Testing the waters: exploring genres in two English classes at a multilingual Cape Flats primary school

Magister Educationis - MEdThe purpose of this study is to gain an understanding of current writing practices in the intermediate phase at a multilingual primary school on the Cape Flats and then to explore the possible benefits of a genre-based approach in this context. The study focused on the development of learners' writing skills in two Grade Six English classes. The aims of this study are to understand the writing curriculum plan and as practiced by two teachers with different levels of exposure to current approaches to the teaching of writing and different class profiles.South Afric

Exploring habitus and writer identities : an ethnographic study of writer identity construction in the FET phase at two schools in the Western Cape

Philosophiae Doctor - PhDThe purpose of this study is to investigate the writing identities constructed in the Further Education and Training (FET) Phase and the ways in which these identities either strengthen or impede academic writing at university. Success at university is predominantly dependent on students' ability to express their ideas through writing academic essays or assignments in most faculties. However, studies over the past decade highlight the inability of many South African learners, especially those for whom English is not a home language, to succeed at universities. The poor performance of such students is often linked to the lack of adequate preparation in the FET Phase, which is grades 10 to 12, the grades prior to entering first year undergraduate programmes. The significance of this study is that it sheds light on the discourse features of policy, texts, pedagogy and assessment in the FET Phase and the consequences of these for the construction of writers' identities. Further, it foregrounds the ways that policy positions teachers, learners and learning despite diversity in school cultures, identities and histories, and more importantly the ways that unique local pedagogical contexts construct writer identities as a bridge towards engagement in academic essays and the discourses valued at higher institutions. The intention was thus twofold: on the one hand to understand the writer identities constructed in the FET phase and secondly to shed light on the ways that these identities intersect with academic writing, in an attempt to inform first year writing programmes at universities. This was an ethnographic study that included participant observation, interviews with teachers and document analysis of national curriculum policies, grade 12 English Additional language external question papers and first year student texts. The participants were two grade 10 English classes from two schools with different profiles in terms of learner background, linguistic repertoire, and socio-economic circumstances. The rationale for focusing on grade 10 is that it is the first initiation point into the FET Phase and as such an important site to investigate the ways in which writing identities are activated. I thus ‘shadowed’ these learners for two years, up to the end of grade 11. Finally, I analysed first year student texts produced by learners from these two schools in their first year of study at a Cape Town university. In order to engage with my data, I first drew on Bourdieu's concepts of field, habitus and capital, to illuminate the ways in which national policies constructed theories and pedagogies of language teaching and learning, and positioned teachers, as well as the consequences of these policies and positionings for constructing sound writer identities. I then focused on the different organizing practices at the two schools, in order to foreground positionings enacted in local contexts. As a result, the study sheds light on the ways that writer identities were activated at two secondary schools in Cape Town, both of which served a previously disadvantaged population but with one classified as poorly resourced while the other enjoyed the status of a well-resourced school. My study centred on the visible and invisible curricula, the differing kinds of cultural capital they produce and the conversion of this capital into other forms of cultural and symbolic capital (such as access to university) which may eventually be converted to economic capital in the form of access to well-paid kinds of employment. Secondly, I drew on Systemic Functional Linguistics, with its conception of language as socially produced and politically situated and its development by the 'Sydney school' into genre-based pedagogy, as an analytical lens to unpack the language learning and teaching theories underpinning policy documents. This lens was also useful for evaluating the extent to which curriculum, pedagogy and assessment tools inducted learners into the key 'genres of schooling' (such as information report, explanation, and argument) that are necessary for success across the curriculum at school and university. Most importantly, it allowed for a rigorous linguistic analysis of first year student scripts and the extent to which writers managed the three metafunctions, ideational, interpersonal and textual. These metafunctions are the basis for coherent, well-structured, genreappropriate writing. The study found that mismatches between policy framing and the way that writing was taught and assessed in the FET Phase resulted in massive gaps between the writer identities constructed in the FET Phase and the first year writer identities valued at universities. Findings help to pinpoint some of the reasons why particular learners manage to make the transition into tertiary study and why a large number of learners studying through English as an additional language either fail to gain access into university or fail during their first year of study. Finally, findings pointed out the effects of post democracy curriculum shifts and national examinations on classroom discourse and pedagogy, especially in relation to constructing enabling writer identities, and more importantly on the ability of learners making the transition into university to produce academically valued texts in their first year of study

Financing of social housing investments in South Africa

The right to adequate housing is enshrined in the South African constitution. Accordingly, social housing has been identified by the government as one of the strategic interventions to be pursued in the delivery of housing services to the poor. As public sector funds are limited, it is imperative to establish alternative mechanisms for financing social housing investments. A multiple case study approach reviewed social housing investment with specific reference to how they were financed, the challenges faced and whether there would have been a benefit in using alternative means of financing. This was supported by a literature review as well as interviews with relevant stakeholders. The results highlighted that funding for the sector is available primarily through government grants and loan funding from national and provincial DFIs. Private sector participants are willing to participate in the sector and have the resources to do so. Nonetheless, there are concerns from private sector participants around the regulatory framework and the availability of collateral on funding provided to the sector. Social Housing Institutions (SHIs) also noted that the SHRA should facilitate discussions on the development of ‘social housing agreements’ with municipalities that enable access to land, provide waivers on bulk contributions and afford SHIs rebates on municipal rates and tariffs. Successful delivery of social housing is dependent on both the private and public sector, sturdy institutions and a functional regulatory framework.http://www.springer.comseries/111562021-07-01hj2020Construction Economic

Retaining steel tips : motivation of construction managers in South Africa

The world economy continues to grow at an ever-increasing pace and as a result, has created additional demand for new buildings. This has placed an ever-increasing demand for experienced construction managers with learned and practically applied skills to competently deliver successful projects. South Africa is no exception to this phenomenon. To retain skilled construction managers projects must be well managed from the outset. Having the correct policies and procedures in place will assist with this requirement. Motivating factors play a large role to assist construction managers in achieving their best and keeping their focus. Thus, how to motivate them is key to ensuring that a project delivers on; quality, time and within budget. This paper attempts to identify factors that motivate construction managers and assist construction companies to retain them. For this purpose, structured interviews were conducted at the University of Pretoria and a mixed-method approach was followed. Data was collected from construction professionals with a minimum of 10 years of construction site experience within the Gauteng Region of South Africa. The decisive factor was the work environment conditions and this included factors like; creating job security, give employees a sense of belonging, mentors giving constructive criticism, listening to problems, acting on them and thus giving support, reducing long working hours, improved site office facilities, regular relaxing social events within the company. Results from a recent research project have identified three items that are needed to retain construction managers. These included; a good work environment and extrinsic and intrinsic rewards. It was found not uncommon that if an offer to be employed at an alternative company with less salary, but with a more comfortable work environment was available, then this would be a viable option. Construction companies should invest more effort to improve their work environment and further tailor-make their extrinsic and intrinsic awards systems.http://www.springer.comseries/11156hj2020Construction Economic

The current infrastructure conditions and the problems relating to it : focusing on Rietkol, Delmas, Mpumalanga, South Africa

The government must involve the community within the infrastructure development in order to create, operate and maintain it. This is “participatory democracy”, “participatory development” and “people centred development”. It will implement the empowerment of the rural community through inspiration of community, public participation and a democratic culture. Through research, debate and data analysis the researchers concluded that the most important type of infrastructure is water supply. Additionally, sanitation, electricity and telecommunication follow on its heels, for development of infrastructure for this particular community.Paper presented at the 3rd Global Virtual Conference 2015 (GV-CONF 2015), THOMSON, Slovakia, April 6-10, 2015. Remove selectedhttp://www.gv-conference.comhb201

User-centered design of a gamified mental health app for adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa: multicycle usability testing study

Background: There is an urgent need for scalable psychological treatments to address adolescent depression in low-resource settings. Digital mental health interventions have many potential advantages, but few have been specifically designed for or rigorously evaluated with adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa. Objective: This study had 2 main objectives. The first was to describe the user-centered development of a smartphone app that delivers behavioral activation (BA) to treat depression among adolescents in rural South Africa and Uganda. The second was to summarize the findings from multicycle usability testing. Methods: An iterative user-centered agile design approach was used to co-design the app to ensure that it was engaging, culturally relevant, and usable for the target populations. An array of qualitative methods, including focus group discussions, in-depth individual interviews, participatory workshops, usability testing, and extensive expert consultation, was used to iteratively refine the app throughout each phase of development. Results: A total of 160 adolescents from rural South Africa and Uganda were involved in the development process. The app was built to be consistent with the principles of BA and supported by brief weekly phone calls from peer mentors who would help users overcome barriers to engagement. Drawing on the findings of the formative work, we applied a narrative game format to develop the Kuamsha app. This approach taught the principles of BA using storytelling techniques and game design elements. The stories were developed collaboratively with adolescents from the study sites and included decision points that allowed users to shape the narrative, character personalization, in-app points, and notifications. Each story consists of 6 modules (“episodes”) played in sequential order, and each covers different BA skills. Between modules, users were encouraged to work on weekly activities and report on their progress and mood as they completed these activities. The results of the multicycle usability testing showed that the Kuamsha app was acceptable in terms of usability and engagement. Conclusions: The Kuamsha app uniquely delivered BA for adolescent depression via an interactive narrative game format tailored to the South African and Ugandan contexts. Further studies are currently underway to examine the intervention’s feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy in reducing depressive symptoms

Variation in herbivore space use: comparing two savanna ecosystems with different anthrax outbreak patterns in southern Africa

Abstract Background The distribution of resources can affect animal range sizes, which in turn may alter infectious disease dynamics in heterogenous environments. The risk of pathogen exposure or the spatial extent of outbreaks may vary with host range size. This study examined the range sizes of herbivorous anthrax host species in two ecosystems and relationships between spatial movement behavior and patterns of disease outbreaks for a multi-host environmentally transmitted pathogen. Methods We examined range sizes for seven host species and the spatial extent of anthrax outbreaks in Etosha National Park, Namibia and Kruger National Park, South Africa, where the main host species and outbreak sizes differ. We evaluated host range sizes using the local convex hull method at different temporal scales, within-individual temporal range overlap, and relationships between ranging behavior and species contributions to anthrax cases in each park. We estimated the spatial extent of annual anthrax mortalities and evaluated whether the extent was correlated with case numbers of a given host species. Results Range size differences among species were not linearly related to anthrax case numbers. In Kruger the main host species had small range sizes and high range overlap, which may heighten exposure when outbreaks occur within their ranges. However, different patterns were observed in Etosha, where the main host species had large range sizes and relatively little overlap. The spatial extent of anthrax mortalities was similar between parks but less variable in Etosha than Kruger. In Kruger outbreaks varied from small local clusters to large areas and the spatial extent correlated with case numbers and species affected. Secondary host species contributed relatively few cases to outbreaks; however, for these species with large range sizes, case numbers positively correlated with outbreak extent. Conclusions Our results provide new information on the spatiotemporal structuring of ranging movements of anthrax host species in two ecosystems. The results linking anthrax dynamics to host space use are correlative, yet suggest that, though partial and proximate, host range size and overlap may be contributing factors in outbreak characteristics for environmentally transmitted pathogens

The need for communication between clinicians and pathologists in the context of oral and maxillofacial diseases

Good communication between clinicians and pathologists is a vital element in the diagnostic process, and poor communication can adversely affect patient care. There is a lack of research about communication in diagnostic oral and maxillofacial pathology. This narrative review explores different aspects of the quality of communication between clinicians and oral pathologists, with a focus on the diagnosis of oral and maxillofacial diseases. An electronic search was carried out in MEDLINE through the PubMed, Scopus, and Embase databases up to April 2021. No studies reporting communication, its adequacy or the required skills between clinicians and pathologists in oral diagnosis were found. According to studies published in medicine, strategies for improving communication skills include clinicianpathologist collaboration; a well-formatted, clear and thorough report; training in communication skills; and patient-centered care. Further studies evaluating the current practices and quality in oral and maxillofacial pathology are required to identify barriers and encourage optimal communication to facilitate diagnosis, as well as patient safety.The Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Brasil (CAPES), the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development, CNPq and a PhD scholarship from the São Paulo State Research Foundation.https://www.scielo.br/j/bordm2022Oral Pathology and Oral Biolog

Testing the waters: Exploring the teaching of genres in a Cape flats primary school in South Africa

Twenty years after democracy, the legacy of apartheid and hitherto unmet challenges of resourcing and teacher development are reflected in a severely inequitable and underperforming education system. This paper focuses on second language writing in the middle years of schooling when 80% of learners face a double challenge: to move from ‘common sense’ discourses to the more abstract, specialised discourses of school subjects and, simultaneously, to a new language of learning, in this case English. It describes an intervention using a systemic functional linguistic (SFL) genre-based pedagogy involving 72 learners and two teachers in a low socio-economic neighbourhood of Cape Town. Using an SFL analytical framework, we analyse learners’ development in the information report genre. All learners in the intervention group made substantial gains in control of staging, lexis, and key linguistic features. We argue that the scaffolding provided by SFL genre-based pedagogies together with their explicit focus on textual and linguistic features offer a means of significantly enhancing epistemic access to the specialised language of school subjects, particularly for additional language learners. Findings have implications for language-in-education policy, teacher education, curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment in multilingual classrooms

The transfer of rights, obligations and property under a statutory merger in terms of the Companies Act 71 of 2008

Abstract: With the onset of the new statutory merger in South Africa, the impact of the practical implementation of the procedure has revealed numerous holes and uncertainties readers concerning the reorganisation of assets and liabilities. One of the major stumbling blocks of the procedure stems from the lack of guidelines provided in the current legislation. By way of normative methodology this paper will consider in detail and highlight discrepancies in the wording used to describe the process of the transfer of assets and liabilities. An attempt has been to provide an analysis through the minefield of the procedural requirements. The guidelines can be used to prevent delays in the implementation of the statutory merger and navigate the interaction between the Companies Act and other legislation. To this end, it appears that the legislature will need to review the procedure as well as provide appropriate guidelines when dealing with inconsistencies in other legislation. The wording of the Companies Act should be amended in order to prevent ambiguous interpretations which may lead to delays upon implementation.LL.M. (Commercial Law