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The effect of kelp supplementation in formulated feed on the production performance and gut microbiota of South African abalone (Haliotis midae)

  • Authors: Nel, Aldi
  • Date: 2016
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/899 , vital:20001
  • Description: Formulated feeds with a relatively low (< 5 % of dry mass) kelp (Ecklonia maxima) inclusion level are widely used on commercial abalone (Haliotis midae) farms in South Africa. Although the use of kelp, a major constituent of the natural diet of H. midae, as a dietary supplement is considered to enhance abalone growth and feed utilisation, there are no published studies which quantify the effects of kelp inclusion in formulated feeds. Furthermore, the physiological mechanisms by which kelp supplementation may positively influence abalone digestive physiology and growth are largely unknown. As the kelp supplement is comprised mostly of soluble fibres and abalone gut bacteria associated with macroalgae (and its fibrous polysaccharides) are known to play a key role in digestion, it was hypothesised that the kelp supplement influences the gut-bacterial community profiles of cultured abalone through prebiotic and other metabolic effects. The present thesis thus examined the effect of kelp supplementation on the performance of abalone (Haliotis midae) fed formulated feeds and explored the influence of a kelp supplement on the abalone gut microbiota and its function in the gastrointestinal tract. The key hypotheses of the study were that kelp supplementation in formulated feed: 1) enhances abalone growth; 2) causes a shift in abalone gut-bacterial community composition through a prebiotic-like effect; 3) may induce changes in crop morphology as a result of potential bacterial-associated increases in volatile short-chain fatty acids, and 4) alters digestive enzyme activities in the abalone gut through changes in bacterial-derived (exogenous) digestive enzymes. The growth-promoting efficacy of low-level kelp supplementation was tested by feeding isonitrogenous and isoenergetic experimental feeds containing 0.00 – 3.54 % kelp (dry mass) to sub-adult abalone (~43 mm shell length) for eight months under commercial farm conditions. The growth trial established that kelp supplementation (0.44 – 3.54 % of dry mass) promoted faster growth and improved feed conversion and protein efficiency ratios in cultured abalone compared to abalone fed the non-supplemented control diet, while there were no significant differences in growth for abalone fed the different kelp-supplemented diets (0.44, 0.88, 1.76 and 3.54 % of dry mass). Feed conversion and protein efficiency ratios displayed significant correlations with kelp level in the range of 0.00 – 3.54 % dry mass, and it is therefore recommended that kelp be included in the formulated feeds of cultured South African abalone at a rate of up to 3.54 % of dry mass. A kelp-supplemented (0.88 % dry weight inclusion) feed was fed to abalone under farm conditions to compare gut physiological parameters (crop morphology, digestive enzyme activities and the gut microbiota) in abalone against that of abalone fed an isonitrogenous and isoenergetic non-supplemented control feed. To establish if the observed higher abalone growth rates were related to improved gastrointestinal tract epithelium activity and integrity, as reflected by epithelial cell growth in response to potential changes in bacterial-derived short-chain fatty acid production, crop epithelial morphology was compared between abalone fed the kelp-supplemented and control feeds. Kelp supplementation did not induce any observable changes in crop epithelial cell height for farm-reared sub-adult abalone fed the experimental diets on-farm for seven weeks. This was attributed to the similar macronutrient compositions of kelp-supplemented and control diets and/ or the common diet history of experimental abalone from weaning to the initiation of the experiment. Digestive enzyme activity was compared between abalone fed a kelp-supplemented and a control feed during an on-farm feeding trial with sub-adult abalone. Gut samples were collected after seven weeks and colorimetric enzyme assays were performed for the polysaccharide-degrading enzymes amylase, alginate lyase, laminarinase and fucoidanase, and for acid protease, trypsin and chymotrypsin activity. Amylase and alginate lyase activities were relatively high, compared to the other enzymes. Polysaccharidase and acid protease activity levels did not differ significantly between abalone fed kelp-supplemented and control feeds, but a greater variability in enzyme activity levels was observed in abalone fed the control diet. It was hypothesised that this might be due to the kelp supplement promoting a more stable and less opportunistic gut-bacterial community than the control diet. Pooled gut samples of abalone fed the kelp-supplemented diet were used for proteomic analyses to identify the composition of enzyme proteins of both endogenous and exogenous origin in the abalone digestive system. The key polysaccharidases and proteases in the gut samples of kelp-supplemented formulated feed-fed abalone were all of abalone origin, whereas the bacterial enzymes were of the types that form part of intermediate reactions in metabolic pathways. The results suggested that bacterial enzymes play a different role to abalone endogenous enzymes in the digestion of formulated feed. While abalone enzymes appear to be the main degraders of carbohydrate and protein macromolecules, the profile of exogenous enzymes suggests that they perform bioconversions of smaller organic compounds. The profiles of gut-bacterial communities of farm-reared sub-adult abalone fed kelpsupplemented and control feeds on-farm for seven weeks were analysed with metagenomic pyrosequencing and DGGE analyses, using 16S rDNA-targeted amplified DNA. The results indicated a shift in gut-bacterial composition with a higher abundance of Mollicutes in abalone fed kelp-supplemented feed compared to those fed the control feed. DGGE band patterns displayed a greater within-group similarity in gut bacteria for abalone fed the kelpsupplemented diet and the presence of unique and variable bands for bacteria in the guts of abalone fed the control diet. It was concluded that when cultured abalone are fed kelpsupplemented formulated feeds, more stable gut bacterial communities are present compared to a more opportunistic gut-bacterial community in abalone fed non-supplemented feeds, and that the observed increase in Mollicutes could reflect the restoration of the abalone gut microbiota to a more natural state. The novel application of proteomics to abalone nutrition in the present study demonstrated that gut-bacterial enzymes may form part of many different metabolic pathways and suggests that the metabolism of the gut microbiota serves as an extension of the abalone’s digestive metabolism. Future studies should quantify the contribution of commensal gut-bacteria to cultured abalone nutrition by employing metabolomic studies to characterize the utilisation of bacterial-derived metabolites by the abalone host.
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The effects of land use on the avifauna and its conservation in a Kenyan coastal forest ecosystem, and the significance of the Arabuko Sokoke Forest to the local community

  • Authors: Chiawo, David O
  • Date: 2016
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
  • Identifier: vital:5950 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020946
  • Description: This study examines the effects of land use on the bird community of Arabuko Sokoke Forest, the largest area of coastal forest remaining in East Africa and a major Important Bird Area in mainland Kenya. Bird species diversity in three land use types (primary forest, plantation and farm lands) was compared using multivariate analysis to determine the response of different feeding guilds to habitat characteristics. The effect of habitat characteristics on overall bird diversity and specific feeding guilds was tested using linear mixed models. A total of 2600 bird observations were recorded during point counts, representing 97 bird species including 25 fruit-eating birds, 17 nectar feeders; and 60 species belonging exclusively to other feeding guilds. Land use had a significant effect on overall bird diversity and abundance. The distribution of frugivorous birds was primarily influenced by the presence of fruiting trees rather than land use type, while nectarivores were significantly affected by vertical habitat heterogeneity and vegetation type. Although the distribution of insectivorous birds is influenced by many habitat factors, proximity to natural forest, habitat heterogeneity, and the presence of large trees and fruiting trees appear to be most important to this guild. The natural forest has the greatest avian diversity and a distinctive community compared to plantation and farmlands. Patterns of habitat use by birds in the area suggest that vertical vegetation heterogeneity and complexity is especially significant in sustaining diverse and abundant bird populations, if they are in close proximity to native forests. Improvement of conservation management for the plantation and farmlands is thus critical for connectivity with other remnant primary forest patches in the area. Socio-economic data was collected from 109 forest adjacent households to determine the value of the forest to the local community and their perception of conservation issues. Arabuko Sokoke Forest is important in supplementing the livelihood needs of the local community. However, the community lacks information on the forest management plan and many people have little knowledge of local birds, which could limit their capacity to participate in conservation projects. Drivers for local community participation in conservation projects are primarily a sustainable income and the fulfillment of basic household needs. Community conservation education is needed to promote local knowledge of forest biodiversity, as well as clear frameworks for the active involvement of the local community in forest management. Support of community based projects is vital to achieve both the conservation and livelihood objectives of the Arabuko Sokoke Forest management plan.
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Direct and indirect effects of zooplanktivorous predators on the estuarine plankton community

  • Authors: Wasserman, Ryan John
  • Date: 2014
  • Subjects: Zooplankton -- Effect of predation on , Predation (Biology) , Zooplankton -- Predators of , Copepoda
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
  • Identifier: vital:5870 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012938
  • Description: Although predation has been identified as a potentially important driver in terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems, estuarine planktonic research has focused largely on the so-called "bottom-up" drivers of community assemblages. As such, this thesis focuses on the direct and indirect effects of zooplanktivorous predators on the planktonic community in an estuarine environment. By using a suite of in situ mesocosm experiments, a number of hypotheses, pertaining to the major research themes associated with predator-prey interactions, are tested. These themes included trophic cascading, risk effects associated with predation events and the importance of predator diversity in maintaining prey communities. The first experiment assessed the significance of apex predation pressure for the planktonic community through trophic cascades. Various treatments using in situ mesocosms were established in a closed oligotrophic estuary to highlight the importance of predation in stabilising estuarine plankton abundances. Through either the removal (filtration) or addition of certain planktonic groups, varied trophic scenarios were established. The experimental treatment containing apex zooplanktivores had consequences for multiple trophic levels, exerting a stabilising pressure throughout the food web (Chapter 3). Furthermore, pyrosequencing of filtered water samples revealed that when compared to the remaining treatments, the treatment containing stable apex predatory pressure experienced limited temporal deviation-from-initial in bacterial community structure (Chapter 4). These findings are consistent with trophic cascade theory whereby predators mediate interactions at multiple lower trophic levels with consequent repercussions for diversity. To assess the non-consumptive effects of predators on prey, two experiments were conducted. Firstly, using egg numbers per clutch as a measure of potential reproductive output, the non-lethal effects of predatory pressure on reproductive success in a key planktonic copepod was investigated. In this study, the average clutch size of fecund female copepods was found to be consistently lower in the presence of predators when compared to females not exposed to predation threat (Chapter 5). The second study assessed the effects of conspecific chemical alarm cues associated with predation, on population dynamics of a copepod species. This study revealed that the copepods appear to detect the presence of chemical alarm cues associated with predation events, with repercussions for population demographics over time. Furthermore, it showed that in the absence of actual predation, copepod prey responses to alarm cues were adjusted over time, consistent with the threat sensitive predator avoidance hypothesis (Chapter 6). The final data chapter dealt with predator diversity and its implications for zooplankton community structure. By experimentally monitoring the effects of two alternate model predators on the metazoan community over time, dissimilarities in community level control emerged. Alternate key prey populations were regulated by the different model predators, highlighting the importance of predator and prey behaviour in mediating predator-prey interactions (Chapter 7). These results highlight the potential importance of predators in maintaining community dynamics in estuarine planktonic communities under certain conditions. This study represents some of the first work to address these various aspects of predator-prey dynamics within the context of planktonic estuarine ecology.
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Teachers' perceptions of behavioural problems manifested by Grade 11 and 12 learners in three Namibian schools

  • Authors: Akawa, Ester Anna Nelago
  • Date: 2014
  • Subjects: Education, Secondary -- Namibia School children -- Namibia -- Attitudes Learning disabilities -- Social aspects Behavior disorders in children -- Education (Secondary) -- Namibia Children with social disabilities -- Education (Secondary) -- Namibia Emotional problems of children -- Education (Secondary) -- Namibia Teachers -- Job stress -- Namibia
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
  • Identifier: vital:1962 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1010868
  • Description: In Namibia today few learners with behavioural and learning problems are within special schools as most are placed within the mainstream school system. Placing these learners within the mainstream system is part of the policy of Inclusive Education (IE) because it argues that this would benefit these learners and also save resources. IE is concerned with addressing barriers to learning and behavioural problems are regarded as one of these barriers. IE argues for a series of new approaches to the diagnosis and response to learners with behavioural problems. This poses challenges for teachers in mainstream schools. Teachers are at the forefront of this situation as they are usually the first to observe and experience the behavioural problems in the schools and are expected to respond appropriately. They find this situation both challenging and problematic. This research explores a sample of teachers’ perceptions of learners’ behavioural problems. To collect in-depth information, this study followed a qualitative approach with a case study design. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews, supplemented with observation and document analysis. The study consisted of fifteen respondents: three principals, three teacher counsellors and nine teachers from the three selected schools. This study illuminates the types of behaviour that teachers encounter, the impact of these behaviours, the factors seen as contributing to these behaviours, and how teachers and the school system deal with these behaviours. In addition the study applies Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model (1992) to explain how the behaviours manifested by Grade 11 and 12 learners, and identified as problematic by teachers, are part of an interconnected nested social system. The results from the study indicate the manifestation of behavioural problems to be common occurrences in secondary schools are evident, amongst others, through fighting, bullying, substance abuse, truancy, and disrespect of teachers and authority. The teachers pointed to the prevalence of these problems as well as the serious impact such problems have on these learners, their fellow learners, and on the teachers. The teachers identified a complex array of what they saw as contributing factors located within the school, peer groups, family and home circumstances, the local community, as well within the national education policy, the economy and society. The study points to some specific, as well as broader, lessons and opportunities for action both for those managing the education system at the national level and for schools and teachers.
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An analysis of ionospheric response to geomagnetic disturbances over South Africa and Antarctica

  • Authors: Ngwira, Chigomezyo Mudala
  • Date: 2012
  • Subjects: Geomagnetism -- South Africa , Geomagnetism -- Antarctica , Ionospheric storms -- South Africa , Ionospheric storms -- Antarctica
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
  • Identifier: vital:5534 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012957
  • Description: The ionosphere is of practical importance for satellite-based communication and navigation systems due to its variable refractive nature which affects the propagation of trans-ionospheric radio signals. This thesis reports on the first attempt to investigate the mechanisms responsible for the generation of positive ionospheric storm effects over mid-latitude South Africa. The storm response on 15 May 2005 was associated with equatorward neutral winds and the passage of travelling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs). The two TIDs reported in this thesis propagated with average velocities of ∼438 m/s and ∼515 m/s respectively. The velocity of the first TID (i.e. 438 m/s) is consistent with the velocities calculated in other studies for the same storm event. In a second case study, the positive storm enhancement on both 25 and 27 July 2004 lasted for more than 7 hours, and were classified as long-duration positive ionospheric storm effects. It has been suggested that the long-duration positive storm effects could have been caused by large-scale thermospheric wind circulation and enhanced equatorward neutral winds. These processes were in turn most likely to have been driven by enhanced and sustained energy input in the high-latitude ionosphere due to Joule heating and particle energy injection. This is evident by the prolonged high-level geomagnetic activity on both 25 and 27 July. This thesis also reports on the phase scintillation investigation at the South African Antarctic polar research station during solar minimum conditions. The multi-instrument approach that was used shows that the scintillation events were associated with auroral electron precipitation and that substorms play an essential role in the production of scintillation in the high latitudes. Furthermore, the investigation reveals that external energy injection into the ionosphere is necessary for the development of high-latitude irregularities which produce scintillation. Finally, this thesis highlights inadequate data resources as one of the major shortcomings to be addressed in order to fully understand and distinguish between the various ionospheric storm drivers over the Southern Africa mid-latitude region. The results presented in this thesis on the ionospheric response during geomagnetic storms provide essential information to direct further investigation aimed at developing this emerging field of study in South Africa.
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A changing didacticism : the development of South African young adult fiction from 1985 to 2006

  • Authors: Williams, Jenna Elizabeth
  • Date: 2009 , 2013-07-16
  • Subjects: Didactic fiction, English -- History and criticism Young adult fiction, South African -- History and criticism South Africa -- In literature South Africa -- Politics and government
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: vital:2255 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004293
  • Description: This thesis endeavours to establish how political transformation in South Africa has impacted on the didactic function of locally produced young adult fiction between the years of 1985 and 2006. To this end, a selection of young adult novels and short stories are examined in relation to the time period during which they were written or are set, namely the final years of apartheid (from 1985 to the early 1990s), the period of transition from apartheid to democracy (approximately 1991 to 1997), and the early years of the twenty-first century (2000 to 2006). Chapter One provides a brief overview of publishing for the juvenile market in South Africa over the last century, noting how significant historical and political events affected both the publishing industry itself and the content of children's and young adult literature. This chapter also adumbrates the theoretical foundations of the study. The second chapter examines a selection of texts either written or set during the final years of the apartheid regime. This chapter establishes how authors during this period challenged notions of racial inequality and undermined the policies of the apartheid government, with varying degrees of success. The authors' methods in encouraging their (predominantly white) readers to question apartheid ideology are also interrogated. Those novels written after, but set during, the apartheid era are examined with the aim of determining their authors' didactic objectives in revisiting this period in their novels. Chapter Three explores how authors writing during the transition period aimed to encourage readers to participate in the building of a 'rainbow nation,' by portraying idealised modes of relating to the racial 'other.' While some of the authors examined in this chapter are optimistic, and even naïve, in their celebration of a newly established democracy, others are more cautious in suggesting that decades of oppression and separation can so easily be overcome. Chapter Four demonstrates how the freedoms afforded by a democratic society have prompted young adult authors to explore the possibilities of adapting the sub-genre of the teenage problem novel to suit a distinctly South African context. While some of these texts are not overtly didactic in nature, they confront the unique issues faced by a generation of South African teenagers raised in a democratic society, and in some cases challenge readers to reconsider their approach to such issues.
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Imagined pasts, suspended presents : South African literature in the contemporary moment

  • Authors: Mbao, Wamuwi
  • Date: 2009
  • Subjects: Post-apartheid era -- South Africa South African literature (English) -- History and criticism Authors, South African -- 21st century -- Criticism and interpretation South African literature -- 21st century -- History and criticism South African fiction (English) -- History and criticism Xenophobia -- South Africa Apartheid in literature
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: vital:2202 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002244
  • Description: Scholarship on Post-Apartheid South African literature has engaged in various ways with the politics of identity, but its dominant mode has been to understand the literature through an anxious rupture-continuation paradigm in which the Apartheid past manifests itself in the present. However, in the contemporary moment, there are writers whose texts attempt to forge new paths in their depictions of identities both individual and collective. These texts are useful in contemplating how South Africans experience belonging and dislocation in various contexts. In this thesis, I consider a range of contemporary South African texts via the figure of lifewriting. My analysis demonstrates that, while many texts in the contemporary moment have displayed new and more complex registers of perception concerning the issue of ‘race’, there is a need for more expansive and fluid conceptions of crafting identity, as regards the politics of space and how this intersects with issues of belonging and identity. That is, much South African literature still continues along familiar trajectories of meaning, ones which are not well-equipped to understand issues that bedevil the country at this particular historical moment, which are grounded in the political compromises that came to pass during the ‘time of transition’. These issues include the recent spate of xenophobia attacks, which have yet to be comprehensively and critically analysed in the critical domain, despite the work of theorists such as David Coplan. Such events indicate the need for more layered and intricate understandings of how our national identity is structured: Who may belong? Who is excluded? In what situations? This thesis engages with these questions in order to determine how systems of power are constructed, reified, mediated, reproduced and/or resisted in the country’s literature. To do this, I perform an attentive reading of the mosaic image of South African culture that emerges through a selection of contemporary works of literature. The texts I have selected are notable for the ways in which they engage with the epistemic protocol of coming to know the Other and the self through the lens of the Apartheid past. That engagement may take the form of a reassertion, reclamation, displacement, or complication of selfhood. Given that South African identities are overinscribed in paradigms in which the Apartheid past is primary, what potentials and limits are presently encountered when writing of the self/selves is attempted? My study goes beyond simply asserting that not all groups have equal access to representation. Rather, I demonstrate that the linear shaping of the South African culture of letters imposes certain restrictions on who may work within it. Here, the politics of publishing and the increasing focus on urban spaces, such that other spaces become marginalized in ways that reflect the proclivities of the reading public, are subjected to close scrutiny. Overall, my thesis aims to promote a rethinking of South African culture, and how that culture is represented in, and defined through, our literature.
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Research portfolio

  • Authors: Shaanika, E N
  • Date: 2006
  • Subjects: Education -- Namibia Arts -- Study and teaching -- Namibia Culture -- Study and teaching -- Namibia Teachers -- Training of -- Namibia Curriculum planning -- Namibia
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
  • Identifier: vital:1735 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003618
  • Description: This study is a contextual analysis and evaluation of the Arts-in-Culture curriculum at Ongwediva College of Education. Arts-in-Culture is one of the core subjects in the Basic Education Teacher Diploma (BETD)’s Broad Curriculum. At colleges such as Ongwediva, Caprivi and Rundu, student teachers study Arts as a core subject, while at Windhoek College of Education it can be studied as either a major or a core subject. In this study, I have raised some questions: Why is it that at Ongwediva College, the status of Arts-in-Culture is still low in comparison to other curriculum subjects like sciences and languages? Do student teachers and teacher educators fully understand how to assess the subject? Is the syllabus open for everyone? Is the learning environment conducive to offering the subject? Do the syllabus; learning environment, teacher educators and student teachers promote the goals of education for all? This study first gives the historical background of the subject. The background is of a diverse nature, namely African Indigenous Arts education, Black Arts education under the missionaries, Black Arts education under the South Africa Regime and Arts Education in the current Namibian reform dispensation. Second, the data collecting methodologies of this study are discussed. This includes how I collected information, who I contacted to collect this information, the tools I used to collect data, when and where I used them, why they were used and how they were used, the difficulties or problems I encountered and what I have learned about myself during the process. The third part of this study is the analysis of my findings from the participants interviewed and the fourth is how I have tried to link these different sections together. The last part of the paper is my conclusion.
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A critical investigation of the relevance of theories of feminist jurisprudence to African women in South Africa

  • Authors: Mangwiro, Heather K
  • Date: 2005
  • Subjects: Feminist theory Feminist jurisprudence Women -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- South Africa Women's rights -- South Africa Sex discrimination against women -- South Africa Sex role -- South Africa
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , LLM
  • Identifier: vital:3712 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007328
  • Description: Feminist theories emerged out of the revolutionary enthusiasm that swept the Western world during the late eighteenth and nineteenth century Europe. Based on the assumption that all persons have "inalienable or natural" rights upon which governments may not intrude, feminists in Europe and America advocated that equal rights should be extended to women who up to this point were not considered legal beings separate and deserving of these rights. Most African writers and feminists have argued that since most of the theories of feminist jurisprudence have their roots in this Euro-centric context, they cannot be applicable to African women and should therefore be discarded. The thesis acknowledges that to a certain extent their assertions are true. For years feminist jurisprudence has been restricted to an academic engagement with the law failing to take into account the practices and customs of different communities. It has largely been the realm of the middle class bourgeois white female and therefore has been inaccessible to the African woman. The thesis aims, however, to prove that these theories of feminist jurisprudence although Euro-centric have a place in the understanding and advancement of African women's rights in South Africa. In Chapter One the writer traces the history of South African women's rights and the laws that affect African women. Chapter Two presents the emergence of feminist theories and categories of feminism. The writer then seeks to identify the misunderstandings and tensions that exist between the two. The narrow conception of Euro-centric feminism has been that its sole purpose has been the eradication of gender discrimination, however, for African women in South Africa they have had to deal with a multiplicity of oppressions that include but are not restricted to gender, race, economic and social disempowerment. This is dealt with in Chapter Three. It is the opinion of the writer that despite these differences feminism does play a critical role in the advancement of women's rights in South Africa. Taking the South African governments commitment to the advancement of universal rights, the writer is of the opinion that African women can look to the example set by Western feminists, and broaden these theories to suit and be adaptable to the South African context. The answer is not to totally discard feminist theories but to extract commonalities that exist between African and European women, by so doing acknowledging that women's oppression is a global phenomenon. This is the focus of Chapter Four. To avoid making this work a mere academic endeavour, the writer in Chapter Five also aims, through interviews, to include the voices of African women and to indicate areas that still need attention from both the lawmakers and women's rights movements (Feminists). Finally, the writer aims to present a way forward, one that is not merely formal but also substantively attainable.
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A case study of the language policy in practice in the foundation phase of schooling

  • Authors: Brookes, Margaret Ann
  • Date: 2002
  • Subjects: Language policy -- South Africa English language -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- South Africa
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
  • Identifier: vital:1442 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003323
  • Description: This interpretative case study takes place in the foundation phase of a previously parallel medium school in the Eastern Cape. Learners from all three major language groups of the province (English, Xhosa and Afrikaans) are enrolled at the school. The study examines the language attitudes of teachers, parents and young learners and records their language practices in the classroom, the wider school environment and at home. Research carried out through this case study found that all stakeholders perceive English as the language of access to improved education and lifestyle. All young learners displayed a positive attitude to multilingualism and were keen to be able to speak all three provincial languages. The attitudes of their parents and teachers however differed from the learners and each other. The teachers and the English speaking parents were primarily concerned with the maintenance of the standards of English. The Afrikaans and Xhosa speaking parents were committed to their children developing proficient English language skills even if this meant supporting the development of their primary language and culture at home. Furthermore it was discovered that little attention had been paid to developing a school language policy in accordance with the new Language in Education Policy of July 1997. This policy promotes an additive approach to bilingualism and seeks to ensure that meaningful access to learning is provided for all children. By suggesting steps that could be taken by this school to develop their own language policy, the study highlights the necessity of recognising and remedying the gaps between policy and practice in the issue of language rights, identity and education in general.
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Research portfolio

Managing historical primary and secondary sources : a study of the efficacy of a teaching handbook prepared for first-year Vista University students

  • Authors: Watson, Kelvin Innes
  • Date: 1992
  • Subjects: History -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- South Africa History -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- South Africa
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
  • Identifier: vital:1670 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003553
  • Description: This study examines the teaching of primary and secondary sources in history at secondary and tertiary level. The various methods used to teach these aspects of the nature of history are compared to the Vista University teaching model. To establish the effectiveness of the vista Block A module for HIS100 students, two test instruments were devised to assess their skills in handling primary and secondary sources. Their skills in identifying relevant points from a passage of historical prose were also tested. A number of statistical techniques were applied to the data from the test instruments. This data was analysed in qualitative and quantitative terms. The results of this analysis suggested that students would probably benefit from a skills-orientated approach to studying history. On the basis of this study, it is recommended that the existing Vista teaching model be revised or amended so that a more effective method of teaching students about the nature of historical sources can be introduced.
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A case study of narcissistic pathology : an object relations perspective

  • Authors: Ivey, Gavin William
  • Date: 1989
  • Subjects: Narcissism Narcissism -- Treatment
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
  • Identifier: vital:3188 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008453
  • Description: The case-study method of psychological research was applied to the brief psychodynamic therapy of a narcissistically disordered female patient. The aim of this research was to explore, clarify and explain certain diagnostic and psychodynamic anomalies to emerge in the course of treatment, using a conceptual framework derived from select psychoanalytic object relations theorists in the area of narcissistic pathology. The author, discovering that there was no diagnostic or explanatory object relations model adequate to the therapeutic data, formulated his own diagnostic category narcissistic neurosis and an eclectic object relations model in order to explain the anomolous research findings. Narcissistic neurosis was defined as a form of psychopathology in which a primarily neurotic character structure presents with a distinctly narcissistic profile. The narcissistic false self-structure serves the functional purpose of protecting the psyche from a repressed negative self-representation derived from a destructive bipolar self-object introject. The primary etiological factor to emerge was that of a narcissistic mother conditional affection and self-object target child necessitated adaptive whose insensitivity, relationship with the premature self-sufficiency and the defensive emergence of a narcissistic surface self-representation. It was proposed that narcissistic neurosis and narcissistic personality disorder are two discrete forms of pathology differing in terms of severity, psychodynamics, defensive structure, mode of object relating, therapeutic accessibility and prognosis. Assessment criteria were proposed in order to differentiate the two areas of narcissistic pathology and assess suitability for psychotherapeutic treatment. Positive treatment results in this case-study suggest that narcissistic neuroses may receive long-term benefit from short-term psychodynamic therapy.
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