A research report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Arts in Digital Arts to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, 2018 / This research report presents a critical thematic analysis of Andrew Miller’s science fiction (SF) novel Dub Steps with the intention of demonstrating that the book’s central themes are interrelated and evoke various tensions between the ideological projects of western liberal humanism and critical posthumanism. Furthermore, this study examines how the novel’s setting of Johannesburg articulates with its themes and complicates the unfolding drama of the liberal humanist subject in crisis, especially in connection to South Africa’s troubled history of colonialism and apartheid. Representations of race – specifically blackness and whiteness – are at stake in the interactions between Johannesburg and the central themes of Dub Steps, and the historical and material politics of race in South Africa are brought to bear upon the novel’s depiction of a posthuman future. This study finds that Dub Steps may be read as a posthuman SF fantasy in which the vestiges of colonialism and apartheid are finally undone and socio-economic inequalities persisting in the post-apartheid sphere are finally rebalanced. However, it is also the view of this research report that the progressive potential of the novel is undermined by its technophobic ethos and a reversion to harmful stereotypes about black people in its vision of a new world order / MT 2019

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This is an exploratory qualitative study which is an in-depth investigation into the literacy practices of the congregants of the KwaMashu African Gospel Church circuit (Durban). The study focuses on the practices, uses and values that the congregants attach to literacy. The contribution of this study can be summarised by the following three points: 1). The church is a potential domain or institution that can contribute to the eradication of illiteracy and promotion of literacy skills. 2). Literacy seems to be integral in all spheres of life. 3). Literacy is situational or contextual; therefore, formal literacy cannot always be generalized. There are four critical questions posed by the study: 1). What are the literacy practices that the church members engage in? 2). What are the literacy events occurring or identified in the church? 3). How do church members value literacy? 4). How do non-literate church members cope with the literacy demands of church literacy practices? The study aimed at exploring how literacy is used and valued by the members of this church. The data was collected and analysed qualitatively from three categories of participants (leadership, non-literate and literate congregants) who are its members. The study revealed that literacy is used and valued by the congregants. It further revealed that in the literacy events that were studied congregants had a tendency to use orality and literacy mediators. Although these appeared to be coping means for non-literate members, the study revealed that even the literate members sometimes made use of literacy mediators and orality. The study concludes that despite the culture of Pentecostalism (reliance on guidance by Holy Spirit and tendency towards oral practice of religious activities), literacy appears to be integral to and irreplaceable in this church. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.

The purpose of this ethnographic research was to understand four Chinese immigrant children and their families' beliefs and uses of literacy in their intersecting worlds of home, school, and community in a Canadian context from a socio-cultural perspective. The data were subjected to thematic analysis. The findings indicate that the nature of the home literacy practices is multifaceted and complex. Factors such as the families' literacy experiences and heritage in China, their experiences in Canada, and the social context of the families' lives interweave in their daily literacy and living. The Chinese literacy traditions and cultural values of the parents dominate the families' home literacy practices. These literacy traditions, embedded in Confucianism and the socio-cultural context of modern China, differ from the values of mainstream Canadian schools, and thus contribute to the mismatch between immigrant children's home and school literacy practices. The findings also indicate that family physical environment and economic status have relatively little impact on children's literacy development. Rather, parental educational background, and the social environments including parent-child interactions, shared family activities, and the degree of parental involvement and support for children's learning play an important role in the families' literacy practices. This research also demonstrates that the four families' literacy and living were influenced by the choices made by the families around access to and utilization of media. The disparity between immigrant children's home and school literacy practices often hinders their literacy development and cultural integration into Canadian society. Implications of this study highlight the importance of communication between home and school. There is a need for teachers to take a proactive position to connect classroom practices with children's literacy experiences outside school. The study suggests immigrant parents need to provide a variety of learning opportunities for their children and be involved in all aspects of their children's learning. Furthermore, they need to empower themselves by learning English language and become informed of the literacy practices in schools in the host society. The implications also suggest that it is necessary to connect policy with practice and make first language and literacy education a part of school curriculum.

As a former journalist and a columnist for the very first community newspaper in Chatsworth: the Chatsworth SUN, which is no longer in circulation, and a teacher of English Home Language at secondary school level for twenty years, my research project combines an interest in print media with my efforts to promote a pedagogy in which issues of inclusion, access, and identity are addressed. The impetus for this study was a research assignment I conducted in 2002 for the "Introduction to Research Methods" module of this degree. I carried out a survey at my school that aimed at ascertaining the media habits among a class of Grade 10 learners. The survey revealed important information regarding 'newspaper reading habits' . Almost every learner read the weekly community newspapers or 'knock and drop' publications circulated free of charge to almost every household in Chatsworth, south of Durban, where the majority of learners, of Indian descent, resided. In some cases these were the only publications that learners read. In 2003, I therefore decided to involve the same learners in a research project for the dissertation component of the degree. The Project would allow the learners to become active and critical participants in the media culture that is omnipresent in their lives. Interesting perspectives on issues of identity, ethnicity, and gender would emerge from this heterogeneous sample, which included five African learners, in the deconstruction of community newspapers that targeted Indian readers. Community newspapers, by virtue of their convenience of access, are potentially very influential publications and the research project provided the opportunity to assess and change attitudes to the discourses that arise from reading such newspapers. Particularly important are the ideologies, hegemonies and issues of power found in the language of these community newspapers, as well as the technological and production processes involved. Hence, the main objective of my study was to narrow the divide that exists between educational experience and the real world. I demonstrate this in the thesis through the interactive application of Critical Literacy theories to printed texts by learners who deconstruct, critique, and subvert taken-for-granted assumptions that result from submissive interpretation ofmedia like the community newspapers. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

In a literature review of adult education research, three characteristics were found in studies on illiterate adults' nonparticipation: a) information has been gathered from participants in literacy programs, b) participants were considered low-literate adults or those who did not finish high school, and c) participants were surveyed through a questionnaire or telephone interviews.This study, however, involved ten illiterate adults (2 women and 8 men) who had not attended school or participated in literacy programs. The research question was: Why do adults not participate in rural literacy programs in western Guatemala? Thirty-eight ethnographic interviews were conducted from November 1996 to January 1997 in Nimasac and Xecaracoj, two villages located in western Guatemala, Central America.Twelve reasons for nonparticipation in literacy programs were described by the informants: 1) / have to work to earn money, 2) / do not like to work [learn] in groups, 3) / do not go to literacy programs because of my personal necessities [obligations], 4) / have been left out, 5) going to school is a waste of time, 6) / fear going to a literacy program, 7) / have no time, 8) the reason is machismo, 9) literacy is not work fit does not produce income], 10) my age is the problem, 11) / got pregnant, and 12) / do not go to a literacy program because of my husband's irresponsibility.An underlying construct for the reasons for nonparticipation, however, showed that the twelve reasons were reinforced at four levels, 1) individual, 2) family, 3) community, and 4) national. A set of interwoven relationships among the four levels, helped to explain that reasons for nonparticipation were constructed by rural Guatemalans.Indigenous people's identities and the preservation of their traditional values such as their native languages, clothing, obedience, respect and submission were the major factors that reinforced rural illiterates nonparticipation in formal education in western Guatemala.Illiteracy was not strictly an educational, but cultural, social, economic and political problem. Generalizing that both literates and illiterates valued education and needed the same skills, knowledge and abilities to become the "standard functional literates" has denied the existence of illiterate adults' culture, context, and needs. / Department of Educational Leadership

The purpose of this research was to explore the changes that occurred in marital, child and family of origin relationships when an adult who was previously illiterate became literate. Eleven adult new readers participated in in-depth interviews. The results indicate that learning to read is not an isolated skill but changes the "self" of the new reader and subsequently his or her interactional patterns with family members. Six of the participants marriages improved, three of the marriages were ambivalent and two of the marriages deteriorated. All relationships with children improved. Relationships with family of origin members varied. The various outcomes were connected to the levels of support participants received and to how much the participants had previously defined their identities and their lives in relation to their previous illiteracy. / Ph. D.

藍郁平. / 呈交日期: 2006年2月. / 論文(哲學博士)--香港中文大學, 2006. / 參考文獻(p. 143-149). / Cheng jiao ri qi: 2006 nian 2 yue. / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / Lun wen (zhe xue bo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 2006. / Can kao wen xian (p. 143-149). / Lan Yuping.

Thesis (MEd)--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017. / A qualitative investigation into the emergence of literacy among five adult socio-economically disadvantaged subjects in a semi-rural setting complements concerns that a lack of specific forms of cognitive input during pre-school years has a negative impact on later progress in formal schooling. The subjects achieved levels of literacy that enabled them to play leadership roles in their communities although they had experienced limited or no formal education during their formative years. Using a GTM process the researcher identifies seven common themes that emerge from analysis of data from interviews and focus groups that explore the subjects’ perceptions of conditions that had promoted their literacy. These themes suggest that the subjects’ competence in literacy was facilitated by non-cognitive conditions including personal aspirations; resilience; disciplinary regimes in the home; voice; a nurturing mentor; community resources and ability to exercise agency. The researcher concludes that these themes could be important in contributing towards an understanding that developing children’s agency during early childhood may be more significant to achieving effective levels of literacy than the current focus on attaining academic skills at standards that disadvantaged children have difficulty in achieving.

Critical pedagogy asserts that in education there is regressive politics of knowledge that is inculcated as “infallible” information to passive students through all kinds of texts that conceal the power, inequality and injustice in human relationships. Education has thus degenerated into becoming techinicist and consequently oppressive. Techinicist education aims at maintaining the status quo. The creators of texts that are used in oppressive education systems and society in general focus on the question, “How do we best get knowledge that serves our interests into the heads of our young people?” Thus critical literacy which encourages consumers of texts to read, reflect and react is now indispensable to learners who nowadays are exposed to various texts with hidden agendas. This research focused on perceptions of critical literacy of teacher education students in Masvingo province in Zimbabwe. The research participants were third year diploma students in their final residential phase of teacher education. The mixed methodology was employed bearing in mind its principal role that it provides strengths that offset the weaknesses of both quantitative and qualitative research. The research instruments used were the questionnaire and the interview guide. The questionnaire was administered to convenience samples of one hundred teacher education students per each of the three institutions studied and the interview guide was used to generate data from ten participants per college. The research findings reveal that there are some socio-cultural and political influences on perceptions of critical literacy of the teacher education students. In this thesis it is recommended that the teacher education curriculum in Zimbabwe should have a formal programme for the promotion of critical literacy in teacher education students. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Philosophy of Education)