This paper analyzes the prophetic speech of Ga spirit mediums in terms of its linguistic style and its socio-religious function. As used in the study, "prophetic speech" is understood to have two major characteristics: (1) glossolalic style, and (2) prophetic message content, and it is used by people believed to be possessed by spirits. Prophetic…

The materials in this course are designed to be taught by an instructor who speaks Yoruba as her/his first language and, in addition, has a good knowledge of English. The mimicry, manipulation, and memorization phase consists of three parallel columns: Column A lists the lexical items to be introduced, Column B gives the pronunciation of some…

This book, designed as a combined teacher's manual and text, presents 20 lessons in Maniyaka (Mandingo), a language spoken in Liberia. It represents about 300 hours of study and is the equivalent of a first year college language course. Each lesson is divided into three sections: texts, grammar exercises and cultural information, and suggestions…

This handbook presents samples of the Kabiye language in various contexts, such as folk tales, newspaper articles, personal histories, articles on Kabiye history and culture, and a selection of Togolese government literacy texts. Much of the material is presented in a facing-page bilingual format, with a translation in either English or French. In…

This handbook presents samples of the Soninke language of West Africa in various contexts, such as folk tales, newspaper articles, personal histories, articles on history and culture, and articles on activities likely to be undertaken by Peace Corps volunteers. Much of the material is presented in a facing-page bilingual format, with a translation…

This report describes the scope and aims of the Survey of Language Use and Language Teaching in Eastern Africa. An outgrowth of a series of ICSLP conferences (International Conference on Second Language Problems, jointly sponsored by the Center for Applied Linguistics, the British Council, and the Bureau pour l' Enseignement de la Langue et de la…

The value of teaching Standard English as the language of school and mainstream middle class culture is undisputed, yet Black English, as a non-standard English dialect, has great potential as an instructional tool in the composition classroom. The use of the black dialect can help expand black students' intellectual potential by de-stigmatizing…

In developing nations educational technology is needed to meet demands for education, to supplement formal education, and to combat illiteracy and underdevelopment. While new technologies have the capacity to provide current and equal access to information and education, most countries lack the funds and motivation to use the media for educational…

This paper reviews the evidence that Proto-Niger-Congo was a tone language with only two level tones and seeks to find the evidence that will explain how some of the descendant languages have more than two tones. In particular it shows how synchronic tone rules in Cama and consonant correspondences between Cama and Yoruba suggest a new factor in…

This volume, a collection of selected papers from the Conference on African Languages and Linguistics organized by the Department of Linguistics of the University of Illinois and held at Urbana-Champaign on April 24-25, 1970, contains: W. E. Welmers, "The Typology of the Proto-Niger-Kordofanian Noun Class System"; D. Dalby, "A…

This collection of essays, originally published in the 1950's, discusses South African literature from a perspective which emphasizes writers who resisted the society of the colonizers. All of the essays were written by a native black South African scholar. The essays deal with (1) the people and their languages; (2) traditional poetry; (3) the…

This English-Mandinka dictionary is part of the Peace Corps language training instructional materials series. Many of the entries include sample sentences illustrating the use of a given item. (CLK)

Discusses some assumptions regarding computer-assisted language learning (CALL) in generative-based African languages, with references to Bantu languages and the OluTsooto dialect of Luyai, a language of Kenya. Elements of a computer program that produces superficial forms from underlying forms of that language are described. (Author/CB)

The weaknesses and shortcomings of the present language programs in African universities are reviewed along with some plans for future development. The design of a course in language and culture is outlined. (JMF)