Masters Degrees (General Linguistics)
Permanent URI for this collection
Browse
Recent Submissions
Now showing 1 - 5 of 179
- ItemA case study of the use of code-blending by a bimodal bi-/multilingual deaf family(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2024-03) Arries, Levern Althea; Huddlestone, Kate; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of General Linguistics.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: When children, either deaf or hearing, are exposed to a spoken language and a signed language, they often become bimodal bilinguals. Bimodal bilinguals are able to produce both speech and sign at the same time, as the two modalities allow for the simultaneous production of two languages. This is known as code-blending. This study examines the language practices of a bimodal bi-/multilingual family, focusing on the phenomena of code-blending and code-switching. The current thesis examines the dinnertime conversations of a deaf family from Worcester, which includes deaf parents and two hearing twin girls (aged 9). All participants are bimodal multilinguals. The study involves the analysis of the family’s code choices (code-blending and code-switching patterns) during approximately one hour of recorded dinnertime interaction. Utterances which showed evidence of code-blending and code-switching were analysed. Coding was done according the turns each participant produced. There has been very limited studies on either bimodal bi-/multilingualism, or code-blending in bimodal bi-/multilingual families, especially in the South African context. The present study aims to provide a description on the linguistic choices of the hearing children of deaf adults (CODAs). Examining the bimodal bi-/multilingual family interactions during dinnertime has shown that the children and parents prefer to communicate in their dominant mode, Afrikaans and SASL respectively. When communicating with their parents, the children rather code-blend than code-switch fully into SASL This result is similar to previous research, as it shows the same preference, in which the children code-blend more than code-switch. Albeit with a small number of participants, the results have given some insight into the patterns of code-blending and code-switching in bimodal bi-/multilingual families.
- ItemExploring the factors that influence SRT performance in young adults using South African sign language(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2024-03) Du Toit, Simone; Huddlestone, Kate; Baker, Anne; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of General Linguistics.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study aimed to explore the proficiency of young adult users of South African Sign Language (SASL), using a sentence repetition test (SRT) as an assessment tool. SRTs are argued to be valid and reliable for sign language testing, and can be used to establish proficiency, as well as to determine which factors influence performance (Hauser, Paludnevičienė, Supalla and Bavelier 2006:166). As such, an SASL SRT displays the potential to be an efficient and cost-effective measurement of SASL proficiency. The study examined what general SASL performance on an SRT looks like in young deaf adults, and how their age of acquisition (AoA) affects their performance. The SASL-SRT consisted of 20 sentences, video recorded by native deaf signers, ranging in complexity and length. Sentences were between three and seven signs in length and included different grammatical constructions, such as questions, imperatives, negation, and verb agreement. The participants were 15 young adults recruited with the help of the National Institute for the Deaf (NID) and the NID Training College in Worcester, Western Cape and their ages ranged from 19 to 36 years, with AoA ranging from birth to 20 years of age. The mean age of the participant group was 29.3 and they had a mean AoA of 7.3 years. The participants were divided into groups of four, and presented with the video recorded SRT sentences displayed on a screen. After viewing each sentence, participants were prompted to repeat it, and their repetitions were video recorded. These recordings were then transcribed and scored according to the closeness of the match that the participant’s sentence was to the model sentence. The three categories for scoring were as follows: (i) whether the sentence was an exact repetition, referred to as overall score; (ii) whether the repetition of the manual items was a match to the model sentence, i.e., excluding all non-manual markers (NMMs); and (iii) whether the sign order was identical to the model sentence. Omissions, additions, phonological and lexical variants, lexical substitutions, and repetitions/self-corrections were also counted, along with the total number of target signs produced in each sentence. Statistical analyses showed that AoA is a strong predictor of the performance of the young adults on the SASL-SRT and that an extended length of exposure does not compensate for a late AoA. Overall scores ranged from 0% to 74%, with a mean overall score of 30%. Scores increased when NMMs were excluded from the analysis, with a maximum score of 84% achieved by one participant, and a mean score of 52%. This indicates that further research into the functions and optionality of discourse and grammatical NMMs is required. The number of target signs produced amounted to a mean of 87%, which indicated that participants largely understood the meaning of sentences, and that they could reproduce most of the signs seen in the model sentences. Sign order largely matched the model sentences, providing evidence that SASL has a verb-final basic sign order. This thesis shows evidence of the importance of an early AoA and that it plays a significant role in the performance of young adults. The study revealed that, while several areas require further research, the current state of the SASL-SRT shows robustness as a sign language assessment tool.
- ItemAfrikaans-English bilinguals and the foreign language effect in South Africa(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2024-03) Cullen, Sarah; Bylund, Emanuel; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of General Linguistics.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Do people think differently when they think in a different language? Could the language that you are asked a question in impact the answer that you give? These are the questions that form the foundation of the linguistic phenomenon known as the Foreign Language Effect (FLE). The FLE suggests that individuals do indeed make different decisions when presented with messaging in their native language versus in a foreign language. Linguistic investigations have been done to explore in what circumstances this phenomenon occurs as well as what factors contribute to these changes in bilinguals’ choices. This particular research project takes place within the South African context. As a uniquely multilingual and multicultural nation, South Africa is a rich environment for psycholinguistic research. The current research specifically focuses on Afrikaans-English bilinguals who are proficient in both languages and only started learning English after the age of three. However, while the current research is based in South Africa and investigates South African participants’ decision-making, the research design was modelled on a study performed by Italian researchers Miozzo et al. (2020). They examined whether an FLE was seen when testing two groups of Italian bilinguals who were proficient in Italian and another regional language, thus exploring whether an FLE can be seen when the non-native language is not specifically a foreign language. Using Miozzo et al. (2020) as a foundation, this research project seeks to answer two key questions with regards to the FLE: 1) To what extent is decision-making and risk-aversion impacted by the FLE in proficient Afrikaans-English bilinguals? And 2) If an FLE is elicited in Afrikaans-English bilinguals, to what extent is this impacted by proficiency and age of acquisition? The study took place online and participants were presented with two dilemmas and asked how they would respond in each case. This was done via an audio modality with numerical items displayed on screen. Participants were randomly assigned to either the English or the Afrikaans language condition. The findings of this study were in contrast to Miozzo et al. (2020). While the Italian study did see an FLE occur, in the current study no FLE was seen in the way that participants answered the scenarios. These outcomes have various implications for our understanding of Afrikaans-English bilinguals’ cognitive processing and also present exciting opportunities for further study in the realm of psycholinguistics in South Africa.
- ItemKook saam Kaaps : a study of language, positioning and food in the cooking show Flori en Koelsoem se kosse(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2024-03) Gallie, Tamsyn Keisha; Oostendorp, Marcelyn; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of General Linguistics.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis uses a sociolinguistic, multimodal approach to investigate a South African cooking show called Flori en Koelsoem se Kosse. The show is presented entirely in Kaaps, which is a non-standard variety of Afrikaans. This study draws on a range of related and compatible theoretical frameworks such as positioning theory, multimodal social semiotic theory and small story analysis to conduct an in-depth exploration of Flori en Koelsoem se Kosse. The thesis also makes use of thematic analysis and small story analysis as analytical tools as it aims to investigate how the hosts of Flori en Koelsoem se Kosse use linguistic and non-linguistic resources to position themselves. Through the thematic analysis, several themes not yet extensively explored by the current literature on language in cooking shows were generated. This includes religious positioning, health and mobility, and the construction of community. The small story analysis shows that the multimodal structure of the programme aids in creating the on-screen personas of the hosts. The hosts are constructed as home cooks with strong connections to their local communities, and with a deep and enduring friendship with each other. These constructions are created almost entirely through Kaaps, and through the multimodal elements that are used in the programme. The findings of this thesis shed light on both the linguistic and para-linguistic elements which shape food television. It also shows how food and a non-standard language variety intersect to provide insight into personal and cultural identities.
- ItemChild-directed speech in low-SES communities : the case of Afrikaans rural and urban-situated infants(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2024-03) Coetsee, Carmen; Southwood, Frenette; Southwood, Frenette, 1971-; Brookes, Heather; Brookes, Heather, 1963-; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of General Linguistics.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Most research on child language acquisition has been conducted in the global north (also called minority world contexts or WEIRD contexts), and the findings have been assumed up until recently to be universally applicable, even to cultures in majority world contexts. The limited research that has been conducted in the majority world has however shown that there are vast differences in the child socialization practices which underlie language acquisition and that findings from one culture cannot be generalized to another, not even within the same country or the same type of majority world context. For this reason, research on child language acquisition needs to be expanded to include more diverse and understudied cultures, and these cultures need to be studied on an individual basis and not simply in a comparative light to previous, minority world research. Also, socioeconomic status (SES) as well as urban or rural location can also affect socialization practices even within the same community, further emphasizing the need for varied research even in the same country or region.This study examined a facet of child language socialization practices, namely language input, in 10 low-SES, Afrikaans-speaking households, an understudied South African community. Half of the households were situated in urban areas and half in rural areas in and around one town. This study sought to describe the language practices of this community in terms of the amount of child-directed speech presented to 5-month-old infants, with specific focus on sentence types and contingent speech. The data was in the form of 10 hours of video recordings (1 hour per infant) which were transcribed using ELAN and categorised into the following main sentence types: declaratives, exclamations, imperatives and questions. These main categories were used for child-directed speech, speech about the child but not directed to the child, and speech neither about the child nor directed at the child. There were also three other categories in the analysis, namely instances of infant vocalizations, contingent speech and speaking as if the interlocutor were the infant. These six main categories were chosen in order to describe the language practices of these households in this community, and the data from the urban and rural groups were compared to see if there were any differences between the groups. The results of these analyses showed that, once again, findings from other cultures’ language practices, while being useful for comparison, cannot be taken and generalized as the standard. In this study, the types and number of sentences used as well as the amount of child-directed speech present, indicated that this community “goes against the grain” of what scholars have found for other low-SES, majority world contexts. This topic and study population were chosen to determine what the child language socialization practices are in one understudied community, in an effort to start building a database and knowledge which could facilitate future research and inform the development of culturally appropriate, parent-led, early child language intervention programs.