Differences in swimming stroke mechanics and kinematics derived from tri-axial accelerometers during a 200-IM event in South African national swimmers
- Authors: Musson, Courtney Ruth
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Swimming
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/46337 , vital:39588
- Description: Context: Swimming is a highly competitive sport, with elite swimmers and coaches constantly looking for ways to improve and challenge themselves to meet new performance goals. The implementation of technology in swimming has proven to be a vital tool in athlete monitoring and in providing coaches with additional information on the swimmer’s performance. Example of this technology is the use of inertial sensory devices such as tri-axial accelerometers. The accelerometers can be used to provide kinematic information with regards to the swimmer’s stroke rate, stroke length and stroke mechanics. In a typical training session, coaches would have to manually time and count their swimmer’s strokes to be able to gain the kinematic information they require. Hence, the use ofinertial sensory technology, such as accelerometers, would provide the necessary information coaches require, allowing them to concentrate on other performance aspects such as theirswimmer’s technique.Aim and objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the kinematic parameters and swimming stroke mechanics that could be derived from tri-axial accelerometers, during a 200-m individual medley (IM) event in South African national level swimmers. Three objectives were set to meet the aim of the study. The first was to identify and differentiate each of the stroking styles using tri-axial accelerometers. The second was to identify and differentiate the kinematic parametersand stroke mechanicsfor all four strokes using tri-axial accelerometers. The third objective was to implement machine learning to automate the identification and interpretation of the accelerometer data. Method:A quantitative, non-experimental descriptive one group post-test only design was used, in which 15 national level swimmers, of which seven male and eight female (mean ±SD: age: 20.9 ± 2.90 years; height: 173.28 ± 10.61 cm; weight: 67.81 ± 8.09 kg; arm span: 178.21 ± 12.15 cm) were tested. Three anthropometric measures were taken (height, weight and arm span) prior to testing, with two tri-axial accelerometers and Polar V800watch and heart rate belt attached to the swimmers left wrist, upper-back and chest, respectively. All swimmerswere required to perform three main swimming sets: 50-m IM, 100-m variation and 200-mIM. Variousdescriptivestatisticsincluding mean, standard deviation and confidence intervals (95%)were used to describe the data. with further inferential statistics including paired t-test, intra-class correlation and Bland Altman analysis wereused to describe the relationship ivbetween the accelerometer and the manually estimated parameters. Additionally, arepeated measures one-way ANOVA (with post-hoc Tukey HSD test) werealso used in an inter-comparison of the stroke parameters between each of the stroking styles. A confusion matrix wasused to measure the classification accuracy of the machine learning model implemented on the accelerometer data.Results:The accelerometers proved successful in identifyingand discerningthe stroke mechanics for each of the four stroking styles, with the use of video footage to validatethe findings. In the stroke kinematic differentiation, theBland Altman analysisresultsshowed an agreement between themanual method and accelerometer-derived estimates, although a discrepancy was evident for several of the kinematic parameters, with a significant difference found with the estimated lap time, average swimming velocity and stroke rate (paired t-test: p <0.001 for all swim sets). The inter-comparison between the stroke parameters per stroking style showed a significant difference with average swimming velocity (repeated one-way ANOVA: F = 1789.37, p <0.001), averages stroke rate (repeated one-way ANOVA: F = 671.70, p <0.001) and average stroke length (repeated one-way ANOVA: F = 346.46, p<0.001) for the population group tested. Furtheranalysis with post-hoc Tukey HSD test showed no significant difference wereevident for the average swimming velocity(Tukey: p > 0.05for all strokes)andbetween freestyle and backstroke for the average stroke rate and stroke length (Tukey:p = 0.0968 andp = 0.997, respectively).Lastly, the machine learning model found a classification accuracy of 96.6% in identifyingand labelling the stroking styles fromthe accelerometer data.Conclusion: It was shown that the tri-axial accelerometers were successful in the identification and differentiation of all the stroking styles, stroke mechanics and kinematics, although a discrepancy was found with the average swimming velocity, stroke rate and lap time estimations. The machine learning model implemented proved the benefits of using artificial intelligence to ease the data process and interpretation by automatically labelling the accelerometer data. Therefore, the use of tri-axial accelerometers as a coaching aid has major potential in the swimming community. However, further research is required to eliminate the time-consuming data processingand to increasetheaccuracy of the accelerometer in the measurement of all the stroke kinematics.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Musson, Courtney Ruth
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Swimming
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/46337 , vital:39588
- Description: Context: Swimming is a highly competitive sport, with elite swimmers and coaches constantly looking for ways to improve and challenge themselves to meet new performance goals. The implementation of technology in swimming has proven to be a vital tool in athlete monitoring and in providing coaches with additional information on the swimmer’s performance. Example of this technology is the use of inertial sensory devices such as tri-axial accelerometers. The accelerometers can be used to provide kinematic information with regards to the swimmer’s stroke rate, stroke length and stroke mechanics. In a typical training session, coaches would have to manually time and count their swimmer’s strokes to be able to gain the kinematic information they require. Hence, the use ofinertial sensory technology, such as accelerometers, would provide the necessary information coaches require, allowing them to concentrate on other performance aspects such as theirswimmer’s technique.Aim and objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the kinematic parameters and swimming stroke mechanics that could be derived from tri-axial accelerometers, during a 200-m individual medley (IM) event in South African national level swimmers. Three objectives were set to meet the aim of the study. The first was to identify and differentiate each of the stroking styles using tri-axial accelerometers. The second was to identify and differentiate the kinematic parametersand stroke mechanicsfor all four strokes using tri-axial accelerometers. The third objective was to implement machine learning to automate the identification and interpretation of the accelerometer data. Method:A quantitative, non-experimental descriptive one group post-test only design was used, in which 15 national level swimmers, of which seven male and eight female (mean ±SD: age: 20.9 ± 2.90 years; height: 173.28 ± 10.61 cm; weight: 67.81 ± 8.09 kg; arm span: 178.21 ± 12.15 cm) were tested. Three anthropometric measures were taken (height, weight and arm span) prior to testing, with two tri-axial accelerometers and Polar V800watch and heart rate belt attached to the swimmers left wrist, upper-back and chest, respectively. All swimmerswere required to perform three main swimming sets: 50-m IM, 100-m variation and 200-mIM. Variousdescriptivestatisticsincluding mean, standard deviation and confidence intervals (95%)were used to describe the data. with further inferential statistics including paired t-test, intra-class correlation and Bland Altman analysis wereused to describe the relationship ivbetween the accelerometer and the manually estimated parameters. Additionally, arepeated measures one-way ANOVA (with post-hoc Tukey HSD test) werealso used in an inter-comparison of the stroke parameters between each of the stroking styles. A confusion matrix wasused to measure the classification accuracy of the machine learning model implemented on the accelerometer data.Results:The accelerometers proved successful in identifyingand discerningthe stroke mechanics for each of the four stroking styles, with the use of video footage to validatethe findings. In the stroke kinematic differentiation, theBland Altman analysisresultsshowed an agreement between themanual method and accelerometer-derived estimates, although a discrepancy was evident for several of the kinematic parameters, with a significant difference found with the estimated lap time, average swimming velocity and stroke rate (paired t-test: p <0.001 for all swim sets). The inter-comparison between the stroke parameters per stroking style showed a significant difference with average swimming velocity (repeated one-way ANOVA: F = 1789.37, p <0.001), averages stroke rate (repeated one-way ANOVA: F = 671.70, p <0.001) and average stroke length (repeated one-way ANOVA: F = 346.46, p<0.001) for the population group tested. Furtheranalysis with post-hoc Tukey HSD test showed no significant difference wereevident for the average swimming velocity(Tukey: p > 0.05for all strokes)andbetween freestyle and backstroke for the average stroke rate and stroke length (Tukey:p = 0.0968 andp = 0.997, respectively).Lastly, the machine learning model found a classification accuracy of 96.6% in identifyingand labelling the stroking styles fromthe accelerometer data.Conclusion: It was shown that the tri-axial accelerometers were successful in the identification and differentiation of all the stroking styles, stroke mechanics and kinematics, although a discrepancy was found with the average swimming velocity, stroke rate and lap time estimations. The machine learning model implemented proved the benefits of using artificial intelligence to ease the data process and interpretation by automatically labelling the accelerometer data. Therefore, the use of tri-axial accelerometers as a coaching aid has major potential in the swimming community. However, further research is required to eliminate the time-consuming data processingand to increasetheaccuracy of the accelerometer in the measurement of all the stroke kinematics.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Digital media marketing and the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages in Africa: A reception analysis of the multi-channel marketing of Coca-Cola among young Africans from the University of Lagos, Nigeria and Rhodes University, South Africa
- Authors: Akingbade, Olutobi Elijah
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Carbonated beverages -- Health aspects -- South Africa , Carbonated beverages -- Marketing -- South Africa , Soft drinks -- Health aspects -- South Africa , Soft drinks -- Marketing -- South Africa , Carbonated beverages -- Health aspects -- Nigeria , Carbonated beverages -- Marketing -- Nigeria , Digital media -- Marketing -- Africa , Soft drinks -- Health aspects -- Nigeria , Soft drinks -- Marketing -- Nigeria , Digital media -- Marketing -- Nigeria , Obesity -- Africa , Nutritionally induced diseases -- Africa , Coca-Cola Company -- Marketing , Rhodes University -- Students -- Attitudes , University of Lagos -- Students -- Attitudes
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/163125 , vital:41012
- Description: This study investigates and examines how Coca-Cola’s marketing communications, especially the newer forms of digital, social and mobile media marketing messages/campaigns, are received, understood and made sense of by two sets of purposefully selected young urban African students in Nigeria and South Africa. Embedded within a qualitative research design and underpinned by an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach, this study was conducted against the backdrop of the recent surge in the consumption of Sugar Sweetened Beverages (SSBs) which has been directly implicated in the rise of obesity and a variety of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Africa. The thesis explores the role of multinational SSBs in this surge, as African countries have become key focus areas for multinational food and beverage companies seeking growth and profits, as home markets decline partly due to better health communications and, in some cases, the implementation of so-called ‘sugar taxes’ and the attendant negative publicity around these taxes. The focus on young Africans from Nigeria and South Africa was motivated by the similar rapid urbanisations in both countries, often accompanied by changes in diet and greater consumption of fast foods and SSBS, and by South Africa’s ranking as the country with the highest prevalence of overweight persons and obesity in Sub-Saharan Africa. Similar rises in national average weights are now also starting to be seen in Nigeria, as are surges of diet-related disease incidence and prevalence. The study is informed by Consumer Culture Theory (CCT) but also draws on other theories and some key concepts from marketing studies, health science and psychology. Methodologically, the study draws on in-person observations, focus group interviews and semi-structured individual in-depth interviews, to explore how Coca-Cola has created a deep and evocative historical ‘brandscape’ and how it has become a multicultural resource in both South Africa and Nigeria. Through an investigation into the lived experiences of study participants with regards to both their earliest and more recent engagements with Coca-Cola, as a brand and as a product, the study delineates the influence of older generations of Coke enthusiasts and consumers within participants’ households and newer spaces of interaction with Coke via interactive, highly personalised social media-centric campaigns. This study explores how the ubiquitous nature of Coca-Cola’s aesthetics and signage are engaged with – often in very ‘sub-conscious’ ways – by these students and how more recent social media campaigns evoke this multigenerational history. Unpacking study participants’ self-understandings of Coke and their often ‘sub-conscious’ engagements with the SSB, this study explicates the underpinning ideological grounding and how this is sustained over time to become an hegemonic code that does not only confine participants’ engagements with SSBs to Coke but also confines their reception of, and engagements with, Coke’s media marketing messages/campaigns to those that resonate with the multigenerational history evoked by the SSB. It is within this contextual background that this study brings to the fore participants ‘cognitive dissonance’ and scepticism and often rank disbelief of the health risks posed by their high levels of Coke consumption. The study concludes that attempts to raise awareness about the dangers inherent in excessive consumption of SSBs in Africa need to be reviewed and rethought. There is a need for long-term, consistent and much more proactive health journalism, alongside public health campaigns in both official and indigenous languages, to dispel the powerful myths created by SSB marketing and explain how SSBs are implicated in the rise of diet-related NCDs in Nigeria and South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Akingbade, Olutobi Elijah
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Carbonated beverages -- Health aspects -- South Africa , Carbonated beverages -- Marketing -- South Africa , Soft drinks -- Health aspects -- South Africa , Soft drinks -- Marketing -- South Africa , Carbonated beverages -- Health aspects -- Nigeria , Carbonated beverages -- Marketing -- Nigeria , Digital media -- Marketing -- Africa , Soft drinks -- Health aspects -- Nigeria , Soft drinks -- Marketing -- Nigeria , Digital media -- Marketing -- Nigeria , Obesity -- Africa , Nutritionally induced diseases -- Africa , Coca-Cola Company -- Marketing , Rhodes University -- Students -- Attitudes , University of Lagos -- Students -- Attitudes
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/163125 , vital:41012
- Description: This study investigates and examines how Coca-Cola’s marketing communications, especially the newer forms of digital, social and mobile media marketing messages/campaigns, are received, understood and made sense of by two sets of purposefully selected young urban African students in Nigeria and South Africa. Embedded within a qualitative research design and underpinned by an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach, this study was conducted against the backdrop of the recent surge in the consumption of Sugar Sweetened Beverages (SSBs) which has been directly implicated in the rise of obesity and a variety of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Africa. The thesis explores the role of multinational SSBs in this surge, as African countries have become key focus areas for multinational food and beverage companies seeking growth and profits, as home markets decline partly due to better health communications and, in some cases, the implementation of so-called ‘sugar taxes’ and the attendant negative publicity around these taxes. The focus on young Africans from Nigeria and South Africa was motivated by the similar rapid urbanisations in both countries, often accompanied by changes in diet and greater consumption of fast foods and SSBS, and by South Africa’s ranking as the country with the highest prevalence of overweight persons and obesity in Sub-Saharan Africa. Similar rises in national average weights are now also starting to be seen in Nigeria, as are surges of diet-related disease incidence and prevalence. The study is informed by Consumer Culture Theory (CCT) but also draws on other theories and some key concepts from marketing studies, health science and psychology. Methodologically, the study draws on in-person observations, focus group interviews and semi-structured individual in-depth interviews, to explore how Coca-Cola has created a deep and evocative historical ‘brandscape’ and how it has become a multicultural resource in both South Africa and Nigeria. Through an investigation into the lived experiences of study participants with regards to both their earliest and more recent engagements with Coca-Cola, as a brand and as a product, the study delineates the influence of older generations of Coke enthusiasts and consumers within participants’ households and newer spaces of interaction with Coke via interactive, highly personalised social media-centric campaigns. This study explores how the ubiquitous nature of Coca-Cola’s aesthetics and signage are engaged with – often in very ‘sub-conscious’ ways – by these students and how more recent social media campaigns evoke this multigenerational history. Unpacking study participants’ self-understandings of Coke and their often ‘sub-conscious’ engagements with the SSB, this study explicates the underpinning ideological grounding and how this is sustained over time to become an hegemonic code that does not only confine participants’ engagements with SSBs to Coke but also confines their reception of, and engagements with, Coke’s media marketing messages/campaigns to those that resonate with the multigenerational history evoked by the SSB. It is within this contextual background that this study brings to the fore participants ‘cognitive dissonance’ and scepticism and often rank disbelief of the health risks posed by their high levels of Coke consumption. The study concludes that attempts to raise awareness about the dangers inherent in excessive consumption of SSBs in Africa need to be reviewed and rethought. There is a need for long-term, consistent and much more proactive health journalism, alongside public health campaigns in both official and indigenous languages, to dispel the powerful myths created by SSB marketing and explain how SSBs are implicated in the rise of diet-related NCDs in Nigeria and South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Disco
- Authors: Trantraal, Nathan
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Kaaps , South African fiction (English) -- 21st century , South African poetry (English) -- 21st century , Afrikaans fiction -- 21st century , Afrikaans poetry -- 21st century
- Language: Afrikaans , English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145217 , vital:38419
- Description: Creative writing portfolio.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Trantraal, Nathan
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Kaaps , South African fiction (English) -- 21st century , South African poetry (English) -- 21st century , Afrikaans fiction -- 21st century , Afrikaans poetry -- 21st century
- Language: Afrikaans , English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145217 , vital:38419
- Description: Creative writing portfolio.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Discursive constructions of alcohol use and pregnancy among participants in intervention aimed at reducing Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
- Authors: Msomi, Nqobile Nomonde
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders -- South Africa , Pregnancy -- Psychological aspects , Reproductive rights -- South Africa , Reproductive health -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/140374 , vital:37883
- Description: South Africa’s socio-cultural and political history has had significant effects on maternal and reproductive health. The hazardous alcohol use patterns in the country have affected alcohol consumption during pregnancy. Antenatal exposure to alcohol may result in Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). The levels of FASD in particular areas of the country are the highest recorded in the world. Epidemiological studies have dominated pregnancy and FASD research in South Africa; however, recently critical scholarship seeking to contextualise the issue of drinking alcohol during pregnancy is emerging. This study forms part of a developmental/formative assessment of an alcohol and pregnancy intervention. Assessment is an important part of pilot interventions, and discourse is a key area of focus due to its constitutive role for the subjectivity of human beings and legitimation of institutional practices. Using a reproductive justice perspective and a Foucauldian approach to analysis, I identified five prominent discursive constructions of alcohol use during pregnancy produced during interviews with community educators. These interviews were conducted following training workshops with the community educators. Participants constructed their living environments as ‘wholly bad’ and ‘issue-ridden’ and positioned alcohol consumption as ‘a destroyer!’, ‘king’ and a social lubricant. They interpellated the foetus, the ‘FASD child’ and pregnant women into this context. They positioned themselves as transformed subjects able to effect change. The foetus was constructed as ‘vulnerable and important’, as opposed to the ‘defiled FASD child’. Pregnant women were constructed as ‘ignorant, preoccupied and unreceptive to knowledge’. These constructions hinged on so-called ‘scientific knowledge’ of biological processes in utero, demonstrating Foucault’s conception of the power/knowledge nexus and how its dynamics transforms knowledge of human beings. Whereas this ‘knowledge’ transformed alcohol consumption and the foetus into powerful and vulnerable subjects respectively, the circulating discourses had objectivising effects on pregnant women. The discourses of responsibilisation, the personification of the foetus, ‘the problem’ category of FASD, the discourse of difference, and the discourse of alcohol consumption as an entrenched practice were circulating around pregnant women. I suggest alterations to the identified constructions using principles of community psychology, the harm reduction model, a social model of disability and the reproductive justice perspective
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Msomi, Nqobile Nomonde
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders -- South Africa , Pregnancy -- Psychological aspects , Reproductive rights -- South Africa , Reproductive health -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/140374 , vital:37883
- Description: South Africa’s socio-cultural and political history has had significant effects on maternal and reproductive health. The hazardous alcohol use patterns in the country have affected alcohol consumption during pregnancy. Antenatal exposure to alcohol may result in Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). The levels of FASD in particular areas of the country are the highest recorded in the world. Epidemiological studies have dominated pregnancy and FASD research in South Africa; however, recently critical scholarship seeking to contextualise the issue of drinking alcohol during pregnancy is emerging. This study forms part of a developmental/formative assessment of an alcohol and pregnancy intervention. Assessment is an important part of pilot interventions, and discourse is a key area of focus due to its constitutive role for the subjectivity of human beings and legitimation of institutional practices. Using a reproductive justice perspective and a Foucauldian approach to analysis, I identified five prominent discursive constructions of alcohol use during pregnancy produced during interviews with community educators. These interviews were conducted following training workshops with the community educators. Participants constructed their living environments as ‘wholly bad’ and ‘issue-ridden’ and positioned alcohol consumption as ‘a destroyer!’, ‘king’ and a social lubricant. They interpellated the foetus, the ‘FASD child’ and pregnant women into this context. They positioned themselves as transformed subjects able to effect change. The foetus was constructed as ‘vulnerable and important’, as opposed to the ‘defiled FASD child’. Pregnant women were constructed as ‘ignorant, preoccupied and unreceptive to knowledge’. These constructions hinged on so-called ‘scientific knowledge’ of biological processes in utero, demonstrating Foucault’s conception of the power/knowledge nexus and how its dynamics transforms knowledge of human beings. Whereas this ‘knowledge’ transformed alcohol consumption and the foetus into powerful and vulnerable subjects respectively, the circulating discourses had objectivising effects on pregnant women. The discourses of responsibilisation, the personification of the foetus, ‘the problem’ category of FASD, the discourse of difference, and the discourse of alcohol consumption as an entrenched practice were circulating around pregnant women. I suggest alterations to the identified constructions using principles of community psychology, the harm reduction model, a social model of disability and the reproductive justice perspective
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Diteng tsa ditlhopha tsa maina a Bantu: ntlhathakanelo e le mo Setswanang : “The semantics of Bandu noun classes: a focus on Setswana
- Authors: Tladi, Oboitshepo
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Tswana language , Tswana language -- Grammar , Tswana language -- Noun , Noun , Bantu languages , Bantu languages -- Noun , Bantu languages -- Grammar
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/167654 , vital:41500
- Description: The present study investigated the semantic classification of the Setswana noun class system. This enquiry falls under the broad area of the noun classification system in Bantu languages, psycholinguistics and lexicogrpahy. Specifically it explores the basis of noun classification in Setswana making indications that Setswana noun classification is based on a partial semantic classification. Data for the study was drawn from the Setswana Oxford Dictionary. Sixty Setswana nouns, from class 1, 3, 5, and 7, were selected and analysed and then grouped into semantic categories (i.e., PERSON, DEROGATION, TRANSPORATION and so forth). The study adopted Kgukutli’s (1994) semantic classification in performing the dictionary analysis. The rest of the data was drawn from the intuitions of thirty-nine contemporary speakers of Setswana, with the aid of a linguistic test which was fashioned according to Selvik’s (2001) psycholinguistic test. The language test required participants to match the predetermined Setswana definitions with hypothetical Setswana nouns with selected class prefixes attached to them. The results from the empirical study showed that speakers were associating prefixes to certain semantic values, suggesting that each noun class had specific semantic content that was unique to that class. The semantic categories created through the dictionary analysis were then compared to those given by the thirty-nine Setswana speakers, to analyse whether there were any similaritires in the semantic classification of the noun classes. The findings of the dictionary analysis and linguistic test revealed that there were certain semantic characteristics that each class was associated with that seemed to be unique to the class. However, there were various semantic overlaps in the semantic categories associated with the different noun classes, which brings into question whether a semantic classification is viable in the classing of nouns. The study suggests that prior classification of Setswana nouns are not precise enough and that additional semantic categories are needed to offer a more precise classification of nouns in this language.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Tladi, Oboitshepo
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Tswana language , Tswana language -- Grammar , Tswana language -- Noun , Noun , Bantu languages , Bantu languages -- Noun , Bantu languages -- Grammar
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/167654 , vital:41500
- Description: The present study investigated the semantic classification of the Setswana noun class system. This enquiry falls under the broad area of the noun classification system in Bantu languages, psycholinguistics and lexicogrpahy. Specifically it explores the basis of noun classification in Setswana making indications that Setswana noun classification is based on a partial semantic classification. Data for the study was drawn from the Setswana Oxford Dictionary. Sixty Setswana nouns, from class 1, 3, 5, and 7, were selected and analysed and then grouped into semantic categories (i.e., PERSON, DEROGATION, TRANSPORATION and so forth). The study adopted Kgukutli’s (1994) semantic classification in performing the dictionary analysis. The rest of the data was drawn from the intuitions of thirty-nine contemporary speakers of Setswana, with the aid of a linguistic test which was fashioned according to Selvik’s (2001) psycholinguistic test. The language test required participants to match the predetermined Setswana definitions with hypothetical Setswana nouns with selected class prefixes attached to them. The results from the empirical study showed that speakers were associating prefixes to certain semantic values, suggesting that each noun class had specific semantic content that was unique to that class. The semantic categories created through the dictionary analysis were then compared to those given by the thirty-nine Setswana speakers, to analyse whether there were any similaritires in the semantic classification of the noun classes. The findings of the dictionary analysis and linguistic test revealed that there were certain semantic characteristics that each class was associated with that seemed to be unique to the class. However, there were various semantic overlaps in the semantic categories associated with the different noun classes, which brings into question whether a semantic classification is viable in the classing of nouns. The study suggests that prior classification of Setswana nouns are not precise enough and that additional semantic categories are needed to offer a more precise classification of nouns in this language.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Does the construction of ‘rapeable’ bodies constitute an instance of hermeneutical injustice?
- Authors: Weiffenbach, Michaela
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Zuma, Jacob -- Trials, litigation, etc. , Rape -- Philosophy , Women's rights -- Africa , Women, Black -- Social conditions -- Africa , Masculinity -- Africa , Men, Black -- Africa -- Psychology , Justice (Philosophy)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145708 , vital:38460
- Description: This thesis argues that within the conventional imagination of the West, identity functions in a way that particular forms of embodiment are characterised by the experience of endured sexual vulnerability, which I argue is best understood as the construction of ‘rapeable’ bodies (Cahill 2001, 120). By this, I mean that the threat of rape is contingent upon the social and political construction of one’s identity as vulnerable. In virtue of this particular way of constructing the embodiment of certain subjectivities, there is an instance of hermeneutical injustice conferred (Fricker 2007, 114). I inquire into the function and meaning of stereotypic generalisations, prejudice and rape myths embedded within the dominant framework of the West and show how language and representation constructs these identities as ‘rapeable’. Furthermore, I consider how collective hermeneutical discourses construct Blackness, specifically Black masculinities and the construction of the ‘un-rapeable’ Black femxle body. To see how these ideas are congruous the prominent example that occurred in South Africa in 2005, namely, the Jacob Zuma rape trial comes to mind. One relevant feature of the case is that it shows how identities of race are constructed in the aftermath of apartheid and points to a Western collective imagination resistant to change. In addition, it demonstrates the triad of interrelatedness holding between the self-world-other, a relationship constituted mutually by the self and the socially constructed interpretations of identity and embodiment (du Toit 2009, 58). Lastly, the construction of ‘rapeable’ bodies is an example of how discursive narratives construct particular identities as vulnerable through rendering particular embodied subjects as sexually irrelevant and hermeneutically obscured.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Weiffenbach, Michaela
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Zuma, Jacob -- Trials, litigation, etc. , Rape -- Philosophy , Women's rights -- Africa , Women, Black -- Social conditions -- Africa , Masculinity -- Africa , Men, Black -- Africa -- Psychology , Justice (Philosophy)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145708 , vital:38460
- Description: This thesis argues that within the conventional imagination of the West, identity functions in a way that particular forms of embodiment are characterised by the experience of endured sexual vulnerability, which I argue is best understood as the construction of ‘rapeable’ bodies (Cahill 2001, 120). By this, I mean that the threat of rape is contingent upon the social and political construction of one’s identity as vulnerable. In virtue of this particular way of constructing the embodiment of certain subjectivities, there is an instance of hermeneutical injustice conferred (Fricker 2007, 114). I inquire into the function and meaning of stereotypic generalisations, prejudice and rape myths embedded within the dominant framework of the West and show how language and representation constructs these identities as ‘rapeable’. Furthermore, I consider how collective hermeneutical discourses construct Blackness, specifically Black masculinities and the construction of the ‘un-rapeable’ Black femxle body. To see how these ideas are congruous the prominent example that occurred in South Africa in 2005, namely, the Jacob Zuma rape trial comes to mind. One relevant feature of the case is that it shows how identities of race are constructed in the aftermath of apartheid and points to a Western collective imagination resistant to change. In addition, it demonstrates the triad of interrelatedness holding between the self-world-other, a relationship constituted mutually by the self and the socially constructed interpretations of identity and embodiment (du Toit 2009, 58). Lastly, the construction of ‘rapeable’ bodies is an example of how discursive narratives construct particular identities as vulnerable through rendering particular embodied subjects as sexually irrelevant and hermeneutically obscured.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Economic growth and carbon emissions in BICS countries
- Authors: Mapapu, Babalwa
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Economic development Atmospheric carbon dioxide -- Economic aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/48861 , vital:41165
- Description: Of recent carbon emissions have become an increasing concern for economies worldwide. The study investigates the relationship between carbon emissions and economic growth for the BICS (Brazil, India, China and South Africa), one of the largest emitters of carbon dioxide worldwide. ARDL methodology is employed which is applied to annual data covering a period of 1970 to 2017. The empirical results indicate there is a long run negative relationship between carbon emissions and economic growth. Overall results thus encourage policymakers to continue to embark on energy efficiency programmes which specifically target lower levels of carbon pollution.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Mapapu, Babalwa
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Economic development Atmospheric carbon dioxide -- Economic aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/48861 , vital:41165
- Description: Of recent carbon emissions have become an increasing concern for economies worldwide. The study investigates the relationship between carbon emissions and economic growth for the BICS (Brazil, India, China and South Africa), one of the largest emitters of carbon dioxide worldwide. ARDL methodology is employed which is applied to annual data covering a period of 1970 to 2017. The empirical results indicate there is a long run negative relationship between carbon emissions and economic growth. Overall results thus encourage policymakers to continue to embark on energy efficiency programmes which specifically target lower levels of carbon pollution.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Effects of a resistance training intervention on the physical fitness of youth in a rural soccer development programme
- Authors: Greyling, Jacob Johannes
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Physical fitness--Soccer
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/50795 , vital:42701
- Description: Background: Soccer is the most popular sport worldwide with an estimated 270 million people involved in the sport. Soccer is a fast-paced contact team sport that requires physical capabilities such as speed, agility, strength, power, aerobic and anaerobic fitness in addition to technical proficiency. Most goals are preceded by a linear sprint, jump or change of direction which is why the ability to perform fast powerful movements is important. Research has indicated that resistance training performed in combination with high intensity speed and plyometric training, improves athletic performance of soccer players. Aims and Objectives: This study investigated the effects of a resistance training intervention on the physical fitness of youth in a rural soccer development programme in Addo in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Methodology: This study employed a quantitative approach in the form of a quasi-experimental design with an experimental and control group. The sample was conveniently selected based on availability of players and on them meeting specific inclusion criteria. Local soccer clubs in the Nomathamsanqa township - an impoverished area in Addo, which forms part of the Addo Soccer Development Programme (ASDP) - were invited to participate in the study. The final sample for this study consisted of 12 participants. A 10-week soccer-based resistance training intervention, addressing the components of physical fitness with specific emphasis on resistance training, was implemented after completion of the baseline testing. The intervention was designed to be suitable for a rural setting. Results: Within group comparisons revealed significant improvements in the experimental group for power (p = 0.028), speed (p = 0.028) and overall performance (grouped physical fitness measures) (p = 0.018) whereas the control group improved significantly in speed (p = 0.043) and regressed significantly in cardiovascular endurance (p = 0.043). Between group comparisons revealed significant differences for overall performance improvement in the experimental group (p = 0.006) and a reduction in cardiovascular endurance in the control group (p = 0.028). The main finding of this study is therefore this: that the individual parameters did not show consistent improvement when viewed in isolation, however that the intervention had a positive effect on overall performance when all the physical fitness measures were computed as a collective result. Conclusion: The results of the study indicate that the intervention had a positive effect on overall performance however more research is required on soccer in rural and disadvantaged settings of South Africa to develop a convincing model for supplementary training other than conventional soccer practice to improve performance and to overcome the unique challenges faced in a rural setting.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Greyling, Jacob Johannes
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Physical fitness--Soccer
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/50795 , vital:42701
- Description: Background: Soccer is the most popular sport worldwide with an estimated 270 million people involved in the sport. Soccer is a fast-paced contact team sport that requires physical capabilities such as speed, agility, strength, power, aerobic and anaerobic fitness in addition to technical proficiency. Most goals are preceded by a linear sprint, jump or change of direction which is why the ability to perform fast powerful movements is important. Research has indicated that resistance training performed in combination with high intensity speed and plyometric training, improves athletic performance of soccer players. Aims and Objectives: This study investigated the effects of a resistance training intervention on the physical fitness of youth in a rural soccer development programme in Addo in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Methodology: This study employed a quantitative approach in the form of a quasi-experimental design with an experimental and control group. The sample was conveniently selected based on availability of players and on them meeting specific inclusion criteria. Local soccer clubs in the Nomathamsanqa township - an impoverished area in Addo, which forms part of the Addo Soccer Development Programme (ASDP) - were invited to participate in the study. The final sample for this study consisted of 12 participants. A 10-week soccer-based resistance training intervention, addressing the components of physical fitness with specific emphasis on resistance training, was implemented after completion of the baseline testing. The intervention was designed to be suitable for a rural setting. Results: Within group comparisons revealed significant improvements in the experimental group for power (p = 0.028), speed (p = 0.028) and overall performance (grouped physical fitness measures) (p = 0.018) whereas the control group improved significantly in speed (p = 0.043) and regressed significantly in cardiovascular endurance (p = 0.043). Between group comparisons revealed significant differences for overall performance improvement in the experimental group (p = 0.006) and a reduction in cardiovascular endurance in the control group (p = 0.028). The main finding of this study is therefore this: that the individual parameters did not show consistent improvement when viewed in isolation, however that the intervention had a positive effect on overall performance when all the physical fitness measures were computed as a collective result. Conclusion: The results of the study indicate that the intervention had a positive effect on overall performance however more research is required on soccer in rural and disadvantaged settings of South Africa to develop a convincing model for supplementary training other than conventional soccer practice to improve performance and to overcome the unique challenges faced in a rural setting.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2020
Effects of high-intensity speed training on the speed reserve of university middle-distance and field sport athletes
- Authors: Thomas, Emma Jayne
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Athletes
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/46346 , vital:39599
- Description: Context: Despite the multiple differences between athletic events and sports, they all share the sporadic bouts of moderate to extreme intensities and all require some contribution from an integrated bioenergetic system to allow for optimal performance. Although D’ is often considered as an ‘anaerobic work capacity’, such a definition is over-simplistic and its precise composition is nebulous, especially given the mixed findings of the experimental evidence. Clearly, further research is needed to provide a more complete understanding of the D’ parameter, as well as the speed reserve(range of speeds exceeding critical speed) especially within high-intensity exercise. Purpose (Aim): The aim of this study is to determine whether a short term high-intensity speed training intervention within the severe intensity domain effects speed reserve in athletic and non-athletic individuals considered moderately trained.Methods: A quantitative research design was used. Participantscompletedbaseline testing (pre-test), after which they were assigned into two groups. Both groups received a HIIT training program, with group 1 (G140%) receiving a program based on intensity prescription (work bouts performed at 140% of CS)and group 2 (G90-s) receiving a program based on time intervals (work bouts performed for 90-s). HIIT sessions were performed twice-weekly for a total of 6-weeks. A post-test assessment was then conducted by both groups to determine whether any changes have accrued in any of the physiological variables in question. Participants of the study met a specific criterion(18 –30 years of age, residing in Nelson Mandela Bay, and met the minimum fitness requirements). Results: No significant between-group differences were evident prior to and following cessation of the HIIT intervention. Findings that can be highlighted holistically include improvements in CS(G140%: M = 0.62 m.s-1; G90-s: M = 0.46 m.s-1)and 𝑉̇𝑂2𝑚𝑎𝑥 (G140%: +3.81 ml.kg-1.min-1; G90-s: +5.19 ml.kg-1.min-1)and a decrease in fatigue index (G140%: M = -6.75%; G90-s: M = -4.38%) and D’(G140%: M = -56.34 m; G90-s: M = -18.36 m).Normative data were generated for athletic and non-athletic participants using the standard nine (Stanine) categorization to facilitate interpretation and recommendations of key parameters for coaches and clinicians. Moreover, a deterministic model was also generated which revealed novel interactions and the strength of the relationship between variables-potentially opening new and innovative areas of future research. Conclusions: The interval durations and speeds utilised in the present study were insufficient to stimulate an increase in D’. To elicit an increase of D’, one would have to decrease the duration of the intervals performed(i.e. < 90-sec), while increasing speed at which the intervals performed at some speed greater than 140% of CS, but below MSS. Further research is needed to understand the physiological underpinning of the D’ parameter both in isolation and in conjunction with CS. It is clear that D’ is influenced by parameters such as MSS, 𝜏d and FI%; therefore, these sub-parameters should be explored further as potentiators for moderating the D’ parameter.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Thomas, Emma Jayne
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Athletes
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/46346 , vital:39599
- Description: Context: Despite the multiple differences between athletic events and sports, they all share the sporadic bouts of moderate to extreme intensities and all require some contribution from an integrated bioenergetic system to allow for optimal performance. Although D’ is often considered as an ‘anaerobic work capacity’, such a definition is over-simplistic and its precise composition is nebulous, especially given the mixed findings of the experimental evidence. Clearly, further research is needed to provide a more complete understanding of the D’ parameter, as well as the speed reserve(range of speeds exceeding critical speed) especially within high-intensity exercise. Purpose (Aim): The aim of this study is to determine whether a short term high-intensity speed training intervention within the severe intensity domain effects speed reserve in athletic and non-athletic individuals considered moderately trained.Methods: A quantitative research design was used. Participantscompletedbaseline testing (pre-test), after which they were assigned into two groups. Both groups received a HIIT training program, with group 1 (G140%) receiving a program based on intensity prescription (work bouts performed at 140% of CS)and group 2 (G90-s) receiving a program based on time intervals (work bouts performed for 90-s). HIIT sessions were performed twice-weekly for a total of 6-weeks. A post-test assessment was then conducted by both groups to determine whether any changes have accrued in any of the physiological variables in question. Participants of the study met a specific criterion(18 –30 years of age, residing in Nelson Mandela Bay, and met the minimum fitness requirements). Results: No significant between-group differences were evident prior to and following cessation of the HIIT intervention. Findings that can be highlighted holistically include improvements in CS(G140%: M = 0.62 m.s-1; G90-s: M = 0.46 m.s-1)and 𝑉̇𝑂2𝑚𝑎𝑥 (G140%: +3.81 ml.kg-1.min-1; G90-s: +5.19 ml.kg-1.min-1)and a decrease in fatigue index (G140%: M = -6.75%; G90-s: M = -4.38%) and D’(G140%: M = -56.34 m; G90-s: M = -18.36 m).Normative data were generated for athletic and non-athletic participants using the standard nine (Stanine) categorization to facilitate interpretation and recommendations of key parameters for coaches and clinicians. Moreover, a deterministic model was also generated which revealed novel interactions and the strength of the relationship between variables-potentially opening new and innovative areas of future research. Conclusions: The interval durations and speeds utilised in the present study were insufficient to stimulate an increase in D’. To elicit an increase of D’, one would have to decrease the duration of the intervals performed(i.e. < 90-sec), while increasing speed at which the intervals performed at some speed greater than 140% of CS, but below MSS. Further research is needed to understand the physiological underpinning of the D’ parameter both in isolation and in conjunction with CS. It is clear that D’ is influenced by parameters such as MSS, 𝜏d and FI%; therefore, these sub-parameters should be explored further as potentiators for moderating the D’ parameter.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Either way you die: a collection of short stories
- Authors: Sithole, Sipho
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: South African fiction (English) -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145081 , vital:38406
- Description: Part A: Thesis (Creative Work); Part B: Portfolio.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Sithole, Sipho
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: South African fiction (English) -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145081 , vital:38406
- Description: Part A: Thesis (Creative Work); Part B: Portfolio.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Enabling violence: the ethics of writing and reading rape in South Africa
- Authors: Lloyd Dylan Reumen
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Rape -- South Africa , Rape -- Fiction , Rape in literature , Rape in literature -- South Africa , Psychic trauma in literature , Post-traumatic stress disorder in literature , Dystopias in literature , Coetzee, J. M., 1940- Disgrace , South African fiction (English) -- History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/166173 , vital:41335
- Description: This thesis is concerned with describing the stakes of reading, writing and criticising fictional depictions of rape in a country plagued by high levels of sexual violence. I consider the capacity of rape representations to cause harm to women and rape survivors, and worsen the various injuries suffered by survivors as a direct or indirect consequence of rape. The possibility of such harm prompts me to examine the role and responsibilities of readers and critics in facilitating or preventing such harm. I further discuss the potential strategies of harm prevention that readers of novelistic portrayals of rape might adopt as well as the positive outcomes that such reading strategies make possible, and which might balance out the risks that accompany them. My description of the potential harm of rape representations combines postmodern critical feminist analysis with Miranda Fricker’s work on epistemic justice and Judith Herman’s work on trauma in order to illustrate the way that these representations shape our conception of rape in a manner that affects everything from how it is enacted to our treatment of survivors to the possibility of their recovery from posttraumatic stress disorder. In order to situate my analysis in the context of South African literature and to explore the notion of responsibility in relation to the writing of scenes of rape, I utilise a close reading of J.M. Coetzee’s Disgrace. Furthermore, I discuss the utility and limits of the critical feminist strategy of using a normative critical approach to rape representations in order to prevent harm. Ultimately, I argue that the use of such a strategy, along with the development of a purpose-honed adaptive critical style, is essential to the fulfilment of our responsibilities as readers and to the prevention of further suffering.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Lloyd Dylan Reumen
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Rape -- South Africa , Rape -- Fiction , Rape in literature , Rape in literature -- South Africa , Psychic trauma in literature , Post-traumatic stress disorder in literature , Dystopias in literature , Coetzee, J. M., 1940- Disgrace , South African fiction (English) -- History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/166173 , vital:41335
- Description: This thesis is concerned with describing the stakes of reading, writing and criticising fictional depictions of rape in a country plagued by high levels of sexual violence. I consider the capacity of rape representations to cause harm to women and rape survivors, and worsen the various injuries suffered by survivors as a direct or indirect consequence of rape. The possibility of such harm prompts me to examine the role and responsibilities of readers and critics in facilitating or preventing such harm. I further discuss the potential strategies of harm prevention that readers of novelistic portrayals of rape might adopt as well as the positive outcomes that such reading strategies make possible, and which might balance out the risks that accompany them. My description of the potential harm of rape representations combines postmodern critical feminist analysis with Miranda Fricker’s work on epistemic justice and Judith Herman’s work on trauma in order to illustrate the way that these representations shape our conception of rape in a manner that affects everything from how it is enacted to our treatment of survivors to the possibility of their recovery from posttraumatic stress disorder. In order to situate my analysis in the context of South African literature and to explore the notion of responsibility in relation to the writing of scenes of rape, I utilise a close reading of J.M. Coetzee’s Disgrace. Furthermore, I discuss the utility and limits of the critical feminist strategy of using a normative critical approach to rape representations in order to prevent harm. Ultimately, I argue that the use of such a strategy, along with the development of a purpose-honed adaptive critical style, is essential to the fulfilment of our responsibilities as readers and to the prevention of further suffering.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Explored Vygotsky’s concept of mediation in a biliteracy project in the foundation phase of a township school
- Authors: Frans, Nompumelelo Grace
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Literacy -- South Africa -- Case studies , Education, Elementary -- South Africa -- Case studies , Education, Bilingual -- South Africa -- Case studies , Vygotskiĭ, L S (Lev Semenovich), 1896-1934 , Biliteracy Project (South Africa)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/147204 , vital:38602
- Description: The research reported on in this thesis explored teacher mediation when a biliteracy approach through task-based teaching and learning is used in a Foundation Phase classroom in a township school in the Eastern Cape. It is an action research aimed at understanding and systematically investigating how and what it means to work with bilingual mediation to ensure cognition, with emphasis on task design, facilitation for cognition, mediation forms and language use. This thesis was motivated by three issues that are still not being adequately addressed: the low level of cognitive work in South African schools, the failure to use the home languages of children throughout schooling as a medium of instruction and assessment (while providing excellent access to English as subject), and a top-down approach to both policy development and teacher professionalisation. These three issues drove me to explore theories that can help address them, and that is how I came to rely mostly on mediation, biliteracy and a task-based approach to teaching. For this research, on data handling I prepared and taught six lessons, but only three of the six lessons were recorded, transcribed and analysed for empirical data. I chose data handling, as in my previous experience I found it to include all the mathematical problem-solving skills which involve addition subtraction, analysing and comparing information. It also offered opportunities for language use, and meaningful interactive co-construction and acquiring of knowledge in the process of teaching and learning. This turned into a form of theory-driven action research, which was also developmental. I was critically reflective on my practices, and my facilitation for cognition and how I use language to make cognition possible. I also looked at the types of activities that I gave learners to help reach maximum development. The data collected from the classroom interactions, shows how I, in some instances, would take decisions, implement them and then find them not to be effective. It also shows some of the challenges I came across, from myself and the learners. Learners challenges were, unfamiliarity with the systematic build-up of data handling, filling in tables, transferring information from one form into a different form, and constructing and analysing bar graphs. This was part of pedagogynot the policy, which indicated inadequate teacher development. This could be because data handling is allocated minimal weighting from the CAPS document, and teachers do not go as in depth as they need to in dealing with data handling. My challenge was to prepare the grade 3 class for more data handling encounters in the higher grades. I had to ensure they grasped data handling concepts in their mother tongue before the switch to English as LoLT, as prescribed by policy. Learners proved to have little or no knowledge with regards to data handling concepts, which meant I had to start from the basics, as I had nothing to build on, and then progress to grade 3 level in one year. This study suggests that for any concept that has to be taught, cognition must be a priority, and strategies on how to facilitate that needs to be well thought out. Teachers need to be aware of theories that can positively impact on their practices. Teacher development is key to improvement of education, especially in the Eastern Cape. That cannot be done in isolation, but in partnership with relevant stakeholders.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Frans, Nompumelelo Grace
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Literacy -- South Africa -- Case studies , Education, Elementary -- South Africa -- Case studies , Education, Bilingual -- South Africa -- Case studies , Vygotskiĭ, L S (Lev Semenovich), 1896-1934 , Biliteracy Project (South Africa)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/147204 , vital:38602
- Description: The research reported on in this thesis explored teacher mediation when a biliteracy approach through task-based teaching and learning is used in a Foundation Phase classroom in a township school in the Eastern Cape. It is an action research aimed at understanding and systematically investigating how and what it means to work with bilingual mediation to ensure cognition, with emphasis on task design, facilitation for cognition, mediation forms and language use. This thesis was motivated by three issues that are still not being adequately addressed: the low level of cognitive work in South African schools, the failure to use the home languages of children throughout schooling as a medium of instruction and assessment (while providing excellent access to English as subject), and a top-down approach to both policy development and teacher professionalisation. These three issues drove me to explore theories that can help address them, and that is how I came to rely mostly on mediation, biliteracy and a task-based approach to teaching. For this research, on data handling I prepared and taught six lessons, but only three of the six lessons were recorded, transcribed and analysed for empirical data. I chose data handling, as in my previous experience I found it to include all the mathematical problem-solving skills which involve addition subtraction, analysing and comparing information. It also offered opportunities for language use, and meaningful interactive co-construction and acquiring of knowledge in the process of teaching and learning. This turned into a form of theory-driven action research, which was also developmental. I was critically reflective on my practices, and my facilitation for cognition and how I use language to make cognition possible. I also looked at the types of activities that I gave learners to help reach maximum development. The data collected from the classroom interactions, shows how I, in some instances, would take decisions, implement them and then find them not to be effective. It also shows some of the challenges I came across, from myself and the learners. Learners challenges were, unfamiliarity with the systematic build-up of data handling, filling in tables, transferring information from one form into a different form, and constructing and analysing bar graphs. This was part of pedagogynot the policy, which indicated inadequate teacher development. This could be because data handling is allocated minimal weighting from the CAPS document, and teachers do not go as in depth as they need to in dealing with data handling. My challenge was to prepare the grade 3 class for more data handling encounters in the higher grades. I had to ensure they grasped data handling concepts in their mother tongue before the switch to English as LoLT, as prescribed by policy. Learners proved to have little or no knowledge with regards to data handling concepts, which meant I had to start from the basics, as I had nothing to build on, and then progress to grade 3 level in one year. This study suggests that for any concept that has to be taught, cognition must be a priority, and strategies on how to facilitate that needs to be well thought out. Teachers need to be aware of theories that can positively impact on their practices. Teacher development is key to improvement of education, especially in the Eastern Cape. That cannot be done in isolation, but in partnership with relevant stakeholders.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Exploring career information through developmental contextual focus groups with youth from disadvantaged backgrounds
- Authors: Phala, Phorogohlo Modipadi
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Vocational guidance , Educational counseling , Focus groups , Action research , Youth -- South Africa -- Social conditions -- 1994- , Parental influences – South Africa , Vocational guidance -- Parent participation -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/130594 , vital:36442
- Description: This study investigates the importance of initiating career exploration discussions with young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, using the developmental-contextual framework of career development by Vondracek, Lerner & Schulenburg (1986). This model stresses the dynamic relationship between an individual, the ever-changing environment and how each influences the other. Based upon an earlier study by Spencer (1999), this study aims to explore the developmental-contextual model as the basis of successive group discussions at a pivotal moment in the lives of the youth from disadvantaged backgrounds. In addition, it aims to understand individuals’ perceptions of career education and the influences on career decision-making and aspiration. Data were collected through setting up and running a focus group session once a week over a period of five weeks, in which different career-related topics were discussed. The sample consisted of nine unemployed students who were currently not in a tertiary institution between the ages of 18-25 years. The findings indicated a noteworthy need for more relevant career interventions to be investigated and implemented for the diverse South African population. The study’s findings demonstrated that individuals might be more open to exploring career development through group rather than individual counselling. It was found that parents are the main career influencers in their children’s lives. Mothers were experienced as role models, supporters and encouragers while fathers were experienced as absent and unsupportive, playing little or no role in their children’s lives. The participants found this form of career exploration appealing as it allowed for peer consultation and the freedom to discuss career issues in a non-judgemental setting.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Phala, Phorogohlo Modipadi
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Vocational guidance , Educational counseling , Focus groups , Action research , Youth -- South Africa -- Social conditions -- 1994- , Parental influences – South Africa , Vocational guidance -- Parent participation -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/130594 , vital:36442
- Description: This study investigates the importance of initiating career exploration discussions with young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, using the developmental-contextual framework of career development by Vondracek, Lerner & Schulenburg (1986). This model stresses the dynamic relationship between an individual, the ever-changing environment and how each influences the other. Based upon an earlier study by Spencer (1999), this study aims to explore the developmental-contextual model as the basis of successive group discussions at a pivotal moment in the lives of the youth from disadvantaged backgrounds. In addition, it aims to understand individuals’ perceptions of career education and the influences on career decision-making and aspiration. Data were collected through setting up and running a focus group session once a week over a period of five weeks, in which different career-related topics were discussed. The sample consisted of nine unemployed students who were currently not in a tertiary institution between the ages of 18-25 years. The findings indicated a noteworthy need for more relevant career interventions to be investigated and implemented for the diverse South African population. The study’s findings demonstrated that individuals might be more open to exploring career development through group rather than individual counselling. It was found that parents are the main career influencers in their children’s lives. Mothers were experienced as role models, supporters and encouragers while fathers were experienced as absent and unsupportive, playing little or no role in their children’s lives. The participants found this form of career exploration appealing as it allowed for peer consultation and the freedom to discuss career issues in a non-judgemental setting.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Exploring how mobile phones mediate bonding, bridging and linking social capital in a South African rural area
- Buthelezi, Stella Mbalenhle Nomfundo
- Authors: Buthelezi, Stella Mbalenhle Nomfundo
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Social capital (Sociology) -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Cell phone users -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Cell phones -- Sociological aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Cell phones -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Social media -- Influence -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , WhatsApp (Application software) -- Sociological aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/163419 , vital:41035
- Description: Many contemporary ICT for development (ICT4D) studies focus on the benefits of mobile phones on the socio-economic development of marginalised communities. For many people in poorly resourced rural areas, one of the significant benefits of mobile phone usage is the expansion of social networks for resources or support. Social capital is one of the concepts that have been found to directly or indirectly influence many aspects of social life, communities and development. In the present study, I explore how mobile phones mediate bonding, bridging and linking social capital in a rural area on the Wild Coast of South Africa, Dwesa. I use individual semi-structured interviews with purposefully selected participants who are mobile phone owners in the area. I employ a thematic analysis to analyse their responses in relation to three dimensions of social capital, i.e. 1) trust and solidarity, 2) social cohesion and inclusion and 3) collective action and empowerment. Like in many South African rural areas, in Dwesa there is endemic poverty, inadequate services and infrastructure and high unemployment. The study found that by increased communication, mobile phones mostly strengthen bonding social capital between close ties who rely on each other for various forms of support. Mobile phones also facilitate the building of bridging social capital among members of various community groups by using WhatsApp group chats and Facebook. The little evidence on the relationship between mobile phone use and linking social capital in the area relates to group networks providing opportunities for interaction between community members and individuals in tertiary institutions and local government positions.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Buthelezi, Stella Mbalenhle Nomfundo
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Social capital (Sociology) -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Cell phone users -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Cell phones -- Sociological aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Cell phones -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Social media -- Influence -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , WhatsApp (Application software) -- Sociological aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/163419 , vital:41035
- Description: Many contemporary ICT for development (ICT4D) studies focus on the benefits of mobile phones on the socio-economic development of marginalised communities. For many people in poorly resourced rural areas, one of the significant benefits of mobile phone usage is the expansion of social networks for resources or support. Social capital is one of the concepts that have been found to directly or indirectly influence many aspects of social life, communities and development. In the present study, I explore how mobile phones mediate bonding, bridging and linking social capital in a rural area on the Wild Coast of South Africa, Dwesa. I use individual semi-structured interviews with purposefully selected participants who are mobile phone owners in the area. I employ a thematic analysis to analyse their responses in relation to three dimensions of social capital, i.e. 1) trust and solidarity, 2) social cohesion and inclusion and 3) collective action and empowerment. Like in many South African rural areas, in Dwesa there is endemic poverty, inadequate services and infrastructure and high unemployment. The study found that by increased communication, mobile phones mostly strengthen bonding social capital between close ties who rely on each other for various forms of support. Mobile phones also facilitate the building of bridging social capital among members of various community groups by using WhatsApp group chats and Facebook. The little evidence on the relationship between mobile phone use and linking social capital in the area relates to group networks providing opportunities for interaction between community members and individuals in tertiary institutions and local government positions.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Exploring socialities on Black Twitter: an ethnographic study of everyday concerns of South African users in 2018 and 2019
- Authors: Adebayo, Binwe
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Twitter (Firm) , Social media South Africa , Social media and society South Africa , Black people and mass media South Africa , Language and the Internet South Africa , Mass media and culture South Africa , Race in mass media , Ethnicity in mass media , Mass media and minorities South Africa , Mass media Social aspects South Africa , Sex differences in mass media , Social media Political aspects South Africa , South Africa Social conditions , Finance In mass media , Intersectionality (Sociology) South Africa , Black Twitter
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/140575 , vital:37900
- Description: In this thesis, I examine the phenomenon of Black Twitter, as it exists in South Africa. Drawing on its socio-cultural and linguistic elements, I analyse the kinds of socialities which are constituted on the platform. In the study, I do this by focusing on the key issues which drive the space by evaluating the key everyday concerns as expressed by its users. As such, the overarching lens focuses on three elements: Firstly, the idea of socialities and the way in which they manifest in online spaces; a focus on the everyday as an important site for social inquiry; and lastly the issue of ‘blackness’, in terms of the way it is used and understood in the South African Black Twitter context. Historically, the Black Twitter space has been linked almost exclusively to its broad base of African American users, who are significant both in terms of their numbers, and their impact on online social culture. However, in this study I engage with the ways in which Black Twitter has been adopted, co-opted and used by young South Africans. As a bona fide ‘member’ of South African Black Twitter, my approach to the study was cyberethnographic. Drawing on my access to the space, my knowledge of many of its members and dynamics, I engaged in participant observation as my primary methodology. My discussion focuses on three areas of everyday concerns, namely: gender and sexuality; race and politics; finances and the economy. These three areas emerge both as prominent sites of discussion, but also give the best insight into the ways in which young South Africans are grappling with these issues. My analysis focuses on how everyday concerns are handled on the platform, and I focus on the deployment of solidarity, formal language, platform-based language and the invocation of blackness. I argue in my conclusion that while the structure of the broad Black Twitter space reflects a leaning towards a digital public sphere, that the process and construction of Black Twitter’s ideas and content are approached via an incomplete, fluid convivial approach.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Adebayo, Binwe
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Twitter (Firm) , Social media South Africa , Social media and society South Africa , Black people and mass media South Africa , Language and the Internet South Africa , Mass media and culture South Africa , Race in mass media , Ethnicity in mass media , Mass media and minorities South Africa , Mass media Social aspects South Africa , Sex differences in mass media , Social media Political aspects South Africa , South Africa Social conditions , Finance In mass media , Intersectionality (Sociology) South Africa , Black Twitter
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/140575 , vital:37900
- Description: In this thesis, I examine the phenomenon of Black Twitter, as it exists in South Africa. Drawing on its socio-cultural and linguistic elements, I analyse the kinds of socialities which are constituted on the platform. In the study, I do this by focusing on the key issues which drive the space by evaluating the key everyday concerns as expressed by its users. As such, the overarching lens focuses on three elements: Firstly, the idea of socialities and the way in which they manifest in online spaces; a focus on the everyday as an important site for social inquiry; and lastly the issue of ‘blackness’, in terms of the way it is used and understood in the South African Black Twitter context. Historically, the Black Twitter space has been linked almost exclusively to its broad base of African American users, who are significant both in terms of their numbers, and their impact on online social culture. However, in this study I engage with the ways in which Black Twitter has been adopted, co-opted and used by young South Africans. As a bona fide ‘member’ of South African Black Twitter, my approach to the study was cyberethnographic. Drawing on my access to the space, my knowledge of many of its members and dynamics, I engaged in participant observation as my primary methodology. My discussion focuses on three areas of everyday concerns, namely: gender and sexuality; race and politics; finances and the economy. These three areas emerge both as prominent sites of discussion, but also give the best insight into the ways in which young South Africans are grappling with these issues. My analysis focuses on how everyday concerns are handled on the platform, and I focus on the deployment of solidarity, formal language, platform-based language and the invocation of blackness. I argue in my conclusion that while the structure of the broad Black Twitter space reflects a leaning towards a digital public sphere, that the process and construction of Black Twitter’s ideas and content are approached via an incomplete, fluid convivial approach.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Exploring the role of HRM in the ministry of health’s decentralisation policy
- Authors: Cekwane, Thulane Johannes
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Personnel management
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/47490 , vital:40127
- Description: According to Rigoli and Dussault (2003), HR in the health sectors are regarded as strategic actors and are not entirely involved in the delivery of health services. Morgan–Javis (2015) further maintains that in 2011 decentralisation was launched with a view to decentralise health services from the Ministry of Health (MOH) to the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftainship Affairs (MOLGCA). There has been increased attention on the restructuring process of the health sector reform but little priority has been given as to how to decentralise key human resources functions. A guiding policy was developed and endorsed in 2014, but still excludes how these human resources functions are to be decentralised. Centralised human resources services is an impediment in the transformation process of improved health care services for the Basotho Nation (Morgan–Javis, 2015).Ulrich’s (1998) HR model formed the theoretical model of study.This study aimed to explore how the Human Resources (HR) functions support the decentralisation in the Ministry of Health. Data was collected through in-depth interviews. The sample consisted ofall eight (8) Directors from the Ministry of Health. These Directors were knowledgeable about phenomenon being studied. Thematic analysis was used to examine the main theme.The data collected through interviews emerged into different categories of themes from the interview data set such as Conceptualising decentralisation, HR’s role, Employee buy-in and Decentralisation and implementation
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Cekwane, Thulane Johannes
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Personnel management
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/47490 , vital:40127
- Description: According to Rigoli and Dussault (2003), HR in the health sectors are regarded as strategic actors and are not entirely involved in the delivery of health services. Morgan–Javis (2015) further maintains that in 2011 decentralisation was launched with a view to decentralise health services from the Ministry of Health (MOH) to the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftainship Affairs (MOLGCA). There has been increased attention on the restructuring process of the health sector reform but little priority has been given as to how to decentralise key human resources functions. A guiding policy was developed and endorsed in 2014, but still excludes how these human resources functions are to be decentralised. Centralised human resources services is an impediment in the transformation process of improved health care services for the Basotho Nation (Morgan–Javis, 2015).Ulrich’s (1998) HR model formed the theoretical model of study.This study aimed to explore how the Human Resources (HR) functions support the decentralisation in the Ministry of Health. Data was collected through in-depth interviews. The sample consisted ofall eight (8) Directors from the Ministry of Health. These Directors were knowledgeable about phenomenon being studied. Thematic analysis was used to examine the main theme.The data collected through interviews emerged into different categories of themes from the interview data set such as Conceptualising decentralisation, HR’s role, Employee buy-in and Decentralisation and implementation
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Falling towards the centre
- Authors: Maluleke, Vuyelwa
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: South African fiction (English) -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/142878 , vital:38125
- Description: I am interested in the poem as a textual body that is able to collect the ruptures, silences, music, and wounds of the body, Ukuzithutha, in order to perform their address. I seek to assemble these disfigured and fractured bodies, of which I am one, onto the page. And thus create an experimental, non-linear lyric of repetitions and fragmentations arranged into a memory text, to hold these stories against what Audre Lorde calls 'the tyranny of silence'. My thesis is influenced by Ntozake Shange's choreopoem, 'for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow was enough', Claudia Rankine's 'Don't let me be Lonely', Sindiswa Bukusu's 'Loud and yellow laughter'. And Fiona Benson’s ‘Vertigo and Ghost’ whose form and lyric is a strong influence on the shape of the manuscript, and the construction of its mythologies.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Maluleke, Vuyelwa
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: South African fiction (English) -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/142878 , vital:38125
- Description: I am interested in the poem as a textual body that is able to collect the ruptures, silences, music, and wounds of the body, Ukuzithutha, in order to perform their address. I seek to assemble these disfigured and fractured bodies, of which I am one, onto the page. And thus create an experimental, non-linear lyric of repetitions and fragmentations arranged into a memory text, to hold these stories against what Audre Lorde calls 'the tyranny of silence'. My thesis is influenced by Ntozake Shange's choreopoem, 'for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow was enough', Claudia Rankine's 'Don't let me be Lonely', Sindiswa Bukusu's 'Loud and yellow laughter'. And Fiona Benson’s ‘Vertigo and Ghost’ whose form and lyric is a strong influence on the shape of the manuscript, and the construction of its mythologies.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
First responders’ perceptions of secondary traumatic stress and the screening and referral of trauma survivors at risk of developing posttraumatic stress
- Authors: Chong, Ferhana Ting
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Secondary traumatic stress
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/50801 , vital:42702
- Description: The risk of civilians being exposed to a traumatic event in South Africa is relatively high. This also means that several professional helpers termed first responders, will have frequent contact with individuals who have been traumatized. Working with trauma survivors could have both negative and positive outcomes. On the one hand, first responders’ interaction with trauma survivors provide them with the opportunity to detect when a survivor may be at risk of developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Unfortunately, this exposure also puts them at risk of developing secondary traumatic stress with symptoms like those of the trauma survivors they assist. Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS) is relatively well studied among certain helping professions such as therapists, counsellors, social workers and even advocates who work with trauma survivors. Research concerning STS among emergency unit first responders is, however, limited (especially in the South African context). Furthermore, literature investigating emergency unit first responder’s perception of secondary traumatic stress and the screening and referral of trauma survivors at risk of developing PTSD in a South African context appears to be non- existent. The current study aimed to explore and describe first responders’ perceptions of STS and the screening and referral of trauma survivors at risk of developing PTSD. A qualitative design was employed using semi-structured interview questions. The researcher employed a purposive sampling method. As such, only first responders in the emergency unit of general hospitals who regularly work with trauma survivors will be considered for the current study. The data from the interviews was analyzed using thematic analysis based on the principles proposed by Braun and Clark (2006). The findings from this study indicated that while first responders are at risk of developing STS due to the high frequency exposure to traumatic material, very few considered the effects of working with trauma on their mental health. Furthermore, participants in this study reported having inadequate knowledge of PTSD and did not feel confident in screening for trauma survivors at risk of developing PTSD. In addition, participants reported that, while they have previously screened and referred trauma survivors who may be at risk, there was no standard protocol for screening and referring such patients. That being said, the participants did state that should they consider a patient a risk, the hospitals in which they worked did have psychologists on-site.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Chong, Ferhana Ting
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Secondary traumatic stress
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/50801 , vital:42702
- Description: The risk of civilians being exposed to a traumatic event in South Africa is relatively high. This also means that several professional helpers termed first responders, will have frequent contact with individuals who have been traumatized. Working with trauma survivors could have both negative and positive outcomes. On the one hand, first responders’ interaction with trauma survivors provide them with the opportunity to detect when a survivor may be at risk of developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Unfortunately, this exposure also puts them at risk of developing secondary traumatic stress with symptoms like those of the trauma survivors they assist. Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS) is relatively well studied among certain helping professions such as therapists, counsellors, social workers and even advocates who work with trauma survivors. Research concerning STS among emergency unit first responders is, however, limited (especially in the South African context). Furthermore, literature investigating emergency unit first responder’s perception of secondary traumatic stress and the screening and referral of trauma survivors at risk of developing PTSD in a South African context appears to be non- existent. The current study aimed to explore and describe first responders’ perceptions of STS and the screening and referral of trauma survivors at risk of developing PTSD. A qualitative design was employed using semi-structured interview questions. The researcher employed a purposive sampling method. As such, only first responders in the emergency unit of general hospitals who regularly work with trauma survivors will be considered for the current study. The data from the interviews was analyzed using thematic analysis based on the principles proposed by Braun and Clark (2006). The findings from this study indicated that while first responders are at risk of developing STS due to the high frequency exposure to traumatic material, very few considered the effects of working with trauma on their mental health. Furthermore, participants in this study reported having inadequate knowledge of PTSD and did not feel confident in screening for trauma survivors at risk of developing PTSD. In addition, participants reported that, while they have previously screened and referred trauma survivors who may be at risk, there was no standard protocol for screening and referring such patients. That being said, the participants did state that should they consider a patient a risk, the hospitals in which they worked did have psychologists on-site.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2020
Flying Cows & Other Traumas
- Authors: Twijnstra, Philisiwe
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: South African fiction (English) -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145513 , vital:38445
- Description: My thesis combines short stories and flash fiction and a short novella collection. Working between reality and fantasy. The collection both engage the strangeness of magic in everyday life and explore other worlds. The stories uses different points of view to highlight the impossibility of a single stable reality. The writing is heavily influenced by Amos Tutuola (The Palm-Wine Drunkard) for his big imagination and how he draws from Yoruba folklore and mixes myth to fiction. Mica Dean Hicks (Electricity and other dreams) he writes with simplicity and his settings always believable yet with one sentence everything becomes a different world of seen and unseen. Margarita Karapanou (Kassandra and the wolf) The tone of the book captured me, how she balances heavy social theme around a young girl, the tone changes from chapter to chapter - from surreal to hallucinatory to mythic to something in between all these modes. She writes rape, but not once has she mentioned rape, yet she is writing about rape. Some books that revolutionized the way I see stories are (Kintu) written by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi and (Homegoing) by Yaa Gyasi. They both draw from histories yet contemporize their stories. Which my thesis intends to do that in stories such ‘MoonEyed Maiden’ and Sorana. Flying Cows and Other Traumas is an exploration of female body, when the sacredness of the female body is dehumanized by social injustices. Each story is a stand alone; the structure holds the through-line of the collection which conditions the complexities, the rawness and bluntness of how imbalance our society is. When the body is tainted with unfairness and powered down- how does one come up from that? The collection deals with poverty, sexual assault, systemic injustice, and sexism and some stories draw from personal experiences and fears. The female body is used as a hostage of shame and commodity and the female protagonists in ‘Flying Cows & Other Traumas sharpen their own stuff and shields to face their own injustices through blurring lines of mundanity and fantastical with experimental tone.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Twijnstra, Philisiwe
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: South African fiction (English) -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145513 , vital:38445
- Description: My thesis combines short stories and flash fiction and a short novella collection. Working between reality and fantasy. The collection both engage the strangeness of magic in everyday life and explore other worlds. The stories uses different points of view to highlight the impossibility of a single stable reality. The writing is heavily influenced by Amos Tutuola (The Palm-Wine Drunkard) for his big imagination and how he draws from Yoruba folklore and mixes myth to fiction. Mica Dean Hicks (Electricity and other dreams) he writes with simplicity and his settings always believable yet with one sentence everything becomes a different world of seen and unseen. Margarita Karapanou (Kassandra and the wolf) The tone of the book captured me, how she balances heavy social theme around a young girl, the tone changes from chapter to chapter - from surreal to hallucinatory to mythic to something in between all these modes. She writes rape, but not once has she mentioned rape, yet she is writing about rape. Some books that revolutionized the way I see stories are (Kintu) written by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi and (Homegoing) by Yaa Gyasi. They both draw from histories yet contemporize their stories. Which my thesis intends to do that in stories such ‘MoonEyed Maiden’ and Sorana. Flying Cows and Other Traumas is an exploration of female body, when the sacredness of the female body is dehumanized by social injustices. Each story is a stand alone; the structure holds the through-line of the collection which conditions the complexities, the rawness and bluntness of how imbalance our society is. When the body is tainted with unfairness and powered down- how does one come up from that? The collection deals with poverty, sexual assault, systemic injustice, and sexism and some stories draw from personal experiences and fears. The female body is used as a hostage of shame and commodity and the female protagonists in ‘Flying Cows & Other Traumas sharpen their own stuff and shields to face their own injustices through blurring lines of mundanity and fantastical with experimental tone.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
High-intensity Interval Training utilising a standardised versus customised training programme among endurance trained male cyclists
- Authors: Salzwedel, Jarred Wayne
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Cycling South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/46423 , vital:39596
- Description: The primary aim of this study was to compare the effect of a standardised versus customised high-intensity interval training programmeon performance indicators of endurance trained male cyclists utilising a standardised method of prescribing intervals in comparison to a customised method of prescribing intervals based on training feedback. The study was exploratory and quasi-experimental in nature and utilized a quantitative approach. A quasi-experimental, pretest-postestcontrol group study design was used. A total number of 22 participants that met the inclusion criteria were included in the study by means of purposive sampling. The participants were subdivided into an experimental group (n=11) and a control group (n=11)by means of random stratification in order to ensure performance equality between the two groups. The experimental group completed a High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) block of 28 days (four weeks) with three weeks of interval-based sessions and one recovery week ending off the block. The programmeutilised the same “anaerobic” type intervals (10 x 30 seconds at 170% PPO with 4 minutes 30 seconds recovery) as the control group, performed twice per week for three consecutive weeks. The Lamberts and Lambert submaximal cycling test (LSCT) was used to determine whether a participant in the experimental group could start his HIIT session on a particular day.Participants were notallowed to start their HIIT session if twoor more of the set criteria weremet.If the participants did not qualify to participate in a HIIT session they were required to perform a low intensity training session in the same venue. Differences between the pre-and post-test showed statistically non-significant improvements (p>0.05) from pre-to post-test for both the experimental and control groups in respect of the physiological variables measured (gas exchange threshold, respiratory compensation point, maximal oxygen consumption). The experimental group did however show more positive, but statistically non-significantimprovements in peak power output. The findings of this study therefore showed that no significant within group nor between group improvements were achieved utilizing a standised versus customised HIIT training programme over the four-week study period. The findings do however suggest that the LSCT may have merit in prescribing HIIT sessions in trained athletesas suggested by the improvements of the experimental group’s peak power output.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Salzwedel, Jarred Wayne
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Cycling South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/46423 , vital:39596
- Description: The primary aim of this study was to compare the effect of a standardised versus customised high-intensity interval training programmeon performance indicators of endurance trained male cyclists utilising a standardised method of prescribing intervals in comparison to a customised method of prescribing intervals based on training feedback. The study was exploratory and quasi-experimental in nature and utilized a quantitative approach. A quasi-experimental, pretest-postestcontrol group study design was used. A total number of 22 participants that met the inclusion criteria were included in the study by means of purposive sampling. The participants were subdivided into an experimental group (n=11) and a control group (n=11)by means of random stratification in order to ensure performance equality between the two groups. The experimental group completed a High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) block of 28 days (four weeks) with three weeks of interval-based sessions and one recovery week ending off the block. The programmeutilised the same “anaerobic” type intervals (10 x 30 seconds at 170% PPO with 4 minutes 30 seconds recovery) as the control group, performed twice per week for three consecutive weeks. The Lamberts and Lambert submaximal cycling test (LSCT) was used to determine whether a participant in the experimental group could start his HIIT session on a particular day.Participants were notallowed to start their HIIT session if twoor more of the set criteria weremet.If the participants did not qualify to participate in a HIIT session they were required to perform a low intensity training session in the same venue. Differences between the pre-and post-test showed statistically non-significant improvements (p>0.05) from pre-to post-test for both the experimental and control groups in respect of the physiological variables measured (gas exchange threshold, respiratory compensation point, maximal oxygen consumption). The experimental group did however show more positive, but statistically non-significantimprovements in peak power output. The findings of this study therefore showed that no significant within group nor between group improvements were achieved utilizing a standised versus customised HIIT training programme over the four-week study period. The findings do however suggest that the LSCT may have merit in prescribing HIIT sessions in trained athletesas suggested by the improvements of the experimental group’s peak power output.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020