The difficulties experienced by children in their middle school age resemble problems with emotional intelligence. It is increased by cultural differences between the child, therapist and social environment. This research problem led to a culturally sensitive Gestalt play therapy intervention programme, to enhance primary school children's emotional intelligence. An intervention was developed, applied and the outcomes thereof studied. The outcomes relate to play therapy techniques, emotional intelligence and cultural sensitivity. The researcher made use of applied research, and thus focused on solving the social problem as stated above, and making a contribution to real life issues. A literature study, related to the concepts of the unit of analysis showed the following: The primary school child has high energy levels and presents concrete reasoning abilities. His self-esteem is based on good interpersonal relationships and achieving tasks. Emotions and other physical and cognitive systems are interdependent. Emotional intelligence is the awareness, management and control of emotions, relate to the functions of the frontal lobes and also to the requirements of a healthy individual according to Gestalt therapy. Culture is connected to the field in Gestalt theory. Cultural sensitivity in this research study meant an attitude of acceptance of cultural differences. Gestalt therapy is based on holism, which includes the environment or field. Gestalt play therapy in a group context was found to be an effective way to teach emotional intelligence skills in a culturally sensitive way to primary school children. The intervention programme was applied to pilot- and research groups, compiled from children who were assessed with the Das-Naglieri Cognitive Assessment System (Naglieri and Das, 1997a) and who presented weaker frontal lobe processes in relation to their other cognitive skills. The outcomes of the research study identified the most effective Gestalt play therapy techniques, which are: The healing therapeutic relationship The use of experiential learning The Gestalt principle of "biding one's time" The study also delivered some unsuspected outcomes namely a relation between right-hemisphere processes and emotional intelligence. This study is still open for further research relating to the concepts discussed above, the intervention programme as well as the unsuspected outcomes. / Social Work / D.Diac.

Language rights in South Africa are entrenched in the Constitution of South Africa (Chapter 1, Section 6, Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996). However, the concomitant infrastructure and organisational realities make this policy difficult to implement, especially in law courts (Kaschula and Ralarala 2004). Creating effective communicative environments has historically been constrained by lack of effective training of legal practitioners and by the lack of capacity for building translation structures. With the advancement of technology, potential solutions are becoming more apparent and it is incumbent upon the academic community to embark on a rigorous investigation into possible solutions and how these Information Communication Technology (ICT) solutions could be applied to the execution of justice in South African law courts. This article aims to open the discourse of possible solutions, via assessments of computer based translation solutions, ICT context simulations and other potential opportunities. The authors hope to initiate the interest of other language and legal practitioners to explore how the new technological capabilities could be harnessed to support the entrenchment of language rights in our law courts.

This descriptive research addressed the challenges of working with the conscious and unconscious aspects of diversity in order to enhance insights into covert and deeper diversity dynamics in organisations. The research supported the evolving trend of shifting the systems psychodynamic orientation from the group to the individual context. The general aim was to describe a systems psychodynamic coaching model, and to determine its trustworthiness in assisting executives to work effectively with conscious and unconscious diversity dynamics. Literature was reviewed to provide a theoretical foundation of diversity challenges which executives face in South African organisations. This was augmented by systems psychodynamic literature, which provided a theoretical basis upon which to understand the intrapsychic aspects of the executives and their interplay with systemic dynamics. The empirical study was conducted over ten months to determine the trustworthiness of executive coaching in diversity from a systems psychodynamic perspective. Data was gathered using the organisational role analysis approach, and analysed by means of the systems psychodynamic discourse analysis method. Nine major themes and their related sub-themes were identified, namely, gender, race, ethnicity, authority, disability, language, age, de-authorisation of diversity work, and the coaching process. Through the coaching, the executives gained insights into their intrapsychic environment and the complex, multifaceted and intersecting nature of diversity in their organisations. They were assisted to take up their leadership roles more effectively and to take action on behalf of their organisations. The research hypothesis formulated and the conclusion made was that executive coaching from a systems psychodynamic perspective displays trustworthiness. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Consulting Psychology)

This research focuses on the role that polychronic Communication (PC) plays in the productivity and project success of Information Technology (IT) Project Managers (PMs). PC refers to a communication style where the communicator switches rapidly between several conversations, irrespective of topic similarity, instead of completing one conversation before starting another. An online questionnaire collected data from Information Technology workers in multiple industries across the globe. The data consisted out of two distinct groups: IT PMs (n = 202) and IT project team members (n = 122). Statistical analysis on the dataset considered the perspectives of both participant groups, first separately and then combined. The results showed relationships between: 1. IT PMs’ individual polychronicity and their PC. 2. IT PMs’ PC and their opinion of the influence of PC on the success of the projects that they are managing. 3. IT PMs’ PC and their opinion of the influence of PC on their productivity. 4. IT PMs’ PC and the corporate polychronicity of their employers. In addition, when IT PMs rate their PC, the rating is lower than when other IT project team members rate the IT PMs’ PC. By contrast, there was no difference between IT PMs rating the influence of their PC on their project success and productivity versus IT project teams rating the influence of the IT PMs’ PC on their project success and productivity. These findings contribute to the factors that a corporation has to consider in hiring new IT PMs or training their current IT PMs. / Information Science / M. Sc. (Information Systems)

Text in Afrikaans / In hierdie verhandeling word gepoog om teen die agtergrond van multikulturele skoolsituasies in Suid-Afrika 'n oorsig van die problematiek random kommunikasievaardighede te gee. Algemene intra- en interpersoonlike kommunikasievaardighede word uitgelig. In aansluiting by 'n literatuurondersoek is kwalitatiewe data deur middel van onderhoude met skoolhoofde en onderwysers wat by multikulturele skoolsituasies betrokke is, ingesamel. Die wyse waarop mense met mekaar praat is deurslaggewend. Kommunikasieprobleme kan ontstaan wanneer kultuurgroepe met mekaar kommunikeer. Die hantering van misverstande en konflik in multikulturele skoolsituasies is belangrik. Onderwysbestuurders moet verskeie kommunikasievaardighede tydens 'n konfliksituasie aanwend. Die doeltreffende funksionering van 'n skool word grootliks medebepaal deur effektiewe kommunikasievaardighede wat toegepas word om verhoudinge tussen verskillende groepe te verbeter. Onderwysbestuurders behoort opgelei te word om effektief met alle betrokkenes in 'n konfliksituasie te kommunikeer. / This paper endeavours to give a review of the problematic nature of communication skills against the background of multicultural school situations in South Africa. General intra and interpersonal communication skills are highlighted. Further to the literature review, qualitative data has been gathered through interviews with a number of principals and teachers who are involved in multicultural school situations. The manner in which people speak to each other is important. Communication problems can occur when culture groups communicate. The management of misunderstandings and conflict is important in multicultural school situations. Education managers must utilise several communication skills during a conflict situation. The successful functioning of a school is essentially co-determined by the employment of effective communication skills to improve relationships between different groups. Education managers should be trained to communicate effectively with all persons involved in a conflict situation. / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Onderwysbestuur)

The diploma thesis focuses on the definition of intercultural education and its key concepts and methods of its application within formal and informal education. It surveys the present situation in the area of intercultural education in Europe and in the Czech Republic. The thesis closes with a brief outline of possible applications for intercultural education within free time of present-day youth.

The aim of this paper is to carry out a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the semantic and pragmatic aspects of a translation from Spanish into Swedish. Taking advantage our extensive knowledge of the local area we selected a book about the cultural heritage of Seville. Owing to the differences in the two cultures we expected to find numerous foreign cultural words – that we call culturemes – throughout the book that have no direct equivalence in Swedish. Our intention was to detect them and describe by means of several examples the translation techniques we used in order to adapt the target text to the Swedish reader. At the end we also carried out a quantitative analysis of the 252 culturemes we found, with a table showing which translation techniques dominate, and the frequency of occurrence of other techniques. We aimed to transfer as many culturemes as possible in order to give the target text some local color. This is the strategy called foreignization, recommended by Venuti. Throughout the translation and analysis process we concluded that the translator must have a sound linguistic and cultural knowledge of both the source and target languages in order to successfully resolve cultural differences and create an idiomatic and pragmatic translation.

This study explores the cultural adjustment of the domestic partners of German expatriates working in the Nelson Mandela Bay automotive industry of South Africa. The data was collected by distributing pre-interview questionnaires to the participants and conducting in-depth interviews with them. Grounded theory was used in the data collection and analysis and an auto-ethnographic approach was employed, allowing for reflexivity. The findings suggest that the expatriated domestic partners did not necessarily experience much difficulty in adjusting to South African culture as they did, for example, adjusting to not being able to work for the duration of their stay. The research has also shown that the unmarried domestic partners of expatriate employees are at a disadvantage compared to their married counterparts; receiving less assistance from the companies of their partners. Based on the findings, it has been recommended that companies refine and streamline the assistance they offer to the domestic partners of their expatriate employees, providing all domestic partners with the same pre-departure training and entitling them to the same benefits.

Nowadays, most of the countries in the world are getting more and more dependent on each other, both politically and economically. Along with that, cultural clash comes inevitably influencing are private lives and working environment. Multinational companies get the opportunity of using the potential of diverse cultural environment which is challenging the managers, and other employees, to increase their competencies. The goal of this thesis is to identify the Indian cultural standards from the Czech point of view and the Czech ones from the Indian point of view. The theory of the thesis is based on cultural models by Geert Hofstede and Fons Trompenaars. The cultural standards are being identified by using the method of critical incidents where the selected respondents are being interviewed. The thesis analyses at which aspects the two examined cultures differ the most and how it influences the working environment and performance. The research results are compared to other theoretical models and the thesis provides recommendations on how to work with the identified standards in order to make the Indian-Czech cooperation as efficient as possible.

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to explore the impact of a student teaching internship upon the classroom intercultural competence (CIC) of teacher education students and alumni. Phase I employed quantitative methodology to compare the intercultural competence as measured by Ross, Thornson, McDonald, and Arrastia’s (2009) Cross Cultural Competence Inventory (3CI) for three groups. The 3CI is a 63-item survey that uses corresponding questions to assess intercultural competence. Survey items are scored with a 6-point, strongly agree-to-strongly disagree Likert scale (Thornson, 2010). The three groups included teacher education students enrolled in a field observation course, students enrolled in their student teaching internship, and teacher education alumni currently teaching in the Jacksonville metropolitan area. Participants’ 3CI scores were used as a diagnostic tool to facilitate the recognition of factors relative to their overall intercultural competence. Three quantitative research questions were tested: Is there a statistically significant difference between matched pairs of intern’s CIC as measured by the scales and subscales of the 3CI (Ross et al., 2009) after students complete their field observation experience as compared to their pre-field observation scores? This question was not supported (t(116) = 1.07; p > .05). Do matched pairs of interns who experienced an IST enhanced internship (Ross et al., 2009) as compared to matched pairs of interns whose student teaching experience was exclusively in a domestic classroom? This question was supported (t(38) = 1.68; p < .001; d = .252). Do in-service teachers who experienced an IST enhanced internship demonstrate increased CIC as measured by the scales and subscales of the 3CI (Ross et al., 2009) as compared to in-service teachers whose student teaching experience was exclusively in a domestic classroom? This question was not supported (t(25) = .93; p > .05). Each of the 6 subfactors was charted to portray a graphic illustration of the areas of strengths and weakness concerning classroom intercultural competence. In the qualitative component of the present study, interview methodology facilitated gathering qualitative data from intern and in-service teachers. This provided a context for enhancing the quantitative data and for addressing the unique nature of how different individuals learn to adapt to diverse students in the classroom. One qualitative research question was tested: To what extent do qualitative data collected from interviews reflect similar areas of growth as indicated by the scales and subscales of the 3CI (Ross et al., 2009) quantitative measurement? Interviews with these teachers led to the identification of significant factors related to intercultural communicative success in the multicultural classroom. Hence, research question 4 was supported.