Browsing by Author "Makoni, Sinfree"

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    English proficiency testing and the prediction of academic achievement
    (1998) Gamaroff, Raphael; Makoni, Sinfree
    The study investigates the ability of English proficiency tests (1) to measure levels of English proficiency among learners who have English as the medium of teaching and learning, and (2) to predict long-term academic achievement (Grade 7 to Grade 12). The tests are "discrete-point" tests, namely, error recognition and grammar tests (both multiple-choice tests), and "integrative" tests, namely, cloze tests, essay tests and dictation tests. The sample of subjects consists of two groups: (1) those taking English as a First Language subject and those taking English as a Second Language subject. These groups are given the familiar labels of Ll and L2. The main interest lies in the L2 group. The main educational context is a high school in the North West Province of South Africa.
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    Language and dementia in bilingual settings : evidence from two case studies
    (2004) Beckett, Tracy; Young, Douglas; Ferreira, Monica; Makoni, Sinfree
    This 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.
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    A study in language contact
    (1999) Makoe, Bridgitte Pinky; Makoni, Sinfree
    The objective of this thesis is to report on a research project investigating the language behaviour of Sotho-English bilingual students at the University of Cape Town (hereafter UCT). Sotho is used here as an umbrella term to refer to the Sotho group of languages; Sesotho (Southern Sotho), Sepedi (Northern Sotho) and Setswana. UCT is a multilingual institution in the sense that the students, and to some extent the lecturers, are proficient in a number of languages including English, Afrikaans, and a wide range of African languages from within and outside South Africa. At the time of the study in 1997 UCT was multiracial with a majority of white students and a minority of African students. At a general level the concept of language contact is the superordinate linguistic and philosophical category underpinning the thesis. At a more specific level, the thesis examines three related concepts; code-switching, code-mixing and borrowing. It is based on theoretically and empirically founded distinctions between code-switching, code-mixing and borrowing. Empirically the data was collected surreptitiously. The ethical questions about who researches what and whom are acknowledged. Permission to use the covertly collected data was sought after the recording from all informants and was granted. The data from the covert recordings was triangulated with interviews with the informants. Theoretically the thesis uses a number of approaches to describe and explain language contact: structuralist, interactionist and psycho-social approaches although the dominant framework is a structuralist one. Sociologically the thesis demonstrates that code-switching constitutes a variety in which speakers exhibit differing degrees of skilled abilities and may be unmarked or marked depending on the extent which it reinforces or violates community norms. The linguistic varieties must be understood in terms of individual repertoires and community speech economies. Code-switching may represent a normal, routine way of use or could be said to violate the expectations of how one should behave. Bibliography: pages 102-109