The Attitude of Teachers towards Varieties of a Language and Its Effects on Learners’ Education and Self Esteem

There are different varieties within the same language. It is argued that all varieties of a language are equal and none of the varieties are superior or inferior to the other varieties of the same language as far as their linguistic features and functions are concerned. However, in many languages the varieties are associated with prestige, power and prejudice of the society they are serving. It is generally said that societies have positive attitude towards the standard variety and negative attitude towards the non-standard varieties. In addition, the attitudes that speakers hold about the language varieties is reflected in academic setting. For this reason, attitudes towards varieties of a language have been an issue in education contexts.  Besides, the attitudes towards language varieties can affect their use in education and can have an impact on students’ learning and self esteem.  Therefore, this article will explore the attitude of teachers towards varieties of a language and the effects of teachers’ attitude on the students’ self esteem and education. Keywords:  Attitude, Education, Language Varieties, Self-esteem, Students,, Teacher

An Exploration into the Cultural, Political and Socio-economic Implications of Some Wolaita Songs: Focus on the Content

Ethiopia is the home of numerous peoples who belong to different ethnic groups and speak various languages. Wolaita People is one of the peoples who live in the Southern Ethiopia. They speak their own language known as Wolaita Language and have their own distinct indigenous culture and social identities. They express their beliefs, values, norms, traditions, politics, economy etc in various ways-one of which is via songs. The songs could contain different themes and may have cultural, political and socio-economic implications. But, there is little or no study on this topic. Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to explore the cultural, political and socio-economic implications of some selected Wolaita songs.  Descriptive research design was used to conduct this study. To achive the purpose of the study Wolaita songs that were written and sang by popular song writers and singers of Wolaita were selected. That is, some of the popular Wolaita Songs that were sung the last 10 years and got the attentions of Wolaita Song listeners were the focus of the analysis. Specifically, the songs that are mainly written in Wolaita language were the selected and analyzed. Content Analysis was employed to collect necessary data for this study. Then, the contents of some selected Wolaita songs were transcribed, translated and analyzed. From the analysis of the selected Wolaita songs different thematic contents were observed. Amongst in the song of Bungie Burungie entitled “Maataa Daannay Kawo Xona” literally means the last authority was Kawo Tona, political issues revealed. Another song by the same singer “Jalaa Garangee” was used to provoke identity and territory issues of the Nation and the People, Wolaita.  Besides, the song entitled “Dichaw Dandewos” literary means let’s work together for the development of Wolaita is mainly about the socioeconomic development of Wolaita. Furthermore, “Debideboyaq” of Aberash Gaga was sung to show the socio cultural life style of Wolaita.  Moreover, “Kasa Kaldiges” of Alemayehu Zasa and “Bali Soonoriya” of Bungie Burungie disclose the cultural festivity of Gifata, the Wolaita New Year celebration, its fortune and the likes. Hence, it can be deduced that some of the selected Wolaita songs have cultural, political and socio-economic implications. Keywords: Cultural, Economic, Social, Song, Wolaita People, Wolaita Songs, Wolaita Languag

An Exploration into the Contributions of Literacy for Development: Focus on How Literacy is Necessary for Social, Economic and Health Development

The concept of development is board which might include advancements in political, economic, social and cultural facets.  However, literacy is defined as something that enable individuals to be engaged in all those activities in which literacy is required for effective functioning of his/her group or society and it enable individuals to actively work for development of his/her society .Thus, Literacy is the key tool to make the workforce efficient. Thus, it can be said that literacy directly or directly enhances the working capabilities of people by providing them with the skills necessary for development. For this reason, literacy is considered as a central component of a country’s development. The main purposes of this article to explore how literacy is necessary in the development of a country by focusing on three pillars of development: Social, Economic and Health. Keywords: Capabilities, Country, Development, Economical, Education, Health, Individual, Literac

The Development of Written Afan Oromo and the Appropriateness of Qubee, Latin Script, for Afan Oromo Writing

Afan Oromo is the second widely speared indigenous language in Africa south of the Sahara (Mekuria,1994; Mohammed,1994). It is one of the major indigenous African languages that is widely spoken and used in most parts of Ethiopia and some parts of the neighboring countries (Mekuria, 1994). Besides, Afan Oromo has long history of and well developed oral tradition (Feyisa, 1996). Despite of this and the size of its speakers as well as its value as widely spoken language in the Horn of Africa, it remained as unwritten language for long period of time. As Tilahun (2006:113) stated “Until recently, Afan Oromo remained an oral rather than literary language.”  This article attempted to explore the development of written Afan Oromo and the appropriateness of Qubee, Latin script for Afan Oromo writing. Specifically, the article contains five major parts. The first part introduces Afan Oromo and its dialects. The second section presents the factors that delayed the development of written Afan Oromo . In the third section the early attempts to made by Oromo and foreign scholars to write in Afan Oromo is described.  The contribution of Onesmosi Nasib to the development of Afan Oromo writing is presented in the fourth section. Besides, the fifth part explores the contribution of Sheik Bakri Sapalo to the development of Afan Oromo writing. The attempts made by Oromos in 1960s until 1990s to develop the Afan Oromo writing system is presented in the sixhh section. Furthermore, the adoption of Latin script, qubee, as formal orthography of Afan Oromo is described in the last part. Keywords: Afan Oromo, Arabic Script, Ethiopic Script, Latin Script, Oromo People, Qubee, Roman Script, Sabean Scrip

Thematic Analysis of an Afan Oromo Song Entitled “Fayaa Moo”

The main purpose of a song is to communicate certain messages, tell a story, illustrate drama, express great power and religion, and preserve cultural traditions.  Hence, songs are written for different purposes and in different situations. Songs can express numerous realities of the society such as culture, politics, social, economic, religious etc. Hence, it is said that societies across the globe compose their own songs in various situation and for different purposes. This fact is also common among the peoples of Ethiopia. Ethiopia is the home of numerous peoples who belong to different ethnic groups and speak various languages. Amharic and Afan Oromo are two major languages spoken which are spoken in Ethiopia. Various songs have been written, composed and produced in these two languages. The songs could contain different themes and may have different shortcomings. Hence, this study is intended to: Assess general themes communicated by the song, The short comings observed and areas that needs consideration and Implications of the song for the use of language.  To do so, the song entitled ”Fayaa Moo”  was selected from the 13th track in the Jahlude’s album “Yachin Neger”. Like other songs in the album,’’Fayaa Moo” is arranged in Reggae style. Regarding the lyrics, the poem of the song is written in both Afan Oromo and Amharic. Before directly began analyzing the song, it is necessary to see its lyric. Thus, the lyric of the song is taken from the original cover of CD.  For the purpose of analysis, the stanza of the song is coded. Finally, the song is generally analyzed considering its overall content, message, language use and   strong and weak sides. Keywords: Fayya Moo, Afan Oromo, Song, Lyrics,Jahluud

Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks, 1990-2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015

Forouzanfar MH, Afshin A, Alexander LT, et al. Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks, 1990-2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015. LANCET. 2016;388(10053):1659-1724.Background The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2015 provides an up-to-date synthesis of the evidence for risk factor exposure and the attributable burden of disease. By providing national and subnational assessments spanning the past 25 years, this study can inform debates on the importance of addressing risks in context. Methods We used the comparative risk assessment framework developed for previous iterations of the Global Burden of Disease Study to estimate attributable deaths, disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), and trends in exposure by age group, sex, year, and geography for 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks from 1990 to 2015. This study included 388 risk-outcome pairs that met World Cancer Research Fund-defined criteria for convincing or probable evidence. We extracted relative risk and exposure estimates from randomised controlled trials, cohorts, pooled cohorts, household surveys, census data, satellite data, and other sources. We used statistical models to pool data, adjust for bias, and incorporate covariates. We developed a metric that allows comparisons of exposure across risk factors-the summary exposure value. Using the counterfactual scenario of theoretical minimum risk level, we estimated the portion of deaths and DALYs that could be attributed to a given risk. We decomposed trends in attributable burden into contributions from population growth, population age structure, risk exposure, and risk-deleted cause-specific DALY rates. We characterised risk exposure in relation to a Socio-demographic Index (SDI). Findings Between 1990 and 2015, global exposure to unsafe sanitation, household air pollution, childhood underweight, childhood stunting, and smoking each decreased by more than 25%. Global exposure for several occupational risks, high body-mass index (BMI), and drug use increased by more than 25% over the same period. All risks jointly evaluated in 2015 accounted for 57.8% (95% CI 56.6-58.8) of global deaths and 41.2% (39.8-42.8) of DALYs. In 2015, the ten largest contributors to global DALYs among Level 3 risks were high systolic blood pressure (211.8 million [192.7 million to 231.1 million] global DALYs), smoking (148.6 million [134.2 million to 163.1 million]), high fasting plasma glucose (143.1 million [125.1 million to 163.5 million]), high BMI (120.1 million [83.8 million to 158.4 million]), childhood undernutrition (113.3 million [103.9 million to 123.4 million]), ambient particulate matter (103.1 million [90.8 million to 115.1 million]), high total cholesterol (88.7 million [74.6 million to 105.7 million]), household air pollution (85.6 million [66.7 million to 106.1 million]), alcohol use (85.0 million [77.2 million to 93.0 million]), and diets high in sodium (83.0 million [49.3 million to 127.5 million]). From 1990 to 2015, attributable DALYs declined for micronutrient deficiencies, childhood undernutrition, unsafe sanitation and water, and household air pollution; reductions in risk-deleted DALY rates rather than reductions in exposure drove these declines. Rising exposure contributed to notable increases in attributable DALYs from high BMI, high fasting plasma glucose, occupational carcinogens, and drug use. Environmental risks and childhood undernutrition declined steadily with SDI; low physical activity, high BMI, and high fasting plasma glucose increased with SDI. In 119 countries, metabolic risks, such as high BMI and fasting plasma glucose, contributed the most attributable DALYs in 2015. Regionally, smoking still ranked among the leading five risk factors for attributable DALYs in 109 countries; childhood underweight and unsafe sex remained primary drivers of early death and disability in much of sub-Saharan Africa. Interpretation Declines in some key environmental risks have contributed to declines in critical infectious diseases. Some risks appear to be invariant to SDI. Increasing risks, including high BMI, high fasting plasma glucose, drug use, and some occupational exposures, contribute to rising burden from some conditions, but also provide opportunities for intervention. Some highly preventable risks, such as smoking, remain major causes of attributable DALYs, even as exposure is declining. Public policy makers need to pay attention to the risks that are increasingly major contributors to global burden. Copyright (C) The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd