Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The focus in this paper is on terms of endearment, and initially linking it with love, affection and care, which prominently feature in the oldest ancient languages. Users of dictionaries are motivated by finding and understanding the unbelievable variety of words in languages. In many faiths/religions people give credence to a perception that love and understanding of one another's needs and aspirations form the true basis of successful interpersonal relationships but as yet no consensus has been reached. The data was empirically collected through personal conversations with local people, including children, the young generation, parents and grandparents, staff of banks, supermarkets and bookshops. A distinction is made between terms generally used for kids, adults, men and women according to context in usage and the meanings thereof as reported by respondents, varying from seriously meant (dearest), to affectionate (darling, beloved) to mere superficial friendship (pal, love). As the focus was on Afrikaans which is the home language of the most residents in the Western Cape, according to information received from Statistics South Africa, and the knowledge as well as present usage of the word 'troetel' as a term of endearment, the English equivalents and additional similar terms are not of importance here. The impression is, however, that a special nuance of emotion is attached to the usage of the mentioned examples. Dictionaries should include terms of endearment known in the colloquial language at the time of their compilation and must be reliable sources of information regarding vocabulary, ways to address people and the varying degrees of communication in the wide distinguishable variety of contexts. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Woordeboekverklarings vir die woord troetel sluit onder meer in met liefde behandel, liefkoos, streel en versorg. Hierdie besonder positiewe konnotasie het gelei na ʼn soekroete in die oudste antieke tale as vertrekpunt om die ontstaan, bekendheid en gebruik van hierdie woordjie in Afrikaans te probeer vasstel. Omdat liefde in verskeie gelowe as basis vir suksesvolle menseverhoudinge deur die eeue aanbeveel, uitgeleef of geopponeer is, en tog nog geen algemeen aanvaarde konsensus, ten spyte van al die slim argumente en beredenerings deur briljante geleerdes bereik is nie, kan troeteltaal wat meestal met ʼn ondertoon van ʼn nuanse van liefde gepaard gaan, gebruikstaal positief beïnvloed. Deur middel van onoffisiële proefvraelysies aan die publiek plaaslik en op die platteland en deur persoonlike empiriese navorsing in gemeenskappe is die verlangde inligting by oud en jonk versamel, bank-, supermark- en boekwinkelpersoneel se menings is ingewin. Daar is onderskei tussen troetel- of troetelverwante name vir babas tot jongmense en seniors, mans en dames, met betekenisse volgens konteks soos deur respondente verstrek. Alhoewel troetel as sulks nie by die jonger geslag juis algemeen, soos vroeër, bekend is nie, veral in dorpsgemeenskappe, kom dit nog redelik wyd in die Wes-Kaap, streek- en gesinsgebonde voor. Daar word probeer om leksikograwe te beïnvloed om meer aandag aan troetelwoordjies soos bokkie, dingetjie, kleintjie en pikkie in woordeboek te gee en die gebruik daarvan en krag daarin opgesluit by gebruikers te laat ervaar en weer in gebruik te laat herlewe, veral by ouers en jongmense. ʼn Doel van woordeboeke vir die algemene taalgebruiker is in hoofsaak om ʼn data-aanbod daar te stel wat verteenwoordigend is van die gewone omgangstaal in die tydsgewrig van samestelling, maar om verder ook as interessante inligtingsbronne van data in gebruikstaal te dien.

Thesis (DPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Though Biblical Hebrew (=BH) is no longer a spoken language, students continue to learn it for the purpose of reading, or at least interacting at a deeper level, with the text of the Hebrew Bible. This suggests that BH shares with any modern language learning course the goal of learning to read. One important part of learning to read is the acquisition of an adequate number of vocabulary items. The purpose of this study is to determine which insights from Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition (=SLVA) research and related fields hold the most promise for a new — and possibly more effective — approach to learning BH vocabulary, to evaluate currently existing BH instructional materials in light of these insights, to develop a new approach based on these insights, and to test aspects of the new approach empirically. Researchers in SLVA have uncovered a number of helpful insights concerning how vocabulary and vocabulary learning should be defined as well as concerning how vocabulary is best learned. On the other hand, BH instructional materials reflect little to no influence from these insights. These materials have continued to define vocabulary narrowly as individual words and continued to conceive of vocabulary learning primarily as pairing form and meaning in contrast to the much more sophisticated definitions found in the SLVA literature. For example, SLVA researchers consider items beyond the word level, such as idioms, to be vocabulary (Moon 1997; Lewis 1993, 1997). BH instructional materials have also failed to include a significant number of beneficial Vocabulary Learning Strategies (=VLSs), while including some VLSs that are either intrinsically problematic or problematic in the ways they are employed. For example, the strategy of learning semantically related items together is common in BH instructional materials, though it has been shown to be problematic in a considerable number of experimental studies (e.g. Nation 2000; Finkbeiner & Nicol 2003; Papathanasiou 2009). Since SLVA research has yet to influence BH instructional materials, a new approach to BH vocabulary learning is warranted. This new approach is based on sound theory concerning what vocabulary is and what it means to learn it, while offering learners as many helpful strategies for learning lexical items as possible. To justify this new approach, a set of experimental studies was run including one longitudinal case study and three larger-scale experiments. This testing was partial in nature since it was only possible to test one variable at a time. The testing revealed a number of important areas for future research into BH vocabulary learning. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Alhoewel Bybelse Hebreeus (=BH) nie meer gepraat word nie, hou studente aan om dit aan te leer vir die doel om te lees, of ten minste om op ‘n dieper vlak met die oorspronklike teks van die Hebreeuse Bybel om te gaan. Dit impliseer dat die aanleer van BH net soos met die aanleer van moderne tale, ten doel het om die taal te kan lees. Een belangrike aspek van om te leer lees, is om die woordeskat aan te leer wat vir hierdie doel nodig is. Die doel van hierdie studie is om vas te stel watter insigte, verkry uit Tweede Taal Woordeskat-Aanleer (=TTWA) navorsing en ander verwante studievelde, die meeste belofte inhou vir ‘n nuwe – en moontlik meer effektiewe – benadering tot die leer van BH woordeskat; om huidige BH leermateriaal te evalueer, in lig van hierdie insigte; om ‘n nuwe benadering te ontwikkel gebaseer op hierdie insigte; en om aspekte van die nuwe benadering empiries toets. Navorsers in TTWA het al heelwat insig verkry in hoe woordeskat en die aanleer van woordeskat gedefineer behoort te word, sowel as aangaande die mees effektiewe maniere waarop woordeskat aangeleer kan word. Dit lyk egter of beskikbare BH leermanier niks of baie min by hierdie insigte baatgevind het. Hierdie materiaal handhaaf tipies ‘n baie nou definisie van wat woordeskat is, te wete, individuele woorde. Dit beskou dus die aanleer van woordeskat as die aanleer van hoofsaaklik woordpare met verskillende vorme en betekenisse, in plaas daarvan om die meer gesofistikeerde definisies te gebruik wat in TTWA literatuur gevind word. TTWA navorsers beskou, byvoorbeelde idiome, wat uit meer as een woord kan bestaan, ook as woordskat-eenhede (Moon 1997; Lewis 1993, 1997). BH leermateriaal gebruik selde van die groot getal beskikbare nuttige Woordeskat Leer- Strategieë (=WLS). Daar word eerder dikwels strategieë gebruik wat volgens TTWA navorsing nie baie effektief is nie.’n Goeie voorbeeld in hierdie verband is die strategie om semanties-verwante items saam te leer. Empiriese navorsing het aangetoon dat hierdie strategie sonder twyfel problematies kan wees (bv. Nation 2000; Finkbeiner & Nicol 2003; Papathanasiou 2009). Aangesien TTWA feitelik nog geen beduidende invloed op BH leermateriaal gehad het, is ‘n nuwe benadering tot die aanleer van BH woordeskat waarin TTWA insigte verreken word, geregverdig. Hierdie nuwe benadering is gebaseer op ‘n deeglik begrondige teoriese model aangaande wat woordeskat is, en wat dit beteken om dit te leer. Verder kan geput word uit die skat van nuttige strategieë wat al in TTWS geïdentifiseer is om sodoende aan BH leerder strategieë te bied wat hulleself al bewys het. Om die nuwe benadering empiries te begrond, is ‘n reeks eksperimentele studies geloods. Nie alle aspekte van die nuwe model kon sistematies getoets word nie. Die grondslag vir verdere navorsing is egter gelê.

Notre thèse est une étude sur les méthodes didactiques du grec ancien. À travers l’analyse de la crise actuelle de l’enseignement des langues anciennes et de la méthode grammaire-traduction, nous essayons de démontrer qu’aujourd’hui il serait souhaitable d’aller vers des choix didactiques différents. Nous concentrons notre intérêt notamment sur les manuels appelés story-based courses, dont les plus connus sont la méthode Ørberg, le Cambridge Latin Course, Athenaze et Reading Greek. Ces ouvrages sont caractérisés par un récit ininterrompu rédigé en latin ou en grec concernant la civilisation ancienne ; ils proposent une approche inductive de la langue favorisant la lecture cursive et un apprentissage linguistique « naturel ». Nous traitons ainsi l’aspect des pratiques pédagogiques à adopter en classe, aspect qui demeure fondamental pour mettre en œuvre un enseignement cohérent avec ces outils. Des expériences passées (notamment celle de Rouse à la Perse school de Cambridge) mais aussi l’enquête que nous avons menée au liceo classico Francesco De Sanctis de Salerne, révèlent jusqu’à quel point notre enseignement peut être bouleversé et dans quelle mesure les réactions des élèves peuvent changer. Les réflexions issues de notre travail, qui s’adresse en particulier aux enseignant de langues anciennes, visent notamment à permettre une connaissance raisonnée de la méthode natura qui dépasse les préjugés qui souvent l’accompagnent et à en évaluer toutes les potentialités. / Our thesis is a study of the teaching methods for Ancient Greek. Through an analysis of the current crisis in the teaching of ancient languages and of the grammar-translation method, we will attempt to demonstrate that nowadays it would be desirable to make different teaching choices. In particular, we focus our interest on manuals called “story-based courses”. The most widely known of these, are the Ørberg method, the Cambridge Latin Course, Athenaze and Reading Greek. These works are characterized by an ongoing tale written in Latin or Greek and concerning the ancient civilization. They offer an inductive approach to the language, that favors fast reading and a “natural” language learning. We also discuss the matter of the educational practices to adopt in class, which remain essential to create a teaching coherent with these tools. Past experiences (in particular the one led by Rouse at the Perse School of Cambridge), but also the research we have carried out at Liceo Classico Francesco De Sanctis of Salerno, have revealed just how much our teaching can be subverted and how much the students’ reactions might vary. The reflections from our work, which is addressed primarily to teachers of ancient languages, aim specifically to allow a reasoned knowledge of the natura method, overcoming the prejudices that often accompany it and evaluating all its potential.

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This dissertation of limited scope, part of a Course-work Master’s in Ancient Languages and Cultures, consists of five chapters which deal with issues relating to the perception and literary treatment of non-human animals in African and Classical traditional stories involving animal characters. The focus of the research was placed upon arguing that: human characteristics were attributed to animal creatures in the myths/traditional stories from both cultures; both cultures made attempts to explain how certain animals became domesticated and how others remained wild; mythical thinking is not a preserve of one culture, it is rather part of human nature; mythical monsters are present in both cultures and that they have always to be destroyed by man, though not easily; myths served several functions for both cultures, ranging from educational entertainment to socializing purposes, to making attempts to explain ancient man’s environment and its happenings. The study was undertaken in the hope of enabling certain recommendations to be formulated, on the basis of the findings, to effect a better and more informed strategy for teaching Classical Mythology and Classics, in general, in the Mawian/African context. / Classics & World Languages / M. A. (Specialisation in Ancient languages and culture)

This dissertation of limited scope, part of a Course-work Master’s in Ancient Languages and Cultures, consists of five chapters which deal with issues relating to the perception and literary treatment of non-human animals in African and Classical traditional stories involving animal characters. The focus of the research was placed upon arguing that: human characteristics were attributed to animal creatures in the myths/traditional stories from both cultures; both cultures made attempts to explain how certain animals became domesticated and how others remained wild; mythical thinking is not a preserve of one culture, it is rather part of human nature; mythical monsters are present in both cultures and that they have always to be destroyed by man, though not easily; myths served several functions for both cultures, ranging from educational entertainment to socializing purposes, to making attempts to explain ancient man’s environment and its happenings. The study was undertaken in the hope of enabling certain recommendations to be formulated, on the basis of the findings, to effect a better and more informed strategy for teaching Classical Mythology and Classics, in general, in the Mawian/African context. / Classics and World Languages / M. A. (Specialisation in Ancient languages and culture)

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