"The emergence of English as an international language in a number of domains has implications which are becoming a matter of widespread discussion among both linguists and the general public. In the face of the increasing number of the functions for which English is regarded as more useful or convenient than any other language, and the growth in the numbers of its speakers and learners - it is only slowly that we are beginning to sort out the practical and theoretical implications for the early part of the new millennium of this unprecedented linguistic predominance" (Honey, 1996:99). Despite its high status, the standard of English teaching and learning, especially in severely underfunded black South African schools has suffered rapid deterioration. At the moment, there are no indications that the downward slide can be halted. The nonnative English language debate is compounded by arguments rejecting the pedagogic notion of "Standard English" and advocating a linguistic ethos which suggests that all forms of English are equal. This has resulted in the proliferation of terms such as "black English", "Ghanaian English", "Indian English" etc. which are claimed to be on an equal footing with "British" and "American" English or standard English (Ahulu, 1992). This thesis makes the important point that both "educated" black and white people in South Africa make use of standard English. But the concept of standard English must be properly understood. Quirk at the 1995 English Academy conference, was pushing the term "general English" as an alternative name for "standard English." A variety of English such as British or American English incorporates a standard variety that is encoded in grammars, dictionaries and guides of usage, taught in educational institutions, used to print and often found in the usage of those regarded as educated users. However, those who express "concern for the recognition and acceptance of the English language standard in the education system are sometimes accused of ignoring socio-linguistic realities" (Wright, 1996: 154). This thesis discusses several language features which are peculiar to English as a second language (ESL). These features have been claimed to yield the characteristics of a "South African black English." The analysis shows that these characteristic features are not consistently or reliably realised. In fact according to current research it would seem that most "features are actually teacher-influenced" (Buthelezi, 1989:40). Nonstandard ESL features indicate according to Wright (1995: 8) "a symptom of the sad failure of our education system rather than a sign of the creative evolution of a vigorous new national variety of English." Wright maintains that "to advocate the institutionalising of non-standard English-attributable in large measure to apartheid's legacy of low educational standards - would be neither radical nor progressive, but a profoundly conservative attitude, imposing and enshrining mediocrity." The debate about "black English" in South Africa has not yet gained momentum even though it is part of the common currency. There seems to be a powerful conventional opinion in influential circles that claims that there is a black English in South Africa. The possibility exists that a local variety of English in South Africa may ultimately emerge. But the internationally viable variety will still be needed, one hopes by an ever growing portion of the population as education and opportunity increase. Standard English is the form of English that is taught in South African schools and tertiary institutions. In other words, it includes all users of the "educated" form of English all over the world and it also fulfils more and broader language functions than the nonstandard form. The pedagogic notion of standard English, however, does not imply refusal to accept the existence of non-standard varieties of English or of features in colloquial use that are non-standard and geographically or culturally specific. It is all the more important according to Ahulu (1994: 26) for those concerned with education, especially "the curriculum designers, subject advisors and textbooks writers, to know the forms of English they should consider and emphasize as the educational target, which should subsequently guide teachers and examiners." The evidence we have in the field of "black English" according to Ahulu's (1992) findings in Ghana largely consists of coinages and other lexical modifications, and the listing of isolated examples of grammatical divergence. What is referred to as "educated black English" is nothing more that standard English with an injection of vocabulary items of South African origin. Such phenomena as coinage, lexical borrowing are processes by which standard English is expanding its lexicon as an international language. The inferior conditions of years of underfunding and relentless application of the underlying philosophy of apartheid education have had a critical and profound bearing on the state of ESL teaching. For professional careers, the country's economic development and membership of the international scene, to mention but a few requirements, standard English is essential. Teacher training institutions in South Africa are at the moment going through a rationalisation and restructuring process and they need to review their ESL curriculum and programmes. These teacher training colleges should produces well equipped ESL teachers who are capable of dealing with the language dynamics in the ESL classroom situation. / Thesis (DLitt)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / English / unrestricted

Religious diversity is the inevitable corollary of globalization and with it comes the challenge and opportunities of greatly increased interaction with religious Others. The United States was founded on an Anglo-Saxon Protestant basis but has now become "the world’s most religiously diverse nation" according to one Harvard religious studies scholar. To deal with this development, American thinkers, mainly Christians, have devoted a good deal of scholarship in the past three to four decades construing strategies how to meet and interact with the religious Other. During the 70’s and 80’s, a typology of exclusivism, inclusivism and pluralism was developed by Christians as a response to religious diversity. Many see today that it is a necessity to find an alternative to hostility and violence and therefore dialogue is the order of the day. Since Christians are still by far the largest faith-group, and the US has economic resources, US Christians have a natural predominance in dialogue. Is that good or bad from the stand point of the minority Other? One such minority is a major sub-division of Hinduism, namely Vaishnavism. Christian-Vaishnava dialogue in the US is a new phenomenon in the past two decades and an emerging minority representative is a globalized Vaishnava organization ISKCON, popularly known as the Hare Krishna movement, which has its Western roots in the counter-culture of the 1960’s. While ISKCON struggled for legitimacy in the 70’s and ‘80’s, it has in recent decades become a major factor in Hindu and especially Vaisnava representation. How American Christians respond today to Vaishnava dialogue and how this typology arose and functions as a theoretical basis for the on-going development of Christian-Vaishnava dialogue is the subject of this action-research minor field study.

La polyarthrite rhumatoïde (PR) est le rhumatisme inflammatoire chronique le plus fréquent avec une prévalence mondiale qui varie selon les pays mais se situe aux alentours de 0,5% dans le monde. La PR est caractérisée par une atteinte articulaire souvent bilatérale et symétrique, évoluant par poussées inflammatoires, une production d'auto-anticorps, une destruction du cartilage et de l'os entrainant des déformations. La PR peut survenir à tous les âges mais apparaît le plus souvent entre 40 et 60 ans, avec une forte prédominance féminine (3 : 1). Il existe des variations géographiques au sein d'un même continent ou d'un même pays en raison de facteurs environnementaux, immunologiques mais aussi génétiques. Depuis bientôt 40 ans, l’implication du gène HLA-DRB1 est connue. Les études à grande échelle sur tout le génome ont permis d’identifier 110 nouveaux polymorphismes qui n’expliquent qu’une partie de la composante génétique de la PR. Ces études ont été principalement menées dans les populations d’Amérique du Nord, d’Asie ou d’Europe du Nord. L’objectif de ma thèse était donc d’étudier des facteurs génétiques de prédisposition à la PR 1) codant pour des microARNs ou mARNs, 2) dans deux populations jusqu’ici peu ou pas étudiées, et 3) portés par le chromosome X.Pour cela, j’ai travaillé sur deux ethnies différentes (Tunisienne et Française) afin d’effectuer une étude d’association « cas-contrôle » via une approche « gènes candidats». J’ai genotypé 3 polymorphismes (SNPs) sur le locus Xq28, et 2 SNPs sur le gène REL et quantifié le niveau d’expression de 13 micro-ARNs (miR-363, miR-106a, miR-20b, miR-188, miR-92a, miR-532, miR-652, miR-221, miR-222, miR-223, miR-98, let-7f miR-718 et miR-3202) situés sur le chromosome X. J’ai également évalué les composantes HLA et l’épitope partagé (EP) dans ces deux populations. J’ai effectué une analyse des haplotypes et du degré de déséquilibre de liaison (LD) pour chaque locus. Enfin j’ai validé mes résultats grâce à des méta-analyses.Mes résultats sur un échantillon cas/témoins de 995 individus montrent que les locus Xq28 et REL sont fortement associés à la PR chez les femmes Tunisiennes et Françaises, avec des différences entre ces deux populations. Les résultats des allèles du complexe HLA-DRB1 pourraient expliquer ces différences puisque ce ne sont pas les mêmes allèles HLA-DRB1 qui prédominent dans les deux populations. Parmi les 11 micro-ARNs étudiés, deux ne sont pas détectables (miR-718 et miR-3202) dans les PBMCs des patients atteints de PR, cinq (miR-221, miR-222, miR-223, miR-106a, miR-98) montrent une différence statistique d’expression entre les femmes contrôles et les femmes PR, et 6 (let-7f, miR-188, miR-652, miR-20b, miR-363, miR-92a) ne montrent aucune différences entre les deux groupes. Le cluster miR-221-222 montre une corrélation avec le génotype (AA+AG) de SNP rs3761548 et (AG+GG) versus (AA) et rs2223356 du gène FoxP3 chez les patients atteints de PR seulement avec une stratification en fonction du sexe.En conclusion, cette étude de 3 types de facteurs génétiques de prédisposition à la PR apporte un éclairage nouveau aux précédentes études Asiatiques ou d’Europe et d’Amérique du Nord, mettant en évidence des différences ethniques et géographiques. Des études de génomique fonctionnelle et sur de larges cohortes masculines seront nécessaires pour une meilleure compréhension de la physiopathologie de la PR et de l’importance du chromosome X dans cette maladie. Par ailleurs, le rôle des micro-ARNs en tant que facteurs génétiques de prédisposition de la PR reste peu étudié et mérite de futures explorations. / Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most common chronic inflammatory joint disease with a worldwide prevalence that varies by country but is around 0.5% worldwide. RA is characterized by a bilateral and symmetrical joint disease, relapsing inflammation, production of auto-antibodies, cartilage destruction and bone causing deformations. RA can occur at any age, however, it appears most often between 40 and 60 years, with a strong female predominance (3: 1). There are geographical variations within the same continent or in the same country because of environmental factors, immunological but also genetical reasons. For nearly 40 years, the involvement of the HLA-DRB1 gene is known. Large-scale studies of the genome have identified 110 new polymorphisms (SNPs) that explain only a part of the genetic component of RA. These studies were mainly conducted in North American, Asian and North European populations. The aim of my thesis was to study genetic factors of susceptibility to RA 1) encoding microRNAs and mRNAs, 2) in two unstudied populations, and 3) with a specific focus on the X chromosome.For that, I worked on two different ethnicities (Tunisian and French) to conduct a "case-control" study of association via a "candidate gene" approach. I have genotyped 3 SNPs on the Xq28 locus (rs1059702, rs1059703, rs13397) and two SNPs on the REL gene , and quantified the expression level of 11 micro-RNAs (has_Mir-223, has_Mir-363, has_Mir-106a, 20b-has_Mir, has_Mir-188, has_Mir-92a, has_Mir-532, has_Mir-652, has_Mir-221, has_Mir -222, has_Mir-223, has_Mir-98 and let-7f) located within the X chromosome. I also assessed the HLA components and the shared epitope (SE) in these two populations. I performed a haplotype analysis and a linkage disequilibrium (LD) study for each locus. Finally I validated my results through a Meta-analysis.My results on a case/control sample of 995 individuals show that the Xq28 locus and REL locus are strongly associated with RA in both Tunisian and French women, with however differences between the two populations. The results of the HLA-DRB1 alleles might explain these differences since different HLA-DRB1 alleles predominate in each population. In overall our analysis showed that among the 11 studied X-linked miRNAs, two are not detectable (miR-718 and miR-3202) in PBMCs of RA patients, five (miR-221, miR-222, miR-223, miR-106a, miR-98) show a statistical difference between controls and RA women, and 6 (let-7f, miR-188, miR-652, miR-20b, miR-363, miR-92a) show no differences between controls and RA women. MiR-222 and miR-221 was statically correlation with (AA+AC) versus (CC) FoxP3 SNP rs3761548 and (AG+GG) versus (AA) FoxP3 SNP rs2223356 in RA patients only with gender stratification.In conclusion, this study focusing on three types of genetic predisposition to RA sheds new light on the previous studies from Asia, Northern Europe and America, highlighting ethnical and geographical differences. Functional genomic studies and large male cohorts will be needed for a better understanding of the pathophysiology of RA and to study the importance of the X chromosome in this disease. Moreover, the role of micro-RNAs as genetic factors of RA remains under-studied and needs further exploration.

No description available.