Bebwa Isingoma
Biographic Data
| ID | 6233834 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Bebwa Isingoma |
| GIVEN NAMES | Bebwa |
| FAMILY NAME | Isingoma |
| SIGNATURE | ISINGOMA B |
| AFFILIATIONS | Gulu University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1203-5951 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 13 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 7 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 13 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2014 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Special issue: Introduction More insights into world Englishes at the grassroots
‘English at the grassroots’ refers to English used by non‐elite speakers from lower social strata, with diverse acquisition paths, proficiency levels and usage. These Englishes are often heterogeneous, shaped by informal contexts and professions. English linguistics has long examined English as a pluricentric language, focusing on its use across first language (L1), second language (L2) and foreign language (FL) contexts, often through corpora, w…
Trajectorial dynamics of English in Rwanda: Non-postcolonial English in an Outer Circle country
This study aims to uncover the dynamics of the evolution of English in Rwanda, using Schneider's (2007) Dynamic Model. Even though Rwanda has had no history of British colonial rule or that of any other Anglophone country, it currently presents a situation of a non-postcolonial environment where English plays a preponderant role on a par with many dimensions of the status of English in Outer Circle counties such as Uganda or Ghana. Despite the fa…
Learners’ everyday experiences of violence in English medium secondary education in Uganda
This paper explores how Ugandan secondary school learners experience schooling in English-medium schools where the use of English only is strictly enforced. We conceptualise the ways that the learners sit at the intersection of direct, systemic and cultural violence that in turn impacts their educational experiences. We particularly focus on instances of direct violence through corporal punishment, and the ways that such violence, and associated …
The use of ditransitive constructions among L1 Lugbarati speakers of English in Uganda: A preliminary study
One of the important features of structural nativization of L2 varieties of English is how their grammar converges with and/or diverges from their parent variety, usually, British English. Building on Isingoma (2016, 2021a), this study is set out to augment discourse on verb complementational profile in Ugandan English, focusing on ditransitive constructions. Using naturalistic data from semi-structured interviews involving 50 participants from L…
The Use of Conjunctions Among L1 Luganda Speakers of English
The study looks at the use of conjunctions among L1 Luganda speakers of English as a second language (L2) in Uganda. Using a corpus compiled from oral and written discourse, the study found that the conjunction mostly used among L1 Luganda speakers of English was “and”, followed by “but”, both of which were marginally used as sentence openers, with the written data showing no single incidence of using “and” in this respect. It was also establishe…
Revisiting constraints on postverbal argument coding and linearization in English goal ditransitive constructions
The current study seeks to revisit the analysis that attributes the infelicity, in all varieties of English, of strings like (1) ‘*He gave the man it’ and (2) ‘*He gave to him it’ to “the clash between the topical character of the pronoun ‘it’ and the focality associated with end position in English”, in addition to the “breach of the short-before-long principle” (Siewierska & Hollmann, 2007: 86f.) The string in (1) is a double object constructio…
Between exonormative traditions and local acceptance: A corpus-linguistic study of modals of obligation and spatial prepositions in spoken Ugandan English
Research into Ugandan English places it in the nativisation phase of the evolution of Englishes, amidst a nexus of local acceptance with ingredients of endonormativity and ingrained exonormative traditions. The current study shows how the use of modal verbs of obligation and spatial prepositions provides insights into how the nexus of the above phenomena has shaped Ugandan English. For example, although the preference of have to over must is a gl…
Homogeneity and heterogeneity in the pronunciation of English among Ugandans: A preliminary study
English is an official language in Uganda and is said to be in its nativization phase when placed within Schneider's (2007) model of the trajectorial development of Englishes (Isingoma & Meierkord, 2019). In the present study, we delineate the general features of the Ugandan accent of English (i.e. those that cut across regional or ethnic boundaries) as well as features that evince variability among Ugandans due to regional or ethnic background. …
Between first language influence, exonormative orientation and migration: Future time expressions in post-protectorate Ugandan English
Like other Englishes, Ugandan English is not a homogeneous variety. Being a second language to the vast majority of its multilingual speakers, it is, inevitably, influenced by their first languages. However, first language influence is just one factor that continues to shape Ugandan English. This paper reports on how influence from exonormative teaching models and the effects of migration, which constantly results in frequent and regular contact …
Order of adjectives and adverbs in L2 English: Evidence from L1 Acholi speakers of Ugandan English
L2 Englishes are quintessentially characterized by cross-linguistic influence at all levels of linguistic analysis as a result of contact phenomena. This study examines the contribution of the syntax of a Ugandan indigenous language (Acholi) to how its L1 speakers speak English and the extent of variability observed among them, taking into account two grammatical aspects, i.e. how multiple attributive adjectives are sequenced in a noun phrase and…
Implicit Arguments in English and Rutooro: A Contrastive Study
The present study is a contrastive analysis of the syntactic behavior of verbs that are ontologically specified for objects but these objects may be left out without rendering sentences ungrammatical. The study unveils asymmetries between English and Rutooro (a Bantu language spoken in Uganda) in the (non-)omissibility of postverbal arguments, stemming from lexico-semantic and morphological factors as well as syntactic and discoursal factors. In …
Languages in East Africa: Policies, practices and perspectives
The study provides an account of the prevailing linguistic situation in the three traditional countries of the East African Community (Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda), since they have more or less the same colonial and postcolonial history as well as being territorially coterminous with each other – a landmark phenomenon that has a bearing on the dynamics of the postcolonial linguistic landscape in these countries. The study examines the circumstance…
Lexical and grammatical features of Ugandan English: The paper highlights the lexical and grammatical features of Ugandan English and discusses the factors underlying the development and widespread us…
English plays an important role in the lives of Ugandans. For example, official government records are written in English, Parliament conducts its business in English, national newspapers are written in English. English is the medium of instruction from elementary to tertiary level. English is a lingua franca among people of different ethnic groups whose mother tongues are mutually unintelligible, especially if they cannot use Luganda or, to some…
Learners’ everyday experiences of violence in English medium secondary education in Uganda
This paper explores how Ugandan secondary school learners experience schooling in English-medium schools where the use of English only is strictly enforced. We conceptualise the ways that the learners sit at the intersection of direct, systemic and cultural violence that in turn impacts their educational experiences. We particularly focus on instances of direct violence through corporal punishment, and the ways that such violence, and associated …
Languages in East Africa: Policies, practices and perspectives
The study provides an account of the prevailing linguistic situation in the three traditional countries of the East African Community (Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda), since they have more or less the same colonial and postcolonial history as well as being territorially coterminous with each other – a landmark phenomenon that has a bearing on the dynamics of the postcolonial linguistic landscape in these countries. The study examines the circumstance…
Between first language influence, exonormative orientation and migration: Future time expressions in post-protectorate Ugandan English
Like other Englishes, Ugandan English is not a homogeneous variety. Being a second language to the vast majority of its multilingual speakers, it is, inevitably, influenced by their first languages. However, first language influence is just one factor that continues to shape Ugandan English. This paper reports on how influence from exonormative teaching models and the effects of migration, which constantly results in frequent and regular contact …
Lexical and grammatical features of Ugandan English: The paper highlights the lexical and grammatical features of Ugandan English and discusses the factors underlying the development and widespread us…
English plays an important role in the lives of Ugandans. For example, official government records are written in English, Parliament conducts its business in English, national newspapers are written in English. English is the medium of instruction from elementary to tertiary level. English is a lingua franca among people of different ethnic groups whose mother tongues are mutually unintelligible, especially if they cannot use Luganda or, to some…
Languages in East Africa: Policies, practices and perspectives
The study provides an account of the prevailing linguistic situation in the three traditional countries of the East African Community (Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda), since they have more or less the same colonial and postcolonial history as well as being territorially coterminous with each other – a landmark phenomenon that has a bearing on the dynamics of the postcolonial linguistic landscape in these countries. The study examines the circumstance…
Implicit Arguments in English and Rutooro: A Contrastive Study
The present study is a contrastive analysis of the syntactic behavior of verbs that are ontologically specified for objects but these objects may be left out without rendering sentences ungrammatical. The study unveils asymmetries between English and Rutooro (a Bantu language spoken in Uganda) in the (non-)omissibility of postverbal arguments, stemming from lexico-semantic and morphological factors as well as syntactic and discoursal factors. In …
Order of adjectives and adverbs in L2 English: Evidence from L1 Acholi speakers of Ugandan English
L2 Englishes are quintessentially characterized by cross-linguistic influence at all levels of linguistic analysis as a result of contact phenomena. This study examines the contribution of the syntax of a Ugandan indigenous language (Acholi) to how its L1 speakers speak English and the extent of variability observed among them, taking into account two grammatical aspects, i.e. how multiple attributive adjectives are sequenced in a noun phrase and…
The Use of Conjunctions Among L1 Luganda Speakers of English
The study looks at the use of conjunctions among L1 Luganda speakers of English as a second language (L2) in Uganda. Using a corpus compiled from oral and written discourse, the study found that the conjunction mostly used among L1 Luganda speakers of English was “and”, followed by “but”, both of which were marginally used as sentence openers, with the written data showing no single incidence of using “and” in this respect. It was also establishe…
Revisiting constraints on postverbal argument coding and linearization in English goal ditransitive constructions
The current study seeks to revisit the analysis that attributes the infelicity, in all varieties of English, of strings like (1) ‘*He gave the man it’ and (2) ‘*He gave to him it’ to “the clash between the topical character of the pronoun ‘it’ and the focality associated with end position in English”, in addition to the “breach of the short-before-long principle” (Siewierska & Hollmann, 2007: 86f.) The string in (1) is a double object constructio…
Between exonormative traditions and local acceptance: A corpus-linguistic study of modals of obligation and spatial prepositions in spoken Ugandan English
Research into Ugandan English places it in the nativisation phase of the evolution of Englishes, amidst a nexus of local acceptance with ingredients of endonormativity and ingrained exonormative traditions. The current study shows how the use of modal verbs of obligation and spatial prepositions provides insights into how the nexus of the above phenomena has shaped Ugandan English. For example, although the preference of have to over must is a gl…
Homogeneity and heterogeneity in the pronunciation of English among Ugandans: A preliminary study
English is an official language in Uganda and is said to be in its nativization phase when placed within Schneider's (2007) model of the trajectorial development of Englishes (Isingoma & Meierkord, 2019). In the present study, we delineate the general features of the Ugandan accent of English (i.e. those that cut across regional or ethnic boundaries) as well as features that evince variability among Ugandans due to regional or ethnic background. …
Between first language influence, exonormative orientation and migration: Future time expressions in post-protectorate Ugandan English
Like other Englishes, Ugandan English is not a homogeneous variety. Being a second language to the vast majority of its multilingual speakers, it is, inevitably, influenced by their first languages. However, first language influence is just one factor that continues to shape Ugandan English. This paper reports on how influence from exonormative teaching models and the effects of migration, which constantly results in frequent and regular contact …
The use of ditransitive constructions among L1 Lugbarati speakers of English in Uganda: A preliminary study
One of the important features of structural nativization of L2 varieties of English is how their grammar converges with and/or diverges from their parent variety, usually, British English. Building on Isingoma (2016, 2021a), this study is set out to augment discourse on verb complementational profile in Ugandan English, focusing on ditransitive constructions. Using naturalistic data from semi-structured interviews involving 50 participants from L…
Learners’ everyday experiences of violence in English medium secondary education in Uganda
This paper explores how Ugandan secondary school learners experience schooling in English-medium schools where the use of English only is strictly enforced. We conceptualise the ways that the learners sit at the intersection of direct, systemic and cultural violence that in turn impacts their educational experiences. We particularly focus on instances of direct violence through corporal punishment, and the ways that such violence, and associated …
Special issue: Introduction More insights into world Englishes at the grassroots
‘English at the grassroots’ refers to English used by non‐elite speakers from lower social strata, with diverse acquisition paths, proficiency levels and usage. These Englishes are often heterogeneous, shaped by informal contexts and professions. English linguistics has long examined English as a pluricentric language, focusing on its use across first language (L1), second language (L2) and foreign language (FL) contexts, often through corpora, w…
Trajectorial dynamics of English in Rwanda: Non-postcolonial English in an Outer Circle country
This study aims to uncover the dynamics of the evolution of English in Rwanda, using Schneider's (2007) Dynamic Model. Even though Rwanda has had no history of British colonial rule or that of any other Anglophone country, it currently presents a situation of a non-postcolonial environment where English plays a preponderant role on a par with many dimensions of the status of English in Outer Circle counties such as Uganda or Ghana. Despite the fa…
Linguistics (11 works) · Multilingual Education and Policy (9 works) · Linguistic Variation and Morphology (8 works) · Philosophy (8 works) · Psychology (7 works) · Computer Science (6 works) · History (6 works) · Sociology (6 works) · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation (5 works) · Artificial Intelligence (4 works)