Understanding higher education: Alternative perspectives (2022) by C. Boughey, and S. McKenna.

In August 2023, I enrolled for a Short Learning Programme in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education at the University of Johannesburg’s Ali Mazrui Centre for Higher Education Studies. Understanding Higher Education: Alternative Perspectives, a book written by Chrissie Boughey and Sioux McKenna and published by African Minds in 2022, was one of the books we had to study for our first assignment. Boughey and McKenna, like other publications that concentrate on current discussions in higher education, use their extensive knowledge of higher education studies to contribute to the discussion about the goals and prospects for modern higher education in Africa, and South Africa specifically. I thought the book was a fascinating reflection on the discourses that dominate higher education systems in the global South for these and other reasons

Covid-19 information gaps among the disadvantaged communities: The case of the Deaf and Limited English Proficiency communities in Zimbabwe

Worldwide public health authorities are taking action to contain Covid-19. While the bulk of research on the pandemic focuses on understanding the spread and seeking a cure for the virus from a virology perspective, research of the same magnitude should also focus on the risks of the pandemic for society, particularly among disadvantaged groups. This study adopted a community-centred approach to information and health rights and utilised the case study approach to investigate the quality and access to Covid-19 information, care and treatment by the Limited English Proficiency (LEP) and the Deaf communities in Zimbabwe. More than 60% of Covid-19 messages communicated in Zimbabwe’s mainstream media do not cater for the needs of these disadvantaged groups. Brochures, videos and infographics, for instance, appear in English, yet there is a significant LEP population in Zimbabwe. As regards the Deaf community, videos, conversations and interviews with health specialists, which rarely appear in mainstream public media, include Zimbabwean Sign Language interpretation. In this case, the choice of language and medium used to communicate vital Covid-19 messages in mainstream public media may pose language barriers to effective and equitable health information for these vulnerable groups. What this reality hints at is that public communication that does not discriminate is a necessity to allow all members of the community to fight the spread of Covid-19 and hence, reduce its potential risks

The significance of tasks in second language learning: The case of Africa University in Zimbabwe

Purpose: This study utilised the case study approach for an in-depth understanding of the practices of teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) at Africa University (AU), Zimbabwe. The study aimed to provide a description of unique and typical ESL experiences in a particular African context. Research Methodology: The study investigated 60 participants who were prospective undergraduate students enrolled in the ESL programme and were separated into two groups. Each group consisted of 30 participants who received task-based instruction hinged on reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Result: An analysis of the learners' performance revealed that tasks facilitate the learning of ESL by exposing learners to different problem-solving scenarios that required higher-order cognitive skills. Limitations: This study was based on the ESL classroom at AU, which enrols students from African countries. A similar study could be conducted with students from more diverse backgrounds to establish if the results of this study could be corroborated or refuted. Similar studies could also be conducted in other second language contexts where English is not the target language. Contribution: The results of this study are important for the discipline of ESL as they support existing knowledge that tasks allow learners to communicate using the correct grammatical structures in a given relevant context

How does the work environment affect court interpreters working in Zimbabwe's magistrates courts?

This study investigated stress factors caused by the working environment, and stress coping, by court interpreters in Zimbabwe. The research adopted a case study approach anchored on a mixed-methods design. The researchers planned to collect data for the study through focus group discussions, interviews, document analysis, and questionnaires. However, due to the Covid-19 environment in the country at the time of the study, an online questionnaire, virtual focus group discussions and telephonic interviews were used to collect data from the research participants. The study participants were court interpreters at Marondera Magistrates Court, and BA Honours Translation and Interpretation students at the University of Zimbabwe who were attached at various magistrates courts in the country as part of their industrial attachment. Among the main stress factors identified by the study are autonomy, the workload, insufficient resources, poor organisation of work, and working hours. Court interpreters were found to experience fatigue, back pain, headaches, and throat irritation. Task-oriented coping was identified as one predominant coping style used by study respondents. The study recommends that court interpreter training programmes should include content on the impact of common stressors, and provide self-care education, because court interpreters must be able to identify and address the negative impacts of such stressors at an early stage, to avoid it affecting their physical and mental health. The results of the study are, therefore, a valuable contribution to translation and interpreting studies, stress research, and the human factors in court interpreting

Revisiting nation branding: An infrastructure financing perspective in Zimbabwe

Purpose: This study aimed to reconfigure nation branding theories and concepts through infrastructure financing intervention. Research methodology: Data were collected using a QUAL to QUAN sequential mixed methods. Results: Qualitative research informed that the infrastructure that is required for nation branding to be road networks; airports; Information Communication Technologies (ICTs); reliable power supply; industrial facilities; tourism facilities; healthcare facilities; educational facilities; educational facilities; and residential accommodation. These were then classified into two, namely, economic and social infrastructure. Results from quantitative research showed that there is a positive relationship between nation branding and infrastructure financing. Also, it showed that road infrastructure and airports were the most related to nation branding with public-private partnerships and bilateral/multilateral loans to finance their development, respectively. Limitations: As a result of the COVID-19, the research did not manage to have some focus groups for a depth understanding and comprehensive response of the participants. Contribution: The results will help the Zimbabwean government consider developing the road networks and airports to enhance the nation’s brand

The impact of additions in Shona and English consecutively-interpreted rape trials in Zimbabwean courtrooms

This article investigates the conflict between interpreters’ ethical guidelines and the reality in Zimbabwean courtrooms. Although court interpreters’ instructions generally prescribe verbatim translations of original utterances, the reality in the courtroom may demand deviation from what the guidelines prescribe. Focusing on the effect of emphasising and down-toning additions on source language texts in four consecutively-interpreted rape trials heard in Shona and English, this study reveals that court interpreters are aware that their primary goal is to ensure that participants fully understand each other’s intentions. Interpreters therefore adopt a strategy for conveying renditions which would ensure that a speaker’s communicative intention, and not only his/her words, is available to an end receiver. The resultant renditions would nevertheless reveal some additions which may impact on the propositional content and style of the source message and hence the administration of justice. I therefore argue that interpreted courtroom dialogues are essentially ‘three-party’ (Mason, 2000: 9) face-to-face transactions involving two primary speakers and one interpreter

Interpreters’ treatment of questions during consecutively interpreted interactions in Zimbabwean courtrooms

This article analyses how interpreters dealt with various forms of questions used by different court players during consecutively interpreted rape trials in Zimbabwean courtrooms in their renditions. The data for this article are extracts selected from 19 cases of alleged rape heard in English at two regional courts in Harare and Mutare, Zimbabwe. In Zimbabwean courtrooms, all serious cases like rape, are audio-recorded for record purposes and for review at the High Court. Audio-recorded interpreter-mediated interactions were subsequently transcribed into the written form by the researchers with the assistance of transcribers from the mentioned courts for purposes of analysis. The extracts were then analysed to examine (1) how courtroom questioning is done through an interpreter; (2) whether participants’ power to ask questions and manipulate the questions in order to exercise control over other participants is reduced or lost when the questioning is performed through an interpreter; and (3) whether the ‘coerciveness’ of courtroom questions in Zimbabwean courtrooms could be explained in the same way as reported in other studies. The researchers argue, among other issues, that through the use of various question forms, the power of a participant, and thus his/her control over a triadic exchange, is realised not only in the role(s) he/she is capable of playing, but also through the participant roles of the co-present court actors

From language to society: An analysis of interpreting quality and the linguistic rights of the accused in selected Zimbabwean courtrooms

Like most African countries, postcolonial Zimbabwe is multilingual with more than 15 indigenous languages. Since Zimbabwe was a British colony, colonial policies ensured the entrenchment of English as the language of sports, education, records and law. English is spoken mainly as a second or even third language by the majority of Zimbabweans. Even for those who speak English fluently, or with near fluency, the technical vocabulary of legal English, and the specialised use of ordinary terms, often results in miscommunication in the courts of law. This complex sociolinguistic situation requires the services of interpreters to bridge the communication gap between the custodians of the law like magistrates, prosecutors and judges and ordinary people who do not speak the language of the court, particularly in difficult, sensitive and complex cases such as rape trials which normally invoke cultural, psychological and emotional responses for all courtroom players. This article investigates the interplay between language and society by examining the quality of the interpreting in cases involving alleged rape in Zimbabwean courtrooms. We analyse interpreter renditions during open court sessions and examine transcriptions of trials obtained in courtrooms. Our findings suggest that there are chances of miscommunication in courtrooms due to hitches in the interpreting process which have adverse effects on the rights of the accused and/or witnesses to a free and fair trial. Although the findings are based on Zimbabwean data, we believe that many of the issues that are raised in this article could be applicable to other countries with similar sociolinguistic profiles