Department of English, Literature, Journalism and Mass Communication

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://erepository.kibu.ac.ke/handle/123456789/101

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    Assessing argumentative normativity in the english medium Kenyan newspaper editorials from a linguistic-pragmatic approach
    (2012) Ben, Nyongesa; Wekesa
    The paper explores argumentative Normativity in the English medium newspaper editorials in Kenya. The paper aimed at establishing whether the editorials meet the logical, dialectal and rhetorical demands as aspects of Normativity. Four editorial texts were analysed from a Linguistic-Pragmatic approach. The Rhetorical Structure Theory and Text-Type Theory were used as descriptive tools. The findings show that editorials in the Kenyan newspaper discourse adhere to the classical structure of argumentation and that different clause relations signal the editorial structural components, opinion and arguments though implicitly. Interpersonal relations are preferred to ideational-textual relations. Pragmatically, editorials are written to shoulder the burden of proof; however, this is determined by the acceptability or unacceptability of the claim depending on the context and external constraints playing a role within the particular argumentative framework in which this claim is supposed to play its argumentative role.
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    Cartoons can talk? visual analysis of cartoons on the 2007/2008 post-election violence in Kenya: a visual argumentation approach
    (Sage Publications, 2012-05) Wekesa, Ben; Nyongesa
    The growing influence of the visual media in contemporary society is quite alarming; hence, learning to explicate them is inevitable. This is a paradigm shift from verbal argumentation to visual argumentation. The aim of this article is to contribute to the understanding of visual analysis and visual literacy, a part of discourse analysis. Visuals employ a number of rhetorical devices; however, understanding the effectiveness of these devices is still a challenge. Adopting Visual Argumentation Theory, the article analyzes argumentation in cartoons on the post-election violence that rocked Kenya in 2007/2008. From the analyses, it is concluded that visuals can argue as simply and forcefully as their verbal counterparts. The blending of caricature and portraiture makes them even more explicit as portraiture denotes the characters so that we can recognize who they are; caricature ridicules them, analogy attributes actions to them in a satirical or sarcastic way, and cultural memory is needed to access the reference to the analogies. Visuals are designed to make the reader think not only about the event or the people being portrayed but also about the message being communicated. This means visuals have the ability to stretch the truth beyond caricature or mere amusement.
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    Violation of linguistic and patient’s rights in Kenya
    (United states international university (USIU), 2012) Wekesa, Ben; Nyongesa
    Health communication, particularly patients’ rights, has become an issue of concern in the recent past. This paper exposes the patients’ rights violation on two main planes: the linguistic plane and the right to information plane. The paper also assesses the world trend on the aforementioned violations and finally contextualises the patient-physicians relationship models. The paper makes the following observations: there is need to reinforce the law on package inserts, especially, the inserts for the patients in both content and language. The PPIs should be translated into Kiswahili for ease readability and access to information. There is also need to enlighten the public and patients in particular on the patients’ rights and enact and implement the Freedom of Information for the public to hold the state responsible for accountability and quality service including health services. Lastly, the paper recommends the adoption of interpretive model which harmonises physician’s medical facts and the patient’s personal values in arriving at a balanced decision on health issues.