An examination of the motif of the desert in "The English Patient" by Michael Ondaajte, as a parallel to life itself, not just for the main character, but for humanity.
1,010 words (approx. 4 pages), 1 source, 2000, $ 35.95
From the Paper ?After spending ten years in the desert, the English patient is a shadow of his former self. Everything the English patient experiences in the desert is very short lived, and this is compared to the difficulty in finding an ample amount of water. The English patient speaks of water as the " . . . ghost between your hands and your mouth" and notes that "In the desert you celebrate nothing but water" (19; ch. 1 | 23; ch. 1). This strengthens the idea that nothing in the desert is permanent, and everything is valuable. In this sense, the desert represents not only the English patient's life, but life in general.?
Abstract A personal opinion paper which addresses the following questions - Does globalization of English form a serious threat? Do languages other than English face a slow death? This essays argues the eminent future of English and mother tongue.
From the Paper "It appears that English is to become the main language in Europe, and perhaps the world. This topic has been discussed extensively and widely and there has been massive scientific research in recent years. I came upon the article "The Great English Divide" merely by chance, and the discussion caught my particular interest, as I am a Dutch-speaking Belgian, living in multi-lingual South Africa and currently studying towards a degree in English. I surfed the Internet, and found hundreds of articles discussing this same subject. The articles of my choice are only a few examples. Professor David Crystal has nominated a book to the subject "English as a global language" , where he researched these three questions: What makes a world language? Why is English the leading candidate? Will it continue to hold that position? David Crystal has written a number of books on the topic itself. My main interest is how this globalisation of the English Language will influence English as a language. Is the idea of globalisation of English not just a triumphalist notion? Will the increase of the use of English in non-English speaking countries change English vocabulary and grammar? Will the use of 'Fusion English' increase? Paradoxically, could it mean that the population of Europe will become monolingual and could therefore mother languages become extinct?"
From the Paper EBONICS AND LITERACY
"Dialects in the United States are spread throughout the country. Not all members of a group speak the same dialect, and dialects among groups differ. he most controversial dialect in American English is Ebonics. In order to advance socially and economically, individuals must have access to the culture of power, and therefore, dialect use is often discouraged by teachers in favor of Standard English use. But, does sufficient reason exist to discard or devalue vernacular dialects in pursuit of literacy in Standard English?
There is "scarcely a country in the world today that could claim to be monolingual in any real sense…Furthermore, historical linguistic conflicts reemerge as minorities assert their identity" ("Literacy", no date, p. 1). In 1990, over 30% of the public school ..."
Abstract This paper studies the origins of military jargon and measures the influence of military jargon and slang on the English language. It shows how the conquesting armies of the colonial British government adopted many phrases, words and slang which have made their way into everyday spoken English. It compares how British soldiers and American soldiers, when interacting in the World Wars, transfered military slang between each other.
From the Paper "The English language has been going through the evolution process for hundreds of years. A number of words that were not recognized a few hundred years back are now commonly used. English has been continuously changing for centuries because of several reasons. Influence of other societies and cultures on English is the primary reason for this continuous change. Moreover, several military adventures conducted by the British Empire, which led to the expansion of the United Kingdom to almost one fourth of the earth's surface, also significantly influenced the English language. During these military operations, several English soldiers were exposed to some new cultures and societies. As a result of the influence from other cultures, they started using jargons and slang in their conversation, which were primarily adopted from several foreign languages. Similarly, American soldiers also adopted some jargons and slang during the Wars fought by American Army. "
Abstract This paper is composed of annotated bibliographies and a literature review of ten different research articles dealing with the acquisition of nonverbal, gestural, or sign languages. It addresses non-verbal language as a first language and a second language, as well as non-verbal language and symbolic communication systems in non-human primates and prehuman ancestors.
From the Paper "Sharon Begley's main point in this article is that "the human brain is wired for gestural communication" just as it is for spoken language, from a nativist perspective. She draws on examples from apes who have learned signed languages, deaf-mute children who have invented their own languages in the absence of an established sign language, and the fact that blind people gesture at the same rate as sighted people. She cites studies of wild bonobos who use symbolic gesture to communicate with each other, and deaf children who created a signed language with more complex grammatical structures than the spoken language in their environment."
Abstract An evaluation of two methods of teaching English to children-- 'phonic instruction' method and 'whole language' method. The author reviews many studies investigating the effectiveness of these methods and discusses incorporating both methods into a lesson plan. The conclusion is to gear one's methods towards each individual child's needs and preferences.
From the Paper "There have been many studies done on the effectiveness of phonetic instruction and those studies have been positive. The National Reading Panel conducted a meta-analysis on the effectiveness of phonetic instruction on reading and spelling. Overall, the impact of phonetic instruction on children had a large result of (.86) within this meta-analysis. Using phonetic instruction, reading and spelling improved moderately at (.53) and (.56) respectively (Ehri, Nunes, Willows, Schuster, Yaghoub-Zadeh, & Shanahan, 2001). However, there are some critics of phonics that find that the NRP study on phonetic instruction is flawed and does not prove that phonetic instruction is the way to teach. One critic claims that the NRP study choice of methodology, research, and subjects provided unreliable results (Garan, 2001)."
Abstract This paper takes a couple of passages out of "Their Eyes Were Watching God" and examines the text. It shows how Hurston creates a voice marked by weaving Black vernacular and standard American English to create a steady, flowing narration. This use of free, indirect discourse is used throughout the narrative.
From the Paper "The New Historian critical approach to text investigates how power is distributed and draws on the works of American cultural anthropologist, Clifford Geertz. Anthropologists have used the works of Clifford Geertz to ? illuminate the integrative significance of cultural symbols with particular communities? ( Lears,1985,p.573) in the belief that certain subordinate groups participate in their own domination through the work of cultural symbolism. Not unlike Geertz, German-American anthropologist, Franz Boas emphasized the importance of environment in the evaluation of individual capabilities. Boas also accentuated the magnitude of linguistic analysis from internal linguistic structure and pointed out that language is a fundamental aspect of culture. (Rassman. 1999,personal communication). Author Zora Neal Hurston studied anthropology with Franz Boas at Barnard College when she was about 35 years old (Gates,1990, p. 212). Boas? influence on the importance of language as cultural collateral is evident in Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God by virtue of her use of free indirect discourse and signifying."
Abstract This paper re-examines Plato's "Republic X" as it attempts to denounce the poets from Plato's "perfect" republic. It argues for the expulsion of poetry that is not of lyric or historical importance and in doing so attacks some of the very important ideals that modern poetry is founded upon. The paper takes Plato's arguments that the poet does not actually "create" in his craft and is therefore, basically, a liar, and attempts to further this argument by using quotes from James and Wordsworth in an attempt to re-argue Plato's point.
From the Paper "In the Republic, Book X, Socrates, through the pen of his brilliant pupil Plato, argues for ?our refusal to admit the imitative kind of poetry, for it certainly ought not to be received.? (p. 21) However, although Plato is widely regarded as a man of unquestioned genius, and his Republic a work of infinite possibility, this single phrase that sums the whole of the tenth book up has become the topic of heated debate in western literary criticism."
Abstract This paper analyzes prison language, prison inmates and prison gangs. It looks at the use of such dialects in other cultures and situations and how they came about.
From the Paper "In every culture, language differs in some manner, more in some than others. Language can be defined as a means of communication in which vocal sounds are combined into meaningful units to convey thoughts and feelings. Language can differ from culture to culture no matter how far apart they are from each other or how they differ. Take for instance, ebonics, a specialized language used solely by African-American people in the inner city, and although it is made up mostly of slang, it actually gets taught in some schools. People living in the same block may not understand the language, and the same can be said of prisoners located in our cities, who have their own language. In prison, inmates have a language that is entirely unique and cannot be compared to any other language, called argot, which would sound like meaningless babble to the common person, but this code is necessary knowledge to all prison inmates and guards."
Abstract This paper shows how cultural misunderstandings are often as a result of incorrect or incomplete translations. The writer explains that people are influenced by the culture in which they live and this helps form their impressions and the ways in which they communicate. Consequently, a metalanguage is required to enable people to discuss a specific language without their culture impacting upon it.
From the Paper "Cultural differences, which upon careful analysis may not be very great, are often exaggerated by the language barrier thus making it hard to conduct a comprehensive cultural analysis. If a person were to attempt to analyse another culture purely in terms of their own culture, this would clearly lead to misunderstanding and a breakdown in communication. This cultural divide is reinforced by the differing languages spoken in the varying cultures being compared. Whilst in a cultural analysis cultures may not be directly compared, the person conducting the analysis is still influenced by the culture to which they belong. As language forms a part of the activities which people undertake in their cultures, language is obviously going to have a large impact upon the cultural analysis being undertaken. By this, I am referring to the fact that if the person conducting the analysis merely translates lexemes from another language into his/her own language, the analysis will be incorrect as the cultural concepts underpinning the languages will be different. Thus it becomes necessary to be able to give definitions in a consistent fashion which does not rely upon any particular cultural concepts."
Abstract This paper examines the globalization of culture and how the American popular culture shapes it. It investigates how economic dominance, communications technologies, social and political events influence global mass media. The paper also describes the role of the English language in creating a single world culture.
From the Paper "When we look at the dominant form of culture that characterizes our society today, it is often referred to as "globalization". But to many, this idea of a unified world is characterized by the concept of "Americanization". To a large extent, the shared culture around the world is becoming more and more influenced by American culture. There are many reasons for this, but primarily these are the result of the economic dominance of that nation, the development of global systems of communication, and the spread of English as the new international language. The following paper will address all of these issues in order to fully understand the reasons why the United States has a stranglehold on the global market in mass culture."
Abstract This paper addresses the issue of multiculturalism and its connection to teaching students for whom English is a second language. It examines two main schools of thought. One believes that although schools should recognize the diversity of cultures in our midst, the primary goal of education should be to teach all children to speak English fluently, as soon as possible, and to make sure they are solidly grounded in mainstream American culture. An alternate view is that instructional approaches should support the development of the primary language and understanding of the primary culture rather than acculturation to mainstream culture.
From the Paper "Over the past few decades, the United States has become a country of markedly more diverse subcultures than ever before. At the same time, educators have grown in their understanding and appreciation of the richness that diversity can bring to the educational environment. In spite of this, little research has gone into the effects of language instruction on the cultural development and understanding of students for whom English is a second language. The value of multicultural education is recognized at all levels of education in our country. Recognition of cultural differences as an enriching fact does exist in preschool. However, some educators concerned with the needs of "second culture" children believe that culture and language cannot be separated, and that cultural diversity that eliminates the child's primary language is inherently distorting (Phillips & Crowell, 1999a)."
Abstract This paper examines how, in the United States, "bilingualism" is a term that goes far beyond the use of more than one language and how the bilingual child in the American classroom commonly summons forth the image of a child who speaks English poorly, has difficulty learning and keeping up with his peers in school, and needs remedial classes. It discusses how English as a second language (ESL) programs are essential for the bilingual and/or multilingual students and how the bilingual learner in the American classroom deserves the same opportunities as those provided to native English-speaking students. It shows how decade's researchers and educators alike have argued about the best ways to teach ESL, and although many have disagreed on the methods employed by most ESL programs, few can argue about the importance of such programs in the American educational system.
From the Paper "For the most part, studies conducted to date on classroom interaction and English as a second language learning (ESL) began their examinations into second and foreign language learning from this more traditional perspective. However, ?they cross disciplinary borders and draw on theoretical insights and empirical evidence found in areas outside of what has generally been considered the main purview of the ESL field. Their findings join our interests in reconceptualizing second and foreign language learning using a broader, sociocultural perspective of language and learning with practical concerns for nurturing classroom communities of successful second and foreign language learners.? "
Abstract This paper examines how nonverbal communication differs between the genders. This paper focuses on examining three forms of nonverbal communication, facial expressions, eye gazes, and the ability to "decode" the individual meanings behind these gestures. The paper also looks at how men and women use and interpret these gestures differently. The last part of this paper looks at the reasons behind the gender differences in nonverbal communication, focusing on the different socialization of men and women. In this part, the paper also makes recommendations regarding the implications of these gendered forms of nonverbal communication for daily interactions.
From the Paper "In their seminal work on facial movements, Paul Ekman and Wallace Friesen argued that there are six basic human emotions -- fear, surprise, anger, disgust, happiness, sadness and surprise. Furthermore, the researchers argued that these emotions are expressed through universal facial gestures, using the same facial-muscle movements. People from different parts of the world use the same facial expressions, regardless of culture. However, later studies found significant differences in the degrees of expressiveness in the faces of male and female subjects."
Tags: feminsim, marriage, sex, gender, facial, expression, body, language
Abstract This paper examines how there are several different ways to expose children to a second language. It looks at how some children are exposed to two languages since birth and how others are exposed to a second language once they enter a school program. It discusses how the process of double language acquisition is not so smooth and how there are a few discrepancies in fluency and language confusion to be taken into account.
Outline
Introduction
How Children Learn Two Languages
Stages of Development
Code Switching
Language Mixing
Two Languages, One Sentence: Not a Sign of Confusion
Language Imbalance
Language Loss and Semilingualism
Conclusion
From the Paper "For some bilingual children, code switching is a normal language phenomenon. While some children acquiring a second language appear to confuse the two languages at first, code switching is a normal aspect of second language acquisition. Young bilingual children tend to insert single items from one language into the other (McClure, 1977), primarily to resolve ambiguities and clarify statements. Children over nine and adults, however, tend to switch languages at the phrase or sentence level, typically to convey social meanings. Studies of code switching in adults show it to be a sophisticated, rule-governed communicative device used to achieve goals such as conveying emphasis or establishing cultural identity."
