Between 1990 and 2005, the state of affairs in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, including Liberia, remained fragile due to continuous civil unrest and war. Although peace initiatives were initiated, progress toward peace has remained minimal. Ghana, one of the nations in Sub-Saharan Africa, has continued to demonstrate significant stability and progress in the midst of civil and political conflicts in the sub-region. Currently, little research exists on how Ghanaians managed to remain stable, while countries in the sub-region continued to experience civil unrests and wars. Using Eisenstadt's theory of sociological modernization as the theoretical foundation, the purpose of this holistic case study sought to understand factors that have driven stability in Ghana. Data were collected from multiple sources including 15 research participants of diverse professions and perspectives, numerous pertinent documents, and field notes. All data were inductively coded and then subjected to a thematic analysis procedure. Social change lessons extracted from the study linked to core findings include (a) Ghanaians demonstrate an understanding of the importance of both African and Western cultural experiences and integrating the experiences from both cultural sectors for national harmony, and (b) Ghanaians are pursuing a national development agenda through economic reforms, participatory democracy, and some level of equal distribution of the national wealth. The effectiveness of Ghana's national development agenda is demonstrated by capacity building and the strengthening of social service programs not just in the urban sector, but also in the rural sector of Ghanaian society. These two core social change lessons could remain useful for countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

In chapter 1 a short exposition of the history of the Tsonga tribes is given. In chapter 2 the reflexes of the different Proto-Bantu sounds in the particular Tsonga dialects are given. Chapter 3 is a short exposition of the grammar of Nkuna, the dialect on which the standard language is based. Chapter 4 The grammar of all the other dialects is compared with that of Nkuna in chapter 4. Chapter 5 a classification of the Tsonga dialects is made. The writer shows that a linguistic classification of dialects based on geographical principles or on the history of the different tribes speaking the dialects is untenable, since no account is taken in such a classification of the present state of the various dialects. A classification of dialects according to isoglosses is also not scientifically correct, because of the subjective judgement of' the investigator in deciding which isoglosses must be regarded as primary and which as secondary. Chapter 6 The writer then makes a classification of the Tsonga dialects into dialect clusters according to principles which he regards to be purely objective and scientific in which all the similarities and differences of the dialects are taken into account without the writer's subjective judge- ment playing a role. Capter 7 According to these principles, the Tsonga dialects of' the Republic of South Africa are divided into the following dialect clusters: Nucleus dialect cluster consisting of the following dialects: Changana of Gija, Changana of Komatipoort, Nkuna, Changana of Bushbuckridge, Gwama, Hlave, N'walungu, N 'walungu of the Vakavaloyi, Changana Mnisi and Changana of Makhuva. (b) Periferal dialect cluster consisting of Konde. (c) Intermediate A dialect cluster consisting of Xiluleke of Makuleke, Xiluleke of Mhinga, and Nhlanganu. (d) Intermediate B dialect cluster consisting of Xonga. / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil.

African Languages / M.A. (Bantu Languages)

Many countries in West Africa, including Liberia, remain trapped in extreme poverty and dysfunctional social services amid continued increase in foreign aid. This study examines complexities influencing decisions of government donors in determining the kind of development assistance needed in Liberia and nation states in West Africa. This research explains the ways in which aid perpetuates poverty instead of alleviating it using interdisciplinary research approaches. Although aid is critical to Liberia’s development agenda, aid implementation faces numerous challenges because of extant poverty and rampant corruption. Part of the problem in Liberia is not solely the failure of aid to meet its goals. I conclude that poverty persists despite billions of dollars in aid because of corruption, human rights abuses, and inequalities, not the concept of aid. Democracy is effective when economic development allows citizens to have power within their own nation and government is accountable to its citizens.

Women on Wednesdays presentation.

The study sought to explore perception and attitude towards the study of African languages in high schools and the resultant implications on human resources development and management. The research basically explored the diverse perception and attitude that prevail towards African languages in African countries in general and Zimbabwe in particular. The descriptive survey research design was used mainly for its effectiveness in exploratory research. Participants were drawn from selected high schools and universities in Zimbabwe. Questionnaires, interviews, focus group discussions and documentary analyses were used to collect data. Data gathered were then subjected to both qualitative and quantitative analyses for triangulation purposes. Major findings indicated that the perception and attitude towards the study of African languages in Zimbabwean high schools is generally negative. English language is preferred to and valued more than African languages. Such perception and attitude determine choices of programmes of study at tertiary level and the selective channeling of people into specific professional fields. Consequently, that impact on the development and management of potential human resources in professions related to African languages. The current language policy in Zimbabwe has no clear instrument that defines the place of African languages in the curriculum and work place as is the case with English. The choice of language to study at high school is thus determined by fossilised perception and attitude towards languages in general, coupled with lack of career guidance on the link between African languages and related career opportunities, in the belief that English is the gateway to success. The study clearly reveals that it is the Zimbabwean education system that should realize the potential of schools as agents of change in improving the status of African languages. Hence the study advocates restructuring of the curriculum. Proposals and recommendations to re-engineer the Zimbabwean curriculum so that indigenous African languages are made compulsory up to ‘A’ level were made. Such a bold move would uplift the status of African languages and at the same time improve perception and attitude towards their study as well as indirectly, but positively, impacting on human resources development and management in related disciplines. / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

This study is on standard isiXhosa in a multilingual classroom and includes an interpretation of both urban and rurual learners’ literary texts. An attempt is made to examine a selection of isiXhosa texts in order to interprete the state of affairs of the isiXhosa language in the 21st century. Organization of the study This dissertation was organized in the following manner: Chapter one includes an introduction to the study, its aims and objectives as well as the research methodology. Since the isiXhosa language is the focal point of the study, it is discussed in some depth. In chapter two, the researcher concentrates on the Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB) "Imibono yethu". Imibono yethu is an anthology of learners' writings. The learners were invited to enter a competition by using various genres, e.g. short stories, poems, one-act dramas, rap songs, kwaito, essays, and melodic poems. The researcher wanted the learners to use whatever genre inspires them, to put it colloquially, "what turns them on!" Any aspect of the urban lifestyle could be explored within the theme of each entry and fell under the following headings: • Standard language. • Standard isiXhosa. Chapter three investigates non-standard language varieties with special reference to isiXhosa and the language policy of South Africa. In this chapter, a comparison was drawn between non-standard language and standard language. vi In chapter four, the researcher discusses the overall findings of the competition, comparing the results emanating from the Eastern Cape and Gauteng. Chapter five deals with achievement of the objectives and highlights of the research. / African Languages / M.A. (African Languages)

Thesis (MA (African Languages))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The aim of this study is to explore conflict in the two dramas under study. Conflict is one of the cornerstones of drama and it is the most significant element of plot. An investigation is done of the two dramas under study: Inene nasi isibhozo by Mthingane (1965) and Buzani Kubawo by Tamsanqa (1958). Both dramas depict Xhosa cultural properties, and its impact on character portrayal in the dramas. The study has the following organization: Chapter 1: Purpose and aims of the study. Chapter 2: Review of literature on conflict. Chapter 3: Deals with the development of plot within episodes. A critical evaluation of the dramas is undertaken. Chapter 4: Presents culture and conflict in the dramas and an investigation of the portrayal of these aspects is undertaken. Chapter 5: Summary of the findings of the study.

Thesis (MA (African Languages))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / This study deals with the analysis of accounts of marriages in isiXhosa. Gergen (1994) proposes the following aspects that such narratives should cover: structure of narrative account; narrative form; self-narrative: process; pragmatics of self-narrative, interknitting of narratives, and emotion. Each of the listed aspects has its own variants. The variants will be dealt with in Chapter four, where Gergen’s theory is being summarised. The proposals Gergen (1994) made are central and significant in this research, since the narratives that have been given by five Xhosa-speaking married persons will be analysed according to his theory on self-narratives. This research seeks to verify the validity of Gergen’s (1994) theory of narratives in the Xhosa context. The research has been conducted by involving five Xhosaspeaking married persons. Each person had to give his or her account of marriage in line with the topic of this research, namely, the analysis of accounts of marriage in Xhosa. After narratives had been collected, an analysis of each narrative has been done in Chapter five of this research. The analysis reveals how each narrative reflects the following: the structure of the narrative account, narrative form, selfnarrative: process, pragmatics of self-narrative, practices of self-narratives, and emotions, as suggested by Gergen (1994). Analyses vary from one narrative to another because an account of married life varies from one person to another. Bakhtin (1981) suggest that the words that narrators use are inter-individual. The understanding of social morals, values, norms, justice, and the history of the community by the narrators enables them to be intelligible in their narratives. It is therefore crucial that this study be pursued in the Xhosa language because narratives are socially embedded. The narratives in this study could assist people to think correctly about the marriages in the Xhosa context. The issue of marriage affects all people, despite language diversity, and it is therefore proper that this study be conducted in all languages. If this is not done, others may think that the findings from this research is applicable to the Xhosa-speaking community only. The analytic part of this research would help communication practitioners and language practitioners to analyse narratives in their languages in the same manner as they have been analysed from Xhosa narratives. This research analysis would assist developing communicators to grow into competent communicators.

Thesis (MA (African Languages))--Stellenbosch University, 20008. / This study employs the theoretical framework of text construction advanced by Feez and Joyce (1998) and Grabe and Kaplan (1996) for the analysis of Xhosa texts of biographical recounting and consequential explanation. Text-linguistic methods are used to analyse five written biographical recounting texts and five written consequential explanation texts taken from Bona magazine. These text-linguistic methods explore the incorporation of texts in the National Curriculum 2005, in order to equip both teachers and learners with the skills to get to know the Xhosa language – to learn, to teach and to follow the language structure when writing. The analysis facilitates the discovery of the communicative purpose, culture and social elements in written text. In addition, models of writing, text-linguistic construction, properties of written text and elements of text structure are explored in the analysis of the Xhosa texts. Based on these terms, the broad emphasis will be on parameters of the ethnography of writing as proposed by Grabe and Kaplan (1996). These parameters are, among others, as follows: who writes what to whom, for what purpose, why, when, where and how? This study also proves that the theoretical framework advanced by Feez and Joyce (1998) and Grabe and Kaplan (1996) about written texts could result in effective teachers and learners who have acquired skills and become text experts.