University Botswana Journals
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A STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF THE ANTHEMS OF FIVE NIGERIAN UNIVERSITIES
Get PDFIn this paper, I examine, using foregrounding as a stylistic framework, the functions of phonological and lexical repetition, and graphological deviation in the anthems of five first-, second-, third-, fourth-, and fifth-generation universities owned by the Nigerian federal government. The written text of the anthems of the sampled universities, which were obtained largely from the websites and documents owned by the universities, were content and language analysed. The results indicate the use of lexical repetition, phonological repetition, punctuation and capitalisation to portray the universities as centres of knowledge and excellence. The results also indicate that students and staff of these institutions love and take pride in them
Mary Lederer, In Conversation with Bessie Head
Get PDFVery few writers are able to infuse an academic piece of writing with the right balance of emotion andobjective content. Mary Lederer is one such writer. Her latest engagement with Bessie Head is both apersonal journey with an iconic writer and an insightful work about an individual who still intrigues usmore than thirty years after her death
Gaongalelwe Tiro, Parcel of Death: The Biography of Onkgopotse Abram Tiro
Get PDFThe story of Onkgopotse Abram Tiro is one of the most melancholic and tragic stories in the historyof South Africa’s struggle for liberation. Although Tiro knew that ‘No struggle can come to an endwithout casualties. It is only through determination, absolute commitment and self-assertion that we shallovercome’, he didn’t deserve to die the way he did. Nobody, especially a twenty eight year old person,should die the way Tiro died; and when the ‘new’ African National Congress (ANC) government in SouthAfrica as well as the government of Botswana, where Tiro was assassinated, are supposed to reveal whatthey know about his assassination refuse to cooperate
The “#Resurrectionchallenge”: Unpacking religious jokes on social media
Get PDFWhile studies on political jokes and other forms of humour exist, very scanty literature exists on how content put on social media by or on behalf of pastors particularly in Southern Africa, constitute content for the creation of jokes which trend on various social media platforms. An example of this is the #resurrectionchallenge which started trending on social media on the 24th of February 2019 after Pastor Alph Lukau of Alleluia Ministries International allegedly raised a man from the dead. #Resurrectionchallenge itself not only points to questioning the authenticity of these pastors but also highlights how the production of the viral jokes emanating from the Pastor Lukau content speaks to a deviation from the established conventions where words by pastors are revered. Now social media users are using various artefacts in the form of videos and adding comical value to them by replicating these acts carried out by pastors such as the #resurrectionchallenge. The foundation of what is being used in order to create this comic relief online is from a religious perspective and this leads to the question of whether religion itself might now be perceived as a joke, especially in Christianity. Consequently, social media platforms provide spaces for such challenges to be performed as a mockery of the pastors performing such miracles. Focusing on videos shared on Facebook using the #resurrectionchallenge this study uses multimodal discourse analysis to shed light on the phenomenon of image creation as a communication practice
Criminalization of HIV Transmission in Africa: Ubuntu/Botho Perspective
Get PDFThis paper evaluates two reasons often given for the criminalization of HIV and AIDS. The first justification is that criminalizing HIV exposure and transmission will act as a deterrent to both HIV positive and negative people. The second is that people who expose others to the risk of HIV infection ought to be punished because their actions are morally wrong. In response, the paper argues that these reasons fail to support the criminalization of HIV and AIDS transmission. In the end, the paper appeals to the African ethic of Ubuntu/Botho, to show that criminalization of HIV and AIDS fails to promote public health and respect for human persons especially those living with HIV and AIDS.  
A MODEL FOR INTRODUCING MARGINALIZED INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES IN THE BOTSWANA EDUCATION SYSTEM
Get PDFThe Botswana education system does not accommodate other languages found in the country. While in colonial Bechuanaland Kalanga, Lozi, Nama and Ndebele were taught at lower primary, post-independence Botswana abolished these and the other indigenous languages spoken in the country. This has been done through an exclusive language use policy where only Setswana and English feature in the school system and in public communication domains. This has also resulted in the exclusive hegemony of the English language which dominates in Education. The Setswana language, despite its national status, remains incapacitated in the high language use domains such as in science and technology. The bilingual English and Setswana approach to language use neglects the fact that Botswana is a multilingual country consisting of about 30 minority languages, inclusive of sign language. The exclusion of minority languages in all domains has led to their marginalization, and their speakers assimilating Setswana. In this paper, we argue for multilingualism in education and other official domains. The article maintains that marginalized languages should be regarded as a resource and should be assigned official roles especially in education to ensure their existence in future. It also proposes a language use plan that would provide a framework for capacitating marginalized languages.
 
FACTORS AFFECTING THE INTEGRATION OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY IN TEACHING AND LEARNING IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN BOTSWANA
Get PDFBotswana Education and Training Strategic Sector Plan outlines government intentions to integrate Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in school management, teaching and learning to help the country become a globally competitive knowledge and information society. However, research has established that integration of Information and Communication Technologies in teaching and learning is wrought with challenges. To date, no study has investigated teachers’ perceptions on how school characteristics, adequacy of materials and change management strategies affect integration of ICT in teaching and learning in Botswana, a gap this study fills. This multi-site interpretivist study applied the Tearle Theory as an analytical framework. The research data was obtained through semi structured interviews with teachers’ in government senior secondary schools. The findings of the study highlight the need for all stakeholders in ICT integration in teaching and learning in Botswana to play their role for successful integration of ICTs in teaching and learning. It is hoped that the findings of the study will shed insights into the implementation dynamics that affect implementation outcomes in ICTs in Botswana schools and similar contexts elsewhere
The Discourse of Water Development in Bechuanaland Protectorate, 1900-1965
Get PDFThe paper explores the discourse and views on water resource governance and management in colonialBotswana (then the Bechuanaland Protectorate) in tandem with water resources policy development andpractice from 1900 to 1965. It assesses major developments in the water sector regarding policy interventionsand their impact on the local population and the country over time. An evaluation of water policyin the southern African nation during the colonial or protectorate era informs the evolution of post-independenceBotswana’s water sector. The study postulates that the colonial administration up to 1965 eitherdeliberately ignored or was reluctant, due to the costs involved and the existing geo-political dynamics, tosignificantly develop the water sector beyond the precincts of isolated white enclaves dotted in parts of thispredominantly semi-arid to arid country. In the absence of clear state policy particularly in the formativeyears, water resource governance tended to be arbitrary or highly selective. The arbitrary tendency by thestate often culminated in intermittent tensions among the key water stakeholders. Sporadic tensions overwater as a critical natural resource for development and the diverse scholarly and other views on watergovernance all serve to confirm that colonial Botswana did not actively support the development of amplewater resources and comprehensive management structures for the benefit of all. The paper shows thatthis trend apparently persisted throughout the protectorate era up to the end of colonial rule in 1965. Itconcludes by submitting that in the protectorate era the state did not only neglect water development but itneglected other development sectors as wel
Notes on the Community Structure and Biology of Fishes in the Okavango Delta
Get PDFThe Okavango Delta (Delta) is a dynamic ecosystem constantly in motion. Each year the timing, magnitude,and duration of the annual flood is dependent on rainfall levels in the southern Angolan highlands. The annualfloodwaters arrive in the northern Delta in January but do not reach the southern Delta and ThamalakaneRiver until approximately May. With the flood waters the Delta rapidly surges with biological productivityas nutrients are quickly assimilated by aquatic plants, fish, and insects. Many of the 80 fish species undergoannual migrations to spawning and feeding grounds throughout the myriad of waterways.There are distinct fish communities in the Delta which can be separated from each other by thephysical characteristics of the different habitat types with which they co-evolved. An overview of thecommunity structure of the fishes and the environmental factors that limit their distribution is presented inthis piece. In the northern riverine floodplain and perennial swamp, a higher species richness was recordedthan in the seasonal swamp and drainage rivers
LANGUAGES AND CULTURES AT PLAY: UNIVERSITY OF BOTSWANA SITUATION FOR THE TEACHING AND LEARNING OF FRENCH
Get PDFThis paper seeks to further question the continuing interface between language and culture and between the different languages and different cultures; a common situation in foreign language learning contexts. Research has shown that culture is inherent to a language and it follows therefore that the classroom situation is a melting pot of such an interface of culture and language, of cultures and languages. The main problematic of this paper is to elucidate how identity of the learner is constructed within this hybrid space where cultures and languages co-exist. This paper gives an overview of the University of Botswana context, which is examined through the guiding loupe of the constructionist theory of identity. The main aim being to guide in offering a contextualised learning environment of a foreign language that does not alienate the learner. The paper concludes with a recommendation for teachers to take into consideration the learners’ cultures in foreign language acquisition. It recommends that in developing the intercultural competence without making the learners feel that their culture is inferior, the methodology and textbooks design should incorporate the learner’s culture.