Program
(Events will be held in different rooms. Please check the location of each session.)
Thursday, October 6
9:00 – 9:30 Luce Hall Room 203 (2nd floor)
34 Hillhouse Avenue
WELCOME AND OPENING REMARKS
Kiarie Wa’Njogu, Director, Program in African Languages
Michael Cappello, Chair, Council on African Studies
Eddie Mandhry, Director for Africa, Office of International Affairs
9:30 – 11:00 Luce Hall Room 203
KEYNOTE PRESENTATION I
Moderator: Sandra Sanneh, Program in African Languages, Yale University
Urban Youth Languages in South Africa - A Contact Linguistics Perspective
Rajend Mesthrie, Chair, Department of Linguistics, University of Cape Town
11:30 – 1:00 Session I 204 Prospect Street Room B02
AFRICAN LANGUAGES, SOCIAL MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY I
Moderator: Deborah Agboola, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria
1. Indigenous African Languages and Technology: Yoruba 101 Example
Adebayo Adegbembo, Genii Games
2. Language Choice on Social Media and Emerging Issues in Writing in African Languages: Case of Tugen Sub-Dialect of the Kalenjin
Joseph Rotumoi, Jacqueline Kandagor, Department of Curriculum Instruction and Education Management, University of Kabianga, Kenya
3. Features of Translation in Kiswahili Usage: A Study of English Features in Kiswhaili Social Media Interactions
Pendo S. Malangwa, Department of Kiswahili Language and Linguistics, Institute of Kiswahili Studies, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
11:30 – 1:00 Session II 204 Prospect St. Room B03
LANGUAGE VARIETIES, SOCIAL MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY II
Moderator: Mwenda Mukuthuria, Department of Languages, Mount Kenya University, Thika, Kenya
1. Leveraging Language Technology In the Research of Use of Kiswahili among Young Social Media Users in East Africa: A Corpus Linguistic Approach
Hezekiel Gikambi Peter, Moi University and Multimedia University, Nairobi, Kenya
2. Informal Speak propelled by Social Media: The Case of Engsh in Kenya
Sylvia Kadenyi Amisi, Freelance Professional Conference Interpreter, Nairobi, Kenya
3. Technological Innovations in Africa: Indigenous African Languages and Technology in the South African Education Sector
Phephani Gumbi, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
2:00 – 3:30 Session III 204 Prospect St. Room B02
LANGUAGE VARIETIES: PIDGIN AND SLANG
Moderator: Phephani Gumbi, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
1. Forms and Function of Wafi Slangs
Emuobonuvie M. Ajiboye, Department of Languages and Linguistics, Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria
2. The ‘Xaxa’ Phase of Sheng: A Looming Linguistic Revolution in Kenya
Reuben Kiyondi Ondara, Kisii University, Kisii, Kenya
3. Language Varieties and the Media: Pidgin English in Jingles
Deborah Agboola, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria
2:00 – 3:30 Session IV 204 Prospect St. Room B03
LANGUAGE VARIETIES AND TRADE/BUSINESS
Moderator: Kiarie Wa’Njogu, Program in African Languages, Yale University
1. Language and Economic Liberations in Africa: The Use and Disuse of Sheng’ as a Tool for Economic Liberation Among Youth in Kenya
Eddy Gicheru Oketch, Peace for African and Economic Development (PAD)
2. Mbao! Mbao! Stage Zote: An Analysis of Sheng in the ‘Matatu’ Industry in Nairobi City
Sheila P. Wandera-Simwa, Department of Literary and Communication Studies, Laikipia University, Laikipia, Kenya
3. Sheng’: A New Language Variety In The Business Discourse In Kenya?
Samuel M. Obuchi, Department of Kiswahili & Other African Languages, Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya
3:30 – 5:00 Session V 204 Prospect St. Room B02
ENGLISH AND AFRICAN LANGUAGES
Moderator: David Malinowski, Center for Language Study, Yale University
1. A Sociolinguistic Analysis of a Contemporary Tsotsitaal Poem Titled: “Ekhoneni” by Siyabonga Sikhakhane
Abednego Mandlenkosi Maphumulo, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
2. Linguistic Culture and the Discourse of Advertising- The Case of Coca & Mobile Phone Ads in Dar es Salaam
Charles Bwenge, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
3:30 – 5:00 Session VI 204 Prospect St. Room B03
LANGUAGE VARIETIES AND POP-CULTURE
Moderator: Leonard Muaka, Winston Salem State, N.C./Howard University, Washington D.C.
1. New Swahili Varieties: Transcending Uncharted Boundaries in Nairobi
Mungai Mutonya, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri
2. The Use of Catchy Kiswahili Phrases and Musical Ringtones in Enhancing a Cut-Throat Competition in Mobile Phone Communication: The Case of Tanzania
Elias J. Magembe, Department of World Languages and Culture, American University, Washington D.C.
3. A River from Rivulets? A Study of Sheng vis-à-vis Indigenous Kenyan Languages and Modern Technology
Patrick Iribe Mwangi, Department of Kiswahili, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya
5:00 - 7:00 Luce Hall Common Room
RECEPTION
Friday, October 7
9:30 – 11:00 Luce Hall Room 203
KEYNOTE PRESENTATION II
Moderator: Oluseye Adesola, Program in African Languages, Yale University
The Accidental Lingua Franca: The Paradox of The Pidginization of the Nigerian Linguistic Space
Francis Egbokhare, Department of Linguistics, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
11:30 – 1:00 Session VII Luce Hall Room 202
LANGUAGE VARIETIES, ENVIRONMENT, TECHNOLGY AND MEDIA
Moderator: Patrick Iribe Mwangi, Department of Kiswahili, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya
1. An Evaluation of Swahilihub as an Online Digital Platform in Enhancing the Use of African Languages: The Case of Kiswahili in East Africa
Owino Anthoney Oloo, Kibabii University, Bungoma, Kenya, K.S. Inyani, Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, Kakamega, Kenya, J. Habwe, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya
2. Defiance from Below in Urban Linguistic Choices
Leonard Muaka, Winston Salem State, N.C./Howard University, Washington D.C.
3. Sheng’ No Longer Sheng’ But a Powerful Tool of Communication Influencing Development in Urban Settlements in Kenya and Beyond
Mwenda Mukuthuria, Department of Languages, Mount Kenya University, Thika, Kenya
11:30 – 1:00 Session VIII Luce Hall Room 203
YOUTH LANGUAGE VARIETIES AND POLITICS
Moderator: Mariame Sy, African Language Program, Columbia University.
1. The Uses of Sheng in Political Discourses
Aurelia Ferrari, French Ministry of Foreign Affairs
2. From Unbwogable to Tunawesmake: Sheng as a Language of Political Mobilization in Kenya
Bosire Mokaya, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon
3. Translanguaging In Swahili-Based Youth Language Practices
Nico Nassenstein, Institute for African Studies & Egyptology, University of Cologne
2:00 – 3:30 Session IX Luce Hall Room 202
LANGUAGE VARIETIES AND EDUCATION
Moderator: Zoliswa Mali, Southern African Languages, Boston University
1. African Languages Going Nowhere Slowly at a ‘Bilingual’ University in South Africa
Dianna Moodley, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
2. Language Purism in Education at the Globalizing Times
Lydiah Kiramba, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska
3. Sheng as a Language of Instruction for Technical and Vocational Training in Kenya: Prospects and Challenges
Argwings Otieno, Pwani University, Kilifi, Kenya
2:00 – 3:30 Session X Luce Hall Room 203
LANGUAGE VARIETIES AND AGE
Moderator: Charles Bwenge, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
1. Youth Language and the Applicability of Demographic Categories
Steffen Lorenz, Institute for African Studies, University of Cologne
2. Emerging Trends in Advertising in Ghana and Tanzania: The Use of Urban Youth Languages
Jemima Asabea Anderson, Department of English, University of Ghana, Josephine Dzahene-Quarshie, Department of Modern Languages, University of Ghana
3. Kindubile, the Swahili Slang Spoken by Street Kids in Lubumbashi (DRC): Understanding the Paradox of its Uses
Georges Mutambwa Mulumbwa, Université de Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo