Whom do scientists talk to? Themselves or the general public?

ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES ADRRI JOURNALS (www.adrri.org) E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1 (7), January, 2022- March, 2022 A Comprehensive Understanding into the Drivers of Lean Implementation in the Public Sector in Ghana 1 Khinanwin Nyande , Seidu Al-Hassan2, and Damasus Tuurosong3 1 Department of Social, Political and Historical Studies, University for Development Studies, Ghana. 2 Department of Food Security and Climate Change, University for Development Studies, Ghana. 3 Department of African and General Studies, Simon Diedong Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies, Ghana. 1 Correspondence: [email protected] Available Online: 31st March, 2022 URL: https://journals.adrri.org/index.php/home Abstract Lean thinking is a method to remove different types of waste in an organizational process. Lean thinking helps to improve the present quality of processes and guarantee positive fiscal and economic results as well as improving the performance of the employees. The objective of the study was to examine the drivers of the Lean implementation processes at DVLA in Ghana. A total of 399 respondents were selected to participate in the study. The key drivers of the Lean implementation processes at DVLA in Ghana were making sure the customers are always satisfied with the services rendered, and having a leadership with a Lean ideology. These drivers are important steps if the Authority wants to reap the benefits of Lean by focusing on eliminating wastes such as long waiting time, motion, overproduction, corruption, defects, transportation etc. that occur within the process. It was therefore recommended that employees and management of the Authority should adopt positive work ethics whiles focusing on the key drivers of Lean implementation. Keywords: lean implementation, drivers, waste, customer satisfaction, organization [Cite Article as: Nyande, K., Al-Hassan, S., and Tuurosong, D. (2022). A Comprehensive Understanding into the Drivers of Lean Implementation in the Public Sector in Ghana. ADRRI Journal of Arts and Social Sciences, Ghana: Vol. 19, No.1 (7), Pp.119-146, E-ISSN: 2343-6891, 31st March, 2022.] [ Received: (January 1, 2022) [[ Accepted: (March 31, 2022) 119 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE INTRODUCTION Expanding global competition, emerging new technologies, and improved communication have increased customers’ expectations for full satisfaction with products and services they purchase (Canel et al., 2000). Consequently, in recent years, many manufacturing and service companies have been challenged to increase their focus on customer satisfaction and quality of products and services. Confronting the challenges of global competition, companies world-wide are forced to find ways to reduce costs, improve quality, and meet the ever-ending needs of customers (Canel et al., 2000). Most organizations nowadays are always in search of answers to meet the difficulties of competition and marketplace in order to move up the hierarchy in the active market setting (Sinha and Matharu, 2019). Service sector including government agencies around the world adopt lean management which is mostly used in manufacturing companies in order to cope with the increasing pressure to improve efficiencies and deliver quality services to customers (Asnan et al., 2015). With shrinking budgets and a slow economy, it is becoming increasingly important for all government agencies to become more efficient. Citizens expect and deserve efficient and effective services from federal, state and local government agencies. One of the best methods to improve efficiency and eliminate waste is to institute the business process improvement methodologies known collectively as Lean (Shepherd, 2012). The word “lean” refers to lean manufacturing or lean production as it uses less of everything, compared to mass production. It only uses half of the human effort in the factory, half of the manufacturing space, half of the investment in tools and half of the engineering hours to develop a new product in half the time (Wahab et al., 2013). A Lean Manufacturing company typically uses some alternatives as an approach that seeks to better organize and manage a company's relationships with its customers, supply chain, product development, and production operations, whereby it is possible to increase productivity by efficiently utilizing the resources (Junior and Mendes, 2017). 120 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE In Ghana for instance, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) is a semiautonomous public sector institution under the Ministry of Transportation. It was formed by Act 569 of 1999 for safeguarding road safety for all users (Wireko and Skouby, 2016). The DVLA is authorised to encourage good driving values in the nation, and safeguard vehicles that are roadworthy. Its idea is to be a trustworthy institution with universally recognized standards for vehicle and driver licensing (Amegavi, 2015). Amegavi (2015) argued that the manual system at DVLA was beset with irregularities including human interference, fraud and influence in the testing procedure, leakage of the driving examination questions and impersonation. The Ghana Audit Service (2006) also explained that customers at DVLA wait for long hours to be served. Also, the Ghana Integrity rated DVLA as the most corrupt organization in Kumasi (AppiahDolphyne, 2020). Allway and Corbett (2002) observe that the Lean approach has become well-known in improving operations and profitability of manufacturing companies and can be successfully adopted in many service-sector firms. They explain a rigorous five-phase process and point out how an insurance company successfully adopted the lean approach through this process. Vignesh et al., (2016) investigate lean practices in the municipal sector in a service supply chain management (SCM) context. They analysed lean implementation in Danish municipalities. They proposed a model that illustrates the conditions under which lean is most appropriate according to the type of service delivered. The results show that lean is mainly implemented as “toolbox lean,” such as with value stream mapping, kaizen and information boards. Thus, the research examines the factors or drivers that push for a full Lean implementation at DVLA in Ghana. The results from this study will provide additional information on Lean thinking in the service sector which could be beneficial to policy makers and researchers in academia. The remaining part of the research looks at the literature review in relation to Lean, and the methodology that was used in the study. The study further presents the results and discusses it with relevant literature. The final aspect of the research looks at the conclusions and recommendations. 121 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE LITERATURE REVIEW Lean in the Service Sector Lean Thinking has an extensive history in the manufacturing sector. It is newer to the service sector and more precisely the public sector, with few instances before the year 2000 (Hines, 2011). Lean is a theory that accepts the expenditure of all kinds of possessions that focuses on the creation of value for the end customer and removal of waste. The method of thinking stated by a set of values, augmented by diverse techniques and tools aids in effective performance improvement, waste elimination, reduction in inventory, and optimal quality level to the final clients (Ciarnienea and Vienazindiene, 2015). Asnan, Nordin and Othman (2015) explain that government organizations have adopted the Lean thinking ideology in order to improve efficiency and effectiveness so as to make sure the client gets value for the services rendered. Yet many public service organizations are not able to completely operationalize the Lean thinking ideology and sustain it. Resistance to change was one of the main problems encountered during the Lean operationalization process. Thus, change management was recommended for public institutions so as to improve service delivery. It is very true that constant change management and adopting positive change yields extra benefits to every organization that wants to implement Lean thinking. This study will build on the explanation by the authors to examine if change actually plays an important role in eliminating non-valued activities or waste at DVLA in Ghana. Radnor et al., (2006) explain that Lean was established to function in the Scottish public sector by concentrating on the values of decreasing waste, improving the work flow, increasing the knowledge of the client, and producing a process view. Through the case and pilot research, institutional willingness was also established to be serious. The research proposed that institutions should reflect if they have a capability, resources and mindset and pledge for change. The authors explained that for Lean thinking to be persistent in the public sector, the aims of the program should be incorporated and connected into the plan of the organization. 122 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE Radnor et al., (2015) also argue that Lean has been included through public services, comprising central government, healthcare and local government establishments. The operationalization of Lean values in healthcare, mainly hospitals has removed identical procedures and needless processes such as: recording patient information in numerous places; unnecessary waiting for health workforce; and uncoordinated, mutable discharge procedures causing a longer duration of stay (Radnor et al., 2015). This study will build on the assertion by the above authors and confirm whether waste such as longer waiting time exist at DVLA in Ghana. Kanakana (2013) conducted a research using secondary data on review of Lean in the Service industry particularly the hospitals, food sector, public sector, airline industry, financial and educational sectors. The results indicated that there was successful implementation with challenges on implementation strategy as well as benefits derived after implementation. The findings agree that Lean thinking can be applied successfully in the public sector just like in any other service sector organization even though this setting is more multifaceted; its clients are more different and client demands are often explained by diverse stakeholders such as politicians, experts, and users. Consequently, in spite of Lean thinking being prosperous in public sectors institutional development, cost efficiency must continue to be the core focus. Pedersen and Huniche (2011) state that the achievement of Lean in the public sector is grounded by the following factors: Balance of power; Complexity and importance; Goals and values; and Resource and capabilities. The methodology used in the research by Kanakana (2013) could not hold since the author focused on using secondary data instead of primary data for various service sector organizations. The study could have been interesting if the author had focused on only one area like this current study is using DVLA as a basis for examining the waste in relation to Lean thinking. Nicole and Marijn (2012) investigated the concept of Lean thinking in the public sector using egovernment services to find out whether the usage of Lean will be sustainable with many benefits. Although Lean has been widely studied in the manufacturing sector with huge benefits, its implementation in the public sector is small. The authors revealed that Lean has contributed to the reduction of waste and improvement of efficiency. The main emphasis of 123 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE Lean is on efficiency and clients do not take public values into consideration. Also, the emphasis on client value creation does not consider the value for the democratic governance. When implemented completely, it can improve the processes and culture, and lead to constant improvement. Yet, the features of government destruct all government procedure and importantly hinder the acceptance, implementation and use of Lean in e-government situations. The explanation by Nicole and Marijn (2012) is true because in a public organization in Ghana like DVLA the central government plays an important role in appointing the board of directors to manage the organization. This can delay the Lean implementation processes since DVLA operations must be in line the policy of the government. Lean Principles Movaghar (2016) is of the view that the five Lean principles comprise; identifying value, mapping the value stream, ensuring movement (flow), achieving client pull, and making an effort for perfection and constant improvement. These key principles are stated as the obligatory track word ‘Lean Thinking’. The value is usually well-defined by customers’ perception. Hence, it has individual implication because of having multifaceted and diverse definitions. According to Movaghar (2016) value can be termed as both market value and utility value. Many investigators in this area confirm this description of value. According to Ballard (2000) and Movaghar (2016), value occurs throughout a process of discussion among clients’ aims and demands. The value is well-defined as that item which carries the produce in the form preferred by clients’ who are ready to pay for that service (Kanyanya, 2013). Movaghar (2016) recommend three distinct groups of value; use value, exchange value and esteem value. Use and exchange values are linked to business and market. On the other hand, esteem value has a rooted range that is not simply about productclient perception. Allowing clients to determine if they had value for their money in terms of service delivery is vital in the Lean implementation processes. This present study would focus on identifying the value creating activities by allowing customers to present their views as a result of their activities at DVLA. 124 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE Kanyanya (2013) stresses that the objective of the value stream mapping is to assist executives classify waste in their procedures so as to remove them. Some of these wastages identified are: Waiting, the waste period of the manufacturing procedure resulting from a defective firm of the working tools (motion), the period employed when moving the produces from one point to another of the manufacturing procedure, from the manufacturing yards to granaries (transportation), the manufacturing of larger item/s than it is requested or needed for the next phase of the production procedure (overproduction), the adverse features that render the item unit for consumption functionality or its appearance, the junk (defects), excess processing, and inventory (Kanyanya, 2013; Lindholm, 2018). Although this author agrees with the findings of the above authors (Kanyanya, 2013; Lindholm, 2018), it must be noted that every organization is unique in terms of its operations and the waste that may be identified in an organization may be different from what happens at DVLA. This study will build on the explanation of the authors to also identify and assess the type of waste that occurs within DVLA operations. Womack and Jones (2003) also claim that the important procedure of performing actions to make it perfect and regulating them to advance a produce is Flow. The meaning of Flow is decreasing the flowing period of time starting from the raw materials to finished goods which results in the finest quality, inexpensive price, and fastest dispatch time (Womack and Jones, 2003). The reality rests in the point that advanced flow declines the ‘water line’, and so leaks the difficulties. The elimination of these difficulties or waste is essential for the formation of Flow (Movaghar, 2016). This explanation by Womack and Jones (2003) may be a replicate of what happens at DVLA since Lean implementation or operationalization reduces the processes in serving clients. Movaghar (2016) claims that pull preparation play a significant part in Lean approach, as an appropriate production procedure. This influence is recognized as serious Lean approaches to improve workflow in construction plans. This influence is the best vital agent in Lean method since it embodies the need for improving the performance of a firm (Movaghar, 2016). It is important for clients to identify areas which create value or non-value-added activities before 125 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE the process of elimination can be done. This explanation by Movaghar (2016) will provide more explanation within the processes at DVLA. To attain constant improvement suggests that individuals should be engaged in how the change processes are being prepared and how their views can be incorporated in the procedures to develop and change the process (Womack and Jones 2003). Perfection will be attained through a constant development in decreasing all kinds of difficulties and non-value addition responsibilities beside the flow procedure (Movaghar, 2016). Constant or sustainable improvement is significant in the lean implementation process. Lean does not produce an instant change within an organization but the change it produces should always run throughout the everyday organizational operations. The author will investigate and understand whether the operations of DVLA are built on the Lean thinking principles. Drivers of Lean Implementation Salonitisa and Tsinopoulos (2016) explain that the important drivers of Lean Thinking that has been emphasized by most of the investigators are summarized into: to upturn market portion; to raise elasticity; the requirement for endurance from internal limitations; improvement of important performance meters; need to hire world best training; part of the business’s continuous agenda; drive to emphasize on clients; and obligation/motivation by clients; and obligation by mother establishment. Bhadu, Bhamu and Singh (2019) also argued from a different perspective and explained that the drivers that should be reflected and used while applying the Lean tenet in ceramic businesses are categorized as the size of establishment, poor skills, workers’ participation, high workforce cost, awareness of the Lean idea, absence of a standard functioning process as well as type and principle of the product route. The authors gave a concrete explanation on the drivers to Lean implementation in some companies. Although there was evidence to support their explanation, every organization is unique and what can motivate an organization to embark on full Lean thinking may be different from what can motivate DVLA to also operationalize full Lean thinking. 126 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE Murthy (2007) also explains that the aim of Lean Thinking is to produce a long permanent standardized method that can be upheld for some years. It is significant that the workers are provided tools on how they can adjust to the variations. Chakrabarty and Tan (2007) also observed that directors should begin introducing Lean operationalization to the establishment and the workers must also focus on financial merits. The organization must display financial advantages that could be derived from Lean operationalization. This is understood as a vital motivational driver for the workers, having real proof on how significant the operation is for the establishment. This study agrees with the assertion by Chakrabarty and Tan (2007) and Murthy (2007) since DVLA operates as a public sector organization with a mandate to raise enough revenue for its operations and support the national government. This means that employees and management must also support the Authority by making sure they focus on changing their style of doing things which should increase their financial gains. Conceptual Model of Lean Thinking The conceptual model is recognized as the method that displays the significant variables to be deliberated on in the investigation through narrative or graphical procedure (Fellows and Liu, 2003). According to Ali (2017), a conceptual framework is organized from an establishment of comprehensive philosophies and theories that support an investigator to correctly classify variables that he/she is viewing, construct his/her objectives and recognize the important literature. A conceptual framework supports the investigator to elucidate his research objectives and questions (Ali, 2017). In this case, the conceptual framework that underpinned the study is shown in Figure 1 below. 127 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE Lean Thinking IDENTIFY VALUE DRAFTING A CURRENT MAP Using Value Stream Mapping FLOW PULL Obstacles in implementi ng Lean Drivers of Lean implementation PURSUE FULL PERFECTION Eliminating waste ie. Waiting, overproduction, inappropriate processing, transportation, unnecessary inventory, defects and unnecessary motion. Figure 1: Conceptual Framework Source: Authors own construct 128 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE Grounded on the availability of current literature that was reviewed under this current study, the conceptual framework for this research work was designed or constructed with respect to Lean Thinking in the public service sector in Ghana using the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) as a case study. The concepts of Lean Thinking have been well explained as the issue focuses on reducing waste (anything that does not add value to the organizational performance or profitability) at DVLA. The next process after identifying the value and non-value-added activities is to draft or map out the value stream of DVLA which has to do with the operations in terms of service delivery. Knowing the processes or procedure clients go through at the Authority are very vital for the success of Lean. After mapping the value stream, it is important to know the current and potential resources DVLA has so as to know their competitive advantage over other organizations. It is also important to know the bargaining or purchasing power of clients as they affect the performance of the Authority. Also, knowing the drivers for Lean operationalization can help organizations reap the benefits of Lean. Organizations implementing Lean Thinking may face challenges and difficulties. The conceptual framework also shows that management and employees are the important elements for change which must affect performance. The conceptual framework is well related to the four research objectives raised and discussed in the analysis section of this study. METHODOLOGY The investigators adopted the mixed method research with much emphasis on the concurrent research design. The mixed method research design takes into consideration both qualitative and quantitative approaches (Creswell, 2009). This was essential to the study because of the limited time frame for the data collection as well the analysis of the data which was collected through the questionnaire and interview guide. The researchers used purposive sampling techniques (based on unique understanding of the subject under investigation) to choose key informants such as the Director for Monitoring and Evaluation at DVLA, Regional Managers of DVLA, Assistant Managers of DVLA and Administrative Officers of DVLA. 129 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE As Lean Thinking is focused on the client in defining what value is, the investigators randomly sampled 399 clients to participate in the study. This was done with the aid of Miller and Brewer (2004) sample size calculation and Al-hassan (2015) cluster sample size calculation. The sample size calculation was n = N/[1+N(α)2], where n is the sample size, N is the sample frame which represents the total number of clients at DVLA and the margin of error fixed at 5%. The cluster sample size calculation was nj = (Nj/N) × n where n represents the sample size for the stratum j, Nj represents the population size of the stratum j, N also represents the overall population and n is the total sample size. The total number of customers as 2017 for Kumasi, Takoradi, Accra, and Tamale offices were 56,280, 52,894, 98,809 and 23,657 respectively (DVLA, 2019). Based on these calculations, Kumasi office had a sample size figure of 97, Takoradi office had 91, Accra office had 170 and Tamale office also had 41 respondents. The researchers used a standardized z-test to analyze the data since the sample size was large (above 30). This was vital to assess the severity of each of the drivers to a full Lean implementation process at DVLA in Ghana. With regards to the qualitative analysis, the responses from the interview guide were put into thematic areas based on the research objectives to support the quantitative data. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS Drivers of Lean Implementation Process at DVLA The null hypothesis for this part of the study was that the drivers of Lean implementation method were not severe with the alternate hypothesis emphasising that those drivers in Lean implementation method were severe. The mean score was positioned at 4.000 which implies that all the drivers that were below 4.000 describes a less severity and all the drivers which were above the mean score of 4.000 indicates a higher severity in terms of the drivers for the Lean implementation process at DVLA. It can be seen from Table 6.3 that if the zstatistics has a positive value, then the mean will be above the hypothesized mean of 4.000 (Its corresponding raw score will be greater than the hypothesized mean) whiles if the zstatistic has a negative value, then the mean will be below the hypothesized mean of 4.000 (Its corresponding raw score will be less than the hypothesized mean). The z-statistics also 130 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE explains how many standard deviations are far away from the mean. A z-statistics which is zero explains that it is on the mean. It can also be noted from Table 1 that customer satisfaction and Lean leadership all had pvalues below 0.05 which explains that all these drivers in the Lean implementation processes were highly significant and played an important role in the Lean implementation processes at DVLA. These drivers had a mean value above the hypothesized value. Customer satisfaction had a mean score of 4.108 [median = 4.000, standard deviation (SD) of 0.825, standard error (S.E) of 0.041, variance (S2) = 0.680, z-statistic of 2.490 and p-value = 0.006. The z-statistic for customer satisfaction explains that it is 2.490 far away from the mean value of 4.108. The findings from Table 6.3 also shows that Lean leadership (mean = 4.098 [median = 4.000], SD = 0.879, S.E = 0.044, S2 = 0.772, Z-Statistic = 2.220 and p-value = 0.013) was above the hypothesized mean value of 4.000. It can be concluded that these two drivers stated above indicate that they occur in a highly severe way and it is significant if Lean Thinking is to be operationalized within DVLA operations in Ghana. Despite the significance level of each driver for the Lean implementation process, some of the drivers were above the hypothesized value of 4.0000. Management commitment, incentive mechanisms, long term profit of implementing Lean, existence of a clear marketing strategy, willingness to invest in Lean practices, clear understanding of technical requirements of lean, availability of Lean tools and techniques, availability of consulting team members in Lean, efficiency of human resource management activities, supportive nature of governmental regulations, government initiatives, existence of communicating Lean practices and existence of Lean research groups and initiatives had p-values above 0.05 which explains that all these drivers in the Lean implementation processes were not significant and played a small part in the Lean implementation processes at DVLA. 131 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE Table 1: Drivers of Lean Implementation Process in Ghana Drivers Management commitment Incentive mechanisms Customer Satisfaction Long term profit of implementing Lean Existence of a clear marketing strategy Willingness to invest in Lean practices Clear understanding of technical requirements in Lean Availability of Lean tools and techniques Lean leadership Availability of consulting team members in Lean Efficiency of human resource management activities Supportive nature of governmental regulations in Lean Government incentives Existence of communicating Lean practices Existence of Lean research groups and initiatives Source: Field Study (2020) Hypothesized Mean Value 4.000 3.985 4.000 2.932 Median SD S.E S2 N Z-Statistic 4.000 3.000 0.871 1.151 0.044 0.058 0.759 1.325 399 399 -0.340 -18.530 Pvalue 0.635 1.000 4.000 4.000 4.000 4.000 4.000 4.103 3.381 3.301 3.654 3.687 4.000 4.000 4.000 4.000 4.000 0.825 1.319 1.409 1.207 1.112 0.041 0.066 0.071 0.060 0.056 0.680 1.739 1.985 1.458 1.236 399 399 399 399 399 2.290 -9.380 -9.910 -5.720 -5.630 0.006 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 4.000 4.000 4.000 4.000 3.456 4.098 4.000 3.779 4.000 4.000 4.000 4.000 1.300 0.879 0.913 1.130 0.065 0.044 0.046 0.057 1.691 0.772 0.834 1.278 399 399 399 399 -8.350 2.220 0.000 -3.900 1.000 0.013 0.500 1.000 4.000 3.940 4.000 0.875 0.044 0.765 399 -1.370 0.915 4.000 4.000 4.000 2.687 3.043 3.880 2.000 3.000 4.000 1.322 1.123 1.176 0.066 0.056 0.059 1.748 1.262 1.382 399 399 399 -19.840 -17.020 -2.040 1.000 1.000 0.980 132 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE The results from Table 2 on the Accra DVLA office shows that all the fifteen drivers of the Lean implementation processes were not significant since they were below the p-value of 0.05. The data from Table 3 on the Kumasi DVLA office shows that only management commitment and existence of Lean research groups and initiatives were significant since they had p-values below the hypothesized mean value of 4.000. This was evident from the test statistics as management commitment had a mean value of 4.402 [median = 4.000], SD = 0.745, S.E = 0.076, S2 = 0.555, Z-Statistic = 5.310 and p-value = 0.000. Also, Lean research groups and initiatives had a mean value of 4.268 [median = 4.000], SD = 1.016, S.E = 0.103, S2 = 1.103, Z-Statistic 133 = 2.600 and p-value = 0.005. ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE Table 2: Drivers of Lean Implementation Process at Accra Office Drivers Hypothesized Value Mean Median SD S.E Management commitment 4.000 3.853 4.000 0.901 Incentive mechanisms 4.000 3.388 3.000 Customer Satisfaction 4.000 3.929 Long term profit of implementing Lean 4.000 Existence of a clear marketing strategy Willingness to invest in Lean practices Clear understanding requirements in Lean of S2 N Z-Statistic P-value 0.069 0.759 170 -2.130 0.983 1.147 0.088 1.325 170 -6.950 1.000 4.000 0.861 0.066 0.680 170 -1.070 0.858 3.488 4.000 1.067 0.082 1.739 170 -6.250 1.000 4.000 3.600 4.000 1.063 0.081 1.985 170 -4.910 1.000 4.000 3.606 4.000 1.137 0.087 1.458 170 -4.520 1.000 technical 4.000 3.371 4.000 1.112 0.093 1.236 170 -6.580 1.000 Availability of Lean tools and techniques 4.000 3.271 4.000 1.340 0.103 1.691 170 -7.100 1.000 Lean leadership 4.000 3.965 4.000 0.916 0.070 0.772 170 -0.500 0.692 Availability of consulting team members in 4.000 Lean 3.741 4.000 0.866 0.066 0.837 170 -3.900 1.000 Efficiency of human resource management 4.000 activities 3.982 4.000 1.012 0.078 1.278 170 -0.230 0.590 governmental 4.000 3.888 4.000 0.873 0.067 0.765 170 -1.670 0.952 Supportive nature regulations in Lean of 134 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE Government incentives 4.000 3.094 2.000 1.444 0.111 1.748 170 -8.180 1.000 Existence of communicating Lean practices 4.000 3.529 3.000 0.992 0.076 1.262 170 -6.180 1.000 Existence of Lean research groups and 4.000 initiatives 3.988 4.000 0.961 0.074 1.382 170 -0.160 0.563 Source: Field Study (2020) 135 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE Table 3: Drivers of Lean Implementation Process at Kumasi Office Drivers Hypothesized Value Mean Median SD S.E S2 N Z-Statistic P-value Management commitment 4.000 4.402 5.000 0.745 0.076 0.555 97 5.310 0.000 Incentive mechanisms 4.000 3.289 3.000 1.163 0.118 1.353 97 -6.020 1.000 Customer Satisfaction 4.000 3.990 4.000 0.995 0.101 0.989 97 -0.100 0.541 Long term profit of implementing Lean 4.000 3.639 4.000 1.324 0.134 1.754 97 -2.680 0.996 Existence of a clear marketing strategy 4.000 2.948 3.000 0.432 0.145 2.049 97 -7.230 1.000 Willingness to invest in Lean practices 4.000 3.691 4.000 1.034 0.105 1.070 97 -2.940 0.998 technical 4.000 3.763 4.000 1.125 0.114 1.266 97 -2.080 0.981 and 4.000 3.423 4.000 1.478 0.150 2.184 97 -3.850 1.000 4.000 3.619 3.000 0.871 0.088 0.759 97 -4.310 1.000 team 4.000 3.742 4.000 1.111 0.113 1.235 97 -2.280 1.000 resource 4.000 3.928 4.000 0.971 0.099 0.943 97 -0.730 0.768 Supportive nature of governmental 4.000 3.670 4.000 1.170 0.119 1.369 97 -2.780 0.997 Clear understanding requirements in Lean Availability techniques of of Lean tools Lean leadership Availability of members in Lean consulting Efficiency of human management activities 136 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE regulations in Lean Government incentives 4.000 2.794 3.000 1.274 0.129 1.624 97 -9.320 1.000 Lean 4.000 3.351 3.000 1.199 0.122 1.438 97 -5.330 1.000 Existence of Lean research groups and 4.000 initiatives 4.268 5.000 1.016 0.103 1.032 97 2.60 0.005 Existence practices of communicating Source: Field Study (2020) 137 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE In addition to the above, the results in Table 4 on the Takoradi DVLA office shows that only four drivers (customer satisfaction, lean leadership, availability of consulting team members in Lean, and supportive nature of government regulation in Lean) were significant. This was evident from the test statistics as customer satisfaction commitment had a mean value of 4.396 [median = 4.000], SD = 0.492, S.E = 0.052, S2 = 0.242, Z-Statistic = 7.680 and p-value = 0.000. Also, Lean leadership had a mean value of 4.637 [median = 4.000], SD = 0.483, S.E = 0.051, S2 = 0.234, Z-Statistic = 12.58 and p-value = 0.000. Availability of consulting team members in Lean commitment had a mean value of 4.385 [median = 4.000], SD = 0.489, S.E = 0.051, S2 = 0.239, Z-Statistic = 7.500 and p-value = 0.000. Supportive nature of government regulation in Lean had a mean value of 4.033 [median = 4.000], SD = 0.180, S.E = 0.019, S 2 = 0.032, Z-Statistic = 1.75 and 138 p-value = 0.040. ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE Table 4: Drivers of Lean Implementation Process at Takoradi Office Drivers Management commitment Incentive mechanisms Customer Satisfaction Long term profit of implementing Lean Existence of a clear marketing strategy Willingness to invest in Lean practices Clear understanding of technical requirements in Lean Availability of Lean tools and techniques Lean leadership Availability of consulting team members in Lean Efficiency of human resource management activities Supportive nature of governmental regulations in Lean Government incentives Existence of communicating Lean practices Existence of Lean research groups and initiatives Source: Field Study (2020) Hypothesized Value 4.000 4.000 Mean Median SD S.E S2 N Z-Statistic P-value 3.473 2.242 4.000 2.000 0.621 0.431 0.065 0.045 0.385 0.185 91 91 -8.110 -38.960 1.000 1.000 4.000 4.000 4.000 4.000 4.000 4.396 2.846 2.923 3.319 3.989 4.000 3.000 4.000 4.000 4.000 0.492 1.460 1.899 1.519 0.888 0.052 0.153 0.199 0.159 0.093 0.242 2.132 3.605 2.308 0.789 91 91 91 91 91 7.680 -7.540 -5.410 -4.280 -0.120 0.000 0.996 1.000 1.000 0.547 4.000 4.000 4.000 3.484 4.637 4.385 3.000 5.000 4.000 1.058 0.483 0.489 0.111 0.051 0.051 1.119 0.234 0.239 91 91 91 -4.660 12.580 7.500 1.000 0.000 0.000 4.000 3.198 3.000 1.128 0.118 1.272 91 -6.790 1.000 4.000 4.033 4.000 0.180 0.019 0.032 91 1.750 0.040 4.000 4.000 4.000 1.967 2.055 3.593 2.000 2.000 4.000 0.180 0.311 1.491 0.019 0.033 0.156 0.032 0.097 2.222 91 91 91 -108.017 -59.590 -2.600 1.000 1.000 0.995 139 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE The findings in Table 5 on the Tamale DVLA office shows that only six drivers (management commitment, customer satisfaction, willingness to invest in Lean practices, availability of Lean tools, Lean leadership, and availability of consulting team members in Lean) were significant. This was evident from the test statistics as management commitment had a mean value of 4.683 [median = 4.000], SD = 0.567, S.E = 0.089, S2 = 0.322, Z-Statistic = 7.710 and pvalue = 0.000. Also, customer satisfaction had a mean value of 4.439 [median = 4.000], SD = 0.509, S.E = 0.078, S2 = 0.252, Z-Statistic = 5.600 and p-value = 0.000. Willingness to invest in Lean practices had a mean value of 4.512 [median = 4.000], SD = 0.506, S.E = 0.079, S2 = 0.256, Z-Statistic = 6.480 and p-value = 0.000. Availability of Lean tools had a mean value of 4.244 [median = 4.000], SD = 0.830, S.E = 0.130, S2 = 0.689, Z-Statistic = 1.880 and p-value = 0.030. Lean leadership had a mean value of 4.561 [median = 4.000], SD = 0.502, S.E = 0.078, S2 = 0.252, Z-Statistic = 7.150 and p-value = 0.000. Availability of consulting team members in Lean had a mean value of 4.829 [median = 4.000], SD = 0.381, S.E = 0.069, S2 = 0.145, ZStatistic = 13.940 and p-value = 0.000. The results from the DVLA offices shows that the Tamale office had the greatest number of drivers of the Lean Thinking implementation followed by Takoradi and Kumasi offices respectively. The drivers of the Lean Thinking implementation in Accra office were not significant since they were 140 all above 0.05. ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE Table 5: Drivers of Lean Implementation Process at Tamale Office Drivers Management commitment Incentive mechanisms Customer Satisfaction Long term profit of implementing Lean Existence of a clear marketing strategy Willingness to invest in Lean practices Clear understanding of technical requirements in Lean Availability of Lean tools and techniques Lean leadership Availability of consulting team members in Lean Efficiency of human resource management activities Supportive nature of governmental regulations in Lean Government incentives Existence of communicating Lean practices Existence of Lean research groups and initiatives Source: Field Study (2020) Hypothesized Value 4.000 4.000 Mean Median SD S.E S2 N Z-Statistic P-value 4.683 1.732 5.000 2.000 0.567 0.449 0.089 0.070 0.322 0.201 41 41 5.310 -32.380 0.000 1.000 4.000 4.000 4.000 4.000 4.000 4.439 3.512 3.732 4.512 3.854 4.000 4.000 3.000 5.000 4.000 0.502 1.614 0.867 0.506 0.853 0.078 0.252 0.135 0.079 0.133 0.252 2.606 0.751 0.256 0.728 41 41 41 41 41 5.600 -1.930 -1.980 6.480 -1.100 0.000 0.974 0.976 0.000 0.864 4.000 4.000 4.000 4.244 4.561 4.829 4.000 5.000 5.000 0.830 0.502 0.381 0.130 0.078 0.059 0.689 0.252 0.145 41 41 41 1.880 7.150 13.94 0.030 0.000 0.000 4.000 3.829 4.000 1.482 0.231 2.195 41 -0.740 0.770 4.000 4.707 5.000 0.461 0.072 0.212 41 9.830 0.000 4.000 4.000 4.000 2.341 2.488 3.146 2.000 3.000 3.000 1.606 0.978 1.108 0.251 0.153 0.173 2.580 0.956 1.228 41 41 41 -6.61 -9.900 -4.93 1.000 1.000 1.000 141 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE A Regional Manager of DVLA had this to say: “The management of DVLA is committed to making sure the client always get value for their money. The authority has automated most of its services and has also established the client service unit. The client service unit is mandated to take complaints and suggestions from clients on issues related to our operations. All employees of DVLA are also trained to deliver services to customers without any difficulty. Our focus is centred on our cherished clients”. The Head of Client Service Unit also explained that: “The Authority has established the Client Service Excellence Unit to make sure that customers are always satisfied with our operations. In a case where clients need help concerning our operations, the Unit is responsible for assisting the client to go through the process”. Similarly, this finding differs with the results of Ogunbiyi (2014). The author divided the drivers for Lean implementation into two parts namely; the internal drivers and external drivers. The drivers found which were consistent with the results of this study consisted of government policy and negotiation, efficiency improvement, and people and resource utilization; yet all these were rejected in this current study since they were all below the hypothesized mean value of four (4). Ogunbiyi (2014) identified and assessed the severity of 12 drivers for implementing Lean construction whiles this current research identified and assessed the severity of 15 drivers to Lean implementation at DVLA. The author used the Severity Index Analysis for the analysis which was in contrast to the findings of this research. This study used a standardized z-test for this section of the analysis. It stated that the mean of severity was different from those drivers for Lean implementation that were equal to the hypothesized mean value of 4.000 or which were less than the hypothesized mean. Thus, all those drivers that were below 4.000 were rejected. Salonitisa and Tsinopoulos (2016) hold a contrary view from the findings of this current study. The authors indicated that the important drivers for a business to involve in Lean Thinking that have been emphasized by most of the investigators are summarized as: to upturn market portion; to upsurge elasticity; the requirement for endurance from internal limitations; improvement of important performance metres; need to hire world best training; 142 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE part of the business’s continuous agenda; drive to emphasise on clients; and obligation/motivation by clients; and obligation by the mother establishment. The research of Salonitisa and Tsinopoulos (2016) also failed to assess the severity of those drivers they identified in their research so as to identify the less severe ones from the highly severe ones. Bhadu, Bhamu and Singh (2019) also argued from a different perspective and explained that the notion of Lean Thinking in a business, which is determined by excellence, is the core factor in upholding effectiveness in the market situation. The drivers that should be reflected and used while applying Lean tenet in ceramic businesses are categorised as the size of establishment, poor skill, workers’ participation, high workforce cost, awareness of the Lean idea, absence of a standard functioning process as well as type and principle of the product route. The author argued that a good understanding and examination of drivers/factors will aid businesses to figure out the greatest operational method to apply Lean method, improve productivity and quality, greater profitability and better client satisfaction. Although the output of the drivers might be the same, the drivers that were identified and assessed based on severity were somewhat different from those of Bhadu, Bhamu and Singh (2019). Murthy (2007) also had a different view from the findings of this research that the aim of Lean Thinking is to produce a permanent standardized method that can be upheld for some years. It is significant that workers are provided with tools/skills to help them adjust to variations. Also, the findings of this study were different from Chakrabarty and Tan (2007), as they noted that the directors should begin introducing Lean operationalization to the establishment and the workers through financial dimensions. Financial dimensions require the directors to explain the financial advantages that could be derived from Lean operationalization. This is understood as a vital motivational driver for the workers; having real proof of how significant the operation is to the establishment. CONCLUSION On the basis of the analysis of data from the study, the drivers of Lean implementation have been examined at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority in Ghana. Lean thinking is still powerfully influenced by the manufacturing sector, but it is progressively being applied in new parts like the service sector. Over half of all the respondents specified that customer satisfaction and having a leadership with a Lean ideology are important steps if the 143 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE Authority wants to reap out the benefits of Lean. This confirms the assertion by several authors that Lean thinking begins with the focus on the client and must end with client satisfaction. RECOMMENDATION Executors of the Lean Thinking Ideology perhaps have to manage with the enormous struggle at the Authority. Change should be a slow process for employees to appreciate and understand the benefits of changing from attitudes that do not bring value to the organization before they can remove their old behaviors. 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The Role of Dagbani Movies in Promoting Peaceful Co-existence in Northern Region, Ghana Damasus Tuurosong Department of African and General Studies, Simon Diedong University of Business and Integrated Development Studies (SDD-UBIDS) [email protected] DOI//http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/gjds.v181.5 ABSTRACT This study explores themes in Dagbani movies which enhance peace-building, and discusses cultural conflict resolution techniques employed in Dagbani movies for peace-building. Qualitative research design was employed for the study. Focus group discussions and interviews were used for data collection. The study used Agenda Setting theory as analytical framework, and undertook thematic analysis to tease out messages in the content of selected movies. It showed that Dagbani movies contain lessons on peace-building and have become reference materials for opinion leaders and peace campaigners within Dagbon. Out of 11 movies sampled, six exposed bad traditional leadership with a view to admonishing Dagbon chiefs to desist from acts that could promote conflicts. Dagbani movies, re-establish working relations among warring factions, deal with systemic issues underlying conflicts and rebuild mutual relationships. The movies advocate the use of traditional peace-building techniques for conflict resolution. The study concludes that if movie producers get the support of relevant stakeholders, Dagbon movies could be effective in resolving conflicts. It recommends that film makers solicit funding from donor agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to produce movies targeted at maintaining peace in Dagbon. Keywords: Dagbani Movies, Peaceful Co-existence, Chieftaincy Disputes, Conflict Resolution and Culture INTRODUCTION Africa has over the years, witnessed numerous bloody conflicts, with grave political, social, economic and humanitarian consequences for affected countries. One can CC-BY License | 97 Ghana Journal of Development Studies, Vol. 18 (1) mention Nigeria (1967-1970), Uganda (1979), Somalia (since 1991), Liberia (1989 – 1997, 2000-2003), Sierra Leone (1992-2002), Côte d’Ivoire (2002-2010), Rwanda (1994) and Kenya (2007) as some countries which have had their fair share of conflicts on the continent. The effects of these conflicts have been loss of lives and property, mass displacement of people, bad governance leading to failed states, unemployment, insecurity and poverty (McGowan, 2005). Compared to its regional neighbours such as Sierra Leone, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia and even Nigeria, Ghana has enjoyed relative peace. However, the country has experienced numerous inter-ethnic and intra-ethnic conflicts, chieftaincy conflicts and land related conflicts. Notable among them are the prolonged conflicts between Peki and Tsito, Nkonya and Alavanyo in the Volta Region (Gati, 2008); Mamprusi and Kusasi in Bawku, in the Upper East Region as well as Konkomba and Nanumba, and the Abudu and Andani in Dagbon, Northern Region (Mahama, 2002). In particular, the Abudu-Andani chieftaincy crisis popularly referred to as the Dagbon Crisis, which resulted in the death of Ya Na, Yakubu Andani II, the King of Dagbon and about 40 others (Takyi, Tika & Anin, 2013), has been a major development challenge not only for the Northern Region, but the entire country. For many decades, the Abudu and Andani royal gates were in dispute over the rightful claimant of the Dagbon skin. The conflict situation, however, came to a head in 2002 when the then Ya Na, Yakubu Andani II, was assassinated (Tonah, 2012). On 25th March 2002, an attack on an emissary of the Ya Na by a group of Abudu youth and the destruction of his bicycle ignited violent conflict between the two sides. This led to hostilities which continued for three days and eventually resulted in the murder of Ya Na, Yakubu Andani II and forty others including his elders on 27th March, 2002 (Tsikata & Seini, 2004; Macgaffey, 2006 and Wuaku- Commission Report, 2002 cited from Mahama and Longi, 2013). The conflict spread from Yendi to Tamale, Bimbilla and other towns leading to many losses of lives and destruction of property valued at billions of Ghana cedis (Tonah, 2012). On 25th April 2002, the then President, John Agyekum Kufuor, set up the Wuaku Commission of Inquiry with Constitutional Instrument, 2002 (C .I.36). The threemember commission of inquiry was chaired by Justice I. N. K . Wuaku and was given the task of investigating the Yendi disturbances. The Commission found that the late Ya Na and all those killed within the Palace and its environs were killed by Abudu fighters. The Commission recommended the arrest and prosecution of several individuals for their alleged involvement in offences such as conspiracy to GJDS, Vol. 18, No. 1, May, 2021 | 98 Ghana Journal of Development Studies, Vol. 18 (1) murder, attempted murder, causing unlawful damage, assault, illegal possession of weapons and unlawful military training (Issifu, 2015). Aside the setting up of the Commission to investigate the violence, government also used some traditional approaches to resolve the conflict. Former President John Agyekum Kuffuor set up a committee of four eminent chiefs chaired by Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, King of Ashanti to mediate the conflict. After a long period of deliberations and a series of negotiations, representatives of the two feuding gates, the Abudus and Andanis signed a “Roadmap to Peace” on 30th March in 2006. The “Roadmap to Peace” enumerated five major benchmarks in the peace-building process to include the burial of the late Ya Na Yakubu Andani II, the installation of the regent of the late king, the performance of the funeral of the deposed Mahamadu Abdulai IV, the performance of the funeral of Ya Na Yakubu Andani II and finally, the selection and enskinment of a new Ya Na for Dagbon (Tonah, 2012). In order to complement government’s efforts, civil society, non-governmental organisations and specialised United Nations agencies on their own initiatives and in collaboration with the state have played diverse roles in mitigating against the adverse effects of the Dagbon conflict (Ahorsu & Gebe, 2011). Apart from the provision of relief services to the displaced during the crisis, they helped organise sensitisation programmes aimed at educating people on the need for peaceful co-existence in Dagbon (Ahiave, 2013). In spite of all these approaches to peacebuilding in Dagbon, the situation remained volatile for almost 17 years. Indeed, efforts aimed at ending this age-old conflict did not begin in 2002. Prior to the re-ignition of the 2002 conflict, various conflict resolution mechanisms were adopted to resolve the dispute. Ahiave (2013) found that western models of conflict resolution – mainly the legal system and commissions/committees of inquiry set up by different governments were employed in attempts to resolve the crisis. Unfortunately, these efforts proved futile over successive governments. One wonders whether the search for peace had to take so long, and whether alternative dispute resolution mechanisms could not have worked faster. For instance, some have suggested that arts-based approaches to peace-building offer an important avenue to assist with peace-building efforts (Zelizer, 2003). Besides, in the process of resolving conflicts such as that between the Abudus and Andanis, the media could be influential. In being available even in the darkest of places, the media have the capacity to change social and political behaviours as a means of assisting to resolve conflicts. Since the media can alter perceptions about conflicts, GJDS, Vol. 18, No. 1, May, 2021 | 99 Ghana Journal of Development Studies, Vol. 18 (1) they have the capacity to influence people’s ability to resolve disputes and peace -building initiatives (De, 2009: 52). In particular, movies on television are powerful communicative modes, which could be used to curtail conflicts. Film’s effectiveness as a peace-building and reconciliation tool is the result of its uniqueness as an art form, which allows people to relate to others. Film audiences get emotionally connected to what they view or to characters in the film to the extent of being totally absorbed in the film world. That experience, if explored strategically, could foster understanding and empathy between groups of people who are at loggerheads. The film experience could also create a conducive environment for productive dialogue and allow people to view themselves in a way that would be hard to achieve through other peace-building techniques. Besides, collaborative filmmaking is a means of empowering people and creating cordial relationships between groups, as a means of averting conflicts (Kierran, 2013). Nurudeen (2013) indicates that some movies are geared towards the promotion of peace among the people of Dagbon. For instance, in “ Torbu Nyanga” ( The Aftermath of War), Jehanfo attempts to warn the people of Northern Ghana about the repercussions of conflict, if allowed to degenerate into violence. According to him, the failure of two villages to amicably resolve a raging conflict led to a bloody confrontation that resulted in a near wipe out of the population of the two villages. The lesson we learn from that experience is that nobody wins in war (Nurudeen, 2013: 3). This article not only reflects the important role of Dagbani movies in the socio-economic development of the northern region but also discusses the themes addressed in them. There is no evidence, however, to show if the themes explored in Jehanfo’s movies, for instance, have reached the intended audience and whether or not the theme has had a positive influence in the lives of the audience in the promotion of peace or enhancing the peace-building process. In the face of contradictory evidence on the media’s role in containing the Dagbon conflict and the paucity of research which is focused on the contribution of movies to the resolution of this conflict, this study gathers evidence on the effects of Dagbon movies on the Abudu-Andani dispute. The study was conducted on grounds of evidence that in spite of many movies having been produced during the period of the conflict, the chieftaincy dispute raged on for decades. In view of evidence to the effect that movies have been instrumental in conflict resolution in some jurisdictions, the following questions are asked: Why did Dagbani movies fail to resolve the Dagbon crisis? To what extent are Dagbani movies effective GJDS, Vol. 18, No. 1, May, 2021 | 100 Ghana Journal of Development Studies, Vol. 18 (1) tools for peace-building? This paper tries to examine the themes related to peacebuilding which are explored in Dagbani movies, discuss cultural conflict resolution techniques employed in Dagbani movies for peace-building and establish how challenges in the Dagbani movie industry affect the use of movies for peacebuilding. Theoretical and Conceptual Underpinnings This study is based on McCombs and Shaw’s Agenda Setting Theory, and examines how Dagbani movie producers set an agenda for peace-building in Northern Ghana. The theory recognises the fact that the media can exert substantial influence on audiences. However, the media alone cannot determine the public agenda. Therefore, this study assesses not just how effective Dagbani film producers were setting the agenda for peace-building. The basic assumption of democracy which states that people have sufficient wisdom to determine the course of their states, nations or communities has nullified the assumption that the media have substantial influence on audiences (MacCombs, 2014: 8). In particular, the people are quite able to determine the basic relevance – to themselves and to the larger public arena – of the topics and attributes advanced by the news media. The media set the agenda only when citizens perceive their news stories as relevant (MacCombs, 2014: 8). Indeed, news can influence what the public is thinking about. However, the ability to influence exactly how the public thinks is less understood (Rogers & Dearing, 1988). Interest groups desirous of change try not only to get their issues on the media agenda but to also seek public reactions to the issues placed on the agenda. Denham (2010) noted that groups build public agenda most successfully by taking advantage of the personal relevance and social significance of the issues being espoused. Research has shown that when the public believes an issue is more likely to affect them, they are more likely to get involved and informed on the issue (Baird, 2015). Studies into the media’s agenda setting roles in conflict situations often concentrate on their roles in escalating conflicts (Thompson, 1999; Des Forges, 1999; Chebii, 2015). The role of radio and television, in particular, in exacerbating conflicts has been widely researched into, with evidence often pointing at Rwanda and Bosnia as case studies. Besides, the Danish cartoon controversy is also seen as a test case of how the media could even trigger violent conflicts (Gilboa, 2009). In Ghana, concerns have also been expressed about media coverage of the Dagbon crisis, GJDS, Vol. 18, No. 1, May, 2021 | 101 Ghana Journal of Development Studies, Vol. 18 (1) and the possibility of such coverage exacerbating the conflict. In recognition of the potential negative impact of media reports on conflicts, the Northern Regional Security Council (REGSEC) convened a meeting of media owners, managers and editors prior to the funerals of the late two Dagbon Overlords, Ya Na Mahamadu Abdulai IV and Ya Na Yakubu Andani II. At the meeting, REGSEC Chairman, Salifu Saeed, called for circumspection on the part of the local media in the region in their coverage of the impending funerals (Sae-ed, 2018). REGSEC’s concerns resulted from the fact that some media houses often published untruths which have the tendency of fueling violence. For instance, the Andani family had occasion to express their outrage at what they referred to as attempts by some media houses to twist the facts of Dagbon history by referring to former Ya Na Mahamadu Abdulai’s regent as regent of Dagbon. They felt this was an attempt to denigrate the authority of the rightful regent, the Kampakuya Naa. The Andani family was of the view that biased and inaccurate media reportage could ignite unnecessary tension in Dagbon, and cautioned journalists covering the crisis to practise peace journalism (Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, 2018)18 Sometimes, the media also introduce ethnic dimensions into their reportage, thereby whipping up sentiments which have the potential of fueling violence. On 7th May 2002, the Ghanaian Chronicle newspaper carried a story in which it indicated that almost the entire top National Security positions in Ghana were occupied by the Abudus. The paper stopped short of alleging that these top security personnel masterminded the murder of the Ya Na Yakubu Andani II. It indicated that right “…under the watch of these men, the nation watched as the horrors of Yendi were visited on us.” (The Chronicle, May 7, 2002). It is worth establishing the extent to which the Dagomba movie producers prioritised the Dagbon conflict and made it an issue for discussion. It is equally worth exploring the level of interest that those who patronise the Dagomba movies showed in movies that discussed the Dagbon conflict. The directors, producers and marketing personnel within the industry are the gatekeepers, deciding what movies are made and the themes to explore. It is worth noting that the experiences of the people of Dagbon feed into the agenda that is set by the Dagbani movie industry. Is it the case that movies produced on the conflict eventually become public agenda within Dagbon, and thereby, influence the course of conflicts within the area? GJDS, Vol. 18, No. 1, May, 2021 | 102 Ghana Journal of Development Studies, Vol. 18 (1) The Concept of Peace-building There are many possible definitions of peace-building and varying opinions about what it involves. The term was coined through the work of Johan Galtung. In his paper, "Violence, Peace and Peace Research," Galtung (1969) presented his theory of the Conflict Triangle, espousing three main elements of violence which constitute this "triangle." The theory posits that peace must be understood to constitute widely accepted social goals, since any state of peace is characterised by the absence of violence. Galtung (1969) advocated the setting up of peace-building structures to promote sustainable peace. He felt that it is only when peace-makers address the “root causes” of violent conflicts and employed indigenous capacities for peace management and conflict resolution that peace could be attained. The major theoretical approaches to peace-building provide for the systemic and cultural dimensions in the peace-building process (Assefa, 1993). However, the cultural dimensions have not yet been well integrated into the systemic dimensions of peace-building. Lederach (1997) outlines four stages in what he terms conflict transformation, namely: (1) dealing with the immediate crisis, (2) re-establishing a working relationship between the conflicting parties, (3) dealing with the systemic issues underlying the conflict, and (4) finding a way to introduce the systemic issues so as to uphold, reinforce and strategically build on the mutual relationships established in stage two. In stages three and four, he includes cultural factors, and although he does not integrate them into the systemic issues as thoroughly as they need to be, he sets the stage in a way that this can be done. This study analyses some of the indigenous capacities (Galtung, 1969) and the cultural dimensions (Assefa, 1993) to conflict resolution as demonstrated in Dagbani movies. Within the realm of culture, the study focuses particularly on how movies portrayed the role of chiefs in peace-building. In keeping with the findings of Lederach (1997), the study establishes the extent to which Dagbani movies made use of the four stages of conflict transformation as means of resolving chieftaincy disputes. The Role of Movies in Peace-building Movies basically tell stories with a lesson embedded in the story for the purposes of sending a message to the audience. For instance, movies about life after the R wandan genocide led the way in promoting unity and reconciliation. Some movies looked at the entire story of where Rwanda has come from and what was being done to rebuild that war-ravaged country (Kierran, 2013). The role of movies in GJDS, Vol. 18, No. 1, May, 2021 | 103 Ghana Journal of Development Studies, Vol. 18 (1) peace-building can also be identified in the way audiences relate to the characters in the movies and the effect that such a relationship can have on the audiences. One of the best ways of promoting reconciliation is to make movies which preach reconciliation, with characters that the audience can connect with and relate to. When audiences watch movie characters reconcile, such audiences are encouraged to solve their problems in similar ways as the movie characters (Kierran, 2013). Mhando and Tomaselli (2009: 34) argued that film transposes audiences into the world of events being chronicled. According to them, film serves as a form of memorialisation. “ What is necessary and important and indeed required by the victims [of conflict] is a facility whereby they can reconstruct the trauma in a form through which they can negotiate the various meanings derived from the catastrophe, and to be able to express it and convey meanings from and about it”. Some argue that movies do not necessarily have to treat themes of peace or peacebuilding to be able to play a role in the peace-building process. According to Pasovic (2001, cited from Zelizer, 2003), during war, it is essential to continue watching films since they transpose audiences to a different world and assist audiences to release emotions. Additionally, film has a built in “cooling-off period”, which significantly strengthens the resulting dialogue, because it avoids the serious confrontational atmosphere that threatens productive dialogue (Kierran, 2013: 12). Antonio Traverso and Tomas Crowder-Taraborrelli’s article entitled, “ Political Documentary Cinema in the Southern Cone” points out some proven success documentary film has had in promoting dialogue in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. According to them, documentary film has, “not only enriched public debate in these three countries but also transformed the genre into a tool of political activism, social denunciation, and even judicial prosecution of perpetrators of genocidal atrocities” (Traverso and Crowder – Taraborrelli, 2013: 3, cited from Kierran, 2013:12). Johnston (2020), on the other hand, examines how movies promote peace by bearing testimony to happenings during war and, in so doing, provide a healing process for victims. He found that films can transform the perspectives of both international and local audiences, and promote peace. For Schirch and Bratic (2009) a significant role of drama, and by extension film, in bringing about peace is to create a calm, controlled and moderate community of people who dialogue and get along with one another. GJDS, Vol. 18, No. 1, May, 2021 | 104 Ghana Journal of Development Studies, Vol. 18 (1) Traditional Approaches Adopted in Resolving the Dagbon conflict Mediation and arbitration by chiefs, elders and religious leaders were the major traditional approaches employed in the Dagbon crisis. Among the Dagombas, every community has a chief who resolves minor disputes among residents of the communities, with the highest level of conflict resolution being referred to the Ya Na’s palace. In Dagbon conflict resolution process the principle of an ‘elder is never wrong’ is usually applied. This is a situation where the younger party in a dispute is expected to apologise to an elder irrespective of whether the elder is right or wrong. Similarly, when there is a dispute between two communities, the community whose chief is lower in rank is expected to apologise to the senior chief even if the senior were the provoker of the dispute. In such conflict resolution processes, the decisions of the chiefs were binding on all parties. The chief was clothed with powers to impose sanctions, which take various forms not excluding banishment of offenders (Ahiave, 2013). As regards chieftaincy conflicts, especially over the Yani (Ya Na’s skin), Kuga-Naa, who is the supreme father of both the Abudu and Andani gates, is called upon to mediate. Usually, the Kuga-Naa’s decision is respected by all factions to a dispute. Where his intervention fails to douse the dispute, the issue is referred to the Nayiri, king of Mampurugu. Aside mediation by traditional authorities, chieftaincy succession conflicts were often prevented by using soothsaying and divination for selecting candidates to sit on vacant skins of Yani (Yakubu, 2005; Ahorsu & Gebe, 2011). In the face of such well-established traditional conflict resolution mechanisms in Dagbon, one wonders why the Dagbon crisis was allowed to rage on for so many years. Perhaps, the apparent conflict between tradition approach to conflict resolution and western approaches that were used simultaneously to resolve this conflict explains its protracted nature. Ahiave (2013) indicates that some traditional sanctions for wrong-doing such as banishment, consultation of oracles, sacrificing to the gods are frowned upon by modern constitutions and practices, and prohibited by international treaties and conventions. Besides, traditional conflict resolution techniques are pacifist, while western approaches are often adversarial. The dichotomy between the two approaches explains why majority of respondents to a study in Dagbon (57.7%) felt that traditional conflict resolution methods were not applied to the Dagbon conflict (Ahiave, 2013). Those who opined that traditional mediation efforts were not employed may not have been oblivious of the mediation efforts of the eminent chiefs led by the Asantehene. However, the respondents may have been referring to the failure to use indigenous Dagbon chieftaincy dispute resolution mechanisms. Majority (33%) of respondents felt that the Abudus’ refusal to admit to GJDS, Vol. 18, No. 1, May, 2021 | 105 Ghana Journal of Development Studies, Vol. 18 (1) their role in the conflict and to apologise to the Kuga-Naa accounted for the failure of the traditional conflict resolution processes. More than a fifth of the respondents (26.7%) also pointed at political partisanship as the reason for the ineffectiveness of the traditional mediation efforts, while a fifth (20%) each felt that the traditional approaches could not be used either owing to people’s intransigence or the involvement of the very chiefs who should be the mediators (Ahiave, 2013). METHODOLOGY As a means of getting detailed understanding of the role of movies in conflict resolution, the study used qualitative method of enquiry. The contribution of movies to peace-building is a specialiased area of study requiring the views of experts. Therefore, qualitative method was appropriate in allowing respondents, who were key informants, sufficient opportunity to freely discuss their experiences, knowledge and opinions. Purposive sampling techniques were used to select respondents for interviews, three key informants, two of whom were Dagbon traditional rulers, one each representing the Abudus and the Andanis, and a peacebuilding expert who is the Executive Director of the West African Network for Peace (WANEP). Traditional leaders were at the centre of conflicts in Dagbon, either as provokers of the conflicts or peace-makers during such conflicts. Therefore, their perspectives on how movies could contribute towards resolution of disputes were considered useful. WANEP is a civil society organisation, which facilitates processes towards conflict resolution across Ghana. The E xecutive Director is a conflict resolution expert whose expert view was required for this study. That aside, the researcher interviewed 11 producers of movies which had themes related to conflict resolution. First, the researcher took from NORDRAFIM office in Tamale, a list of all Dagbani movies which were produced during the period of the Dagbon crisis, numbering 71. Out of this number, nearly half (35) had themes related to peacebuilding and conflict resolution. The researcher purposively sampled 11 movies, which were produced to directly address the Dagbon conflict, and selected their producers for interviews. Focus group discussions were conducted with eight members of the Northern Drama and Filmmakers Association (NORDRAFIM) and nine members each of two Dagbani movie viewer clubs. As producers and actors of Dagbani movies, members of NORDRAFIM presented useful insights into how their movies contribute towards peace-building in Dagbon. Another critical group of respondents was members of the movie viewer clubs. As audiences for Dagbon movies, no one would know the GJDS, Vol. 18, No. 1, May, 2021 | 106 Ghana Journal of Development Studies, Vol. 18 (1) effects of such movies on peace-building better than those who actually view the movies. In analysing data gathered through interviews and focus group discussions, the researcher categorised the data into the following thematic areas: movies focusing on conflicts, cultural conflict management techniques in movies, lessons learnt from movies and challenges to the growth of the Dagbon movie industry. The data were analysed thematically, and recurring themes were interpreted on the basis of language used, opinions, beliefs, knowledge and experiences of the respondents. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS The study set out to discuss the contribution of Dagbani movies to peace-building in Dagbon, analyse the themes related to peace-building, which are explored in Dagbani movies and to examine the cultural conflict resolution techniques employed in Dagbani movies for peace-building. Themes Related to Peace-building Explored in Dagbani Movies Interviews conducted with selected Dagbon movie producers showed that many movies advised against usurping chieftaincy positions, bad leadership and disregard for one’s culture or ancestors. Table 1 shows some themes explored in sampled Dagbani movies. Table 1: Themes explored in Dagbani movies SN Title of Movie Theme Explored 1 Alahachi Nam Bad leaders receive punishment 2 Nabiyoli Bad leaders will be punished 3 “Arising”, Zag Yini The need to live in unity 4 Yel kpema Yili Conflict leads to underdevelopment 5 Mabi Zabli Family disputes must not be allowed to develop into full blown conflicts 6 Kal Duu God ordains the chief 7 Suhu garigu Bad chiefs are punished 8 Gbewaa Ya’ansi Money cannot buy leadership positions 9 Ya Na Respect God’s ordained leaders 10 Dagbon Nabihi Consequences of not following the line of succession to Chieftaincy 11 Dagbon Politics Conflicts impact negatively on development Source: Field data, 2018 GJDS, Vol. 18, No. 1, May, 2021 | 107 Ghana Journal of Development Studies, Vol. 18 (1) A movie producer indicated that “Dagbon Nabihi” (Princes of Dagbon) discusses the Dagbon conflict and ways of resolving it. A Chief, who is the leader of kingmakers in Yani (Dagbon) indicated that many Dagbani movies carry peace-building messages. According to him: Movies teach how men and their wives can live in harmony. Movies teach chiefs how to relate to their kinsmen, elders and followers. Movies teach us how to live as a family. Anytime a movie teaches a good lesson, I call and encourage the producers. He gave an example of the movie, “Dagbon Politics” which discussed how two feuding chiefs were further divided by politicians. Eventually the viewer is taught to see politics not as a divisive factor, but one that can bring about peaceful coexistence and development. An expert in peace-building and conflict resolution corroborated the chief’s assertion: Dagbani movies teach forgiveness, expose negative stereotypes which are dangers to peaceful co-existence. Some movies contain messages about feuding factions apologising for their wrongs. Other films preach friendship among all Dagombas. As a means of bringing about peaceful co-existence, some movies used the celebration of culture and tradition as a unifying force, while others used festivals for renewal of vows to remain united under one traditional leader to spearhead development. When movie producers were asked whether their movies had any impact on peacebuilding in Dagbon, all of them responded in the affirmative. Discussants at focus groups agreed that Dagbani movies have contributed to peace-building. According to the movie audiences, movies teach them how to support the development of their communities and to prevent conflict. They indicated that majority of the movies they watched espoused virtues including peaceful co-existence, while other movies gave warning signals of potential conflicts. A discussant at a focus group session remarked: Like football, movies have become our passion. We gather at common places to watch, argue about the story and message in the movie. Sometimes, we take sides with some of the movie characters and debate issues. As we watch the movies together, we do not discriminate on tribal, religious or political bases. We are all GJDS, Vol. 18, No. 1, May, 2021 | 108 Ghana Journal of Development Studies, Vol. 18 (1) one, members of the same movie club, united by the movies which bring us together. Kierran’s (2013) finding to the effect that movies promote dialogue among people, thereby preventing conflicts is supported by Dagbon movie producers, who stated that their films give ordinary people a voice to express their displeasure on issues affecting Dagbon. A movie producer stated: Movies speak for ordinary people, express their woes and concerns. This way, the people get satisfied when they realise that their concerns have been expressed. In the absence of such an avenue of self-expression, people could take up arms to draw attention to their concerns. According to the producers, movies ensure that opposing aggrieved parties achieve results similar to the four-stage conflict transformation that Lederach (1997) proposes. Dagbani movies, re-establish working relations among warring factions, deal with systemic issues underlying conflicts and rebuilds mutual relationships. The producers further said their movies shape people’s views on the need for peace in Dagbon through peace messages such as “patience Moves Mountains”. The producers said movies have educated Dagombas to be more tolerant and patient in dealing with one another. “Dagbani movies teach the youth how to voice out their concerns and to be part of decision making. This way, they are able to voice out their frustrations rather than taking up arms whenever their expectations are not met”, one producer said. A producer further intimated: The phenomenon of burning houses whenever there is conflict has completely stopped due to the way we preached against that practice in our movies and made the act unpopular. Besides, chiefs nominated for enskinment are more easily accepted now compared to the situation that pertained 15 years ago. We have been producing movies to sensitise Dagombas on the negative effects of chieftaincy disputes. According to them, their movies have become reference points in conflict resolution of all kinds. One producer stated that some NGO’s especially NORSAC, CAMFED and New Energy use movies to communicate messages of peace to the warring Abudu and Andani gates of Dagbon. The producers said even chiefs use the movies for conflict resolution and mediation. A producer gave the example of the Konkomba – Dagomba war during which the chief of a town called Kanimo used GJDS, Vol. 18, No. 1, May, 2021 | 109 Ghana Journal of Development Studies, Vol. 18 (1) conflict resolution techniques learnt from Dagbani movies to resolve the dispute between the two warring ethnic groups. The claims of movie producers are supported by the views of an expert in peace and conflict resolution, who had this to say: There are movies that talk about the greatness of Dagbon Kingdom and how the Kingdom has stood the test of time in defending the pride, dignity and the human person of the people of Dagbon from the days of slavery through colonisation to date. Such historical movies downplay issues that cause division among the people of Dagbon and emphasise the greatness, oneness and pride of Dagbon Kingdom. The movies refer Dagombas to their common roots and heritage. They also call for co-existence, reminding Abudus and Andanis that once upon a time, before you were divided, you were actually one and that you come from the same heritage, you come from the same source, you come from the same ancestor. A powerful Chief in Dagbon, the leader of the kingmakers of Yani, the Kuga-Na also had this to say about the contribution of Dagbani movies to peace-building: Their stories preach peace-building. They create conflict situations and then find solutions to them, thus, telling us how to resolve conflicts. They also teach lessons on how husbands and wives can live together in peace and harmony, … how to rule our respective lands, how to relate with our elders and our followers so there will be peace. They also show the effects of conflicts and how to come together in unity and resolve conflicts. Movies also teach us the need to play politics with patience, to eschew bribery and corruption. All these are geared towards promoting peace and harmony. The chief further noted that the fact that those who act in the Dagbani movies are a mixture of Abudus and Andanis as well as members of diverse political parties and yet work together was a lesson on how to live together in peace. GJDS, Vol. 18, No. 1, May, 2021 | 110 Ghana Journal of Development Studies, Vol. 18 (1) Cultural Conflict Resolution Techniques Employed in Dagbani Movies for Peace-building Another main focus of this study was to discuss some cultural conflict resolution techniques which are contained in Dagbani movies. Movie producers, viewer club members and traditional authorities mentioned some Dagomba beliefs and cultural practices which the movies employed for conflict resolution. At a focus group discussion, one discussant indicated that in a movie titled “Kal Duu” (Sacred Room), the ancestors were invoked to maintain peace and resolve chaos in the village. This is in view of the fact that the Dagomba listen to, respect and revere their ancestors/forefathers and “smaller gods” (deities) very much. Therefore, no one dares contest the ruling of the ancestors in a conflict situation. This cultural belief is similar to another belief of the Dagomba which is also highlighted in “Zaachi” (Youth Chief). The Dagomba believe in a hierarchical system where young people listen to and obey their elders, particularly chiefs. For instance, in a movie titled Dangbia, the youth resort to elders to determine the rightful occupant of a vacant skin. During conflict, young people, who are usually the major protagonists, drop their weapons when elders ask them to do so. For this reason, the youth would often seek the assistance of elders to assist in resolving their conflicts rather than resorting to violence. In particular, Dagomba believe in using chiefs as mediators to conflicts. Similar to the findings of Ahorsu and Gebe (2011), discussants at two focus group sessions with movie viewer clubs mentioned “Kotulum”, “Tobu”, “Yel Kpema Yili” and “Kal Duu” as Dagbani movies which recommended the use of elders and chiefs to dialogue in resolving conflicts. “Kal Duu” tells the story of how a protracted chieftaincy dispute was resolved when the elders decided to channel their grievances through the king who advised the community to accept the chief that has been chosen for them by the kingmakers. “Tobu” dealt with chieftaincy issues and the use of elders and dialogue to resolve conflicts. In many of the movies, whenever a party to a conflict is dissatisfied with the ruling of a Dagomba chief, they appealed to other chiefs, especially Mamprugu chiefs. Indeed, the movie, Dangbia, reminds Dagombas that the paramount King of Mamprugu plays an important role in the Dagbon Kingdom when it comes to disputes regarding the enskinment of the Ya Naa. Also, Dagbani movies use dialogue as a cultural mediation technique. When there is a conflict, the chief and elders convene a dialogue session with the aggrieved parties where both sides are listened to. Usually, establishing the truth is at the centre of resolving the dispute. GJDS, Vol. 18, No. 1, May, 2021 | 111 Ghana Journal of Development Studies, Vol. 18 (1) Discussants at a focus group mentioned “Yel kpema Yili” (Village of Controversy) as an example of a film where this cultural value is espoused. The movie cautions Dagombas to be patient and always speak the truth no matter the situation or personalities involved. It advises people to be truthful regarding the rightful occupants of their skins. The film indicates that if everyone is truthful and patient, Dagbon will be peaceful, and development will follow. The film also brings to the fore the need to prevent conflict at home so that it does not spread to society. It cautions the youth to use their energies for positive ventures and not be delinquent. These views expressed by movie viewer clubs were supported by a prominent Dagomba chief who said: Dagbani movies teach us that culture and tradition is always the way to go. Our culture and traditions prescribe solutions to every situation. When politicians fight, they sometimes appear before chiefs for mediation. As our traditions dictate, we listen to both sides individually before knowing what solution to prescribe to the conflict. For instance, we are not using the culture and tradition to solve the Dagbon chieftaincy crisis and that is why we have not found a solution yet. If we follow the culture and tradition as prescribed by our forebears, we will find a solution. But we have allowed politicians to deceive us to fight among ourselves just so they can get votes. This view is supported by the views of an expert in peace-building. He reiterates the fact that Dagbani movies teach how culture and traditions can assist in conflict resolution. The expert said: Dagbani movies use the passing of cola nuts to a visitor as a sign of welcome and open-heartedness to engage in dialogue for the resolution of disputes. In Dagomba tradition, when the cola nut is passed at the Ya Na’s palace, if you pick a piece of that cola nut, it is because you have opened your heart to be part of any process that is ongoing. You cannot pick cola nuts and still bear grudge against another person. An analysis of a movie titled Dangbia showed that the breaking and chewing of cola nut before a dead body was a strategy used to resolve conflict between two feuding factions. Similarly, the Kingmaker of Yani stated that: “the use of Dagbon culture and tradition in movies teach the youth the culture and tradition of Dagbon GJDS, Vol. 18, No. 1, May, 2021 | 112 Ghana Journal of Development Studies, Vol. 18 (1) and how we relate to each other as one people with the same background.” He cited the movie, Kal Duu, as a movie which teaches a lot of lessons in peace-building in Dagbon. According to him, the movie, which has 20 episodes, dramatises how many conflicts could not be resolved using modern conflict resolution techniques. Eventually, culture and tradition proffered solutions to the conflicts. Challenges of Using Movies to Promote Peace-building Movie producers, viewers and experts gave several challenges that the industry encounters in its attempt at using movies for peace-building purposes. Producers were emphatic that the Dagbani movie industry is starved of the necessary finances required for quality movie production. According to them, producing a movie entails huge financial outlay which majority of producers cannot afford. The situation is worsened by the fact that many financial institutions refuse to give producers credit to produce their movies. “We cannot raise sufficient finances to produce quality movies to meet international standards. This is part of the reason why our movies do not win national or international awards, and we get little patronage from audiences other than Dagombas”, a movie producer lamented. The effect of producers’ inability to harness sufficient resources to produce their movies is that, they are often unable to recruit and motivate professional actors and crew members to ensure quality movie production. Patrons of Dagbani movies complained during a focus group discussion that the industry lack formally trained and experienced actors, directors and other crew members, leading to the production of poor quality films. Another reason for poor quality movie production which can be attributed to resource constraints is producers’ failure to use quality equipment for movie production. Producers corroborate movie patrons’ compliant that cheap and substandard equipment are used to produce movies, thereby compromising the quality of movies produced. The producers indicate that state-of-art film production equipment come at very high cost which they are unable to afford. According to them, post-production equipments are particularly difficult to afford. Besides, many property owners do not permit movie makers to use their properties as locations to shoot movies, or as props or costumes for the movies. According to the producers, property owners shy away from the publicity and attention that they might get should they give out their properties to be used to shoot movies. B oth the producers and patrons of Dagbani movies admitted that national television stations’ preference of foreign movies especially foreign telenovelas GJDS, Vol. 18, No. 1, May, 2021 | 113 Ghana Journal of Development Studies, Vol. 18 (1) over local films is negatively affecting the patronage of Dagbani movies. An expert in peace-building indicated that rather than promoting local films on national television, many TV stations, including state-owned GTV, screen foreign films much of the time. This denies Dagbani movies the publicity required to be patronised by a wider market. A discussant at a focus group confessed: “I love the Indian telenovelas and so when any such film is being shown simultaneously with a Dagbani movie, I opt for the Indian film.” Compounding the challenge of low patronage of Dagbani movies is poor marketing. Many producers have little knowledge of how to market their movies. According to a peace-building expert, Dagbani movies have failed to earn much national and international recognition not because of language barriers, but owing to failure to market them appropriately to a national and international audience. He cited the case of Indian movies which are produced in languages that are alien to many viewers and yet gain much international patronage due to good marketing employed for such movies. Piracy is another hindrance to the use of movies for peace-building purposes. The movie producers stated that instead of buying authentic DVDs and CDs from movie production houses, many people purchase pirated ones. A producer said: Piracy is collapsing our businesses. People burn our films onto CDs and sell at a cheaper cost to audiences. Others copy the movies from friends who download them from the internet. Few people would buy CDs directly from us. So we are losing to pirates money that should have been invested into producing more movies on peace-building. Patrons of Dagbani movies admitted that piracy is a great hindrance to the development of the Dagbani movie industry. They also indicated that various conflicts have occurred between movie producers and operators of some movie screening centres who failed to pay copyright before screening their movies. A peace-building expert summarised the challenges of the Dagbani movie industry as follows: The crave for money rather than achieving the purpose of the narrative is the bane of the industry players. Dagbani movie producers should produce movies that will bring people together and as a result make money out of it. Movie producers must choose themes that are relevant. Blind copying should be eschewed. The Dagbani movie industry should develop its own unique form rather GJDS, Vol. 18, No. 1, May, 2021 | 114 Ghana Journal of Development Studies, Vol. 18 (1) than try to copy another industry, say, Kumawood. The writers, producers and actors, are they well-grounded in Dagbon culture and tradition to be able to make movies that bring peace? CONCLUSIONS This study set out to investigate the role of Dagbani movies in the peace-building process. From the findings of the study, several logical deductions can be made. First, the study concludes that like other performing arts, Dagbani movies could be effectively used to champion peaceful co-existence within the Northern Region of Ghana. Fortunately, both movie producers and audiences recognise the potential of movies in peace-building since all respondents unanimously agreed that movies are effective peace-building tools. Indeed, Dagbon movie makers have conscientiously produced movies aimed at promoting peaceful co-existence of Dagombas. Some films preach virtues which are in conformity with Dagomba culture and promote peace by glorifying patience, selflessness, communal spirit and respect for elders among other virtues. Other films preached against vices including over-ambition, greed, selfishness, abuse of power and disrespect for elders. More importantly, the practice of gathering in groups to view movies was seen as unifying force among Dagombas. Movie patrons often engaged in useful discussions at popular movie centres on the themes of movies they watched, leaving many in no doubt about the messages behind the films they watched. Some movies, including “Kotulum”, “ Tobu”, “ Yel K pema Yili” and “Kal Duu” were produced using cultural conflict resolution techniques. Indeed, Dagbani movies have a lesson or two to teach modern conflict mediators. This explains why some NGO’s adopted some of the movies for conflict resolution purposes. This underscores the fact that Dagbani movies are more effective as tools for peace-building when they are produced based on Dagomba cultural norms. However, many challenges faced by movie producers have prevented the sector from contributing its full potential to the development of Dagbon. Scanty financing and pirating of movies have robbed the industry of its commercial attraction. With low investment in producing movies, the quality of Dagbani movies are often found wanting. RECOMMENDATIONS For Dagbani movies to play an effective peace-building role, they must be produced by professionals to enhance their quality and give them a wider market. As an expert in peace-building indicated, the movie producers, directors and actors need GJDS, Vol. 18, No. 1, May, 2021 | 115 Ghana Journal of Development Studies, Vol. 18 (1) to be schooled on conflict resolution and peace-building strategies. The producers, cast and crew members also need to have in-depth knowledge of Dagbon culture and history. Besides, quality movie production is a capital intensive venture. Dagbon movie producers need sufficient capital to expand their businesses and marketing opportunities for their films. As a means of supporting the Dagbani movie industry and enhancing its peace-building capacities, the following recommendations are worth considering: • The N orthern Drama and Filmmakers A ssociation (NORDRAFIM) should seek funding from donor agencies and NGOs, particularly those into peacebuilding, to organise training programmes aimed at enhancing the skills of film producers and improving upon their marketing skills. Additionally, the movie producers could also seek sponsorship from NGO’s and enter into partnership agreements with corporate organisations which would fund the production of such movies in return for marketing opportunities from the movies. • NORDRAFIM could partner the National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI) to organise special training programmes for film producers, actors/actresses and film crew members to improve their skills in acting and film production. • N ational television stations, particularly GTV, need to devote more transmission time to airing locally produced movies including Dagbani movies. That aside, as the Dagbon Movie V iewers Club recommended, NORDRAFIM could collaborate with TV Stations located within Northern Ghana to telecast Dagbani movies and in doing so, market them more effectively to a larger audience. • Dagbani movie producers need to register their businesses and run them professionally enough to qualify for and seek credit financing from financial institutions. • To ensure that movie producers reap the maximum benefits of their business, NORDRAFIM is advised to seek the support of the Cyber Crime Unit of the Ghana Police Service and the Dagbon Movie Viewer Clubs to track down and punish people who are pirating Dagbani movies. • A s happened in R wanda after the genocide ( K ierran, 2013), G hana Government and other development partners need to support Dagbon movie producers to produce movies on the post-Dagbon crisis period, with emphasis on how the people can move on after the war. Such movies must GJDS, Vol. 18, No. 1, May, 2021 | 116 Ghana Journal of Development Studies, Vol. 18 (1) stress the need for unity and peaceful co-existence with a view to preventing any such conflict among the Abudus and Andanis. REFERENCES Ahiave, E. C. (2013). Conflict and conflict resolution in Ghana: The case of the Dagbon conflict. Unpublished Thesis, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra. Ahorsu, K ., & Gebe, B. Y. (2011). Governance and security in Ghana: The Dagbon chieftaincy crisis, Accra, Ghana: WACSI. Assefa, H. (1993). Peace and reconciliation as a paradigm: A philosophy of peace and its implications on conflict, governance, and economic growth in Africa, NPI Monograph Series. Nairobi, Kenya: Nairobi Peace Initiative. Baird, J. (2015). An Examination of Agenda Setting Theory and its importance in the Public Relations Industry (Online). https://sites.psu.edu/jamiebaird/agendasetting-theory. Chebii, Z. K. (2015). 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United States Institute of Peace Press. Washington, DC. Mahama, I. (2002). Ethnic conflicts in Northern Ghana. Cyber Systems, Tamale, Ghana. Mahama, E. S. & Longi, F. T. (2013). Conflicts in Northern Ghana: Search for Solutions, Stakeholders and Way Forward. Ghana Journal of Development Studies, 10(2), 20 – 25. McCombs, M. E., & Shaw, D. L. (1972). The Agenda-Setting Function of Mass. The Public Opinion Quarterly, 36(2), 176-187. McCombs, M. E., & Shaw, D. L. (2014). New Directions in Agenda-Setting Theory and Research (Online). https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15205436.2014.96 4871. McGowan, P. J. (2005). Coups and Conflict in West Africa, 1955-2004, Part I, Theoretical Perspectives. Armed Forces & Society, 32(1), 13 – 16. Mhando, M., & Tomaselli, K. G. (2009). Film and Trauma: Africa Speaks to Itself through Truth and Reconciliation. Black Camera. 1(1), 30-50. Nurudeen, S. (2013). “Torbu Nyanga”. Graphic Showbiz, May, 2013. Pasovic, H. 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Journal of Development Communication, Volume 32 (1) © 2021 AIDCOM EXPLORING THE RELEVANCE OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS AND MEDIA PARTNERSHIP FOR PROMOTING SOCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY IN LOCAL GOVERNANCE IN UPPER WEST REGION, GHANA Africanus Lewil Diedong Department of African and General Studies, Simon Diedong Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies, P. O. Box WA 64, Wa, Upper West Region, Ghana. [email protected] Damasus Tuurosong Department of African and General Studies, Simon Diedong Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies, P. O. Box WA 64, Wa, Upper West Region, Ghana. [email protected] Lawrence Naaikuur Department of African and General Studies, Simon Diedong Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies, P. O. Box WA 64, Wa, Upper West Region, Ghana. [email protected] Abstract Despite the importance of community participation in local governance, the inputs of community members on issues of local governance seem little in district assemblies in the Upper West Region of Ghana. Social accountability is not a privilege for civil society organisations and citizens, but it is their right as tax-payers and citizens to actively participate in development decisions that affect them. This paper argues that such rights can be better actualised through innovative social interventions of civil society organisations (CSOs) and stakeholders in local governance. The study assumes that until district assemblies and development partners collaboratively work with communities to create a sense of inclusiveness in local governance, the implementation of development projects would hardly be beneficial. It employed a qualitative research approach. Data was sourced from in-depth interview of implementers of a novel social intervention project and review of write-ups of journalists on development issues in the Upper West Region. Content analysis was employed to analyse thirteen sampled articles of journalists to identify issues of social accountability. Through analysis of an innovative social intervention project of Action for Sustainable Development collaboratively carried out with the media in the Upper West Region, the paper gives some insights on emerging issues about CSOs’ innovative social intervention in local governance in the Upper West Region of Ghana. Keywords: social innovation interventions, community development, media network, social accountability, participation. Introduction Despite civil society efforts to increase citizens’ knowledge and skills to participate in local governance and demand accountability from public officials, there are functional deficits in the mechanisms to make public office holders accountable for their stewardship. The mechanisms provided under the Local Governance Act, 2016 (Act 936) to promote participatory and accountable governance though explicit and almost exhaustive, most citizens at the local level are oblivious of the happenings within the District Assemblies (DAs). This can be attributed to the insufficient and erratic demand for accountability and good governance coupled with the issue of citizens shying away from their civic duties. Most dutybearers are unwilling to open up for scrutiny. Citizens equally exhibit apathy in organising themselves and spending time on social accountability processes without financial and material gains as opposed 1 The Journal of Development Communication to the general benefits of social progress. Another challenge is the difficulty in accessing public information and where it is provided, it seems incomprehensible to the average citizen especially on financial matters. The need to find innovative and sustainable ways of whipping up citizens’ consciousness of local governance issues and how they affect their lives should engage the attention of development partners, especially CSOs. The media is an important institution, which by the nature of its function in society as the watchdog of private and public organisations, can partner with other CSOs, concerned citizens and duty-bearers to enhance social accountability. It is in pursuance of the objective of whipping up citizen’s interests and action on how to ensure transparency and accountability in development governance at the decentralised level of governance (District Assembly), that some nongovernmental organisation such as ASUDEV finds it relevant to collaborate with media organisations in the Upper West Region in particular and beyond to initiate the Citizens Action for Accountable Governance (CAAG) project. Profile of ASUDEV and its Core Activities in Wa and Sissala East Municipalities ASUDEV is based in the Upper West Region of Ghana. Its core approach to development has been the human rights-based approach through which the capacities of citizens are built as well as facilitating advocacy and engagement with duty-bearers and development partners for effective delivery of social services, fulfilment of fundamental rights and promoting social accountability. The Citizens Action for Accountable Governance (CAAG) project is an initiative coming on the heels of the Social Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (SPEFA) project which was implemented by ASUDEV within the Wa Municipality under the SNV/CSO consortium between 2014 and 2017. The CAAG project was supported by STAR Ghana with funding from UK aid, European Union and Danida. The one-year project was implemented in Wa and Sissala East Municipalities. The Sissala East Municipality is beset with development problems such as poor road network, making access to social services a challenge. It is common for teachers not to be able to go to school because they cannot cross a broken bridge or inability to transport a woman in labour to the nearest health centre during the rainy season. Farm produce cannot reach market centres at the right time and some get spoiled in the process. Any effort to get roads fixed will be a catalyst for the sustainable development of the Municipality. Other problems include post-harvest losses, which affects farm productivity. The Sissala East Municipality is a major maize producer in the region. Unfavourable and unstable pricing of agricultural commodities is a major development challenge. Even though the farmers produce a lot of maize and other crops, access to markets is a challenge. Market queens from southern Ghana take advantage of the situation by offering low prices for the farm produce. The income of the farmers is, therefore, not maximised. In the Wa Municipality, under ASUDEV implemented the SEPFA project to improve citizens’ perceptions of urban management and increase their engagement with urban assemblies, and to increase citizens’ knowledge and understanding on local governance processes so as to enable them constructively engage and demand for accountable and transparent delivery of public services. About 240 citizen forum members’ knowledge and awareness of development processes in the Sissala East and Wa Municipal Assemblies increased. Different citizen forum members – 120 each from the Sissala East and Wa Municipal assemblies, which participated in fora organised by ASUDEV included Association of Tractor owners, Pensioners Association, Market Women Association, Parent Teachers Association and Traditional Authorities. Issues of public concern the members deliberated upon included: Stalled toilet projects at Kanton Senior High School and Tumu Senior High Technical School and ban on harvesting of rose wood and yet vehicles still loading rose wood. According to a Programme Officer of ASUDEV citizen forum members’ participation in budget hearing and planning meetings had improved. The project enhanced the capacity of citizens groups to advocate for reforms to improve security and some infrastructure in the Wa Municipality (ASUDEV, 2017). Other benefits of the citizen fora were: feedback was received and actions taken on issues raised at Town Hall Meetings and relationship between citizens forum members and duty bearers strengthened. Effective resource governance requires responsible and accountable actions from stakeholders to ensure that people derive maximum benefits from them. In this regard, citizens’ vigilance and efforts 2 Exploring the Relevance of Civil Society Organisations and Media Partnership of CSOs aimed at demanding social accountability on local governance in the DAs is crucial. The contribution of other CSOs towards the institutionalisation of the concept of social accountability in the local governance system of Ghana led the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) to collaboratively initiate a project with three local-based radio stations in the Upper West Region. The aim of the collaboration was to bring down the microphone to people at the grassroots to air their views on pertinent issues of development. Community radio plays an important role in the lives of rural communities as it creates, provides information and education and improves the process of accountability (Ugboajah, 1985: 165-176). Local governance fora held from August 2-5, 2016 in the Sissala East, Nandom and Wa Municipalities offered opportunities for citizens to engage their local authorities on pertinent governance and pressing local development issues. Duty-bearers including local assembly authorities responded to questions and concerns raised by community members on the dayto-day running of the assemblies. Issues such as roads, water, sanitation, tolls, markets, local development projects, planning, budgeting and Common Fund allocations were the main topics for discussion. The sessions were broadcast live on partner radio stations – Radford FM, Radio Progress and radio Freed. The assemblies and CSOs, which collaborated with MFWA (see MFWA, 2016) on the project were: a) In Sissala-East Municipality, Radford FM and Action for Sustainable Development (ASUDEV) b) In Nandom Municipality, Radio Freed and Partnership for Rural Development Action (PRUDA) c) In Wa Municipality, Radio Progress and Centre for the Alleviation of Poverty, the Environment and Child Support (CAPECS). The growing interest in good governance, especially at DA level has been given further boost with the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) and Star Ghana's enhanced media and CSOs partnership project. The collaboration is expected to contribute to enrich citizen's access to quality information through structured media platforms and CSOs outlets (Hope, 2019). The expectations that people have of their DAs is that they address their development problems and create an enabling environment for citizen participation. Indeed, the DAs are the supply side of the transparency and accountability equation. However, the reality on the ground seems to paint a different picture, which triggered two main questions for the study: a) How relevant are innovative social intervention projects in strengthening accountability in local governance? b) How can CSOs collaborate with the media to implement innovative social intervention projects to support social accountability in local governance? Theoretical Underpinnings of the Study Two theories which guide the study were the Media Advocacy and Empowerment theories. The choice of these theoretical frameworks is informed by the fact that one of the key objectives of ASUDEV’s project was to promote media attention on social accountability in local governance and citizen participation in community development. Since its inception in Ghana in 1987, the decentralisation process as an offshoot of Ghana’s democracy, has witnessed growth. Currently, the total number of MMDAs in Ghana is 168. The creation of new DAs, especially in remote communities in Ghana is a positive move in the sense that not only has it brought governance closer to the people, but more importantly, it signposts the fact that Ghana is committed to the implementation of core principles of governance such as inclusiveness and participation. It implies that by this current arrangement of governance in Ghana, communities in the various DAs have become stakeholders in the implantation, nurturing and strengthening of the MMDAs. But the question is: How deep and meaningful is peoples’ participation in the decentralised governance system, taking into account their awareness, knowledge on processes and resource availability and efficient utilisation, and their ability to demand accountability from duty-bearers? Deficits in community members’ awareness, knowledge on processes and resource availability and efficient utilisation suggest that there is need for community sensitisation on their rights and responsibilities towards effective operationalisation of the DA concept. Apart from that, it is imperative 3 The Journal of Development Communication that given the demands of social accountability, all stakeholders are empowered to actively participate in local governance. Social Accountability In the literature, there are different perspectives on the concept of social accountability. Generally, it can be defined as answerability on the part of public officials through citizens’ engagement to explain what they have done or failed to do with public resources entrusted to them to judiciously utilise to yield positive results. The concept can be defined as an approach towards building accountability that relies on civic engagement, i.e., whereby ordinary citizens and/or CSOs participate directly or indirectly in exacting accountability (Melana et al., 2004). Emphasis of this definition is on a set of mechanisms needed for exacting accountability from duty-bearers. Such mechanisms, which are very often demanddriven, can make meaningful impacts if operated from bottom-up. Notable among the bouquet of mechanisms needed for strengthening Ghana’s decentralised development administration is social accountability. The World Bank (2006) defined social accountability as: “the broad range of actions and mechanisms (beyond voting) that citizens can use to hold the state into account, as well as actions on the part of government, civil society, media and other social actors that promote or facilitate these efforts” (2006: 3). The application of the concept requires some key pillars, which Melana enumerates as follows: a) Building coalitions to initiate collective action; b) Identifying an entry point such as involving people in meetings to obtain their views on development plans; c) Building an evidence base through compiling relevant public information, which can either be supply-side government data or demand side users’ data; d) Public dissemination of findings through public meetings, events or the media; and e) Advocacy with public officials to bring change. In the disbursement and management of Public Funds to MMDAs, the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development views social accountability as a vehicle through which people who are affected by planned interventions have the right and capacity to demand accountability and transparency from local politicians and administrators. Braimah et al. (2013: 65) observe that for effective poverty and inequality reduction, active civic engagement in development planning plays a kingpin role in sustainable public financial management. Reports (UNDP, 2018) on poverty situation in northern Ghana point to the need for collective and sustained efforts by citizens and development partners to tackle the issue. The relevance of using media for social innovation cannot be overemphasised. According to Podkslicka & Rennie (2018: 4), scholars of digital media - Mirek Filiciak and Piotr Toczyski (2012), describe it as a progressive effort to use media to extend civic participation and literacy to a group normally excluded from the public sphere, offering them concrete opportunities for cross-cultural debate and learning. In fact, citizens have a right to voice their needs, opinions, and concerns to help public officials and government to better understand their (citizen’s) priorities and how to better serve the people (ASUDEV, 2017:19). Media Advocacy and Local Governance Media advocacy in support of local governance in Ghana seems low. A number of factors account for this situation. One of the factors is the gap between the media and CSOs as a result of inadequate policy literacy and capacity among journalists, civil society actors and citizens, particularly at the local government level (Zephaniah, 2019). When used effectively, media advocacy is one of the powerful platforms, which can influence decision makers, public officials and local politicians to be more responsible and transparent in their respective duties. Wallack and Dorfman (1996:283) define media advocacy to mean: “the strategic use of media to advance public policy initiatives.” The underlying assumption of the theory is that the mass media to a large extent shape public debate, and consequently political and social interventions. Dzisah (2019: 95) documents that a key factor in its arsenal is that it has the ability to shift focus from the personal to the social, from the individual to the political, from the behaviour or practice 4 Exploring the Relevance of Civil Society Organisations and Media Partnership to the policy or environment. Reliance on media advocacy theory seems to suggest that the media is capable of persuading people to support development initiatives and policies, especially when the benefits are demonstrable. For example, through media advocacy, people can be informed and educated about why they should participate and contribute in meetings and development discourses in the DAs. It can be stated that dependence on the media and its advocacy power could lead to framing of socioeconomic and political problems of development of the DAs. Entman’s (1993) perspective of framing linked the framing theory to agenda setting theory because it gives reference to salience of issues. Framing theory further states that media can influence public opinion by overemphasing issues over others through framing (Scheufele, 2000; Molloy, 2015:481; Mathes, 2009: 85). Advocacy for the wellbeing of people is the heart of the work of rights-based CSOs. The media plays an important role by acting as an advocate, a facilitator and a watchdog over governance processes in the DAs to ensure efficiency and effectiveness of the work of the DAs. Empowering People for Development Community development demands active participation of all interested parties to make it a reality. Active and meaningful participation of youth, women, local farmers, persons with disabilities and other excluded groups of people in governance is very critical if human development is to be equitable and sustainable (UNDP, 2013). Tackling issues of local governance such as increasing local authorities’ awareness of local development and improved revenue mobilsation require that CSOs engage in series of dialogues using various modes of communication, especially the mass media to reach out to a lot of people. Impactful communication within an integrated communication framework capabl of empowering people to take charge of processes and manage resources well in their communities should strategically employ a mixture of traditional forms of communication mostly used by community-based organisations (CBOs) and modern means of social communication such as community radio and participatory videos. Scholars (see White, 2008; Waisbord, 2001 & Melkote et al., 2002) have argued that the use of such an integrated model of communication can create an enabling context for dialogue among stakeholders on problems of development and how to find solutions to them. This implies that onboarding people in the programmes, policies and development activities of DAs requires active participation of people. The central point of argument of empowerment scholars (see Gready & Ensor, 2004; Melkote et al., 2001) is that participation in development should enable people to gain control over their lives, their environment and their socio-economic conditions so as to enjoy an improved quality of life. The emphasis is that the efforts of development must be focused on different forms of empowerment of the popular classes: a) The central notion of empowerment is to recognise the human dignity of all and enable all to assume active roles in the national-global development process b) Personal empowerment, consciousness-raising processes in which the poor and excluded (such as women) overcome the imposed ideology that they are incapable of governing c) Organisational empowerment, the formation of organisations to represent them and obtain resources for their development efforts d) Political empowerment, that is, to understand how the political system works in order to get resources for the people. e) Communication empowerment, to organise their own popular media and control it for their own education and to strengthen their own organisations. The 1992 Fourth Republican Constitution of Ghana sets the grounds for the right of communities and local people to participate in local matters. Chapter 20, clause 240, 2(e) states: “to ensure the accountability of local authority, people in particular, local government areas shall be afforded the opportunity to participate effectively in their governance.” Per bottom-up planning process of the National Development Planning System (ACT 480, 1994), local communities are expected to participate in the preparation of district or local plans through public hearing sessions, where the views expressed are taken into consideration in the planning process. 5 The Journal of Development Communication However, in the 2014 NGHDR Survey with the exception of voting during elections, participation was found to be generally low (UNDP, 2018: 131). The tendency to underestimate the knowledge and contributions of people from the grassroots as relevant inputs into the process of implementation of DAs’ programmes and polices such as the disbursement of the Assemblies Common Fund is yet to be overcome. Azeem et al. (2010: 87) note: “It is still the case that people most affected by the outcome are left out of discussions on policy development, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. Every effort must be made to change this situation.” Therefore, there is the need for more action to enable people actively participate in the development agenda of DAs. Therefore, the shift from tokenistic form of participation (see Gaber, 2019) to empowered participation, which requires lots of effort, cooperation and time should be embraced by all development partners in the DAs as the most plausible approach to mobilizing and convincing people to commit themselves to the task of development is in the right direction. Indeed, empowered participation (see Mefelopulos, 2008) is manifested when relevant stakeholders take part throughout the whole cycle of development initiative and have an influence on the decision-making process. A democratic-participant model of communication can guide the DAs and citizens dialogues on issues of development. Some principles underlying this model of communication is that communication is too important to be left in the hands of professionals, and that individuals and minorities must be able to claim right of access to the media and have their rights served by the media (Oosthuizen, 2002). Participation and monitoring mechanisms situated within the local development administrative system can increase transparency and reduce corruption. Participatory communication is one of the key driving forces, which can be employed to achieve accountability and responsiveness in DAs. Establishing a dynamic link between communication, media and good governance has been found to be useful (World Bank, n.d). Demonstrably, analysed media reports (Kuorsoh, 2019; MFWA, 2016) indicated that this form of participation is beginning to take shape in some communities in the Sissala East and Wa Municipalities. Asuman (2019:24) observes that the appropriate end point for analysing empowerment is an increase in control over community resources, or a positive change in the socioeconomic environment plus a sense of belonging. Research Methodology The study employed a qualitative research approach. Specifically, 13 out of 39 write-ups of journalists (participants of ASUDEV training on Social Accountability) on development issues in the Wa and Sissala East Municipalities were purposefully sampled. The purposive sampling technique was used because the main criterion for sampling the 13 stories for assessment for the Media Award was that the write-ups should be about development issues in the districts in 2019. The study adopted content analysis approach to examine these 13 stories to see whether they dealt with variables such as corruption, accountability and inclusiveness. As a message-centred methodology, content analysis is an established research methodology particularly in quantitative research, which has been applied in other content analysis studies (see Neuendorf, 2002; Riffe et al., 1993, 2005). Data was obtained from indepth interviews of one of the Lead Programme Officers of ASUDEV on implemented projects on social accountability in local governance in the study area. The data gathered was subjected to thematic analyses to demonstrate that the social innovative project of ASUDEV, and media partnership on facilitation of citizens participation in social accountability in local governance system can empower people. Findings and Discussion Contributions of ASUDEV to Social Accountability in Local Governance ASUDEV’s attempts at initiating social accountability in the Sissala East Municipality was informed and built on the SPEFA Project, which ASUDEV had implemented in the Wa Municipality. The project on social accountability in local governance in the Sissala East was a scaled-up effort to afford citizens of the area development programmes and projects of their assembly. Over 240 citizens in the Sissala East and Wa municipalities had their capacities enhanced to be able to demand their rights to participate 6 Exploring the Relevance of Civil Society Organisations and Media Partnership effectively in local governance. More importantly vulnerable groups such Persons with Disability, and hard to reach communities - Gbenebiesi, Bawiesibelle, Santijan, Wuru, Katinia and Sentie were included in the citizen fora. Their inclusion in decision-making and development planning and implementation in the two municipalities is a remarkable shift from what pertains in the past. Through citizen’s demand for social accountability in local governance some benefits have accrued to citizens including improvement in sanitary conditions at the Wa Lorry Station, distribution of waste bins in Sissala East, enforcement of sanitation bye-laws through sanitation guards in Sissala East. Others included closing of a timber factory in Tumu, thereby safeguarding the environment, enhancement of some feeder roads in the Sissala East, which has eased travelling from various communities to the Municipal capital, Tumu. The Sissala East Municipal Assembly and the Wa Municipal Assembly, the two main dutybearers under the project have become more accountable to the citizenry through the organisation of town hall meetings and dissemination of financial information to the people as well as an improved sense of consciousness to enable people participate in the activities of the DA. As indicated, some citizen groups have had interactions with service providers such as private health facilities in the Sissala East on some issues of public concern. Such civic-minded efforts to some extent, keep service providers on their toes to deliver quality services. The project kept on reminding the district assemblies of their mandate to publish the Financial Templates and organise town hall meetings annually as stipulated in the Local Governance ACT, 2016 (936). Duty- bearers have become careful about making promises since they know individuals and the media will hold them accountable if they do not deliver. Through the intervention of the project the two municipal assemblies now invite citizens groups to participate in their meetings and key development processes; assembly sessions, budget hearings and reviews of fee-fixing resolutions. On the other hand, the citizenry in the two municipal assemblies have been empowered to become more aware of their rights to participate and to know what is happening so that they can hold duty bearers accountable for their actions. Citizens have become more conscious about the assembly and its activities especially in areas of revenue collection and utilisation, contract execution by contractors. Finance and financial management information of the two municipal assemblies have become more available and accessible to citizens using the Public Financial Management Templates, which used not to be the case. Revenue mobilization billboards located at the Municipal assemblies are now constantly updated as a result of citizen demands for accountability from the Sissala East Municipal assembly. Leveraging Media Support on Social Accountability Issues in Local Governance One of the key objectives of ASUDEV’s project was to promote media attention on social accountability and citizen participation in local development. This requires that the various media houses be targeted with interventions towards the achievement of this goal. The Upper West Media Network for Social Accountability is a well-organised association of media organisations, and a product of the erstwhile SPEFA Project. The ASUDEV project therefore targets them to lead the process of achieving the goal of media attention to citizen participation. The function of the media as a mobiliser of people to take part in activities to enable them improve on the quality of their lives in society contributes towards making people become active citizens. In fact, the notion of “democratic citizens” confers on members of the public the right and duty to be well-informed of, and actively participate in decisions and actions that can lead to enhancement in their standards of living. The citizens can only be well-formed if the media provides a credible platform and set the agenda for public discourse of development issues in the districts. By this intervention, the lessons from the project implementation would have a multiplier effect. The project had made some gains in enhancing media attention to social accountability issues through the introduction of the media in social accountability award. The emerging interest of the media on social accountability is seen in the content of radio programming (see World Bank, 2003). Thirteen journalists in the Upper West Region were trained on media and social accountability. Issues of accountability and transparency in governance in the DA is vital to ensuring efficiency and effectiveness in the use of resources. Using a Social Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability 7 The Journal of Development Communication training manual for CSOs, which was originally developed by the SNV -Netherlands Development Organisation under the SPEFA Project and adopted/reproduced under STAR Ghana Funded CAAG project with express consent from the SNV as a resource material, ASUDEV trained the journalists to have a firm grasp of the Local Government System, roles of citizens in social accountability, tools and techniques for social accountability and the media and social accountability. The training was done against the background of the fact that information dissemination and utilization in the implementation of development projects can engender trust among various stakeholders of DA. CAAG’s involvement of the media is viewed along the lines of how the media can report on social accountability and citizen’s participation in development at the grassroots level. The onboarding of the media to give practical approach to “social accountability” resulted in increased attention by media houses on development problems in order to elicit needed responses from DAs and development partners to address them. After the training, the journalists went to the field to practice what they learnt over a period of time, with ASUDEV monitoring the extent to which they prioritised social accountability issues. As a means of assessing the impact of the training on the work of journalists, ASUDEV organised a Media Awards Competition for members of Upper West Media Network for Social Accountability. The awards programme was aimed at recognising excellence in social accountability reporting and encouraging media personnel to make social accountability a headline issue. The 13 sampled headline stories, which, journalists presented as entries for the Maiden 2019 Media Awards Competition on Social Accountability in local governance in the Upper West Region included: a) Furniture shortage compel Bosuoyir primary pupils in the Wa Municipality to learn on bare ground b) Wa: Pupils saved from studying on bare floor by Humu Foundation c) Citizens in the Lawra DA urged to seek information to demand accountability from duty bearers d) Four NGOs unveil project to support MMDAs revenue generation in the Upper West Region e) Don’t leave social accountability issues to CSOs alone f) Sissala East MCE accounts to constituents on ongoing development activities in the Municipality g) Sissala West disburses GHC 1,636,836.00 (An equivalent of 278,916.04 US dollars) to LEAP beneficiaries h) USAID lauded for deepening accountability in agriculture governance i) Wa Municipal seeks views on preparation of development plans j) Report corrupt cases, public urged k) ASUDEV launches Social Accountability Media Awards l) No beds at Upper West Regional Hospital as children receive treatment on the floor m) NDC women group in Wa Central donates to Wa Regional Hospital n) Illegal mining in Wa East District of the Upper West Region. In accessing the relevance and impact of the stories which were entered for the competition, the judges looked out for articles which exposed corruption, abuse of power and encouraged accountability or transparency in governance. They also prioritised stories that urged active citizens participation or inclusiveness in the decision-making process, as well as the responsiveness of duty bearers to issues affecting the citizenry. A content analysis of the stories revealed that three stories advocated citizens’ participation in social accountability. The Ghana News Agency (GNA) appeared to be at the forefront of advocacy for citizens’ participation in social accountability. In a story titled, “Citizens in Lawra DA urged to seek information to demand accountability from duty bearers”, GNA reported of a social accountability forum which was organized in Lawra during which the Lawra District Assembly encouraged ordinary residents of the district to demand accountability from the Assembly. Similarly, “Don’t leave social accountability issues to CSOs alone” and “Report corrupt cases, public urged” are GNA stories which reported that the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) and the Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre (ALAC) exhorted citizens of Kassana in the Sissala East Municipality of the Upper West Region and Salaga in the Northern Region respectively, to join CSOs in fighting corruption. Some stories also alluded to corruption, maladministration and the shirking of responsibilities by district assemblies, resulting in the denial of communities of some basic facilities. The GNA and Joy 8 Exploring the Relevance of Civil Society Organisations and Media Partnership Online reported of furniture shortages at Bosuoyir M/A Primary School which led to 107 pupils sitting on filthy bare floors to learn. The story is titled “Furniture shortage compels Bosuoyir primary pupils in the Wa Municipality to learn on bare ground”. Similarly, a Home Radio report highlighted the plight of patients at the Upper West Regional Hospital who received treatment on the floor owing to inadequate beds in the Hospital. The story was captioned, “No beds at Upper West Regional Hospital as children receive treatment on the floor”. Another criterion for judging stories which were entered for the competition was responsiveness. The judges looked out for stories which showed that state and nonstate actors had responded to pressing development challenges of communities or showed accountability to the people. The media presented stories with headlines such as, “Wa: Pupils saved from studying on bare floor by Humu Foundation” and “NDC women group in Wa Central donates to Wa Regional Hospital”. Similarly, some stories brought to light social accountability initiatives by local government agencies, state institutions and CSOs. Such positive coverage was meant to encourage institutions, which showed good examples in being accountable to their constituents. Examples of such stories are, “Wa Municipal seeks views on preparation of development plans” (GNA), “Sissala East MCE accounts to constituents on ongoing development activities in the Municipality” (Joy Online), “Sissala West disburses GHC 1,636,836.00 to LEAP beneficiaries” (GNA). “ASUDEV launches Social Accountability Media Awards” (GNA) and “USAID lauded for deepening accountability in agriculture governance” (GNA). The award-winning story for the competition was an investigative piece that exposed the corrupt actions of state security agencies who brutalised ordinary residents of Wa East Municipality in order to protect the interest of Azumah Resources Ltd. The story, titled: “Illegal mining in Wa East Municipality of the Upper West Region” was produced by Radio Progress. The feature story detailed how Azumah Resources Ltd. employed the services of the military to seize farm lands which the company used for illegal mining purposes. The soldiers were alleged to have committed various human rights abuses including seizure of residents’ motorbikes, raping women and physically assaulting young men in the communities. The quality of stories which were presented for the competition testified to the fact that the ASUDEV project training had improved the knowledge of journalists on social accountability. To a large extent, the stories which were presented for the competition addressed critical social accountability issues. However, as the Chief Judge of the Awards programme observed, journalists needed to improve upon the content of their stories since majority of the articles lacked depth of coverage. Majority of the stories were straight news stories covering planned events, whereas feature stories produced through research would have delved deeper into the social accountability issues. Only the award-winning Radio Progress story was an investigative piece meant to uncover the abuse of power by state actors. Social accountability would be given a boost if journalists within the Upper West Region are trained to research into abuses of state power and expose acts of malfeasance in governance. Given that in the Upper West Region, citizens participation in social accountability was still low, the role of the media in sensitising the public to understand the importance of social accountability cannot be over-emphasised (Kuorsoh, 2019). Training of journalists to project social accountability in local governance can awaken their interest and desire to frame stories on development problems and issues of collective interest in the districts. Stevenson & Dryzek’s (2014) observed that in citizen fora the framing shifts from individual interest to the collective interest. The pioneering work of ASUDEV in honouring deserving media houses and journalists in the Upper West Region for their works in promoting social accountability, is a major social innovative initiative in Ghana. However, in an interview with a Programme Officer of ASUDEV, he noted that their attempts at institutionalising the concept of social accountability is weakened by funding challenges. Braimah et al. (2013) had noted the weakness of CSOs to drive the social accountability concept in rural communities in Ghana. In Ghana, and other African countries the media are financially constrained. As a result, media reportage is more often than not overly sourced from officialdom to the neglect of rural communities. This phenomenon tends to water down the core roles of journalists in society - adversarial, interpretative, populist mobiliser and dissemination of news, which should be executed in a fair, equitable and balanced manner (see Wahl and Hanitzsch's, 2009). As regards these roles of the media, the adversarial and populist mobiliser duties of the media are hardly accorded attention so far as development communication in local governance is concerned. 9 The Journal of Development Communication Until development communication becomes a core aspect of the work of civil society organisations, including the media through a conscious, well-planned and integrated process, which offer platforms for citizens and duty-bearers to dialogue on resources management and utilisation in DAs as done by ASUDEV and its partner agency – Star Ghana Foundation and the media, targets 6 and 7 of the Sustainable Development Goals can hardly be achieved. The functions of the District Assembly member as stipulated by the Local Governance ACT 2016 (ACT 936) include consulting the community members on their development problems and tabling them at sessions of the district assembly meetings for the needed attention. It is clear that the assembly member’s role makes demands on his/her communication competence. However, within the local governance system, there are missing links in information dissemination and effective communication regarding the ability of the assembly man to be at the forefront of leading, and sharing useful information in order to mobilise community members to take active interest in social accountability issues. Naaikuur (2020) reports the difficulty of assembly men to regularly visit people in the district. Financial constraints seem to be one of the leading factors, which disenable assembly men to regularly meet and share information with people. According to Azeem et al. (2010: 87) it is the case that people most affected by the outcome are left out of discussions on policy development, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. Another issue of concern as reported by Fosu et al. (2013: 28) is that “If revenues available to the assemblies are collected from the local people then it is logical that the people should know how the revenues so generated are used.” It is therefore imperative that attempts by CSOs in partnership with the media to focus their searchlights on these concerns is strengthened and sustained. Conclusion Decentralisation has extended local governance to many communities in Ghana. This development is gradually heightening people’s interest in how public resources allocated to various district assemblies are utilised to the benefit of people. Duty-bearers in charge of managing the local administrative system of government are required by law to account periodically for the resources disbursed for the development of the DAs. The execution of various development programmes and projects in the DAs can be realised if there is effective collaboration between duty-bearers in DAs and other stakeholders. Such an effort implies that executing the development agenda of the DAs needs to be done in a participatory, responsive, equitable, transparent and accountable manner in accordance with good governance principles. This study has demonstrated how social accountability mechanisms in the Sissala East and Wa municipalities can be used to facilitate improved governance. Even though, the innovative social intervention project of ASUDEV is beset with some teething challenges, it is yielding some positive results. Media and CSO partnership in promoting social accountability in local governance in the Upper West Region of Ghana is proving to be a vital social innovative platform. Under the umbrella of media partnership for social accountability in local governance initiated by ASUDEV, people’s voices in demanding accountability from duty-bearers on the use of public resources is being amplified and given salience. It is important to note that in view of resource constraints, the sustainability of such laudable social intervention projects of CSOs is problematic. It is recommended that local and international funding agencies establish a favorable, flexible and sustained policy toward funding such projects, particularly in DAs in which people are less empowered to actively participate in local governance. In view of the importance of media and CSOs partnership in tackling issues of local governance and the interest such an endeavour is generating, the study recommends a nuanced baseline research on the impact of media reportage on social accountability in local governance on people in DAs. This could provide some pointers to factors, which account for the weakness of CSOs to contribute towards effective institutionalisation of the social accountability concept within the local governance system in Ghana. 10 Exploring the Relevance of Civil Society Organisations and Media Partnership Acknowledgement We acknowledge the support of ASUDEV in the form of relevant documents and data to write this paper. References Abbey, C., Azeem, V. A., & Kuupiel, C. B. (2010). Tracking the Ghana District assemblies common fund. In M. McNeil & C. Malena (Eds.), Demanding good governance: Lessons from social accountability initiatives in Africa (pp. 71-88). The World Bank. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/2478/555460PUB0Dema1EPI1978968101PUBLIC1.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Action for Sustainable Development. (2017). Citizens action for accountable governance project in collaboration with Star Ghana, UKaid, Danida and European Union, Tumu, Ghana. Arnstein, S. R. 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Athens Journal of Philology - Volume 8, Issue 1, March 2021 – Pages 79-96 On the Nature of Talk-in-Interaction: A Pragmatic Study of Informal Conversations By Justine Bakuuro* & Damasus Tuurosong+ This study attempts to uncover what the recurring patterns of interaction in informal conversations are. It is also interested in finding out which recurring patterns of interaction dominate in informal conversations and how these recurring patterns of interaction play out in informal conversations. Data used in the study includes only recordings of naturally occurring conversations of close friends in informal settings. The researcher meticulously transcribed the data using the conventions proposed in the Jefferson Notation System. In Conversation Analysis (CA), transcription is part of data analysis. The transcription/analysis reveals that four main recurring patterns characterize informal conversations among friends: Adjacency Pairs, Topic Change, Figurative Language and Dysfluency. The study further reveals the fact that Adjacency pairs is a very dominant recurring pattern in friendly informal conversations. As a form of turn-taking, Adjacency pairs largely characterized the conversations compared to the other three recurring patterns. Finally, the study underscores the fact that friendly informal conversations stay focused on selected topics with very little or no change of topic. Mid-way between the little or no topic change and the dominance of Adjacency pairs are dysfluencies and rhetorical questions. Keywords: conversation analysis, recurring patterns, informal conversations, Jefferson notation system Background Language use in social interaction is the crust of the matter in typical Conversation Analysis studies. Havey Sacks is a pioneering scholar in this field of discourse studies as CA traces its roots to him (Wooffitt 2001). Sacks recorded and analysed how people actually converse in typically ethnographic manner. It must be stated that a myriad of studies have been done in this area since the 1960’s by Havey Sacks and Gail Jefferson among other Discourse scholars. However, different concepts and assumptions on conversation analysis (CA) have been used. Hutchby and Wooffitt have defined CA as "….the systematic analysis of the talk produced in everyday situations of human interaction: talk-in-interaction" (1998, p. 13). In the same way, Havey (1999) points out that CA is generally referred as "…the analysis of utterances produced in daily communication…" CA focuses not only on language produced by people in talk-in-interaction, but also on the understanding and interpretation of the speakers of each other’s utterances during * PhD Candidate & Lecturer, Department of African and General Studies, SD Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies, Ghana. + Senior Lecturer & Head, Department of African and General Studies, SD Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies, Ghana. https://doi.org/10.30958/ajp.8-1-4 doi=10.30958/ajp.8-1-4 Vol. 8, No. 1 Bakuuro & Tuurosong: On the Nature of Talk-in-Interaction… the talk itself (Hutchby and Wooffitt 1998). Additionally, when analysing data, characteristics like culture, gender and social background have to be considered (Sacks 1992). Indeed, these factors are what make every CA study unique despite the commonality of applying transcription conventions laid down by lead scholars in the field, notably Gail Jefferson. These factors have been briefly touched on as the social milieu, age, economic status and ethnic backgrounds of the participants have been described to put the findings and conclusions in proper perspective. Regarding data analysis, Atkinson and Heritage note that analysts are not expected to interpret the participants understanding in utterances or to restrict them during the recording of the data interaction. They are, instead, required to present the data based on their own observation of the participants’ ordinary behaviour throughout the interaction (Atkinson and Heritage 1984). The first section looks at the methodology of collecting data such as participants, context, and the recording itself. The second section looks at several points in transcription procedure and system used in analysing the record data and brief definitions of CA elements discussed in the data analysis. Moreover, a range of symbols that exists in transcription will be introduced as well. The third section is data analysis of a series of actions within utterances. However, this paper tends to limit the discussion to particular aspects in conversation analysis. The aspects consist of turn-taking, topic change, preference organization, listing, use of figurative language, face saving, breakdowns and repairs and dysfluency. The focus is on these aspects as they are the commonly associated parameters in doing pragmatic CA studies such as this. Problem/Justification In conducting a scientific study on conversation analysis, the researcher usually begins by setting up a problem connected with a preliminary hypothesis. Generally, many language users, including us, believe that patterns usually recur in both formal and non-formal conversational interactions. It is also believed that recurring patterns of interaction vary between formal and informal conversations when it comes to their dominance in speech. Language users also hold the view that the manner of manifestation of recurring interactional patterns vary between formal and informal conversations. It is against the backdrop of these assumptions that this study is conducted to investigate the extent of accuracy and veracity of these ground assumptions. Whilst many studies may have been conducted in this regard, the socio-economic and cultural demographics that have been spelled out in the Methodology clearly sets out the gap in this study to be filled. That is to say, how does the manner of manifestation of recurring interactional patterns of informal conversations of employed, married adult-male graduates (educated) of the Dagaare ethnic extraction of northern Ghana play out? Admittedly, many studies in CA have been conducted on informal conversations just like this study as has been stated in the introduction above. However, the hypotheses laid down for investigation, the setting, as well as the research participants always vary, giving each a touch of uniqueness (in this case, as in the socio-economic 80 Athens Journal of Philology March 2021 demographics outlined above) and hence a gap to fill up in this research area. Simply put therefore, the problem under investigation here is to find out the veracity and or accuracy of these assumptions as it pertains to the unique subjects in this study. The study would thus provide for contrastive comparisons between and among similar studies and that may occasion the basis for further studies in this regard. Questions 1. What are the recurring patterns of interaction in informal conversations? 2. Which recurring patterns of interaction dominate in informal conversations? 3. How do recurring patterns of interaction play out in informal conversations? Assumptions This study operates on the following hypothetical assumptions: a. That interactional patterns usually recur in non-formal interactions; b. That particular recurring patterns usually dominate in informal conversations; c. That recurring interactional patterns manifest themselves in particular ways in informal conversations. Theory This is fundamentally a descriptive qualitative study, employing the use of quantitative methods. It therefore lends itself to a number of theories in language study including theories in the field of pragmatics, Conversational studies, ethnography and content analysis, among others. It is however anchored strongly by the Discourse theory within the larger field of Pragmatics and Discourse Studies. Indeed, as earlier indicated, a central focus of discourse analysis is Conversation Analysis.CA is therefore at the centre of oral discourse analysis (Hoey and Kendrick 2017). In general, discourse theory is concerned with human expressions, often in the form of language. It highlights how such expressions are linked to human knowledge. In other words, discourse theory is concerned with questions of power and often with questions of institutional hierarchies. In this study, the exchanges between speakers reveal to us the question of power and human relations among the speakers by way of the expressions used. Under very normal circumstances, this is not the case in informal conversations among friends in an informal setting such as we have in this study. But the reason for this may be due to the socio-cultural background of the research participants. Among the Dagaaba of northern Ghana (as it is with many other northern Ghana ethnic groups),age and position is highly respected, to the extent that even in typically informal situations, respect for the elderly and authority is marked. This is conveyed by the four main identifiable patterns which characterise the three conversations: adjacency pairs, topic change, figurative 81 Vol. 8, No. 1 Bakuuro & Tuurosong: On the Nature of Talk-in-Interaction… language and dysfluency. To this extent therefore, the study is anchored theoretically by the Discourse theory in general but with a narrowed focus on Critical Discourse studies. Literature Review By the nature and character of this study, relevant literature hinges around the following key CA dimensions: turn-taking, topic change, preference organization, listing, use of figurative language, face saving, breakdowns and repairs, and dysfluency. The study will thus focus on these aspects in the analysis. As indicated earlier (see end of Background), the focus is on these aspects as they are the commonly associated parameters in doing pragmatic CA studies such as this. Turn-Taking Turn-taking is fundamentally the driving force of every conversation event. Based on Sacks’s work in collaboration with two of his colleagues in the 1960s on turn-taking, Beattie (1983) categorizes three techniques in indicating the turntaking system in CA. First is the technique called ‘previous speaker select next’ which happens if the previous speaker addresses a question directly to someone to be answered and being a next speaker. It could be either by straight calling his/her name or using a nonverbal sign such as gaze or gesture toward the person who is selected to be the next speaker. Second is the "self-select" technique which means that people gain their own turns by initiating utterance in a talk. Lastly, the utterances are continued by the current person because the next speaker is not selected and no one tries to gain the right to speak, according to Beattie (1983). Have then explains that one of these categories comes before another systematically. It means that the select-next speaker is followed by self-selection and self-continuation techniques respectively (Havey 1999). Preference Organisation The structure of preference is signed by a first part in utterances that consist of several action sequence pairs such as assessment, invitation, offer, proposal and request. The adjacency pairs discussed in CA is involved within sequences to examine the coherence of actions between utterances (Nur 2014). In one chapter of her discourse analysis book, Wooffitt (2001) states, for example, that it is understood that a question from the previous speaker should be followed by an answer, an offer could be accepted or declined, an invitation could be possible followed by an acceptance or a refusal, etc. 82 Athens Journal of Philology March 2021 Use of Figurative Language Only few specific studies have been done on the use of figurative language in conversation (Fussel and Kreuz 1998). The common figurative expressions used by people in a conversation are rhetorical questions, idioms, metaphor and irony. Topic Change Conversations are controlled by changing from one topic to another naturally. It often cannot fully be predicted when the topic will be changed. The topic change, however, appears when one of the speakers introduces a new topic which is then agreed by the interlocutors (Seedhouse 2004). Face Saving and Listing Face saving is often defined as an action done by people to save theirs or others’ position, idea, or assumption (Yun 2006). Face-saving in conversation has a strong relationship with politeness (Holtgraves 1992).This is categorized in two terms by Brown and Levinson; positive and negative faces. Negative face is defined as a personality of someone who protects and prevents his right and freedom to do something on his own willingness. Positive face is an action done by speaker in attempting positive self-image without contrasting with others (Brown and Levinson 1978). As regard listing, it is a common thing occurs in a conversation. It happens very often when the speaker left the last item of the list in the blank way. The listing, however, is more specific when it is used in formal political speech in order to attract people’s attention (Heritage and Greatbatch 1986). Scholars such as Wardhaugh (2006), Mey (2001), Leech (1981) and Yule (2010), among others, identify two types of face: positive face and negative face. Simply put, positive face is the desire to win the approval of others; while negative face is the desire to be unimpeded by others in one‘s actions. Breakdown and Repair Breakdown is linked to misunderstanding, obvious mistake in interaction, or just an expression of doubtfulness. Breakdowns are often followed by repairs which are divided into several categories; "self-initiated self-repair, other-initiated self-repair, self-initiated other-repair and other-initiated other-repair" (Hutchby and Wooffitt 1998, p. 61). Repair is a crucial part in a conversation in avoiding and correcting misunderstanding. As the name suggests, repair is the mechanism by which broken down conversations are restored to avoid misunderstanding. Dysfluency Dysfluency often takes place in an informal situation in social interaction. The more informal the conversation, the more frequently it happens. It could be 83 Vol. 8, No. 1 Bakuuro & Tuurosong: On the Nature of Talk-in-Interaction… symbolized by providing unfinished sentences, repeating words, or even repeating parts of sentences. The dysfluency appears more often in two situations; when someone or a group of people speaks in another language and when someone speaks to people they are close to in their mother tongue (Hutchby and Wooffitt 1998). Methodology As mentioned earlier, a good conversation analysis begins by setting up a problem connected with a preliminary hypothesis. The problem under investigation in this study is linked to three generally prevailing hypothetical assumptions in the field of CA (see assumptions above). Also, the data used in CA is usually in the form of video or audio recorded conversations, collected with or without researchers’ involvement, typically from a video camera or other recording devices in the space where the conversation takes place (e.g., a living room, picnic, or doctor’s office).We collected our data using the Voice Recorder on an Infinix Hot 8 (Pro) Mobile phone. This device has very high voice recording quality as we tested it ahead of the data collection. The research subjects in this study comprised four regular friends including one of us the researchers (corresponding author), all of whom are of the Dagaare ethnic extraction of northern Ghana. As Davis (1984) puts it, ethnicity is "…a critical socio-demographic factor in conversation studies…" The recording however does not include his utterances as he carefully avoided being part. In order that my not being part would not affect the interactions, I deliberately engaged myself doing other things such as walking to the waitress to order meat and drinks, going to urinate and greeting some people on other tables in the pub. This took away all possible suspicions by the participants against me, thereby making room for the collection of a truly naturally occurring data in the nature of conversation. Indeed, this was confirmed as participants expressed surprise when I told them I had recorded them, despite having told them earlier on and having had their permission to do so. We are all male adults, aged between 29 and 42 years with educational backgrounds of at least first degree. Big as this demographic range may be, the findings can conveniently be generalized since other demographics (socio-economic and cultural), are largely common to all participants. This bridges the age demographic gap substantially. As indicated earlier (Background), these social, cultural, gender and economic demographics are crucial in every CA study to better situate the study and clearly establish the gap that is to be filled by this study. We do meet quite regularly for purposes of socialization and sometimes to discuss pressing socio-economic or political issues. Our interactions are thus usually informal. We took a total of three recordings. One of the recordings was on current economic hardship in Ghana (3 minutes, 28 seconds); the other on marital issues (lasting 4 minutes, 13 seconds); and the third on political issues (lasting 3 minutes, 41 seconds). All three conversations were set in pubs at different locations at different times during the day. We managed in 84 Athens Journal of Philology March 2021 various ways not to be part of the conversations to avoid any possible personal biases on the data. How did we do this, being part of the group? Our aim was to collect data of naturally occurring speech (Sacks 1972). To meet ethical standards, we discussed the impending research project with them two weeks earlier before commencement of the series of recordings. They gave us approval to use their conversations as data. On each occasion of recording the conversations, we usually put on the Infinix Phone voice recording device, put it somehow on the middle of the round table (occupying most of the frontal of my side of the table with my bottle of drinks, glass and a rubber file, deliberately to avoid suspicion arising from the position of my phone on the table) and leave the table to do some other activity such as urinating or requesting meat for our consumption. This we do, praying that incoming calls should not interrupt the recording process. Fortunately, on all three occasions, no incoming call interrupted the process. We consciously ensured that we sat away from noise in the pubs, so the recordings are all very clear. Find attached the audio recordings. After the secret recordings, we told them about them and played the tapes to their hearing. They were shocked, saying they thought we were going to inform them at the point of recording and that we may be using a very conspicuous recording gadget like those used by Journalist and musicians. They however gave us approval to use to the recording as data of the study. This therefore validates the originality, reliability and empirical nature of this study. We therefore went on to construct detailed transcriptions from the recordings, capturing as much detail as is possible (Jefferson 1972, Hepburn and Bolden 2017, Mondada 2019). After transcription, I performed an inductive data-driven analysis aiming to find recurring patterns of interaction as well as their manifestation and dominance in the conversation. Based on the analysis, we identified regularities, rules or models to describe these patterns, enhancing, modifying or replacing initial hypotheses as it were. While this kind of inductive analysis based on data exhibits is basic to fundamental work in CA (Frohlich and Luff 1989), this method is often supported by statistical analysis in applications of CA in some studies. This study applied this statistical dimension in the analysis. It therefore makes the study a descriptive semi-qualitative one as it employs both quantitative and qualitative analysis (mixed methods). Some tables and charts have been used to aid analysis. Data analysis in this study has been done in two phases: Phase I is the Transcription of recorded data; Phase II is the analysis of Research Questions based on transcribed data. Transcription Procedure In CA, data transcription is considered an integral part of the data analysis process (Levinson 1983). This process is cumbersome. There are several ways that are adopted by analysts in transcribing CA data. Havey (1999) states that while a number of analysts usually pick out only the clear utterances spoken by participants during interaction in a transcription in order to avoid confusion to the readers, best practice in CA demands that analysts capture every detail of sounds 85 Vol. 8, No. 1 Bakuuro & Tuurosong: On the Nature of Talk-in-Interaction… produced in the recording, whether it is audible, meaningful or meaningless, etc., without changing or correcting them. In other words, several analysts emphasize on the content of the conversation to the neglect of how the language has been used in its natural state. This compromises the quality of such studies as they become less empirical and ethnographic. In this paper, the recorded data was transcribed based on dictionary spelling of English words as they are heard on the audio. Particular transcription conventions are used in conversation analysis. The transcription procedure adopted in this paper is a conventional one as propounded by Gail Jefferson, which has come to be known as the Jefferson Notation System.The Jefferson Notation System is a set of symbols, developed by Gail Jefferson, which is used for transcribing talk. Before explaining some examples of sequences in the conversation, I will clarify the transcription convention I have chosen and adopted in my transcription. A range of these symbols is employed from Havey’s book which were devised by Gail Jefferson and commonly used by analysts in current CA publications. Pauses are notated by their length in seconds that is shown in brackets and the stressed words are underlined. Parts of the transcript that are symbolized by single left square bracket indicate the point of overlap. Equal sign is the symbol for indicating no gap between two lines. The arrows represent the higher or lower pitches in the utterances. Some non-verbal features such as laughter are shown within the square bracket. The colon indicates a long sound in a word. The angle bracket is employed to indicate fast speech. Moreover, small degree sign is used to indicate the part which is quieter than other parts in utterances (Havey 1999). The use of feedback is also added as the transcript notation, for example "yeah", "mm", "ok", and "well". In addition, commas and full stops are used in the transcription to reflect their normal function in written language only. Data Analysis The analysis of data in this study is done in two phases. Phase I shall be the transcription and coding of data. As mentioned earlier, transcription and coding of recorded conversations are an integral and arguably the most important part of the analysis process in any conversation study. Phase II shall respond to the research questions in the study by applying appropriate data from the coded transcription. Phase I: Transcription and Coding of Data Transcription of First Conversation (Economy) (Lasting 3 Minutes, 28 Seconds) 1P 2S 3P 4A 5S 6A 7S Cheap↑are you not in Gha:na? Hmm…. ↑Only big grammar= =↑Yea:h= Ya↓ I don’t know (.) if they believe in God. That’s my problem (3) <me I don’t even know what to say> 86 Athens Journal of Philology March 2021 8P Oh↑ [laugh] 9S Tweaaa (.) [laugh] ≠ 10A I bought mine n:4200 Ghana plus number plate ↑problem [laugh] Together[laugh] 11A Then you are even better. Do you know (.) the cost of mine ↑?...stop. 12A Around this time of the year? 13S Because [ 14A [We’re ↑dead[ 15P [Let’s just thank God for ability to feed and clothe [↑that’s most important 16S [↑Yes ooo≠ 17P Yeah↓ 18P ˚God save us˚ 19A I think (.) we must all go into farming [ 20P [I bet you ooo↑, to supplement our meager salaries (1) with n:plenty responsibilities if not,n:hmmm 21S <n:Because last time > [ 22A [I have come to believe that salary alone (.) cannot change one’s life 23A Right? 24S Sure↓ 25 A My↓ rent will be expiring in December, just ima:gine≠ 26S Just paid mine two months ago↓ 27A That’s another ↑problem…I don’t ↓know (4) when I will complete my building 28 S Ahaa, have you resolved your plot issue? 29 P Where?=but me I’m building, they should come demolish it 30 P We are tired with landlords= 31P =↓Abaaa! 32 P n:Today this, tomorrow that [ 33A [As if a tenant is always a homeless person [oh nooo 34 S [Oh↓ 35P (unclear) we all have homes(.) somewhere ≠ 36A But who cares? (2) 37P No, but a few landlords are reasonable 38S Ah have we paid all our drinks?= 39P =↑No! 40S How much is left?= 41P =↑Yes!emmm 42S Please add this…↑! 43P You returned from funeral yesterday, so relax 44A Oh yea, please ↑pick your money↓ 45P [↓Yeah, yeah↑ 46P I↑ know you are fucking loaded but another day 47S Oh really? hahahah,[ you ↓know 48P [We even needed to a:ccompany you, [because of the WASSCE invigilation 49S Sure[ 50P n: hello…seller…. 51S Well, can’t really say any:thing again (collecting back money from table)= 52P =relax bro↓ 53S [God con:tinue to bless our friendship[ 54A Amen= ↓ 55S =Yeah 56A ˚God dey˚ (3) 57S [laugh] 87 Vol. 8, No. 1 58S 59A Bakuuro & Tuurosong: On the Nature of Talk-in-Interaction… Sure= it shall be well≠ =small, small= Transcription of Second Conversation (Marriage) (Lasting 4 Minutes, 13 Seconds) 60S =…school fees (2) meanwhile she is also working hmmh..why? 61A n:hahahahaahahahaa↑hmmm…≠ 62S ˚Is that how they are˚ everywhere↑? 63P <me I just ignore them some:times> why? (2) unfortunate[ man ˚always to blame˚ 64S [As for my wife(.) it’s too much (2) I don’t get it↑ [too many demands 65A [↑Don’t go there my brother [laugh] 66P Freedom [laugh]that’s what they call it 67S [laugh] ↑interesting≠ 68P Yeah [end of laugh] freedom 69A ↑Freedom now means spousal ex:ploitation.. 70P Sure↑Together[laugh] 71S Well…˚<we will manage them like that>˚, 72P Problems everywhere= 73A =And problems of their fa:milies become your pro:blems too 74S Oh yeah↑but problems of your family are not her problems, nooo↑ 75P The good thing is that(.) you are not obliged…do what you can 76S n:Exactly my philosophy too..let them talk≠ 77P Last year I asked mine to add just GHC 200 to pay our rent. 78A Hmmm…≠ 79P She told me that her fa:ther has many houses↑ 80S Whaaa…t! (hands on head) 81P ↑Only God= 82A =↑Yea:h= 83S Ya 84A So just do what you can that’s all (3) 85S <we are in for trouble> Yeah [laugh] 86P 87S Ooh! (.) mine [laugh] 88A That’s the ↑problem [laugh] Together[laugh] (2) 89A So (3) we have to be very patient. But for how ↑lo:ng? 90A How much is enough? The more you tolerate(.) the more they mis:behave 91S Because [ 92A [It’s ↑difficult [ 93P [So just keep your ba:lance [↑blow hot and cold 94S [↑Aha…so try to be firm and a bit loose(.) at the same time 95P Yeah 96P ˚So you must look funny↑ as a hus:band˚ [laugh] 97A But you will have the [ 98P [The children suffer sadly (1) nawaoo…… 99S <Because last time > [ 100A [Noo,chil:dren will get to under:stand 101A ↑Right? 102S ˚Right˚ 103A Because as they grow(.) they get to understand that Daddy was not being wicked≠ 104S Yeah,..problem here is that they try to change their minds too↓ against you.. 105A That’s the ↑problem…I don’t ↓know (4) 88 Athens Journal of Philology 106S 107P 108P 109P 110P 111A 112S 113 P 114A March 2021 You get it?..and we men are not good at that kind of thing= =No =To tell a child to dislike the mother≠ =↑No! And we do not have the [ [We have that sym:pathy for them [ eii,but they don’t know [Ok.I thought I was the on:ly one…. (unclear) the pains of child birth↓ n:Yeessss…..i respect and sympathise with them for that (2) Transcription of Third Conversation (Politics) (Lasting 3 Minutes, 41 Seconds) 115P …this year dieee….. 116S So is NDC can:celling FREE SHS ?= 117P =↑No! 118S They will maintain it?= 119P =↑Yes! 120S Oh..that’s ↑interesting! 121P Extending it to even private schools 122A …and vo:cational institutions= 123P [↓Yeah, yeah 124P I know↓ 125S But we can judge (.) from our own experiences,[ you ↓know 126P [But who↑ do we trust now? NDC or NPP? ↑ 127S mm..well (2) debatable! What’s exactly their aim? Getting votes? 128P Ultimately so↑ 129S And then how (.) can they achieve these plenty pro:mises? [ 130A [The manifesto itself= 131P =Exa:ggerated promises? But I like NPP’s a:ggressive nature ooo… 132 At least man must dream big![ Over 600 promises in 2016 133A [And even more this time around↓= [laugh] 134S =Yeah≠ 135A ˚eiii power…˚ (3) [ 136S As for FREE SHS it’s a good thing= Mahama dare not touch it… ehm ↑scrap it and see… ˚wo be ti bobolibobo˚= [laugh] 137A =in:fact I admire that party (.) for their brave policies= 138S =Yeah sure (2) just look at health in:surance who plays with health? 139A Their main cha:llenge as a party…(unclear)… ≠ 140P [NDC too has done well on infras….. 141A …the control by some few people at the top. That’s NPP problem 142S ˚power struggle˚ [ 143P <Gha:naians are now wise ooo> they want results [about ˚not mere promises˚ 144S [Sure (2) poli:ticians must know this….the [ 145A [↑Independence 146P Freedom [laugh] 147S [laugh] ↑interes:ting 148P Yeah↓ [you can:not force peo:ple to follow you≠ 149A ↑Freedom!...[laugh] (3) 150P Gone are the days… To:gether [laugh] 151S Well…˚<fear dele:gates [laugh]>˚, oh my God! ..Sir John! 152P Hmmm↓= one fine poli:tician ooo. 153A =n:Oh yeah=he doesn’t insult(.) opponents.. but full of hu:mour 89 Vol. 8, No. 1 154S 155P 156S Bakuuro & Tuurosong: On the Nature of Talk-in-Interaction… What can we do? God knows best… Yah↓, now that there is n:plenty food on the table,he is gone[ =That’s God for you↓ [ He says our ways are not his ways≠ Phase II: Responding to Research Questions based on Transcribed Data Research Question 1: What are the Recurring Patterns of Interaction in Informal Conversations? & Research Question 3: How do Recurring Patterns of Interaction Play out in Informal Conversations? NB: The two Research Questions above are analysed and discussed together due to their closely related nature. We find it more convenient and appropriate to identify the occurrences of recurring patterns and indicate thereof, how those recurring patterns manifest themselves in the transcribed conversations, rather than separate the two. Research question 2 is not so closely related, hence the isolated analysis of it. Analysis The ensuing discussion provides answers to the two research questions above. There is no conversation without turn-taking. Ochs (1979) defines a turn as "…an utterance bounded by significant pause or by utterance of other participants". In other words, a turn is the speech of one person continued until another takes the floor. An adjacency pair is a sequence of two related utterances by two different speakers. The second utterance is a response to the first. It is a particular type of turn taking structure. Throughout the three conversational pieces, turn-taking inevitably exists as a recurring pattern. Adjacency pairs, as can be seen in Table 1, play a very great role in terms of turn-taking in these series of conversations. This spans from the pairs of utterances 1P/2S through 23A/24S, 40S/42P, 66P/67S, 81P/83S, 118S/119P, etc., to 155P/156S (just to mention a few). As explained already, an adjacency pair is a sequence of two related utterances by two different speakers. The second utterance is a response to the first. In all these pairs therefore, a first turn-taker usually says something which is reacted to somehow by a second turn-taker. In 1P/2S for instance, the second turn-taker 2S’s expression "Hmmm…" is a reaction or response to 1P’s utterance "Cheap↑are you not in Gha:na?" Moving on, 79P’s utterance "She told me that her fa:ther has many houses↑" is reacted to or relates with 80S’s response "Whaaa…t! (hands on head)". The same can be said of the remaining 42 pairs of utterances as shown in Table 1. Secondly, one recurring pattern in the series is topic change. Though not very regularly recurrent relative to the other tenets under consideration, this major tenet of CA occurs in utterances 38S, 50P and 151S, across the three recordings. In utterance 38S, the change in topic was from the Economy to the question of whether all the drinks on the table had been paid. These are two unrelated matters to the extent that the speaker deflected from the main subject of discussion which was the Economy to enquire if they owed the pub as of the time of the enquiry. In 50P, the speaker again deflected from the Economy into calling the pub attendant. And finally in 151S, the speaker changes topic from Politics in general to talk about a personality in Ghanaian Politics (known as Sir John).It must be noted that, 90 Athens Journal of Philology March 2021 much as there seem to be some relatedness, the conversation took a totally different dimension after this particular utterance. The conversation dived from general political issues to the personality traits of a deceased politician. So the change is one from politics to the character. The third recurring pattern revealed in this analysis is Figurative Language. In 155P, the expression "…plenty food on the table.." depicts symbolism within the context. The speaker means to underscore the fact that the deceased’s party is currently in power and therefore, if he was alive he would have enjoyed power too. Therefore, food is used to represent power symbolically. The second figurative device used in the recordings is rhetorical question. This is a question that does not really demand an answer or is meant to emphasise a point. This is manifest in 1P, 29P, 60S, 62S, 89A, 90A and 127S. Fourth and finally, dysfluency is another recurrent pattern in the conversations. From the review of literature earlier in this work, Dysfluency often takes place in an informal situation in social interaction. The more informal the conversation is, the more frequently it happens. It could be symbolized by providing unfinished sentences, repeating words, or even repeating parts of sentences. This scenario is clearly manifested in 2S, 50P, 60S, 61A, 78A, 115P, 135A, 139A and 140P. Among the variables listed above which determine dysfluency in a conversational piece, unfinished sentences is the predominant variable as far as the three recordings are concerned. It occurs in all the utterances listed above as in "Hmmm…", "infras…," etc. They generally do not really express complete thoughts within the contexts in which they occur. Research Question 2: Which recurring patterns of interaction dominate in informal conversations? Analysis From the analysis of data in Phase 1 of Data analysis above, the frequency tallies for the four recurrent patterns in these conversations have been summarised in Table 1. Clearly, Adjacency pairs is the most dominant with a total tally of 44 pairs across the three conversations. This is followed distantly by Dysfluency with a tally ratio of 9. Dysfluency is closely followed by Figurative Language with total tally of 8 and finally Topic Change with a total tally of 3 (see Table 1). 91 Vol. 8, No. 1 Bakuuro & Tuurosong: On the Nature of Talk-in-Interaction… Table 1. Frequency Distribution of Recurring Patterns Total Adjacency Pairs 1P/25 94S/95P 3P/4A 98P/100A 3P/5S 101A/102S 10A/11A 104/105A 15P/16S 116A/112S 15P/17P 113P/114A 23A/24S 116S/117P 35P/36A 118S/117P 38S/39P 119P/120S 40S/43P 121P/122A 46P/47S 121SS/123P 48P/49S 127S/128P 53S/54A 132S/133A 60S/61A 133A/134S 64S/65A 137A/138S 66P/67S 143P/144S 69A/70P 151S/152P 73A/74S 152P/153A 75P/76S 154S/155P 79P/80S 155P/156S 81P/82A 81P/83S 85S/86P 93P/94S 44 68.8 Topic Change 38S 50P 151S Figurative Language 1P 60S 62S 29P 89A 90A 127S 155P 3 4.7 8 12.5 Dysfluency 2S 50P 60S 61A 78A 115P 135A 139A 140P 9 14.0 64 100 The tallies in Table 1 are graphically represented in the Bar Chart in Figure 1. Figure 1. Frequency Distribution of Patterns 92 Athens Journal of Philology March 2021 In terms of percentage distribution, the tallies are further represented in the Pie Chart in Figure 2. Figure 2. Percentage Distribution of Patterns Discussion It is worthy of note that the nature and procedure of the analysis of data in this study embodies both the analysis and discussion of the results concurrently. Any further attempts to discuss findings may result in mere duplications, repetitions and redundancies. We therefore take you straight to the conclusions drawn from the study. Conclusion From the foregoing analysis and discussion of results, three conclusions can be drawn based on the three research questions in this study. The analysis reveals that four main recurring patterns characterize informal conversations among friends: Adjacency Pairs, Topic Change, Figurative Language and Dysfluency. This answers Research Question 1. For Research Question 2, Table 1 clearly outlines the overwhelming dominance of Adjacency pairs as a form of turn-taking over the other three recurring patterns. One may thus conclude that adjacency pairs dominate in informal conversations among participants who are friends. It may also be concluded, for Research Question 3, that friendly informal conversations stay focused on selected topics, driven by close adjacency pairs, riddled with dysfluencies and tied together by rhetorical questions with very little propensity towards topic change. 93 Vol. 8, No. 1 Bakuuro & Tuurosong: On the Nature of Talk-in-Interaction… References Atkinson M, Heritage J (1984) Structures of social action: studies in conversation analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Beattie G (1983) Talk: an analysis of speech and non-verbal behavior in conversation. London: Open University Press. Brown P, Levinson SC (1978) Politeness: some universals in language use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Davis LE (1984) Ethnicity in social group work practice. New York: Haworth Press. Frohlich DM, Luff P (1989) Conversational resources for situated action. In Wings for the Mind. Proceedings of the SIGHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing System (pp. 253–258). Fussel SR, Kreuz RJ (1998) Social and cognitive approaches to interpersonal communication. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Havey PT (1999) Doing conversation analysis: a practical guide. London: SAGE Publications Ltd. Hepburn A, Bolden GB (2017) Transcribing for social research. SAGE Publications Ltd. Heritage J, Greatbatch D (1986) Generating applause: a study of rhetoric and response at party political conferences. American Journal of Sociology 92(1): 110–157. Hoey ME, Kendrick KH (2017) Conversation Analysis. In AMB De Groot, P Hagoort (eds.), Research Methods in Psycholinguistics and the Neurobiology of Language: A Practical Guide, 151–173. Holtgraves T (1992) Language and face-work. Social Psychology Quarterly 5(2): 141– 159. Hutchby I, Wooffitt R (1998) Conversation analysis: principles, practices and application. Cambridge: Polity Press in Association with Blackwell Publishing. Jefferson G (1972) Side Sequencers. In DN Sudnow (Ed.) Studies in Social Interaction, 294–333. New York, NY: Free Press. Leech G (1981) Semantics: the study of meaning. 2nd Edition. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. Levinson CS (1983) Pragmatics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Mey J (2001) Pragmatics: an introduction. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. Mondada L (2019) Contemporary issues in conversation analysis: embodiment and materiality, multimodality and multisensoriality in social interaction. Journal of Pragmatics 145: 47–62. Nur A (2014) Classroom Related Talk: Conversation Analysis of Asian EFL Learners. Journal of Language, Education, and Humanities 2(1). Ochs E (1979) Planned and unplanned discourse. In T. Givon (ed.), Syntax and Semantics. New York: Academic Press. Sacks H (1972) On the analyzability of stories by children. In JJ Gumperz, D Hymes (eds.), Directions in Sociolinguistics: The Ethnography of Communication, 325–345. New York: Rinehart & Winston. Sacks H (1992) Lectures on Conversation. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. Seedhouse P (2004) The interactional architecture of the language classroom: a conversation analysis perspective. Malden, Mass: Blackwell. Wardhaugh R (2006) An introduction to sociolinguistics. 5th Edition. Blackwell Publishing. Wooffitt R (2001) Discourse as data: a guide for analysis. London: SAGE Publications Ltd. 94 Athens Journal of Philology March 2021 Yule G (2010) Pragmatics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Yun CC (2006) Preserving students’ face in foreign language teaching. Sino-US English Teaching 3(12): 45–47. Appendix Symbols (.) : (≠) (2), (3), etc. Short pause Prolonged pronunciation/sound Longer pause Repeated action Sounds [ = ↑ ↓ [laugh] n: <speech> ˚speech˚ …. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. P, S, A Stressed words Overlap (point when the next utterance interrupts) No gap between two utterances Higher voice pitch Lower voice pitch Nonverbal feature Long sound Fast speech Quiet speech Elliptical expressions Numbering/labelling of utterances Participants in the conversation NB: The numeral-letter tags are meant to give unique identification to each utterance for ease of reference. 95 Vol. 8, No. 1 Bakuuro & Tuurosong: On the Nature of Talk-in-Interaction… 96 

Establishing the Rationale for Media Education for Students in Ghana Africanus L. Diedong1 Damasus Tuurosong2 Abstract Recent developments in Information, Communication and Technologies (ICT) is propelling shifts in how important institutions such as the family, school and religion impart values to people, especially young persons. Arguably, these institutions seem to be losing their enviable positions as the main purveyors of values and wisdom in society. The paper argues for an overall rationale for media education in Ghana. Questionable contents of some media seem at variance with Ghanaian cultural values and norms within a context in which Media Education is taken for granted demands examination. In terms of methodology of the study, documents and other scientific research papers on Media Education were reviewed. A major finding of the study is that in Ghana there is no formal discourse about the need to integrate media education into curriculum. Therefore Media Education is yet to become a relevant course in the curricula of schools from the basic level of education to the second cycle through to the tertiary level. The paper concludes that Ghana can profit from a policy that establishes Media Education (ME) in her school system. 1 Africanus L. Diedong is a senior lecturer and the Vice Dean of the Faculty of Integrated Development Studies at the University for Development Studies, Wa Campus, Ghana. He holds Ph.D. in Social Communication from the Gregorian University, Rome. He is a product of the Ghana Institute of Journalism. His areas of research include media ethics, development communication, journalism education, community radio broadcasting and media-religion-culture. 2 Damasus Tuurosong is a senior Lecturer and the Head of Department of the Department of African and General Studies at the University of Development Studies, Wa Campus, Ghana. He holds a Ph.D. in Development Studies from the University of Cape Coast. He is also a product of the University of Ghana. His research interest include Endogenous media in development, potential of theatre for development and indigenous modes of communication. Corresponding Author: Africanus L. Diedong, University for Development Studies, Wa Campus, email: [email protected] 80 Journal of Communications, Media & Society (JOCMAS) Vol. 5 No. 1 2018 Keywords: Media education, curricula, values, ICT, youth Introduction The importance of education in the process of development is recognized the world over. Education is central to the quality of life of people and it is has a result of this that the government of Ghana spends a substantial amount of the national budget to finance education. Available statistics indicate that Ghana spends above UNESCO‟s recommended ceiling of 20 per cent of a country‟s national budget on education (UNESCO, 2014). Prudent investment in education requires effective and strategic planning in order to reap the benefits new initiatives geared toward strengthening and improving the quality of education, particularly the content of academic programmes at all levels of the education system. Following developments in the Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) field and its influence on people‟s lives, Ghana like other countries in Africa and beyond had to take appropriate measures to reevaluate the content of curriculum in the educational system. The government of Ghana has noted the numerous benefits of ICT training and education. Consequently, from the basic level of education to the Senior High School through to the tertiary level, courses in ICT are being offered. The government has acknowledged the need for ICT training and education in the schools, colleges and universities and the improvement of the education system as a whole. The deployment of ICT into education will result in the creation of new possibilities for learners and teachers to engage in new ways of information acquisition and analysis. ICT will enhance access to education and improve the quality of education delivery on equitable basis (Ministry of Education, 2008). Despite such benefits associated with the introduction of ICT in the curricula of schools, there is an apparent gap in how both teachers and students can acquire needed competency, skills and knowledge to enable them become empowered media literates. The absence of ME courses in Ghana‟s education system has implications for effectively and efficiently educating students to squarely face the challenges of industry and the culture of work in the 21st century, which depends on ICT and the media. 81 Journal of Communications, Media & Society (JOCMAS) Vol. 5 No. 1 2018 Indeed, the quest for sustainable education could be a mirage without ME being taught as a relevant course in Ghana‟s schools. The relevance of ME cannot be over-emphasised. It seems that audiences of diverse media systems seem unaware of the fact that notwithstanding the fact that the media furnish us with lots of news and multiple interesting entertainment packages, they equally at times in no small measure negatively influence peoples‟ attitudes, behavior and mindsets. Communication scholar, Piere Paolo Passolini, as cited in Srampickal and Perumpally (2009: iv) succinctly captures this reality with the observation: The consumers do not realise that the media programmers are like the juicy bones that the burglars throw to the watchdog to keep it busy while he goes in to burgle the house. The threat of Stalin or Hitler was external. But the electronic technology is within our gates, and we are numb, deaf, blind and mute about its encounter with our lives. However, it is not the time to suggest strategies on how to counter this, when the threat has not even been acknowledged to exist by most people. Yet currently, apart from the University for Development Studies in Ghana, which runs an ME course at Level 300, no other university/school from the basic through to the tertiary level has integrated ME in their curricula. It is important to note that in Ghana, though some courses that are run by some tertiary institutions are aimed at achieving media literacy, it needs to be made clear that ME provides the foundation and initiates the process, and media literacy (ML) the outcome of the process. It is necessary to point out the conceptual difference between ME and ML. ME focuses on the process of creating awareness and knowledge about the media industry and the meaning embedded in them. Gaining such knowledge enables users to be active recipients of media messages through the competencies they have to demand quality in the messages produced. Fedorov (2001:8) equates media education (ME) to the shaping of culture of interaction with media, the development of creative, communicative skills, critical thinking, perception, interpretation, analysis and evaluation of media texts, teaching different forms of self-expression using media technology. ML is the knowledge and skills learners acquire as the outcome of being educated about the importance of media in society. ML provides tools for people to critically 82 Journal of Communications, Media & Society (JOCMAS) Vol. 5 No. 1 2018 analyze messages, offer opportunities for learners to broaden their experience of media and develop their creative skills in making their own media messages (Fedorov, 2015). UNESCO captures the essential boundaries of ME as all communication media including the printed word and graphics, sound, still and motion images, delivered on any kind of technology. It enables people to gain understanding of the communication media used in their society and the way they operate and to acquire skills using these media to communicate with others. It ensures that people learn how to analyze, critically reflect upon and create media texts and identify the sources of media texts, in the context of their political, social, commercial and/or cultural environments. ME also entails interpreting messages and values offered by the media and selecting appropriate media for communicating messages or stories to reach their intended audience (UNESCO, 1999 cited in Fedorov, 2015). Therefore, without the direct teaching of ME in schools in Ghana, it may be difficult for tertiary institutions teaching some courses indirectly related to ME to achieve the aims of media literacy. This paper focuses on establishing the rationale for Media Education for studentsi. The paper is made up of five inter-related sections: the Introduction, Literature Review on ME, ME and Social Media Menace, Making Practical Sense of the Theory of Media Education and Conclusion. Literature Review on Media Education Communication technologies now provide new platforms for audiences to engage by using various kinds of media and the shift in how people communicate and learn highlights of the importance of media education. Cycles of information revolution and education reform are fuelling significant changes in the sectors of media and education the world over. The importance of media education in the curriculum of education is being appreciated in many countries, albeit at different levels of implementation. Notably, almost three decades have passed since the Grunwald Declaration on Media Education was issued by the representatives of 19 nations at UNESCO's International Symposium on Media Education in Germany (UNESCO, 1982). At the ground-breaking international symposium on ME, the declaration noted: 83 Journal of Communications, Media & Society (JOCMAS) Vol. 5 No. 1 We live in a world where media are omnipresent: an increasing number of people spend a great deal of time watching television, reading newspapers and magazines, playing records and listening to the radio. In some countries, for example, children already spend more time watching television than they do attending school. „Rather than condemn or endorse the undoubted power of the media, we need to accept their significant impact and penetration throughout the world as an established fact, and also appreciate their importance as an element of culture in today‟s world. The role of communication and media in the process of development should not be underestimated, nor the function of media as instruments for the citizen‟s active participation in society. Political and educational systems need to recognize their obligations to promote in their citizens a critical understanding of the phenomena of communication. Regrettably most informal and non-formal educational systems do little to promote media education or education for communication. Too often the gap between the educational experience they offer and the real world in which people live is disturbingly wide. But if the arguments for media education as a preparation for responsible citizenship are formidable now, in the very near future with the development of communication technology such as satellite broadcasting, twoway cable systems, television data systems, video cassette and disc materials, they ought to be irresistible, given the increasing degree of choice in media consumption resulting from these developments. „Responsible educators will not ignore these developments, but will work alongside their students in understanding them and making sense of such consequences as the rapid development of two-way communication and the ensuing individualization and access to information. This is not to underestimate the impact on cultural identity of the flow of information and ideas between cultures by the mass media. 84 2018 Journal of Communications, Media & Society (JOCMAS) Vol. 5 No. 1 2018 The school and the family share the responsibility of preparing the young person for living in a world of powerful images, words and sounds. Children and adults need to be literate in all three of these symbolic systems, and this will require some reassessment of educational priorities. Such a reassessment might well result in an integrated approach to the teaching of language and communication. Media education will be most effective when parents, teachers, media personnel and decision-makers all acknowledge they have a role to play in developing greater critical awareness among listeners, viewers and readers. The greater integration of educational and communications systems would undoubtedly be an important step towards more effective education. Action points competent authorities were called upon to carry out included: initiate and support comprehensive media education programmes - from pre-school to university level, and in adult education - the purpose of which is to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes which will encourage the growth of critical awareness and, consequently, of greater competence among the users of electronic and print media. Ideally, such programs should include the analysis of media products, the use of media as means of creative expression, and effective use of and participation in available media channels; and develop training courses for teachers and intermediaries both to increase their knowledge and understanding of the media and train them in appropriate teaching methods, which would take into account the already considerable but fragmented acquaintance with media already possessed by many students. The question is: How far has Ghana gone with the implementation of such recommendations? Little efforts have been made so far in making sure that ME is taught in schools. While ME was evolving in other continents, Africa was left behind until 1994 when the dismantling of apartheid and the institution of democracy in South Africa brought in its wake an increasing demand for Media Education. The first national Media Education conference in South Africa was actually held in 1990 and the new national curriculum has been in the writing stages since 1997 (http://www.medialit.org/voices-media-literacy-international-pioneers85 Journal of Communications, Media & Society (JOCMAS) Vol. 5 No. 1 2018 speak). Fedorov (2015) established that Canada, Great Britain, Australia, France and the USA are leading countries in the development of media education, followed by Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Japan, Mexico and Taiwan. Apart from South Africa, which 7.69% of respondents mentioned as a leading country in ME, no African country‟s efforts at promoting ME was recognized. Therefore, it is clear that in Africa only South Africa has initiated some concrete efforts to support media education programmes, even though the efforts are quite below expectations. In a paper titled: “Media education in South Africa: Whence and wither?” Prinsloo (1994) reports that ME exists in South African schools. However, Prinsloo notes that what is of concern is that ME not being taken seriously stems from a continuing lack of understanding of what ME offers to teachers and learners. The picture is completely different in other countries outside Africa. The Philippines manifests considerable interest in media education, but most seems concentrated in Catholic schools and other religious organisations. The Philippines Association for Media Education has been in existence for some years. In Russia, critical media studies are beginning to develop in the newly democratic atmosphere, and with it a renewed interest in media education, with several publications in the field (Sharikov 1992; Bazalgette, et al. 1992: 161-165). In India, considerable enthusiasm for media education exists among individual educators and non-governmental organizations, although little impact has yet been felt in curricula or classroom. Catholic organizations are providing considerable thrust in the field and have issued a number of publications concerning it. The growth of the mass media has made a significant impact on Latin Americans despite widespread poverty which limits access to the media for many. Nowhere is this more evident than in Brazil, which is famous for its exports of soap operas. The use and abuse of the mass media by political and military interests throughout Latin America as well as rampant 86 Journal of Communications, Media & Society (JOCMAS) Vol. 5 No. 1 2018 commercialisation have contributed to a continent-wide malaise about the media among academics, educators, religious leaders and other informed persons. The driving force in favour of critical media education has come from the Church and non-governmental organisations, rather than governments. Since 1987, the Science of Education Faculty of the Universidad de Playa Ancha de Ciencias Educacion, Valparaiso, Chile has offered a post-graduate programme in “Media for Education: Television for Computation”. From 1992, a course in “Education and Social Communication” has been required of all students in the teacher training course of the university. Despite its leadership in the development of the modern mass media, the U.S.A lags woefully behind most of the rest of the English-speaking world, at least, in systematic media education in schools. There are many enthusiastic but isolated teachers of media education throughout the United States, but their efforts often seem doomed to wither on the vine after their passing, due to lack of institutional backing. Possible reasons that account for the situation are that the resistance of the advertisers who pay the bills of a commercially dominated mass media and have political influence. Crowded curricula and administrative elite who are both pedagogically conservative and/or fiscally restricted may be additional factors (see Domatob, 1991). Over the last ten years, the European Union (EU) has promoted several initiatives in order to encourage the development of digital and media literacy as well as ME in the EU Member States (Celot & Tornero 2008; Bruni, 2010 & Buckingham, 2003). Groups of experts were formed to define actions, surveys were carried out, and a set of recommendations were published. For example, in December 2006, the European Parliament (EP) and the Council released two recommendations. In the Recommendation on Key Competences for Lifelong Learning (2006/962/EC), a new framework for key competences was outlined and digital competence was included among the competences for lifelong learning. Here digital competence is defined as involving “the confident and critical use of Information Society Technology (IST) for work, leisure and communication”. It is underpinned by basic skills in ICT: the use of computers to retrieve, assess, store, produce, present and exchange information, and to communicate and 87 Journal of Communications, Media & Society (JOCMAS) Vol. 5 No. 1 2018 participate in collaborative networks via the Internet” (European Parliament 2006, L. 394/16). At the same time, the EP published the Recommendation on the Protection of Minors and Human Dignity (European Parliament 2006), where the following aspects are emphasized: the need for teacher training on media literacy; the inclusion of media literacy in the curriculum to enhance children‟s capacity of self-protection; and promote responsible attitudes among all users (Parola, 2011:90). At the same time, a variety of impressive research projects for a better understanding of the impact of digital media on the lives of minors were implemented. One of the most important is the research project EU Kids Online (http://www.eukidsonline.net), which focuses on the relationship between the media and minors both in terms of protection as well as empowerment. As a matter of fact, digital media introduce risks (exposure to dangerous or scarcely reliable content; connections with strangers, privacy, cyberbullying and cyberstalking; illegal downloading, gambling etc.), but also offer opportunities, such as accessing information resources, participating in social networks and interest groups, exchanging information; forms of civic engagement and content creation activities (Staksrud et al., 2009; Hasebrink et al., 2008). Given such level of interest in ME, it is an exciting time for media education in Europe. Several initiatives have been launched and a number of national and international research studies on digital media and new generations have been realized, leading to a shift in the protective paradigm to one focused on children empowerment. The reality is that the process of being empowered with media literacy skills and knowledge set requires systematic education covering courses in the curricula. Indeed, media literacy education is part of the curricula in European Union countries, even if teachers are often not qualified and the application of best practices is still deficient (Supsakova, 2016). In order to bridge the ME gap in Ghana, it is imperative to design and systematically roll out ME course because the absence of ME course in Ghana‟s education system has implications in effectively and efficiently educating students to squarely face the challenges of media and technologically filled working environment in the 21st century. Indeed, the 88 Journal of Communications, Media & Society (JOCMAS) Vol. 5 No. 1 2018 quest for sustainable education could be a mirage without ME being taught as a relevant course in Ghana‟s schools. To a certain extent, Ghana is experiencing some changes in her system of education as a result of the influence of communication technologies. It is assumed that the introduction of ICT courses in the curricula of schools is a realization of its potential influence. What is apparent in Ghana is that everyone seems to eulogise the benefits of ICT without critically examining some negative aspects of ICT with their attendant consequences. It is important to note that attempts aimed at promoting sustainable education for all needs to factor in the ICT and ME nexus. However, the literature clearly indicates that Ghana is yet to integrate ME into the curricula of schools. Media Education and Social Media Menace The study of ME is relevant because of the benefits for students and society as a whole. According to Srampickal and Perumpally (2009:10), Soares (2001:7) and UNESCO (2008), the use of social media among students is gaining a lot of grounds. In a study titled, “The Social Media Scourge among University Students: A Study of the University for Development Studies, Ghana,” respondents admitted that social media usage took time from their academic work. Some indicated that they spent about two United States dollars each day on social media and that they used such media during lectures, thereby making them lose concentration during lectures. It also emerged from the study that students use such media to perpetrate fraud (Tuurosong & Faisal, 2014). ME is an attempt at making media users critically conscious of the impact on their lives, in order to enable them to become creative users. It may be defined as the process by which users become aware of the ways in which the various media influence their thinking, affect their value system and change them and society. As a result, they become critical and discerning receivers of media messages capable of demanding quality media programmes and eventually leading them to create their own media. Effective ME enables them to respond intelligently to media creations and manipulations. Furthermore, ME in an ICT age is important because young persons, particularly in urban areas who are beginning to spend a lot of time interacting with different forms of mass media ranging from television to 89 Journal of Communications, Media & Society (JOCMAS) Vol. 5 No. 1 2018 video games and the Internet are more influenced by the mass media. Despite the fast development of this media-centric youth culture, majority of youth do not have any form of media education in order to enable them optimize the use of the several media products available to them (Diedong, 2017). ME, therefore, can make a significant contribution to the education and development of society. Basically, the process of media education comprises six inter-related dimensions:  Media literacy  Knowledge of the media industry  Active interpretation  Critical analysis of ideology  Group discussion  Creating our own media Media literacy is “core aspect of media education. The main objective of media literacy is comprehension of media “languages.” For example, each medium or genre has developed symbolic “codes”, which the media reader needs to understand in order to facilitate a more meaningful interaction with a particular medium such as radio or print/newspapers. One cannot fully understand and enjoy films or home video without a basic knowledge of “language” used in the narrative structure, which is made up of the paradigmatic and syntagmatic elements of the narration. The basis, scope and vision of media education is that if people are educated and have a taste for quality media, they will get quality media. The positive power of the media can be harnessed for the good of people and the nation provided people are well educated on how meaningfully they can interact with the media. Knowledge of Media Industry The main objective in this dimension of media education is to enable people/students understand the selective constraints on content. These constraints are: the typical process of production: from “idea” to distribution; the commercial-financial structure of the media industry; the entertainment demands of the media; the right to freedom of expression of journalists and artists; limited space; and the media as an open public forum, which ideally should allow no room for favouritism. 90 Journal of Communications, Media & Society (JOCMAS) Vol. 5 No. 1 2018 Active Interpretation The process of interacting with the media if it is to be meaningful implies that one has to become an active and thinking user of media. Therefore, a reflexive action is involved: as I interpret the meaning embedded media products, I become aware of my interpretation. The main objective in becoming an active, thinking user of media is, becoming aware that everybody perceives media from the perspective of his/her own identity. Apart from perceiving and appropriating diverse forms of identities such as national, religious, occupational from the media, the uniqueness of personal identity may not be compromised by virtue of the individual‟s capacity to discover his/her unique “life story” in the stories of the media. The media provides identity symbols, which their users stand to profit from if they can actively, critically “appropriate my identity” from the numerous and diversified media products. Critical Analysis of Ideology This particular dimension of media education has the main objective of enabling people/students to learn how to perceive and verify that a media representation is a human injustice. When people are so empowered they learn to perceive ideological distortions in media content such as gender discrimination, religious discrimination, and the defense of class interests as well as the concentration of media power and the lack of access participation in media. Group discussion Learning to view/read the media as a family or friend group and then discussing can be an enjoyable and fulfilling experience. The main objective in such an exercise is to understand that inter-subjective discussion of a media experience creates a richer and a deeper understanding. Creating our Own Media Normally, when people become fans of a particular artist or genre, they begin to create their own version. The strong desire to be an active creator of media and culture leads to the development of projects of script writing for radio/TV, production of bulletins and newsletters and learning how to produce short video documentaries or drama. People truly understand the 91 Journal of Communications, Media & Society (JOCMAS) Vol. 5 No. 1 2018 media when they begin to produce it, therefore actively participate in their meaning making process. In essence, the outcome of media education should lead to a situation whereby the literate person is capable of doing the following: • use media effectively; • employ critical thinking skills to evaluate media messages; • evaluate the credibility of information; • „read‟ and understand the deeper meaning of a media message; • appreciate numerous perspectives; • engage critically with the media; • understand media influence; • have an understanding of media ownership; • and understand the effects of the media. • engage with a regulatory authority such as the Press Ombudsman (by means of a letter or email correspondence, for example); • engage with the media by means of an opinion article or a letter to the editor; • identify techniques used by advertisers to sell products or services; • identify blatant or subtle stereotypes; • debate contentious ethical issues; • determine the message‟s target audience and ask questions regarding content that was not included, and the reasons influencing content selection (see Holubek & Shipek, 2013). In Ghana, as in other parts of the world, the internet with its World Wide Web opens the entire world to unsuspecting youth/students. This spawns a new culture altogether. New values are being proposed by these new media sometimes diametrically opposed to the values we have adhered to for years, or not thought of in our social system. This scenario presented by Sodzi-Tettey (2014: 10; also see Aziz, 2016) should awaken responsible parents, educators, policy makers and all well-meaning bodies to the need to view seriously the dominance of multiple media in the informal education of children and youth. Sodzi-Tettey notes that today‟s children have become social media addicts, hands on the keyboard and keypads all day, faces lit by mobile phone screens at night even in the face of dumsor (power outage), giggling to themselves and or laughing loudly. The meeting between Dr. 92 Journal of Communications, Media & Society (JOCMAS) Vol. 5 No. 1 2018 Sulley Ali-Gabass and the boy he had anal sex with was made possible through social media. A place akin to the streets, where you meet all kinds of people with different values and orientations interacting at different levels. Today, the young man joins a list of many others the world over who are victims of social media interaction gone very horribly wrong. It is apparent that effective education of youth in a media-saturated environment is needed in Ghana and this requires a collaborative effort of all stakeholders in education. In Brazil, some non-profit organisations and schools have combined forces to help promote the “active” reception and the “critical” consumption of media content as indispensable skills to be reached by today‟s youngsters (Soares, 2001: 7). It is not to simply teach and learn “with” media, but that a comprehensive educational environment also requires that students study “about” media in order to analyse the world of new texts, technologies, media industry and their relevant contexts. Many scholars stress the need to expand the concept content and purposes of traditional literacy in order to accommodate contemporary digital, multimodal and media literacy. Indeed, media literacy is foundational to basic education in an Information Age (Gutiérez-Martin & Tyner, 2010:3; see also UNESCO, 2006). Making Practical Sense of the Theory of Media Education The multi-dimensional and integrated theory of the subject in media education explains that the active subject is a deconstructor/reconstructor of the meaning of the media, who is aware of making constructions different from the text/the symbolic meanings embedded in the messages and/or images relayed by the media. Essentially, there is the need for the reader of media to be an active, thinking user of media. What the theory as proposed by Martinez-de-Toda (1998; see figure 1 in the appendix) emphasizes is that the subject in front of the media, being media literate, is assumed to have the capacity to determine the quality and, in fact, be in a position to rationalize media texts critically not as given by the transmitter or source of the message, but through an active, meaningful and beneficial interactive process informed by the socio-cultural context of the media consumer. The theory comprises the most important dimensions of ME – media literate, aware, active, critical, social and creative. 93 Journal of Communications, Media & Society (JOCMAS) Vol. 5 No. 1 2018 In terms of the practical dimension of ME, there are several exercises that students can engage in to sharpen and deepen their creativity and critical thinking skills about how to meaningfully interact with the media. For example, in Ghana‟s TV3 programme – “Talented Kids” is a good example of getting youngsters to meaningfully engage in the media. However, the academic component is yet to bear on such innovative initiatives in order to create, nurture and sustain a situation whereby academic departments could team up with working class students in several media projects such as the production of video about the environment, teenage pregnancy and other topical issues. The goals in such projects/exercises would be to improve communication, solidarity and citizenship. Indeed, the introduction of media literacy education into the school curriculum promotes civic engagement and enhances students‟ awareness of the power structures which are usually at play using popular media. Knowledge of media education also assists in building students‟ critical and inquiry skills (National Association for Media Literacy Education, 2016). Conclusion This paper has established the relevance of ME and the need for it to be introduced in the curricula of schools in Ghana. It provided a brief review of ME development around the world and in the process made a case for Ghana to initiate a national policy dialogue towards the development and integration of Media Education in the curricula of schools at all levels of the system of education. The current dynamics of education the world over require that educators know exactly what to do with media education. It is recommended that the Ministry of Education initiates the process by engaging curriculum development experts, media experts and professionals, the teacher training colleges, universities, coalition of non-governmental organisations in education as well as Parent Teacher Associations in a series of workshops, which would eventually lead to the mapping out of policy options on how to implement ME in Ghana. 94 Journal of Communications, Media & Society (JOCMAS) Vol. 5 No. 1 2018 References Aziz, H. 2016, April. Social media/technology breaking family bond. Daily Graphic 5. Bazalgette, C., Evelyne, B. & Josiane, S. (Eds.) 1992. New directions: Media education worldwide. London: British film Institute. Bruni, I. 2010. The practice of media education. topics, issues, and examples. In Media education in action. A Research Study in Six European Countries, edited by Alberto Parola and Maria Ranieri, 153-66. Firenze: Firenze University Press. Buckingham, D. 2003. Media education. literacy, learning and contemporary culture. London: Polity Press-Blackwell Publishing. Celot, P. & José M. P. T. 2008. Media literacy in Europa. leggere, scrivere e partecipare nell’era mediatica. Roma: Eurilink, Eurispes. Diedong, L. A. 2017. Relevance of Christian youth associations in Ghana in an emerging digital culture (pp.193-212). In Religion, Culture, Society and Integral Human Development: Proceedings of Cardinal Porekuu Dery Third Colloquium (ed. Tengan). Accra: Sub-Saharan Publishers. Domatob, J. K. 1991. Introducing media education in Sub-Saharan Africa. Educational Media International, 28(2):91-99. Fedorov, A. 2015. Media literacy education, In Information for all. Мoscow: ICO. Fedorov, A. 2001. Media and media education. Alma Mater, N 11, p. 15-23. Gutiérez-Martin, A. & Tyner, K. 2010. Media education, media literacy and digital competence. Comunicar Journal, 19:1-14. Hasebrink, U. Sonia, L. & Leslie H. (Eds.) 2008. Comparing children’s online opportunities and risks across Europe: Cross-national comparisons for EU Kids Online. London: EU Kids Online. 95 Journal of Communications, Media & Society (JOCMAS) Vol. 5 No. 1 2018 Holubek, R. & Schipek, D. 2013. Model for successful media education. Findings from the Analysis of Media Literacy Award (MLA). Retrieved August 5 2017 from: www.mediamanual.at Martinez-de-Toda, J. 2002. Six dimensions of media education: Methodology of evaluation. Lecture Notes, Gregorian University, Rome. Ministry of Education, 2008. ICT in education policy. Accra. National Association for Media Literacy Education, 2016. Core principles of media literacy education in the United States. Retrieved July 7 2017 from: https//namle.net/publications/core-principles. Prinsloo, J. 1994. Media education in South Africa: whence and whither? Journal of Communication Inquiry, 18:48-64. Sharikov, A. 1992. Letter in „Mailbag‟. Tele-medium. Vol. 38, Nos 1-2. Soares, I. O. 2001. Media education in Brazil. São Paolo: University Anhembi Morumbi. Sodzi-Tettey, S. 2014. Sodomising them young! Daily Graphic. 25 October:10. Srampickal, J. & Leela, P. 2009. Let’s do media education. Delhi: Media House. Staksrud, E. Sonia, L. Leslie, H. & Kjartan, Ó. 2009. What do we know about children’s use of online technologies? A Report on Data Availability and Research Gaps in Europe, 2nd ed. London: EU Kids Online. Supsakova, B. 2016. Media education of children and youth as a path to media literacy. Communication Today, 7(1):32-51. 96 Journal of Communications, Media & Society (JOCMAS) Vol. 5 No. 1 2018 Tuurosong, D. & Faisal, M. 2014. The social media scourge among university students: A study of the University for Development Studies, Ghana. Journal of Asian Development Studies, 3(2):62-74. UNESCO, 1982. International symposium on media education at Grunwald, Federal Republic of German. UNESCO, 2006. Media education. A kit for teachers, students, parents and professionals. UNESCO, 2008. Teacher training curricula for media and information literacy. Report of international expert group meeting. Paris: International UNESCO. Retrieved July 3 2017 from: http://portal.unesco.org/ci/fr/files.27508/12212271723TeacherTrainin gCurriculumf orMILFinal_report.doc/TeacherTraining%2BCurriculum%2Bfor%2BMIL%2B2Bfina l%Breport.doc UNESCO, 2014. Education for All Global Monitoring Report. Policy paper 12. Retrieved May 17 2017 from: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0022/002270/227092E.pdf 97 2018 Journal of Communications, Media & Society (JOCMAS) Vol. 5 No. 1 Appendix Figure 1: Subject interacting with the media Understanding according to indentity according to his/her identity Media Industries Awar Active 3 2 Knowledge of AV language Media Literate SUBJECT IN FRONT OF 1 4 Critical Ideology in the text 6 5 Creative Social Re-Signification Social mediations Direct Creation i In this paper, student is used interchangeably with pupils, kids and youth. 98 

International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 27-44, February 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) DECODING THE UNDERPINNING ASSUMPTIONS OF LINGUISTIC THEORIES: THE LENS ON STRUCTURAL LINGUISTICS Justine Bakuuro1, Dr. Rashid Hassan Pelpuo2 and Dr. Damasus Tuurosong3 1 2 3 Department of English,University of Ghana,Legon. Institute of African Studies,University of Ghana,Legon. Department of African and General Studies,University for Development Studies,Ghana. ABSTRACT: Linguistic theories are frameworks about language and language use. Linguistic theories seek to outline the parameters of operations in any given language. They are developed by linguists who study language over a period to arrive at specific assumptions about the nature of human communication. Among others, the most prominent linguistic theories today include generative linguistics, systemic functional linguistics and structural linguistics. This paper dwells on the inherent assumptions of structural linguistics as a theory. Structural linguistics is defined as a study of language based on the theory that language is a structured system of formal units such as sentences and syntax. An example of structural linguistics is phonetics. It is also defined as a language study based on the assumptions that a language is a coherent system of formal units and that the task of linguistic study is to inquire into the nature of those units and their peculiar systematic arrangement, without reference to historical antecedents or comparison with other languages (Chomsky 1972). KEYWORDS: Linguistic Theories, Assumptions, Structural Linguistics, Language INTRODUCTION Research Objective A linguistic theory should include not only a set of assumptions about the essential nature of language but also assumptions about the goals of linguistic description, assumptions about the methods by which it is appropriate to achieve these goals and assumptions about the relations between theory, description and application. In the light of this, the study focuses attention on one of the popular basic contemporary linguistic theories-structural linguistic theory-regarding how the theory spans out along these defining parameters of every linguistic theory. Theoretical Underpinning As already indicated in the abstract, linguistic theories are frameworks guiding the general internal and external operations of language. These frameworks originate from the generic term “basic linguistic theory”. The expression "basic linguistic theory" (following R. M. W. Dixon) refers to the theoretical framework that is most widely employed in language description, particularly grammatical descriptions of entire languages. It is also the framework assumed by most work in linguistic typology. The status of basic linguistic theory as a theoretical framework is not often recognized. People using basic linguistic theory often characterize their work as a theoretical or theory-neutral or theoretically eclectic. However, there is really no such thing as a theoretical or theory-neutral description, since one cannot describe anything without making some 27 ISSN 2053-6305(Print), ISSN 2053-6313(online) International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 27-44, February 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) theoretical assumptions. The extent to which most descriptive work shares the same theoretical assumptions is actually rather striking, especially when one considers how much such work has in common in its assumptions compared to other theoretical frameworks. It is probably the most widely used and best known theoretical framework in the field, especially outside the United States. It is particularly popular among linguists who are more interested in languages than in language. Many linguists who are adherents of other theoretical frameworks assume it as a point of departure, as a framework they wish to improve on. Unlike many theoretical frameworks in linguistics, which are often ephemeral and pass quickly into obsolescence, basic linguistic theory is a cumulative framework that has slowly developed over the past century as linguists have learned how to describe languages better. It is grounded in traditional grammar and can be seen as having evolved out of traditional grammar. It has also been heavily influenced by pre-generative structuralist traditions, particularly in emphasizing the need to describe each language in its own terms, rather than imposing on individual languages concepts whose primary motivation comes from other languages, in contrast to traditional grammar and many recent theoretical frameworks. It has taken analytic techniques from structuralist traditions, particularly in the areas of phonology and morphology. But it also contrasts with work that is more purely structuralist in attempting to describe languages in a more user-friendly fashion, in including semantic considerations in its analyses, and in employing terminology that has been used for similar phenomena in other languages. Basic linguistic theory has also been influenced to a certain extent by generative grammar, though the influence has primarily been from early generative grammar (before 1970) and is often indirect. The influence largely reflects the fact that early generative grammar examined many aspects of the syntax of English in great detail, and the insights of that research have influenced how basic linguistic theory looks at the syntax of other languages, especially in terms of how one can argue for particular analyses. The influence of generative grammar can be seen in the way that certain constructions in other languages are identified and characterized in ways reminiscent of constructions in English, from cleft constructions to "topicalizations" to reflexive constructions. More recent work in generative grammar, especially GovernmentBinding Theory, has had essentially no impact on basic linguistic theory. In the past 30 years, the primary influence on basic linguistic theory has come from work in linguistic typology. This influence has come primarily from the recognition of recurrent sorts of phenomena cross-linguistically and basic linguistic theory has incorporated many substantive concepts discussed in the typological literature. This includes such notions as split intransitivity, anti-passive constructions, internally-headed relative clauses, switch reference, and head-marking. Work in typology has also influenced the way linguists describing languages think about such things as ergativity and relative clauses. Basic linguistic theory differs from many other theoretical frameworks in that it is not a formal theory but an informal theory. That is, many grammatical phenomena can generally be characterized with sufficient precision in English (or some other natural language), without the use of formalism. The foregoing discussion focuses on the morpho-syntactic side of basic linguistic theory (or what one might call "basic syntactic theory"), but one can also trace the historical influences on phonology in basic linguistic theory. The concept of the phoneme is probably the most central phonological concept in basic linguistic theory: identifying the phonemes in a language remains the most fundamental task in describing the phonology of a language. But generative 28 ISSN 2053-6305(Print), ISSN 2053-6313(online) International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 27-44, February 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) phonology has also influenced basic linguistic theory: language descriptions often find the generative notion of phonological rule useful, and the descriptive tools of more recent phonological theories, especially auto-segmental phonology, have proven useful for descriptive linguists. This research hinges on (basic) linguistic theory of language and language use, with particular focus on the defining basic assumptions. A theory is not without assumptions. And at the centre of the study of theories of language is the identification of the underpinning assumptions of a theory.This poses a challenge to many language students.The object of this study is thus to unravel the mystery of the underpinning basic assumptions of one of the leading basic contemporary theories of language,Structural Linguistics. Structural Linguistics: Brief History Structural linguistics starts with the posthumous publication of Ferdinand de Saussure's Course in General Linguistics in 1916, which was compiled from lectures by his students. The book proved to be highly influential, providing the foundation for both modern linguistics and semiotics. Structural linguistics is normally seen as giving rise to independent European and American traditions. European Structuralism In Europe, Saussure influenced: (1) (2) (3) (4) the Geneva School of Albert Sechehaye and Charles Bally, the Prague School of Roman Jakobson and Nikolai Trubetzkoy, whose work would prove hugely influential, particularly concerning phonology, the Copenhagen School of Louis Hjelmslev, and the Paris School of Algirdas Julien Greimas.Structural linguistics also had an influence on other disciplines in Europe, including anthropology, psychoanalysis and Marxism, bringing about the movement known as structura-lism. American Structuralism First, in America, linguist Leonard Bloomfield's reading of Saussure's course proved influential, bringing about the Bloomfieldean phase in American linguistics that lasted from the mid-1930s to the mid-1950s. Bloomfield "bracketed" all questions of semantics and meaning as largely unanswerable, and encouraged a mechanistic approach to linguistics. The paradigm of Bloomfieldean linguistics in American linguistics was challenged by the paradigm of generative grammar, initially articulated in the publication of Noam Chomsky's Syntactic Structures in 1957. Leonard Bloomfield (April 1, 1887 _ April 18, 1949) was an American linguist who led the development of structural linguistics in the United States during the 1930s and the 1940s. His influential textbook Language, published in 1933, presented a comprehensive description of American structural linguistics. He made significant contributions to Indo-European historical linguistics, the description of Austronesian languages, and description of languages of the Algonquian family. His approach to linguistics was characterized by its emphasis on the scientific basis of linguistics, adherence to behaviorism especially in his later work, and emphasis on formal 29 ISSN 2053-6305(Print), ISSN 2053-6313(online) International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 27-44, February 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) procedures for the analysis of linguistic data. The influence of Bloomfieldian structural linguistics declined in the late 1950s and 1960s as the theory of Generative Grammar developed by Noam Chomsky came to predominate. Structuralism as a Lnguistic Theory and its Underlying Assumptions The Kantian Background Assumptions 1. What defines the form of human experience? a. Space and Time (a priori forms of Intuition). b. Categories (concepts of the Understanding). 2. For Kant, these concepts are fixed and universal, i.e. ahistorical. 3. Problems: Kant's categories seem arbitrary and their universality is merely assumed by Kant, not proven. 4. In a post-Darwinian world, it seems more likely that such concepts and categories of human experience are historical, i.e. subject to change - contingent. 5. In response to this shift in emphasis, Husserlian phenomenology demands that we look and see what the status of such categories are independent of our theoretical presuppositions. 6. Social scientists, who approach this issue empirically through observation and prediction, suggest that there may be significant variations in conceptual frameworks culturally and histo-rically. But the evidence is not entirely conclusive. So, from a scientific standpoint, the issue remains open. Assumptions about the Relations between Theory, Description and Application The French linguist Ferdinand de Saussure studied language from a formal and theoretical point of view, i.e. as a system of signs which could be described synchronically (as a static set of relationships independent of any changes that take place over time) rather than diachronically (as a dynamic system which changes over time). For Saussure, the basic unit of language is a sign. A sign is composed of signifier (a soundimage, or its graphic equivalent) and a signified (the concept or meaning). So, for example, a word composed of the letters p-e-a-r functions as a signifier by producing in the mind of English-speakers the concept (signified) of a certain kind of rosaceous fruit that grows on trees, that is, a pear. According to Saussure, the relation between a signifier and a signified is arbitrary in at least two ways. First, there is no absolute reason why these particular graphic marks (p-e-a-r) should signify the concept pear. There is no natural connection or resemblance between the signifier and the signified (as there would be in what Saussure calls a symbol, i.e. an iconic representation such as a descriptive drawing of a pear). After all, it's not as if the word "pear" looks or sounds anything like a pear. In fact, a moment's reflection makes it clear that the connection between the signifier and the signified is due to a contingent historical convention. It didn't have to happen the way it did. In principle, the word "pare", "wint", or even "apple" would have worked just as well in associating a word with the concept pear! But given that the word "pear" has come to signify the concept pear in English, no one has the power to 30 ISSN 2053-6305(Print), ISSN 2053-6313(online) International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 27-44, February 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) simply change it at will. In other words, the relationship between a word and a concept is arbitrary in one sense (in terms of its origin) but not in another sense (in terms of its use). Saussure makes a second point about the arbitrariness of the sign. He points out that the relation between the sign itself (signifier/signified pair) and what it refers to (what is called the referent, i.e. the actual piece of fruit-the physical object) is also arbitrary. This claim is less plausible than the former. For example, one might object that the concept in the mind of the speaker is formed, either directly or indirectly, by actual pears. Ideally then we would expect it to be the case that the properties of actual pears would be causally related to our concept of a pearthat the characteristics of pears produce in one's mind the concept of a pear either directly through experience with pears, or indirectly through pictures of pears, descriptions, or some such thing. Thus, the concept pear might be thought of as some basic information and set of beliefs about actual pears, e.g. what they look like, how they feel and taste, what they're good for, etc. Saussure's way around this obvious objection is to say that his interest is in the structure of language, not the use of language. As a scientist, Saussure limited his investigation to the formal structure of language (langue), setting aside or bracketing the way that language is employed in actual speech (parole). Hence, the term structuralism. Saussure bracketed out of his investigation any concern with the real, material objects (referents) to which signs are presumably related. This bracketing of the referent is a move that enabled him to study the way a thing (language and meaning) is experienced in the mind. In this sense, his motivation was similar to Husserl's. And in the end, Saussure never offered a method for investigating how language as a system hooks up to the world of objects that lie outside language. As we shall see, this was to have far-reaching effects. Thus, according to Saussure's structural linguistics, each sign in the system of signs which makes up a language gets its meaning only because of its difference from every other sign. The word "pear" has no meaning in itself or in the intention of the speaker, but only due to the fact that it differs from other possible graphic images such as p-e-e-r, p-e-a-k, f-e-a-r, b-e-a-r, etc. In other words, it doesn't matter how the form of the signifier varies, as long as it is different from all the other signifiers in the system (langue). To the structuralist, meaning arises from the functional differences between the elements (signs) within the system (langue). An economic analogy helps to illustrate Saussure's theory of meaning. The signs of a linguistic system are like the coins of a monetary system or currency. Thus, a system of signs (words of a language) is analogous to a system of values. A quarter has a certain monetary value determined by its exchange value. Quarters can be exchanged for other things because they have a designated (but flexible) value. Quarters can be used to buy goods or commodities. But they also have a fixed value in relation to other coins. So, for example, a quarter is equal to two dimes and a nickel; it is more than a penny; it is less than a dollar, etc., etc. Linguistic signs also have values in relation to other signs. For example, the word "bachelor" can be "exchanged" for the term "unmarried man". This is, in many ways, an equal exchange. That's what it means for words to be synonymous - they have the same meaning or linguistic value. They can be substituted or exchanged for one another just as the quarter can be exchanged for two dimes and a nickel. 31 ISSN 2053-6305(Print), ISSN 2053-6313(online) International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 27-44, February 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) The foundation of structural linguistics is a sign, which in turn has two components: a "signified" is an idea or concept, while the "signifier" is a means of expressing the signified. The "sign" is thus the combined association of signifier and signified. Signs can be defined only by being placed in contrast with other signs, which forms the basis of what later became the paradigmatic dimension of semiotic organization (i.e., collections of terms/entities that stand in opposition). This idea contrasted drastically with the idea that signs can be examined in isolation from a language and stressed Saussure's point that linguistics must treat language synchronically. Paradigmatic relations hold among sets of units that (in the early Saussurian renditions) exist in the mind, such as the set distinguished phonologically by variation in their initial sound cat, bat, hat, mat, fat, or the morphologically distinguished set ran, run, running. The units of a set must have something in common with one another, but they must contrast too, otherwise they could not be distinguished from each other and would collapse into a single unit, which could not constitute a set on its own, since a set always consists of more than one unit. Syntagmatic relations, in contrast, are concerned with how units, once selected from their paradigmatic sets of oppositions, are 'chained' together into structural wholes. One further common confusion here is that syntagmatic relations, assumed to occur in time, are anchored in speech and are considered either diachronic (confusing syntagmatic with historical) or are part of parole ("everyday speech": confusing syntagmatic with performance and behaviour and divorcing it from the linguistic system), or both. Both paradigmatic and syntagmatic organizations belong to the abstract system of language langue (French for "Language;" or an abstract, Platonic ideal). Different linguistic theories place different weight on the study of these dimensions: all structural and generative accounts, for example, pursue primarily characterisations of the syntagmatic dimension of the language system (syntax), while functional approaches, such as systemic linguistics, focus on the paradigmatic. Both dimensions need to be appropriately included, however. Syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations provide the structural linguist with a tool for categorization for phonology, morphology and syntax. Take morphology, for example. The signs cat and cats are associated in the mind, producing an abstract paradigm of the word forms of cat. Comparing this with other paradigms of word forms, we can note that in the English language the plural often consists of little more than adding an S to the end of the word. Likewise, through paradigmatic and syntagmatic analysis, we can discover the syntax of sentences. For instance, contrasting the syntagma je dois ("I should") and dois je? ("Should I?") allows us to realize that in French we only have to invert the units to turn a statement into a question. We thus take syntagmatic evidence (difference in structural configurations) as indicators of paradigmatic relations (e.g., in the present case: questions vs. assertions). The most detailed account of the relationship between a paradigmatic organisation of language as a motivator and classifier for syntagmatic configurations is that set out in the systemic network organization of systemic functional grammar, where paradigmatic relations and syntagmatic configurations each have their own separate formalisation, related by realization constraints. Modern linguistic formalisms that work in terms of lattices of linguistic signs, such as head-driven phrase structure grammar, similarly begin to separate out an explicit level of paradigmatic organization. 32 ISSN 2053-6305(Print), ISSN 2053-6313(online) International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 27-44, February 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) Saussure developed structural linguistics, with its idealized vision of language, partly because he was aware that it was impossible in his time to fully understand how the human brain and mind created and related to language: Saussure set out to model language in purely linguistic terms, free of psychology, sociology, or anthropology. That is, Saussure was trying precisely not to say what goes on in your or my mind when we understand a word or make up a sentence. [...] Saussure was trying to depsychologize linguistics. Ferdinand de Saussure is the originator of the 20th century reappearance of structuralism, specifically in his 1916 book Course in General Linguistics, where he focused not on the use of language (parole, or talk), but rather on the underlying system of language (langue) and called his theory semiotics. This approach focused on examining how the elements of language related to each other in the present, that is, 'synchronically' rather than 'diachronically'. Finally, he argued that linguistic signs were composed of two parts, a signifier (the sound pattern of a word, either in mental projection - as when we silently recite lines from a poem to ourselves or in actual, physical realization as part of a speech act) and a signified (the concept or meaning of the word). This was quite different from previous approaches which focused on the relationship between words and the things in the world they designated. By focusing on the internal constitution of signs rather than focusing on their relationship to objects in the world, Saussure made the anatomy and structure of language something that could be analyzed and studied. Saussure's Course influenced many linguists in the period between WWI and WWII. In America, for instance, Leonard Bloomfield developed his own version of structural linguistics, as did Louis Hjelmslev in Scandinavia. In France Antoine Meillet and Émile Benveniste would continue Saussure's program. Most importantly, however, members of the Prague School of linguistics such as Roman Jakobson and Nikolai Trubetzkoy conducted research that would be greatly influential. The clearest and most important example of Prague School structuralism lies in phonemics. Rather than simply compile a list of which sounds occur in a language, the Prague School sought to examine how they were related. They determined that the inventory of sounds in a language could be analyzed in terms of a series of contrasts. Thus in English the words 'pat' and 'bat' are different because the /p/ and /b/ sounds contrast. The difference between them is that the vocal chords vibrate while saying a /b/ while they do not when saying a /p/. Thus in English there is a contrast between voiced and non-voiced consonants. Analyzing sounds in terms of contrastive features also opens up comparative scope - it makes clear, for instance, that the difficulty Japanese speakers have differentiating between /r/ and /l/ in English is due to the fact that these two sounds are not contrastive in Japanese. While this approach is now standard in linguistics, it was revolutionary at the time. Phonology would become the paradigmatic basis for structuralism in a number of different forms. Assumptions about the Essential Nature of Language The first thing to notice is that, according to structuralist theory, meaning is not a private experience, as Husserl thought, but the product of a shared system of signification. A text is to be understood as a construct to be analyzed and explained scientifically in terms of the deep- 33 ISSN 2053-6305(Print), ISSN 2053-6313(online) International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 27-44, February 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) structure of the system itself. For many structuralists, this "deep-structure" is universal and innate. If we consider the application of structuralism to art and extend the monetary analogy, we can think of paintings as comprised of many languages or sets of conventions that play a role in the exchange of signs. For example, the language of western academic painting can be contrasted with the language of African sculpture or Japanese brush painting. Just as one word in the English language is paired with a concept, so a visual image, icon, or symbol is paired with a concept or idea that it is said to "express". Such a study of signs in the most general sense, whether visual or verbal, is called semiotics. In the West, art schools are the institutions that have the function of passing on these visual conventions. Secondly, we should note that in structuralism, the individual is more a product of the system than a producer of it. Language precedes us. It is the medium of thought and human expression. Thus, it provides us with the structure that we use to conceptualize our own experience. And third, since language is arbitrary, there is no natural bond between words and things, there can be no privileged connection between language and reality. In this sense, reality is also produced by language. Thus, structuralism can be understood as a form of idealism. It should be clear from what we've just said that structuralism undermines the claim of empiricism that what is real is what we experience. It can also be seen as an affront to common sense, esp. to the notion that a text has a meaning that is, for all intents and purposes, straightforward. This conflict with common sense, however, can be favorably compared with other historical conflicts (e.g. Copernicus' heliocentric system). In other words, things are not always what they seem. Thus, the idealist claim of structuralism can be understood in the following way: Reality and our conception of it are "discontinuous". This view has important implications, as discussed below. According to structuralist theory, a text or utterance has a "meaning", but it's meaning is determined not by the psychological state or "intention" of the speaker, but by the deep-structure of the language system in which it occurs. In this way, the subject (individual or "author") is effectively killed off and replaced by language itself as an autonomous system of rules. Thus, structuralism has been characterized as antihumanistic in it's claim that meaning is not identical with the inner psychological experience of the speaker. It removes the human subject from its central position in the production of meaning much as Copernicus removed (decentered) the Earth from its position at the center of the solar system. And since language preexists us, it is not we who speak, as Heidegger was to say, but "language speaks us". Assumptions about the Methods of Achieving the Goals of Linguistic Description There is a shift from a pre-structuralist to a structuralist theory of language and there are implications drawn from it by poststructuralists. A. Pre-structuralist theory assumes that there is an intimate connection between material objects in the world and the languages that we use to talk about those objects and their interrelations. 34 ISSN 2053-6305(Print), ISSN 2053-6313(online) International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 27-44, February 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) B.Saussure puts this connection between the material object and the word in brackets, i.e. he sets it aside in order to study the very structure of language. Thus, According to Saussure's structuralist theory of language, the meaning of a term (a word or expression) does not begin and end with the speaker's experience or intention (as it does in Husserl's theory). The act of speaking and intending presupposes a language already in place and upon which the speaker must rely in order to say anything at all. Concepts or meanings are picked out (signified) because of the differences in the network of words (sound or graphicimages) that make up the language (langue). Thus each word-each structural element of the language-finds its own relative position or node within the network of differences. In other words, the meaning of a particular term in a language is due to its relative difference from all other terms in the language. A signified, i.e. a concept or idea, is properly understood in terms of its position relative to the differences among a range of other signifiers (words with different positions in the network (langue) and, hence, different meanings). C. Poststructuralist theory denies the distinction between signifier and signified. According to the poststructuralist, concepts are nothing more than words. Thus, signifiers are words that refer to other words and never reach out to material objects and their interrelations. To indicate this shift in theory, the French philosopher Jacques Derrida introduces the word "différance" to indicate the relation between signifiers as one of difference and deferral. If a word's meaning is solely the result of its difference from other words, then the meaning ( the concept or signified) is not an additional thing "present" in the sign itself. On the contrary, "meaning" (if it can be called that at all) is the ever-moving play of difference from signifier to signifier; a slipping from word to word in which each word retains relations to ("traces" of) the words that differ from it. Thus, according to poststructuralists such as Derrida, the specification of meaning is an infinite and endless process. Meaning, to some extent, always escapes one's grasp-it is always just out of reach, ungrounded, with no origin in the intention of the speaker, contrary to what Husserl thought. In other words, when a speaker uses certain words ("This is a pear"), then according to the theory she does not have a nonlinguistic object or concept in mind-there is no additional thing or "object" outside of the language (i.e. no "meaning") that could be transmitted or made "present" to her listener or reader. There is nothing there in her speech but language, i.e. a network of signification. Thus, "meaning" is the result of a play of différance-a movement which brings about both difference and deferral. (It may help here to bring in the traditional distinction between the denotation and the connotation of a term. The connotation may be thought of as the aura of suggestion, the echo or trace of other words to which it is related by such things as association, common usage, similarity, etc. The denotation, the relation (reference) between the word and the actual thing denoted by the word, from structuralism on, is bracketed and never brought back. Its absence, however, leaves its own "traces" in the form of problems for a poststructuralist theory of language. (See below.) So the poststructuralist draws the following consequences from the study of language: 1. Meaning is never fully present in any one signifier, but is infinitely deferred or suspended. 35 ISSN 2053-6305(Print), ISSN 2053-6313(online) International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 27-44, February 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) 2. Meaning is contextual, i.e. affected by related words. 3. There is always an excess of meaning. But there is another, more radical, consequence that can be drawn from our analysis. If the meaning associated with an expression is not present in the expression itself, and if the speaker must make his own presence felt by communication through words, then it follows that the speaker is never fully present in the act of using language. And if, as a human being, I can only think and experience a world through language, then "I" and "my presence" are as much deferred as the meanings I attempt to grasp when I try to understand and explain myself. In other words, I am never present even to myself. Rather, it is language that speaks, not a unified and autonomous ego or self. (How is this related to Kant's theory of knowledge?) One final note. On p.60 of Literary Theory, Eagleton makes use of the following argument: 1. All experience depends on language. 2. Since, to have a language is to be part of a whole form of social life, there is no possibility of a private language. 3. Therefore, all experience is social experience, i.e. there are no private experiences. This argument presupposes the notion in Saussure (and Hjelmslev in Prolegomena to a Theory of Language) that language is constitutive of experience. [4] Notice the central role played by the premise that experience itself "depends on" or is structured by language. Without this assumption, the slide into the de-centered self is not so easily motivated. (Cf. Heidegger's notion of the de-centered self. Derrida himself says that consciousness is an effect of language.) This poststructuralist view of language undermines the theories of Descartes, Husserl and most of western metaphysical thinking about the primacy or centrality of the subject and reinforces the notion of the "decentered self" as characteristic of the human condition. What alternatives can we imagine as a challenge to the poststructuralist position? One strategy would be to start by agreeing with Kant that we must have categories or concepts of some kind to organize human experience. But we might also disagree with Kant over the nature and a priori character of those concepts. In doing this, we could borrow from Heidegger the view that the categories of human experience are historical in nature and potentially in fluxnot fixed and universal. But then we might question Heidegger's emphasis on the linguistic nature of these concepts by drawing on Gestalt psychology to argue for the existence of certain "struct-ural" and hard wired components of human perception and thought of a pre-linguistic nature. This is just one tentative direction one might take in challenging the view presented by the form of poststructuralism that we've been considering. Other problems are raised if we consider language not simply as an object but as a practice. Suppose I say to you, "Open the window" in a situation where there is no window in the room. You might ask, "What do you mean?" This would be to question my "intentions" - what am I trying to accomplish by saying what I've said? Perhaps I am making a point about the fact that there is no window in the room. My paradoxical statement - inexplicable in Saussure's structuralist terms - might be meaningful to you in another practical sense. This is because understanding is recognizing what effects one might seek to bring about through the use of 36 ISSN 2053-6305(Print), ISSN 2053-6313(online) International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 27-44, February 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) certain words. My obscure command might be a request that we move to a room that has a window. In other words, speech is not just an object, it is a form of behavior, and as such it can only be understood contextually, i.e. in a situation. This realization of the pragmatics of language signals a shift from language to discourse, and a concomitant change in emphasis away from a text's meaning to its function. In the end, we may want to say not so much that reality is linguistic but that language is real, and not necessarily all there is to human reality and experience. Assumptions about the Goals of Linguistic Description Two main versions of structural linguistics have influenced thought and discourse about language and culture since the mid-20th century: the French school, modeled on Ferdinand de Saussure_s concepts of linguistic signs and phonology, and the American school, based on Noam Chomsky's theory of generative grammar and syntax. It's important to understand the different starting points and key concepts, and the kind of further work that these schools of thought have enabled. (That is, the heuristic potential of each approach, both for forming a tradition of thought and today for continued work modeled on these approaches.) For semiotics, the major traditions have come from the French tradition of semiology and Claude Levi-Strauss, and from the American tradition of C. S. Peirce. This overview is an abbreviated (an overly-generalized) description of the conceptual models in both fields to help students understand some of the common questions and assumptions, and also consider the areas open for productive new research. Both the French/European and Chomskyean/American traditions attempted to map out different kinds of abstract and necessary structures that determine possible linguistic behaviorsign functions from phonology, in Saussure's starting point, and language formation through internalized abstract rules for syntax, in Chomsky's breakthrough. Chomsky inaugurated a research agenda to define a "formal grammar" by means of which any specific sentence in any natural language could be generated and understood. In Chomsky's model, a "deep struc-ture" of internalized abstract rules and codes (termed the "I-language," the internalized language rule set) enables and generates the "surface structure" of actual expressions and usage conventions in all varieties of dialects in any language (an "E-language" or external expressions). Both schools of thought approach language (that is, the universal human capacity for language, not any specific language) and language communities (specific languages) as things that cannot be explained empirically (the data and facts of language use and extrapolations from these), but according to rules and abstract schema internalized by language users that define how a language works (that is, the models for how any language, all languages work) and allow the production and recognition of new expressions in any language. For linguistics in the 1960s-80s, the research paradigm remained mainly at the level of sentences and phrases, and until recently was not as concerned with additional levels of cultural meaning surrounding sentences, large bodies of discourse, or the formal units of written cultural genres. Many forms of discourse studies, sociolinguistics, and semantics are part of the field of linguistics today. French and European semiology adapted Saussure's linguistic model for analysis of larger cultural formations (especially for the study of literature, anthro37 ISSN 2053-6305(Print), ISSN 2053-6313(online) International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 27-44, February 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) pology, and popular culture). Unfortunately, Anglo-American and European disciplinary identities and boundaries have separated the research agendas and starting premises in areas of common concern (how human cultures use language and all kinds of meaning-systems and communicate meanings across space and time), though there are now many areas of crossdisciplinary research with many areas open for new convergence. Semiotics focuses mainly on units of meaning and the generalizable conditions for encoding across symbolic systems (linguistic, visual, auditory), and, in general, uses language as the modeling system for other "second order" systems that function according to systematic rules (e.g., visual art, music, literature, popular media, advertising, or any meaning system). We now have methods for merging the "generative" approach of linguistics with the "networks of meaning" approach in semiotics. The next step is to develop models for a "generative grammar" and "generative semiotics" of culture, describing the rules for producing new cultural forms from our established base of meaning and content systems (in language, images, music, digital mixed media, or any transmittable cultural genre). The models developed by Peirce and Bakhtin have allowed for new research on this central question. The Structures in Structuralism The term structuralism refers the method that proceeds from a description of systems of abstract, generalizable rules that govern actual instances of expression. This starting point is considered the best explanation for how actual expressions in any symbolic form (linguistic, visual, etc.) are formed, generated, and understood. Thus: a language =expressions formed from an internally complete system of abstract rules =structures In this context, structure = a priori rules systematically followed for any expression; that is, the structures that must be in place and presupposed before any new expression can be uttered or understood. Structures in this sense form an a priori (lit., from what is prior), that is, rules or codes not given in any direct experience of instances of language use, but required as the precondition for the possibility of any linguistic expression. American linguistic theory in all of its schools and sub-schools rarely uses the term structure or structuralism (although Chomsky acknowledges the European tradition). In most descriptions of language theory and semiology, structuralism refers mainly to the theory and philosophy arising from European and French thought, with its main developments in the 1960s. The structural model, however, is common among several schools of thought even though the kinds of work and specific problems are different. De Saussure_s starting point is a structural description (the abstract and necessary rules) of the learned (conventional) abstract codes that link speech sounds (phonology) and linguistic meaning; that is, how acoustic stimuli (sounds, signifiers) get mapped onto meanings (signified "content") in any language. For de Saussure, a linguistic (or any cultural meaningunit) is a "sign," specifically defined as the arbitrary--but internally necessary--coupling of a sensory vehicle (speech sounds, printed words) and a mental concept. This model of abstract and necessary learned, conventional conditions for expression and meaning influenced 38 ISSN 2053-6305(Print), ISSN 2053-6313(online) International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 27-44, February 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) linguistics, semiology (models for a grammar of meaning applicable to all cultural forms like writing, images, and music), and anthropology. Chomsky, beginning in the 1950s-60s, takes the abstract system of both phonology and grammar as necessary, but starts with the problem of syntax, language acquisition, and language productivity. His model of syntax as the internalized rules for generating expressions solves the empirical problem of "the poverty of stimulus" when seeking to explain the rapid acquisition of grammar from few experiences; that is, trying to explain how humans learn language by induction from experienced examples (i.e., how any child in any language community from around age 3-4 is capable of generating an infinite set of new grammatically formed sentences which the child has never experienced). For Chomsky, humans have an innate capacity for language and the ability to internalize a grammar from a very small set of examples, and are soon able to generate an infinite number of new expressions in their native language. From this observation, he was able to map out a rigorous set of syntactic phrase structures capable of many transformations. Chomsky explains in his influential book, Language and Mind (1968, 3rd edition, 2006) The person who has acquired knowledge of a language has internalized a system of rules that relate sound and meaning in a particular way. The linguist constructing a grammar of a language is in effect proposing a hypothesis concerning this internalized system. The grammar proposed by the linguist is an explanatory theory; it suggests an explanation for the fact that (under the idealization mentioned) a speaker of the language in question will perceive, interpret, form, or use an utterance in certain ways and not in other ways.... Continuing with current terminology, we can thus distinguish the surface structure of the sentence, the organization into categories and phrases that is directly associated with the physical signal, from the underlying deep structure, also a system of categories and phrases, but with a more abstract character. [pp. 23-25] Where de Saussure distinguishes between langue and parole (the underlying grammar and rules of a language vs. spoken and written expressions in any concrete instance), Chomsky distinguishes between "deep structures" and "surface structures" and "competence" versus "performance." The observations here allow us go beyond the experiential data of language in use to the underlying rules everyone shares in making new expressions and participating in a system of meanings. At all levels, then, for language to be language, it must be:     rule-governed (expression and understanding reflect the same necessary code base) collective (shared, not private or individual) conventional or arbitrary (that is, not natural) and learned (arises from being in a language community, not spontaneous). These assumptions form the presuppositions of all work in semiology or semiotics, which maps out ways to analyze any meaning system as a "second-order" language; that is, for semiotics to proceed, we must presuppose that the structural features of language also operate in other language-like systems (for example, visual art or music) and are assumed or incorporated in a different level of operation like the system of other linguistic levels, a computer network "protocol stack" of layered functions, or the nested and embedded functions in computer programming. 39 ISSN 2053-6305(Print), ISSN 2053-6313(online) International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 27-44, February 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) Semiotics: Basic Assumptions Contemporary semiotic theory merges the thought of Ferdinand de Saussure and Charles Sanders Peirce in many variations. Here are some of the most important starting assumptions. 1. Cultures are formed through language. Language is public, social, and communal, not private or personal. (If anyone used a private language, it would be very uninteresting to the rest of the world.) 2. Users of a common language form what is called a "speech community," though we use "speech" in this context to include many kinds of communication communities (subcultures, dialects, ethnic groups, social-class specific communities, etc.); any individual can participate in multiple "speech communities". 3. Language is a system with rules (its own internal structure). Language as a system is multi-leveled, from speech sounds, words, and sentences to longer units called discourse. Discourse circulates through a culture, providing meanings, values, and social identities to individuals. 4. Discourse is the level studied by most cultural theory and semiotics. All of our cultural statements--from "mainstream" and official "high culture" products to popular culture genres and emerging new cultural forms--can thus be studied as forms of discourse, parts of a larger cultural "language." 5. Communication and meaning are formed by mediations--representative or symbolic vehicles that "stand for" things, meanings, and values. The mediating vehicles are called "signs". For example, words in a language, images, sounds, or other perceptible signifiers. 5.1. Thus signs and sign-systems never present a copy of "reality"--the order of things external to language and our mediated way of knowing thinning-out a socially interpreted and valued representation. 6. The study of how a society produces meanings and values in a communication system is called semiotics, from the Greek term semion, "sign". (Here "sign" has a specialized meaning, referring to our social and cultural vehicles for signification or meaning.) Languages, and other symbolic systems like music and images, are called sign systems because they are governed by learnable and transmittable rules and conventions shared by a community. 40 ISSN 2053-6305(Print), ISSN 2053-6313(online) International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 27-44, February 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) Semiotic Models: Dyadic and Triadic Ferdinand de Saussure Simple two-part model of the sign: a signifier (sign vehicle; material perceptible content like sound or visual information) and the signified (a conceptual and abstract content) De Saussure: Descriptive model Charles Sanders Peirce: Triadic Model 41 ISSN 2053-6305(Print), ISSN 2053-6313(online) International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 27-44, February 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) Peirce used a different set of terms to describe sign functions, which for him were a conceptual process, continually unfolding and unending (what he termed "unlimited semiosis," the chain of meaning-making by new signs interpreting a prior sign or set of signs). In Peirce's model, meaning is generated through chains of signs (becoming interpretants), which is parallel with Mikhail Bakhtin's model of dialogism, in which every cultural expression is always already a response or answer to prior expression, and which generates further responses by being addressible to others. 7. Semiotics isolates sign functions for social analysis. French semiotics distinguishes two main sign-functions, the signifier (the level of expression, like the bare acoustic impression of speech sounds or the visual impression of written marks and images) and the signified (the level of content or value, what is associated with the signifier in a language). But what allows the sign to work as a whole unit of social meaning is a code, the rule for combining a sensory impression with a mental content, and the basic signifiers in a language into a system of meanings. 7.1. The relation between signifier and signified is not natural, but arbitrary, part of the internal rules of a language. Having an arbitrary relation to things signified, the signs of a culture can be analyzed for how societies construct, produce, and circulate meanings and values. 8. Sign systems are often described as organized into sets of differences (differential values) and hierarchies that structure meanings and social values. The form that these differences take is governed by ideology. (For example, the large set of socially constructed meanings for things considered "masculine" and "feminine," a pervasive set of binary oppositions. "Masculine" and "feminine" are meaningless apart from their mutual definition in a socially encoded binary structure.) The majority of our complex social use of signs reveals a network of relationships, rather than simple binaries. 9. Signification is therefore a process, a product, and a social event, not something closed, static, or completed one and for all. All members of a society are interpreters or decoders. 9.1. Signification occurs in the encoding and decoding process. 9.2. Position of the interpreter/receiver of communication is inscribed in the system itself. Ability to decode and understand signification is based on competence with the sign system and with a larger cultural encyclopedia of codes and correspondences. 10. Semiotics, however, moves beyond language to study all the meaning systems in a society--fashion, advertising, popular culture genres like TV and movies, music, political discourse, all forms of writing and speech. Semiotics contributes to communication studies by providing a method for uncovering and analyzing how a whole system of signification like a movie genre, fashion images, or TV works in a culture. 10.1. Semiotics, then, looks at culture broadly as a language considered as a sign system,or the ways signs and language map onto culture as a whole. 42 ISSN 2053-6305(Print), ISSN 2053-6313(online) International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 27-44, February 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) CONCLUSION At the base of the structuralist position is an assumption that certain structures are innocent of meaning. Meaning is determined by the differences between the structures and, not the structures themselves (Hassan,1971).This assumption clearly plays out in the discussion above. Saussure's underpinning standpoint in this theory is the study of the structure of the language and not the use of the language. In the 1950s Saussure's ideas about structural linguistics were appropriated by several prominent figures in continental philosophy, anthropology, and from there were borrowed in literary theory, where they are used to interpret novels and other texts. However, several critics have charged that Saussure's ideas have been misunderstood or deliberately distorted by continen- tal philosophers and literary theorists and are certainly not directly applicable to the textual level, which Saussure himself would have firmly placed within parole and so not amenable to his theoretical constructs. REFERENCES Bal, Mieke. On Meaning-Making: Essays in Semiotics. Sonoma, CA: Polebridge Press, 1994. Chomsky, Noam. (1972) Language and Mind. Enlarged Ed. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, p. 20 Chomsky, Noam. Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1965. Course in General Linguistics. New York: Philosophical Library, 1959. De Mauro, Tullio, 1972. Edition critique du Cours de linguistique generale de Ferdinand de Saussure. Paris: Payot. p. 400 de Saussure, Ferdinand. Cours De Linguistique Générale. Paris: Payot, 1900. Eco, Umberto. A Theory of Semiotics. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1976. Evans, Dylan. (2005) "From Lacan to Darwin", in The Literary Animal: Evolution and the Nature of Narrative, eds. Jonathan Gottschall and David Sloan Wilson, Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 2005, pp.38-55. Fabb, Nigel. (1988) Saussure and literary theory: from the perspective of linguistics. Critical Quarterly, Volume 30, Issue 2, pages 58_72, June 1988. Gilbert Lazard. "The case for pure linguistics." Studies in Language 36:2 (2012), 241_259. doi 10.1075/sl.36.2.02laz Holland, Norman N. (1992) The Critical I, Columbia University Press, ISBN ISBN 0-23107650-9 Koster, Jan. (1996) "Saussure meets the brain", in R. Jonkers, E. Kaan, J. K. Wiegel, eds., Language and Cognition 5. Yearbook 1992 of the Research Group for Linguistic Theory and Knowledge Representation of the University of Groningen, Groningen, pp. 115-120. Language and Mind. 1st edition, 1968; 3rd. Cambridge University Press, 2006. Marcus, Mitchell, (1984) "Some Inadequate Theories of Human Language Processing." Talking Minds: The Study of Language in Cognitive Science. Eds. Thomas G. Bever, John M. Carroll, and Lance A. Miller. Cambridge MA: MIT P, 1984. 253-77. Matthews, Peter. A Short History of Structural Linguistics, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2001. New York Review of Books, June 29, 1972. 43 ISSN 2053-6305(Print), ISSN 2053-6313(online) International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 27-44, February 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) Not Saussure: A Critique of Post-Saussurean Literary Theory, Macmillan Press 1988, 2nd ed. 1995. Peirce, Charles Sanders. Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce, 8 Volumes.Edited by Charles Hartshorne, Paul Weiss, and A. W. Burks. Cambridge, MA:Harvard University Press, 1931. Petrilli, Susan, and Augusto Ponzio. Semiotics Unbounded: Interpretive Routes Through the Open Network of Signs. 1st ed. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2005. Semiotics and the Philosophy of Language. Bloomington, IN: Indiana Univ. Press, 1984. Siobhan Chapman and Christopher Routledge (eds.), Key Thinkers in Linguistics and the Philosophy of Language, Oxford University Press, 2005, p. 107: "Algirdas Greimas". Syntactic Structures. First edition, 1957; 2nd ed. Berlin and New York: Mouton De Gruyter, 2002. Tallis, Raymond. Theorrhoea and After, Macmillan, 1998. Turner, Mark. 1987. Death is the Mother of Beauty: Mind, Metaphor, Criticism. University of Chicago Press, p. 6. What Is Semiotics?November 2007. http://vip.db.dk/signs/WIS.htm. 44 ISSN 2053-6305(Print), ISSN 2053-6313(online) 

British Journal of English Linguistics Vol.6, No.2, pp.58-71, March 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) STYLISTICS AS AN APPROACH TO DISCOURSE ANALYSIS: A THEMATIC TEXTUAL ANALYSIS Dr. Damasus Tuurosong Department of African and General Studies, University for Development Studies, Ghana. Dr. Rashid Hassan Pelpuo Institute of African Stuides, University of Ghana, Legon. Justine Bakuuro Department of English, University of Ghana, Legon ABSTRACT: This write-up is a stylistic analysis of a prose passage along three thematic areas: pace, expectancy and high emotional tension. Each of these themes is carefully traced in the passage using the analysis. It is a practical application of one of the numerous approaches to Discourse Analysis-Stylistics-in the analysis of a text. The text is an excerpt from Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. KEYWORDS: stylistic analysis, thematic, pace, expectancy, high emotional tension, discourse analysis, Things fall Apart. Research Objective This study basically attempts to trace how the linguistic choices in the prose passage project the themes of pace, expectancy and high emotional tension which dominate the text. The author could not have evoked these feelings without making appropriate linguistic choices. Identifying those choices and their roles underpin the goal of this study. Theoretical Underpinning Generally speaking, stylistics sometimes involves the exercise of revealing the linguistic peculiarity of an author’s art. This perspective conceives of style as idiolect. Crystal and Davy (1969:77) explain that studying an author’s work via this theory is ‘an attempt to isolate, define, and discuss those linguistic features which are felt to be peculiarly his, which help to distinguish him from other authors’. Authorship identification, therefore, underlies the stylistic efforts that employ this theory. However, this can be dicey due to certain unifying factors in textual production. Today, the focus of stylistics is the investigation of the linguistic resources deployed in the construction of texts (literary and non literary). Style study, thus, concerns the analysis of the linguistic features employed consciously or otherwise in textual production with the aim of adducing communicative reasons for such features. Basically, stylistics sets to answer the 58 Print ISSN: 2055-6063(Print), Online ISSN: 2055-6071(Online) British Journal of English Linguistics Vol.6, No.2, pp.58-71, March 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) question of how a text is configured in relation to why it is thus structured. The how concerns ‘the form, the architectonics’, while the why is the ‘axis of interpretation and speculation’ (Salman, 2013:114). Style study is essentially an interpretative exercise whose thrust is the elucidation of the manner of the matter (Osundare, 2003). What is more, style is viewed as choice made from among competing and variant options inherent in language for textual constructions. Simpson (2014:22) explains the concern of stylisticians using this theoretical framework:There are often several ways of using the resources of language system to capture the same event in textual representation. What is of interest to stylisticians is why from possible several ways of representing the same happening, one particular type of depiction should be privileged over another. The style of an author is also studied in terms of deviant forms in a piece of work and their communicative implications. The style- as- deviation perspective presupposes that there are set norms or standards against which deviations are identifiable and analyzable. Lawal (1997) differentiates accuracy (grammatical correctness) and appropriateness (social acceptability) as the norms of the standard varieties of language. Nonconformity to these, therefore, amounts to deviation. Todorov (1971:31) similarly identifies four types of deviation as: quantitative (deviation in frequency of occurrence), qualitative (deviation from standard grammar), syntagmatic (deviation from a norm preset in the text) and paradigmatic (deviation from norm outside the text). Deviation is not error; it is conscious and motivated by communicative needs. Explanation of these needs through the deviant forms is the task when this theory is employed. Choice making in text composition are usually conditioned by selectional possibility and constraint in language (Lawal, 1997) but language does not necessarily incapacitate its users through these prescriptions as adventurous users can liberate their styles through ‘its elastic edges’ (Osundare, 2003:17). The theory of style as choice is interrelated with the perception of style as situation or product of context. The interface is grounded on the fact that choices in communication are made with due consideration to the situation. Effective communication thrives on purposeful choices mediated by the context of interaction. Context - linguistic and non linguistic; immediate and wider – are essential to textual comprehension. As Azuike (1992) notes, context encompasses intra textual and inter textual ordering as well as extra textual features that are essential to resolving textual meaning. Context is essential to stylistic execution as most choices from the linguistic system are ‘occasioned by the writer’s expectation that the reader will locate the meaning within a broad context’ (Chinelo and Macpherson, 2015:67). The issue of choice-context in stylistics is underpinned by Traugott and Pratt’s (1980:29) definition of style as ‘the characteristic choices in a given context’. This position aligns perfectly with the systemic perspective on language as a network of options and a resource for meaning making. These last two theories primarily constitute the framework for the analysis as the speech under study is premeditated and sensitive considering the remote and immediate contexts of its composition. 59 Print ISSN: 2055-6063(Print), Online ISSN: 2055-6071(Online) British Journal of English Linguistics Vol.6, No.2, pp.58-71, March 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) Prose Passage 1The drummers took up their sticks and the air shivered and grew tense like a tightened bow. two teams were ranged facing each other across the clear space. 3A young man from one team danced across the center to the other side and pointed at whomever he wanted to fight. 4They danced back to the center together and then closed in. 2The 5There were twelve men on each side and the challenge went from one side to the other. 6Two judges walked around the wrestlers and when they thought they were equally matched stopped them. 7Five matches ended in this way. 8But the really exciting moments were when a man was thrown. 9The huge voice of the crowd then rose to the sky and in every direction. 10It was even heard in the surrounding villages. 11The last match was between the leaders of the teams. 12They were among the best wrestlers in all the nine villages. 13The crowd wondered who would throw the other this year. 14Some said Okafo was the better man; others said he was not the equal of Ikezue. 15Last year neither of them had thrown the other even though the judges had allowed the contest to go on longer than was the custom. 16They had the same style and one saw the other’s plans beforehand. 17It might happen again this year. 18Dusk was already approaching when their contest began. 19The drums went mad and the crowds also. 20They surged forward as the two young men danced into the circle. 21The palm fronds were helpless in keeping them back. 22Ikezue held out his right hand. 23Okafo seized it and they closed in. 24It was a fierce contest. strove to dig in his right heel behind Okafo so as to pitch him backwards in the clever eqe style. 26But the one knew what the other was thinking. 27The crowds had surrendered and swallowed up the drummers, whose frantic rhythm was no longer a mere disembodied sound but the very heartbeat of the people. 25Ikezue 28The wrestlers were not almost still in each other’s grip. 29The muscles on their arms and their thighs and on their backs stood out and twitched. 30It looked like an equal match. 31The two judges were already moving forward to separate them when Ikezue, now desperate, went down quickly on one knee in an attempt to fling his man backwards over his head. 32It was a sad miscalculation. 33Quick as the lighting of Amadiora, Okafo raised his right leg and swung it over his rival’s head. 34The crowd burst into a thunderous roar. 35Okafo was swept off his feet by his supporters and carried home shoulder high. 36They sang his praise and the young women clapped their hands. NB: For easy identification, the sentences have been numbered. The numbers used in the analysis therefore stand for the sentences in the passage. Key: VF=very fast, F=fast, S=slow, 1,2,3,etc=sentences in the narrative 60 Print ISSN: 2055-6063(Print), Online ISSN: 2055-6071(Online) British Journal of English Linguistics Vol.6, No.2, pp.58-71, March 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) PACE The narrative pace determines how quickly or slowly the writer takes a reader through a story. It relies on the combination of mood and emotion as these elements play out in the dialogue, setting and action. A story determines its own pace. In the prose narrative above, we try to study the pace as the narrator walks with us down the plot of the narrative.The pace transition from one sentence to another which eventually determines the overall pace of the narrative piece is carefully examined in the ensuing analysis.The pace transitions between sentences are marked as being Very Fast (VF),Fast (F) or Slow (S) with an accompanying explanation in each instance. At a glance, does the narrative present a fast or slow pace? We find that out. 1-2. One realises a very quick leap in pace as the narrator takes the reader right from the drummers taking up their sticks to the two teams being ranged facing each other. A revelation is quickly made about the plot of the narrative.(VF) 2 – 3 Sentence 3 is a detail upon sentence 2 and thus presents a slower pace in the narration. Sentence three does not reveal much about the plot apart from being an elaboration on sentence 2.(S) 3 – 4 Sentence 4 is an expansion of sentence 3 and therefore dictates a slower pace in the narrative just like sentence 3.It gives us detail but does not really take the reader a step further into the plot of the narrative.(S) 4 – 5 Sentence 5 heightens the pace again as it makes a revelation about the plot. The narrator gets to inform the reader of the composition of each team- twelve men on each side – as well as the order of activity in the match (the challenge went from one side to the other).(F) 5 – 6 Here we see a very fast pace as the narrator switches immediately from the team compositions to focus on the judges. The narrator did not slow down the pace with detail information as in 3 – 4 and 2 – 3. (VF) 6 – 7 We see one of the fastest paces in this narrative. The narrator did not stay on to give detail about about the five matches which ended in similar manner. He switches sharply from the judges in the opening match to the 5th match, leaving with 7 matches. Thus, we have a major unfolding of the narrative plot.(VF) 61 Print ISSN: 2055-6063(Print), Online ISSN: 2055-6071(Online) British Journal of English Linguistics Vol.6, No.2, pp.58-71, March 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) 7 – 8 The narrator introduces us to new information - the throwing of a man- which was the really exciting moment.The movement from sentence 7 to 8 may not be as quick as that from 6 to 7 but we equally have an increased pace herein.(F) 8 – 9. The narrator did not dwell on details about the ‘really exciting moments’ and probably how the man was thrown but shifts focus sharply to the reaction of the audience to the throwing of the man.A swift dive into the plot is thus realized by this so we encounter one of the fastest instances of pace transition here.(VF) 9 – 10. We realize a slowing down of the pace as sentence 10 is a detail of sentence 9.In narrative pace, details create suspense as they hold the reader in anxiety. Such is the case here. (S) 10 – 11. The pace momentum increases immediately after the slow-down in 9 – 10. We are not told the details of the remaining matches after the 6th match (in which a man was thrown) but are moved to information about the last match. We are told of 12 matches and from the 6th match we are moved straight to the last match. This, just like 6-7, is one of the fastest progressions into the plot of the narrative.(F) 11 – 12. Sentence 12 is an elaboration on 11, hence we have a slow pace here. (S) 12 – 13. Sentence 13 is a further expansion of 11,thereby maintaining the slow pace in 1112.(S) 13 – 14 . We still have a slowing down of activity here. Sentence 14 is an extension of 13.(S) 14 – 15. The pace is slowed down as the narrator chips in with some historic antecedents of the match.That is detail information which is in tune with what the narrator is on floor discussing,that is,taking the reader into some background about the annual event.(S) 15 – 16. 16 gives detail about 15, hence a slow pace is maintained. (S) 16 – 17 . 17 gives details about 16, so a slow pace is maintained. (S) 17 – 18. We see an increase in pace once again as the narrator shifts focus from the strength of the two team leaders and their previous encounter back to the event in the background- the fight.Plot development is realized.(F) 18 – 19. A strongly fast pace of narration is realized as the narrator moves from the commencement time of the contest to the contest in action. We are not bored with detail about how the contest started between the leaders but quickly introduced to the action of the contest and the ecstasy that greets it. (VF) 62 Print ISSN: 2055-6063(Print), Online ISSN: 2055-6071(Online) British Journal of English Linguistics Vol.6, No.2, pp.58-71, March 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) 19 – 20. Pace is slower here as the narrator gives further description of what the atmosphere is. Plot growth is retarded.(S) 20 – 21. 21 is an expansion of 20, hence a slow pace in the narration is realised.(S) 21 – 22. A heightened pace is realized here as the narrator moves from the reaction of the crowd back to the action itself.(F) 22 – 23. Pace slows down since 23 is an extension of 22. (S) 23 – 24. Slowed pace. 24 extends 23.(S) 24 – 25. Slowed pace. 25 extends 24.(S) 25 – 26. Slowed pace. 26 Extends 25.(S) 26 – 27. We notice a movement from the action itself to the reaction of the crowd once again. There is an increase in pace here. (F) 27 – 28. Then narrator shifts back to description of the action itself in 28, increasing the pace.(F) 28 – 29. 29 expands 28, hence a slow pace.(S) 29 – 30. 30 expands 29, hence a slow pace.(S) 30 – 31. 31 expands 30, hence a slow pace. (S) 31 – 32. 32 expands 31, hence a slow pace.(S) 32 – 33. 33 extends 32, hence slow pace.(S) 33 – 34. Focus shifts from description of the action of wrestling to the reaction of the crowd. Hence, we have a relatively fast pace here.(F) 34 – 35.Focus again is shifted from the reaction of the crowd back to the action in progresswrestling .We may describe it also as a fast pace.(F) 35 – 36. Attention is moved from action in progress to the reaction of the crowd, an increase in pace. (F) 63 Print ISSN: 2055-6063(Print), Online ISSN: 2055-6071(Online) British Journal of English Linguistics Vol.6, No.2, pp.58-71, March 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) The pace trend between sentences is represented in the Bar Chart below. From the chart, it is clear that the narrative has a slow pace. A total of 20 sentences present a slow pace of narration with the remaining 16 sentences representing fast and very fast paces.5 sentences present a very fast pace whilst 11 sentences present a fast pace. Much as the narrator made some bold leaps into the plot structure of the narrative, his speed of narration is slowed down by details, particularly in paragraphs 5 and 6. HIGH EMOTIONAL TENSION The narrative is riddled with intense emotional tension right from the start up to the end.The analysis below is an illustration of this theme in the narrative piece.The sentences which depict high emotional tension are the ones numbered on the left and the relevant portions are extracted and discussed. 1- 2- 3- 4- “…the air shivered and grew tense like heightened bow” conveys a feeling of unease and jittery among the contestants and audience. They are all seized by anxiety. The use of this personification depicts a highly expectant crowd who could not wait to see the commencement of the match. “ …two teams ranged facing each other” speaks of the fierce nature of the contest. One can imagine what would have been going on in the minds of the contestants at that moment. This further heightens the tension. “a young man…pointed at whomever he wanted to fight” sets the tone for the beginning of action. The battle lines were then clearly defined and all was set for a smooth start of the fight. “they danced back…and closed in” takes the reader into the action itself. The first of 12 matches had just started, watering down the overwhelming anxiety of the expectant crowd. 64 Print ISSN: 2055-6063(Print), Online ISSN: 2055-6071(Online) British Journal of English Linguistics Vol.6, No.2, pp.58-71, March 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) 5- 6- 7- 89- 10- 11- 16- 18- 19- 2021- 2223- “…the challenge went from one side to the other”, tells us of the continuity of the contest. One man from each side locked horns with a counterpart on the other divide in turns. “…they were equally matched…” shows the level of emotional unease. Each side is working hard to emerge victorious as the matches continued. So for the first tie to have ended without a winner, one can only fancy the emotional unrest among the contestants and supporters. “Five matches ended in this way” speaks of the pack of emotional tension among contestants and audience alike .From the first to the fifth match if there was no winner of any of those matches then the climax of emotional tension must have been reached here. “…a man was thrown” .There is a heightening of the tension here particularly among contestants of the defeated side in that particular fixture as well as their supporters. “ The huge voice of the crowd rose to the sky…” heightens the emotions of the defeated side in that particular fixture. Supporters would have very high expectations and contestants will be under psychological pressure to deliver and not disappoint their supporters. “It was even heard in the surrounding villages” depicts the extent of emotional tension aroused in the defeated side. The intensity of the jubilation would put them in an even more tensed mental state especially given that their men were equally matched with their opponents. “The last match was between the leaders of the teams”. For there to be only one win in 11 matches and the leaders now capping up the event, emotions would have been extremely high on both sides. If the leader of the winner team in the sixth match is defeated it would mean a draw for both sides. If the reverse happens, it would mean the team that won the sixth match would record a winning margin of 2 – 0. Both sides must be on the defensive now. “They had the same style…” tells the difficulty the contestants had in winning the match as they were both “masters in one field”. This carries with it a high emotional investment. “...their contest begun” suggests final round match which was more or less a “do or die” affair. The leaders needed to unlock the tie which had been particularly unlocked and needed to be reinforced for a clear win. The crowd would have, at this point, been very quiet and expectant. “The drums went mad and the crowds also” portrays the mood and atmosphere. It was a charged atmosphere with supporters of both sides cheering on their contestants. Even the side in the lead is not comfortable as a loss in that fixture could render the contest a drawn one. Emotions are highly charged. “They surged forward…”. the emotional charge of the crowd is what causes them to surge forward as the contestants are about to lock horns. “The palm fronds were helpless in keeping them back” indicates that the crowd is overwhelmed by their anxiety to see it all. They simply cannot help but trample on the palm fronds to catch a glimpse of the “real action”. “Ikezue held out his right hand” takes us direct into the action of fighting. More heightening of emotions is expected at this stage. “Okafo seized it and they closed it” continues that action in progress. Everyone present is at their bursting point of emotions, enjoying the sight of the “master fixture”. If there 65 Print ISSN: 2055-6063(Print), Online ISSN: 2055-6071(Online) British Journal of English Linguistics Vol.6, No.2, pp.58-71, March 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) 24- 25- 26- 27- 2829- 3031- 3233- 34- was any piece of emotional discomfort hiding in anyone, it had to show up at this stage. Fingers are crossed. “It was a fierce contest” summaries it all. The narrator himself admits it and if words can describe it as “fierce” then what would emotions represent it with? Heightened emotional tension. “Ikezue strove to dig in his right heel………” keeps us in the action of wresthing. He is making the last effort to carry the day. But will he succeed (?). This comes with volumes of emotional and psychological tension. “…one knew what the other was thinking” shows that it would only take luck or chance on the part of a contestant to beat his opponent since they had equal and same skills. This feeling of uncertainty regarding who carries the day further compounds the emotional tension among audience and contestants. “The crowds had surrendered and swallowed up the drummers, whose frantic rhythm was no longer a mere disembodied sound but the very heartbeat of the people” clearly summaries the heightened emotional tension among the people at this point. The drumming was not heard or recognized as rhythm but seen as a representation of “the heartbeat of the people”. “The wrestlers were not almost still in each other’s grip” gives a picture of the neckon-neck lock up between the two leaders. Emotions can only get more tensed. “The muscles on their arms and their thighs and on their backs stood out twitched” continues with the imagery of the tight lock up. None is seen as being the possible underdog in the battle. They were equally matched. But can there be a winner? Emotions can best answer this question. “It looked like an equal match” reinforces the effort in sentence 29. They were both up to the task. Only luck or chance was being sought after to break the ice. “…Ikezue, now desperate….” Speaks of emotional frustration. All efforts were yielding no fruits and so chances had to be taken swiftly. Ikezue was eluded by a chance, making his contender Okafo, emerge a victor. “It was a sad miscalculation”. Ikezue had made a very expensive mistake. His opponent took advantage. More emotional unrest! “Okafo raised his right leg and swung it over his rival’s head” speaks of the last straw that broke the camel’s back. Okafo took his chance swiftly and was the victor. How emotionally tasking it would be for Ikezue! “ The crowd burst into a thunderous roar” tells how broken Ikezue and his supporters would have been emotionally. After all efforts and even seeming to be more of an aggressor than his opponent, he ends up losing the fight. To be highly tensed emotionally would be an understatement for Ikezue and his supporters. 66 Print ISSN: 2055-6063(Print), Online ISSN: 2055-6071(Online) British Journal of English Linguistics Vol.6, No.2, pp.58-71, March 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) In terms of vocabulary choices which manifest the theme of high emotional tension, the narrator makes use of the following expressions: shivered/tense/tightened/bowl/ranged/pointedat/fight/closedin/challenge/judges/wrestlers/equ ally/matched/matches/thrown/crowd/wondered/surged/mad/fierce contest/strove/frantic rhythm/grip/twitched/equalmatch/desperate/fling/miscalculation/lightning/thunderous/roar/s wept off/supporters. As can be seen from the analysis above, 29 out of the total of 36 sentences carry in them expressions of high emotional tension. This represents 80.6% of the entire passage. If 80.6% of a passage provides evidence in support of a theme in the passage, one may conclude that the said theme is the most dominant in the particular passage. It is the case here, therefore, that high emotional tension is the most dominant theme of this narrative prose.This is represented in the chart below. Table 1: Table showing the distribution of sentences that express high emotional tension and those that do not 67 Print ISSN: 2055-6063(Print), Online ISSN: 2055-6071(Online) British Journal of English Linguistics Vol.6, No.2, pp.58-71, March 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) SENTENCE TYPE Sentences expressing high emotional tension Sentences not expressing high emotional tension Total FREQUENCY 29 PERCENTAGE (%) 81 7 19 36 100% PIE CHART 68 Print ISSN: 2055-6063(Print), Online ISSN: 2055-6071(Online) British Journal of English Linguistics Vol.6, No.2, pp.58-71, March 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) EXPECTANCY When a narrative piece has a slow pace, it is characterized by suspense. Suspense is an appropriate replacement for expectancy in literary analysis. In this prose passage, we encounter a high degree of expectancy on the part of the crowd and the wrestlers themselves and this expectancy is espoused by the striking suspense which characterize the entire narrative. As the narrator dwells on the description of the activity of wrestling, he takes the reader back to history simultaneously from time to time. He also furnishes the reader with information about the reaction of the crowd to the contest as well as the general atmosphere surrounding the contest. These deliberate digressions underpin the suspense in the narrative as the reader gets eager to get on with the description of the wrestling activity rather than history and general atmosphere of the contest. This leaves the reader with high expectancy from the contestants to deliver in much the same manner as the crowd and contestants are expectant. Again, the high display of emotional tension throughout the passage carries in it a strong sense of expectancy from supporters and contestants alike. Indeed, it is the anxiety to see a team winning that sparks the emotional tension. One may therefore conclude that since the narrative is evidently ridden with high emotional tension, there was a very high degree of expectancy. That is to say that expectancy is equally manifest in the 29 sentences outlined above in the discussion of high emotional tension: sentences 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,16,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,and34.The lexical choices ( listed under high emotional tension above) which enact the emotional tension are the same which portray the expectant mood of the crowd and contestants. Likewise, the vocabulary which portray high emotional are the same vocabulary which portray expectancy in the narrative piece. They include: shivered/tense/tightened/bowl/ranged/pointed at/fight/closed in/challenge/judges/wrestlers/equally/matched/matches/thrown/crowd/wondered/surged/mad/ fierce contest/strove/frantic rhythm/grip/twitched/equal match/desperate/fling/miscalculation/lightning/thunderous/roar/swept off/supporters. In view of this therefore, one may represent the expectancy level of the crowd and contestants in a chart as follows: Table 2: Table showing the distribution of sentences which express expectancy and those that do not. SENTTENCE TYPE Sentences expressing expectancy Sentence not expressing expectancy Total FREQUENCY 29 7 36 PERCENTAGE (%) 81 19 100% 69 Print ISSN: 2055-6063(Print), Online ISSN: 2055-6071(Online) British Journal of English Linguistics Vol.6, No.2, pp.58-71, March 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) Sentences not expressing expectancy 19% PERCENTAGE Sentences expressing expectancy 81% SUMMARY In conclusion, it is evidently clear that the prose passage has a slow narrative pace though a cursory reading of it may not readily agree with this view. This slow pace of narration gives rise to suspense which is the literary term for high expectancy on the part of a reader or audience to progress from one level of the plot of the narrative to another. Against this back-drop, there is high expectancy on the part of the reader, the audience in the narrative and the contestants. The display of high emotional tension is also abundantly pointed out in the discussion with 29 sentences out of the total of 36 sentences, conveying expressions that support this claim. The passage is also ridden with expressions and vocabulary which point to this fact. As earlier mentioned emotions are high and tensed when some expectations are being sought after. Thus, the evidence of high emotional tension in the narrative passes for evidence of expectancy in the narrative. Indeed, this prose passage evokes an atmosphere of pace, expectancy and high emotional tension. REFERENCES Abrams, M. H., & Harpham, G. (2011). A glossary of literary terms. Cengage Learning. Batool, S., Khan, A. B. & Iqbal, A. et.al.(2014). Stylistic Analysis of Robert Frost’s Poem: “The Road Not Taken”. Journal of ELT and Applied Linguistics, 2, 52-64. Bhagawati, B. (2012). Myths in the Waste Land. Basic, Applied & Social Sciences, 2, 337338. E.E. Cummings Poetry Foundation: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/e-e-cummings Fowler, R. (1971) The Languages of Literature. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. 70 Print ISSN: 2055-6063(Print), Online ISSN: 2055-6071(Online) British Journal of English Linguistics Vol.6, No.2, pp.58-71, March 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) Halliday, M. A. K. (1994). An Introduction to Functional Grammar (2nd ed.). London: Hodder Arnold. Khan, A.B., Raffique, S. & Saddique, G. (2014). STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF THE POEM "THE ONSET" BY ROBERT FROST. European Journal of Language Studies, 1, 2934. Leech, G. & Mansoureh, A.N. (2012). An Analysis of Dialogue in Eliot's The Waste Land from the View Point of Gadamer's Hermeneutics. Advances in Natural and Applied Sciences, 6, 110 115. Mifflin Company. Quirk, R. & Greenbaum, S. (2000). A University Grammar of English. Edinburgh: Pearson Education Limited. Mugair, S.K. (2013). A Stylistic Analysis of “I Have a Dream”. International Journal of English and Education, 2, 315-322. Schiffrin, Deborah ([1994] 1997) Approaches to Discourse. Oxford: BasilShort, M. (2000) ‘Graphological Deviation, Style Variation and Point of View in Marabou Short, M.H. (1981). Style in Fiction: A linguistic introduction to English Fictional prose. London: Longman. Simpson, P. (2004): Stylistics. A Resource Book for Students. London: Routledge Publishers Spencer, J. (1971). “Introduction”. In Enkvist, N.E., Spencer, J., & Gregory, M. J. (Eds.), Linguistics and Style. London: Oxford University Press. Yule, G. (2007). The Study of Language (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Tafreshi, A.R. (2010). Stylistic Analysis of a Poetic Text: A Case from Persian. Journal of Language and Translation, 1, 75-84. Van Peer, W. (1986) Stylistics and Psychology: Investigations of Foregrounding. Croom Helm. 71 Print ISSN: 2055-6063(Print), Online ISSN: 2055-6071(Online) 

British Journal of English Linguistics Vol.6, No.2, pp.34-57, March 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS OF LITERARY TEXTS-A NECESSITY OR A MERE ABERRATION? Justine Bakuuro Department of English, University of Ghana, Legon. Dr. Damasus Tuurosong Department of African and General Studies, University for Development Studies, Ghana. Dr. Rashid Hassan Pelpuo Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, Legon ABSTRACT: “Her approach (to text analysis) marks her out as someone who believed firmly that there needed to be a recognition within intrinsic criticism that linguistic analysis of literary text was a necessity and not simply an aberration“ (Nowottny,1962).In the light of this excerpt, we have chosen and analysed three literary texts. The study includes both linguistic and literary analysis, with greater emphasis on the linguistic aspect of the analysis so as to give credence to this view by Nowottny. Indeed, good stylistic analysis of literary texts should include linguistic analysis if the analysis is to be standard and is targeted to unveil the ‘full style’ of an author .Three literary texts are used in this study: The Hollow Men (T.S. Elliot).The Beatitudes (Jesus Christ) and (listen) (E.E. Cummings). KEYWORDS: intrinsic criticism, linguistic analysis, literary text, aberration, stylistic analysis Research Objective This study seeks to underscore the fact that literary texts need to be analysed linguistically as well as literarily in doing stylistic studies so as to reveal the true or full style of an author. The study argues that when linguistic analysis is absent in a stylistic study of a literary text, the study is deemed deficient as far as uncovering the real style of the author is concerned. Theoretical Underpinning In modern times, the focus of stylistics is the investigation of the linguistic resources deployed in the construction of texts – both literary and non-literary. Studying style, thus, concerns the analysis of the linguistic features employed consciously or otherwise in textual production with the aim of adducing communicative reasons for such features. Basically, stylistics sets to answer the question of ‘how’ a text is configured in relation to ‘why’ it is thus structured. The how concerns ‘the form, the architectonics’, while the why is the ‘axis of interpretation and speculation’ (Salman, 2013:114). Style study is essentially an interpretative exercise whose thrust is the elucidation of the manner of the matter (Osundare, 2003). Sometimes stylistics is an exercise aimed at revealing the linguistic peculiarity or uniqueness of an author’s art. This perspective conceives of style as being an idiolect. According to Crystal and Davy (1969:77), studying an author’s work via this theory is ‘an attempt to isolate, define, and discuss those linguistic features which are felt to be peculiarly his, which help to distinguish him from other authors’. Authorship identification, therefore, underlies the stylistic 34 Print ISSN: 2055-6063(Print), Online ISSN: 2055-6071(Online) British Journal of English Linguistics Vol.6, No.2, pp.34-57, March 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) efforts that employ this theory. However, this can be dicey due to certain unifying factors in textual production. Style is also studied in terms of deviant forms in a piece of work and their communicative implications. The style- as- deviation perspective presupposes that there are set norms or standards against which deviations are identifiable and analysable. Lawal (1997) differentiates accuracy (grammatical correctness) and appropriateness (social acceptability) as the norms of the standard varieties of language. Nonconformity to these, therefore, amounts to deviation. Todorov (1971:31) similarly identifies four types of deviation as: quantitative (deviation in frequency of occurrence), qualitative (deviation from standard grammar), syntagmatic (deviation from a norm preset in the text) and paradigmatic (deviation from norm outside the text). Deviation is not error; it is conscious and motivated by communicative needs. Explanation of these needs through the deviant forms is the task when this theory is employed. Additionally, style is viewed as choice made from among competing and variant options inherent in language for textual constructions. Simpson (2014:22) explains the concern of stylisticians using this theoretical framework: There are often several ways of using the resources of language system to capture the same event in textual representation. What is of interest to stylisticians is why from possible several ways of representing the same happening, one particular type of depiction should be privileged over another. Making choices in text composition are usually conditioned by selectional possibility and constraint in language (Lawal, 1997) but language does not necessarily incapacitate its users through these prescriptions as adventurous users can liberate their styles through ‘its elastic edges’ (Osundare, 2003:17). The theory of style as choice is interrelated with the perception of style as situation or product of context. The interface is grounded on the fact that choices in communication are made with due consideration to the situation. Effective communication thrives on purposeful choices mediated by the context of interaction. Context - linguistic and non linguistic; immediate and wider – are essential to textual comprehension. As Azuike (1992) notes, context encompasses intra textual and inter textual ordering as well as extra textual features that are essential to resolving textual meaning. Context is essential to stylistic execution as most choices from the linguistic system are ‘occasioned by the writer’s expectation that the reader will locate the meaning within a broad context’ (Chinelo and Macpherson, 2015:67). This context-choice concern of stylistics is underpinned by Traugott and Pratt’s (1980:29) definition of style as ‘the characteristic choices in a given context’. This position neatly falls in tune with the systemic perspective on language as a network of options and a resource for meaning making. THE HOLLOW MEN (T.S. Elliot)-Analysis There are four levels of stylistic analysis: Graphology, Phonology, Morphology, and Lexicosyntax while the elements under each level have been described below. 35 Print ISSN: 2055-6063(Print), Online ISSN: 2055-6071(Online) British Journal of English Linguistics Vol.6, No.2, pp.34-57, March 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) Analysis The poem has been analyzed by the following levels of analysis. Graphological Devices Bold Print The title of the poem is written in bold to show the effectiveness of the title in the poem. Spacing The poem is written in 5 sections and each section has divided into unrhymed stanzas. Repetition The word “men” is repeated 5 times, “kingdom” 9 times, “world” thrice, “ends” thrice, “hollow” thrice, and “stuffed” twice in the poem. The repetition of these words shows the shallowness in the poem that nothing is there left behind in the universe after world wars. Punctuation Marks Full-stop ( . ) 8 full-stops are used in the poem. Comma ( , ) There is the usage of 11 commas. Semi-colon ( ; ) Semi-colon is used once in the whole poem. Colon ( : ) Colon too like semi-colon is used once in the poem. Exclamation marks ( ! ) Exclamation mark is used once only in 1st part of the poem. Apostrophe ( ‘ ) Apostrophe is observed 4 times in the phrases given below: “Rat’ feet”, “Rat’s coat”, “death’s other kingdom”, and “death’s twilight kingdom”. Dash (--) Dashes are followed three times in this poem. Phonological Devices Rhyme 36 Print ISSN: 2055-6063(Print), Online ISSN: 2055-6071(Online) British Journal of English Linguistics Vol.6, No.2, pp.34-57, March 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) There is no rhyme pattern in the poem. Alliteration The Alliterated sounds include: /v/, /h/, /m/, /s/, /t/, /l/, /f/, /d/, /k/, /g/, /r/, /b/, /k/, /p/, /dj/, /n/, /δ/ Consonance The Consonantal sounds comprise: /n/, /v/, /r/, /d/, /s/, /t/, /m/, /l/, /f/, /g/, /k/, /b/, /δ/, /θ/, /z/ Assonance The Assonant sounds consist of: /æ/, /a:/, /i/, /e/, /i:/, /a/, /ai/, /au/,/u:/, /ie/, /ₔ/ etc. Onomatopoeia “prickly pear” Phonological devices are used to increase the musicality in the poem. Morphological Devices Coinages “Paralyzed” is used as a coinage for a specific context to show the creative power of the poet and the emptiness of the world. This is used as an adjective while this cannot be used as an adjective. Affixation Suffix There is the use of suffix in words such as: “ends” – end+s “creation” – create+ ion “conception” – concept+ ion “stuffed” – stuff+ ed “men” – man+ plural “falls” – fall+ s “reality” – real+ ity “eyes” – eye+ s “gathered” – gather+ ed “meeting” – meet+ ing “Places” – place+ s “lost” – lose+ past participant “kingdom” – king+ dom “broken” – break+ past participant “stars” – star+ s “dying” – die+ ing “prayers” – prayer+ s “lips” – lip+ s “trembling” – tremble+ ing “tenderness” – tender+ ness “waking” – wake+ ing “fading” – fade+ ing “supplication” – supply+ cation “raised” – raise+ d “images” – image+ s “nearer” – near+ er “behaves” – behave+ s “behaving” – behave+ ing “crossed” – cross+ ed “staves” – stave+ s “disguises” – disguise+ s “singing” – sing+ ing “voices” – voice+ s “swinging” – swing+ ing “dreams” – dream+ s “souls” – soul+ s “filled” – fill+ ed “leaning” – lean+ ing Prefix Prefixes are used in words such as: “unless” – un+ less and “reappear” – re+ appear Compounding 37 Print ISSN: 2055-6063(Print), Online ISSN: 2055-6071(Online) British Journal of English Linguistics Vol.6, No.2, pp.34-57, March 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) “sunlight”, “meaningless”, “headpiece” and “sightless” are used as compounding. Lexico- syntactic Devices Paradox “We are the hollow men/ We are the stuffed men” “Gathered on this beach of the tumid river/ Sightless, unless…” “We grope together/ And avoid speech” “Our dried voices, when/ We whisper together” Antonym “Hollow men” and “stuffed men”, “bang” and “whimper”, “voices” and “whisper”, “fade” and “distance”, “idea” and “reality”, “conception” and “creation”, “essence” and “descent” Oxymoron “Not with a bang but a whimper” “Shape without form, shade without colour, paralysed force, gesture without motion;” Litotes “Headpiece filled with straw Alas! / Our dried voices…” “…quiet and meaningless/ As wind in dry grass” “Or rats' feet over broken glass” “Shape without form, shade without colour,… gesture without motion;” “…The supplication of a dead man's hand/ Under the twinkle of a fading star” “Not with a bang but a whimper” Metaphor “Headpiece filled with straw” “There, the eyes are/ Sunlight on a broken column” “This is the dead land/ This is cactus land” “In this valley of dying stars/ In this hollow valley” “Gathered on this beach of the tumid river” “Or rats' feet over broken glass” 38 Print ISSN: 2055-6063(Print), Online ISSN: 2055-6071(Online) British Journal of English Linguistics Vol.6, No.2, pp.34-57, March 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) Ellipses The words or phrases in parenthesis should be there to complete the sentences. (We are…) “Leaning together” (We are…) “Headpiece filled with straw…” (Our dried voices, when/We whisper together/Are quiet and meaningless…) “Or rats' feet over broken glass / In our dry cellar” “Shape without form, ( rats' feet over broken glass/In our dry cellar …ellipsis ) shade without colour,( rats' feet over broken glass/In our dry cellar …ellipsis) Paralysed force, ( rats' feet over broken glass /In our dry cellar … ellipsis)gesture without motion;…” “The stuffed men” (and…) (Eyes I dare not meet …) “In death's dream kingdom” (such as…) “Rat's coat, crowskin, crossed staves” (It is…) “Not that final meeting” “Lips that would kiss” (…) (we…) “From prayers to broken stone” (There is) “This broken jaw of our lost kingdoms” (We are) “Gathered on this beach of the tumid river” (and) “Multifoliate rose” (This is) “The hope only/ Of empty men” “For Thine is the Kingdom” (which…) “Life is very long” (which indicates that…) “Not with a bang but (with) a whimper” Hyperbole “Paralysed force” “Life is very long” Simile “Are quiet and meaningless/ As wind in dry grass” “Remember us—if at all—not as lost/ Violent souls, but only/ As the hollow men” “In a field/ Behaving as the wind behaves” 39 Print ISSN: 2055-6063(Print), Online ISSN: 2055-6071(Online) British Journal of English Linguistics Vol.6, No.2, pp.34-57, March 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) “Is it like this/ In death's other kingdom” “The eyes reappear/ As the perpetual star” Periphrasis “twilight kingdom” (death), “valley of dying stars” and “hollow valley” (place of despair), “prickly pear” (inaction), and “Shadow” (anxiety of death) Epizeuxis “prickly pear/ Prickly pear prickly pear” Parallelism “We are the hollow men/ We are the stuffed men” “Here we go round the prickly pear/ Prickly pear prickly pear/ Here we go round the prickly pear” “Between the idea/ And the reality/ Between the motion/ And the act/ Falls the Shadow” parallel with “Between the conception/ And the creation/ Between the emotion/ And the response/ Falls the Shadow” and this stanza parallels with “Between the desire/ And the spasm/ Between the potency/ And the existence/ Between the essence/ And the descent/ Falls the Shadow” “For Thine is…”, “For Thine is” and “For Thine is” are parallel to each other. “This is the way the world ends/ This is the way the world ends/ This is the way the world ends” Anastrophe “Such deliberate disguises/ Rat's coat, crowskin, crossed staves” “In death's other kingdom/ Waking alone” “Trembling with tenderness/ Lips that would kiss/ Form prayers to broken stone” “This broken jaw of our lost kingdoms” “The hope only/Of empty men” “Here we go round the prickly pear/ Prickly pear prickly pear” “Falls the Shadow/ For Thine is the Kingdom” “Life is/ For Thine is the” Parts of speech Adjectives 40 Print ISSN: 2055-6063(Print), Online ISSN: 2055-6071(Online) British Journal of English Linguistics Vol.6, No.2, pp.34-57, March 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) “hollow”, “stuffed”, “dried”, “dry”, ”broken”, “direct”, “violent”, “fading”, “ deliberate”, “crossed”, “twilight”, “dead”, “ cactus”, “stone”, “Multifoliate” , “dying”, “perpetual”, “empty”. Prepositions Prepositions like: “at”, “in”, “of”, “on”, “to”, “it” and “with” are used in this poem. The poet has chosen particular parts of speech to give precision and accurate description of the poem. To sum up, all language choices made by the poet show his depression, wretchedness, desolation and despair both for the present situation and the future of the human beings. For him, the world wars have spread too much disaster that human beings are unable to survive and that is why they seem barren, having no interest in life and do not even want to change their wretched condition as if they are helpless and unable to do anything for themselves. They have lost their relationship both with one another and nature. CONCLUSION It is clear that the use of stylistic devices highlights the rhythm and hollowness of the universe after both world wars. The description of the frustrated world is depicted through figurative language so that the poet can indicate that state precisely. It is highlighted by the researcher that all language choices used by the poet lead towards the shallowness, despair, vagueness, nothingness and inability of love for the universe/ people. The people are isolated from nature, one another, and live in a place which is dead, cactus, and barren of any spiritual presence just like the people of that land as what Saeedi (2011) foregrounds in The Waste Land. The world wars have spread too much calamity that human beings are powerless to continue their lives and that is why they seem barren, having no interest in life and do not even want to change their worthless condition as if they are high and dry and unable to do anything for themselves as what Singh (2013) and Urquhart (2010) have been highlighted in their studies. THE BEATITUDES (Jesus Christ)-Analysis ANALYSIS The analysis is categorised into sections as follows: Structural Analysis of the Beatitudes The Beatitudes describe nine blessings in the Sermon on the Mount as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 5:3-12. The study structurally divides the Beatitudes into nine parts with sub-headings for easy analysis as shown below: Poor in spirit – 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. 1. Mourning – 5:4 41 Print ISSN: 2055-6063(Print), Online ISSN: 2055-6071(Online) British Journal of English Linguistics Vol.6, No.2, pp.34-57, March 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 2. Meek – 5:5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 3. Hunger and thirst – 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they will be satisfied. 4. Merciful – 5:7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. 5. Pure in heart – 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 6. Peacemakers – 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God. 7. Persecuted – 5:10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. 8. For my sake – 5:11-12 Blessed are you when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. It can be observed that each verse of the Beatitudes is a proclamation that is precise and full of meaning, and introduces a topic that forms a major biblical theme. With the exception of line 9, each line consists of two main clauses. The first clause indicates a condition and the second, a result. The Beatitudes are nine in number and they follow a simple pattern. It can be seen from the structures that Jesus names a group of people normally seen as portraying virtuous character (meek, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers, etc), and pronounces them “Blessed”. This is in conformity to the realm of Christianity. Outside Christianity however, and in real life situations, that is, in worldly thinking, these people (meek, peacemakers, merciful, etc), will be seen as the unfortunate or the under privileged. This is because, they are the people usually taken for granted because they often run away from trouble as it were. Thus, Jesus assures them that though the world may disregarded them, in His kingdom, they are indeed the ones that are blessed. Stylistically, each line contains three parts. The first part is the ascription of blessedness, the second being a description of the person’s character or condition and the third, a statement of the reason for the blessedness. The table below further illustrates this point. 42 Print ISSN: 2055-6063(Print), Online ISSN: 2055-6071(Online) British Journal of English Linguistics Vol.6, No.2, pp.34-57, March 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) ASCRIPTION OF BLESSEDNESS DESCRIPTION OF A PERSON’S CONDITION/CHARACTER A STATEMENT OF THE REASON FOR THE BLESSEDNESS Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they will be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful for they will receive mercy Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called the children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are you when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. ….for great is your reward in Heaven Analysis of Sentences and Sentence Patterns In the Beatitudes, the study identifies nine declarative sentences. Declarative sentences are sentences in which the subject is present and generally precedes the verb. Sekyi-Baidoo (2003) opines that the declarative sentence makes a statement about the speaker/writer’s thoughts, knowledge or feeling. From the Beatitudes, we realise that the entire text consists of declarative sentences. The choice of the declarative sentences in the Beatitudes has some discoursal functions. Basically, they are used to convey information or make statements. The abundance of declaratives in the Beatitudes therefore suggests that the text basically gives information to listeners, and Jesus, being the speaker of the text, proclaims blessings upon different people with different religious virtues by means of open pronouncements. The first eight declarative sentences consist of two main clauses connected by the coordinator ‘for’. The first clause in each sentence is seen as a conditional clause while the second is seen as a clause of result. The two clauses in each sentence of the first eight Beatitudes together constitute a compound sentence. There are eight compound sentences. This is so because the connector ‘for’ is used as a coordinator and therefore cannot undergo the process of shuffling unlike other subordinators. Any attempt to place for in the initial position for thematic 43 Print ISSN: 2055-6063(Print), Online ISSN: 2055-6071(Online) British Journal of English Linguistics Vol.6, No.2, pp.34-57, March 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) prominence will render the sentence semantically incorrect. The use of for in the Beatitudes as a coordinator serves as a potential point of expansion and projection of the preceding clauses. Its use also tend to introduce the reason for the preceding clauses and to add a bit of weightiness to the complex ideas expressed by the speaker. The use of for is also significant as it provides explanation on the circumstances of the preceding clauses. This is achieved by expanding the primary clauses by embellishing around it in order to accentuate meaning. Stylistically, for is used in the Beatitudes to show the semantic relationship between sentences, and this enables the language analyst to see what kind of information it adds, what is the core information and how other information are added and the various discoursal stance of the information. The essence of this is to identify the semantic relationships that exist between the complex ideas used by the speaker. A compound sentence consists of two or more simple sentences joined together by a coordinating conjunction. Two ideas are put together and equal weight is put on the two ideas. We realise that ‘for’ has been used as a co-ordinating conjunction to link the two equally important ideas. The meaning of the first clause is, however, obtained from the second clause in the sentence and vice versa. The idea is that the condition in the second clause prevails because that of the first clause prevails. That, there will be no, for instance, inheritance of the earth if meekness is not displayed by people (Christians); There will be no comforting if people do not mourn; no seeing of God if purity of heart is not displayed, etc. In other words, there is inheritance of the earth, comforting, etc because people are meek, people mourn, etc respectively. This implies that in the packaging of ideas in the Beatitudes, though the speaker (Jesus) puts equal importance on two different clauses in one sentence to show grammatical balance, each clause in each sentence complements each other, and Jesus uses the compound sentences as a means of conveying more than a single idea in a stretch of language. The average sentence length is 14.1 words per sentence which seem to suggest that they are all medium sentences. It must be noted that the range of sentences is 8-31 with a high number of sentences having 10 words to a line. We can infer that the speaker does not want to use short sentences because readers may be put off by the breaks in the message. Again he avoids very lengthy sentences perhaps, because such long sentences may confuse listeners with too much detail. In writing medium sentences, the writer is able to not only ensure that there is continuity in the message but also maintain the relatedness between the various sentences in the text. In structural terms, two of the three basic sentence types are used in the presentation of the message. These are the compound and the compound –complex sentences. The use of compound sentences in this text enables the speaker to put more detail in his message. Compound sentences allow us to indicate that two ideas are closer in meaning to each other than they are to the other sentences in the same paragraph; in stylistic terms, they're a convenient way of varying sentence structure and prose rhythm while still using a straightforward subject verb structure. Compound sentences are used in the Beatitudes to create a rhythmic effect. The compound sentences here are also used to provide rationale and make the simple sentences in them more persuasive. Clearly, the study observes that each of the Beatitudes has “Blessed are ....” as its point of departure. Beyond this, we also see a call and response pattern in the text; the first clause being the call, and the second clause, the response, as in: “Blessed are the merciful” (Call) 44 Print ISSN: 2055-6063(Print), Online ISSN: 2055-6071(Online) British Journal of English Linguistics Vol.6, No.2, pp.34-57, March 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) “For they will receive mercy” (Response) The two clauses that reside in each of the Beatitudes are separated by a comma. Each of the Beatitudes ends with a full stop, and this shows the speaker’s fullness of thought in each pronouncement. The text makes use of the third person pronouns “theirs” and “they” from Beatitude one (1) to eight (8). “Theirs” and “they” are the objective and subjective forms of the third person plural pronoun “they”. ‘Theirs’ is used in only Beatitudes one and eight while ‘they’ is used in the rest of the Beatitudes, with the exception of Beatitude nine. Jesus sounds indirect with regard to his address to the audience in His use of theirs and they in the second clauses of each sentence. The actual addressee seems to be far away, but, the distance between the speaker and His listeners seems not to be wide. This is because, Jesus appears to be talking to some people gathered, yet, His pronouncements seem to be directed to others not present at the venue of the talk. Thus, His use of “they” and “theirs” as His referents. The style of the talk, and its implication are, perhaps, to make us aware that it is not only the people who follow or gather around Jesus to listen to Him that are blessed, but rather those who actually practice and live by the Christian principles. Again, it is worth considering that ‘theirs’ goes with possessing “the Kingdom of Heaven” as reflected in Beatitudes one and eight. Hence, in talking about the kingdom of Heaven, Jesus says “... theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven”. On the other hand, ‘those’ and ‘they’ are used when we are talking about God’s general providence for mankind on earth. Instead of using the usual third person plural pronoun they, the speaker uses the second person plural pronoun you in Beatitude nine. This pro-nominal deviation in the context of the Beatitudes, has some rich stylistic significance. It is realised that the speaker sounds more direct, personal and definite in his address because the addressees appear to be close and listening directly to him. The you probably refers specifically to Jesus’ disciples and other christians who would have to endure multiplicity of tribulations before they get their great rewards in Heaven. This multiplicity of tribulations is seen in how ideas that denote different unpleasant experiences are packed together in the last Beatitude thus; Blessed are you when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely,...., for great is your reward.... In just a single line, we see christians being reviled, persecuted, accused, unlike the other lines. This line happens to be the final line in the Beatitudes. Being the last line and packed with a number of experiences that are not pleasant also indicates that the Christian journey is not an easy one, and that, for one to fully walk through Christianity to earn rewards of Heaven, one must go through and endure tribulations one after the other. Furthermore, there are some deviations in the sentence structures of the Beatitudes. In Beatitudes one (1) to eight (8), we see the ‘condition’ and ‘result’ sentence types which are characterised by a description of one’s condition / character. However, we see a departure from this trend in verse nine (9). Beatitude nine has a single ascription with three conditions, and the statement of the reason for the blessedness is packaged in a separate sentence. Unlike Beatitudes 1-8 where the condition and the result are represented with single clauses, that of Beatitude nine (9) has three successive clauses representing the conditions one must prepare to go through to be blessed. Because people would have to satisfy one condition as in Beatitudes 1-8 to receive a single reward or blessing in a way, those in Beatitude nine (9) would have immeasurable and limitless reward because they have to satisfy three conditions. Inversely, Beatitude nine (9) can be seen as a summary of all the other eight Beatitudes, because in Christianity it is believed that ‘No Cross, No Crown’. This may imply that if the followers of 45 Print ISSN: 2055-6063(Print), Online ISSN: 2055-6071(Online) British Journal of English Linguistics Vol.6, No.2, pp.34-57, March 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) Jesus suffer immensely on earth by way of tribulations, they will rejoice in multiple folds in heaven someday. Tense Usage A closer examination of the text shows that the verb ‘are’ is used as main verb in all the conditional clauses in the Beatitudes as in “Blessed are....”. ‘Blessed’ is the subject in each of the Beatitudes whereas the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness’ sake, the merciful, the pure in heart, etc are the subject complements to the verb ‘are’. In the second clauses of each of the Beatitudes, it is observed that Beatitudes 1,8, and 9 use is as the main verb to link the subject and the complement in each clause, as in: for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven (1 & 8) and for great is your reward in Heaven (9). It is realised that apart from having is as their lexical verb showing the state of the blessedness, it is also used as a lexical verb by the speaker to express a general truth of unchanging reward for the “blessed” people. The speaker is therefore certain about the rewards that those who live virtuous lives will get in the end. Similarly, in Beatitudes 2, 3,4,5,6 and 7, the speaker uses the future marker will to describe future rewards that the virtuous followers of Jesus are hopeful of receiving. The speaker gives assurance and promises them comfort, inheritance, and satisfaction among others. Another assurance to his followers at the time is that they will see God and that those people will be called the children of God. These future rewards are not visible and tangible and could probably mean spiritual blessings which the early disciples are assured of rather than physical or material rewards that present day Christians crave for instantaneously just after serving their creator for a while. There is also a remarkable discrepancy between Beatitudes 1, 8 and 9 on one hand, and the rest of the Beatitudes on the other. When Jesus talks about the rewards of the ‘poor in spirit’ (1), ‘the persecuted’ (8) and ‘those reviled, persecuted and falsely accused you for my sake’ (9), He does not express it in future time (shall/will be) but in the present tense using is. He, however, uses ‘shall/will be’ to express a potential blessing in future in terms of God’s general providence for man on earth in Beatitudes 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. This implies that the speaker is certain and definite about the assurance to those who are persecuted for his, and righteousness sake, and, those who are poor in spirit. The speaker is, however, not specific with time with which the promises to the other third person addressees will be fulfilled. It must be added that the second clauses of the first and the last Beatitudes open and end with the present tense ‘is’ respectively. This implies that the speaker does not have any shred of doubt in the assurance he is giving to the audience for, the assurance is concrete, specific and time bound. Parallel Structures in the Beatitudes ‘The Beatitudes’, an example of Hebrew poetry, does not use rhyming words but rhyming ideas. The use of Hebraic poetic parallelism can be seen in the Beatitudes. The principle of parallel construction requires that expressions of similar content and function should be outwardly similar. Sekyi-Baidoo (2003:496-7) explains parallelism as “an instance of pairing up or sequencing forms which are similar in structure or form, and also in focus”. This means that items in parallelism must be of the same word class, and must perform the same function. Therefore, when form sequencing and instances flout this rule, faulty parallelism is produced. This means that when two or more sentence elements have the same logical office they are 46 Print ISSN: 2055-6063(Print), Online ISSN: 2055-6071(Online) British Journal of English Linguistics Vol.6, No.2, pp.34-57, March 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) seen as grammatically parallel. Proper parallelism helps to establish balance and flow in a wellconstructed sentence; the alignment of related ideas supports readability and clarity. Lack of parallel structures can disrupt the rhythm of a sentence or text, leaving them grammatically unbalanced. In the Beatitudes, three types of parallelism are identified, namely whole text parallelism, inter-sentential parallelism and intra-sentential parallelism. The study reveals that all the nine sentences that constitute the Beatitudes have one common beginning Blessed are ... It is these parallel structures that distinguish the Beatitudes from the rest of the Sermon on the Mount. It is an example of anaphoric parallelism. This is because the same phrase repeatedly occurs at the beginning of each sentence of the Beatitudes. In essence, the whole Beatitudes are phrased in parallel structures. Aside the whole text parallelism, it is observed that some of the sentences in the Beatitudes have some similar and peculiar features in terms of parallelism. For instance, there are parallel structures in the first parts of the sentences in Beatitudes 1, 3, 5, 6 and 7. These begin with “Blessed are the ....” respectively, whereas lines 2, 4 and 8 also have the parallel structures “Blessed are those ...”. Beatitudes 1 and 8 also have an example of cataphoric parallelism, For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven, which occurs at the end of Beatitudes 1 and 8. The study identifies intra-sentential parallelism in the Beatitudes in the last line. The last line (9) of the Beatitudes shows some intra-parallel structures within the same sentence. The three parallel structures are seen in Jesus’ use of ...when men revile you, persecute you, say all kinds of evil falsely against you”. These three italicised structures fetch their beginning from the same source Blessed are you when men ..... and the ending ... for my sake. We realise that insult, persecute and say are in the same lexical category and therefore satisfy the condition for being parallel structures. In the third structure, there is an expansion but that does not disturb the total value of parallelism in the sentence. The expansion is meant to show the urgency, necessity and rapidity with which Jesus addresses the audience. It shows the seriousness with which he talks to the disciples and the speed with which the disciples will be persecuted because of his sake. The repetition of the modal shall implies that Jesus knows and is certain that his followers will face inevitable persecution which is part of the processes being rewarded in Heaven. The use of parallelism in the beatitudes has enormous stylistic significance. In the first place, it serves as a useful device for instruction, and Jesus uses it to express his thoughts to his audience. Due to the use of the parallel structures, we (readers) are able to concentrate on the message and immediately make meaning out of it. It acts as an aide memoir, in that the idea, when spoken twice, is doubly memorable and like poetry or song, it is easier to remember than mere prose or narrative. Essentially, it can be observed that in the Beatitudes, parallelism has been used to ensure complementarity and contrast of ideas, choices and values. Between Beatitudes 1-8 in the Sermon, Jesus sounds impersonal with the use of ‘they’ and ‘those’. However, it could be seen that in Beatitude 9, Jesus switches from the impersonal ‘the poor, the meek, those’ etc to the more personal and concrete ‘you’ to climax the Beatitudes. Jesus’ focus on the unseen addressee changes to the visible addressee. That is to say that Jesus moves his sermon from the distanced audience to the immediate audience. This is an internal deviation from generality to specificity. Additionally, as the composer of the Beatitudes deliberately uses parallel structures to ensure balance of ideas and clarity of arguments, he also establishes a sense of harmony by giving the lines in the Beatitudes roughly the same length but with varied meanings. The varied sentence 47 Print ISSN: 2055-6063(Print), Online ISSN: 2055-6071(Online) British Journal of English Linguistics Vol.6, No.2, pp.34-57, March 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) structures help to maintain the interest of readers. Closely linked ideas expressed in series of parallel structures as in the case of the Beatitudes create clarity and heighten interest. From the sermon, Jesus makes use of this balance to ensure that He puts equal weight on the three parallel structures in the last Beatitude. This is illustrated in His use of “when men ... revile you, persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake”. This further shows that each of the structures plays a complementary role in the understanding of the other. Parallelism has thus enhanced the reading and understanding of the Beatitudes. It has also made it interesting, pleasing to the ear, and even more persuasive. Rhythm is another important stylistic significance expressed with the use of parallel structures in the Beatitudes. Rhythm is stylistically employed to ensure that Jesus highlights a vital point in his sermon delivery thereby compelling His audience to sit up to listen whilst their interests are being addressed. In the sermon, Jesus makes use of some rhythmic movements to drum in His message to the listeners. It can be observed at a glance that Jesus’ use of ‘the’ and ‘those’ creates a rhythm of “the-those-the –those-the-the-the-those-you”. This rhythm indicates a “low, high, low, high, low, low, low, high, higher” pattern. The higher pattern is seen in the direct addresses at the end of the Beatitudes. Furthermore, it has been observed that the use of parallelism has granted the Beatitudes a semiautonomous unity within the rest of the Sermon. Like an anaphora, it is used as rhetorical device to grant the whole text a definite pattern by giving two parts of the sentences a similar form. This adds insights which are useful for translation through word equivalence, and interpretation of difficult phrases by comparison with easier- to -understand parallel phrases as (Potter cited in Hodges & Whitten, 1972) puts it “Balanced sentences satisfy a profound human desire for equipoise and symmetry”. Lastly, the use of parallel structures also helps us to answer the question “Was Jesus referring to eight groups of people, or eight characteristics of a single group? The closing blessing “for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven” mirrors the opening, poetically suggesting unity between the groups. This means that the totality of God’s blessing for mankind is in variegated segments and that same group of audience receive different blessings from God at different times. The essence of parallelism in sentence construction helps to create economy, rhythm, emphasis, and clarity in the message of the speaker. Parallel structures add both clout and clarity to the message being presented and this increases the readability and understanding of the message. This is done by creating word patterns which readers can follow easily, and this Jesus did in the Beatitudes. CONCLUSION The analysis of the Beatitudes came out with a lot of stylistic information based on the linguistic elements present in the text. It was found that each of the Beatitudes is a proverb-like proclamation, precise and full of meaning. The Beatitudes are nine in number and they all follow a simple pattern. Eight of the nine Beatitudes consist of two main clauses each, with the first clause indicating a condition and the second clause, a result. The analysis found out three types of parallelism used in the beatitudes namely whole text parallelism, inter-sentential parallelism and intra-sentential parallelism. The use of these types of parallelism improves writing style, readability and comprehension of the text. It was also found that parallelism 48 Print ISSN: 2055-6063(Print), Online ISSN: 2055-6071(Online) British Journal of English Linguistics Vol.6, No.2, pp.34-57, March 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) carried the idea of semantic equality of sentences and clauses within the Beatitudes, performed an emotive function on the reader, and created a satisfying rhythm in the language used by the composer. The study concludes that the different stylistic devices used in the beatitudes convey meaningful messages and aid clarity of expression, and the composer of the Beatitudes uses these meaning-making devices and strategies to drum home his message. Analysing the text stylistically highlights how the internal structures of the linguistic choices in the text come together to ensure that our interpretation of the text is explicit, holistic and grounded. The application of linguistic stylistic theory is therefore one of the effective ways of explaining a given text using systematic and analytical procedures. Further studies on the Beatitudes may be carried out using other linguistic models such as the transitivity, modality, theme-rheme, clause-complexing, etc all under Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar. It can also be studied under the lens of discourse and genre analyses. (LISTEN) Analysis We begin the initial analysis through the analysis of the lexical features, then we look at deviation and parallelism and finally we look at the stylistic display of foregrounding in the poem. Lexical features There are open class words such as dog, houses, spring, sunlight, streets, dreams, etc which carry the majority of meaning in the language of the poem as opposed to the closed class words. The poem consists mainly of nouns and verbs. The nouns are mostly concrete objects. Two of the nouns dreams and miracle are abstract. We can divide the nouns into two areas of meaning or semantic fields. These are nouns related to nature and nouns related to humans. The mixture of nouns in two semantic classes accounts for an interconnection between nature and man. The verbs in the poem create a sense of immediacy; they also contribute to our understanding of it as an address to another person. All the verbs which are marked for tense are in the present tense. For example ‘barks’ in line 2, ‘is’ in line 19 and ‘arrives’ in line 24. There are also present progressive forms such as ‘are (eagerly) tumbl/ing in lines (6/7/8) and o-p-e-n-i-ng/are (12/13). The progressive present participles (‘tumbling’ and ‘opening’) indicate the stretched character of the actions. It contributes to the idea of the inevitability of nature. This is also reinforced by the use of adverbs; ‘quickly’, ‘crazily’, ‘eagerly’, ‘irrevocably’, which convey a sense of speed and inevitability. We could sense that the poem is an address to someone through the use of directive verbs like ‘listen’, ‘come’, ‘run, jump’, ‘shout’, ‘laugh’, ‘dance’, ‘cry’, ‘sing’ etc. The addressee is invited to join in, with the speaker’s celebration of Spring, and to share in, and contribute to, his feelings of happiness. In the final stanza, there is a second person pronoun ‘you’ in line 26. This addressee is referred to as ‘my darling’, which suggests a romantic relationship between the speaker and whomever he/she is addressing. 49 Print ISSN: 2055-6063(Print), Online ISSN: 2055-6071(Online) British Journal of English Linguistics Vol.6, No.2, pp.34-57, March 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) There are no unusual words or neologisms in the poem. But, some of the words are arranged on the page in a seemingly strange order. ‘Tumbling and Wonderful’, for instance run across two lines and as a result they are highly foregrounded. Dividing the word across the morphemes (wonder and ful) allows us two interpretive effects. We first read the word as noun ‘wonder’ and then as the adjective ‘wonderful’. The graphological deviation here foregrounds the word, and creates a double meaning. Deviation is an apparent feature in ‘(listen)’ and therefore it is worth to examine it into detail by considering parallelism and the foreground effects that this also creates. Deviation and Parallelism It seems that the most striking aspect of deviation in ‘(listen)’ is the almost constant use of lower case letters where one would normally expect capitals. Naturally, Cummings’ works are without capitalization therefore instances of this is seen as foregrounding. We can infer that the word ‘Spring’ in line 19 is an important concept in the poem, since it is the first word we come across with initial capitalization. Again, the final line of the poem (31) is heavily foregrounded by each word beginning with a capital letter. This emphasises the idea being expressed that nobody is able to stop the progression of Spring or the poet’s love for the addressee not even conventionally powerful people such as policemen. Furthermore, there is also some degree of possible geographical parallelism in the arrangement of the poem into stanzas. It may be seen as five 6-line stanzas, with a stand-alone line at the end of the poem. This seems to suggest that there is some order to the poem. Dixit (1977) indicates that a number of Cummings’ poems suggest that graphological parallelism is a significant stylistic feature in his poetry. Dixit studied a corpus of E. E. Cummings poems in detail and concluded that the poems are systematically deviant. Another instance of parallelism in the poem occurs at the phonological level where we find the repetition of particular sounds. The poem does not seem to have a rhyme scheme of any regularity. All that saves it from being defined as free verse is the regularity of its graphological organization on the page. Cummings does make use of internal rhyme at particular points within the poem. There is no strict pattern to its occurrence, yet there is some degree of phonological parallelism in each stanza except the last two. Often we find a repetition of vowel sounds in words in close proximity to each other, as in how crazily houses /hau kreizili hauz∂z/, eyes people smiles /aiz pi:p∂l smailz/, steeples are eagerly /sti:p∂l ∂r i:g∂li/ Congruence of foregrounding in the final stanza There is a strong element of foregrounding in the final stanza of ‘(listen)’. Leech (1969) describes this as ‘congruence’ of foregrounding, which is where we get lots of different types of foregrounding occurring at once. There is internal deviation where we notice the initial capitalization of each word in the last line. Again, unlike the other stanzas, there is a lack of any sort of phonological parallelism, and the grammatical ordering of the stanza follows conventional rules of syntax. All these come as a result of internal deviation, and all are foregrounded because they conform to our normal expectations of written language. What we 50 Print ISSN: 2055-6063(Print), Online ISSN: 2055-6071(Online) British Journal of English Linguistics Vol.6, No.2, pp.34-57, March 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) have in the last stanza is a kind of ‘reverse’ deviation in addition to the numerous deviant features of the poem. Conclusion The analysis of the poem ‘(listen)’ shows how we use stylistics to uphold an interpretation of a poem, and how it can also highlight elements of a poem that we might otherwise miss. It also enables us to speculate with more certainty on precisely why E. E. Cummings chooses to use such seemingly odd stylistic techniques in ‘(listen)’. Deviant punctuation is linked to the foregrounding of dynamic verbs, explaining why we perceive so much ‘movement’ in the poem. The analysis of the poem stylistically also highlights how the most internally deviant features of the poem are those which we would usually consider to be ‘normal’, non-deviant language in both everyday communication and within poetry, and suggest a reason as to why this might be. Stylistics, then, is helpful in explaining parts of a text which we might not otherwise understand. OVERALL CONCLUSION The analysis of the three literary texts above proves abundantly that a standard literary text analysis needs the analysis of linguistic elements in it as well. The texts under study here contain a great deal of linguistic detail which need to be analysed for the meaning of the text to stand out clearly in the eyes of the stylistician. The phonetic, grammatical and semantic interpretation of these texts makes us really understand the styles of the authors. If we were to do only a literary analysis of these texts we would have missed a lot regarding the styles employed by the authors. Indeed, it is language (linguistics) that is needed to do even a literary analysis. And an author’s style includes everything that is authored, both literary and nonliterary. To leave out the non-literary (linguistic) aspect of an author’s work in doing a stylistic study renders such study incomplete. Therefore, the linguistic analysis of literary texts is, indeed, a necessity and not a mere aberration. REFERENCES Abrams, M. H., & Harpham, G. (2011). A glossary of literary terms. Cengage Learning. Alabi, V. A. (2007). Lexico-syntactic, phonological and graphological patterns choices and devices in Discourse. Critical Perspectives on English Language & Literature, Ilorin The Department of English, University of Ilorin. Batool, S., Khan, A. B. & Iqbal, A. et.al.(2014). Stylistic Analysis of Robert Frost’s Poem: “The Road Not Taken”. Journal of ELT and Applied Linguistics, 2, 52-64. Bhagawati, B. (2012). Myths in The Waste Land. Basic, Applied & Social Sciences, 2, 337338. Blackmur, R. P. (1954) Language as Gesture: Essays in Poetry. London: George Allen & Unwin Blackwell. Sekyi-Baidoo, Y. (2003). Learning and Communicating (2nd Ed). Accra: Infinity Graphics L Cummings, E. E. (1964) 73 Poems. London: Faber and Faber. Day, T. (2008). BETWEEN THE CONCEPTION /AND THE CREATION’: T.S.ELIOT’S THE HOLLOW MEN. English, 57, 235-244. Dixit, R. (1977) ‘Patterns of Deviation in SelectedPoems of E. E. Cummings.’ Unpublished 51 Print ISSN: 2055-6063(Print), Online ISSN: 2055-6071(Online) British Journal of English Linguistics Vol.6, No.2, pp.34-57, March 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) E.E. Cummings Poetry Foundation: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/e-e-cummings Fowler, R. (1971) The Languages of Literature. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Halliday, M. A. K. (1994). An Introduction to Functional Grammar (2nd ed.). London: Hodder Arnold. Hodges, J. C. & Whitten, M. E. (1972). Harbrace College Handbook (7th Ed). Atlanta: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc. Holy Bible. New Living Translation (Gift & Awards Ed) 1997. Wheaton: Tyndole House Publishers, Inc. Perrin, R. (1994). The Beacon Handbook (3rd Ed). Massachusetts: Houghton imited. Khan, A.B., Raffique, S. & Saddique, G. (2014). STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF THE POEM "THE ONSET" BY ROBERT FROST. European Journal of Language Studies, 1, 2934. Leech, G. & Leech, G. N. (1969) A Linguistic Guide to English Poetry. London: Longman. Ltd. Mansoureh, A.N. (2012). An Analysis of Dialogue in Eliot's The Waste Land from the View Point of Gadamer's Hermeneutics. Advances in Natural and Applied Sciences, 6, 110 115. Mifflin Company. Quirk, R. & Greenbaum, S. (2000). A University Grammar of English. Edinburgh: Pearson Education Limited. Schiffrin, Deborah ([1994] 1997) Approaches to Discourse. Oxford: Basil Mugair, S.K. (2013). A Stylistic Analysis of “I Have a Dream”. International Journal of English and Education, 2, 315-322. Online Bible :Matthew 5:3-10; Google Saeedi, P. (2011). Eliot's The Waste Land and Surging Nationalisms. Comparative Literature and Culture, 13, 1-8. Sangi, M.K., Soomro, A.F., & Gopang, A.S. (2012). T. S. Eliot’s Indigenous Critical Concepts and “The Hollow Men”. Language In India, 12, 473-483. Singh, R. (2013). A Study of Dilemma in The Hollow Men of T.S. Eliot. Galaxy: International Multidisciplinary Research journal, 2, 1-11. Short, M. (2000) ‘Graphological Deviation, Style Variation and Point of View in Marabou Short, M.H. (1981). Style in Fiction: A linguistic introduction to English Fictional prose. London: Longman. Simpson, P. (2004): Stylistics. A Resource Book for Students. London: Routledge Publishers Spencer, J. (1971). “Introduction”. In Enkvist, N.E., Spencer, J., & Gregory, M. J. (Eds.), Linguistics and Style. London: Oxford University Press. Yule, G. (2007). The Study of Language (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. T.S. Elliot Poetry Foundation-Google. Tafreshi, A.R. (2010). Stylistic Analysis of a Poetic Text: A Case from Persian. Journal of Language and Translation, 1, 75-84. Urquhart, T. (2001). Eliot's the Hollow Men, The Explicator. Routledge, 4, 199-201. Van Peer, W. (1986) Stylistics and Psychology: Investigations of Foregrounding. Croom Helm. 52 Print ISSN: 2055-6063(Print), Online ISSN: 2055-6071(Online) British Journal of English Linguistics Vol.6, No.2, pp.34-57, March 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) APPENDIX (Listen) by E. E. Cummings [1] (listen) [5] how crazily houses eyes people smiles faces streets this a dog barks and steeples are eagerly tumbl [10] ing through wonder ful sunlight - look – selves,stir:writhe o-p-e-n-i-n-g are(leaves;flowers)dreams [15] ,come quickly come run run with me now jump shout(laugh dance cry sing)for it’s Spring [20] where a miracle arrives [25] [30] - irrevocably; and in earth sky trees :every (yes) you and I may not hurry it with a thousand poems my darling but nobody will stop it With All The Policemen In The World 53 Print ISSN: 2055-6063(Print), Online ISSN: 2055-6071(Online) British Journal of English Linguistics Vol.6, No.2, pp.34-57, March 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) THE HOLLOW MEN by T.S. Elliot I We are the hollow men We are the stuffed men Leaning together Headpiece filled with straw. Alas! Our dried voices, when We whisper together Are quiet and meaningless As wind in dry grass Or rats' feet over broken glass In our dry cellar Shape without form, shade without colour, Paralysed force, gesture without motion; Those who have crossed With direct eyes, to death's other Kingdom Remember us-if at all-not as lost Violent souls, but only As the hollow men The stuffed men. II Eyes I dare not meet in dreams In death's dream kingdom These do not appear: There, the eyes are Sunlight on a broken column There, is a tree swinging And voices are In the wind's singing More distant and more solemn Than a fading star. Let me be no nearer In death's dream kingdom Let me also wear Such deliberate disguises Rat's coat, crowskin, crossed staves In a field Behaving as the wind behaves 54 Print ISSN: 2055-6063(Print), Online ISSN: 2055-6071(Online) British Journal of English Linguistics Vol.6, No.2, pp.34-57, March 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) No nearerNot that final meeting In the twilight kingdom III This is the dead land This is cactus land Here the stone images Are raised, here they receive The supplication of a dead man's hand Under the twinkle of a fading star. Is it like this In death's other kingdom Waking alone At the hour when we are Trembling with tenderness Lips that would kiss Form prayers to broken stone. IV The eyes are not here There are no eyes here In this valley of dying stars In this hollow valley This broken jaw of our lost kingdoms In this last of meeting places We grope together And avoid speech Gathered on this beach of the tumid river Sightless, unless The eyes reappear As the perpetual star Multifoliate rose Of death's twilight kingdom The hope only Of empty men. V 55 Print ISSN: 2055-6063(Print), Online ISSN: 2055-6071(Online) British Journal of English Linguistics Vol.6, No.2, pp.34-57, March 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) Here we go round the prickly pear Prickly pear prickly pear Here we go round the prickly pear At five o'clock in the morning. Between the idea And the reality Between the motion And the act Falls the Shadow For Thine is the Kingdom Between the conception And the creation Between the emotion And the response Falls the Shadow Life is very long Between the desire And the spasm Between the potency And the existence Between the essence And the descent Falls the Shadow For Thine is the Kingdom For Thine is Life is For Thine is the This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends Not with a bang but a whimper. THE EIGHT BEATITUDES by Jesus Christ "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 56 Print ISSN: 2055-6063(Print), Online ISSN: 2055-6071(Online) British Journal of English Linguistics Vol.6, No.2, pp.34-57, March 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Gospel of St. Matthew 5:3-10 57 Print ISSN: 2055-6063(Print), Online ISSN: 2055-6071(Online) 

International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 1-26, April 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) LITERATURE AND POLITICS-A REVIEW OF GEORGE ORWELL’S ANIMAL FARM AND CHINUA ACHEBE’S A MAN OF THE PEOPLE Dr. Rashid Hassan Pelpuo Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana,Legon. Justine Bakuuro Department of English,University of Ghana,Legon. Dr. Damasus Tuurosong Department of African and General Studies, University for Development Studies, Ghana ABSTRACT: Philosophical discussion of the topic “the interrelations of literature and politics” can take many forms. For instance, one might be concerned to argue for or against the claim that literature must be understood as a product of the social and political forces that are at work when it is produced. Or, one might be concerned to assess the claim that literature is a form of political critique, perhaps even a preeminent form of it. Or, one might argue that literature can induce political change, that is, can be revolutionary—perhaps that it should be. Further questions involve how political and aesthetic properties interact in works. Does the presence of both sorts of property in a work create difficulty for aesthetic judgment? If one thinks that aesthetic judgment requires separating aesthetic from political properties in some strict way, the presence of political properties in the work will be problematic for aesthetic judgment. The problem might go as well to the heart of artistic production—that is, formalism of various stripes holds that one isn't “really” creating art, if one is creating political “art.” Or one might be concerned that political and aesthetic properties are so intertwined that strongly negative or positive political judgment might spoil aesthetic judgment.Recent cases in the relationships of literature and politics often are drawn from music or cinema, for example, Dady Lumba’s Nana oye winner (A signature tune of the present ruling New Patriotic Party,NPP, a political party in Ghana), and Dee Aja’s Onaapo (A signature tune of the National Democratic Congress, NDC, the main opposition political party in Ghana today). Typically, issues of the political nature of art center on conceptions of artistic content, even where content is considered in relation to aesthetic form. In this paper, we focus instead on the interrelations of literature and politics from the print point of view. More specifically, we investigate claims that literature can criticize and alter political belief by being experienced in terms of its form in Chinua Achebe’s novel A Man of the People and George Orwell’s Animal Farm which are admired by some for their technical innovations and formal composition but reproached for their political content by others. This battle of complementation and condemnation of political satires applies to other standard cases such as Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Luís Bernardo Honwana Who kill mangy dog, and Knut Hamsun's Hunger, Kwame Nkrumah’s I Speak of Freedom.This study indulges the political satire in George Orwell’s Animal Farm and Chinua Achebe’s A Man of the People. KEYWORDS: interrelations, politics, literature, Animal Farm, A man of the People, satire 1 International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 1-26, April 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) Research Objective The study aims at espousing the ‘politics’ in the literary texts of Chinua Achebe’s A Man of the People and George Orwell’s Animal Farm. Generally, most political literary writings are a critique of the leadership, economic, social, political or religious ills of society. The two authors in this study are heavy on political critique in the selected novels. The study is thus discursive and cites appropriate information in the novels that satirise politics of their time and beyond. Theoretical Underpinning This study is anchored by the theory of Comparative Literature. The term 'Comparative Literature' is difficult to define for it involves not one but two or even more than two literatures in comparison at the same time. It becomes still more difficult task when the comparatist has to take into consideration the multi-dimensional aspects of comparative literature such as-linguistic, cultural, religious, economic, social and historical factors of different societies. In order to understand the term "comparative literature" we must analyse its nomenclature. Etymologically, the term comparative literature denotes any literary work or works when compared with any other literary work or works. Hence, comparative literature is the study of inter-relationship between any two or more than two significant literary works or literatures. It is essential that while making comparative study we must take the sources, themes, myths, forms, artistic strategies, social and religious movements and trends into consideration. The comparatist with his critical approach and investigations will find out, the similarities and dissimilarities among various works that he has undertaken for the purpose of comparison and justification lies in the fact that his approach must be unbiased and unprejudiced to reach the ultimate truth. It is only his earnest and sincere approach which will bring forth the naked truth or natural results and this really is the purpose of comparative study. Taken broadly, comparative literature is a comprehensive term. Its scope encompasses the totality of human experiences into its embrace, and thus all internal human relationships among the various parts of the world are realized, through the critical approach to literatures under comparative study. It helps to vanish narrow national and international boundaries, and in place of that universality of human relationships emerges out. Thus the term comparative literature includes comparative study of regional literatures, national literatures, and international literatures. However, there are many over-lapping terms in this concern such as - Universal literature, General literature, International literature and World literature. Repeatedly, we can mention here that comparative literature includes experiences of human life and behaviour as a whole. In the conception of world literature the works of Homer, Dante, Shakespeara, Milton, Goetha, Emerson, Thoreau, Valmik, Vyas should be taken as one for comparison. 2 International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 1-26, April 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) Virgil’s Aeneid, Homer’s Iliad, Milton’s Paradise Lost, Indian Epics-the Ramayana and the Mahabharta can be studied in comparison as world literature. If taken psychologically, human nature is undoubtedly, the same all over the world. That is why, human expressions in all literary works or literatures are bound to have deep-rooted similarities and affinities. Hence there lies affinities between the masterpieces of different literary works of different nations. Human nature, no doubt, is very complicated, and this complexity in different kinds of literary works makes comparative study a complex phenomenon. As mentioned above, the comparative study is not different from a critical approach of a particular literature except the fact that here we deal with two or more than two literatures side by side. In this way, the subject matter becomes vaster and perspective wider. Boundaries of comparative literature have to be extended to encompass the entirety of human life and experiences in one's embrace. The definition of comparative literature given by Bijay Kumar Dass is very simple vivid and understandable: The simple way to define comparative literature is to say that it is a comparison between the two literatures. Comparative literature analyses the similarities and dissimilarities and parallels between two literatures. It further studies themes, modes, conventions and use of folk tales, myths in two different literatures or even more.1 Tagore refers to comparative literature by the name of 'Vishvasahita'. Broadening the scope of comparative literature he remarks: "From narrow provincialism we must free ourselves, we must strive to see the works of each author as a whole, that whole as a part of man's universal creativity, and that universal spirit in its manifestation through world literature" (Quoted in Buddhadeva Bose, "Comparative Literature in India, "Contribution to Comparative Literature ; Germany and India, Calcutta, 1973).2 If taken historically, comparative literature has been a result of a reaction against the narrow nationalism of the 19th century scholarship in England. Though it was an occasional tradition, the comparative study of literary works was in vogue, right from the beginning of the Christian era. Romans were the pioneers in the field of comparative study. They out did the Greeks in the development of comparative study. The Romans worked out the tradition of comparing the works of great orators and poets of Greek and Roman and found out many similarities among their studies of literary works. No doubt, Quintillion was the pioneer in this concern, but Longinus endeavoured to set the comparative study in systematized discipline. If he had preceded Quintillion he would have been the pioneer in this field. He brought forth the names of Homer and Plato etc. In Indian comparative approach the Sanskrit critics emerged out during the 6th century A.D. It is clear from the commentaries on Kalidasa's Meghduta and Abhijnanasakutala. After that the critics like Kuntaka and Abhinavagupta with their qualitative approach paved the way for modern comparatators. R.S. Pathak, giving the historical development of the new discipline, comparative literature says: 3 International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 1-26, April 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) Mathew Aronold made meaningful efforts in English world and emphasized strongly the significance of the comparative approach to literary works. He wrote in a letter in 1848, "Every critic should try and possess one great literature at least besides his own and more the unlike his own, the better. Thus, he pioneered the comparative criticism in England and gave inspiration to other critics to work on this new discipline. It is hearby suggested that the comparatist should undertake the master pieces of creative writers, whose works have cosmopolitan status in literary fields. That is why, Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot called for a criticism of poetry on parameters of universal world-poetry, or the works of maximum excellence. This type of approach will direct comparative study of literature towards international level. In his article, “Comparative Literature and Aesthetics: the search for a significant order" R.S. Pathak has indicated well-known aspects of traditional comparative studies i.e. Folklore, Influence, Genres and Themes. Animal farm (George Orwell) Introduction This study examines George Orwell's Animal Farm as a political satire which was written to criticise totalitarian regimes and particularly Stalin's practices in Russia. It aims to show the elements of satire in Animal Farm, and to compare characters, events and some elements of Animal Farm and The Russian Revolution. Orwell clearly explains that his main purpose for writing Animal Farm was to write a satire on the Russian Revolution (Shelden, 1991, p.399). Through animal satire, Orwell attacks Stalin's practices in Russia and in a wider scope, on totalitarian regimes. Taking Bozkurt's (1977) classification into consideration, Animal Farm would be said to be a Juvenial satire. Since, it is clearly shown that Orwell bitterly criticises Russian Communism and Stalin. Background of Author The British author George Orwell, with pen name Eric Arthur Blair, was born in Motihari, India, June 25, 1903. His father was an important British civil servant in India, which was then part of the British Empire. A few years after Eric was born, his father retired on a low pension and moved back to England. Though their income was not much enough, the Blair family sent their son to a boarding school which was an exclusive preparatory school, to prepare him for Eton College. Eric later won a scholarship to Eton College. During his education from the age of eight to eighteen, as he wrote in his essay about his school experiences titled "Such,Were the Joys," he experienced many things about the "world where the prime necessities were money, titled relatives, athleticism, tailor-made clothes", inequality, oppression and class distinctions in the schools of England .After his education at Eton College in England, Eric joined the Indian Imperial Police in British-Ruled Burma in 4 International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 1-26, April 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) 1922. There, he witnessed oppression again, but this time he was looking at things from the top. Having served five years in Burma, he resigned in 1927 and went back to Europe where he lived in Paris for more than a year. Though he wrote novels and short stories he had no money to get them published and there was no one ready to help him publish them. He worked as a tutor and even as a dishwasher in Paris. During his poor days in Paris, he once more experienced the problems of the oppressed, the helpless and lower class people. In 1933, after having many experiences about the life at the bottom of society, he wrote Down and Out in Paris and London and published it under his pen name "George Orwell." After a year, in 1934, he published his novel Burmese Days, which reflected his experiences. Then, he published A Clergyman's Daughter in 1935, and Keep the Aspidistra Flying in 1936.In 1936, his publisher wanted Orwell to go to the English coal-mining country and write about it. This was another important experience in his life. He wrote The Road to Wigan Pier to reflect what he saw there, the real poverty of people of the Lancashire Town of Wigan, and published it in 1937.1937 was the year that Orwell, who for some time had been describing himself as "pro-socialist" , joined the Republican forces in the Spanish Civil War. When the Communists attempted to eliminate their allies on the far left, Orwell fought against them and was wounded in the fight, and later was forced to flee for his life. His experience in that war was to have the most significant impact on his political thoughts and his later works. In 1938, Orwell wrote Homage to Catalonia, which recounts his experiences fighting for the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War. One of his best-known books reflecting his life -long distrust of dictatorial government, whether of the left or right, Animal Farm, a modern beast-fable attacking Russian Revolution, Stalinism and totalitarianism, was published in 1945, and in 1984, a dystopian novel setting forth his fears of an intrusively bureaucratised state of the future was published in 1949. His first fame was brought by these two novels and they were the only ones which made a profit for him as a writer. Orwell died at the early age of 47 of a neglected lung ailment in London, January 21, 1950. Satire There are many different ways to reveal one's perception of life and its reflection by a person. In art for instance, the reflection may be revealed in the form of a sculpture, a song or a picture. Satire is one the ways that the reaction or perception of life is expressed, through writing. Since people look at life from different stand points, as a matter of fact, they naturally perceive it in numerous ways. As a result of the variety in perception, the way of revealing the effects or reflections of these perceptions also shows variety. Originally, the word "satire" comes from the Latin word for medley, “satura”. The impression that it is to do with the word "satyr" is a popular delusion" (Abrams, 1986, p.2598). It is a way of revealing the reaction to what is perceived, with a mixture of laughter and outrage. In The Quarterly Journal of Contemporary Satire, the description of satire is given as "a work in which vices, follies, stupidities, abuses, etc. are held up to ridicule and contempt." In the preface to The Battle of the Books, Jonathan Swift, who claimed that satire is therapeutic, describes satire as "A sort of glass wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their own" ( Bozkurt, 1977, p.71).Bozkurt (1977) offers two fundamental types of satire: Horatian and 5 International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 1-26, April 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) Juvenalian satire. These types are named for two Roman poets Horace and Jevenal, the most differentiated practitioner of them. Political satire As already explained above, satires are critiques of society as perceived by a writer. We critique all aspects of life, including politics. A political satire is therefore a critique of a system of rule or governance. Animal farm for instance was written to criticise totalitarian regimes and particularly Stalin's practices in Russia. It is therefore a very good example of a political satire. Plot Summary Of Animal Farm One night, all the animals at Mr. Jones' Manor Farm assemble in a barn to hear old Major, a pig, describe a dream he had about a world where all animals live free from the tyranny of their human masters. Old Major dies soon after the meeting, but the animals — inspired by his philosophy of Animalism — plot a rebellion against Jones. Two pigs, Snowball and Napoleon, prove themselves important figures and planners of this dangerous enterprise. When Jones forgets to feed the animals, the revolution occurs, and Jones and his men are chased off the farm. Manor Farm is renamed Animal Farm, and the Seven Commandments of Animalism are painted on the barn wall. Initially, the rebellion is a success. The animals complete the harvest and meet every Sunday to debate farm policy. The pigs, because of their ‘intelligence’, become the supervisors of the farm. Napoleon, however, proves to be a powerhungry leader who steals the cows' milk and a number of apples to feed himself and the other pigs. He also enlists the services of Squealer, a pig with the ability to persuade the other animals that the pigs are always moral and correct in their decisions. Later after that fall, Jones and his men return to Animal Farm and attempt to retake it. Thanks to the tactics of Snowball, the animals defeat Jones in what thereafter becomes known as The Battle of the Cowshed. Winter arrives and, Mollie, a vain horse concerned only with ribbons and sugar, is lured off the farm by another human. Snowball begins drawing plans for a windmill, which will provide electricity and thereby give the animals more leisure time, but Napoleon vehemently opposes such a plan on the grounds that building the windmill will allow them less time for producing food. On the Sunday that the pigs offer the windmill to the animals for a vote, Napoleon summons a pack of ferocious dogs,who chase Snowball off the farm forever. Napoleon announces that there will be no further debates; he also tells them that the windmill will be built after all and lies that it was his own idea, stolen by Snowball. For the rest of the novel, Napoleon uses Snowball as a scapegoat on whom he blames all of the animals' hardships.Much of the next year is spent building the windmill. Boxer, an incredibly strong horse, proves himself to be the most valuable animal in this endeavor. Jones, meanwhile, forsakes the farm and moves to another part of the county. Contrary to the principles of Animalism, Napoleon hires a solicitor and begins trading with neighboring farms. When a storm topples the half-finished windmill, Napoleon predictably blames Snowball and orders the animals to begin rebuilding it.Napoleon's lust for power increases to the point where he becomes a totalitarian dictator, forcing "confessions" from innocent animals and having the dogs kill them in front of the entire farm. He and the pigs move into Jones' house and begin sleeping in beds (which Squealer excuses with his brand of twisted 6 International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 1-26, April 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) logic). The animals receive less and less food, while the pigs grow fatter. After the windmill is completed in August, Napoleon sells a pile of timber to Jones; Frederick, a neighboring farmer who pays for it with forged banknotes. Frederick and his men attack the farm and explode the windmill but are eventually defeated. As more of the Seven Commandments of Animalism are broken by the pigs, the language of the Commandments is revised: For example, after the pigs become drunk one night, the Commandment, "No animals shall drink alcohol" is changed to, "No animal shall drink alcohol to excess."Boxer again offers his strength to help build a new windmill, but when he collapses, exhausted, Napoleon sells the devoted horse to a knacker (a glue-boiler). Squealer tells the indignant animals that Boxer was actually taken to a veterinarian and died a peaceful death in a hospital — a tale the animals believe. Years pass and Animal Farm expands its boundaries after Napoleon purchases two fields from another neighboring farmer, Pilkington. Life for all the animals (except the pigs) is harsh. Eventually, the pigs begin walking on their hind legs and take on many other qualities of their former human oppressors. The Seven Commandments are reduced to a single law: "All Animals Are Equal / But Some Are More Equal Than Others." The novel ends with Pilkington sharing drinks with the pigs in Jones' house. Napoleon changes the name of the farm back to Manor Farm and quarrels with Pilkington during a card game in which both of them try to play the ace of spades. As other animals watch the scene from outside the window, they cannot tell the pigs from the humans. George Orwell And Political Ideology In his essay "Why I Write", Orwell (1947) says: I do not think one can assess a writer's motives without knowing something of his early development. His subject matter will be determined by the age he lives in-at least this is true in tumultuous, revolutionary ages like our own.Taking Orwell's own words into consideration, in order to get a better understanding of his works and particularly of his political satire Animal Farm, we should look at his political convictions, and the historical context which influenced Orwell and inspired him to write. Very few authors develop essays explaining the motivation behind their writing. Orwell was one of them. Therefore in order to understand his motivations, his essay "Why I Write" would be the most appropriate source to be looked at. Orwell was a political writer and according to him he was 'forced' to be a writer by the circumstances under which he has become aware of his 'political loyalties'. His Burma and Paris days increased his 'natural hatred of authority' and 'made him aware of the existence of the working classes (Orwell, 1947).As mentioned earlier, he described himself as "pro-Socialist." What he was longing for was a society in which there would be no class distinctions, and he named his ideal ideology "democratic socialism". He says "every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism " (Orwell, 1947).There are two significant events that have great influence on Orwell's political thoughts: The Russian 7 International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 1-26, April 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) revolution that took place in the second decade of the 20th century and The Spanish Civil War between 1936 and 1939.The Russian Revolution -Bolshevik Revolution- of October 1917 was the first great revolution which aimed to overthrow the owners of the means of production, that is Capitalist Bourgeoisie, and to establish a state to be ruled by the working class, the Proletariat. The ideological basis of the revolution was taken from the philosophy of Karl Marx and Frederick Angels who believed that the history of the world was the history of a struggle between classes- that is, ruling classes and ruled classes . Marx was very critical of industrial capitalist society in which there are many cruel injustices and men are exploited by men. Out of his analysis of the Capitalist system, he attained a vision of ending these injustices and establishing a society in which there would be no social classes and everybody would be equal. For him, in order to achieve this end the only way was a revolution made by the working class or the Proletariat against the Bourgeoisie. After a revolution, working classes would own the means of production. Marx called the new order that would be set after revolution "dictatorship of the Proletariat" which was eventually replaced with a classless society.In October 1917, V.I. Lenin, led the socialist (Bolshevik) revolution in Russia. After the revolution was a four-year bloody civil war. During this war, a group known as Red Army of the Revolution, organised and headed by Leon Trotsky, had to fight against both Russians who were loyal to Czar and foreign troops (The Academic American Encyclopaedia, 1995).After Lenin died in 1924, a struggle between Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky started for the leadership of the Communist Party. Stalin gained priority over Trotsky and; in 1925 Trotsky with several other members were ousted from Politburo (the chief executive and political committee of the Communist Party); in 1927 Trotsky and his followers were expelled from the Party and Stalin took control.Later, Trotsky was exiled and in 1929, he was deported. In 1940, he was assassinated. During this period, Stalin always denounced Trotsky as a traitor .In the following years, Stalin started to arrogate all state authority of Russia to himself. In the 1930's, many people were arrested under the instruction of Stalin. After public trials, most of the opposing elements were eliminated. Stalin has been accused of being a very cruel dictator. However, Nikita Khrushchev, who ruled USSR between 19581964 and who was very critical of Stalin's crimes and non-human practices, said in 1956 that Stalin believed that all his practices were necessary in order to defend the benefits of labourers. He looked at these practices from the view point of the benefit of socialism and labourers. Thus, we cannot define his practices as those of a greedy cruel despot. Orwell and the Spanish Civil War David Ball (1984) points out three experiences in the Spanish Civil War that were important for Orwell: atmosphere of Comradeship and respect, what happened to his fellow fighters and what happened when he returned to England and reported what he had seen. After spending very poor days in Paris, Orwell went to Spain to fight for the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War. When he arrived in Barcelona, he found an elating "atmosphere of Comradeship and respect". People were friendly and addressing each other "comrade". To Orwell, relations in the militia group he joined were the same and this made him feel that socialism was in 8 International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 1-26, April 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) action there. But later on, he was disappointed by what happened to his army friends who were imprisoned and killed by their own "comrades" who were of Communist-dominated elements of the Republican government that they were fighting for. The Communists believed that the communist ideas were betrayed by the militia group that Orwell belonged to. After he was wounded, Orwell went back to England for remedy and was saved from being killed by his "comrades". When he returned to England, he reported what he witnessed in the war, but the Socialists strongly resisted to understand what he told people about the practices of the communists in Spain. The reason was that it was not the right time to publicise all these things while the war was going on and this information would harm the Republican's position in the war. After this bad experience, he started to be more critical of British socialists and of communism. He wrote in his article "The Spanish war and other events in 1936-37 turned the scale and thereafter I knew where I stood." (Orwell, 1947). Through the questioning of his own experiences in Burma and Spain and communists' practices in USSR, Orwell began to develop a rejection of totalitarian systems. He was also denouncing the acceptance of soviet regime by the left-wing people of other countries and particularly of England without questioning in depth. For Michael Shelden, "the idea for the book" which was to serve Orwell's desire to "make a forceful attack, in an imaginative way, on the sustaining myths of Soviet communism had been in the back of his mind since his return from Spain" (Shelden, 1991, p. 399). Another author Peter Davison points out that, besides Orwell's experience in Spain, Animal Farm "originated from the incident that suggested its genre: the little boy driving a huge cart-horse, which could easily overwhelm the child had realised its own strength"(Davison, 1996, p.125).Shortly after he published Animal Farm, Orwell (1947) in his essay titled "Why I Write" wrote about his goals in writing his book. “Animal Farm was the first book in which I tried, with full consciousness of what I was doing, to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose into one whole. I have not written a novel for seven years, but I hope to write another fairly soon. It is bound to be a failure, every book is a failure, but I do know with some clarity what kind of book I want to write” (Orwell 1947).When Orwell finished writing his book, no one wanted to publish it. Since, like his efforts to publicise reality after he returned from Spain, for many people, and of course for publishers, it was the very wrong time to attack Soviet myth, particularly when the World War-II was going on and Russia was Britain's ally. Consequently the book was published in Britain on 17 August 1945, after the war was over, and sold more than 25,000 hard copies in five years. When it was published in the United States in 1946, it sold about 590,000 in four years (Shelden, 1991).The book was a satire on totalitarian regime of Stalin in Russia. Many people thought (and still think) that the book reveals Orwell's opposition to the ideology that was prevailing in Russia. As Michael Shelden states, the book "caught the popular imagination just when the Cold War beginning to make itself felt. For many years 'anti-Communists' enjoyed it as a propaganda weapon in that war" (Shelden, 1991, p.404). But this interpretation of the book was completely opposed to the real intention of the book. As Roger Fowler reports, in his preface to the Ukrainian edition of Animal Farm, written in 1947, Orwell writes that his aim with Animal Farm was not only to attack and to criticise Soviet Communism, but to attack "Soviet Myth" as received in Britain. To him, this myth was giving harm to the Socialist movement 9 International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 1-26, April 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) (Fowler, 1995, p. 163).Animal Farm might leave a kind of pessimism on readers who have knowledge of historical background that inspired Orwell to write it. For instance, one possible pessimistic view that can be derived from Animal Farm is the impossibility of establishing a social system in which there would be no inequality between individuals and there would be no individuals or groups of people who apt to make use of power just for their benefits. Another possible pessimistic view of those who rely on socialism or communism would be that: even socialism, which is claimed to be a more egalitarian system, would be turned into a dictatorship by human beings' desire for power. Actually, the point that Orwell intended to give emphasis to is not the ideology itself, but the human nature. As Christopher Hollis (1962) explains, "The lesson of Animal Farm is clearly not merely the corrupting effect of power when exercised by Communists, but the corrupting effect of power when exercised by anybody" (Yemenici, 1997). Finally, for a better understanding of Orwell's intention, it is the best way to consult Orwell himself. Shelden (1991) quotes Orwell's letter he sent to Dwight Macdonald in America in which he expresses his intentions in writing Animal Farm. The letter included his arguments against pessimistic view of his book: Of course I intended it primarily as a satire on the Russian Revolution. But I did mean it to have a wider application in so much that I meant that that kind of revolution (violent conspiratorial revolution, led by unconsciously power-hungry people) can only lead to a change of masters. I meant the moral to be that revolutions only effect a radical improvement when the masses are alert and know how to chuck out their leaders as soon as the latter have done their job. The turning point of the story was supposed to be when the pigs kept the milk for themselves (Orwell 1947). If the other animals had had the sense to put their foot down then, it would have been all right ... what I was trying to say was, 'You can't have a revolution unless you make it for yourself; there is no such thing as a benevolent dictatorship ( Orwell 1947,p.407). Satirical Dimensions In Animal Farm A satire may roughly and briefly be defined as a humorous or witty exposure of human follies and vices. By means of a satire an author can strip the veil from things, and expose the reality of individuals, communities, groups of people, institutions, etc. A satirist generally employs irony, mockery, ridicule, and sarcasm as his weapons of attack. Swift is regarded as the greatest satirist in prose. His book Gulliver Travels is a great satirical work. It is written in the form of a travel-book. Swift adopted the form of a travelogue because travel-books had been very popular for a long time in those days. Swift's purpose in writing this book was to lash all mankind for their follies, vices, absurdities, and evil ways, and to bring about some reform if possible. Gulliver's Travels is an allegorical satire because Swift does not attack persons and institutions directly but in a veiled manner. All the persons and institutions and other aspects of life attacked by Swift are presented in this book in disguise. "Animal Farm", an Allegorical Satire Orwell shows himself as a great satirist in Animal Farm. Animal Farm is also an allegorical satire. But the scope of Animal Farm is very limited by comparison with Gulliver's Travels. Swift's book attacks all mankind, but Orwell's book is a political satire which attacks certain political institutions and certain selected political personalities and events. Besides, Orwell's 10 International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 1-26, April 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) book is written in the form of an animal fable. Orwell's object in writing this book also was to reform the thinking of those who had been misguided or who had formed wrong judgments about certain political systems and political personalities. A Satire on Revolutions (and on the Russian Revolution) Animal Farm is a satire or the course taken by revolutions in general and by the Russian Revolution of October, 1917 in particular. It is a satire on the process by which a revolution is effected and by which it is afterwards betrayed. This book has a particular and pointed reference to the Communist regime in Russia under Stalin who came to power soon after the death in 1924 of Lenin. Orwell had felt much disgusted with the arbitrary and brutal methods which Stalin had been adopting to consolidate his power and with the way in which Stalin had betrayed the ideals of the Russian Revolution to establish a totalitarian regime in the country. Stalin had employed cunning, deceit, fraud, and force to achieve his purposes; and Orwell wrote Animal Farm to poke fun at Stalin and Stalin's methods and to degrade Stalin in our eyes. His object was to open the eyes of his readers to the truth about Stalin and also about revolutions in general. A Satire in the Form of an Animal Fable As already pointed out, the satire here takes the form of an animal fable. The main characters are the animals of whom the pigs are the most important. From among the class of the pigs, three leaders emerge. These leaders are Napoleon, Snowball, and Squealer. The principal targets of satire are Napoleon, who represents Stalin, and Squealer who represents the Communist propaganda machinery, especially the servile Soviet Press. Another target of satire is Moses, the raven, who represents religious institutions like the Roman Catholic Church. A Satire on the Methods Employed By Stalin Napoleon is the chief target of satire in Animal Farm. This pig has the reputation for getting things done in accordance with his own wishes. He is contrasted with Snowball who is candid and open in his methods, while Napoleon works in devious ways. Snowball can impress the animals with his eloquent, speeches and can sway their judgment. But Napoleon works behind the scenes and is able to canvass support for himself in a secretive manner. Napoleon is especially successful with the sheep who are trained to bleat a slogan "Four legs good, two legs bad" and who interrupt the animals' meetings by their loud bleating whenever Snowball is about to score a point against Napoleon. Napoleon has also secretly reared a number of dogs and trained them to obey his orders. By his cunning and by his use of the fierce-looking dogs, Napoleon is able to drive Snowball away from the farm and to become the sole leader of the animals. All this is Orwell's satirical method of informing us that Stalin had used deceit and the force of his secret police in order to pass an order of banishment against his rival Trotsky. After Trotsky had been sent into exile, Stalin became the sole dictator of Russia. Thus the power-politics rampant in Russia of that time is also satirized here. 11 International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 1-26, April 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) The Emergence of a Privileged Class and of Napoleon as a Dictator The rest of the story shows how Napoleon, once he has got rid of his rival Snowball, consolidates his power on the farm and becomes an autocratic ruler. By having driven away Mr. Jones, the real owner of the farm, the animals had liberated themselves from human tyranny and become their own masters. The animals had now looked forward to a democratic functioning of the farm in the light of the Seven Commandments which had been formulated soon after the expulsion of Mr. Jones. But Napoleon now begins a systematic attempt to shelve the Seven Commandments and to depart from the ideals and principles of the successful rebellion which had been accomplished by the animals against Mr. Jones. The first decision taken by Napoleon, when Snowball was yet a respected leader on the farm, was that milk and apples would be reserved exclusively for the pigs. This decision was a clear departure from the concept of the equality of all the animals. Even Snowball had on this point agreed with Napoleon. As a result of this departure from one of the Commandments, the pigs emerged as a privileged class. The privileges accorded to the pigs now go on increasing as a result of further announcements made by Napoleon when he has become the sole leader. In course of time Napoleon himself becomes more and more powerful. He abolishes the system of all the animals meeting together to discuss the affairs of the farm and to take all decisions pertaining to the farm. Now a committee of pigs is formed, with Napoleon as its president, to take all decisions which are then merely announced to the other animals. Thus both the principle of equality and the principle of democracy have been forsaken. A time comes when Napoleon decides that the pigs would begin living in Mr. Jones's farmhouse and sleeping in the beds in which human beings used to sleep. This is another glaring departure from the Seven Commandments. Napoleon then carries out a purge on the farm. All those animals whom he suspects of being his opponents are made to confess certain crimes which actually they have not committed at all, and who are then put to death by Napoleon's fierce dogs under Napoleon's orders. Here is grossly violated yet another Commandment which originally was: "No animal shall kill any other animal," but which now reads: "No animal shall kill any other animal without cause." Subsequently, the pigs, led by Napoleon, begin to drink whisky and to brew beer at the farm. In this way some more privileges have been conferred upon the pigs. Then comes a time when Napoleon decides that the pigs would walk on their hind legs and hold whips in their trotters in order to supervise the work of the other animals. This is, of course, the height of absurdity, and we are greatly amused by this decision of Napoleon's. Napoleon himself now wears the clothes of human beings, dons a hat, and keeps a tobaccopipe in his mouth. Here, perhaps, the satire reaches its climax. Napoleon, and with him all the pigs, have bidden good-bye to most of the ideals of the rebellion. But more is yet to come. The Seventh Commandment which promised equality to the animals is now altered to read as follows: "All Animals Are Equal But Some Animals Are More Equal.” There is a lot of irony in Napoleon's violations of the Seven Commandments. The irony arises from the contrast between what the animals had looked forward to and what Napoleon has actually done on the farm. Irony, as we know, is one of the chief weapons of satire. 12 International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 1-26, April 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) A Satire on Stalin’s Betrayal of the Ideals of the Russian Revolution Napoleon’s deviations from and violations of the Seven Commandments are intended by Orwell as satire on Stalin’s betrayal of the ideals of the Russian Revolution. The Russian Revolution had promised equality, comradeship, social and economic justice, and the freedom of thought, the freedom of speech, and the freedom of action to the citizens. But, after coming to power, Stalin curbed all the freedoms and soon suppressed them altogether. Stalin, likewise, rejected the concept of equality and economic justice, and allowed a privileged class to emerge in the country and to rule the country under his direct orders. This privileged class in Russia was, of course, the bureaucracy which enjoyed many privileges, while the common people had often to face shortages of food and other commodities. Stalin had also liquidated his supposed opponents through wholesale executions of the suspects, these suspects were first forced to confess the crimes which they had never committed, and were then sentenced to death. This drastic step was taken by Stalin during 1936-38. The Moscow Trials of these years caused a wave of terror all over the country. The executions of a large number of people tried during these years came to be known as the ''Great Purges". Napoleon's absurd method of adding to his dignity also corresponds to Stalin's efforts at self-aggrandisement. In short, all the policies, decisions, and actions of Napoleon, which excite our mirth and laughter, are based on the policies, decisions, and actions of Stalin, though there is certainly an element of horror in the mass executions. The whole portrayal of Napoleon and his emergence as the dictator of Animal Farm shows through mockery and ridicule, Stalin's betrayal of the Revolution and his emergence as the undisputed and unchallenged dictator of Russia. Stalin re-established totalitarianism in the country within a short period of about twenty years after the overthrow of the totalitarianism represented by Nicholas, the Czar of Russia. But Orwell also implies that most revolutions follow the same course which the Russian Revolution took. Thus Orwell's conclusion is applicable to the French Revolution and also to the Spanish Civil War. A Satire on the Russian Propaganda Machinery Squealer amuses us greatly by the manner in which he defends and justifies the policies and decisions of Napoleon. For instance, he amuses us greatly when he tells the animals that there are certain substances in milk and in apples which are essential to the health of the pigs who are the brain-workers on the farm. He amuses us when he tells the animals that, by abolishing the democratic procedure, Napoleon has taken extra labour upon himself, and when he adds that Napoleon still believes in the equality of all animals. Squealer amuses us when he tells the animals that Napoleon's original opposition to the windmill had merely been a matter of "tactics" to get rid of Snowball who was a dangerous character and a bad influence. Squealer repeats the word "tactics" several times, skipping from side to side and whisking his tail as is his habit. Indeed, Squealer abases us every time he tells a brazen lie to support and justify Napoleon. When the rations of the animals have been reduced on account of a food shortage, while maintaining the rations of the pigs and the dogs, Squealer says that a strict equality in rations is contrary to the principles of Animalism. Squealer's perverted logic and his sophisms are one of the chief sources of humour in this book. He carries on his false propaganda against Snowball in a most shameless manner. One of his most amusing lies is that the van, which had taken away the sick Boxer had originally belonged to 13 International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 1-26, April 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) a horse-slaughterer but was now the property of a veterinary doctor who had yet to order the rubbing out of the horse-slaughterer's name from the van and the painting of his own name in place of it. As has already been pointed out, the portrayal of Squealer is meant to satirize the Russian Press, represented by the News Agency called “Tass” which always lends its support to official pronouncements and decisions. The press in Russia is servile to the dictator just as Squealer on Animal Farm is servile to his boss Napoleon. The Use of Religion for Political Purposes, Satirized The portrayal of Moses is intended to satirize religion and the use of religion for political purposes. Moses is a spy and a tale-bearer and he talks about an animals' paradise called Sugarcandy Mountain. We are indeed very amused by Moses' talk about Suearcandy Mountain because we know that the priests of all religions beguile their audiences by talking to them about the joys of heavenly life which, however, is only a myth. Napoleon’s tolerance of Moses on the farm was intended by Orwell to ridicule Stalin's attitude of indulgence towards a Roman Catholic priest through whom Stalin wanted to establish friendly Pope in Rome. Shirkers, Satirized There are workers and shirkers in every society. Boxer and Clover in this story represent the honest and conscientious workers, while Mollie represents the shirkers. The portrayal of Mollie is satirical in intention. Mollie avoids doing any work on the farm. She is fond of wearing red ribbons in her white mane and chewing a lump of sugar. She is also vain about her appearance and often stands on the bank of a pool, admiring her own reflection in the water. She is cowardly too, because when a battle has to be fought against Mr. Jones and his men, she runs away into the stable and buries her head in the hay. Boxer's adopting the motto "Napoleon is right”, and his meeting a sad fate when he has become useless from Napoleon's point of view, are a satire on the treatment which the common people receive in Russia when they can serve the nation no longer. Boxer’s fate symbolically conveys to us the callousness of a dictator like Stalin. Animal Farm as a Political Satire Books are a medium through which the author can express his views; whether they concern social injustices, current issues, or in Orwell’s case, politics. For centuries, writers have weaved their opinions into their work, conveying to the reader exactly what they intended.“Orwell saw himself as a violent unmasker of published pretentiousness, hypocrisy and self-deceit, telling people what they did not want to hear….” (Crick 1996,pp 244). Orwell accomplishes this unmasking of these facades through his use of rhetorical strategies to relay his views to the reader. Through his books and essays, George Orwell has found a forum in which he can express his opinions, fusing his political beliefs with a satiric quality all on his own. A piece of literature that illustrates his ability to do this with unmatched skill and unrelenting satire is Animal Farm. Jeffrey Meyers said of Orwell’s novel, “In this fable about a barnyard revolt, Orwell created a satire that specifically attacked the consequences of the Russian Revolution while suggesting the reasons for the failure of most revolutionary ideals”. In the 14 International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 1-26, April 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) book, the reader is given a situation in which the animals are fed up with the over-indulgent, unappreciative human beings that run their farm. They decide a rebellion would cure their woes and so they revolt. However, they soon realize that the uprising was the easy part. Now they must establish a government with leaders and their own rules. The pigs are the selfappointed leaders because they are the smartest and cleverest of all the animals. The two pigs with the most power and persuasion are Snowball and Napoleon. The farm begins to run like a democracy, and all the animals are satisfied until Napoleon runs Snowball out of the farm with a pack of wild dogs. After the exile of Snowball, the animals on the farm increasingly become oppressed and Napoleon slowly starts to resemble a dictator. Throughout Animal Farm, Orwell’s main weapon of choice is his stinging satire. In fact, the entire book can be viewed as a one hundred page satiric look at politics and human life. Not only do we see humans being overthrown by pigs and chickens but all the animals can talk and some can even read and write. Naming one of the pigs Napoleon is also significant because as Meyers puts it, “The carefully chosen names are both realistic and highly suggestive of their owners’ personalities and roles in the fable” (Orwell 1947,pp353). Later in the story after Napoleon takes over, we see him declaring days of celebration on his birthday and not allowing the other animals to call him Napoleon but rather “our Leader, comrade Napoleon” (Animal Farm,pp66). Orwell uses satire here by equating the arrogance of this pig leader to that of the well-known arrogance of the French leader Napoleon. Orwell satirizes the effects alcohol has on people as well. After a night of drunken madness, the pigs are horrified in the morning to learn that their beloved leader Napoleon is, in fact, dying. Because of this tragedy, Napoleon decrees that any animal that drinks alcohol would be punished by death, even going as far as creating a new commandment. After realizing that he was merely having a hung over, Napoleon celebrates with more drinking, orders a field to be planted with barley, and changes the commandment from “No animal shall drink alcohol” to “No animal shall drink alcohol to excess” (Animal Farm,pp77). Not only does Orwell use satire in Animal Farm, he employs this strategy throughout most of his writings. Orwell satirizes the British police in an expertly written and vividly detailed essay called “Shooting an Elephant.” An example of this is when Orwell says “In Moulmein, in lower Burma, I was hated by large numbers of people – the only time in my life that I have been important enough for this to happen to me” (Orwell 1947,pp 1). Orwell uses satire to lighten up a work of literature and point out in a not so flattering way, the injustices and ironies of society and politics. “Animal Farm was the first book in which I tried, with full consciousness of what I was doing, to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose into one whole.” This quote from Orwell in his essay “Politics and the English Language” precisely illustrates what Orwell attempted to do and achieved in Animal Farm. Jeffrey Meyers said Orwell, “…brilliantly presents a satiric allegory of Communist Russia in which virtually every detail has political significance” . The characters of Napoleon and Snowball are representative of Russian communist leaders Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky. Napoleon (Stalin) takes over the farm in much the same way Stalin slyly took over Russia; Snowball (Trotsky) goes from being a powerful leader to being exiled and almost assassinated by Napoleon (Stalin). “Both 15 International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 1-26, April 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) characters are drawn fully and accurately, and reflect almost all the dominant characteristics of the historical models.” (Meyers, 353). The struggle between Snowball and Napoleon is a struggle “within the party elite whose final result, whichever had won, would have been the increased consolidation and centralization of power into the hands of the pigs” (Woodcock, 2578). I saw a little boy, perhaps ten years old, driving a huge cart-horse along a narrow path, whipping it whenever it tried to turn. It struck me that if only such animals became aware of their strength we should have no power over them, and that men exploit animals in much the same way as the rich exploit the proletariat (Orwell, 70). This quote from George Orwell provides his reasoning for choosing the farm as the backdrop to his political fable. Orwell uses the animals to portray the poor nature of society. Unlike the pigs who are educated yet lazy, the rest of the animals on the farm are hardworking yet stupid. A character that represents this idea is the diligent Boxer. Boxer is a strong and powerful horse who can only memorize the alphabet until the letter D; yet his maxim is “I will work harder” (Orwell, Animal Farm 22). The animals, such as Boxer, are employed by Orwell to make the reader think of the poor and impoverished as the animals in the story, powerful but uneducated. Orwell empathizes with the animals in the book; perhaps it was because he grew up demeaned by his social standings, explaining that his experiences during his school years fostered his extreme sensitivity to social victimization (Meyers, 339). Throughout Animal Farm the reader picks up on Orwell’s immense dislike of the Communist government through the rise and eventual failure of Napoleon. This extreme disgust for the Communist party was most likely because Orwell disapproved of the British becoming allies with the Russians and not recognizing the faults of the Communist government. In theory, Napoleon’s rules and changes sounded like an incredible idea; but, like Communism, ended up dividing the leaders from the animals even more than when the tyrannical Mr. Jones was the human owner of the farm. Napoleon failed to provide sufficient amounts of food for the animals which were not pigs, as in a Communist country where the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer. In the end of the book, the pigs begin walking on their hind legs and taking on other characteristics most commonly attributed to humans, the very ones the animals revolted against and swore they would never resemble. Orwell uses the rise to power of Napoleon to demonstrate the theme that “once in power, the revolutionary becomes as tyrannical as his oppressor” (Meyers, 353). The slow but definite oppression of the animals is clear from the beginning of Napoleon’s rule; yet the only ones to notice this is the reader. The animals don’t realize this until the single commandment Napoleon chooses to rule by is “All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others” (Animal Farm,pp 10). The last scene in the book in which Orwell’s political preferences and disgusts are the most distinctive is when the oppressed animals look upon the pigs and humans saying, “The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which” (Animal Farm,pp101). Throughout Animal Farm, Orwell employs rhetorical strategies to aid the reader in realizing the political innuendos he simply and carefully wove into the book. Orwell foreshadows the events that are about to take place with subtle hints and clues. Orwell clues 16 International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 1-26, April 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) the reader in to the possible Communist-like future of the farm by saying, “All that year the animals worked like slaves. But they were happy in their work; they grudged no effort or sacrifice, well aware that everything they did was for the benefit of themselves and those of the kind who would come after them, and not for a pack of idle, thieving human beings” (Animal farm,pp44). Orwell uses this excerpt to portray to the audience the thoughts of the animals who were “…accepting the fact that no matter what the pigs may do, no animal wants to be ruled again by Farmer Jones or his kind” (Woodcock, 1977). After reading this excerpt and then seeing the slave-like conditions the animals are in by the end of the book, one can infer through Orwell’s use of foreshadowing that the oppression and unjust treatment of the animals was a likely outcome. Orwell also utilizes characterization by attributing human qualities to the animals, giving the impression that we almost nowhere feel that we are in an animal world. Orwell uses Napoleon to represent the dictator, Boxer to represent the over-worked lower classes, and the old goat Benjamin to represent the always skeptical few. Orwell does not fully develop these characters because he uses them to depict character types with easily recognizable character traits . Through his use of these strategies, Orwell achieves his miniscule reproduction of the Russian Revolution in the early 20th Century. Experiences from one’s life shape and mould the person one is, whether good or bad. The same holds true for Orwell. His mistrust of governments and politics could be traced back to his days as a police officer for the Indian Imperial Police where he was stationed in Burma. There, he encountered the harsh reality of colonial rule and unjust treatment of the lower classes. Disgusted with that life, Orwell left the police force but didn’t forget the things he had witnessed. Recalling the injustices he saw during those past experiences, Orwell enlisted in the British Army and fought Fascism in the Spanish Civil War, fostering his hatred for oppressive governments. Several of Orwell’s novels deal with the kind of victimization he saw in Burma and Spain and even experienced in his own life. George Orwell effectively conveys what he intended to through a simplistic style of writing that is forceful, to the point, and gives the reader only the impression which he wanted. His use of satire combined with a headstrong political opinion creates for the reader thoughts and questions that were not there when one opened the pages of a book such as Animal Farm and began the journey chosen for them by Orwell. Orwell is a writer who not only gives the reader entertainment and enjoyment, but is set out to make the reader think and feel what the characters who are being victimized think and feel like. He is on a mission to make the reader ponder the injustices of society and the political regimes that run our countries, our world. George Orwell did not set out to create books that kindly represent everyone, even the tyrants. He set out to create books and literature that may have shocked some readers at first but without a doubt, told the truth. Orwell once said, “Possession of the ‘truth’ is less important than emotional sincerity.” Orwell is unwavering in his commitment to make the masses aware of the injustices, victimizations, and corrupt politics. A writer’s only and best weapon is his words; Orwell chooses his words wisely. They can be bitter or sweet, but they always convey truths about the world ignored by many but seen and written about by Orwell. The persona which Eric Arthur Blair fabricates through George Orwell, meticulously implements a paradoxical set of literary devices throughout his thesis, which has arguably forged him as one of the greatest social commentators of modern history. 17 International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 1-26, April 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) Orwell’s essays have sparked a plethora of adverse and auxiliary opinions regarding the imperishability of his work, from those who believe that his efforts are archaic, to those who believe that his craftsmanship of language addresses issues which had once been hidden. No matter what side of the social spectrum one categorises themselves into, it is undeniable that Orwell’s essays resonate a certain quality of genuine concern for society which is echoed throughout his formulaic journey of writing in “Why I Write”, the prophetic piece depicting the influence of politics on a writer’s conscience in “Writers and Leviathan” and in Orwell’s emphasis on the duality of politics and literature in “Politics and the English Language” which reverberates the transcendental message of his essays which shall be critically studied for years to come. A Man of the People (Chinua Achebe) Introduction and Background of the Author A Man of the People (1966) is the fourth novel by Chinua Achebe. This satirical novel is a story told by the young and educated narrator, Odili, on his conflict with Chief Nanga, his former teacher who enters a career in politics in an unnamed modern African country. Odili represents the changing younger generation; Nanga represents the traditional customs of Nigeria. The book ends with a military coup, similar to the real-life coups of Johnson AguiyiIronsi, Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu and Yakubu Gowon.[1] A Man of the People is a first-person account of Odili, a school teacher in a fictional country closely resembling post-colonial Nigeria. Odili receives an invitation from his former teacher, Chief Nanga, who is now the powerful but corrupt Minister of Culture. As Minister, Nanga's job is to protect the traditions of his country especially when he is known as "A Man of the People". Instead, his position is used to increase his personal wealth and power that proves particularly alluring to Odili's girlfriend; she cheats on him with the minister. Seeking revenge, Odili begins to pursue the minister's fiancee. Odili agrees to lead an opposition party in the face of both bribes and violent threats. Then there is a military coup. Summary of the Plot of A Man of the People Written in 1966, A Man of the People by Chinua Achebe is a story of warlords, mentorship, and even revenge and romance. It begins with the narrator, Odili, who is a teacher in a small African village, central to a corrupt and debased government. Odili receives a letter one day from his mentor and former teacher Mr. Nanga, who has risen in the ranks of government and has become the Minister of Culture in their unnamed African country – he now goes mainly by Chief Nanga. The letter informs Odili of Chief Nanga’s arrival to his home village, where they meet, reminisce and Odili is offered a chance to come back with Nanga to the capital city, where Nanga will help him leave the village and study abroad. Odili agrees to visit Chief Nanga’s city, and as they become more friendly, Odili learns more about his mentor’s part in the African government. Although he finds himself entranced by his old teacher’s charisma, he despises what he stands for politically, and especially loathes the corrupt ways he achieved his status. Odili also learns that despite being a Minister of Culture, Chief Nanga knows nothing about the culture, and is only residing in this position 18 International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 1-26, April 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) because of the extravagant living comforts that come with it. As they spend more time together, Odili finds himself enamored with Edna, a woman who travels with Chief Nanga, and is betrothed to be his second wife. This causes Odili to find his own woman, Elise, who he seduces and brings back with him to Nanga’s home, to stay with her during the night, however Chief Nanga ends up spending the night with her instead. Odili is both hurt and furious because of this, and sets his sights on Nanga’s fiancée, Edna. Along with pursuing Edna, Odili agrees to join an opposition party against Chief Nanga’s organization, despite his hate for politics, however revenge is now more important to him, and begins to work towards taking Chief Nanga’s position away from him. To counter his distaste for government, Odili decides on running an honest organization, however he finds it more difficult than he had first thought, as every other official is only after filling their pockets, and the people of this African country are both used to and have accepted corruption as the status quo. This jaded view of the village people also contributes to the fact that Odili is unable to smear the current government, because the people have lost complete faith in the concept as a whole, and he is unable to gain the upper hand. Other issues Odili has to deal with are considering taking a large sum of money to drop out of the political race, trying to prove that the current government is corrupt and taking bribes to the unreceptive people, and having his family and his village threatened as well as being browbeaten into stepping down. Along with all these political struggles, Odili slowly discovers that his plan to seduce Edna to hurt the chief has backfired, because Odili finds himself in love with her, and he desires her; however, she feels forced to marry Chief Nanga because he had paid her father a great deal of money. Odili, growing more frustrated with his opponent, attends Nanga’s campaign party, where is recognized as the rival candidate, and is beaten to an inch of his life, and is forced to spend weeks in the hospital. During Odili’s recovery he remains out of action, causing Chief Nanga’s party to gain the electoral victory, which naturally thrills Chief Nanga, however the residents of the African country are livid, and start a military coup in which Nanga’s government is overthrown, causing more people to come forward and discuss their hatred for the government that they were under all these years. The book really pushes the satire by highlighting the types of people in this world – how people are never satisfied and often angered by their own decisions, like how the countrymen voted for Chief Nanga, but then were unhappy when he won, and how no one wanted to step up when it mattered except Odili, and even when he did, he suffered greatly for it. A Man of the People had grown in popularity since its publication, mostly because many other authors have hailed it and Chinua Achebe as being a form of premonition, since all the fictional events happened in different African countries under the rule of monstrous dictators. Near the end, Edna stays by Odili’s side the entire time, helping him heal, revealing her love for him, and their families make arrangements and help the couple stay together, and eventually Odili and Edna marry. Odili discovers much loss at the end of the book, like losing the election, having the countrymen resort to chaos and violence to bring down the government that they themselves elected, and having lost many people in the war, including one of his closest friends who was killed by a government official. Despite that, he feels that 19 International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 1-26, April 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) at least he had won the heart of the woman he loves, and that now his country lies in ruins, but at least he tried. A man of the people as a political satire Chinua Achebe’s A Man of the People (1966) is a political critique of the Nigerian political situation in the post-independence era. Independence is supposed to be a glorious period in the history of a nation; however, it is presented in this novel as very gloomy. Achebe’s first three novels–Things Fall Apart (1958), No Longer at Ease (1960), and Arrow of God (1964)– can be read as a critique of tribalism and bad traditions as well as a counter writing to the English colonial canon. On the other hand, in this fourth novel the reader encounters a very harsh self-criticism that exposes the wrongs of the intellectual elite, the politicians, and the public. Hence, Achebe’s sociopolitical satire is a directed one. In “The Novelist as Teacher,”Achebe (2007) confirms his position as an author who uses literature to correct the nation’s deeds. He believes that the “beneficent fiction calls into full life … total range of imaginative faculties and gives … a heightened sense of … personal, social and human reality” (p.104). Therefore, we look into the political implications of Achebe’s fiction, namely his novel A Man of the People, by way of showing the corrective function of his definitive satire. Abiodun (2014) exposes the link between the power of politics and the corruption of wealth, on the one hand, and the negative role of people, on the other, arguing that these people endorse such corrupt politicians to gain personal favors. For Abiodun, the novel condemns “the African politicians’ negative tendencies” and “the ordinary people in different African societies, for their seeming endorsement of corrupt politicians” (p. 202). This write up focuses more on the interrelationship between literature and politics and unlike Abiodun’s, presents a way out of the failures of nationalism depicted in Achebe’s novel through highlighting the ameliorative potential of satire as a genre. In A Man of the People, Chief Nanga represents the politicians. According to Appiah (1991, p. 348), Odili is a member of the “comprador intelligentsia” who were well trained in the West and “are known” there “through the Africa they offer”. Fanon (1967, p.178) also says that this group of intellectuals, who received Western education and got assimilated into every English-like way of thinking, came to Africa to apply what they have learnt on a newly independent Nigeria. They suffer from divided loyalties as they “can’t choose; they must have both. Two worlds: that makes two bewitching … each day the split widens” (p.17). For Fanon, this split state of the native intellectual’s mind between two cultures is called “cultural imposition” (p.139). A Man of the People symbolizes the rift between the native intellectuals and the politicians in a politically turbulent Nigeria and in the absence of an engaged public. This national leadership, in Fanonian logic, is neither fully prepared for nor seriously engaged in issues of nationhood. In the novel Achebe predicts a military coup. Morrison, (2007, p.115) states that Achebe’s prediction of a military coup in his novel turned “to be so accurate”. On January 14, 1966, Achebe celebrated his novel with “the society of Nigerian Authors” (p.115). The next day, 20 International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 1-26, April 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) the coup’s leader “demanded that the radical action taken by army officers … had been a patriotically necessary act” (p. 115). After that, the commander of the Nigerian army survived and arrested the coup’s leader, announcing himself the “Nigerian Head of State” (p.114). However, the Nigerian public were absent from the scene. This was the political context that surrounded and followed the publication of A Man of the People. In fact, many critics thought that Achebe’s novel was “prophetic” in its prediction of a military coup. However, Bernth Lindfors (1968) believes that it only reads reality so well to the extent that it demands a military coup to settle the whole country down (p.131). The novel is “a devastating satire” which reflects, Lindfors contends, “the developing political crisis” (p.131). Morrison (2007) agrees with Lindfors that the novel is a political satire in the general sense, being “a commentary on the situation of many of the newly independent states in Africa in 1960s” (p.119). On the other hand, Ngugi wa Thiong’o in his 1966 essay argues that A Man of the People is a continuation of the framework of earlier narratives seeking “to look back and try to find out what went wrong” (as cited in Morrison, 2007, p. 119). Morrison agrees with Ngugi that it is the “first time that Achebe turns his back on the colonizers” and that “his anger is directed with full force at his countrymen for their corruption, indifference and cynicism” (p.119). On the other hand, Morrison criticizes Achebe for what he believes to be a superficial treatment of the political situation in the novel. He declares that “in searching for the causes of Nigeria’s national crisis”, the novel “is ultimately unable to show us anything more than its symptoms” (p.123). After the publication of the novel, three thousand people were killed in the Eastern region of Nigeria where Achebe belongs. What began as fiction has turned to be so personally real for Achebe when his novel was seen to implicate him in the country's military coup. However, we argue that the novel is not an empty satire concerned with its own symptoms of political corruption as has been claimed. There is a worthy sociopolitical vision that needs explication. As a corrective satire, the novel works symbolically though suggesting or hinting at counter/better sociopolitical realities. It is our task as readers to foreground such hints and look at how literature relates perfectly with politics. The Politician (M. A. Nanga) Chief Nanga is “the most approachable politician in the country” and a former school teacher (Achebe, 1966, pp.1-2). He is lucky enough to become a Minister of the people. It seems that he tries to compensate for the years of poverty that he has lived before. His philosophy is to eat and let the people eat. He brings his people water and other small services to make them superior to their neighbors (p. 91). However, what really happens is that he eats whole cake and gives the people only a bite.The politician plays the role of the patriotic man, misleading people’s consciousness. Once, he told Odili that the meaning of “Minister” is “servant” (p. 6). However, he lacks simple political leadership skills such as the ability to give a speech. Max and Odili criticize his underserved position due to his humble educational background. Max tells Odili: “just think of such a cultureless man going abroad and calling himself Minister of Culture. Ridiculous. This is why the outside world laughs at us’’ (p. 16). To support his position as an “educated” politician and a guardian of culture, Nanga is looking to get an honorary law degree from a small college in U.S without working for it (p.18). For Zapata (1993), “politicians” like Nanga, despite their “apparent social commitment,” are basically interested in “the perpetuation of their power, even if this means the persecution of dissenters” (p.215). In this negative model of leadership, 21 International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 1-26, April 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) education becomes a means of gaining more political power at the expense of the uneducated masses.Everything is going smoothly for Nanga until the appearance of Odili. Since Nanga is ethically corrupt, he cheats on his wife several times with Odili’s knowledge (Achebe, 1966, p.49). However, Odili turns his back on this fake politician only after he took his own girlfriend. Although Nanga was a man of the people who voted for him, he turns his ugly face to others who chose not to vote for him, as when he tries to kill Odili (p. 94). He antagonizes Odili who calls people to stop voting for the “Honourable Thief” (p. 93).A Man of the People begins by portraying Minister Nanga as a loved public personality. However, Odili leaves Nanga because of a girl. Surprisingly, it turns out to be bigger than it begins. Odili now starts to see the reality of Nanga. Nanga has connections with the black side of Nigeria. He offers to bring Odili six girls to compensate for the girl he has taken from him. He tells Odili who is very angry over the matter: Don’t be childish … After all she is not your wife…She told me there is nothing between you and she… But anyway I am sorry if you are offended; the mistake is mine.... If you like I can bring you six girls this evening. (p. 49) Achebe continues, through Odili, to expose the scandalous parts of Nanga’s political life. The Minister a symbol of the corrupted politician in an underdeveloped country had everything in his hands. He built a very huge house (p.68). Also, he paid the price of a new bride (p.75). Ironically, the corrupted politician himself suffered from bribes and journalists. He tells Odili about the Press that blackmailed him: “if I don’t give him [the journalist] something now, tomorrow he will go and write rubbish about me. They say it is the freedom of the Press” (p. 45).This enthusiastic “intellectual” came to apply Western democracy to his Nigeria. He was unaware of the reality of Nigeria after independence, seeing it as the cake that every politician and his followers are looking to taste (p. 97). Real democracy and corruption are necessarily enemies. So, Odili is fought by the ideal teacher who is indeed “Honourable Thief” (p. 93). At first, Nanga tries to seduce Odili with money, but Odili refuses. He bribes him to step down, saying: “take your money and take your scholarship to go and learn more books; the country needs experts like you. And leave the dirty game of politics to us who know how to play it” (p. 81). This was a threat; however, naïve Odili goes to a speech of Nanga thinking that he is in a free country. Unfortunately, he is almost killed and put in hospital under arrest to be prevented from signing the paper that proves him a possible candidate for elections (pp. 94-100). Odili sympathizes with Edna, who was to be Nanga’s wife because he has paid her greedy father the bride-price (p. 75). Odili sends her a message informing her of the risk of marrying such a bad person as a second wife (pp. 60-66). A shared self-destructive point in Odili and Nanga is their weakness with women, like Elsie and Edna. Odili falls in love with Edna. Nanga did not miss the opportunity and he politicized it, for he declares to his audience when he caught Odili there: “He even tried to take a girl on whose head I had put full bride-price and many other expenses---and who according to our custom is my wife” (p. 94). Such two models of leadership are essentially weak or incompetent, more personally-centered than national. Bribes, womanizing, and personal grudge, among others, distort the claims of such two representative “leaders” to nationhood. The European educational ideals of such men as well as their personal interests distort their claims to leadership. The Novel’s Ending (Neither Politicians nor Intellectuals).The novel ends with a military coup, which is presented in “a positive light” (Morrison, 2007, p.124). 22 International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 1-26, April 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) Odili welcomes the coup, for now he is free to marry Edna because Nanga is out of sight (Achebe, 1966, p. 99). Similarly, in an interview for the Kenyan Sunday Nation in January 1967 Achebe admits his understanding that A Man of the People “would be controversial and that its publication might lead to some negative personal consequences” (as cited in Morrison, 2007, p.125). In this interview, Achebe presents his ambivalent attitude towards the coup. He says: Military takeovers are not always bad in themselves. The Nigerian situation left no political solution. The political machine has been so abused that whatever measures were taken, it could only produce the same results … I don’t think one can say a military takeover is never worth it. (p. 125)Ngugi analyzes the military coup, arguing that it is controversial; but Achebe wants the readers to wonder whether any of the antagonists could find a solution for a corrupted Nigeria without the intervention of the army (as cited in Morrison, 2007, p.120). It is a really harsh criticism of both politicians and intellectuals who turned to be useless when it comes to real future national solutions. Both were good at fighting each other instead of looking for a shared opinion that gives each class its position. According to Obi (1990), the justification of the uselessness of both politicians and intellectuals is that there was an intra-elite split … between the political elite and the literati. The handful of nationalistic politicians who articulated the demands for self-government … joined their not-so-educated colleagues (i.e., the commercial elite as well as traditional rulers) to wield power. This arrangement excluded the writers and the bulk of the intellectual class from the power to direct their societies other than as subservient civil servants. (pp. 404-405) Consequently, intellectuals such as Odili try to find themselves a place from which they can state their opinions about solutions for their Nigeria. Odili and Max established a new party to counter Nanga’s. Unfortunately, Max got killed while Odili survived (Achebe, 1966, p.96). Nanga was removed with the military coup and got arrested (p. 99). Commenting on the characters of Nanga and Odili, Morrison (2007) quotes his book Scandalous Fictions: The Twentieth Century Novel in the Public Sphere (2006), declaring that the effect of Achebe’s text is to present Nanga’s corruption as an organic extension of traditional mores into modern national literature, culture and politics. If Nanga is shown as a retrograde figure whose weddedness to the past stifles both political and economic development however, Odili is shown as an equally poor progenitor of change. Vain, pompous, misogynistic and elitist. (p.128) Nanga was arrested after the fall of the government when he was “trying to escape by canoe dressed like a fisherman” (Achebe, 1966, p. 99). On the other hand, Odili’s “dubious seductions of women” were more obvious “than any kind of political or social reflection” in the novel. He was politically “impotent” and “self-regarding” (as cited in Morrison, 2007, p.128). Additionally, Morrison believes that “if Odili and Nanga are, each in their own way, profoundly unsatisfactory agents of national development, then this in itself can be read as one of the challenges Achebe’s novel lays down to its readers” (p.127). Achebe “was identified as a possible conspirator” of the coup in Nigeria after the publication of A Man of the People (Morrison, 2007, p. 129). However, he stays committed to his “ego ideals” that appeared “in his fictional and non-fictional works.” He incorporates such corrective ideals in his satirical works as reminders for himself as well as other African 23 International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 1-26, April 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) writers (Abussamen & Neimneh, 2016, p. 221). Thus, he continues what he believes to be the kind of responsible and beneficent literature and politics that contributes to raising national awareness. The ideals Achebe fosters, however, function in this satire through analogy with the shortcomings of existing models, like those related to education, politics, and the mob. According to Obi (1990), A Man of the People is a novel that exposes the author’s “disillusionment with the fruits of independence” (p. 402). Although Nanga was corrupt, he was a symbol of a stable country which has a parliament. And after Odili, Nigeria is ruled with force because “the country was on the verge of chaos” (p.68). Many thought of coups as good solutions, but it is ironic to use military weapons and soldiers to keep peace. On the other hand, Nanga, the greedy politician who wants to stay long in power, tries to kill Odili to move him from his way (Achebe, 1966, pp. 94-97). By contrast, wouldn’t Odili being a lover of women, money and fame becomes a thief like Nanga if he won? Consequently, Achebe is directing his readers to the importance of real national education through the inadequate examples of political leadership he offers. As Woodson (1933) memorably states in his study on miseducation, If you can control a man’s thinking you do not have to worry about his action. When you determine what a man shall think you do not have to concern yourself about what he will do. If you make a man feel that he is inferior, you do not have to compel him to accept an inferior status. If you make a man think that he is justly an outcast, you do not have to order him to the back door, his very nature will demand one. (p. 84) Woodson has clearly articulated the interrelationship between literature power, politics, and education. For Woodson, the educated “Negro” was taught to despise his people and think like and imitate whites. The educated “Negroes” have failed to make their race progress because of “their estrangement from the masses” (Woodson, p. 88). Hence, Woodson claims that the black race “needs workers, not leaders” (p.118) as good leadership entails service rather than the empty talk of miseducated leaders chosen by whites. Achebe criticizes the former colonials who still intervene in Nigeria through their well-formed intellectual elite. Fanon (1967) declares that “inside the nationalist parties, the will to break colonialism is linked with another quite different will: that of coming to a friendly agreement with it. Within these parties, the two processes will sometimes continue side by side” (p. 98). Those people inside the nationalist parties are the means of intervening in the newly independent country. Also, Achebe criticizes his fellow Nigerians who are still unable to serve their country and build their nation. CONCLUSION In this study, we have clearly pointed out how the subject politics is discussed and perceived by two authors in their works. The striking comparative feature here is the fact that the two literary works are political satires. We deliberately selected an African and a European author who, by their works under study in this article, are political satirists. Despite the vast differences in terms of setting, diction, structure and other literary features between the two novels, they heavily converge on the same theme, that is, political satirism. 24 International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 1-26, April 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) George Orwell's Animal Farm has drawn high levels of criticism for over half a century. Some of this criticism has been negative, arguing that the novel is too simple, strays too far away from the truth, and is too broad in its interpretations and critiques of the Soviet revolution in Russia. However, many critics have found Animal Farm to be of literary merit. They argue that its simplicity is a well-wielded device to make his satire easier to understand, that diversions from the truth are minimal, and that its critiques hit the mark. Ultimately, the novel's source of literary merit will be its staying power and ability to remain relevant despite having already served its original purpose in helping to destroy Soviet communism. The timelessness of Animal Farm will necessarily be measured in the years to come. The problem of Nigeria in A Man of the people is that intellectualism does not stand firmly against the corruption of politicians. Rather, it seeks to establish a politics of itself instead of working hand in hand with the current authority. We have argued for a national consensus that puts a blueprint for the future to uplift the country at the hands of a truly educated class of organic intellectuals and an engaged public. Force generates force, and violence is exactly what has happened in real Nigeria after the coup; a counter coup (Morrison, 2007, p.115). Unfortunately, the enlarged egoism of the intellectuals and politicians, together with the complacency of the public, has endangered the country. Educating the masses is crucial to change the political situation of a place like Nigeria. As Fanon (1967) declares, to be responsible in an underdeveloped country is to know that everything finally rests on educating the masses, elevating their minds, and on what is too quickly assumed to be political education. Political education means opening up the mind, awakening the mind, and introducing it to the world (p. 138) Achebe adds that “the most urgent thing today for the intellectual is to build up his nation” (p.199). Nigerians have to control their destiny by having political education. They should produce their organic intellectuals according to their own national standards. The public must be the rulers who choose a man from the people to serve the people, not to exploit them. REFERENCE Albert S. Gérard -European-language writing in Sub-Saharan Africa -1986 Page Bozkurt (1977); the satirical myth. Oxford University Press;London. CliffNotes. (n.d.) Animal farm: Critical essays: The russian revolution. Retrieved 3/28/2013 from http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/literature/animal-farm/criticalessays/russian-revolution.html Crick (1996) Orwell and Totalitarianism. SAGE Publishers Inc. UK-London.echoed in his novel, A Man of the People (1966)." Elliott, Robert C (2004), "The nature of satire", Encyclopædia Britannica. Ezenwa-Ohaeto (1997). Chinua Achebe: A Biography. Bloomington: Indiana Grolier Incorporated (1995) The Academic American Encyclopaedia,vol 14;Grolier Incorporated 1995.New York http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/stalin_joseph.shtml http://www.theorwellreader.com/essays/yemenici.html London. 25 International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research Vol.6, No 2, pp. 1-26, April 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) Meyers (2002): Orwell and the Russian Revolution. Blackwell Publishing House. Naeem, M. (2010) What is meant by satire? In what sense is animal farm a satire and what does it satirize? Retrieved 4/1/2013 from http://neoenglishsystem.blogspot.hk/2010/10/what-is-meant-by-satire-in-whatsense.html Orwell, G. (2008) Animal farm. London: Penguin Books Orwell,G. (1947);Why I write. Retrieved from: http://www.resort.com/prime8/orwell/ Richard (1976); Techniques of satire. Liverpool University Press; Liverpool. Shelden (1991); Orwell: The Authorised Biography; Heinemann, pp563, October 1991, ISBN 0 434 69517 3. University Press. p. 109. ISBN 0-253-33342-3. Woodcock (1977): Animal Farm and Politics. Penguin Publishing Group Inc.; London "A Man of the People by Chinua Achebe". Time. August 19, 1966. Retrieved 2007Mercedes Mackay (January 1967). "Review: A Man of the People by Chinua Achebe". African Affairs. 66 (262): 81. BBC. (n.d.) Joseph Stalin (1879-1953). Retrieved 3/29/2013 from Yemenici, A. (1997) Animal satire in animal farm. Retrieved 3/29/2013 from 09-19. 26 

282 Journal of Developing Societies 27, 1 (2011):and 1–10 the Radio Redux: Audience Participation Reincarnation of Radio for Development in Africa Gilbert Tietaah Department of Communication Studies, University of Ghana Margaret Amoakohene Department of Communication Studies, University of Ghana Damasus Tuurusong University for Development Studies, Wa Campus, Wa, Upper West Region ABSTRACT Along with the valorization of “beneficiary” participation in development praxis, contemporary communication scholarship has tended toward internet-enabled technologies and applications. This study breaks ranks with the implicit loss of faith in the capacity of the so-called legacy media, and radio in particular. It argues that precisely those advances in new technologies, together with the peculiar media ecology of Ghana and Africa generally, are the bases for prenotions about the enduring relevance of radio. To verify this claim, focus group discussions were conducted among radio audiences in Ghana. The findings suggest three factors for a renaissance of radio as a development communication medium: its contribution to democratic pluralism; the use of local languages that enables social inclusion; its appropriation of new technologies for audience participatory engagement. Radio has thus evolved from the powerful effects notions of a one-way transmitter of information to an increasingly more interactive, audience-centric medium. Keywords: Radio, new technologies, audience participation, development, Ghana, Africa Introduction In Ake, the memoir of his childhood years, Wole Soyinka recounts how shortly after radio broadcast service was extended to his home state of Copyright © 2019 SAGE Publications www.sagepublications.com (Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore, Washington DC and Melbourne) Vol 35(2): 282–302. DOI: 10.1177/0169796X19844916 Tietaah et al.: Radio Redux: Audience Participation 283 Abeokuta, it was given the Yoruba appellation As’oromagb’esi—one who speaks without expecting a reply. Soyinka (1983) recalls that “The News soon became an object of worship to Essay [Soyinka called his father “Essay”, for his initials S. A.] and a number of his friends” who huddled together at set times in the day to “hear the Oracle” (pp. 107, 8). This anecdote resonates with the sense evoked by the Akan metaphor Akasanoma—talking (or talkative) bird. Akasanoma is the brand name that was given to the locally assembled radio set produced under a 1965 joint Ghana–Japan scheme to make radio receiving devices more widely available for pursuing the national development agenda. The name reflects the idea that the technology of the time made radio literally a chatterbox. These accounts are important not just because they signpost the teleological foundations of the enduring association of radio with development communication efforts in Africa. They also echo, on the one hand, the centrifugal cadence of the powerful effects notions of media influence of the 1930s–1960s. And they are laden, on the other hand, with counterintuitive cues about the contemporary reification of the audience as active participant in the construction of media messages and meanings. The ontological shift from what Melkote and Steeves (2015, p. 47) observe to be the “pro-innovation, pro-persuasion, pro-top-down, promass media, and pro-literacy biases” of the immediate post-WWII development model, and toward more participatory processes, has enkindled doubts about the essentiality of the so-called legacy (or traditional, or old) media as development communication tools. Some scholars have, for instance, prophesied, even pronounced, the passing of the mass media era, predicating their foreboding on what they observe to be an inexorable loss of audiences and revenues to the new, more interactive, media platforms and applications (cf. Cassino, 2014; Cavanagh, 2007; Jakubowicz, 2011; Poster, 1995). In this paper, we assert that such doubts about the utility of radio as a participatory communication medium are at least 30 years out of date, considering the spate and scale of developments that have occurred within the radio industry and ecology in Ghana and Africa generally. To demonstrate this claim, and by way of outline, we first lay out the ontological argument for the incarnation of radio as a participatory medium. We suggest that the contemporary media environment together with the particular resonance of radio with African anthropologies provide justification for prenotions about its enduring relevance. Next, we briefly Journal of Developing Societies 35, 2 (2019): 282–302 284 Journal of Developing Societies 35, 2 (2019): 282–302 describe and justify the research method employed—the steps and rationale for the focus group design as a means of socializing audience. We then present and discuss the findings and reflect on their implications for the appropriation and application of radio to development goals in Ghana and Africa. Radio as a Participatory Medium In the specific domain of development communication, Melkote and Steeves (2001, p. 21) seem to suggest a similar ambivalence about the presumed imperative of the traditional mass media when they “agree that old views of the field are no longer appropriate.” Those “old views” relate to the classical modernization paradigm which, in effect, conceived of radio as the metaphorical hypodermic syringe, capable of dispensing a modernization therapy onto the otherwise latently “traditional” (qua underdeveloped) countries of Africa. More directly, Ansu-Kyeremeh (1992, p. 111) argued some two-and-a-half decades ago that “radio, in its linear one-way communication mode, is not an effective medium for rural mass education in Ghana.” Instead, he proposed that the “web of indigenous venue-, or event-, or game-, or performance-oriented communication systems [that] characterised intra-village social relations” were better suited for such purposes. Context is, perhaps, important for understanding the matrix of these doubts. First, from the mid-1950s through to the late 1980s, the modernization-diffusion paradigm dominated development thinking. Radio then became the ideal medium for propagating modernization (read westernization); in that, it enabled prototypes of ideas and resources cultivated and nurtured in the industrialized cultures of the West to be transplanted onto the receiving cultures of the developing Third World. Proponents of the cultural imperialism thesis opposed this ethnocentric remedy. At the same time, disappointment with the empirical outcomes of the transplantationist blueprint was increasing the centripetal appeal of calls for a New World Information and Communications Order and the parallel notion of “development journalism” (Karikari, 2000; Kunczik, 1992, pp. 23–25; Servaes, 2009). The third related point is that there began, within this milieu, a shift in emphasis toward the more interpersonal, “peoplecentred, inclusive and development-oriented,” (WSIS, 2003) processes of participation and empowerment. This article pivots from the claim that the contemporary valorization of the participatory communication theory in tandem with advances in Tietaah et al.: Radio Redux: Audience Participation 285 interactive communication technologies suggests radio for development redux. Two interrelated arguments are advanced to conceptualize this claim. First, in an era that has been characterized as the information, and even more lately, interactive (Milne, 2007) age, the media have become an inherent and increasingly indispensable part of human communication. At the same time, the more intimate and interpersonal forms of social organization are yielding way to the exigencies of urbanization and social mobility. Second, while interpersonal approaches are admittedly better suited at summoning audience participation, and at investing development program “beneficiaries” with a sense of ownership and praxis, they are also limited by time and space constraints. At the same time, advances in information and communication technologies are increasingly eroding the exclusivity to interpersonal methods, of the advantages of audience participation. These points bear illustrating. For several years after its invention, the telephone permitted only turn-taking transactions. The two-way Motorola mobile radio device still works on this principle. A query of impersonality would, therefore, be quite legitimate. Today, the possibilities of video conference calling should mean that the charge is now arguably passé. Similarly, it would seem that the charge of noninteractivity of radio is an outdated argument. Today, the possibility to co-opt new technologies and converge with multiple platforms means that the radio medium is increasingly more interactive. This being the case, radio should be witnessing a renaissance of interest and application from both development communication practitioners and academic research scholars. And yet, the literature does not seem to bear out this expectation. One explanation is that the research agenda has been largely driven by Western experiences and interests, which have moved along with the advances in technology to such fields as mobile devices and online chat sites and applications, such as Facebook, twitter, and websites and blog posts. The point, though, is that while such advanced media devices and technologies are taken for granted in many Western societies, perhaps a reminder, at this point, that the radio is still the latest information technology in many developing communities would be a timely reality check. One of the sobering acknowledgments of the World Summit on the Information Society (2003–2005) was that information technologies were widening, rather than bridging, the asymmetries of communicative power between developed and developing countries of the world; and that the internet in particular was helping to perpetuate Journal of Developing Societies 35, 2 (2019): 282–302 286 Journal of Developing Societies 35, 2 (2019): 282–302 the conditions of cultural hegemony and linguistic ethnocentrism by the US through the California-based Internet Corporation for the Assignment of Names and Numbers (ICANN)—the organization that controls the naming of websites through the internet’s central registry (cf. McPhail, 2006; WSIS, 2004). A 2009 survey of the media preferences, personal communication habits, and ICT use among a national sample of 2,051 Ghanaian adult respondents (15 years and over) showed an 86 percent household ownership of radio—compared to 59 percent television, and 4 percent internet (Bowen, 2010). These figures compare with a more recent national survey of 2,910 adults (18 years and older) in which up to 62.9 percent respondents indicated radio as their primary source of information—compared to 25 percent for television, and only 6.4 percent for internet/social media (and a mere 1.5% for the newspaper) (NCCE, 2015). The question that is prompted by the twin factors explained above is: What is the nature of radio used within the current milieu of the availability of new and interactive alternatives within the Ghanaian media ecosystem? Furthermore, to what extent is optimism about the development communication potential of radio justified within current theorizing about public sphere participation as the path to sustainable, democratic, and development? In the paragraphs that follow, we briefly explain the methods used to adduce the evidence on these questions. Methodology The focus group discussion method was employed to determine the nature and extent of audience engagement and experiences with radio as a participatory medium. This is notwithstanding that the protocols and assumptions that have dominated the literature on audience research have tended to be quantitative, deriving as they are from Western social contexts in which, as Mytton (1999, p. 187) points out, there is a strong emphasis “on individual choice and decision.” The do it yourself culture promoted in many Western societies, notably the US, also illustrates this orientation. Morley (1980), however, identifies focus groups with the reception analysis paradigm; describing it as a method that “treats the audience as a set of cultural groupings rather than as a mass of individuals or as a set of rigid socio-demographic categories” (p. 163). McQuail (1997, p. 19) adds that the method is “effectively the audience research arm of cultural studies.” Michelle (2007, p. 181) takes these observations into account when he notes that audience interpretations are “shaped by Tietaah et al.: Radio Redux: Audience Participation 287 social group memberships, cultural competencies, and discursive affiliations.” But the overarching theoretical consideration was the idea that “everyday media interpretations tend to be ‘collectively constructed’” (Deacon, Pickering, Golding, & Murdock, 1999, p. 55). While the focus group is admittedly not peculiar to Africa, we note its particular epistemological resonance with the communally oriented norms and value systems that characterize traditional African social organization, discussion, and decision. Social anthropologist Awedoba (2007) expresses this point in his explanation of the concepts of kinship and lineage in African societies, and of the communal contexts in which decisions and responsibilities on issues of marriage, child care, funerals, and inheritance are taken and exercised. Explaining the preferential option of focus groups for socializing audience data, Amoakohene (2004) cites its “unique potential” for researching “the interface between audiences and the media, particularly radio, in a liberalised pluralistic electronic media environment such as Ghana” (p. 37). She attributes this to both the “strong narrative and oral traditions” (p. 36) that define African local languages and the “collective discussion that characterises audience reactions and responses to media messages” (p. 28) among African communities and people. A total of four focus group sessions were conducted: two each for the Greater Accra and Upper West regions of Ghana. Participants in each group were purposively composed to generally reflect common social–demographic attributes—except that all four groups also had to collectively reflect the diversity of audiences in the population. The composition of each of the four groups also generally took account of participants’ level of education and preferred language of discussion. Of the two groups in each region, one panel was composed of middle-class participants; the other panel was composed of working-class participants. Belongingness to either of these two broad socioeconomic status groupings was determined primarily on the bases of the education, occupation, and geographical location/residence of each participant. These considerations were important because as Strelitz (2008, p. 65) found about South African media audiences socioeconomic variables, educational backgrounds, and “material-existential experiences of routine life” all play a role in how audiences perceive and consume media messages. To account for these elaborate considerations in panel composition the “extended focus group” (Wimmer & Dominick, 2011, p. 134) procedure was employed. Specifically, participants were recruited and composed Journal of Developing Societies 35, 2 (2019): 282–302 288 Journal of Developing Societies 35, 2 (2019): 282–302 based on their responses to questions on a simple, screener questionnaire, which also explained the purpose of the study and, broadly, areas to be discussed. The questionnaire administration and recruitment was done one week prior to the scheduled dates for each focus group discussion. The extended focus group approach also provided an opportunity to remind participants to feel at liberty to discuss their views with others if they wished to—consultation is a normative attribute of opinion formation and decision making within the Ghanaian and African domestic and communal social setting. Each panel comprised between six and ten persons. The discussions were tape recorded—upon negotiating the necessary consents and guarantees of anonymity where desired. Each session lasted a maximum of two hours. The recordings were then transcribed and analyzed according to an inductively established taxonomy that produced the three thematic clusters of findings reported below. This is the approach recommended by Emerson, Fretz, and Shaw (1995). Briefly, it involved a sequence of four steps. First, the transcripts were read through thematically, i.e., each of the responses to a particular issue or question was read through—for all four focus groups. Second, an open-coding process was done for each of the responses, i.e., each response to a particular question was read through, line-by-line, to take note of any emergent ideas, themes, and issues. Words, phrases, or concepts that described the general tenor of a particular response were noted for subsequent collation and interpretation. The third step was to perform an axial coding process in which the responses from one focus group were compared to the others. Finally, the emergent issues, themes, and concepts were selectively coded, i.e., they were sorted and catalogued for the purpose of focusing on and delineating emergent responses as were considered relevant to the purpose of the study. Findings The findings on participant experiences and expectations of radio as a participatory medium suggest three factors for a renaissance of radio as a development communication medium. These are: its contribution to democratic pluralism, its inclusiveness due to the use of local languages, and its appropriation of new information and communication technologies for audience engagement. These findings are drawn from data of a larger fieldwork undertaken between October 2013 and February 2014. Tietaah et al.: Radio Redux: Audience Participation 289 The neo-liberal regime of broadcast pluralism in Ghana has provided listeners with choice, leading also to competition for audiences through diverse and improved programming. Participants noted that pluralism had decentralized news and announcements and put radio at the service of the public. As Thomas (businessman, focus group IV) put it, “People can now listen to any station of their choice; which is making the stations compete for listeners’ attention.” Radio also acts as a civic forum to encourage the participation of audiences in conversation on development options and priorities. In this way, radio encourages democracy, by giving voice to citizens to decide who governs them, and to exact accountability from those in whom they have vested the mandate to disburse the public purse. Participants noted, as one of them expressed, that radio pluralism “has given listeners greater choice and increased the opportunities for citizens to challenge their leaders and force them to redeem the promises they make on campaign platforms” (Ben, district assembly member, focus group I). This sentiment is further elaborated in the following explanation by a panelist in another focus group: I think the pluralisation of radio stations has helped our democracy to progress in fundamental ways: through civic participation in public discourse and governance; information dissemination on various issues of national life—such as information on HIV and AIDS, diabetes and hypertension, environmental pollution, family planning, and so on. The biggest media platform for sending and receiving such information in Ghana is radio. And this is primarily because radio is available and accessible in every community (Braimah, media rights NGO director, focus group III). These views echo scholarly opinion that the wave of media pluralism across Africa since the early 1990s has created metaphorical market squares for citizen expression, exchange, or engagement in “counterdiscourses that challenge the hegemonic viewpoint of the state” (Tettey, 2009, p. 148). There was a curious caveat, however, expressed in the following perspective by another member: When we had just [the state-owned] GBC, things were much simpler. There was only one news source and we all knew where—and even when—to go for the news. It was nice to feel a collective participation in news consumption. Now sometimes you don’t know where to tune in to. Now there are so many Journal of Developing Societies 35, 2 (2019): 282–302 290 Journal of Developing Societies 35, 2 (2019): 282–302 stations that you can’t be sure that your friends are on the same wavelength with you. I miss that. …Of course, the good side of multiple stations is that we have choice; and this generates competition…. Unfortunately, sometimes there is little to choose among the stations because they tend to copy each other too much (Blaise, priest, focus group III). The essence of opinions, though, was that radio is egalitarian in its capacity to bring members of society into dialogic encounters with each other, and to bridge the distance between citizens and their leaders. It is instrumental in encouraging and enabling audiences to exercise their rights to choice and have a say in the decisions that affect them. Participants noted, in this regard, the audience empowerment role of radio: in creating citizen awareness and advocacy on the development priorities of society; in enabling the public to demand development attention from local assemblies and the government; in dialogue and decision on ways to address their own needs and aspirations. In addition, radio mobilizes people for development and educates them on inimical aspects of their cultures that need to be changed. These views are encapsulated in the following testimonies: Information is very important for development. It is information that makes us educated; that is why even those who have not been through formal schooling can still be said to be educated when they are well informed. So if we want to develop as a country information is very important; and radio plays a very important role in that … even better than the NCCE [National Commission for Civic Education] (Lawrence, student, focus group I). Radio also provides opportunities to unearth local talent—such as artistes who can then be supported to promote their creative works. It can also be used to campaign against all forms of negative cultural practises—such as forced betrothals and discrimination against the girl-child—while at the same time preserving the good ones (Bafiina, student, focus group I). Finally, participants observed that broadcast pluralism had devolved programming toward engagement with audiences of all social–demographic categories; including through the use of venue-based and event-driven outside broadcast formats. These productions encourage members of the public to express their local needs and, in the case of community radio in particular, mobilize members for communal activities. As Abdul-Aziz (panel beater, focus group II) explained, Tietaah et al.: Radio Redux: Audience Participation 291 The local FMs [community stations] make their reporters visit the community to see things for themselves, and where necessary, galvanise listeners to action. For instance, if a windstorm rips off the roof of a school building, the community station will not just inform the people about the occurrence of the disaster. The news will also contain an appeal for materials and labour support, and a warning against indiscriminate felling of trees, which serve as windbreaks. Members of another group were more positive about the role of commercial radio stations in community mobilization. They noted, for instance, that “every so often you hear commercial stations mount an appeal for funds for a range of causes; including towards covering the medical bills of a needy child, or organising a blood donation campaign or soup kitchen” (James, foreign news editor, focus group III). Ama (customs official, focus group III) also explained the egalitarian credentials of radio: Radio is, in a sense, a lowest-common-denominator medium. It allows all: rich/poor, literate/illiterate, man/woman… to also weigh in with their views on political debates. This is not evident with the press or TV. These responses echo the views, articulated in the literature, that a regime of broadcast pluralism more effectively delivers such democratic values as audience engagement and inclusiveness, freedom of expression and contest of opinion, social capital, and political–economic development (Gumucio-Dagron, 2001; Iosofides, 2010; Melkote & Steeves, 2015). The use of local language programming has created greater propinquities with audience members. It has dramatically expanded the opportunities of access and participation and provided the platform for the public to give voice to the social and economic issues that concerned and affected them, such as water, sanitation, health, agriculture, and the general cost of living. Focus group participants expressed strong support for local language stations for their capacity to directly engage audiences on the issues and developments that reflect and affect local experiences and needs. They were particularly happy with the opportunity to express themselves in their own local languages because, as Ben (assembly member, focus group I) explained, “people communicate better in their own mother tongue.” These views are especially encapsulated in the following testimonies by two participants: Journal of Developing Societies 35, 2 (2019): 282–302 292 Journal of Developing Societies 35, 2 (2019): 282–302 The announcers and guests are known to us; some of them are family members and friends. They know our concerns; they speak our language. When you think back a few years… when all we had was a few minutes of news and announcements in the evening from URA Radio … it is as if we were in darkness (Adams, farmer, focus group II). Even the fact that listeners can call into programmes and express their views, make a wish, request a song … this makes radio a very important part of our lives and our development as one people (Kob, retired police sergeant, focus group II). Without the option of radio many members of the population, who in the context of the developing countries of Africa are still in the majority, would be disabled from participation in public sphere conversations by virtue of their illiteracy and poverty. Their issues and experiences would consequently remain neglected and unaccounted for in the development process. In this regard, participants noted in particular, the relative lack of restraint among audiences in expressing themselves in their local languages: You don’t feel the same anxieties [as you do with English] about possibly uttering a grammatical gaff or saying something lewd or explicit in Ga. Local language has a way of permitting certain graphic expressions so long as you use the appropriate idioms and make the appropriate disclaimers, such as “taflatse” [I beg your pardon; excuse me]. This I think is liberating. It frees people to say things as they feel; which they may be constrained to say in English (James, foreign news editor, focus group III). On the question of usage, however, participants were critical that the greater access and permissiveness enabled by the anonymity of radio was also undermining traditional norms and cultural codes on deference and decorum. This concern was expressed by Sergeant Kob who complained that: They must do something about the foul language on our airwaves. It looks as if some stations deliberately stir up controversy so that people can call in, hide behind pseudonyms, and insult people who are old enough to be their father or mother. Some of them are even well-known ‘serial callers’. It looks as if being controversial is their claim to fame… they thrive on negative popularity. Tietaah et al.: Radio Redux: Audience Participation 293 Another respondent concurred with the concern, suggesting that: The stations themselves should correct that; and if they don’t, the government… the regulatory authorities … they must bring them under check. Radio should be used for more edifying ends: like moral education, social discipline, passing on traditional values (Euphernia, cook, focus group II). Participants also charged local language stations in particular for what they observed to be a gradual dumbing down of professional journalistic standards; either for direct pecuniary gain or in order to drive up audience ratings. They cited, as examples, the tendencies for local language stations especially to embellish news accounts with proverbs, or hyperbole, or risqué remarks; or to rent airtime to hawkers of herbal preparations and itinerant pastors who make prodigious claims about the effectiveness of their wares and the efficacy of their cures. They were also concerned that local language talk programs and phone-in sessions habitually degenerated into the trading of intemperate allegations. As Thomas (businessman, focus group IV) put it: The bad thing is that they often misinterpret people when they translate their statements from English to Twi; and they also like embellishing and exaggerating stories; if you don’t listen to different stations to discern the truth you might be misled. We all know that some of these stations belong to politicians; and all they do is incite their supporters to engage in vilification and character assassination in the name of democracy…. This is dangerous; what happened between the Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda was sparked by radio. This observation is reinforced by the following view expressed by a participant in another focus group: Acts of unprofessional conduct are particularly prevalent among those [stations] that broadcast in the local Akan language. They often trivialise their news with exaggerations and vivid embellishments. They get away with content which might not meet decency standards on the English speaking stations (Kofi, communication lecturer, focus group III). In spite of these challenges, local language stations had been instrumental in expanding the opportunities of access for the majority of Ghanaians; and in preserving and promoting the development of local languages and cultures: Journal of Developing Societies 35, 2 (2019): 282–302 294 Journal of Developing Societies 35, 2 (2019): 282–302 The coming of the local radio stations is very timely. Listeners now understand governance issues better in their mother-tongue and are able to contribute actively to discussions on the social and political issues that affect them. I must also confess they have helped me improve upon my own Twi [language]... (Ewurabena, consultant, focus group III). Due to the technology of radio, therefore, illiteracy, especially in the English language, no longer poses a barrier to citizen participation in public discourse. Together with the contemporary plurality of stations and local languages, advances in mobile—and especially digital—technologiesmediated tools have enabled audiences to exercise greater discretionary power in their radio habits. Listeners feel no bounden loyalties to any particular stations. They tend, rather, to listen to radio serially—moving from channel to channel in search of the next favored program. The following response reflects the radio habits of participants: I change stations all the time; it depends on what is happening on the other stations. … Even, I use my mobile phone if there is noise in the area; or people are listening to another programme which I’m not interested in. The mobile phone radio allows you to listen to music or discussion programme even while you’re working. If I can’t listen to something I’ve planned for, I feel uncomfortable (Shamima, teacher, focus group I). The fact that most mobile phones have a radio feature means that audiences have greater access to radio, making it even more essential in the promotion of development communication efforts. These views were largely shared by other participants, such as the following perspectives from focus groups III and IV: Radio is now a basic feature of all mobile phones…thus it’s made radio more mobile. A listener can be listening to a radio discussion, call into the programme with his phone or send a text message or WhatsApp message and make his or her contributions, all through one device; and probably will be sitting in a bus or taking a walk; that’s the power of technology (Thomas, businessman, focus group IV). First, the internet enables more listeners to have access to radio on the go: you can listen on your phone; you can listen on your computer; and you can listen beyond the boundaries of the station’s transmitter. Secondly, through the means of podcasting and other tune-in apps you can play back a programme Tietaah et al.: Radio Redux: Audience Participation 295 and listen later if you miss the live broadcast… (Ewurabena, communications consultant, focus group III). It is clear from these responses that radio has become increasingly less of a one-size-fits-all mass medium. Individuals can literally produce their own program schedules by selecting topics from across the spectrum of podcasts available on the internet. And they can time-shift or swap schedules to suit their personal convenience and routines. This creates, literally, an on-demand service possibility for access to content anytime, anywhere. The conclusion then, as Nene (chief, focus group IV) pointed out, is that the integration of internet and digital technologies “have promoted and deepened participatory communication. It has deepened also the democratic culture in our country.” The rider, though, is that these digital and internet-based technologies “are sophisticated and expensive. You must have a smart phone, and you must be tech savvy; plus, data are still too expensive. This cannot be the mainstream way of listening to radio because the average Ghanaian cannot afford it (James, foreign news editor, focus group III). Technologies have also been instrumental in the observed shifts in radio content creation and consumption. These are evident in the shift from media-centered productions to the increased use of both in-studio and out-of-studio voices. Participants commonly cited examples of talk/ discussion programs, funeral/social announcements, and information/ news bulletins in which live telephone interviews, voiceovers, and text messages were routinely integrated into productions. The following response is illustrative: Most news bulletins include phone interviews, and sometimes even in-studio interviews, with an eyewitness at the scene of an incident… maybe a lorry accident, or fire outbreak; or a government minister or political office holder; or even the person who is the victim or complainant in an incident that is of public interest (Ruth, civil servant, focus group IV). Public participation is particularly observable in the contemporary practice of traditional, off-line, radio stations setting up also online, social media accounts and web pages. These accounts constitute alternative, multidirectional, pathways to public participation and engagement that were unavailable in the past when radio was characterized as a unidirectional transmitter of messages. Depending on the nature of the program and topic, stations routinely invite political party representatives, or Journal of Developing Societies 35, 2 (2019): 282–302 296 Journal of Developing Societies 35, 2 (2019): 282–302 subject specialists, NGO and civil society members and the public—in to their studio or via phone or advertized social media platforms—for panel discussions and audience feedback: From time to time, they would announce their social media contacts like WhatsApp, twitter and Facebook… and invite and read out the views and reactions of listeners. Or, they open the phone lines for the public to call in and share their opinions (Regina, public health nurse, focus group I). They use the phone numbers and social media platforms to draw audiences to their discussions. In fact, topics to be discussed are announced, and also placed on their social media handles for the public to deliberate, discuss, and share their opinions on them even before the programme starts. The only thing is that the ‘serial callers’ tend to highjack the lines and make it difficult for independent voices to be heard. Besides, not all of us can use social media or afford the cost of phone-ins (Evelyn, administrative secretary, focus group I). In the overall judgment of participants, the possibilities for technologyenabled audience-generated content were particularly instrumental in the promotion of inclusive public engagement and in the advancement of accountable governance. In particular, the internet and social media further serve as the forum for extended debate and discussion on issues originally raised on traditional radio. These views echo both the public sphere thesis adduced by Habermas (2006; cf. also Garnham, 2000) and the ideas and indicators of communication for sustainable development proposed by Lennie and Tacchi (2013; cf. also Servaes 2009), that participation is prerequisite to political efficacy and expansion of the democratic public space. Through expert opinion and panel discussions, a variety of voices and views are heard on all manner of subjects: Phone-ins, text messaging and the social network platforms ensure that the perspectives of citizen-witnesses—called citizen journalists—are integrated into news bulletins. The way in which such conversations are conducted or moderated is a question of professionalism; but I think essentially, the fact that the public has the opportunity to participate in public discourse through radio is an important milestone in Ghana (Kofi, communication lecturer, focus group III). As the literature on participatory communication suggests, when people are allowed to participate in decisions that tap into development issues, it helps to examine challenges and explore organic solutions, rather than merely convey information and expect compliance. Radio thus Tietaah et al.: Radio Redux: Audience Participation 297 enables conversations on and of development by empowering people to understand themselves and their potential and by enabling freedom of expression and choice. Conclusion The policy shift away from the vertical, top-down, model and toward the horizontal, two-way, engagement with and participation of people in discussions and decisions has brought into question the acclaimed instrumentality of radio as a development communication medium. The findings of this study suggest that rather than depose radio, new information and communication technologies have renewed the essentiality of radio for development in Africa. The radio habits of audiences reflect a correspondence with the shift in development communication paradigms from one-way transmission of messages to the prevailing practice of participation and empowerment of “beneficiaries” in the decisions that affect them. They demonstrate a central role of radio in enabling popular participation in public affairs and discursive democracy, in bridging the distance between citizens and public officials, and in expressing choice and demanding accountability from their leaders. Furthermore, while the contemporary global embrace of social media and the internet as workaday means and modes of communication has seemed to subdue scholarly enthusiasm about the utility of the so-called legacy media, radio has retained a stoic resonance with audience cultures in Ghana. The availability of mobile and internet technologies has created a hybridized media ecosystem in which, paradoxically, radio is witnessing a renaissance of relevance as a tool for development. In Ghana, new media have not, as such, inherited traditional radio. They have given birth to their parent, to use the analogy of Katz, Peters, Liebes, and Orloff (2003). The opportunity for audiences to express themselves in their own indigenous languages also suggests radio as a preferred medium for exercising affirmativeness in favor of rural locations and poor populations. While recent scholarly accounts have been starry-eyed about the possibilities spawned by new technologies (cf. Aker & Mbiti, 2010; Boateng, Garsombke, Kuofie, & Yellen, 2010; Ohemeng & Ofosu-Adarkwa, 2014; Sey, 2011) they overlook the acute barriers to universal uptake posed by the questions of cost and competence, and by perceptions of relative usefulness and locus of control. In that sense, radio helps account for the social gaps created or characterized by differences in new technology Journal of Developing Societies 35, 2 (2019): 282–302 298 Journal of Developing Societies 35, 2 (2019): 282–302 uptake between men and women, rich and poor, literate and illiterate, and urban and rural audiences. As such, it is relatively better suited for breaking down the social and economic asymmetries that characterize other technology-based communication systems. At the same time, the advantages that have often been attributed to new media technologies—such as interactivity and demassification—are increasingly being appropriated by radio through the means of such accessories as the smart phone and social media, the internet and tune-in apps. The findings show that audience members listen to radio in a relational way; in that radio listening is integrated into their social routines. In this regard, the new information and communication technologies become accessories with which they are able to check in and out of the virtual market square created by radio; while engaged at the same time in other chores, such as working, or walking, or even talking. This suggests, also, a validation of radio as a medium and means of building social capital, which Putnam (1993, 2000, p. 19) defines as the stock of “civic virtues” that facilitate interaction and reciprocity among members of society; and which enable them to participate and cooperate around shared interests, values, and norms. In turn, this perspective reflects the communal orientation and social essentiality of Ghanaian and African communicative practices (Tietaah, 2013, 2015). In effect, radio has become, variously, an interlocutor, a companion, or an instrumental aid for pursuing different hedonic needs and socializations. In sum, the appropriation and application of digital and internetenabled technologies and platforms have redefined the concept and constructs of radio; from a unidirectional transmitter of transient messages to an arena for public participation and cocreation of content and meanings. It is also the condition and context for the (re)incarnation of radio as an indicator and instrument of democracy and development. The further possibility to communicate using multiple local languages makes it a particularly egalitarian means of audience engagement and expression. Radio has, consequently, mutated from the powerful effects metaphors of being an as’oromagb’esi, or akasanoma, which permits only the unidirectional transmission of messages, to the audience-centric notion of an omnidirectional medium for the cocreation and conveyance of content. There is a need, though, for research and policy consideration of ways in which the dividends of radio redux can be repurposed to leverage the opportunities this promises for democratic governance, social capital, and inclusive development. Tietaah et al.: Radio Redux: Audience Participation 299 DECLARATION OF CONFLICTING INTERESTS The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. FUNDING The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. REFERENCES Aker, J. C., & Mbiti, I. M. (2010). Mobile phones and economic development in Africa. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 24(3), 207–232. Amoakohene, M. I. (2004). Focus group research: Towards an applicable model for Africa. In K. Kwansah-Aidoo (Ed.). Topical issues in communications and media research (pp. 173–197). New York, NY: Nova Science Publishers, Inc. Ansu-Kyeremeh, K. (1992). 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Declaration of principles building the information society: A global challenge in the new millennium. Geneva, Switzerland: World Summit on the Information Society. ———. (2004). Shaping information societies for human needs: Civil society declaration to the World Summit on the Information Society. Retrieved from http://www.itu.int/wsis/docs/geneva/civil-society-declaration.pdf Gilbert Tietaah is a scholar and senior lecturer at the Department of Communication Studies, University of Ghana. His teaching and research interests straddle the interstices of communication, democracy and development. Gilbert has authored and edited numerous policy reports and Journal of Developing Societies 35, 2 (2019): 282–302 302 Journal of Developing Societies 35, 2 (2019): 282–302 scholarly articles in the fields of communication for social change and development, health communication, communicating climate change, media pluralism and regulation, political communication and the political economy of communication. His academic works have been published in both local and international refereed journals. Gilbert holds a PhD degree in African Studies, and Post-graduate diploma and MPhil degrees in Communication Studies from the University of Ghana. [email: [email protected]] Margaret Amoakohene is a Senior Lecturer and Head of the Department of Communication Studies, University of Ghana. She holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Mass Communication from the University of Leicester and a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) degree in Communication Studies from the University of Ghana. Dr Amoakohene teaches public relations, qualitative research methods and political communication and has one leg in politics as a member of Ghana’s Council of State, an advisory body to the President and his Ministers, after previously serving as Ghana’s High Commissioner to Canada. Damasus Tuurusong is a Senior Lecturer of Development Communications and Acting Head of the Department of African and General Studies, University for Development Studies. He holds a Doctorate of Philosophy in Development Studies from the University of Cape Coast, a Master of Philosophy in Communication Studies, Graduate Diploma in Communication Studies and Bachelor of Arts in English and Theatre Arts all from the University of Ghana. He has published more than a dozen academic articles in refereed journals, focusing mainly on endogenous media for development, advertising, journalism, theatre for development as well as children’s communications rights. 

ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES ADRRI JOURNALS (www.adrri.org) E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1 (7), January, 2022- March, 2022 A Comprehensive Understanding into the Drivers of Lean Implementation in the Public Sector in Ghana 1 Khinanwin Nyande , Seidu Al-Hassan2, and Damasus Tuurosong3 1 Department of Social, Political and Historical Studies, University for Development Studies, Ghana. 2 Department of Food Security and Climate Change, University for Development Studies, Ghana. 3 Department of African and General Studies, Simon Diedong Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies, Ghana. 1 Correspondence: [email protected] Available Online: 31st March, 2022 URL: https://journals.adrri.org/index.php/home Abstract Lean thinking is a method to remove different types of waste in an organizational process. Lean thinking helps to improve the present quality of processes and guarantee positive fiscal and economic results as well as improving the performance of the employees. The objective of the study was to examine the drivers of the Lean implementation processes at DVLA in Ghana. A total of 399 respondents were selected to participate in the study. The key drivers of the Lean implementation processes at DVLA in Ghana were making sure the customers are always satisfied with the services rendered, and having a leadership with a Lean ideology. These drivers are important steps if the Authority wants to reap the benefits of Lean by focusing on eliminating wastes such as long waiting time, motion, overproduction, corruption, defects, transportation etc. that occur within the process. It was therefore recommended that employees and management of the Authority should adopt positive work ethics whiles focusing on the key drivers of Lean implementation. Keywords: lean implementation, drivers, waste, customer satisfaction, organization [Cite Article as: Nyande, K., Al-Hassan, S., and Tuurosong, D. (2022). A Comprehensive Understanding into the Drivers of Lean Implementation in the Public Sector in Ghana. ADRRI Journal of Arts and Social Sciences, Ghana: Vol. 19, No.1 (7), Pp.119-146, E-ISSN: 2343-6891, 31st March, 2022.] [ Received: (January 1, 2022) [[ Accepted: (March 31, 2022) 119 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE INTRODUCTION Expanding global competition, emerging new technologies, and improved communication have increased customers’ expectations for full satisfaction with products and services they purchase (Canel et al., 2000). Consequently, in recent years, many manufacturing and service companies have been challenged to increase their focus on customer satisfaction and quality of products and services. Confronting the challenges of global competition, companies world-wide are forced to find ways to reduce costs, improve quality, and meet the ever-ending needs of customers (Canel et al., 2000). Most organizations nowadays are always in search of answers to meet the difficulties of competition and marketplace in order to move up the hierarchy in the active market setting (Sinha and Matharu, 2019). Service sector including government agencies around the world adopt lean management which is mostly used in manufacturing companies in order to cope with the increasing pressure to improve efficiencies and deliver quality services to customers (Asnan et al., 2015). With shrinking budgets and a slow economy, it is becoming increasingly important for all government agencies to become more efficient. Citizens expect and deserve efficient and effective services from federal, state and local government agencies. One of the best methods to improve efficiency and eliminate waste is to institute the business process improvement methodologies known collectively as Lean (Shepherd, 2012). The word “lean” refers to lean manufacturing or lean production as it uses less of everything, compared to mass production. It only uses half of the human effort in the factory, half of the manufacturing space, half of the investment in tools and half of the engineering hours to develop a new product in half the time (Wahab et al., 2013). A Lean Manufacturing company typically uses some alternatives as an approach that seeks to better organize and manage a company's relationships with its customers, supply chain, product development, and production operations, whereby it is possible to increase productivity by efficiently utilizing the resources (Junior and Mendes, 2017). 120 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE In Ghana for instance, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) is a semiautonomous public sector institution under the Ministry of Transportation. It was formed by Act 569 of 1999 for safeguarding road safety for all users (Wireko and Skouby, 2016). The DVLA is authorised to encourage good driving values in the nation, and safeguard vehicles that are roadworthy. Its idea is to be a trustworthy institution with universally recognized standards for vehicle and driver licensing (Amegavi, 2015). Amegavi (2015) argued that the manual system at DVLA was beset with irregularities including human interference, fraud and influence in the testing procedure, leakage of the driving examination questions and impersonation. The Ghana Audit Service (2006) also explained that customers at DVLA wait for long hours to be served. Also, the Ghana Integrity rated DVLA as the most corrupt organization in Kumasi (AppiahDolphyne, 2020). Allway and Corbett (2002) observe that the Lean approach has become well-known in improving operations and profitability of manufacturing companies and can be successfully adopted in many service-sector firms. They explain a rigorous five-phase process and point out how an insurance company successfully adopted the lean approach through this process. Vignesh et al., (2016) investigate lean practices in the municipal sector in a service supply chain management (SCM) context. They analysed lean implementation in Danish municipalities. They proposed a model that illustrates the conditions under which lean is most appropriate according to the type of service delivered. The results show that lean is mainly implemented as “toolbox lean,” such as with value stream mapping, kaizen and information boards. Thus, the research examines the factors or drivers that push for a full Lean implementation at DVLA in Ghana. The results from this study will provide additional information on Lean thinking in the service sector which could be beneficial to policy makers and researchers in academia. The remaining part of the research looks at the literature review in relation to Lean, and the methodology that was used in the study. The study further presents the results and discusses it with relevant literature. The final aspect of the research looks at the conclusions and recommendations. 121 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE LITERATURE REVIEW Lean in the Service Sector Lean Thinking has an extensive history in the manufacturing sector. It is newer to the service sector and more precisely the public sector, with few instances before the year 2000 (Hines, 2011). Lean is a theory that accepts the expenditure of all kinds of possessions that focuses on the creation of value for the end customer and removal of waste. The method of thinking stated by a set of values, augmented by diverse techniques and tools aids in effective performance improvement, waste elimination, reduction in inventory, and optimal quality level to the final clients (Ciarnienea and Vienazindiene, 2015). Asnan, Nordin and Othman (2015) explain that government organizations have adopted the Lean thinking ideology in order to improve efficiency and effectiveness so as to make sure the client gets value for the services rendered. Yet many public service organizations are not able to completely operationalize the Lean thinking ideology and sustain it. Resistance to change was one of the main problems encountered during the Lean operationalization process. Thus, change management was recommended for public institutions so as to improve service delivery. It is very true that constant change management and adopting positive change yields extra benefits to every organization that wants to implement Lean thinking. This study will build on the explanation by the authors to examine if change actually plays an important role in eliminating non-valued activities or waste at DVLA in Ghana. Radnor et al., (2006) explain that Lean was established to function in the Scottish public sector by concentrating on the values of decreasing waste, improving the work flow, increasing the knowledge of the client, and producing a process view. Through the case and pilot research, institutional willingness was also established to be serious. The research proposed that institutions should reflect if they have a capability, resources and mindset and pledge for change. The authors explained that for Lean thinking to be persistent in the public sector, the aims of the program should be incorporated and connected into the plan of the organization. 122 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE Radnor et al., (2015) also argue that Lean has been included through public services, comprising central government, healthcare and local government establishments. The operationalization of Lean values in healthcare, mainly hospitals has removed identical procedures and needless processes such as: recording patient information in numerous places; unnecessary waiting for health workforce; and uncoordinated, mutable discharge procedures causing a longer duration of stay (Radnor et al., 2015). This study will build on the assertion by the above authors and confirm whether waste such as longer waiting time exist at DVLA in Ghana. Kanakana (2013) conducted a research using secondary data on review of Lean in the Service industry particularly the hospitals, food sector, public sector, airline industry, financial and educational sectors. The results indicated that there was successful implementation with challenges on implementation strategy as well as benefits derived after implementation. The findings agree that Lean thinking can be applied successfully in the public sector just like in any other service sector organization even though this setting is more multifaceted; its clients are more different and client demands are often explained by diverse stakeholders such as politicians, experts, and users. Consequently, in spite of Lean thinking being prosperous in public sectors institutional development, cost efficiency must continue to be the core focus. Pedersen and Huniche (2011) state that the achievement of Lean in the public sector is grounded by the following factors: Balance of power; Complexity and importance; Goals and values; and Resource and capabilities. The methodology used in the research by Kanakana (2013) could not hold since the author focused on using secondary data instead of primary data for various service sector organizations. The study could have been interesting if the author had focused on only one area like this current study is using DVLA as a basis for examining the waste in relation to Lean thinking. Nicole and Marijn (2012) investigated the concept of Lean thinking in the public sector using egovernment services to find out whether the usage of Lean will be sustainable with many benefits. Although Lean has been widely studied in the manufacturing sector with huge benefits, its implementation in the public sector is small. The authors revealed that Lean has contributed to the reduction of waste and improvement of efficiency. The main emphasis of 123 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE Lean is on efficiency and clients do not take public values into consideration. Also, the emphasis on client value creation does not consider the value for the democratic governance. When implemented completely, it can improve the processes and culture, and lead to constant improvement. Yet, the features of government destruct all government procedure and importantly hinder the acceptance, implementation and use of Lean in e-government situations. The explanation by Nicole and Marijn (2012) is true because in a public organization in Ghana like DVLA the central government plays an important role in appointing the board of directors to manage the organization. This can delay the Lean implementation processes since DVLA operations must be in line the policy of the government. Lean Principles Movaghar (2016) is of the view that the five Lean principles comprise; identifying value, mapping the value stream, ensuring movement (flow), achieving client pull, and making an effort for perfection and constant improvement. These key principles are stated as the obligatory track word ‘Lean Thinking’. The value is usually well-defined by customers’ perception. Hence, it has individual implication because of having multifaceted and diverse definitions. According to Movaghar (2016) value can be termed as both market value and utility value. Many investigators in this area confirm this description of value. According to Ballard (2000) and Movaghar (2016), value occurs throughout a process of discussion among clients’ aims and demands. The value is well-defined as that item which carries the produce in the form preferred by clients’ who are ready to pay for that service (Kanyanya, 2013). Movaghar (2016) recommend three distinct groups of value; use value, exchange value and esteem value. Use and exchange values are linked to business and market. On the other hand, esteem value has a rooted range that is not simply about productclient perception. Allowing clients to determine if they had value for their money in terms of service delivery is vital in the Lean implementation processes. This present study would focus on identifying the value creating activities by allowing customers to present their views as a result of their activities at DVLA. 124 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE Kanyanya (2013) stresses that the objective of the value stream mapping is to assist executives classify waste in their procedures so as to remove them. Some of these wastages identified are: Waiting, the waste period of the manufacturing procedure resulting from a defective firm of the working tools (motion), the period employed when moving the produces from one point to another of the manufacturing procedure, from the manufacturing yards to granaries (transportation), the manufacturing of larger item/s than it is requested or needed for the next phase of the production procedure (overproduction), the adverse features that render the item unit for consumption functionality or its appearance, the junk (defects), excess processing, and inventory (Kanyanya, 2013; Lindholm, 2018). Although this author agrees with the findings of the above authors (Kanyanya, 2013; Lindholm, 2018), it must be noted that every organization is unique in terms of its operations and the waste that may be identified in an organization may be different from what happens at DVLA. This study will build on the explanation of the authors to also identify and assess the type of waste that occurs within DVLA operations. Womack and Jones (2003) also claim that the important procedure of performing actions to make it perfect and regulating them to advance a produce is Flow. The meaning of Flow is decreasing the flowing period of time starting from the raw materials to finished goods which results in the finest quality, inexpensive price, and fastest dispatch time (Womack and Jones, 2003). The reality rests in the point that advanced flow declines the ‘water line’, and so leaks the difficulties. The elimination of these difficulties or waste is essential for the formation of Flow (Movaghar, 2016). This explanation by Womack and Jones (2003) may be a replicate of what happens at DVLA since Lean implementation or operationalization reduces the processes in serving clients. Movaghar (2016) claims that pull preparation play a significant part in Lean approach, as an appropriate production procedure. This influence is recognized as serious Lean approaches to improve workflow in construction plans. This influence is the best vital agent in Lean method since it embodies the need for improving the performance of a firm (Movaghar, 2016). It is important for clients to identify areas which create value or non-value-added activities before 125 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE the process of elimination can be done. This explanation by Movaghar (2016) will provide more explanation within the processes at DVLA. To attain constant improvement suggests that individuals should be engaged in how the change processes are being prepared and how their views can be incorporated in the procedures to develop and change the process (Womack and Jones 2003). Perfection will be attained through a constant development in decreasing all kinds of difficulties and non-value addition responsibilities beside the flow procedure (Movaghar, 2016). Constant or sustainable improvement is significant in the lean implementation process. Lean does not produce an instant change within an organization but the change it produces should always run throughout the everyday organizational operations. The author will investigate and understand whether the operations of DVLA are built on the Lean thinking principles. Drivers of Lean Implementation Salonitisa and Tsinopoulos (2016) explain that the important drivers of Lean Thinking that has been emphasized by most of the investigators are summarized into: to upturn market portion; to raise elasticity; the requirement for endurance from internal limitations; improvement of important performance meters; need to hire world best training; part of the business’s continuous agenda; drive to emphasize on clients; and obligation/motivation by clients; and obligation by mother establishment. Bhadu, Bhamu and Singh (2019) also argued from a different perspective and explained that the drivers that should be reflected and used while applying the Lean tenet in ceramic businesses are categorized as the size of establishment, poor skills, workers’ participation, high workforce cost, awareness of the Lean idea, absence of a standard functioning process as well as type and principle of the product route. The authors gave a concrete explanation on the drivers to Lean implementation in some companies. Although there was evidence to support their explanation, every organization is unique and what can motivate an organization to embark on full Lean thinking may be different from what can motivate DVLA to also operationalize full Lean thinking. 126 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE Murthy (2007) also explains that the aim of Lean Thinking is to produce a long permanent standardized method that can be upheld for some years. It is significant that the workers are provided tools on how they can adjust to the variations. Chakrabarty and Tan (2007) also observed that directors should begin introducing Lean operationalization to the establishment and the workers must also focus on financial merits. The organization must display financial advantages that could be derived from Lean operationalization. This is understood as a vital motivational driver for the workers, having real proof on how significant the operation is for the establishment. This study agrees with the assertion by Chakrabarty and Tan (2007) and Murthy (2007) since DVLA operates as a public sector organization with a mandate to raise enough revenue for its operations and support the national government. This means that employees and management must also support the Authority by making sure they focus on changing their style of doing things which should increase their financial gains. Conceptual Model of Lean Thinking The conceptual model is recognized as the method that displays the significant variables to be deliberated on in the investigation through narrative or graphical procedure (Fellows and Liu, 2003). According to Ali (2017), a conceptual framework is organized from an establishment of comprehensive philosophies and theories that support an investigator to correctly classify variables that he/she is viewing, construct his/her objectives and recognize the important literature. A conceptual framework supports the investigator to elucidate his research objectives and questions (Ali, 2017). In this case, the conceptual framework that underpinned the study is shown in Figure 1 below. 127 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE Lean Thinking IDENTIFY VALUE DRAFTING A CURRENT MAP Using Value Stream Mapping FLOW PULL Obstacles in implementi ng Lean Drivers of Lean implementation PURSUE FULL PERFECTION Eliminating waste ie. Waiting, overproduction, inappropriate processing, transportation, unnecessary inventory, defects and unnecessary motion. Figure 1: Conceptual Framework Source: Authors own construct 128 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE Grounded on the availability of current literature that was reviewed under this current study, the conceptual framework for this research work was designed or constructed with respect to Lean Thinking in the public service sector in Ghana using the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) as a case study. The concepts of Lean Thinking have been well explained as the issue focuses on reducing waste (anything that does not add value to the organizational performance or profitability) at DVLA. The next process after identifying the value and non-value-added activities is to draft or map out the value stream of DVLA which has to do with the operations in terms of service delivery. Knowing the processes or procedure clients go through at the Authority are very vital for the success of Lean. After mapping the value stream, it is important to know the current and potential resources DVLA has so as to know their competitive advantage over other organizations. It is also important to know the bargaining or purchasing power of clients as they affect the performance of the Authority. Also, knowing the drivers for Lean operationalization can help organizations reap the benefits of Lean. Organizations implementing Lean Thinking may face challenges and difficulties. The conceptual framework also shows that management and employees are the important elements for change which must affect performance. The conceptual framework is well related to the four research objectives raised and discussed in the analysis section of this study. METHODOLOGY The investigators adopted the mixed method research with much emphasis on the concurrent research design. The mixed method research design takes into consideration both qualitative and quantitative approaches (Creswell, 2009). This was essential to the study because of the limited time frame for the data collection as well the analysis of the data which was collected through the questionnaire and interview guide. The researchers used purposive sampling techniques (based on unique understanding of the subject under investigation) to choose key informants such as the Director for Monitoring and Evaluation at DVLA, Regional Managers of DVLA, Assistant Managers of DVLA and Administrative Officers of DVLA. 129 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE As Lean Thinking is focused on the client in defining what value is, the investigators randomly sampled 399 clients to participate in the study. This was done with the aid of Miller and Brewer (2004) sample size calculation and Al-hassan (2015) cluster sample size calculation. The sample size calculation was n = N/[1+N(α)2], where n is the sample size, N is the sample frame which represents the total number of clients at DVLA and the margin of error fixed at 5%. The cluster sample size calculation was nj = (Nj/N) × n where n represents the sample size for the stratum j, Nj represents the population size of the stratum j, N also represents the overall population and n is the total sample size. The total number of customers as 2017 for Kumasi, Takoradi, Accra, and Tamale offices were 56,280, 52,894, 98,809 and 23,657 respectively (DVLA, 2019). Based on these calculations, Kumasi office had a sample size figure of 97, Takoradi office had 91, Accra office had 170 and Tamale office also had 41 respondents. The researchers used a standardized z-test to analyze the data since the sample size was large (above 30). This was vital to assess the severity of each of the drivers to a full Lean implementation process at DVLA in Ghana. With regards to the qualitative analysis, the responses from the interview guide were put into thematic areas based on the research objectives to support the quantitative data. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS Drivers of Lean Implementation Process at DVLA The null hypothesis for this part of the study was that the drivers of Lean implementation method were not severe with the alternate hypothesis emphasising that those drivers in Lean implementation method were severe. The mean score was positioned at 4.000 which implies that all the drivers that were below 4.000 describes a less severity and all the drivers which were above the mean score of 4.000 indicates a higher severity in terms of the drivers for the Lean implementation process at DVLA. It can be seen from Table 6.3 that if the zstatistics has a positive value, then the mean will be above the hypothesized mean of 4.000 (Its corresponding raw score will be greater than the hypothesized mean) whiles if the zstatistic has a negative value, then the mean will be below the hypothesized mean of 4.000 (Its corresponding raw score will be less than the hypothesized mean). The z-statistics also 130 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE explains how many standard deviations are far away from the mean. A z-statistics which is zero explains that it is on the mean. It can also be noted from Table 1 that customer satisfaction and Lean leadership all had pvalues below 0.05 which explains that all these drivers in the Lean implementation processes were highly significant and played an important role in the Lean implementation processes at DVLA. These drivers had a mean value above the hypothesized value. Customer satisfaction had a mean score of 4.108 [median = 4.000, standard deviation (SD) of 0.825, standard error (S.E) of 0.041, variance (S2) = 0.680, z-statistic of 2.490 and p-value = 0.006. The z-statistic for customer satisfaction explains that it is 2.490 far away from the mean value of 4.108. The findings from Table 6.3 also shows that Lean leadership (mean = 4.098 [median = 4.000], SD = 0.879, S.E = 0.044, S2 = 0.772, Z-Statistic = 2.220 and p-value = 0.013) was above the hypothesized mean value of 4.000. It can be concluded that these two drivers stated above indicate that they occur in a highly severe way and it is significant if Lean Thinking is to be operationalized within DVLA operations in Ghana. Despite the significance level of each driver for the Lean implementation process, some of the drivers were above the hypothesized value of 4.0000. Management commitment, incentive mechanisms, long term profit of implementing Lean, existence of a clear marketing strategy, willingness to invest in Lean practices, clear understanding of technical requirements of lean, availability of Lean tools and techniques, availability of consulting team members in Lean, efficiency of human resource management activities, supportive nature of governmental regulations, government initiatives, existence of communicating Lean practices and existence of Lean research groups and initiatives had p-values above 0.05 which explains that all these drivers in the Lean implementation processes were not significant and played a small part in the Lean implementation processes at DVLA. 131 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE Table 1: Drivers of Lean Implementation Process in Ghana Drivers Management commitment Incentive mechanisms Customer Satisfaction Long term profit of implementing Lean Existence of a clear marketing strategy Willingness to invest in Lean practices Clear understanding of technical requirements in Lean Availability of Lean tools and techniques Lean leadership Availability of consulting team members in Lean Efficiency of human resource management activities Supportive nature of governmental regulations in Lean Government incentives Existence of communicating Lean practices Existence of Lean research groups and initiatives Source: Field Study (2020) Hypothesized Mean Value 4.000 3.985 4.000 2.932 Median SD S.E S2 N Z-Statistic 4.000 3.000 0.871 1.151 0.044 0.058 0.759 1.325 399 399 -0.340 -18.530 Pvalue 0.635 1.000 4.000 4.000 4.000 4.000 4.000 4.103 3.381 3.301 3.654 3.687 4.000 4.000 4.000 4.000 4.000 0.825 1.319 1.409 1.207 1.112 0.041 0.066 0.071 0.060 0.056 0.680 1.739 1.985 1.458 1.236 399 399 399 399 399 2.290 -9.380 -9.910 -5.720 -5.630 0.006 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 4.000 4.000 4.000 4.000 3.456 4.098 4.000 3.779 4.000 4.000 4.000 4.000 1.300 0.879 0.913 1.130 0.065 0.044 0.046 0.057 1.691 0.772 0.834 1.278 399 399 399 399 -8.350 2.220 0.000 -3.900 1.000 0.013 0.500 1.000 4.000 3.940 4.000 0.875 0.044 0.765 399 -1.370 0.915 4.000 4.000 4.000 2.687 3.043 3.880 2.000 3.000 4.000 1.322 1.123 1.176 0.066 0.056 0.059 1.748 1.262 1.382 399 399 399 -19.840 -17.020 -2.040 1.000 1.000 0.980 132 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE The results from Table 2 on the Accra DVLA office shows that all the fifteen drivers of the Lean implementation processes were not significant since they were below the p-value of 0.05. The data from Table 3 on the Kumasi DVLA office shows that only management commitment and existence of Lean research groups and initiatives were significant since they had p-values below the hypothesized mean value of 4.000. This was evident from the test statistics as management commitment had a mean value of 4.402 [median = 4.000], SD = 0.745, S.E = 0.076, S2 = 0.555, Z-Statistic = 5.310 and p-value = 0.000. Also, Lean research groups and initiatives had a mean value of 4.268 [median = 4.000], SD = 1.016, S.E = 0.103, S2 = 1.103, Z-Statistic 133 = 2.600 and p-value = 0.005. ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE Table 2: Drivers of Lean Implementation Process at Accra Office Drivers Hypothesized Value Mean Median SD S.E Management commitment 4.000 3.853 4.000 0.901 Incentive mechanisms 4.000 3.388 3.000 Customer Satisfaction 4.000 3.929 Long term profit of implementing Lean 4.000 Existence of a clear marketing strategy Willingness to invest in Lean practices Clear understanding requirements in Lean of S2 N Z-Statistic P-value 0.069 0.759 170 -2.130 0.983 1.147 0.088 1.325 170 -6.950 1.000 4.000 0.861 0.066 0.680 170 -1.070 0.858 3.488 4.000 1.067 0.082 1.739 170 -6.250 1.000 4.000 3.600 4.000 1.063 0.081 1.985 170 -4.910 1.000 4.000 3.606 4.000 1.137 0.087 1.458 170 -4.520 1.000 technical 4.000 3.371 4.000 1.112 0.093 1.236 170 -6.580 1.000 Availability of Lean tools and techniques 4.000 3.271 4.000 1.340 0.103 1.691 170 -7.100 1.000 Lean leadership 4.000 3.965 4.000 0.916 0.070 0.772 170 -0.500 0.692 Availability of consulting team members in 4.000 Lean 3.741 4.000 0.866 0.066 0.837 170 -3.900 1.000 Efficiency of human resource management 4.000 activities 3.982 4.000 1.012 0.078 1.278 170 -0.230 0.590 governmental 4.000 3.888 4.000 0.873 0.067 0.765 170 -1.670 0.952 Supportive nature regulations in Lean of 134 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE Government incentives 4.000 3.094 2.000 1.444 0.111 1.748 170 -8.180 1.000 Existence of communicating Lean practices 4.000 3.529 3.000 0.992 0.076 1.262 170 -6.180 1.000 Existence of Lean research groups and 4.000 initiatives 3.988 4.000 0.961 0.074 1.382 170 -0.160 0.563 Source: Field Study (2020) 135 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE Table 3: Drivers of Lean Implementation Process at Kumasi Office Drivers Hypothesized Value Mean Median SD S.E S2 N Z-Statistic P-value Management commitment 4.000 4.402 5.000 0.745 0.076 0.555 97 5.310 0.000 Incentive mechanisms 4.000 3.289 3.000 1.163 0.118 1.353 97 -6.020 1.000 Customer Satisfaction 4.000 3.990 4.000 0.995 0.101 0.989 97 -0.100 0.541 Long term profit of implementing Lean 4.000 3.639 4.000 1.324 0.134 1.754 97 -2.680 0.996 Existence of a clear marketing strategy 4.000 2.948 3.000 0.432 0.145 2.049 97 -7.230 1.000 Willingness to invest in Lean practices 4.000 3.691 4.000 1.034 0.105 1.070 97 -2.940 0.998 technical 4.000 3.763 4.000 1.125 0.114 1.266 97 -2.080 0.981 and 4.000 3.423 4.000 1.478 0.150 2.184 97 -3.850 1.000 4.000 3.619 3.000 0.871 0.088 0.759 97 -4.310 1.000 team 4.000 3.742 4.000 1.111 0.113 1.235 97 -2.280 1.000 resource 4.000 3.928 4.000 0.971 0.099 0.943 97 -0.730 0.768 Supportive nature of governmental 4.000 3.670 4.000 1.170 0.119 1.369 97 -2.780 0.997 Clear understanding requirements in Lean Availability techniques of of Lean tools Lean leadership Availability of members in Lean consulting Efficiency of human management activities 136 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE regulations in Lean Government incentives 4.000 2.794 3.000 1.274 0.129 1.624 97 -9.320 1.000 Lean 4.000 3.351 3.000 1.199 0.122 1.438 97 -5.330 1.000 Existence of Lean research groups and 4.000 initiatives 4.268 5.000 1.016 0.103 1.032 97 2.60 0.005 Existence practices of communicating Source: Field Study (2020) 137 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE In addition to the above, the results in Table 4 on the Takoradi DVLA office shows that only four drivers (customer satisfaction, lean leadership, availability of consulting team members in Lean, and supportive nature of government regulation in Lean) were significant. This was evident from the test statistics as customer satisfaction commitment had a mean value of 4.396 [median = 4.000], SD = 0.492, S.E = 0.052, S2 = 0.242, Z-Statistic = 7.680 and p-value = 0.000. Also, Lean leadership had a mean value of 4.637 [median = 4.000], SD = 0.483, S.E = 0.051, S2 = 0.234, Z-Statistic = 12.58 and p-value = 0.000. Availability of consulting team members in Lean commitment had a mean value of 4.385 [median = 4.000], SD = 0.489, S.E = 0.051, S2 = 0.239, Z-Statistic = 7.500 and p-value = 0.000. Supportive nature of government regulation in Lean had a mean value of 4.033 [median = 4.000], SD = 0.180, S.E = 0.019, S 2 = 0.032, Z-Statistic = 1.75 and 138 p-value = 0.040. ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE Table 4: Drivers of Lean Implementation Process at Takoradi Office Drivers Management commitment Incentive mechanisms Customer Satisfaction Long term profit of implementing Lean Existence of a clear marketing strategy Willingness to invest in Lean practices Clear understanding of technical requirements in Lean Availability of Lean tools and techniques Lean leadership Availability of consulting team members in Lean Efficiency of human resource management activities Supportive nature of governmental regulations in Lean Government incentives Existence of communicating Lean practices Existence of Lean research groups and initiatives Source: Field Study (2020) Hypothesized Value 4.000 4.000 Mean Median SD S.E S2 N Z-Statistic P-value 3.473 2.242 4.000 2.000 0.621 0.431 0.065 0.045 0.385 0.185 91 91 -8.110 -38.960 1.000 1.000 4.000 4.000 4.000 4.000 4.000 4.396 2.846 2.923 3.319 3.989 4.000 3.000 4.000 4.000 4.000 0.492 1.460 1.899 1.519 0.888 0.052 0.153 0.199 0.159 0.093 0.242 2.132 3.605 2.308 0.789 91 91 91 91 91 7.680 -7.540 -5.410 -4.280 -0.120 0.000 0.996 1.000 1.000 0.547 4.000 4.000 4.000 3.484 4.637 4.385 3.000 5.000 4.000 1.058 0.483 0.489 0.111 0.051 0.051 1.119 0.234 0.239 91 91 91 -4.660 12.580 7.500 1.000 0.000 0.000 4.000 3.198 3.000 1.128 0.118 1.272 91 -6.790 1.000 4.000 4.033 4.000 0.180 0.019 0.032 91 1.750 0.040 4.000 4.000 4.000 1.967 2.055 3.593 2.000 2.000 4.000 0.180 0.311 1.491 0.019 0.033 0.156 0.032 0.097 2.222 91 91 91 -108.017 -59.590 -2.600 1.000 1.000 0.995 139 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE The findings in Table 5 on the Tamale DVLA office shows that only six drivers (management commitment, customer satisfaction, willingness to invest in Lean practices, availability of Lean tools, Lean leadership, and availability of consulting team members in Lean) were significant. This was evident from the test statistics as management commitment had a mean value of 4.683 [median = 4.000], SD = 0.567, S.E = 0.089, S2 = 0.322, Z-Statistic = 7.710 and pvalue = 0.000. Also, customer satisfaction had a mean value of 4.439 [median = 4.000], SD = 0.509, S.E = 0.078, S2 = 0.252, Z-Statistic = 5.600 and p-value = 0.000. Willingness to invest in Lean practices had a mean value of 4.512 [median = 4.000], SD = 0.506, S.E = 0.079, S2 = 0.256, Z-Statistic = 6.480 and p-value = 0.000. Availability of Lean tools had a mean value of 4.244 [median = 4.000], SD = 0.830, S.E = 0.130, S2 = 0.689, Z-Statistic = 1.880 and p-value = 0.030. Lean leadership had a mean value of 4.561 [median = 4.000], SD = 0.502, S.E = 0.078, S2 = 0.252, Z-Statistic = 7.150 and p-value = 0.000. Availability of consulting team members in Lean had a mean value of 4.829 [median = 4.000], SD = 0.381, S.E = 0.069, S2 = 0.145, ZStatistic = 13.940 and p-value = 0.000. The results from the DVLA offices shows that the Tamale office had the greatest number of drivers of the Lean Thinking implementation followed by Takoradi and Kumasi offices respectively. The drivers of the Lean Thinking implementation in Accra office were not significant since they were 140 all above 0.05. ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE Table 5: Drivers of Lean Implementation Process at Tamale Office Drivers Management commitment Incentive mechanisms Customer Satisfaction Long term profit of implementing Lean Existence of a clear marketing strategy Willingness to invest in Lean practices Clear understanding of technical requirements in Lean Availability of Lean tools and techniques Lean leadership Availability of consulting team members in Lean Efficiency of human resource management activities Supportive nature of governmental regulations in Lean Government incentives Existence of communicating Lean practices Existence of Lean research groups and initiatives Source: Field Study (2020) Hypothesized Value 4.000 4.000 Mean Median SD S.E S2 N Z-Statistic P-value 4.683 1.732 5.000 2.000 0.567 0.449 0.089 0.070 0.322 0.201 41 41 5.310 -32.380 0.000 1.000 4.000 4.000 4.000 4.000 4.000 4.439 3.512 3.732 4.512 3.854 4.000 4.000 3.000 5.000 4.000 0.502 1.614 0.867 0.506 0.853 0.078 0.252 0.135 0.079 0.133 0.252 2.606 0.751 0.256 0.728 41 41 41 41 41 5.600 -1.930 -1.980 6.480 -1.100 0.000 0.974 0.976 0.000 0.864 4.000 4.000 4.000 4.244 4.561 4.829 4.000 5.000 5.000 0.830 0.502 0.381 0.130 0.078 0.059 0.689 0.252 0.145 41 41 41 1.880 7.150 13.94 0.030 0.000 0.000 4.000 3.829 4.000 1.482 0.231 2.195 41 -0.740 0.770 4.000 4.707 5.000 0.461 0.072 0.212 41 9.830 0.000 4.000 4.000 4.000 2.341 2.488 3.146 2.000 3.000 3.000 1.606 0.978 1.108 0.251 0.153 0.173 2.580 0.956 1.228 41 41 41 -6.61 -9.900 -4.93 1.000 1.000 1.000 141 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE A Regional Manager of DVLA had this to say: “The management of DVLA is committed to making sure the client always get value for their money. The authority has automated most of its services and has also established the client service unit. The client service unit is mandated to take complaints and suggestions from clients on issues related to our operations. All employees of DVLA are also trained to deliver services to customers without any difficulty. Our focus is centred on our cherished clients”. The Head of Client Service Unit also explained that: “The Authority has established the Client Service Excellence Unit to make sure that customers are always satisfied with our operations. In a case where clients need help concerning our operations, the Unit is responsible for assisting the client to go through the process”. Similarly, this finding differs with the results of Ogunbiyi (2014). The author divided the drivers for Lean implementation into two parts namely; the internal drivers and external drivers. The drivers found which were consistent with the results of this study consisted of government policy and negotiation, efficiency improvement, and people and resource utilization; yet all these were rejected in this current study since they were all below the hypothesized mean value of four (4). Ogunbiyi (2014) identified and assessed the severity of 12 drivers for implementing Lean construction whiles this current research identified and assessed the severity of 15 drivers to Lean implementation at DVLA. The author used the Severity Index Analysis for the analysis which was in contrast to the findings of this research. This study used a standardized z-test for this section of the analysis. It stated that the mean of severity was different from those drivers for Lean implementation that were equal to the hypothesized mean value of 4.000 or which were less than the hypothesized mean. Thus, all those drivers that were below 4.000 were rejected. Salonitisa and Tsinopoulos (2016) hold a contrary view from the findings of this current study. The authors indicated that the important drivers for a business to involve in Lean Thinking that have been emphasized by most of the investigators are summarized as: to upturn market portion; to upsurge elasticity; the requirement for endurance from internal limitations; improvement of important performance metres; need to hire world best training; 142 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE part of the business’s continuous agenda; drive to emphasise on clients; and obligation/motivation by clients; and obligation by the mother establishment. The research of Salonitisa and Tsinopoulos (2016) also failed to assess the severity of those drivers they identified in their research so as to identify the less severe ones from the highly severe ones. Bhadu, Bhamu and Singh (2019) also argued from a different perspective and explained that the notion of Lean Thinking in a business, which is determined by excellence, is the core factor in upholding effectiveness in the market situation. The drivers that should be reflected and used while applying Lean tenet in ceramic businesses are categorised as the size of establishment, poor skill, workers’ participation, high workforce cost, awareness of the Lean idea, absence of a standard functioning process as well as type and principle of the product route. The author argued that a good understanding and examination of drivers/factors will aid businesses to figure out the greatest operational method to apply Lean method, improve productivity and quality, greater profitability and better client satisfaction. Although the output of the drivers might be the same, the drivers that were identified and assessed based on severity were somewhat different from those of Bhadu, Bhamu and Singh (2019). Murthy (2007) also had a different view from the findings of this research that the aim of Lean Thinking is to produce a permanent standardized method that can be upheld for some years. It is significant that workers are provided with tools/skills to help them adjust to variations. Also, the findings of this study were different from Chakrabarty and Tan (2007), as they noted that the directors should begin introducing Lean operationalization to the establishment and the workers through financial dimensions. Financial dimensions require the directors to explain the financial advantages that could be derived from Lean operationalization. This is understood as a vital motivational driver for the workers; having real proof of how significant the operation is to the establishment. CONCLUSION On the basis of the analysis of data from the study, the drivers of Lean implementation have been examined at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority in Ghana. Lean thinking is still powerfully influenced by the manufacturing sector, but it is progressively being applied in new parts like the service sector. Over half of all the respondents specified that customer satisfaction and having a leadership with a Lean ideology are important steps if the 143 ADRRI JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES E-ISSN: 2343-6891 VOL. 19, No. 1(7), January, 2022-March, 2022 PUBLISHED BY AFRICA DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE Authority wants to reap out the benefits of Lean. This confirms the assertion by several authors that Lean thinking begins with the focus on the client and must end with client satisfaction. RECOMMENDATION Executors of the Lean Thinking Ideology perhaps have to manage with the enormous struggle at the Authority. Change should be a slow process for employees to appreciate and understand the benefits of changing from attitudes that do not bring value to the organization before they can remove their old behaviors. 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