Philosophiae Doctor - PhD (Linguistics, Language and Communication)
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A social semiotic approach to multimodality in the Vagina Varsity YouTube campaign series
(University of the Western Cape, 2019)This study investigated the semiotic resources used by Vagina Varsity, a campaign by sanitary towel brand Libresse on the social media platform YouTube to construct meanings around the female body. Vagina Varsity is a South ... -
The discursive construction of Kenyan ethnicities in online political talk
(UNIVERSITY OF THE WESTERN CAPE, 2019)Multi-paradigmatically qualitative, and largely in the fashion of the critical theory, this study seeks to explore how a selection of Kenyans construct, manipulate and negotiate ethnic categories in a discussion of ... -
Exploring semiotic remediation in performances of stand-up comedians in post- apartheid South Africa and post-colonial Nigeria
(University of the Western Cape, 2018)This research has been conducted by focusing on the trajectories of semiotic ensembles from various contexts that stand-up comedians exploited for aesthetic and communicative purposes. I apply the social semiotic theory ... -
Analysing the discourse on corruption in presidential speeches in Nigeria, 1957- 2015: Systemic functional linguistics and critical discourse analysis frameworks
(University of the Western Cape, 2019)Corruption as a concept is viewed differently by various disciplines, but there seems to be consensus that it relates to the misuse of public office for private gain. Studies in the social sciences, mainly political ... -
Multilingualism and linguistic landscapes across space and time in the public railway system in South Africa: A multisemiotic analysis
(University of the Western Cape, 2018)During apartheid, the infrastructure in South Africa was built by the government and was designed to keep Blacks away from White areas. This infrastructure comprised inter alia the public railway system which was intended ... -
Promoting health citizenship and multilingualism in the health insurance industry
(University of the Western Cape, 2018)The thesis explores the role of semiotic structuring of health information in relation to language, multimodality and health literacy and the affordances for agentive participation among consumers of two leading South ... -
A critical evaluation of the development of Rumanyo as a national language in Namibia
(University of the Western Cape, 2017)Among others, the current study had been conceived due to the fact that, although Namibia is endowed with multiple languages, their development throughout the long colonial history, had been unequal. That is, some languages ... -
Beyond the glass ceiling: Towards a multi-sensory definition of functional literacy
(University of the Western Cape, 2017)The world is becoming increasingly visual (Kress, 2009:1).The visually literate viewer should be able to gather data, place it in context, and determine its validity. A huge visual world opened up for the users of new ... -
Language, migration and identity: Exploring the trajectories and linguistic identities of some African migrants in Cape Town, South Africa
(University of the Western Cape, 2018)This study is an exploration of the different trajectories of a selected number of African migrants into and around South Africa, focusing on the effects of these different trajectories on their language use patterns and ... -
Consequences of ideology and policy in the English second language classroom: The case of Oshiwambo-speaking students in Namibia
(University of the Western Cape, 2018)At independence, Namibia chose English as its official language and therefore its language of learning and teaching (LOLT). This decision has been well supported and therefore there has been an expectation among Namibians ... -
A social semiotic analysis of the linguistic landscape of two rural district municipalities in the Northern Cape, South Africa
Linguistic Landscape (LL) studies typically focus on public signage displayed in urban environments, therefore LL is associated with cityscapes. There is limited research related to the LL of non-urban environments or ... -
A multi-theoretical analysis of the dynamics and effects of terminology in Nigerian and South African high school textbooks on life sciences
(The University of the Western Cape, 2018)The performance of students in science subjects continues to be a source of concern in many African countries. In Nigeria and South Africa, one explanation frequently given has to do with students‘ proficiency levels in ... -
Globalisation and higher education branding at three Western Cape universities in South Africa: A multi-semiotic analysis
(University of the Western Cape, 2015)This study investigates how the three selected Western Cape Province (WCP) institutions of higher education position their brand imageries and awareness in a localised global way. It explores the branding discourses and ... -
Social structuring of language and the mobility of semiotic resources across the linguistic landscapes of Zambia: A multimodal analysis
(University of the Western Cape, 2016)The current study framed as Social Structuring of Language and the Mobility of Semiotic Resources across the Linguistic Landscapesof Zambia: A Multimodal Analysis, is situated in Lusaka and Livingstone and their selected ... -
A multisemiotic discourse analysis of race in apartheid South Africa: The case of Sandra Laing
(University of the Western Cape, 2015)In this thesis I investigate the reconstruction of the life history of Sandra Laing and the recreation of the apartheid context by analyzing two artefacts. These main artefact for investigation is the movie Skin, by ... -
The form of Muslim government and its source of authority in contemporary Islamic thought : a comparative study of the views of Ayatollah Ruḥollah Khomeini and Sayyid Quţb
(University of the Western Cape, 2013)The year 1924, which coincided with the fall of the Ottoman Caliphate and more recently, the Arab Spring which started in Tunisia in December 2010, and spread across much of north Africa and parts of the Middle East, has ... -
Reimagining diversity in post-apartheid Observatory, Cape Town: a discourse analysis
(University of the Western Cape, 2012)The focus of the thesis is conceptually-based and problematizes the notion of a transformed society while addressing and evaluating its meaning in the multicultural post-apartheid neighbourhood of Observatory, Cape Town. ... -
A critical reflection on eclecticism in the teaching of English grammar at selected Zambian secondary schools
(University of the Western Cape, 2016)English is the official language in Zambia and a compulsory subject from grade 1 to the final year of secondary education. Communicative competence in English is therefore critical to mobility in education and is also ... -
The Zimbabwean threat: media representations of immigrants in the South African media
(University of the Western Cape, 2012)This thesis is a multimodal discourse analysis of the media representations of Zimbabwean immigrants in the South African media. The aim of the investigation is to illustrate how Zimbabwean immigration and Zimbabwean ... -
An optimality theoretic account and systemic functional linguistics analysis of the acquisition of cicewa idiom interpretation by cicewa speaking children in Malawi
(University of the Western Cape, 2014)This research is in the area of child language acquisition, especially, acquisition of figurative language. It investigates how native Cicewa speaking children learn to interpret Cicewa idioms. This is done through examination ...
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