The extent of the use of ICT in schools in the Nelson Mandela Bay area
- Authors: Sonkwala, Mzikayise Richard
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Educational technology -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Computer-assisted instruction -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Information technology
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9102 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1012284 , Educational technology -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Computer-assisted instruction -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Information technology
- Description: It is the 21st Century and the world is a global village. The development of technology like Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has thus become the dominant means of communication. Education has not been left out of this wave of change. In many countries Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has a clear impact in the development of educational curriculum. This cannot be said about South Africa where huge disparities in terms of ICT related resources still exist. There is a range of uses of ICT in South African schools and it varies according to the economic and social conditions where that school is located. For example, the former Model C schools are well-resourced in terms of computers and access to internet whilst township schools lack these resources. In township schools very few students are exposed to computers due to the limited number of computers and lack of properly qualified educators in the field of ICT. In the Nelson Mandela Bay area township schools only offer CAT (Computer Applications Technology) as an ICT related subject whilst the former Model C schools offer CAT and IT (Information Technology).This treatise attempts to show the digital divide that still exists between a former Model C school and a township school, and the impact it has in quality of education in these schools.
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- Date Issued: 2011
The general and emotional development of a sample of South African children in residential care
- Authors: Wills, Nicolene
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Children -- Institutional care -- South Africa , Child psychopathology -- Residential treatment -- South Africa , Children -- Services for -- South Africa , Child welfare -- South Africa , Child care services -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9856 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1578 , Children -- Institutional care -- South Africa , Child psychopathology -- Residential treatment -- South Africa , Children -- Services for -- South Africa , Child welfare -- South Africa , Child care services -- South Africa
- Description: The main aim of this study was to explore and describe the general and emotional development of a sample of South African children between the age of five and eight years in residential care. More specifically, the study aimed to explore and describe the general level of development of a sample of children in residential care; to explore and describe the development of a sample of children in residential care in six areas of development; and to describe the emotional wellbeing of children in residential care. A non-probability, purposive sampling method was applied as the participants were comprised of children between the ages of 5 and 8 years housed at the residential care facility. The sample consisted of 11 children. The multiple case study method was used to achieve the aim of the study, using both qualitative and quantitative data. The quantitative data consisted of scores obtained from the administration of the Griffiths Mental Development Scales - Extended Revised (GMDS-ER). The qualitative data was obtained from the Human Figure Drawing (HFD), participants’ scholastic progress reports, case reports from the residential care facility and clinical observations during the assessment period. The data was analysed according to thematic analysis. The results highlighted the pervasiveness of delays in all domains of child development of children housed in residential care, specifically that of language, social and emotional development. An important finding of the study was that decrements in these domains of development underpinned delays in the other domains of development since they form the foundation of learning and relating to the world. The study served to emphasize the importance of consistent developmental assessment in order to ascertain whether these children present with developmental delays and, if so, to xv identify which areas of development are most affected. Information from the developmental assessments could assist in the early identification of developmental delays and allow for individually tailored interventions to overcome such delays.
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- Date Issued: 2011
The general development and cognitive ability of a sample of children in specialized education
- Authors: Andrews, Samantha Lee
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Special education -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Children with disabilities -- Education -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Child development -- Study and teaching -- South Africa , Griffiths Development Scales
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9951 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1015714
- Description: The main aim of this study was to explore and describe the development and cognitive ability of a sample of children aged six to eight enrolled in specialised education, in the category of specific learning disability (SLD). This was achieved through the utilization of the Griffiths-Mental Development Scales – Extended Revised, the Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children – Fourth Edition and input from the trans-disciplinary team. A non-probability, purposive sampling method was employed and the sample consisted of eight participants. The multiple case study method was used in order to achieve the aim of the study. Both qualitative and quantitative data were incorporated to provide a holistic description of the participants. Quantitative data was obtained from the Griffiths-Mental Development Scales – Extended Revised, the Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children – Fourth Edition while qualitative data was obtained from the Biographical Questionnaire, input from members of the trans-disciplinary team, data from the participants‟ archives as well as clinical observations made during the assessment process. The data was analysed according to the domains of childhood development.The results obtained revealed that the general development of the sample as measured by the Griffiths-Mental Development Scales – Extended Revised was average. The Eye and Hand Co-ordination Subscale was the most problematic for the participants. The majority of the sample obtained below average scores on the Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children – Fourth Edition‟s full scale IQ (FSIQ). The Verbal Reasoning Index and the Working Memory Index yielded the lowest scores amongst the sample. The results indicated that the majority of the participants are stronger with non-verbal as opposed to verbal reasoning. The study revealed that the two measures, the Griffiths-Mental Development Scales – Extended Revised, the Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children – Fourth Edition complement one another. The developmental and intellectual nature of the measures allow for gaps left by the one measure to be filled by the other. The study highlighted the importance of gaining information from the trans-disciplinary team and not relying purely on psychometric measures. It was made clear through the study that deficits often exist that are not picked up by assessment measures alone. In order to gain a comprehensive, holistic picture of a child, one needs to consult a variety of sources. Questions regarding the classification system of high needs learners as well as the current system of specialised education were raised.
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- Date Issued: 2011
The Iindaba Ziyafika project: a new community of practice?
- Authors: Nyathi, Sihle
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Citizen journalism -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Journalism -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Iindaba Ziyafika project Grocott's Mail (Grahamstown, South Africa) Radio journalism -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Online journalism -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Mass media -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Mass media -- Political aspects -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Journalism -- Objectivity -- South Africa -- Grahamstown
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3477 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002932
- Description: This study sought to investigate the practices of citizen journalists in the Iindaba Ziyafika project. The objectives of the research were to explore the evolving practices of citizen journalism in Grahamstown and to extrapolate how citizen journalists are securing a discursive space in relationship to conventional journalism. The study investigated whether the citizen journalists based at Grocotts Mail and Radio Grahamstown are developing practices and patterns that can be distinguished from the practices of conventional journalism. It also evaluated whether the content that is produced by citizen journalists differs from the content that is produced by professional journalists, so that it can be understood as "alternative" and as promoting engaged citizenship. A sub goal was also to explore whether citizen journalism does enable the practice of citizenship through expanding the public sphere. The findings of the research are that in the Iindaba Ziyafika project, citizen journalists see news as a process and not as a series of news events. This is clear departure from event-based news conceptualisation associated with mainstream journalism. They view news as unfolding social processes, allowing citizen journalists to question the factors which would have precipitated the event and investigate the causal factors of particular phenomena. The research also reveals that citizen journalists in the project are engaging in pro-am journalism. Part of the practice of citizen journalists involves a very significant amount of collaboration between professional journalists and citizen journalists. The collaboration is in the production of content and in the presentation of radio broadcasts. Part of the findings of the study are that journalists in the Iindaba Ziyafika project work in different mediums and this calls for them to acquire the competencies of the different mediums. The same citizen journalists produce content for print, radio and for online media. The diction used in the stories published by citizen journalists is couched in struggle and revolutionary language which seems to pit the community against the authorities. The citizen journalists also make use of every daily language in their radio broadcasts and borrow from their cultural expression. This they do through populist methods. The citizen journalists have also integrated communication brokering as part and parcel of their practice. This is because the citizen journalists have also made it their mandate to enable the flow of information between the residents and the local authority. In terms of sourcing there is a deliberate stance to include those who are not ordinarily given a voice in the mainstream media. Women and the poor appear frequently in stories as sources and this is a different scenario from that prevalent in mainstream journalism which frequently covers the rich and the powerful. The citizen journalists in the Iindaba Ziyafika project have also borrowed practices from professional journalism and this has been integrated into their daily practice. This includes following strategic rituals of journalism objectivity and balance.
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- Date Issued: 2011
The impact of delivery performance for a selected part of General Motors South Africa (GMSA)
- Authors: Blouw, Andrew Christopher
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: General Motors Corporation , Automobiles -- Parts -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Management -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Motor industry -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:8793 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1015957
- Description: Today‘s customers expect zero defects with just-in-time (JIT) delivery from their suppliers, for the specified quantities, as a matter of standard practice. More importantly, customers expect companies to help them know what they need in terms of quantities and quality now, and for the future. No other change process adds long-term value as quickly as zero defects. Companies failing to embrace this quality culture face difficult challenges. To achieve this level of performance requires tremendous focus in an organisation and throughout its supply base. Business models around the world are changing dramatically from the "Source Local" to the "Source Anywhere and Build Anywhere" model (Cummins, 2008: 19). Companies have shifted away from a hierarchical, one-dimensional, supply chain entity to a fragmented network in favor of strategic partnerships with external entities. Many businesses facing such models are experiencing challenges and, if not managed correctly, can find themselves struggling to compete in this new landscape. Thus, when price concessions are so stringent, quality has to suffer. To reduce costs, suppliers are forced to seek less expensive ways to produce parts and components. Does this mean the use of different, less expensive materials? Does this mean less skilled labor? Does this mean production shortcuts? Or does this mean that suppliers just bite the bullet and pay the price? Once all the costs have been extracted from the supply chain, the only thing left to suffer is quality. The underlying objective of this research is to investigate the impact of delivery performance for a selected part at General Motors South Africa. In order to develop a research strategy to deal with, and solve, the main problem, the following research questions have been identified: a) What can be learned from literature about the impact of quality costs? b) Why is this specific part a suitable candidate for a cost investigation? c) What are the processes involved if a defect occurs? d) How can the cost be estimated? e) What effect does poor supplier quality have on productivity? This dissertation aims to investigate the problems and challenges General Motors South Africa are facing pertaining to the delivery performance of a selected part. The dissertation will also strive to highlight the impact of poor supplier quality on productivity and the related cost implications. Conclusions and recommendations will furthermore be outlined.
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- Date Issued: 2011
The justice of Dikê on the forms and significance of dispute settlement by arbitration in the Iliad
- Authors: Malamis, Daniel Scott Christos
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Homer. Iliad Epic poetry, Greek -- History and criticism Law in literature Justice in literature Dispute resolution (Law) Arbitration and award (Greek law)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3587 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002162
- Description: This thesis explores the forms and significance of dispute settlement by arbitration, or ‘δίκη’, in the Iliad. I take as my focus the ‘storm simile’ of Iliad XVI: 384-393, which describes Zeus’ theodical reaction to corruption within the δίκη-court, and the ‘shield trial’ of Iliad XVIII: 498-508, which presents a detailed picture of such a court in action, and compare the forms and conception of arbitration that emerge from these two ecphrastic passages with those found in the narrative body of the poem. Analysing the terminology and procedures associated with dispute settlement in the Iliad, I explore the evidence for the development of an ‘ideology of δίκη’, that valorises arbitrated settlement as a solution to conflict, and that identifies δίκη as a procedure and a civic institution with an objective standard of fairness: the foundation of a civic concept of ‘justice’. I argue that this ideology is fully articulated in the storm simile and the shield trial, as well as Hesiod’s Works and Days, but that it is also detectable in the narrative body of the Iliad. I further argue that the poet of the Iliad employs references to this ideology, through the narrative media of speech and ecphrasis, to prompt and direct his audience’s evaluation of the nature and outcome of the poem’s central conflict: the dispute of Achilles and Agamemnon.
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- Date Issued: 2011
The lived experience of meaning in life and satisfaction with life among older adults
- Authors: Cooper, Holly
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Meaning (Psychology) , Satisfaction , Old age , Old age homes
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/4398 , vital:20595
- Description: The purpose of the study was to explore and describe the meaning in life and satisfaction with life of the elderly living in the old age institutions.
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- Date Issued: 2011
The mindful therapist: an interpretive phenomenological analysis of mindfulness meditation and the therapeutic alliance
- Authors: Gillitt, Tarryn
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy Meditation -- Therapeutic use Psychotherapy Counseling psychology
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2982 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002491
- Description: The aim of this study was to present and understand therapists’ experiences of the impact of their mindfulness meditation practice on their role in the therapeutic alliance. The topic emerged in response to extant research recommendations and researcher observations of the compatibility between mindfulness meditation outcomes and the demands on therapists for establishing effective alliances with clients. The study adopted an interpretive phenomenological analysis strategy located within the qualitative paradigm, and thus a small sample of therapists practicing mindfulness meditation were selected and interviewed on their experiences using semi-structured interviewing. Data were analysed for meaning units, which were then interpreted inductively and hermeneutically and categorized into superordinate themes. Three superordinate themes within participants’ experiences of how their mindfulness meditation practice impacts upon their role in the alliance were determined, namely: ‘self-care’; ‘insight into the structure of selfhood’; and ‘immediate mindfulness meditation during therapy’. This study found these experiences capacitated participants with compassionate interpersonal affects used for creating secure bonds with clients; skills for accurate empathic understanding; and skills and attitudes for working collaboratively with clients. Should future research confirm these findings, mindfulness meditation may be used as a tool to developed alliance formation abilities for therapists in training. Importantly, findings from this project called for a more comprehensive integration of theoretical positions on the construct of mindfulness meditation.
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- Date Issued: 2011
The nexilitas factor: host-guest relationships in small owner managed commercial accommodation facilities in contemporary South Africa
- Authors: Von Lengeling, Volkher Heinrich Christoph
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Hospitality industry -- South Africa Interpersonal relations Social interaction Liminality Consumer behavior Home-based businesses -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2093 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002656
- Description: The commercialization of hospitality established arguably the oldest profession. Historically small commercial hospitality establishments, known as inns in the western world, were of ill repute. Perhaps connected to their reputation, this category of accommodation facility has been seriously neglected as an area of academic inquiry, particularly from the perspective of the host. While there has been a huge growth in the interdisciplinary field of tourism studies in recent decades, little attention has been paid to the role of the host in the host-guest relationship at whatever level of analysis. This thesis seeks to redress the balance. Hospitality is a basic form of social bonding. This type of bonding, where a hierarchy between strangers is implicit (as with hosts and guests), may be termed ‘nexilitas’; nexilitas is a form of social bonding in liminal circumstances. To that extent it is comparable to ‘communitas’ which describes social bonding between equals in certain liminal circumstances. The difference is that nexilitas is a form of bonding between individuals in a complex power relationship. The host controls the hospitality space, but custom also empowers the guest with certain expectations, especially in the commercial context. The thesis identifies the various forms of hospitality – traditional ‘true’ or ‘pure’ hospitality, social hospitality, cultural hospitality and commercial hospitality – and discusses these critically in their historical and cross-cultural contexts, with emphasis on the perspective of the host. The passage of hospitality is then traced through the three phases of preliminality, liminality and post-liminality and discussed along the themes anticipation, arrival and accommodation and finally departure of the guest. While the historical and ethnographic review is mainly based on written histories and the experiences of other anthropologists as guests as well as ethnographers, the passage of hospitality draws on the multi-sited auto-anthropological experiences of the author, both as host and as ethnographer of contemporary South African hosts in small owner-managed commercial hospitality establishments.
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- Date Issued: 2011
The relationship between self-efficacy and ways of coping of first-year university students
- Authors: Goss, Joanne Kate
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Self-efficacy , Control (Psychology)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9860 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1555 , Self-efficacy , Control (Psychology)
- Description: This is a quantitative, exploratory study focusing on self-efficacy and ways of coping of male and female first-year psychology students at a university in the Nelson Mandela Metropole. The study aimed to explore and describe the relationship between The General Perceived Self- Efficacy Scale and the Ways of Coping Questionnaire of first-year university psychology students. A non-probability convenience sampling technique was employed. The sample consisted of 34 males and 94 females between the ages of 18 and 21 years, who were registered for a first-year psychology module. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. The results showed moderate correlations between general perceived self-efficacy and problem-focused and focusing on the positive as ways of coping. In addition, the results showed significant relationships between general perceived self-efficacy and problem-focused coping, seeking social support and focusing on the positive as ways of coping. Gender differences with regards to the constructs of coping and self-efficacy were also explored. Limitations of the present research were noted and recommendations for future research were proposed.
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- Date Issued: 2011
The role of memory, museums and memorials in reconciling the past : the Apartheid Museum and Red Location Museum as case studies
- Authors: Sippel, Elizabeth
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Apartheid Museum (Johannesburg, South Africa) Red Location Museum (Port Elizabeth, South Africa) Atrocities -- Museums Apartheid and art Apartheid -- History Historical museums Collective memory Memorialization History -- Psychological aspects Memory (Philosophy) Museum exhibits -- Historiography Museums -- Historiography
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2440 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005773
- Description: When South Africa became a democracy, many of its cultural institutions were tainted by the stigma of having been tools for the production and propagation of apartheid ideology. This thesis examines two key facets of post-apartheid museums and memorials. Firstly, how they have repositioned themselves as institutions of cultural and social standing. Secondly, their role as tools of nation building, social change, and creators of national collective memory within the new democratic South Africa. Through an analysis of cultural memory theory pertaining to museology, this study elaborates on the methods employed by museums to incorporate memory into their narratives and in turn, transfer collective memory to their viewers. This thesis provides a comparative study of the architectural, memorial and museological strategies of two post-apartheid museums; the Red Location Museum and the Apartbeid Museum. It examines the contributions of both museums to the introduction of new museological strategies for the successful creation and transmission of South African collective memory. Through this analysis, both the invaluable contributions and the drawbacks of post-apartheid museums as tools for the promotion of new democratic ideologies and philosophies are considered. This thesis does not resolve the arguments and questions which have surfaced regarding cultural institutions as tools for the promotion of reconciliation and the construction of national collective memory within South Africa. As the current climate of memorialisation is one of change and paradox, it is presently impossible to fully quantify post-apartheid museums' roles within South Africa's move toward reconciliation and social change. However, the examination of both the Red Location Museum and the Apartheid Museum reveals the extraordinary change that South African cultural institutions have undergone in addition to their potential to become institutions which facilitate active reconciliation as well as social and cultural growth.
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- Date Issued: 2011
The role of the state in rural development: appropriate strategies for the rural development program in Mbhashe municipality in Eastern Cape
- Authors: Futshane, Patrick Sivuyile
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Rural development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Rural development -- Government policy -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Community development -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9073 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1008409 , Rural development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Rural development -- Government policy -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Community development -- South Africa
- Description: Poverty and inequality in South Africa are a result of the impact of apartheid policy, which inter alia stripped people of their assets, especially land, distorted economic markets and social institutions through racial discrimination, and resulted in violence and destabilization. This has shaped the nature of poverty in South Africa. In view of the above, the South African government has introduced a programme known as the Comprehensive Rural Development Strategy in order to redress the imbalances of the former apartheid regime. In this strategy it is envisaged that vibrant, equitable and sustainable rural communities and food security for all will be achieved. In this study, I investigated the implementation of rural development programmes in the Mbhashe local municipality of the Eastern Cape Province in order to determine appropriate intervention strategies. This study focused on Ward18 of Mbhashe local municipality on a village known as Nkwalini Bafazi. This is a village that has been earmarked by the government to be a pilot site for the Rural Development Programme. This project is at the initial stage of social facilitation. In other words this research project is designed to investigate the process of Rural Development and how it can be implemented in the Mbhashe Local municipality in order to alleviate poverty and underdevelopment. For the purpose of the study, a mixed research approach was chosen. This means that the study used both the qualitative and quantitative approaches for in-depth understanding and verification. Questionnaires and structured interview questions were used to collect the data. Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) was also used for the purpose of observing and involving the community in the exercise. Data was collected from residents by conducting surveys, making use of questionnaires. Structured interviews were conducted with government officials (Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform) in order to understand the situation better.
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- Date Issued: 2011
The television teen drama as folktale
- Authors: Jones, Denna Louise
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Teen television programs , Television and teenagers
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:8382 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1471 , Teen television programs , Television and teenagers
- Description: In 1927 Vladimir Propp published a book in which he defined the characteristics and morphology of fairytales. His work was a groundbreaking one that forced scholars to question the way in which stories and storytelling affect the fabric of society and its ideals. Since 1927 much has changed with regards to the way in which stories are told. Technology has changed the way in which people interact and communicate with each other. Media conglomerates such as Walt Disney, Time Warner Company and News Corporation are driven to create stories and media that will deliver consumers to their advertisers. This paper sought to examine the way in which the teen drama has redefined the fairytale, and to establish whether Propp’s work on the morphology of fairytales can still be seen as valid today. Following an in depth literature review that sought to establish the foundations of fairytales, narratives, Propp’s morphology, the development of television as well as the teen television drama, the findings of this paper were established through a detailed content analysis of the first season of three modern teen television dramas – The O.C., One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl. The research found that while some of Propp’s functions may have been adapted to take on a more modern role and a few others became defunct, the majority of the functions of the dramatis personae could be found almost unchanged within the teen television drama. Gossip Girl, in particular demonstrated that it was highly aware of its allusions to the fairytale analogy with numerous references throughout its first season to fairytales such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast. More than any of the other shows, Gossip Girl appeared deliberate in its references to the world of fairytales, a world in which the damsel in distress is always rescued by her knight in shining armour, and where monarchy reigns supreme. While humans have continued to evolve and the modes of storytelling have changed significantly since Propp first published his paper, the teen television drama has not yet redefined the characteristics of Propp’s morphology. At most it has modernised them making them relevant to the 21st century viewer.
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- Date Issued: 2011
The unattainable "betterlife" : the discourses of the homogenised South African black emerging middle-class lifestyle in Drum magazine
- Authors: Hardy-Berrington, Michelle
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Lifestyles -- South Africa , Blacks in mass media , Journalism -- South Africa , Drum (Magazine)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:8448 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1426 , Lifestyles -- South Africa , Blacks in mass media , Journalism -- South Africa , Drum (Magazine)
- Description: Drum and YOU are two general interest magazines which share the same publisher, language (English), format, and are compiled by many of the same journalists and editors. The greatest distinction between the two publications is that Drum is aimed at a specifically black readership while YOU caters for a general, cosmopolitan South African readership. With various commonalities in the production of Drum and YOU, what do the differing commodities, discourses and cultural repertoires presented in Drum in comparison to YOU communicate about the conceived black audience/s by the magazines'producers? In contrast to the dominant body of research on Drum magazine, which has been dedicated to pre-1994 editions, the investigation undertaken in this research focuses on post-apartheid editions of Drum under the commercial ownership of Media24. This also provides a unique opportunity to compare and contrast Drum and YOU which has not been extensively explored in the past. A theoretical study on some of the credible, plausible discourses circulating in Drum drew from Laden's (1997; 2003) research on black South African middle-class magazines and Steyn's (2001) studies on narratives of whiteness including colonial and apartheid policy discourses. Other theory considered to identify types of discourses included those on self-stylisation, excorporation and the historic, cultural influence of Drum in black South African identity formation. Critical discourse analysis is employed to discern the distinction and boundaries between the conceived black middle-class readerships of Drum and YOU. A multifarious content is present in Drum magazine for the diverse post-apartheid black middle-class of South Africa. Discourses of the African traditional and conservative feature side-by-side with contemporary, liberal and Western discourses; while the cultural repertoires of the bourgeois middle-class are presented beside the more modest commodities of the lower-income working class. This communicates an increasingly integrated South African consumer culture and a willing bourgeois solidarity amongst middle-class groups, creating a larger consumer class for advertisers and marketers in South Africa. In comparison to YOU, the discourses of the conservative-African-traditional provide a distinctive feature of Drum. However, this discourse is limited to realms which do not threaten the prevailing magazine culture of consumerism and the dominant global culture of Western science and reason. The other great distinction from YOU is Drum’s prominent educating and didactic function, offering an aspirant lifestyle by marketing a range of Western technologies and commodities. This is in addition to suggesting options for desirable social conduct and socially-responsible behavior.
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- Date Issued: 2011
The unstable earth landscape and language in Patrick White's Voss, Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient and David Malouf's An Imaginary Life
- Authors: Lee, Deva
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: White, Patrick, 1912-1990. Voss Ondaatje, Michael, 1943- The English patient Malouf, David, 1934- An imaginary life Language and languages in literature English fiction -- 20th century -- History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2238 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002281
- Description: This thesis argues that Patrick White’s Voss, Michael Ondaatje’s The English Patient and David Malouf’s An Imaginary Life depict landscape in a manner that reveals the inadequacies of imperial epistemological discourses and the rationalist model of subjectivity which enables them. The study demonstrates that these novels all emphasise the instabilities inherent in imperial epistemology. White, Ondaatje and Malouf chart their protagonists’ inability to comprehend and document the landscapes they encounter, and the ways in which this failure calls into question their subjectivity and the epistemologies that underpin it. One of the principal contentions of the study, then, is that the novels under consideration deploy a postmodern aesthetic of the sublime to undermine colonial discourses. The first chapter of the thesis outlines the postcolonial and poststructural theory that informs the readings in the later chapters. Chapter Two analyses White’s representation of subjectivity, imperial discourse and the Outback in Voss. The third chapter examines Ondaatje’s depiction of the Sahara Desert in The English Patient, and focuses on his concern with the ways in which language and cartographic discourse influence the subject’s perception of the natural world. Chapter Four investigates the representation of landscape, language and subjectivity in Malouf’s An Imaginary Life. Finally, then, this study argues that literature’s unique ability to acknowledge alterity enables it to serve as an effective tool for critiquing colonial discourses.
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- Date Issued: 2011
The use of e-mail among students and lecturers at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University: a guide reasearch report
- Authors: Ntsiko, Blondie Bonisa Blossom
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Telecommunication in education , Educational technology , Electronic mail systems in education
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9119 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1015970
- Description: This research seeks to determine the impact of the use of e-mail between lecturers and students at the NMMU. New students at universities, and especially first year undergraduates, can sometimes have difficulties in addressing their concerns, questions and ideas about their courses and are faced with the difficulty of adapting to a new lifestyle and the university environment. Interactivity and feedback are key contributors to providing an effective learning environment for such students. Lecturers provide the main source for university students to discover what is expected of them to identify the key learning goals related to a course, from a lecturer (Braxton, Milem & Sullivan, 2000:569). The increase in student numbers in Higher Education over the last decade has been dramatic, placing greater pressures on academic staff in terms of contacting students. As computer technology becomes both more prevalent and more intrusive, its use and misuse are increasingly falling under the critical scrutiny of academic researchers. If traditional educational methods are supported, such support must be flexible enough to accommodate technology, but as a means, not an end. The research of e-mail impact between students and lecturers is still very new and is open for additional study (Braxton, et al. 2000:590).
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- Date Issued: 2011
The use of environmental impact assessments (EIAs) in promoting sustainable development
- Authors: Ngesi, Hlekani Ntombizakithi
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Environmental impact analysis -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Sustainable development -- Environmental aspects -- South Africa , Environmental management -- Planning , Environmental impact analysis -- Law and legislation -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9045 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1614 , Environmental impact analysis -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Sustainable development -- Environmental aspects -- South Africa , Environmental management -- Planning , Environmental impact analysis -- Law and legislation -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth
- Description: The overall aim of the case study was to investigate the effectiveness of EIAs in NMB and to determine whether EIA legislation and implementation can lead to the promotion of sustainable development practices. The research made use of the qualitative research methodology and followed the inductive approach by critically evaluating the EIA process in the NMBM using the case study approach. This was supported by a survey which was administered to willing participants chosen at random whose extensive experience is relevant to this research topic. Interviews involved direct personal contact with participants who were asked to respond to questions relating to the research study. The research sample consisted of eight participants. The local authority was represented by two participants, the Environmental Assessment Practitioners were represented by five participants and the Non-Governmental Organization was represented by 1 participant. The first objective of the study was to evaluate the role of government during the EIA process. The results showed that EAPs in NMB municipality are relatively satisfied with how the municipality is handling the EIA process with regards to commenting on both internal and external applications. There was however a view that most municipalities lack sufficient capacity to be able to comment on EIA applications as required by legislation and that human resource issues were one of the contributing factors where skills are concerned. The second objective of the study was to examine and evaluate the role of civil society and NGOs during the EIA process. The results showed that NGOs are quite vocal and very much involved in driving the sustainable development agenda and that in South Africa NGOs are usually the ones that are responsible for getting the message across in the form of environmental education and awareness through the translation of environmental knowledge into practical on the ground conservation. 4 The third objective of the study was to analyze the responsibilities of Environmental Assessment Practitioners (EAPs) in the EIA process. The EAPs had a very good knowledge of the EIA process and what was required of them in terms of the process. The fourth objective was to evaluate compliance to the Environmental Management Plan (EMP) by the applicant once Environmental Authorisation (EA) has been granted by the responsible authority. The results showed that all the participants were in agreement in terms of the need for EMPs but their lack of enforcement was highlighted as a very serious problem which is in need of urgent attention sooner rather than later. It was also highlighted that EMPs were generally not adhered to due to their lack of legal status and that many developers viewed EMPs as guideline documents rather than something that has legally enforceable provisions. The study concluded that EIAs are not effective in meeting the requirements of NEMA and promoting sustainable development agenda. The IEM planning process which has largely been focused on EIAs as a tool to support decision-making by specialists and hence promote sustainable development has its weaknesses and has not been successful in driving the sustainable development agenda in Nelson Mandela Bay
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- Date Issued: 2011
Towards a critical understanding of media assistance for "new media" development
- Authors: Mathurine, Jude
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Mass media -- Technological innovations , Mass media -- Political aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3459 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002914 , Mass media -- Technological innovations , Mass media -- Political aspects
- Description: The field of media assistance has grown ever more complex with the inclusion of ‘new media’ networks, channels, tools and practices (such as the Internet, satellite television, mobile devices, social media and citizen journalism) to the media development mix. Adding to the ferment is the increasing convergence between the formerly discrete terrains of ICT for development, media for development and (mass) media development. Much of the discussion regarding the utility and objectives of media development in general and ‘new media’ in particular has been viewed through a modernist and techno-determinist prism which offers a limited ideological view of media development and its objects and consequently, a limited set of communication approaches and strategies. This study contextualises the assumptions of media development historically and critically, with particular focus on new media’s roles and relationships with the media environment, and its objectives democratisation and development. Through the application of literature, theory and various research studies, this thesis establishes a broader view of new media’s role and diverse consequences for media development, democracy and development. The study recommends greater collaboration, contextual research and theorisation of media development and new media as part of mixed media systems and cognisant of the multi-dimensional natures of its objects of democracy and development. One implication is the need for professionalisation of the media development and media assistance sector. In relation to the influences of new media on media use and the media as an institution, it motivates the need to address digital divides and emphasise the sustainability of the practice of journalism.
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- Date Issued: 2011
Towards the two-way symmetrical communication model: the use of social media to create dialogue around brands
- Authors: Matthee, Christelle
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Social media , Public relations
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:8385 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1370 , Social media , Public relations
- Description: Social media has radically altered today's media landscape, and presents public relations practitioners with new possibilities and opportunities to promote their companies. Social media enables public relations to observe in order to find out what people need; what content they are looking for; and how your company can help them. However, will engaging in online conversations give an organisation‘s consumers a voice? Past PR models illustrate how methods of communication was established and used in the past. However, the Grunig and Hunt two-way symmetrical model creates the possibility of two-way communication (dialogue) between consumer and organisation in which the power relations are equal. By applying Web 2.0 (social media) to these models, one can explore new ways of two-way communication. Finally by applying these elements to each other, a case study can be created to prove if social media can be used to create a dialogue between consumer and organization.
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- Date Issued: 2011
Uphononongo lokuchubeka kwezimo zabalinganiswa kwiincwadi ezichongiweyo zedrama zesiXhosa
- Authors: Mvanyashe, Andiswa
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Xhosa drama , Characters and characteristics in literature
- Language: Xhosa
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:8450 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1409 , Xhosa drama , Characters and characteristics in literature
- Description: Le ngxoxo iza kuthetha ngengcingane yokuchubeka. Phantsi kwengcingane yokuchubeka kuza kuthi kuxoxwe ngezi zinto ziladelayo: ukuchubeka lungileyo kunye nokuchubeka gwenxa, ubuso (imvakalelo), izaci zokuchubeka, ukuchubeka nesini kunye nokuchubeka namandla okanye igunya. Ezi zihloko zingaphantsi ziza kubonakaliswa phantsi kwecandelo lesibini ukuya kwelesine ze isahluko sesihlanu ibe sesokukuqukumbela. Ukuchubeka kufumaneka phantsi kwezifundo zesoshiyolingwistiki. Ingxoxo iza kuthi iqale icacise ngesoshiyolingwistiki. Ukuchubeka kuphuhla kakuhle xa isithethi sisebenzisa amagama entetho-ntshukumo anje ngokuncoma, ukuhlekisa, ukuxolisa njalo-njalo. Ingxoxo iza kuthi inabe nzulu ngengcingane yentetho-ntshukumo. Iza kuphinda ingene nzulu icacisa igama elinentshukumo ngalinye. Le ngxoxo ithi ijonge kwaye iphendule umbuzo othi ingaba ngoobani abachubekileyo kukho amadoda nabantu ababhinqileyo. Lo mbuzo uthi ukhokhelele ingxoxo ekuxoxeni ngesini. Ingcingane yesini iza kuthi isetyenziswe ekuphenduleni lo mbuzo kwaye iza kucaciswa nzulu. Kuyabonakala okokuba apha ekuchubekeni bakhona abantu abachubeka ngenxa yezizathu ezithile. Izizathu ezifana nokuthobela amagunya, ukoyika lo mntu athetha naye, ukuhlonipha njalo-njalo.
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- Date Issued: 2011