Browsing by Author "Jama, Zukile"

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    A study of transitivity in Xhosa
    (1995) Jama, Zukile; Satyo, S C
    This study is an explicit description of transitivity in Xhosa. The introductory chapter {Chapter One) outlines relevant theories relating to the issue of transitivity. The controversies surrounding transitivity and grammatical relations in general are noted. Special emphasis is put on Hopper and Thompson 1980's study. Different opinions from linguists across languages of the world as well as African linguists are assessed and evaluated. The debate revolves around their adequate/inadequate handling of the problem of transitivity. Emphasis is here put on main declarative sentences although it is acknowledged that language • cannot be described nor understood without its communicative intent. Chomsky's idea of autonomous syntax is here found suspect and this study yields more towards pragmatics. Most of the discussions is persued along the following lines: noncontroversial issues, controversial issues and tentative solutions, unresolved problems and verb extension suffixes as devices for either increasing or decreasing transitivity and therefore posing a theoretical problem. A solution is extracted from J.L. Taylor (1991)'s study which secures a polysemous relationship among constructions. general theoretical controversies suggests that controversies exist theoretical levels. This chapter also handles in grammar and at theoretical therefore and preThe second chapter is a sequel to Chapter One and provides further discussions of the transitivity components and updates them by introducing the notion of control and ability and the speaker's perspectivization of grammatical material. It is concluded here that these are crucial transitivity notions and that the morpho-syntactic reflexes of transitivity are discourse conditioned. The third chapter is a discussion of the different verbal categories in Xhosa. There is an indepth discussion of controversial issues such as locative nouns, body parts and instrumentals. Morphological marking is assumed to be significant in this regard and is related to the pragmatic use of language. It is concluded here that a binary classification of verbs into a clear cut transitive intransitive dichotomy is unacceptable. Chapter Four handles the question of verb extension and divides them into two groups. The transitivizing ones and intransitivizing ones and the implication thereof for transitivity. The theoretical problems posed by verb extension by either augmenting or diminishing transitivity is evaluated and it is suggested that if grammatical relations are seen as a continuum, and within polysemy (meaning relatedness}, this presents few or no problems. Verb extension is also seen as a productive process but which is linked to pragmatic use of language. Chapter Five links the issue of transitivity with specialized meaning. It is an expansion of the last four chapters and eliminates cases left unclear in these preceding chapters. The chapter starts by giving philosophical definitions of meaning and relates semantic conceptualization with pragmatic factors. It is concluded here that syntactic structures should be seen as instantiations of pragmatic options. Chapter Six is the last chapter and conclusion. It sums up the issues raised in the last five chapters and the standpoints taken in this dissertation. It is concluded that transitivity is a property of clauses than verbs, and that it is discourse determined. Lastly it is proposed that Hopper and Thompson's theory needs updating. In this instance the concepts of control and ability as well as meaning relatedness amongst constructions are introduced.
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    Building freeways: piloting communication skills in additional languages to health service personnel in Cape Town, South Africa
    (BioMed Central, 2017-06-07) Claassen, Joel; Jama, Zukile; Manga, Nayna; Lewis, Minnie; Hellenberg, Derek
    Background: This study reflects on the development and teaching of communication skills courses in additional national languages to health care staff within two primary health care facilities in Cape Town, South Africa. These courses were aimed at addressing the language disparities that recent research has identified globally between patients and health care staff. Communication skills courses were offered to staff at two Metropolitan District Health Services clinics to strengthen patient access to health care services. This study reflects on the communicative proficiency in the additional languages that were offered to health care staff. Methods: A mixed-method approach was utilised during this case study with quantitative data-gathering through surveys and qualitative analysis of assessment results. The language profiles of the respective communities were assessed through data obtained from the South African National census, while staff language profiles were obtained at the health care centres. Quantitative measuring, by means of a patient survey at the centres, occurred on a randomly chosen day to ascertain the language profile of the patient population. Participating staff performed assessments at different phases of the training courses to determine their skill levels by the end of the course. Results: The performances of the participating staff during the Xhosa and Afrikaans language courses were assessed, and the development of the staff communicative competencies was measured. Health care staff learning the additional languages could develop Basic or Intermediate Xhosa and Afrikaans that enables communication with patients. Conclusions: In multilingual countries such as South Africa, language has been recognised as a health care barrier preventing patients from receiving quality care. Equipping health care staff with communication skills in the additional languages, represents an attempt to bridge a vital barrier in the South African health care system. The study proves that offering communication skills courses in additional languages, begins to equip health care staff to be multilingual, that allows patients to communicate about their illnesses within their mother tongues.