeness {ma, li, mi}, locative {ku, mu, ha}, adjective and deverbal {i, ma, n} while the later are suffixes as in causative {j, ch, sh, y}, passive {w, ng’w, v}, adjective prefix {n, àŸ} and applied {Éªg, Éªj, eg, a or i}. The prefixes are ordered in three maximally in a single noun while this is true, the derivational suffixes trigger numerous senses. Based on the findings, it was concluded that such semantics of affixes in Kemunang’weli dialect of Kisukum contribute to and strengthen the development of Lexical morphology and prototype theories. The study urges other studies be carried out on other affixes which with no doubt would contribute to the grammar of the language to both this generation and generations yet to come.