Browsing by Author "Barasa, Margaret"

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    A discourse analysis examining how gender information is communicated through Kipsigis secular songs
    (KIBU, 2018-06-12) Koskei, Judy; Barasa, Margaret
    Since immemorial among African communities, songs have been used to relay information to the society. Secular songs have a significant influence on the way gender information is communicated in the society. However, little attention has been made by researcher to examine how secular songs in Kipsigis communicate message relating to gender. This paper examined how information relating to gender was communicated through Kipsigis secular songs. Specifically, the paper reports the extent and frequency to which various terms, phrases and metaphors have been utilised to convey specific information with regard to gender. This research was guided by social cultural approach to discourse analysis theory and feminist critical discourse analysis. A total of 15 Kipsigis secular songs were selected (sang by both women and male artists). The songs were translated to English from Kipsigis language to facilitate qualitative analysis process. Analysis of data was done through open coding and grounded theory. Research findings revealed that Kipsigis secular songs have a significant influence on the way gender was constructed in Kipsigis culture. Research findings showed that songs by female composers mainly advocated for women empowerment while songs by male composers advocated for female insubordination. The paper therefore concludes that secular song’s can shape the perceptions and views of community members towards gender issues. The influential role that music plays can influence construction of gender in Kipsigis society needs not to be underrated.
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    Performance differences and gender in Kiswahili creative writing: a case study of selected secondary schools in Nyamira County, Kenya
    (The Journal of Pan African Studies, 2013-09-04) Moochi, Charles N.; Barasa, Margaret; Ipara, Isaac O.
    This study investigated comparative differences in performance among boys and girls in Kiswahili creative writing in selected secondary schools in Kenya. The study was carried out in Nyamira County in Kenya located at a GPS of 0.5210° S, 34.9140° E. Simple random sampling, cluster and systematic sampling techniques were used to select the students. Ten secondary schools were used in the study and the sample comprised 180 students (on an equal distribution of boys and girls,). The research instrument was a Kiswahili creative writing task. The form 4 students were required to perform a task which involved writing an essay in Kiswahili. To reveal the sex differences in Kiswahili creative writing, the two-tailed t-test was used. The sex differences were considered significant if they were more than the critical value (t-critical: 2.576) at p<.01 based on 178 degrees of freedom. The study revealed that girls outperform boys in overall performance in Kiswahili creative writing, style and spelling conventions whereas the two sexes remained at par in content presentation, vocabulary use and use of grammatical elements in Kiswahili creative writing. In light of the above findings, the researcher generally recommends that students should be provided with remedial teaching to improve their performance in Kiswahili creative writing and a sex unit be established in the department of languages to monitor the progress of boys and girls among other many recommendations.