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10 September 2019 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo Rulanzen Martin
Lingustics
Delegates at the workshop were provided opportunities that many larger conferences do not offer.

The growing body of work examining microvariation in African languages prompted Dr Kristina Riedel and Dr Hannah Gibson, from the University of Essex and research fellow, to work on a research project, “Variation in Sesotho and Setswana as spoken in the Free State”, to document the dialectal variation in the languages as it is spoken in the province. 

“Dr Gibson and I have a joint research project which is funded by a Newton British Academy mobility grant,” says Dr Riedel, Head of the Department of Linguistic and Language Practice at the University of the Free State (UFS).

The duo hosted a workshop on morphosyntactic microvariation (small structural differences that can be observed between closely related languages or dialects) on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus, as part of the Newton Fund research project.  

Research focus on dialectal variation 

Dr Riedel says there has been some linguistic work on both of these languages. “But for Sesotho, linguists have noted that there is no dialectal variation. This seems hard to believe given the size of the population who speak the language,” she says. 

They are looking at speakers in the Free State province for differences in both languages. Speakers themselves also report awareness of dialectal differences and variation between different regions. “We’re also interested in whether they have influenced each other – particularly in places where people speak both of these languages on a day-to-day basis, such as Thaba ’Nchu and Bloemfontein,” Dr Riedel says.

Dr Riedel believes that in the context of an African university it is important to contribute to the development, teaching and support of African languages. “Research on African languages can play an important part of this picture. Furthering our knowledge and understanding of African languages from a linguistic perspective also contributes to our understanding of the world’s languages and linguistic diversity.” 

Workshop creates space for training and skill sharing

The aim of the workshop was to bring together researchers, students and language practitioners to “provide them with some of the insights and training that is helpful when looking at morphosyntactic microvariation”, Dr Riedel says.

The workshop was conducted in two sets. At the first workshop the emphasis was on training and sharing of skills and the second part focused on more research-related presentations. 

The workshop, which took place on 19 July 2019, was attended by delegates from numerous local institutions (Rhodes University, University of the Western Cape and Stellenbosch University) as well as universities in the rest of Africa including the University of Malawi, Dar es Salaam University College of Education and Makerere University in Uganda. 

News Archive

UFS again involved in this year's Science Expo
2009-08-21

The annual Science Expo will once again take place at the South Campus (formerly known as the Vista Campus) of the University of the Free State (UFS) in Bloemfontein from 20-22 Augustus 2009.

This is the 25th year that the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Science at the UFS is involved in the project as one of the main sponsors for the regional competition. This involvement stems from the institution’s endeavour to promote a love for science amongst youth at an early age already. In this way, new thoughts and development are stimulated with regard to science.

The total involvement of the faculty amounts to approximately R25 000, which includes:

  • The sponsoring of prizes and gift hampers for 220 medallists
  • The sponsoring of two floating trophies awarded to the primary and secondary school with the most Gold medals, as well as R1 000 cash for the two winning
    schools as prize money
  • The sponsoring of medals for the best project for Grades 4-7, Grades 8-9 and Grades 10-12
  • The sponsoring of merit bursaries to the value of approximately R1 800 for the
    best project: Grades 10-12 at the Science Expo
  • The sponsoring of a special prize for the best project in Soil Sciences to the
    value of R500
  • The venue is made available for free for the project
  • The sponsoring of other expenses to the value of R10 000

This year approximately 432 participants entered for the Science Project. The best projects will participate in the National Science Expo in Pretoria from 2-3 October 2009, where a group of learners will be selected to go to the International Science Expo.

Media Release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Deputy Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl@ufs.ac.za
20 August 2009

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