Browsing by Author "Ansah, M.A."

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Assessing Language Vitality and Language Endangerment of Lete (Larteh)
(University of Ghana, 2013-07) Bello, M.; Awedoba, A.K.; Ansah, M.A.
The need to protect languages from extinction cannot be overemphasized. Language is an essential element of culture, and a means of communication. Through language, people build and express their emotions, intentions, values, norms, notions, practices, and this helps build understanding among them, and strengthen their relationship. Language is therefore the underlying factor for determining the identity of individuals and groups. Language is strategically important for the attainment of several development goals and for progress towards sustainable development. African languages in particular can give us vital clues about history (Childs 2003). According to Tsunoda (2005: 162) a people‘s language contains ―knowledge of ceremonies, mythology, environment, technology, language skills, songs, and linguistic artifacts‖. Therefore, we can say that language embodies the totality of a people‘s past, present and future. Any interference with the language of a people leads to a loss of some important aspects of the knowledge base of these people. Harrison (2007:7) also believes that languages are ―repositories for cultural knowledge‖ which implies that the loss of languages means the loss of ―treasures‖ within these languages (Crystal 2000:32). Presently the threat posed to language vitality is now recognized as a worldwide crisis. There is no precise number of languages that are threatened in the world. It has been observed that the location of Larteh, the study area, is a potential breeding ground for language assimilation. Since Larteh is located within an area where Akuapem Twi is widely spoken, there exists a kind of competition between these two languages; the Lɛtɛ language (minority language) and Akuapem Twi (regional lingua franca). This situation is exactly what Wurm (1991) describes as stronger language communities exerting their influence over minority language communities which to him, leads to language endangerment. Again, the relative utility of the Akuapem Twi is accelerating the process of language shift and Lɛtɛ is gradually losing its speakers. It is a fact that government, through its policies on language, is encouraging the use of selected languages as a means of communication and medium of instruction in schools. Children with limited proficiency in these languages of instruction are strongly disadvantaged. These children are ―unable to develop their cognitive, in-depth and creatively independent skills and techniques‖ (Batibo, 2005) in these educational language mediums. They are disadvantaged culturally, politically, socio- economically, educationally, and are unable to contribute to national development. The study will investigate language use in Larteh town, the study area. The study will also attempt to assess the vitality and the extent of endangerment in Larteh with reference to the criteria suggested by UNESCO (2003).
An Examination of the Opportunities and Challenges Facing Women in Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration (2000-2019)
(University of Ghana, 2019-12) Ansah, M.A.
Historical accounts from various countries globally have proven that women were exempt from officially participating in diplomatic activities until the early 1990’s. In Ghana, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration has helped implement Ghana’s foreign policy over the years. Although Ghanaian women have participated in decision making, management and development, not enough women in Ghana have played significant roles in politics and public service. Using the qualitative research method, this study looked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and found out how women have had the opportunity to serve there, their numbers in the past and their current representation, as well as the challenges and opportunities they face. Findings from the study indicate that women’s representation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional integration has improved over the years. Although there seem to be more women than men in the Ministry, more men occupy top positions than women. There was a general consensus that the only opportunity available to women that was not equally available to men was paid maternity leave. Opportunities available to women include recruitment and promotions, as these are based on merit from entrance examinations and interviews. Some of the challenges identified included appointments being more favourable to men, work life balance and sexual harassment particularly of women. Additionally, cultural factors hinder women’s advancement due to difficulties for the husbands of female officers to follow them on postings abroad, which has resulted in several cases of infidelity and divorce. A key finding was that, there was no real consensus as to whether or not the Ministry had any policies concerning sexual harassment. Recommendations include making the working environment within the Ministry more sensitive to the family, work life balance, enhancing inclusiveness of males in family life by increasing paternity leave, developing and implementing a sexual harassment policy and committee to address issues pertaining to sexual harassment. Furthermore, data should be made available for further research in the area.
A Grammatical Description of Leteh Nominal Morphology
(Studies in African Linguistics, 2021) Ansah, M.A.
The paper describes Leteh nominal morphology within the framework of Basic Linguistic Theory (Dixon 2010; Dryer 2006). The nominal morphology is described in the context of two phenomena: number marking and noun classification. Leteh is a South-Guan language from the Niger-Congo family of languages. The morphology of Leteh is largely agglutinative. Güldemann and Fiedler (2019) argue that current analyses of gender systems are heavily influenced by those in Bantu languages and not cross-linguistically applicable. They propose an alternative analysis that includes the notions agreement class and nominal form class. In this paper I adopt the notion of nominal form class to classify nouns in Leteh. The nouns are grouped into four major classes based on the plural morphemes that they take. These classes are subdivided based on the singular forms with which they are paired.
A Grammatical Description of Leteh Nominal Morphology
(Studies in African Linguistics, 2021) Ansah, M.A.
The paper describes Leteh nominal morphology within the framework of Basic Linguistic Theory (Dixon 2010; Dryer 2006). The nominal morphology is described in the context of two phenomena: number marking and noun classification. Leteh is a South-Guan language from the Niger-Congo family of languages. The morphology of Leteh is largely agglutinative. Güldemann and Fiedler (2019) argue that current analyses of gender systems are heavily influenced by those in Bantu languages and not cross-linguistically applicable. They propose an alternative analysis that includes the notions agreement class and nominal form class. In this paper I adopt the notion of nominal form class to classify nouns in Leteh. The nouns are grouped into four major classes based on the plural morphemes that they take. These classes are subdivided based on the singular forms with which they are paired.
"Music, A Tool for Language Revitalization"
(2017-03-09) Ansah, M.A.; Adjei, G.; Agyeman, N.A.
This is a preliminary study which seeks to investigate ways in which music can be used to revitalize less-studied or minority languages. The study focuses on three South Guan languages in Ghana: Leteh, Kyerepong and Efutu. The relationship between language and music has been a subject of interest to a number of interdisciplinary scholars. Studies done in this area have observed that in notable respects, language and music are systematically comparable. For instance, the two are similarly constructed of functional and meaningful units; both possess phonemic and morphemic properties. Furthermore, the phonemic and morphemic units/properties are used to produce utterances by rules of sequencing and re-combination (Faudree 2013; Grant 2014; Kropp-Dakubu 2015; Lerdahl and Jackendoff 1983; Minks 2013). The observation that music and language have noteworthy parallels is therefore significant to this study. This study draws on the Affective Filter Hypothesis (Krashen 1982) which emphasizes the importance of positive emotions in language acquisition. Language surveys were conducted in Winneba, Larteh and Adukrom where the three languages are spoken. The study concludes that the theory behind the use of songs in teaching a second language can be extended to the teaching and learning of less-studied languages/minority languages and ultimately, their revitalization.
On writing biography: my experience with george james christian
(2017-06-02) Rouse-Jones, M.D.; Ansah, M.A.
The presentation will describe my experience of writing the following book: Returned Exile: A Biography of George James Christian of Dominica and the Gold Coasts, 1869-1940. Kingston, Jamaica: University of the West Indies Press and Republic Bank Limited, 2016, 320p. It will consider the following themes: 1 Data Gathering from Personal Papers 2 Creating other Source Materials: Collection of oral sources 3 Outline of A Life 4 From Source-Material to Story 5 Importance of the Scholarly Review Process 6 Timelines for the Process
Revitalizing minority languages using music: Three South-Guan languages of Ghana in focus
(Research Journal in Advanced Humanities, 2022) Ansah, M.A.; Agyeman, N.A.; Adjei, G.
Several interdisciplinary researchers have been interested in the relationship between language and music, thus producing several works in quest of this interdisciplinary connection. This study, on the other hand, attempted to examine how music may be utilized to reinvigorate the understudied minority languages. It focuses on three South Guan languages: Leteh, Kyerepong and Efutu. Studies done in this area have observed that, in notable respects, language and music are systematically comparable. For instance, the two are similarly constructed of functional and meaningful units; both possess phonemic and morphemic properties. Furthermore, the phonemic and Morphological units/properties are used to produce utterances by rules of sequencing and re-combination. This study draws on on the Affective Filter Hypothesis (Krashen, 1982), which emphasizes the importance of positive emotions in language acquisition. Language surveys were conducted in Winneba, Larteh and Adukrom are where the three languages are spoken. The study concludes that the principle behind the use of songs in teaching a second language, it can be extended to the teaching of learning of less-studied languages/minority languages and ultimately, their revitalization.