published_or_final_version / Linguistics / Master / Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics

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published_or_final_version / abstract / Linguistics / Master / Master of Philosophy

Thesis (M.A. (Translation studies and linguistics)) -- University of Limpopo, 2009 / Refer to the document

Thesis (M.A. (Translation Studies)) --University of Limpopo, 2012 / This study focuses on aspects that form part of the reasons of not having complete bidirectional bilingual dictionaries and to find solutions to those problems. The following dictionaries have been evaluated in this study: Oxford Pukuntšu ya Sekolo School Dictionary (2010), Pharos Popular Northern Sotho Dictionary (2007 & 2009) and Sesotho sa Leboa/English Pukuntšu Dictionary (2006). Most African bilingual dictionaries which are supposed to be bidirectional are not because reversibility is not applied thoroughly. This study focuses on checking how Northern Sotho-English bilingual dictionaries apply the reversibility principle. When evaluating bilingual dictionaries it comes to light that there are a lot of errors that lexicographers commit and these errors negatively affect the process of compiling complete user-friendly bidirectional dictionaries. Having user-friendly bidirectional bilingual dictionaries is very important because dictionaries help different language speakers to learn each other’s language.

Thesis (MA. (Translation Studies and Linguistics)) -- University of Limpopo, 2012 / Structural markers, front matter, contextual guidance and cross-referencing are some of the important features of bilingual dictionaries which are often taken for granted. This study evaluates the presentation of structural markers in some Northern Sotho/English Bilingual dictionaries, with special reference to Pharos: Popular Northern Sotho Dictionary and Sesotho sa Leboa/English Pukuntšu Dictionary. The study further evaluates the use of the front matter, contextual guidance and cross-referencing in bilingual dictionaries. The study has established that bilingual dictionaries can become user-friendly if they identify and use appropriate strategies, as this leads to communicative success. By contrast, the incorrect application of a comma or a semicolon may lead to a misinterpretation of the supplied equivalents in bilingual dictionaries.

Thesis (M. A. (Translation and Linguistics)) -- University of Limpopo, 2020 / The purpose of this study was to analyse contextual guidance in selected Sepedi-English dictionaries. It analysed different issues related to the manner in which contextual guidance is presented in the selected Sepedi-English dictionaries. Firstly, it looked at how the relationship between the headword and the translation can positively or negatively affect the presentation of contextual guidance. Also, it focused on the presentation of structural markers and how they contribute to contextual guidance which is not well presented. It then looked at the manner in which the dictionary compilers could present the lexical items in accordance with microstructural aspects. Lastly it focused on the need and manner in which microstructural aspects could make the dictionary user-friendly with the usage of pictorials as other means of contextual guidance assistance to the target users. The researcher has separated and allocated the lexical items according to themes and contexts. The researcher discovered that there is a need for user-friendly dictionaries which consist of contextual guidance which has a relationship with the lexical item. That will assist the target users to understand how the translation equivalent could be used

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Linguistics / Master / Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics

As I was involved as a voluntary, part-time teacher in a local, semi-rural school in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, I became increasingly aware of the learners' lack of English literacy. I therefore decided to do a practical research on vocabulary development, focusing on dictionary skills. In this thesis I describe how I implemented a vocabulary development programme as an Action Research project. My research group was a grade 7 class of English First Additional Language learners who had minimal exposure to English at school and in their communities. The class was a mixture of Afrikaans and isiXhosa home language speakers and the medium of instruction was Afrikaans. The school served a low-income community and was poorly resourced. As dictionary skills is a requirement of the national curriculum, I used 10 time-tabled lessons over a 5 week period to introduce the learners to dictionaries. My data sources were a journal detailing my reflections on each lesson; a video-recording of the lessons; small group interviews after each lesson which were audio-recorded; tasksheets on the work covered in class and questionnaires asking the learners for written responses to the lessons. The class teacher who filmed the lessons was also asked for feedback during and after the programme. My goals were to assess my teaching approach in these circumstances and to what extent the outcomes were positive for the learners. As I had come from a background of English Home Language teaching in good, well-resourced schools I found I had to question many of my assumptions. Although I was an experienced, qualified and confident teacher, I was continually having to reassess my teaching methods which were being challenged by very different classroom conditions. The outcomes of the research show why I was not able to achieve what I had thought I could in the time given.

MAAS / MER Mathivha Centre for African Languages, Arts and Culture