A feminist critical discourse analysis of male dominance and violence in Zakes Mda’s the Madonna of excelsior and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s purple hibiscus
- Authors: Ibitoye, Antonia Folasade
- Date: 2023-12
- Subjects: Feminism and education , Feminism and literature
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/63320 , vital:73249
- Description: This study critically explored male dominance and violence in Africa, through the lens of South African author, Zakes Mda, and Nigerian author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, in their novels, The Madonna of Excelsior (2004) and Purple Hibiscus (2003), respectively. Women globally often continue to live with male dominance, and this unequal gender structure has propelled feminists to commence movements to counter all forms of discrimination against women. For the study, excerpts from the two novels were used as data, to investigate male dominance and violence in Africa. To achieve the goals of this research, the study used socialist feminist theory, post-colonial feminist theory, and black feminist theory as the theoretical framework. This combined framework explicates that there is not just one system of oppression at the core of unequal treatment of women by men. Rather, it is a combination of structures related to social class, gender, race, sexuality, culture and society. Feminist critical discourse analysis (FCDA) was employed to analyse the data with the aid of ATLAS.ti software. FCDA was selected as an analytical framework because of its concern for the emancipation of women and social justice with transformation.What prompted the area of concern and the research problem of this study was an awareness of the extensive gender inequality in Nigeria and South Africa, which tends to be rooted in male dominance and violence. As a result, this study contributes to creating awareness of gender inequality, suggesting ways of combating violence against women and female suppression as well as promoting new conceptualisations of masculinity, femininity, and inequality. This research study explored how language use constructed identity, gender, and power relations and how these have reflected male dominance, and violence in Africa in the novels chosen for this study. This study is significant because it did not only analysed the marginalisation and suppression of the female gender but further exposed the strategies that were adopted by women to confront patriarchal oppression and domination as well as the resultant effect on the perpetrators as depicted in the novels for this study. The distinctiveness of this study can be viewed from three different perspectives. Firstly, it is one of the first research works to use FCDA to address the social problems of male dominance and violence. Secondly, it is the first research work which recognises the use of the novel as an essential source of data for FCDA on male dominance and violence. Using the novel as a data source supports the fact that novels are relevant data sources because 5 they often reflect the happenings in society, such as the incidence of gender inequality. Lastly, this project is distinctive because of its ability to combine socialist feminist theory, black feminist theory, post-colonial feminist theory as the theoretical framework and FCDA as the methodological approach. The study is limited to two novels from two African writers because the novels are reflections of the challenges faced by women in Africa and because of the novelists’ unique use of language and the representation of male dominance, violence and female suppression in Africa. The choice to restrict the scope of the study to Africa, selecting Nigeria and South Africa was because, both novels are set in African context and also as a result of the gravity of the identified social and equity issues in Africa. For further research, the study could be extended beyond the African continent to other continents. By so doing, other feminist theories could be used while FCDA could still be used as an analytical framework. Furthermore, a comparative analysis of male dominance and violence between South Africa and Nigeria could also be explored or between Africa and the western world. This study, therefore, explored how language use constructed gender identity and how this reflected male dominance and violence in Africa through the novels, which provided the data for analysis. Following the principles of FCDA, the study sought to create social awareness and to build an understanding of the need not only to resist male dominance and violence but to extend understandings of gender differences with the intention of generating a collective change and transformation in society for gender equality. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, 2023
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- Date Issued: 2023-12
The impact of collaborative writing and scaffolding practices on student writing performance in second language contexts: action research at Midlands State University (MSU)
- Authors: Hlatshwayo, Primrose
- Date: 2023-12
- Subjects: English language -- Context , Writing -- Midlands State University
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/63309 , vital:73248
- Description: The mixed methods action research study explored how collaborative writing and scaffolding practices impacted on the writing performance of students writing in groups. It sought to establish whether using the collaborative writing (CW) method would enhance the writing performance of 55 social work Midlands State University first-year students. Socio-cultural theory (SCT) was employed as the theoretical basis for the study as it emphasises learning in socially constructed environments in which interaction among peers and teachers leads to learning and construction of knowledge. Through the examination of student interactions in two collaborative writing activities, an analysis of student perceptions of CW, and an assessment of student collaboratively produced texts, the study found that the different peer and teacher scaffolding practices that were employed in the collaborative writing sessions significantly enhanced the students’ writing performance. Regardless of the challenges identified in CW, for example, misunderstandings and meaningless contributions from some group members, the research findings revealed that the student interactions offered scaffolding to support their writing activities. For example, validation feedback, link to previous knowledge and the use of correctional feedback were the scaffolding practices used. In addition, the students were able to collaboratively produce better texts with improved cohesive linking, mechanics, organisation, development, structure and vocabulary. The study contributed to L2 collaborative writing literature as it identifies the different student scaffolding approaches and offers an insight into the collaborative writing process and how it could support ESL writing development. However, the methodology posed some limitations, for example, the use of a questionnaire instead of interviews and recording student interactions in a journal instead of audio recording and, lastly, the researcher struggled to balance research demands and her normal teaching load. The study recommends the monitoring of students in CW groups, facilitation of peer/teacher motivation, establishment of group norms and formation of small groups with a maximum number of six members. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, 2023
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- Date Issued: 2023-12
The uptake of educational technology in South African Higher Education: a study of the context that conditioned emergency remote teaching in the pandemic
- Authors: Ngcobo, Nomathemba Faustinah
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Educational technology South Africa , Education, Higher South Africa , Academic development , COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020- South Africa , Distance education Computer-assisted instruction , Web-based instruction South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/405495 , vital:70176 , DOI 10.21504/10962/405495
- Description: The study explores the enablements and constraints in the uptake of educational technologies in the South African higher education system. This is a multiple institutional study which considers the differentiated nature of higher education institutions in South Africa and reflects on the implications of this for the use of educational technology (EdTech). EdTech is seen as an important aspect of 21st century education. As an established practice in many universities it has made a significant impact on teaching and learning practices. However, EdTech is often presented as a panacea to educational problems and implemented without consideration of the contexts in which it is used. Data was collected from the educational technology units of 22 of the 26 public higher education institutions and the main sources of this data were an online survey questionnaire related to the uptake of educational technologies and semi-structured interviews. For the research analysis, Archer’s analytical dualism and morphogenetic cycle provided a framework with the understanding that a social phenomenon such as EdTech emerges from a complex interplay of multiple mechanisms rather than through simple unidirectional causality. The framework directed me to analyse structure, culture and agency as separate entities allowing an understanding of the complex and rapidly growing phenomenon of EdTech. Analytical dualism provides guiding principles on how agential actions, structural resources, and cultural practices emerge and allows an understanding of how agents experience and respond to structures and cultures in social fields, for example, the uptake of EdTech for teaching and learning. The morphogenetic cycle reveals the historical nature the EdTech uptake with events happening over a period of time so that past events, which possess structural and cultural mechanisms, condition agency in socio-cultural interaction. The study identified several mechanisms enabling and constraining the uptake of EdTech, and while the findings are not exhaustive, they do indicate important enablements and constraints which the sector would do well to consider as it enters a post-pandemic phase. The data was collected prior to the pandemic and thus provides an understanding of what allowed for the uptake of EdTech when face-to-face teaching and learning was the norm. While the pandemic resulted in a rapid pivot to Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT), and fundamentally changed the face of EdTech in the South African higher education sector and around the world, the findings of this study remain pertinent. Archer argues that when a new person or structure is introduced, it occurs within a pre-existing context and so what emerges should not be seen to be simply caused by that new person or structure. Rather, its emergent properties are exercised within the conditioning effects of the pre-existing structures, cultures and agents. The Covid-19 virus brought about significant effects around the world, but it would be a mistake for us to assume that the effects were the same across different national higher education systems or even across different universities within a country. For us to understand both what occurred during the pivot to ERT and to consider the implications of this for the future of EdTech, it is imperative that we understand the pre-existing conditions in which ERT was implemented. This thesis offers a rich picture of these pre-existing conditions. Key findings include the extreme extent to which universities differed in their resourcing and uptake of EdTech prior to the pandemic. In some universities, there were well-resourced EdTech centres while in others, the implementation of EdTech was seen to be the responsibility of the IT department. Even where EdTech staff were employed, the nature of this employment varied greatly. In some cases, such staff were seen as educational experts who were hired as academics and often worked within academic development centres. In other cases, such staff were employed as administrative support staff. Another difference pertained to whether they were employed on contract (often funded through project funding) or on a permanent basis. These differences in employment and the positioning of the EdTech staff were seen to greatly condition the levels of credibility they enjoyed and the kinds of work they could undertake. If they were employed as support staff, they were more likely to be seen to be responsible for providing academics with end-user technical assistance. If they were employed as academics, they were more likely to be seen to be responsible for providing pedagogical and curriculum development support in using EdTech for teaching and learning. Another set of findings related to the extent to which EdTech was seen to be valued within each university, such as by being included in promotions criteria, mentioned in institutional strategies, and supported by university management. Where this was not the case, this constrained the uptake of EdTech. In all cases, the EdTech staff reported working almost exclusively with academics who sought to develop their EdTech capability on a voluntary basis because it aligned to what Archer terms their ‘personal projects’. At times a departmental champion, especially in the form of the Head of Department as a social actor, led to EdTech uptake spreading across the academic body. There was evidence of some resistance to the use of EdTech and a great deal of anxiety among some academics. This was seen to be implicated in concerns that at times EdTech was seen to be a ‘dumping ground’ and the Learning Management System positioned simply as a repository of materials. Many academics reported being pushed by their students to integrate more technology in their teaching. Many students seem to be adept at using technology and can see its potential pedagogical benefits and so placed pressure for this to be increased. There were however concerns that the notion of ‘Digital Natives’, that is millennial students who were born into a technological era, was only a partial picture of the student body. The ‘Digital Divide’ meant that there was highly uneven access to hardware, data, bandwidth, and technological literacies among the student body. For many students, their only access to technology was while they were physically on campus, a finding that was to have extreme implications for the pivot to ERT. This research will be valuable to the field of educational technology and enhance the understanding of what is needed to enable the uptake of educational technologies in higher education teaching and learning in pedagogically sound ways. As the sector responds to the pandemic and reflects on lessons learned during this time, it will be important to look to the conditions outlined in this study as they continue to enable and constrain the uptake of educational technology. , Ucwaningo olwethulwe yindlela elandela imigomo ka-Bhaskar kanye no-Archer yesayensi yezenhlalo ehlola ukuze inikeze incazelo yokuvumeleka nezithiyo ekuthathweni kwezifundo ezisekwe ubuchwepheshe besimanje. Lolu ucwaningo lwezikhungo eziningi zemfundo ephakeme, futhi inhloso yalo enkulu bekuwukuhlonza ukuthi kwavela kanjani izindlela ezehlukene ukuze kuvunyelwe futhi kuvinjwe ukusetshenziswa kobuchwepheshe bezemfundo ezikhungweni zemfundo ephakeme ezehlukene eNingizimu Afrika. Izifundo ezisekwe ubuchwepheshe besimanje (EdTechs) ibonwa njengezici ezibalulekile zemfundo yekhulu lamashumi amabili nanye (21st century), futhi njengomkhuba osunguliwe emanyuvesi ibe nomthelela omkhulu ekufundiseni nasekufundeni. Kodwa-ke, i-EdTechs ivame ukwethulwa njengekhambi ezinkingeni zemfundo futhi yacwaningwa ngaphandle kokucabangela izimo lapho isetshenziswa khona. Ngenxa yalokho, kwaba nesidingo sokuqonda kangcono ukuthi ukutholwa kwayo kwehlukaniswa kanjani phakathi nohlelo lwemfundo ephakeme olungalingani emaNyuvesi ahlukene. Ubufakazi buqoqwe ezingxenyeni zobuchwepheshe bezemfundo zezikhungo zemfundo ephakeme zikahulumeni ezingamashumi amabili nambili (22) kwezingamashumi amabili nesithupha (26) futhi imithombo eyinhloko yalobufakazi kwakuwuhlu lwemibuzo lwenhlolovo oluku-inthanethi oluhlobene nokusetshenziswa kobuchwepheshe bezemfundo kwase kulandela kanye nezingxoxiswano ezihlelwe kancane. Ukuze kuhlaziywe ucwaningo, i-analytical dualism ngokuka-Archer kanye nomjikelezo we-morphogenetic (uzalo kabusha) unikeze uhlaka lokuhlaziywa kokutholwa kobuchwepheshe bezemfundo njengokusebenzelana okuqhubekayo phakathi kwezifundiswa nabasebenzi bomnyango bobuchwepheshe besimanje (EdTech staff). Ekuhlaziyeni, ngixoxa ngokuthi uhlaka lungiqondise kanjani ukuba ngihlaziye isakhiwo, isiko kanye nokwenza kwabantu njengezinhlangano ezihlukene nokuthi kungani lolu hlaka lufaneleka ukuze siqonde lesi simo esiyinkimbinkimbi nesikhula ngokushesha sezemfundo zobuchwepheshe besimanje. Ubumbaxambili bokuhlaziya buhlinzeka ngohlaka oluvumela abacwaningi ezimweni zomphakathi ukuthi babone futhi bahlaziye izindlela ezikhiqizayo neziyisisekelo, okuhlanganisa izindlela zokwenza ngokusebenzisa ukuxhumana komphakathi. Iphinde inikeze izimiso eziqondisayo zokuthi ezinye izenzo zokwenza komuntu kanye nemikhuba yamasiko zivela kanjani kanye nokuqonda ukuthi abenzi nabasebenzi bezemfundo, nokuthi abhekana kanjani futhi asabela kanjani ezakhiweni namasiko emikhakheni yezenhlalo, isibonelo, ukutholwa kwe-EdTechs ekufundiseni nokufunda. Ngaphezu kwalokho, umjikelezo we-morphogenetic wembula ubunjalo bomlando ukuthathwa kwe-EdTechs nezenzakalo ezenzeka esikhathini esithile ukuze izehlakalo ezidlule ezinezindlela zesakhiwo nezamasiko zibekezelele izenzo zezifundiswa njenge-ejensi ezovela ekusebenzelaneni kwezenhlalo namasiko. Izakhiwo ezivelayo zesakhiwo, isiko kanye nezabenzi zibonwa njengezindlela ezibalulekile ezivumela futhi zibambe iqhaza ekuthathweni kobuchwepheshe bezemfundo ekufundiseni nokufunda yizifundiswa. Ngakho-ke, ucwaningo luveza ukuthi kungani ukuthathwa kunezindlela ezivumelayo neziphoqayo futhi ukuxhumana phakathi kwesakhiwo, isiko kanye nomenzi kudala ukucabangela kwesimo okungaba okuncomayo noma okuphikisanayo ngokwemvelo. Imvume yokulandelana kwesimo yencazelo yokuthi kungani kunokuhlangenwe nakho okuhlukile ekuthathweni kwalawa ma-EdTech avela ezikhungweni ezehlukene esimweni semfundo ephakeme yaseNingizimu Afrika. Lolu cwaningo luzobaluleka emkhakheni wezobuchwepheshe bezemfundo futhi luthuthukise ukuqonda kwalokho okudingekayo ukuze kusetshenziswe ubuchwepheshe bezemfundo ekufundiseni nasekufundeni imfundo ephakeme. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Education, Centre for Higher Education Research, Teaching and Learning, 2022
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- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
School libraries in former model c high schools – the case of the Framesby high school media centre
- Authors: Olivier, Charleine
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: School libraries -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth Instructional materials centers -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Multicultural education -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/19795 , vital:28969
- Description: The study explored the changing role of libraries/media centres at ex-Model C (now Section 21) high schools in the Nelson Mandela Metropole (NMM), focussing on a case study of the Framesby High School (FHS) media centre in Port Elizabeth. Model C schools originated in the 1990s, just before the transition to democratic rule in 1994, when White, or House of Assembly schools were given a choice of three school governing models, namely, fully-private Model A schools, Model B state schools and semi-private Model C schools. Model C schools would receive state subsidies of about 50%, with the balance raised through school fees. A major research purpose was to present a comprehensive description of the current ex- Model C school library context and how these influenced the service orientation and intended core functions of school librarians, such as teaching information literacy, providing academic support and promoting general literacy and reading. The FHS media centre service was further described with an aim of providing functional library/media centre management guidelines, applicable to high school libraries/media centres in similar ex-Model C school situations, or any libraries that could find such guidelines useful. This qualitative FHS media centre case study was based on the FHS media centre manager’s personal observation as participative action researcher and further supported by literature, an interview and questionnaire feedback from FHS educators and respondents from selected NMM ex-Model C high school libraries. By comparing historical and existing national and provincial school library issues, conclusions were reached regarding macro- and micro-school library contexts, for example, the effect of having no national policy, the support roles of school management and governing bodies, the influence of digital media and the position of school librarians. School librarian concerns, including their roles, qualifications, service conditions and professional status, especially within Section 21 schools, were considered with the high school library and librarian’s contribution towards curriculum outcomes and life-long learning. With specific reference to ex-Model C schools, the absence of a library policy also resulted in diverse levels of school management and school governing body recognition of the school library/media centre. This impacted on the school librarian’s role in curriculum support and information literacy teaching as well as the availability of funds, infrastructure and resources. It is recommended that government should address the supply of library facilities, services and posts for school librarians and assistants. Lack of governmental action is maintaining the growing divide between ex-Model C schools and disadvantaged schools, while the lack of school library services also has a negative influence on literacy and pass rates, especially in poorer regions, like the Eastern Cape. In the light of the vast difference between the results of ex-Model C schools and other schools in the Eastern Cape, these schools and their library services could provide a benchmark towards improving educational contexts in the province.
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- Date Issued: 2017
An investigation into integrating social sites as a teaching and learning practice to create dialogue spaces in the language classroom
- Authors: Olamijulo, Christianah
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Online social networks , Blended learning
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:8429 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020149
- Description: This study intends to explore how social media or social networking sites (SNSs) such as Facebook can facilitate communication channels or create dialogue spaces in a language class. Social media is a form of participatory media, which broadly refers to the “collection of communication channels or mediums (primarily online and mobile) through which social networks originate and are sustained” (Flew 2008:109). Although the term social media is often used as a collective term for SNSs or as the core trademark of Web 2.0, Flew (2008:17) also distinguishes social media by calling it a “communications infrastructure” that allows for “participation, interactivity, collaborative learning and social networking”. Flew (2008) identifies various online sites including the online encyclopaedia Wikipedia and the online user-generated video site YouTube as well as various personalised web space sites such as MySpace, Facebook, Friendster and Bebo as participatory media. The study’s data collection was situated at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) and investigated how social media can be used to facilitate dialogue between a tutor and BKI1120 Communication in English B students in a Higher Education (HE) context using qualitative methodology. This study compared the use of existing and more traditional or conventional classroom communication practices with those of SNSs as a communication channel, while focusing on social media application as a communication tool to create dialogue spaces that support teaching and learning practices. The research also attempted to identify alternative applications of social media for teaching and learning practices to inform researchers in the fields of HE and media. In the first data-collection phase, BKI1120 Communication in English B Public Management students were selected as the sample for the study. Seventeen students participated in the BKI1120 Facebook page created for the purpose of this study. In the second data-collection phase, a taped focus-group interview was conducted with eight BKI1120 Communication in English B students. The interview transcript was then analysed qualitatively for themes. The research findings showed that social media or SNSs such as Facebook can facilitate communication channels or create dialogue spaces in a language class, if it is managed effectively.
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- Date Issued: 2012