Exploring a story-based learning design in a grade 4 science and technology classroom
- Authors: Kemp, Hermione
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Classroom environment , Classroom learning centers , Student teaching , Classroom management
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:9467 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1021017
- Description: Stories are a vehicle through which experiences and events are communicated amongst people. Stories have the potential to influence people’s understandings and beliefs, and essentially, promote a societal and cultural change. Grounded in literature pointing to the value of narrative in supporting learning and the need to explore new modes of communicating science, this study explores the potential of narrative in science education. The aim was to explore the use of a Story-Based Learning Design in a Grade 4 Science and Technology classroom. Using a qualitative case study research design the researcher took on the role of participant-observer. Data were collected through observations, learner verbal and written descriptions of a final product and teacher reflective interviews. The findings of this study illustrate the value of stories, as learning tools, in science education. In this regard pertinent conclusions were derived, namely, that stories attract learners and have the potential to be used as a vehicle for learning scientific concepts and the target vocabulary, that stories enable learners to make meaning of abstract concepts and relate it to their world and finally that the use of the imagination assists learners to visualise concepts making learning relevant.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Kemp, Hermione
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Classroom environment , Classroom learning centers , Student teaching , Classroom management
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:9467 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1021017
- Description: Stories are a vehicle through which experiences and events are communicated amongst people. Stories have the potential to influence people’s understandings and beliefs, and essentially, promote a societal and cultural change. Grounded in literature pointing to the value of narrative in supporting learning and the need to explore new modes of communicating science, this study explores the potential of narrative in science education. The aim was to explore the use of a Story-Based Learning Design in a Grade 4 Science and Technology classroom. Using a qualitative case study research design the researcher took on the role of participant-observer. Data were collected through observations, learner verbal and written descriptions of a final product and teacher reflective interviews. The findings of this study illustrate the value of stories, as learning tools, in science education. In this regard pertinent conclusions were derived, namely, that stories attract learners and have the potential to be used as a vehicle for learning scientific concepts and the target vocabulary, that stories enable learners to make meaning of abstract concepts and relate it to their world and finally that the use of the imagination assists learners to visualise concepts making learning relevant.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Exploring a story-based learning design in a grade 4 science and technology classroom
- Authors: Kemp, Hermione
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Classroom environment , Classroon learning centers
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:9458 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020083
- Description: Stories are a vehicle through which experiences and events are communicated amongst people. Stories have the potential to influence people’s understandings and beliefs, and essentially, promote a societal and cultural change. Grounded in literature pointing to the value of narrative in supporting learning and the need to explore new modes of communicating science, this study explores the potential of narrative in science education. The aim was to explore the use of a Story-Based Learning Design in a Grade 4 Science and Technology classroom. Using a qualitative case study research design the researcher took on the role of participant-observer. Data were collected through observations, learner verbal and written descriptions of a final product and teacher reflective interviews. The findings of this study illustrate the value of stories, as learning tools, in science education. In this regard pertinent conclusions were derived, namely, that stories attract learners and have the potential to be used as a vehicle for learning scientific concepts and the target vocabulary, that stories enable learners to make meaning of abstract concepts and relate it to their world and finally that the use of the imagination assists learners to visualise concepts making learning relevant.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Kemp, Hermione
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Classroom environment , Classroon learning centers
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:9458 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020083
- Description: Stories are a vehicle through which experiences and events are communicated amongst people. Stories have the potential to influence people’s understandings and beliefs, and essentially, promote a societal and cultural change. Grounded in literature pointing to the value of narrative in supporting learning and the need to explore new modes of communicating science, this study explores the potential of narrative in science education. The aim was to explore the use of a Story-Based Learning Design in a Grade 4 Science and Technology classroom. Using a qualitative case study research design the researcher took on the role of participant-observer. Data were collected through observations, learner verbal and written descriptions of a final product and teacher reflective interviews. The findings of this study illustrate the value of stories, as learning tools, in science education. In this regard pertinent conclusions were derived, namely, that stories attract learners and have the potential to be used as a vehicle for learning scientific concepts and the target vocabulary, that stories enable learners to make meaning of abstract concepts and relate it to their world and finally that the use of the imagination assists learners to visualise concepts making learning relevant.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Exploring teaching proficiency in geometry of selected effective mathematics teachers in Namibia
- Stephanus, Gervasius Hivengwa
- Authors: Stephanus, Gervasius Hivengwa
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Mathematics -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Namibia , Geometry -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Namibia , Effective teaching -- Namibia , Mathematics teachers -- Education (Secondary) -- Namibia , Education, Secondary -- Namibia , Mathematics teachers -- Training of -- Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1976 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013012
- Description: Quality mathematics education relies on effective pedagogy which offers students appropriate and rich opportunities to develop their mathematical proficiency (MP) and intellectual autonomy in learning mathematics. This qualitative case study aimed to explore and analyse selected effective mathematics teachers' proficiency in the area of geometry in five secondary schools in five different Namibia educational regions. The sample was purposefully selected and comprised five mathematics teachers, identified locally as being effective practitioners by their peers, Education Ministry officials and the staff of the University of Namibia (UNAM). The schools where the selected teachers taught were all high performing Namibian schools in terms of students' mathematics performance in the annual national examinations. The general picture of students' poor performance in mathematics in Namibia is no different to other sub-Saharan countries and it is the teachers who unfortunately bear the brunt of the criticism. There are, however, beacons of excellence in Namibia and these often go unnoticed and are seldom written about. It is the purpose of this study to focus on these high achievers and analyse the practices of these teachers so that the rest of Namibia can learn from their practices and experience what is possible in the Namibian context. The mathematical content and context focus of this study was geometry. This qualitative study adopted a multiple case study approach and was framed within an interpretive paradigm. The data were collected through individual questionnaires, classroom lesson observations and in-depth open-ended and semi-structured interviews with the participating teachers. These interviews took the form of post lesson reflective and stimulated recall analysis sessions. An adapted framework based on the Kilpatrick, Swafford and Findell's (2001) five strands of teaching for MP was developed as a conceptual and analytical lens to analyse the selected teachers' practice. The developed coding and the descriptive narrative vignettes of their teaching enabled a qualitative analysis of what teachers said contributed to their effectiveness and how they developed MP in students. An enactivist theoretical lens was used to complement the Kilpatrick et al.'s (2001) analytical framework. This enabled a deeper analysis of teacher teaching practice in terms of their embodied mathematical knowledge, actions and interactions with students. procedural fluency (PF) and productive disposition (PD), were addressed regularly by all five participating teachers. Evidence of addressing either the development of students' strategic competence (SC) or adaptive reasoning (AR) appeared rarely. Of particular interest in this study was that the strand of PD was the glue that held the other four strands of MP together. PD was manifested in many different ways in varying degrees. PD was characterised by a high level of content knowledge, rich personal experience, sustained commitment, effective and careful preparation for lessons, high expectations of themselves and learners, collegiality, passion for mathematics and an excellent work ethic. In addition, the teachers' geometry teaching practices were characterised by making use of real-world connections, manipulatives and representations, encouraging a collaborative approach and working together to show that geometry constituted a bridge between the concrete and abstract. The findings of the study have led me, the author, to suggest a ten (10) principles framework and seven (7) key interrelated factors for effective teaching, as a practical guide for teachers. This study argues that the instructional practices enacted by the participating teachers, who were perceived to be effective, aligned well with practices informed by the five strands of the Kilpatrick et al.'s (2001) model and the four concepts of autopoesis, co-emergence, structural determinism and embodiment of the enactivist approach. The study concludes with recommendations for effective pedagogical practices in the teaching of geometry, and opportunities for further research.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Stephanus, Gervasius Hivengwa
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Mathematics -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Namibia , Geometry -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Namibia , Effective teaching -- Namibia , Mathematics teachers -- Education (Secondary) -- Namibia , Education, Secondary -- Namibia , Mathematics teachers -- Training of -- Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1976 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013012
- Description: Quality mathematics education relies on effective pedagogy which offers students appropriate and rich opportunities to develop their mathematical proficiency (MP) and intellectual autonomy in learning mathematics. This qualitative case study aimed to explore and analyse selected effective mathematics teachers' proficiency in the area of geometry in five secondary schools in five different Namibia educational regions. The sample was purposefully selected and comprised five mathematics teachers, identified locally as being effective practitioners by their peers, Education Ministry officials and the staff of the University of Namibia (UNAM). The schools where the selected teachers taught were all high performing Namibian schools in terms of students' mathematics performance in the annual national examinations. The general picture of students' poor performance in mathematics in Namibia is no different to other sub-Saharan countries and it is the teachers who unfortunately bear the brunt of the criticism. There are, however, beacons of excellence in Namibia and these often go unnoticed and are seldom written about. It is the purpose of this study to focus on these high achievers and analyse the practices of these teachers so that the rest of Namibia can learn from their practices and experience what is possible in the Namibian context. The mathematical content and context focus of this study was geometry. This qualitative study adopted a multiple case study approach and was framed within an interpretive paradigm. The data were collected through individual questionnaires, classroom lesson observations and in-depth open-ended and semi-structured interviews with the participating teachers. These interviews took the form of post lesson reflective and stimulated recall analysis sessions. An adapted framework based on the Kilpatrick, Swafford and Findell's (2001) five strands of teaching for MP was developed as a conceptual and analytical lens to analyse the selected teachers' practice. The developed coding and the descriptive narrative vignettes of their teaching enabled a qualitative analysis of what teachers said contributed to their effectiveness and how they developed MP in students. An enactivist theoretical lens was used to complement the Kilpatrick et al.'s (2001) analytical framework. This enabled a deeper analysis of teacher teaching practice in terms of their embodied mathematical knowledge, actions and interactions with students. procedural fluency (PF) and productive disposition (PD), were addressed regularly by all five participating teachers. Evidence of addressing either the development of students' strategic competence (SC) or adaptive reasoning (AR) appeared rarely. Of particular interest in this study was that the strand of PD was the glue that held the other four strands of MP together. PD was manifested in many different ways in varying degrees. PD was characterised by a high level of content knowledge, rich personal experience, sustained commitment, effective and careful preparation for lessons, high expectations of themselves and learners, collegiality, passion for mathematics and an excellent work ethic. In addition, the teachers' geometry teaching practices were characterised by making use of real-world connections, manipulatives and representations, encouraging a collaborative approach and working together to show that geometry constituted a bridge between the concrete and abstract. The findings of the study have led me, the author, to suggest a ten (10) principles framework and seven (7) key interrelated factors for effective teaching, as a practical guide for teachers. This study argues that the instructional practices enacted by the participating teachers, who were perceived to be effective, aligned well with practices informed by the five strands of the Kilpatrick et al.'s (2001) model and the four concepts of autopoesis, co-emergence, structural determinism and embodiment of the enactivist approach. The study concludes with recommendations for effective pedagogical practices in the teaching of geometry, and opportunities for further research.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Inside the river
- Authors: Buzani, Mangaliso Welcome
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: South African poetry (English) , Xhosa poetry
- Language: English , Xhosa
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:5971
- Description: My collection is of imagistic associative poetry, influenced by Spanish and other kinds of modernism, and written in my two languages, isiXhosa and English. My approach to producing these poems is first via the mastery of sound, not on the actual meaning of a poem; working on the meaning would be the last stage. The language of each poem will be encountered as it comes down on the paper, leading me to the words meaningful for that particular poem.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Buzani, Mangaliso Welcome
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: South African poetry (English) , Xhosa poetry
- Language: English , Xhosa
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:5971
- Description: My collection is of imagistic associative poetry, influenced by Spanish and other kinds of modernism, and written in my two languages, isiXhosa and English. My approach to producing these poems is first via the mastery of sound, not on the actual meaning of a poem; working on the meaning would be the last stage. The language of each poem will be encountered as it comes down on the paper, leading me to the words meaningful for that particular poem.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Investigating the English vocabulary needs, exposure, and knowledge of isiXhosa speaking learners for transition from learning to read in the Foundation Phase to reading to learn in the Intermediate Phase : a case study
- Authors: Sibanda, Jabulani
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1968 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011790
- Description: The nature of learners' transition from Grade 3 to Grade 4 has serious and far reaching ramifications for their educational success in the subsequent grades. This is true of the South African education system, as it is for several other education contexts. The challenge that complicates the transition is largely a lexical one. It is with that understanding that the present study aimed to do three things namely: to determine the vocabulary needs of Grade 3 learners for transitioning to Grade 4; to establish the extent to which Grade 3 isiXhosa speaking learners are exposed to, and prepared for, the acquisition of that requisite vocabulary; and to establish the extent of Grade 4 learners' knowledge of that vocabulary at the beginning of the year. The vocabulary needs of Grade 3 learners for the transition to Grade 4 were determined from the Grade 4 subject textbook corpus. Word frequency was the criterion used to determine the usefulness and critical importance of a word for the transition. The AntConc concordance software program was used to generate word frequencies. Words with high frequency across the different subject areas, which were confirmed as high frequent in four other known word lists, were considered as constituting the vocabulary needs of learners at the verge of this significant transition. The extent of learners' preparedness for transitioning to Grade 4 in terms of their vocabulary exposure and vocabulary instruction was determined through teacher interviews, classroom observations, analysis of teacher classroom talk, analysis of the exposure and recycling of high frequent vocabulary in Grade 3 reading materials and classroom print. From these diverse sources, findings point to a paucity in both the exposure and recycling of the requisite vocabulary in these sources of classroom language input. Classroom observations and teacher interviews attest to lack of deliberate vocabulary instruction in the Grade 3 English First Additional Language lessons. The only extensive coverage of the requisite vocabulary was in the Grade 3 reading materials which included Big books, Readers and Workbooks. The Grade 4 learners' knowledge of the 60 high frequency words was tested through nine vocabulary tests, three of which tested their knowledge of word recognition, three tested passive word knowledge and the remaining three tested learners' active word knowledge. All the Grade 4 learners in the ten participating schools (297) were tested. Performance in the tests indicated that Grade 4 learners' knowledge of words requisite for reading to learn was low. That observation was consistent with an analysis of learners' performance per school, per district, per word, per test and per word bands. Tests of word recognition were done better than those of passive word knowledge and active word knowledge. Particularly problematic was test 4 which tested learners' knowledge of definition of words.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Sibanda, Jabulani
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1968 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011790
- Description: The nature of learners' transition from Grade 3 to Grade 4 has serious and far reaching ramifications for their educational success in the subsequent grades. This is true of the South African education system, as it is for several other education contexts. The challenge that complicates the transition is largely a lexical one. It is with that understanding that the present study aimed to do three things namely: to determine the vocabulary needs of Grade 3 learners for transitioning to Grade 4; to establish the extent to which Grade 3 isiXhosa speaking learners are exposed to, and prepared for, the acquisition of that requisite vocabulary; and to establish the extent of Grade 4 learners' knowledge of that vocabulary at the beginning of the year. The vocabulary needs of Grade 3 learners for the transition to Grade 4 were determined from the Grade 4 subject textbook corpus. Word frequency was the criterion used to determine the usefulness and critical importance of a word for the transition. The AntConc concordance software program was used to generate word frequencies. Words with high frequency across the different subject areas, which were confirmed as high frequent in four other known word lists, were considered as constituting the vocabulary needs of learners at the verge of this significant transition. The extent of learners' preparedness for transitioning to Grade 4 in terms of their vocabulary exposure and vocabulary instruction was determined through teacher interviews, classroom observations, analysis of teacher classroom talk, analysis of the exposure and recycling of high frequent vocabulary in Grade 3 reading materials and classroom print. From these diverse sources, findings point to a paucity in both the exposure and recycling of the requisite vocabulary in these sources of classroom language input. Classroom observations and teacher interviews attest to lack of deliberate vocabulary instruction in the Grade 3 English First Additional Language lessons. The only extensive coverage of the requisite vocabulary was in the Grade 3 reading materials which included Big books, Readers and Workbooks. The Grade 4 learners' knowledge of the 60 high frequency words was tested through nine vocabulary tests, three of which tested their knowledge of word recognition, three tested passive word knowledge and the remaining three tested learners' active word knowledge. All the Grade 4 learners in the ten participating schools (297) were tested. Performance in the tests indicated that Grade 4 learners' knowledge of words requisite for reading to learn was low. That observation was consistent with an analysis of learners' performance per school, per district, per word, per test and per word bands. Tests of word recognition were done better than those of passive word knowledge and active word knowledge. Particularly problematic was test 4 which tested learners' knowledge of definition of words.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Kedibone
- Authors: Mokae, Sabata Paul
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) -- Research -- South Africa , Creative writing -- Fiction , South African fiction (English) -- Study and teaching (Higher) , South African fiction (English) -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:6000 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020883
- Description: A young woman from a rural village near Kimberley is killed by her husband in a fit of jealousy. Her illiterate mother is summoned to the hospital to authorize the removal of vital organs – eyes, liver, kidney and heart – for organ donation. But some members of the family feel that their child should not be buried with parts of her body missing. Thus begins a story that changes the lives of many people, both black and white, over the following twenty years.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Mokae, Sabata Paul
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) -- Research -- South Africa , Creative writing -- Fiction , South African fiction (English) -- Study and teaching (Higher) , South African fiction (English) -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:6000 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020883
- Description: A young woman from a rural village near Kimberley is killed by her husband in a fit of jealousy. Her illiterate mother is summoned to the hospital to authorize the removal of vital organs – eyes, liver, kidney and heart – for organ donation. But some members of the family feel that their child should not be buried with parts of her body missing. Thus begins a story that changes the lives of many people, both black and white, over the following twenty years.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Moralising female identity in Cameroon in the 1990s: female prostitution and the song “you gu cry”
- Authors: Enongene Mirabeau Sone
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Misse Ngoh; females; identity; prostitution; Cameroon; modernity; music
- Language: English
- Type: Journal Article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/11260/2672 , vital:42313
- Description: Between the 1970s and early 1980s, when Cameroon was still at the juncture of promising social plenitude, popular music genres like Makossa were a mere auditory art instead of a profit-making activity as we have in Cameroon today. Popular music at that time was simply “music for the ears”, meant to produce emotional sounds, pleasant to listen to. Bars, night clubs and streets were common environs where dancing took place as the physical expression of pleasure from music. The explosion of early music such as Makossa did not match the precarious marketable opportunities at that time. As a result, music appeared as a hobby, and not because singers derived income from its production. The themes focused on varying social experiences and problems, from love and emotional pathos to (im)morality. As such, one is tempted to assert that singers hardly expressed demur or outright lampoonery against public transgressions such as corruption, prostitution or swindling, as is the case nowadays. The themes were far less what we find in contemporary Cameroonian literate culture, namely cinema, media and popular music. This paper focuses on Misse Ngoh’s popular song titled “you gu cry” as a medium of social reform through the beguiling fantasies of a female archetype, Mary, in Cameroon in the nineties. The paper contends that though this song produces laughter, rendering it a humorous piece with potential enough to entertain, the same humour turns out serious, handling prostitution and women involved in this activity in a very negative way. This is achieved when Misse Ngoh, using his female archetype Mary, constructs a problematic image of females in the Cameroon urban sphere. Taking these into consideration, Cameroon popular music as seen from Misse Ngoh’s “you gu cry” takes on a different significance. Finally, in the iconography of Mary, this paper sets out to explore the agency of females who were baffled within the intricacies of urban life and modernity in the nineties. It examines the challenges of the new urban spaces (as notorious corners of prostitution) that such women chose.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Enongene Mirabeau Sone
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Misse Ngoh; females; identity; prostitution; Cameroon; modernity; music
- Language: English
- Type: Journal Article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/11260/2672 , vital:42313
- Description: Between the 1970s and early 1980s, when Cameroon was still at the juncture of promising social plenitude, popular music genres like Makossa were a mere auditory art instead of a profit-making activity as we have in Cameroon today. Popular music at that time was simply “music for the ears”, meant to produce emotional sounds, pleasant to listen to. Bars, night clubs and streets were common environs where dancing took place as the physical expression of pleasure from music. The explosion of early music such as Makossa did not match the precarious marketable opportunities at that time. As a result, music appeared as a hobby, and not because singers derived income from its production. The themes focused on varying social experiences and problems, from love and emotional pathos to (im)morality. As such, one is tempted to assert that singers hardly expressed demur or outright lampoonery against public transgressions such as corruption, prostitution or swindling, as is the case nowadays. The themes were far less what we find in contemporary Cameroonian literate culture, namely cinema, media and popular music. This paper focuses on Misse Ngoh’s popular song titled “you gu cry” as a medium of social reform through the beguiling fantasies of a female archetype, Mary, in Cameroon in the nineties. The paper contends that though this song produces laughter, rendering it a humorous piece with potential enough to entertain, the same humour turns out serious, handling prostitution and women involved in this activity in a very negative way. This is achieved when Misse Ngoh, using his female archetype Mary, constructs a problematic image of females in the Cameroon urban sphere. Taking these into consideration, Cameroon popular music as seen from Misse Ngoh’s “you gu cry” takes on a different significance. Finally, in the iconography of Mary, this paper sets out to explore the agency of females who were baffled within the intricacies of urban life and modernity in the nineties. It examines the challenges of the new urban spaces (as notorious corners of prostitution) that such women chose.
- Full Text:
Options for eland: a multi-scale assessment of antipredatory responses of a vulnerable prey species to their dominant predator in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Authors: Leaver, Jessica
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Endangered species -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Predatory animals -- Control -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/6570 , vital:21113
- Description: Eland Tragelaphus oryx are the largest and slowest African antelope, falling within the preferred weight range of the prey of lions Panthera leo. Little is known, however, about the antipredatory strategies employed by eland. Rapid population declines in several small reserves following the reintroduction of lions suggest that the antipredatory strategies of eland may be compromised in spatially limited areas. This emphasises the need for research aimed at investigating how eland respond to lions, particularly in the spatial context, given that lions are increasingly being reintroduced into small reserves in South Africa. This study aimed to investigate lion-eland interactions at multiple scales and determine where on the landscape eland were vulnerable to predation. Adult female eland (n = 3 per site) in breeding herds were collared with GPS satellite collars in two study sites; the Nyathi section of Addo Elephant National Park (Nyathi) and Mountain Zebra National Park (MZNP) in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. A reintroduced population of lions, comprising two males and one female, was present in each study site, with individuals fitted with GPS satellite collars. At a broad spatiotemporal scale, eland did not avoid lions and there was considerable overlap between eland and lion home ranges in both study sites. At a finer spatiotemporal scale however, eland and lion space use was asynchronous in time, except in the case of the female lion in Nyathi where there was considerable overlap at the finest temporal scale investigated (i.e. monthly). Herd-associated eland in Nyathi were killed most frequently in areas associated with high long-term use by the female lion, showing that failure to avoid the female lion at a fine scale increased predation risk for eland. Secondly, eland in Nyathi were killed most frequently in habitat types of intermediate structural density (i.e. mixed habitats), which limited the viewshed of eland but presumably offered increased forage. This habitat type was selected for by eland, despite it being associated with a higher level of predation risk. This suggested that eland in Nyathi traded off safety for forage. In MZNP, predation of herd-associated eland was low which reflected the limited spatial overlap between eland and lion at a fine scale in this reserve. In Nyathi, but not in MZNP, eland responded to lions within 1.5 km by increasing their movement rate, with this response particularly strong at night. The findings of this study show that eland responses to lions are scale-dependent and site-specific. Furthermore, eland responses to lions were shown to be lion gender-specific. This study has increased our understanding of the antipredatory behaviours of eland and demonstrated the importance of investigating prey responses to predation risk at multiple scales.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Leaver, Jessica
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Endangered species -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Predatory animals -- Control -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/6570 , vital:21113
- Description: Eland Tragelaphus oryx are the largest and slowest African antelope, falling within the preferred weight range of the prey of lions Panthera leo. Little is known, however, about the antipredatory strategies employed by eland. Rapid population declines in several small reserves following the reintroduction of lions suggest that the antipredatory strategies of eland may be compromised in spatially limited areas. This emphasises the need for research aimed at investigating how eland respond to lions, particularly in the spatial context, given that lions are increasingly being reintroduced into small reserves in South Africa. This study aimed to investigate lion-eland interactions at multiple scales and determine where on the landscape eland were vulnerable to predation. Adult female eland (n = 3 per site) in breeding herds were collared with GPS satellite collars in two study sites; the Nyathi section of Addo Elephant National Park (Nyathi) and Mountain Zebra National Park (MZNP) in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. A reintroduced population of lions, comprising two males and one female, was present in each study site, with individuals fitted with GPS satellite collars. At a broad spatiotemporal scale, eland did not avoid lions and there was considerable overlap between eland and lion home ranges in both study sites. At a finer spatiotemporal scale however, eland and lion space use was asynchronous in time, except in the case of the female lion in Nyathi where there was considerable overlap at the finest temporal scale investigated (i.e. monthly). Herd-associated eland in Nyathi were killed most frequently in areas associated with high long-term use by the female lion, showing that failure to avoid the female lion at a fine scale increased predation risk for eland. Secondly, eland in Nyathi were killed most frequently in habitat types of intermediate structural density (i.e. mixed habitats), which limited the viewshed of eland but presumably offered increased forage. This habitat type was selected for by eland, despite it being associated with a higher level of predation risk. This suggested that eland in Nyathi traded off safety for forage. In MZNP, predation of herd-associated eland was low which reflected the limited spatial overlap between eland and lion at a fine scale in this reserve. In Nyathi, but not in MZNP, eland responded to lions within 1.5 km by increasing their movement rate, with this response particularly strong at night. The findings of this study show that eland responses to lions are scale-dependent and site-specific. Furthermore, eland responses to lions were shown to be lion gender-specific. This study has increased our understanding of the antipredatory behaviours of eland and demonstrated the importance of investigating prey responses to predation risk at multiple scales.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Potential for human exposure to Beta-N-methylamino-L-alanine in a freshwater system
- Authors: Scott, Laura Louise
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Water quality biological assessment , Cyanobacteria , Neurotoxic agents
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/5159 , vital:20816
- Description: β-N-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA) is a non-proteinogenic amino acid associated with human neurodegenerative diseases. The content of BMAA in cyanobacteria is modulated by nitrogen in laboratory cultures. In order to evaluate the potential for human exposure, the nitrogen modulation of BMAA content needed verification in a natural environment. In accordance with laboratory culture studies, data presented in this study show that combined nitrogen was the most significant modulator of both cellular microcystin (MC) and BMAA content in phytoplankton in an environmental cyanobacterial bloom. While BMAA is produced upon nitrogen deprivation, MC is only produced at a specific nitrogen threshold where the rate of increase of nitrogen in the cell exceeds the carbon fixation rate. As BMAA and MC were detected in phytoplankton sourced from the Hartbeespoort Dam reservoir, the transfer of these cyanotoxins to organisms of higher trophic levels was investigated. Both BMAA and MC were detected at high concentrations in the liver and muscle tissue of fish sourced from the Hartbeespoort Dam reservoir indicating that consumption of fish from this reservoir constitutes a serious risk of exposure to cyanotoxins. In addition to the dietary exposure route to BMAA, two recent studies reported a correlation between Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) incidence and the potential for aerosol exposure to cyanobacteria. With the absence of any evidence of the systemic distribution of BMAA following inhalation, an evaluation of the potential exposure risk associated with living in close proximity to this reservoir was deemed premature. A laboratory experiment investigating the effect and systemic fate of inhaled aerosolised BMAA was therefore conducted in order to determine the feasibility of inhalation as a potential BMAA exposure route. Data from the rat inhalation exposure study, however, showed that in rats BMAA inhalation may not constitute a significant mechanism of toxicity at environmental BMAA levels.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Scott, Laura Louise
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Water quality biological assessment , Cyanobacteria , Neurotoxic agents
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/5159 , vital:20816
- Description: β-N-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA) is a non-proteinogenic amino acid associated with human neurodegenerative diseases. The content of BMAA in cyanobacteria is modulated by nitrogen in laboratory cultures. In order to evaluate the potential for human exposure, the nitrogen modulation of BMAA content needed verification in a natural environment. In accordance with laboratory culture studies, data presented in this study show that combined nitrogen was the most significant modulator of both cellular microcystin (MC) and BMAA content in phytoplankton in an environmental cyanobacterial bloom. While BMAA is produced upon nitrogen deprivation, MC is only produced at a specific nitrogen threshold where the rate of increase of nitrogen in the cell exceeds the carbon fixation rate. As BMAA and MC were detected in phytoplankton sourced from the Hartbeespoort Dam reservoir, the transfer of these cyanotoxins to organisms of higher trophic levels was investigated. Both BMAA and MC were detected at high concentrations in the liver and muscle tissue of fish sourced from the Hartbeespoort Dam reservoir indicating that consumption of fish from this reservoir constitutes a serious risk of exposure to cyanotoxins. In addition to the dietary exposure route to BMAA, two recent studies reported a correlation between Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) incidence and the potential for aerosol exposure to cyanobacteria. With the absence of any evidence of the systemic distribution of BMAA following inhalation, an evaluation of the potential exposure risk associated with living in close proximity to this reservoir was deemed premature. A laboratory experiment investigating the effect and systemic fate of inhaled aerosolised BMAA was therefore conducted in order to determine the feasibility of inhalation as a potential BMAA exposure route. Data from the rat inhalation exposure study, however, showed that in rats BMAA inhalation may not constitute a significant mechanism of toxicity at environmental BMAA levels.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Reading clubs as a literacy intervention tool to develop English vocabulary amongst Grade 3 English second language learners at a school in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape
- Authors: Tshuma, Sibhekinkosi Anna
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Literacy programs -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Group reading -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Children -- Books and reading -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Books and reading -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Second language acquisition Action research Social interaction -- South Africa -- Grahamstown
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1965 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011755
- Description: This study is part of a larger research programme that seeks to contribute towards an understanding of South Africa's complex literacy landscape and formulate strategies that may address these particularly in the Foundation Phase. It is a case study of one public primary school in Grahamstown where isiXhosa is used as a medium of instruction until Grade 3, after which the medium of instruction changes to English. This transition is not helped by the little reading that happens in the language at the FP. The learners under study are Grade 3 isiXhosa first language speakers, learning English as a First Additional Language (FAL) with limited exposure to the language. Through a qualitative participatory action research process, the study investigated the extent to which a reading club in general and a responsive reading programme in particular, might develop learners' English vocabulary at this particular school. The value of reading clubs as a vehicle for second language learning as well as the importance of considering learner needs in the development of the reading programme are key contributions this study makes. The study draws on social constructivism as a theoretical framework based on the principle that learning is a social acitvity. Vygotsky (1978) states that language learning (LL) takes place through interactions in meaningful events, rather that through isolated language activities. The process is seen as holistic, that is, each mode of language supoorts and enhances overall language development. Furthermore, LL develops in relation to the context in which it is used, that is, it develops according to the situation, the topic under discussion and the relationship betwwen participants. Language also develops through active engagement of the learners. The role of the teacher or a more competent other is then seen as that of a facilitator in a learning context in which learners are viewed as equally capable of contributing to their learning through learning from and with each other (Holt and Willard-Holt, 2000). Vygotsky's theory of social interaction has been influential in highlighting the important role of social and cultural contexts in extending children's learning. The preliminary results of this study point toward the importance of the learning environment, particularly an informal environment in second language development. The results also highlight the need for learners (a) to be provided with opportunities to engage with meaningful and authentic texts, (b) to be allowed to make their own book choices, (c) to participate in large group, small group and individual activities to enable them to engage with a variety of texts, and (d) to confront vocabulary in a variety of ways through multiple texts and genres.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Tshuma, Sibhekinkosi Anna
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Literacy programs -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Group reading -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Children -- Books and reading -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Books and reading -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Second language acquisition Action research Social interaction -- South Africa -- Grahamstown
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1965 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011755
- Description: This study is part of a larger research programme that seeks to contribute towards an understanding of South Africa's complex literacy landscape and formulate strategies that may address these particularly in the Foundation Phase. It is a case study of one public primary school in Grahamstown where isiXhosa is used as a medium of instruction until Grade 3, after which the medium of instruction changes to English. This transition is not helped by the little reading that happens in the language at the FP. The learners under study are Grade 3 isiXhosa first language speakers, learning English as a First Additional Language (FAL) with limited exposure to the language. Through a qualitative participatory action research process, the study investigated the extent to which a reading club in general and a responsive reading programme in particular, might develop learners' English vocabulary at this particular school. The value of reading clubs as a vehicle for second language learning as well as the importance of considering learner needs in the development of the reading programme are key contributions this study makes. The study draws on social constructivism as a theoretical framework based on the principle that learning is a social acitvity. Vygotsky (1978) states that language learning (LL) takes place through interactions in meaningful events, rather that through isolated language activities. The process is seen as holistic, that is, each mode of language supoorts and enhances overall language development. Furthermore, LL develops in relation to the context in which it is used, that is, it develops according to the situation, the topic under discussion and the relationship betwwen participants. Language also develops through active engagement of the learners. The role of the teacher or a more competent other is then seen as that of a facilitator in a learning context in which learners are viewed as equally capable of contributing to their learning through learning from and with each other (Holt and Willard-Holt, 2000). Vygotsky's theory of social interaction has been influential in highlighting the important role of social and cultural contexts in extending children's learning. The preliminary results of this study point toward the importance of the learning environment, particularly an informal environment in second language development. The results also highlight the need for learners (a) to be provided with opportunities to engage with meaningful and authentic texts, (b) to be allowed to make their own book choices, (c) to participate in large group, small group and individual activities to enable them to engage with a variety of texts, and (d) to confront vocabulary in a variety of ways through multiple texts and genres.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Refusal and rupture as a postdramatic revolt : an analysis of selected South African contemporary devised performances with particular focus on works by First Physical Theatre Company and the Rhodes University Drama Department
- Authors: Haxton, Robert Peter
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Lehmann, Hans-Thies -- Postdramatisches Theater -- English , Rhodes University -- Department of Drama , First Physical Theatre Company , Experimental theater -- South Africa , Experimental theater -- History and criticism , Performance art -- South Africa , Performance art -- History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2163 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1015671
- Description: This mini-thesis investigates the concepts of refusal and rupture as a postdramatic revolt and how these terms can be applied and read within the context of analysing contemporary devised performance in South Africa. The argument focuses on the efficacy of Hans-Thies Lehmann’s postdramatic terminology and the potential of its use in an appreciation of contemporary performance analysis. I investigate the potential in South African contemporary devised performance practice to challenge prevailing modes of traditional dramatic expectation in order to restore the experience of discovery and questioning in the spectator. This research is approached through a qualitative process which entails a reading and application of selected critical texts to the analysis with an application of Lehmann’s terminology. This reading/application is engaged in a dialogue with the interpretative and experiential aspects of selected South African devised performances with particular focus on four cross-disciplinary works selected for analysis. Chapter One functions as an introduction to the concept of postdramatic theatre and the application of the terms refusal and rupture as deconstructive keywords in the process of a devised performance. Chapter Two is an analysis of several South African contemporary performances with particular focus on Body of Evidence (2009) by Siwela Sonke Dance Company, Wreckage (2011) a collaboration by Ubom! Eastern Cape Drama Company and First Physical Theatre Company, Discharge (2012) by First Physical Theatre Company, and Drifting (2013) by The Rhodes University Drama Department. This mini-thesis concludes with the idea that with an understanding of refusal and rupture in a postdramatic revolt, contemporary devised performance achieves an awakening in its spectators by deconstructing the expectation of understanding and the need for resolve; the assumption and need for traditional dramatic structures and rules are challenged. Instead, it awakes an experience of discovery and questioning.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Haxton, Robert Peter
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Lehmann, Hans-Thies -- Postdramatisches Theater -- English , Rhodes University -- Department of Drama , First Physical Theatre Company , Experimental theater -- South Africa , Experimental theater -- History and criticism , Performance art -- South Africa , Performance art -- History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2163 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1015671
- Description: This mini-thesis investigates the concepts of refusal and rupture as a postdramatic revolt and how these terms can be applied and read within the context of analysing contemporary devised performance in South Africa. The argument focuses on the efficacy of Hans-Thies Lehmann’s postdramatic terminology and the potential of its use in an appreciation of contemporary performance analysis. I investigate the potential in South African contemporary devised performance practice to challenge prevailing modes of traditional dramatic expectation in order to restore the experience of discovery and questioning in the spectator. This research is approached through a qualitative process which entails a reading and application of selected critical texts to the analysis with an application of Lehmann’s terminology. This reading/application is engaged in a dialogue with the interpretative and experiential aspects of selected South African devised performances with particular focus on four cross-disciplinary works selected for analysis. Chapter One functions as an introduction to the concept of postdramatic theatre and the application of the terms refusal and rupture as deconstructive keywords in the process of a devised performance. Chapter Two is an analysis of several South African contemporary performances with particular focus on Body of Evidence (2009) by Siwela Sonke Dance Company, Wreckage (2011) a collaboration by Ubom! Eastern Cape Drama Company and First Physical Theatre Company, Discharge (2012) by First Physical Theatre Company, and Drifting (2013) by The Rhodes University Drama Department. This mini-thesis concludes with the idea that with an understanding of refusal and rupture in a postdramatic revolt, contemporary devised performance achieves an awakening in its spectators by deconstructing the expectation of understanding and the need for resolve; the assumption and need for traditional dramatic structures and rules are challenged. Instead, it awakes an experience of discovery and questioning.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Road to redemption
- Authors: Singh, Anirood
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) -- Research -- South Africa , Creative writing -- Fiction , South African fiction (English) -- Study and teaching (Higher) , South African fiction (English) -- 21st century , Detective and mystery stories, South African (English)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:5977 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013035
- Description: Lurching from day-today in the months before South Africa becomes a republic, booze-befuddled Indian private investigator Rohit Biswas does not ponder how he can secure his daughter's future after he became a widower and lost his job as police detective when he killed a man who fatally stabbed his wife. Salvation appears when a rich client hires the PI to find evidence proving his son did not rape and murder a white socialite. Fighting against seeming impossible odds in colonial-apartheid Durban and a sanctions-busting conspiracy, Biswas secures his client's acquittal. In the process he defies karma and redeems himself.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Singh, Anirood
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) -- Research -- South Africa , Creative writing -- Fiction , South African fiction (English) -- Study and teaching (Higher) , South African fiction (English) -- 21st century , Detective and mystery stories, South African (English)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:5977 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013035
- Description: Lurching from day-today in the months before South Africa becomes a republic, booze-befuddled Indian private investigator Rohit Biswas does not ponder how he can secure his daughter's future after he became a widower and lost his job as police detective when he killed a man who fatally stabbed his wife. Salvation appears when a rich client hires the PI to find evidence proving his son did not rape and murder a white socialite. Fighting against seeming impossible odds in colonial-apartheid Durban and a sanctions-busting conspiracy, Biswas secures his client's acquittal. In the process he defies karma and redeems himself.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Sarkaiym
- Authors: Sutherns, Michael Courtney
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) -- Research -- South Africa , Creative writing -- Fiction , South African fiction (English) -- Study and teaching (Higher) , South African fiction (English) -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:5976 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012998
- Description: The kingdom of Sansland situated on the Azanian Peninsula has been ruled by Sorricians, the sky people, ever since they landed on terra firma centuries ago. The indigenous population are forced to engage directly in the social and economic perpetuation of their own domination beneath the Sorrician heel. Until revolution flares in the antipodes, and soon, even the gods themselves seem to take an interest in the inevitable course of events. But all is not what it seems. The revolution appears to proceed too rapidly. The kingdom’s trade infrastructure collapses too easily. The Sorrician rulers are inexplicably and unrealistically confident in their ability to repel an attack on the capital. It will take a man of conscience, a regular soldier and a boy priest to restore appearances back to reality.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Sutherns, Michael Courtney
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) -- Research -- South Africa , Creative writing -- Fiction , South African fiction (English) -- Study and teaching (Higher) , South African fiction (English) -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:5976 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012998
- Description: The kingdom of Sansland situated on the Azanian Peninsula has been ruled by Sorricians, the sky people, ever since they landed on terra firma centuries ago. The indigenous population are forced to engage directly in the social and economic perpetuation of their own domination beneath the Sorrician heel. Until revolution flares in the antipodes, and soon, even the gods themselves seem to take an interest in the inevitable course of events. But all is not what it seems. The revolution appears to proceed too rapidly. The kingdom’s trade infrastructure collapses too easily. The Sorrician rulers are inexplicably and unrealistically confident in their ability to repel an attack on the capital. It will take a man of conscience, a regular soldier and a boy priest to restore appearances back to reality.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Teaching writing to Grade 5 English language learners in two Grahamstown East schools, South Africa : a case study
- Authors: Julius, Lukas Homateni
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: English language -- Study and teaching (Primary) -- South Africa -- Grahamstown English language -- Written English English language -- Composition and exercises -- Study and teaching (Primary) English language -- Ability testing Teacher effectiveness -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Teachers -- Rating of -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Written communication Second language acquisition
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1971 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011989
- Description: The majority of learners in South Africa are not native speakers of English, yet English is the dominant language of learning and teaching (LoLT). South African teachers, therefore, have the challenge of ensuring that their learners' literacy skills in English are adequately developed so as to facilitate learning in other curricular areas. This study investigated the way in which two Grade 5 teachers employed at different primary schools in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa taught writing to their English first additional language (EFAL) learners. English is the LoLT at both schools. A qualitative interpretive approach was used to identify factors that shape the ways these teachers handle the teaching of writing. The theoretical framework was informed by Borg's model of teacher cognition (2003) Shulman's conception of teacher knowledge (1987). Data collection methods consisted of interviews, classroom observations and document analysis. In-depth interviews, comprising two semi-structured interviews, two post-lesson informal conversational interviews and one stimulated recall interview were conducted with each teacher. Five of each teacher's writing lessons were observed and audio and video recorded. Samples of learners' written work were also collected. Analysis of the data reveals that the two teachers' beliefs, their experiences as learners themselves and subsequently as teachers, impacted on their pedagogy, as did other contextual factors (including the support they received from subject advisors, time management, and the number and range of learners in their classrooms). It was found that both teachers focused primarily on ensuring that their learners completed their written work so that it could be marked and graded in response to demands from their superiors, rather than on engaging deeply with the processes of writing (brainstorming, drafting, revising etc). Not only does this run counter to the writing pedagogy recommended in the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS), but it also denies learners the scaffolding needed to help them develop the self-regulation skills needed to become independent writers. These findings demonstrate the need for assisting teachers to shift away from focusing only on learners' performance (testing and grading) towards a stronger emphasis on the process of writing. This would require that teachers develop a deeper understanding of the process/genre approaches to teaching writing advocated by CAPS.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Julius, Lukas Homateni
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: English language -- Study and teaching (Primary) -- South Africa -- Grahamstown English language -- Written English English language -- Composition and exercises -- Study and teaching (Primary) English language -- Ability testing Teacher effectiveness -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Teachers -- Rating of -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Written communication Second language acquisition
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1971 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011989
- Description: The majority of learners in South Africa are not native speakers of English, yet English is the dominant language of learning and teaching (LoLT). South African teachers, therefore, have the challenge of ensuring that their learners' literacy skills in English are adequately developed so as to facilitate learning in other curricular areas. This study investigated the way in which two Grade 5 teachers employed at different primary schools in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa taught writing to their English first additional language (EFAL) learners. English is the LoLT at both schools. A qualitative interpretive approach was used to identify factors that shape the ways these teachers handle the teaching of writing. The theoretical framework was informed by Borg's model of teacher cognition (2003) Shulman's conception of teacher knowledge (1987). Data collection methods consisted of interviews, classroom observations and document analysis. In-depth interviews, comprising two semi-structured interviews, two post-lesson informal conversational interviews and one stimulated recall interview were conducted with each teacher. Five of each teacher's writing lessons were observed and audio and video recorded. Samples of learners' written work were also collected. Analysis of the data reveals that the two teachers' beliefs, their experiences as learners themselves and subsequently as teachers, impacted on their pedagogy, as did other contextual factors (including the support they received from subject advisors, time management, and the number and range of learners in their classrooms). It was found that both teachers focused primarily on ensuring that their learners completed their written work so that it could be marked and graded in response to demands from their superiors, rather than on engaging deeply with the processes of writing (brainstorming, drafting, revising etc). Not only does this run counter to the writing pedagogy recommended in the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS), but it also denies learners the scaffolding needed to help them develop the self-regulation skills needed to become independent writers. These findings demonstrate the need for assisting teachers to shift away from focusing only on learners' performance (testing and grading) towards a stronger emphasis on the process of writing. This would require that teachers develop a deeper understanding of the process/genre approaches to teaching writing advocated by CAPS.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
The best a man can get? : an analysis of the representation of men within group situations in the advertising copy of Men’s Health and FHM from December 2006 through May 2007
- Authors: Scott, Robert James
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Men's health (Magazine) , For Him Magazine (South Africa) , Men in advertising , Sex role in advertising , Discrimination in the advertising industry , Men in mass media , Mass media criticism , Men in popular culture , Sex role in mass media , Discourse analysis -- Social aspects , Masculinity -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3535 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013576
- Description: This study examines the production of masculinity in the advertisements of South Africa’s two most popular men’s lifestyle magazines, FHM and Men’s Health. I specifically focus on advertisements, as I argue that they play a crucial role in the re‐production of prominent discursive formations. Informed by a poststructuralist framework this study adopts Foucault’s notions of discourse, power and the constitution of the subject. Gender is conceived of within power relations, with a hierarchical relationship between masculinities and femininities. The gendered subject is also viewed as being constantly in process and being constructed performatively through material forms of practice. Focusing on group representations to establish gender hierarchies, I argue that these representations of people are performative acts, hailing the subjects who view them and producing reality through discourse. Hegemonic masculinity, which is argued to be prominent in advertising, is located at the highest point in the gender hierarchy. However, there is not one universal hegemonic masculinity, for it can vary across three discrete political contexts: the local, which is constructed in the immediate face‐to‐face interactions of families, organisations and social structures; the regional, which is constructed at the level of culture or the nation state; and the global, which is constructed in supra‐national locations. In the advertisements of FHM and Men’s Health there is interplay between the latter two as global and regional brands both advertise in these magazines. To investigate the portrayal of masculinities in these publications, this study first undertakes a content analysis to survey the “general landscape” of representation in the advertisements and then performs a critical discourse analysis to uncover “thick description” of the production of masculinity. The content analysis, finds that the advertisements in the sample validate both white and heterosexual forms of masculinity. The sample is comprised mostly of white males, white females and black males, generally proposing forms of hegemonic masculinity, emphasised femininity and complicit masculinity respectively. The representation of white males and black males is different both in terms of the frequency of representations and in the types of representations. I argued that a certain tension inhabits the resulting representations, which try to be inclusive of a multi‐racial South Africa, yet do so within a clearly hierarchical structure. An in‐depth analysis of eight texts, informed by Fairclough’s model of critical discourse analysis and Kress & van Leeuwen’s framework for visual analysis, finds similar results to the content analysis while providing insight into how various discourses produced the representations, particularly within non‐narrative advertisements.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Scott, Robert James
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Men's health (Magazine) , For Him Magazine (South Africa) , Men in advertising , Sex role in advertising , Discrimination in the advertising industry , Men in mass media , Mass media criticism , Men in popular culture , Sex role in mass media , Discourse analysis -- Social aspects , Masculinity -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3535 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013576
- Description: This study examines the production of masculinity in the advertisements of South Africa’s two most popular men’s lifestyle magazines, FHM and Men’s Health. I specifically focus on advertisements, as I argue that they play a crucial role in the re‐production of prominent discursive formations. Informed by a poststructuralist framework this study adopts Foucault’s notions of discourse, power and the constitution of the subject. Gender is conceived of within power relations, with a hierarchical relationship between masculinities and femininities. The gendered subject is also viewed as being constantly in process and being constructed performatively through material forms of practice. Focusing on group representations to establish gender hierarchies, I argue that these representations of people are performative acts, hailing the subjects who view them and producing reality through discourse. Hegemonic masculinity, which is argued to be prominent in advertising, is located at the highest point in the gender hierarchy. However, there is not one universal hegemonic masculinity, for it can vary across three discrete political contexts: the local, which is constructed in the immediate face‐to‐face interactions of families, organisations and social structures; the regional, which is constructed at the level of culture or the nation state; and the global, which is constructed in supra‐national locations. In the advertisements of FHM and Men’s Health there is interplay between the latter two as global and regional brands both advertise in these magazines. To investigate the portrayal of masculinities in these publications, this study first undertakes a content analysis to survey the “general landscape” of representation in the advertisements and then performs a critical discourse analysis to uncover “thick description” of the production of masculinity. The content analysis, finds that the advertisements in the sample validate both white and heterosexual forms of masculinity. The sample is comprised mostly of white males, white females and black males, generally proposing forms of hegemonic masculinity, emphasised femininity and complicit masculinity respectively. The representation of white males and black males is different both in terms of the frequency of representations and in the types of representations. I argued that a certain tension inhabits the resulting representations, which try to be inclusive of a multi‐racial South Africa, yet do so within a clearly hierarchical structure. An in‐depth analysis of eight texts, informed by Fairclough’s model of critical discourse analysis and Kress & van Leeuwen’s framework for visual analysis, finds similar results to the content analysis while providing insight into how various discourses produced the representations, particularly within non‐narrative advertisements.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
The hoof-printed rock
- Authors: Maahlamela, David wa
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: South African poetry (English) -- 21st century.
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:5978 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013076
- Description: Many of these poems, although written in English, are inspired by Sepedi idioms and proverbs. Some invoke township and village life, others the observations and questions that come from writing poetry and experiences of travelling to different countries to read my poems. Others dwell on the political transformation in South Africa, or its absence, and on my own spiritual transformation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Maahlamela, David wa
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: South African poetry (English) -- 21st century.
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:5978 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013076
- Description: Many of these poems, although written in English, are inspired by Sepedi idioms and proverbs. Some invoke township and village life, others the observations and questions that come from writing poetry and experiences of travelling to different countries to read my poems. Others dwell on the political transformation in South Africa, or its absence, and on my own spiritual transformation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
The play, Mies Julie, and the issue of land redistribution in the context of the revisionist western genre
- Authors: Emery, David
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Land reform in literature , Land reform -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:8435 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020954
- Description: The play Miss Julie was published by playwright August Strindberg in 1888. It is a comment on the class issues in Sweden at the time (Leib, 2011). This commentary is achieved through telling the fictional tale of Julie, the daughter of a wealthy Swedish landowner, Jean, her father’s manservant, and Kristin, Jean’s betrothed who is also the house cook. During the course of a night and the next morning, Jean and Julie admit their feelings for one another, sleep together and plan to run away to start a hotel. In the morning, they ask Kristin to join them when they encounter her on her way to church. She refuses and vows to put an end to their plans. Seeing no way out, and fearing the wrath of Julie’s father, Jean hands Julie a razor and she walks outside, the inference being that she will commit suicide. The play Mies Julie is a South African adaptation, by South African playwright Yael Farber, of the August Strindberg play Miss Julie set in a farming kitchen in the Eastern Cape Karoo that premiered at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival in 2012. It has since been brought to London, the Edinburgh Festival and New York. Mies Julie presents a power struggle between Julie, the daughter of the white Afrikaans farm owner, and John, her father’s favourite farm worker and the son of Christine, the housekeeper who raised Julie. By altering Christine’s role from that in Strindberg’s play, where she was John’s (there Jean’s) fiancé, to that of John’s mother and Julie’s nursemaid, playwright Yael Farber has brought to the fore an interesting irony of South Africa’s history, which has been observed by Ena Jansen (2011) – white children who are raised, both during and post-apartheid, by black women who become part of the household of the privileged white families they work for.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Emery, David
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Land reform in literature , Land reform -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:8435 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020954
- Description: The play Miss Julie was published by playwright August Strindberg in 1888. It is a comment on the class issues in Sweden at the time (Leib, 2011). This commentary is achieved through telling the fictional tale of Julie, the daughter of a wealthy Swedish landowner, Jean, her father’s manservant, and Kristin, Jean’s betrothed who is also the house cook. During the course of a night and the next morning, Jean and Julie admit their feelings for one another, sleep together and plan to run away to start a hotel. In the morning, they ask Kristin to join them when they encounter her on her way to church. She refuses and vows to put an end to their plans. Seeing no way out, and fearing the wrath of Julie’s father, Jean hands Julie a razor and she walks outside, the inference being that she will commit suicide. The play Mies Julie is a South African adaptation, by South African playwright Yael Farber, of the August Strindberg play Miss Julie set in a farming kitchen in the Eastern Cape Karoo that premiered at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival in 2012. It has since been brought to London, the Edinburgh Festival and New York. Mies Julie presents a power struggle between Julie, the daughter of the white Afrikaans farm owner, and John, her father’s favourite farm worker and the son of Christine, the housekeeper who raised Julie. By altering Christine’s role from that in Strindberg’s play, where she was John’s (there Jean’s) fiancé, to that of John’s mother and Julie’s nursemaid, playwright Yael Farber has brought to the fore an interesting irony of South Africa’s history, which has been observed by Ena Jansen (2011) – white children who are raised, both during and post-apartheid, by black women who become part of the household of the privileged white families they work for.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
The promise of justice
- Authors: Clarke, John G.I.
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Chiefdoms--South Africa--Eastern Cape.
- Language: English
- Type: Book , Text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/379374 , vital:67336 , 978-1874976-63-9
- Description: "In 1894 with troops massing on the border and Maxim guns taking aim, Cape Prime Minister Cecil Rhodes forced the King of Mpondo iKumkani Mqikela ka Sigcau to finally submit to Colonial rule. A year later, intoxicated by power, Rhodes arbitrarily imprisoned King Mqikela. This when President Jacob Zuma deposed his descendant iKumkani Mpondombini Justice Sigcau as King of Mpondo in 2010, the ghost of Cecil John Rhodes hovered fatefully over the court battle that unfolded over the next three years. When the Constitutional Court handed down judgement seven weeks later the Promise of Justice was fulfilled."
- Full Text:
- Authors: Clarke, John G.I.
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Chiefdoms--South Africa--Eastern Cape.
- Language: English
- Type: Book , Text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/379374 , vital:67336 , 978-1874976-63-9
- Description: "In 1894 with troops massing on the border and Maxim guns taking aim, Cape Prime Minister Cecil Rhodes forced the King of Mpondo iKumkani Mqikela ka Sigcau to finally submit to Colonial rule. A year later, intoxicated by power, Rhodes arbitrarily imprisoned King Mqikela. This when President Jacob Zuma deposed his descendant iKumkani Mpondombini Justice Sigcau as King of Mpondo in 2010, the ghost of Cecil John Rhodes hovered fatefully over the court battle that unfolded over the next three years. When the Constitutional Court handed down judgement seven weeks later the Promise of Justice was fulfilled."
- Full Text:
Understanding the sexual practices of medically circumcised males in the context of HIV and AIDS : a study in Harare Zimbabwe
- Authors: Chamuka, Paidashe
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Circumcision -- Zimbabwe , Men -- Sexual behavior -- Zimbabwe -- Case studies , AIDS (Disease) -- Zimbabwe -- Prevention , HIV infections -- South Africa -- Prevention
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3363 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011745 , Circumcision -- Zimbabwe , Men -- Sexual behavior -- Zimbabwe -- Case studies , AIDS (Disease) -- Zimbabwe -- Prevention , HIV infections -- South Africa -- Prevention
- Description: Zimbabwe is one of the priority countries nominated by the World Health Organisation and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS to adopt and implement voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) because of its high rate of HIV prevalence and its low level of male circumcision. VMMC, which was introduced in Zimbabwe in 2009, is a new HIV prevention method which reportedly offers partial protection of about 60 percent for circumcised males with respect to contracting HIV through sexual relations. The other key prevention method, namely the use of condoms consistently and correctly, has a protection rate of up to 95 percent. As a result, because of only partial protection, medically-circumcised men are encouraged to use condoms to decrease the chances of HIV infection. Concerns though have been raised about the possibility of risk compensation by circumcised males by way of increases in unsafe or risky sexual practices subsequent to circumcision and arising from perceptions of reduced risk through VMMC. This compensation may take the form of condom use aversion including when involved with concurrent sexual partners. If risk compensation does take place, this would lead to increases in HIV transmissions affecting not only the circumcised men but their sexual partners as well. The supposed effectiveness of VMMC as a HIV prevention method has been subjected to significant criticism and, as yet, no significant study has been undertaken in Zimbabwe on the relationship between VMMC, condom use, concurrent sexual partners and risk compensation. Based on a study of twenty-five medically-circumcised males in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, this thesis seeks to understand and explain the relationship between voluntary medical male circumcision and risky sexual practices with particular reference to condom use amongst men engaged in concurrent sexual partnerships. While the thesis finds evidence of risky sexual practices subsequent to circumcision, risk compensation does not seem to be particularly prevalent.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Chamuka, Paidashe
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Circumcision -- Zimbabwe , Men -- Sexual behavior -- Zimbabwe -- Case studies , AIDS (Disease) -- Zimbabwe -- Prevention , HIV infections -- South Africa -- Prevention
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3363 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011745 , Circumcision -- Zimbabwe , Men -- Sexual behavior -- Zimbabwe -- Case studies , AIDS (Disease) -- Zimbabwe -- Prevention , HIV infections -- South Africa -- Prevention
- Description: Zimbabwe is one of the priority countries nominated by the World Health Organisation and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS to adopt and implement voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) because of its high rate of HIV prevalence and its low level of male circumcision. VMMC, which was introduced in Zimbabwe in 2009, is a new HIV prevention method which reportedly offers partial protection of about 60 percent for circumcised males with respect to contracting HIV through sexual relations. The other key prevention method, namely the use of condoms consistently and correctly, has a protection rate of up to 95 percent. As a result, because of only partial protection, medically-circumcised men are encouraged to use condoms to decrease the chances of HIV infection. Concerns though have been raised about the possibility of risk compensation by circumcised males by way of increases in unsafe or risky sexual practices subsequent to circumcision and arising from perceptions of reduced risk through VMMC. This compensation may take the form of condom use aversion including when involved with concurrent sexual partners. If risk compensation does take place, this would lead to increases in HIV transmissions affecting not only the circumcised men but their sexual partners as well. The supposed effectiveness of VMMC as a HIV prevention method has been subjected to significant criticism and, as yet, no significant study has been undertaken in Zimbabwe on the relationship between VMMC, condom use, concurrent sexual partners and risk compensation. Based on a study of twenty-five medically-circumcised males in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, this thesis seeks to understand and explain the relationship between voluntary medical male circumcision and risky sexual practices with particular reference to condom use amongst men engaged in concurrent sexual partnerships. While the thesis finds evidence of risky sexual practices subsequent to circumcision, risk compensation does not seem to be particularly prevalent.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
“Watch-dogs for an Economy” : a determination of the origins of the South African Public Accountants' and Auditors' Board – as the Regulator of the Profession – principally through an analysis of the debates and related reports to the House of Assembly of the Parliament of the Union of South Africa in the period 1913–1940
- Lancaster, Jonathan Charles Swinburne
- Authors: Lancaster, Jonathan Charles Swinburne
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Public Accountants' and Auditors' Board (South Africa) , Accounting -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Accounting -- South Africa -- History , Accounting -- Standards -- South Africa , South Africa -- Economic conditions -- 1918-1961 , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1909-1948
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:922 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020876
- Description: This thesis concentrates upon a new field of research in South African accounting scholarship – this being, in general terms, accounting history and more specifically an analysis of the origins of the Public Accountants’ and Auditors’ Board as watch-dog in relation to: ● the South African economy in the period 1913–1940; and ● the changing political framework (also in the period 1913–1940). The integration of economy, politics and personal ambition on the part of early 20th Century accounting societies, led to a variety of responses, counter proposals, stalemates and unfocused activity which caused the process of accountants’ registration to extend over 38 years in South Africa. This confusion was in strong contrast to the process of speedy registration of accountants in New Zealand and Australia. The final unification of South African accounting societies in 1951 created the Public Accountants’ and Auditors’ Board. Its creation, at long last, suggested an overarching control and regulation which was mirrored in the final political unification and economic stability of a South Africa dominated by Afrikaner Nationalists. One further element was interwoven into the fabric of the thesis – this being the application of institutional economic theory and its impact upon the accounting concepts of “material irregularity” and “reportable irregularity”.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Lancaster, Jonathan Charles Swinburne
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Public Accountants' and Auditors' Board (South Africa) , Accounting -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Accounting -- South Africa -- History , Accounting -- Standards -- South Africa , South Africa -- Economic conditions -- 1918-1961 , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1909-1948
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:922 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020876
- Description: This thesis concentrates upon a new field of research in South African accounting scholarship – this being, in general terms, accounting history and more specifically an analysis of the origins of the Public Accountants’ and Auditors’ Board as watch-dog in relation to: ● the South African economy in the period 1913–1940; and ● the changing political framework (also in the period 1913–1940). The integration of economy, politics and personal ambition on the part of early 20th Century accounting societies, led to a variety of responses, counter proposals, stalemates and unfocused activity which caused the process of accountants’ registration to extend over 38 years in South Africa. This confusion was in strong contrast to the process of speedy registration of accountants in New Zealand and Australia. The final unification of South African accounting societies in 1951 created the Public Accountants’ and Auditors’ Board. Its creation, at long last, suggested an overarching control and regulation which was mirrored in the final political unification and economic stability of a South Africa dominated by Afrikaner Nationalists. One further element was interwoven into the fabric of the thesis – this being the application of institutional economic theory and its impact upon the accounting concepts of “material irregularity” and “reportable irregularity”.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014