Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

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A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF KENYA’S BUILDING BRIDGES INITIATIVE SPEECHES
(Chuka University, 2023-10) GITONGA EURIDISE NKATHA
Language is vital in communication between people. People understand each other through shared knowledge between the speaker and the hearer. It is a major mechanism within the process of social construction, seen as an instrument for consolidating, manipulating concepts, seek attention, create relationships in the area of power, and use it as tool to control the society. Anchored in Critical Discourse Analysis theoretically, this study shed light on the crucial use of language in the society. The study sought to explain specific linguistic ways in which language is used to represent an instrument of control and manifest symbolic power in the Kenya’s Building Bridges initiative speeches. The study developed and proposed various strategies of (de) legitimization employed by political leaders in Kenya to justify their course of action regarding the Building Bridges initiative. The study was guided by two objectives; to analyze how political actors (de) legitimize the Building Bridges Initiative in Kenya and to analyze how political actors, use language to create a Kenyan identity through the Building Bridges Initiative discourse. Qualitative research methodology was used in this study, of which the descriptive survey method was employed for the analysis of data. YouTube videos of speeches made by specific political actors regarding the Building Bridges Initiative since November 2019 to 2021 were purposively sampled, transcribed and analyzed in their written form. De(legitimization) strategies were identified until saturation point was reached where no new strategies were being generated without resulting to redundancy. These were then categorized into thematic areas in accordance to the objectives of the study. The study established that strategies used by politicians in (de)legitimizing BBI were; authorization, rationalization, moral evaluation, and mythopoeic. It also established that majority of the speakers used language to attract attention, and advance ideologies that created a Kenyan identity. The study found that Kenya’s identity was to a large extent shaped negatively in the BBI discourse with only two out of the six having a positive orientation. These included: Kenya as a nation in need of national conversation, Kenya as a country struggling with tribalism and corruption and Kenya as a peaceful country with fairness and inclusivity. The information gathered in this study is useful to linguists since it provides them with ways to understand the language of politicians world over. Politicians may use language with hidden meaning that needs unravelling. Therefore, this study offers some of the ways of understanding and disambiguating what the politicians really say in their speeches. From the findings of this research, the researcher suggests the following areas for interested scholars: A study on creation of identity using other theories for example politeness theory, speech acts theory, or conceptual metaphor theory.
A History of Social Exclusion and Poverty of the Thagichu of Igembe Sub - County, Meru County from 1907 to 1962
(INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INNOVATIVE RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT, 2016-08) Kithinji, Caroline Mucece, Okelo,David O. and Kaburi, Muriungi Colomba
This study is on social exclusion and poverty of the Thagichu of Igembe Sub - County, Meru County in Kenya from 1907 to1962. The study traces the history of social exclusion of the Thagichu from the colonial epoch of the years1907 to 1962. Kenyan Government strategies towards alleviation of social exclusion and poverty between 2013 1nd 2015 are also explored. The study was guided by the theories of Underdevelopment, Materialistic Conception of History and Social Darwinism. The study employed the descriptive research design. Data was collected from oral, archival and secondary sources. A total of 50 people were purposively sampled and interviewed. Data from oral sources was corroborated with data from archival and secondary sources. The major findings of this research are that the Thagichu have been socially excluded by the colonial Government. This exclusion was noted in inadequate infrastructure like roads, schools, hospitals and lack of access to social services like banks compared to other areas of Meru County. The study also established that the government has come up with strategies that could help in tackling social exclusion and poverty of the Thagichu. Such strategies are building more educational facilities, provision of free primary and day secondary education, adult and continuing education, non-formal education and provision of educational funds through the constituency development fund and Affirmative Action Social Development Fund. Other strategies aimed at poverty alleviation are establishment of road networks, land adjudication, presence of NGOs, provision of formal employment, Health facilities, growth of an urban centre and Provision of electricity. This study has contributed to the Thagichu historiography
A pragma-semiotic analysis of communication strategies in vaccination campaigns against mpox in Kenya
(Chuka University, 2025) Chemiati, Rebecca Chemutai
The success of any public health campaign is dependent on its ability to strategically utilize various modes of communication to effectively convey complex health messages. Meaning-making in public health campaigns is dependent on the strategic integration of language and other modes of communication. Integration of these two linguistics fields provides a comprehensive understanding of how public health campaigns navigate through the complexities of effective communication in a multi cultural society. The motivation behind this study is based on the need to understand how semiotic and pragmatic elements collaboratively work to create meaning. The study focused on analysis of meanings and the functionality of speech acts in vaccination campaigns against Mpox in Kenya. This study adopted a descriptive research design guided by the Multimodal Theory by Gunther Kress and Theo van Leeuwen and John Searle’s Theory of Speech Act. The study population comprised all publicly available communicative materials used in the vaccination campaigns against Mpox in Kenya. Purposive sampling was used to identify campaign materials that possess linguistic elements only relevant to the study. A total of thirty campaign materials were sampled. However, the final sample size was dependent on the point of saturation. The data was sourced from official websites of institutions of public health and digital media platforms. An integrated pragma-semiotic approach was utilized during data analysis where visuals were classifieds as icons, indexes and symbols to examine their communicative functions while speech acts were analysed according to Searle (1976). This document is made up of six chapters; chapter one, two and three comprise the introduction, literature review and research methodology respectively. Chapter four highlights meanings in vaccination campaigns against Mpox in Kenya. The study finds that the campaigns made use of various semiotic resources such as icons, indexes, symbols, spatial arrangements, layouts and colour schemes which carried multiple meanings. The icon of a vaccine bottle for instance connotates hope through the administration of the vaccine which is a lifesaving substance. This reinforces the idea that the relevant authorities are concerned with the protection and preservation of life. Symbolically, this icon is a representation of defence and immunity.Chapter five engages speech acts in vaccination campaigns against Mpox in Kenya. The findings of the pragmatic analysis reveal the use of five types of speech acts as categorized by Searle (1976) and hierarchical structuring which operate as complex illocutionary arrangements. Chapter six contains the summary of findings, conclusions and recommendations. This study has validated that the union of pragmatic and semiotic elements in the campaigns against Mpox generated an integrative communicative power which not only informed the population regarding Mpox pandemic but also advocated certain preventive methods, primarily vaccination among high-risk groups. The study demonstrates how verbal and visual elements interact dynamically to produce persuasive messages that impact behaviour change. This study advances the theoretical frameworks utilized by demonstrating how various illocutionary acts are reinforced and modulated through semiotic resources to inform, create awareness and promote vaccination uptake. It bridges the gap between theory and applied communication practices. The integration thus provides a comprehensive understanding of the process of meaning-making. It offers insight on the role of communication strategies in the design of more effective public health campaigns.
An assessment of christians’ perception of christian marriage in the catholic church, our lady of visitation deanery, diocese of Embu, Kenya
(Chuka University, 2025) Mbogo, Gladwell Karimi
Marriage is one of the most important social institutions in the society. In the Catholic Church, it holds a profound religious and social significance. The Catholic Church teaches that marriage is one of the seven sacraments. It emphasizes on monogamy and indissolubility of marriage. There is lack of comprehensive research examining Christian’s practice of Christian marriage within Our Lady of Visitation Deanery. This study sought to assess Christians’ perception of Christian marriage in the Catholic Church, Our Lady of Visitation Deanery, Diocese of Embu, Kenya. The study was guided by the following objectives; to examine the role of the church teachings in shaping perception of Christian marriage, to evaluate factors influencing Christians’ perception of Christian marriage, to determine strategies for expanding the perception and practice of Christian marriage and to analyze the impact of societal changes on Christian marriage practices in Our Lady of Visitation Deanery. This study adopted structural functionalism theory to provide a better understanding of marriage as a social institution that fulfils key societal functions such as preservation of marital norms and values. A descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The target population was 5020 people. A sample of 357 respondents including the Clergy, married couples, members preparing to marry and unmarried members were selected through stratified random sampling and purposive sampling techniques. The researcher used questionnaires, interview schedule and focus group discussions to gather information. Quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS version 29 to generate descriptive statistics and inferential statistics, while qualitative data from the Clergy and unmarried members was analyzed thematically using coding, categorization and identifying of emerging patterns to interpret meanings and relevance to the research. Key findings of the study showed that most Christians in our Lady of visitation deanery value Church marriage as a sacred covenant that symbolizes faith, love and divine blessing. The study concluded that although church teachings shape Christians perception of church marriage, there is a gap between doctrinal teachings and practice of marriage. It recommended strengthening marriage catechesis and premarital counselling, continuous marriage formation, integration of culture and faith and Community sensitization in order to enhance the practice of church marriage. This study contributes to the growing body of knowledge on social-anthropological aspect of religion by showing how religion interacts with culture in shaping marriage practices and family relations.
ANALYSIS OF CROSS-METAPHORICAL COHERENCE IN G𝑰̃CHUKA SOCIAL DISCOURSE
(Chuka University, 2022-09) Miriti, Emise
ABSTRACT This study analyzed the different metaphors used in various G𝑖̃chuka speech events with particular focus on coherence in metaphors and the influence of social context on metaphor use. The aim of this study was to investigate how Gĩchuka social discourse is systematically structured by metaphor. Metaphor determines how people think, speak and how they create and understand their world. Metaphor overlap creates both metaphorical and disourse coherence which makes comprehension better. The objectives of this study were: to discuss the metaphors used to conceptualize various aspects of life in Gĩchuka social discourse; to analyze coherence in Gĩchuka social discourse and to establish how social context influences metaphor use in Gĩchuka social discourse. This study was guided by the Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) by Lakoff and Johnson. It employed purposive sampling of eleven Gĩchuka speech events which included: a dowry negotiation ceremony, funeral arrangement and burial ceremony, a religious meeting, a table banking activity (chama), a funds drive, a work activity, a birthday occasion, a house warming accasion, a home coming occasion for an initiate, a community charity meeting and a thanks- giving occasion to parents. Different and unrelated speech events which cut across the main Gĩchuka social domains were selected with the aim of eliciting varied metaphors by which phenomena is conceptualized in Gĩchuka social discourse. Pile Sort Tasks were used to group the data for analysis, and the various metaphors were identified using the Metaphor Identification Procedure Vrije Universiteit (MIPVU). This study found Gĩchuka social discourse to be highly motivated by metaphor. Ontological metaphors were the most predominantly used metaphors in Gĩchuka social discourse. The JOURNEY metaphor was found to be used simultaneously with most metaphors to create coherence within the discourse and among metaphors. The study establishes that the social context plays a significant role in metaphor use in Gĩchuka social discourse. This study deepens the understanding of the nature of metaphors that motivate Gĩchuka social discourse. The metaphors highlighted in this study will be useful for cross-culture studies. This study contributes to knowledge in cognitive linguistics by conventionalizing and invigorating the use of metaphors in Gĩchuka social discourse, which increases vitality in African languages.
Analysis of persuasive and politeness strategies used in sermons by pentecostal preachers in Nyeri County
(Chuka University, 2015) Kibuchi Robert Warui
Language is used to persuade, dissuade, manipulate, and develop diverse power and political beliefs. Politicians, lobbyists, corporate experts, and religious speakers, among others, achieve enormous power, influence, and profit by skillfully employing words.This research sought to discover the persuasive strategies and politeness used by religious preachers in their discourse within the church context. The purpose of this study was to analyze persuasive and politeness strategies used in sermons by Kenyan Pentecostal preachers in Nyeri county. The objectives that guided this study were; to describe the persuasive strategies used by Pentecostal preachers to execute their persuasion agenda and to analyze politeness strategies used by Kenyan Pentecostal Preachers in Kenya. The data source was audio recordings from the sermons of three preachers. The population of study was all the sermons with politeness and persuasive strategies. Purposive sampling was used to select five sermons with persuasive techniques and politeness. The research design of this study was qualitative. A card was used in this study by isolating the persuasive strategies and politeness strategies applied in the discourse of the Pentecostal preachers. Two theories were used to analyze data. Politeness theory was used to analyze data for the first objective while Aristotle theory of persuasion was used for the second objective. The study revealed that preachers employed different persuasive techniques to influence belief, evoke emotion and t encourage action. It was also found that the preachers strategically used a range of politeness strategies and they relied on the frameworks of the negative politeness, and positive politeness, bald-on-record and off-record communication. Indirectness, hedging, apologies depersonalized addressing characterized negative politeness strategies that are oriented towards maintaining the autonomy of the hearer. the preachers strategically used a range of politeness strategies and they relied on the frameworks of the negative politeness, positive politeness, bald-on-record and off record. The study is of relevance to sociolinguistics and pragmatics because it provides information on how politeness and persuasion works in the church discourse. In addition, the results offer helpful information to the interlocutors on the use of proper strategies to ensure successful and decent communication, where everybody during the contact feels listened to and appreciated. The results may form basis for effective sermon preparation to achieve different communicative goals. Further research can be done by doing a comparative study on the use of rhetorical devices among different denominations.
BLIS 402: MARKETING LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SERVICES
(Chuka University, 2024-12-19) Chuka University
BMET 230: MEDICAL AND VETERINARY ENTOMOLOGY
(Chuka University, 2023-12-19) Chuka University
BOTA 131: GENERAL MICROBIOLOGY
(Chuka University, 2023-12-19) Chuka University
CDEV 436: FAMILY LAWS AND POLICIES
(Chuka University, 2024-12-19) Chuka University
CDEV 00150: RESEARCH METHODS
(0023-04-13) CHUKA UNIVERSITY
CDEV 0100: FUNDAMENTALS OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
(Chuka University, 2024-12-16)
CDEV 0141: PRINCIPLES OF DISASTER MANAGEMENT
(0023-04-13) CHUKA UNIVERSITY
CDEV 0205: NETWORKING, LOBBYING AND ADVOCACY
(CHUKA UNIVERSITY, 2023-11-04) CHUKA UNIVERSITY
CDEV 212: COMMUNITY RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
(CHUKA UNIVERSITY, 2023-08-28) CHUKA UNIVERSITY
CDEV 212: COMMUNITY RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
(Chuka University, 2024-12-16) Chuka University
CDEV 220: CRIME AND DEVELOPMENT
(CHUKA UNIVERSITY, 2023-04-13) CHUKA UNIVERSITY
CDEV 222: COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION
(CHUKA UNIVERSITY, 2023-04-12) CHUKA UNIVERSITY
CDEV 224: COLLECTIVE MOVEMENTS IN COMMUNITIES
(CHUKA UNIVERSITY, 2023-04-13) CHUKA UNIVERSITY
CDEV 225: GROUP DYNAMICS
(CHUKA UNIVERSITY, 2023-08-03) CHUKA UNIVERSITY

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