Drumspeak: International Journal of Research in the Humanities

Environmental Education, Sustainable Lifestyle Choices and the Built-Environment: The Case of Ghana

2026-04-13T10:40:51+00:00

The unprecedented growth of cities and urban centres in our modern world, along with their associated environmental pressures, is a concern we must address to ensure a healthy life. Thus, concepts such as environmental education and sustainable lifestyle choices, as well as the built environment, represent deliberate and innovative efforts by scientists, environmentalists, and scholars to mitigate the adverse impacts resulting from human efforts to improve living standards on Earth. Currently, much literature exists in the field of Urban Development Studies that discusses environmental education, sustainable lifestyle choices, and the built environment. Nevertheless, evidence suggests that the desired impact is yet to be achieved. While some people recognise the importance of their consumption choices and care about environmental issues, most of them unfortunately do not translate their concerns into concrete actions when purchasing goods and services. The situation is worse in Ghana because most people are unaware of the impact of their lifestyles on the physical environment. Using a desk study and primary research approach, this paper explores the relationship between environmental education and sustainable lifestyles, and their combined impact on ensuring the well-being of the built environment in Ghana

Discursive practices in the language of protest: The case of #FixTheCountry demonstration in Ghana

2025-04-08T18:35:31+00:00

Several studies have explored the language of protests using different theories. However, using transitivity to investigate the language of protests is rare, denying us a nuanced understanding of the roles of participants, the agency of actions and how meaning is constructed in the discourse of protests. The study sought to examine how the #Fix-the-Country campaigners of Ghana used language to construct discursive practices. Employing an interpretive content analytical approach, we analysed 137 placards and banners used for the #Fix-the-Country demonstration held in Ghana in August 2021. The interpretive content analysis allowed us to explore the underlying meaning and implications of the language of the protesters. The transitivity analysis showed that discursive practices such as resistance were projected through the material process to demonstrate the actions, doings, and happenings the protesters expected from the government. Relational processes were used to construct disillusionment, and mental processes presented feelings of desire whose unfulfillment resulted in rage and dissatisfaction with the government. This study has implications for theory since it provides empirical support to some theoretical claims about transitivity. It also has imlications for understanding the expression of political dissent.

Linguistic Fieldwork: The Case of Chibarwe Orthography in Zimbabwe

2026-04-13T10:52:16+00:00

In contemporary language-related explorations, linguistic fieldwork is informing language development initiatives in key branches of applied linguistics such as phonology, morphology, lexicography, and sociolinguistics. This paper discusses the methodological issues in the practice of linguistic fieldwork, drawing on a case study on ChiBarwe orthography in Zimbabwe. The argument avowed in this paper is that orthography development requires fieldwork immersion, community involvement, and a systematic approach to deliverables that are consistent and linguistically accurate. It further argues that linguistic fieldwork in the context of orthographies does not solely involve data collection but also encompasses data verification, orthography validation, pilot testing, and community feedback under stringent ethical considerations. This study was guided by the Language Standardisation Model (LSM) as refined by AyresBennett (2020), which outlines the key stages in developing a functional and accepted writing system for a language. Data were collected through practical fieldwork in which the researchers got immersed in the Barweland to collect data needed to develop a standard ChiBarwe writing system. Indepth interviews, questionnaires, focus group discussions (FGDs), and elicitation (using the expanded Swadesh list for Bantu languages) were used during the fieldwork expeditions, and the findings were analysed qualitatively. The researchers also analysed existing draft orthographies developed for ChiBarwe to identify gaps, inconsistencies, and areas needing refinement. Findings indicated that linguistic fieldwork for orthography designing follows three interrelated stages: pre-fieldwork, fieldwork proper, and post-fieldwork. Findings also indicate that dialectal variation and sociolinguistic identities complicated orthographic choices, yet community validation and pilot testing confirmed the orthography’s accuracy, usability, and long-term viability.

Perception of newspaper coverage of gender-based violence against male among married men in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria

2024-11-21T15:15:08+00:00

Globally, gender-based violence is a social menace which has broken many marriages. Meanwhile, the mass media, especially the newspapers, are change agents championing the eradication of this menace. Newspapers inform people about the danger inherent in this social scourge. Meanwhile, scholars have examined newspapers and gender-based violence from the viewpoints of female while the male perspective is more or less neglected. Hence, this study examines the perception of newspaper coverage of gender-based violence against married men in Ilorin, Kwara State. Individual differences theory serves as the theoretical lens underpins the study. Survey research method is adopted to gather data from 311 married men selected from Ilorin South Local Government Area of Kwara State. Data gathered were analysed with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Frequency tables and simple percentages were used to present the findings. Findings, therefore, revealed that newspapers report gender-based violence against male. However, married men in Ilorin, Kwara State, perceived newspapers’ reports on gender-based violence against male as inaccurate, bias and sentiment as newspapers do not give detailed reports of the incidents compared to their female counterparts. The study concludes that the reportage has prompted married men to refrain themselves from any matrimonial argument that is confrontational in nature. The study, therefore, recommends that newspapers’ organisations should accord significance to gender-based violence against male in order to enlighten people about the danger inherent in the menace.

Exploring the State of Creative Arts education in Ghana: The classroom teachers’ perspective

2024-11-16T06:25:54+00:00

This paper explored the state of creative arts education in Ghana by asking primary (elementary) schoolteachers about their experiences teaching the creative arts since its implementation in 2007. The study looked into the respondents' personal experiences and training, as well as their perceptions of arts education. In-depth interviews with participants revealed the significant impact their interactions with various art disciplines had on their role as facilitators of creative arts in schools. The findings identified a variety of approaches that facilitators used for teaching and learning activities. The research not only revealed insights into the educational value that each of the teachers assigned to Creative Arts as a subject, but it also revealed their level of confidence and preparedness to teach these disciplines. Both generalist and specialist primary teachers who participated in this study identified several issues that they believed were barriers to teaching the creative arts effectively.

Masking Tradition in Ipara-Remo, Ogun State, Southwestern Nigeria: A study of Provenance, Forms And Costumes of some selected Masqueradesing

2026-04-13T11:25:39+00:00

Masking traditions are a prominent socio-cultural practice among the Yoruba of Southwestern Nigeria. Though, the study of Yoruba masks has enjoyed the attention of several scholars, both local and foreign, and diverse views have been postulated on how they were perceived, especially in relation to their forms and functions, there has not been any on the masking tradition of Ipara-Remo in Remo division of Ogun State, a Yoruba sub group of Southwestern Nigeria. The most relevant existing work is the one on Egungun masquerades of the Remo Yoruba by Marrilyn H. Houlberg (1978), it was however not sufficiently detailed. This paper therefore presents the findings of a recent research work carried out on masking traditions in Remoland particularly in Ipara-Remo, in Ogun State, southwestern Nigeria. The paper attempts to trace the origin of some of the various existing masking traditions: their imagery/forms, costumes, function as well as the similarities noted in the various types in Ipara-Remo. Three distinct masking traditions were recognized; these are Egungun masks and masquerades, Oro masks and Agemo masks. From these three groups, twenty different masking traditions were identified and examined. Out of these twenty masking traditions, one is found to be of the Oro type, two Agemo type while the remaining seventeen are of the Egungun type. This may indicate the popularity of Egungun over Oro in Remoland. This paper also attempts a classification by provenance. It classifies Egungun masks into three types: the community owned mask and masquerades, the section/group-owned masks and masquerades and the privately-owned masks and masquerades. Finally, the costumes, carved imagery, and the forms and functions of each of the masks are also discussed against the background of their socio-cultural significance in Ipara-Remo.