A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of African Languages at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2014 / This research reveals the need of using the mother-tongue in teaching of all subjects as the medium of instruction, especially to the learners from the African communities. Here it is recommended that English be taught for communication. Chapter one introduces the entire research, its aims, problem of language usage, meaning of words, and the research methods. In addition to that it gives the ideas of different writers and the people that are going to benefit from the research. It also displays the outline of chapters and the conclusion. Chapter two focusses on the language usage in the classroom, community and how the eThekwini Municipality communicates with its community through letters. It also reveals the history of isiZulu language. Chapter three displays the language usage in Parliament, how do the educators teach the mother-tongue at schools? The impact of the Western languages due to the ruling party and how that can be balanced. The selection and codification of words in the written documents of the government has an impact of the indigenous people to lose their mother-tongue. Chapter four reveals the fact of richness of mother-tongue because it displays its proverbs and idioms. That promotes the culture of that particular nation. The focus is on the correct usage of the language. Chapter five displays the languages that are commonly used in Social Development Department, Court, KwaMsane Clinic, Ithala Bank, Richards Bay Hospital and Mtubatuba Municipality. Information to support the research was obtained from the questionnaire. Chapter six focusses on the findings, recommendations and conclusion of the entire work done.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The tongue in both man and animal has been considered through the ages to be a complex organ. It is a highly specialized combination of muscles and nerves and contains one of the five senses, the sense of taste. As H.B. Walter and L.F. Sayles stated in their book entitled: “Biology of the Vertebrates,” “The tongue serves many purposes. It is capable of great freedom of movement; it is a universal toothbrush, serves as a curry comb for fur-bearers, while animals like cats and dogs that lap up liquids use it as a spoon, it stands ready to receive the password of admittance from entering food, and in humans is essential for speech, respiration and swallowing.” Even though the tongue is a complex organ in its actions and structure, it is unlike most organs of the human body. Man has not concerned himself to a great extent over its history of development for many reasons. It is encased by the orbicularis oris complex and buccinator muscles and teeth, thereby making ease of observation of its actions and development difficult. Another factor which acts against its observation for its apparent constant mobility. Most postulations previously set forth concerning the action of the normal tongue have been unsupported by scientific data. Studies have been reported on abnormalities of the tongue and its associated surroundings, but little or no research on the normal tongue posture has been reported. Recently roentgenography has been used to study areas of the body not easily seen by the naked eye. In the infancy of roentgenography development, it was considered by several investigators that this would be an important means of studying the tongue and thus this study came into being.

No description available.

This study evaluated the effects of a partial glossectomy on: (1) tongue velocity, movement range, and height during speech and (2) vowel production. Videofluoroscopy and cine-MRI of single German words were used to study pre- and postoperative tongue movement in seven glossectomees. Postoperative principal component analyses demonstrated reduced complexity of lingual movement. For the videofluoroscopic data, four of the five patients exhibited reduced postoperative tongue velocity, while one patient exhibited a postoperative increase. Patients produced the words with a slower speech rate after the surgery. The mean differences between pre- and postoperative average tongue height and movement range were small and variable. The cine-MRI data did not indicate a change in postoperative tongue movement range and height. The acoustic results indicated that the vowel /u/ was produced with a more neutral tongue position, postoperatively. The present study demonstrated how tongue movement can be analyzed quantitatively based on videofluorospcopy and cine-MRI.

This study evaluated the effects of a partial glossectomy on: (1) tongue velocity, movement range, and height during speech and (2) vowel production. Videofluoroscopy and cine-MRI of single German words were used to study pre- and postoperative tongue movement in seven glossectomees. Postoperative principal component analyses demonstrated reduced complexity of lingual movement. For the videofluoroscopic data, four of the five patients exhibited reduced postoperative tongue velocity, while one patient exhibited a postoperative increase. Patients produced the words with a slower speech rate after the surgery. The mean differences between pre- and postoperative average tongue height and movement range were small and variable. The cine-MRI data did not indicate a change in postoperative tongue movement range and height. The acoustic results indicated that the vowel /u/ was produced with a more neutral tongue position, postoperatively. The present study demonstrated how tongue movement can be analyzed quantitatively based on videofluorospcopy and cine-MRI.

My intention with this study was to examine the concepts “mother tongue” and “mother tongue education” and how these concepts are understood by some parents. To reach this goal I’ve conducted a qualitative study, wherein I’ve interviewed eight parents with foreign backgrounds. The study is inspired by hermeneutics in its interpretation of results. From this study I can reach several conclusions. To begin with, all parents had a positive view of the mother tongue concept and mother tongue education. It is very important for their children. They need their mother tongue and mother tongue support to be able to communicate with others who speak the same language, and to strengthen their self confidence and achieve a strong personality and identity. Another thing the study shows is that there are some deficiencies in this area, for instance the insufficient amount of teaching hours, the unsuitable scheduling, large class sizes and mother tongue teachers not speaking the same dialect as the children. A third recurring result is the deficient communication between teachers and the parents in the study. The informants had a desire to improve these aspects to allow for the development of the childrens’ mother tongue.

No description available.

No description available.

The number of Total Glossectomy cases in the United States is seeing an increasing trend as per the Nationwide Inpatient Sample Database. Patients, who have undergone such aggressive surgical procedures, have extensive limitations performing basic oral functions such as swallowing (deglutition), eating and speaking. Current rehabilitation prostheses do little in restoring the functionality of the original tongue. This is true especially in deglutition, which is necessary to transfer a bolus to the esophagus. Such patients need advanced prosthetic devices and through this research, investigations into potential solutions for prosthetic tongues to aid in deglutition were carried out. The process began with an extensive literature review that provided tongue position, motion, and pressure data during the swallowing stages. Several potential designs were considered such as using linkages and pneumatic networks (PneuNets). Based on a decision matrix, PneuNets were adopted as the foundational basis for generating prosthetic designs. Several prototypes were fabricated using Fused Filament Disposition for mold development and silicone Eco-flex 00-30 for actuator development. Each iteration involved tackling several design and manufacturing challenges especially when scaling these actuators from an initial experiment to an anatomical shape and size of a human tongue. A tongue of dimensions 1.8 inches wide, 2.4 inches long and 0.24 inches thick was developed. The PneuNet actuator was powered by a pneumatic system and kinematic data was collected using a tracking software. The data gathered provided validation comparisons between position trends exhibited in the literature. Theoretical deflection models were generated for analyzing the deflection of the front, middle and back sections of the tongue prototype. Details from literature review, design iterations, simulations, validation processes, research challenges and conclusions will be discussed in depth.