Growing Wise Concerning Old Origins: Mythopoesis in Ayi Kwei Armah’s Osiris Rising (Published)
Mythopoesis or Myth-making is believed to be the earliest attempt at interpreting natural occurrences that humans made. Myths are traditional stories of heroes or supernatural beings. They also attempt explaining a people’s cosmology or aspects of human experience. In contemporary times, literary artists integrate traditional mythological themes and prototypes into contemporary fiction for the purpose of addressing contemporary issues; thus, making myths relevant. Africa has a crop of myth-makers, and Okpewho (1983) classifies them into four: tradition preserved, tradition observed, tradition refined and tradition revised. The first two groups of myth-makers are not too far removed from the traditional myths. The case is however different with the other two. These writers reject the traditional elements and create new stories that fit into new cultural perspectives. This research used Okpewho’s definition and classification of myths as a conceptual framework to analyze Ayi Kwei Armah’s Osiris Rising: A Novel of the Past, Present and Future. It was discovered that Armah used the Egyptian myth of Osiris, god of regeneration, as basis for a new myth that addresses more contemporary pressing issues such as education and the roles of educators and the educated in the process of Africa regeneration.
Keywords: Education, myth-makers contemporary, mythopoesis, regeneration
The Role of Games and Drama in Improving English Language Teaching in Basic School (Published)
This study aimed at assessing the role of games and drama in improving English language teaching in primary schools in Khartoum state. The population of the study is composed of primary school teachers in Khartoum state. Only one tool was employed for collecting data from the teachers’ questionnaire. The results of the study revealed that although basic level teachers of English language are highly convinced of the necessity of using games and drama in teaching English at basic level, they do not agree that they are actually used. Also, there are many difficulties that face teachers in using games and drama activities in teaching English. Teachers believe that there are a number of reasons why games and drama activities are effective techniques in teaching English. This study ends up with a set of recommendations 1) games and drama activities have to have their due weight in classroom practice. They have to be used more frequently 2) Textbooks should incorporate as many activities of games and drama as possible and they have to be given their time in the language course. They should not be just as toppings for lessons; rather they have to be integrated in the teaching process as essential components 3) Teachers should be trained on how to avoid the pitfalls of games and drama activities and they should be trained on how to maximize their benefits 4) School administrations should be made aware of the importance of games and drama activities and they should provide more opportunities for the teachers to use them 5) Pupils have to be trained on how to carry out these activities and they should be coached on how to use the time allotted for them in the proper manner 6) Special care has to be given to pupils who are by their nature withdrawn 7) Class tests and continuous assessment has to include games and drama activities 8) Parents should be educated on the value of games and drama activities as effective techniques for learning English. Games and drama should be a constant feature in the Parents Day. It is suggested that 1) the ability of games and drama activities to develop listening and speaking skills 2) the potentiality of games and drama to develop cultural awareness 3) the intrinsic value of games and drama to develop the 4 Cs of the 21st century skills (Communication, Creativity, Critical thinking, Collaboration 4) the potentiality of games and drama activities to match the characteristics of the new generations (Alpha Gen in particular).
Keywords: Classroom, Drama, Education, Technique, games
The Significance of a Personal and National Bildung and Its Nonlinear Nature: Charles Dickens’s Hard Times and Matthew Arnold’s Culture and Anarchy (Published)
Derived from the German philosophy of Bildung, literary works that can be categorized as bildungsroman have mainly focused on the individuals’ maturation and education. This study aims to expand on this notion of Bildung and observe how an individual’s maturation and education ultimately leads to the expansion of such action of becoming on a nationwide scale. By analyzing the relationship between the two different cases of bildung in action in Charles Dickens’s Hard Times and Matthew Arnold’s Culture and Anarchy, this study aims to analyze in depth the correlation between the individuals’ maturation and the national bildung. The study examines the concepts of individual and national bildungs present in Dickens’s Hard Times, both within the characters at play as well as the Victorian English society immediately following the Industrial Revolution period. Outside the literary and fictional realms, the study finds the notion of the two kinds of bildungs in Matthew Arnold’s Culture and Anarchy. By comparing the two observations, the study ultimately suggests that the two bildungs do not necessarily share a chronologically linear relationship between each other.
Keywords: Bildung, Character Development, Culture, Education, Maturation, Victorian Era
The Impact of the National Policy on Education (NPE) On Multilingual Proficiency in Nigeria (Published)
About 450 languages are spoken in Nigeria with Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba as the major languages. In order to assign functional roles to the multiplicity of languages, the Federal Government promulgated the National Policy on Education (henceforth NPE) in 1977 stipulated that every Nigerian child must be proficient in his mother tongue and in a major Nigerian language. At the secondary level, it is expected that every child should be bilingual in two Nigerian languages. Thirty six years later, the impact of the policy on the language education of Nigerian pupils was assessed. Data were collected using questionnaire and interview methods. Findings revealed that the primary aim of the NPE has not been achieved. Based on the findings, the recommendation made include the organization of intensive workshop sessions for language teachers to expose them to the modern techniques for attaining bilingualism through effective training.
Keywords: Education, Language, National Policy, Nigeria