The Maasai of East Africa is a nomadic tribe. Their pastoral culture is well known for its unique ritualism. The United States is an industrialized nation where cohesive ritualism is not as well defined. Cultural practices in these two vastly different societies often include the potential for medically deleterious effects. Such medically harmful practices can include facial mutilation, female circumcision, dietary habits, and plastic surgery. This research is designed to define and compare medically deleterious ritual practices among Maasai and United States culture, in order to seek the possibility of similar human reasoning for their continuation. The comparison of reasoning among vastly different cultures may allow for the better understanding of human primary motives and collective meaning.

Thesis (MA (African Languages))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / This study is concerned with a task-based analysis of specific purposes Sesotho learning tasks for the learning and teaching of Sesotho as a second language by personnel of the small business development corporation. A range of authentic tasks in Sesotho has been constructed to demonstrate authentic specific purpose learning and teaching, and hence assessment tasks for personnel in the small business development corporation.

Thesis (MA (African Languages))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / The purpose of this study is to apply existing theories with regard to second language acquisition in a South African context, in order to address specific needs of Sepedi second language learners in the South African Police Service, with specific focus on the Community Service Centre and within the guidelines of the Batho Pele principles. The study presents an overview on Universal Grammar and the roles it played within second language acquisition as well as the principles and parameters it presented for language development. It further analysed the acquisition processes of languages and the roles the learner plays as individual and part of a social interacting group. Form-meaning connections utilised by learners is defined as a fundamental aspect for both first and second language acquisitions are discussed broadly in the study, inclusive of the psycholinguistic consequences as well as other input factors that may influence form-meaning connections. The specific role of language instruction is also reviewed in this study. Specific focus is placed on the roles of implicit and explicit instruction and the effectiveness thereof in second language acquisitioning and noticing. Task-based theories were also evaluated, with the accent on the definition of tasks, task characteristics, task grading and other factors relating to tasks such as procedural factors. The role of tasks was further explored in second language acquisition, inclusive of the variables that need to be addressed. The definition of tasks into focussed and unfocused tasks are also scrutinized against the learner interaction in the acquisition process. The implementation of tasks and the impact thereof on comprehension and language acquisition is also reviewed. Different models of methods to design a focussed task are discussed. The successful acquisition of a second language will also be based on the correct collation of data and the sequencing thereof in such manners to allow learners the opportunity to comprehend it as sufficiently as possible. The study further focuses on the methodology of task-based teaching and the use of communicative tasks in second language acquisition. Finally the interviews between the community and the police officials are then analysed in respect of complexity models, against the cognitive and syntactic complexity for specific purposes as well against the genre-approach to second language teaching. The characterizing of such interviews will allow the defining and grading of tasks to ensure sound development of teaching models for second language learning.

Rwanda is a small resource poor country in East Africa that has experienced almost two decades’ worth of significant growth following a genocide that claimed almost 10% of the country’s population. This paper explores the role of positive autonomy in the countries path to development hoping to demonstrate that countries that are ready to pursue independent policy initiatives ought to be encouraged to do so by their international partners. Positive autonomy has three defining characteristics; the ability of a country to pursue its own internally driven policy choices, especially in the face of external opposition but not necessarily in the face of opposition, “ownership” of a community over policy developments that affect them, i.e. their involvement in the administration of policy, and lastly, the ability of a country to reject policy propositions from the outside. Negative autonomy would be a lack of two or more of those conditions. Using this model, I seek to show that these three characteristics have been pursued by Rwanda as a result of its pre-genocide history. I also seek to show that these three characteristics have played a vital role in the development of Rwanda by allowing the government to pursue innovative strategies outside of international norms. To demonstrate this conclusion, I first look to the pre and post-colonial histories of Rwanda in order to examine the role of negative autonomy, seeking to build a case that demonstrates its lasting impact in Rwanda’s political character. I then examine an extreme case of negative autonomy in the case of the CFA monetary union followed by an extended examination of a clear case of positive autonomy in Rwanda and the benefits and failures it has produced. I then briefly examine the relationship between development aid and influence also demonstrating that Rwanda’s position on development aid mirrors its position on positive autonomy in general. Finally, I briefly examine three different examples of positive autonomy in Rwanda as a supplement to the extended example to demonstrate that some of the biggest policy initiatives undertaken by the Rwandan government are either the result of positive autonomy, are successful because of positive autonomy or can be drastically improved by a better implementation of positive autonomy. I hope that this research can be seen as a fresh lens for examining the relationship between weak and powerful states to validate the position that more autonomy for weaker states in their decision-making processes can produce much more successful results in their development drives.

This thesis provides an analysis of the cartoons produced by Victor Ekpuk for The Daily Times newspaper of Nigeria from 1989 through 1998 and the artist’s use of ancient nsibidi script to “hide in plain sight” his social commentaries on sociopolitical and economic issues in Nigeria. Victor Ekpuk’s original cartoons within the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African Art are examined in the context of indigenous masking practices and other indirect methods employed by indigenous comedians to protect themselves. Moreover, the cartoons’ use of caricature and their nsibidi scripts within are argued to provide a connotative and denotative dichotomy which allowed the artist to work more freely during a period of oppression.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Translation. Johannesburg, 2016 / There are eleven official languages in South Africa. However, only two of these languages – English and Afrikaans – are dominant. It is often argued that this is because the other 9 official languages do not have enough terminology to be used in institutions of higher learning and in technical fields. I argue that the adaptation of literary texts helps in improving the status of African languages. For this purpose this research involves an analysis of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet which has been adapted into an English novel Hill of Fools by Peteni (1976) and later translated into isiXhosa as Kwazidenge (Peteni 1980). The analysis consists of a comparison between extracts from Romeo and Juliet and Kwazidenge via Hill of Fools using Lambert and van Gorp’s (1985) practical model for textual analysis. I argue that as much as Romeo and Juliet can be seen as a difficult text because of Shakespeare’s English, Peteni was successful in adapting the play into isiXhosa. / MT2017

O presente trabalho procura analisar a relação melodia-tom no interior do canto de origem africana nas comunidades-terreiro de candomblé Queto. O caráter estável da palavra cantada conduziu-nos às análises de textos com música. Para a implementação das investigações foram selecionados dez cantos nagôs gravados sem acompanhamento de instrumentos pelo próprio povo do santo e um canto iorubá gravado por um iorubá nativo de Abeokutá. Os cantos foram organizados em tessituras (partituras simplificadas) divididas em versos com vistas à visualização simultânea do canto com a letra; para cada verso do canto, fez-se, com a utilização do programa WinPitchPro, um sonograma com a curva de pitch, espectrograma e medidas de Fo. Inicialmente, por meio de uma primeira comparação entre canto e fala iorubá, observou-se, na relação entre pitch melódico e tom fonológico, que estávamos diante de três possibilidades: (i) ignorar os tons fonológicos e o significado das palavras e utilizar as variações de pitch exclusivamente para marcar a melodia, o que preservaria a musicalidade, mas reduziria a inteligibilidade lírica; (ii) preservar as variações regulares de pitch relacionados aos tons lexicais, ignorando a musicalidade, sacrificando a musicalidade pela inteligibilidade; (iii) tentar manter, mesmo que parcialmente, os contrastes de pitches lexicais sem restringir excessivamente as regras melódicas de Fo. Para o desenvolvimento do nosso trabalho, acatamos, principalmente, a terceira hipótese. Tanto no cotejo da fala e canto iorubá quanto no confronto iorubá/nagô, foi possível identificar a imanência dos supra-segmentos da língua africana. A realização dos tons por meio dos pitches melódicos apresentou a reprodução de fenômenos universais como downdrift, downstep e processos recíprocos de assimilação e propagação. As análises evidenciam a manutenção parcial dos tons lexicais da língua iorubá na palavra sagrada nagô, confirmando o caráter estável de uma palavra condicionado por elementos lingüísticos e extralingüísticos. / This work aims at analyzing the melody-tone relationship in African origin chants in Queto houses of candomble. The stable character of the sung word has led to the analysis of musical texts. In order to implement investigations ten Nago chants have been selected. They have been recorded without instruments by the people of Saint themselves and an Yoruba chant was recorded by a native Yoruba speaker from Abeokuta. Chants have been organized in tessitures (simplified partitures) divided in verses aiming at the simultaneous visualization of the singing and lyrics; one has made, for each chant verse, with the use of the WinPitchPro program, a sonogram with the pitch wave, spectrogram and Fo measures. By comparing the chant and Yoruba speech one has initially observed three possibilities between melody pitch and phonological tone: (i) to ignore phonological tones and the meaning of words and use pitch variations to exclusively designate the melody, which would preserve musicality but would reduce the lyrical intelligibility; (ii) to preserve the regular pitch variations related to lexical tones ignoring musicality and sacrificing musicality in order to achieve intelligibility; (iii) to try to keep, even partially, the contrasts of lexical pitches without excessively restricting Fo melodical rules. In order to develop this work one has mainly followed the third hypothesis. In the analysis of both the Yoruba speech and chants and in the confrontation of Yoruba/Nago, it has been possible to identify the stableness of supra-segments of the African language. The achievement of tones by the use of melody pitches has presented the reproduction of universal phenomena such as downdrift, downstep and reciprocal processes of assimilation and spread. The analyses show the partial maintenance of the lexical tones in the sacred Nago word confirming the stable character of a word conditioned by linguistic and extra linguistic elements.

Este trabalho apresenta as línguas e as linguagens utilizadas nos Candomblés de Nação Angola, por meio do estudo de textos orais registrados em duas comunidades particulares e específicas: o Inzó Inquice Mameto Dandaluna Quissimbi Quiamaze (Inzó Dandaluna) e o Centro Religioso e Cultural das Tradições Bantu Ilê Azongá Oni Xangô (Terreiro Loabá). O estudo visa a estabelecer ligações entre a linguagem e a vivência das práticas rituais. Nesse sentido, os textos coletados são situados no contexto de sua enunciação e analisados em sua expressão e conteúdo. Nesses textos foi possível identificar apenas um léxico de origem negro-africana. / This work presents languages used in the Candomblés of Angola nation by a study of oral texts recorded in two particular and specified communities: Inzó Inquice Mameto Dandaluna Quissimbi Quiamaze and Centro Religioso e Cultural das Tradições Bantu Ilê Azongá Oni Xangô. This study aims to establish a link between the language and the factual experience in the practice of these rituals. The collected texts are situated in the context of their statement and are analysed in their expression and their content. Finally, it was possible to identify only a vocabulary of Negro-African origin.

Este trabalho apresenta as línguas e as linguagens utilizadas nos Candomblés de Nação Angola, por meio do estudo de textos orais registrados em duas comunidades particulares e específicas: o Inzó Inquice Mameto Dandaluna Quissimbi Quiamaze (Inzó Dandaluna) e o Centro Religioso e Cultural das Tradições Bantu Ilê Azongá Oni Xangô (Terreiro Loabá). O estudo visa a estabelecer ligações entre a linguagem e a vivência das práticas rituais. Nesse sentido, os textos coletados são situados no contexto de sua enunciação e analisados em sua expressão e conteúdo. Nesses textos foi possível identificar apenas um léxico de origem negro-africana. / This work presents languages used in the Candomblés of Angola nation by a study of oral texts recorded in two particular and specified communities: Inzó Inquice Mameto Dandaluna Quissimbi Quiamaze and Centro Religioso e Cultural das Tradições Bantu Ilê Azongá Oni Xangô. This study aims to establish a link between the language and the factual experience in the practice of these rituals. The collected texts are situated in the context of their statement and are analysed in their expression and their content. Finally, it was possible to identify only a vocabulary of Negro-African origin.

Some Nigerian manufacturing organizations suffer significant losses yearly due to a lack of employee commitment and engagement. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to gain understanding of the strategies that leaders in the manufacturing industries in Lagos need to know in order to change employee behavior to achieve increased organizational productivity levels. The conceptual framework that grounded the study was the path-goal theory of leadership. Data were collected from semistructured interviews with a purposeful sample consisting of 24 managerial and non-managerial staff members of 2 manufacturing organizations in Nigeria who have had experience in, and training, and education on how to change employee behavior to achieve increased productivity. The interview consisted of open-ended questions. Using Yin's 5 step data analysis process, member checking, and triangulation, 13 themes emerged: motivated employees, productivity, motivation, enabling work environment, transformational leadership style, continuous improvement, unprofitable organization, low capacity utilization, demotivation, dwindling capacity, diversification, capability development, and innovation. Leaders of Nigerian manufacturing organizations may be able to use these emergent themes to develop strategies to increase the productivity of their employees. The potential implications for positive social change stem from Nigerian manufacturing organizational leaders' development of more effective leadership skills, which may contribute to the growth of the Nigerian manufacturing sector and be a viable source of employment creation.