published_or_final_version / English Studies / Master / Master of Arts

This dissertation is a study of Arguments and Clausal Relations of Pima Bajo within the framework of Categorial Unification Grammar. The theoretical framework explored assumes the existence of three major categories--the Argument Categorizing Element, The Propositional Radical, and the Proposition--and studies the structure building mechanisms which account for those categories. The major categories are taken to be feature-value complexes which combine, via unification, with different type of pronominal forms. It is shown that the notion of arguments as feature-values and the application of a categorial unification grammar accounts for the structure of simple as well as for complex constructions. The final part of the dissertation discusses a phonological algebra which accounts for the linear order of elements.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 101-108).

A quantitative study on the merits of using the learner's mother-tongue (instead of English) as a medium of instruction. This investigation attempts to find out how many schools and parents in KwaMakhutha implement (or know about) the Language in Education Policy in 1997 (LiEP). / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2006.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 101-108). Also available in print.

In July, 1969, the Malaysian Minister of Education announced 'a new education policy' under which English, Chinese and Tamil schools were required to begin the process of conversion to Malay medium instruction in stages, beginning in 1970. This policy to introduce Malay as the medium of instruction took roughly forty years to evolve. The aim of this study is to examine how this was achieved through four phases of politics and government in West Malaysia: (i) The British Colonial Administration, 1930-1941; (ii) The Post-War Colonial Administration, 1945-1954; (iii) The Alliance Government, 1955-1961, and (iv) The Alliance Government, 1962-1971. It was observed in this study that though non-Malay demands for the preservation of their vernacular schools were persistent and consistent they lacked political unity and cohesiveness in successfully pursuing their demands. The Malays, in contrast were initially apathetic towards the language question. They became politicized during the period preceding Independence, however and were able to establish their political supremacy. A consequence of this was that they were able to pursue a communally oriented language policy with great effectiveness so that Malay became established as the medium of instruction. The policy was successfully pursued by a series of Government Ordinances and Acts that were designed to ensure that the provisions of the Constitution with regards to the Malay language were adhered to while permitting flexibility in their implementation. However, it was found that the constitutional contract between the Malays and the non-Malays was an important and integral aspect of the policy making Malay the medium of instruction. Perhaps the most important reason for the successful establishment of the policy lies in the gradualistic and incremental nature in which the policy was implemented. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate

Thesis (M.A.)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Humanities, School of Literature, Language and Media (Translation and Interpreting Studies), 2014 / As Herbert indicates (1952:82), “it is quite clear that in diplomatic conference the greatest attention should be paid to all nuances of words; while in gathering of scholars, technical accuracy will have greater importance; in a literary and artistic gathering, elegance of speech; and in a political assembly, forcefulness of expression.” This study aims to assess the impact of directionality on French and English interpreters working for the Pan-African Parliament (PAP). Directionality is whether interpreters should work from their B language or acquired language, into their A language or their native language (AIIC: 1999). Supporters of B-to-A interpreting indicate that interpreters are not at ease cognitively when interpreting from the A language into the B language due to more effort required to find corresponding expressions in their B language (e.g., Donovan, 2003; Seleskovitch, 1999). Those in favour of A-to-B interpreting, on the other hand, affirm that interpreters’ better comprehension of their native language may help them produce a more complete and reliable interpretation (Denissenko, 1989; Williams, 1995). This study explores the performance of French/English simultaneous interpreters in both directions by focusing on norms and strategies. The data for the study was gathered by means of questionnaire interviews and the recording of ten professional interpreters’ simultaneous interpretation performance during the Pan-African sessions and committees which took place in October 2013. The simultaneous interpreting processes of interpreters were analysed according to certain norms such as: accuracy, fluency and quality, and according to the strategies that they customise to avoid the traps contained in the source speeches of the parliamentarians. This study will assess whether or not French/English interpreters at the Pan-African Parliament do their work accordingly and with confidence when they are required to interpret in both directions. Directionality has to be understood well for interpreters to deliver quality interpreting required for good communication amongst parliamentarians.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

As a scientific field, phonetics systematically analyzes human speech sounds using segmental distinctions and state of the art technology. Ideally, these analyses are based on cross-linguistic data from a wide variety of language families. This dissertation provides the first phonetic analysis of Southern Ute, a severely endangered Uto-Aztecan language and presents the only published discussion of language policies and revitalization efforts on the Southern Ute reservation, located in Southwestern Colorado. This research is important because although there are 1,419 enrolled members of the Southern Ute tribe, according to a 2002 informal language survey, there are only forty remaining speakers, who are all over the age of sixty. It is important to note that the previous work on Southern Ute, three dictionaries (Goss 1961, Givon 1979, Charney 1996), one grammar (Givon 1980), one dissertation (Goss 1972) and a collection of traditional narratives (Givon 1985), does not include phonetic analysis or discussion of language policy or revitalization efforts on the Southern Ute reservation. This research benefits the Southern Ute community, the linguistic community and other indigenous communities in two ways. First, it provides a model for phonetic analysis of an endangered language utilizing fluent speaker intuition about stress. Second, the language policies and revitalization discussion adds to revitalization resources especially in the area of curriculum development. In the theoretical domain, Southern Ute offers rich data. It is imperative that Southern Ute phonetic properties are analyzed, documented and archived before the small number of fluent speakers die, leaving no digital audio recordings behind for future generations.