Underpreparedness in South African higher education: A limited test of the English grammar awareness of first-year students

This quasi-experimental study, limitedly, explores the level of English grammar awareness as a potential partial indicator of “underpreparedness” in a population of first-year students doing an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) module in a South African university. This is done by comparing the mean test scores and linguistic errors in two slightly different but equivalent parts-of-speech grammar test components in the assignment and supplementary examination scripts of two naturally-occurring subpopulations of the EAP population. Members of the EAP population were in the tests required to correct authentic text parts that had been morphologically and syntactically corrupted for correction. The statistical and linguistic error analyses returned a higher mean test score and a bigger correct-incorrect response ratio for the assignment script sample (the A-Sample) than for the supplementary examination script sample (the SE-Sample). These results suggested, firstly, that extraneous variables were responsible for the variation in the sample test performances, and, secondly, that the grammar instruction, testing and error correction treatments had probably had negligible to no effect at all. The error analysis points to the inadvisability of the inclusion of peripheral grammatical categories such as adverbs in textual modifications for editing as they may not offer optimal opportunities for the exploitation for instructional purposes of the meaning potential of syntactic structures. The grammar instruction observation data showed that a majority of the SE-Sample participated with apparent interest and enthusiasm, thereby suggesting that they viewed the grammar instruction as useful. The observation data also contained a case of resistance to grammar instruction by an older student with a different background to the majority EAP population

Does School Writing , ‘O’ Level In Particular, Reflect Priorities Of The Work Place?

A ZBTE article on school writing priorities.This article publishes the results of a study conducted in Gweru Urban in 1988-1989 on the apparent mismatch between school and workplace writing. The objective of the study was to establish whether in fact there is a mismatch between school and workplace writing tasks as alleged by 'O' level school leavers and employers. The focus of the study was, therefore, on types of writing tasks taught at school, particularly at 'O' level, and those produced and required. at workplaces

Comment on "A note on the construction of the Ermakov-Lewis invariant"

We show that the basic results on the paper referred in the title [J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. v. 35 (2002) 5333-5345], concerning the derivation of the Ermakov invariant from Noether symmetry methods, are not new

ACTIVITY SYSTEMS AND LIVELIHOODS IN EASTERN CAPE PROVINCE RURAL AREAS (TRANSKEI): HOUSEHOLD TYPOLOGIES AS SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTIONS TO A LANDCARE PROJECT

Consumer/Household Economics,

Demographic transformation and the influence of eleven selected socio-demographic variables on the face validity of an engineering English for specific purposes approach at a South African university

In English for Specific Purposes (ESP), as accountable education, face validity, which could be an undesirable “negative” or a desirable “positive”, is one of the ways in which we determine the learners’ attitudes toward, and probable consequent motivation for, ESP learning programmes. In this study, we sought to explain the reactions of the 226 first year Engineering student respondents to Likert items by their sociodemographic characteristics. We measured and classified as an undesirable “negative” (if the mean was < 3.50), or a desirable “positive” (if the mean was ≥ 3.50), the face validity generated by eleven sociodemographic characteristics for an ESP approach employed in the design and delivery of a compulsory ESP module (Engineering Communication) at a university in South Africa’s Gauteng Province. We subjected the data to statistical significance testing with the ANOVA suite of inferential statistics to identify statistically significant relationships between the sociodemographic variables and the face validity variables, of which 20 were confirmed, and then measured the variance (influence) in the latter that could be associated with the former. The aggregate influence explainable by the sociodemographic variables was an eta2 of .908 (90.8%), of which High School Type (19.8%) recorded the most, and Engineering Work Experience (1,7%), the least. Whereas, Race was associated with the most “negative” influence, the Black1 and White groups were practically indistinguishable in attaining unequal, but “negative”, scores. When we compared the sample demographic statistics to available institutional and national statistics to check for demographic transformation, the statistics suggested that the research university was transforming demographically at a fast pace, given its history. &nbsp

Simulations of Woodland Grassland Transitions Caused by Elephant

In South Africa, reintroduction of wildlife on small to medium sized farms is common. A primary concern for the landowners who introduce elephant is the effects they will have on tree and grass densities. It is possible that elephant impact can exacerbate a shift from woodland to grassland. In this paper it is shown how simulations can possibly assist in understanding the possible dynamics involved

The resilience of indigenous knowledge in small-scale African agriculture: key drivers

The successful use of indigenous knowledge (IK) in development practice in rural Africa over the last couple of decades has proved to be elusive and disappointing. Using empirical field data from northern Malawi, this study suggests that the two key drivers for farmers in this area are household food security and the maintenance of soil fertility. Indigenous ways of knowing underpin the agricultural system which has been developed, rather than the adoption of more modern, ‘scientific’ ways, to deliver against these drivers. Such IKs, however, are deeply embedded in the economic, social and cultural environments in which they operate

Teaching and learning English as a Home Language in a predominantly non-native English classroom: A study from KwaZulu-Natal1

This study focuses on a secondary school in an Indian-African suburb of Merewent in KwaZulu-Natal, an example of a suburban school where English as a Home Language (EHL) is taught to a majority of non-native English learners from township schools. The EHL classrooms were investigated for ‘communicativeness’ and then compared to English as a Second Language (ESL) classrooms. It might be expected that EHL classrooms would exhibit an affinity with ESL classrooms. However, although non-native EHL has many aspects in common with ESL, there were significant differences between the two. The most important difference from the standpoint of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) was in the learning content selection, with the EHL settings using more literary works, and so focusing less on the direct teaching of grammatical forms. However, a disturbing pattern was the inability of the learners in both sets of settings to take full advantage of CLT, which suggested that the learners might not be at the appropriate level of language development.Keywords: English as Home Language (EHL), non-native English learners, township schools, English as a Second Language (ESL), Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), language developmen

Physical resource inventory of the Communal Lands of Zimbabwe - An overview (NRI Bulletin 60)

This overview of the physical resources of the Communal Lands of Zimbabwe is based on a compilation and condensation of the results of reconnaissance soil surveys undertaken between 1985 and 1991. The area surveyed and mapped at 1 :500 000 scale comprises some 163 500 km2 or 42% of Zimbabwe. Fifty land units, identified by interpretation of aerial photography and defined on a broad geological and landform basis, are used as the framework for describing and mapping the Communal Lands, hereafter referred to as CLs. Following an introduction to the physical environment encompassed by the CLs, each unit is described according to land characteristics and resources relevant to an assessment of potential for agricultural improvement