University Botswana Journals
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ANALYSING DISCOURSE: AN INVESTIGATION OF THE RESPONSE MOVE (R-MOVE) IN COMMUNICATION AND STUDY SKILLS (CSS) CLASSES
Get PDFThis paper explores the Response move in Communication and Study Skills (CSS) classes of the University of Botswana (UB). It aims to find out how the students’ responses in the classroom contributed to quality classroom talk. The mixed methods approach was used and two research instruments were used for collecting data for this research article. The said instruments were systematic observations and classroom observations. The checklist of items from the systematic observations was used to allow for the quantitative aspect of the study. On the other hand, the discourse gathered during the classroom observations was used for the qualitative aspect of the study. Nine (9) CSS lesson extracts obtained from the classroom and systematic observations were used to analyse the classroom discourse. The said two research instruments were used to obtain and triangulate information relating to the use of the Response Move (R-Move) in CSS classes. The findings revealed that the CSS lecturers preferred the students to respond to the questions posed in class individually as opposed to choral ones. Another note-worthy experience revealed by the findings, though minimal, was that the students also had some questions which were responded to by their lecturers. The findings from this paper are valuable to both literature and practice. This is because they consider the use of the R-move in higher learning. Additionally, the findings might serve as a teaching “lense” to practitioners in all academic contexts
NDAU MINIMALITY EFFECTS
Get PDFThis study is an investigation of minimality effects in Ndau. It proffers an account of repair strategies that are used by Ndau speakers whenever they meet sub-minimal words. The data for this study were collected through intuition and verified by other Ndau speakers in Chipinge and Chimanimani districts of Manicaland Province in Zimbabwe. The research situates Morpheme Based Theory within Optimality Theory (Downing, 2006) to examine the different strategies employed in Ndau to ensure that the prosodic word is minimally disyllabic. We established that Ndau speakers use vowel epenthesis in both verbal and nominal constructions as well as cliticisation to ensure that Ndau words meet the required size of Ndau words which is disyllabic. This claim is recast within Optimality Theory (OT), which shows that the minimal word condition in Ndau straightforwardly stems from the ranking of relevant constraints in the language. The major contribution of this study is typological as it adds to the languages that utilise repair strategies to deal with words that are potentially sub-minimal.
Keywords: Ndau, minimality, epenthesis, cliticisation, sub-minimal
POETRY, TRANSLATION & SUBVERSION: THE CASE OF WILLIAM DOBSON’S PARADISUS AMISSUS (1750/53)
Get PDFIn 1750 the Oxford academic William Dobson published an intriguing artifact - a Latin translation of Milton’s great English epic poem Paradise Lost (1667). But this is strangely curious – Milton’s poem it has been claimed was “by Englishmen for Englishmen” - and provokes the critical question: Why translate Paradise Lost into Latin? One defining feature of the European Epic is that it is always written in the vernacular for patriotic reasons, thereby reducing Dobson’s Paradisus Amissus to an anomaly. What could be the cause of such a perverse literary enterprise? In this paper I propose six possible rationales. The first two propositions are that the translator seeks to show off his language skills, or that his motivation is purely one of financial gain and/or fame; the third rationale is that the translation was aimed at a foreign readership and was accordingly composed in the international language of educated Europeans; the fourth and fifth arguments variously propose that a Latin translation of Milton’s epic is a natural logical conclusion: Milton himself was one of the greatest writers in Latin in the Seventeenth-century, and as a literary classic Paradise Lost is in direct competition against, and in dialogue with, Virgil’s Latin classic The Aeneid. But my finalconjecture is the most subversive. Dobson’s Paradisus Amissus is an attempt by the English middle-class intelligentsia to reclaim from the popular masses the pre-eminent English non-Biblical religious text. This conclusion underlies the disturbing paradox apparent throughout the history of Milton studies: Milton the great radical author of the common Englishman - the proponent of freedom of the press, divorce for incompatibility, and democracy – must be deradicalised,indeed emasculated, for the English higher classes to remain the guardians of the Miltonic sublime.
Keywords: Milton, Latin, translation, subversion, radical, parado
Milk Production Potential and Major Browse Species Consumed by Dromedary Camels in Tshabong
Get PDFDromedary camels are multipurpose animals and play an important role in supporting the livelihoods of millions of people in the semi-arid and arid zones of Africa and Asia. They provide milk and meat for human consumption though this is not fully realised in Botswana, mainly due to lack of awareness and knowledge about camel husbandry. This study assesses milk production potential of camels and identifies their major browse species in Tshabong Ecotourism Camel Park in Botswana. The research for this study was conducted from December 2013 to February 2014 and involved interviewing 26 informants using an open-ended semi-structured questionnaire and field observations. Camels are kept in the study area, mainly, for tourism, but also for milk and meat production. The average milk yield, produced under natural browsing conditions, was four litres per camel per day. This indicates the possibility of improving milk production through provision of appropriate supplementary feeding. The camels feed on natural browse species in the park, and Boscia albitrunca was reported as the most preferred browse species. The lactation period of the camels is 10 months, and the calves suckle their dams throughout the lactation period. We conclude that the camels kept in Tshabong have good potential for milk production, which can also beincreased with improved management and feeding
‘In an Hour, I Could be Shot Over Angola’: The Geopolitical Dynamics and Experience of the 1988 Shooting of President Masire’s Jet
Get PDFJust before travelling to the Angolan capital, Luanda, to attend a summit of the Front Line States, President Quett Ketumile Joni Masire, predicted in a joke that ‘In an hour, I could be shot over Angola’. Indeed, Masire’s presidential jet was shot by the Angolan government forces about one hour after he had left Gaborone on 7 August 1988. This was not necessarily an amazingly accurate prediction or prophecy from out of the blue, but a notion informed by the Angolan civil war and Cold War geopolitical milieu on the ground. About a month later on 13 September 1988, Pope John Paul II during his one day State visit in Botswana said that ‘Botswana was an island of peace in a troubled sea’. Masire and the Pontiff’s statements were made in the context of vicious civil wars in Angola and Mozambique, and liberation wars or struggles in South Africa and Namibia –Botswana’s neighbours in the southern African region. As the Pontiff indicated, this made the region a troubled sea, while the tranquil Botswana symbolised an island of peace in that volatile sea. Masire’s prediction was also informed by a protracted and game-changing multinational Battle of Cuito Cuanavale in south-eastern Angola, which had raged from November 1987 to April 1988. This paper provides the geopolitical context of the Cold War, and circumstances in the region within which Masire’s plane was shot. It is also an account of the doubts raised by the official explanation of how the plane was shot, and the response in Botswana as well as internationally
BOTSWANA-SOUTH KOREA RELATIONS UNDER PRESIDENT IAN KHAMA’S PRESIDENCY: 2014-2018
Get PDFThis paper broadly explores Botswana-South Korea relations during the second term of President Ian Khama’s presidency (2014-2018). Botswana and South Korea established diplomatic relations in March 1968, but the relations remained largely on paper and were only revived after President Ian Khama’s bold decision to terminate diplomatic relations with North Korea, South Korea’s rival, in February 2014. Khama became an instant celebrity in South Korea, and the South Korean government invited him to Seoul in October 2015. South Korea views Botswana as a reliable friend to the extent that Konkuk University awarded Khama an honorary PhD in Political Science during his visit. In Botswana, this sparked divisive debate, with critics arguing that he does not deserve it. Some posited that this ‘phony degree’ is a ‘bribe’ by Seoul to access Botswana’s mineral wealth. Botswana-South Korea military cooperation has also elicited intense criticisms, mainly from Botswana’s opposition political parties. Since 2014, South Korean firms have increasingly won tenders, mainly in the energy sector in Botswana. Khama’s strong relations with Seoul, unlike his predecessors, should be contextualised within his sour relations with both North Korea and China. This exploratory paper opens up an avenue for more research into this under researched terrain
FROM THE ABC MODEL TO THE A-REFLEX MODEL: A TRIPLE PSYCHODYNAMIC, POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY, AND EUDAIMONIC ETHOS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST THE AIDS EPIDEMIC IN AFRICA
Get PDFThis article aims to critically explore psychodynamic principles for managing the AIDS Epidemic. The methodology is qualitative theoretical analyses, articulated around the ABC Model, which is an abstinence-based sex education policy, and Freudian Psychodynamic Theory. The latter constitute double paradigmatic lenses for enhancing effectiveness and efficiency in managing the spread of AIDS in Africa. The paper posits that the ABC Model has been effective in this fight, but proposes that if psychodynamic principles are associated with the former, there are greater chances that the fight against AIDS will receive a greater psychological boost. In other words, without ‘’individual psychological transformation,’’ the ABC Model would remain limited in its effectiveness, because it does not directly address the issue of transformation of the ‘’death instinct or Thanatos’’ into ‘’life force or Eros.’’ The paper thus advocates that in addition to ‘A’ or ‘’abstinence’’, there could be ‘’Self-Sacrificing Sublimation’’ or Authentic Redirection of libidinal energy into Creative Life Force; ‘B’ or ‘’be faithful to your sexual partner(s) can be reinforced by ‘’Flow’’ for reinforcing Transpersonality; ‘C’ or ‘’use a condom’’ could be complemented by ‘’Creative Self-Expressing Eudaimonism.’’ This paper thus proposes a new model, A-REFLEX, which could be used complementarily with the ABC Model in the fight against AIDS in Africa
PHYSICAL FITNESS/ACTIVITY AND COGNITIVE FUNCTION: ARE THEY RELATED IN CHILDREN?
Get PDFThis study investigated the relation between processing information and fitness level of active (fit) and sedentary (unfit) children drawn from rural and urban areas in Botswana. It was hypothesized that fit children would display faster simple reaction time (SRT), choice reaction times (CRT) and movement times (SMT). Sixty, 3rd grade children (7.0 – 9.0 years) were initially selected and based upon fitness testing, 45 participated in the study (15 each of fit urban, unfit urban, fit rural). All children completed anthropometric measures, skinfold testing and submaximal cycle ergometer testing. The cognitive testing included SRT, CRT, SMT and CMT and memory sequence length. Results indicated that the rural fit group exhibited faster SMT than the urban fit and unfit groups. For CRT, both fit groups were faster than the unfit group. Collectively, the study shows that the relationship that exists between physical fitness and cognitive function amongst the elderly can tentatively be extended to the pediatric population. Physical fitness could be a factor in the speed at which we process information, including decision making, even in children. Key Words: decision making, fitness, information processing, reaction time, cognition movement tim
INTERVENTION FOR STUDENTS WITH READING DIFFICULTIES IN INCLUSIVE CLASSROOMS: BOTSWANA TEACHERS' PRACTICES
Get PDFReading remains one of the essential skills in education. However, reading performance in Botswana isa serious concern for all stakeholders. Nevertheless, teachers and learners are inundated with challengeswhich impede effective teaching and learning. As a result, Botswana Government continues to investin learning and teaching reforms to enhance learner- performance. The purpose of this study was to (i)explore the structure of learner-grouping intervention strategies (LEGIS) used in teaching Englishreading in Botswana public primary schools and (ii) establish how primary school teachers teachlearners with difficulties, and to (iii) examine their attitudes and knowledge about inclusive education.Employing a qualitative research approach, six teachers were engaged in a focused group and in-depthstructured interviews. Data were analysed using the AQUAD 7 software. The findings revealed thatfive of the six had a positive attitude towards inclusive education as well as knowledge andpredominantly used mixed-ability groupin
STUDENTS’ VIEWS AND EXPERIENCES ON CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE IN BOTSWANA: IMPLICATIONS FOR EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH AND POLICY IMPLEMENTATION
Get PDFChildren in Botswana schools have expressed concerns regarding child sexual abuse (CSA) which haspotential to negatively affect their learning if timely action is not taken. Specifically, CSA in schoolsinvolves teachers who are supposed to be the custodians of learning. Abuse of children by those inpositions of authority and care have been a central focus for many of those concerned about children’ssafety, advocating that the subject deserves urgent attention as it threatens to violate the children’srights and compromise their psychosocial well-being. To put this into perspective, this study set out toexplore students’ views on CSA in schools. It adopted a cross-sectional quantitative approach. Datawas collected from three secondary schools in Gaborone. A survey questionnaire was selfadministered to 300 randomly selected student participants. A research permit and permission to enterthe schools was obtained from education authorities, and parents/guardians. The findings reveal that53% of the respondents agreed that CSA exists in the schools under study. The majority of studentsbelieved that this mostly affected female students (89%). Most students engage in sexual relationshipswith teachers mainly for financial gain (93%), to acquire electronic devices; mainly cellular phones(53%), to receive favourable treatment (48%) and good grades (41%). Further, the majority ofstudents (73%) in this study reported that they did not know about the existence of a sexualharassment policy in their school. The paper concludes that it imperative for secondary schools andrelevant stakeholders to develop context specific strategies to address the persistent problem of CSA