A comparative study of syllables and morphemes as literacy processing units in word recognition: IsiXhosa and SeTswana
- Authors: Probert, Tracy Nicole
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3266 , vital:20415
- Description: Word recognition is a core foundation of reading (Invenizzi and Hayes 2010) and involves interactions of language skills, metalinguistic skills and orthography. The extent of the interaction with one another in reading has yet to be fully explored, especially in the Southern-Bantu languages. This comparative study of isiXhosa and Setswana explores this three-way interaction between language skills (effect of Language of Learning and Teaching (LoLT)), metalinguistic skills (Phonological and Morphological Awareness) and orthography (conjunctivism vs. disjunctivism). This thesis is novel in three respects, (a) a set of linguistic-informed reading measures were developed in isiXhosa and Setswana for the first-time, (b) to my knowledge, the comparisons made and study of Morphological Awareness in the Southern-Bantu languages have never been done, and (c) the use of d-prime as a way of testing for grain size in reading is an innovative approach. Grade 3 and Grade 4 learners were tested on four independent linguistic tasks: an open-ended decomposition task, a Phonological Awareness task, a Morphological Awareness task and an independent reading measure. These tasks were administered to determine the grain size unit (Ziegler and Goswami 2005, Ziegler et al. 2001) which learners use in word recognition, with the grain sizes of syllables and morphemes being studied. Results showed that syllables were the dominant grain size in both isiXhosa and Setswana, with morphemes as secondary grains in isiXhosa. Grain size differed slightly between the two orthographies. These results are reflected in the scores on the metalinguistic tasks. LoLT was not shown to have a significant impact on word recognition in first-language reading. The Psycholinguistic Grain Size Theory (PGST) was found to be the most applicable model of word recognition to the Southern- Bantu languages, as opposed to the Dual-Route Cascade Model and Orthographic Depth Hypothesis. This thesis concludes with suggested adaptations to this theory in order to allow for morpheme grain size to be included. This study has implications for teaching practice and curriculum design, and contributes to a broader understanding of literacy in the foundation phase in the Southern-Bantu languages.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Probert, Tracy Nicole
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3266 , vital:20415
- Description: Word recognition is a core foundation of reading (Invenizzi and Hayes 2010) and involves interactions of language skills, metalinguistic skills and orthography. The extent of the interaction with one another in reading has yet to be fully explored, especially in the Southern-Bantu languages. This comparative study of isiXhosa and Setswana explores this three-way interaction between language skills (effect of Language of Learning and Teaching (LoLT)), metalinguistic skills (Phonological and Morphological Awareness) and orthography (conjunctivism vs. disjunctivism). This thesis is novel in three respects, (a) a set of linguistic-informed reading measures were developed in isiXhosa and Setswana for the first-time, (b) to my knowledge, the comparisons made and study of Morphological Awareness in the Southern-Bantu languages have never been done, and (c) the use of d-prime as a way of testing for grain size in reading is an innovative approach. Grade 3 and Grade 4 learners were tested on four independent linguistic tasks: an open-ended decomposition task, a Phonological Awareness task, a Morphological Awareness task and an independent reading measure. These tasks were administered to determine the grain size unit (Ziegler and Goswami 2005, Ziegler et al. 2001) which learners use in word recognition, with the grain sizes of syllables and morphemes being studied. Results showed that syllables were the dominant grain size in both isiXhosa and Setswana, with morphemes as secondary grains in isiXhosa. Grain size differed slightly between the two orthographies. These results are reflected in the scores on the metalinguistic tasks. LoLT was not shown to have a significant impact on word recognition in first-language reading. The Psycholinguistic Grain Size Theory (PGST) was found to be the most applicable model of word recognition to the Southern- Bantu languages, as opposed to the Dual-Route Cascade Model and Orthographic Depth Hypothesis. This thesis concludes with suggested adaptations to this theory in order to allow for morpheme grain size to be included. This study has implications for teaching practice and curriculum design, and contributes to a broader understanding of literacy in the foundation phase in the Southern-Bantu languages.
- Full Text:
Agreement and coordination in XiTsonga, SeSotho and IsiXhosa: an optimality theoretic perspective
- Authors: Mitchley, Hazel
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3423 , vital:20491
- Description: This thesis provides a unified Optimality Theoretic analysis of subject-verb agreement with coordinated preverbal subjects in three Southern Bantu languages: Xitsonga (S53), Sesotho (S33), and isiXhosa (S41). This analysis is then used to formulate a typology of agreement resolution strategies and the contexts which trigger them. Although some accounts in the Bantu literature suggest that agreement with coordinate structures is avoided by speakers (e.g. Schadeberg 1992, Voeltz 1971) especially when conjuncts are from different noun classes, I show that there is ample evidence to the contrary, and that the subject marker used is dependent on several factors, including (i) the [-HUMAN] specification on the conjuncts, (ii) whether the conjuncts are singular or plural, (iii) whether or not the conjuncts both carry the same noun class feature, and (iv) the order of the conjuncts. This thesis shows that there are various agreement resolution strategies which can beused: 1) agreement with the [+HUMAN] feature on the conjuncts, 2) agreement with the[-HUMAN] feature on the conjuncts, 3) agreement with the noun class feature on both conjuncts, 4) agreement with the noun class feature on the conjunct closest to the verb, and 5) agreement with the noun class feature on the conjunct furthest from the verb. Not all of these strategies are used by all languages, nor are these strategies interchangeable in the languages which do use them – instead, multiple factors conspire to trigger the use of a specific agreement strategy within a specific agreement featural context. I show that these effects can be captured using Optimality Theory (Prince and Smolensky 2004). The analysis makes use of seven constraints: RES#, MAX[+H], MAX[-H], DEP[-H], MAXNC, DEPNC, and AGREECLOSEST. The hierarchical ranking of these constraints not only accounts for the confinement of particular strategies to specific agreement featural contexts within a language, but also accounts for the cross-linguistic differences in the use of these strategies. I end off by examining the typological implications which follow from the OT analysis provided in this thesis.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Mitchley, Hazel
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3423 , vital:20491
- Description: This thesis provides a unified Optimality Theoretic analysis of subject-verb agreement with coordinated preverbal subjects in three Southern Bantu languages: Xitsonga (S53), Sesotho (S33), and isiXhosa (S41). This analysis is then used to formulate a typology of agreement resolution strategies and the contexts which trigger them. Although some accounts in the Bantu literature suggest that agreement with coordinate structures is avoided by speakers (e.g. Schadeberg 1992, Voeltz 1971) especially when conjuncts are from different noun classes, I show that there is ample evidence to the contrary, and that the subject marker used is dependent on several factors, including (i) the [-HUMAN] specification on the conjuncts, (ii) whether the conjuncts are singular or plural, (iii) whether or not the conjuncts both carry the same noun class feature, and (iv) the order of the conjuncts. This thesis shows that there are various agreement resolution strategies which can beused: 1) agreement with the [+HUMAN] feature on the conjuncts, 2) agreement with the[-HUMAN] feature on the conjuncts, 3) agreement with the noun class feature on both conjuncts, 4) agreement with the noun class feature on the conjunct closest to the verb, and 5) agreement with the noun class feature on the conjunct furthest from the verb. Not all of these strategies are used by all languages, nor are these strategies interchangeable in the languages which do use them – instead, multiple factors conspire to trigger the use of a specific agreement strategy within a specific agreement featural context. I show that these effects can be captured using Optimality Theory (Prince and Smolensky 2004). The analysis makes use of seven constraints: RES#, MAX[+H], MAX[-H], DEP[-H], MAXNC, DEPNC, and AGREECLOSEST. The hierarchical ranking of these constraints not only accounts for the confinement of particular strategies to specific agreement featural contexts within a language, but also accounts for the cross-linguistic differences in the use of these strategies. I end off by examining the typological implications which follow from the OT analysis provided in this thesis.
- Full Text:
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