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Thesis (DLitt (African Languages))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / This study aims to investigate properties of writing relating to genre-based literacy in isiXhosa as a first language (that is, as home language) for Grade eleven learners. The research investigates the problem of writing in isiXhosa at secondary school level, and the associated instruction, to grade eleven learners, whose first (home) language is isiXhosa. The educational context of these learners is such that the language of instruction in content subjects is English, which is as an additional language to these learners. Furthermore, they take English as a language subject. The learners’ home language is, however, only taught as a subject in this context. The language of instruction officially is English in all the content subjects, hence language proficiency problems in English are often encountered not only by the learners, but by educators as well. The genre-based theoretical framework and associated methodology is explored and employed in this study to establish the extent to which the isiXhosa first language learners are able to transfer the skills they have acquired in their first language, isiXhosa, to writing in the content subjects. Thus, the study has the following five main aims: (i) The study investigates the question of the extent to which high school learners can use their isiXhosa as their home language for the purpose of writing in their content subjects in a bilingual education system, where English as their second or additional language is the prescribed medium of instruction for content subjects; (ii) The study addresses the questions of how genre-based writing skills of learners with isiXhosa as home language are realized in their writing in the home language, isiXhosa as subject, assuming a genre-based approach to language learning and teaching; (iii) This study examines the writing of learners whose first (home) language is isiXhosa with regards to the extent to which they can transfer the genre-based writing skills they have acquired in writing in isiXhosa as language subject to writing in their content subjects; (iv) This study aims to determine the textlinguistic properties of writing in isiXhosa. Thus, the study will investigate genre-related concerns about the extent to which explicit genre-based instruction in isiXhosa will result in improving genre-based writing across the curriculum while enhancing the educational performance and achievement of learners; (v) This study explores the gap in knowledge and insights as regard the role of writing across the curriculum in isiXhosa as home language (first language), providing theoretically-motivated arguments for the importance of a strong focus on genre-pedagogy for African languages as language subjects, more generally.Therefore, this study aims to address the question of the role of writing in isiXhosa, as learners’ home language in a bilingual education in the learning and teaching context, a central point of concern in the South African education system. The methodology of this study entails the examination of three stages of the learners’ writing in isiXhosa, in both the biographical recount and the expository genres. The three stages are termed stage one, stage two and stage three, respectively, of the learners’ writing. For the purpose of data collection the writing in isiXhosa, two secondary schools in the Cape Peninsula, Bulumko Secondary School in Khayelitsha and Kayamandi Secondary School in Stellenbosch have been examined, focusing on the writing of the grade eleven learners. For all the three stages of writing in each secondary school a class of fourty grade 11 learners was instructed to write essays in isiXhosa on both the biographical recount genre and the expository genre. After the learners had written their essays the effectiveness of the essays was classified according to the levels of learners’ performance, for the purpose of analysis. In stage one, learners write the essay without being taught the genre-based properties of writing. In the stage two essay writing, the learners wrote the biographical recount and the expository essays after they have been taught the genre-based properties of writing. In the stage three essay writing, the learners applied the skills they have been taught in stage two regarding genre-based properties of writing. The teacher and learners brainstormed, discussed and exchanged views with each other on genre-based properties before the learners engaged in the writing in the third stage. As mentioned above, the stage one, two and three essays were categorised according to the learners’ performance, that is the good essays, the middle standard essays and the less or lower performance essays were classified for the purpose of the analysis. This study explores the genre-specific writing in isiXhosa by grade 11 learners with isiXhosa as first language, assuming as framework the genre properties by Feez and Joyce (1998), Grabe and Kaplan (1996), and Hyland (2005), the latter concerning metadiscourse. These models are discussed in chapter two and employed in chapter three for the analysis of both the biographical recount and the expository genres of grade eleven learners. Grabe and Kaplan’s (1996) linguistic and ethnographic construction of texts, the overall structure of texts and the generic move structures were examined in the content of the isiXhosa text. The parameters of the ethnography of writing, “Who writes what to whom, for what purpose, why, when, where and when and how?” posited by Grabe and Kaplan are also employed in this study in the analysis of the essays written in isiXhosa. In addition, the isiXhosa essays have been analysed with respect to Grabe and Kaplan’s (1996) components of information structuring under the writes parameter; topic sentence structure, topic continuity, topic structure analysis, topic-comment analysis, given-new relations, theme-rheme relations and focus-presupposition. In addition to the textlinguistic components of the write parameter, the writing in isiXhosa was analysed as regard the elements of text structure, which form part of the textuality and the structuralism of a text, as well as text cohesion, text coherence and the lexicon. In addition, the writing in isiXhosa was examined as regard Feez and Joyce’s (1998) overall design and language components of a biographical recount, including the three stages that reflect the rhetorical structure. The analysis of the isiXhosa essays has taken into account Hyland’s (2005) classification of metadiscourse according to two dimensions of interaction: the interactive dimension and the interactional dimension. The evaluative discussion invoked evidence from the analysis of the isiXhosa essays conducted in chapter three to demonstrate the view that, despite the variations in the three stages of both the learner’s expository and biographical recount essays, a steady progress and improvement from the stage 1 to the stage 2, and from the stage 2 to the stage 3 was evidenced. The findings of this study confirmed the effective realization and effective transfer of genre-based skills across the curriculum, in accordance with the objectives and aims stated for the study.

This study concerns school reform in Malta. Under the policy framework ‘For All Children to Succeed’ (Ministry of Education, Youth & Employment, 2005) [henceforth referred to as FACT], Maltese state schools embarked on the process of being organized into networks called ‘colleges’. These consisted of primary and secondary schools according to geographical location, under the leadership of the Principal – a newly-designated role hierarchically above that of the individual Heads of School. The purpose of my research is to explore relations of power in a Maltese college. My study gives prominence to both theory and methodology. The theoretical research question investigates how networking unfolds among the various leadership hierarchies in school governance in a Maltese college. This is explored through the performance of policy-mandated collegiality; the circulating relations of power; and leadership distribution. My study is framed within a postmodern paradigm and adopts a Foucauldian theoretical framework, more specifically his concepts of power, discipline, governmentality, discourse, and subjectification. Data for my case study are collected through semi-structured, in-depth interviews; observation of a Council of Heads meeting; and a documentary analysis of FACT. Narrative is not only the phenomenon under exploration, but also the method of analysis, and mode of representation. Thus, I attempt to answer my methodological research question that investigates the ways a researcher negotiates the methodological tensions and contradictions in the conduct of qualitative inquiry in order to construct knowledge differently. The Maltese college is viewed as a surveillance mechanism by both the Principal and the Heads, with collegiality being regarded as a straitjacket imposed by the State through a policy mandate. However, there is unanimous agreement on conscription being the only way forward for Maltese state schools. Different degrees of ‘support’ and empowerment exist, according to the directives of the Principal and the State. College setup is problematized on geographical clustering and college streaming, due to which it may end up defying the primary aim of networking by clustering students from particular areas in isolation, resulting in social injustice and educational inequality. This study exposes a strong sense of sectoral isolation among the Heads – a situation being mirrored at macro-level with very few opportunities for inter-networking among colleges. There is an asymmetrical power flow among the college schools, both within the same level and across different levels. Despite the policy FACT mandating distributed leadership, hierarchical forms of accountability are still inherent within the system, bringing out a tension between autonomy and centralization.

O estudo trata de pesquisa colaborativa realizada durante um ano por dois pesquisadores universitários e um grupo de doze professores de uma escola do campo de Educação Infantil e Ensino Fundamental do sudoeste do Paraná, com a promoção de reuniões semanais para análise, discussão e estudo da prática pedagógica. O projeto de educação continuada de professores tomou a escrita sobre a prática como um importante recurso formador para a melhoria da prática e para o desenvolvimento profissional docente. Tal potencialidade é analisada com base nos pressupostos sócio-históricos da linguagem e desenvolvimento humano, de Vigotski, na perspectiva dialógica e enunciativa, de Bakhtin, e na concepção de escrita como trabalho, de Riolfi. Alguns princípios se destacaram na orientação da pesquisa. (1) O caráter simbólico cultural da escrita, cujo aprendizado desempenha papel fundamental no desenvolvimento sociocultural do sujeito, por atuar na atividade mental mediada e exigir operações analíticas complexas e mais conscientizadas; a atitude de controle e deliberação que sua especificidade de dirigir-se a um interlocutor ausente ou imaginário implica e a maior abstração e intelectualização dos motivos que a determinam (VIGOTSKI). (2) Dos estudos de Bakhtin, os conceitos de diálogo, polifonia, alteridade, exotopia, gêneros do discurso, constituição semiótica da consciência, tributários da interação verbal, contribuíram para a compreensão da escrita no vínculo com a subjetividade e a produção de conhecimento. (3) De Garrido; Garrido, Pimenta e Moura; Giovanni; Mizukami, o conceito de reflexão como orientação para os processos formativos e para o desenvolvimento profissional de professores, a integração do conhecimento teórico aos saberes e práticas docentes, a relevância do contexto sócio-político e da produção de conhecimentos e aprendizagens sobre a docência. À luz desses fundamentos, e direcionando o foco às quatro alfabetizadoras da escola, analisa-se um conjunto de escritas desencadeadas no desenvolvimento de um projeto pedagógico coletivo pela escola: atas, diários, relatos da prática, textos de análise e avaliação da experiência. A análise evidenciou o papel formador da escrita, a agregação de um elevado nível de refinamento intelectual e elaboração reflexiva, pelo efeito de retroação e compreensão que produz e que movimenta as subjetividades. A textualização escrita da prática, pela mudança do gênero de discurso, esforço analítico, inclusão da alteridade e efeitos de deslocamento, inseriu as professoras num patamar de recriação da experiência e de desenvolvimento da própria esfera da prática educativa. Entre os principais resultados deste estudo, constataram-se contribuições dos estudos da linguagem e das atividades de escrita para a formação de professores: desenvolvimento da autoria e de atitudes e competências investigativas; reconhecimento de aspectos sociopolíticos que enleiam as práticas pedagógicas; valorização da aproximação pessoal entre os membros do grupo; fortalecimento da identidade profissional; valorização do conhecimento; desenvolvimento do compromisso ético-político com o ensino; mudanças conceituais sobre a escrita e a prática pedagógica e melhoria da prática. As contribuições conceituais de Bakhtin e Vigotski, principalmente pelo papel que concedem ao outro e à linguagem na produção da autoria, evidenciaram-se como uma valiosa sustentação teórica à pesquisa colaborativa e ao desenvolvimento profissional docente. / Collaborative research carried out by two university researchers and a group of twelve teachers at a country school in the Southwest of the state of Paraná (Brazil), who used to meet once a week for discussion, analysis of teaching practices in order to improve teaching and learning during one year. The In Service Teacher Education Program designed for this study was based on the assumption that writing over one´s own practice is an important formative resource for the improvement of teaching practice. This approach was inspired by Vigostski´s socio-historical aspects of language and human development, Bakhtin´s dialogical and enunciative perspective and Riolfi´s conception of writing as work. Some principles highlighted the research orientation. (1)The symbolic and cultural character of writing, whose learning plays basic role in one\'s sociocultural development, by acting in the mediated mental activity and by demanding complex analytical operations such as control, deliberation, great abstraction and intellectualization required to direct the writing message to an absent or imaginary interlocutor (VIGOTSKI). (2)From Bakhtin´s studies the concepts of dialogue, polyphony, alterity, speech genders, formation of the semiotic conscience, verbal interaction, writing comprehension linked to subjectivity and knowledge creation. (3)From Garrido; Garrido, Pimenta and Moura; Giovanni; Mizukami the concept of reflection as orientation to the formative processes of teacher\'s professional development, the articulation of theoretical knowledge and teacher´s representations and practices, the relevancy of the sociopolitical context on the production of teaching and learning knowledge. In the light of these fundaments, and directing the focus towards four school alphabetizers, a set of writings was analyzed: dairies, stories of their professional lives, evaluation texts over the experience. The analysis revealed the construccionist role of writing, aggregating a higher level of intellectual refinement and reflexive elaboration, offering feedback and analytical understanding of their practices and putting subjectivity into motion. The exercise of writing over their own practices, through the shift of gender of speech and analytical effort, has inserted teachers in an experience of re-creation, developing the authorship of their teaching practices. Among the main results found by this study in teachers development we stressed: authorship and investigative attitudes; recognition of sociopolitical aspect on the pedagogical practice; proximity between the members of the group; appreciation of knowledge; sociopolitical commitment towards teaching and learning; conceptual changes about writing and pedagogical practice and the improvement of practice itself. Bakhtin´s and Vigotski´s conceptual framework, particularly those related to language authorship, turned out to be a powerful theoretical support to collaborative research and to teacher professional development.

Despite the growing number of L2 studies examining digitally-mediated collaborative writing, the vast majority of these studies have focused on academic writing tasks. This study examined the dynamics and perceptions of groups of ESL students who used wikis to write collaborative short stories. The study also compared the short stories written in groups with posttest short stories written individually in terms of creativity, accuracy, and complexity. The study involved nine students taking a Creative Writing course in an intensive English program at a large university in the U.S. It followed a multiple case study design; the students were divided into three pairs and one triad (four case studies). For three weeks, the groups engaged in a series of wiki-based and creative writing activities and produced four collaborative short stories. During the following three-week period, the students wrote nine individual short stories using a similar writing prompt to the one used in the collaborative task. For each student, the collaborative and individual writing samples were compared on the three dimensions of creativity, accuracy, and complexity to examine whether collaboration influenced the quality of the product. Further, the dynamics of collaboration were explored through analyzing the wiki discussions and revision histories for each group. Finally, students' perceptions of the task were surveyed through individual interviews and self-assessment questionnaires. While there was not a clear effect of collaboration on the creativity and accuracy of the short stories, the complexity was slightly higher for the majority of the informants. The analysis of the short stories also indicated that ESL students faced difficulty writing in a genre that does not have a strict pre-established outline. Analysis of the wiki discussions and revision history showed trends of group dynamics in the four case studies. Further analysis of perception data revealed that although the majority of the informants had a negative perception of the collaborative task, they expressed a positive attitude toward the individual creative writing task.

O estudo trata de pesquisa colaborativa realizada durante um ano por dois pesquisadores universitários e um grupo de doze professores de uma escola do campo de Educação Infantil e Ensino Fundamental do sudoeste do Paraná, com a promoção de reuniões semanais para análise, discussão e estudo da prática pedagógica. O projeto de educação continuada de professores tomou a escrita sobre a prática como um importante recurso formador para a melhoria da prática e para o desenvolvimento profissional docente. Tal potencialidade é analisada com base nos pressupostos sócio-históricos da linguagem e desenvolvimento humano, de Vigotski, na perspectiva dialógica e enunciativa, de Bakhtin, e na concepção de escrita como trabalho, de Riolfi. Alguns princípios se destacaram na orientação da pesquisa. (1) O caráter simbólico cultural da escrita, cujo aprendizado desempenha papel fundamental no desenvolvimento sociocultural do sujeito, por atuar na atividade mental mediada e exigir operações analíticas complexas e mais conscientizadas; a atitude de controle e deliberação que sua especificidade de dirigir-se a um interlocutor ausente ou imaginário implica e a maior abstração e intelectualização dos motivos que a determinam (VIGOTSKI). (2) Dos estudos de Bakhtin, os conceitos de diálogo, polifonia, alteridade, exotopia, gêneros do discurso, constituição semiótica da consciência, tributários da interação verbal, contribuíram para a compreensão da escrita no vínculo com a subjetividade e a produção de conhecimento. (3) De Garrido; Garrido, Pimenta e Moura; Giovanni; Mizukami, o conceito de reflexão como orientação para os processos formativos e para o desenvolvimento profissional de professores, a integração do conhecimento teórico aos saberes e práticas docentes, a relevância do contexto sócio-político e da produção de conhecimentos e aprendizagens sobre a docência. À luz desses fundamentos, e direcionando o foco às quatro alfabetizadoras da escola, analisa-se um conjunto de escritas desencadeadas no desenvolvimento de um projeto pedagógico coletivo pela escola: atas, diários, relatos da prática, textos de análise e avaliação da experiência. A análise evidenciou o papel formador da escrita, a agregação de um elevado nível de refinamento intelectual e elaboração reflexiva, pelo efeito de retroação e compreensão que produz e que movimenta as subjetividades. A textualização escrita da prática, pela mudança do gênero de discurso, esforço analítico, inclusão da alteridade e efeitos de deslocamento, inseriu as professoras num patamar de recriação da experiência e de desenvolvimento da própria esfera da prática educativa. Entre os principais resultados deste estudo, constataram-se contribuições dos estudos da linguagem e das atividades de escrita para a formação de professores: desenvolvimento da autoria e de atitudes e competências investigativas; reconhecimento de aspectos sociopolíticos que enleiam as práticas pedagógicas; valorização da aproximação pessoal entre os membros do grupo; fortalecimento da identidade profissional; valorização do conhecimento; desenvolvimento do compromisso ético-político com o ensino; mudanças conceituais sobre a escrita e a prática pedagógica e melhoria da prática. As contribuições conceituais de Bakhtin e Vigotski, principalmente pelo papel que concedem ao outro e à linguagem na produção da autoria, evidenciaram-se como uma valiosa sustentação teórica à pesquisa colaborativa e ao desenvolvimento profissional docente. / Collaborative research carried out by two university researchers and a group of twelve teachers at a country school in the Southwest of the state of Paraná (Brazil), who used to meet once a week for discussion, analysis of teaching practices in order to improve teaching and learning during one year. The In Service Teacher Education Program designed for this study was based on the assumption that writing over one´s own practice is an important formative resource for the improvement of teaching practice. This approach was inspired by Vigostski´s socio-historical aspects of language and human development, Bakhtin´s dialogical and enunciative perspective and Riolfi´s conception of writing as work. Some principles highlighted the research orientation. (1)The symbolic and cultural character of writing, whose learning plays basic role in one\'s sociocultural development, by acting in the mediated mental activity and by demanding complex analytical operations such as control, deliberation, great abstraction and intellectualization required to direct the writing message to an absent or imaginary interlocutor (VIGOTSKI). (2)From Bakhtin´s studies the concepts of dialogue, polyphony, alterity, speech genders, formation of the semiotic conscience, verbal interaction, writing comprehension linked to subjectivity and knowledge creation. (3)From Garrido; Garrido, Pimenta and Moura; Giovanni; Mizukami the concept of reflection as orientation to the formative processes of teacher\'s professional development, the articulation of theoretical knowledge and teacher´s representations and practices, the relevancy of the sociopolitical context on the production of teaching and learning knowledge. In the light of these fundaments, and directing the focus towards four school alphabetizers, a set of writings was analyzed: dairies, stories of their professional lives, evaluation texts over the experience. The analysis revealed the construccionist role of writing, aggregating a higher level of intellectual refinement and reflexive elaboration, offering feedback and analytical understanding of their practices and putting subjectivity into motion. The exercise of writing over their own practices, through the shift of gender of speech and analytical effort, has inserted teachers in an experience of re-creation, developing the authorship of their teaching practices. Among the main results found by this study in teachers development we stressed: authorship and investigative attitudes; recognition of sociopolitical aspect on the pedagogical practice; proximity between the members of the group; appreciation of knowledge; sociopolitical commitment towards teaching and learning; conceptual changes about writing and pedagogical practice and the improvement of practice itself. Bakhtin´s and Vigotski´s conceptual framework, particularly those related to language authorship, turned out to be a powerful theoretical support to collaborative research and to teacher professional development.

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy: Public Management, 2017. / Different pedagogies, and writing styles have not only over the years transformed the face of academia, but have played a pivotal role in shaping diverse curricula and contributing to their development. In pursuit of attaining suitable models that have administrative and operational frameworks that address the ever-growing myriad multicultural world we live in today; different models and facilities have been developed to keep up with the development of academic literacies. The overall aim of this research was to investigate a model Writing Centre (WrC) and how its pedagogic, operational and administrative framework contributes to the growth of curricular in an institution of higher education. The study examined the power relations of the tutor and tutee relationship, as explained by the critical discourse analysis and how it adopts the customer contact theory to focus on the intangible assets of the student. The researcher used mixed methods analysis to be able to understand perceptions, views, expectations and experiences by students to explore the different ontologies and epistemologies associated with curriculum development. Finally, the research concluded that a positive contribution to growth for teaching is defined by the pedagogic, operational and administrative framework of a given WrC. It is however, imperative to note that the model can move away from what ought to be but still work, as the phenomenon of a WrC is informed by the institution in which it is birthed. Thus, the findings of this study are not disconfirmed by previous theories and research on similar efforts, but rather add to the already existent knowledge base on writing centres. / D

This collection of prose-poems and flash fiction, together with a few short stories, shows how romantic relationships colour our perspectives on the world. The collection has echoes throughout of speakers' voices, theme, imagery and tone. There is a narrative logic too, but working on a subtle level of echo and resonance

My stories are set in the townships, and move with the vigorous rhythms and jagged structures of township life. Some of them are written in English and others in isiXhosa. Some of the dialogue is township slang, a mixture of languages; and pure isiXhosa. The stories follow no particular pattern and are arranged according to any form of chronology, and different voices, at times as a man/boy and in others as a girl. The characters are not related each story perfectly stands for itself. Some of the stories hark back to the days of apartheid and are seen through the eyes of a child confused by the humiliations of his elders. / Amabali am asekelwe ezilokishini yaye ahambelana neemeko ezimaxongo zokuphila zasezilokishini apho yaye amanye asukela kwixesha lengcinezelo yesizwe esimnyama. Imiba echatshazelwa kula mabali iquka intlupheko, intiyo kwakunye nokuphilisana koluntu ezilokishini, phantsi kwezo meko. Amabali la ndizame ukuwenza alandele indlela yokubalisa yhenkwenkwana enguSkhumba, ethi ibone iqwalasele iimeko zokuphila zabantu bohlanga lwayo. Ingqokelela esisiqendu sokuqala yona ibhalwe ze yangeniswa ngesiNgesi. / This thesis is presented in two parts: English and isiXhosa.

Lurching from day-today in the months before South Africa becomes a republic, booze-befuddled Indian private investigator Rohit Biswas does not ponder how he can secure his daughter's future after he became a widower and lost his job as police detective when he killed a man who fatally stabbed his wife. Salvation appears when a rich client hires the PI to find evidence proving his son did not rape and murder a white socialite. Fighting against seeming impossible odds in colonial-apartheid Durban and a sanctions-busting conspiracy, Biswas secures his client's acquittal. In the process he defies karma and redeems himself.