Doctoral Degrees (Languages, Linguistics and Academic Literacy)

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Analisis de los mecanismos orales que han asegurado la conservacion del romancero en Colombia con referencia especial a las colecciones hechas por G. Beutler, G. de Granda, F. Dougherty y G. Hersalek.
(1997) Hersalek, Gloria.; Sienaert, Edgard Richard.
The thesis is a description and analysis of the oral style devices on four collections undertaken by G.Beutler, G. de Granda, F. Dougherty and G. Hersalek in Colombia. Themes and their transmitters are analysed. Oral features such as formulas, the uses of repetition and parallelism as well as variability are explored in individual chapters which are illustrated with Colombian texts. The thesis consists of an introduction to the theme of the Oral Spanish Balladry and its collections; a summarized description of the primary sources; an annotated transcription of our compilation of texts in the department of Boyaca and five chapters of analysis and description of oral style mechanisms. Charts showing the themes collected in Colombia and the number, gender and age of its repositories are included. Maps indicate the departments in Colombia where those themes were found. Graphs have the purpose to show a clearer perspective on the distribution of the Spanish Balladry in Colombia, thus, offering a guide for new researchers. This analysis shows that the Colombian transmitters have made use both of the oral style devices inherited from Spain as well as their own initiative that has produced innovations at different levels in this tradition.
Beyond traditional literature : towards oral theory as aural linguistics.
(1996) Alant, Jacob Willem.; Sienaert, Edgard Richard.
Oral Theory, which is the discipline that studies the oral tradition, has been characterized as a literary anthropology, centered on essentially two notions: tradition on the one hand, literature on the other. Though emphasis has moved from an initial preoccupation with oral textual form (as advocated by Parry and Lord) to concerns with the oral text as social practice, the anthropological / literary orientation has generally remained intact. But through its designation of a traditional 'other' Oral Theory is, at best, a sub-field of anthropology; the literature it purports to study is not literature, but anthropological data. This undermines the existence of the field as discipline. In this study it is suggested that the essence of orality as subject matter of Oral Theory - should be seen not in the origins of its creativity (deemed 'traditional'), nor in its aesthetic process / product itself ('literature'), but in its use of language deriving from a different 'auditory' conception of language (as contrasted with the largely 'visualist' conception of language at least partly associated with writing). In other words, the study of orality should not be about specific oral 'genres', but about verbalization in general. In terms of its auditory conception, language is primarily defined as existing in sound, a definition which places it in a continuum with other symbolical / meaningful sounds, normally conceptualized as 'music'. Linguistics, being fundamentally scriptist (visualist) in orientation, fails to account for the auditory conception of language. To remedy this, Oral Theory needs to set itself up as an 'aural linguistics' - implying close interdisciplinary collaboration with the field of musicology - through which the linguistic sign of orality could be studied in all its particularity and complexity of meaning.
Church and poverty : towards a prophetic solidarity model for the United Church of Zambia's participation in poverty eradication in Zambia.
(2018) Simukonda, Joseph Darius.; Le Bruyns, Clint Charles.
Religion is one of the forces that is strategically positioned in society to contribute to the socioeconomic development. Both secular and religious organisations are unanimous that religion should be a critical partner in the development agenda. This study systematically explores how prophetic solidarity model could help the UCZ to move from merely participating in poverty eradication to become the church of the margins in search for a poverty free society. The study argues that, prophetic solidarity model may help the UCZ to understand that poverty eradication is an aspect of the mission of God in the world and any Church that claim to be an agent of mission can only do so in solidarity with the margins. This means that the UCZ should move beyond bandage approach to poverty to understanding the key underlying causes of poverty through social analysis and critical policy engagement. This demands that the UCZ should reconceptualise God’s mission in terms of transforming political structures and policy transformation in solidarity with the poor. This will mean that the UCZ will no longer claim to be listening to the voices of the margins, since she will now function as the church of the marginalised in struggle and in solidarity with the margins against socioeconomic and political oppression and exploitation in the Zambian context. In order to enhance the prophetic solidarity engagement of the UCZ in the context of socioeconomic and political uncertainty, this study delved into David Korten’s theory of development that seeks to address poverty by dealing with the root cause of poverty; liberation theology that calls the church to be involved in political and civic affairs of society by exposing any form of exploitation and injustices; the theory of mission from the margins that seeks to empower the poor so that they can become agents of transformation; public theology that seeks the presence of the church in public space to engage in policy formulation and many others issues that boarder on the well-being of God’s people; and lastly, in chapter seven, the study reflected on Jesus as a model for prophetic engagement where it has been revealed that, Jesus stands out as an example for the church’s prophetic engagement with poverty, for he was not just a religious leader but also a political activist who confronted structures, institutions, authorities and systems that oppressed the poor.
Cognitive, affective, and behavioural aspects of attitude in isiZulu L1 tertiary students towards discipline-specific terminology in isiZulu and isiZulu as an academic language.
(2022) Sibisi, Muhle Praiseworth.; Tappe, Heike Magdalena Elfried.
The study uses the tripartite model of attitude to interrogate students’ attitudes towards isiZulu and the influence that the existence of discipline-specific terminology in isiZulu has on their attitudes towards isiZulu as an academic language. The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), in response to the constitutional directive of elevating indigenous African languages in South Africa, has developed discipline-specific terminology in isiZulu for Administration, Architecture, Anatomy, Computer Science, Environmental Science, Law, Physics, Psychology and Nursing. The attitudes of students toward the availability of terminology have not been explored. This study explores the perception of isiZulu home language (L1) students on the availability of the terminology in the disciplines of Anatomy, Architecture, Law, and Physics, as well as the lack of the terminology in the disciplines of Community Development, Management, Chemistry, and Physiology. It distinguishes between the uses of isiZulu as a form of mother tongue-based education (MTBE), that applies in the entire learning experience of students, and the use of isiZulu alongside English with discipline-specific terminology as an academic resource for isiZulu L1 students. Applying a mixed methods research methodology, data is sourced using a questionnaire survey and focus group interviews from 149 isiZulu L1 students enrolled in the eight disciplines across the four colleges of UKZN. The results indicate that the attitudes of L1 students are directly impacted by two distinct language learning experiences; those with increased exposure to L1 hold positive attitudes, while those with diminished exposure to L1 hold negative attitudes. The study discovers that the L1 students were not aware of the availability of the discipline-specific terminology in isiZulu at UKZN and that they find the terminology difficult to decipher, irrespective of their language learning experiences. For this reason, there is a preference for loanwords in addition to the terminology in proper isiZulu. The results also indicate that the attitudinal responses on the three aspects of attitude are not consistently aligned towards the attitude objects. This study postulates that discipline-specific terminology in isiZulu should be used consistently throughout the schooling years of the students. The terminology lists need to include loanwords that are accessible to students. In this way, isiZulu, and other African languages, will be activated in academic contexts, the heterogeneity of L1 students will be catered for, and the students’ multilingualism will be a resource that enhances their academic performance. For language attitude studies, this study advocates for the investigation of the three aspects of attitudes individually, conducted both in the absence as well as the presence of the attitudinal objects, in order to obtain comprehensive insight into the attitude construct.
Comparative analysis of autofictional features in the works of Amelie Nothomb, Calixthe Beyala and Nina Bouraoui.
(2011) Ferreira-Meyers, Karen Aline Francoise.; De Meyer, Bernard Albert Marcel Sylvain.
30 years after the coining of autofiction (Doubrovsky, 1977), there is still no general consensus about its exact meaning. This research set out to discover autofiction, whether there is a need for this term, why the public has taken such an interest in autofiction. Research questions were divided into two major categories: 1. What is autofiction? What is its origin? How has it evolved? Which differences are there, if any, between autobiography and autofiction? Is there a need for the separate genre of autofiction? Why/why not? What are its general characteristics? 2. Do the three analysed women authors – Nothomb, Beyala and Bouraoui – incorporate these elements in their writing? If so, how and why? Is autofictional writing a stage/posture in the personal writing development of an author? Is there any link between the writing of the own persona and the obsession with the public persona? Concentrating on terminological and theoretical issues, extensive literature review was done in the first part of the research. Starting from main literary criticism regarding fiction and autobiography/autofiction, the theoretical side of my research dealt with narrative identity and the true/false dichotomy of fact/fiction. Together with qualitative research about intertextuality as applied by autofictional writers (difference plagiarism and intertextual borrowing) led to a functional definition of autofiction, the basis for the comparative study of the three authors. For the research into their public persona, extensive internet research and analysis of newspaper articles were undertaken to show: 1. how the authors portray themselves; 2. how they are perceived by the media; 3. how this possibly influences their writing style. Autofiction requires analysis of: 1. why authors write 2. about what they write 3. how they incorporate the Self and the world in their writing. Bouraoui compares writing to an almost sexual act of love, the most intimate possible. Writing was the only way she could deal with childhood memories and repressed homosexuality. Beyala writes to communicate with others, while Nothomb considers writing as a means to live more intensely, after anorexia. The specificities and distinctive characteristics of the texts and authors were discovered through narrative analysis (factual research into the authors’ public persona + textual analysis of literary oeuvres). In Chapter 3 (Calixthe Beyala), feminine literary criticism as well as postcolonial theories guided my reading. Chapter 4 (Nina Bouraoui) allowed reflexion on the links between memory, identity, truth and autofictional writing. All chapters included research on Doubrovsky’s link between psychoanalysis and autofiction. In conclusion, there is a strong indication that one should speak of autofictions in the plural. This research explains some of the differences between autobiography and autofiction while underlining the importance of the existence of this new, separate sub-genre. The researcher had an opportunity to reflect on human memory and re-interpretation of facts. Where does the dividing line between truth and falsehood fall when the author puts the reader deliberately on a false track by introducing his/her work as « a novel »? Recent, post-modern writing has deliberately transgressed the fine dividing line between fact/fiction. The present research corroborates this view.
A comparative ethnography of rituals and worship among Hindus and Zulus in South Africa with special reference to death rituals and ancestor veneration.
(2007) Govender, Rajendran Thangavelu.; Zungu, Phyllis Jane Nonhlanhla.
This study examines the similarities and differences between the historical background and the current performance of Hindu and Zulu funerals and associated ceremonies. After presenting an account of the historical development of the Hindu and Zulu communities in South Africa, a chronological account of the performance of each of these funeral ceremonies are presented. This account includes a detailed description of the rituals performed when a person is on his/her death bed, the actual funeral ceremonies and the post death rituals and ceremonies associated with ancestor veneration. The incidence and significance of The Anthropology of Geste and Rhythm in each of these ceremonies are demonstrated according to the theory of Marcel Jousse. The Hindu and Zulu ceremonies are then analysed and interpreted to demonstrate an individuals life crises which Van Gennep called the "Rites of Passage" and distinguishes three phases: separation, transition, and incorporation. The discussion accounts for the transmission of traditions over generations, and which demonstrate the anthropological and psychobiological nature of memory, understanding and expression as evident in the performance of Hindu and Zulu funerals and ceremonies and the manner in which the ancestors are venerated in South Africa. The research was undertaken mainly in Kwa-Zulu Natal. However to fill research gaps in the Hindu investigation a study was undertaken in some parts ofIndia as part of the Ford Foundation International Fellowship Programme.
A critical analysis of the relationship between literacy and disadvantage: a case study of grade 11 literacy practices in a township school.
(2016) Haricharan, Dhanwanthie.; Manik, Sadhana.
South Africa is currently in an educational crisis as evidenced by the performance of learners in a myriad of high stakes tests that they are exposed to. It has been established that this state of crisis is strongly correlated with the literacy levels of learners. The performance on the aforementioned tests are aligned with those who hail from previously disadvantaged backgrounds, performing overwhelmingly worse than those who do not. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between literacy and disadvantage. The objectives of the study were to interrogate the literacy practices in school and to identify the ways in which disadvantage manifested itself within these literacy practices. In order to investigate these critical issues, a case study was conducted. One grade 11 class located in a township school formed the case of study. Data was gathered using classroom observations, post observation interviews, focus group interviews with the learners and with the teachers, a semi-structured interview with the principal and a questionnaire for the learners. Reading, writing, speaking and practical literacy practices were observed in the classroom. It was found that there was the general lack of a culture of reading amongst the learners and so the learners’ level of reading was below grade level. Writing was emphasized in class or given as homework with much of the writing centering on note-taking. Learners had to work in an environment where there was a chronic lack of resources (such as textbooks) which impacted on their literacy practices. The teaching and learning environment in which the literacies were embedded was characterized by a lack of suitable reading and writing instruction (in all of their subjects), feedback and practical science literacy. There were however, instances where teachers successfully and practically demonstrated particular tasks. The interactions in the classroom were dominated by the teacher-talk. There was language fluidity in these interactions as teachers used multilingual resources such as code-switching and transliteration to facilitate learning. Teachers also employed innovative teaching strategies. Further analysis of the data showed that disadvantage manifested in literacy practices in both obvious (such as lack of resources) and subtle ways (such as attitudes and social behaviours). The ways in which disadvantage manifested in the literacy practices also differed amongst the different literacy practices. An ecological theory for literacy development was used in order to understand the extent to which literacy development is context dependent and thus more susceptible to influence from situational factors of disadvantage such as poverty, ideology, pedagogy etc. This perspective revealed a nuanced relationship between literacy and disadvantage and concluded that literacy is the product of the individual and his/her environment (which comprises the micro, meso, exo and macro systems)
A critical appraisal of Kalidasa's Abhijnanasakuntalam in the light of the rasa theory.
(1996) Panday, Shobhana Devi.; Rambilass, Bisraam.; Sitaram, Rambhajun.
No abstract available.
A critical discourse analysis, through deconstruction and reconstruction of Grade 8 English language textbooks in light of the Hizmet humanistic philosophy for the purpose of character education.
(2019) Duymun-Demirtaş, Naailah.; Wildsmith-Cromarty, Rosemary.
The English language textbook as a vehicle of linguistic and general knowledge can at times contain topics which may not be appropriate for the diverse learners in a South African Grade 8 classroom. The focus of this research is on the deconstruction before the subsequent reconstruction of texts from selected Grade 8 English language textbooks to uncover hidden ideologies1 as well as power relations and naturalized subject constructions and assumptions which could impact on learners. The samples are of multimodal texts on topics such as teenage love and dating. The concept of metadiscourse as the voice of the author is also explored in terms of its influence on learners. Through the presentation of these topics and the assumption of authors, learners are all positioned as promiscuous sensual beings ready for romance. The theoretical and methodological frameworks comprise critical discourse analysis and eclectic theories and methods such as systemic functional grammar, appraisal theory, multimodality, and Thompson’s modes of operation of ideology. These are also used as analytical deconstruction and reconstruction tools. Textual fragments are reconstructed in light of character education and humanism, and subjects are re- imagined and re-presented to allow access to learners from multiple habitus. The aim of the reconstruction is to orient learners humanistically through the Hizmet2 /service philosophy towards universal values and ethics, with the hope of bringing up social capital in terms of a future of Golden Generation of quality individuals who will serve humanity with good morals.
A critical microethnographic investigation of the role of news-time in the acquisition of literacy in pre-democratic South Africa.
(1999) Adendorff, Ralph Darryl.; Chick, John Keith.
This thesis focuses on the form and content of contributions of young children during news-time, a recurrent literacy event in pre-primary and junior primary schools in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Using the methods of Critical Discourse Analysis and both Traditional and Critical Ethnography, the researcher infers the emic categories (or norms) which guide the participants' conduct at news-time. The study reveals, inter alia, how uniform the teachers, norms for news-time behaviour are, and how assiduously they promote them. It also reveals how incompatible, in most instances, the teachers' norms are with those of their pupils; outlines the ideological strategies teachers use to discourage/silence literacy practices they disapprove of; and draws attention to the hurt feelings, self-doubt and alienation on the part of pupils that these strategies foster. On the basis of such findings the researcher argues that news-time literacy as reflected in the teachers' core norms, embeds and helps to consolidate asymmetrical teacher-pupil (and expert-other) power relations; the hegemony of expository literacy (for which newstime literacy is a fore-runner); and the hegemony of various Anglo-, Western, middle-class values and interests. Consistent with the call of critical ethnographers for ethnographies that focus on the influence of macro-contextual factors on social conduct, he suggests that central features of the South African education system under apartheid (such as the eschewal of diversity, belief in prescriptive rules of correctness, authoritarianism, exclusivism, et al) are compatible with and perhaps help further to explain the norms which the teachers promote during news-time. Finally, the researcher explores the implications as well as an application of this research for the teaching/learning of literacy in early education in the "new" - democratic - South Africa. He calls for consciousness-raising on the part of teachers and teacher-trainers regarding the form and function of news-time, in the context of a broad understanding of literacy, ideology and power. He argues that teachers need to acquire richer analytical and interpretative abilities than are evinced in his study, and suggests both content and a method by which they may be developed. He also argues for awareness-raising of alternative pedagogical options, which he outlines. Lastly, he argues that teachers need to acquire multilingual and multicultural proficiencies. As regards applications, the researcher makes two proposals for an emancipatory micro-literacy policy at the preprimary and junior primary levels of schooling. At the heart of the first are four considerations, two of which involve "literacy as teaching the 'cultures of power' and literacy as practice in acknowledging and fostering diversity" (Pennycook 1996:164). The remaining two relate to compatibility with the spirit of the National Language Policy and parity with the "orientations" that underlie the National Language Policy. The second, and more modest of these two proposals, recognises the likelihood, on the one hand, of resistance on the part of those with vested interests in the status quo, and the influence, on the other, of other potentially significant contextual factors.
Cultures et représentations d'un champ disciplinaire en évolution :$ble cas de la littérature au sein des études franc̨aises à l'université en Afrique du Sud.
(2013) Horne, Fiona Lindsay.; Balladon, Francesca Emma.; Fraisse, Emmanuel.
The purpose of this study is to investigate the evolution of cultures and representations in the field of French Studies at tertiary level in South Africa, in order to gauge its impact on the teaching of Literature. The field of French Studies, traditionally divided into the areas of language and literature, has gone through a series of far-reaching changes over the last few years, in line with global trends but also as part of the transformation of the South African educational, socio-economic and cultural landscape. This has manifested itself in a shift from a literary ‘academic’ culture to more functional, skillsbased teaching cultures, embodied in the field of French Studies, by the emergence of the discipline of French foreign language didactics. As a result, the identity of the discipline, traditionally dominated by literary studies, has been called into question, as well as the teaching approaches, content, aims and outcomes of French Studies. This study investigates representations of academics with regard to these changes, as well as the shift in disciplinary research and teaching cultures, by drawing on the values, practices and epistemological fields of language didactics and literary studies and their interaction within the wider field of French Studies. It further examines the specificity of teaching and learning literature in a foreign language environment and its relationship to established and emerging teaching cultures. The question of the evolution of teaching cultures points to the actors who define this context, that is, the academics, the students and their relationship to the literary text as a scholarly object. This study focuses in particular on academics’ profiles and representations and the construction of their relationship to the literary text in teaching and research. The knowledge, skills, perceptions, habits and values specific to these relationships underpin the overarching notion of ‘culture’ which are analysed through representations. Aspects of disciplinary, educational and interpretative cultures and representations are highlighted from the viewpoint of literature as a dialectical construction between individual reader and text and reader and culture and textual practices. With this in mind, the study explores the question of the complex identity particular to French Studies, the challenges the discipline is facing at a turning point in its disciplinary history, and the function of literature within this shifting field. Finally, it sheds light on the crucial role culture and representation play within academic disciplines.
Deconstruction and the concept logos in the Gospel of John and the binary opposition between the oral and the written text, with special reference to primarily oral cultures in South Africa.
(2002) Hendricks, Gavin Peter.; Sienaert, Edgard Richard.
This thesis examines the Historical Critical method and its opponent Deconstruction in relation to the Logos tradition from the perspective of Orality-Literacy Studies. The resultant paradigm seeks to revise the logical procedures underlying the Historical Critical method and Deconstruction, so as to approximate the media realities that underlie the Logos tradition and its power for resistance. The first part of the thesis undertakes a detailed historical critical analysis of the Logos tradition and the proposed religious influences in the Gospel of John. The Historical Critical Method of the Logos has focused exclusively on written text, i.e.Words committed to chirographic space. This analysis is followed by a critical analysis of the Logos-Hymn, which is followed by an indepth exegetical study ofJohn's Prologue (1: 1-18) in locating the form and character of the Logos-Hymn. The Logos tradition will serve as bedrock in understanding the polemic in Chapters five and six and its relationship to John's Prologue (1: 1-18) in the Gospel of John and that of primarily! oral communities prior the 1994 democratic era in South Africa. The second part of the study will focus on Derrida' s Deconstruction critique of the metaphysics of presence against the Logos which presents as a leading case for Logocentrism. Deconstruction should be seen as a series of recent displacements among philosophy, literary criticism and Biblical studies. Current reaction to Derrida in philosophy and literary criticism includes enthusiastic acceptance but also hostility and rejection from academic humanists who perceive him as a threat to their metaphysical assumptions. Reaction from Biblical scholars could be similarly negative, although most of Derrida's writings should stimulate them to a healthy rethinking of their positions. Derrida's insistence that meaning is an affair of language's systems of difference "without positive terms" and his proposition that writing is prior to speech are two main elements in his attack on the foundations of Western metaphysics and its 'logocentric' convictions that we can experience meaning in 'presences' removed from the play of differential systems (Schneidau 1982:5). Derrida repudiates the classical logos behind this assumption but also the Christian Logos, yet the Biblical insistence on our understanding of ourselves in relation to a historical past, rather than in terms of a static cosmic system, breaks with the tendencies of logocentrism and allows us to align Derrida and the Bible. This radical way of appropriating history, without the possibility of reifications of various sorts, should lead Biblical scholars further into kerygmatic reflection. Derrida's deconstruction demonstrates the dubious status of ordinary language, literal meaning, and common sense thinking and invites us to see the illusory metaphysics behind the written text, a metaphysics that some Biblical structuralists seem to accept uncritically. It is these metaphysical analyses of the Word that unravel the binary opposition between the spoken Logos and that of the written text and its relation to meaning and representation in the reality of primarily oral cultures. The third part of the thesis will focus the attention on tradition perceived as transmissional processes towards a means of communication in primarily oral cultures. In the place of the Historical Critical Method and Deconstruction henneneutics of the Logos tradition, an oral thesis is developed which will focus on an Anthropology of Liberation. The Logos can be seen as a liberating force for primarily oral communities against the falsely constructed realities of the written text in our South African context. The written text has played a major role in the social engineering of segregation and social boundaries by the Apartheid government in South Africa. It is suggested that Orality-Literacy research is an appropriately inclusive metaphor in understanding the Logos as a collective memory for primarily oral cultures shared by hearer and speaker alike. Orality-literacy helps us to understand the literary dynamics between speech and writing and to dialogue with the history of the 'Other' or those from the 'otherside, 'the marginalized and the dispossesed. Finally this thesis suggest that the discourse of the 'Other' is able to produce meaning and representation in the construction of knowledge, and is a discourse that is shared by hearer and speaker alike.
Die Franse bydrae tot en invloed op Africana-literatuur vanaf 1622 tot 1902 met spesiale verwysing na Franse en vroee Afrikaanse tekste.
(1985) Sienaert, Marilet.; Belcher, Ronald Kenneth.
No abstract available.
Die Todesfigur : eine studie ihrer funktion in der deutschen literatur vom vierzehnten bis zum sechzehnten jahrhundert : unter besonderer beruecksichtigung des sozial - und gesellschaftskritischen aspekts.
(1989) Thiel, Gudrun Else Kaethe.
This research report deals with the function of the figure of Death in German literature from the 14th to the 16th century and its early Latin predecessors. This thesis aims to give an overview of such texts, written predominantly in Latin until the first half of the 15th century and also in German from the second half of the 15th century. From the overview of the texts, it is evident that the figure of Death was employed mainly by reform-oriented groups within the Church in texts whose contents had a socio-religious bias. This, together with an analysis of the possible recipients of the texts, provides support for the thesis that these groups must have used the figure of Death within the social context of the period (from the 12th to the 16th century) in an attempt to protect the interest of the Church as an institution as well as its strong influence on society. The time span from the 14th to the 16th century is then subdivided into two epochs. The first epoch encompasses the period from the 14th century to the beginning of the Reformation; the second epoch encompasses texts dating from the beginning of the Reformation. Several texts from each epoch are analysed in detail in order to prove the thesis. The choice of texts takes into account the dominant church reform groups as well as the most relevant genres of the time. This investigation shows that the church established its hold on society, on the one hand, by keeping the higher clergy and the nobility in the place assigned to them by the concept of "ordo", and on the other hand, by directing social criticism at the people of high standing, and so appeasing the lower classes who were looking to heretical groups for the realization of their spiritual needs and social ambitions. Reform was thus seen by the reform-oriented people within the Church as upholding the "God-given" social order, related to the Great Chain of Being, by all estates. The more this order crumbled because the real political power-brokers had changed, the more universal the criticism of the figure of Death became. After the Reformation, however, the universality of social criticism was increasingly restricted to the local level, being mainly aimed at rich individuals within the city population.
Dual language instruction (IsiZulu-English) of academic literacy and communication skills pilot course : impact on language attitudes of engineering students = Isifundo esilimi mbili (IsiZulu-Nesingisi) samakhono okufunda nokuxhumana : amandla aso kwizimomqondo yezilimi yabafundi bezobunjiniyela.
(2011) Ngcobo, Sandiso.; Tappe, Heike Magdalena Elfriede.
The study was motivated by the 2002 Language Policy for Higher Education (LPHE) that was promulgated by the Department of Education (DoE) in response to its concerns over the alarmingly high failure, dropout and retention rates of particularly black South African students. The LPHE has identified English-medium instruction as the possible main factor in denying the majority of black students’ access to and success in higher education. However, the LPHE is yet to be fully implemented in the country partly due to the fact that sociolinguistic studies among black-African-language speakers indicate that there is a strong preference for English over black African languages in all formal sectors of society, including academia. This preference for English is, in part, a result of the lack of development and the under-resourcing of black African languages in education. Also, black South Africans, while they desire quality mother tongue instruction (MTI), strongly wish to improve their English proficiency. Following on these indications, this study developed and piloted dual language instruction (DLI) (isiZulu-English) teaching and learning course material on academic literacy and communication skills. The purpose of the study was to investigate the extent to which participation in the DLI pilot course might contribute towards ‘attitude change’ as regards the use of isiZulu as a teaching and learning resource alongside English in higher education. The investigation, which took place at Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT) in the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, was undertaken among isiZulu-speaking students and their lecturers, all of whom were involved in an Academic Literacy and Communication Skills course for engineers at foundation level. In order to collect data the study adopted an embedded mixed-method research approach in that while it mainly made use of three questionnaires that were administered to The study was motivated by the 2002 Language Policy for Higher Education (LPHE) that was promulgated by the Department of Education (DoE) in response to its concerns over the alarmingly high failure, dropout and retention rates of particularly black South African students. The LPHE has identified English-medium instruction as the possible main factor in denying the majority of black students’ access to and success in higher education. However, the LPHE is yet to be fully implemented in the country partly due to the fact that sociolinguistic studies among black-African-language speakers indicate that there is a strong preference for English over black African languages in all formal sectors of society, including academia. This preference for English is, in part, a result of the lack of development and the under-resourcing of black African languages in education. Also, black South Africans, while they desire quality mother tongue instruction (MTI), strongly wish to improve their English proficiency. Following on these indications, this study developed and piloted dual language instruction (DLI) (isiZulu-English) teaching and learning course material on academic literacy and communication skills. The purpose of the study was to investigate the extent to which participation in the DLI pilot course might contribute towards ‘attitude change’ as regards the use of isiZulu as a teaching and learning resource alongside English in higher education. The investigation, which took place at Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT) in the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, was undertaken among isiZulu-speaking students and their lecturers, all of whom were involved in an Academic Literacy course for engineers at foundation level. In order to collect data the study adopted an embedded mixed-method research approach in that while it mainly made use of three questionnaires that were administered to students there were also focus group interviews to supplement quantitative data. In addition, the data analyses were comparatively undertaken across different times of the study and between different groups of participants (students and lecturers). The purpose in the comparative analyses of all the data collected was to discover whether or not there were areas of convergence and/or divergence in the garnered opinions concerning attitudes to bi-/multilingual education. The important finding of this study was that the majority of students indicated from the onset that they preferred to use their primary language as a learning resource while they also valued the role of English in education. This was taken as an indication of positive attitudes to bilingual education. As a result, the use of the DLI pilot course contributed to a minimal attitude change in that after its use there were a few students who for the first time acknowledged the positive role of isiZulu in education. The majority of lecturers also approved of the use and/or the role of L1 in education and indicated support for its use in content subjects. However, the longitudinal investigation of attitudes amongst students in their final year of study revealed a shift in attitude in that the majority identified English as the only language of education. The thesis concluded by suggesting that it is attitudes based on personal experience rather than on preconceived ideas that should inform our decisions on language education policy implementation. It was then recommended that Higher education institutions that are in areas where the student population remains predominantly black in terms of demographics should lead in the implementation of multilingual education policies.
Elsa Joubert : 'n kommunikatiewe benadering.
(1993) Van der Berg, Dietloff Zigfried.; Jonckheere, Wilfred F.
No abstract available.
Emerging bilingualism in rural secondary schools in KwaZulu-Natal : the impact of educational policies on learners and their communities.
(2010) Appalraju, Dhalialutchmee Padayachee.; De Kadt, Elizabeth.
It was as Head of Department of Languages in a rural high school in Southern KwaZulu-Natal, and as an L1 English educator in a primarily Zulu-speaking environment that I first realised the extent to which language is not neutral, and became curious about learners’ language choices in their community. My observation of rural parents sending learners to English multicultural schools made me similarly realise the extent to which language carries power. Language also carries ideologies and values, and can empower or disempower learners. At the same time, language is contextually and culturally embedded; and any attempt to explain language choice and language usage has to take a multiplicity of factors into account. This thesis addresses the topic of emerging bilingualism in three rural schools and school communities in Southern KwaZulu-Natal. In these primarily Zuluspeaking communities, an increasing dominance of English is resulting in bilingualism in what were formerly primarily monolingual communities. In particular it would appear that the bilingual education prescribed by education authorities is causally implicated in this emerging bilingualism. As a result, rural communities, like urban communities, are becoming melting pots where different languages, cultures and value systems are interwoven to satisfy economic, political, social and cultural needs. The South African Constitution speaks of multiculturalism and multilingualism as a defining characteristic of being South African. These principles are entrenched in broad national, provincial and local (school) educational policies. One such educational policy is the National Language in Education Policy (LIEP), which has considerable implications for schools in rural communities. While the LIEP postulates the eleven official languages as equal in bilingual education, in practice English is given an elevated position as the primary Language of Learning and Teaching (LOLT). This paradox inherent in the iv LIEP appears to be having considerable impact on language usage and choices in both urban and rural communities. This investigation traces a group of rural communities which are currently experiencing a gradual transition from Zulu monolingualism towards increasing English and Zulu bilingualism. This study investigates this transition in the school and home context, as well as in its impact on the broader community. It considers whether additive or subtractive bilingualism may be emerging and the extent to which the educational policies of Outcomes-Based Education and LOLT may be causally implicated. The data collection methods employed include participant observation, questionnaires and interviews, which allow me to construct a detailed description of language usage, both in the school context, at home and in the community. In examining the patterns of the language choices of Grade 11 learners in the three selected high schools, I seek to allow the impact of the new educational policies on these learners and on their rural communities to become visible. I then consider a number of explanations for the types of bilingualism emerging in these three communities, in terms of varying contextual factors, the educational environment and the social and cultural identities favoured by speakers.
Enkele regsliterere aspekte van sensuur in Suid-Afrika.
(1989) Grobler, Hilda Magdalena.; Belcher, Ronald Kenneth.;
No abstract available.
The implications for classroom practice of the outcomes-based education model for teaching and learning : an evaluation of modes of implementation in KwaZulu-Natal schools.
(2004) Balladon, Francesca Emma.; McDermott, Lydia E.
With the advent of political and social democracy in South Africa in 1994 came the need to restructure education so that it would reflect the new mulitcultural democracy, redress the inequalities of the past and ensure future social justice. South African society, after apartheid, had to be re-formed, in the sense of being formed anew; and it had to be re-constructed, in the sense of being built again. The classroom was perceived to be one of the critical sites in which this change could be effected and outcomes-based education (OBE) is the optimum educational instrument through which to initiate change. At the heart of OBE lies learner-centredness'which entails experiential learning in a physical and metaphysical world viewed as a set of interlocking (mutually dependant) systems. OBE focuses on a subjective being in the world and a subjective becoming in the world. It is because OBE is centred on process rather than product that outcomes are specified as the learning assessment instrument. It is for all the above reasons that the new South African national curriculum was based on OBE. The primary aims of the curriculum are to achieve educational equality across racial groups and, secondly, to develop cultural competence amongst South Africa's previously legislatively divided peoples so that a new nation, united in its diversity, can evolve. This dissertation examines the successes and failures of the implementation of OBE, in the form of the South African National Curriculum Statement (NCS), in the teaching of French as a Second Additional Language. For educational policy to be implemented and the vision of transformation realised, teachers need to translate curriculum principles into pedagogic practices. The implications of the new national curriculum and of the OBE model for the teaching of French are enormous. Learning French, a language which has both its own African identity and is a language of the world, encourages an understanding of other languages and cultures, promotes tolerance of diversity, develops critical thinking and prepares learners for a multicultural society. In these ways the learning of French has the potential of furthering the fundamental aims of the NCS. OBE, as an educational model, can optimise the teaching of a foreign language such as French and thus increase the potential of French learning to further the broad aims of the NCS. There is thus a reciprocity between learning French and the desired outcomes of the NCS, and the conduit is the OBE methodology. , OBE facilitates the teaching and learning of a foreign language such as French as it allows for the creation of a language learning (be it artificial) environment through the use of real-life situations and centres learning in the socio-cultural context of the learners. OBE links classroom exercises to the real world by sourcing learners' realities as contexts of learning and teaching and by making learning a productive learner experience. Classroom activities are thus relevant to a subjective rather than to an externally perceived objective real world. The broad aim of my study is to evaluate how and to what extent OBE has been implemented in French classrooms. The study also describes and evaluates examples of successful OBE implementation. Research was undertaken in KwaZulu-Natal and the focus of the study was Grade 8 to Grade 12 French teaching and learning situations. My research has shown uneven application of OBE in "French" classrooms, but there are clear signs of creative and innovative learning facilitation which promises much for other "foreign" language learning and teaching and for the broader, nation-building aims of South African educational policy.
The implications of e-text resource development for Southern African literary studies in terms of analysis and methodology.
(1999) Stewart, Graham Douglas James.
This study was aimed at investigating established electronic text and information projects and resources to inform the design and implementation of a South African electronic text resource. Literature was surveyed on a wide variety of electronic text projects and virtual libraries in the humanities, bibliographic databases, electronic encyclopaedias, literature webs, on-line learning, corcordancing and textual analysis, and computer application programs for searching and displaying electronic texts .The SALIT Web CD-ROM which is a supplementary outcome of the research - including the database, relational table structure, keyword search criteria, search screens, and hypertext linking of title entries to the electronic full-texts in the virtual library section - was based on this research. Other outcomes of the project include encoded electronic texts and an Internet web site. The research was undertaken to investigate the benefits of designing and developing an etext database (hypertext web) that could be used effectively as a learning/teaching and research resource in South African literary studies. The backbone of the resource would be an indexed ''virtual library" containing electronic texts (books and other documents in digital form), conforming to international standards for interchange and for sharing with others. Working on the assumption that hypertext is an essentially democratic and anti canonical environment where the learner/users are free to construct meaning for themselves, it seemed an ideal medium in which to conduct learning, teaching and research in South African literature. By undertaking this project I hoped to start a process, based on international standards, that would provide a framework for a virtual library of South African literature, especially those works considered "marginal" or which had gone out of print, or were difficult to access for a variety of reasons. Internationally, the TEI (Text Encoding Initiative) and other, literature based hypertext projects, promised the emergence of networked information resources that could absorb and then share texts essential for contemporary South African literary research. Investigation of the current status of on-line reference sources revealed that the digital frameworks underlying bibliographic databases, electronic encyclopaedias and literature webs are now very similar. Specially designed displays allow the SALIT Web to be used as a digital library, providing an opportunity to read books that may not be available from any other library. The on-line learning potential of the SALIT Web is extensive. Asynchronous Learning Network (ALN) programmes in use were assessed and found to offer a high degree of learner-tutor and learner-learner interaction. The Text Analysis Computing Tools (TACT) program was used to investigate the possibility of detailed text analysis of the full texts included in the SALIT library on the CDROM. Features such as Keyword-in-context and word-frequency generators, offer valuable methods to automate the more time-consuming aspects of both thematic and formal text analysis. In the light of current hypertext theory that emphasises hypertext's lack of fixity and closure, the SALIT Web can be seen to transfer authority from the author/teacher/librarian, to the user, by offering free access to information and so weakening the established power relations of education and access to education. The resource has the capacity to allow the user to examine previously unnoticed, but significant contradictions, inconsistencies and patterns and construct meaning from them. Yet the resource may still also contain interventions by the author/teacher consisting of pathways to promote the construction of meaning, but not dictate it. A hypertext web resource harnesses the cheap and powerful benefits of Information Technology for the purpose of literary research, especially in the under-resourced area of South African literary studies. By making a large amount of information readily available and easily accessible, it saves time and reduces frustration for both learners and teachers. An electronic text resource provides users with a virtual library at their fingertips. Its resources can be standardised so that others can add to it, thus compounding the benefits over time. It can place scarce works (books, articles and papers) within easy access for student use. Students may then be able to use its resources for independent discovery, or via guided sets of exercises or assignments. Electronic texts break the tyranny of inadequate library resources, restricted access to rare documents and the unavailability of comprehensive bibliographical information in the area of South African literary studies. The publication of the CD-ROM enables the launch of new, related projects, with the emphasis on building a collection of South African texts in all languages and in translation. Training in electronic text preparation, and Internet access to the resource will also be addressed to take these projects forward.

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