Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This empirical study focuses – through the use of a descriptive survey – on the viability of integrating multimedia programmes in teaching Tswana at ten secondary schools in the Motheo District of the Free State Department of Education. The study sought to explore, inter alia, the progress made by schools in providing Tswana teachers with access to computers, the extent to which Tswana teachers use multimedia programmes in their daily practice and to determine the quality of Tswana multimedia programmes that are offered in the market. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie empiriese studie fokus – deur die gebruik van ‘n beskrywende ondersoek – op die lewensvatbaarheid om multimedia programme by die onderrig van Tswana by 10 sekondere skole in die departement opvoeding in die Motheo distrik van die Onderwysdepartement van die Vrystaat te integreer. Die studie het, onder meer, gepoog om vas te stel in watter mate daar al vordering gemaak is by skole om onderwysers van Tswana toegang tot rekenaars te verleen, hoeverre onderwysers van Tswana multimedia programme in hul daaglikse praktyk gebruik asook om die gehalte van multimedia programme wat vir Tswana beskikbaar is te evalueer.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2000 / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Ineffective treatment procedures of lexical items and inadequate information in the macrostructure and microstructure reduce the value of the reference quality of Thanodi of Setswana. This prompted an attempt at suggesting improvements with regard to the treatment and information retrieval of lexical items. This dictionary is not consistent in its use of structural marketslreference symbols to mark vital lexicographic information and reference addresses. Homonyms are not given the comprehensive lexicographic treatment, that would enable the user to access all relevant linguistic and semantic information, Another shortcoming is the lack of the use of labels on some headwords in this dictionary. The treatment procedure given to synonyms in this dictionary fails to provide the relevant information that the user needs. There is a lack of semantic linking among synonyms, because of the inadequate use of cross-reference symbols and reference markers. Loan-words are not marked to indicate their linguistic origin and to recognise them as being part of the Setswana lexicon and conveying lexicographic information. The unavailability of usage notes as part of the treatment of Thanodi ya Setswana, reduces the reference quality of the dictionary as a source of linguistic information. The use of this semantic information as part of the definiens is important to avoid unclear lemma definitions. The treatment procedure given to certain lemmas in this dictionary, suggests that the space saving principle is ignored. There are repeated definitions in the articles of synonymous lemmas and this creates redundancy. It is suggested that synonymous lemmas be treated by a crossreference depending on their usage frequency. The more frequently used lemmas should be given full lexicographic treatment and the less frequently used lemmas be given a partial treatment. The treatment of nouns in this dictionary also reduces its reference quality. Singular nouns are lemmatized but plural nouns are not lemmatized, The exclusion of these plural nouns in the macrostructure of this dictionary disadvantages an inexperienced user, especially in cases where these plural forms are more frequently used than the singular forms. A strategy to lemmatize both singular and plural nouns can maximise the usefulness of the dictionary. There are sublexical lexical items that are part of the Setswana lexicon but are not lemmatized in this dictionary. These sublexicallexical items should be lemmatized to recognise their status as lexical items. The treatment procedure given to inflectional and deficient verbs is a cause for concern in this dictionary. Instead of semantic information being provided, a derivation process is shown in the dictionary's article. This poor treatment given to these lexical items, leads to other senses of the lemma being left out and not being found by the dictionary user. The suggested strategies in the treatment of lexical items and the making available of lexicographic information, would make this dictionary more user-friendly. With such improvements, this dictionary would benefit the dictionary user. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die waarde en kwaliteit van Thanodi ya Setswana word verminder deur oneffektiewe prosedures in die behandeling van leksikale items en onvoldoende informasie in die makro- en mikrostruktuur van die woordeboek. Hierdie tesis kan beskou word as 'n poging om verbeteringe voor te stel vir die behandeling van leksikale items en die inwin van informasie daaromtrent. Die woordeboek IS me konsekwent III sy gebruik van struktuurmerkers en verwysingsimbole ten einde belangrike leksikografiese informasie en verwysingsadresse te merk nie. Homonieme kry nie die volledige leksikografiese behandeling wat dit vir die gebruiker moontlik sou maak om alle relevante taalkundige en semantiese inligting te bekom nie. 'n Ander tekortkoming is die gebrek aan etikette by sommige lemmas in hierdie woordeboek. Die wyse waarop sinonieme in die woordeboek behandel word, is ook gebrekkig: dit verskaf nie die relevante inligting wat die gebruiker benodig nie. Daar IS onvoldoende inligting betreffende die semantiese verband tussen lemmas wat as sinonieme beskou word, vanwee die onvoldoende gebruik van verwysingsimbole en - merkers. Leenwoorde word nie gemerk ten einde hulle linguistiese oorsprong aan te dui, en duidelik te maak dat hulle deel van die Setswana leks ikon is nie. Daar is 'n gebrek aan aantekeninge of voorbeelde betreffende die gebruik van woorde en dit verminder die nut van Thanodi ya Setswana as naslaanwerk en bron van taalkundige inligting. Sulke semantiese inligting as deel van die definiens is belangrik omdat dit onduidelike definisies help voorkom. Die manier waarop sekere lemmas behandel word, maak dit duidelik dat die beginsel van die ekonomiese gebruik van spasie hier geignoreer is. Definisies in die artikels van sinonieme word telkemale herhaal, en dit lei tot oortolligheid. Daar word voorgestel dat sinonieme liewer behandel moet word by wyse van kruisverwysings, afhangende van hul gebruiksfrekwensie: lemmas wat meer dikwels gebruik word, behoort 'n volle leksikografiese behandeling te kry: die wat minder dikwels gebruik word, kan dan 'n gedeeltelike behandeling kry. Die wyse waarop selfstandige naamwoorde behandel word, verminder ook die verwysingskwaliteit van die woordeboek. Die enkelvoudvorme van selfstandige naamwoorde word gelemmatiseer, maar nie die meervoudvorme nie. Die weglaat van die meervoudvorme van selfstandige naamwoorde in hierdie woordeboeke benadeel die onervare gebruiker, veral in die lig van die feit dat sommige meervoudvorme meer dikwels gebruik word as die enkelvoudvorme. Deur meervoudvorme sowel as enkelvoudvorme te lemmatiseer, sal die waarde en nuttigheid van die woordeboek verhoog word. Voorts is daar sekere subleksikale leksikale items wat deel is van die Setswana leksikon, maar wat nie in hierdie woordeboek gelemmatiseer word nie. Sulke subleksikale items behoort gelemmatiseer te word, ten einde erkenning te gee aan hulle status as leksikale items. Die behandeling van infleksie-werkwoorde en "negatiewe" werkwoorde ("deficient verbs") in hierdie woordeboek is gebrekkig. Instede van semantiese informasie te verskaf, word slegs die afleidingsproses aangetoon. Die gebrekkige behandeling van hierdie leksikale items veroorsaak dat sekere betekenisse van die lemmas weggelaat word - betekenisse wat vir die gebruiker van die woordeboek relevant mag wees. Indien die voorgestelde strategiee in die behandeling van die leksikale items toegepas word, en meer leksikografiese inligting verskaf word, sal die woordeboek meer gebruikersvriendelik word. Dit sal ook van groter nut en waarde vir die gebruiker wees.

Thesis (M.A. (Translation and Linguistics Studies)) -- University of Limpopo, 2013 / This research looks at the perceptions of parents and teachers about the learning and teaching of Setswana. It looks at Setswana not only as a subject but also as a first language that learners speak at home. It is said that learners have a negative attitude about learning their mother tongue, so this study aims at looking whether parents and teachers are indeed aware of this attitude o if there is an attitude at all. It also intend to indicate whether parents and teacher have a way of discouraging these learners about learning their mother tongues. Since English is seen as the most prestigious language parents may feel that their learners have to be competent in English or they will not achieve much or anything. As teachers teach the language that learners do not appreciate, how do they deal with discouraged learners? Most of all it plans to demonstrate and/or advice learners, parents and teachers about the importance of learning mother tongue in school especially now that they are in high school where by they are capable of making decision about what future path do they want to take. The research tools that are used are questionnaires and interviews. There is a selected number of parents and teachers that will participate. The teachers will answer questionnaires while parents will be interviewed. The data will be analyzed textually also with the help of the SPSS software. The data will be analyzed and interpreted as what they mean for the research and how they have helped that study as a whole and also how they can help further studies if there are any. This study aims to reach the department of education so that maybe they can be able to revise the curriculum of Setswana or maybe change the content. Most importantly it intends to show learners that mother tongue is not a dead end as they make it out to be. They may be as successful with language as they can be with other professions.

Adverbial constructions are a problematic subject in Tswana grammatical studies. Traditionally termed descriptives, it is not clear what the defining features of this category are. It is also a very vast category. There seems to be many different structures functioning as adverbials in Tswana, including particles, words, prepositional phrases and clauses. Tswana grammars in general often have little to say about the syntax of adverbials, in respect of, for instance, the propensity of Tswana adverbials for multiple occurrences in the same clause and the range of possible positions of Tswana adverbials in clause structure. Because of the vastness of the adverbial category we only deal with adverbials as elements of clause structure. A typical feature of adverbials is the considerable mobility they enjoy in relation to other elements in clause structure which affects their grammatical and semantic status in relation to such elements. By distinguishing different categories of adverbials, in clause structure it becomes clear that the same structural element may function within different adverbial categories. This necessitates a definition of adverbials which is based on their specific semantic functions within clause structure. The study is divided into five chapters. When dealing with the adverbial as a clause element in Tswana, we realise that it is not sufficiently described. The first two chapters therefore serve as an introduction to central theoretical issues where some relevant research is critically examined and related to the present study. In the next chapter, that is Chapter 3, we establish formal and semantic frameworks for the classification and descriptive treatment of adverbials in Tswana. In Chapter 4 we implement the structural, syntactic and semantic properties as well as the features adverbials have as modifiers to make a functional classification of adverbials in clause structure. The classification of adverbials as adjuncts, subjuncts, disjuncts and conjuncts from A Comprehensive grammar of the English language by Quirk, et al. (1985) (CGEL) is taken as the basis for this classification. Chapter 5 presents the overall conclusions and implications of the study. / African Languages / D.litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

Adverbial constructions are a problematic subject in Tswana grammatical studies. Traditionally termed descriptives, it is not clear what the defining features of this category are. It is also a very vast category. There seems to be many different structures functioning as adverbials in Tswana, including particles, words, prepositional phrases and clauses. Tswana grammars in general often have little to say about the syntax of adverbials, in respect of, for instance, the propensity of Tswana adverbials for multiple occurrences in the same clause and the range of possible positions of Tswana adverbials in clause structure. Because of the vastness of the adverbial category we only deal with adverbials as elements of clause structure. A typical feature of adverbials is the considerable mobility they enjoy in relation to other elements in clause structure which affects their grammatical and semantic status in relation to such elements. By distinguishing different categories of adverbials, in clause structure it becomes clear that the same structural element may function within different adverbial categories. This necessitates a definition of adverbials which is based on their specific semantic functions within clause structure. The study is divided into five chapters. When dealing with the adverbial as a clause element in Tswana, we realise that it is not sufficiently described. The first two chapters therefore serve as an introduction to central theoretical issues where some relevant research is critically examined and related to the present study. In the next chapter, that is Chapter 3, we establish formal and semantic frameworks for the classification and descriptive treatment of adverbials in Tswana. In Chapter 4 we implement the structural, syntactic and semantic properties as well as the features adverbials have as modifiers to make a functional classification of adverbials in clause structure. The classification of adverbials as adjuncts, subjuncts, disjuncts and conjuncts from A Comprehensive grammar of the English language by Quirk, et al. (1985) (CGEL) is taken as the basis for this classification. Chapter 5 presents the overall conclusions and implications of the study. / African Languages / D.litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

This in-depth study investigates the acquisition of the passive construction by Setswana-speaking pre-schoolers. My original contribution to knowledge is that Setswana-speaking preschoolers acquire the passive early on some tasks but not others. This shows that acquisition is a multifacted task that needs to be fine-tuned. These are important facts that need to be considered by Speech-Language Therapists in order to accurately identify language-impaired children. Setswana is the fourth most commonly spoken language in South Africa. However, only four linguistic studies have been conducted on Setswana since 2000 and none of these investigated acquisition of Setswana processes in children. Setswana is a language that belongs to the South-eastern Bantu Zone of languages. Languages in this group are structurally closely related to one another and mutually intelligible. Studies of the acquisition of the passive in Sesotho and Zulu have shown that the passive develops much earlier (3 years) than in Indo-European languages (5 years). More tools are needed to explore language acquisition and language impairment in South Africa. It is essential that these tools focus on issues of poverty and diversity. The research methods used should be suitable for the communities being explored and should inform the delivery of appropriate services. Endeavors should be made to provide information that improves scientific research in terms of language acquisition and access to speech-language therapy services. The passive voice is considered to be one of the most well researched yet controversial linguistic structures. In Setswana the construction of the passive occurs when the subject of the active clause is expressed in the passive in the form of an agentive adverb with the prefixal formative ké- which forms an optional by-phrase. The verb is marked as passive using a passive extension by suffixing –w or –iw. How this is acquired is the focus of this study. A total of 114 children divided into 3 age groups 2.6 – 3.5 years, 3.6 – 4.5 years and 4.6 – 5.5 years were the participants in this study. Their performance was compared to that of a group of 11 adult verifiers. The aim of this study was to investigate Setswana-speaking children’s comprehension and production of the passive in terms of age, passive categories and length variables. Tasks used to examine these variables were Comprehension 2 and 3 Character tasks and Elicited Production and Imitation tasks. The participants were divided into two different participant groups. There were 52 participants on the Elicited Imitation tasks and 62 on the Comprehension and Elicited Production tasks. Participants were tested at 3 crèches in the peri-urban area of Pankop, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. On the Comprehension 2 character tasks significant differences between age groups (age group 1, 34% and 3, 49%) were noted. However, no significant developmental trends were found on Comprehension 3 character or Elicited Production tasks amongst the children. On Elicited Imitation tasks there was a significant difference between the youngest group (69%) compared to the middle (83%) and oldest age group (81%). . The results showed much variability among tasks. The results for Comprehension 2 and 3 Character tasks were at above chance level. The Elicited Production task was unsuccessful as children found great difficulty with this task with 2.6 to 3.6 year old children scoring 7% and the oldest group 14%. However, the Elicited Imitation task was extremely successful and confirmed the diagnostic value of such a measure. The type of passive did influence performance but this was task dependent. The participants’ knowledge of the passive categories, for Comprehension 2 character and Elicited Imitation tasks followed the same order, with best performance on inanimate categories followed by negatives, reversible and then non-actional passives. On Elicited Production tasks children also scored the best on inanimate tasks. A weakness of this study is that Elicited Imitation tasks were not administered at the same time as the other tasks and therefore a different group of participants was used even though subject selection criteria was the same. The impact of sentence length on performance also showed much variability. For the non-actional negative category on Set A Comprehension 2 Character tasks participants’ scored significantly better for short sentences than long sentences and vice versa for Comprehension 3 Character tasks. On Elicited Production tasks children scored better on long passive sentences. On Elicited Imitation tasks short sentences were easier than long passives. The results of this study confirms the important effect of task-type in assessing passive comprehension and production. Also, the results of this study suggest that the passive is not an early acquired structure in Setswana with the exception of the Elicited Imitation task. The results therefore support the A-chain Deficit Hypothesis, i.e., that the passive is a late acquired structure with difficulties with non-actional categories except when an Elicited Imitation task was used. Explanations may link to the complex sociolinguistic context of developing children in South Africa. This study confirms the important effect of task when testing child language, and the potential value of Elicited Imitation as a viable and relevant measure of assessing language in the South African context.