1,470 research outputs found

    Exploring communication between first language english speaking audiologists and Isizulu patients at public sector hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal.

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    Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.Effective communication between health professionals and patients is central in providing quality health care. A cultural and linguistic mismatch between audiologists and their patients may create a barrier in communication. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to explore communication between First Language English speaking (FLES) audiologists and isiZulu patients, based on isiZulu being dominant in KZN. A concurrent triangulation mixed design was used. The study consisted of three phases. The first phase included a survey of 31 FLES audiologists. The second phase included the Photovoice narratives and interviews with two FLES audiologists. The final phase included a survey of 98 isiZulu patients. The results revealed that overall FLES audiologists showed poor cultural (71%) and linguistic (97%) competency in isiZulu. Inferential statistics revealed significant associations between cultural competency and FLES audiologists years of experience (p value=0,021), gender (p value=0.042) and type of institution based in terms of rural or urban (p value=0.038).The above competency levels of FLES audiologists coincided with the perspectives of isiZulu patients. Furthermore, it was revealed that factors such as consent, trust, collaboration, empathy, attitude and professional superiority influenced cross cultural and cross linguistic communication between FLES audiologists and isiZulu patients. The use of informal interpreters emerged as the most common communication strategy employed by FLES audiologists. The implementation of isiZulu courses, formally-trained interpreters and isiZulu audiology resources emerged as strong recommendations. In addition, FLES audiologists identified initiative as important to improving cross cultural/linguistic communication. The results from this study may inform changes to University curricular as well as policy at public sector hospitals

    Career Development Program for Refugee and Migrant Youth

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    The Career Guidance for Refugee and Migrant Young People project is an initiative of the South Metropolitan Migrant Resource Centre funded by the Department of Education and Training. It aims to develop, pilot and evaluate a career development and planning program that specifically meets the learning levels and needs of refugee youth with low levels of education, cultural life skills and English language ability

    Development and validation of a bilingual language battery for language-based learning disabilities.

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    Doctoral Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.There are social, linguistic, cultural, and political dimensions that impact on health and education in South Africa. The evolving nature of these dimensions demand the use of language assessment tools that are developed and validated for the South African population. Speech-language assessment informs parents and educators of the nature of speech and language difficulties the learner may have and guides the intervention. IsiZulu is the most widely spoken African language in South Africa. Therefore, development of a tool to assess expressive, receptive, and written language skills of learners with language-based learning disorders in isiZulu, is imperative. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a tool for language assessment of isiZulu-English speaking learners in grades 1, 2, and 3 who may have language-based learning disabilities. An assessment tool was designed to assess core language skills and identify early indicators of language-based learning disabilities that may result in academic difficulties. The tool development process aimed to construct an innovative test that is linguistically and culturally sensitive to bilingual or isiZulu-English speakers while the content is rich for identifying indicators of language-based learning disability. Elements in expressive and receptive language, phonological awareness, listening, reading, and mathematically-based language concepts were considered. The conceptual tool development phase involved a systematic literature review, pretesting with two existing tools and consultation of a five member Delphi review panel for advice and reviews. Field trials contributed to the development of test items and procedures and tested the tool’s application in mainstream and remedial schools as well as rural and urban communities of learners in KwaZulu-Natal. A combination of qualitative and quantitative methods were used to collect and analyse data. The results indicated that the new tool was linguistically and culturally appropriate. The majority of the subtests provided good reliability and valid results. The study makes a worthy contribution to the body of knowledge in the field of speech-language therapy and basic education. The results and guidelines from this study set out the basic elements required for development of language assessment tools in other African languages. The development of the assessment tool will yield standardization of a bilingual language assessment tool in South Africa

    Longitudinal teacher education and workforce study (LTEWS) final report

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    The Longitudinal Teacher Education Workforce Study (LTEWS) investigated the career progression of graduate teachers from teacher education into teaching employment in all states and territories across Australia in 2012 and the first half of 2013, and tracked their perceptions, over time, of the relevance and effectiveness of their teacher education programs. Specifically, it investigated: The career progression of the 2011 teacher education graduates from teacher education into, and possible exit from, teaching employment, including their utilisation into teaching, their retention and attrition in teaching in their early years, and their geographic and schools sector mobility; and, The views of teacher education graduates over time on the relevance and effectiveness of their teacher education for their teaching employment, including the relationship between their views of their teacher education and their early career teaching career. &nbsp

    Social Transformation and Investment in Spanish Language Learning Through International Service Learning: A Case Study

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    In the current era of globalization, universities strive to internationalize their curriculum. One popular method, is the addition of an international service learning (ISL) component to the curriculum. ISL programs focused on language learning often aspire to encourage social transformation as well as language competence. While this option is gaining popularity and has been the object of some research, the role of language in universities’ internationalization process remains under-researched, as does the role of ISL as a tool for language learning. This dissertation examines a week long ISL program involving a Canadian-Cuban university partnership. It is guided by the following research questions: 1 - How do university students perceive and/or demonstrate any: shift in their identities increase in their investment in foreign language learning social transformation as a result of participation in an international service learning (ISL) program? 2 - Are any changes noted in 1a, 1b, and/or 1c maintained over time? To address these questions, I drew upon investment in language learning and identity, as well as transformative learning theories. This research involves a longitudinal, qualitative case study design. Triangulation was achieved through three data collection instruments: online questionnaires (pre- and post- travel), short informal interviews (pre-, post- travel, and longitudinal), and document analysis (pre- and post- travel reflective blogs, work logs, and personal travel journals). It involved various cohorts of students over a five-year period. The lived experience of the participants was a much messier entanglement than expected, given the prior literature. Longitudinal findings suggest that time further differentiated student experiences. Language fluency was identified as essential, and those with an increased investment in language learning cited a need for meaningful interactions. Participants who experienced a social transformation began examining their experience on a deeper level, others returned to Canada with reinforced negative stereotypes. Differences in participant experiences led to the creation of a unique heuristic called The Model for Dynamic Transformation and Investment in Language Learning (MDTILL), which combines concepts from both critical applied linguistics and transformational learning theory to demonstrate clearly the diverse ways students are (and are not) transformed through ISL experiences

    Enrollers’ perceptions of communication during informed consent at a South African tuberculosis research site

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    The informed consent process (ICP) in clinical trials is an interaction of communication: one in which important information should be adequately conveyed by the enroller and sufficiently understood by the potential participant. However, barriers to effective communication are often encountered during the process and result in participants’ comprehension of information being compromised. This study aimed to use qualitative methods to explore the reported experiences of thirteen enrollers involved in the ICP pre- and post- the implementation of a communication training programme in a Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and tuberculosis (TB) research study in Rustenburg, South Africa. The communication training programme aimed to improve communication processes during the ICP and enhance participant comprehension of information. This study used journaling and FGDs as data collection methods. Inductive thematic analysis was used to explore the reported experiences of enrollers during the ICP, and to identify perceived barriers and facilitators to communication during these interactions. Findings revealed language-, procedure- and participant-related facilitators and barriers. Furthermore, communication and language strategies employed by enrollers to overcome reported barriers were discussed. Several strategies paralleled the communication and language skills taught during the communication skills training. Many of these strategies were found to facilitate communication processes within the enroller-participant interaction, improve understandings of the informed consent form (ICF) and obtain proper informed consent. These findings confirm that enrolment is a complex process impacted by many variables. Keywords: informed consent, communication, enrollers, clinical researchGR201

    Groups and communities at risk of domestic and family violence: a review and evaluation of domestic and family violence prevention and early intervention services focusing on at-risk groups and communities

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    A review and evaluation of domestic and family violence prevention and early intervention services focusing on at-risk groups and communities. Summary This report sets out the findings of research into domestic and family violence (DFV) prevention initiatives focused on groups and communities identified as being at greater risk of experiencing DFV and/or having difficulty accessing support services. These groups include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, women from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Communities (CALD), people who identify as Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transsexual, Intersex and Queer (GLBTIQ), young women and women in regional, rural and remote (non-urban) communitie

    Repetition overused as an academic writing strategy : a case study of Xhosa-English second language speakers

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    This study uses close linguistic analysis to investigate how a group of Xhosa English Second Language (XESL) Speakers use repetition as a discourse strategy in their written academic work. The study analyses the nature of their repetition and draws on critical theory to situate repetition in its socio-cultural context

    The revitalisation of ethnic minority languages in Zimbabwe : the case of the Tonga language

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    This dissertation investigates the revitalisation of Tonga, an endangered minority language in Zimbabwe. It seeks to establish why the Tonga people embarked on the revitalisation of their language, the strategies they used, the challenges they encountered and how they managed them. The Human Needs Theory propounded by Burton (1990) and Yamamoto’s (1998) Nine Factors Language Revitalisation Model formed the theoretical framework within which the data were analysed. This case-study identified various socio-cultural and historical factors that influenced the revitalisation of the Tonga language. Despite the socio-economic and political challenges from both within and outside the Tonga community, the Tonga revitalisation initiative was to a large extent a success, thanks to the speech community’s positive attitude and ownership of the language revitalisation process. It not only restored the use of Tonga in the home domain but also extended the language function into the domains of education, the media, and religion.Linguistics and Modern LanguagesM.A. (Sociolinguistics

    Development and empowerment of previously-marginalised languages: a case of African languages in South Africa

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    South Africa is a multilingual country with 11 official languages and 9 of these languages are Indigenous African languages. The South African government has developed policies and created an environment for these languages to be developed. National and provincial language policies have been adopted and the country has even passed a language Act called the Use of Official Languages Act, 2012. The national Department of Education has also passed policies and Acts that enable indigenous languages to be made compulsory to all learners in all public schools in the foundation phase. Despite all these efforts, very little has been done to implement these policies. The aim of this study is to interrogate the role played by these language bodies in the implementation of the National Language Policies, particularly the development and empowerment of these previously marginalized languages. Using textual analysis, questionnaires and interviews, the study identified the bottlenecks in the system that hinder the development of these languages. Amongst the many obstructions that were uncovered, is the increased economic benefit associated with English and how this continues to undermine efforts to elevate the status of African languages. Further, this linguistic hegemony has created a situation where speakers of the nine indigenous African languages are denied access to social, economic and political developments of the country, a clear violation of language rights enshrined in the Constitution of South Africa. The study concludes by making recommendations on steps that can be taken to develop African languages in South Africa
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