Academic research
LitNet Akademies is LitNet's accredited academic journal. An extended English abstract is published with every article.
The role of non-academic mentorship in involving students from marginalised groups at a university – a case study
2021-04-07"The study shows that while good management and teaching can play a role, non-academic mentorship not only helps to bridge access, but also to build survival capital through recognition and productive engagement."
An investigation into parental support to primary school learners in writing skills and activities in low-income households
2021-03-19"If literacy is not mastered adequately, it can create endless learning problems for any child. This is especially evident in the case of learners from impoverished households."
A critical and narrative illumination of the biological aspects of the transgender phenomenon
2021-03-08"When one considers the open hostility from some congregations against non-heterosexual orientations, one cannot help but wonder what the attitude towards the transgender person would be. Would it be one of understanding? Would it be accepting and inviting?"
Willie Jonker and the Rustenburg confession – a shift to the left?
2021-02-25"It will indicate that Jonker’s doctoral studies equipped him to convey unequivocally to the DRC the message of the Gospel concerning her policy of separate churches for separate ethnic groups."
Students’ experiences of different delivery modes in a postgraduate diploma in management
2021-02-23"Overall, the qualitative results revealed that the differences in the participants’ experiences of teaching in the asynchronous online and mixed delivery modes revolved mainly around the way in which lecturers supported them to master the learning outcomes, as well as the teaching methods they were exposed to."
The Wisdom of Solomon as an intertextual text
2021-02-19"The Book of Wisdom alludes to Solomon and his wisdom. However, wisdom is personified in this book. She becomes a life companion to those who follow her. She was used by God to create the world."
The role of linguistic capital in the educational processes of rural high school learners
2021-02-16"How do learners use their linguistic capital to navigate their educational processes at a school in the Northern Cape? Data were gathered through in-depth semi-structured interviews held with two learners from Namibia, an Ovambo-speaking male learner and a Damara-Nama-speaking female learner."
An appropriate legal framework for automated facial recognition in South Africa
2021-02-15"The South African legal framework gives too much discretion to individual operators, which increases the possibility of human rights violations. Secondly, it appears that ordinary CCTV footage can be used as a data source for AFR systems."
"Look at me": Nataniël’s self-fashioning
2021-02-01"As (apparently) genderless outsider, Nataniël’s artistic meta-text thus simultaneously mediates exceptional visibility and invisibility. Such self-fashioning, underlining contrasting aspects of his persona, empowers him to engage in a wide range of role play."
Groen van Prinsterer as the father of Christian democratic politics and his role in the consolidation of the Dutch constitutional democracy
2021-01-26"He thereby consolidated the Dutch constitutional democracy at a time when the system was still young and, given the revolutionary climate at the time, still vulnerable. By means of his narrative emphasis on principled political engagement within a constitutional democratic framework he laid the foundations of the Dutch political party system."
Mother-tongue education: mother’s milk for accounting students?
2021-01-18"Given the challenges of the terminology, we advise that universities should teach in English and the prevalent local language, but use the English terminology as a form of standardisation. In doing so, students will get the proverbial best of both worlds: the English terminology and the best possible understanding."
Afrikaans students’ perceptions and use of WhatsApp as platform for (language) learning: a new norm(al)?
2021-01-14"In conclusion, it is important to note that using WhatsApp in this way not only gave students an opportunity to interact with the lesson content, their peers and tutors, but also allowed them to create a community of inquiry, forging significant relationships that allowed them to learn from and with each other."
The off-screen and that which surpasses all understanding: Witnessing László Nemes’s Son of Saul (2015)
2020-12-11"What distinguishes Son of Saul from other mainstream Holocaust films, however, is how Nemes juxtaposes the film’s content with its form. Nemes opts for a modernist form of representation that rejects an omnipresent point of view and, instead, limits the film’s scope to Saul’s perspective."
The origin and development of Science of Religion: A genealogical investigation
2020-12-11"The purpose of this article is not to critique this biological approach to religion, but to draw attention to the questionable origin and influence of a key assumption at the basis of it, namely that religion can be defined only with reference to the supernatural and/or the extraordinary."
The portrayal of King Shaka in South African literature (ca. 1781–1828)
2020-12-07"Historians must interpret with care these contributions, which have informed the way Shaka has been portrayed as a child born out of wedlock who grew up under difficult circumstances but nonetheless became the king and founder of the Zulu nation in 1817."
Music and dance as text in three novels by Karel Schoeman: Na die geliefde land, ’n Ander land and Verliesfontein
2020-12-04"Reading the oeuvre of Schoeman’s novels from the perspective of music and dancing commands the reader’s admiration. The three extracts, studied from different musical, dancing and textual viewpoints, demonstrate his unique virtuosity."
Pre-service teaching students’ motivation to learn Afrikaans as L2 in a minority context: A case study
2020-12-03"Participants’ perceptions revealed that they prefer smaller language classes that would allow greater opportunity to get to know one another, which could lead to their feeling more comfortable speaking Afrikaans in the classroom."
Soft skills of teachers: a transcendental phenomenological study
2020-12-02"Examples of intrapersonal-behavioural skills provided by participants are that teachers are “congruent inside and outside school” and that they possess the “ability to evaluate the problems [that] learners have”. This intrapersonal skill becomes evident in how a teacher acts towards learners."
Eschatology and vita Christiana – a Biblical-spiritual reading of Luke 21:20–24
2020-11-30"Times of crisis always lead to re-evaluation and restructuring of priorities. Luke 21:24 interprets the catastrophe of 70 A.D. as the end of an era: the special position of Israel. But it is also the beginning of a new era: the time of the nations."
The flexibility of democratic elections in Africa: Manipulation in the interests of factional protection or people-oriented security?
2020-11-23"Indications are that autocratic states rely heavily on ethnic sentiments and ideological loyalties to consolidate a political ruling class."
