Department of English, Media Studies and Linguistics

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Now showing 1 - 20 of 70

Open Access
The United State of America's foreign policy towards Africa: The case studies of Kenya and Nigeria, 1990-2008
(2010-06) Shai, Kgothatso
Open Access
An analysis of the land issue as portrayed in selected novels by Ngugi wa Thiong'o
(2011-11) Mondo, Lysta
See the attached abstract below
Open Access
The representation of women's experiences in Eastern Nigeria as porayed in Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo's trilogy
(2015-07-15) Sawyerr, Oluwatosin E.; Manase, I.; Klu, E. K.
Women characters' agency and active roles in transforming traditional African societies have always been misrepresented in literary texts. This study investigated how women characters are presented in Adimora-Ezeigbo's The Last of the Strong Ones (1996), House of Symbol (2001) and Children of the Eagle (2002). These novels have been selected to show the representation of women characters using her novel to negate certain patriarchal assumptions about women and also project the uncelebrated superior facets of female panache. Using African womanism theoretical underpinning to understand the characters through the eyes of the author, the study found out that lgbo women have always been active rather than passive members of the lgbo society, in comparison to previous literary works that under-representated women characters, it is argued that in pre-colonial times lgbo women were not actively involved in the affairs of the society. Adimora-Ezeigbo has been selected to show the representation of women character using her novel to negate certain patriarchal assumptions about women and also project the uncelebrated superior facets of female panache. The authors feminist discourses in her works seem to have been greatly influenced by the feminist critical outlook in the West of the 1970s which had sought to expose the mechanisms of patriarchy that is the cultural mindset in men and women which perpetuated sexual inequality. Thus, the study discusses the roles played by Adimora Ezeigbo's female characters in the face of oppressive realities from the pre-colonial to the post-independent era in Nigeria. Recommendations for centering women characters in literary texts and further research on this subject are highlighted at the end of the dissertation.
Open Access
The depiction of migration and identity in Zimbabwean Literature from 1980-2010
(2015-08-05) Musanga, Terrence; Manase, I; Muponde, R
This thesis analyses the relationship between migration and identity in Zimbabwean literature from 1980 to 20 I 0. It employs an eclectic/interdisciplinary theoretical approach in its exploration of the relationship between migration and identity in Zimbabwean literature. However, prominence is given to certain strands of postcolonial theory that privilege issues of migration, identity and globalisation. The study offers a historical trajectory of the patterns and shifts of the Zimbabweans' migratory experiences within and across the borders of Zimbabwe, as mirrored in the selected literature. The nexus between migration and identity in Zimbabwe is closely related to the history and fate of the Zimbabwean nation state. This history is marked by instability and fracture and has key defining moments that are critical in determining the nature of the generated ontological insecurities and the subsequent nature, shifts and patterns of the migratory experiences of Zimbabweans. In addition, the migratory patterns and shifts can be very instructive in illustrating how Zimbabweans mediate, negotiate and construct their identities and at the same highlight the ambivalent nature of their relationship to the Zimbabwean nation state. Focus within the borders of Zimbabwe is on the patterns and shifts of the migratory experiences that are aligned to the colonising structure that witnessed a dichotomised urban/ rural space which continue to exist in post-independent Zimbabwe. This inherited colonial dichotomised rural/urban space is problematised in an attempt to decipher the more subtle migratory patterns and shifts, such as rural to rural, urban to urban and urban to rural migrations, and their impact on identities. Furthermore, the study seeks to expand our understanding of migration from the conventional physical and linear narrative to include migrations of a discursive, dialogical and spiritual nature. The study will also explore and problematise the impact of transnational migration that got accentuated in 2000 because of the heightened Zimbabwe crisis and globalisation on the construction of diasporic identities in Zimbabwean literature. Selected texts from both black and white Zimbabwean writers will be used to explore the various issues raised above.
Open Access
A study of the teaching strategies utilized by English communication skills lectures at the University of Venda to teach discipline-specific vocabulary
(2015-09-16) Makhwathana, Rendani Mercy; Klu, E. K; Mulaudzi, L. M. P
The importance of vocabulary to the learning and teaching environment is emphasized in the literature but exactly how this takes place is a subject of much debate. There are many teaching strategies to teach discipline-specific vocabulary, the question is which are the most suitable to be used in a given situation? This study looks at whether or not English Communication Skills lecturers at the University of Venda are aware of the teaching strategies and whether or not the lecturers utilize appropriate teaching strategies to teach discipline-specific vocabulary. The study is premised on the basis that ECS lecturers are not up to date with vocabulary teaching strategies, hence do not necessarily evaluate if the strategies they use are beneficial to their students. This study is an action research which is carried out in a qualitative paradigm. It gives me the opportunity to reflect on an aspect of my work, which in this case, is teaching discipline-specific vocabulary in my ECS classes. Literature shows that there are various discipline-specific vocabulary teaching strategies, however, the study revealed that ECS lecturers are not adequately cognizant of all of them. This could suggest that they do not find them suitable or appropriate for their discipline-specific modules or they lack relevant resources such as discipline-specific dictionaries to implement them. The study recommends that in-service training workshops be organized for ECS discipline-specific lecturers to equip and empower them on other vocabulary teaching strategies they are not aware of. There should also be seminars where subject-specialists from each school and ECS discipline-specific lecturers meet to discuss latest trends and development within the discipline. ECS lecturers should also devise strategies for evaluating the effectiveness of discipline-specific vocabulary teaching strategies they use.
Open Access
A study of the academic writing proficiency of level one students at the University of Venda
(2016-01-29) Maluleke, Mzamani Johannes; Klue, E. K; Neeta, N. C. K; Student -- South Africa -- Limpopo
Open Access
Travel Narrative: Examining selected Southern African text
(2016-02) Sinyonde, Bright; Ndlovu, I.; Maluleke, M. J.
See the abstract below
Open Access
Representations of dance in Zimbabwean literature, post - 1960
(2016-02-01) Gonye, Jairos; Manase, I.; Klu, E.
Open Access
Indigenous protest lyrics in women's musical performances :Vhavenda women in Vhembe :a case of Vhavenda women in the Vhembe District, Limpopo Province
(2016-02-12) Ramaite-Mafadza, P. E. A.; Phaswana, N. E.; Thobejane, T. D.; Mapaya, M. G.
Open Access
Representations of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade in selected contemporary narratives
(2016-05) Oduwobi, Oluyomi Abayoni; Sewlall, H.; Abodunrin, O.
See the attached abstract below
Open Access
The depiction of female experiences in selected post-2000 South African narratives written by women
(2016-05) Nyete, L. T.; Dube, B.; Ramaite, P. E.
See the attached abstract below
Open Access
Teacher's and learner's beliefs about the use of code-switching in English Second Language classrooms : a case of two secondary schools in Masvingo District, Zimbabwe
(2016-09-23) Mareva, Rugare; Kaburise, P. K.; Klu, E. K.
The study sought to investigate the role played by learners’ mother tongue, in the teaching and learning of English in secondary schools in Zimbabwe. Two secondary schools in Masvingo District were used as a case study. The study was informed by bilingualism, models of bilingualism and related theories such as Second Language Acquisition (SLA) and Communication Strategies. The selected communication strategy that was focused on is code-switching. This communication strategy reveals the important role that the learners’ L1 can play in learning English. The study, therefore, sought to gain insights into the beliefs of secondary school teachers and learners of English about the use of code-switching in the teaching and learning of English. The study also sought to investigate the ESL teachers’ perceptions on the relationship between code-switching and emerging varieties of English called New Englishes, as well as the teachers’ perceptions on the teaching of such local varieties of English. The inquiry adopted a qualitative research paradigm and focused on two purposively sampled secondary schools comprising one rural day, and one urban boarding school that also enrols day learners. It was the researcher’s belief that these schools would offer useful insights about the role of the learners’ L1 in the teaching and learning of English. The study employed three data collection tools, namely observation, interviews and focus group discussions. Ten Form One and ten Form Three English lessons were observed per school, to give a total of twenty lessons. The four ESL teachers whose lessons were observed at the two schools were interviewed. The researcher also held focus group discussions with a sample of a group of ten Form One and ten Form Three English learners per school. Thus, four focus group discussions were held. Data were analysed and presented qualitatively through identification of emerging themes, and through descriptions, narratives, direct quotes, and tables. Results show that the ESL teachers and learners who participated in the study code-switched from English to the learners’ L1 as a communication strategy and teaching and learning tool, mainly to foster understanding among learners and between the learners and their teachers, and for other communicative and social functions. Results also indicate that there was more code-switching at School B (rural day secondary school) than at School A (urban boarding secondary school), although the teachers’ and learners’ code-switching functions at the two secondary schools were by and large similar. It also emerged that the frequencies of the teachers code v switching differed from teacher to teacher, with Teacher A (urban boarding secondary school) code-switching moderately and Teacher B (urban boarding secondary school) code-switching minimally, while Teacher C and Teacher D (rural day secondary school) code-switched frequently. With regard to the learners, the study revealed that Class A learners (urban boarding secondary school) code-switched moderately during formal classroom exchanges with their teacher, but code-switched a lot among themselves. Class B learners (urban boarding secondary school), Class C and Class D learners (rural day secondary school), code-switched minimally during formal classroom exchanges with their teachers. However, as was the case with Class A learners, they code-switched a lot among themselves. The teachers were largely tolerant of their learners’ code-switching although they showed awareness of the possible negative effects of learners’ code-switching in the learning of ESL. As for the learners, the majority expressed an appreciation of their teachers’ code-switching but there were also negative sentiments against the teachers’ code-switching. The inquiry also revealed that there was unanimous agreement among the four teachers that there is a relationship between code-switching and New Englishes. In addition, two of the teachers expressed the view that there is nothing wrong with teaching the local variety of English in the schools, while the other two said they preferred the teaching of ‘standard’ English. In light of the findings, the study recommends that language policy planners revisit the English-only policy in the school and consider adopting the endonormative rather than the exo-normative model of English for the education system. The study also recommends that the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education should hold workshops to sensitise teachers on how code-switching may best be employed as a teaching and learning tool. Furthermore, the study recommends that ESL teachers be guided by the Postmethod pedagogy, a sense of plausibility as well as the notion of relativism in their decisions on code-switching. In addition, the inquiry recommends that the Zimbabwe Schools Examinations Council be sensitive to aspects of the local variety of English rather than set exo-normative models. Finally, the study recommends that further research be done on code-switching in school types which were not included in the sample for the present study.
Open Access
The Xitsonga murmured speech sounds and their representations in the Xitsonga orthography
(2016-09-23) Shabangu, Sakie Isaac; Phaswana, N. E.; Klu, E. K.; Chauke, M. T.
Orthographic symbols of languages represent specific speech sounds with their specific phonetic qualities. This research aimed at analysing orthographic representations of murmured speech sounds in the Xitsonga orthography. The qualitative approach was employed to examine the production of murmured speech sounds and their orthographic representations in Xitsonga. The analysis was based on data collected from interviews with speakers of the Xitsonga language, Xitsonga educators and lecturers who are themselves Xitsonga-speaking, Xitsonga authors and Xitsonga subject specialists, and also from existing literature by Xitsonga authors and language scholars. The study made recommendations that will help the development and revitalisation of the Xitsonga language and also benefit the speakers of the language as well as scholars and linguists.
Open Access
An investigation of academic reading skills of science foundation students at a rural university
(2016-09-23) Molotja, Tsebe Wilfred; Kaburise, P. K.; Neeta, N.
It has been established, through research, that some first-entering science students display levels of under-preparedness for tertiary studies. One area in which this is seen is in students’ lack of academic reading ability. Although, some of these students read fluently they do not display competencies in other reading areas, such as to understand, interpret, infer or critique ideas expressed in science academic texts. This low academic reading proficiency has a negative effect on their studies. The aim of this study was to identify, through the National Benchmarking Tests (NBT), the reading competencies of all (100) students registered in the Science Foundation Programme (SFP) in the University of Venda. SFP caters for students who did not attain the required scores in Mathematics and Physical Science. These students’ overall scoring, including English competency, is less than the required (26) points, even though they obtained university entrance scores in their Matric Examination. A NBT was used to identify students’ reading competencies and based on these results, a reading profile of the students was drawn up and was used to design an intervention strategy to enhance existing competencies and to remedy any shortcomings. To achieve the study’s aim, a mixedmethod approach was used. The method was predominantly quantitative, because of the statistical aspects of the data from NBT, however, it had some elements of qualitative approach through the use of a case study and the designing of an intervention strategy in response to the profile. The results of the study indicated that the majority of students performed at the basic and lower-intermediate levels. This kind of reading profile means that students on SFP do not possess the academic reading skills needed for them to succeed with their required academic reading activities, without some kind of structured intervention. The design of such a tool (appendix 5) forms the second part of this study
Open Access
Impact of hodt genetic polymorphism at IL-6 gene promoter at position-174G/C on the occurence of HBV and HCV among HIV/AIDS patients in Limpopo Province, South Africa
(2017-02) Gogela, Ndiitwani Noel
See the attached abstract below
Open Access
The application of command responsibility in informal civilian relationships for international crimes - lessons from the ICTR
(2017-02) Tapiwa, Agripa Mhuru
See the attached abstract below
Open Access
The emmergence of social media discourse among Ghanaian University Students: Implications for the acquisition of academic literacy
(2017-02) Anku, Joyce Senya Ama
See the attached abstract below
Open Access
An analysis of written concord errors among Grade 12 First Additional Language learners in Vhembe District of Limpopo Province, South Africa
(2017-05) Nndwamato, Ndivhudzanyi Michael; Lambani, M. N.; Klu, E.;
Learning English as a second language by the South African learners of English First Additional Language (FAL) causes many challenges, such as committing errors in concord as there are differences between the learners’ mother tongue and the target language. Even at Grade 12 level, which is the exit point to institutions of higher learning or to the workplace, learners still display some deficiencies in the mastery of the English concord. This happens despite the fact that, in many South African schools, English is used as a medium of instruction and learnt as a First Additional Language (FAL) especially at high schools. Through the analysis of the written concord errors committed by the 72 of the 720 sampled Grade 12 English FAL learners in Vhembe District, the study answered to two questions which formed its cornerstone which are: what are the most common types of written concord/ subject-verb agreement errors which are committed by Grade 12 FAL learners and what are the causes thereof? The study employed both the quantitative and the qualitative methods to pursue the primary question. Learners responded to the questionnaires and the researcher also analysed their teacher-marked English FAL composition scripts with the focus on concord/subject-verb agreement usage. The findings were that concord/subject-verb agreement was a challenge to the majority of the participants. There was not even a single question which recorded a 100% correct entry. The question on collective nouns was found to be the hardest to the participants while comparatively, the singular indefinite pronoun question recorded the best results. The learners’ written compositions were also found to have been marred by concord/subject-verb agreement errors. In most instances, the learners had resorted to simple sentences avoiding the complex sentence construction as those would have required complicated application of concord/ subject-verb agreement usage. Based on the findings, the following recommendations were made: teaching of grammar should be intensified, and that teachers of English should be retrained even if it will be through the in-service programmes
Open Access
A study of the English reading comprehension strategies utilised by level-one students at the University of Venda
(2017-05-18) Demana, Ndishunwani Vincent; Klu, E. K.; Mulaudzi, L. M. P.; Radzilani, E. T.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the English reading strategies utilised by level-one students at the University of Venda. The respondents in this study were three hundred and nine level-one students from various Schools in the University of Venda who were doing English Communication Skills (ECS) course in the 2016 academic year. The study adopted a mixed methods research design (quantitative and qualitative research approaches). Data were collected by means of a self-completion questionnaire of the Survey of Reading Strategies (SORS) developed by Mokhtari and Sheorey. The researcher employed descriptive statistics to analyse frequency use of each reading strategy using frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and usage level. Open-ended data were summarised by using grouping technique. The results of the study revealed that the participants in this study were, to a large extent, aware of what they were doing when reading as they reported utilising English reading strategies with different frequencies and with the high and moderate levels of reading strategy usage. The highest mean frequency with which the respondents used a given category of strategies when reading English academic materials was 3.98 (high) which was derived from the category of problem-solving strategies, while the category of support reading strategies and global reading strategies were reported being used with the relative mean of 3.79 (high) and 3.57 (high) respectively. The findings can be helpful to students in increasing their awareness of reading strategies while reading, improving their understanding of the reading process, and enhancing confidence in their own reading ability and to teachers and lecturers in helping their students learn to become constructively responsive and thoughtful readers, which will promote academic reading skills and ultimately enhance academic achievement.
Open Access
Assessment of the Medium of Instruction on Pupils Academic Performance in Literacy: a Study of Selected Lower Primary Schools in Ghana
(2017-05-18) Ansre, Margaret Ama; Klu, E. K.; Kaburise, P. K.; Mulaudzi, L. M. P.
This research assesses how the choice of a particular medium of instruction supports Primary Class Three (P.3) pupils’ academic performance in literacy. The need for this research has been occasioned by the inconsistencies that exist in Ghana’s language-in-education policy. The current language-in-education policy allows for only the dominant language of the community, in which a school is situated, to be used as medium of instruction, even when pupils speak different languages in one P.3 classroom. The research adopts a mixed methodology approach and uses purposive sampling technique to select a total sample of 317 participants. This number comprises pupils, teachers, parents and other stakeholders in education from 8 schools within 3 municipalities in the Greater Accra region of Ghana. Five (5) of the schools use English medium of instruction and three (3) schools use Ghanaian language or mother-tongue. Data collection tools for the research are interviews, participant’s observations, video recordings and diagnostic tests. The main finding, based on the test results of the research, establishes that when mother-tongue and English are compared as mediums of instruction from Kindergarten One (KG1) up to P. 3, there is no significant difference pupils’ academic results in literacy. In view of this, the research advocates for further debate on other factors that support pupils academic performance in literacy, in addition to mother-tongue and English medium of instruction in lower primary schools.