AA 2013 Volume 45 Issue 3

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http://hdl.handle.net/11660/2473

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    Adventure tourism: opportunities and management challenges for SADC destinations
    (University of the Free State, 2013) McKay, Tracey
    English: The international tourism industry is becoming increasingly segmented with the growth of different ‘niches’ or ‘segments’ of tourism. One notable and rapidly expanding niche segment in the international tourism economy is that of adventure tourism. Although adventure tourism has attracted a growing international scholarship, research on adventure tourism in Africa is currently undeveloped. Despite this, all Southern African Development Community (SADC) states are promoting themselves as adventure tourism destinations. This article identifies seven key management and policy issues relating to the development of the adventure tourism business in the SADC region.
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    ‘Breaking out of the cocoon’: academics’ experiences of integrating HIV and AIDS into the curriculum
    (University of the Free State, 2013) Van Laren, Linda; De Lange, Naydene; Tanga, Pius
    English: The South African Higher Education Policy Framework on HIV and AIDS tasks universities to address HIV and AIDS in teaching, research and community engagement. In a global economy, integration in academic disciplines is a cost-effective method, simultaneously allowing for multiple perspectives of engaging with the epidemic. This study uses a qualitative approach to explore the sharing experiences of academics who integrate HIV and AIDS issues into the curriculum. Academics from three South African higher education institutions were interviewed. Three themes emerged from an analysis of their experiences: to share or not to share; how academics view integration in terms of their role as an academic, and who is integrating what. The findings indicate that academics are taking up the challenge, but that they require collegial support.
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    Ekonomiese waarde van groen ruimtes: Suid-Afrika in kontras met Europa
    (University of the Free State, 2013) Cilliers, Juanee
    English: The increase of worldwide urbanization results (among others) that green spaces are being neglected, sometimes sacrificed. Urban areas are valued higher than green spaces; mainly because urban areas can be measured in terms of monetary value (such as property prices) and green-spaces mainly have indirect, immeasurable value (social, recreational, biodiversity). The international approach to link economic value to green spaces was tested in Potchefstroom (South Africa), with the anticipation that it would prove that economic value of residential properties increases as distance to the nearby green spaces decreases, as in the cases internationally. Results however illustrated the opposite tendency in Potchefstroom. The uniqueness of the South African environment was evident. It was found that a creative approach is needed in order to quantify the value of green spaces. An instrument was proposed to identify and evaluate green spaces with the aim to quantify the intrinsic value of green spaces and compare development costs and benefits with environmental costs and benefits. It was concluded that this approach could stimulate green planning and prioritize it within the spatial decision-making process.
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    How green are visitors at a green wine destination in South Africa?
    (University of the Free State, 2013) Kruger, Martinette; Saayman, Melville
    English: Policies that focus on the protection of the environment are continuously being developed to combat the devastating effects of global warming on, among others, the wine industry. This article segments and analyses wine visitors and their green behaviour at Spier, one of South Africa’s first wine farms to implement green initiatives. In 2011, a visitor survey was conducted at the wine farm, when 161 questionnaires were administered. Respondents were clustered according to their ‘green’ behaviours at home, and two clusters were identified: ‘dark green’ and ‘light green’ consumers. These clusters differ significantly in their green behaviour at home, their travel motives, their willingness to pay for green initiatives and their overall travel behaviour. Results also show that a green wine destination does indeed attract visitors who consider themselves to be green, and that the green brand is an attraction or unique motivation for consumers.
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    Human trafficking: some research challenges for South Africa
    (University of the Free State, 2013) Allais, Carol
    English: Human trafficking has become a significant component of the illicit global economy and is internationally acknowledged to be a growing problem. While there have been various attempts to provide estimates of the scale of global trafficking, the real extent of the problem remains unknown. Despite widespread calls for more accurate estimates of the problem, statistics of any value remain elusive. There are numerous challenges involved in researching trafficking, in general, and obtaining sound estimates of human trafficking, in particular. South Africa’s response to trafficking is still in its infancy and the current law regarding trafficking in South Africa is fragmented. At present, the greatest impediment to the collection of quantitative data on trafficking (with particular reference to the number of victims in the identified trafficking streams) is the lack of a comprehensive stand-alone national law on human trafficking. Once promulgated, such a law would allow for a human-trafficking database or human-trafficking information management or reporting system which would allow various stakeholders working collaboratively to enter information about cases of trafficking.
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    Learning potential and academic literacy tests as predictors of academic performance for engineering students
    (University of the Free State, 2013) Schaap, Pieter; Luwes, Monica
    English: Students who obtain senior certificates in the South African schooling system cannot be assumed to be adequately prepared to meet the demands of tertiary education. This study aims to determine the criterion-related validity of a mathematical proficiency test from the Academic Aptitude Test Battery (AAT-maths), an English language proficiency test (ELSA) and a learning potential test (LPCAT) as predictors of the academic performance of engineering bursary students at tertiary institutions. The findings indicate that these tests have significant criterion-related validity and can improve the likelihood of selecting the most promising bursary students. However, the findings point towards the possibility that the tests or the criterion measure are differentially valid for different race groups.
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    ’n Moeder se belewenis van outisme vanuit ’n emosionele intelligensie-perspektief
    (University of the Free State, 2013) Du Preez, Hannelie; Lubbe-De Beer, Carien
    English: The rationale for the proposed study is to gain insight into, and understanding of what it means to be the mother of a child who is diagnosed with autism. The mother’s attitude towards her reality is accounted for from Reuvon Bar-On’s Emotional Intelligence model (EI). A qualitative research design with a narrative research approach was followed. Multidata-generating strategies were used to support the mother in giving expression to her reality and collaboratively attach meaning to it. The EI-interpreted experiences suggest that the mother demonstrates an optmistic, realistic and introspective view on parenting and education. It can be regarded as accountable to state that the mother displays informed comprehension of, and insight into the disability with which her child is living and their future together.
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    “Oh, now I get it ...”: comic dupe irony in print advertising
    (University of the Free State, 2013) Conradie, Marthinus
    English:Advertising texts are typically designed to engage audiences in the process of meaning construction. This article conducts a relevance theoretic analysis of a sample of print advertisements that employ a specific type of irony towards this goal, based on Partington’s (2007) conceptualisation of comic dupe irony. The results suggest that comic dupe irony is manifested in a discrepancy between two narratives. Consumers are encouraged to establish relevance by processing the irony that arises from this discrepancy, thus expending more processing effort for the promise of relevant cognitive effects.
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    Performance of first-year accounting students: does time perspective matter?
    (University of the Free State, 2013) Joubert, Hanli; Viljoen, Marianne; Schall, Robert
    English: Academic failure of first-year accounting students is a national and international problem. Existing research is inconclusive regarding the causes for the failure and does not make provision for the possible influence of dominant time perspectives on performance in accounting. This article investigates whether time perspective has an effect on the performance of first-year accounting students. A quantitative non-experimental predictive multivariate design is used and confounding variables are taken into consideration. The results of the study indicate significant relationships between performance in first-year accounting and gender, age and a past-negative time perspective. The most significant result of this study is that a past-negative time perspective, together with an unfavourable psychosocial background, might have led to failure in first-year accounting. It is suggested that students with a negative time perspective be identified and encouraged to participate in support programmes at the university.
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    Reducing cultural barriers in projective assessment through dynamic assessment
    (University of the Free State, 2013) Matthews, Lizette; Bouwer, Cecilia
    English: Projection media are valued widely in psychological assessment. However, various pitfalls exist in the administration and interpretation thereof, for instance cross-cultural influences. Seeking to enhance trustworthiness without compromising the projective power of responses, this study investigates the influence of a Dynamic Assessment Technique of Questioning (DATQ) during projective assessments with adolescents in mono- and cross-cultural situations as well as the influence of culture on the emotional assessment situation using DATQ. The main findings suggest a positive influence of DATQ in mono- and cross-cultural assessments regarding projections, projection assessment processes and participants’ emotional experiences, as well as a lowering of cultural barriers. Interview data reveal cultural influences on projected content, suggesting the relevance of a conversation about culture in all cross-cultural assessments for more accurate interpretation of responses. All standardised instructions and procedures should be revisited to control for cultural influences on assessment.
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    Validating a test of academic literacy at a South African university of technology
    (University of the Free State, 2013) Sebolai, Kabelo
    English: The advent of a democratic dispensation in South Africa in 1994 officially made it possible for historically disadvantaged groups, Black students in particular, to gain access to higher education at historically White universities. These universities, however, use English for teaching and learning, a second language to the majority of these students. Moreover, such students are products of Bantu Education, a tool used by the apartheid government to ensure that they leave secondary school with poor English skills. Both these factors constitute an obstacle to the students’ capacity to handle the demands of university education in English. South African universities have responded to this challenge by introducing academic language programmes to help the students bridge the language gap between high school and university education. Most of these programmes mainly focus on the teaching of reading, writing and thinking in English, a combination of skills known as academic literacy in the South African higher education context. This study explores the validity of a test of academic literacy used for summative assessment at a university of technology. Evidence suggests that the test possessed an acceptable degree of validity.