The lack of terminology in Zulu can be overcome if it is developed to meet international scientific and technical demands. This lack of terminology can be traced back to the absence of proper language policy implementation with regard to the African languages. Even though Zulu possesses the basic elements that are necessary for its development, such as orthographical standards, dictionaries, grammars and published literature, a number of problems exist within the technical elaboration and standardisation processes: * Inconsistencies in the application of standard rules, in relation to both orthography and terminology. * The lack of standardisation of the (technical) word-formation patterns in Zulu. (Generally the role of culture in elaboration has largely been overlooked). * The avoidance of exploiting written technical text corpora as a resource for terminology. (Text encoding by means of corpus query tools in term extraction has just begun in Zulu and needs to be properly exemplified). * The avoidance of introducing oral technical corpora as a resource for improving the acceptability of technical terminology by, for instance, designing a type of reusable corpus annotation. This study contributes towards solving these problems by offering a practical approach within the context of the real written, standard and oral Zulu language, mainly within the medical terminological domain. This approach offers a reusable methodological foundation with proper language exemplification that can guide terminologists in terminological research, or to some extent even train them, to achieve effective technical elaboration and eventual standardisation. This thesis aims at attaining consistent standardisation on the orthographical level in order to ease the elaboration task of the terminologist. It also aims at standardising the methods of word- (term-) formation linking them to cultural factors, such as taboo. However, this thesis also emphasises the significance of using written and oral technical corpora as terminology resource. This, for instance, is made possible through the application of corpus linguistics, in semi-automatic term extraction from a written technical corpus to aid lemmatisation (listing entries) and in corpus annotation to improve the acceptability of terminology, based on the comparison of standard terms with oral terms. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / D. Litt et Phil. (Linguistics)

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Technology: Language Practice, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2015. / This research is designed to assess the validity of the Sapir Whorf hypothesis in relation to the linguistic and cultural notions of the Yoruba and Zulu language speakers’ via the evaluation of the culture enriched drama text The Lion and The Jewel by Wole Soyinka. The study, which uses both questionnaires and interviews to derive responses from participants, engages both the primary and secondary data throughout the chapters. The study queried both the hypothesis’ strong version, (language governs thought: linguistic classifications restrain and influence mental classifications); and its weak version, (linguistic classifications and their use influence thought as well as some other classes of non-linguistic activities) and their possible reliability. Participants’ ages were between 16 and 46 years old who all speak both English and isiZulu (isiZulu-speaking participants) and English and Yoruba (Yoruba-speaking participants). Questionnaires were used and interviews were conducted, the research questions were answered and the findings provided support for validity of the linguistic relativity hypothesis, that is, languages indeed influence thought. The findings also revealed that linguistic influence on cognition is not limited to different language speakers alone, but also same language speakers per level of exposure to other languages and concepts. Based on these findings, recommendations have been made. Among which is the soliciting more research on language and culture (acculturation and enculturation) such that societal peace, love, unity and development can be maintained and promoted in any monolingual, bilingual or multilingual society. Also, educators should be aware of the possibility of a psycholinguistic influence on thought and assimilate it into schools’ curriculum so that multiculturation is fully adopted and promoted in the schools.

No abstract available. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal,Durban, 2003.

The South African Schools Act (1996) is now in place to allow the governing bodies to decide on language policies for their schools. This has come about as a means to redress the past situation whereby policies were imposed upon schools. The most affected groups of people were Africans since those policies were designed with the sole aim of undermining their home languages. The only two languages that were promoted at all cost were English and Afrikaans. These languages were also used as languages of learning and instructions. This had detrimental effects on the school results of black children as they could not cope to learn in a foreign or second language. Teachers also worked under tremendous pressure as they had to make an extra effort in trying to make learners understand difficult and new concepts. In an effort to redress these problems the new language policy under the new democratic South Africa recommends the use of a home language as a language of learning. It however remains to be investigated what attitudes the black educators have towards this policy as they are the ones who should implement it in their classrooms. This study set out to investigate the black educators' attitudes on the issue of the role of indigenous languages in education. The focus indigenous language of this study is isiZulu. This is due to the fact that the study was conducted in an isiZulu dominated area, that is in Durban in the region of KwaZulu-Natal. I wanted to ascertain what are the isiZulu-speaking teachers' attitudes on the role of isiZulu in society and in education. I investigated their attitudes on what languages should be used as languages of teaching and learning and at what levels. I also tried to understand what languages they would prefer to be offered as subjects. The data of this study were obtained mostly by means of questionnaires and verified through limited but structured interviews. The questionnaire had two sections: Respondents completed the first part of the questionnaire giving their personal details. These were needed to establish whether and to what extent they have an effect on teachers' attitudes. The rest of the questionnaire was directed at eliciting the educators' attitudes towards the role of African languages in education. This study has two main findings: First, it was found that the respondents generally favour the use of African languages in education. That is, the majority of respondents favoured the early introduction and continued use of isiZulu as a language of instruction. Second, some of their responses are self-contradictory to this attitude in that the teachers equally wanted English to be used early in education as well. Some of them envisaged a future where English will continue to dominate the lives of African people. There is a strong evidence of language shift from isiZulu to English. If the results of this study are anything to go by, then there are serious implications for the new language policy in education. The survival and success of any educational policy depends on the extent to which it is understood and embraced by the practitioners, in this case educators. Given my findings that most teachers are ambivalent about the new policy, the 'language in education' is in serious trouble. Based on collected data, it is clear that the teachers were not familiar with the new policy. The policy is likely to fail unless some intervention strategies are taken to address this problem. This made me to recommend that black educators (and parents in general) need to be given an awareness of the current language in education policy and what it attempts to redress. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2001.

This study explores the strategies implemented by grade one isiZulu Home Language (HL) teachers when teaching reading. One of the fundamental skills of education for learners involves the development of reading in the early stages of schooling. The CAPS document was recently introduced in order to help introduce teachers to a variety of explicit strategies in the teaching and assessment of reading. However, practitioner experience and research indicate that most teachers find it difficult to implement the strategies suggested for a variety of reasons. The study adopted the qualitative approach based on an interpretive approach. The objective of choosing the qualitative method for data collection was to get deeper insight into how teachers teach reading to learners. The strategies employed to gather data with efficiency and minimum bias involved the adoption of the semi-structured interview. This research used the semi-structured interviews with three grade one teachers in the Pinetown district as respondents. Research findings indicate that teachers have significant difficulties in implementing the reading strategies to achieve the levels of competencies as required by the CAPS document. The respondents in this research found that they were significantly challenged when it came to implementing the recommended CAPS strategies to learners. It was also observed that there are distinct gaps in the teaching of reading to learners in the foundation phase. Moreover, teachers struggled with the interpretation of the reading methods as laid out in the policy framework. In order to address these problems it is recommended that teachers in the schools be trained thoroughly on how to implement strategies recommended by the Department of Education as stipulated in the CAPS document. The respondents realized that they needed extensive knowledge and specialised skills which were not offered during the training. All the three teachers taught the different aspects of the language in isolation, and not in the integrated approach as espoused in the CAPS. The findings also suggest that support from school management in mentoring is required to assist teachers to implement the strategies with efficiency and understanding. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2013.

The overall questions that were provided in the higher degrees proposal have been fairly answered throughout this doctoral dissertation. The following questions have been asked and answered throughout the thesis: What has been identified a's changes from traditional naming practices to Western naming practices? What morphophological comparisons can be made in naming practices? What influenced the cultural and historical background and language of the Shangase clan? Every social group of people has certain norms of behaviour. How does this culturally and structurally affect the system of naming within the Shangase Clan? Since there are different language names, how are these names related, or can any: system of their relationship be found within the Shangase Clan? From which parts of speech are different names (which are nouns) normally derived and what prefixal and suffixal elements are applied? What poetic techniques can be used to analyse the personal praises or praise names of Kings, Royal Family Members and the ordinary people? It has therefore, been realized that the personal names and place names are well known to have played a more substantial role in the identification of different people and places of different clans. Surnames and address names have promoted the identification and classification of different clans. The researcher has used both the qualitative and quantitative research methodologies as tools for data collection. Research methods have entailed verbal descriptive practices, which include oral inquiries, questionnaires, interviews and observational information. The purpose of this research has been to locate the study within the context of the topic and the historical background of the Shangase people which eventually deals with personal names, place-names and personal praises. The literature has been reviewed according to the recommendations of the researcher's supervisor Prof S.E. Ngubane. Five scholars were chosen and the focus was on history, genealogy, linguistic, onomastics of personal names, place-names and how these names are derived and changed from time to time with naming practices changing from generation to generation. This has enabled every member of the Shangase clan to identify himself easily with the founder, Shangase (Mkheshane), son of Vumizitha, of Mthebe of Mnguni 1. The researcher's main objective has been to focus on the history and genealogy of the Shangase clan from the time of Vumizitha (d.c.l688) to the present time (AD 2006), how personal names and place names are given when one looks at the circumstances of naming and history surrounding the names and the linguistic analysis of the onomactic elements. The personal names, place names and praise names are analysed and synthesized within the parameters of word formation, and as words they are isolated or syntactically used to assign a particular meaning in Zulu. Lastly, the researcher is mostly interested in this study because, as a member of the Shangase Community, he has a thorough knowledge of where the Shangase clan is located. The researcher's method of interviews using interview questionnaires assisted him to accomplish the main objectives. Through these interviews and observations, the researcher highly recommends that those who might be able to read this thesis, and feel interested and create new challenges in the field of onomastics, which the researcher hopes this thesis has done, should further undertake a study of personal praises within the Shangase clan. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2006.

M.A. (African Languages) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

This thesis looks at language as the medium of all our ideas and sentiments. The thesis represents a position statement regarding the development of isiZulu as an academic language. The field of Economics is used to merely illustrate and support the points that are being made in this work. It is argued that each language is viewed as the means of expression of the cultural heritage of its people, and it remains a reflection of cultural groups who speak that particular language. It is a fact that indigenous African Languages have been, for obvious reasons, blatantly understudied during the apartheid years in South Africa (Rudwick 2004). Languages have market value and the desirability of English as the most important global language today has an effect in most Black learners in South Africa. The study examined the development of indigenous African languages, isiZulu in particular, in Zululand University where ninety percent of students and lecturers are isiZulu first language speakers, and came to a conclusion that there is an urgent need for Black South African students to learn academic subjects through their mother tongues. This would help them in thorough understanding and interpretation of analytic text presented in a foreign language such as English. The study advocates that isiZulu, which is the mother-tongue of many students at the University of Zululand, should be a language for upward mobility to these students, but as the situation stands, isiZulu becomes a neglected or marginalised language since it is not the normal medium of instruction and it is not used for effective communication in their education system.

This thesis looks at language as the medium of all our ideas and sentiments. The thesis represents a position statement regarding the development of isiZulu as an academic language. The field of Economics is used to merely illustrate and support the points that are being made in this work. It is argued that each language is viewed as the means of expression of the cultural heritage of its people, and it remains a reflection of cultural groups who speak that particular language. It is a fact that indigenous African Languages have been, for obvious reasons, blatantly understudied during the apartheid years in South Africa (Rudwick 2004). Languages have market value and the desirability of English as the most important global language today has an effect in most Black learners in South Africa. The study examined the development of indigenous African languages, isiZulu in particular, in Zululand University where ninety percent of students and lecturers are isiZulu first language speakers, and came to a conclusion that there is an urgent need for Black South African students to learn academic subjects through their mother tongues. This would help them in thorough understanding and interpretation of analytic text presented in a foreign language such as English. The study advocates that isiZulu, which is the mother-tongue of many students at the University of Zululand, should be a language for upward mobility to these students, but as the situation stands, isiZulu becomes a neglected or marginalised language since it is not the normal medium of instruction and it is not used for effective communication in their education system.