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CHAPTER 4 arising out. of these materials which might be answered by further English-language resources to be provided by the area specialist.

The objective, then, was not merely to catch the ball, or merely to catch it and run with it, but to catch it, run with it, and return it.



Swahili-language materials to support the English language article were drawn principally from East African newspapers, for four reasons:

1. They are authentic, in the sense that they were written by East Africans for East Africans.

2. They are inexpensive, and dependably available to classes of trainees for East Africa at the Foreign Service Institute.

3. They cover a wide, though not unlimited, range of topics.

4. There is a variety of style: news stories, advertisements, letters to the editor, cartoons, even occasional fiction (There is not in Swahili, as there is in some languages, a drastic difference in vocabulary or syntax between spoken and published styles. If there were, the items might have had to be recast into colloquial style before being used.)

By only scratching the surface of the available newspaper files, the language team quickly assembled 60 items on manpower, ranging in length from 50 to 500 words. About half of these related directly to the major points of the Hollister article; most of the rest had to do with the structure and operation of East African labor unions.