Cohesion as a meaning-making resource in selected Nandi Kass Tv interviews on agriculture In Kenya

Abstract

Effective use of cohesive resources is vital for conveying agricultural knowledge, improving farming practices, and strengthening food security. Although cohesion has been extensively studied in written texts and major global languages, little is known about its use in orally delivered, community-based broadcast discourse in indigenous African languages. The purpose of this study was to examine how cohesive resources operate in Nandi agricultural interviews broadcast on KASS TV. Specifically, the study: Analyzed the cohesive strategies used to construct thematic and interactional meaning; examined their role in shaping meaning in spoken Nandi discourse; and assessed their implications for communication between interviewers and Nandi speaking rural audiences. The study is guided by Halliday and Hasan’s (1976) theory of cohesion, which conceptualizes cohesion as a multi-layered resource for meaning construction. This framework is extended in the current study to include discourse pragmatic and prosodic strategies. Cohesion is realized through lexical, grammatical, and discourse-pragmatic resources, as well as prosodic features such as pause, tempo, and intonation. An interpretive qualitative research design was adopted. Five purposively sampled KASS TV agricultural interviews aired between August 2023 and March 2025 were analyzed. The sample was sufficient for in-depth analysis of linguistic and prosodic features in Nandi broadcast interviews, with thematic saturation achieved when no new cohesive patterns emerged. The data were transcribed using Jefferson conventions, and an inductive analytic approach was used to identify cohesive patterns and their thematic and interactional functions. Findings indicate that lexical and referential cohesion maintain thematic continuity and reinforce key agricultural concepts. Strategic repetition of terms such as keswek ‘breeds’ and chego ‘milk’ sustained topical focus while emphasizing their economic and nutritional significance. Referential variation, including alternation between biikab Kalenjin ‘Kalenjin people’ and kootab Kalenjin ‘Kalenjin community' strengthened shared group identity in food security discussions. Prosodic features such as pause, tempo and intonation further enhanced clarity and emphasized important points. The study concludes that cohesion in spoken Nandi broadcast discourse is multidimensional, emerging through coordinated interaction of verbal and prosodic resources that support collaborative knowledge construction. These findings highlight the communicative value of indigenous Nilotic languages in agricultural broadcasting and rural development. Accordingly, the study recommends that broadcasters and agricultural extension officers deliberately use lexical, grammatical, discourse-pragmatic, and prosodic cohesive resources to maintain thematic focus and reinforce key concepts. It further recommends that pause, tempo, and intonation be intentionally employed to emphasize key points and support interactional meaning. Finally, interviewers and educators should design interactions that utilize these cohesive resources to strengthen audience engagement, comprehension, and effective knowledge transmission.