Browsing by Author "Fourie, Hanelle"

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    Developing a learner's corpus : the case of a first-year module in mathematics
    (Bureau of the WAT, 2005) Van der Walt, Christa; Fourie, Hanelle
    A learner's corpus is a body of writing for use by a student whose first language is not (in this case) English to improve his/her use of (in this case) academic scientific terminology. In this case study, a learner's corpus was developed for a first-year mathematics module for students in the biological sciences. Lecturers struggle with big classes and a fairly high failure rate which they have addressed in a variety of ways. The learner's corpus is one of an array of support mechanisms built into the teaching-learning process and aims to support the development of academic literacy in this module in particular. In the process of developing and refining this learner's corpus it was compared to Coxhead's Academic Word List to determine whether a general academic word list may not include enough terms to render tailor-made learner's corpora unnecessary. The study concludes that the most frequent terms used in this module either do not appear in the Academic Word List or have such a specialised meaning that general academic support on the basis of the word list would probably not be very useful for students.
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    'n Leksikografiese model vir 'n elektroniese tweetalige grondslagfasewoordeboek van Suid-Afrikaanse Gebaretaal en Afrikaans
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2013-03) Fourie, Hanelle; Gouws, R. H.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Afrikaans and Dutch.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study proposes a concept model for an electronic bilingual dictionary of sign language and Afrikaans (or English, or any other spoken language) that can be applied in practice by the De la Bat School for the Deaf in Worcester – or any school of similar organisation – to compile a bilingual dictionary in which it is not only possible to look up a sign via a written word but also to look up a sign even if the user does not necessarily know the written equivalent. This is important as it will mean that, for the first time in South Africa, a Deaf user would not have to be literate in any written language to use a dictionary in his or her own language. At the same time a hearing user would be able to look up a sign of which the meaning is unknown, for example when a sign is noticed in a conversation or an unknown context. The sign language dictionaries currently available in South Africa are little more than alphabetically arranged (or sometimes thematically arranged) lists in which the written language offers the only access to the content. As per introduction the first four chapters provide general discussions of sign language, the Deaf in South Africa, lexicography and sign language dictionaries. The discussions which follow in the remaining chapters focus on the decisions which have to be made in terms of the proposed dictionary’s content and design. These chapters contain recommendations regarding equivalent relations between sign language and Afrikaans, several outer texts which could be included in the frame structure, the characteristics of the electronic database from which the dictionary will be generated, as well as decisions that have to be made about the microstructure. In the last chapter the lexicographic model for an electronic bilingual Foundation Phase dictionary of South African Sign Language and Afrikaans is provided with complete examples.