3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item Consciousness embodied: language and the imagination in the communal world of William Blake(2014-08-26) Pierce, RobynThis dissertation examines the philosophical and spiritual beliefs that underpin William Blake’s account of the imagination, his objections to empiricism and his understanding of poetic language. It begins by considering these beliefs in relation to the idealist principles of George Berkeley as a means of illustrating Blake’s own objections to the empiricism of John Locke. The philosophies of Locke and Berkeley were popular in Blake’s society and their philosophical positions were well known to him. Blake and Berkeley are aligned against Locke’s belief in an objective world composed of matter, and his theory of abstract ideas. Both reject Locke’s principles by affirming the primacy of the perceiving subject. However, Blake disagrees with Berkeley’s theologically traditional understanding of God. He views perception as an act of artistic creation and believes that spiritual divinity is contained within and is intrinsic to man’s human form. This account of human perception as the creative act of an immanent divinity is further elucidated through a comparison with the twentieth-century existential phenomenology of Maurice Merleau-Ponty. In the Phenomenology of Perception (1945), Merleau-Ponty examines human experience as the functioning of an embodied consciousness in a shared life-world. While Merleau-Ponty does not make any reference to a spiritual deity, his understanding of experience offers a link between Berkeley’s criticisms of Locke and Blake’s own objections to empiricism. Through a comparative examination of Blake and Merleau-Ponty, the imagination is revealed to be the creative or formative consciousness that proceeds from the integrated mind-body complex of the “Divine Body” or “human form divine”. This embodied existence locates the perceiving self in a dynamic physical landscape that is shared with other embodied consciousnesses. It is this communal or intersubjective interaction between self and other that constitutes the experienced world. Merleau-Ponty’s account of the chiasm and his notion of flesh, discussed in The Visible and the Invisible, are applied to Blake in order to elucidate his belief in poetic vision and the constitutive power of language. The form and function of language are compared with that of the body, because both bring the individual experience of a perceiving subject into being in the world and facilitate the reciprocal exchange between the self and other. Ultimately, this dissertation argues that Blake characterises the body and language as the living media of the imagination, which facilitate a creative exchange between a perceiving self and a shared life-world.Item Identification and classification of incoming learning behaviours amongst a sample of first year, English second language, engineering students : A case study(2008-10-21T10:21:43Z) Simelane, Zanele FaithThis research identifies and classifies incoming learning behaviours found amongst a sample of English second language first year engineering students. During the research process, it was discovered that students entering university for an engineering/science based degree tend to struggle with the English lecture style and the pace of work at a first year level due to their having been taught in their mother tongue or through the use of code switching in their school years. It was further identified that the students who took part in the sample were highly reliant on notes and lecturers for ‘obtaining knowledge’ that could be utilized in the answering of problems. The findings indicate that English second language students who had been taught in Black schools had a limited view of knowledge that was dependant on received knowledge. It was further found that with the exception of students who had been taught in English only schools, there appeared little correlation between the matriculation aggregates of the students and their first year engineering marks. Where English second language first year engineering students exhibited some learning behaviours that suggest an aptitude for success in higher education, the findings suggest that the students who took part in the study do not feel supported at university. The findings, while complicated in nature, also suggest that university structures and procedures are not responsive to the specific needs of the sample group. It is the recommendation of this study that further research be undertaken amongst a larger sample group if curricular changes amongst first year engineering courses are to be considered.Item Language as visual and conceptual tool in selected video installations of Candice Breitz and Mona Hatoum(2008-04-25T09:50:30Z) Louw, PaulaThis research focuses on selected artworks by contemporary artists Mona Hatoum and Candice Breitz to critically examine how they have explored language as a visual and conceptual tool through the use of video and installation. The primary aim is to consider how and why these artists have explored paradoxical aspects of language and to examine the ways in which they have used their medium to question or challenge the adequacy of communication through language. Born in Palestine but exiled in Britain as a result of the outbreak of war in her home country, Mona Hatoum’s artworks reach deeply into her own experience of exile. Her video work Measures of Distance (1988) is concerned with language and its effectiveness in communication between people separated by geographical and emotional distance, a theme that is very close to the concerns I have in my own practical work. I critically examine Hatoum’s artwork to demonstrate how the complex layering of spoken word, written script and visual imagery, together with the complication of the viewer’s position, merge to foreground contradictions and conflicting states. I consider Candice Breitz’s investigations into the contradictory and provocative nature of speech and language against the background of her upbringing in apartheid South Africa and critically examine her concern with the ways in which identity is culturally constructed. Her preoccupation with the relationship between the mass media and the linguistic formation of self is examined. I have chosen to focus mainly on her video installations: Babel Series (1999), Alien (2002), Karaoke (2000), Four Duets (2000) and Legend (2004). My own practical work is discussed alongside these concerns, particularly in relation to contemporary electronic communication such as email and sms text messaging – along with the frustration that results from its impersonal nature (in contrast to old fashioned letter writing). I also discuss its impact on relationships separated by great geographical distances.Item Language and livelihoods in Johannesburg: Cameroonians income generating strategies(2008-03-28T12:47:00Z) Katende, KalambayABSTRACT This research investigates how language affects the livelihoods of migrants and their use of social networks for income generation in Johannesburg. The study focuses on the Cameroonians, a community constituted by two main linguistic groups: Francophones and Anglophones. It explores the historic process of migration into the Republic of South Africa, the motivations behind the choice of the inner city of Johannesburg by Cameroonians, and it differentiates the type of social networks in which Cameroonians in this study engage in. The research report also explores how language shapes social networks among Cameroonians living in the inner city of Johannesburg. Findings of this study reveal that language does not have a direct effect on livelihoods as almost all Cameroonians migrants interviewed in this study are able to speak both English and French. It nevertheless, shapes the respondents’ opportunities and strategies as many rely on linguistic communities to access information, get social assistance, and find jobs. This study found that Cameroonians living in the inner city of Johannesburg use intra-linguistic social networks more than inter-linguistic group social networks for their income generating strategies. It also demonstrates the importance that language has in the lives of these respondents. The study is based on non-representative sample of Cameroonians living in Johannesburg. It used a multi-methods approach including in-depth face-to-face interviews and written sources such as journals, books and research reports were combined to gather relevant data. Thematic content analysis was used to analyse the data.Item The evaluation of the reliability of the motor-free visual perceptual test (Third Edition) when translated into Afrikaans, on an Afrikaans first language urban population (East of Pretoria, South Africa) aged 8 years 0 months to 8 years 11 months(2007-02-16T10:32:07Z) Eksteen, TrudieA comparative study was undertaken to assess the reliability of the MVPT-3 when the instructions were translated into Afrikaans and the scores were then compared to the normative data obtained during the standardization process on a normal population of American children. The study was undertaken by testing 80 randomly selected, normally distributed, Afrikaans first language speaking eight year old children from the eastern suburbs of Pretoria, South Africa. The study confirmed that the MVPT-3 is reliable when the instructions are given in Afrikaans with a Chonbach’s alpha score of 0.79 compared to 0.83 obtained for the American population. The item analysis revealed some anomalies that suggest that the test may have a cultural bias as many items had a negative sign in the item analysis. Afrikaans girls and boys performed differently on the test, suggesting that the test may need to be adjusted for differing skills in the visual perception. There were a high number of non-contributing items that suggest that some items in the test may not be valid for South African Children.Item Exploring the English proficiency-Mathematical proficiency relationship in learners: An investigation using instructional English computer software(2007-02-16T10:13:35Z) Essien, Anthony AnietieThe difficulty of teaching and learning mathematics in a language that is not the learners' home language (e.g. English) is well documented. It can be argued that underachievement by South African learners in most rural schools is due to a lack of opportunity to participate in meaningful and challenging learning experience (sometimes due to lack of proficiency in English) rather than to a lack of ability or potential. This study investigated how improvement of learners' English language proficiency enables or constrains the development of mathematical proficiency. English Computer software was used as intervention to improve the English Language proficiency of 45 learners. Statistical methods were used to analyse the pre- and post-tests in order to compare these learners with learners from another class of 48. The classroom interaction in the mathematics class before and after the intervention was analysed in order to ascertain whether or not the mathematics interaction has been enabled or constrained. The findings of this study were that proficiency in the language of instruction (English) is an important index in mathematics proficiency, but improvement of learners' language proficiency, even though important for achievement in mathematics, may not be sufficient to impact on classroom interaction. The teacher's ability to draw on learner's linguistic resources is also of critical importance.Item A case study of the English language practices of six learners in a desegregated urban South African school.(2006-11-13T10:57:04Z) Makubalo, George V KThis research report explores the English language practices of six Grade 10 learners in a desegregated Johannesburg school as well as the ways in which the learners position themselves and others as users of English and other languages. The context of the study is desegregated schooling that is a consequence of the demise of apartheid with its policies of separation of people on racial and ethnic grounds. I draw on post-structuralist theorizing of language and identity in thinking about the relationship between language and identity (Hall, 1992a; Weedon, 1997; Zegeye, 2001) with an emphasis on the productive force of language in constituting identity (Pennycook, 2004). Also significant in this research report are the hybridity theories of Bhabha (1994) and Hall (1992b) and their critiques as well as the post-structuralist concepts of ‘positioning’ (Davis and Harrè, 1990) and ‘investment’ (Norton (Pierce), 1995; 1997). A further important strand in this study are the politics of English as a global language and language of power. The overall design of the project is qualitative, using ethnographic methods and drawing on the traditions of school ethnography. In analyzing the data, I argued that English constitutes and is experienced as a major part of the participants’ identities. I also state that through learners’ language practices and positioning of themselves and others as speakers of language, multiple and at times contradictory identities are continually being constructed and reconstructed. I also argue that the learners’ desire to be proficient in English and use of prestigious accents and varieties of English is not about a simple process of assimilation into dominant discourses. Assimilation as I contend, takes place under complex processes of contestation and appropriation that involves constant crossing of borders and authorization of hybridities. I have also argued that the post-apartheid youth find themselves in a situation where internalised racialised categories of apartheid ideology continue to be relevant in their understanding of issues but that they are not constrained by them in their lived experience of boundary crossing and fashioning of hybrid identities.Item The extent of delay of language,motor and cognitive development in HIV positive infants(2006-11-10T12:10:28Z) Baillieu, NicoleIn South Africa, a total number of 5.7 – 6.2 million individuals had acquired HIV infection by 2004 (Department of Health, 2004). It is estimated that 3.3 million females, 2.8 million males, and 104 963 babies had been infected with HIV in South Africa by 2004 (Department of Health, 2004). It has been found that HIV-positive children have significantly greater neurological dysfunction in eight domains (activity, language, cranial nerve, fine motor, gross motor, cerebellar, sensory and primitive reflexes) than their HIV negative counterparts (Belman et al, 1996). There has been very little research conducted in Africa regarding the extent of delay of language, motor, and cognitive development in HIV positive infants. The main aim of this study is to determine the extent of delay in acquisition of language, cognitive and motor skills of HIV positive children The Bayley Scales of Infant Development II (BSID II) were used to determine performance in each section of the child’s age group. These results were transferred to the facet scoring section, which analyse in greater detail, with respect to cognitive, language and motor development. Baseline BSID II assessments of HIV infected children currently enrolled in a longitudinal study of neurodevelopmental delay were analysed to determine which facets of development are most delayed. The Mental and Psychomotor Developmental Indices (MDI and PDI) of the BSID II were used to determine the extent of mental and motor delays in this sample. Mean cognitive development was 7.63 months delayed, which was statistically significant (p<0.01) and 97.5% of the sample were functioning below the expected cognitive age. Mean motor development was 9.65 months delayed (p<0.01), and 97.5% of the sample were functioning below expected motor age. Gross motor skills were more affected than fine motor skills, and 85% of the sample demonstrated gross motor delays on descriptive analysis. Language was descriptively analysed, revealing language delays in 82.5% of the sample. The infants in this study demonstrated significant mental and motor delays, as well as delays in language. It is postulated that motor delays may be attributed to decreased strength, as the most adversely affected skill in this sample was gross motor development. The cognitive delays noted may be due to disease progression and structural damage to the brain, as well as socio-economic factors. The language delays noted could be due to neurological impairment, cognitive delay or environmental deprivation. Children with HIV have significant delays in mental and motor development, and language is delayed in most children with HIV. The results of this study are similar to findings in other parts of the world, which indicates a global trend in HIV and neurodevelopmental delay. The results of this study are important, particularly for those involved in motor and language rehabilitation, as an awareness of potential problems in these infants is needed in order to provide them with the best management and care possible.