published_or_final_version / abstract / English / Master / Master of Philosophy

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 409-430).

Magister Artium - MA / This study investigates Kinyarwaanda sexuality taboo words and their meaning in Rwandan culture to enable the youth to improve their communication and the values of Rwandan culture. It explores whether the use of Kinyarwaanda sexuality taboo words is a good way to communicate with one another or is a transgression of Rwandan culture. Its intent is to see the value that Rwandans assign to verbal taboos, particularly sexuality taboo words, to see how these taboos regulate Rwandans lives, to see the attitudes Rwandans hold towards them, and to find out the link there might be between sexuality taboo words, the information dissemination on HIV/AIDS and the spread of AIDS. / South Africa

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

This study investigates Kinyarwaanda sexuality taboo words and their meaning in Rwandan culture to enable the youth to improve their communication and the values of Rwandan culture. It explores whether the use of Kinyarwaanda sexuality taboo words is a good way to communicate with one another or is a transgression of Rwandan culture. Its intent is to see the value that Rwandans assign to verbal taboos, particularly sexuality taboo words, to see how these taboos regulate Rwandans lives, to see the attitudes Rwandans hold towards them, and to find out the link there might be between sexuality taboo words, the information dissemination on HIV/AIDS and the spread of AIDS.

The contemporary research suggests that some children who present with early language delays as toddlers outgrow their delays while others continue to develop long-term language difficulties. Several studies over the years have focused on factors that might aid in predicting the outcome of late talkers. This current study emphasized exploring gender as a possible predictive factor. The purpose of this study was to determine if significant differences exist in the rate of growth in language skills, as indexed by scores on the Developmental Sentence Scoring (DSS) procedure (Lee, 1974) of boys versus girls who are late to start talking as toddlers. The research hypothesis was that boys who present as LT toddlers would score significantly higher than LT girls at each age level tested. The DSS is a norm-referenced instrument that assesses age-appropriate morphological development and syntax. The LT subjects used were part of the Portland Language Development Project, a longitudinal study. Spontaneous speech samples were collected, transcribed, and analyzed using the DSS procedure once each year from the time they were approximately 3 years of age, until the age of 7. Late talking children in this present study were grouped by gender. A Chi Square test was used to determine if the proportion of males scoring above the 10th percentile on the DSS was significantly different than the proportion of females scoring above the 10th percentile at each age. Results from this analysis indicated that at the age of 3 years, more boys than girls scored above the 10th percentile on the DSS. There were no significant differences found at the ages of 4, 5, 6, and 7. At-test was used to compare average DSS scores between the two genders for each year of the study. This test revealed a significant difference between the LT girls' and LT boys' scores at the age of 3 years. No significant differences were found for the subsequent years. However, difference between boys' and girls' scores at age 7 approached significance, with boys again scoring higher.

In this study I investigate gender representations in a South African magazine directed at a teenage female readership. It begins with a survey of sociolinguistic understandings of the relationship between language and gender, and of critical linguistic insights into how gender and gender relations are constructed through discourse. This is followed by the Critical Discourse Analysis of selected texts from the magazine. These analyses reveal that the writers draw on conventional representations of women and conventional social relations between men and women to perpetuate subordinate roles for woman in a male-dominated society. On the basis of this evidence I suggest that such magazines serve as instruments of social control in a patriarchal society by positioning women as being overwhelmingly concerned with their personal appearance and with developing and sustaining relationships with the opposite sex. I also point to the ways in which the writers have drawn on representations of femininity to position the readership as consumers, thereby serving the interests of the capitalist modes of production. This study concludes with suggestions on how the findings can be used to implement Critical Language Awareness in the classroom. / Theses (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.

This study investigates Kinyarwaanda sexuality taboo words and their meaning in Rwandan culture to enable the youth to improve their communication and the values of Rwandan culture. It explores whether the use of Kinyarwaanda sexuality taboo words is a good way to communicate with one another or is a transgression of Rwandan culture. Its intent is to see the value that Rwandans assign to verbal taboos, particularly sexuality taboo words, to see how these taboos regulate Rwandans lives, to see the attitudes Rwandans hold towards them, and to find out the link there might be between sexuality taboo words, the information dissemination on HIV/AIDS and the spread of AIDS.

Second language enrolments, especially among boys, have declined markedly in our secondary schools over the last thirty years. Most research into this decline has been concerned with understanding what students do not like about language study. The present study took a different perspective, looking at classes in two schools where second language learning is popular and enrolments were high for both genders. The study sought to find which aspects of learning styles and strategies each gender enjoyed as a way to provide information to improve classroom language study and enrolment, particularly among boys. The study involved two, private schools, one boys’ and one girls’ — from the same socio-economic background. The schools were chosen because they had high enrolments in second languages, allowing meaningful amounts of data to be obtained. The single gender classes also permitted clear analysis of which classroom behaviours and activities suited each gender. A mixture of quantitative and qualitative methods was used. Data were collected using a student questionnaire, classroom observations and teacher interviews. Gender differences were found in a number of aspects of learning styles and strategies. Girls favoured collaborative learning styles that emphasised experience and support. Boys favoured a learning style emphasising clear parameters and expectations and opportunities to produce comprehensible output in the target language. The study found that teachers matched speaking activities to the preferred learning styles of the gender being taught. Further, it was found that while girls generally enjoyed groups of all sizes, boys preferred to practise speaking activities in pairs. Boys were found to be more confident about speaking activities than girls and both genders’ use of the target language reflected gender differences in communication in the first language