D.Litt. et Phil. (African Languages) / The aim of this thesis is to examine praise poetry in Xitsonga (Tsonga) and other related aspects of verbal art. Praise poetry in Xitsonga (Tsonga) covers a very wide field of study as in other South African languages and seven chapters are devoted thereto in this study. In Chapter 1 an overview is given of the aim of the research. A comparative overview of praise poetry in ether African languages is also given. Chapter 2 deals with approaches and the methodology of the research and other topics. The performance approach and other complementary approaches are included. Chapter 3 is devoted to verbal art in general. The purpose of this chapter is to make one aware that praise poetry is a branch of verbal art. A few examples are analysed. Chapter 4 discusses praise poetry In Xitsonga in detail in socio-political, educational, socio-cultural, religious communication and economic contexts. Finally, mass media communication is discussed, for example, boast praise poetry by radio announcers and regular callers. Chapter 5 concentrates on the textual features of praise poetry in Xitsonga. This chapter aims to investigate some of the literary features and other linguistic or stylistic features, to indicate that they are also found in Xitsonga. Chapter 7 is the conclusion of the study, where the findings are summarised briefly.

Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is prevalent among young adults, and is associated with increased suicide risk. The self-punishment hypothesis theorizes that individuals who are highly self-critical may engage in NSSI due to finding the experience of pain as ego-syntonic. Although evidence links self-critical views to NSSI, minimal research has examined how these views are influenced by more proximal social stressors, such as peer criticism, to trigger NSSI urges. The current study addresses the following questions: (1) Will the effects of recalled peer criticism (vs. praise and a neutral interaction) on pain endurance (a proxy measure for NSSI urges) and self-reported NSSI urges be moderated by group status (i.e., whether or not an individual has a history of NSSI)? We hypothesized that group status would moderate the effects of recalled peer criticism on pain endurance and NSSI urges, such that the relationships between these constructs would be stronger among the NSSI group vs. the no NSSI group; (2) If these interaction effects are present, will they be mediated by self-critical views? We hypothesized that the interaction between group status and peer criticism on pain endurance and NSSI urges would decrease in magnitude after accounting for self-critical views. Participants were 137 young adult women with either a recent or recurrent history of NSSI (n = 79) or no NSSI history (n = 58). Idiographic scripts of a recalled peer interaction involving critical, praising, or neutral feedback were used as the experimental manipulation, and measures of pain endurance (via a pressure algometer) and self-reported NSSI urges were administered at baseline and post-manipulation. The NSSI group demonstrated marginally higher pain endurance and stronger self-critical views than the control group. The overall effects of recalled peer criticism were not moderated by group status in predicting pain endurance or NSSI urges. Exploratory pairwise comparisons revealed that those in the NSSI group who received criticism (vs. the other conditions) demonstrated a significant increase in NSSI urges. Findings highlight peer criticism as one context in which risk for NSSI urges may be elevated among those with a history of NSSI, and underscore self-critical views as an important intervention target.

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"In Praise of Music": A Motivation for Choral Conductors, is a conductor’s survey of four contemporary works for chorus all titled "In Praise of Music." This study was created in tandem with the recital presentation of two of the works by composers David Conte and David Frank Long and an additional two works by Keith Bissell and Paul Hindemith. Each work is different in style, in the choice of text, in accompaniment, and in the choral forces required. There is no single text titled "In Praise of Music" from which each composer might have begun the creative process. What binds these works together is the concept that music carries emotion and shares it with those who hear it. Bissell requires orchestra, an Orff instrument ensemble, satb mixed chorus and women’s chorus in his music with texts from four different poets: Alfred, Lord Tennyson; John Dryden; William Shakespeare; and Robert Herrick. David Conte’s work is set for chorus, six soloists, semi-chorus, and orchestra. Conte also chose the texts for his work from three poets; Thomas Carew, John Dryden, and Percy Bysshe Shelley. Paul Hindemith’s work, set to a text by Martin Luther, offers many different performance options as it is meant to be performed by non-professional musicians and singers, using whoever might be available. "Our Song (In Praise of Music)" was commissioned by this writer for his D.M.A recital performance. Composer David Frank Long wrote both the text and music for the work. The essay includes biographical information on each composer and poet and the texts used for each work. There is also a structural chart and compositional analysis of each work.

ESL writing teachers face the challenge of providing written feedback that is both effective and motivating to students. Thus, many end up making use of praise (or positive feedback) before offering criticism. Past research, however, has not put enough emphasis in how students receive praise. In fact, Hyland and Hyland’s (2001) article is one of the few and most recent works to focus on praise above other types of feedback. Yet, they have not accounted for the possibility of different types of praise as Kamins and Dweck (1999) have suggested. In our study, two types of praise (person and performance) have been considered as well as cultural background and L2 proficiency. An original survey was developed in order to analyze these three variants and understand how L2 learners perceive and attribute value to praise in written feedback. A total of 106 participants rated six different samples of praise based on how clear, helpful, valuable, encouraging to revision, kind, and motivating the comment of praise is. In the conclusion, praise type seems to be the most significant variant as participants showed preference to performance over person praise.

The purpose of this research was to examine the impact of professional development on teachers' delivery of written praise notes and the number of office disciplinary referrals (ODRs). The professional development consisted of training teachers on the effective use of behavior specific written praise, as well as on how to analyze and respond to praise-note and office disciplinary referral data. It was hypothesized that this process could help support and increase teachers' delivery of behavior-specific written praise notes and would subsequently decrease in the rate of office discipline referrals (ODRs). As baseline data, this study used the participating school's existing data (November through February for academic years 2009-2010 and 2010-2011). Data included number of praise notes and office disciplinary referrals. Across the most recent school year (November thru February 2011-2012), on a monthly basis, data were collected on number and content of notes and the number of ODRs. Current data were compared with baseline data from two previous school years. Although the data did not indicate significant changes between baseline data and post intervention data, overall data suggest a gradual increase in respect to the number of written praise notes. However, contrary to anticipated outcome, a slight upward trend was indicated in the number of office discipline referrals. These results are considered inconclusive in regard to whether professional development significantly impacts the number and specificity of praise notes and decreases the number of students with ODRs. However, the majority of teachers supported delivering written praise notes as an effective intervention to increase desired classroom academic achievement and appropriate social behavior.

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This study investigated the effects of using a group contingency program with three students with disabilities in a small group special education setting. These students exhibited both academic and behavioral difficulties. With the use of Class Wide Function-Related Intervention Team (CW-FIT) students increased their active engagement and correct responses, as well as decreased their disruptive behaviors; however, these behaviors did not maintain over time. CW-FIT with high opportunities to respond showed an even greater improvement than CW-FIT with low opportunities to respond. Increased opportunities to respond resulted in higher levels of active engagement and correct responses and decreases in disruptive behavior for all three students. These results indicate that CW-FIT in combination with high opportunities to respond can help manage students' behavior and help them increase correct responding.

This study evaluated the effects of a peer-administered positive behavioral support intervention on a school-wide problem behavior. Utilizing the differential reinforcement of incompatible behaviors method (DRl), peer monitors praised incidences of walking in order to decrease incidences of running in the hallway. A multiple baseline design across two hallway settings was used to evaluate the effect of peer monitors administering verbal praise and praise notes to students who demonstrated the desired behavior, walking. A lottery drawing in which recipients of praise notes received small prizes was conducted at the end of each week during the treatment phase. Results indicated that incidences of running significantly decreased following implementation of the peer-administered positive behavioral support intervention in both settings. In addition, a maintenance phase suggested that treatment effects were maintained when the peer-administered intervention was withdrawn in the two hallway settings. Results were socially validated by teachers who indicated that they were generally satisfied with the intervention four weeks after termination of the treatment phase. Implications for research and practice are discussed.