UNAM Open Access Journal University of Namibia
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Spatial planning in urbanisation: Observations from an academic perspective
Get PDFSector and spatial development in rural and urban regions of Namibia following in the wake of e.g. urbanisation, migration or mining – in essence often irreversible land consumption – call for an instituted physical organisation of space with the assistance of intra-national and trans-frontier strategies. Spatial planning perceived as an administrative technique and a comprehensive multi-disciplinary approach to balanced distribution of avenues to means of production-, the author exemplifies scientific foundations along with administrative conditions in practice and local situations of concern. In support of the ‘The Inaugural Namibian Conference on Strategic Spatial Planning for Urbanisation’ (2012), the paper ultimately promotes the joint and expanded furthering of ‘human capacity building’ through education and training at institutions of tertiary education in conjunction with departments of professional public sector and private sector planning agencies
An examination of Korean students’ pronunciation of English consonants: The relationship between perception and production
Get PDFThis study examined the relationship between perception and production difficulties in English pronunciation. The participants were 24 Korean students at California State University, Los Angeles, in the English Language Program. First, the participants were given a listening test, evaluating their ability to discriminate consonants at word, sentence, and passage levels. Second, the participants took a read-aloud test, also at word, sentence and passage levels while they were being recorded. Using binary scoring, the recordings were rated by two raters. The means of perception and production errors observed were then correlated, and the resulting correlation coefficient indicated the kind and degree of relationship between the perception and production errors. The findings showed that although there seem to be differences between the number of perception and production errors, a significant relationship exists between the perception and production difficulties of English pronunciation. The findings of this study inform the ESL teachers and material developers about certain issues that they should consider when planning and designing teaching as well as assessment activities of English pronunciation. Even though this study only focused on perception and production difficulties experienced by Korean students, it can also be used as a reference for our Namibian ESL community in teaching and assessing ESL students
Causes and management of job stress among selected teachers in Cameroon
Get PDFThis paper looks at the causes of job-related stress among teachers of Buea - Cameroon, and individual management strategies they employ. The study uses the chi-square test that reveals the main causes of stress among teachers are i) student indiscipline, ii) poor salary situations, iii) a sense of under-promotion, iv) heavy work load, and v) conflicting relationship with principals. The paper purports that socio-economic factors are the most important predictors of stress, followed by interpersonal relations and then by instructional problems. Individual personality differences and social support systems moderate the impact of stressors on teachers, influence their appraisal of socio-environmental demands as stressful, and determine the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of the coping strategies generated to manage job stress
Land use practices in Caprivi’s changing political environment
No full textThis paper presents an account of developments that led to present land use practices in the eastern parts of Caprivi and the eff ects these practices have on the ecosystem. In the pre-colonial period (–1890), the early inhabitants of east of the Kwando River were hunters and gatherers. Climatic and hydrological conditions enabled the fi rst Bantu communities to practice settled subsistence agriculture in the 18th and 19th centuries, a time when the Lozi and the Kololo kings ruled this area. Its location between perennial rivers made eastern parts of Caprivi good and easily defensible grazing area. Peripheral location and prevalence of malaria and cattle diseases made the area less tempting for European and South African farmers, but also made the colonial administration of east of the Kwando River diffi cult for Germany 1890–1915 and South Africa 1915–1990. The paper reviews published works and government documents, which is combined with fi eld observations and aerial photos of the area. In particular, our analysis focuses on Salambala conservancy because of its successes and many controversies. The analysis shows that indeed, enactments of law did not address land use in the manner that would have led to fulfi lment of the needs of subsistence farmers until Namibia’s independence in 1990. Nowadays, almost the whole area is still intensively used for small-scale subsistence farming and agricultural practices have remained traditional. The article describes the eff orts of previous administrations and outlines several factors that accounts for present-day land use practices. This account concludes that intensifi cation of grazing and clearin
Determinants of tourists' satisfaction in Etosha National Park, Namibia
Get PDFAlthough tourism is one of the fastest growing industries in the world and contributes to socio-economic development, most tourist destinations are faced with the challenge of ensuring tourist satisfaction. Understanding determinants of tourism satisfaction through tourists’ experiences on destinations could help improve the potential for tourism growth. This study was conducted in the Etosha National Park (ENP). Data collection was during the low and high seasons in February 2010 and September 2011, respectively. A total of 150 tourists were interviewed during both seasons. Results indicated that over 80% of visitors to Etosha National Park were of international origin of which more than half were first time visitors and self-drive tourists. In addition, the majority of tourists toured in groups of either related (51%) or non-related (44%) of 2-4 individuals. Tourists experienced crowding during the high season compared to the low peak season at different sites within the Park. Attractiveness of the Park, its facilities and its cleanliness were the major determinants of tourist satisfaction to the Etosha National Park. Specifically, the cost of accommodation and services, road infrastructure, environmental related issues, park management and control were among the issues tourists shared their experiences on during their visit to the ENP. Therefore, there is need to develop further tourist satisfaction research in ENP and in Namibia in order to provide a useful body of knowledge and guidance to tourism planners, managers, decision makers and marketers on the factors influencing tourist satisfaction in the Namibian context
A cognitive grammatical approach to the semantics of Nambya extended verbs
Get PDFThis article is an analysis of the meanings of extended verbs in Nambya. Put simply, an extended verb is a complex verb that is a consequence of combining a verb base and a verbal extension. Using the principles adopted in the theory of Cognitive Grammar (CG), it will be argued that the addition of different kinds of verbal extensions to verb bases often result in constructions with multiple meanings that are related. Unlike earlier scholarship on the meanings of extended verbs in Nambya that treats them as a result of a simple mathematical addition of the individual meanings of the verb base and the verbal extension, this article aims to show that the addition of derivational morphemes such as verbal extensions onto verb bases significantly modifies the meanings of the respective base forms. It is argued that the addition of the verbal extensions often results in two kinds of related meanings, that is, those that are mathematically derivable from the verb base by composition and those that are not easily traceable owing to the fact that they are generally idiosyncratic - hence the reason why extended verbs should sometimes be treated as new verbs that are different from their bases. In this regard, therefore, the proposal being made is that verbal extensions should be treated as highly productive morphemes in lexeme formatio
Spatial planning in urbanisation: Observations from an academic perspective
Get PDFSector and spatial development in rural and urban regions of Namibia following in the wake of e.g. urbanisation, migration or mining – in essence often irreversible land consumption – call for an instituted physical organisation of space with the assistance of intra-national and trans-frontier strategies. Spatial planning perceived as an administrative technique and a comprehensive multi-disciplinary approach to balanced distribution of avenues to means of production-, the author exemplifies scientific foundations along with administrative conditions in practice and local situations of concern. In support of the ‘The Inaugural Namibian Conference on Strategic Spatial Planning for Urbanisation’ (2012), the paper ultimately promotes the joint and expanded furthering of ‘human capacity building’ through education and training at institutions of tertiary education in conjunction with departments of professional public sector and private sector planning agencies
Death and dying: An analysis of the language used in copying with death in the Shona society
Get PDFThis article analyses the language that the Shona speaking people in Zimbabwe use in naming death and dying, describing the dead, and consoling the bereaved. The research derives its linguistic analysis from a Shona socio-cultural-religious perspective. Related to this perspective, is the concept of saving face and easing the tension caused by death and this notion can be understood in the light of the politeness principle that guides human communication. Interviews and participatory observations were employed as data collection techniques in order to establish whether the Shona people use their language ordinarily or they fine-tune it to suit specific situations, particularly the unpalatable social situations like death and dying (language for specific purpose). Undergirded by these theoretical frameworks and methods, the study established that the Shona people have the tendency of creating, packaging and re-packaging their language use in relation to the social dilemma confronting them. Indirect ways of referring to tabooed matters such as death are in tandem with the Shona semantic philosophy in which by ‘indirection they find direction.’ In this regard, reference to death and dying often take the form of some blunt and euphemistic words or phrases, idiomatic and metaphorical expressions as a way of coping with death and dying. Euphemistic words and expressions allow the Shona people to talk about unpleasant notions and neutralise the unpleasantness, for example, the subjects of death and dying
The use of contextualised teaching and learning in grade 11 and 12 mathematics classrooms in Gobabis, Namibia
Get PDFThis paper investigates the use of contexts in the teaching and learning of mathematics in two secondary schools in the Gobabis area using the Mayoh & Knutton (1997) taxonomy. It was found that not all contexts as suggested by Mayoh & Knutton were used by the teachers and that the context were almost entirely initiated by the mathematics teachers and were used as a primary strategy for presenting the content. The study recommended the introduction of the use of contexts in the pre-service training of mathematics teachers and that teachers create their own mathematics problems to solve rather than adhering to the problems provided in their textbooks which are often of a foreign origin
(Inter) cultural investigation: Kenya in German crime fiction
Get PDFDespite its marginalised appearance in politics and economics and being reduced to crime, chaos and catastrophes, the African continent has lately featured regularly in crime fiction (Picker 2011). African crime fiction, meaning crime fiction written by African authors, but also crime fiction set in Africa and written by non-Africans, is on a rise. Kenya has been among the popular crime settings in German crime fiction since the 1970s. A number of crime novels make use of a German investigator and an African setting and feature crosscultural as well as intercultural investigation teams. This paper presents Geert Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and analyses the German crime novels of Henry Kolarz, Detlef Wolff and the trilogy of the Swiss author Peter Höner, all set in Kenya. The paper investigates the portrayal of cultural encounters and multicultural cooperation and to what extend the novels show an intercultural investigation. Furthermore, it outlines similarities of novels in regard to the (inter)cultural set up