Thesis (M. Communication Pathology)--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Summary in English and Afrikaans. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1980. / Also available in print.

Thesis (Diplomarbeit)--Universität Marburg, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 85-92).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Victoria University of Wellington, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The purpose of this thesis was to investigate language in public spaces, specifically looking at language choices in two IsiXhosa speaking communities, namely Langa and Khayelitsha. The thesis, therefore, sought to determine why the two communities, which are inhabited largely by L1 IsiXhosa speakers, appear to be dominated by English and Afrikaans in public areas, with minimal presence of IsiXhosa. Possible contributors to the perceived language shift in public spaces include local entrepreneurs, the media (two community newspapers), the government (in their offices and advertisements) and the linguistic landscape itself (formal and informal language usage). The communities of Langa and Khayelitsha are both identified as previously disadvantaged communities with large parts of its population being less affluent due to limited educational opportunities, unemployment and a general lack of skills. A questionnaire, administered to 100 inhabitants of Langa and Khayelitsha, provided data on the perceptions of language use in public spaces in these communities as well as participants’ preferences with regard to language use in public spaces. This study provides evidence that the language use in public spaces in these two communities is not fully diverse and inclusive as it only targets individuals who either have advance formal education or are at least reasonably comfortable with English and Afrikaans. Examples of formal and informal signage examined, such as advertisements, government notices and community-related notices, show that the language used is that of the advertisers or officials, who are typically non-speakers of IsiXhosa, and not that of the target market for which the content is intended. The language preferences of the designers of the signage in public spaces are thus foregrounded at the cost of, and in spite of, the language preferences of those who live within the communities of Langa and Khayelitsha. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis het beoog om taal in publieke ruimtes te ondersoek deur spesifiek te kyk na taalkeuse in twee Xhosa-sprekende gemeenskappe, naamlik Langa en Khayelitsha. Die tesis het dus gepoog om vas te stel waarom hierdie twee gemeenskappe wat grootendeels Xhosaeerstetaalsprekend is, grootliks deur Engels en Afrikaans in publieke ruimtes bedien word met minimale isiXhosa teenwoordigheid. Van die rolspelers wat tot hierdie tipe taalverskuiwing in openbare ruimtes kon bygedra het, sluit in plaaslike entrepeneurs, die media (twee gemeenskapnuusblaaie), die regering (in hulle kantore en advertensies) asook die taallandskap self (formele en informele taalgebruik). Die gemeenskappe van Langa en Khayelitsha word albei geïdentifiseer asvoorheenbenadeelde gemeenskappe met die meerderheid van die inwoners minder gegoed as gevolg van beperkte opvoedkundige geleenthede, werkloosheid en 'n algemene gebrek aan vaardighede. ‘n Vraelys wat deur 100 inwoners van Langa en Khayelitsha ingevul is, het data voorsien oor die persepsies van taalgebruik in openbare ruimtes in hierdie gemeenskappe, sowel as oor deelnemrs se voorkeure met betrekking tot taalgebruik in openbare ruimtes. Hierdie studie bied getuienis dat die taalgebruik in hierdie twee gemeenskappe nie ten volle divers en inklusief is nie, aangesien dit slegs taalgebruikers teiken wat beduidende formele opleiding het en wat ten minste redelik met Afrikaans en Engels bekend is. Voorbeelde van formele en informele kennisgewings, soos advertensies, regeringsinligting en gemeenskapsaketoon aan dat die taalgebruik eerder die adverteerders of amptenare wat nié Xhosa-sprekend is nie, in ag neem, as die teikenmark op wie die inhoud eintlik gemik is. Die taalvoorkeure van die ontwerpers van openbare kennisgewings kry dus voorkeur bo, en ten spyte van die taalvoorkeure van diegene wat binne die gemeenskappe van Langa en Khayelitsha leef.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Globalisation has led to the use of English lingua franca (ELF) in many international classrooms and in the majority of the South African tertiary education institutions. The South African situation and use of ELF is grounded in the historic developments of the country and an understanding that it is an international requirement for individuals to have access to English language skills to enable them to realise their potential and participate fully within South African society (CHE, 2002:4). While the development of the previously neglected field of African languages as scientific and academic languages remains a priority, examining the use of ELF in the South African tertiary classroom is essential; therefore, this study explores the use of ELF in the South African tertiary education classroom to understand the role of linguistic diversity in the learning environment. Particular attention is directed to the linguistic repertoires of students, their codeswitching behaviour and instances of miscommunication. The study was conducted at a university of technology and participants were observed during group work sessions, which culminated in a formal assessment. Questionnaires were also utilised to gain further data for analysis. Findings indicate that the role of English as a global economic language should not be underestimated. However, the promotion of multilingualism is advocated and attention should be given to not only the promulgation of language policies, but also their implementation. Furthermore, flexibility in language should be encouraged, with a move away from the traditional use of one language for teaching and learning to a translanguaging classroom and an assessment environment, which brings to the forefront the benefits of translanguaging, where one language is used to reinforce and increase understanding in the other languages (Garcia & Wei, 2014:64). This will assist students to reach their full potential in the tertiary education environment. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Globalisasie het gelei tot die gebruik van Engelse lingua franca (ELF) in baie internasionale klaskamers, sowel as in die meerderheid van Suid-Afrika se tersiêre onderwysinsitute. Die Suid-Afrikaanse situasie en die gebruik van ELF is gegrond op die historiese ontwikkelings in die land. Elke student moet, om sy volle potensiaal te ontwikkel en volkome deel te wees van die Suid-Afrikaanse gemeenskap, Engels taalvaardig wees, wat in elk geval 'n internasionale vereiste is (CHE, 2002:4). Terwyl die ontwikkeling van Afrika-tale (wat voorheen nie so baie aandag gekry het nie) as 'n wetenskap- en akademiese taal steeds die voorkeur geniet, moet die ondersoek in die gebruik van ELF in die Suid Afrikaanse klaskamers gesien word as ʼn uiters belangrike onderwerp. Hierdie navorsing ondersoek die gebruik van ELF in die Suid-Afrikaanse tersiêre klaskamer. Die doel is dan om die rol van linguistieke diversiteit in die leeromgewing, naamlik die klaskamer, na te vors. Spesifieke aandag is gegee aan die studente se linguistieke vaardighede, kodewisseling en kommunikasiebreuke. Hierdie navorsing is gedoen by 'n universiteit van tegnologie en deelnemers is waargeneem tydens groepwerksessies. Die waarnemings is ten slotte saamgevat in 'n formele assessering. Vraelyste is ook gebruik om inligting te verkry vir verdere ontleding. Bevindings het bewys dat die rol van Engels as ʼn globale ekonomiese taal nie onderskat moet word nie. Alhoewel die bevordering van veeltaligheid bepleit word, moet aandag nie net gegee word aan die teorie van taalbeleide nie, maar ook aan die uitvoering hiervan. Buigsaamheid moet verder in taalonderrig aangemoedig word deur weg te beweeg van die tradisionele gebruik van slegs een taal vir onderrig en leer. Daar behoort dus meer as een taal in die klaskamer en op assesseringsgebiede gebruik te word; dit sal lei tot die versterking en beter verstandhouding tussen tale (Garcia & Wei, 2014:64). Dit sal leerders ondersteun om hulle volle potensiaal te bereik in ʼn tersiêre onderwys-omgewing.

This study provides new insights into the historical language contact between Classical Armenian and West Middle Iranian, specifically Parthian. Next to an up-to-date account of known lexical, morphological, and phraseological Iranian loans in Armenian, the discussion focuses on one major and three minor syntactic patterns which, it is argued, are the result of pattern replication. The major pattern, the Classical Armenian periphrastic perfect, has previously been the focus of numerous papers owing to its unusual construction: while intransitive verbs construe with nominative subjects and an optional form of the copula in subject agreement, transitive verbs exhibit genitive agents, accusative objects and an optional copula in a invariable 3.sg form. Based on a discussion of morphosyntactic alignment patterns in general, and of Armenian and West Middle Iranian in particular, it is shown that previous accounts cannot satisfactorily explain the syntax of the perfect. In a new approach, it is argued that Armenian exhibits tripartite morphosyntactic alignment as the result of 'copying' and adapting the ergative alignment pattern of the West Middle Iranian past tense. This analysis is supported both by the historical morphology of the perfect participle and by a corpus analysis of five major works of Armenian 5^th-century historiography. The minor patterns - ezāfe-like nominal relative clauses, subject resumption and switch-reference marking using the anaphoric pronoun Arm. ink'n, and the quotative use of Arm. (e)t'ē - are equally linked to parallel constructions in West Middle Iranian, which may have served as syntactic models for their Armenian counterparts. The final part of the study discusses the Armenian-Iranian relationship from a language contact point of view and, making use of historical, epigraphic, and literary sources, proposes that a superstrate shift of the Parthian-speaking ruling class of Armenia to Armenian as their primary language best explains the amount of Parthian linguistic material and patterns in Armenian.

abstract: This empirical study aims to identify and analyze the accumulated literacies and multilingual repertoires of three Karenni refugee families originally from the highlands of Burma but who had lived in refugee camps in Thailand before arriving in Phoenix, Arizona. Through participant observation in the families' households and neighborhood, artifact collection, and individual and group interviews, I observe, document, and examine the everyday literacy practices of these three families in order to understand how these literacies are used to foster new understandings and social networks while maintaining transnational connections. The data analysis demonstrates that there are similarities and differences between the literacy practices and language choices of the sixteen individuals who participated and that there are significant differences across generations as well as across the three families. The findings shed light on the complicated relationship between migration and language learning, ideologies of language, literacy practices, and various modes of communication (face-to-face and digital). Building on a long tradition of ethnographic work that examines language learning and literacy in relation to educational access and opportunity, this research is relevant to educational researchers, policy makers, and teachers who are committed to rethinking what counts as literacy, for whom, in what contexts, and with what kinds of consequences. In a time of increased movement of people across borders, and increased use of information and communication technologies, this investigation has important implications for teacher preparation, theories of language learning and literacy development, and educational research. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Curriculum and Instruction 2012

The approach to translating multilingual texts has long been a subject of debate among scholars and translators, sparking discussions on which translational choices and strategies should be employed. An additional challenge occurs when a minority language in a multilingual (or rather, heterolingual) text becomes the target language. In these circumstances, the translator faces the dilemma of choosing how to preserve the Otherness that the non-dominant language conveys in the first text without overly manipulating it or stripping it of its nature. My analysis focuses on the challenges of translating Black Madonna (1982), a novel by prolific Italian-Canadian writer Frank Paci. Like many Italian-Canadian authors, the vast majority of Paci’s novels feature untranslated Italian terms and dialogues throughout the text. The first chapter of this thesis provides an introduction to the author and the basic concepts around which I structure my discourse, such as immigrant writing and the so-called ‘linguistic stones’ (untranslated terms). The section that follows features an overview of the most prominent Italian-Canadian plurilingual writers, as well as a brief analysis of a few selected works with a special focus on Scarpe Italiane (2007), the only novel by Paci to ever be translated into Italian. The research moves on to theories of translation, discussing various strategies and solutions proposed by scholars involved in the debate. The following chapter consists of a commentary in which I support a balance of foreignization and domestication by converting Italian terms into the appropriate regional dialect, since dialect is a prominent element in Paci’s novels. Finally, in the last section, I provide my translation of the novel into Italian.

This research focuses on student attitudes toward multilingual education. Although much work has been done on multilingual education pedagogy and policy, almost none has been child-centered. Little consideration has been given to first-hand accounts of children in immersion programs. Through participatory observation, surveys, and focus group discussions with third grade students at a public, French immersion elementary school in the Pacific Northwest, I have found many common threads within student experiences of multilingual education. Specifically, students' fear of failure and peer-to-peer shaming when learning a new language can leave them feeling ambivalent toward French. This is not to say that the student experience is overwhelmingly negative; however, student attitudes seem to fall somewhere between their learned value for multilingualism and their lived experiences. Ultimately, this thesis highlights the importance of student narratives and the ways in which they can inform the development of immersion education programs.