published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

Thesis (MPhil (General Linguistics))--university of Stellenbosch, 2010. / Bibliography

The purpose of this dissertation was to evaluate the Mandarin Chinese course taught as a foreign language for distance learners through a review of distance education and how it applied in foreign language teaching, a learning package based on Unisa's Mandarin Chinese 1, a beginners' course, was fully discussed and demonstrated. An analysis was made of what had been utilised in the learning package and how each element helped distance learners to develop their language skills. Based on the course's learning outcomes, learning material, assessments and learning support, empirical research was done through focus group interviews and questionnaires to test the effectiveness of the Mandarin course. Analysis of the results suggested that: • Students needed to build up a more realistic expectation about learning Chinese. • Students' workloads needed to be re-examined and re-measured. • Certain students lacked learner autonomy. • Mandarin courses should be produced jointly with distance teaching institutions abroad. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Didactics)

This work has taken the region of Qwaqwa as a case study. Through this study, the researcher attempted to join in the debate around language varieties that occur as a result of contact between different language groups. To achieve this objective, the factors that have an impact on Sesotho spoken in the Qwaqwa area and, in particular, in schools, have been assessed. The researcher provides a broad and general picture of the language situation and patterns of language use in the Qwaqwa area. A brief overview of the geographical description, historical background and economic development of Qwaqwa is given. Some of the linguistic phenomena that play a role in language variation in this area fall under the spotlight. Language contact, i.e. language and dialect, regional and social dialect, the use of language and the impact of language contact between languages is discussed. Patterns and the extent of language contact and the resultant effects of interference, codeswitching and borrowing as well as the processes and points at which these processes occur are identified. The major similarities and relationships between spoken and written Sesotho, as used by learners in Qwaqwa schools, is highlighted with the discussion focussing on the linguistic description of the similarities and relationships between the two forms. / African Languages / (M.A.(Afican Languages))

This study compares simultaneously interpreted German speech to non-interpreted German discourse in order to determine whether interpreted language is characterised by any of the laws that have been found to feature in translated text, i.e. the law of growing standardisation and the law of interference. It is hypothesised that interpreters typically exaggerate German communicative norms, thereby producing manifestations of growing standardisation. In order to test this hypothesis, comparative and parallel analyses are carried out using corpora of interpreted and non-interpreted discourse. During the comparative phase, two types of interpreted German speech are each compared to non-interpreted language and to each other in order to determine how interpreted speech differs from non-interpreted discourse. During the parallel analysis, the interpreted German segments are compared to their source language counterparts with the aim of determining the reasons for the production of the patterns discovered during the first phase. The results indicate that interpreters do not produce patterns similar to those that characterise translated text: neither the law of growing standardisation nor the law of interference is manifest in the data. Instead, a different feature, namely an increased degree of generalisation, is discovered in the interpreters‟ output. This feature appears to be the result of the use of strategies that enable interpreters to deal with time, memory and linearity constraints inherent in SI. It can hence be confirmed that interpreted German differs from non-interpreted German discourse in certain respects. / Linguistics / M.A. (Linguistics)

Thesis (MA (African Languages))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / This study deals with the analysis of accounts of marriages in isiXhosa. Gergen (1994) proposes the following aspects that such narratives should cover: structure of narrative account; narrative form; self-narrative: process; pragmatics of self-narrative, interknitting of narratives, and emotion. Each of the listed aspects has its own variants. The variants will be dealt with in Chapter four, where Gergen’s theory is being summarised. The proposals Gergen (1994) made are central and significant in this research, since the narratives that have been given by five Xhosa-speaking married persons will be analysed according to his theory on self-narratives. This research seeks to verify the validity of Gergen’s (1994) theory of narratives in the Xhosa context. The research has been conducted by involving five Xhosaspeaking married persons. Each person had to give his or her account of marriage in line with the topic of this research, namely, the analysis of accounts of marriage in Xhosa. After narratives had been collected, an analysis of each narrative has been done in Chapter five of this research. The analysis reveals how each narrative reflects the following: the structure of the narrative account, narrative form, selfnarrative: process, pragmatics of self-narrative, practices of self-narratives, and emotions, as suggested by Gergen (1994). Analyses vary from one narrative to another because an account of married life varies from one person to another. Bakhtin (1981) suggest that the words that narrators use are inter-individual. The understanding of social morals, values, norms, justice, and the history of the community by the narrators enables them to be intelligible in their narratives. It is therefore crucial that this study be pursued in the Xhosa language because narratives are socially embedded. The narratives in this study could assist people to think correctly about the marriages in the Xhosa context. The issue of marriage affects all people, despite language diversity, and it is therefore proper that this study be conducted in all languages. If this is not done, others may think that the findings from this research is applicable to the Xhosa-speaking community only. The analytic part of this research would help communication practitioners and language practitioners to analyse narratives in their languages in the same manner as they have been analysed from Xhosa narratives. This research analysis would assist developing communicators to grow into competent communicators.

Le nombre d'unions où les deux conjoints n'ont pas la même langue maternelle est en augmentation depuis les dernières décennies au Québec. Sachant que les enfants issus de ces unions gravitent dans un univers familial plurilingue, l'objectif de ce mémoire est de connaître les langues qui leur sont transmises. En utilisant les données du questionnaire long du recensement canadien de 2006, nous avons procédé à différentes analyses descriptives nous permettant de cerner les langues maternelles véhiculées aux enfants issus d'une union mixte, de vérifier si ces enfants héritent davantage de la langue maternelle de leur mère ou de leur père et s'ils opèrent des substitutions linguistiques avant l'âge de 18 ans, c'est-à-dire si leur langue maternelle diffère de leur langue d'usage. De plus, par le biais de régressions logistiques, nous avons étudié les déterminants contextuel, ethno-culturel et socio-économique les plus susceptibles d'expliquer le choix de la langue transmise aux enfants. Les résultats obtenus démontrent la place prédominante des langues officielles canadiennes, au détriment des langues non officielles, chez les familles exogames. De plus, le choix de la langue maternelle transmise s'avère principalement conditionné par le lieu de résidence, le parcours migratoire des parents et le pays de naissance des enfants. / The number of unions where both partners do not share the same mother tongue has grown substantially over the last decades in Quebec. Given that children born to these unions live in a multilingual family setting, the purpose of this research is to study the mother tongue transmitted to these children. Using the 2006 Canadian census long-form questionnaire, we first conducted various descriptive analyses. These were intended to identify the mother tongue transmitted to children born to mixed-language unions, to ascertain whether children inherit either their mother or father's mother tongue, and to determine if a language shift occurs before the age of 18 years old, in other words whether their mother tongue differs from the principal language they use at home. In addition, through logistic regressions, we examined the contextual, ethnocultural and socioeconomic determinants explaining the choice of the language transmitted to children. The results show the predominance of the two official Canadian languages in mixed-language families, at the expense of non-official languages. Furthermore, the choice of the mother tongue transmitted is mainly conditioned by the place of residence, the parent's migration path and the children's birthplace.

Law, She Kay Lourdes. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 181-188). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / ABSTRACT (ENGLISH) --- p.i / ABSTRACT (CHINESE) --- p.iii / TABLE OF CONTENT --- p.v / LIST OF TABLES --- p.xvii / Chapter CHAPTER 1 --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Language Use in Hong Kong --- p.1 / The Handover and Language Use in Hong Kong --- p.1 / The Significance of Cantonese in Hong Kong --- p.2 / The Significance of English in Hong Kong --- p.3 / The Significance of Putonghua in Hong Kong --- p.4 / Social Identities and Languages in Hong Kong --- p.7 / "Attitudes, Motivation and Orientation: Three Important Ideas to be Discussed in this study" --- p.9 / Purpose of this Study --- p.10 / Significance of this Study --- p.11 / Research Questions --- p.11 / Organization of this Study --- p.12 / Chapter CHAPTER 2 --- LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.14 / Introduction --- p.14 / Various Motivational Orientations: Attitudes and Motivation Research --- p.14 / Socio-psychological Approach to Motivational Orientations --- p.15 / Socio-educational Model --- p.17 / Integrative and Instrumental Orientations of Motivation --- p.18 / Integrative Orientation of Motivation --- p.18 / Instrumental Orientation of Motivation --- p.18 / Different Views towards Integrative and Instrumental Notions in Explaining Learners' Motivation --- p.19 / Related Integrative and Instrumental Orientations of Motivation Studies --- p.23 / "Additional Motivational Orientations: Friendship, Travel related, Knowledge, and the Media Factor" --- p.27 / Cognitive-situated Approach to Motivational Orientations --- p.30 / Self-determination Theory´ؤIntrinsic and Extrinsic Orientations --- p.30 / Intrinsic Orientation of Motivation --- p.31 / Extrinsic Orientation of Motivation --- p.32 / Amotivation --- p.33 / Influence of Teachers on Intrinsic and Extrinsic Orientations of Motivation --- p.34 / Applying Intrinsic and Extrinsic Orientation of Motivation to HK Context --- p.34 / Attribution Theory --- p.35 / Influences on Learners' Reactions to Learning --- p.36 / Three Main Dimensions of Attributes --- p.39 / "Identity, Language Learners, and Investment of Language Learning" --- p.41 / Identity and Language Learners --- p.41 / Attitudes of Language Learners and Investment of Language Learning --- p.43 / The Notion of Investment and the Notion of Instrumental Motivation --- p.45 / Code-switching and Code-mixing --- p.46 / Definition: Code-switching and Code-mixing --- p.46 / Attitudes towards Languages for Code-switching and Code-mixing in Hong Kong --- p.47 / Summary --- p.51 / Chapter CHAPTER 3 --- METHODOLOGY --- p.52 / Introduction --- p.52 / Research Design --- p.52 / Research Questions --- p.52 / Types of Collected Data --- p.53 / Quantitative Approach Adopted in the Present Research --- p.54 / Qualitative Approach Adopted in the Present Research --- p.54 / Two Stages of Data Collection --- p.54 / Participants of the Research --- p.55 / Selection Criteria --- p.55 / Questionnaire Respondents --- p.56 / Stage One: June to July 2006 --- p.56 / Stage Two: September to October 2006 --- p.56 / Questionnaire Collected in the Two Stages of Data Collection --- p.56 / Interviewees --- p.57 / Stage One: June to July 2006 --- p.57 / Stage Two: September to October 2006 --- p.58 / Instrumentation --- p.58 / Questionnaires --- p.58 / Reasons for Using Questionnaires --- p.58 / Design of the Questionnaires --- p.59 / Questionnaire Investigating Participants' Attitudes towards English --- p.60 / Questionnaire Investigating Participants' Attitudes towards Putonghua --- p.61 / Questionnaire Investigating Participants' Attitudes towards Cantonese --- p.62 / Interview --- p.62 / Reason for the Using Semi-structured Interview --- p.63 / Design of Interview Questions --- p.63 / Data Collection and Processing --- p.64 / Questionnaire --- p.64 / Stage One: June to July 2006 --- p.65 / Stage Two: September to October 2006 --- p.65 / Interviews --- p.66 / Stage One: June to July 2006 --- p.66 / Stage Two: September to October 2006 --- p.66 / Data Analysis --- p.67 / Questionnaire --- p.67 / Interviews --- p.67 / Triangulation of Data --- p.68 / Validity and Reliability --- p.68 / Internal Validity --- p.68 / English Proficiency Level --- p.68 / Participant Attrition --- p.69 / Location of Data Collection --- p.70 / Instructions for the Participants --- p.70 / External Validity --- p.71 / Reliability --- p.72 / Ethics --- p.72 / Limitations --- p.73 / Summary --- p.74 / Chapter CHAPTER FOUR --- RESULTS AND FINDINGS --- p.75 / Introduction --- p.75 / "Participants' Attitudes towards English, Putonghua, and Cantonese: Integrative, Instrumental, and Travel Orientation" --- p.75 / English --- p.76 / Putonghua --- p.76 / Cantonese --- p.77 / Participants' Attitudes towards English --- p.77 / Attitudes towards Integrative Orientation --- p.78 / Questionnaire --- p.78 / Interviews --- p.79 / Attitudes towards Instrumental Orientation --- p.81 / Questionnaire --- p.81 / Interviews --- p.83 / Attitudes towards Travel Orientation --- p.85 / Questionnaire --- p.85 / Interviews --- p.86 / Attitudes towards Friendship Orientation --- p.87 / Attitudes towards the Media in English --- p.89 / Attitudes towards Intrinsic Orientation --- p.91 / Attitudes towards Extrinsic Orientation --- p.92 / Influence of Teaching Activities and Style on English Learning --- p.93 / Previous Successes and/or Failures that Contribute to English Learning --- p.94 / Summary --- p.95 / Participants' Attitudes towards Putonghua --- p.95 / Attitudes towards Integrative Orientation --- p.95 / Questionnaire --- p.95 / Interviews --- p.97 / Attitudes towards Instrumental Orientation --- p.98 / Questionnaire --- p.98 / Interviews --- p.100 / Attitudes towards Travel Orientation --- p.101 / Questionnaire --- p.101 / Interviews --- p.102 / Attitudes towards Friendship Orientation --- p.103 / Attitudes towards the Media in Putonghua --- p.105 / Previous Successes and/or Failures that Contribute to Putonghua Learning --- p.107 / Relationship between Putonghua and One's Identity --- p.108 / Attitudes towards Putonghua and Code-switching/mixing --- p.109 / Summary --- p.110 / Participants' Attitudes towards Cantonese --- p.111 / Attitudes towards Integrative Orientation --- p.111 / Questionnaire --- p.111 / Interviews --- p.113 / Attitudes towards Instrumental Orientation --- p.115 / Questionnaire --- p.115 / Interviews --- p.117 / Attitudes towards Travel Orientation --- p.120 / Questionnaire --- p.120 / Interviews --- p.121 / Previous Successes and/or Failures that Contribute to Chinese Learning --- p.123 / Relationship Between Cantonese and One's Identity --- p.124 / Attitudes towards Cantonese and Code- mixing --- p.124 / Summary --- p.128 / Summary of the Chapter --- p.129 / Chapter CHAPTER FIVE --- DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS --- p.130 / Cultures and Languages --- p.130 / The Love of Culture towards English --- p.130 / The Lack of Passion in Cultures towards Putonghua --- p.136 / Living in the Cantonese Culture in Hong Kong --- p.140 / Language as an Instrument --- p.142 / English: A Traditional Requirement for Walking on the Path of Success --- p.142 / Putonghua and English: A New Combination of Device to the Path of Success --- p.146 / Languages and their Usage in Different Geographical Locations --- p.148 / English: A Language of Universality --- p.149 / Putonghua: A Language of Regional Use --- p.151 / Cantonese: An International Language in the Cantonese World --- p.153 / Challenges in Language Learning --- p.155 / Challenges as a Stimulator in Language Learning --- p.155 / Challenges as an Obstacle in Language Learning --- p.156 / Failures in Previous Language Learning --- p.156 / Teaching Activities and Styles --- p.158 / "Identity, Language Learning and Language Choice" --- p.159 / Identity and Language Learning --- p.160 / Chinese Identity and Language Learning --- p.160 / Hong Kong Chinese Identity and Language Learning --- p.161 / Identity as a University Student and Language Learning --- p.162 / Identity and Language Choice --- p.163 / Mainland Chinese Identity and Code-switching/mixing --- p.163 / Hong Kong Identity and Code-switching/mixing --- p.164 / Summary --- p.166 / Chapter CHAPTER SIX --- CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS --- p.167 / Introduction --- p.167 / Answers to the Research Questions --- p.167 / Research Question One --- p.167 / English --- p.167 / Putonghua --- p.167 / Cantonese --- p.168 / Research Question Two --- p.168 / English --- p.169 / Putonghua --- p.169 / Cantonese --- p.169 / Research Question Three --- p.170 / Integrative Orientation --- p.170 / Instrumental Orientation --- p.171 / Travel Orientation --- p.171 / Friendship Orientation --- p.172 / Intrinsic and Extrinsic Orientation --- p.173 / Attribution Theory´ؤPrevious Successes and/or Failures in Language Learning --- p.173 / Identity and Language Learning --- p.173 / Identity and Language Choice --- p.174 / Implications for Business majors and their Instructors in University --- p.175 / To Business majors in Universities --- p.175 / To Instructors Teaching Business majors English and Putonghua in Universities --- p.175 / "Implications for Language Change, Social Identity, and Language Planning" --- p.176 / Language Change --- p.176 / Social Identities --- p.176 / Language Planning --- p.177 / Limitations --- p.178 / Further Studies --- p.179 / REFERENCES --- p.181 / APPENDICES --- p.189 / Appendix A Profiles of the Interviewees (Summer 2006) --- p.189 / Appendix B Profiles of the Interviewees (Fall 2006) --- p.190 / "Appendix C Clement, Dornyei, & Noels' (1994) Motivation Questionnaire" --- p.191 / "Appendix D Clement, Dornyei, & Noels' (1994) Motivation Questionnaire with Scale Labels" --- p.192 / Appendix E Questionnaire (English) --- p.193 / Appendix F Questionnaire (Putonghua) --- p.197 / Appendix G Questionnaire (Cantonese) --- p.201 / Appendix H Interview Questions --- p.205 / Appendix I Consent Form --- p.207

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