Comparison of educational facilitation approaches for Grade R English Additional Language learning in rural Mpumalanga

The Early Childhood Development Manager in Mpumalanga is faced with the problem of providing evidence-based guidance of the best facilitation approach in the Grade R context. An investigation on the effect of   facilitation, i.e. play-based or formal instruction, on Grade R performance scores in English Additional Language (EAL) learning was conducted.  Literature findings attest to formal learning contributing to better   performance scores than play-based learning, yet most rural schools in Mpumalanga use the play-based approach. The English Language Proficiency (ELP) standards assessment tool is reported to have no cultural bias and was used to collect the data. The tool assessed learners’ listening and speaking skills in EAL. A quantitative methodology was followed, using a static two-group comparison design. Participants in the two groups were matched according to age and all had a similar exposure period to EAL learning, a rural upbringing, poverty level, and all were mainstream  learners. Inter-rater reliability was obtained since two raters assessed learners’ proficiency in EAL skills. A one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to analyse the data. It was found that the formal based approach contributed to better EAL scores when compared to the play-based  approach. Implications for practice are discussed.Keywords: EAL learning; ELP standards assessment tool; formal  instruction;Grade R facilitation; learners’ first language; play-based approach

THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A DIVERSION PROGRAMME FOR JUVENILE OFFENDERS : PROBLEM AREAS AND 'PITFALLS'

According to the 2001 South African census, about 35% fo the South African population can be classified as youths, that is, below the age of 35 years, while 22% is below 20 years of age (Statistics South Africa, 2003).  Schönteich (1999:22) emphasises that South Africa faces some serious challenges because of the high proportion of young people in the population.  Reffering to criminal behaviour in particular, he suggests that juveniles and young adults commit crimes "...far in excess of their proportion of the general population", and that these rates seem to be similar all over the world.  He also points to conviction rates that show that young males in South Africa are at greater risk of being convicted for a wide range of crimes that older males or females of any age group

Prevention of wound sepsis in amputations by peri-operative antibiotic cover with an amoxycillin-clavulanic acid combination

In a series of 44 patients with lower limb ischaemia requiring amputation for major limb sepsis, the performance of a new antibiotic combination with Blactamase- inhibiting properties, amoxycillin plus . clavulanic acid (A-CA) (Augmentin; Beecham), was compared with that of penicillin in the prevention of wound infection. The sepsis rate of ·12,9% in the group of patients receiving peri-operative A-CA was significantly lower than the 76,9% in the penicillin control group (x2 = 14,48; P<O,OO1).lt is concluded that there is a need for peri-operative antibiotic cover in this situation and that A-CA appears to be highly effective. No statistical difference was found as regards development of sepsis in wounds closed primarily or left open while under A-CA cover

Triniteit en Vryheid - 'n Hermeneuties-Dogmatiese analise en evaluasie van die Godsleer van Walter Kasper (Afrikaans)

This study contains an investigation of the conditions of plausibility for the doctrine of God within the frame of reference of the modern era. This is done by means of a hermeneutic-dogmatic analysis and evaluation of the teology of Walter Kasper. The hypothesis is that Kasper does not succeed to accomodate legitimate material-dogmatic observations in his proposed structure for a doctrine on the trinity. The modern era is characterised by the demise of classical Western metaphysics and the emergence of an ontology of relation, accentuating the historicity of reality. This became clear in the turn towards subjectivity and radical autonomy, and resulted as ultimate consequence in an atheistic way of life and mode of thought. The static nature of the classical substance-orientated ontology, influenced the conceptual modelling of classical Western theology profoundly negative. With regard to the doctrine of God, thinking in terms of salvation history and within the context of ecclesiastic practice, liturgy and doxology, receded to the background, making room for highly abstract philosophical speculation. This resulted in the separation of the immanent and economic trinity and led to two separate tracts, de Deo uno and de Deo trino. This state of affairs has the implication that two modes of thought are operative, namely a more speculative, natural-theological and a salvation historical orientated mode of thought. Kasper maintains that this two modes of thought should be upheld on the condition that the analogy, as the method of natural theology, is broadened by the perspective of the historicity and event character of reality. Analogia entis (mode of thought) must be understood as analogia libertatis (mode of being). This “additional” perspective enables the formal integration of the mentioned tracts, de Deo uno and de Deo trino. In a material sense, this means turning the back on the traditional essentialistic concept of the trinity in favour of a personal, salvation-historical approach by developing de Deo uno as doctrine concerning God the Father. Taking the fundamental anthropological structure of unthematic directedness towards absolute freedom as piont of departure, Kasper arrives at a “description” of God’s essence as Absolute Person, as Absolute Freedom to love. In accordance with his emphasis on history, Kasper propagates the equal importance of assensus- and desensus-christology. He proposes a refounding of the New Testament Son of God-christology by means of an indirect christology, that implies a trinitarian context. The implicit relationality suggested in Kasper’s description of God’s essence - Absolute Freedom to love - is made explicit in the relation of unity between Father and Son, a relation that implies the unity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit in an indirect way. According to Kasper, God the Father must be understood as source and ground of this divine unity. Kasper hereby distances himself from the traditional essentialistic concept of the trinity in favour of the Orthodox point of view, although he upholds the filioque and understands the intertrinitarian processiones in terms of the Western “theologic”. Kasper maintains that these proposal is a concrete explication of Thomas by means of the insights of Richard of St Victor, encompassing the synthesis of the essentialistic and personal trinitarian traditions on a higher niveau. This claim of Kasper must be contradicted. In the first instance, due to the fact that the trinitarian relations are merely viewed in terms of origin, his concept of trinitarian unity is one-dimensional. It is a patrocentristic orientated unity of origin. An underdeveloped pneumatology is, secondly, the direct result of the above mentioned patrocentricity. Although Kasper highlights the communio nature of trinitarian unity and the personality of the Holy Spirit, these accents are not accounted for in the structure of his proposal. Thirdly, assensus- and desensus-christology does not receive equal attention. Assensus-christology is neglected. Our proposal in this regard is a trinitarian pneumatology, explicated from the departure point of the immanent trinitarian concretion of persons and the economic trinitarian creation of personhood. In this way, the intertrinitarian unity as well as the unity of immanent and economic trinity, becomes explicable as the same unity but in different configurations. At the same time, the personality of the Holy Spirit is not only mentioned, but accounted for.Thesis (DD(Dogmatics and Christian Ethics))--University of Pretoria, 2005.Dogmatics and Christian Ethicsunrestricte

Intra-Campaign Changes in Voting Preferences: The Impact of Media and Party Communication

An increasing number of citizens change and adapt their party preferences during the electoral campaign. We analyze which short-term factors explain intra-campaign changes in voting preferences, focusing on the visibility and tone of news media reporting and party canvassing. Our analyses rely on an integrative data approach, linking data from media content analysis to public opinion data. This enables us to investigate the relative impact of news media reporting as well as party communication. Inherently, we overcome previously identified methodological problems in the study of communication effects on voting behavior. Our findings reveal that campaigns matter: Especially interpersonal party canvassing increases voters’ likelihood to change their voting preferences in favor of the respective party, whereas media effects are limited to quality news outlets and depend on individual voters’ party ambivalence

Wesselsbron disease : a cause of congenital porencephaly and cerebellar hypoplasia in calves

Fifteen pregnant cows were inoculated subcutaneously and intravenously between 101-147 days of gestation with the wild-type Wesselsbron disease virus. In addition, 2 foetuses were injected directly through the uterine wall after surgical exposure of the pregnant horn. The clinical symptoms, viraemia and serology in the cows are reported, as also the gross- and histopathology and the virological and serological results of the calves and foetuses. Abortion was not an important manifestation of experimental Wesselsbron disease in cows, as it occurred in 3 animals only. Apart from a short temperature reaction in some cows no other clinical symptoms were recorded. A viraemia was not always present in these cows and, when detected, was of low magnitude and short duration. One cow, in which the foetus was inoculated at 115 days of gestation, aborted at 231 days. The foetus showed marked porencephaly and cerebellar hypoplasia.This article has been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 300dpi. Adobe Acrobat XI Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-Format

Grade 4 learners with reading and writing difficulties in Mauritius: Oral reading and spelling characteristics

Background: Learners with reading and writing difficulties (RWD) are accommodated in Mauritian government schools without formal curriculum adjustment and teacher support. Little is known about their RWD. The aim was to describe the characteristics of Grade 4 learners with RWD. Aim: To describe the characteristics of Grade 4 learners with RWD. Setting: Government primary schools in Mauritius, in urban and rural areas. Methods: Grade 4 learners with RWD from 20 randomly selected schools were identified with the Screening Tool for Learning Disorders (STLD). A comparative design was used. Parents of 67 learners with RWD (research group [RG]) gave consent. Forty-nine learners without RWD were selected as a control group (CG) based on academic performance and consent. Hearing loss and visual impairment were excluded. The Clinical Evaluation of Language Function Observation Rating Scale (CELF-5 ORS), the Schonell Spelling Test and the Gray Oral Reading Test were used. Results: The CELF-5 ORS showed a wide range of difficulties of the RG with speaking, listening, oral reading and writing. There were significant differences between the RG and CG with reading and spelling. Despite being in Grade 4 (mean age 9.0 years), the mean spelling age for the RG was 5.5 years, corresponding to a Grade 1 level. Positive correlations were found between the STLD and listening, speaking and reading on the CELF-5 ORS for the RG. The more likely it was that participants had specific learning disorders on the STLD, the worse the spelling. Those with a history of speech and language delay performed more poorly with reading and spelling. Conclusion: Difficulties were confirmed by all the measures. Diagnostic assessments for specific learning disorders are required to exclude intellectual disability and other comorbidities. There is a dire need for intervention programs for learners with RWD in mainstream government schools in Mauritius. Programs should include speech-language therapists and aim at prevention, identification, diagnosis and intervention. Contribution: The study is important for speech–language therapists working in the education system and primary school teachers. There is a dire need to implement intervention programs for learners with RWD in mainstream government schools in Mauritius

The Snippets Taxonomy in Web Search Engines

In this paper authors analyzed 50 000 keywords results collected from localized Polish Google search engine. We proposed a taxonomy for snippets displayed in search results as regular, rich, news, featured and entity types snippets. We observed some correlations between overlapping snippets in the same keywords. Results show that commercial keywords do not cause results having rich or entity types snippets, whereas keywords resulting with snippets are not commercial nature. We found that significant number of snippets are scholarly articles and rich cards carousel. We conclude our findings with conclusion and research limitations.Comment: 12 pages, 3 table

The increasing burden of asthma in South African children: A call to action

Background. Asthma is a heterogeneous condition characterised by chronic inflammation and variable expiratory airflow limitation, as well as airway reversibility. The burden of asthma in children is increasing in low- and middle-income countries and remains under-recognised and poorly managed.Objectives. To quantify the burden of asthma in the South African (SA) population and identify the risk factors associated with disease severity in the local context.Methods. The SA Childhood Asthma Working Group (SACAWG) convened in January 2017 with task groups, each headed by a section leader, constituting the editorial committee on assessment of asthma epidemiology, diagnosis, control, treatments, novel treatments and self-management plans. The epidemiology task group reviewed the available scientific literature and assigned evidence according to the Grades of Recommendation Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system.Conclusions. Asthma in children remains a common condition, which has shown an increasing prevalence in urban and rural populations of SA. Of concern is that almost half of children in urban communities experience severe asthma symptoms, and many asthmatics lack a formal diagnosis and thus access to treatment. Exposure to tobacco smoke and living in highly polluted areas increase the severity of wheezing in young children

SOCNET 2018 - Proceedings of the “Second International Workshop on Modeling, Analysis, and Management of Social Networks and Their Applications”

Modeling, analysis, control, and management of complex social networks represent an important area of interdisciplinary research in an advanced digitalized world. In the last decade social networks have produced significant online applications which are running on top of a modern Internet infrastructure and have been identified as major driver of the fast growing Internet traffic. The "Second International Workshop on Modeling, Analysis and Management of Social Networks and Their Applications" (SOCNET 2018) held at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany, on February 28, 2018, has covered related research issues of social networks in modern information society. The Proceedings of SOCNET 2018 highlight the topics of a tutorial on "Network Analysis in Python" complementing the workshop program, present an invited talk "From the Age of Emperors to the Age of Empathy", and summarize the contributions of eight reviewed papers. The covered topics ranged from theoretical oriented studies focusing on the structural inference of topic networks, the modeling of group dynamics, and the analysis of emergency response networks to the application areas of social networks such as social media used in organizations or social network applications and their impact on modern information society. The Proceedings of SOCNET 2018 may stimulate the readers' future research on monitoring, modeling, and analysis of social networks and encourage their development efforts regarding social network applications of the next generation.Die Modellierung, Analyse, Steuerung und das Management komplexer sozialer Netzwerke repräsentiert einen bedeutsamen Bereich interdisziplinärer Forschung in einer modernen digitalisierten Welt. Im letzten Jahrzehnt haben soziale Netzwerke wichtige Online Anwendungen hervorgebracht, die auf einer modernen Internet-Infrastruktur ablaufen und als eine Hauptquelle des rasant anwachsenden Internetverkehrs identifiziert wurden. Der zweite internationale Workshop "Modeling, Analysis and Management of Social Networks and Their Applications" (SOCNET 2018) wurde am 28. Februar 2018 an der Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg abgehalten und stellte Forschungsergebnisse zu sozialen Netzwerken in einer modernen Informationsgesellschaft vor. Die SOCNET 2018 Proceedings stellen die Themen eines Tutoriums "Network Analysis in Python" heraus, präsentieren einen eingeladenen Beitrag "From the Age of Emperors to the Age of Empathy" und fassen die Ergebnisse von acht begutachteten wissenschaftlichen Beiträgen zusammen. Die abgedeckten Themen reichen von theoretisch ausgerichteten Studien zur Strukturanalyse thematischer Netzwerke, der Modellierung von Gruppendynamik sowie der Netzwerkanalyse von Rettungseinsätzen bis zu den Anwendungsbereichen sozialer Netzwerke, z.B. der Nutzung sozialer Medien in Organisationen sowie der Wirkungsanalyse sozialer Netzwerkanwendungen in modernen Informationsgesellschaften. Die SOCNET 2018 Proceedings sollen die Leser zu neuen Forschungen im Bereich der Messung, Modellierung und Analyse sozialer Netzwerke anregen und sie zur Entwicklung neuer sozialer Netzwerkapplikationen der nächsten Generation auffordern