In quest of a vernacular writing style for the Rangi of Tanzania : assumptions, processes, challenges
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
Stegen, Oliver
writing style ; discourse analysis ; literature development ; Rangi language
In quest of a vernacular writing style for the Rangi of Tanzania : assumptions, processes, challenges. 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
quest vernacular writing style tanzania assumption process challenge despite increase effort linguists facilitate literacy literature development minority_language still_many language worldwide write form area need attention literature production newly write_language question write_style feature good style language_specific write_style guideline develop language anew assume vernacular write_style develop predominantly mother_tongue speaker intuition however study_carry verify this set_within confines literacy project language northern tanzania development natural writing style investigate evidence stylistic preference find texts produce author write mother_tongue first_time main data study text collect day writer workshop conduct four_different location one_way observe stylistic preference analyse change