LINGUIST List 23.621 Mon Feb 06 2012 Diss: Applied Ling/Langi: Stegen: 'In Quest of a Vernacular Writing...' Editor for this issue: Xiyan Wang <xiyanlinguistlist.org> To post to LINGUIST, use our convenient web form at http://linguistlist.org/LL/posttolinguist.cfm. Directory         1.     Oliver Stegen , In Quest of a Vernacular Writing Style for the Rangi of Tanzania: Assumptions, processes, challenges Message 1: In Quest of a Vernacular Writing Style for the Rangi of Tanzania: Assumptions, processes, challenges Date: 04-Feb-2012 From: Oliver Stegen <oliver_stegensil.org> Subject: In Quest of a Vernacular Writing Style for the Rangi of Tanzania: Assumptions, processes, challenges E-mail this message to a friend Institution: University of Edinburgh Program: School of Philosophy, Psychology, and Language Sciences Dissertation Status: Completed Degree Date: 2011 Author: Oliver Stegen Dissertation Title: In Quest of a Vernacular Writing Style for the Rangi of Tanzania: Assumptions, processes, challenges Dissertation URL: http://www.ethnologue.com/show_work.asp?id=928474542655 Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics Subject Language(s): Langi (lag) Dissertation Director: Bob Ladd Miriam Meyerhoff Dissertation Abstract: Despite increased efforts by linguists and educationalists to facilitate literacy and literature development in minority languages, there are still many languages worldwide which do not have a written form. One area that needs attention in literature production for a newly written language is the question of writing style. As the features of good style are language-specific, writing style guidelines have to be developed for each language anew. It has been assumed that such vernacular writing style develops predominantly by mother tongue speaker intuition. However, very few studies have been carried out to verify this. This research is set within the confines of the literacy project in the Rangi language of Northern Tanzania. As a contribution to the development of a natural writing style in Rangi, this research investigates what evidence for stylistic preferences can be found in texts that were produced by Rangi authors writing in their mother tongue for the first time. The main data of this study are 112 texts which were collected during a one-day writers workshop conducted between May 2005 and January 2006 in four different locations. One way of observing stylistic preferences is through analysing the changes which authors make in successive versions of their text. Of the 112 texts in the database, 71 display stylistic changes between draft and revised versions. These texts are then investigated in more detail, e.g. with regard to text length, lexical density and story components. The subsequent comparative analysis of draft version versus revised version of each text operates at three levels: narrative elements at the text level, lexical choice at the word level, and word order, tense-aspect verb forms and participant reference at the clause level. At all three levels, stylistic conventions could be identified, e.g. formulaic introductions and codas, elimination of Swahili loanwords, or certain tense-aspect usages. Despite such commonalities, this research suggests that, far from developing intuitively, vernacular writing style is influenced by a variety of factors, not least by previously available literature in languages of wider communication or in the target language itself. Among the concluding recommendations of this study for future vernacular writers workshops is the advice to employ guided editing which encourages multiple drafting and treats the different levels of editing separately, i.e. story structure, lexical choice and grammatical features. Read more issues|LINGUIST home page|Top of issue Page Updated: 06-Feb-2012       About LINGUIST    |   Contact Us       While the LINGUIST List makes every effort to ensure the linguistic relevance of sites listed on its pages, it cannot vouch for their contents.