A linguistic Analysis of HIVAIDS Messages in Kenyan Primary Schools Textbooks

Abstract

In Kenya, government agencies, line ministries and Non- Governmental Organisations have for several decades now made concerted eflarts aimed at prevention of HIV/AIDS through increased awareness about the risk of transmission and promotion of positive behaviour change. One such eflort was the introduction, in 2003, by the Kenya Institute of Education, of the integrated HIV/AIDS syllabus in both primary and secondary schools. This study was conceived with the objectives to identify and analyse the language used in primary school textbooks in order to determine its suitability in communicating the HIV/AIDS message, and to provide empirical data on the kind of language used. Six class seven textbooks used in three compulsory subjects in six per cent of primary schools fiom Nakuru Municipality, and the views and comments often class seven teachers yielded the data. The data were analysed according to the Mills (I995) model of stylistic analysis. The findings were that mast of the HIV/AIDS related concepts feature in science textbooks, and that of all stylistic forms, transitivity choices are the most popular with textbook writers. The study also established that the stylistic forms used have a bearing on how the readers process and interpret the information presented in the text. The study recommends that to make the integration of HIV/AIDS messages a successfitl venture, textbook writers need to consider what is the appropriate amount of information on HIV/AIDS in each subject and the suitable stylistics (style of language usage in different contexts) for the level of the reader. It is hoped that the implications.