UNAM Open Access Journal University of Namibia
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The influence of language users’ attitudes towards the learning and teaching of English language in three post-independence Namibian schools
Get PDFThis research sought to examine the influence of language user’s attitudes to the teaching and learning of English Language in three selected post-independence Namibian schools. The research was motivated by the high failure rate in English Language by Namibian learners. Generally, the majority of learners fail to effectively read, write and speak in the medium of English Language despite the officialization of the language in the school curriculum at independence in 1990. The monolingual language policy that Namibia chose has had far-reaching, detrimental implications for Namibians and for its development evidenced by the high failure rate against a background of high spending by both parents and government on education. This research thus looked at the extent to which users’ language attitudes towards the medium of English vis à vis other languages affect teachers’ teaching and learners’ learning of English Language
The role of a policy brief in policy formulation and review: bringing evidence to bear
Get PDFApplying scientific evidence in policy making is a complex, yet crucial issue that policy makers need to embrace at all times. Evidence-based policy making helps in filling the gap between academic research and practice. A policy brief is perceived in this review paper as a neutral synopsis that makes research findings easily digestible with a sole purpose to succinctly evaluate policy options regarding a specific issue, for a policy-maker audience. Unlike the general recommendations from findings of an academic research, a policy brief is a ‘professional’ concise report that ensures the impact of research in addressing problems and challenges facing society. Using document analysis as a methodological approach, this review paper discusses the importance of a policy brief in facilitating policy formulation and review. In addition, it critically examines, what a persuasive policy brief entails, and what steps to consider in de-signing actionable policy brief. The paper also provides a critical analysis of the current status-quo in terms of the development and use of policy briefs in policy formulation in Namibia
Gendered attitudes toward climate change among geography students at University Namibia
Get PDFStudents are considered to be a key to dealing with climate change. Their knowledge influences their attitudes, which affects their actions. The degree to which students are likely to engage with climate change depends on their attitude towards climate change. This study investigated gendered attitudes towards climate change of geography students at the University of Namibia. Using a 14-item questionnaire, a total of 56 male and 64 female students from the University of Namibia were surveyed. The results show that students have a generally positive attitude towards climate change. There is, however, a slight difference in the gendered attitudes with regards to the concern over the occurrence of climate change; on how well they think they are informed; who should be responsible for fixing climate change; and whether or not the students felt personally responsible for the occurrence of the phenomenon. It is recommended that the education system be purposely designed to influence students’ attitude for better future decision making in relation to climate change because a person’s attitude forms a fundamental framework for a meaningful way of thinking
Methods of health education used by indigenous communities in Kunene and Otjozondjupa Regions of Namibia
Get PDFThe purpose of this study was to explore the methods that Namibia’s indigenous communities of Kunene and Otjozondjupa regions use to communicate and share health related information, issues and solutions. The socio-cultural theory informed this study as its main idea states that although solitude provide opportunity for learning, the social occasions of conversation, discussion, question and answer, demonstration and joint work play a critical role in teaching and learning. The collected interview data were analysed using a grounded theory approach and content analysis. The results show the Namibia’s indigenous communities of Kunene and Otjozondjupa regions came to know through flexible and simple methods of Show and Tell, Demonstration, Observation, Imitation, Experience and Practice, Trial and Error or Experimentation, and Questioning. The study recommends more research on the documentation of Namibian indigenous health knowledge to afford future generation access to the rich knowledge their ancestors originally had a claim on. The study further recommends for these methods to be considered by stakeholders in education sector so that they can be integrated in educational policies and programmes and applied at the classroom level
Rainfall trend and variability in semi-arid northern Namibia: Implications for smallholder agricultural production
Get PDFRainfall defines livelihood patterns among agrarian communities of the climate-change vulnerable semi-arid Sub-Saharan Africa. However, it remains inadequately studied, resulting in ineffective water management policies and weak agricultural growth in the region. Monthly rainfall data collected between 1987 and 2018 at four stations along a 1200 km climatic gradient in northern Namibia were analysed for annual, seasonal and monthly trends and variability. Descriptive measures and the Mann-Kendall test were used for rainfall characterisation and trend detection, respectively. Results showed an annually increasing rainfall trend, but with a downward trend in the dry season decreasing by -0.14 mm year–1 and an upward trend in the rainy season increasing by 7.74 mm year–1 across the study area. The rainy-season mean monthly rainfall showed predominantly increasing trends, while the dry-season ones exhibited insignificant decreasing trends. The study detected a decreasing rainfall gradient from the northeast towards the northwest with a range of 156.8 mm and concomitant increasing spatial-temporal variability. The upward rainfall trend has implications for rainy season floods, whereas the downward trend suggests dry season drought intensification in the area. These results could be useful for rainwater management planning in the study area and other dryland regions
Combating the common enemy? A descriptive account of Namiba's involvement in the Angolan civil conflict
Get PDFAlthough there are several studies on post-colonial Namibia, the subject of Namibia’s foreign relations in general and military operations in particular has not attracted many studies by local scholars. This subject has been left either for exploration by foreign scholarship or to local journalists to provide somewhat ‘pass-by’ accounts. There is thus little literature available on the subject such as the role of Namibia in the Angolan civil conflict. This reason alone is sufficient to make a compelling case on why there is a need for an account on the role of Namibia in this conflict. Produced on account of necessity, it is the hope of this author that it serves as a foundation for further research; regardless of the perspective – for or against, as long as studies on the subject exist. Most of the studies on conflict resolution and peacemaking are often focused on colonialism as if Namibia and generally southern Africa did not witness more than 20 years of post-colonial majority rule. This article seeks to explain the contours of conflict studies from colonial to post-colonial period
The diplomacy of small states in the international political system
Get PDFThis article interrogates the undercurrents of small states foreign policy and the determinants of foreign policy making in small states. It question small states are positioned in the web of international relations with other player, such as large states. The research is guided by the assumption that small states are somewhat limited by domestic and external factor, which are the driving catalysts of international relations agendas. The analysis aims to determine how the smallness of a state can be a challenge, and how small states can survive the limitations of their smallness. The article makes use of Liberalism/Neo-Liberalism theories of International Relations (IR) Studies
Uses and gratifications of the internet among university of Lagos undergraduates
Get PDFThis study sought to ascertain how UNILAG students use the internet and the motivation behind the usage pattern. The study was guided by four research questions that sought to establish the level of internet usage among the students; major activities carried out on the internet; the gratifications derived from the online activities and; whether or not their internet activities have any link with the gratification they hoped to derive from such activities. The study is anchored on the uses and gratifications theory which perceives audiences to be active, rather than passive users of media and their messages. The survey research design was used, and data was collected using a questionnaire targeted at 220 respondents selected using the multi-stage sampling technique. The study’s findings were analysed using SPSS and presented in basic frequency tables and percentages. Findings from the study showed that all UNILAG undergraduates use the Internet with 75. 4 per cent of them using it on daily basis with the major access point being the mobile phone. The most practised internet activity was social networking with a 35. 5 per cent response. A majority (93.1%) said their online activities are informed by the gratifications they hope to derive, while 6.9 per cent disagreed affirming the relevance of the uses and gratifications theory. This study recommends that UNILAG students should maximize the opportunities provided by the internet for academic purposes
The syntax of Object shift in Early Modern English (EME): a principle and parameters approach
Get PDFThe paper analysed object shift constructions in Early Modern English or the English of the Shakespearean time. This follows conflicting views on the order of the Verb and Object during this time. One group of researchers argued that both Object Verb (OV) and Verb Object (VO) were available as underlying orders in Old English as well as Middle English, while another group held the view that English had undergone some change in underlying word order from OV to VO. I argue, from the perspective of Principles and Parameters theory, developed by Chomsky (1993) that the surface OV order can be derived from the underlying VO through leftward movement rule (s) applying to the object. I have appealed to Principles and Parameters Theory because the theory assumes that the shifting of the object is determined by its strength, and thus moves leftwards. Principles and Parameters theory maintains that grammatical differences between languages can be characterized in terms of a restricted set of parameters
Reference and persuasion: A relevance-theoretic study of church posters in Nigeria
Get PDFThis essay is a pragmatic study of the roles that referential elements play in the titles of church print posters in Nigeria. Perhaps it is unarguable that church print posters are meant to persuade the audience to fall in line with the ideology that the posters represent. What is probably not clear is the modus operandi of the interplay between the linguistic items deployed in those posters and the human cognitive system. This essay therefore describes the roles that linguistic items, particularly referentials, play in the persuasiveness of church posters. It is against this background that this paper establishes that referential elements aid persuasion by reducing processing cost in the utterance computation process and making the mental representation of objects in the physical world easily accessible. In doing this, the researchers collected fifty posters from selected churches that have national outlook and strong media outlets. In other to make our analysis more explicit, the researchers deployed Wilson and Sperber’s Computation Heuristics. This study therefore concludes that reference elements (definite noun phrase and indefinite noun phrase) create accessibility of mental concepts at the explicit level which automatically translates to less processing effort, and this has a persuasive effect at the implicit level on the reader of the church posters