Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics Plus https://spilplus.journals.ac.za/pub en-US Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:<br /><ol type="a"><li>Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution License</a> that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.</li><li>Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.</li><li>Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See <a href="http://opcit.eprints.org/oacitation-biblio.html" target="_new">The Effect of Open Access</a>).</li></ol> katevg@sun.ac.za (Kate Huddlestone) scholar@sun.ac.za (SUNJournals support team) Fri, 28 Mar 2025 07:55:51 +0000 OJS 3.1.2.4 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 60 Comparing machine translation and human translation for South African languages https://spilplus.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/948 <p>Machine translation (MT) has been available for several years but has only recently begun to be considered viable, particularly in the context of indigenous South African languages. Although the quality of an MT remains inferior to that of a human translation (HT), MT systems have gained popularity, making some significant contributions to translation studies. This study explored the similarities and differences between the two modes of translation. A case study approach based on a qualitative research method was used. The source data for this study are an&nbsp; MT and an HT of an article titled “Stellenbosch University to offer academic and psychosocial support to students”, written by Ntwaagae Seleka and published on News24. As a computer-aided translation tool, Autshumato Machine Translation Web Service (MTWS) produced the MT from English into Setswana as a target text. Meanwhile, a Setswana master’s student from the Tshwane University of Technology manually translated the source text. The findings show that the human translator outperformed the MTWS in providing high-quality translation. The MTWS was unable to offer a better translation in terms of case sensitivity and terminological inconsistencies. It also mistranslated, adding and omitting words that changed the intended meaning and leaving certain words untranslated. Human cognitive competency, intelligence, and flexibility enable human translators to deal with such translation problems to provide high-quality outputs. The initiatives discussed in this study show that even though the MTWS operates as a useful translation tool with the capacity to instantly translate a large number of documents, its output is not yet capable of replacing an HT when translating into indigenous South African languages. Post-editing of the MTWS outputs is always recommended.</p> Respect Mlambo, Valencia Wagner, Nomsa Skosana Copyright (c) 2025 Respect Mlambo, Nomsa Skosana, Valencia Wagner https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://spilplus.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/948 Fri, 28 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000 “‘Kwai’ is not an appropriate expression of God”: Stancetaking on Kaaps gospel music https://spilplus.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/993 <p>The release of the song <em>Die Here is Kwai</em> (The Lord is Cool) by South African gospel singer Neville D in 2019 sparked debate about whether Kaaps is an authentic language for worship and praise and whether it ultimately is relevant for the textualization of gospel music in general. Although many would easily agree in the positive, we submit this paper to highlight how scriptural purity and standard language ideologies are some of the main drivers to the textualized performance of Kaaps gospel music. In this paper, we set out to analyze the various stances toward the song <em>Die Here is Kwai. </em>Data was drawn from a larger, longitudinal qualitative study that investigates the recontextualization of South African gospel music as a Kaaps-infused genre of music. We argue that Kaaps gospel music maximizes the genre potential of South African gospel music and highlights the diversity of voices in South African church discourses. We demonstrate the affective, epistemic, evaluative, and sacrificial stancetaking of gospel artists and commenters who align, disalign, and react against the publication of <em>Die Here is Kwai</em> (the stance-object), mediatized on a variety of digital communication platforms. Our analysis reveals stances from conservative traditional-religious voices and liberal religious voices expressing views on the production of Kaaps gospel music as text and performance. We argue that Neville D’s Kaaps gospel music challenges religious-linguistic views that attempt to reframe the sonic and spiritual life of Kaaps-speaking worshippers as ‘disrespectful’ and contrary to Christian ideologies that are steeped in scriptural discourses of purity and standard language ideologies.</p> Shanleigh Roux, Quentin Williams Copyright (c) 2025 Shanleigh Roux, Quentin Williams https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://spilplus.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/993 Sat, 29 Mar 2025 14:38:59 +0000 Assessing the extent to which the Writing Centre at Nelson Mandela University assists students in understanding academic discourse https://spilplus.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/885 <p>This study aimed to assess the extent to which the Writing Centre at a selected university in South Africa assists students in understanding the academic discourse utilised within the university sphere, especially regarding writing academic documents such as assignments. The academic socialisation model (Kumi-Yeboah, Brobbey and Smith 2020; Lea and Street 2006) was used as a theoretical framework for analysing the study’s findings. This involved extracting key concepts from the model and using them in the analysis. A qualitative research design was employed and data were collected through a sample of 60 evaluation forms provided to first-year students. These forms were used to assess the workshops attended by the participating students as hosted by the selected university’s Writing Centre. The sample included three groups of 20 students each, one group per different subject area, namely Introduction to Law, Management Studies, and Public Administration. The findings reveal that students benefit from the academic writing skills gained from the support services provided by the Writing Centre. However, the participants expressed a need to improve some methods by which the Writing Centre services are delivered to students. These findings suggest that the Writing Centre effectively provides academic writing skills to students, enabling them to learn academic discourse. Thus, the Writing Centre should enhance inducting students into the university culture’s standards and practices of academic writing, enabling them to use the academic discourse of the university or field of study and gain the capacity to learn the discourse independently.</p> Andile Mhlahlo Copyright (c) 2025 Andile Mhlahlo https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://spilplus.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/885 Wed, 11 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000