Philosophiae Doctor - PhD (Linguistics, Language and Communication)

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Academic writing as social practice: a critical discourse analysis of student writing in higher education in Tanzania
(University of the Western Cape, 2006) Mohamed, Hashim Issa; Banda, Felix; Dept. of Linguistics, Language and Communication; Faculty of Arts
This thesis was a critical analysis of students academic second language writing at Sokoine University of Agriculture. Student writing in English as a second language in higher education has excited much interest in the English as a Second Language writing research and discussion in Tanzania. The interest was motivated by frequent criticisms from examiners regarding students literacy performance in the English as a Second Language writing in the post primary and higher education where the language of instruction is English as is configured in the Tanzanian language policy.
A contextual analysis of compound nouns in Shona lexicography
(University of the Western Cape, 2011) Mheta, Gift; Banda, Felix; Dept. of Linguistics, Language and Communication; Faculty of Arts
This research is in the area of lexicography and investigates the relationship between Shona terminology development and the culture of the language community for which the terminology is intended. It is a contextual analysis of compound nouns found in Shona terminological dictionaries. The study specifically explores how lexicographers together with health, music, language and literature specialists make use of their knowledge about Shona cultural contexts in the creation of compound nouns. Thus, this research foregrounds Shona socio-cultural contexts and meaning generation in terminology development. This study employs a quadruple conceptual framework. The four components of the framework that are utilised are the Traditional Descriptive Approach (TDA), Cognitive Approach (CG), Systemic Functional Approach (SFL), and Semiotic Remediation (SRM). TDA is used in the linguistic categorisation of Shona compound nouns. In addition, it provides the metalanguage with which to describe the constituent parts of Shona compound nouns. As TDA is mainly confined to the linguistic dimension, this research employs CG, SFL, and SRM to explore the cultural and socio-cognitive dimensions of terminology development.
Exploring the micro-social dynamics of intergenerational language transmission: a critical analysis of parents's attitudes and language use patterns among Ndamba speakers in Tanzania
(University of the Western Cape, 2010) Lipembe, Pembe Peter Agustini; Stroud, Christopher; Dept. of Linguistics, Language and Communication; Faculty of Arts
The study has several implications; for general theoretical traditions it highlights the point that ambivalent attitudes and incomplete language use are responsible for gradual language decline. Previous studies while acknowledging the role of community based, intuitive conditions on language maintenance and shift, did not show how the process occurred. For policy the study aims toward sensitizing policy makers and raise their awareness about the dire situation in which minority languages currently are in. This would ensure that politicians, bureaucrats, and other state authorities could implement policy decisions that guarantee protection of minority languages and enhance their vitality. One policy strategy that could ensure revitalization of minority languages would be to include them in the school curriculum as supplementary approach to the effort of the home and the community, as McCarty (2002, quoted in Recento, 2006) observes that schools; [�] �can be constructed as a place where children can be free to be indigenous in the indigenous language - in all of its multiple and everchanging meanings and forms� (p. 51).
Investigating Kiswahili academic literacy: the case of two primary and two secondary schools in Morogoro region, Tanzania
(University of the Western Cape, 2009) Shumbusho, George N.; Stroud, Christopher; Dept. of Linguistics, Language and Communication; Faculty of Arts
The purpose of the current study was to examine whether pupils/students master academic literacy and if various genres are taught appropriately. In other words whether pupils/students master academic literacy in a way that would allow them to benefit from a transition into Kiswahili as a language of instruction at secondary school level and probably beyond. The study was carried out in two primary and two secondary schools in Morogoro and Mvomero Districts of Morogoro region in Tanzania. The study is essentially qualitative, and employed ethnographic design. In this regard, three methods of data collection were used namely: interviews, classroom observations and texts analysis. The study is located within the New Literacy Studies (NLS) perspective as a general interpretative theoretical framework. The analysis of data was done using Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), Genre analysis and Christie's Curriculum genres and macrogenres.
An investigation into English second language academic writing strategies for black students at the Eastern Cape technikon
(University of the Western Cape, 2006) Tshotsho, Baba Primrose; Banda, Felix; Dept. of Linguistics, Language and Communication; Faculty of Arts
This study has been prompted by the negative remarks that lecturers make concerning the academic performance of students and the number of years they spend at the Eastern Cape Technikon before completing their diplomas. The aim of this study was to identify the kinds of strategies that English Second Language (ESL) students use to cope with English language writing tasks. Academic writing requires a conscious effort and much practice in composing, developing, and analyzing ideas. Black students at tertiary institutions in South Africa face additional difficulty, especially when they have to deal with writing in English which is an unfamiliar language to them. This presents them with social and cognitive challenges related to second language acquisition. Since the black students do not often consider the social contexts in which L2 academic writing takes place, models of L1 writing instruction and research on composing processes are often found wanting in their L2 writing pedagogy. In this study, I argue that language proficiency and competence is the cornerstone of the ability to write in the L2 in a fundamental way. L2 writing instructors should take into account both strategy development and language skill development when working with black students. This is critical in South Africa considering the apartheid legacy and the deprived social conditions under which black students often live and acquire their education. Therefore, using critical discourse analysis and aspects of systemic functional linguistics, this study explores errors in written cohesion and coherence in relation to L2 writing strategies used by black students at the Eastern Cape Technikon. The study focuses on errors in the form of cohesive devices of referring expressions using topic development used by students. The aim was to explore the strategies used by black students to write coherent academic texts. Further, the study intends to scrutinize the grammatical devices of reference, through analyzing the forms of cohesive devices and theme development. A focus on the writing process as a pedagogical tool enables me to explore the relationship between the quality of students‟ academic writing and coping strategies used, and come up with a model of L2 writing (coping) strategies for academic writing at the Eastern Cape Technikon. I investigate the L2 writing process adopted by competent and non-competent black students in the process of producing coherent academic texts by comparing strategies that the two groups of students adopt.
Language use and mode of communication in community development projects in Nyanza province, Kenya
(University of the Western Cape, 2006) Oketch, Omondi; Banda, Felix; Dept. of Linguistics, Language and Communication; Faculty of Arts
The concept of community development is founded on the premise that changes in the living conditions of people are best effected by the people themselves. The term community evokes the idea of a homogeneous social group who can recognise their common interests and work together harmoniously for their common good. The concerns of the leading development agents and donors in the past two decades have been on empowering communities to participate in their own development by taking control of decisions and initiatives that seek to improve their living conditions. The zeal to address these concerns has in the past decade been pushed with such resounding statements that people’s participation in development projects has not only been seen as a basic human right, but also as an imperative condition for human survival. It has been strongly argued in the UNDP reports that the overall development strategy is to enable people to gain access to a much broader range of opportunities.From this perspective, development as a social activity seeks to ensconce economic liberalisation, freedom of association, good governance and access to free market economy as the guiding tenets of an improved life in all communities in the world. The realization of this dream posed a major challenge to many governments in the Third World and the 1980s saw the emergence of ‘associational revolution’ – the proliferation of small-scale non governmental organizations (NGOs) with relative autonomy from the state. The mainstream development agencies perceived the NGOs as the best instruments to instigate changes in the living conditions of the poor and the disadvantaged people. For this reason, NGOs became increasingly instrumental in implementing development objectives in the rural and disadvantaged communities. Development in this sense consists of processes in which various groups are stimulated to improve aspects of their lives particularly by people from outside their community. This has drawn attention to how these outsider- development agents communicate development information particularly due to the sociolinguistic situation in many rural African communities. The real concern is with is that the target majority of the people in the rural areas are not speakers of the dominant languages of the development discourse, in most cases this is the official foreign languages taught in schools.Communication is a fundamental part in community development programmes and language emerges as a key factor in effective communication and implementation of these programmes. While it is evident that social interactions are sustained by agreeable communicative principles, the role of language and the different mode of communication applied to development interventions have received very little attention from the parties concerned. This has yielded detrimental repercussions in the quality of interaction at the grassroots level. More often than not, it is assumed that once there is a common language, effective communication will take place and for this reason language use and mode of communication are never given much thought in the field of development interaction.
Language, identity and nationhood: language use and attitudes among Xhosa students at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa
(University of the Western Cape, 2000) Dyers, Charlyn; Charlyn, Dyers; Ridge, S.G.M.; Banda, Felix; Dept. of Linguistics, Language and Communication; Faculty of Arts
This thesis is a study of patterns of language attitudes and use among Xhosa home language speakers at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa. Speakers of Xhosa, according to Statistics South Africa 2000, form the second largest speech community in South Africa (17.9% of the total population), second only to speakers of Zulu (22.9% of the total population). The University of the Western Cape, which is situated just outside Cape Town, was originally intended to serve only the Coloured (mixed-race) population of South Africa. Coloureds form the majority group in the population of the Western Cape, one of the nine provinces of South Africa. In 1982, the university took the bold step of defying the apartheid regime, by opening its doors to students of all races. Students from all over South Africa now attend the university, but Xhosa students, drawn mainly from the provinces of the Eastern and Western Cape, form the largest language group or speech community on the campus. The thesis presents a study of the patterns of language attitudes and use with which Xhosa students enter the university, as well as patterns of change in language attitudes and use revealed by a longitudinal study of a smaller group of Xhosa students.
A Linguistic and textual analysis of classroom english interaction at Al-thadi University in Libya
(University of the Western Cape, 2007) Eldokali, Elsanosi Mohamed; Banda, Felix; Dept. of Linguistics, Language and Communication; Faculty of Arts
This study uses an interdisciplinary approach in the analytical framework combining Systemic Functional Linguuistic theoty (SFL) (Martin 1992; Halliday 19994) and critical discourse analysis (CDA) (Wodak 7 meyer 2001; Fairclough 1989, 1993, 1995, 2001). Further, the study draws on christie's (1997, 2001, 2002, 2005) work on classroom discourse analysis, which in turn builds on Bernstein's (1990, 1996, 2000) model on pedagogic practice and interaction, to examine dominanceand power relationsin the classroom. The interdisciplinary approach enabled this study to evaluate Al-Thadi university students' English language competence, linguistically and textually.
Negotiation of identities and language practices among Cameroonian immigrants in Cape Town
(University of the Western Cape, 2011) Mai, Magdaline Mbong; Banda, Felix; Dept. of Linguistics, Language and Communication
This thesis is an exploration of the historical, socio-cultural, economic, and political settings in which identities are negotiated and performed among Cameroonian immigrants in Cape Town. Focusing on language as localized practices and different interaction regimes, the thesis investigates how Cameroonian immigrants maintain and reconfigure the Anglophone/Francophone identity options in novel and hybrid ways. In addition, the study examines how ideologies favouring different languages are reproduced and challenged in translocal and transnational discourses. Guided by the poststructuralist theories the thesis explores the stance that reality is socially constructed, based on symbolic and material structural limitations that are challenged and maintained in interaction. That is, whatever we do or believe in, is supported by some historical or cultural frames of meanings in our lived world, which often gives room to some manoeuvre to do things in a new way. The study adopts a multiplex interpretive approach to data collection. This entails a qualitative sociolinguistic approach where interviews, discussion and observations at different socio-economic places namely; meetings, workplaces, homes, restaurants, drinking spots and many sites from all over Cape Town, were explored. The study suggests that Cameroonians have a multiplicity of identity options, which are manifested and negotiated performatively through language, dress code, song, food, business, and other practices that comprise their lifestyles. These identities are translocal and transnational in nature, and tend to blend South African, Cameroonian, and even American traits. It is also suggests that the different identity options which they manifest are highly mobile, enabling Cameroonians to fit into South African social structures as well as the Cameroonian ways of doing things. Additionally, the multiplicity of identities that Cameroonians manifest, blur the fault-line between Anglophone/Francophone identities. It is evident from the study that hybridity and the reconstruction practices are not only confined to languages. Hybridity also extends to discourse orders especially in terms of how meetings are conducted. The Cameroonian meetings captured through the activities of Mifi Association and CANOWACAT are characterised by �disorder of discourse� in which both formal and informal versions of English and French are used separately or as amalgams alongside CPE and their national languages, not only in side talks, but also when contributing to the meeting proceedings. Ultimately, the study concludes that Cameroonians are social actors making up an indispensable part of the social interaction in the Cape Town Diaspora. Just as they influence the languages, the entrepreneurial practices, and spaces in which they interact, the Cameroonian immigrants are also transformed. The major contribution of the study is that it adds to the recent debates about the nature of multilingualism and identities in late modern society. It emphasises that languages and identities are fluid, complex, and unstable. The distinction or boundaries between the various languages in multilingual practices are also not as clear-cut. This leads to a reframing of voice and actor hood as meaning is constructed across translocal and transnational contexts and domains in a networked world transformed by the mobility of endless flows of information, goods, ideas, and people. Thus, the study contributes to those arguing for a paradigm shift in sociolinguistic theory in which language is not a property of groups, nor is it an autonomous and bounded system fixed in time and space. Thus, identities, languages and the spaces of interaction are not fixed systems; identities, languages, and spaces are dynamic and in a state of flux. This in turn questions the notions of multilingualism and language itself, as well as the veracity of concepts such as code-switching, speech community, language variation, as the search for a sociolinguistic framework that can deal with phenomena predicated by motion, instability, and uncertainty, continues.
Textuality in near-synonyms translations of the Holy Qur??n into English
(University of the Western Cape, 2011) Al-Sowaidi, Belqes Saif Abdulelah; Banda, Felix; Dept. of Linguistics, Language and Communication; Faculty of Arts
The Holy Qur??n, like the Bible, is an acknowledged literary masterpiece. Its linguistic and aesthetic vivacity with an amalgam of religious beliefs, moral values, religious social orthodoxy and historical backgrounds pose a great challenge to any translator and make the task overwhelmingly arduous, if not unattainable. The study aims at examining the problems the Qur??n translators encounter while translating near-synonyms from Arabic into English. It is based on the translations of two professional translators namely, Yusuf Ali and T.B. Irving. The translations provide an empirical basis for the discussion of the problems while translating Qur??nnic texts into English. The corpus for the present study includes the translations of four near-synonymous pairs namely, ghayth and ma?ar, al-?ilf and al-qasm, bakh?l and sha??? and ??qir and ?aq?m in their Qur??nic context. The two translated texts are compared to determine to which extent the translations reflect the referential and the connotative meaning of the original Qur??nic text as well as to which extent they maintain the textuality standards such as cohesion, coherence, informativity, situationality and acceptability, intentionality and intertextuality. In short, the study sets out to identify the roblematic areas in the translated Qur??nic texts at the lexical and textual levels with a view to determining what makes one translation better than the other, or what brings one translation closer to the original text than the other.The study is an intersection between Qur??nic exegeses (tafs?r) and applied linguistics. The researcher consults different books on translation theories as well as of Qur??nic exegeses (tafs?r) to facilitate the process of analyzing the near-synonyms in their Qur??nic context. The researcher opts for eclecticism, instead of confining to a particular rigid model or approach, which is a combination of text-analysis translation-oriented approaches of De Beaugrande & Dressler(1981); Neubert & Shreve(1992); Halliday (1994) and Hatim & Mason (1990). In addition, the study draws upon the multiple and theoretical implications of Nida's dynamic equivalence, Beekman & Callow's (1974) historical and dynamic fidelity and Gutt's (1991) relevance theory and the emphasis on communication as mainly context-dependent. These models are closely related and reliable in the process of analyzing and evaluating the problems encountered in Arabic-English translation of the Qur??nic near-synonyms. Furthermore, the researcher suggests an outline approach for the process of analyzing the Qur??nic near-synonyms translations in a systemic and organized way thereby ensuring maximum and effective communication of the Qur??nic message. The study concludes that the Qur??n translator, compared to other literary genres, faces many difficulties in translating the Qur??nic ST message. The selected translations of the Holy Qur??n have failed to measure up to the depth of the Qur??nic message, its originality and the connotative shades of meanings of the original expression. The study attributes these problems to contextual, socio-cultural, theological and historical factors which create differences that lead to gaps or absence of lexicalization in the TT. Furthermore, the reliance on dictionary meaning rather than the meaning of the lexical item in context, the negligence of context culture as well as the context of situation (the reason for the revelation of the verses) affect the �periodicity� of the text as indicated by Martin & Rose (2007, p.187), that is, the information flow of the whole text. Accordingly, this affects maintaining the standards of textuality and the fidelity which a religious text should meet. The complexity of the Qur??n as genre is a great challenge to the translator at both the lexical and Qur??n textual levels, which dilutes the authenticity of the holy text and misrepresents its true message. The conclusion of the study which contains recommendations based on experience may prove helpful to the future novice and professional translators to improve the quality of translation in general and religious translation in particular. The study is a contribution towards a greater understanding of the subtle differences between the near-synonymous pairs in their Qur??nic context through Arabic-English translation. It is a novel addition to the world of religious translation, Qur??n translation, ?ad?th and in English. It also contributes to some extent to modern exegeses of the Qur??n. It is hoped that the work will encourage further studies in the field of translation to employ a context-based linguistic approach to translating different genres and sacred texts in particular, integrating insights from applicable translation and linguistic approaches.

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