Masters Degrees (African Languages)

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Browsing Masters Degrees (African Languages) by Subject "African languages"

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    Complexity in task-based course design for Sepedi in police interviews
    (Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2007-12) Bergh, Petrus Lodewikus; Visser, M. W.; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of African Languages.
    The purpose of this study is to apply existing theories with regard to second language acquisition in a South African context, in order to address specific needs of Sepedi second language learners in the South African Police Service, with specific focus on the Community Service Centre and within the guidelines of the Batho Pele principles. The study presents an overview on Universal Grammar and the roles it played within second language acquisition as well as the principles and parameters it presented for language development. It further analysed the acquisition processes of languages and the roles the learner plays as individual and part of a social interacting group. Form-meaning connections utilised by learners is defined as a fundamental aspect for both first and second language acquisitions are discussed broadly in the study, inclusive of the psycholinguistic consequences as well as other input factors that may influence form-meaning connections. The specific role of language instruction is also reviewed in this study. Specific focus is placed on the roles of implicit and explicit instruction and the effectiveness thereof in second language acquisitioning and noticing. Task-based theories were also evaluated, with the accent on the definition of tasks, task characteristics, task grading and other factors relating to tasks such as procedural factors. The role of tasks was further explored in second language acquisition, inclusive of the variables that need to be addressed. The definition of tasks into focussed and unfocused tasks are also scrutinized against the learner interaction in the acquisition process. The implementation of tasks and the impact thereof on comprehension and language acquisition is also reviewed. Different models of methods to design a focussed task are discussed. The successful acquisition of a second language will also be based on the correct collation of data and the sequencing thereof in such manners to allow learners the opportunity to comprehend it as sufficiently as possible. The study further focuses on the methodology of task-based teaching and the use of communicative tasks in second language acquisition. Finally the interviews between the community and the police officials are then analysed in respect of complexity models, against the cognitive and syntactic complexity for specific purposes as well against the genre-approach to second language teaching. The characterizing of such interviews will allow the defining and grading of tasks to ensure sound development of teaching models for second language learning.
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    Developing a theoretical model for an improved use of outer texts in xitsonga monolingual dictionaries
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2021-03) Hlongwane, Mangalani Joshua; Gouws, Rufus H.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept of African Languages
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The study proposes a theoretical model for the use of outer texts in Xitsonga dictionaries in order to enhance their quality. Dictionaries in African languages have shown a central list bias and outer texts have not been maximally used as venues to accommodate lexicographic data. The statement of the problem the quality of dictionaries in African languages is outlined in Chapter I. The study also presents a brief profile of Xitsonga that could be used as an outer text in Xitsonga dictionaries. Lexicographic theories of dictionary structures, the genuine purpose and lexicographic functions are also discussed. The study also takes a critical look at outer texts in Xitsonga dictionaries complied over the years, and in the last chapter it proposes a model that could be used for outer texts that can be included in both the front matter and back matter sections of these dictionaries. The concept of high frequency usage of words is also introduced in the last chapter.
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    Polysemy of the verbs ya and tla in Northern Sotho
    (Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2006-12) Marobela, Refilwe Mmaseroka; Visser, M.; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of African Languages.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The topic of study is ‘go’ and ‘come’ verbs in Northern Sotho, which can be classified as verbs of state or motion. This study examines the semantics as well as the syntactic analysis of these verbs of state of motion within the framework of Pustejovsky’s Generative Lexicon Theory. This study will explore the polysemy of ‘ya’, as shown in the sentences below: 1. Bana ba ya nokeng. (The children go/are going to the river) 2. Bašimane ba ya šokeng. (The boys go/are going to the bush) The verb ya ‘go’ may end with the suffix –ile to realise the past tense of ya as illustrated in the following examples: 3. Bana ba ile nokeng. (The children went to the river) 4. Bašemane ba ile šokeng. (The boys went to the bush) The study also examines the polysemy of the verb –tla in Northern Sotho. The verb tla ‘come’ semantically denotes motion as shown in the sentences below. 5. Basadi ba tla monyanyeng. (The women come to the party) 6. Banna ba tla kopanong. (Men come/are coming to the meeting) The verb tla may end with the suffix –ile to demonstrate the past tense of –tla, as shown in the following sentences. 7. Ngwana o tlile sekolong. (The child came to school) 8. Mokgalabje o tlile kgorong. (The old man came to the headkraal) This study will demonstrate that the agent argument of the verbs –ya and –tla may regularly occur as complement of the preposition le in Northern Sotho. The range of data examined demonstrate that the verbs –ya and –tla exhibit a wide range of semantic selectional properties as regard to the subject argument and the locative argument. The study also analyses the aspectual properties of the sentences with –ya and –tla with reference to the activity and achievement situation types.