University Botswana Journals
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Making Pots in Manaledi: People, Material and History
Get PDFThe Manaledi clay mine is composed of two shallow, linear quarries, one producing a red clay and the other a white clay; these are mixed together in proportion of two parts red to one part white to compose a strong potting clay. The mine and clays are closely associated with village ancestors and various conditions or rituals must be observed during mining and potting. Archaeological survey has found Zhizo and Happy Rest sherds as well as iron smelting furnaces. Microscopic examination of these sherds along with contemporary Manaledi pots has revealed that this clay has been used by makers of pottery since the Early Iron Age about 1400 years ago and continues to be used today. We report in this paper a brief summary of the evidence for this long history of potting and current Manaledi conceptions of their relation to the latter part of this history
The Comparative Dynamics of Water Sharing of Transboundary Waterways: Lessons from the Nile, Lesotho Highlands Water Project and the Okavango River Basin
Get PDFThe current global climate change patterns seem set to usher in progressively drier climates in mostdeveloping countries, especially in Africa. This, coupled with population explosion in developing countries, is bound to cause increasing water shortages in countries such as Botswana. Reliance of countries on shared transboundary waters increases as water becomes scarcer, usually leading to tensions among the riparian states as the concerned states experience growing inadequacy of water. A lot has been written about transboundary waters. What has not been highlighted is a comparison of successful and unsuccessful transboundary water resource agreements. This paper presents the Basin of the Nile River as a case where problems have been experienced in the sharing of transboundary waters on the one hand, the water project based in Lesotho Highlands, as a case of a successful treaty governing the sharing of Transboundary waters signed between the governments of South Africa and Lesotho on the other, and finally the Okavango River Basin as a case study with more positive results in the sharing of a major regional water resource. The Okavango in Botswana, given its strategic regional planning and management committee, is projected as a case where the use of a common resource unites rather than divides the riparian states. Hence, the case is put forward as a model that the continent can use
Water for Urban Development or Rural Livelihoods: Is that the Question for Botswana’s Notwane River Catchment?
Get PDFThe point of departure for this paper is the publication by Jeremy Meigh in 1995 entitled ‘The Impact of Small Farm Reservoirs on Urban Water Supplies in Botswana’. Urban water supply dams and small rural farm reservoirs occur within the same river catchments of Botswana’s eastern belt. The title of Meigh’s paper suggests conflict between the two sets of reservoirs. It could also be interpreted to imply the superiority or paramountcy of urban water needs over rural livelihood (agricultural) needs or of urban industrial development over rural development. There has been heightened debate in recent years as to what extent the failure of the Gaborone Dam late in 2014 was due to the small agricultural dams found upstream in the Notwane River catchment which is the source of its water. This paper uses documentary evidence to contribute to the debate. It highlights the legitimacy and livelihood significance of both the large and small dams and presents a more holistic explanation of the desiccation of the Gaborone Dam in the 2000s. It ends by noting the positive steps taken by the Botswana government towards sustainable water resource governance
Quill Hermans’ Role in the Development of Botswana Alongside Seretse Khama and Quett Masire
Get PDFChristopher Lamb (‘Quill’) Hermans was born in Cape Town in South Africa on 23 December 1936. During his youth, he enjoyed several holidays at his grandfather’s large cattle ranch at the Setlagoli valley outside Mahikeng, and learned a fair amount about the art of cattle farming. When he was quite small, his elder sister Diana had difficulty pronouncing ‘Christopher’. She called him ‘Quillifer’, and the ‘Quill’ nickname stuck. He passed his post-matric exams with distinction at the Diocesan College for Boys in Cape Town (‘Bishops school’) in 1954
EFFECTS OF EXTENSIVE READING STRATEGY ON STUDENTS ACHIEVEMENT IN READING COMPREHENSION
Get PDFThis study was designed to determine the effect of extensive reading strategy on achievement of students in reading comprehension. The study adopted a pre-test, post-test non-equivalent control group, quasi-experimental research design which involved group of students in their intact class assigned to experimental group and control group. The population of the study was all the Junior Secondary school two (JSSII) English Studies students in Kwali Area Council of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. The sample for the study was 210. Three research questions and three null hypotheses, tested at .05 level of significance, guided the study. The instrument used for data collection was Reading Comprehension Achievement Test (RCAT). The extensive reading lesson plan, RCAT and the training manual were subjected to face validation by three experts. The reliability coefficient for the RCAT was found to be 0.71 using Kuder-Richardson. Mean was used to answer the research questions; while ANCOVA was employed to test the hypotheses. The study found out that extensive reading strategy is more effective in improving students’ achievement in reading comprehension. There was an effect of gender on students’ achievement in reading comprehension favouring boys. The study found out that there was no interaction effect of extensive reading strategy and gender on achievement of Junior Secondary School students in reading comprehension. This simply means that the effectiveness of extensive reading strategy on students’ achievement in reading comprehension does not depend on gender. The study recommended that the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) should carry out a review of Junior Secondary Schools English Studies curriculum with a view to incorporating the extensive reading strategy into the teaching of reading comprehension
THE EFFECT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON STUDENT ENGAGEMENT AND COLLABORATION: THE USE OF FACEBOOK AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BOTSWANA
Get PDFIn the context of today’s electronic media, social networking sites have come to mean individuals, using the internet and web application to communicate in previously impossible ways. This study sought to explore the effects of social media on collaboration and engagement among students in the University of Botswana particularly the use of Facebook. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design which was employed to derive responses from sample size of 100 undergraduate in the Bachelor of Social Work programme; who were selected via random sampling techniques. Data was collected from this population using questionnaire. The participants completed and returned the questionnaire correctly representing 100% response rate. The result of the study reveals that all the participants were using social networking sites in interacting with friends, connecting to their classmates for online study and for discussions on issues of national interest. Drawn from the findings, 98% reported to have an active Facebook account. Furthermore, the survey established that there are laudable benefits of using social networking sites and dangers associated with social networking, as 70% of participants disclosed that they use social media whilst studying although it is distractive at the same time. In addition, future research directions and useful suggestions are discussed
TOWARDS DEVELOPING ACADEMIC WRITING SUPPORT FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS: AN EMIC PERSPECTIVE OF POST GRADUATE ACADEMIC WRITING NEEDS AND EXPERIENCES AT UNIVERSITY OF BOTSWANA
Get PDFPost graduate students’ academic success depends on the quality of their writing. However, post graduate students often experience a range of difficulties in understanding the requirements of writing at this advanced level. Students at this level are expected to analyse, synthesise and create fresh connections and ideas. This study was designed to investigate the academic writing needs and challenges of post graduate students in an L2 context. A survey was conducted and 54 post graduate students, both at masters and doctoral level responded to a questionnaire. Semi structured Interviews were conducted with 5 supervisors and two focus group with students were held The findings indicate that integrating and documenting sources, logical development of ideas and arguments, writing appropriately for the audience and presenting an argument in a coherent manner were a challenge to most students.Additionally, the findings suggest the need to support graduate students as they make a transition from novice to expert members of their academic communities. The results have implications for developing an academic writing course specific for post graduate student
SETSWANA LEXICAL EXPRESSIONS OF TIME
Get PDFThis paper explores the way time is lexically expressed in Setswana. Using data from a Setswana corpus, the study isolated instances of temporal reference for linguistic analysis. The paper demonstrates that Setswana uses varied devices such as temporal adverbs (e.g. maabane ‘yesterday’ and phakela ‘in the morning’) and spatial metaphors (e.g. pele ‘ahead, before, in front, first’ and morago ‘behind, after, at [the] back’) to express time. Even though Setswana has adapted metric ways of showing time such as calendar months and days, the discussion shows that temporal reference in traditional Setswana was event-based (e.g. based on movements of the sun and seasonal change). The study shows that Setswana lexical expressions of time are bound up with the ways in which Setswana speakers conceptualise time.
Keywords: Setswana, Bantu, temporal reference, time in language, temporal deixi
Social Cleavages and Party Alignment in Botswana: Dominant Party System Debate Revisited
Get PDFThis article analyzes the dominant party system in Botswana through a social structural paradigm. Debates surrounding the dominant party system of Botswana typically focus on the relative strength of opposition parties vis-à-vis the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), privileges of incumbency enjoyed by the BDP, the majoritarian electoral system as well as the BDP’s association with the hugely popular first President of the country, Sir Seretse Khama. Based on sociological explanations, this paper investigates whether there is social cleavage structure in Botswana’s party system and whether the same cleavages can explain the distribution of votes and voting patterns. Taking the cleavage thesis as a point of departure, the paper acknowledges the presence of social cleavages but argues that these social divisions have not been effectively mobilised by opposition parties, and through various tactics the ruling BDP has exploited and pacified them in order to mirror the society. The result has been a predominant party system that has characterised party politics for much of the post-independence era despite the declining popular vote of BDP which has been in power since Botswana attained independence in 1966