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Kiswahili ya Jela: The Features of the Kenyan Prison Argot
Ogutu Peter Okoth,
Opande Nilson Isaac,
Oluoch Stephen
Issue:
Volume 6, Issue 6, November 2018
Pages:
186-195
Received:
1 October 2018
Accepted:
15 October 2018
Published:
1 November 2018
DOI:
10.11648/j.ijll.20180606.11
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Abstract: Many scholars have attempted to analyze prison argot in different countries in the world. Nevertheless, the features of this variety of language have been fragmentary treated. Furthermore, in the Kenyan context, the area of prison argot has received the total silence of scholars in the linguistic field. The main aim of this study is to analyze the features of the Kenyan prison argot which is generally referred to as Kiswahili ya jela. Kiswahili ya jela is an ungrammatical Swahili phrase which in standard usage should mean the Swahili language of prisons. However, in the prison context, Kiswahili ya jela means a language full of tricks or lies. Thirty prisoners were randomly selected from Kibos and Kisumu Maximum Prisons to participate in the study. The contextual-dynamic method was used to collect data from the respondents. This method mainly involves the use of observation and dialogue. Because of its qualitative nature, the data is subjected to content analysis. From this work, the following features are evident; borrowing of terms from other languages, reversing of syllables, coining of new prison-contextual lexemes and the formation of argot terms through affixation. This study also reveals that the Kenyan prison argot exhibits code-mixing and the use of ungrammatical structures. Synonymy and polysemy as semantic features are also revealed. This paper thus concludes that the Kenyan prison argot is a highly creative slang.
Abstract: Many scholars have attempted to analyze prison argot in different countries in the world. Nevertheless, the features of this variety of language have been fragmentary treated. Furthermore, in the Kenyan context, the area of prison argot has received the total silence of scholars in the linguistic field. The main aim of this study is to analyze the ...
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EFL Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices Concerning Learner Autonomy: A Narrative Inquiry
Issue:
Volume 6, Issue 6, November 2018
Pages:
196-201
Received:
17 September 2018
Accepted:
4 October 2018
Published:
10 November 2018
DOI:
10.11648/j.ijll.20180606.12
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Abstract: Learner autonomy has been a key area in foreign language teaching for more than 30 years. Researchers agree that learner autonomy could make learning more effective and that teachers play very significant role in improving learner autonomy. In many cases teachers’ beliefs concerning learner autonomy would influence their teaching practices. Many existing studies regarding learner autonomy are conducted from the perspective of students. However, fewer researches have been carried out from the perspective of teachers’ beliefs, especially in China. In order to address the gap, the present study tried to explore the EFL (English as Foreign Language) teachers’ beliefs and practices concerning learner autonomy. Four English teachers from two universities were purposefully selected to participate in semi-structured interviews. Qualitative data were analyzed by a narrative inquiry. Findings suggested that participants held positive attitude towards developing learner autonomy. Teachers’ roles as a facilitator, a counselor and a resource got general approbation. Yet their teaching practices showed different degrees of intervention in promoting learner autonomy. In addition, due to some difficulties they had encountered there were some mismatches between teachers’ beliefs and their teaching practices. Even though their practice provided some support of learner autonomy, they adopted traditional teaching more frequently and seldom provided learners with opportunities for decision making. It is hoped that this study can provide some inspirations for the future research.
Abstract: Learner autonomy has been a key area in foreign language teaching for more than 30 years. Researchers agree that learner autonomy could make learning more effective and that teachers play very significant role in improving learner autonomy. In many cases teachers’ beliefs concerning learner autonomy would influence their teaching practices. Many ex...
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A Survey of the Use and Function of Idioms in Company Culture Statements
Issue:
Volume 6, Issue 6, November 2018
Pages:
202-209
Received:
25 September 2018
Accepted:
5 November 2018
Published:
3 December 2018
DOI:
10.11648/j.ijll.20180606.13
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Abstract: Nowadays, the localization orientation which is based on national culture appears in the study of business culture. However, there is a lack of investigations and researches on what kind of resources can be used to help the contemporary Chinese enterprises to effectively inherit traditional Chinese culture. From the perspective of discourse analysis, this study investigates the idioms used by private companies in their company culture statements, analyzes the characteristics of business culture reflected by the company culture statements in the form of idioms, and studies how the Chinese enterprises use idioms to construct the company culture. The study investigates the use of Chinese idioms in the company culture statements of 257 private companies in China, and analyzes the practices of related business in constructing business culture by using idioms. It is found that the construction of business culture by using idioms can improve the situational relevance between business culture and Chinese social culture. They can better apply the spirits such as zìqiángbùxī (striving constantly to become stronger), hézhōnggòngjì (working harmoniously), bàochéngshǒuzhēn (keeping honest and true), hòudézàiwù (keeping self-disciplined and great virtue) and other Chinese cultural morals to the construction of business culture in the contemporary China. The results interpret that private companies in the company culture statements can well exert an influence on idioms for load-bearing role of traditional culture and the study plays a significant role in Chinese companies in their construction of native business culture.
Abstract: Nowadays, the localization orientation which is based on national culture appears in the study of business culture. However, there is a lack of investigations and researches on what kind of resources can be used to help the contemporary Chinese enterprises to effectively inherit traditional Chinese culture. From the perspective of discourse analysi...
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Wh- Relative Pronouns in English: Predicativity Versus Virtuality
Issue:
Volume 6, Issue 6, November 2018
Pages:
210-222
Received:
13 October 2018
Accepted:
10 November 2018
Published:
17 December 2018
DOI:
10.11648/j.ijll.20180606.14
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Abstract: The aim of this paper is to provide a systematic study of the functioning of wh-pronouns. The idea of their unity in the 'Tongue' Domain stands for us as a major requirement. The occurrence of whoever, whatever, whichever, and wh (o)/(ich) with their antecedents results from a systematicity built in the deep structure of language. The approach adopted in this study opposes a simple description of the linear sequencing of words in language to the potential significate in the Tongue domain, because the observable or the effects of sense have consequence on the mental representation of language. The system of wh-pronouns is mainly based on two concepts: 'predicativity' and 'virtuality'. These two constructs will be shown to underly the functioning of the wh-pronouns in English.
Abstract: The aim of this paper is to provide a systematic study of the functioning of wh-pronouns. The idea of their unity in the 'Tongue' Domain stands for us as a major requirement. The occurrence of whoever, whatever, whichever, and wh (o)/(ich) with their antecedents results from a systematicity built in the deep structure of language. The approach adop...
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The Rhetoric of Irony in Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s Devil on Cross (1987) and Matigari (1980)
Saliou Dione,
Mamadou Diop
Issue:
Volume 6, Issue 6, November 2018
Pages:
223-230
Received:
25 October 2018
Accepted:
22 November 2018
Published:
11 January 2019
DOI:
10.11648/j.ijll.20180606.15
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Abstract: Postcolonial African literature has been mainly concerned with the misfortunes engendered by slavery, colonization, imperialism, globalization, and neo-colonization in Africa as it uncovers the interactions between the former colonizing and colonized countries. Therefore, many African writers like Ngugi wa Thiong’o have through fiction and magic realism, as natural outcome of postcolonial writing which must make sense of at least two separate realities - the reality of the conquerors and that of the conquered realistic representation - lay bare the devastating aftermath of these plagues. Unfortunately, most critics have been more interested in the issues that the authors exhibit rather than how they are displayed. As a committed writer, he has broached profusely some Africa’s existential problems as reflected in many of his literary text (s), context (s), and pretext (s). In fact, leaning on axiology, as the philosophical study of value, ethics, and aesthetics - value theory and meta-ethics -, this article is a rhetorical reading of Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s Matigari (1980) and Devil on the Cross (1987) with a view to deciphering the underpinning ramifications of postcolonial irony in the two novels. To this end, it analyzes how text and form are interwoven in the two literary texts as the author sets out to depict the (post) colonial and neo-colonial effects in Africa and how they contribute to the understanding of his political advocacy and philosophy.
Abstract: Postcolonial African literature has been mainly concerned with the misfortunes engendered by slavery, colonization, imperialism, globalization, and neo-colonization in Africa as it uncovers the interactions between the former colonizing and colonized countries. Therefore, many African writers like Ngugi wa Thiong’o have through fiction and magic re...
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The Syntax of Action Nominalization in Wolof
Issue:
Volume 6, Issue 6, November 2018
Pages:
231-235
Received:
14 December 2018
Accepted:
29 December 2018
Published:
18 January 2019
DOI:
10.11648/j.ijll.20180606.16
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Abstract: This paper provides an analysis of action nominalization in Wolof, a language spoken in Senegal. Following the generative grammar approach to language, the nature of this nominalization process is analyzed by making reference to its syntactic properties. The analysis shows that this nominalization has mixed properties as it can be related to both nouns and verbs. This is substantiated by the way it patterns with respect to adjectives, determiners, adverbs, aspect and tense. Specifically, action nominalization in Wolof can be related to a VP, but not a TP/IP.
Abstract: This paper provides an analysis of action nominalization in Wolof, a language spoken in Senegal. Following the generative grammar approach to language, the nature of this nominalization process is analyzed by making reference to its syntactic properties. The analysis shows that this nominalization has mixed properties as it can be related to both n...
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