Journal articles on the topic 'Southern Sotho language'

The aim of this article is to evaluate currently available electronic dictionaries from a South African perspective for the eleven official languages of South Africa namely English, Afrikaans and the nine Bantu languages Zulu, Xhosa, Swazi, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Southern Sotho, Tswana, Tsonga and Venda. A brief discussion of the needs and status quo for English and Afrikaans will be followed by a more detailed discussion of the unique nature and consequent electronic dictionary requirements of the Bantu languages. In the latter category the focus will be on problematic aspects of lemmatisation which can only be solved in the electronic dictionary dimension.

This article reports on an initiative at the Vaal Triangle Campus (VTC) of North-West University (NWU) towards the active encouragement of functional multilingualism in tertiary education. More specifically, in an effort to support the potential use of Sesotho (Southern Sotho) and isiZulu in the teaching-learning environment at this campus, it was decided that an important first step should be an accurate and reliable determination of students’ levels of academic literacy (AL) in these two languages. Such a measurement would provide an indication of student readiness to make productive use of any extra learning support offered in these languages. Since there are no measuring instruments available to assess students’ academic literacy levels in Sesotho and isiZulu at tertiary level, it was decided thattranslating an existing test may be the most productive option in this case. The test selected for translation into Sesotho and isiZulu was the Test of Academic Literacy Levels (TALL), a test that has consistently shown high reliability measures in the assessment of students’academic literacy levels in English. Because Sesotho is the home language used by the majority of students (other than English and Afrikaans) at the VTC, it was decided that Sesotho would be treated as priority in terms of the completion of the project. The article therefore documents the translation process for Sesotho, and discusses primarily positive findings regarding the creation of a conceptually and functionally adequate Sesotho version of the TALL through a process of translation.

Personality assessments are frequently used to make decisions and predictions, creating a demand for assessments that are non-discriminatory. South African legislation requires psychological tests to be scientifically proven to be valid, reliable, fair and non-biased. In response to the necessity for a measure sensitive to indigenous differences, South African and Dutch researchers developed the South African Personality Inventory (SAPI). The SAPI represents a theoretical model of personality that uses an indigenous (emic) and universal (etic) approach to capture South Africa’s rich multicultural and multilingual view of personhood. The development of SAPI items and its simultaneous translation from English into all official languages necessitated the investigation of all the translated language versions’ psychometric properties. This study used Exploratory Structural Equation Modelling to examine the factor structure and model fit of two indigenous language versions of the SAPI, targeting the Tshivenda and the Southern Sotho languages. To accomplish this objective, Study 1 (N = 290) was done in South Africa among the Tshivenda ethnic group, while Study 2 (N = 293) was conducted in South Africa among the Sesotho ethnic group. An acquiescence response pattern was noticed in both studies, possibly to adhere to group consensus and emphasizing harmony within relationships. The ESEM solutions generated an excellent fit for both language versions, and most facets loaded acceptably on their expected factors. The Neuroticism factor proved to be problematic in both language versions. Within the Tshivenda version, the Emotional Stability facet did not generate adequate loadings on any SAPI factors. In contrast, neither Emotional Stability nor Negative Emotionality loaded sufficiently on the Neuroticism factor for the Southern Sotho version. While the overall fit of the six-factor model was excellent, the language in which a person completes a personality questionnaire seems to influence such an assessment’s factor structure. The Tshivenda and Sesotho versions of the SAPI cannot yet be positioned as equitable alternatives when using an indigenous version of the SAPI is needed. The implications of the results and proposals for future studies are discussed.

The world is increasingly becoming more multilingual. South Africa has a long history of multilingualism. In the post-1994 South Africa, integrated organisations like churches where individual and organisational multilingualism are prevalent are growing. Previous and current studies of language use in integrated congregations indicate that multilingualism is a challenge to church leaders. In post-1994 integrated churches in South Africa where multilingualism is prevalent, congregations can foster innovative functional multilingual arrangements to benefit their ministry. However, evidence from research indicates that church leaders struggle to make functional multilingual arrangements and often monolingual English services are offered instead. The multilingual abilities and willingness of church leaders to foster functional multilingual arrangements for their churches is a core factor in this matter. The ability of church leaders to foster effective communication in a linguistically complex setting is important in the general interest of successful evangelisation. In this article, a case study approach is used to explore the latent potential present in the multilingual repertoire of a church leader to foster a functionally multilingual context in his congregation. The multilingual repertoire of a church leader is described and related to his perceptions of its usefulness to ministry as a profession. Descriptions of this nature are important in a context where the abilities and willingness of ministers to foster multilingual congregations have been acknowledged as core factors that determine the success of implementation. Improving the understanding of the nature of the multilingual repertoires of ministers would enable educators of ministers to as certain how these resources could be activated to enhance ministry in the post-1994 South Africa. The main findings from this case study are that the multilingual repertoire of this church leader is unique because of its scope and the exceptional abilities of this church leader in Southern Sotho; and the church leader displays enhanced levels of metalinguistic awareness. Based on the perceptions of the participant, the multilingual abilities of this church leader is related to his ministry in specific ways, viz. it is part of his general calling to become a church leader; it is part of his additional calling to be a bridge-builder between white and black people in his community; it enables him to craft a specific personal communication strategy where he uses his Southern Sotho abilities to start conversations with all people, that provide an entrance point for him to begin relationships, so that he could invite them into his ministry; and it is a valuable resource that enables him to minister effectively. From the description of this exceptional case study, it is possible to begin to consider the implications of the multilingual needs of a multilingual world for ministry in integrated churches in South Africa. The findings are useful because they provide a starting point for there consideration and exploration of implications for theological education and language policy matters in the domain of the church today.'n Meertalige kerkleier vir ’n meertalige wêreld: ’n Gevallestudie. Die wêreld word toenemend meertalig. Suid-Afrika het ’n lang geskiedenis van meertaligheid. Geïntegreerde organisasies soos kerke waar individuele en institusionele meertaligheid die botoon voer, word al hoe meer in die post-1994 Suid-Afrika. Bevindings in vorige en onlangse studies wat op taalgebruik in die geïntegreerde gemeentes fokus, dui aan dat meertaligheid ’n uitdaging vir kerkleiers is. In die geïntegreerde kerke in die post-1994 Suid-Afrika waar meertaligheid prominent is, is daar die moontlikheid om innoverende funksioneel-meertalige oplossings te vind wat die sukses van evangelisasie kan ondersteun. Ongelukkig dui bevindings wat uit navorsing vloei aan dat kerkleiers sukkel om funksioneel-meertalige reëlings te implementeer en dat daar dikwels eentalige Engelse dienste aangebied word. Die meertalige vermoëns en die bereidwilligheid van kerkleiers om funksioneel-meertalige reëlings in gemeentes te vestig, is as ’n kernfaktor in hierdie stryd bewys. Die vermoëns van kerkleiers om effektiewe kommunikasie te vestig in kontekste wat taalgewys kompleks is, is in die algemene belang van suksesvolle evangelisasie belangrik. In hierdie aritkel word die benadering van ’n gevallestudie gebruik om die sluimerende potensiaal in die meertalige repertoire van een kerkleier te ondersoek, naamlik om funksioneel-meertalige reëlings in ’n gemeente te implementeer. Die meertalige repertoire van die kerkleier word beskryf en in verband met sy persepsies van die bruikbaarheid van meertaligheid vir sy professie as kerkleier gebring. Beskrywings van hierdie aard is belangrik in ’n konteks waar die vermoëns en bereidwilligheid van kerkleiers as deurslaggewende faktore vir die sukses van die implementering van meertaligheid in gemeentes aangedui is. Die verdieping van insig in die verstaan van die aard van meertalige repertoires van kerkleiers kan ’n bydrae tot die opleiding van kerkleiers maak deurdat dit kan help bepaal hoe hierdie bronne in die post-1994 Suid-Afrika geaktiveer kan word. Die hoofbevindings van hierdie gevallestudie is dat die meertalige repertoire van hierdie kerkleier uniek is vanweë die omvang en die uitsonderlike vermoëns van hierdie kerkleier om Suid-Sotho te gebruik; en die kerkleier demonstreer verhoogde vlakke van metalinguistiese bewustheid. Die persepsies van die deelnemer in hierdie studie dui aan dat hy sy meertalige vermoëns op baie spesifieke maniere tot sy roeping as kerkleier verbind, naamlik dat dit deel van sy algemeneroeping is om ’n kerkleier te word; dit is deel van sy bykomende roeping om brûe tussen wit en swartmense in sy gemeenskap te bou; dit stel hom in staat om ’n baie spesifieke kommunikasiestrategie te skep waar hy sy vermoëns in Suid-Sotho gebruik om gesprekke met alle mense te begin. Dit gee hom ’n aanknopingspunt om verhoudings te begin wat daartoe kan lei dat hy mense na sy gemeente nooi; en na sy mening is dit is ’n waardevolle bron wat sy evangelisasie meer effektief maak. Die beskrywing van die meertalige repertoire in hierdie uitsonderlike gevallestudie lei tot meer insig in die meertalige vereistes wat ’n meertalige wêreld aan kerkleiers van geïntegreerde kerke in Suid-Afrika stel. Die bevindings is bruikbaar, omdat dit ’n basis is waarvandaan die implikasies vir teologiese opleiding en taalbeleidsake in die kerk as domein heroorweeg en verder ondersoek kan word

Background: In 2007, a large number of hypertensive patients seen at Natalspruit Hospital had poor adherent to their anti-hypertension treatment which manifested itself through poor blood pressure control. On enquiry, they revealed that they were also taking traditional medicines.Objectives: To explore the reasons given by hypertensive patients for concurrently using traditional and Western medicine.Methods: A qualitative study was conducted amongst nine purposefully selected participants attending treatment at the hospital. Interviews were conducted in the Southern Sotho and IsiZulu languages and were audio-taped. The exploratory question was: ‘Would you tell us why you are taking traditional medicine together with the antihypertensive medicine your arereceiving at this hospital?’ The transcribed and translated transcriptions were analysed using the ‘cut and paste’ method to identify themes.Results: Themes that emerged were that traditional medicine was readily accessible; traditional healers displayed knowledge and confidence in their medicine; traditional medicine was perceived to counteract the side-effects of western medicine; the two streams were perceived to complement each other and both streams could lead to a ‘cure’. Patients were disappointed at the perceived bad attitude of the hospital staff.Conclusion: The reasons given by hypertensive patients for their concurrent use of traditional and Western medicine centred around patients’ relatively favourable perception of traditional medicine and its practitioners. Western medicine health care practitioners should continue health education on antihypertensive medication in a manner acceptable to patients.