Assessment of African Traditional Forms of Communication in Marriage Among The Jukuns in Southern Taraba State, Nigeria
Assessment of African Traditional Forms of Communication in Marriage Among The Jukuns in Southern Taraba State, Nigeria.
ABSTRACT
In Assessing the African Traditional Forms of Communication in Marriage among the Jukuns in Southern Taraba State, as a result of scanty literature in the area of the study among the people, the researcher adopted qualitative approach and utilised survey and Focus Group Discussion (FGD) methods.
Purposive and snowball sampling were employed. The former was used to sample the Jukuns‟ traditional chiefs who are custodians of culture and traditions; while the later was used to sampled Jukuns‟ men and women, young and old between the ages of 18 years and above, based on their in-depth knowledge of the subject matter.
Key Informant Interview (KII) and FGD guides, recording tapes and notebook formed the major instruments of data collection.
The study is anchored on the symbolic interactionism theory which proffers understanding on the social processes that create and revolve around communication by explaining how people use symbols as a sense making tools.
That is, how symbols are deployed and meanings are assigned to them in order to understand our communication. The research found out that the whole range of activities therein involves social event between families and by extension communities, and not between individual.
The social event also involves continuous social communications; women are recognised and played vital roles; the Jukun language is the tool (symbol) used to initiate and negotiate the marital processes.
Also, the traditional forms of communication in marriage among the Jukuns, do not give room for dissolution of the union. These traditional forms utilised tradomedia.
However, lack of documentation, social change in the value system of the Jukun people, none-usage of aboriginal (Jukun) language in teaching in schools, religion, human civilisation or westernisation, population growth, competitive spirit as well as limited human capacity of retention and remembrance of all spheres of traditional forms are the factors affecting such kinds of communication.
The study then recommended that the Jukun elites are to take documentation of their traditions and cultural heritage for future generations seriously. The prospective Jukun grooms should get rid of competitive spirit in settling dowry.
Furthermore, the elites should create awareness and sensitise Jukun youths on their cultural heritage during cultural festivals. The Jukun linguists should develop Jukun Language syllabus (curriculum) for use in primary and post primary schools.
INTRODUCTION
Before and after the invention of written language and modern technologies for communication, every society in the world, Africa inclusive, has its own means of communication (AnsuKyeremeh, 1998; Akpabio, 2003).
Hence, in Africa, it is called “African traditional communication system” but due to various cultural groups and languages that African society cradles with, the nature of communication is culturally bound.
That is, people of the same cultural group such as the Jukuns, share the meaning of symbolic objects and symbolic interaction as differ from people of different cultural groups such as the Igala, Igbirra etc. (Ansu-Kyeremeh, 1998; Akpabio, 2003; Okon, 2012; Asemah, 2012; Okpoko 2014).
African traditional forms of communication is conceptualised as a social construct and historical transmitted pattern of meanings, representation and interpretations arising from symbols, premises, values, norms, institutions, events, ethos, rules and arts of African ancestors observed, practiced and perpetuated by successors from generation to generations. It is a complex web of shared meanings.
For instance, observers might get much from the action of people‟s way of dressing, physical appearance, and body language. Therefore, the receiver must decode the incoming information against the backdrop of their culture and match it with existing knowledge.
Always, culture and existing knowledge have impact on encoding, decoding, and matching processes, which sometimes produce noise in the communication channel.
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