Out of Africa

A senior lecturer at Edge Hill University has been awarded a prestigious grant for a unique linguistic research project.

Dr Jo Shoba, of the Department of English and History, has received British Academy funding for a UK-Africa Academic Partnership, a collaborative three-year project which will involve Edge Hill University, the University of Ghana and the University of Education Winneba, also in Ghana.

Dr Shoba said: "The British Academy award is highly competitive.   It is also quite different to some other funding grants because it is such an inclusive project. A number of staff at Edge Hill will be involve and three African researchers will spend a semester on the Ormskirk campus.. It's a great opportunity for the University."  

The Partnership initiative has been developed by the British Academy's Africa Panel to support the development of ongoing links between UK and African institutions within the humanities and social sciences. It is intended to foster UK-Africa links, with an emphasis on helping scholars in the UK and Africa to develop research skills and to produce a joint research outcome. The British Academy's purpose is to inspire, recognise and support excellence and high achievement, throughout the UK and internationally, and to champion their role and value.

Dr Shoba said: "Our research aim over the next three years is to investigate language practices among young people in contemporary Ghana, addressing the relationship between language practices and linguistic values across Ghanaian society.  We will focus on three interrelated sociolinguistic areas - bilingual language choices in conversation, the forms and functions of Ghanaian English, and the functions and distribution of ‘student pidgin', particularly across genders."

The international researchers plan to submit their findings on the diverse and dynamic linguistic context of contemporary Ghana to several high profile international conferences, ranging from Beijing to Berlin.

The research project marks a return to Africa for Dr Shoba. She was Head of Faculty in a Botswana teacher training college for six years and has acted as a consultant to the Tanzanian Ministry of Education.  She is looking forward to renewed collaboration with the Africa project lead, Professor Kari Dako of the University of Ghana.

As well as carrying out valuable research, the project will also enable a number of the Ghanaian academics to gain PhDs. Dr Shoba added: "One difficulty for academics in Ghana can be access to up-to-date research methodology. This project will support the career development of the Ghanaian universities' teaching staff, but also give us at Edge Hill opportunities to supervise their postgraduate research. We are also keen to extend our teaching at Masters level and get more experience in online teaching. The project includes curriculum development goals - joint design and delivery of a module in language research methods, which our Ghanaian colleagues will ultimately take ownership of."

For more information about Dr Shoba's work visit www.edgehill.ac.uk/profiles/jo-shoba.