Early Science Experiences of Northern Sotho-Speaking South African Pupils and Their Attitude towards Science

1998 ◽  
Vol 83 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1238-1238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lily Cherian ◽  
V. I. Cherian
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Pearson Product Moment Correlation ◽  
Northern Sotho ◽  
Attitudes Towards Science ◽  
Science Experience

A questionnaire was administered to 793 randomly chosen Standard ten Northern Sotho-speaking pupils whose ages ranged from 17 to 24 years. Pearson product-moment correlation of .7 suggested the association of early science experience with scores on attitudes towards science.

Attitudes towards Science of South African Northern Sotho-Speaking Pupils

2002 ◽  
Vol 91 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-130
Author(s):  
Lily Cherian
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Northern Sotho ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Attitudes Towards Science

A face valid set of 22 highly intercorrelated items was developed to investigate the attitudes towards science of 793 Grade 12 pupils (age ranging from 17 to 24+ years) in Lebowa, South Africa. Analysis indicated the attitudes of these students towards science were neutral and hardly enthusiastic, which would encompass negative, neutral, and positive attitudes.

scholarly journals Mirror symmetry of higher order aberrations between right and left eyes

2014 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Oberholzer ◽  
W.D.H. Gillan ◽  
A. Rubin
Keyword(s):  
Wave Front ◽  
South African ◽  
Visual Function ◽  
Mirror Symmetry ◽  
Correlation Coefficients ◽  
Higher Order ◽  
Pearson Product Moment Correlation ◽  
Scatter Plots ◽  
The Right ◽  
High Order Aberrations

Introduction: There is evidence that certain measures of visual function show some type of relationship between right and left eyes in the same individual.  Similarly, particular ocular maladies may be related, or be symmetric, in the right and left eyes of the same person. There is also evidence to suggest that certain relationships do not exist between eyes in an individual. For example, diseases such as glaucoma are often asymmetric in their progression in the two eyes of an afflicted individual. Inter-ocular mirror symmetry between right and left eyes, when considering ocular wave-front aberrations (WAs), has been shown to exist by some authors. This study investigates whether mirror symmetry of high order aberrations (HOAs) exists between the right and left eyes in a cohort of South African subjects. Method: Third to 5th order Zernike coefficients (HOAs) were measured on both eyes of 66 subjects (132 eyes) using a Zywave aberrometer. A total of 15 Zernike coefficients for each eye were obtained. Mirror symmetry was investigated using correlation coefficients between the various measurements obtained from each eye. Results: Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients provide evidence that the majority of the 15 Zernike coefficients suggest the presence of mirror symmetry between right and left eyes of the 66 subjects. Examples of individual scatter plots comparing right and left eyes are presented.  Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that mirror symmetry exists in the HOAs obtained from the 132 eyes measured and thus care should be exercised when combining eyes of individuals for analysis. (S Afr Optom 2013 73(1) 39-44)

scholarly journals On the development of a tagset for Northern Sotho with special reference to the issue of standardisation

Literator ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Taljard ◽  
G. Faaß ◽  
U. Heid ◽  
D.J. Prinsloo
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Morphological Analysis ◽  
Corpus Annotation ◽  
Bantu Languages ◽  
Electronic Texts ◽  
Northern Sotho ◽  
Automatic Tagging ◽  
Near Future ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Machine Readability

Working with corpora in the South African Bantu languages has up till now been limited to the utilisation of raw corpora. Such corpora, however, have limited functionality. Thus the next logical step in any NLP application is the development of software for automatic tagging of electronic texts. The development of a tagset is one of the first steps in corpus annotation. The authors of this article argue that the design of a tagset cannot be isolated from the purpose of the tagset, or from the place of the tagset and its design within the bigger picture of the architecture of corpus annotation. Usage-related aspects therefore feature prominently in the design of the tagset for Northern Sotho. It is explained why this proposed tagset is biased towards human readability, rather than machine readability; this choice of a stochastic tagger is motivated, and the relationship between tokenising, tagging, morphological analysis and parsing is discussed. In order to account at least to some extent for the morphological complexity of Northern Sotho at the tagging level, a multilevel annotation is opted for: the first level comprising obligatory information and the second optional and recommended information. Finally, aspects of standardisation are considered against the background of reuse, of sharing of resources, and of possible adaptation for use by other disjunctively written South African Bantu languages. It is not the aim of this article to evaluate the results of any tagging procedure using the proposed tagset. It only describes the design and motivates the choices made with regard to the tagset design. However, an evaluation is in process and results will be published in the near future (cf. Faaß et al., s.a.).

scholarly journals Identifying phonological processing deficits in Northern Sotho-speaking children: The use of non-word repetition as a language assessment tool in the South African context

2016 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carien Wilsenach
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Phonological Processing ◽  
Language Assessment ◽  
South African Context ◽  
African Languages ◽  
Word Repetition ◽  
Northern Sotho ◽  
Language Tests ◽  
African Context

Diagnostic testing of speech/language skills in the African languages spoken in South Africa is a challenging task, as standardised language tests in the official languages of South Africa barely exist. Commercially available language tests are in English, and have been standardised in other parts of the world. Such tests are often translated into African languages, a practice that speech language therapists deem linguistically and culturally inappropriate. In response to the need for developing clinical language assessment instruments that could be used in South Africa, this article reports on data collected with a Northern Sotho non-word repetition task (NRT). Non-word repetition measures various aspects of phonological processing, including phonological working memory (PWM), and is used widely by speech language therapists, linguists, and educational psychologists in the Western world. The design of a novel Northern Sotho NRT is described, and it is argued that the task could be used successfully in the South African context to discriminate between children with weak and strong Northern Sotho phonological processing ability, regardless of the language of learning and teaching. The NRT was piloted with 120 third graders, and showed moderate to strong correlations with other measures of PWM, such as digit span and English non-word repetition. Furthermore, the task was positively associated with both word and fluent reading in Northern Sotho, and it reliably predicted reading outcomes in the tested population. Suggestions are made for improving the current version of the Northern Sotho NRT, whereafter it should be suitable to test learners from various age groups.

scholarly journals Tamed identities? Glimpsing her identity in Proverbs 10:1–22:16 and selected African proverbs

2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Madipoane Masenya
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Main Question ◽  
South African Context ◽  
The South ◽  
Global Village ◽  
Cultural Contexts ◽  
Northern Sotho ◽  
Ideal Womanhood ◽  
African Context ◽  
Images Of Women

Notions about worthy womanhood are shaped to a large extent by the cultural contexts in which they are constructed. In the global village though, shaped as it is mainly by Eurocentric cultures, it would be presumptuous to assume that one can with certainty pinpoint what may be termed ‘purely traditional African notions of womanhood’. Also, it will be an exaggeration to argue that Africa does not have its own notions on ideal womanhood. Particularly in Christian African contexts, notions about womanhood are still shaped to a large extent by both the traditional African worldviews and the received biblical interpretations about womanhood. In the preceding scenario, one wonders if women’s identities reveal their real selves or whether they are tamed, and thus artificial. In one’s attempt to unravel notions of womanhood from both the corpus, Proverbs 10:1–22:16 and in the South African context (cf. selected African proverbs), this article has sought to answer the following main question: if images of women in selected African (Northern Sotho) proverbs (cf. also selected South African narratives) and in the book of Proverbs (cf. Pr 10:1–22:16) are brought together, what kind of picture may emerge from such a comparison?

scholarly journals Die verband tussen die sielkundige kontrak en organisasieverbondenheid

1999 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
K. J. Stanz ◽  
J. A. Slabbert ◽  
J. M. Schepers
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Psychological Contract ◽  
South African Context ◽  
Measuring Instrument ◽  
Organisational Commitment ◽  
Pearson Product Moment Correlation ◽  
Population Groups ◽  
African Context ◽  
The Military ◽  
The Relationship

The relationship between the psychological contract and organisational commitment. The aim of this study is to design a measuring instrument with acceptable metric characteristics for the strength of the psychological contract within the South African context, and to determine empirically the relation between the strength of the psychological contract and organisational commitment. The Dhammanungune Model served as foundation for the design of the Strength of the Psychological Contract Questionnaire which consists of two scales namely, a needs expectation scale and a needs fulfilment expectation scale. The items of each scale have been formulated in the manner that ensures that the respondent reacts consecutively to two instructions namely, (a) the level of the expectation and (b) the importance of the expectation. This questionnaire was administered together with the Organisational Commitment Questionnaire to two population groups within the military environment. The Pearson Product Moment Correlation was calculated between the strength of the psychological contract and organisational commitment and the significance of the correlations was evaluated. Opsomming Die doel van die studie is om 'n meetinstrument met aanvaarbare metriese eienskappe vir die sterkte van die sielkundige kontrak vir Suid-Afrikaanse omstandighede te ontwerp en om empirics die verband tussen die sterkte van die sielkundige kontrak en organisasieverbondenheid te bepaal. Die sterkte van die sielkundige kontrak vraelys is op grond van die Dhammanungune-model ontwerp en het uit twee skale naamlik, die behoefteverwagting- en vervullingsverwagtingskale bestaan. Items vir eike skaal is sodanig geformuleer dat die respondent agteropeenvolgens op twee instruksies naamlik (a) die vlak van die verwagting en (b) die belangrikheid van die verwagting moet reageer. Die vraelys is saam met die organisasieverbondenheidsvraelys op twee populasies uit 'n militere omgewing toegepas. Die Pearson- produkmomentkorrelasie tussen die sterkte van die sielkundige kontrak en organisasieverbondenheid is bereken en die betekenisvolheid van die korrelasies is geevalueer

Vernacular Text-Books in South African Native Schools

Africa ◽  
1935 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clement M. Doke
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
West Africa ◽  
East Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Literary Language ◽  
South West ◽  
Northern Sotho ◽  
South West Africa ◽  
Opening Paragraph

Opening ParagraphIn this survey of vernacular text-books I am confining my attention to the Union of South Africa and the three High Commission Territories of Basutoland, Bechuanaland, and Swaziland. In this area we have five important literary language forms in use, viz. Xhosa and Zulu (belonging to the Nguni cluster of Bantu), and Southern Sotho, Tšwana, and Northern Sotho (belonging to the Sotho cluster). Reference will be made to two other languages spoken in the northern and eastern Transvaal, Venda and Tonga (commonly written as Thonga, and belonging to the cluster of languages spoken in Portuguese East Africa from Delagoa Bay northwards). I do not intend to deal with the languages spoken in the Mandated Territory of South-west Africa, nor with such intrusions as that of Kalanga into the Bechuanaland Protectorate.

scholarly journals The onomastic possibility of renaming the Sepedi and Sesotho sa Leboa (Northern Sotho) language names to restore peace, dignity and solidarity

Literator ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tebogo J. Rakgogo ◽  
Evangeline B. Zungu
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
First Language ◽  
Official Language ◽  
African Language ◽  
Northern Sotho ◽  
University Of Technology ◽  
Arts And Culture ◽  
Speakers Of Other Languages ◽  
Quota Sampling ◽  
Africa University

The study embraced the onomastic possibility of renaming the Sepedi and Sesotho sa Leboa (Northern Sotho) language names that have caused and are still causing onomastic confusion to the first language (L1) speakers of the language under scrutiny, and also to the speakers of other languages. The study was conducted in 2019 at five selected South African universities – University of Johannesburg, University of South Africa, University of Limpopo, University of Venda and Tshwane University of Technology – which offered the language under investigation as an L1 module. In addition, language experts (practitioners) at the Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB) and its sub-structures and the National Department of Arts and Culture, including Limpopo and Gauteng Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation, were also involved in the study. Quota sampling was used to select all the 267 participants in the study. The study found that both Sepedi and Sesotho sa Leboa (Northern Sotho) language names are rejected by onomastic principles of naming an official language. An overwhelming majority of the participants opined that this language should be renamed, with the anticipation that the new name will bring peace, unity and solidarity to the L1 speakers of Sepedi.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document