Black South African English in relation to other second-language Englishes of Africa

The existence of distinctive varieties of second language English in Africa has, by now, been long recognized. Such L2 Englishes are known to arise in situations where the socioeconomic value of English is high, but where restricted access to native speaker varieties of the language results in the establishment and, eventually, the generational transmission of a new secon4:1anguage variety. These 'New Englishes' have been found to possess certain structural similarities across geographical boundaries, while still retaining distinctively local features. The New Englishes of Africa, in particular, have been observed by several authors to be sufficiently similar to warrant the possible use of 'African English' as a generalized cover term for the group. Nevertheless, the continued study of L2 English varieties in separate geographical and political areas within Africa is an indication of the existence of distinctive, if in many ways similar, local varieties. The object of this dissertation is a systematic comparison of the syntactic structure of varieties of sub-Saharan L2 English, taking as a basis Black South African English as a point of comparison. The syntactic structures of these varieties are examined in order to determine the nature and extent of the structural similarities between them, as well as the degrees of difference that occur. It is widely acknowledged that of those sets of features of the New Englishes which differ from Standard English, syntactic variation forms the smallest part. Nevertheless, such variation does exist, both in differences between the New Englishes and the standard(s), and between the New Englishes themselves. The syntactic features of Black South African English are discussed and compared with those of other African Englishes, in order to develop a means of describing such language varieties in relation to one another, and of assessing the extent to which certain of their syntactic features can be recognized as pan-African. A more detailed analysis of the structure of the relative clause in the varieties is given, drawing on theories regarding the origin of certain New English features, as a means of explaining the non-standard occurrence of resumptive pronouns within the relative clause. Finally, the need for corpus-based research into African Englishes is stressed, as a means of determining the frequency of occurrence of those features identified as typical of the varieties

Social change, class formation and English : a study of young black South Africans with "Model C" school backgrounds.

Includes bibliographical references.This study is based on interviews and recorded word-lists from 44 young (under 25) black South Africans who have been educated in the former white school system, studying at the University of Cape Town. It considers their life experiences, particularly as regards their schooling. It also investigates their attitudes to language, both English and their ‘home languages’, as well as analysing their accents, and attempts to find correlations between accents and attitudes. It first provides an overview of how this demographic is represented in the literature and the media, and then examines the history of black education in the country in order to explain why a ‘white school’ background and accent have become desirable now that they are attainable. Thus it shows how black education was for decades made deliberately inferior to white, so that the ‘opening’ of schools to all races in the early 1990s meant that those black parents who could afford it sent their children to the former white schools

Illness, with particular focus on schistosomiasis, associated with recreational use of water by canoeists in the Msunduzi, Mngeni rivers in KwaZulu-Natal : issues and associated implications for other water users.

Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.Water-related disease is a problem faced by many communities in the Mngeru and Msunduzi River valleys, both those living in a rural setting, and those within thedty bounds. Treatment and management of water-related diseases such as SchistosorrUasis and Hepatitis are, however, overshadowed by the priority management of more serious illnesses such as HIV/ AIDS, and are therefore at risk of spreading unchecked. These diseases, while not often fatal, have a high morbidity and place unnecessary burden on communities and individuals that could otherwise make a positive contribution to the social and economic structure of the country. The impacts of water-related disease are felt by all water-users, including those recreational users such as fishermen, swimmers and canoeists. Following a discussion of the issues and impacts of water-related disease at both a global and local scale, the research formulated a survey of the impact of water-related disease on canoeists training and racing on the Mngeni and Msunduzi Rivers as a starting point in determining the impacts on all communities using the resource. The methods employed were twofold, a Schistosoma haematobium infection- survey was conducted using urine samples; and a questionnaire-type survey of participants in the 2006 Dusi Canoe Marathon was conducted. The results of the Schistosomiasis survey revealed that 4.07% (20/491) of the respondents were positive in this survey. Analysis of the questionnaire filled in by all participants further revealed that 73% of respondents tested positive for Schistosomiasis infection at some point in their canoeing career. The post Dusi Marathon questionnaire survey was answered by 941 (54 %) participants. A total of 588 (63 %) reported experiencing illness as a result of taking part in the 2006 event. A further 362 individuals reported having experienced water-related illness on previous Dusi Marathons, indicating that 77% of the respondents have been ill on the Dusi in this and previous years' events. In addition, water quality samples were taken during the race and were shown to be significantly higher than the guidelines for safe recreational use of water resources. The results also showed a radical overnight change in the E.coli levels following a heavy rain event on the evening before the start of the race. The research revealed that there is a serious problem of water contamination and resultant spread of disease among canoeists using the rivers for recreational and professional sport. Contamination resulting from failure of sewage processing facilities during high rainfall events and industrial discharge into the river system results in excessive and unacceptable levels of E.coli and other water-related pathogens that are a severe health risk not only to canoeists but to all communities utilising this water resource

Assessing School Turnarounds: Using an Integrative Framework to Identify Levers for Success

Proposing an integrative framework that links Bryk and colleagues’ five essential supports for school improvement and Porter and colleagues’ policy attribute theory, I use a mixed-methods approach to study the implementation and effectiveness of school turnaround efforts in the School District of Philadelphia. Using a matched comparison design and estimating a series of regression models to analyze data from Philadelphia’s central school improvement models as well as a group of comparison schools, I explore the relationships among key model components, approaches to implementing these components, and academic achievement. The use of an integrative framework for school improvement facilitates the unpacking of the idea of “success” in school reform, and careful examination of key reform components and implementation strategies provides insights into why particular school improvement models are (or are not) associated with gains in academic achievement. Qualitative methods are used to contextualize these findings and offer hypotheses to explain variation in essential supports, policy attributes, and achievement outcomes. This study facilitates the development of an empirically grounded theory of how implementation relates to effectiveness that proves useful in evaluating school turnaround, and in assessing how policymakers and implementers might leverage various aspects of implementation to create effective school improvement models at scale. Ultimately this study finds that how improvement models are implemented is more important than what key components models use in terms of explaining improvements in student achievement

Winding Number Transitions in the Mottola-Wipf Model on a Circle

Winding number transitions from quantum to classical behavior are studied in the case of the {1+1} dimensional Mottola-Wipf model with the space coordinate on a circle for exploring the possibility of obtaining transitions of second order. The model is also studied as a prototype theory which demonstrates the procedure of such investigations. In the model at hand we find that even on a circle the transitions remain those of first order.Comment: 17pages + 5 ps figures, final version to appear in Nucl. Phys.

Nucleation at finite temperature beyond the superminispace model

The transition from the quantum to the classical regime of the nucleation of the closed Robertson-Walker Universe with spacially homogeneous matter fields is investigated with a perturbation expansion around the sphaleron configuration. A criterion is derived for the occurrence of a first-order type transition, and the related phase diagram for scalar and vector fields is obtained. For scalar fields both the first and second order transitions can occur depending on the shape of the potential barrier. For a vector field, here that of an O(3) nonlinear $\sigma$-model, the transition is seen to be only of the first order.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figure

Quantum Tunneling and Phase Transitions in Spin Systems with an Applied Magnetic Field

Transitions from classical to quantum behaviour in a spin system with two degenerate ground states separated by twin energy barriers which are asymmetric due to an applied magnetic field are investigated. It is shown that these transitions can be interpreted as first- or second-order phase transitions depending on the anisotropy and magnetic parameters defining the system in an effective Lagrangian description.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figure

Long term outcomes in men screened for abdominal aortic aneurysm : prospective cohort study

PMID: 22563092 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] PMCID: PMC3344734 Free PMC ArticlePeer reviewedPublisher PD

Titan cell production in Cryptococcus neoformans reshapes the cell wall and capsule composition during infection

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (R01AI080275 and R21AI22352), the NIH Fogarty International Center (R25TW009345), the University of Minnesota Center for Translational Science Institute (UL1TR000114), Wellcome Trust (086827, 075470, 097377, 101873 & 200208) and MRC Centre for Medical Mycology (N006364/1). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.Peer reviewedPublisher PD