Hasil untuk "African languages and literature"

Oyewumi Olatoye Agunbiade

This study re-examines the concept of postcolonial disillusionment in African literature. The selected texts are examined in relation to the ideology of post-independence disillusionment in African literature, which posits that leadership failure is the primary problem of Africa. The current study departs from such a stance as it investigates the idealized people in Femi Osofisan’s drama through a critical survey of Osofisan’s selected plays from a postcolonial theoretical angle that has reconceptualized disillusionment. The study reveals Osofisan as an avant-garde dramatist who remains impartial in his critique of both rulers and the ruled. Achille Mbembe’s model of postcolonial literary theory is adopted as a framework, while the socio-artistic approach is employed to explore Osofisan’s re-conception of disillusionment. The revelations exemplify market-women, businessmen, usurers, and kidnappers as complicit in postcolonial disillusionment. Accessibility Summary: In accordance with Title II regulations this content meets all points of exemption as Archived web content and/or Preexisting conventional electronic documents.

Madoda Cekiso, Naomi Boakye, Florence Olifant

Many studies have been conducted on the important role played by English reading literacy in the South African context and in many higher education institutions around the world. These studies come to the consensus that reading is considered the most important academic skill in any academic context, especially in institutions of higher education. However, because of a range of factors, many students lack the required level of reading proficiency. One important dimension of reading development often overlooked in research is the reading practices that students engage in. The current study, therefore, examines university students’ reading practices in the language of instruction, as well as the factors underlying these practices. The study was qualitative in nature and a case study design was followed. A questionnaire with open-ended questions was used to collect data from 65 respondents purposively selected. Content analysis was used to analyse students’ responses regarding their reading practices in English. The results showed that students did not read widely or extensively. They only read the books that were required of them to do better on assignments and tests. Additionally, the students’ reading preferences were influenced by the accessibility of social media and websites on the Internet. Students reported reading more posts on social media and websites than printed books. Contribution: This study found that a module’s recommended reading list significantly influenced students’ reading frequency and the time they spent on reading. In other words, the prescribed materials for the module affected both the selection of sources and the amount of time students devoted to reading them.

Ewa Macura-Nnamdi, Magdalena Malinowska

Liziwe Fesi, Vusumzi Mncube

The study reported on here was designed to investigate the challenges faced by teachers when teaching reading in Grade 4 English First Additional Language (EFAL) in East London, South Africa. This research study was framed by the socio-constructivist theory of reading. A case study design that corresponds with the constructivist paradigm was used to gather qualitative data. Semi-structured interviews and observations were conducted with 12 teachers who were purposively selected from 4 public schools (2 English teachers from each school and 1 natural sciences teacher) to establish the challenges that they encountered in their attempts to encourage Grade 4 EFAL learners to gain proficiency in English. Data presented were taken from a large scale on English reading problems. The data were analyzed using Critical Discourse Analysis and were arranged and coded into 5 themes. The major findings refer to the poor level of reading of Grade 4 EFAL learners, a decrease in teacher and learner motivation, overcrowded classrooms and inadequate training on reading strategies. Based on the findings of the study and an extensive literature review, the Comprehensive Model for teaching reading is recommended.

Mackenzie Finley

With Nigerian novelist Amos Tutuola as primary subject, this paper at[1]tempts to understand the construction of sociocultural identities in Nigeria in the wake of independence. Despite the international success of his literary publications, Tutuola was denied access to the most intimate discourses on the development of African literature by his Nigerian elite contemporaries, who emerged from University College, Ibadan, in the 1950s and early 1960s. Having completed only a few years of colonial schooling, Tutuola was differentiated from his elite literary contemporaries in terms of education. Yet if education represented a rather concrete, institutionalized divide between the elite and the everyday Nigerian, this paper will suggest that the resulting epistemological difference served as a more fluid, ideological divide. Both Western epistemology, rooted in Western academic spaces, and African epistemology, preserved from African traditions like proverbs and storytelling, informed the elite and Tutuola’s worldviews. The varying degrees to which one epistemology was privileged over the other reinforced the boundary between Tutuola and the elite. Furthermore, educational experiences and sociocultural identities informed the ways in which independent Nigeria was envisioned by both Tutuola and the elite writers. While the elites’ discourse on independence reflected their proximity to Nigeria’s political elite, Tutuola positioned himself as a distinctly Yoruba writer in the new Nigeria. He envisioned a state in which traditional knowledge remained central to the African identity. Ultimately, his life and work attest to the endurance of indigenous epistemology through years of European colonialism and into independence. 148 Mackenzie Finley During a lecture series at the University of Palermo, Italy, Nigerian novelist Amos Tutuola presented himself, his work, and his Yoruba heritage to an audience of Italian students and professors of English and Anglophone literatures. During his first lecture, the Yoruba elder asked his audience, “Why are we people afraid to go to the burial ground at night?” An audience member ventured a guess: “Perhaps we are afraid to know what we cannot know.” Tutuola replied, “But, you remember, we Africans believe that death is not the end of life. We know that when one dies, that is not the end of his life [. . .] So why are all people afraid to go to the burial ground at night? They’re afraid to meet the ghosts from the dead” (emphasis in original).1 Amos Tutuola (1920–1997) was recognized globally for his perpetuation of Yoruba folklore tradition via novels and short stories written in unconventional English. His works, especially The Palm-Wine Drinkard (1952) and My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (1954), were translated into numerous European languages, including Italian. Given the chance to speak directly with an Italian audience at Palermo, Tutuola elaborated on the elements of Yoruba culture that saturated his fiction. His lectures reflected the same sense of purpose that drove his writing. Tutuola explained, “As much as I could [in my novels], I tried my best to bring out for the people to see the secrets of my tribe—I mean, the Yoruba people—and of Nigerian people, and African people as a whole. I’m trying my best to bring out our traditional things for the people to know a little about us, about our beliefs, our character, and so on.”2 Tutuola’s didactics during the lecture at Palermo reflect his distinct intellectual and cultural commitment to a Yoruba cosmology, one that was not so much learned in his short years of schooling in the colonial education system as it was absorbed from his life of engagement with Yoruba oral tradition. With Tutuola as primary subject, this paper attempts to understand the construction of sociocultural identities in Nigeria in the wake of independence. The educated elite writers, such as Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe, who emerged from University College, Ibadan, during the same time period, will serve as a point of comparison. On October 1, 1960, when Nigeria gained independence from Britain, Tutuola occupied an unusual place relative to the university-educated elite, the semi-literate “average man,” the international 1 Alassandra di Maio, Tutuola at the University: The Italian Voice of a Yoruba Ancestor, with an Interview with the Author and an Afterword by Claudio Gorlier (Rome: Bulzoni, 2000), 38. The lecture’s transcriber utilized graphic devices (italicized and bolded words, brackets denoting pauses and movements) to preserve the dynamic oral experience of the lecture. However, so that the dialogue reads more easily in the context of this paper, I have removed the graphic devices but maintained what the transcriber presented as Tutuola’s emphasized words, simply italicizing what was originally in bold. 2 Di Maio, Tutuola at the University, 148. Constructing Identities 149 stage of literary criticism, and the emerging field of African literature. This position helped shape his sense of identity. Despite the success of his literary publications, Tutuola was not allowed to participate in the most intimate dis[1]courses on the development of African literature by his elite contemporaries. In addition to his lack of access to higher education, Tutuola was differentiated from his elite literary contemporaries on epistemological grounds. If education represented a rather concrete, institutionalized divide between the elite and the everyday Nigerian, an epistemological difference served as a more fluid, ideological divide. Both Western epistemology, rooted in Western academic spaces, and African epistemology, preserved from African traditions like proverbs and storytelling, informed the elite and Tutuola’s worldviews. The varying degrees to which one epistemology was privileged over the other reinforced the boundary between the elite and Tutuola. This paper draws largely on correspondence, conference reports, and the personal papers of Tutuola and his elite contemporaries housed at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin, as well as on interviews transcribed by the Transcription Centre in London, the periodical Africa Report (1960–1970), and Robert M. Wren and Claudio Gorlier, concentrating on primary sources produced during the years immediately prior to and shortly after Nigerian independence in 1960. Tutuola’s ideas generally did not fit into the sociocultural objectives of his elite counterparts. Though they would come in contact with one another via the world of English-language literature, Tutuola usually remained absent from or relegated to the margins of elite discussions on African creative writing. Accordingly, the historical record has less to say about his intellectual ruminations than about those of his elite contemporaries. Nonetheless, his hand-written drafts, interviews, and correspondences with European agents offer a glimpse at the epistemology and sense of identity of an “average” Nigerian in the aftermath of colonialism and independence.

B. Verboom, Aron Baumann

Background: The use of research evidence in health policy-making is a popular line of inquiry for scholars of public health and policy studies, with qualitative methods constituting the dominant strategy in this area. Research on this subject has been criticized for, among other things, disproportionately focusing on high-income countries; overemphasizing ‘barriers and facilitators’ related to evidence use to the neglect of other, less descriptive concerns; relying on descriptive, rather than in-depth explanatory designs; and failing to draw on insights from political/policy studies theories and concepts. We aimed to comprehensively map the global, peer-reviewed qualitative literature on the use of research evidence in health policy-making and to provide a descriptive overview of the geographic, temporal, methodological, and theoretical characteristics of this body of literature. Methods: We conducted a systematic review following PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines. We searched nine electronic databases, hand-searched 11 health- and policy-related journals, and systematically scanned the reference lists of included studies and previous reviews. No language, date or geographic limitations were imposed. Results: The review identified 319 qualitative studies on a diverse array of topics related to the use of evidence in health policy-making, spanning 72 countries and published over a nearly 40 year period. A majority of these studies were conducted in high-income countries, but a growing proportion of the research output in this area is now coming from low- and middle-income countries, especially from sub-Saharan Africa. While over half of all studies did not use an identifiable theory or framework, and only one fifth of studies used a theory or conceptual framework drawn from policy studies or political science, we found some evidence that theory-driven and explanatory (eg, comparative case study) designs are becoming more common in this literature. Investigations of the barriers and facilitators related to evidence use constitute a large proportion but by no means a majority of the work in this area. Conclusion: This review provides a bird’s eye mapping of the peer reviewed qualitative research on evidence-to-policy processes, and has identified key features of – and gaps within – this body of literature that will hopefully inform, and improve, research in this area moving forward.

Abdulhakeem Zubair

الدراسة المقارنة هي فن من فنون الأدب التي تعزز تلاقي الأفكار والمعرفة والثقافة. ولقد تلقى هذا النوع من الدراسة عناية فائقة لدى الدارسين في اللغة العربية والإنجليزية في العصر الحديث. ومع ذلك، كانت مقارنة العمل الأدبي العربي بالعمل الأدبي الإنجليزي نادرًا جدًا في مجال الدراسات العربية في نيجيريا. لذلك ركّزتُ هذه الورقة على استنباط ودراسة أوجه الاختلاف بين كتابي «الأيام» لطه حسين و«أكى سنوات الطفولة»لـ Wole Soyinka (وولي شوينكا). ومن أهدافها أن تقوم بمقارنة وتباين مضامين العملين الأدبيْين، وتحليل الجانب الفني والسردي في الكتابين المقارنين وتوضيح بعض سلوك الطفولة على الرغم من خلفية منطقتيهما وأيديولوجيتيهما ودينيهما المختلفين؛ واعتمدت الدراسة على منهجين أساسي ينهما المنهج التاريخي والمنهج التحليلي؛ أما المنهج التاريخي فيتناول نبذة يسيرة عن حياة كل من الأديبين من خلال الدراسة. والمنهج التحليلي عبارة عن دراسة السيرتين الذاتيتين للأديبين، وتمّ تحليلهما على المعايير الأدبية والفنية. وفي الختام أثبت هذا البحث أنّ السيرتين تعكسان حياة الطفولة للکاتبين مع الاختلاف في البيئة والثقافة، وكلا العملين يتفق مع المعايير الفنية والقواعد اللغوية الموضوعة في كلتي اللغتين مع اختلافهما في أسلوب الكتابة. وأوصت الدراسة أنتترجم أعمال وولي شوينكا إلى اللغة العربية وأعمال طه حسين إلى الإنجليزية كما تحثّ الباحثين أن يركّزوا عنايتهم على تجارب الطفولة في أعمال الأدباء الأفارقة رغم اختلاف بيئاتهم وثقافاتهم؛ لاستنباط الفوائد والمعلومات من تلاقي الأفكار والمعارف.   Comparative study is an art of literature promoting the convergence of ideas, knowledge and culture. This type of study has received great concern among students of Arabic and English in the modern era. However, the comparison between Arabic and English literary work is very rare in the field of Arabic studies in Nigeria. Therefore, this paper focuses on the differences between the books, “Al-Ayyam” by Taha Hussein and “Ake Years of Childhood” by Wole Soyinka. Its objectives were to compare and contrast the contents of the two literary works, to analyze the artistic and narrative side of them, and to clarify some childhood behaviours despite their different backgrounds in their regions, ideologies and religions. This study relied on two basic approaches, the historical and analytical methods. The historical method deals with a simple overview of the lives of both writers. The analytical method includes studying the writers’ biographies analyzed based on literary and artistic criteria. In conclusion, the findings show that the two biographies reflect the writers’ childhood with the difference in the environment and culture. Besides, both works are consistent with the technical standards and the linguistic rules established in both languages with their differences in writing style. The study recommended that Soyinka’s work is translated into Arabic and Hussein’s work into English. Researchers should focus more on the works of African writers despite their different environment and cultures to derive benefits and information from the convergence of ideas and knowledge.

Martina Vitackova

No abstract avaliable.

Marike van der Watt

L. Windsor, Nia Dowell, Alistair Windsor et al.

Leah Hobert, E. Binello

Niyi Akingbe

Wole Soyinka’s A Shuttle in the Crypt is a distillation of deep-seated anger against what he perceived as his “unjustified confinement” of twenty-five months by the administration of General Yakubu Gowon during the Nigerian Civil War between 1967 and 1970. Nigeria’s haunting, turbulent political history is approached from ostensibly mediation of fact and fiction rendered in poetry. Poems in this collection exteriorize Soyinka’s mind as it shuttles back and forth from life to death, fuelled by the fear of palpable death, and the knowledge that his fellow prisoners were dying slowly, unheeded by the prison authority. A Shuttle in the Crypt dwells on notions, conceptions, symbolic actions and relations lifted clean from their social, historical and literary contexts which are fused into an ideal worldview whose coherence is purely conceptual. This essay evaluates the intersection of history, literature and society, to examine the façade of nationhood as orchestrated by the political upheaval and internecine conflict, essentially moderated by the pulsation of Soyinka’s mind while in solitary confinement. It further examines the poetics of A Shuttle in the Crypt, as it underscores suspended fear of expression and the need to give expression to an ever greater pressure of grim experience in Nigeria’s chequered political trajectory.

K. Draper, N. Spaull

The ability to read for meaning and pleasure is arguably the most important skill children learn in primary school. One integral component of learning to read is Oral Reading Fluency (ORF), defined as the ability to read text quickly, accurately, and with meaningful expression. Although widely acknowledged in the literature as important, to date there have been no large-scale studies on ORF in English in South Africa, despite this being the language of learning and teaching for 90% of students from Grade 4 onwards. As part of the National Education and Evaluation Development Unit (NEEDU) of South Africa, we collected and here analyze data on 4667 grade 5 English Second Language (ESL) students from 214 schools across rural areas in South Africa. This included ORF and comprehension measures for a subset of 1772 students. We find that 41% of the sample were non-readers in English (

K. Boone, Tara L. Victor, J. Wen et al.

D. Early, K. Widaman, D. Harvey et al.

Amanda Lourens

Bestaande riglyne oor die redigering van akademiese tekste (bv. dié van die US Taaldiens; internasionaal ook dié van die Institute of Professional Editors [IPEd]; die Editors’ Association of Canada [EAC]; en die Council of Australian Societies of Editors [CASE]) beklemtoon dat redigeerders nie aan die inhoud en struktuur van hierdie soort tekste behoort te verander nie. Dit is egter in die praktyk nie altyd duidelik presies hoe redigeerders probleme ten opsigte van inhoud en struktuur moet hanteer nie. Hierdie studie het ten doel om riglyne te verskaf vir redigeerders van akademiese tekste wat ’n prosesbenadering volg. Die redigering van agt akademiese artikels word ondersoek, met spesifieke verwysing na die hantering van opmerkings (comments) as ’n strategie om die outeur te bemagtig om self inhoudelike en strukturele veranderinge aan te bring. Opmerkings deur die redigeerders van hierdie artikels word beskryf, geïnterpreteer en geëvalueer, met die oogmerk om uiteindelik riglyne te gee vir ’n verantwoordbare redigeerstrategie.

A. Oti, O. Ayeni

Lawal AbdulRazzaq Oluwagbemiga, A. Oluwole, A. A. Kayode

With the discovery of the BRCA1 gene and other genetic mutations associated with breast cancer, it has been established that hereditary mutations account for up to 5% of patients presenting with breast cancer.We performed a systematic review of English Language Literature to determine the role of BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations in African breast cancer patients. PUBMED and AJOL database were searched for publications addressing Breast Cancer and BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. PUBMED was searched using the following words in various combinations; ‘Breast Cancer’, ‘BRCA1’, ‘BRCA2’, ‘BRCA’, ‘Genes’, ‘Cancer Genes’, and ‘Africa’.16 studies fulfilled the study criteria up till December 2011. The studies were from North Africa (NA) and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).A total of 9 studies were found evaluating 752 (352 repeated Zhang J (2010)) patients from SSA. Three studies (144 patients) evaluated all the coding regions of both BRCA1 and BRCA2 while 2 studies (571 patients) evaluated part(s) of BRCA1 and one (20 Patients) evaluated part(s) of BRCA2, one re-evaluated the whole of the BRCA1 gene in a previous sub-set of patients, while one (16 patients) evaluated parts of both BRCA1 and BRCA2.In North Africa, 6 studies evaluated 374 patients, with 4 studies (219 patients) evaluating the whole of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes while two (155 patients) studies evaluated only parts of both BRCA1 and BRCA2, with one of the studies evaluating the whole of the BRCA1 gene in a subset (24 patients).Due to this paucity of well powered population based studies evaluating the influence of BRCA genetic mutations in breast cancer patients in Africa, there is a need to perform well powered studies and population screening to determine the impact of germ line mutations in the Breast Cancer patient in Africa before any categorical statements can be made with respect to their BRCA status.

N. Vercuil

Geen abstrak beskikbaar.

N. Feza-Piyose

Mathematics education in South Africa is in crisis. Students continue to perform at a lower level compared to other nations including those with low GPD compared to them. Two factors have been highlighted in research that impedes mathematics learning: teacher content knowledge and irrelevant teaching strategies. This study contributes to this literature by investigating five African (from a former White school) fifth grade students’ learning of length measurement with the aim of eliciting the students’ thinking levels by using a length learning trajectory. Clinical interviews and teaching experiments were employed for a comprehensive description of these students’ processes. The findings reveal that students’ mother tongue is a psychological tool that enriches their mathematics learning process, learning trajectory assisted in analysing students developmental processes with language and poor number development impeded abstraction in learning of length measurement concepts.