RP-Department of Foreign Languages

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Browsing RP-Department of Foreign Languages by Author "Maroko, Geoffrey Mokua"

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    Development of Language Materials for National Development: A language Management Perspective
    (International Journal of Education and Research, 2013-07) Maroko, Geoffrey Mokua
    Learning resources need to be revised periodically to reflect the changing socio-cultural, economic, political and technological realities in the society. The current Primary English Syllabus was revised in 2002. Yet, publishers are developing materials for teaching English language in primary schools using 2002 syllabus as their reference. The question that arises is: to what extent are these materials aligned to the new realities in Kenya? As a response to these questions, this paper identifies the themes and language norms addressed in the Primary English Syllabus (2002) and selected language-learning materials. Next, it analyses cases in language materials in use which are not in line with the themes and norms presented in the syllabus. The paper shows that some content in the learning materials are inconsistent with the norms while emerging topical issues are lacking. To address these concerns, the paper recommends the language management in any future materials evaluation efforts.
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    Learning about Author Positioning in Written Academic Discourse
    (Argentinian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 2013-11) Maroko, Geoffrey Mokua
    Graduate students are usually not sure of the appropriate stance to take in relation to their writing. Even style guides provide little information regarding authorial positioning in academic texts. This paper describes a study in which frequency and usage of features of marking writer stance were compared between selected dissertations in Kenyan Public Universities. It was found that humanities dissertations preferred personal pronouns and the third person while science dissertations mainly chose the ‘faceless’ agent less passive voice. Suggesting that choices for such features in dissertations are a function of the epistemology and ideology of the disciplines, the paper proposes a genre-based approach to teaching those preparing to write their dissertations.
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    The Morphophonemics of Vowel Compensatory Lengthening in Ekegusii
    (International Journal of Education and Research, 2013-09) Komenda, S.; Maroko, Geoffrey Mokua; Ndung’u, R. W.
    Literature shows that not much is known about the prosodic systems in Ekegusii, a Bantu language spoken by about 2.2 million people in south western Kenya.This paper presents an analysis of vowel compensatory lengthening in Ekegusii. Synchronic evidence for hiatus resolution strategies is provided in order to describe the vowels that are lengthened compensatorily and determine the morphological processes that trigger compensatory lengthening in Ekegusii. Guided by native speaker intuition and triangulation by other native speakers, data in the form of nominals and verbals were elicited from four Ekegusii texts and qualitatively analysed for emerging patterns. Findings revealed that all the seven basic Ekegusii vowels undergo compensatory lengthening when their phonetic environments are altered. Vowel compensatory lengthening is brought out as a surface realisation of the interaction of morphemes through the morphological process of prefixation. The lengthening is further seen as a conspiracy to eliminate ill-formed sequences created by prefixation. The height of the first vowel and whether it is followed by another vowel or a consonant determines how the hiatus situation is eliminated. It is expected that the analyses done in this study will have practical pedagogical implications in the teaching of segmental and suprasegmental aspects of Ekegusii.