Research articles (Dept of English)
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Are dialects markers of ethnic identity? The case of Setswana dialects and ethnic groups
(University of Botswana, www.ub.bw, 2019)Many studies on dialects present language in neat, organised groupings that highlight similar language habits and linguistic features of people who belong to the same social, linguistic or regional group. In that way, ... -
A Socio-pragmatic analysis of compliment responses among students at the University of Botswana
(University of Malawi, http://www.unima.mw/, 2017)Using tape-recorded interviews as well as Discourse Completion Tasks on compliment responses as elicitation methods, this study set out to investigate the linguistic resources that students at the University of Botswana ... -
Setswana lexical expressions of time
(University of Botswana,www.ub.bw/, 2018)This paper explores the way time is lexically expressed in Setswana. Using data from a Setswana corpus, the study isolated instances of temporal reference for linguistic analysis. The paper demonstrates that Setswana ... -
Challenges to issues of balance and representativesness in African lexicography
(http://afrilex.africanlanguages.com/homelex.html , 2006)Modern dictionaries depend on corpora of different sizes and types for frequency listings, concordances and collocations, illustrative sentences and grammatical information. With the help of computer software, retrieving ... -
A study of students' metalinguistic competence and its probable effect in the Cambridge School Certificate Final Examinations
(Marang: Journal of Language and Literature, http://www.ajol.info/index.php/marang, 2010)The aim of this study was to investigate the extent to which students' understanding of key words in examination questions might influence their performance as illustrated by the number of subjects in which they obtain ... -
The reading behavior of junior secondary students during school holidays in Botswana
(International Reading Association, www.reading.org/, 2011)Reports of the poor reading culture of Batswana appear periodically in the popular media, especially the newspapers (see Baputaki, 2006; Hosia, 2007; Seboni & Swartland, 2009). These impressionistic reports speak of an ... -
Voicing the text: South African oral poetry and performance
(Routledge (Taylor and francis), www.routledge.com, 2000)This article is about how communities living within the same borders and planet view each other and is mainly concerned about Southern Africa. The article goes further to say social groups are partly defined by our stories, ... -
Learner reading problems: a case of Khoe learners at Junior Secondary School
(University of Botswana, Department of English, http://www.ub.bw, 2010)This article is part of a larger tracer study that investigated Khoe learners' reading ability of English at junior secondary school in Botswana. The research was carried out at Motshegaletau Primary School and Mothamo ... -
Styles and levels of acting in Zimbabwean traditional performances
(University of Botswana, Department of English, http://www.ub.bw, 2008)In this paper, I intend to support Schechner's (1988:197) argument that "to be in trance is not to be out of control", and that in trance or possession the performer does exhibit elements of acting. Schechner mentions that ... -
Heroines and subalterns? the representation of women in Raja Rao's Kanthapura
(University of Botswana, Department of English, http://www.ub.bw, 2006)The paper examines the representation of women in Raja Rao's Kanthapura, especially within the socio-political realms. This will be done in relation to Mahatma Gandhi's principle of Satyagraha. The paper surveys the role ... -
Of "disinclined trains and clever actors to be admired and not followed": Sol Plaatje, William Shakespeare and the dilemma of the African intellectual 1894-1920's
(University of Botswana, Department of English, http://www.ub.bw, 2008)This paper explores the dilemma of the emergent African intellectual, activist or modern leader by focusing on Sol Plaatje's experiences. It shows that by acquiring western education and values, the African intellectual ... -
In the fathers' house: resistant alterity and the law of the father in the Tempest, Othelo and Titus Andronicus
(University of Botswana, Department of English, http://www.ub.bw, 2008)The paper offers a reading of Shakespeare's the Tempest, Othelo and Titus Andronicus that sees the plays' black characters as disporic protagonists seeking alternative constructions of difference from those that are demanded ... -
The functional distribution of Setswana and English in Botswana
(Multilingual Matters and Channel View Publications, http://www.multilingual matters.com, 2003)In multilingual societies such as Botswana, language use is an extremely complex matter, further compounded by the fact that the languages involved are themselves dynamic phenomena that often elude the planned outcomes ... -
The binary branching nature of syllable constituents: the English onset
(National Inquiry Services Centre, 2007)The conventional composition of the English syllable is captured in the template: CQ^ Vi^ CQ''. This means that the onset accommodates a minimum of zero and a maximum of three consonants, the coda a minimum of zero and a ... -
Aspects of culture and meaning in Botswana English
(Sage Publications http://www.sagepublications.com, 2009)Using samples from local newspapers, letters and public speeches, this article argues that English assimilates to and reflects the Botswana culture through borrowing and semantic modification. It discusses those terminologies ... -
Pragmatics of letter writing in Setswana
(Elsevier http://www.elsevier.com, 2008)Using a corpus of about 200 letters written during the time that Botswana was a British protectorate (1885–1966) by and to the British administrators on one hand, and letters written to and by Batswana (natives of Botswana) ... -
Literacy, ethnolinguistic diversity and transitional bilingual education in Malawi
(Taylor & Francis, http://www.tandif.co.uk/journals, 2006)This paper examines recent attempts by the Malawi government to introduce local languages into the primary school system and other secondary domains of national life, breaking more than 30 years of Chichewa/English monopoly. ... -
English articles and modals in the writing of some Batswana students
(Multilingual Matters and Channel View Publications, http://www.multilingual matters.com, 2007)What syntactic patterns emerge in students’ use of articles and modals? What are the reasons for these patterns? What implications do the findings of the study have for English language instruction in Botswana? Exactly ...
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