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The functional distribution of Setswana and English in Botswana

Bagwasi, M.M. (Multilingual Matters and Channel View Publications, http://www.multilingual matters.com, NaN, 2003)

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Abstract:

In multilingual societies such as Botswana, language use is an extremely complex matter, further compounded by the fact that the languages involved are themselves dynamic phenomena that often elude the planned outcomes of policies which try to shape and constrain them. The paper describes the functional distribution of the national language Setswana, spoken as a mother tongue by 80% of the population, and English, the official language in Botswana. The role of the two languages is outlined, with particular regard to cultural identity, on the one hand, and social and economic status on the other.

URI:

http://hdl.handle.net/10311/831

Files in this item: 1

Bagwasi_LCC_2003.pdf (692.5Kb)

Heroines and subalterns? the representation of women in Raja Rao's Kanthapura

Kgafela, N.A. (University of Botswana, Department of English, http://www.ub.bw, NaN, 2006)

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Abstract:

The paper examines the representation of women in Raja Rao's Kanthapura, especially within the socio-political realms. This will be done in relation to Mahatma Gandhi's principle of Satyagraha. The paper surveys the role played by women in the Indian fight for independence against the British rule and attempts to establish whether their role is a heroic/ dominant or subaltern one. Are they heroines or victims of their own society, i.e. are they being used to sacrifice their 'physical and emotional needs' for the victory of men? Who gets the medal in the end.

URI:

http://hdl.handle.net/10311/855

Files in this item: 1

Kgafela_MJLL_2006.pdf (1.460Mb)

In the fathers' house: resistant alterity and the law of the father in the Tempest, Othelo and Titus Andronicus

Mwikisa, P. (University of Botswana, Department of English, http://www.ub.bw, NaN, 2008)

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Abstract:

The paper offers a reading of Shakespeare's the Tempest, Othelo and Titus Andronicus that sees the plays' black characters as disporic protagonists seeking alternative constructions of difference from those that are demanded by the dominant white patriarchal culture. The paper deploys two fairly well-known strategies for non-canonical readings of canonical texts. Firstly, the apocryphal approach offers an account of the significance of the fact that details of the origins of the black characters in the plays seem suppressed. Secondly, drawing on post colonial discourse of the body, the paper reads the characters themselves as texts or spaces in which conflicting discourses can be written and read.I argue that reading the plays this way helps us to understand the struggles of diasporic characters as they attempt to inscribe their presence in the dominant cultures of the west and also to see in their struggles reflections of the trajectory of texts from marginalized communities in the era of global multinational capitalism.

URI:

http://hdl.handle.net/10311/853

Files in this item: 1

Mwikisa_MJLL_2008.pdf (3.718Mb)

Learner reading problems: a case of Khoe learners at Junior Secondary School

Mokibelo, E. (University of Botswana, Department of English, http://www.ub.bw, NaN, 2010)

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Abstract:

This article is part of a larger tracer study that investigated Khoe learners' reading ability of English at junior secondary school in Botswana. The research was carried out at Motshegaletau Primary School and Mothamo Junior Community Secondary. The purpose of the study was to examine whether the reading problems identified among Khoe learners at primary level persisted to higher levels of education. The study, which was qualitative, used questionnaires, interviews, classroom observations, students' artefacts, and teachers' schemes and records of work to explore the subjects' reading skills. The findings indicate that Khoe learners lack comprehension strategies, have difficulties understanding implicit reading instructions, lack requisite vocabulary to facilitate reading and writing, do not actively participate in class and are generally slow readers. It is worth noting that some of the problems have persisted from primary level and resulted in poor performance in reading tasks at higher levels of education. The study recommends reading programmes that can empower students and alleviate at least some of these problems. Further, it suggests that teacher training programmes be revamped to equip teachers with necessary skills to handle complexity and deversity in the reading classrooms.

URI:

http://hdl.handle.net/10311/923

Files in this item: 1

Mokibelo_MJLL_2010.pdf (3.799Mb)

Literacy, ethnolinguistic diversity and transitional bilingual education in Malawi

Matiki, A.J. (Taylor & Francis, http://www.tandif.co.uk/journals, NaN, 2006)

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Abstract:

This paper examines recent attempts by the Malawi government to introduce local languages into the primary school system and other secondary domains of national life, breaking more than 30 years of Chichewa/English monopoly. In a country where the language policy has essentially established the hegemony of English over indigenous languages, the fundamental question that this policy must consider should revolve around the role that these languages can play in the development of Malawi(ans) from a traditionally oral to an increasingly literate culture, ever more connected to the international community through the English language. For many Malawians, economic success is predicated on one’s ability to speak, read and write English. There are, therefore, enormous attitudinal, political, economic and social problems that the policy has to contend with.

URI:

http://hdl.handle.net/10311/469

Files in this item: 2

Matiki_IJBEB_2006.pdf (1.462Mb)

Of "disinclined trains and clever actors to be admired and not followed": Sol Plaatje, William Shakespeare and the dilemma of the African intellectual 1894-1920's

Ndana, N. (University of Botswana, Department of English, http://www.ub.bw, NaN, 2008)

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Abstract:

This paper explores the dilemma of the emergent African intellectual, activist or modern leader by focusing on Sol Plaatje's experiences. It shows that by acquiring western education and values, the African intellectual occupied a position of in-between-ness, forcing him or her to promote and oppose both western and African values, and beliefs, resulting in a split identity. Consequently, his or her relationship with both the foreign culture and what he or believed to be his or her people, was bound to be problematic, leading to frustrations and disappointment. In dealing with such frustration Plaatje employed Shakespeare's text to lash out at his fellow Africans, and Tswana speakers in particular, for their reluctance in supporting his political and cultural projects. I conclude by showing that blaming his people for what he perceived to be their lackadaisical and cavalier attitude towards projects intended to uplift their status was somewhat misguided because it failed to recognize the dynamics of adopting and imbibing western values.

URI:

http://hdl.handle.net/10311/854

Files in this item: 1

Ndana_MJLL_2008.pdf (2.410Mb)

Pragmatics of letter writing in Setswana

Bagwasi, M.M. (Elsevier http://www.elsevier.com, NaN, 2008)

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Abstract:

Using a corpus of about 200 letters written during the time that Botswana was a British protectorate (1885–1966) by and to the British administrators on one hand, and letters written to and by Batswana (natives of Botswana) on the other hand, this paper explores the main differences and similarities between letter writing by Batswana and by the British. The study found that in the letters written by the British there is directness in presenting the point, very little stylistic ornamentation, and emphasis on information or content of the letters. The letters are more formal with shorter salutations and signatures. Letters written by Batswana on the other hand reveal that the conventions of letter writing in Setswana require greetings and an employment of address forms that convey respect and politeness in the Setswana culture. Letters written by Botswana thus have longer introductions and salutations which involve greetings and best wishes.

URI:

http://hdl.handle.net/10311/731

Files in this item: 1

Bagwasi_JP_2008.pdf (1.100Mb)

The reading behavior of junior secondary students during school holidays in Botswana

Arua, E.A.; Arua, C.E. (International Reading Association, www.reading.org/, NaN, 2011)

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Abstract:

Reports of the poor reading culture of Batswana appear periodically in the popular media, especially the newspapers (see Baputaki, 2006; Hosia, 2007; Seboni & Swartland, 2009). These impressionistic reports speak of an alarming deterioration in the culture of reading in Botswana. In the sense in which it is employed, “poor reading culture” means lack of a reading habit among children, adolescents, and adults, both educated and illiterate. The label thus encompasses complete illiteracy, functional illiteracy, and aliteracy (Sisulu, 2004). Without supporting evidence, the poor reading culture label is difficult to justify for any population group in Botswana. Consequently, we, in this article, investigate the holiday reading behavior of some junior secondary school students in the country to ascertain the extent to which the label applies to them.

URI:

http://hdl.handle.net/10311/1014

Files in this item: 1

Arua_JAAL_2011.pdf (963.1Kb)

The relationship between proficiency and self-efficacy beliefs of the University of Botswana students learning ESL

Magogwe, J.M. (University of Botswana, www.ub.bw, NaN, 2006)

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Abstract:	This article is about the relationship between proficiency, gender and self-efficacy beliefs. It further says that self-efficacy beliefs are important in learning and have been found to influence learning meanwhile Univesity of Botswana first year students have been found to perform badly in English language learning.
URI:	http://hdl.handle.net/10311/871

Files in this item: 1

Magogwe_MJLL_2006.pdf (1.989Mb)

A study of students' metalinguistic competence and its probable effect in the Cambridge School Certificate Final Examinations

Mhundwa, P.H. (Marang: Journal of Language and Literature, http://www.ajol.info/index.php/marang, NaN, 2010)

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Abstract:

The aim of this study was to investigate the extent to which students' understanding of key words in examination questions might influence their performance as illustrated by the number of subjects in which they obtain pass grdades in the Cambridge Overseas School Certificate Examination (COSCE). The term used to refer to key words in this study is metalinguistic. It is a term that means more than what Kemp (2006, p.1) refers to words or phrases that re used to describe language as an object of study. Procedurelly, questions were designed to assess students' understanding of metalinguistic terms. The percentage scores of the metalinguistic tests were calculated and then compared with the number of 'O' level passes obtained by students to determine whether high scores in the metalanguage tests were comparable to the number of 'O' level passes obtained by the reserch subjects. It was discovered that high metalinguistic test scores were asssociated with greater 'O' level passes and low scores, with fewer 'O'level passes.

URI:

http://hdl.handle.net/10311/1045

Files in this item: 1

Mhundwa_MJLL_2010.pdf (2.551Mb)

Styles and levels of acting in Zimbabwean traditional performances

Omoregie, F-K. (University of Botswana, Department of English, http://www.ub.bw, NaN, 2008)

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Abstract:

In this paper, I intend to support Schechner's (1988:197) argument that "to be in trance is not to be out of control", and that in trance or possession the performer does exhibit elements of acting. Schechner mentions that two processes are indentifiable in performance: the performer is either "subtracted" in a performance closely resembling the art of the shaman who acts in ecstasy or what Jerzy Grotowski calls the "holy actor", or the performer is "added to" or "doubled", according to Antonin Artaud, in the process of performing. This "doubled" actor is considered to be in trance, something Schechner likens to Constantin Stanislavski's "character actor". In defining these two phenomena and other forms of acting, my intention in this paper is to prove that the whole of Africa is a gold mine of artistic performances. I intend to prove this by analyzing the acting styles and levels in Zimbabwean traditional performances. In traditional Zimbabwean performances, acting is realized in different social functions and contexts. In the contexts of this paper, acting means to feign, to simulate, to represent, to impersonate. (E.T. Kirby 1972 3) Defining acting and instances where acting is realized. Secondly, I will show how Zimbabwean societies use these define/identified qualities in different contexts. Thirdly, I will judge the levels of acting regarding their seriousness, commitment and functions. To achieve these aims, I will analyze four categories of performances, storytelling, childrens's make-believe, rituals and ceremonies.

URI:

http://hdl.handle.net/10311/861

Files in this item: 1

Omoregie_MJLL_2008.pdf (4.909Mb)

Voicing the text: South African oral poetry and performance

Pongweni, A. (Routledge (Taylor and francis), www.routledge.com, NaN, 2000)

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Abstract:	This article is about how communities living within the same borders and planet view each other and is mainly concerned about Southern Africa. The article goes further to say social groups are partly defined by our stories, our myths about where we came from and by our other forms of oral literature such as proverbs, riddles, metaphors and similes.
URI:	http://hdl.handle.net/10311/930

Files in this item: 1

Pongweni_CA_2000.pdf (5.350Mb)

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