Browsing by Author "Zulu, Ncebo Sibonelo."

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Confluences of Lithoko, religious and traditional beliefs and western poetry in modern Sesotho poetry (MSP) : an intertextual perspective.
(2015) Maimane, Ketlalemang Clement.; Mathonsi, Nhlanhla Naphtal.; Zulu, Ncebo Sibonelo.
From an intertextual perspective, this study analyses the lithoko, religious beliefs and practices and western poetry confluences in modern Sesotho poetry. In this analysis, modern Sesotho poetry texts covering a period of seventy-nine years (79) from 1931 to 2010 have been selected. Of the utmost importance in the analysis are the intertextual manifestations in modern Sesotho poetry. These include the lithoko oralformulaic style in modern Sesotho poetry which focuses on form, structure and content. The study also looks into echoes of texts indicative of religious beliefs and practices (both local and foreign) in modern Sesotho poetry, the host-parasite relationship between Western poetry and modern Sesotho poetry, the emerging trends and the evaluation of modern Sesotho poetry in relation to its poeticness or literariness. In order to address the above intentions of the study, the qualitative library approach was employed to critically examine the identified intertextual features from the population of twelve (12) modern Sesotho poetry texts selected through both the cluster and purposive sampling techniques. The following are the findings of the study on the issues investigated: modern Sesotho poetry is an intertext as texts from lithoko Christian, traditional beliefs and practices as well as western poetry are present in it at varying levels of form structure, content and traditional images in virtually recognizable forms as Barthes (1981: 39) asserts that the literary position of any text is an intertext in which other texts are present in varying levels and more or less recognizable forms. Both proto, transitional and open forms attributed to lithoko and western poetry are present in modern Sesotho poetry. Modern Sesotho poetry has also been found to have diverse emergent trends not only in terms of structural forms but also in content and linguistic devices in the form of traditional imagery. As an intertext, modern Sesotho poetry has emerged to be poetic considering aspects of poetic function and poetic language as elements of poetry in the evaluation of its poeticness. The study concludes that modern Sesotho poetry is an intertext which is a text of convergence where the presence of the four predecessors is manifested at varying levels and in more or less recognizable forms.
Investigation into the portrayal of female characters in selected isiZulu novels after the year 2000: an African womanist literary approach.
(2019) Shabalala, Sicelo Cyril.; Zulu, Ncebo Sibonelo.
What use to work in time memorial may be outdated in the current dispensation. Western feminism and African womanism does not tolerate women oppression. Hands of time are not static in so doing the tide of time ensures that people move in accordance. People, men in specific, need to adopt and adapt to a new social and political context. The constitution of the republic of South Africa 1996 dictates that women ought to be protected against harm, discrimination and any form of exploitation. The study will reveal on whether women’s place in society has changed and to what extent to represent the current political and social reality. It will also identify stereotypes that are used in depicting women. This study, therefore, attempts to explore the image of women in isiZulu literature. The study employs African womanist literary criticism as a tool in critically analysing the selected isiZulu texts. Texts in question were picked using purposive sampling. The study concludes that there is gender biasness in the way in which female characters are portrayed. Roles that women fulfil in literature do not mirror the current social and political order of the day. Women are still under the yoke of oppression regardless of their educational status. Financial dependence in women plus the institution of marriage gives men the upper hand. Zulu mores foster submissiveness in women. Women who do not abide by the patriarchal rules are constantly lambasted.
Tanzanian university students' motivation for studying Kiswahili as an academic subject.
(2016) Chipila, Rajabu Adamu.; Zulu, Ncebo Sibonelo.
The teaching and learning of indigenous African languages in most African countries has been plagued by various challenges. Dwindling student enrolment rates have been cited as one of these challenges. This has been attributed to a lack of initial learning motivation among the students. Motivation can be understood as a human compulsion and intensity to engage in certain behaviour. However, in Tanzania the number of students opting to study Kiswahili language as an academic subject at university level surpasses by far that of other taught languages, mainly English, French, and Arabic and in recent years, Chinese and Korean. This is apart from the fact that, when compared to these other foreign languages, Kiswahili is regarded very negatively among Tanzanians. There is nevertheless an overall lack of evidence of empirical research that has been conducted to ascertain this trend. It is against this backdrop that this study was conducted. The study was informed by the Self-determination Theory (SDT) as proposed by Edward L. Deci & Richard M. Ryan (1985, 2000). The theory proposes that human beings engage in various behaviours as they seek autonomy, competence, and relatedness. These constructs can cause behaviours to be intrinsically or extrinsically motivated, as well as amotivation. Further, the SDT proposes that due to various social-environmental factors, it is very unusual for adult individuals to experience intrinsic motivation. As a result, the SDT proposes four types of extrinsic motivation, which are external regulation, introjected regulation, identified regulation, and integrated regulation. Depending on the internalization of behaviour, these types of motivation lie in a continuum, the external regulation being the least form of motivation and integrated regulation being the strongest form of motivation close to the intrinsic motivation. This study, which was conducted at the Institute of Kiswahili Studies of the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, used the qualitative research design. It employed ethnographic and action research designs to solicit data from the participants. Convenience and purposive were the main methods of sampling. The sample included third year and postgraduate students studying Kiswahili as an academic subject. It also included Kiswahili instructors. Semi-structured interviews and questionnaires were the primary methods of data collection. In addition, observation and document review were the supplementary methods of data collection. The study was conducted to fulfil three research objectives. The first objective was to investigate the reasons for university students to choose to study Kiswahili as an academic subject. The second objective was to explore the extent to which initial students‘ motivation to study vi Kiswahili as an academic subject is maintained during the three years of degree study at university level. The third objective was to examine the role of the universities in motivating students to choose to study Kiswahili as an academic subject. To achieve these research objectives, three research questions were answered. The first question wanted to establish why Tanzanian university students chose to study Kiswahili as an academic subject. The second question was to understand to what extent Tazanian university students‘ initial motivation to study Kiswahili as an academic subject was retained throughout the three years of degree study. The third question wanted to know what role universities played in motivating students to choose to study the Kiswahili language as an academic subject. Overall, the study found that university students chose to study Kiswahili as an academic subject for numerous reasons, the most significant being patriotism, Kiswahili language affection, Kiswahili as a national identity, employment prospects, access to higher education students‘ loans, pressure from the significant others, a belief Kiswahili language courses are easy, language of instruction, and as academic continuation. These reasons suggested various forms of extrinsic motivation ranging from external to identified motivation. Patriotism, Kiswahili language affection, and Kiswahili as a national identity characterized both introjected and identified regulation forms of motivation. Employment prospects, access to higher education students‘ loans, and pressure from the significant others characterized external regulation forms of motivation. Amotivation was represented by the factors such as a belief that Kiswahili language courses are easy, language of instruction, and an academic continuation. There were several implications of the research findings for the teaching and learning of indigenous African languages in African countries. These included a need to strengthen teaching and learning of indigenous African languages in lower levels of education, and integrating African language courses with degree programmes that offer assured employment opportunities. Another implication was integrating occupational language skills into core curriculum. Another implication was the need to redesign and institute initiatives to reverse students‘ negative attitudes towards indigenous African languages. The last implication was the need for the governments and institutions of higher learning in Africa to provide financial support to students studying indigenous African languages.
Wild watermelon (Citrullus lanatus L.) landrace production in response to three seedling growth media and field planting dates.
(2010) Zulu, Ncebo Sibonelo.; Modi, Albert Thembinkosi.
The challenge of food security requires that agricultural production is no longer based on a narrow genetic material present in conventional crops. Whereas conventional crops have been genetically improved to suit management practices of the modern farmer, the future farmer requires that there be access to a wide variety of genetic material for economic exploitation and to respond to the challenges of climate change in a sustainable fashion. This study was designed to learn about production of wild water melon [Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsumura and Nakai] from seed germination, seedling establishment and field crop production. The specific objectives of the study were (a) to determine the effect of water stress on three landraces of watermelon differing in seed colour and provenance during seedling establishment, (b) to determine the effect of planting date on crop growth and yield under field conditions, and (c) to relate proline accumulation to water stress in wild watermelon. Three seedlots, ‘B’, ‘DB’ and ‘VDB” were derived from seeds collected from subsistence farming communities of the Eastern Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal. Following one season of seed production in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, seeds were tested for germination capacity, before seedlot response to water stress was determined in three substrates made of pine bark, a 1:1 mixture of fine sand and pine bark and fine sand only. The substrates were kept at 75% FC, 50% F.C and 25% F.C., to create varying levels of water regimes during 12 weeks of seedling growth in a glasshouse (16/21oC (day/night) and 60% RH). Leaf proline content was determined at seedling harvest. Crop production under field conditions occurred at one site with three planting dates late September 2008, November 2008 and January 2009, respectively. There were significant differences among seedlots with respect to seed quality and seedling yield, which consistently showed that B > VDB > DB. The differences in seedlots continued in the same order even in response to field conditions. Wild watermelon was responsive to water stress during seedling growth, but high water regimes compromised water use efficiency. Proline accumulation correlated with water stress. The best plant growth and yield under field conditions was obtained when planting occurred in September, followed by November and January plantings, respectively. Early planting was also associated with high crop growth rate and larger fruit size. It is concluded that despite being a desert crop, wild watermelon responds to water deficits during seedling growth. Results of field studies cannot be conclusively used to determine crop response to water stress, although they gave a good indication of crop response to different conditions of rainfall and temperature at the study site from September to March.