Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies

Introduction to Corpus Linguistics

Xiaoyun Chen — 2023-11-01

No abstract.

Discourse Structuring Markers in English (A historical constructionalist perspective on pragmatics)

Yuanyuan Zhong — 2023-11-01

No abstract.

Socio-pragmatics of language use in selected Pentecostal churches

Devet Goodness — 2023-11-01

This article surveys the pragmatic and sociolinguistic functions of common expressions used in Pentecostalism. Data for this study were collected from three selected Pentecostal churches found in two districts of Dar es Salaam. Data were collected through observation and interviews with the selected Pentecostal believers who expressed their views on the choice and function of certain expressions used in Pentecostal churches. The study findings indicate that Pentecostal churches make great use of phrases and expressions found in the bible and common words used in ordinary conversation. These common words carry different tones and connotations such as fear and joy when they are adopted in the religious context. The study has noted some common expressions and structures. The common functions of these expressions and structures include, but are not limited to: attracting attention, comforting, identifying believers as belonging to the same faith, directing the congregants to perform certain acts, rebuking the devil, blessing, praising and exalting God. The article notes that the language style used in Pentecostalism conforms to norms found in this denomination, and this is manifested in the way its members select expressions, which mark their identity. Such expressions can be noted in prayers, preaching and announcements.

Chemical phonology: Relating phonemes and elements of the chemistry periodic table

Humphrey M. Kapau — 2023-11-01

Framed in the social constructivist and funds of knowledge framework, the article relates descriptions of phonemes in linguistics and elements of the periodic table in chemistry to show how the concept of a phoneme can be explained in a multidisciplinary manner to further the understanding of phoneme characteristics. The article argues that the concept of a phoneme can be understood to be similar to an element (with atoms as phonologically distinctive features), while an allophone is like an isotope. While some phonemes are like monatomic and diatomic molecules, others are like polyatomic molecules. In the formation of syllables, sounds combine with other sounds in a manner that can be imagined to be similar to chemical reactions in chemistry. The study comes up with the idea of Humphrey Kapau Spaces (HK Spaces) to account for the elasticity and endless manipulation of language and the possible adoption of new linguistic and phonetic features such as new allophones and phonemes and new words and idioms. Lastly, the article introduces the chemical phonology model (CPM), which draws from linguistics and chemistry for its explanatory power to re-imagine phonemes and the teaching and learning of aspects of phonology, and for enriched and more powerful cumulative discipline-crossing knowledge.

Cross-cultural conceptualisations of schizophrenia in Cameroonian languages

Rodolphe Prosper Maah — 2023-11-01

This article investigates the culturally constructed conceptualisations of schizophrenia in Cameroonian languages. Twenty languages from the four Cameroonian cultural areas were investigated using focus group discussions and individual interviews. A thematic analysis was used, and the results of these investigations indicate that the meaning attached to schizophrenia is culture specific. The sociocultural conceptualisation mainly reflects guilt in its spiritual dimension, impurity, punishment from the deity of justice, spirit possession, bewitchment, etc. Two main conceptualisations of schizophrenia or mental illnesses were discussed: the guilty type where schizophrenics are mostly considered to be under a spell as a result of their negative acts in the society; and the non-guilty types. It is assumed that the various choices made for treatment could be influenced by the culturally constructed conceptualisations revealed by the linguistic features analysed in this work. While some patients believe that their sickness is spiritual and the treatment for it should be spiritual, others go to hospital to seek medical care.

Establishing a research territory in economics: Implications for academic writing instruction

May Siaw-Mei Liu — 2023-11-01

Doing a literature review to establish a research territory constitutes an important task that both experienced and novice writers have to grapple with in research writing. While previous studies have focused on how research gaps are indicated, few studies have exclusively investigated the language resources needed to establish a territory, especially in economics. Using a genre-based textual analysis and inputs from specialist informants, we identified the key rhetorical strategies and language resources used by expert writers to review previous research in high impact publications. The results revealed that this overarching move focuses not only on centrality claims aimed at explicitly captivating the interest of the academic fraternity and real-world stakeholders, but also on previously published information signalling the breadth of knowledge acquired by writers. While specific ‘noun-prepositional phrase’ structures are used to indicate circumstantial exigencies, attributive adjectives depicting enormity are employed to signal growing scholarly engagement in a selected research domain. To furnish background information on previous research methods and findings, writers employ present-tense reporting verbs and gravity-enhancing expressions to delineate present alarming situations, thus demonstrating their readiness to stay current in economic situations. Our findings have pedagogical implications for designing instructional materials in economics and social sciences at large.

Sesotho ideophones as personal names: A systemic functional linguistics approach

Masechaba Mahloli L Mokhathi-Mbhele — 2023-11-01

This article explores Sesotho ideophones as personal names. These ideophones are described with a systemic functional linguistics (SFL) theory framework as they were awarded as enacted messages that explicate social functions. The study is a further alleviation of the problem of complacency of taking personal names for granted, a problem facing Sesotho speakers, unaware that these names arise from their daily discourse and have social functions. It is a qualitative study and data was collected from academic institutions – their enrolment, pass and graduation lists – and from radio and TV broadcasts, telephone directories, neighbours and many other sources. The aim is to establish that Sesotho ideophones deployed as onomastics reflect as the context of reference, the semiotic view that Basotho functionally capture their socio-cultural context to portray their experiences and views. The names employ various linguistic qualities to display the interpersonal ‘social fabric’ among speakers. Their application displays the name givers skill to realise an ideophone as a permanent onomastic inscription that reveals the name givers’ modality or evaluation of a birth context. It is concluded that these ideophones significantly illuminate the aspired form-meaning description of functional Sesotho normally overlooked by Sesotho grammarians. The study finds that a ideophone-onomastic feature supersedes the verb quality of ideophones and makes the verbal group and the nominal group interrelate. Further, it magnifies SFL in the description of Sesotho grammar and strengthens that Sesotho names are context-based texts. Further research could establish the real contexts that describe these ideophone choices as personal names. This study has implications for linguistics, language education, media and advertising and applied linguistics.

The comprehension of ellipsis in isiXhosa-speaking Grade 1 learners

Joanine Nel — 2023-11-01

Ellipsis occurs on and above sentence level, forming a part of the discourse-internal linguistic devices that children need to access and comprehend narratives and other classroom discourse for literacy and academic literacy development. A dearth exists in the knowledge about the development and mastery of ellipsis in child language, specifically for speakers of African languages regarding both first and second language acquisition timetables and contexts. This study aimed to ascertain how well Grade 1 isiXhosa first language (L1) learners, with isiXhosa as their language of learning and teaching (LOLT) compared to other Grade 1 isiXhosa L1 learners with English as their LOLT; while evaluating if gaps exist in the possible mastery and development of ellipsis with regard to the LOLT. The isiXhosa LOLT group mastered both noun and verb ellipsis by time 2, while the English LOLT group showed no mastery by time 2; although statistically significant development occurred between time 1 and 2 for the English LOLT group. A statistically significant difference is apparent in the comparison between the isiXhosa and English LOLT groups for both times and ellipsis types, which points to a lack of comprehension of ellipsis in a non-mother tongue LOLT, which may impact future literacy development.

Timing and effectiveness of media frames reporting the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria

KelvinFrancis Obitube — 2023-11-01

This article analyses media frames employed by the Nigerian media in reporting events of the COVID-19 pandemic. It determines the linguistic choices that shaped the intentions of the media and how they aligned with the timing and effectiveness that impacted the thoughts and actions expressed by Nigerians. Agenda setting theory, framing theory and speech act theory elucidated the media practice of consciously selecting words or expressions for creating frames of news reports to achieve their desired intentions of controlling public perceptions of events regardless of the authenticity. This study adopted a mixed-method research methodology. Data were obtained from Nigerian online media reports on COVID-19, and also from a questionnaire to collect quantifiable data from 500 respondents in Nsukka metropolis in Nigeria using cluster and purposive random sampling techniques. We adopted Austin’s speech act (1962) and Bateson’s (1972) framing theories as theoretical frameworks to analyse our data. We observed the domination of frames involving assertive, declarative and directive speech acts in the Nigerian media reports to create a ‘death-sentence’ image about COVID-19 and to evoke greater belief in their stories, and fear among the public. However, with unfolding events not matching the media frames, Nigerians began to doubt the media and the government. This development showed that such media frames had outlived their effectiveness and needed to change to retain the public’s attention after their ‘optimum effectiveness duration’ had expired. The failure to change them made the public develop their counter-frames. The study, therefore, advocates a constant change of news frames to retain public attention and a review of Bateson’s framing theory to reflect societal and environmental impacts on frame effectiveness.

Vocabulary size and comprehension of academic texts by Tanzanian university students: An exploratory study

John Misana Biseko — 2023-11-01

This study aimed at determining the influence of vocabulary size on comprehension of academic texts among 256 university entrants to whom English was a foreign language (EFL) and a medium of instruction. The study was carried out at the University of Dodoma (UDOM) involving first-year students who were taking English Vocabulary Building as one of the core courses. The study used the vocabulary size test (VST) and a reading comprehension achievement test (RCAT). The results show that, on average, participants had a vocabulary size of 4 300 word families and the mean score of 39.83 in RCAT. With regard to relationship between scores of VST and RCAT, the results show that the two variables had positive correlation, r = 0.75, p < 0.001, and R2 = 0.565, indicating that about 56.5% of the variability in reading comprehension was explained by vocabulary size. Further, the linear regression analysis showed that B = 1.13, p < 0.0001, meaning that an increase of one score in VST (100 word families) influenced an increase of 1.131 in the text comprehension score.