This thesis is a transdisciplinary study of leading South African Marxist intellectual, political activist and sociologist of language Neville Edward Alexander’s written work in English. It is an attempt to explore the “dialogical narratives” as a proposition in my assessment of his work and it is also a description of a method he employs to arrive at his own political and literary compositions. In tracking his formation as a political subject and an activist, Alexander’s and other writers’ interpretations of his meetings with and his stories about people are explored. His writings cover the spectrum of politics, education and language, and he employed a political economy approach in all his written expositions. The study argues that he had an exceptional ability to “argue against himself” because he was a dialectical reasoner and because he embraced the political and sociological toolkit of historical materialism as the philosophical matrix of his work. / History / D.Lit et Phil. (History)

Understanding the host response immediately following mucosal HIV-1 infection will be pivotal in determining whether the immune response induced by a vaccine will successfully sense and control viral replication. In order for effective vaccine strategies and modalities to be developed, these earliest immunological events must be fully assessed in a non-biased manner. Nonhuman primates (NHP), specifically Rhesus macaques (RM), serve as a model to investigate the immunological landscape immediately post-challenge and to define the spatiotemporal path of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV). SIV infection of RM serves as a model of human HIV infection as it recapitulates many of the virological, immunological, and pathological features of HIV infection in the human host. In this thesis I will test the hypothesis whether transcriptional analysis will allow a sensitive measure of the early innate immune responses that accompany detection of the SIV virus in the periphery. I have determined that an early inflammatory profile arises early in tissues proximal to the challenge site that precedes widespread immune activation and the systemic antiviral interferon response. This study defines in detail the spatiotemporal relationship between virus and host immune response and may be a valuable resource in guiding future vaccine design strategies. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

This project sets out to outline the problems that are encountered by teachers in most black schools in South Africa, with regard to the language of instruction. In an attempt to cope with these problems teachers exercise their discretion, which often leads to them making policy. The language policy in education gives the learners a right to receive education in the official language or languages of their choice. The current situation in South Africa does not allow for the exercise of such a right. Black schools in rural areas, therefore, continue to choose English as the medium of instruction, although in actual practice Zulu becomes the main language that is used to get the lesson across the learners. Such a practice has both negative and positive effects on learners who attend these schools. To understand what actually happens in black schools with regard to policy implementation, I conducted interviews in two rural primary and one secondary schools near Pietermaritzburg. Information was elicited from teachers of Grade 1 to 10, members of the schools' governing bodies, as well as learners. It became evident from my study that the choice of mother tongue instruction will not be made in the near future despite the difficulties that are faced by the schools in teaching in the medium of English. The reasons for such a kind of situation are that the blacks have negative attitudes towards their languages, and the status of these languages lag far beyond that of English In brief, English is still the important language in education, government, economy and administration. There is no way the good language policy of 1996 will take root if nothing is done to change the present course of events. The black schools will continue to battle with teaching in English and in the process produce learners of poor quality. The study recommends that the government should undertake campaigns to improve and develop African languages such that they become the languages of instruction in schools and tertiary education institutions. The stakeholders in education could also cooperate in ensuring that the chosen medium of instruction is adhered to. This would minimise the problems that lead to partial or non implementation of the policy. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2001.

This study distils some of the principal political and sociological lines of enquiry that Neville Alexander embarked upon in his published writings. It initially sets out to sketch the political, economic and intellectual milieu that he encountered after his release from Robben Island in 1974, and then it addresses the language question, as a part of the national question, in South Africa. The researcher argues that Alexander’s “dance” in the world of political and educational interventions has at times been solitary but that his discourse is substantively girded by the writings and experiences of established practitioners in the fields of sociolinguistics, political economy and cultural activities. The study concludes that his policy proposals on language in particular, in spite of the fact that the constitutional and institutional infrastructure exists for their implementation, have been put on the back burner because the dominant linguistic interests of the post-apartheid government correspond with the communication interests of market-driven institutions in the country, and not with the interests of the linguistic majorities who populate the nation. / Neville Alexander's thoughts on the language question in South Africa / Language question in South Africa / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Philosophy of Education)

This thesis is a transdisciplinary study of leading South African Marxist intellectual, political activist and sociologist of language Neville Edward Alexander’s written work in English. It is an attempt to explore the “dialogical narratives” as a proposition in my assessment of his work and it is also a description of a method he employs to arrive at his own political and literary compositions. In tracking his formation as a political subject and an activist, Alexander’s and other writers’ interpretations of his meetings with and his stories about people are explored. His writings cover the spectrum of politics, education and language, and he employed a political economy approach in all his written expositions. The study argues that he had an exceptional ability to “argue against himself” because he was a dialectical reasoner and because he embraced the political and sociological toolkit of historical materialism as the philosophical matrix of his work. / History / D.Lit et Phil. (History)

Doctorat en philosophie et lettres / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

This study seeks to support the thesis that African indigenous languages in South Africa should enjoy equal treatment in terms of the South African Constitution. Therefore, it will explore and find ways and means of how the South African government can reach out to rural communities with inadequate English proficiency, in an English-dominated South Africa, by breaking down the existing language barriers and curbing social inequalities. Language rights, like any other human rights, should be protected, as enshrined in the new democratic Constitution of South Africa.

The purpose of this study was to present and analyze the political implications and the effects of the No Child Left Behind Act and its effects on English language learners.

The study investigated language policy and planning in relation to minority languages and specifically Tshwao, a Khoisan language, in Zimbabwe. The purpose of the study was to establish its impact on the current sociolinguistic status of Tshwao. The ultimate goal was to suggest guidelines for the implementation of the Constitution of Zimbabwe (Amendment No. 20) Act, 2013 which officially recognised sixteen languages including ‘Koisan’ and to make recommendations for future language planning for endangered languages in general. The study is qualitative in nature. It used interviews, document analysis, observation and focus groups to gather data. Critical Discourse Analysis and Ethnolinguistic Vitality were the main theories which guided the study. The study showed that even though Tshwao is the Khoisan language that is popular, there are several other varieties such as Jitshwa, Xaise, Cirecire and Ganade and they are all endangered with very low demographic, status and institutional support. The Khoisan people have shifted to Ndebele and Kalanga, languages which are spoken by their neighbours. Both linguistic and extra-linguistic factors were shown in the study to have affected the maintenance of Khoisan languages. Numerical domination of the Khoisan by the Bantu people, subjugation by Mzilikazi during his conquests as well as selective development of languages by missionaries led to assimilation and language marginalisation. The implementation of discriminatory land, wildlife and language polices by the colonial government also resulted in relocations, language contact situations and dispersed settlements, all of which affected language maintenance. In the post-independence era, political instability, official and unofficial language policies were shown as having perpetuated the plight of Khoisan languages, including Tshwao. The constitution emerged as a milestone towards upholding minority languages. Its effectiveness is however compromised by inaccuracies and ambiguities in the manner in which provisions are crafted. The study concludes that Khoisan language endangerment spans from history. Formal and informal language policies contributed to the current state of endangerment. It further concludes that if effective revitalisation is to be done in line with implementing the constitution, all the factors which contributed to endangerment have to be taken into account. The study also suggests a separate guideline for the promotion of minority languages in general and displaced and endangered languages like Tshwao in particular. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / D. Phil. (Linguistics)

The focus of this study is an investigation of the language policy and language policy implementation in the Department of Correctional Services of South Africa. Language usage is a right of all the citizens of South Africa as enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996) which is the supreme law of the country. It is imperative that language policy makers in the Department of Correctional Services should adhere to the provisions of the constitution. It also aims at establishing whether the Department of Correctional Services’ policy is aligned to the national language policy framework as well as provincial language policy framework that provide for the use of the eleven (11) official languages in general and in particular. In this research study, background information serves to give an overview of how language policy of South Africa since 1994 has been perceived by various scholars and the historical overview of the language policies during the apartheid era. The African languages were given a low status as the language diversity of South Africa was not acknowledged by the government of that day. The evaluation of the contents of language policies that were used previously and currently in the Department of Correctional Services shed light to the issues of language attitude, language choice and language use in this department. During the apartheid era there were working languages set for prisoners as well as staff regarding communication either verbally or in writing in the Department of Correctional Services. The official languages were English and Afrikaans of which the latter was dominant. The question of whose language, for what purpose and how was it received was also investigated. / African Languages / D.Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)