Analysis of the language techniques and thematic - University of the ...

The second step of collection of the songs was the buying of different cassettes from the
cassette stores. Since most clerks in stores are familiar with the themes and the language
techniques used by various artists in different songs, the researcher obtained such
information from them before buying the cassettes. Also, in most cassette stores, clerks
usually play some cassettes to lure customers to buy them, the researcher, at times, opted
for the exercise. It gave the researcher a chance to listen to the cassettes before buying
any. It should also be noted that not all of the cassettes relevant to this study which the
researcher either needed or wished to buy were found in the cassette stores. In some
cases, the researcher had to contact different people who like the Basotho accordion
music. One of the reasons for such action was that such people had rare cassettes
containing what the researcher needed. Such people were easily traced during accordion
music phone-in programmes over radio stations. One also obtained such cassettes from
local street vendors who play the accordion music in their tape recorders.
1.8.7 INTERVIEWS
Interviews were held with artists, radio presenters, cassette shop-owners, street vendors
and the audience at any convenient time, especially on occasions such as concerts,
festivals and funerals of the artists. These functions attract many supporters of this music
and one can make use of such gatherings to interact with the artists and audience in order
to get their views on the music. Although these groups were interviewed personally, the
researcher had made an outline of questions to be asked which he followed in the process.
The convenient format was the unstructured type of interview, where the interviewees
were asked open-ended type of questions. Unstructured interview is the situation where
the interviewer has the interview guide which serves to remind him or her of the
questions to be asked. He is not restricted to such questions. Open-ended questions are
questions or statements that require free-range of responses. Respondents are not
restricted in any way to a particular type of response. (Jegede 1999: 131 & 135).
Interviewees were asked to comment on the attitude of the Basotho nation towards
accordion music and what led to the popularity and high level of production of the music.
They were asked to relate the history of the music from 1980 to the present and to
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