Browsing by Author "Kebeya, Hilda Udali"

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    Investigating linguistic accommodation between two Luyia dialects: Logooli and Lwitakho
    (2012-04-19) Kebeya, Hilda Udali
    This sociolinguistic study investigates, analyzes and explains Linguistic accomondation between speakers from two closely related dialects of one Kenyan Languages, Luyia, The dialects are logooli and Lwitakho. The study is guided by two broad questions: How do speakers from on edialect linguistically accommodate to their listerners from the other dialect? and , why do speakers accommodate to their listerners in the way they do? A definition of the study is laid out in chapter one together with a general introduction on the luyia language and its speakers. Chapter two is a critical review of relevant literature while in chapter three the methodological approach of the study is provided. In chapter four, various phonological features in the two dialects are compared and the most salient features discussed leading to the establishment of several linguistic variables. We further, explore the effects of speech convergence on given linguistic variants and then formulate prolnological rules to explain the changes affecting these variants. In chapter five, various linguistic variables involved in the accommodation process are quantified and then correlated to the speaker variables of age, dialect and sex. We also attempt explanations to speakers' convergence to and divergence from their listerners' speech. An examination and description of listeners' perception of speakers' convergence and divergence is also provided. In chapter six are the summary and conclusions of the study. From the analyses undertekn female respondents are observed to linguistically converge more than the male ones. The study further establishes that the older speakers from both dialects linguistically diverge more than the younger ones. It is found that various phonological segments in the two dialects are modified in different ways whenever speakers converge to their listeners' speech. These modifications can be generalised into phonological rules. The study also established that speakers from the two dialects converged or diverged for a number of reasons. Speakers converged for the following reasons: when they desired to communicate effectively; when they desired social approval and integration from their listeners; when they desired social approval and integration from their listeners; when they needed financial assistance and so on. Speech divergence, on the other hand, was employed when speakers wanted to dissociate themselves from their listeners so as to show disapproval of them, or to identify with their dialect group. We further found out that speakers' convergence or divergence could be perceived favourably or unfavourably depending on the factors that were attributed to that linguistic behaviour. It was also found that the tenets of the Speech Accommodation Theory adequately explain linguistic accommodation between the two dialects of the Luyia group.
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    Linguistic accommodation and code switching during Luo/Luhyia and Luo/Gusii contact
    (2011-12-20) Kebeya, Hilda Udali
    This study set out to investigate and then compare the linguistic behaviour of bilingual speakers in intergroup contexts in two rural speech communities in Kenya. In order to achieve this, recordings were obtained from Luo/Luyia bilinguals in Kiboswa, and Luo/Gusii bilinguals in Suneka. The languages under study differ from each other in significant ways. Luo, for example, is classified as a Nilotic language (see.Stafford 1967), while Luyia and Gush are categorized as Bantu languages (Guthrie 1967). The major questions that motivated the research were: What linguistic strategies do bilingual speakers in linguistic border points use in intergroup communication? What Sociolinguistic patterns do these speakers exhibit and what are the stylistic functions of these patterns? The study found out that speakers in Kiboswa and Suneka use three linguistic strategies in intergroup interaction: convergence, divergence and code switching. These three strategies appeared to be influenced by situational factors (e.g. the household type), extra-linguistic factors (e.g. sex and age), social-psychological factors (e.g. desire for social approval and integration or asserting of one's ethnic group) and socao-cultural factors (e.g. jamwas being used in ritualistic practises). When the linguistic behaviour of the households was compared, certain patterns emerged. Generally, the households, appeared to exhibit very high scores for the own-group code and very low scores for the out-group code. Thus when intergroup communication took place in the home domain there was a general tendency for speakers to converge towards the ethnic language of the head of the household where the recording was done. This observation appears to be in line with what Giles & Robinson (1990) propose that during intergroup contexts speakers tend to converge to their listeners rather than diverge from them. However when convergence, divergence and code switching were correlated with the social variables of ethnicity, sex and age, although it appeared that all the social groups exhibited higher degrees of divergence than convergence; there was a general tendency for male groups, in the two study areas, to diverge more than female ones, and older speakers appeared to diverge more than the younger ones. No systematic patterns of Accommodation were observed in the ethnic groups. As regards Luo/Luyia and Luo/Gusii code switching all the respondents, irrespective of their social group and household type, appeared to display very low scores. This indicates that code switching is rarely used in exchanges involving ethnic and non-standardised languages. There were socio-psychological factors that motivated speakers in Kiboswa and Suneka to converge/diverge/code switch. Convergence, for example, was found to take place when speakers desired certain rewards e.g. receiving social approval and integratio+n from their listeners; making themselves socially attractive; increasing the efficacy of communication; making sales; inducing addressees to do run errands for them; minimising the impact of offensive acts; impressing their listeners and specifying the addressee to whom a message was intended. Speakers would weigh these rewards against the costs they were likely to incur in converging (namely; expended linguistic effort and a temporary loss of one's ethnicity). If rewards for converging outweighed the costs, speakers would converge but if the costs outweighed the rewards, speakers would diverge. For instance, speakers in this study diverged in order to: assert their ethnicity, subtly show disapproval of the people they were talking to, make slanderous statements about out-group members and show disapproval of the people they were talking about. These findings indicate that the divergence in Kiboswa and Suneka is as a result of social identity processes while convergence is due to similarity-attraction and social exchange processes (cf. Giles & Robinson 1990). As regards Luo/Luyia and Luo/Gusii code switching a number of factors appeared to be responsible. To determine these factors, the study categorised all the code switched material into three classes: sequential unmarked code switching, unmarked code switching and exploratory code switching (cf. Myers-Scotton 1993a). It became apparent that each type of switching was motivated by different factors. Sequential unmarked code switching, for example, was found to occur when there had been a change in one or more of the situational factors during a conversation e.g. when a new participant joined in the conversation or when the topic changed. Unmarked switching, on the other hand, was found to serve an emblematic role in the two communities studied and could occur even when there was no change in situational factors. Whenever speakers seemed to be unsure of the code to use on their respondents (e.g. when speakers were meeting their addressee's for the first time and the norms governing the interaction were not clear) they would employ exploratory switching. Thus each of these three categories of code switching was motivated by different factors. Inter-sentential and intea-sentential switches were observed in Kiboswa and Suneka. Our study found that inter-sentential switching could take place between L codes (i.e. ethnic languages) whereas intea-sentential switching could not. Thus, all instances of intea-sentential switching in our data have an H code (i.e. English and/or Swahili) serving as either the matrix or embedded language.
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    Morphological and syntactic errors in the spoken English of form two students in two schools in Gucha district, Nyanza Province
    (2014-05-26) Maina, Omai J; Njiri, James Maina; Kebeya, Hilda Udali
    This study looks at the morphological and syntactic errors in the spoken English of two groups of students herein coded as school A and school B respectively. The study was guided by three objectives. First, it was to identify and describe the morphological and syntactic errors in the spoken English of form two students. Secondly, we sought to determine the difference in performance in elicitation tasks between students who use English exclusively in school and those who do not. Our final objective was to infer thecause of errors in the students' spoken English. The study employed the interlanguage theory which focuses on the transitional competence of second language learners. Nemser 1971, Selinker 1972; assert that learners develop a set of approximate systems on their way to the target language. The learners possess a certain body of knowledge underlying the utterances they make. Data for this study was collected by use of a simple random sample of eight (8) students who were chosen from each of the schools A and B. They were subjected to a storytelling session on a topic (oral narrative) of their choice. On data analysis, the tape recorded data was transcribed. The various morphological and syntactic errors were identified. To determine the difference in performance in the elicitation tasks given, the transcribed data was scored out of20 for each of the students. We used chi-square test to find out if the two populations can be considered equal in performance. The study is divided into five chapters. The first chapter is the introduction. It tells us why and how this study will be carried out and what it intends to achieve. Chapter two is the literature review and theoretical framework. It helps to anchor the research firmly on its foundation. Chapter three is about the research methodology which gives details regarding the procedures used in conducting the study. Chapter four focuses on data analysis and interpretation. This is the raw data from the field is analyzed. Chapter five is a summary of the findings, conclusion and pedagogic implications of the study.