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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. InyaniMasinde 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