Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:22:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2008-04-17Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:48:54Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 silveira_aam_me_sjrp.pdf: 616424 bytes, checksum: 51fcca407998d423e9034adebcda18c8 (MD5) / Este trabalho apresenta o comportamento das vogais médias pretônicas no português culto falado na região de São José do Rio Preto, noroeste do estado de São Paulo. Nessa localidade, é comum observarmos, na pauta pretônica, a variação lingüística que envolve as vogais médias [e, o] e as altas [i, u], respectivamente, fato que gera formas alternantes como al[e]gria ~ al[i]gria e n[o]tícia ~ n[u]tícia. Denominado na literatura como Alçamento Vocálico, esse fenômeno fonológico é aqui abordado segundo o modelo teórico-metodológico da Sociolingüística Quantitativa. Assim, os fatores estruturais considerados foram: i) vogal da sílaba tônica, ii) posição da vogal pretônica em relação à sílaba tônica, iii) vogal átona seguinte, iv) consoantes precedentes, v) consoantes seguintes, vi) tipo de sílaba, vii) nasalidade, e viii) grau de atonicidade da vogal pretônica. Quanto aos fatores sociais, observamos a faixa etária do indivíduo do qual foram extraídos os dados. O corpus utilizado compreendeu 2246 contextos de vogal pretônica /e/ e 1590 contextos de vogal pretônica /o/, a partir da observação da fala de 16 informantes do sexo feminino, com nível superior de ensino, inseridos em quatro faixas etárias (16 a 25 anos; 26 a 35 anos; 36 a 55 anos; mais de 55 anos). Para a realização da análise, os dados foram submetidos ao Programa Estatístico VARBRUL e, com base nos resultados gerados pelo programa, interpretamos que a elevação das vogais, no dialeto do noroeste paulista, é resultado, sobretudo, da redução da diferença articulatória da pretônica com relação aos segmentos consonantais adjacentes. Também atribuímos à vogal contígüa à pretônica importante papel na implementação da regra do alçamento, ao acreditarmos que a presença de vogal tônica contígüa, em muitos casos, reforçou a manifestação da regra que eleva o traço de altura das vogais pretônicas. / This study presents the behaviour of the medium vowels, in pretonic position, based on data obtained from the dialects of the north-west of the State of São Paulo. In this region, pretonic mid vowels can change between mid-realisations [e, o] and high [i, u], in words like al[e]gria ~ al[i]gria and n[o]tícia ~ n[u]tícia. Referred to in the literature as Vowel Raising, this phonological phenomenon is in accordance with the theoretical model of Quantitative Sociolinguistics. The structural factors considered are: i) tonic vowel, ii) position of pretonic vowel in relation to tonic syllable, iii) subsequent vowel, iv) preceding consonant, v) subsequent consonant, vi) syllable structure, vii) nasality, and viii) grade of atonicity of the pretonic vowel. With regard to the social factor, the speaker’s age is taken into consideration. The data utilised was composed of 2246 realisations of the pretonic vowel /e/ and 1590 realisations of the pretonic vowel /o/, observed in the speech of 16 university-educated female speakers, in four age-bands (16 to 25; 26 to 35; 36 to 55 and over 55 years of age). The data was submitted to the VARBRUL statistical model. and the results showed that vowel raising occurs as a means of reducing articulatory difference between pretonic vowels and adjacent consonants. The subsequent and tonic vowels also exert an important influence on the vowel raising, confirming the application of the rule in many cases.

A compreensão da relação entre linguagem oral e escrita tem se concentrado nos estudos sobre o processamento fonológico (PF). Limitações neste processamento são apontadas como responsáveis pelas dificuldades fonológicas, lexicais, de compreensão e de escrita das crianças com Distúrbio Especifico de Linguagem (DEL). Os objetivos desta dissertação foram: verificar a ocorrência de alteração nas habilidades da linguagem escrita e nas habilidades do PF em crianças com DEL; comparar o desempenho entre crianças com DEL e com Desenvolvimento Típico de Linguagem (DTL) quanto as habilidades do PF e verificar se ha associação entre as habilidades do PF e as de linguagem escrita em crianças com DEL, e ainda, se ha uma habilidade do PF que se destaca nesta associação. Participaram deste estudo 40 sujeitos: 20 com diagnostico de DEL (GE) e 20 com DTL (GC) com idades entre 7 e 10 anos de ambos os sexos. Para avaliação das habilidades do PF foram aplicados os seguintes procedimentos: prova de repetição de não palavras para avaliação da Memória de Trabalho Fonológica (MTF), Teste de Nomeação Automatizada Rápida (RAN) para avaliação do Acesso Lexical (AL) e Perfil de Habilidades Fonológicas para avaliação da Consciência Fonológica (CF). Para avaliação da linguagem escrita os seguintes sub-testes do Teste de Analise de Leitura e Escrita (TALE) foram utilizados: leitura e compreensão de texto, ditado e escrita espontânea. Para analise estatística foi utilizado o teste Qui Quadrado, sendo adotado nível de significância estatística 0,05. A ocorrência de alterações na linguagem escrita na grande maioria dos sujeitos com DEL na amostra estudada foi constatada. As crianças deste grupo apresentaram desempenhos significantemente piores nas provas do PF quando comparadas as do GC. A existência de associação entre desempenho em provas de leitura e escrita e o desempenho em provas do PF foi confirmada. As analises estatísticas evidenciaram que a MTF foi aquela que apresentou maior nível de significância com as provas de leitura e de escrita. Pode-se concluir que a grande maioria das crianças com DEL apresentam alteração nas habilidades de linguagem escrita e do PF; elas apresentaram desempenho significantemente pior em relação aquelas com DTL nas habilidades do PF; ha associação entre desempenho em provas de leitura e escrita e provas do PF, sendo que as dificuldades nas habilidades do PF podem justificar as dificuldades de linguagem escrita; a MTF foi aquela que apresentou maior associação, o que reforça a hipótese de que defasagem na MTF e um forte marcador psicolingüístico nos quadros de DEL. / The understanding of the relationship between oral language and written language hás focused on studies on the phonological processing (PP). Limitations in this area have been identified as one of those responsible, in addition for lexical difficulties and comprehension difficulties, for the phonological disorders of children with specific language impairment (SLI) and the consequent alteration in the written language. This study aimed: verifying the occurrence of alterations in the written language skills and abilities of the PP in children with SLI; compare the performance between children with SLI and typical language development (TLD) and the abilities of the PP; check the association between the PP and the skills of written language in children with SLI, and, if there is one skill of the PP that stands out in these association. Participated of these study 40 subjects: 20 with SLI (EG) and 20 with TDL (CG), with ages between 7 and 10 years old, of the both sexes. For evaluation of the PP the following procedures had been used: non words repetition proof of the Prova de Memoria de Trabalho Fonologica, Teste de Nomeacao Automatizada e Rapida (RAN), for evaluation the lexical acces, and the Perfil de Habilidades Fonologicas, for evaluate the phonological awareness. For evaluation of written language the following subtests of the Teste de Analise de Leitura e Escrita TALE had been used: reading and understanding of text, dictated and spontaneous writing. Statistical analysis was performed using the Qui Quadrado test, and adopted level of statistical significance 0.05. The occurrence of alteration in the written language in most of the subjects with SLI in the sample was found. Children in this group had significantly worse performance in tests of PP when compared to the CG. The existence of the association between performance in tests of reading and writing and performance in tests of PP was confirmed. Statistical analysis showed that the phonological working memory (PWM) was one that showed higher level of significance with the proof reading and writing. It was observed that the majority of children with SLI have alterations in the skills of written language and the PP, they performed significantly worse for those with skills in TDL of PF; there is association between performance in tests of the PP and evidence reading and writing, and that difficulties in the abilities of the PP may explain the difficulties of written language. The PWM was what stood out most in this association, which reinforces the hypothesis, that deficit the PWM is a strong psycholinguistics marker of SLI.

Orientador: Luciani Ester Tenani / Banca: Ana Ruth Moresco Miranda / Banca: Sebastião Carlos Leite Gonçalves / Resumo: Este trabalho apresenta o comportamento das vogais médias pretônicas no português culto falado na região de São José do Rio Preto, noroeste do estado de São Paulo. Nessa localidade, é comum observarmos, na pauta pretônica, a variação lingüística que envolve as vogais médias [e, o] e as altas [i, u], respectivamente, fato que gera formas alternantes como al[e]gria ~ al[i]gria e n[o]tícia ~ n[u]tícia. Denominado na literatura como Alçamento Vocálico, esse fenômeno fonológico é aqui abordado segundo o modelo teórico-metodológico da Sociolingüística Quantitativa. Assim, os fatores estruturais considerados foram: i) vogal da sílaba tônica, ii) posição da vogal pretônica em relação à sílaba tônica, iii) vogal átona seguinte, iv) consoantes precedentes, v) consoantes seguintes, vi) tipo de sílaba, vii) nasalidade, e viii) grau de atonicidade da vogal pretônica. Quanto aos fatores sociais, observamos a faixa etária do indivíduo do qual foram extraídos os dados. O corpus utilizado compreendeu 2246 contextos de vogal pretônica /e/ e 1590 contextos de vogal pretônica /o/, a partir da observação da fala de 16 informantes do sexo feminino, com nível superior de ensino, inseridos em quatro faixas etárias (16 a 25 anos; 26 a 35 anos; 36 a 55 anos; mais de 55 anos). Para a realização da análise, os dados foram submetidos ao Programa Estatístico VARBRUL e, com base nos resultados gerados pelo programa, interpretamos que a elevação das vogais, no dialeto do noroeste paulista, é resultado, sobretudo, da redução da diferença articulatória da pretônica com relação aos segmentos consonantais adjacentes. Também atribuímos à vogal contígüa à pretônica importante papel na implementação da regra do alçamento, ao acreditarmos que a presença de vogal tônica contígüa, em muitos casos, reforçou a manifestação da regra que eleva o traço de altura das vogais pretônicas. / Abstract: This study presents the behaviour of the medium vowels, in pretonic position, based on data obtained from the dialects of the north-west of the State of São Paulo. In this region, pretonic mid vowels can change between mid-realisations [e, o] and high [i, u], in words like al[e]gria ~ al[i]gria and n[o]tícia ~ n[u]tícia. Referred to in the literature as Vowel Raising, this phonological phenomenon is in accordance with the theoretical model of Quantitative Sociolinguistics. The structural factors considered are: i) tonic vowel, ii) position of pretonic vowel in relation to tonic syllable, iii) subsequent vowel, iv) preceding consonant, v) subsequent consonant, vi) syllable structure, vii) nasality, and viii) grade of atonicity of the pretonic vowel. With regard to the social factor, the speaker's age is taken into consideration. The data utilised was composed of 2246 realisations of the pretonic vowel /e/ and 1590 realisations of the pretonic vowel /o/, observed in the speech of 16 university-educated female speakers, in four age-bands (16 to 25; 26 to 35; 36 to 55 and over 55 years of age). The data was submitted to the VARBRUL statistical model. and the results showed that vowel raising occurs as a means of reducing articulatory difference between pretonic vowels and adjacent consonants. The subsequent and tonic vowels also exert an important influence on the vowel raising, confirming the application of the rule in many cases. / Mestre

A compreensão da relação entre linguagem oral e escrita tem se concentrado nos estudos sobre o processamento fonológico (PF). Limitações neste processamento são apontadas como responsáveis pelas dificuldades fonológicas, lexicais, de compreensão e de escrita das crianças com Distúrbio Especifico de Linguagem (DEL). Os objetivos desta dissertação foram: verificar a ocorrência de alteração nas habilidades da linguagem escrita e nas habilidades do PF em crianças com DEL; comparar o desempenho entre crianças com DEL e com Desenvolvimento Típico de Linguagem (DTL) quanto as habilidades do PF e verificar se ha associação entre as habilidades do PF e as de linguagem escrita em crianças com DEL, e ainda, se ha uma habilidade do PF que se destaca nesta associação. Participaram deste estudo 40 sujeitos: 20 com diagnostico de DEL (GE) e 20 com DTL (GC) com idades entre 7 e 10 anos de ambos os sexos. Para avaliação das habilidades do PF foram aplicados os seguintes procedimentos: prova de repetição de não palavras para avaliação da Memória de Trabalho Fonológica (MTF), Teste de Nomeação Automatizada Rápida (RAN) para avaliação do Acesso Lexical (AL) e Perfil de Habilidades Fonológicas para avaliação da Consciência Fonológica (CF). Para avaliação da linguagem escrita os seguintes sub-testes do Teste de Analise de Leitura e Escrita (TALE) foram utilizados: leitura e compreensão de texto, ditado e escrita espontânea. Para analise estatística foi utilizado o teste Qui Quadrado, sendo adotado nível de significância estatística 0,05. A ocorrência de alterações na linguagem escrita na grande maioria dos sujeitos com DEL na amostra estudada foi constatada. As crianças deste grupo apresentaram desempenhos significantemente piores nas provas do PF quando comparadas as do GC. A existência de associação entre desempenho em provas de leitura e escrita e o desempenho em provas do PF foi confirmada. As analises estatísticas evidenciaram que a MTF foi aquela que apresentou maior nível de significância com as provas de leitura e de escrita. Pode-se concluir que a grande maioria das crianças com DEL apresentam alteração nas habilidades de linguagem escrita e do PF; elas apresentaram desempenho significantemente pior em relação aquelas com DTL nas habilidades do PF; ha associação entre desempenho em provas de leitura e escrita e provas do PF, sendo que as dificuldades nas habilidades do PF podem justificar as dificuldades de linguagem escrita; a MTF foi aquela que apresentou maior associação, o que reforça a hipótese de que defasagem na MTF e um forte marcador psicolingüístico nos quadros de DEL. / The understanding of the relationship between oral language and written language hás focused on studies on the phonological processing (PP). Limitations in this area have been identified as one of those responsible, in addition for lexical difficulties and comprehension difficulties, for the phonological disorders of children with specific language impairment (SLI) and the consequent alteration in the written language. This study aimed: verifying the occurrence of alterations in the written language skills and abilities of the PP in children with SLI; compare the performance between children with SLI and typical language development (TLD) and the abilities of the PP; check the association between the PP and the skills of written language in children with SLI, and, if there is one skill of the PP that stands out in these association. Participated of these study 40 subjects: 20 with SLI (EG) and 20 with TDL (CG), with ages between 7 and 10 years old, of the both sexes. For evaluation of the PP the following procedures had been used: non words repetition proof of the Prova de Memoria de Trabalho Fonologica, Teste de Nomeacao Automatizada e Rapida (RAN), for evaluation the lexical acces, and the Perfil de Habilidades Fonologicas, for evaluate the phonological awareness. For evaluation of written language the following subtests of the Teste de Analise de Leitura e Escrita TALE had been used: reading and understanding of text, dictated and spontaneous writing. Statistical analysis was performed using the Qui Quadrado test, and adopted level of statistical significance 0.05. The occurrence of alteration in the written language in most of the subjects with SLI in the sample was found. Children in this group had significantly worse performance in tests of PP when compared to the CG. The existence of the association between performance in tests of reading and writing and performance in tests of PP was confirmed. Statistical analysis showed that the phonological working memory (PWM) was one that showed higher level of significance with the proof reading and writing. It was observed that the majority of children with SLI have alterations in the skills of written language and the PP, they performed significantly worse for those with skills in TDL of PF; there is association between performance in tests of the PP and evidence reading and writing, and that difficulties in the abilities of the PP may explain the difficulties of written language. The PWM was what stood out most in this association, which reinforces the hypothesis, that deficit the PWM is a strong psycholinguistics marker of SLI.

PhD (Tshivenda) / Senthara ya M.E.R. Mathivha ya Nyambo dza Afrika kha Vhutsila na Mvelele / Tshivenḓa is one of African languages spoken in the Northern parts of South Africa and some parts of Zimbabwe. This proposal focuses on a study of selected phonological processes involving Tshivenḓa vowels. The Tshivenḓa phonological processes involving vowels under this study include vowel elision/deletion, vowel epenthesis, vowel coalescence, vowel nasalisation, vowel harmony, vowel raising and glide formation. In this regard, consonants are not part and parcel of this study. Furthermore, the study enriches the phonology of Tshivenḓa with more phonological processes thereby adding on the existing literature. The study also attempts to motivate and encourage Tshivenḓa speaking people and those who are interested in the language to have a clear understanding of phonological processes which occur in Tshivenḓa. The theoretical framework underpinning this study is the Optimality Theory (OT). The study will be carried out through phonological analysis, that is, field work and word list. Secondary sources will also be used for data collection.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-22T17:26:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DISSERTA__O ALINE VERS_O FINAL.pdf: 780834 bytes, checksum: f746a29c17a8c8f7b63721ba52676322 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-06-27 / The importance of studying Latin to a better understanding of certain phonological aspects of Portuguese language goes further than just considering it as the mother language of our mother tongue . It is possible to high light the presence of Latin in our everyday usage of Portuguese through diachronic studies. Moreover, it is easier to understand many grammar rules by focusing the origin of the words analysed here. So, it is not coherent, as some people say, that Latin is a dead language , because Portuguese, as well as, Spanish, French, Italian, etc, is the survivance of vulgar Latin, which shows that the latin language is alive (REZENDE, 2003). Thus, this paper intends to present a description and an analisys of the phonological phenomenons along the Latin consonantal evolution system to Brazilian Potuguese, suported by the Autosegmental Theory, also considering traces that formed the internal structure of the consonants, and also the sonority scale in the organization syllabical items structure as determinants points to the phenomenon that occurred in the evolution of language. Through this approach it is possible not only to identify the behavior hierarchyc traces and the items of the Latin consonants system and those present in the Brazilian Portuguese, also to verify which phonological rules are in the consonantal composition of Brazilian Portuguese. From the proposed analysis, the process of palatalization proved to be the most productive in the diachrony of language, if compared to other phenomenons that contributed to the creation of the current system of consonants of Brazilian Portuguese: sound reinforcement, fricativization, degemination, palatalization and consonantization / A importância de estudar o latim para uma melhor compreensão de certos aspectos fonológicos da língua portuguesa vai além de apenas se considerar a língua latina como mãe de nossa língua materna. Através de estudos diacrônicos, é possível evidenciar a presença do latim no uso diário que fazemos do português, além de se poder compreender mais facilmente muitas regras gramaticais por meio de um olhar focado na origem das palavras que são alvo de análise. Assim, é incoerente a ideia defendida por alguns de que o latim é uma língua morta , já que o português, assim como o espanhol, o francês, o italiano, etc., é a sobrevivência do latim vulgar, o que mostra estar a língua latina mais do que viva (REZENDE, 2003). Logo, este trabalho objetiva a apresentação de uma descrição e análise dos fenômenos fonológicos ocorridos na evolução do sistema consonantal do latim ao português do Brasil (PB), tendo como suporte a Teoria Autossegmental, considerando os traços que formam a estrutura interna das consoantes e, ainda, a escala de sonoridade na organização dos constituintes silábicos como determinantes dos fenômenos que ocorreram na evolução da língua. Com essa abordagem, foi possível, além de identificar o comportamento dos traços hierarquicamente dispostos e constituintes do sistema de consoantes do latim e aqueles ainda presentes no PB, também verificar quais regras fonológicas se fizeram presentes na composição do sistema consonantal do português brasileiro. A partir da análise proposta, o processo de palatalização mostrou-se como o mais produtivo na diacronia da língua, em se comparando com os outros fenômenos que contribuíram para a constituição do atual sistema de consoantes do Português Brasileiro: sonorização, fricativização, degeminação, palatalização e consonantização

This dissertation is an analysis of the segmental phonology of the Shangani language as spoken in the South Eastern parts of Zimbabwe. It starts by presenting the language situation in Zimbabwe and comparing the language’s status in Zimbabwe with that of its sister varieties in South Africa where it is referred to as Tsonga and in Mozambique where it is referred to as XiChangana or Changana. The dissertation is based on data collected from the speakers of Shangani using a variety of research techniques. The dissertation identifies and characterizes the language’s distinctive phonemes using the minimal pair and set tests. It presents the language’s consonants, which include aspirated, breathy-voiced, pre-nasalized, labialized and palatalized consonants. It shows that in Shangani, voiceless consonants cannot be pre-nasalized and that there is an incompatibility between that labio-velar glide /w/ and most labial consonants excpt /m/. The phonemes are analysed using Chomsky and Halle’s (1968) distinctive feature theory. The study uses Clements and Keyser’s (1983) CV phonology of the syllable structure to analyse the language’s syllable structure. The language’s canonical syllable structure is CV. It is also shown that consonant clusters are gaining their way into the language through borrowing from English, Afrikaans and other languages that have consonant clusters in their inventories. Onsetless Vs are marginally attested word-initially. In agent nouns, VV sequences are in most cases retained. These sequences are not analysed as diphthongs since they occupy different V slots on the syllable tier. The second vowel in the sequence is the onsetless syllable. Affricates, NCs, Cws and Cjs are presented as unitary segments that occupy a single C slot of the CV tier. Phonological processes that are attested in the language are also presented. Secondary articulation, vowel deletion, feature spreading, vowel coalescence and nasalization are shown to be the most common phonological process in the language. Since Shangani has the CV syllable typology, most of the phonological processes are there to resolve hiatus that would have been induced by suffixation of vowel commencing stems or suffixes to vowel final prefixes or stems. The notion of domains is shown to be a diagnostic tool for identifying a process in a hiatus situation. The study shows that vowel deletion is the least preferred strategy when secondary articulation, feature spreading, vowel coalescence have been blocked by some constraints like syllable structure processes or the language’s phonotactics / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

This dissertation is an analysis of the segmental phonology of the Shangani language as spoken in the South Eastern parts of Zimbabwe. It starts by presenting the language situation in Zimbabwe and comparing the language’s status in Zimbabwe with that of its sister varieties in South Africa where it is referred to as Tsonga and in Mozambique where it is referred to as XiChangana or Changana. The dissertation is based on data collected from the speakers of Shangani using a variety of research techniques. The dissertation identifies and characterizes the language’s distinctive phonemes using the minimal pair and set tests. It presents the language’s consonants, which include aspirated, breathy-voiced, pre-nasalized, labialized and palatalized consonants. It shows that in Shangani, voiceless consonants cannot be pre-nasalized and that there is an incompatibility between that labio-velar glide /w/ and most labial consonants excpt /m/. The phonemes are analysed using Chomsky and Halle’s (1968) distinctive feature theory. The study uses Clements and Keyser’s (1983) CV phonology of the syllable structure to analyse the language’s syllable structure. The language’s canonical syllable structure is CV. It is also shown that consonant clusters are gaining their way into the language through borrowing from English, Afrikaans and other languages that have consonant clusters in their inventories. Onsetless Vs are marginally attested word-initially. In agent nouns, VV sequences are in most cases retained. These sequences are not analysed as diphthongs since they occupy different V slots on the syllable tier. The second vowel in the sequence is the onsetless syllable. Affricates, NCs, Cws and Cjs are presented as unitary segments that occupy a single C slot of the CV tier. Phonological processes that are attested in the language are also presented. Secondary articulation, vowel deletion, feature spreading, vowel coalescence and nasalization are shown to be the most common phonological process in the language. Since Shangani has the CV syllable typology, most of the phonological processes are there to resolve hiatus that would have been induced by suffixation of vowel commencing stems or suffixes to vowel final prefixes or stems. The notion of domains is shown to be a diagnostic tool for identifying a process in a hiatus situation. The study shows that vowel deletion is the least preferred strategy when secondary articulation, feature spreading, vowel coalescence have been blocked by some constraints like syllable structure processes or the language’s phonotactics / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

This study takes place within a school situated on the north eastern side of Soshanguve, a township to the north of the capital city, Pretoria, also called Tshwane. The school draws most of its learners from an area that started as an informal settlement. Certain parts of this settlement are now well structured and it is gradually becoming a formal settlement. The children who form part of this study are those whose parents have migrated from neighbouring provinces such as Limpopo, North West and Mpumalanga, as well as from neighbouring countries such as Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Owing to this migration, the community around this school is multilingual. Multilingualism has led to phonic, grammatical, semantic and stylistic language interference. This interference has caused language change, which in turn has led to variations that affect the standard form of Sesotho sa Lebowa, the first language of the school. The school selected for this study has achieved very average matriculation results since its establishment in 1994. Although the school generally achieves a 100% pass rate in the subject Sesotho sa Lebowa, marks are generally low despite the fact that the learners are supposedly first language speakers of Sesotho sa Lebowa. The aim of this study is to investigate the reasons for the poor quality of these results. Matriculation results over the past four years attest to the fact that something needs to be done in order to reverse the negative trend of these results. / Linguistics / M.A. (Sociolinguistics)

This study takes place within a school situated on the north eastern side of Soshanguve, a township to the north of the capital city, Pretoria, also called Tshwane. The school draws most of its learners from an area that started as an informal settlement. Certain parts of this settlement are now well structured and it is gradually becoming a formal settlement. The children who form part of this study are those whose parents have migrated from neighbouring provinces such as Limpopo, North West and Mpumalanga, as well as from neighbouring countries such as Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Owing to this migration, the community around this school is multilingual. Multilingualism has led to phonic, grammatical, semantic and stylistic language interference. This interference has caused language change, which in turn has led to variations that affect the standard form of Sesotho sa Lebowa, the first language of the school. The school selected for this study has achieved very average matriculation results since its establishment in 1994. Although the school generally achieves a 100% pass rate in the subject Sesotho sa Lebowa, marks are generally low despite the fact that the learners are supposedly first language speakers of Sesotho sa Lebowa. The aim of this study is to investigate the reasons for the poor quality of these results. Matriculation results over the past four years attest to the fact that something needs to be done in order to reverse the negative trend of these results. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / M.A. (Sociolinguistics)