Journal of Linguistics, Literary and Communication Studies

Visual Framing of Climate Change in Selected Newspapers in Kenya

Edith Jelagat Biwott, Abraham K. Mulwo, Erneo Nyakundi Nyamboga — Wed, 02 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Raw information on issues such as climate change and the environment can be incomprehensible and meaningless to segments of media the audience. To ease audience’s understanding of such information, the media may filter and (re)construct both the information and the experiences that generated it; this is called framing. This study analysed how climate change is visually framed in selected print media in a bid to understand how this could influence the audience’s understanding of climate change information. This study was guided by the Framing Theory. Data was collected from two newspapers in Kenya (The Standard and Daily Nation) published between January 2013 and December 2017 which were purposively sampled due to their wide circulation and coverage. Qualitative content analysis was used both as a methodology and a data collection tool and the data analysed thematically. The study findings indicated that visuals were rarely used in the selected newspapers. From the findings, the depiction of actors was mainly based on their social class. The most dominant visual frame was the politicians and talking head frame. A new frame that was depicted in this study was the humour imagery frame. The causes of climate change are depicted as small causes and small solutions, but the impacts are depicted as large scale which can lead to low self-efficacy amongst the citizens. This study concludes that visual framing of climate change is an area not fully embraced by the media in presenting climate change, yet it offers an array of opportunities to communicate the climate change message.

Exploring Sexism in Humour: A Linguistic Analysis of Comedic Performances on the Churchill Show

Naftal Nyakundi, David Barasa, Benard Mudogo — Fri, 04 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This paper examines the linguistic dimensions of sexism embedded within comedic performances on The Churchill Show, a popular Kenyan stand-up comedy program. Attention was paid to live performances broadcast on TV47. The paper seeks to uncover the subtle ways sexism is expressed through comedians’ utterances. Utilizing Norman Fairclough’s (2001) sociocultural framework of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), the paper employs a descriptive research approach. Utterances from select stand-up comedy acts performed in November 2023 were gathered using purposive sampling. The collection process involved transcribing humorous statements from live performances and performing linguistic analysis to identify linguistic features that convey sexist humour. Content analysis is applied to utterances identified as sexist on the basis that they manifest or reflect unequal power structures, societal stereotypes, or gender-based discriminatory attitudes. The findings indicate that comedians employ various linguistic strategies to generate sexist humour, including juxtaposition, hyperbole, ambiguity, wordplay, pun, and irony. By highlighting the linguistic techniques that perpetuate sexism in comedic discourse, this paper enhances the understanding of the relationship between humour, language, and gender dynamics in the context of Kenyan stand-up comedy.

Influence of Interpretation on Patient-Healthcare Provider Communication and Management of Chronic Conditions in Kenya: A Case of JOOTRH Hospital Kisumu

Kavulani Claris Kasamba, Abraham Kiprop Mulwo, Gloria Anyango Ooko — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The Ministry of Health in Kenya projects that deaths from chronic conditions will increase by 65% by 2030. To efficiently manage chronic illnesses, effective communication between patients and healthcare providers is of crucial importance. However, studies have shown that many patients lack knowledge about their conditions and the treatment processes. This study investigated the experiences of patients and caregivers while communicating with healthcare-providers on management of chronic conditions. The study was undertaken at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH) in Kisumu County, Kenya. It adopted the relativist-interpretivist paradigm and qualitative approach to generate and analyze data. Purposive and snowball sampling techniques were used to identify 10 patients and 5 caregivers who were drawn from patient support groups at the hospital. 10 healthcare providers were sampled. Data was generated through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions which were transcribed and analyzed using a thematic approach. Study findings indicate that healthcare providers were knowledgeable and believed that patients needed to be given relevant information. English was the main language used by health providers, which often created a language barrier among patients and caregivers who did not understand the language. This created opportunities for misinformation when interpreters were used. The hospital lacked trained interpreters, hence caregivers and hospital staff acted as interpreters. This was found to affect patients’ privacy and disclosure, especially where the patient did not want their health information to be accessed by a third party. Patients felt the information they received to be inadequate.

Categories of Lukabarasi Nominal Compounds and their Pragmatic Functions

Valentine Lukania, Benard Mudogo , Atichi Alati — Sat, 26 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Although the categories of nominal compounds in many Bantu languages have been described in the literature, their pragmatic functions are often unexplained. This paper examines this phenomenon in Lukabarasi language of Western Kenya, based on the Generative Morphological Theory (GMT) (Bochner, 1992). The study employed a descriptive research design. Data was collected from native speakers using purposive sampling and snowballing techniques. The collected data was analyzed using a content analysis to identify and describe emerging themes. We identified these types of Lukabarasi nominal compounds; Noun+ Noun, Noun+ Verb, and Verb+ Verb. The study established the process of acquiring compounds in Lukabarasi involves prefix deletion, vowel duplication, and nominalization of verbs. The study also found that pragmatic processes modify the meaning of the compound based on context. Lukabarasi has commonly prefixes of singular and plural nouns. The singular prefixes include omu-, eshi- and eli- while the plural prefixes are eva-, efu- and ofu-. We analyzed the pragmatic functions of compounds, finding they serve metaphoric, attitudinal, identification, and classifying functions. This study contributes to understanding the pragmatic functions of nominal compounds in Lukabarasi.

Realisation of Existential Processes in Ekegusii Declarative Clauses

Jane Kemunto Nyamao, Peter Maina Wakarindi — Fri, 29 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This study examines the intricate relationship between transitivity and existential thought within the context of Ekegusii, an indigenous language spoken by the Abagusii people of Western Kenya. The research sought to uncover how Ekegusii speakers conceptualize and express the existence and occurrence of entities using the language. Grounding itself on the experiential metafunction of Halliday and Mathiessen's (2014) Functional Grammar theory, the study specifically sought to find out how existential processes are realized in the various forms of Ekegusii declarative clauses, looking at the forms of the clauses in terms of polarity and voice. Methodologically, the study used qualitative analysis. The data, Ekegusii declarative clauses with verbs carrying existential processes, was drawn from Ekegusii Bible, Ekegusii storybooks, and the researcher’s intuition as a native speaker of Ekegusii. The analysis involved an examination of the patterns of the transitivity structure in the selected clauses by looking at the various components of the clauses: the verbs realizing the existential Process, the Participants involved and the Circumstances, thereby allowing for a focused exploration of how existential thought is linguistically represented in Ekegusii. Besides implications for language teaching, translation, and cultural preservation efforts, the findings from this research will contribute to a deeper understanding of how indigenous languages and Ekegusii in particular, can serve to provide unique insights into human thought and perception.