Phonemic awareness of English second language learners

BACKGROUND : The PA skills of phonological blending and segmentation and auditory word discrimination relate directly to literacy and may be weak in English second language (EL2) learners. In South Africa, literacy skills have been found to be poor in especially EL2 learners. OBJECTIVES : The purpose of this paper is to determine the effects of vowel perception and production intervention on phonemic awareness (PA) and literacy skills of Setswana first language (L1) learners. These learners are English second language (EL2) learners in Grade 3. METHOD : The present study employed a quasi-experimental, pre-test–post-test design. RESULTS : The findings of low–literacy skill levels concurred with previous investigations. However, post-test results of intervention in PA seemed to improve the literacy skills of EL2 learners. CONCLUSION : PA skills should be a crucial part of the literacy curriculum in South Africa.This work is based on the research supported in part by the National Research Foundation of South Africa (UNIQUE GRANT No: 92701).http://www.sajcd.org.za/index.php/SAJCDam2018Speech-Language Pathology and AudiologyAfrican Language

Comments on the Sanef media audit: a new news culture is facing the media and journalism educators: the time to act is now!

This omnibus article deals with some of the comments received by the authors of the Sanef media audit (see p. 11) of the edition of Ecquid Novi). As Mark Deuze, one of the commentators puts it: The threats and challenges to contemporary journalism have caused scholars, publics, journalists, and thus journalism educators, to reconsider their approaches, definitions, roles, and function in community and society. Widely recognized as the four main changes or challenges facing education programmes in journalism are: the multicultural society; the rise and establishment of infotainment genres; the convergence of existing and new media technologies (cf. multimedia); and the internationalization or ‘glocalization’ of the media and journalism playing field. The four mentioned challenges and developments could be seen as reflected in the 2002 Sanef audit. The report particularly stresses the ‘new culture’ within which journalists are expected to do their work. This is a culture determined by fragmented audiences; a widening gap between journalists and their publics; and an increased need for quality information. It is also a culture of enhanced interactivity and media accountability; intercultural communication; recognition of cultural diversity; and dealing with ‘nonhierarchical’ management styles. Journalism education, in other words, is gearing up to face a tough challenge: keeping the best practices of the teaching context and practical skills courses on the one hand, and including cultural and critical reflective didactics on the other. This is not the traditional theory versus skills debate of old—this is definitely something ‘new’—as is clearly shown in the Sanef audit. In this respect the Sanef audit stands out for its discourse of emphasizing changes in journalism and news culture, rather than simply advocating more or less theory- or skills-based curricula

The true cost of food: a preliminary assessment

Ensuring sustainable food systems requires vastly reducing their environmental and health costs while making healthy and sustainable food affordable to all. One of the central problems of current food systems is that many of the costs of harmful foods are externalized, i.e., are not reflected in market prices. At the same time, the benefits of healthful foods are not appreciated. Due to externalities, sustainable and healthy food is often less affordable to consumers and less profitable for businesses than unsustainable and unhealthy food. Externalities and other market failures lead to unintended consequences for present and future generations, destroying nature and perpetuating social injustices such as underpay for workers, food insecurity, illness, premature death and other harms. We urgently need to address the fundamental causes of these problems. This chapter sets out the results of an analysis to determine the current cost of externalities in food systems and the potential impact of a shift in diets to more healthy and sustainable production and consumption patterns. The current externalities were estimated to be almost double (19.8 trillion USD) the current total global food consumption (9 trillion USD). These externalities accrue from 7 trillion USD (range 4–11) in environmental costs, 11 trillion USD (range 3–39) in costs to human life and 1 trillion USD (range 0.2–1.7) in economic costs. This means that food is roughly a third cheaper than it would be if these externalities were included. More studies are needed to quantify the costs and benefits of food systems that would support a global shift to more sustainable and healthy diets. However, the evidence presented in this chapter points to the urgent need for a system reset to account for these ‘hidden costs’ in food systems and calls for bold actions to redefine the incentives for producing and consuming healthier and more sustainable diets. The first step to correct for these ‘hidden costs’ is to redefine the value of food through true-cost accounting (TCA) so as to address externalities and other market failures. TCA reveals the true value of food by making the benefits of affordable and healthy food visible and revealing the costs of damage to the environment and human health 3

A critical perspective on the reception of three LoveLife billboards in rural Transkei

One of South Africa's biggest NGOs, LoveLife, has attracted its share of controversy since its inception in 1999. Recently, the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria which contributed 30% of LoveLife's annual budget, announced that it was withdrawing its funding of the NGO. Although the Global Fund did not provide reasons for the withdrawal of its funding, some local studies have questioned the efficacy of, in particular, the LoveLife media campaigns. This article provides an analysis of the reception of the three 2004 LoveLife billboards in rural Transkei. This is done in order to test the hypothesis that the 2004 LoveLife billboard campaign aimedat establishing a contemporary, trendy lifestyle characterised by an open, free and gender-equal sexuality, is bound to be ineffective amongst some social / ethnic groupings, because it does not: Engage with perceptions regarding sexual intercourse and condom use at localised, culture-specific levels; Provide accurate and accessible knowledge in a culture-sensitive format; and Acknowledge culture-specific barriers to communication

Reflective visual literacy: far more than meets the eye

The commonly accepted notion that a picture is worth a thousand words paradoxically places greater communicative value on images than on spoken or written language. Ironically, a lingering precedence of letters and numbers over images still characterize “enlightened” contemporary discourse, in spite of many claims that we live in a society dominated by the visual. This article explores the hermeneutics of photographs and visual images on a conceptual level, touching on issues such as validity of interpretation, the fallacy of a universally understood and pictorial language and the distinction between functional visual literacy and nuanced reflective visual literacy.Finally it makes a case for including visual literacy as part of the formal curricula at school and at tertiary level

The case for formal visual literacy teaching in higher education

Abstract Visual literacy is crucially important in a contemporary society dominated by visual media, yet visual literacy teaching and education has not (yet) achieved sufficient recognition in terms of tertiary education curricula. One criticism against the use of social media technologies is the perceived inability of participants to distinguish between virtual and real worlds. This is the result of an education system that has not given adequate prominence to the development of critical visual literacy, but assumes that students will “pick up” the necessary competencies along the way. The answer is not to try and resist the new paradigm of a mediated society where the virtual has increasingly taken the place of face-to-face human interaction, but to explore visual technologies in order to design subject-specific taxonomies of learning and appropriate methodologies for the teaching of visual semiotics. In this study poster elicitation was used to analyse data on visual literacy. The data were obtained from narratives written by 89 respondents after studying two posters about visual messaging. The data revealed that visual images do not constitute a universally understandable means of communication that function independently of language. Keywords: Visual literacy in teaching, social media training, mediated society, visual semiotics in education, university curricula

Balancing Acts: Vocational training versus academic education in the context of Media and Communication Studies

This article reflects on curriculum change in SA Higher Education Institutions, arguing that the transformation of SA Higher Education involves far more than restructuring the institutional landscape in terms of its “size and shape”, or changing the demographics of students and staff at individual institutions. Within the South African context (as elsewhere), curricular change is strongly influenced by political and economic reform, causing resentment among academics that favour gradual change informed by “internal” or discipline-based considerations. The author explores how these “external” forces impact on curriculum transformation, tracing as example the development of the University of Port Elizabeth's BA in Media, Communication and Culture. Critical Arts Vol.18(1) 2004: 76-9

HIV/AIDS campaigns: a process model perspective

This research emerges within the context of the rapidly raising levels of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections amongst young adults and the escalation of deaths from acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (Aids). Higher education institutions represent an area where there is a congregation of young adults – the high risk age group. Based on this, this study sets out to explore how HIV/Aids campaigns are planned and managed at selected higher education institutions in South Africa. The study maintains that much can be learnt about the challenges of the planning and management process of HIV/Aids campaigns if their components are explored  from a process perspective. Based on the findings, the study offers recommendations for improving future HIV/Aids campaign planning and management at higher education institutions. It further proposes a process model for  campaign planning and management at higher education institutions

'n Fantasietema-analise van Maas se artikel 666 is net 'n syfer

Given the reality of persuasive communication practices in South Africa, the question arises as to which rational and/or non-rational characteristics of the contents of rhetorical messages contribute to the way in which recipients of such messages are so dramatically affected by them that they are motivated to display certain behaviour. It would seem that the symbolic convergence theory (SCT), along with its methodology, fantasy theme analysis (FTA), as developed by Bormann (1972) and his colleagues, is especially appropriate to explain this phenomenon. The identification and observance of a comparatively large number of possible phases in FTA aids the critic in his/her task to acquire the skills and proficiencies that are essential for the analysis of fantasy themes. On close examination rhetorical criticism is an art form that “requires” a competent rhetorical critic to display a unique approach, as well as the application of his/her own creative insights in the analysis of symbolic realities. Based on the principles of FTA, this article gives an indication as to why Deon Maas, with reference to his article 666 is net 'n syfer, is regarded as a controversial figure. In particular, an investigation is carried out in respect of the role played by the chaining out of fantasy themes in the creation of a rhetorical vision and the motivation of behaviour relating to  the events surrounding the Maas article