This study investigates the possibilities of incorporating African languages in skills development and training in South Africa as part of functional multilingualism. This investigation is done in relation to the Skills Development Act (Act No.97 of 1998) promulgated by the South African government, through parliament in order to address skills shortage among workers in South Africa the majority of whom are black whose education and training needs can be more effectively addressed through mother-tongue instruction than through English or Afrikaans. A literature review of global trends in skills-development initiatives and strategies indicates that the use of indigenous languages in skills development ensures success in skills transference and also enhances language development and language promotion. Empirical research was done in the mining and minerals industry at Beatrix Gold Mine, Free State. / African Languages / M.A. (African Languages)

The study endeavoured to establish what had been done after 1994, by looking at the literature that reported the activities and documents that were produced. This was done against the background of what language policy and planning stand for. How these are conducted and how they influence the language ecology, was also central to our discussions. The analysis of what took place on the ground revealed that all the promising activities that were engaged in immediately post-apartheid were not sustained and did not produce the much anticipated outcomes. Much evidence for the dismal failure can be attributed to lack of accountability on the part of the powers that be. Recommendations are offered, emphasising, among others, an understanding of the importance of languages to their speakers. It is also important to understand the effects of colonisation and apartheid on the dehumanisation of the South African indigenous languages and how this has also influenced the current generation. We also need to demystify the myth that a language that is foreign to the majority of the population can serve as a unifying element and the idea that foreign and colonial languages can help us access education, employment, economy and law. These are some of the things we are advised to heed in our attempt to improve the situation of these languages. An ideal situation has been alluded to for the stakeholders to follow in the steps of those engaged in the Modernity/Coloniality-Decoloniality Collective Project. It follows two closely related directions: one analytic and the other programmatic. The analytic seeks “to excavate the dark side of domination, where racialization on inter-subjective social relations, and the control of knowledge, labor, land, and nature are revealed as operations of power” over the oppressed people (Veronelli, 2015). This goes hand in hand with the programme which is articulated around the notion of decoloniality, intended “to decolonize all areas of the colonial matrix of power to release the fullness of human relations” (Mignolo 2013, quoted in Veronelli, 2015). / African Languages / M.A. (African Languages)

This paper highlights the methodology that has been used at Rhodes University and other South African universities in implementing vocation-specific African language learning programmes. Essentially, the paper links the curriculum design to the theoretical paradigm of intercultural communication. Intercultural theory is used as a basis to develop vocation-specific courses where language and culture are taught, for example, to second language learners of isiXhosa at Rhodes University. These courses include courses for Pharmacy and Law students. This paper offers a new theoretical paradigm for intercultural language teaching. Furthermore, examples from specific courses are provided in order to illustrate how this theoretical paradigm can be implemented in a practical way. The impact of multilingualism and intercultural communication in the wider legal and healthcare work environment in South Africa is also discussed.

Gujjolaay Eegimaa (G.E.), an Atlantic language of the Niger-Congo phylum spoken in the Basse-Casamance area in Senegal, exhibits a system of nominal classification known as a "gender/ noun class system". In this type of nominal classification system which is prevalent in Niger-Congo languages, there is controversy as to whether the obligatory classification of all nouns into a finite number of classes has semantic motivations. In addition to the disputed issue of the semantic basis of the nominal classification, the formal criteria for assigning nouns into classes are also disputed in Joola languages and in G.E. In this PhD thesis, I propose an investigation of the formal and semantic properties of the nominal classification system of Gujjolaay Eegimaa (G.E). Based on cross-linguistic and language-specific research, I propose formal criteria whose application led to the discovery of fifteen noun classes in G.E. Here, I argue that the G.E. noun class system has semantic motivations. I show that some nouns in this language may be classified or categorized on the basis of shared properties as stipulated in the classical theory of categorization. However, most of the classification of the G.E. nouns is based on prototypicality and extension of such prototypes by family resemblance, chaining process, metaphor and metonymy, as argued in the prototype theory from cognitive semantics. The parameters of categorization that fruitfully account for the semantic basis of the G.E. nominal classification system are both universal and cultural-specific. Primary data constitutes the material used in this research and include lexical (including loanwords), textual as well as experimental data using picture stimuli. The collected data comprise different types of communicative events recorded in audio and video formats and also in written format through participant observation.

The research explores the relationship between language and education, and motivates for the intellectualisation of African languages, isiXhosa in particular, and for their use in education. The main rationale behind this is that access to, and success in education can largely be realised if that education is mediated in one’s first language. The thesis discusses works of prominent scholars who have written on the subject - relating cognitive abilities and achievement in education to language in which that education is offered. The lack of terminology in new domains in African languages as barrier to mother tongue education is laid bare by looking specifically at the history of intellectualisation of isiXhosa, from the missionaries in the 1820s up to the new endeavours as recently as 2008. Terminologies that were developed during the Bantu Education era, where development of isiXhosa and other indigenous African languages was accelerated in order to respond to the demands of moedertaal-onderwys (mother tongue education) are surveyed, and the process of their development analysed. Three main terminology lists developed during this period are analysed against terminology development principles, approaches and methods that are seen as a measure to ensure quality terminology development. The efforts of the development of isiXhosa during the post-apartheid South Africa, especially the government-driven initiatives, are also critiqued even though these are not as effective and as extensive, especially in education. The result of this analysis is that African languages and isiXhosa in particular, can be used in scientific disciplines and at the highest levels of education. Its grammar is advanced, and its lexicon is extensive such that new concepts that need to be named can be named, using appropriate term creation strategies. There are also technological tools such as WordSmith tools that can be used that can advance its development, ensuring that the concept represented in the newly-created term is precise, concise and appropriate in terms of its discipline. Therefore it is argued that, in the interim, terminologies should be developed, in various subjects, to support learning, which at this stage is mediated in English, for those students who have other languages as mother tongue. Those terminologies that have been developed in the various historical periods should be collated, revised and brought into the classrooms. The thesis argues that real intellectualisation of isiXhosa and other African languages rests on the use of these languages in classrooms and lecture halls, and in the value that all role players place on these languages.

This qualitative study set out to examine how the integrated approach to language teaching led to an enhancement in Luganda language practices in selected ordinary level secondary schools in the Kampala district of Uganda. The study was positioned within an interpretive paradigm, and employed a phenomenological approach in its intention to uncover the lived experiences and common hidden meanings that participants attached to the phenomena. Purposeful sampling was used to identify 30 teachers from 15 schools and 3 inspectors of school curricula who participated in the study. Data generation strategies included personal interviews and observations which were analyzed according to transcendental phenomenological data analysis methods such as bracketing, horizontalization, clustering into themes, textual description, structural description and textual-structural essence of the study. This study is located in the field of language education and informed by the theoretical framework of the cognitive constructivist theory of learning. In terms of the integrated approach in a Luganda language classroom, the findings show firstly, that teachers held positive perceptions towards the integrated approach in a Luganda language classroom and, as such, they perceived it as a basis for teaching language content and literacy practices collectively through various interactive strategies. Secondly, teachers implemented the integrated approach in a Luganda language classroom as a practical-based activity where learners are engaged in tasks which promote meaningful and real communication in the form of content, task-based instruction, literary texts or readers and contextual or experiential learning. Thirdly, findings on the enhancement of language practices in an integrated Luganda language classroom show that if teachers adopted and implemented the principles of the integrated approach, learners would be motivated to acquire not only the four language practices, but also other related practices such as cognitive, social and interpersonal practices which collectively simplify the language use. Lastly, while teachers are aware of what learners could achieve in an integrated Luganda language classroom, findings indicate that they are demotivated by the many challenges in the implementation process which stem from the teachers, the education system, the learners, and the integrated approach itself. The major implications and recommendations of this study’s findings include: firstly, teachers’ perceptions on the use of the integrated approach in a Luganda language classroom imply that since language learning is a function of social and meaningful classroom interactions learning activities should recognize a teacher as a reflective practitioner, consultant or facilitator of learning rather than an instructor. Secondly, the implementation of the integrated approach in a language classroom would require teachers to be grounded in both practical and theoretical instructional strategies which form a basis for monitoring and engaging learners’ oral and interactive practices. Thirdly, the enhancement of language practices is an outcome of classroom motivation and active interactions which involve creative and critical thinking. Thus, creating and sustaining situations for the enhancement of language practices in a language classroom would require effective branding of learners’ interactive activities with ample opportunities for practice as well as instructional support. Fourthly, considering the perceived challenges in the implementation of the integrated approach, the overall recommendation would be that those challenges need to be resolved if the integrated approach is to be successfully implemented in the context of the Luganda language. An awareness of such challenges provides teachers, educators and policy-makers with insightful ideas in terms of how to manage or change instructional strategies in the classroom.

My goal with this dissertation was to discover more about how the Bildungsroman genre in English or the coming-of-age story became a staple of post-colonial and ethnic minority writing. I grew up reading novels like these and feel a great deal of affection for them, and I wanted to understand how authors writing in these other traditions represented a broader response to colonialist Western culture. My method was to survey philosophical approaches to subjectivity and subject-formation, read a wide variety of texts I understood as engaging with the Bildung tradition, and examining how they represented subject-formation. While I originally saw the appropriation of the genre as a revolutionary act that fundamentally changed the nature of the Bildungsroman, I found that the Bildungsroman contained a germ of this oppositional, in Theodor Adorno’s terminology non-identical, subjectivity throughout its existence as a type in English literature. The opposition of writers of Bildung to heteronormative, racist, and sexist discourse is what brought out this non-identical strain more forcefully and ultimately culminated in contemporary manifestations of the Bildungsroman that reject essentialism and understand subjectivity as strategic, hyphenated, and positioned against a centered, stable identity. The positive significance of studying these texts as featuring a de-centering literary subject is that it demonstrates how this mode of writing, including a future anterior narrator that reflects on his or her past experiences as usable material for fashioning a durable and adaptive self, empowers subjects to exert greater control over their own self-fashioning. Students learn empathy and agency from witnessing the struggles of these protagonists to tell their stories.

Uranium mining and nuclear power is a controversial topic as of late, especially in light of the recent Fukushima event. Although the actual use of nuclear fuel has minimal environmental impact, its issues come at the very beginning and end of the fuel’s life cycle in both the mining and fuel disposal process. This paper focuses on a life cycle analysis (LCA) of uranium mine in the desert nation of Namibia in Southern Africa. The goal of this LCA is to evaluate the environmental effects of uranium mining. The LCA focuses on water and energy embodiment such that they can then be compared to other mines. The functional unit of the analysis is 1kg of yellowcake (uranium oxide). The processes considered include mining and milling at Langer Heinrich Uranium (LHU). The impact categories evaluated include the categories in ReCiPe assessment method with a focus of water depletion, and cumulative energy demand. It was found that the major environmental impacts are marine ecotoxicity, human toxicity, freshwater eutrophication, and freshwater ecotoxicity. These mainly came from electricity consumption in the mining and milling process, especially electricity generated from hard coal. Milling tailings was also a contributor, especially for marine ecotoxicity and human toxicity. The other electricity generation types, including nuclear, hydro, natural gas, and diesel contribute to marine exotoxicity and human toxicity as well. Hydro-electricity, tailings form milling, sodium carbonate, and nuclear electricity also cause freshwater eutrophication at the LHU mine. The major contributor of the water depletion was hard coal generated electricity consumption as well. Tailings also led to a level of water depletion that was significant but much smaller than that of the coal-based electricity. In terms of energy, weighting portrayed the main energy used to be nuclear power, in terms of MJ equivalents. Nuclear power was then followed by fossil fuels and finally hydropower. Most of the energy used was for the uranium mining process rather than the milling process. As expected, the direct water, and energy values, 0.5459 m3 and 97.34 kWh per kg of yellowcake, were much lower than the LCA embodiment values of 282.67 m3 and 76,479 kWh per kg of yellowcake. When compared to other mines, the water use at LHU was found to be much lower while the energy use was found to be much higher.

One of the two aims of this research was to elucidate from a philosophical perspective a selected body of Nigerian fiction. The second objective has been to investigate the dominant themes of the two selected novelists and relate them to existentialism. The most essential theme was found to be colonialism and its disruption of the African culture. It was implied in the works of the novelists that authentic African culture was dislocated by British imperialism in Nigeria. The use of force and other features of power was manifested in the takeover. Through various literary devices and innuendo they suggest that the social values of their people had been altered to the advantage of the Europeans. They, however, blame the Nigerians as well for their lack of will power to stabilize things. One of the most important findings is the fact that man will always seek his well-being first before caring for others. The philosophy of the existentialism in whose light the African situation has been analyzed points out that power is the underlying factor in all human situations. Since power determines who gains the upper hand in life’s struggle the existentialists alert man to the notion that everyone has his own existence to guard. To relate this idea to the Nigerian situation, it then means that the Nigerian has his destiny to guard. This is found to be the coded message of the Nigerian novelists to their people.

Summaries in Afrikaans and English / In hierdie studie word meerduidigheid as n subkategorie van meervoudigheid van betekenis beskou. Onder die hoofverdeling tussen leksikale en nie-leksikale meerduidigheid word verskillende tipes en subtipes meerduidigheid onderskei, wat almal die volgende gemeen het, dat dit telkens om een vorm gaan met meer as een moontlike, duidelik onderskeibare interpretasie. Daar word gepoog om eerstens op algemeen-teoretiese vlak die aspekte van meerduidigheid aan te toon waarvan 'n beskrywend adekwate teorie rekenskap sal moet kan gee. Die wesenlike aspekte verbonde aan die verskynsel word uitgelig by wyse van n kritiese oorsig van die tradisionele, die sintakties- en semanties-gerigte, die psigolinguistiese en die pragmatiese benaderings. Tweedens word daar gepoog om op taalspesifieke vlak meerduidigheid in Afrikaans op n adekwate wyse te verantwoord, deur die aard en die bereik van die meerduidigheid op verskillende vlakke te ondersoek, en taalspesifieke meerduidigheidskeppende faktore en vereenduidigingsmeganismes te isoleer. Daar word ingegaan op verskeie teoretiese beskouinge aangaande die leksikon, en stilgestaan by die leksikografiese problematiek - veral met betrekking tot die onderskeid tussen homonimie en polisemie. Verskillende kategoriee van leksikale en nie-leksikale meerduidigheid word ten opsigte van meerduidigheid s keppende faktore, meerdui digheidsbereik en vereenduidigingsmeganismes en -strategiee onder die loep geneem. In die proses word die wisselwerking tussen fonologiese, sintaktiese, semantiese en pragmotiese parameters wat n rol speel by die interpretasie van uitinge, verken. Verder word daar ingegaan op intensionele meerduidigheid soos dit neerslag vind in verbale humor- veral in die vertelgrap en raaisel . Daar word aangesluit by Raskin (1985) se onderskeid tussen die bona fide-modus en die nie-bona fide-modus van kommunikasie. Die voorwaardes vir en die meganismes van humor in n paar Afrikaanse grappe en raaisels word ontleed aan die hand van Raskin (1985) se skrip-semantiek, in terme waarvan hy linguistiese humor probeer verklaar binne n taalhandelingsraamwerk. Die studie dui daarop dat daar op algemeen-teoretiese vlak 'n behoefte bestaan aan omvattende taalgebruiksteorie waarbinne die moedertaaI spreker se jntuitiewe inlerpretasie en vereenduidiging van meerduidige uitinge op adekwate wyse verantwoord kan word. / In this study cimbiguity is analysed as a sub-category of multiple meaning. Within the main div ision between lexical and non-lexical ambiguity, a distinct ion is made between various types and sub-types of ambiguity which all share one characteristic: that of consisting of a single form representing more than one possible, clearly distinguishable interpretation. Firstly, an attempt is made on a general theoretical level to show which aspects of ambiguity an adequate theory must account for. The essential aspects of the phenomenon are dealt with by means of a critical review of the pragmatic, syntactic, semantic, psycholinguistic and traditional approaches. Secondly, an attempt is made on a language-specific level to give an adequate account of ambiguity in Afrikaans by investigating the nature and scope of ambiguity on different levels. Various theoretical approaches to the lexicon are considered, focusing inter alia on lexicographical problems, with particular reference to the distinction between homonymy and polysemy. Different categories of lexical and non-lexical ambiguity are considered in an attempt to isolate those factors causing ambiguity, and to ascertain the scope of the various ambiguities as well as the constraints and disambiguation mechanisms and strategies applicable in each case. In the course of this investigation attention is drawn to the interaction between phonological, semantic, syntactic and pragmatic parameters pertaining to the interpretation of utterances. In my investigation of intentional ambiguity in verbal humour, a number of Afr ikaans jokes and riddles are analysed according to certain conditions for and mechan isms of humour. This analysis draws on Raskin's (1985) theory of script-semantics and his distinction between the bona fide-mode and the non-bona fide-mode of communication. On a general theoretical level this thesis indicates a need for a comprehensive theory of language use which can adeq uately account for the mother-tongue speaker's intuitive interpretation and disambiguation of ambiguous utterances. / Afrikaans and Theory of Literature / D. Litt. et Phil.