PhD (Psychology) / Department of Psychology / The aim of the study was to develop a conceptualized model that will enhance language acquisition of children between 0 and 3 years. Language is a use of words and symbol to convey message, or communication. Generally, from birth to the age of four months children express their needs through crying and are soothed by the sound of voices or by low rhythmic sounds. When adults talk to children, children later imitate adult’s tongue movements and start to make sounds, coos and gurgles. Providing children with developmental stimulation and exposing them to learning opportunities increases their cognitive and social-emotional skills/abilities. Strategies to enhance language development are fundamental in children and can reduce many literacy related problems in later childhood. The objectives of the study are: to describe activities done by caregivers to influence language development; to identify factors that influence language development; to describe the importance of language development and to explain the disorders that are associated with language development. This study was qualitative in nature and it utilised an explorative design. This research design enabled the researcher to investigate the nature of acquisition comprehensively as well as the development of language and other factors that are related to it. The study was conducted at Vhembe District Municipality. Three villages were selected, namely Tshikuwi, Tshirolwe and HaMatsa villages, which are found in Makhado Municipality under Limpopo Province, South Africa. Purposive sampling was used to sample participants for the study. The individuals selected were those judged to have certain special characteristics as well as the ability to provide in-depth information for the purpose of the study. Thirty participants were selected to participate in the study. The semi-structured face to face interview and the interview guide with open-ended questions were used for data collection. Pre-testing of the interview guide was done to check if the guide would produce the expected results, three women from three different villages were selected for pretesting. All questions in the interview guide were addressed during data collection. Collected data were transcribed and analysed using thematic content analysis. The study adhered to the following research ethics: informed consent, anonymity, confidentiality, voluntary participation, no harm to the participants and dissemination of results. The study revealed that language is an important tool which is used to convey information from one person to the other. The findings indicate that language helps children to communicate and relate with other people. Language was also explained as a tool which is used to educate children, either at school or at home. The study shows that when children are learning language, they will also be stimulating their reasoning, thinking and problem-solving skills. In addition, it was also indicated that cognitive development reduces problems such as poor language development, a low self-esteem and isolation. The findings of this study show that there are a number of activities that can be used by caregivers and parents to foster the development of language in children. Those activities include, communicating with a child, reading of books, watching TV, naming of objects and explaining meaning of words. The study also identified several environmental factors that can be used to foster the development of language in children. The following environmental factors were identified in the study: communication, parental level of education, home socioeconomic status, caregiver’s personality and the availability of other children in the family. Lastly, the findings show that there are many disorders that may affect the development of language in children. The language disorders that the study identified include expressive language disorder, dyslexia, and inability to understand spoken. However, the study also reveals that these disorders may be treated. The findings of this study lead to the development of a conceptualized model to facilitate language acquisition in children between 0 and 3 years was developed. The meaning of one concept, namely reinforcement was explained in detail, in order for users of the model to understand its operational definition in the model. Reinforcement was explained because it has a diversity of meanings. The model enabled the researcher to create a link between research and what is happening in a society. Model validation was done to verify if the developed model relates to practical life, research and language development. The model for this study was validated for its applicability and usability. The drafted model was given to psychologists, speech therapists and parent to determine its usability and applicability. Keywords: language, language acquisition, language development model, language disorders. / NRF

Modeling the "thick description" of photographs began at the intersection of personal and institutional descriptions. Comparing institutional descriptions of particular photos that were also used in personal online conversations was the initial phase. Analyzing conversations that started with a photographic image from the collection of the Library of Congress (LC) or the collection of the Manchester Historic Association (MHA) provided insights into how cultural heritage institutions could enrich the description of photographs by using informal descriptions such as those applied by Facebook users. Taking photos of family members, friends, places, and interesting objects is something people do often in their daily lives. Some photographic images are stored, and some are shared with others in gatherings, occasions, and holidays. Face-to-face conversations about remembering some of the details of photographs and the event they record are themselves rarely recorded. Digital cameras make it easy to share personal photos in Web conversations and to duplicate old photos and share them on the Internet. The World Wide Web even makes it simple to insert images from cultural heritage institutions in order to enhance conversations. Images have been used as tokens within conversations along with the sharing of information and background knowledge about them. The recorded knowledge from conversations using photographic images on Social Media (SM) has resulted in a repository of rich descriptions of photographs that often include information of a type that does not result from standard archival practices. Closed group conversations on Facebook among members of a community of interest/practice often involve the use of photographs to start conversations, convey details, and initiate story-telling about objets, events, and people. Modeling of the conversational use of photographic images on SM developed from the exploratory analyses of the historical photographic images of the Manchester, NH group on Facebook. The model was influenced by the typical model of Representation by Agency from O'Connor in O'Connor, Kearns, and Anderson Doing Things with Information: Beyond Indexing and Abstracting, by considerations of how people make and use photographs, and by the notion of functionality from Patrick Wilson's Public Knowledge, Private Ignorance: Toward a Library and Information Policy. The model offers paths for thickening the descriptions of photographs in archives and for enriching the use of photographs on social media.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The collection of pages spread before you now, this story-thesis, is a collection of stories about my journey from cult member to the place in life I am now, stories about those stories, and stories about the people who lived or read them, talked about them, and were changed by the tellings. Most importantly, the goal of this story-thesis is to illustrate how the process of story-making and -telling changes how we interpret our identities and our lifeworlds. I argue that the stories that we share change our identities, and I also argue that how we perceive our identity and the identities of others affects the stories that we share.

The aim of this study is to analyse and categorise reports of swearing in public service media for the past ten years, as well as analysing the approach taken to the private persons making the reports and the reports themselves by the governing body Granskningsnämnden. Additionally, the language norm conflicts displayed were analysed. The methods used to accomplish this included directed content analysis of the reports and their context, and analysis of interpersonal communication as well as legitimation analysis of the written response provided by the authority. In total, 46 reports and two versions of the response letter were analysed. Finally, the language attitudes and associated norms of both sides were analysed and compared to distinguish conflicts. The results indicate that the private persons who report swearing have different expectations of public service than the media company or the governing body has, which is the cause of the language norm conflicts. The results also indicate that the presence of swearing in a public service media context appears more offensive that the swearing itself, as most of the swear words were not defined. Further, the analysis of the approach taken to the private persons making the reports indicates an authoritarian stance and an impersonal, distanced approach.

The objective of this study is to put forward informed C4D recommendations to help organizations like UNICEF combat the situation for Syrian refugee children and youths in Lebanon, who through displacement and resettling into the complex Lebanese socio-political landscape may be at risk of becoming a lost generation. This paper focuses on the prevention and elimination of actions such as bullying, sexual harassment, gender-based violence, and early marriage.Conceptual framework: the communication theoretical framework considers Bourdieu’s habitus model as well as the uses and gratification model. Concepts conducive to social cohesion include citizenship, communitas and cosmopolitanism.Methodology: data were gathered through a variety of primary and secondary sources. The former includes semi-structured interviews with subject matter experts and analysis of UNICEF’s external communication practices. The latter comprises the collection, assessment, comparison and summarizing of various reports about Lebanese media.Findings: Lebanon has a pluralistic media landscape, though it appears fragmented, reflecting its socio-political sectarian situation. The media in Lebanon is criticized for lack of public service. The arts scene seems to fill a void in terms of examining the collective memory in respect of not only the civil war (1975-1990) but also of social issues arising as a result of globalization and modernity. Syrians in Lebanon consume Lebanese media as much as media from their own country. Interpersonal communication channels appear to be the preferred mode of communication among both the host and the refugee communities, although among the youth social media platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook are commonplace. Among the traditional media channels, television appears to be popular. The representation of Syrian refugees in Lebanese media is varied, with about one fourth of the published material portraying Syrians as a security issue.Results: a series of C4D recommendations that use sports and the arts as an overarching theme.

In the experience of being a play therapist and social worker, the researcher became aware of the breakdown of adolescent foster placements. Although there are many causal factors of adolescent foster care breakdown, it was the treatment and sustaining of these placements that the researcher was interested in. The utilization of dyadic brief Gestalt play therapy aims to support the relationship between the carer and adolescent in order to sustain and stabilize the foster placement. The empirical study includes data collection and analysis. The data was gathered through observations and field notes from unstructured interviews, in this case the dyadic therapeutic process with the adolescent and carer. The data was then analyzed, and eleven outcomes were discussed: the building of a therapeutic relationship, the process of dialogue, the gaining of awareness, contact, resistance, the internal working model, polarities, working in the here and now, the utilization of Gestalt experiments and Gestalt play therapeutic techniques. In addition, the implications of the brief Gestalt therapeutic model were identified. These themes are discussed fully in the final chapter encompassing conclusions and recommendations.This study found that it was possible to work effectively with the adolescent and carer in a dyadic brief Gestalt therapeutic way utilizing play therapy techniques. Recommendations regarding the conclusions were made in relation to the outcomes of this study. / Social Work / M.Diac. (Play therapy)

Text in Afrikaans / Summaries in Afrikaans and English / Hierdie verhandeling beskryf 'n taalkonstruktivistiese benadering tot die behoeftebepalingsproses in gemeenskapswerk. Taalkonstruktivisme vorm dee! van konstruktivisme. Taalkonstruktivisme word verduidelik in terme van 'n aantal beginsels en hoe dit toegepas kan word op die behoeftebepalingsfase. Dit fokus op die volgende: - Die belangrikheid van taal en betekenis in die gemeenskapswerker se eie denke en interpretasies van 'n gemeenskap se behoeftes. - Die belangrikheid van taal en betekenis en die verbalisering van 'n gemeenskap se behoeftes. - Die versigtigheid waarmee die kommunikasieproses met 'n gemeenskap benader moet word. - Die skep van idees wat in taal plaasvind en ook verander kan word wanneer daar behoeftebepaling in 'n gemeenskap gedoen word. Hierdie beskrywing van die taalkonstruktivistiese beginsels vind plaas aan die hand van 'n gevallestudie vanuit die navorser se praktiese werk wat uitgevoer is as gedeeltelike vereiste ter vervulling van die Meestersgraad. Dit beklemtoon die implikasies van die toepassing van taalkonstruktivisme op gemeenskapswerk. / This dissertation describes a language constructivist approach to the phase of needs assessment in community work. Language constructivism is part of constructivism. Language constructivism is explained in terms of certain principles and how they can be applied to needs assessment. The focus is on the following: - The part language performs in the community worker's own thoughts and interpretations of a community's needs. - The importance of language and meaning when a community verbalises its needs. - The care with which the communication process with a community should be approached. - The creation of ideas which can take place and change in language when a community's needs are being assessed. This description of the principles of language constructivism is done according to a case study of the researcher's practical work which was done as part of the requirements in fulfillment of the Master's degree. It emphasizes the application of language constructivism to community work. / Social work / M.A. (Social Sciences)

This dissertation examines the meanings that young adults give to their mobile phones in the township of Hooggenoeg in Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape. The research was predominantly conducted through individual interviews with nine young adults as well as two small gender-based focus groups. Participant observation as well as a close reading of the popular mobile website Outoilet also contributed to the study. Drawing on Silverstone, Hirsch and Morley’s (1992) work into the meanings attributed to the mobile phone through the domestication processes of appropriation, objectification, incorporation and conversion, the study argues for the heterogeneous roles defined for mobile phones as they are integrated into different cultural contexts. The term ‘raw phones’ in the thesis title refers to a particular cultural understanding of respectability in mainly working-class ‘coloured’¹ communities in South Africa, as described by Salo (2007) and Ross (2010), in which race, class and gender converge in the construction of the respectable person’s opposite – a lascivious, almost certainly female, dependent, black and primitive ‘raw’ Other. The study argues that in Hooggenoeg, the mobile phone becomes part of semantic processes that define both respectability and ‘rawness’ , thus helping to reproduce social relations in this community along lines of race, class and gender. A major focus of the study is the instant messaging application MXit, and how it assists in the social production of space, by helping to constitute both private and dispersed network spaces of virtual communication, in a setting where social life is otherwise very public, and social networks outside of cyberspace are densely contiguous and localised. In contrast, gossip mobile website Outoilet seems to intensify this contiguous experience of space. My findings contest generalised claims, predominantly from the developed world, which assert that the mobile phone promotes mobility and an individualised society, and show that in particular contexts it may in fact promote immobility and create a collective sociability.

The purpose of this study was to develop and test a measuring instrument based on the Gibb’s Defensive Communication Climate Paradigm (1961) to assess the communication climate focus of professional nurses in selected public hospitals in the Gauteng province. This focus involves the communication behaviour orientation of the professional nurses and their perceptions of the communication behaviour orientation of their operational managers. The Gibb’s model comprises six bipolar conceptual continuums, namely Evaluation-Description, Control-Problem orientation, Strategy-Spontaneity, Neutrality-Empathy, Superiority-Equality and Certainty-Provisionalism Continuums. The study consisted of a non-experimental design, including a developmental phase and a testing phase. During the developmental phase the researcher developed a measuring instrument (a Semantic Differential Scale questionnaire); used a simple, random sample method to pre-test the instrument; analysed the data by applying Cronbach’s Alpha reliability analysis and refined the instrument. Further refinement of this new instrument by future researchers is recommended. During the testing phase the researcher also used a simple, random sample, consisting of professional nurses (N = 270) from three selected public hospitals in Gauteng; tested the items against the biographical data and the three research questions and analysed the obtained data by utilising both descriptive and inferential statistics. A Delphi panel of experts were involved in both phases of the study. The results of the study indicated that although the respondents had a predominantly supportive communication behaviour orientation, they were more focused on the communication behaviour of their operational managers than on their own. Furthermore, the results indicated no significant differences in the influencing factors: age, tenure (periods in hospital), gender, language and institution (public hospital), in terms of the six conceptual continuums. Significant differences were found only in the factor: unit/ward, indicating that the supportiveness of the communication behaviour of professional nurses could be dependent on their specific work environment. Guidelines aimed at the development of a supportive climate were drawn up for the National Department of Health, Gauteng Department of Health, public hospitals, operational managers and professional nurses. It is recommended that implementation of the newly developed guidelines be pivotal for public hospitals, to refocus their communication climates towards supportive communication. / Health Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Health Studies)

In the experience of being a play therapist and social worker, the researcher became aware of the breakdown of adolescent foster placements. Although there are many causal factors of adolescent foster care breakdown, it was the treatment and sustaining of these placements that the researcher was interested in. The utilization of dyadic brief Gestalt play therapy aims to support the relationship between the carer and adolescent in order to sustain and stabilize the foster placement. The empirical study includes data collection and analysis. The data was gathered through observations and field notes from unstructured interviews, in this case the dyadic therapeutic process with the adolescent and carer. The data was then analyzed, and eleven outcomes were discussed: the building of a therapeutic relationship, the process of dialogue, the gaining of awareness, contact, resistance, the internal working model, polarities, working in the here and now, the utilization of Gestalt experiments and Gestalt play therapeutic techniques. In addition, the implications of the brief Gestalt therapeutic model were identified. These themes are discussed fully in the final chapter encompassing conclusions and recommendations.This study found that it was possible to work effectively with the adolescent and carer in a dyadic brief Gestalt therapeutic way utilizing play therapy techniques. Recommendations regarding the conclusions were made in relation to the outcomes of this study. / Social Work / M.Diac. (Play therapy)