The Perspective of Toilet Graffiti: a Comparison between selected Primary and Secondary Schools toilet Graffiti in Njoro Sub County, Nakuru County

Abstract

In this study, a total of 200 texts were collected. The texts were purposively selected from five primary schools and five secondary schools. The ten schools were randomly selected. One hundred graffiti text from primary schools and the other one hundred from secondary schools- twenty graffiti texts from every school were used for the study. Additionally, two hundred questionnaires were distributed to the target groups. The general objective for the study aimed at comparing complex graffiti codes used in graffiti texts by learners in public primary and high school washrooms as a medium of communication to air their inner feelings about the administration and their fellow students in Njoro Sub-County. This study used Lexical Pragmatics theoretical framework as the tool of analysis. It consists of two theories paired into a single theory i.e. Lexical Semantics and Conversational Implicatures. Lexical Pragmatics aims at accounting for interpretation of texts and utterances based on context and encyclopedic knowledge. On data collection, analysis and interpretation, data was collected via writing down the texts, taking photographs and by use of questionnaires. The data which were collected through questionnaires were both quantitative and qualitative in nature and were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Research findings were presented in form of tables, frequencies and charts. Compared to public and social halls across both the primary and secondary schools, toilets contained more inflammatory graffiti. With regard to these findings, toilet graffiti tend or appear to provide significantly unobtrusive and useful method for finding out or investigating sensitive and controversial social issues.