Browsing by Department "Centre for Applied Language and Literacy Studies and Services in Africa"
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- ItemOpen AccessAffirming marginal voices : a study of a group of primary school children in an asymmetrical multilingual setting(2008) Jardine, Aziezah; Hutchings, CathyThe aim of my teaching intervention, dialogue journal writing, was to counter these deficit perceptions by affirming the marginal home language at school. More importantly, I aimed to give children who do not often get the opportunity to do so, the space to voice themselves in writing. My research, therefore, aimed at investigating the dialogue journal writing process as a means of raising the status of Xhosa at school, as well as to affirm the voices of children in asymmetrical multilingual settings.
- ItemOpen AccessAn analysis of communication between health-care workers and Xhosa-speaking patients in a Cape Town hospital, from the perspective of language cognition and inter-cultural communication(2005) Nxasana, Nonceba Thandeka Jacqueline; Mesthrie, Rajend; Kaschula, RussellThe investigation seeks to establish whether vital information is lost or not communicated properly due to differences in language between medical practitioners and patients. In particular the thesis is concerned with English-speaking doctors and their Xhosa-speaking patients in Cape Town. This thesis studies interactions between ten Xhosa patients and five English-speaking doctors at the Red Cross hospital in Cape Town. It examines terminological issues, especially the names for illness as understood by doctors and patients. It also examines communication difficulties pertaining to a lack of complete fluency in the respective second languages. Culture-bound assumptions about illness and communication of important information are also studied. The thesis contends that vital information does tend to be minimised or even lost and examines the consequences of this loss, and makes recommendations in order to minimise miscommunication and enhance communication.
- ItemOpen AccessThe application of some second language teaching/learning principles in multimedia language design : a case study of a multimedia approach to an undergraduate course in Swahili(2002) Kouame, Germain Noel; Young, DouglasThis study investigates aspects of the learning process that takes place in the Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) classroom in the Department of Linguistics and Southern African Languages at the University of Cape Town. It also studies how a small sample of students make adjustments in language learning with the help of the multimedia Swahili programme. The sample comprises four UCT learners (mixed Ll 's) studying a (CD-ROM) multimedia Swahili language programme.
- ItemOpen AccessAspekte van die poësie en lewe van Ingrid Jonker(2001) Coetzee, Michélle Elizabeth; Snyman, HenningI did a historiographical study of the poet, Ingrid Jonker, because I am convinced that the way in which she wrote is as important as what she wrote. The term 'historiography' refers to the way history is done, and I wanted to show how Ingrid Jonker 'did' her poetry.
- ItemOpen AccessBilingual education and learning : the case of some Xhosa speaking learners in Cape Town, South Africa(Cape Town)(2003) Doumbia, Wassa; Fléchais, OlivierCette étude s'est inspirée de la nouvelle voie que l'éducation prend au Mali au premier cycle de l'enseignement fondamental (éducation bilingue). Cette nouvelle voie qui concerne l'introduction des langues nationales à I'école a donné des sueurs froides aux maîtres et aux parents d'élèves. En conduisant cette étude j'espère contribuer à clarifier les points sensibles du programme dont l'amélioration ou la négligence peut conduire à la réussite ou à l'echec de l'éducation bilingue. Ce mémoire a pour but d'explorer les conditions de réussite liées a I'introduction de l'éducation bilingue. A cet effet 5 écoles ont été visitées, dont 3 bilingues et 2 unilingues pour se rendre compte de la performance des élèves dont la langue matemelle est différente de celle de l'école. Cette recherche est faite en Afrique du Sud où l'expérience de l'éducation bilingue s'étend sur des années et où les enfants Noirs ont commencé a fréquenter les ecoles ‘pour Blancs’ don’t la langue d'enseignement est l'anglais après l'abolition de l' Apartheid.
- ItemOpen AccessThe change of language and the language of change : a consideration of some of the assumptions behind non-governmental language planning projects : implications for language in education policy(1994) Hughes, Sharon; Young, D NLanguage planning and language policy are currently being debated by both politicians and educationists. Language policy is seen by both Afrikaner nationalists and some progressive educationists as the key to political and economic power. This dissertation argues that language policy-making alone cannot achieve political goals. It also proposes that the most successful and most democratic policies are those which are "facilitatory and enabling rather than compulsory and punitive" (Fishman, 1991: 82) and which are differentiated to take account of existing sociolinguistic contexts. Chapter 1 begins by looking at definitions of language planning and language policy. Following this, it examines some of the terms that people use to speak about language and languages in language planning. The concern here is not with establishing fixed meanings but with how the use of these terms constructs certain "realities", for example relationships amongst languages. This chapter also looks at some of the proposed relations between language and "reality". Chapter 2 briefly outlines the history of language planning in South Africa, focusing on language medium of instruction in education. It examines the Nationalists' and the ANC's language policy positions. A postscript discusses the agreement reached in November 1993. Chapter 3 looks at the role of various non-governmental associations in the language policy debate. It also examines the phenomenon of white advocacy of increased status for African languages. Chapter 4 deals with the process of language planning. Who decides on language goals and through what mechanisms are goals promoted? Chapter 5 asks questions about what bilingual or multilingual medium of instruction models would mean in terms of classroom practice and underlines the lack of consensus in bilingual education research about universally applicable solutions. Chapter 6 summarises the main arguments covered in the dissertation and makes some general recommendations about language-in-education policy.
- ItemOpen AccessA constrastive case study of orthodox and alternate adult literacy initiatives, as regards their assumptions about literacy, pedagogy, and curriculum(2009) Fine, Zelma; Prinsloo, MastinThe aim of this study was to investigate and contrast two sites of literacy tuition, the one being an orthodox night school, set-up and run according to departmental requirements, and the other, an innovative endeavour situated within the walls of the South African Museum. My concern was to examine how different constructs of what literacy is and how it should be taught manifested themselves in curricula, pedagogy, and organisation at the two sites. I used ethnographic-style methods to gather data at the two sites. From the perspective of orthodox literacy instruction, as it has developed in adult education, the emphasis in literacy instruction is on the transmission and acquisition of a set of skills, imparted to learners in order that they might 'become literate'.
- ItemOpen AccessDesigning social identities : a case study of a primary school theatrical performance by Zulu children in an English ex-model C school(2004) Alborough, Clare Louise; Thesen, LuciaThis multimodal case study investigates the discourses that emerge in a theatrical performance, constructed and performed by a group of grade seven, Zulu speaking students as a representation of themselves. The performance was set in an ex-model C primary school in Kwa-Zulu Natal and reflects the tensions between the students' identities that are located in the different fields of home, school, traditional settings and urban settings. The study is qualitative in nature, with the performance text being a participatory, creative, multi modal, joint-construction involving the participants and the researcher. The performance was structured so that each scene represents one of the participants' social fields. The analysis of the performance follows this structure and explores the way discourses and identities emerge from the Traditional, Home, School and Urban scenes of the performance. The study draws on the New London Group's Multiliteracies theory, using the concepts of discourse, identity, interest and design, as well as drawing on Bourdieu's notions of field and capital. The study makes use of social semiotic analysis, drawing particularly from Kress and van Leeuwen's visual grammar, to explore the multi modal nature of the performance, analysing the linguistic mode alongside those of the visual, the gestural and the spatial. The study attempts to be consistent with the multimodal nature of the performance and so presents the data through photographs, sketches and video clips integrated with the written text. The study alms to amplify the participants' voice through the richness of their representation. It attempts to contest the notion that marginalised people are powerless in the face of hegemonic discourses, asserting rather that there is always agency.
- ItemOpen AccessDie hantering van identiteite in Afrikaanse voorgeskrewe romans in Suid-Afrika na apartheid : 'n kritiese evaluering = The treatment of identities in Afrikaans prescribed novels in post-apartheid South Africa : a critical appraisal(2001) Scholtz, Danelle; Van der Merwe, Chris NLiterature is an important source of cultural knowledge for young readers. It helps shape their perceptions of reality and teaches them what to expect from the world and the people around them. Therefore, it is important to do a communicative analysis of the literature that is prescribed for schools, in order to determine how identities are ascribed and negotiated, and how this can bear on intergroup and interpersonal relations. The conclusions can then serve to guide the selection of new books and the teaching of existing selections. In this study, the eleven novels that were prescribed in 2000 for Afrikaans First Language in Grade 12 in the nine provinces of South Africa are analysed thematically with respect to ethnicity, gender, and religion. Theories of Intercultural Communication are used to examine these thematic analyses. I conclude that the lists were indeed compiled for the purpose of transformation, and that ethnicity in particular gets awarded prominent treatment. The voices that are heard, however, belong overwhelmingly to one group, so that theirs is central to all reality, and the reality of others is seen only in relation to their reality. More or less the same applies to the aspects of gender and religion. There is also little awareness of gender issues, and gender roles are stereotypical.
- ItemOpen AccessThe differences in medium of instruction for the lower primary phase in teacher education and schools in Namibia, with reference to the Kavango educational region, are a barrier to effective teaching and learning(2011) Hausiku, Scholastika Mbava; Alexander, NevilleThe study aims to investigate whether the difference in the language of teaching in teacher education and the language of teaching in the lower primary phase is a barrier for effective teaching and learning in the targeted institutions. Furthermore, would additional focus on mother tongue education in teacher education benefit educational achievement in the Kavango educational region specifically and in Namibia as a whole?
- ItemOpen AccessEngaging differences linguistic diversity and critical literacy pedagogy in the classroom(2012) Williams, Cristan; McKinney, CarolynThis study developed out of my own experiences as a high school English teacher and my engagements with the intertwined issues of language and diversity in the classroom.The study foregrounds the nature of students' and teachers' engagements with linguistic diversity and the role of the teacher in critical literacy. In South Africa there is very little classroom based research which shows how students and teachers are engaging with issues of diversity, power and inequality, post-apartheid. This research focuses on how my students and I interact with issues of linguistic diversity in an English Home Language, Grade 8 classroom context using critical literacy pedagogy as the means by which to engage with these issues.
- ItemOpen AccessEnglish as a weapon of power : a double-edged sword(2005) Pamegiana, Andrea; Young, Douglas; Kapp, RochelleThis mini-dissertation explores the effects of the growth of English as an international and an intranational lingua franca with a focus on the South African debate about language and socio-economic empowerment. This exploration is carried out through an extended review of some of the theories that have challenged the notion that the spread of English is empowering for the majority of the world's population. I refer to these theories as the "critical discourse" about the power of English and argue that within this discourse there is a tendency to be exceedingly dismissive of the idea that the spread of English can in any way empower native speakers of other languages. I refer to this tendency as the "critical model" for looking at the power of English and analyze three metaphors that are often used as tropes to exclude from the "critical discourse" arguments that can be made for using English as a weapon of empowerment. These metaphors characterize English as a "linguistic poacher" that threatens endangered language species with extinction, as a "gatekeeper" that excludes the masses from socio-economic mobility, and as a "colonizer of the mind," or a mechanism that imposes Western-centric values. I argue that while it is important to be aware of these negative effects, the critics of English should not rely too heavily on negative constructions of this language, lest they create theories that are marred by epistemological fallacies that have negative pedagogical and political consequences. Epistemologically, sealing the border of a discourse can lead to tautological arguments that rely excessively on determinism and essentialism. Pedagogically, being exceedingly critical of the power of English can create obstacles in finding ways to teach this language effectively.
- ItemOpen AccessEnhancing the reading conditions in a multilingual grade six class : exploring the possibilities(2004) Verbist-Serekonyane, Anne; Baxen, JeanThe qualitative study described in this research addresses the question of ""how to enhance reading conditions in a grade six class with learners from different language backgrounds, but taught in English as a medium of instruction"". The conceptual framework helps to carve a path through the maze of definitions about reading, independent readers, reading models and Cambourne's reading conditions, which were the focus of the research. The grade six classroom, in which the reading conditions, mainly ""immersion"" and ""engagement"", were to be enhanced, consisted of 42 learners and one teacher. The observation period started in February 2002, but the actual research described in this dissertation lasted two months (August and September 2002), and happened in different phases: the initial phase and the main research period. The latter was made up of the intervention and the final phase. In the initial phase the reading conditions In the classroom layout, the learners' profile, the teaching practices and the attitudes towards reading were explored through observations, field notes and interviews. Other qualitative data was gathered using a reading survey and a cloze procedure test, which were both developed by the researcher. The collected data helped to set up the intervention, in which several challenges had to be faced. During that intervention the physical conditions in the classroom were enhanced to create an encouraging and comfortable space for the learner-reader. A wide variety of interesting and relevant books were brought in the classroom in order to make it a literacy rich environment. At the same time, organising activities based on prediction and sequencing studied the learners' meaning making process. These activities were created to stimulate the learners' engagement in reading. In the final phase possible changes in reading engagement and attitudes were registered through the same cloze procedure test and a second reading survey. Significant results of the research showed that reading became a social experience, an interaction between learners and teacher, in an environment where learners read for pleasure. Even though the intervention took place over a short period of two weeks, the results indicate that there are ways in which teachers can enhance reading conditions and a stimulating environment can be created to engage learners in reading.
- ItemOpen AccessEveryone has a view of literacy : learners' perceptions of literacy and their practices at home and at school(2007) Kendal, Charmaine Allana; Van Pletzen, ErmienThis is an ethnographic study of how learners write about, speak about, depict and value their literacy activities at home and how this links with their performance at school. It also examines the shift in learners' perceptions of literacy through their involvement in the research project. The theoretical framework for the research is drawn from the New Literacy Studies with its emphasis on the autonomous and ideological models ofliteracy (as formulated by Street) and on literacy as situated practice. The data is a series of literacy activities, of seven learner profiles made up of their writing, literacy inventories, photographic depictions, focus group discussions, semi structured interviews, and tasks assessed in the formal academic domain. Critical Discourse Analysis is used as a tool for the analysis of some of the data and traces the similarities and differences in the kinds of literacy activities that learners engage in, ranging from homework to hobbies, cell phones, conversations, computer games and so forth. Interpretation of the data also draws on Gee's theory of primary and secondary Discourses.
- ItemOpen AccessAn examination of classroom practices for the development of writing in English as a second language in a Malawian primary school(2008) Nthara, Ivy Jeb; Prinsloo, Mastin; Plüddemann, PeterThis study arises out of an awareness of the history of Malawi' s language in education policy from the era of British colonialism to the present multilingual era. English is given a high status in schools despite the fact that many more teachers and pupils speak local languages. Malawi's new language in education model stipulates that "English should be offered as a subject from Standards 1 to 3; English should be offered as medium of instruction from Standards 4 to 8" (MOE. 1996). The Malawi in education bilingual model is thus subtractive, which impacts negatively on second language learning. I discuss various theories that underpin the teaching of literacy in a second language. namely bilingualism and cognition, social learning, and theories with an educational or classroom orientation to establish a framework for my empirical investigation.
- ItemOpen AccessExploring the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report as a classroom resource(2006) Kennedy, Jacqueline; Young, DouglasThe Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) (1998) report is a five-volume record of the voices of many victims and perpetrators of apartheid giving evidence of their experiences and suffering. It is encoded in sophisticated and often complex English, largely inaccessible to its public South African readership, most of whom use English as a First, Second of even Third Additional language. This study explores the nature and function of the discourse of the TRC Report as a contemporary historical text. The aim of this investigation is to establish the viability of introducing the TRC report into the classroom. It focuses on teenage learners. I examine the ability of Grade 10 and 11 English Primary Language and First Additional Language learners to read the original TRC text and a modified/simplified form of it.
- ItemOpen AccessAn inquiry into the English proficiency of foreign postgraduate students at the University of Cape Town and their academic literacy needs in English(2001) Duymun, Naailah; Young, DouglasThe aims of this dissertation are to examine the situation of foreign, non-English speaking postgraduate students coming to UCT for their studies and to enquire if they have any difficulties in coping with English as the medium of instruction. Postgraduate students from any country, apart from South Africa, for whom English is a foreign language (EFL) have been my targets. I aimed to identify some of the problems if any faced by those students to determine the possible causes and to propose ways to deal with the problems identified. I used an ethnographic approach to gather my data.
- ItemOpen AccessLanguage and dementia in bilingual settings : evidence from two case studies(2004) Beckett, Tracy; Young, Douglas; Ferreira, Monica; Makoni, SinfreeThis study used qualitative methodology for an analysis of the conversations of two communication-impaired bilingual elders diagnosed with a mild/moderate stage of Alzheimers's disease (AD). The aim of the study was to investigate the linguistic consequences of cognitive decline on language in English-Afrikaans co-ordinate bilinguals with AD by monitoring the changes in these linguistic outcomes after three months, and to see whether the two languaes are affected by AD in a comparable way. The impact of conversational disorders on clinicians and caregivers needs to be investigated to determine the full impact of a communication disorder such as AD from the perspective of the impaired speaker and the conversational partner, to functionally improve communication, self-esteem and psychosocial well-being. The results are based on observations and audio recordings of conversations with two participants. The results are presented broadly to demonstrate the participants' typical linguistic behaviour and reveal linguistic behaviour as a continuum that includes elements of both languages. Wide use of L1q in conversation domains that were allocated to the L2 was noted. The results show that the severity of AD and language proficiency are major contributing factors for language mixing. As the disease progressed, the conversational partner carried the cognitive responsibility for upholding/maintaining the conversation. Emerging from the study is an enhanced awareness of the need to combine studies in bilingualism with studies in ageing, since research of this nature is still in its infancy in applied language studies and applied linguistics in Africa.
- ItemOpen AccessLanguage attitudes, genre and culture capital : a case study of EAL students' access to a foundation course in the Humanities at UCT(2001) Bangeni, Abongwe; Thesen, LuciaThis dissertation explores the extent to which language and genre can be used to facilitate access for a group of first year students who have English as an additional language in the Humanities at the University of Cape Town enrolled in a foundation course. The use of the genre of the praise poem in the curriculum is used as a case study to address how the cultural capital that this group of students bring with them can be validated, the main aim being to facilitate access to the curriculum. In exploring students' attitudes to language and genre, data were collected mainly through the use of two questionnaires and interviews, where a qualitative analysis was done by drawing up the main themes which emerged and exploring the implications of these themes for the research question. The questionnaires aimed at identifying students' language preferences for academic writing (the choice being between their respective primary languages and English). The second questionnaire addresses the genre issue more closely by extending the question to include students' attitudes towards praise poetry while the first questionnaire asks about language preference in general. The second part of the research process deals with interviews, which I conducted with three of the students. The interviews were conducted with the aim of addressing the issues that emerged from the questionnaires; issues that I felt needed to be explored further in an interview context.
- ItemOpen AccessLanguage purism and prescriptivism in an African context : a case study of a siSwati radio programme 'Nasi-ke siSwati'(2001) Vilakati, Annah Phindile; Mesthrie, RajendThe study aims at assessing purists' and prescriptivists' concerns about language as reported in Western and non-Western settings, as to find out whether they share the same views about language correctness. The data base is a series of a siSwati radio programme, called Nasi-ke siSwati 'Here is (genuine) siSwati' hosted by Jim Gama, known as 'Mbhokane'. I try to assess his attitudes to what he considers 'inferior' use of the language, with the aim of understanding what issues are at stake when African prescriptivists make their pronouncements.