Masters Degrees (Modern Foreign Languages)
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- ItemGibt es einen literarischen Kanon im DaF-Kontext? Zur Auswahl von Texten im Bachelorstudiengang am Beispiel von drei sudafrikanischen Universitaten(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2022-12) Pieterse, Francois-Jean; Von Maltzan, Carlotta; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Modern Foreign LanguagesENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation investigates the role and influence of the German literary canon on the selection process of prescribed literary texts for teaching German as a foreign language in South Africa, and in particular the possibility of an emergent, unique literary canon of prescribed texts for German as a foreign language. The emergence of the subject German Studies in South Africa is described with a particular focus on showing the origins of academic traditions and norms that still prevail in the subject and its curricula today, that is, the formation of a Bordieuan field. Furthermore, the concept of canon is investigated using and contrasting the theoretical frameworks of Jan Assmann and Harold Bloom. Postcolonial critiques and revisions of the literary canon are presented in the context of calls for the decolonisation of university curricula in South Africa. The concept of a selection criterion when prescribing a text is explicated with reference to aesthetic and cultural learning, as well as the process of understanding the other. A case study of expert interviews of eight lecturers at three universities in the Western Cape is presented as empirical evidence for the principal findings. A range of normative, preference- and practice-based, and group-specific selection criteria for prescribed German-language texts are identified. It is shown that lecturers in German Studies do strongly consider the canonical status of literary works when considering whether to include a text in their courses or not. However, no literary canon specific to German Studies at these university sections is identifiable, although, given the prevalence of certain authors in the data, some characteristics of a literary canon are present. This study contributes to our understanding of canon construction and the importance of literary texts in foreign language teaching through empirical data. Further analysis shows that the teaching of foreign cultural thought patterns and ways of assigning meaning do not play a direct role in selecting these literary texts. However, these thought patterns and ways of assigning meaning enter the teaching process by, for example, selecting topical texts. This exploratory study is the first of its kind in South Africa and offers insight into the subject’s understanding of its own objectives, as well as gaps for future research.
- ItemVers un imaginaire queer? Une analyse comparative de la (de)construction de l’identite sexuelle binaire et heteronormative dans Ete 85 de Francois Ozon et « Arrete avec tes mensonges » de Philippe Besson(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2022-12) Thwaits, Dylan; Leveel, Eric; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Modern Foreign Languages.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: François Ozon and Philippe Besson each offer us a story of queer romance that, despite their vastly different mediums, remain thematically and narratively similar. Both Été 85 and « Arrête avec tes mensonges » are set in the mid-1980s, depict a forbidden love story between two boys that is ultimately marked by death, as well as themes of heteronormativity. Whilst the two stories resemble one another, the approaches that Ozon and Besson ultimately undertake differ notably. Through the unlikely comparison of these two creatives – the first of its kind – this interdisciplinary study unveils certain ideological underpinnings and novel understandings of both Ozon and Besson’s work. Drawing on the research of various theorists in the field of queer and gender studies (such as Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Judith Butler and Lee Edelman), this study highlights the manner in which both Ozon and Besson subvert the expectations of a heteronormative and binary societal matrix. However, in doing so, this study also draws attention to the ideological divergence regarding their respective conceptions of sexuality: where Besson conceives sexuality as being more fixed and collectivist in « Arrête avec tes mensonges », Ozon, in contrast, prefers to highlight the inherent fluidity of sexual identity.
- ItemSecondary school language teachers' experiences of accepting and using information communication technology - an overview of literature on the status quo(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2022-12) Cupido, Stephen; Anthonissen, Christine; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Modern Foreign Languages.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis examines the importance of incorporating technology into language teaching and learning in South African secondary schools, with illustrative reference to the position in the Western Cape region. By exploring the current challenges many high school teachers face with the lack of technology in their classes, this study aims to investigate these limitations and discuss the benefits of using technology within the current school system. One of the main challenges teachers face with regards to incorporating technology into their classes is their inexperience of using the various technological platforms. Students are often more adept at learning to understand and use these various platforms, thereby disclosing a radical disconnect between teachers and students using technology within the classroom. Examining reports from language classes such as Afrikaans Home Language, and English First Additional Language this study aims to demonstrate how utilising technology within these language classes could assist teachers now already, as well as in the future. By improving their computer literacy teachers could be empowered to better teach, guide and prepare these learners to become successful players on the world stage. To gain an in-depth understanding of the benefits of using technology in secondary schools this study draws on various sources and on first-hand accounts of teachers who have experienced both the benefits and challenges of using technology within the school system. The need to incorporate technology in schools is articulated in a recent national and Western Cape Education Department (WCED) policy; however, the policy was implemented with minimal preparation for the transition. Keeping this policy in mind, the study offers an overview of three themes pertinent to teachers tasked with introducing new technologies in their classrooms. Additionally, this study considers the problem of teachers and teacher educators have in weighing up materials that investigate, inform and advise on the relation between using new technologies and effective teaching and learning.
- ItemUsing technology and multimedia in Junior Secondary First Language creative writing skills development : new methodology to fit new literacies(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2022-03) Cupido, Josephine; Anthonissen, Christine; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Modern Foreign Languages.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study investigates the use of technology and multimedia in the development of Junior Secondary learners’ writing skills, asking specific questions about the changes in literacy that new technologies have heralded. Furthermore, the study will investigate literature on the introduction of multimodal technology in ways that relate to new approaches to teaching creative writing in the ‘digital age’. Drawing on experience as an Afrikaans First Language teacher in schools with learners from formerly disadvantaged communities whose exposure to technology has come relatively late, the study reflects on the literature with specifically such learners and their teachers in mind. By relating the incorporation of technology, specifically in Grade 8 Afrikaans First Language classrooms, to literature on new technology in creative writing and other forms of creative language use, this study aims to examine how this integration will benefit both teachers and learners more broadly in the advancement of teaching and learning practices in creative writing. As this is a wide topic, and the thesis is one of limited scope, it pays attention to a selected set of topics. It refers first to the term “multi-literacy” and the pedagogies of multiliteracy, In reflecting on creative writing in a digitalizing age, the study also attends to the concept of “maker education” as it was introduced by ‘Justice (2016). It relates these concepts and the ideas they carry to the concepts of “new literacy” and “new technology” as they feature in language education classrooms of learners between the ages 12 and 14. Based on the researcher’s own experience of teaching in both an urban and a rural school setting, this thesis aims to offer insight into how schools can utilize technology even when they struggle to gain access to these platforms. To uncover the advantages of incorporating technology within the school system, this study relies mostly on secondary sources obtained from various experts within the education field. As this thesis aims to offer an overview of the integration of technology within creative writing teaching, it also offers various suggestions on improving the ways in which teachers and learners should use technology in their classes. By doing so, learners should be able to garner critical skills that will help them in creative language work and their knowledge development process.
- ItemL’Age des tenebres 2.0 : L’Humanite au nadir dans Serotonine de Michel Houellebecq et Die troebel tyd d’Ingrid Winterbach(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2022-03) Du Plooy, Jacobus Andrias; Du Toit, Catherine; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Modern Foreign Languages.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Die troebel tyd by Ingrid Winterbach was published in South Africa in December 2018. Only a month later, Michel Houellebecq's Sérotonine appears, a French novel that has its origins in a context that differs in many respects from the South African context in which Winterbach works. Despite obvious differences in style and plot, there are similarities between the two novels in terms of their themes. This study compares the way in which the novels depict themes reflecting the Anthropocene, society, interpersonal relationships, spirituality and depression. Although each of these themes can be studied separately, they never function completely independently from one another other in the context of each novel. Edgar Morin's complexity theory provides a good theoretical framework within which the thematic coherence can be studied. At the same time, the thesis seeks to contribute in an interdisciplinary manner to the application of complexity theory to literature. By looking at the way in which all the above themes fit together and seemingly contribute to a prevailing esprit du temps that is particularly marked by depression, the thesis casts a holistic view on the depiction of contemporary Western society in Sérotonine and Die troebel tyd. Given the confluence of complexity theory and the two novels, the thesis also offers a representation of the extent to which a novel itself can be regarded as a complex system.