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Language and hate speech
(Africa International University, 2019-04-30) Agnes Asenwa Mungai
Every electioneering period in Kenya witnesses ethnic animosity that is fuelled by hate speeches by protagonists. Language is used as a tool that evokes bitterness and thereby injuring one’s emotions leading to conflict. This has polarized this country politically. Besides understanding hate speech, this paper looks at ways in which language can be used as a tool for peace-building and enhancing national coherence. This paper borrows greatly from Cognitive Grammar as advanced by Langacker (2008). I have intentionally employed Langacker's thoughts of Schematization, Conceptualization, Categorization, Domains, Base and Profile among others. If a linguistic item (for instance a word) can arouse ethnic animosity, is there a way in which we can achieve a less offensive conceptualization of that word? Key to this paper is that meaning is viewed as grounded in embodied human experiences and that it resides in the mind of the language users as conceptualization. Conceptualization is an interactive process between the language users. During this interaction, interpretation of meaning will depend on the knowledge of the notion at hand.
Leadership, Community, Charisma, And Culture Redefined: Acts 5:1–11; 8:14–24; 15:7–11
(Africa International University, 2015-04-30) Benea Alukwe Amakhungu
Resilient leadership and ethics are crucial to the success and stability of governments, corporate bodies, and institutions. Often, it seems, the need to keep an institution afloat takes priority, and leaders learn to ignore the qualms of their conscience when ethics threaten to block their ascent up the ladder. The Kenyan Vision 2030, which was built on three pillars; political, economic and social, appeals for a candid conversation on strong leadership and values, if only we provide the necessary foundations for achieving it. This paper seeks to examine the narratives of Ananias and Sapphira, Simon the Magician and the Jerusalem Council with the goal of providing both a model for leadership and a biblical theological perspective. This model could be adopted in engaging community life, charisma and culture in relation to the present working of God through his Spirit in the Global South, especially in Kenya. I will endeavor to demonstrate through a narrative study that the verbal repetitions of the words “heart,” “Holy Spirit,” “God” and “test/tempt” thematically link these narratives together. The repeated vocabulary hence suggests that the actions of Ananias and Sapphira, and Simon the Magician’s request (seeking to abuse the gift of the Spirit) are to be read in concert with the seemingly antithetical narrative of the Jerusalem Council. Therefore, reading the demands of the circumcision group at Jerusalem as an abuse of Israel’s culture as God’s people. The findings of the narrative study will be applied to the Kenyan context in an effort to remedy the prevalent abuses in our community, culture, and spirituality.
Fostering Responsible Citizenship through Effective Preparation for Harmonious Family Relationships
(Africa International University, 2018-12-31) Reverend Steve Oladunni Ogo-Olorun Ayorinde
Responsible citizenship is necessary for the development of any society and it can be learned
in our homes wherever there are harmonious family relationships. This is based on the
premise that the family is the first contact point of any citizen of a nation. Living
harmoniously is possible only if the couple who serves as the foundation of the family can
handle conflict responsibly. Conflict can be a catalyst for positive change if properly
handled. Responsible citizenship requires that citizens know how to handle conflicts which is
a direct function of having the right understanding of conflicts; such an understanding can
start from the home. This underscores the need for couples themselves to know how to handle
conflict before they can help their children. This study embarked on an exploration of the
effectiveness of preparation of intending couples for conflict transformation in marriage with
a view to understanding the present premarital counseling strategies and possible
improvements. This is a descriptive research that used one hundred and twenty (120) selfadministered
questionnaires and in-depth interviews of twenty persons. The respondents, all
of whose marriages were conducted in Baptist churches located in Port Harcourt, Nigeria,
have been married for at least five years and twenty-five years respectively. From the field
survey, four major themes were identified; namely, the strategies of premarital counseling,
major socio-cultural mindsets that promote conflicts, the role of pastors in handling conflict,
and how the Baptist church can help in conflict transformation in marriage. Key findings
include major kinds of premarital counseling, the most effective way of preparing people for
marriage, the attitude of most intending couples, a comprehensive counseling approach to
assist pastors, and negative socio-cultural mindsets that must change. The recommendations
include the need for marital mentorship, making one-on-one counseling more appealing to
couples through the use of technology.
Impact of Technology on Youths
(Africa International University, 2018-12-31) Sijuade Toyin Adeniyi
The English language plays a key role in Nigeria. It is a major means by which knowledge is
impacted. As a result of the advancement in technology, the language has gained more
recognition and has improved communication worldwide. However, many users especially the
youths have abused the use of social networking. In the past, the poor performance of students
in written English was attributed to inadequate motivation, teaching and learning environment,
and lack of facilities. Today, other factors have emerged as a result of technological
advancement and the internet. The spelling system of English is a major problem for the second
language user community. New forms of written expressions among youths now compound this.
The question is: what are the effects of social media on students’ writing? The question was
answered through a comparative review of the written text in social media and academic
settings. Samples of Nigerian youths' written texts were collected via social media platforms, in
addition to paragraph essays from various students in selected schools in Lagos. Findings
indicate that youths use new forms of expressions in their social communication, which may not
be understood by the older generation. Youths also do not abide by the grammatical rules in
both formal and informal writings as reflected in their writings. Therefore, it is recommended
that formal and non-formal writings should be taught comparatively in the classrooms to
increase awareness of the new forms of expressions that infiltrate academic writings. Also, for a
good quality of education to be promoted in Nigeria, teachers should discourage these new
forms of technological expression among youths.
The Kikuyu Conceptualization of Adoption
(Africa International University, 2018-12-31) Abigael Wangari Mbua
The process of Bible translation entails interpretation of concepts in the original text. Such interpretation calls upon translators/exegetes not to just reconstruct and analyze the conceptualization evoked by a biblical concept with regard to the conceptual universe of the author and his original recipients but also to analyze the conceptualization evoked with regard to the speakers of a receptor language. The underlying idea is to aid the translator/exegete, in a complementary way, to gain an understanding of the meaning of the original text. The aim of this approach to the translation task is to come up with a translation that is clear to the speakers of a receptor language. This paper concentrates on the concept of ‘adoption’ represented by the Greek term, huiothesia in Gal. 4:5; Rom. 8:15, 23; 9:4; and Eph. 1:5 Which is variously rendered in the English translation versions. Focusing on Kikuyu as a receptor language, the concept of adoption is represented by gũciarwo na mbũri ‘to be procreated by means of (slaughtering) a goat’ the Kikuyu label for adoption. The evoked conceptualization is analyzed using a Cognitive Grammar approach. Cognitive Grammar enables first the semantic characterization of the expression gũciarwo na mbũri and its components as grammatical constructions, second the analysis of the conventional conceptual content evoked by gũciarwo na mbũri and its components in the conceptual universe of the Kikuyu speakers. The evoked conceptual content is incorporated in the emergence of the meaning of the expression.