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Rainfall can be the most erosive agent with respect to rainfall induced erosion, particularly within the context of a tropical maritime environment. Mauritius provides an example of such an environment, which, due to its location and elevated topography, is subject to frequent erosive rainfall events as well as occasional cyclones which potentially threaten loss of soil and may accelerate land degradation. Such intense rainfall forms a key part of the “R-factor” in the USLE and RUSLE soil loss equations, which are commonly used worldwide in deriving the soil loss of an area. This project focuses on various attributes of rainfall erosivity on the central and western parts of Mauritius over a six year assessment period. A steep rainfall gradient exists; 600mm in the western plains and 4000mm per year in the higher central region. Rainfall and erosivity attributes are investigated in these two regions on the island to assess the role that topographic elevation has on rainfall erosivity. Using the EI30 method to find the “R-factor”, erosivity is calculated for the period of 2003 – 2008. Varying time intervals were used in calculating EI30 to determine the value that high resolution data has in erosivity calculations and is compared to the use of the Modified Fournier Index. This project also speculates on the potential impacts of changing rainfall intensity and erosivity associated with climate change in the future. A difference was found in the erosivity experienced in the elevated central interior and the rain-shadowed western lava plains. Stations on the western plains recorded 25% of the erosivity experienced by stations in the interior and large differences were found in the number of erosive events, rainfall, erosive rainfall totals, seasonality, and annual erosivity totals of erosivity. The central interior showed greater variability in R-factor values; however these remained similar in extent despite the large difference in total annual rainfall and the number of events that each station recorded. High resolution data did account for erosivity that lower resolution does not, but the extent of erosivity for all stations within the respective regions were markedly similar. Use of the Modified Fournier Index caused erosivity to be overestimated on the island when compared to the EI30 method. Changes in erosivity are speculated to occur with changes in rainfall intensities but the central interior of the island will notice fluctuations in climate (with respect to rainfall erosivity) more than the western plains. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorology / Unrestricted

No description available.

The island of Mauritius is situated in the south-western Indian Ocean between 19°591, 20°321 south latitude and 57°18 1 , 57° 49 1 east longitude. The nearest landmass of any considerable extent is Madagascar which Iies some 900 km due west of Mauritius; but there are a number of islands and islets in the vicinity, notably Reunion, Rodrigues and the Cargados Carajos, which together with Mauritius constitute the archipelago of the Mascarenes.

Leadership styles of principals and school climate are two factors that vary greatly in different private secondary schools in Mauritius. They also contribute immensely in the making of a school a peaceful and happy work place for both staff and students. This study first presented a literature review on leadership styles of principals and school climate. References were made from many sources in order to have a clear overview on these two factors. A qualitative research based on interviews and observations was conducted on teachers and principals from nine private secondary schools in order to fulfill three aims of the study. Firstly, the types of leadership styles adopted by principals in private secondary schools in Mauritius were assessed. Secondly the types of school climate that prevailed in these private secondary schools were evaluated. Lastly, the relationship between the leadership styles of principals and school climate in the private secondary schools was investigated. The results revealed that when the democratic style of the `power' concept of leadership was used alone or with other styles but was more prevalent, the principals of these schools scored `high' in both the initiating structure and consideration items of the `relational' concept of leadership and, the climate of these schools was classified in the category of `others' but was more `open' than `closed'. However, when the authoritarian style of the `power' concept of leadership was used with other styles but was more prevalent, the principals either scored `low' in both the initiating structure and the consideration items or `low' in the consideration items only of the `relational' concept of leadership and the climate was more `closed' than `open'. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Education Management)

Leadership styles of principals and school climate are two factors that vary greatly in different private secondary schools in Mauritius. They also contribute immensely in the making of a school a peaceful and happy work place for both staff and students. This study first presented a literature review on leadership styles of principals and school climate. References were made from many sources in order to have a clear overview on these two factors. A qualitative research based on interviews and observations was conducted on teachers and principals from nine private secondary schools in order to fulfill three aims of the study. Firstly, the types of leadership styles adopted by principals in private secondary schools in Mauritius were assessed. Secondly the types of school climate that prevailed in these private secondary schools were evaluated. Lastly, the relationship between the leadership styles of principals and school climate in the private secondary schools was investigated. The results revealed that when the democratic style of the `power' concept of leadership was used alone or with other styles but was more prevalent, the principals of these schools scored `high' in both the initiating structure and consideration items of the `relational' concept of leadership and, the climate of these schools was classified in the category of `others' but was more `open' than `closed'. However, when the authoritarian style of the `power' concept of leadership was used with other styles but was more prevalent, the principals either scored `low' in both the initiating structure and the consideration items or `low' in the consideration items only of the `relational' concept of leadership and the climate was more `closed' than `open'. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Education Management)

This thesis examines young people’s constructions of nationhood in Mauritius. In 2008, the Mauritian government instituted a Truth and Justice Commission (TJC), set up to investigate the consequences of slavery and indentured labour. Through the Truth and Justice Commission, the Mauritian government indicated its desire to achieve social justice and national unity. Drawing on developments in studies of national identification practices in the 21st Century, this thesis addresses the question of young Mauritian’s locally and globally informed identification practices and asks how their unofficial narratives of nationhood challenge, or divert, or relate to official state narratives of nationhood. The basis of the study emerges from data collected from 132 participants during fieldwork in multiple fieldsites from May to September 2010 as well as research on Mauritian youth on-line from 2011-2014. The advent of the TJC offers an ideal moment to evaluate the dynamics of post-colonial nation-building and nationhood in a selfstyled multi-cultural state. Nationhood, does not exist apriori to the constructions of narratives of the nation, thus the stories told about the nation, imagine the nation into being. By situating the Truth and Justice Commission and other official state narratives alongside young people’s narratives, I argue that contemporary narratives of nationhood in Mauritius represent an intergenerational struggle to define the meaning of the past in the present and consequently outline the future. Reflecting on the ideas and socio-economic and political processes that induce national consciousness, I argue that young people’s narratives of everyday lived experiences are vital for an interpretation of how nationhood is produced in everyday life. The cultural projects of young people – often rendered as liminal or marginal – offer a critical vantage point from where to read constructions of nationhood. Far from being growing pains or childish games, young people’s identity making practices are what Sherry B. Ortner has called “serious games.” This research suggests that official state government narratives of multicultural nationhood in Mauritius narrowly define national identification along communal loyalties, overlooking the dynamism of interculturality and transnationalism in daily practice on the island. Although communalism and rigid colonial interpretations of ethnicity attempt to police and limit the possibilities of alternative modes of being in Mauritius, young people’s identification practices question, challenge, and threaten to disrupt official discourses of ethnic identification in Mauritius Scholarly investigations of young peoples’ lived experiences of nationhood extend theoretical and methodological frames for the study of nationalized subjects and deepen the understanding of the construction of national consciousness. The construction of nationhood always involves narratives of some sort – scholarship on this area has usually focused on official state narratives from social theorists, state governments, and state elites. I argue for the importance of considering subjectivity and lived experience in conceptions of nationhood. In contemporary post-colonial societies, young people are the numerical majority, however, their voices are seldom represented in theories and narratives of nationhood. Whilst young people may appear in state policies (especially education) and official narratives about the future of the nation, their creative imagining and reimagining of narratives of selfhood is often ignored. I examine how young people increasingly are aware of their transnational connections, through participation in transnational youth cultures, and they are consequently increasingly multi-lingual and multicultural. Fixed notions of ethnic identification and discourses of trauma are not at the forefront of young people’s identification of selfhood, rather their ability to take advantage of their multiply situated identification processes allows them new means to evade and transform these narratives. Their identification of selfhood is characterised by a greater degree of dynamism than previous generations had access to, and thus they do not only identify themselves through officially sanctioned national forms of identification. Loyalty to nationhood is thus less predictable, and young people represent a potential threat to the continuation of older forms of nationhood. While official narratives of nationhood may manipulate ethnic and racial cleavages to secure old loyalties, not all young people are persuaded by these notions

Focusing on a series of multiparty recordings carried out between the months of October and March 2012 and drawing on a theoretical framework based on work of linguists such as Auer (1999), Backus (2005), Bakker (2000), Maschler (2000) and Matras (2000a and 2000b), this thesis traces the evolution of a continuum of language alternation phenomena, ranging from simple code-switching to more complex forms of 'language alloying' (Alvarez- Càccamo 1998) such as mixed codes and fused lects in multilingual Mauritius. Following Auer (2001), the different conversational loci of code-switching are identified. Particular emphasis has been placed upon, amongst others, the conversational locus of playfulness where, for instance, participants' spontaneous lapses into song and dance sequences as they inspire themselves from Bollywood pop songs and creatively embed segments in Hindustani within a predominantly Kreol matrix are noted. Furthermore, in line with Auer (1999), Backus (2005) and Muysken (2000), emerging forms of language mixing such as changes in the way possessive marking is carried in Kreol and instances of semantic shift in Bhojpuri/ Hindustani words like nasha and daan have been highlighted and their pragmatic significance explained with specific reference to the Mauritian context. Finally, in the fused lect stage, specific attention has been provided to one key feature namely phonological blending which has resulted in the coinage of the discourse marker ashe and its eventual use in the process of discourse marker switching. In the light of the above findings, this thesis firstly critiques the strengths and weaknesses of the notion of the code switching (CS) continuum (Auer 1999) itself by revealing the difficulties encountered, at the empirical level, in assigning the correct label to the different types of language alternation phenomena evidenced in this thesis. In the second instance, it considers the impact of such shifts along the language alternation continuum upon language policy and planning in contemporary Mauritius and advocates for a move away from colonial language policies such as the 1957 Education Act in favour of updated ones that are responsive to the language practices of speakers. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (Linguistics)

Focusing on a series of multiparty recordings carried out between the months of October and March 2012 and drawing on a theoretical framework based on work of linguists such as Auer (1999), Backus (2005), Bakker (2000), Maschler (2000) and Matras (2000a and 2000b), this thesis traces the evolution of a continuum of language alternation phenomena, ranging from simple code-switching to more complex forms of 'language alloying' (Alvarez- Càccamo 1998) such as mixed codes and fused lects in multilingual Mauritius. Following Auer (2001), the different conversational loci of code-switching are identified. Particular emphasis has been placed upon, amongst others, the conversational locus of playfulness where, for instance, participants' spontaneous lapses into song and dance sequences as they inspire themselves from Bollywood pop songs and creatively embed segments in Hindustani within a predominantly Kreol matrix are noted. Furthermore, in line with Auer (1999), Backus (2005) and Muysken (2000), emerging forms of language mixing such as changes in the way possessive marking is carried in Kreol and instances of semantic shift in Bhojpuri/ Hindustani words like nasha and daan have been highlighted and their pragmatic significance explained with specific reference to the Mauritian context. Finally, in the fused lect stage, specific attention has been provided to one key feature namely phonological blending which has resulted in the coinage of the discourse marker ashe and its eventual use in the process of discourse marker switching. In the light of the above findings, this thesis firstly critiques the strengths and weaknesses of the notion of the code switching (CS) continuum (Auer 1999) itself by revealing the difficulties encountered, at the empirical level, in assigning the correct label to the different types of language alternation phenomena evidenced in this thesis. In the second instance, it considers the impact of such shifts along the language alternation continuum upon language policy and planning in contemporary Mauritius and advocates for a move away from colonial language policies such as the 1957 Education Act in favour of updated ones that are responsive to the language practices of speakers. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (Linguistics)

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Occupational Therapy. Johannesburg, November 2014 / Part 1 of this study determined the demographic factors, including body mass index (BMI) associated with development, and the environmental supportiveness, as determined by the HOME Inventory, of 50 typical children living in the community in Mauritius. Their normally distributed developmental status, using the Beery-Buktenika Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration (Beery VMI) confirmed their demographic and environmental factors were within acceptable limits, and were not associated with developmental delay. Based on the results of Part 1 as a standard for assessing development, Part 2 of the study considered the developmental status of 50 children living in a residential child care facility in Mauritius. Demographic information indicated exposure to factors associated with developmental delay, with HOME inventory scores falling below the accepted medians for the majority of the subscales. The below average scores on the Beery VMI, indicated developmental delay in child care group which should be further researched and addressed by occupational therapy.