Doctor of Philosophy Theses and Dissertations
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Item Linguistic Stigmatisation in Discourses Towards Involuntary Childless Women in The Gĩkũyũ Community(Laikipia University, 2024-09) Gitu, Pamela MukamiPositioning women in a situation where womanhood is pegged to motherhood has resulted in stigma towards involuntary childless women. These women are viewed as outsiders in their communities and certain ideologies propagating their discrimination are spread. As much as men who are childless are stigmatised, women are expected to consider motherhood their most crucial life goal and are hence subjected to more stigma if they cannot deliver. Language has contributed significantly to stigmatizing and stereotyping the childless women and lowering their esteem. This study focused on the linguistic stigma that involuntary childless women in the Gĩkῦyῦ community encounter and the linguistic strategies that contribute to the stigmatisation of these women. The study also looked at attempts by the childless women to counter stigmatising discourse against them and redefine womanhood. Fairclough and Leeuwen's Critical Discourse Analysis theory (CDA) and Wodak’s and KhosraviNik's Discourse Historical Approach (DHA), a branch of CDA were applied. The ideas of Connell's Hegemonic Masculinity theory are also applied, particularly the concepts of gender and power. Purposive sampling was used to select twenty-four involuntary childless women and twelve men. Data were collected in Tetu sub-county of Nyeri County, Kenya in the villages of Kĩandu, Mathakwainĩ, Ndῦgamano, and Kĩgogoinĩ. The study employed focus group discussions (FGDs) and interviews to collect the data which was audio recorded. The data were analysed using qualitative methods in the light of the theories identified. The study found that the Gĩkῦyῦ community follow deeply rooted gendered ideologies inscribed in men’s and women’s consciousness from birth. These ideologies impart a sense of self and identity that cuts across social and class divisions. As pronatalists, they hold common stereotypical ideologies which lead to viewing involuntary childless women as deficient and deviant. Based on these ideologies, language is used to stigmatise involuntary childless women through weaponised linguistic strategies and a host of topoi. The study also discovered that by giving voice to grief, some involuntary childless women redefined themselves and, in some cases, set themselves apart from other involuntary childless women by using the stereotypes applied to them. The findings of this study confirm the assertion of CDA-DHA that language use determines how people view themselves and the world around them. The involuntary childless women, for example, are referred to and view themselves in relation to their childlessness, though some are able to rebrand themselves. The findings of the study have advanced the application of CDA and Hegemonic Masculinity theory and demonstrated the power of language in constituting and contesting the reality.Item Land And other Forest Resource Use Dynamics In The Mau Forest, Kenya, 1880-2018(Laikipia University, 2024-10) Chemelil, Kipkemboi PhilipThe Mau Forestland has recently become a subject of intense public debate and national politics especially regards to issues such as ethnicity, land question, environmental conservation and management and electoral politcs in general. The forest land has historically been experiencing massive degradation heading to complete decimation. The situation has triggered conflicts among communities and between these communities and the government. Land use dynamics in the exploitation of forest resources are responsible for continued depletion reaching alarming levels by the beginning of the twenty-first century. The study thus attempts to account for land use changes in the Mau Forest between 1600 and 2018. The study interrogated land use change over time in the Mau Forest to give a deeper understanding of its history that will eventually give solutions to the diminution challenge. This is because solutions to human and ecological challenges are best solved when one first understands the underlying historical topography. The study adopted Beinart’s and Blaikie's views on political ecology theoretical frameworks. A wide range of interconnected methods of data collection was employed in the hope that a better fix on historical facts would be achieved. In that case, this study adopted an ex-post facto research design. The study also adopted the purposive sampling method. The data inputs were gathered from both primary and secondary sources. Data was then presented by the use of figures, tables, and pictures especially when showing how patterns have changed over time. Interpretation was backed by explanations in a narrative form by pegging theories with facts. It was found that pre-colonial land use and conservation were based on the co-existence of humanity and nature. The colonial forestland administration resulted in the diminution of customary rights, as well as the decline of traditional conservation and management systems. During the post-colonial period, the Mau Forestland became the centre of human rights abuses, politics, impoverishment and depletion. Efforts put in place for forest reclamation are bearing fruits as a result of multi-sectoral efforts and the enactment of the constitution and its subsequent legislative reforms.Item Personality Traits and Stress Resilience Among Teacher Counsellors In Public Secondary Schools In Kakamega County, Kenya(Laikipia University, 2024-10) Okubo, MonicaTeacher counsellors with their disparate personality traits encounter stress as they dispatch their noble service of counselling in secondary schools. Managing stress can partially be correlated to their personality traits analogous with their external environment. There is paucity of information on the relationship between personality traits and stress resilience among teacher counsellors in secondary schools. Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between personality traits and stress resilience among teacher counsellors in public secondary schools in Kakamega County, Kenya. The study was guided by the General Adaptation Syndrome theory of stress management (GAS) and Seligman’s 3P’s theory of resilience. A Correlational research design was used. The target population was 327 teacher counsellors from the 327 public secondary schools in Kakamega County. Simple random, stratified and purposive sampling methods were used to determine the sample size. The study sample comprised of 181 teacher counsellors. Data was collected by use of questionnaires. A pilot study was carried out in Bungoma County, Kenya. The instruments’ reliability through Cronbach’s coefficient index was found to be α=0.80 and was accepted. The instruments were validated by seeking the opinion of the experts from the Department of Psychology, Laikipia University, where construct and content validity was affirmed. Data was analyzed through Pearson’s correlation. All the Big Five Personality Traits (except conscientiousness) negatively correlated to resilience. The extroversion personality trait was negatively correlated to resilience (r =-0.505, p <.05) and the null hypothesis was rejected. Neuroticism personality traits was negatively correlated to resilience (r= -0.368. p< .05) and the hypothesis was also rejected. Openness personality trait was negatively correlated to resilience (r=-0.176, p <.05) and the null hypothesis was rejected. Agreeableness personality traits was negatively correlated to resilience (r -0.374, p <.05) and the null hypothesis was rejected. Conscientiousness personality trait had no linear relation to resilient(r= 0.000, p >.05) and the hypothesis was not rejected. The study concluded that personality traits are correlated to stress resilience and impact on counselling service delivery. The study recommends more training and empowerment of teacher counsellors to enable them purposefully use their personality traits to enhance their stress resilience in counselling service provision. The findings details intend to assist in the making of policies frame work that would guide properly in the selection, recruitment and motivation of school counsellors. The findings could also contribute to research knowledge about the relationship between personality traits and stress resilience and how this would improve worker morale toward better service provision.Item A Cognitive Linguistic Approach To Analogies Of Marriage: The Case Of Dholuo In Kenya(Laikipia University, 2024-10) Ogal, George OuCommunication is influenced by the context in which language is used. Every language utilizes certain resources and experiences within a speaker’s surroundings to create meaning. Such language resources may lock out outsiders from comprehending certain language phenomena because they lack the background knowledge required to decode the expressions. Interpretation of analogy may pose challenges to certain language users whose experiences, cultural resources and thought processes are different from those of a speaker. Against this backdrop, this study sought to undertake a Cognitive Linguistic analysis of analogies of marriage in Dholuo to reveal how mental representations influence the conceptualization of marriage in Dholuo. The study was guided by the following objectives: to categorize analogies of marriage in Dholuo using contrasting mental models approach; to exposit the image schemas of analogies of marriage in Dholuo; to explicate how mental spaces account for the meaning of analogies of marriage in Dholuo and; to examine the sociolinguistic implications of analogies of marriage in Dholuo. The study employed the Conceptual Integration Theory (CIT) and the Image Schemas Theory (IST) to analyze Dholuo analogies of marriage. To achieve the objectives of the study, the research adopted a descriptive research design. The target population for the study were native Dholuo speakers of the Kisumu South Nyanza (KSN) dialect. Through an interview schedule, the study purposively sampled 40 respondents based on demographic variables of gender, age and marital status to identify analogous expressions of marriage in Dholuo. The study used four annotators including the researcher to identify and translate the 66 analogies from the data collected. The identified analogies were then presented in tables categorizing them into various contrasting mental models. The annotators then established the schematic patterns emerging from the collected items using the Image Schemas Theory. The analogies were then graphically analyzed using conceptual mappings, blending networks and mental spaces to account for their meaning using the CIT. The annotators then described the sociolinguistic implications of the analogies used to conceptualize marriage in Dholuo. The study found that Dholuo employs pictures of the world in the form of contrasting mental models to describe marriage as an abstract phenomenon. Additionally, the findings of the study indicate that embodied experiences of marriage in Dholuo manifest themselves through schematic patterns such as FORCE, CONTAINER, OBJECT and PATH. The study also found that mental spaces are crucial to the interpretation of analogies of marriage because they help in retrieving and mapping culture-specific experiences about marriage among the Luo community. Finally, analogous expressions used to describe marriage in Dholuo disclose general sociolinguistic implications which reveal the community’s general perception of the institution of marriage. The study concludes that analogy is conceptual in nature and should, therefore, be investigated using the Cognitive Linguistics paradigm to reveal novel meanings in specific contexts. The findings of this study have implications for analogy theorists and researchers operating within the Cognitive Linguistics framework which is a relatively fallow research area. Further, the study will be of help to Dholuo scholars in conceptualizing marriage and related abstract phenomena.Item The Practice of Multiple Literacies And Communication Among Nandi County Residents, Kenya(Laikipia University, 2024-10) Kitur, Joseph PatrickLiteracy as a social practice is basically not a universal construct in the sense that its specific manifestations and meanings vary across different cultures and contexts. The way literacy as a technology is used, valued, and transmitted differs significantly from one society to another. But as noted in its 2006 UNESCO Global Monitoring Report on “Literacy for Life”, it is limiting to promote a single universal literacy as there are different literacies and literacy practices. The term “Multiple literacies”, captures different literacies found in the linguistic, technological and cultural contexts in which literacy is practised. However, this development of the practice of multiple literacy remains largely under-investigated in Kenya, where multiple languages and literacies abound. Further still, multiple literacies as connected to power dynamics have hardly been investigated. As multiple literacies gain traction, there is need to give different strands of literacy practices more scholarly attention. This study set out to investigate multiple literacies under the following objectives: to explore ways in which Nandi County residents use multiple literacy practices in their everyday life; to assess power dynamics in the practice of multiple literacies and to examine the importance of multiple literacies in these people‟s lives. The study adopted a qualitative mixed method research design underpinned by Street‟s Model of literacy as a social practice, Lotman‟s Theory of Cultural Semiotics as well as Foucault‟s theory of Literacy power relations. The study used a purposive stratified sample of 36 respondents drawn from a mix of intercultural contexts in Nandi County. Data were generated using face to face interviews, observations, in-built audio and video recording, research diaries and documentations. The results of the study demonstrate significant ways in which residents in Nandi County use multiple literacies in their everyday lives ranging from literacies of farming, religion, sports, civic, business and education activities. In particular, the results reveal the use of digital (technology and media) literacy, visual (traditional and modern) literacy, cultural (artefacts) and textual literacy (reading and writing). These literacies were mediated through English, Kiswahili, Sheng and the mother tongue. Interfaced with these literacies are varied power dynamics and functional literacy roles. The results of the study are expected to benefit scholars in applied linguistics, policy makers and the general public.Item Deixis In Kimeru Song and Dance Lyrics By Kamanu M’tuamwari And Karimi Bruno(Laikipia University, 2024-08) Kinya, M’ritharaKamaNu and Karimi’s song and dance lyrics have become increasingly popular in social functions and entertainment circles in Meru County and beyond. This makes many people quite receptive to the music, yet there has not been any attempt to investigate and analyse their song and dance lyrics with regard to their deictic value. These song and dance lyrics are a recreation of a blend of traditional, religious and secular music infused with unique elements of person, spatial, temporal, and social deixis. The main focus of this study was to explore how the deictic properties of these compositions by KamaNu and Karimi unravel the thematic issues and their social significance under the guidance of the following objectives: first, to examine the types of deixis used in the Kimeru song and dance lyrics by KamaNu and Karimi, then secondly, establish themes expressed through deixis; thirdly, assess the deictic strategies of communicating information and finally evaluate the linguistic social significance of deixis used in these song and dance lyrics. The study adopted a descriptive qualitative research design underpinned by Cruse’s (2006) theory of deixis supported by Grice’s theory of Conversational Implicature and Van Dijk’s Ideological square framework within Socio-cognitive Approach (SCA). Two non-probability sampling techniques namely purposive and snowball sampling methods were used to generate a sample of sixteen fans of KamaNu and Karimi’s song and dance lyrics and twelve Kimeru song and dance lyrics, six for each artist. Data were generated using the following instruments: observation, semi-structured interviews, video recording, and note taking. The instruments were pilot tested before their actual use. Qualitative analysis of the data was undertaken. The study established that Kimeru song and dance lyrics employ deictic strategies which enhance the expression and interpretation of people’s ideas and thoughts, and in turn aid in perpetuating their culture and identity through shared preferences. The linguistic value of deixis is clearly delineated. The study is expected to serve as a valuable resource for future reference and provide a foundation for comparative studies to identify potential similarities and differences in the deictic nature of songs. Additionally, the study will make significant contributions to the fields of pragmatics and applied linguistics by enhancing the theoretical understanding of song texts as linguistic entities, distinct from the more literary perspective of musical orientation. It will also offer insights to policy makers as a means of preservation of cultural heritage through documentation for posterity.Item School Based And Parental Factors Influencing Career Decision Making Self-Efficacy Among Students In Public Secondary Schools In Kiambu County, Kenya(Laikipia University, 2024-11) Nderitu, Francis Kinyua.Education is widely valued across the world as a central factor in economic, political and social development of any nation. Career decision making is crucial among people all over the world and choosing a career is challenging to those who do not have a wide life experience. Students who make irrational career choices run the risk of experiencing severe consequences, such as low job performance, stress and anxiety relating to the job, and a lack of job satisfaction and happiness. The purpose of this study was to determine the school based and parental factors influencing students’ career decision making self-efficacy among public secondary schools in Kiambu County, Kenya. The objectives of the study were to establish the school based and parental factors influencing students’ career decision making self-efficacy among public secondary schools in Kiambu County, Kenya. The study was guided by the Social Cognitive Career theory and Systems theory. The study used cross sectional survey research design. The data were collected using self-administered questionnaires. The target population consisted of 29,682 form three students in Kiambu County. The sample size consisted of 380 form three students who were selected using stratified sampling techniques from the 285 secondary schools in Kiambu County, Kenya. Questionnaires were used for data collection. The questionnaires were pilot tested with 30 students from three secondary schools (a boys’ school, girls’ school and a mixed school), comprising 10 students from each category in Nairobi County, Kenya. Reliability was enhanced by test- retest method where a Cronbach co-efficient alpha of 0.79 was established. Content validity of the instruments was guided by the objectives and the experts in the Department of Psychology, Counselling and Educational Foundations of Laikipia University. Data analysis was aided by SPSS (Version 26). The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics which include percentages, means, and frequencies. Hypotheses were tested using t-test, Simple Regression and Analysis of Variance at .05 level of significance. The research found out that Gender (t=60.295,p=0000), Career teacher perception (F=34.45,p=000), Peer pressure (F=2.116,p=0.001), Parents level of education (F=11.663,p=000), parents occupation (F=44.227 p=.000), The school type (F=61.788,p=000), House hold income (F=3995,p=.000) and parents child relationship (F=4025.17,p=.000 has statistically significant influence on students’ career decision making self-efficacy of students in public secondary schools in Kiambu County, Kenya. Findings from the study might inform the Ministry of Education, policy makers, guidance and counseling teachers and also parents on school-based and parental factors that could be limiting students’ capacity to make the right career decisions. Based on the findings of the study, it was concluded that school-based factors had statistically significant influence on career decision making self-efficacy among students in public secondary schools in Kiambu County, Kenya. The study recommends that the Government of Kenya could carefully consider gender factor when deploying career teachers to various secondary schools in Kenya because the gender of the career teachers’ does statistically influence career decision making self-efficacy. Career teachers should take precaution while undertaking career guidance and counseling to students since their perception has influence on career decision making self-efficacy.Item Investor Sentiments, Property Diversification, Investor Awareness And Their Influence on Performance of Real Estate Investment Trusts In Kenya(Laikipia University, 2022-11) Ndung’u, Daniel Thuo.The introduction of REITs in the securities market was intended to broaden capital markets, allowing them to be used to raise funds for affordable housing while also serving as an alternative investment choice. However, since its introduction, Kenya’s REITs market has experienced slow development. The performance of the listed REITs has not been as expected since listing in the year 2015. Additionally, efforts by REIT managers to issue more real estate securities have been slow. There is a lack of information as to why this current situation exists. In addition, information is scant on how investor sentiments, property diversification, and investor awareness may influence the performance of REITs. Moreover, it is not clear how the market regulatory framework may moderate the relationship between investor sentiments, property diversification, investor awareness, and the performance of REITs in Kenya. Thus, the main objective of this study was to examine how investor sentiments, property diversification, and investor awareness influence the performance of REITs in Kenya. Specifically, the study sought; to assess the influence of investor sentiments on the performance of REITs, examine the influence of property diversification on the performance of REITs, evaluate the influence of investor awareness on the performance of REITs, and analyse the moderating effect of market regulatory framework on the influence of predictor variables on the performance of REITs in Kenya. A predictive correlational research design was employed. The target population comprised 202 respondents consisting of Fund Managers, Stock Brokers, Investment Banks and Property Developers. A structured questionnaire was used to collect primary data, while audited financial records for the years 2016-2020 provided secondary data. The reliability and validity of the research instrument were ascertained through pre-testing, Cronbach alpha, and factor analysis. To summarize the findings, descriptive statistics were employed. Inferential statistics such as Structural Equation Modelling were used to test the hypothesized relationships at a 5% significance level. SPSS and DEA software was used for data analysis. The results are presented using tables and discussions. Results show that there exists a positive significant influence of investor sentiments on the performance of REITs. There exists a positive significant influence of property diversification on the performance of REITs. Further, the influence of investor awareness on the performance of REITs is positive but statistically insignificant. The findings also revealed that the market regulatory framework does not significantly moderate the influence of investor sentiments, property diversification investor awareness, and performance of REITs in Kenya. The study concludes risk and return sentiments have made REITs issuers shy away from issuing new such securities in the market. Further, continued property-type location diversification will enhance the uptake of REITs by investors. The study recommends that continuous engagement sessions between the securities market regulatory authority, the REITs Association of Kenya, and investors will enhance market confidence, thus lowering the risk-return sentiments. In addition, REITs issuing firms should also ensure that there is clarity over the returns of the underlying properties since this is likely to improve REITs' share returns by creating certainty among investors.Item A Cognitive Linguistic Approach To Analogies of Marriage: The Case of Dholuo in Kenya(Laikipia University, 2024-10) Ouma, Ogal George.Communication is influenced by the context in which language is used. Every language utilizes certain resources and experiences within a speaker’s surroundings to create meaning. Such language resources may lock out outsiders from comprehending certain language phenomena because they lack the background knowledge required to decode the expressions. Interpretation of analogy may pose challenges to certain language users whose experiences, cultural resources and thought processes are different from those of a speaker. Against this backdrop, this study sought to undertake a Cognitive Linguistic analysis of analogies of marriage in Dholuo to reveal how mental representations influence the conceptualization of marriage in Dholuo. The study was guided by the following objectives: to categorize analogies of marriage in Dholuo using contrasting mental models approach; to exposit the image schemas of analogies of marriage in Dholuo; to explicate how mental spaces account for the meaning of analogies of marriage in Dholuo and; to examine the sociolinguistic implications of analogies of marriage in Dholuo. The study employed the Conceptual Integration Theory (CIT) and the Image Schemas Theory (IST) to analyze Dholuo analogies of marriage. To achieve the objectives of the study, the research adopted a descriptive research design. The target population for the study were native Dholuo speakers of the Kisumu South Nyanza (KSN) dialect. Through an interview schedule, the study purposively sampled 40 respondents based on demographic variables of gender, age and marital status to identify analogous expressions of marriage in Dholuo. The study used four annotators including the researcher to identify and translate the 66 analogies from the data collected. The identified analogies were then presented in tables categorizing them into various contrasting mental models. The annotators then established the schematic patterns emerging from the collected items using the Image Schemas Theory. The analogies were then graphically analyzed using conceptual mappings, blending networks and mental spaces to account for their meaning using the CIT. The annotators then described the sociolinguistic implications of the analogies used to conceptualize marriage in Dholuo. The study found that Dholuo employs pictures of the world in the form of contrasting mental models to describe marriage as an abstract phenomenon. Additionally, the findings of the study indicate that embodied experiences of marriage in Dholuo manifest themselves through schematic patterns such as FORCE, CONTAINER, OBJECT and PATH. The study also found that mental spaces are crucial to the interpretation of analogies of marriage because they help in retrieving and mapping culture-specific experiences about marriage among the Luo community. Finally, analogous expressions used to describe marriage in Dholuo disclose general sociolinguistic implications which reveal the community’s general perception of the institution of marriage. The study concludes that analogy is conceptual in nature and should, therefore, be investigated using the Cognitive Linguistics paradigm to reveal novel meanings in specific contexts. The findings of this study have implications for analogy theorists and researchers operating within the Cognitive Linguistics framework which is a relatively fallow research area. Further, the study will be of help to Dholuo scholars in conceptualizing marriage and related abstract phenomena.Item School Based and Parental Factors Influencing Career Decision Making Self-Efficacy Among Students in Public Secondary Schools In Kiambu County, Kenya(Laikipia University, 2024-11) Nderitu, Francis KinyuaEducation is widely valued across the world as a central factor in economic, political and social development of any nation. Career decision making is crucial among people all over the world and choosing a career is challenging to those who do not have a wide life experience. Students who make irrational career choices run the risk of experiencing severe consequences, such as low job performance, stress and anxiety relating to the job, and a lack of job satisfaction and happiness. The purpose of this study was to determine the school based and parental factors influencing students’ career decision making self-efficacy among public secondary schools in Kiambu County, Kenya. The objectives of the study were to establish the school based and parental factors influencing students’ career decision making self-efficacy among public secondary schools in Kiambu County, Kenya. The study was guided by the Social Cognitive Career theory and Systems theory. The study used cross sectional survey research design. The data were collected using self-administered questionnaires. The target population consisted of 29,682 form three students in Kiambu County. The sample size consisted of 380 form three students who were selected using stratified sampling techniques from the 285 secondary schools in Kiambu County, Kenya. Questionnaires were used for data collection. The questionnaires were pilot tested with 30 students from three secondary schools (a boys’ school, girls’ school and a mixed school), comprising 10 students from each category in Nairobi County, Kenya. Reliability was enhanced by test- retest method where a Cronbach co-efficient alpha of 0.79 was established. Content validity of the instruments was guided by the objectives and the experts in the Department of Psychology, Counselling and Educational Foundations of Laikipia University. Data analysis was aided by SPSS (Version 26). The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics which include percentages, means, and frequencies. Hypotheses were tested using t-test, Simple Regression and Analysis of Variance at .05 level of significance. The research found out that Gender (t=60.295,p=0000), Career teacher perception (F=34.45,p=000), Peer pressure (F=2.116,p=0.001), Parents level of education (F=11.663,p=000), parents occupation (F=44.227 p=.000), The school type (F=61.788,p=000), House hold income (F=3995,p=.000) and parents child relationship (F=4025.17,p=.000 has statistically significant influence on students’ career decision making self-efficacy of students in public secondary schools in Kiambu County, Kenya. Findings from the study might inform the Ministry of Education, policy makers, guidance and counseling teachers and also parents on school-based and parental factors that could be limiting students’ capacity to make the right career decisions. Based on the findings of the study, it was concluded that school-based factors had statistically significant influence on career decision making self-efficacy among students in public secondary schools in Kiambu County, Kenya. The study recommends that the Government of Kenya could carefully consider gender factor when deploying career teachers to various secondary schools in Kenya because the gender of the career teachers’ does statistically influence career decision making self-efficacy. Career teachers should take precaution while undertaking career guidance and counseling to students since their perception has influence on career decision making self-efficacy.