Every lover of scripture takes a Bible for himself within our larger one. He may read the 60 books from a sense of duty or profit, but there are portions that he loves, which he reads time and again. Those are the Bible within the Bible that he has made for himself. Any Bible used long and effectively by one person has this story to tell. Torn edges, pencillngs, thumbmarks plentiful here, and large sections of clean pages there show what the owner may never have dreamed, that he has his personal edition of our common Bible. This is inevitable. And it is our highest tribute to the book of books.

Dissertation (PhD)--University of Stellenbosch, 2001. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The main purpose of the study is to develop a model and to establish certain principles for writing a script treatment (personal pictures) of a book of the Bible. Personal pictures can be identified as the most important component of the production (filmic creation) and marketing (promulgation) processes of a fully dramatised audio-visual representation of a biblical book. The study deals primarily with personal pictures. Changes in the communication and perception of biblical content are investigated. The study focuses mainly on the dissemination of such content through audio-visual Bible products (end products). The study contends that audio-visual Bible communications for children and adults should have an educational foundation. The other main dimension of all audio-visual Bible is the entertainment it provides to viewers (patrons). The educational and entertainment facets of end products are described here as edutainment. It is important for end products to have edutainment value as perceived by socio-economically diverse peoples, of both Christian and non-Christian (non-religious) persuasions. Aspects which can contribute to the edutainment value of fully dramatised audio-visual Bible products are expounded. An audio-visual model, which defines the basis for the filmic creation and promulgation of an end product, is explained and its elements described. The determinants of the filmic creation and promulgation processes, some of which have a greater educational impact and some which have a greater entertainment impact, are explicated. An important factor is to involve patrons in the filmic creation and promulgation processes, and to help them to feel part of these processes. Writing the personal pictures of a Bible book is investigated. A personal pictures model is put forward to explain how the personal pictures can be written. A variety of guidelines to help the writer (owner) write the personal pictures of a book are presented. These guidelines deal with aspects such as writing the narrative, selecting the context of the storytelling, gathering and using background information, using enhancement factors, and implementing requirements of the users. The personal pictures already written of two Bible books are assessed. An explanation is given of why the books of Ruth and Hebrews, one from the Old and one from the New Testament, are chosen for such assessment. These personal pictures are found to be deficient and new personal pictures are written for both books, using the model and guidelines given. An empirical survey is undertaken of the personal pictures of one of the two books assessed, namely Ruth. The analysis of the empirical research finds that the respondents are able to visualise a film of Ruth with edutainment value after reading the personal pictures. The results of the survey point to the importance of both the educational and entertainment aspects in end products. Some further valuable deductions can be made from the study: Audio-visual Bible products are beneficial to convey biblical content to patrons. A model and guidelines are presented for writing good quality personal pictures. Patrons can profitably be engaged in the filmic creation and promulgation processes of fully dramatised audio-visual Bible products. A few constraints have been encountered which have a limiting effect on the study. The study highlights a number of important areas which can be further researched. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die hoofdoel van die studie is om sekere riglyne neer te Ie vir die skryf van 'n draaiboeksinopsis of visuele voorstelling ("personal pictures") van 'n Bybelboek. "Personal pictures" van 'n Bybelboek is waarskynlik die belangrikste komponent van die vervaardigings- en verspreidingsprosesse van 'n volledig-gedrarnatiseerde oudio-visuele weergawe van so 'n boek. Die studie handel hoofsaaklik oor "personal pictures". Veranderinge in die kommunikasie en in die begrip van die inhoud van die Bybel word ondersoek. Die studie fokus hoofsaaklik op die uitdra van die inhoud van Bybelboeke deur middel van oudio-visuele Bybelprodukte. Die studie toon aan dat oudio-visuele Bybelkommunikasie vir kinders en volwassenes 'n opvoedkundige grondslag het of behoort te he. Die ander belangrike grondslag van 'n oudiovisuele Bybel is die vermaaklikheidsaspek. Die opvoedkundige en vermaaklikheidsfasette van oudio-visuele Bybelprodukte word hierin beskryf as opvoedkundige vermaak ("edutainment"). Dit is belangrik dat oudio-visuele Bybelprodukte "edutainment'' verskaf aan uiteenlopende sosio- . ekonomiese groepe van sowel Christel ike as nie-Christelike oortuiging. Sekere aspekte word verduidelik wat die waarde van "edutainment" in gedramatiseerde oudiovisuele Bybelprodukte kan verhoog. 'n Oudio-visuele model, wat die grondbeginsels vir die vervaardiging en verspreiding van so 'n Bybelproduk uiteensit, word verskaf en die onderskeie beginsels word gedefinieer. Die bepalende faktore in die vervaardigings- en verspreidingsprosesse, waarvan sornmige 'n groter opvoedkundige en ander 'n groter vermaaklikheidsimpak het, word uitgewys. 'n Belangrike faktor is dat verbruikers by die vervaardigings- en verspreidingsprosesse betrek word, en op 'n wyse wat hulle dee I van hierdie prosesse laat voel. Hoe om "personal pictures" van 'n Bybelboek te skryf, word ondersoek. 'n "Personal pictures"- model word aangebied, asook 'n verskeidenheid riglyne vir die skryfvan die "personal pictures" van 'n boek. Hierdie riglyne omvat aspekte soos die storielyn, die keuse van die konteks waarin die storie afspeel, die inwin en gebruik van agtergrondinligting, die gebruik van effekte wat die storie bevorder, en die toepassing van spesifieke vereistes van die vervaardigingspersoneel. Die "personal pictures" wat reeds van twee Bybelboeke bestaan, word beoordeel. 'n Verduideliking word gegee waarom Rut en Hebreers, boeke uit onderskeidelik die Ou en die Nuwe Testament, vir so 'n evaluering gekies is. Hierdie "personal pictures" word as ontoereikend bevind, en nuwe "personal pictures" word vir beide boeke geskryf deur van die genoemde model en riglyne gebruik te maak. 'n Empiriese ondersoek word gedoen om die "personal pictures" van een van die twee boeke, naamlik Rut, te evalueer. In die ontleding van die empiriese ondersoek word bevind dat respondente in staat is om 'n film van Rut met "edutainment"-waarde te visualiseer, nadat hulle die "personal pictures" gelees het. Die resultate van die ondersoek wys op die belangrikheid van die opvoedkundige sowel as die vermaaklikheidsaspekte van oudio-visuele Bybelprodukte. Die volgende verdere waardevolle afleidings word uit die studie gemaak: Die inhoud van Bybelboeke kan met vrug deur middel van oudio-visuele Bybelprodukte oorgedra word. Goeie kwaliteit "personal pictures" kan geskryf word deur gebruik te maak van die voorgestelde model en riglyne. Dit kan voordelig wees om verbruikers by die vervaardigings- en verspreidingsprosesse van gedramatiseerde oudio-visuele produkte van die Bybel te betrek. Die faktore wat 'n beperkende uitwerking op die studie gehad het, word aangetoon. Die studie lig 'n aantal belangrike areas uit vir verdere navorsing.

Sammanfattning Alla barn i förskolan har rätt till en stimulerande språkutveckling, att kunna uttrycka känslor, behov och känna delaktighet i det sociala samspelet. Syften med denna studie är att ge en övergripande bild över hur teckenanvändning i förskolan kan stimulera barns språkutveckling oavsett svårigheter och vad pedagogerna har för inställningen till metoden ur ett sociokulturellt inkluderande perspektiv. Tidigare forskning visar att det finns positiva effekter av att använda sig av tecken som ett komplement för att förstärka talspråket, speciellt för språksvaga barn. Det har framför allt fått konsekvenser för begreppsutvecklingen och ordförståelsen som innefattas i förskolans styrdokument. Tillvägagångssättet i studien var kvantitativ metod i form av en digital enkätundersökning som skickades ut till förskolor runt om i landet. Resultatet visade att majoriteten av pedagogerna hade en positiv inställning till användandet av tecken och att deras uppfattningar stämde överens med det som tidigare forskning påvisat. Avslutningsvis behöver mer forskning inom området utföras för att kunna säkerställa fördelarna i ett längre perspektiv. / Abstract All children in preschool are entitled to a stimulating language development process; to be able to express their feelings, needs and be actively involved in social interaction. The purpose of this study is twofold: Firstly, to deepen the understanding of how signing can stimulate children's language development complementary to speech in preschool regardless of difficulties in speech. Secondly, to investigate teachers’ attitudes to and opinions on the method from a socio-cultural theory and in inclusion perspective. Previous research shows that there are many benefits of using signing as a method to enhance the spoken language, especially for children with special needs. Signing has proved especially significant for improving literacy and language skills, which are important components of the pre-school curriculum. The approach in this study was a quantitative method produced as a digital questionnaire sent to different preschools around Sweden. The results showed that the majority of the educators saw positive effects of using signing as a complement to speech, which is consistent with previous research. In conclusion, further research needs to be conducted on the topic to be able to identify the long-term benefits.

Thesis (MPhil(Visual Arts. Illustration))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / This thesis is a critical analysis of Afrikaans illustrated children’s Bibles as cultural texts in Afrikaner nationalist discourse. Christian Calvinism was a distinct signifier in Afrikaner nationalism and served as an instrument in the construction of Afrikaner national identity. I propose in this study that Afrikaans children’s Bibles encoded the principles of Afrikaner nationalism and were used as didactic tools for the configuration of an exclusive national consciousness. A potential pitfall in the analysis of Afrikaans children’s Bibles as nationalist texts is the fact that these books were translated from Dutch or English into Afrikaans. However, the act of translating the Bible, ‘the Word of God’, into Afrikaans served to confirm the ‘totem’ of Afrikaner Christian-Nationalism. The appropriation of the Bible re-contextualized the ‘Holy Scriptures’, placing them within the milieu of Afrikaner national identity and consciousness: language and religion thus became interrelated catalysts in the social construction of Afrikaner national consciousness. Finally, my own reinvention of the Afrikaans picture Bible – in opposition to conventional illustrated children’s Bibles – is put forward and discussed as a postmodern text that encodes a radically different post-Apartheid conception of identity.