Thesis (M.A. in Communication) -- University of Dayton. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed 10/06/09). Advisor: Teresa L. Thompson. Includes bibliographical references (p. 82-92).

Thesis (M.A)--University of Texas at El Paso, 2008. / Title from title screen. Vita. CD-ROM. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

IsiXhosa language is one of the eleven official languages and the second most widely spoken language in South Africa. However, in terms of computational linguistics, the language did not get attention and natural language related work is almost non-existent. Document retrieval using unstructured queries requires some kind of language processing, and an efficient retrieval of documents can be achieved if we use a technique called stemming. The area that involves document storage and retrieval is called Information Retrieval (IR). Basically, IR systems make use of a Stemmer to index document representations and also terms in users’ queries to retrieve matching documents. In this dissertation, we present the developed Stemmer that can be used in both conditions. The Stemmer is used in IR systems, like Google to retrieve documents written in isiXhosa. In the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa many public schools take isiXhosa as a subject and also a number of Universities in South Africa teach isiXhosa. Therefore, for a language important such as this, it is important to make valuable information that is available online accessible to users through the use of IR systems. In our efforts to develop a Stemmer for the isiXhosa language, an investigation on how others have developed Stemmers for other languages was carried out. From the investigation we came to realize that the Porter stemming algorithm in particular was the main algorithm that many of other Stemmers make use of as a reference. We found that Porter’s algorithm could not be used in its totality in the development of the isiXhosa Stemmer because of the morphological complexity of the language. We developed an affix removal that is embedded with rules that determine which order should be followed in stripping the affixes. The rule is that, the word under consideration is checked against the exceptions, if it’s not in the exceptions list then the stripping continue in the following order; Prefix removal, Suffix removal and finally save the result as stem. The Stemmer was successfully developed and was tested and evaluated in a sample data that was randomly collected from the isiXhosa text books and isiXhosa dictionary. From the results obtained we concluded that the Stemmer can be used in IR systems as it showed 91 percent accuracy. The errors were 9 percent and therefore these results are within the accepted range and therefore the Stemmer can be used to help in retrieval of isiXhosa documents. This is only a noun Stemmer and in the future it can be extended to also stem verbs as well. The Stemmer can also be used in the development of spell-checkers of isiXhosa.

Orientador: Brunno Vinícius Gonçalves Vieira / Banca: Zelina M. P. Beato / Banca: Robson Tadeu Cesila / Resumo: Este trabalho pretende apresentar uma visão das discussões modernas sobre tradução, problematizar as visões preconceituosas que cercam o trabalho tradutório ao demonstrar seu caráter de experiência e reflexão. Com esse pressuposto e partindo da influência da desconstrução - termo cunhado por Jacques Derrida - pretendemos aqui lançar um novo olhar para a crítica da linguagem literária, no caso, traduções literárias de obras da antiguidade latina. Com isso, a metalinguagem crítica por nós pretendida se inicia no pensamento instaurado de forma sistematizada por Derrida sobre a questão do "logocentrismo ocidental" ou "a metafísica da presença". A partir dessa abordagem, pouco aplicada aos textos antigos, discutiremos nesse trabalho algumas questões relativas às traduções de tais obras. Esta pesquisa se filia, assim, à corrente teórica que percorreu e influenciou todas as áreas das ciências humanas: a crítica da visão logocêntrica e positivista na leitura do mundo, cujo expoente foi o filósofo francês, influenciado pelos escritos de Nietszche e Freud, que questionaram anteriormente o valor imutável da razão, edificada sobre o poder do logos ou discurso, como detentora de verdades estáveis. Desse modo, a significação - ou, como a tradição especula, o sentido - agora é revista, por ser lançada no tempo, é propagada num movimento que não cessa, está sempre passível de (re)leituras. No âmbito desta pesquisa, nos apropriamos do debate de Derrida para repensar as verdades tradicionais da prática tradutória e refletir as propostas da visão desconstrutivista nos Estudos Clássicos, propondo uma tradução do Canto III, de Punica, do poeta latino Sílio Itálico (26-102 d.C.). / Abstract: This research intends to present a vision of modern discussions about translation, question the prejudiced views surrounding the translation work to demonstrate your character experience and reflection. With this assumption and based on the influence of deconstruction - a term devise by Jacques Derrida - here we intend to launch a new perspective at the critique of literary language, in this case, literary translations of Latin antiquity works. Thus, the critical metalanguage for us desired begins on established thinking in a systematic way by Derrida on the issue of "Western logocentrism" or "the metaphysics of presence." From this approach, little applied to ancient texts, we will discuss this work some issues relating to translations of such works. This research joins thus the theoretical current that ran through and influenced all areas of human sciences: the critique of logocentric and positivist view in reading the world, whose exponent was the French philosopher, influenced by the writings of Nietzsche and Freud, who questioned previously the unchanging value of reason, founded on the power of logos or speech, as the holder of stable truths. Thus, the significance, or, as speculated tradition, the sense, is now reviewed, it is be released in time, is propagated in a movement that never ceases, is always open to (re) readings. Within this research, we appropriate the Derrida's debate to rethink the traditional truths of translation practice and reflect the proposals of the deconstructionist vision in Classical Studies, proposing a translation of Canto III of Punica, written by Latin poet Silius Italicus (26-102 AD). / Mestre

Orientador: Guacira Marcondes Machado Leite / Banca: María Dolores Aybar Ramírez / Banca: Maria Clara Bonetti Paro / Banca: Fani Miranda Tabak / Banca: Ozíris Borges Filho / Resumo: A postura artística de Henry James (1843-1916) perante o mundo físico se exprime por meio de técnicas narrativas variadas, que tanto refletem uma longa tradição literária quanto apresentam suas contribuições peculiares. Esquivando-se da densidade referencial em favor de uma materialidade sutil, James converte o espaço em símbolo, dota-o de valor psicológico e emprega-o para representar as personagens em suas complexidades humanas. Nesse sentido, esta pesquisa pretende estudar a introdução, descrição e conotação das referências espaciais e espaçotemporais da ficção madura do autor tomando como ponto de partida os romances The wings of the dove, The ambassadors e The golden bowl, publicados respectivamente em 1902, 1903 e 1904. Propomo-nos aqui a examinar a linguagem jamesiana e demonstrar de que forma tais narrativas captam o mundo interior por meio da representação do espaço, principalmente, e do tempo, e engendram o efeito de, por exemplo, subordinar a materialidade do mundo físico às elaborações mentais das personagens, tecer construções sintáticas e semânticas incomuns, sobrepor estratos físicos e psíquicos e desestabilizar a interpretação do leitor. Para isso, buscamos traçar um caminho de análise pautando-nos por uma metodologia paralela baseada nos princípios narratológicos e estilísticos de Gérard Genette (1995, 1969), Dan Shen (2014, 2005a, 2005b) e Leech e Short (1981), dentre outros / Abstract: Henry James's (1843-1916) artistic approach to the physical world is expressed through several narrative techniques which both convey a well-established literary tradition and make their unique contributions. By avoiding referential density in favor of subtle materiality, James turns space into symbol, endows it with psychological value and uses it to represent the characters in their human complexities. Therefore, this research aims to study the introduction, description and connotation of spatial and spatiotemporal references of James's major phase considering, as its starting point, the novels The Wings of the Dove, The Ambassadors and The Golden Bowl, published in 1902, 1903, and 1904 respectively. We propose to examine the Jamesian language and demonstrate how these narratives capture the inner world through the representation of space, chiefly, and time, and produce the effect, for instance, of subordinating the materiality of the physical world to the mental elaboration of characters, of weaving unusual syntactic and semantic structures, of overlapping physical and psychological strata and of destabilizing the interpretation of the reader. In order to do so, this study is guided by a parallel methodology based on the narratological and the stylistic principles of Gérard Genette (1995, 1969), Dan Shen (2014, 2005a, 2005b) and Leech and Short (1981), among others / Doutor

Prof. C.J. Conradie

The 21st century is commonly referred to as the computer age. This term characterises the important place computers have in our everyday lives and the increasingly crucial role they will play in the future, determining the way we work, play, learn and teach. Computers are also slowly – but surely – finding their way into South African classrooms. In Gauteng, for example, the number of schools equipped with computers have grown from 24% in 1998 to 89% in 2003. This increase can be attributed directly to the concerted efforts of the National Education Department and other non-governmental organisations to close the digital divide between South Africa and the rest of the world. Apart from launching various projects to supply schools with computers, the National Education Department has further committed itself to the implementation of E-learning in a Draft White Paper on E-Learning in September 2003. The integration of computers in learning and teaching has, thus, now become a reality. This situation neccesitates much needed empirical research on how the use of computers can be effectively integrated into the teaching and learning of, inter alia, languages. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of the use of computers in teaching Afrikaans as an Additional Language. To do this, an extensive literature study has been undertaken to investigate international best practices of Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL). Subsequently, an empirical study – in the form of a quasi-experiment – was undertaken to investigate the effectiveness of CALL in the teaching and learning of Afrikaans as an Additional Language, by comparing it with conventional language teaching methods. A longitudinal study was done with two groups of Grade 9 learners at the Bishops Diocesian College in Cape Town and the development of their language skills was assessed by using a standardised language proficiency test (EVAT – Evaluering van Afrikaans Taalvaardigheid) as pre and post tests. The literature review indicates that computers possess certain unique characteristics that can enhance the language learning process. The results of the empirical study, furthermore, indicates that computers can be used in the teaching and learning of Afrikaans as an Additional Language and in such a way that learners’ language skills can develop in a similar way to using conventional language teaching. It further shows that learners can improve certain language skills better when using computers. This study also suggests that these results could be used as guidelines for the integration of computers in the teaching and learning of Afrikaans as an Additional Language. / Prof. A.E. Coetzee

No description available.

No description available.

The effects on sentence, phrase, and pivotal word recall of variations in mean depth, type, and length of sentences, response mode, and practice were studied with one hundred twenty-eight Grade Eleven students. The results provide substantial support for Martin and Roberts' (1966) listening-reproducing model of sentence processing. Verbatim recall of low mean depth sentences exceeded that of high mean depth sentences; pivotal words from phrases of the greatest mean depth were harder to recall than were their lower mean depth counterparts; and the analysis of phrase dependency measures indicated that left-to-right binary processing was taking place during the encoding and decoding of responses. In addition, the results provided partial confirmation of the notion of coding by transformational tags. Verbatim sentence recall was affected by the stimulus sentence's transformational type, but not in the predicted direction. Errors in sentence recall, however, were as was predicted: K > N, P, Q > NP, NQ, PQ > NPQ. Further, declarative sentences were recalled correctly more often than were interrogative, as was predicted from the coding hypothesis, but active and passive sentences were equally well recalled, and negative sentences were recalled better than affirmative sentences, neither of which result can be accounted for by the coding hypothesis. Mood, voice, and modality changes were found to have various effects on the recall of phrases and pivotal items, but often these effects were related to the lexical density of specific phrases. Pivotal words were observed to have performed an important function in early recall particularly, and this function was explained in terms of the memory for "gist" hypothesis (Reid, 1974). Sentence length interacted with mean depth and lexical density, a result which was felt to be an artifact resulting from incomplete orthogonality of these variables. The written response mode facilitated recall generally, as did practice, with practice resulting most noticeably in improved recall of all pivotal words, and of low mean depth and long sentences which were written rather than spoken. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate