An Analysis of the Pragmatic Functions of Vague Language in Ekegusii

This paper provides an analysis of the pragmatic function of vague language use in everyday interactions in Ekegusii. The paper analyses the types of meanings conveyed by referring expressions such as: The plural “you” for singular reference, The inclusive “we”, The pronoun “they”, Down toners and Placeholders. The analysis applies Grice’s (1975) Cooperative Principle and Brown and Levinson’s (1987) Politeness Principle. The paper maintains that vague language is not a deviation from precision and clarity, but that it has a critical role that cannot be achieved through precise language. Key words: Vague language, pragmatics, meaning, Ekegusi

A comparative analysis of the sociolinguistic profiles of English in Kenya and Uganda

AbstractThis paper compares the historical and sociolinguistic contexts of English in Kenya and Uganda addressing several questions such as: What are the similarities and differences in the sociolinguistic profiles of English in these two East African countries? How do the roles English plays in Kenya compare to its roles in Uganda? Who are the users of English in Kenya, and how do these compare with the users in Uganda? Although there are several similarities in the sociolinguistic profiles of English in Uganda and Kenya, due to the different historical and political experiences these two countries have had, their sociolinguistic profiles differ in subtle yet significant ways making it necessary for these varieties of English to be described as distinct varieties instead of being viewed as one unified East African variety. Keywords: Language attitudes; functional allocations; English in Kenya[1] East Tennessee State University[2] University of Eastern Africa , Barato

KENYAN INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES IN EDUCATION: A WORLD OF POTENTIAL BENEFITS

Both African and international second language studies show that children who go through strong bilingual models which involve late exit from mother-tongue (L1) to a second language (L2) perform better linguistically and academically than those who go through subtractive and transitional models in which there is early-exit from L1 to L2 (Baker, 2000; Benson, 2005; Brock -Utne & Alidou, 2006; Cummins, 2000; Heugh, 2006; Truong, 2012). Despite these well documented findings on the benefits of using the learner’s mother tongue as a language of instruction, the debate on the language of instruction has persisted not just in Kenya but in several African countries.  In Kenya, English is used as a medium of instruction right from nursery school, or in some contexts from standard four, through university. As a result of this early introduction of English as a medium of instruction, most Kenyan children are denied a chance of developing literacy in their mother tongues. Due to this lack of development of mother tongue languages, Kenya like many African countries has not been able to attain the level of literacy and mass education which are instrumental in socio-economic development as well as in the promotion of peace and democracy in the African countries (Alidou, 2006).Key words: Mother tongue, literacy, Language of Instruction (LoI