Browsing by Author "Ige, Busayo Olamide."

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Closing the gender gap : examining the reasons for performance differences in mathematics between Std 7 girls and boys in the Qacha's Nek District - Lesotho.
(2002) Molise-Sehlabi, 'Make Aloyisa 'Maselloane.; Ige, Busayo Olamide.; Morrell, Robert Graham.
There is a concern in Lesotho about inequalities in different sectors including inequalities that exist between females and males in schools. Closing the gender gap between males and females, girls and boys is the government's priority, hence the recent Gender and Development Policy, 2002. The project was conducted with the purpose of exploring the reasons that contribute to pupils' gendered performance in mathematics. In this regard, the focus was put on reasons behind girls' poor performance in mathematics. This report presents and discusses the results of a research which was conducted in Qacha's Nek - Lesotho. The project made some observations based on the questionnaire data gathered from four primary schools. The data provided some useful insights into girls' attitudes, behavior and perceptions towards mathematics, and it also provided insights into teachers' attitudes, expectations and perceptions about girls and their learning of mathematics. The research also provided evidence that there are different social factors that contribute to girls' poor performance in mathematics. Some of those factors concern parents, teachers, classroom process, peers and girls themselves. The analysis of the results and subsequent discussion suggests reasons that may be useful in terms of helping to explain pupils' gendered performance in mathematics and in the continued search for strategies that could improve girls' poor performance in this subject. Schools could be creative in the strategies that they can adopt to tackle gender differences. With this in mind, teachers and pupils were asked to suggest possible solutions that could be employed in trying to combat the problem of the gendered performance in mathematics hence noticeable improvement in girls' performance in this subject.
Gendering politeness : speech and act among Zulu second language speakers of the English language on the Durban campus.
(2000) Ige, Busayo Olamide.; De Kadt, Elizabeth.
In this thesis. I have moved away from the general question of 'How do women and men behave linguistically?, (Sing and Bergvall. 1996:19) and have turned to investigate in particular how the speech act of apologies contributes to the production of people as 'women and men' (Sing and Bergvall, 1996:19). In other words, the investigation focuses on the effect of politeness strategies on the construction of gender identities. Using poststrucluralist feminist theory as developed primarily by Weedon (1987), this thesis investigates the politeness strategies employed by some Zulu students at the University of Natal, Durban, in their English-medium interactions with African international students. The speech act of apologies is the area of language investigated, with data being collected primarily by means of role-plays and focus groups. The focus of the analysis is limited to the performance of apologies towards non-Zulus by 12 Zulu male and female students. To this end, the various strategies employed by the respondents were analysed according to the framework developed by Holmes (1989, 1995). In addition, information gathered in the focus groups revealed to what extent politeness strategies are still being transferred from Zulu to English. The strategies employed by these men and women are considered as revealing some of the ways by which politeness contributes to the construction of gender identities, in the University context. On the basis of this limited sample, it is argued that traditional Zulu male masculinity, while still dominant, is now being contested in the University context by some students favouring a less tradition-oriented identity. The strategies employed by the female respondents, on the other hand, suggest that Zulu women students may be beginning to reject traditional Zulu femininity in favour of more westernized identities.
Girls and science in the Lesotho secondary schools : a study of the reasons for low participation rates by girls in the Mohale's Hoek district.
(2002) Moletsane, Mamorakane.; Ige, Busayo Olamide.; Morrell, Robert Graham.
It has been discovered that in many countries, both locally and internationally, girls have low participation rates in science at secondary school level. This thesis examines the factors that underscore the persistence of girls' low participation rates in schools. The major reason for this examination is to establish ways in which secondary school teachers, interested individuals or groups of people, and the ministry of education in Lesotho can manage this problem. Kelly (1981) argues that causes of girls' negative attitudes towards science are multifaceted. Thus, in attempting to understand these causes and to develop strategies to manage this behaviour, a single approach, which focuses on student-teacher classroom interaction, was considered. This thesis therefore, seeks to investigate the responses of girls and science teachers in schools with least numbers of girls having opted for science in the last five years. Due to less numbers of science teachers in schools, I involved in this study, all those found in schools surveyed. To survey girls' responses to this problem, I drew a random sample of both those who have opted for, and those who have opted out of science. I then used a self-administered questionnaire as the research instrument for this study. Basing myself on my judgement's analysis, I therefore concluded that gender discrimination is the major source of girls' negative attitudes towards science in Lesotho, the country that condones female subordination. The unfavourable learning atmosphere that male teachers create for girls in science lessons, such as, the harassment, the harshness, deprivation of opportunity to participate in class, to use the laboratory equipment and other ways and means of ill-treating and frustrating girls are all a result of male domination. A number of recommendations to manage this problem have therefore been proposed.
Impoliteness in context: impoliteness, gender and construction of identities at a South African university.
(2007) Ige, Busayo Olamide.; De Kadt, Elizabeth.
This thesis explores gender and impoliteness in the multilingual and multicultural context of the University of Natal, South Africa. My study uses respondents' perceptions of impoliteness to investigate how male and female students of different African cultures and language backgrounds construct and reconstruct their identities through their choices to use the languages available at the University of Natal. The study was motivated by a perceived dearth of research into gender-sensitive accounts of multilingual situations. The goal of this study is to contribute to the understanding of the invention of identities in a multilingual, multicultural and multiracial environment, while interrogating the relationship between impoliteness, whether perceived or intended, and the gendered identities available to the different African subgroups at the university. Hence the thesis reviews recent theoretical approaches to intercultural communication, impoliteness and gender, and attempts to identify a suitable framework for the understanding of gendered aspects of multilingualism in the university. A combination of qualitative and quantitative research methodologies was adopted for the study. I used several modes of data collection which included indirect observation carried out through the reporting of perceived impoliteness, questionnaire surveys for evaluations of instances of impoliteness and focus group discussions with different categories of students. Discourse analysis was drawn on for the presentation of the data. The body of data reveals that while there are some general perceptions of impoliteness amongst the students that transcend culture and language diversity, differences in the perceptions of and responses to impoliteness impact greatly on the ability of individuals to communicate effectively. The study shows that the different groups identified in the study: Zulu bradas, dilute males, Model C guys, diverse males, modern Zulu women and decisive females, whilst they are attending university, decide on and construct their identities according to their preferences. This is not necessarily a matter of their original cultural identity, especially in the case of the modern Zulu women, decisive females and Model C guys. A range of different identities from which the individual may choose is made possible at the university, given that the university has its own, non-ethnic culture. The preferred identity varies amongst the students: for instance, the Zulu bradas' desire to be seen as 'traditional' pushes them to construct a 'traditional' - as they see it - Zulu identity. The decisive females in contrast are far less culture-conscious and construct an identity that is related to their personal needs. Consequently, some respondents construct communal and others individual identities. The students' interpretations and judgements of impoliteness reveal that the preferred identities influence their evaluations of behaviour. Similarly, the gender of perceiver or speaker may influence the interpretation and assessment of the degree of impoliteness. A majority of the male respondents draw on gendered cultural expectations in their judgements, while the female respondents were more egalitarian in their approach. Identity in this study emerges as crucial for the understanding of impoliteness. The study further shows that whenever the individual's constructed identity is seen to be under attack, a student may respond with equal impoliteness to defend him/herself. While this research is specifically located in the context of the University of Natal, it is relevant to the South African workplace today, where linguistic and cultural diversity may enhance or impede racial integration and gender equality.