title: Research-informed translation of mental strategy teaching materials into isiXhosa

authors: Booi, Tabisa

subjects: mental strategies

abstract: Background: This article critically examines the nature of isiXhosa translations in mathematics learning materials, specifically focusing on the doubling and halving unit within the ‘South African Grade 3 Mental Starters Assessment Project (MSAP): Teacher Guide’. Teaching in home languages is encouraged in the Foundation Phase, but unfamiliar standardised isiXhosa translations in support materials often contain barriers to understanding and/or distortion in meaning.

Aim: The article addresses three questions: (1) To what extent is there fidelity and alignment of the translated isiXhosa materials to the original mathematical meaning? (2) To what extent do the selected terms align with the everyday isiXhosa that learners are accustomed to? (3) What are the implications for future translation of such materials?

Setting: Analysis of the isiXhosa translation of a doubling and halving teaching unit and adapted translation for use in a Grade 3 classroom in the Eastern Cape.

Methods: This qualitative research uses Toury’s Descriptive Translation Studies theory.

Results: The findings highlight several ambiguities and incoherent translations. The article advocates for a comprehensive approach to translation, emphasising the importance of maintaining conceptual fidelity and clarity.

Conclusion: The authors suggest the need for transliteration techniques in translations to support teacher and learner access to mathematical sense-making.

Contribution: This research provides insights for translators of materials and implications for teachers, proposing an approach to translation. In particular, it argues that the involvement of Foundation Phase teachers in the translation of such materials is crucial.

text: Research-informed translation of mental strategy teaching materials into isiXhosa Background: This article critically examines the nature of isiXhosa translations in mathematics learning materials, specifically focusing on the doubling and halving unit within the ‘South African Grade 3 Mental Starters Assessment Project (MSAP): Teacher Guide’. Teaching in home languages is encouraged in the Foundation Phase, but unfamiliar standardised isiXhosa translations in support materials often contain barriers to understanding and/or distortion in meaning.

Aim: The article addresses three questions: (1) To what extent is there fidelity and alignment of the translated isiXhosa materials to the original mathematical meaning? (2) To what extent do the selected terms align with the everyday isiXhosa that learners are accustomed to? (3) What are the implications for future translation of such materials?

Setting: Analysis of the isiXhosa translation of a doubling and halving teaching unit and adapted translation for use in a Grade 3 classroom in the Eastern Cape.

Methods: This qualitative research uses Toury’s Descriptive Translation Studies theory.

Results: The findings highlight several ambiguities and incoherent translations. The article advocates for a comprehensive approach to translation, emphasising the importance of maintaining conceptual fidelity and clarity.

Conclusion: The authors suggest the need for transliteration techniques in translations to support teacher and learner access to mathematical sense-making.

Contribution: This research provides insights for translators of materials and implications for teachers, proposing an approach to translation. In particular, it argues that the involvement of Foundation Phase teachers in the translation of such materials is crucial.

year: 2024

title: Assessing New Zealand's spider (Araneae) fauna, using DNA barcoding

authors: Binks, Nigel

subjects: Biodiversity

abstract: The ability to accurately monitor biological diversity is the foundation to most ecological research. However, the morphological identification of spiders, as with many arthropod taxa, is often complicated by phenotypic plasticity and sexual dimorphism. New Zealand’s spider fauna is highly endemic (97% of known species), consisting of an estimated 2,000 species. Given such high diversity, it is critical to seek cost-effective measures of assessing species diversity and distributions, and for the identification of cryptic unidentified taxa. 

The aim of my research was to determine whether the described spider fauna can be effectively delineated from unidentified taxa using DNA barcoding. Overall, I establish a molecular inventory for 100 described species and 71 additional unidentified species of spiders found in New Zealand. Using barcoding I determined there to be 59 native described species and classify 66 of the unidentified species as native, leaving 45 species which were recognised as having international distributions by taxonomic descriptions and/or from comparative DNA sequences from the Barcode of Life Datasystem (www.boldsystems.org). The repository of species presented here represent native species pertaining to 26 families and cosmopolitan species from 17 families of which species from the Araneidae, Linyphiidae and Theridiidae families are the most diversly represented in this study. This foundational inventory was used to assess the presence of spider species around the marginal habitats of 5 Waikato study lakes (Puketi, Rotoiti, Kohahuake, Waiwhakareke and Koraha), in relation to community assemblage variation across lakes, habitat (shoreline vs. pasture) and sampling method. 

The combined morphological and molecular approach to identification used here has demonstrated community composition assessments of spiders are viable. Furthermore, the study of these community assemblages revealed a greater diversity of habitat specialists among shoreline samples from lakes Kohahuake, Koraha and Waiwhakareke where greater vegetative heterogeneity along the shoreline provides a greater range of niches for spiders to occupy. This compiled species inventory indicates that New Zealand’s diverse Araneae fauna has been infiltrated by species with international distributions. Further, not all species are easily recognisable due to dissimilarities in their morphological appearance, or because they remain to be genetically identified, and therefore the extent of non-native species infiltration into New Zealand ecosystems is unclear. This lack of knowledge highlights an important area for future biosurveillance work. Lake ecosystems were selected for this study because a variety of spider species prey upon adult aquatic invertebrates as they emerge from the aquatic realm and into the terrestrial. 

Methods which provide complementary data for ranking lake ecosystems is a priority for biodiversity management in the Waikato region due to habitat fragmentation primarily associated with deforestation and subsequent conversion to pastoral habitat. Land use practices affect the distribution and dispersal of many native species and connected expanses of pasture provide opportunities for exotic species to infiltrate established food-webs associated with ecosystems of significant natural character. In conclusion, this molecular inventory provides a key foundation for a COI barcode library for New Zealand’s most commonly-encountered spiders and validates the ability of this identification method to discern between male, female and juvenile specimen from described and unrecognised species with native or international distributions.

text: Assessing New Zealand's spider (Araneae) fauna, using DNA barcoding The ability to accurately monitor biological diversity is the foundation to most ecological research. However, the morphological identification of spiders, as with many arthropod taxa, is often complicated by phenotypic plasticity and sexual dimorphism. New Zealand’s spider fauna is highly endemic (97% of known species), consisting of an estimated 2,000 species. Given such high diversity, it is critical to seek cost-effective measures of assessing species diversity and distributions, and for the identification of cryptic unidentified taxa. 

The aim of my research was to determine whether the described spider fauna can be effectively delineated from unidentified taxa using DNA barcoding. Overall, I establish a molecular inventory for 100 described species and 71 additional unidentified species of spiders found in New Zealand. Using barcoding I determined there to be 59 native described species and classify 66 of the unidentified species as native, leaving 45 species which were recognised as having international distributions by taxonomic descriptions and/or from comparative DNA sequences from the Barcode of Life Datasystem (www.boldsystems.org). The repository of species presented here represent native species pertaining to 26 families and cosmopolitan species from 17 families of which species from the Araneidae, Linyphiidae and Theridiidae families are the most diversly represented in this study. This foundational inventory was used to assess the presence of spider species around the marginal habitats of 5 Waikato study lakes (Puketi, Rotoiti, Kohahuake, Waiwhakareke and Koraha), in relation to community assemblage variation across lakes, habitat (shoreline vs. pasture) and sampling method. 

The combined morphological and molecular approach to identification used here has demonstrated community composition assessments of spiders are viable. Furthermore, the study of these community assemblages revealed a greater diversity of habitat specialists among shoreline samples from lakes Kohahuake, Koraha and Waiwhakareke where greater vegetative heterogeneity along the shoreline provides a greater range of niches for spiders to occupy. This compiled species inventory indicates that New Zealand’s diverse Araneae fauna has been infiltrated by species with international distributions. Further, not all species are easily recognisable due to dissimilarities in their morphological appearance, or because they remain to be genetically identified, and therefore the extent of non-native species infiltration into New Zealand ecosystems is unclear. This lack of knowledge highlights an important area for future biosurveillance work. Lake ecosystems were selected for this study because a variety of spider species prey upon adult aquatic invertebrates as they emerge from the aquatic realm and into the terrestrial. 

Methods which provide complementary data for ranking lake ecosystems is a priority for biodiversity management in the Waikato region due to habitat fragmentation primarily associated with deforestation and subsequent conversion to pastoral habitat. Land use practices affect the distribution and dispersal of many native species and connected expanses of pasture provide opportunities for exotic species to infiltrate established food-webs associated with ecosystems of significant natural character. In conclusion, this molecular inventory provides a key foundation for a COI barcode library for New Zealand’s most commonly-encountered spiders and validates the ability of this identification method to discern between male, female and juvenile specimen from described and unrecognised species with native or international distributions.

year: 2018

title: A Critical Tiriti Analysis of the Treaty Statement From a University in Aotearoa New Zealand

authors: Hamley, Logan

abstract: Universities in Aotearoa New Zealand have been placed under the spotlight for claims of systemic racism. Following the claims made in relation to the University of Waikato in 2020 and University of Otago in 2022, universities have the responsibility to create an inclusive environment where systemic racism is dismantled, to meaningfully partner with Māori to construct a model for decolonisation, and to enhance the academic experience of Māori staff and students by weaving in mātauranga Māori into existing teaching and research practices. The University of Waikato progresses ahead of other universities in its attempt to fulfil Te Tiriti o Waitangi commitment through the introduction of the Treaty Statement. In this paper, the Treaty Statement is used as a case study to identify how universities articulate bicultural commitments. To do so, our team (consisting of Māori and tauiwi scholars) performed a critical Tiriti analysis comprising five phases to investigate the degree of alignment of the statement with Te Tiriti. The desktop analysis showed poor engagement with most Te Tiriti elements. The analysis evaluation of “good” (more than satisfactory) was measured for the consideration of “Māori exercising equitable citizenship”. This article concludes with recommendations of how universities can strengthen their practices to live up to Te Tiriti aspirations.

text: A Critical Tiriti Analysis of the Treaty Statement From a University in Aotearoa New Zealand Universities in Aotearoa New Zealand have been placed under the spotlight for claims of systemic racism. Following the claims made in relation to the University of Waikato in 2020 and University of Otago in 2022, universities have the responsibility to create an inclusive environment where systemic racism is dismantled, to meaningfully partner with Māori to construct a model for decolonisation, and to enhance the academic experience of Māori staff and students by weaving in mātauranga Māori into existing teaching and research practices. The University of Waikato progresses ahead of other universities in its attempt to fulfil Te Tiriti o Waitangi commitment through the introduction of the Treaty Statement. In this paper, the Treaty Statement is used as a case study to identify how universities articulate bicultural commitments. To do so, our team (consisting of Māori and tauiwi scholars) performed a critical Tiriti analysis comprising five phases to investigate the degree of alignment of the statement with Te Tiriti. The desktop analysis showed poor engagement with most Te Tiriti elements. The analysis evaluation of “good” (more than satisfactory) was measured for the consideration of “Māori exercising equitable citizenship”. This article concludes with recommendations of how universities can strengthen their practices to live up to Te Tiriti aspirations.

year: 2024-02-21