Proceedings

of the Seventh
Worldwide Forum
on Education and
Culture

“Putting Theory into Practice: Teaching

for the Next Century ”
Rome, Italy
4-5 December 2008

Edited By:
Roberto Bergami, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia
Sandra Liliana Pucci, PhD, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, USA
Annamarie Schuller, Chisholm Institute, Melbourne, Australia

Founder/Director
Dr. Bruce C. Swaffield, School of Communication & the Arts
Regent University, Virginia Beach, USA
 Program cover artwork by Gian Carlo D‘Ascenzi of Rome, Italy

“Vicino al cielo” © 2008 by Gian Carlo D‟Ascenzi ~ Studio D‟Arte, Via della Paglia 12, Roma

Foreword
By
Roberto Bergami, Sandra Liliana Pucci and Annamarie Schuller

The Proceedings of the Seventh Worldwide Forum on Education and Culture is published
by the organization, with the generous cooperation and assistance of participants and
persons involved in the organization and the running of the conference. A special thank
you goes to all who contributed much time and effort ―behind the scenes.‖ We are
especially grateful to Dr. Bruce C. Swaffield for his boundless energy, incredible
dedication to this conference, and giving us the privilege of being editors.

The papers contained in the proceedings were selected in a juried review for special
presentation at the Forum. Although they reflect a wide range of disciplines and
perspectives, all share a passion for education. The proceedings were edited by Sandra
Liliana Pucci, Roberto Bergami and Annamarie Schuller. The manuscripts included herein
have not been modified or altered, other than to conform to certain formatting as
required by the editorial committee. It is the expectation of the organization that each
paper should reflect the language, tone, style and diction of the individual presenter.

For more detailed information on the Worldwide Forum on Education and Culture, please
see [Link]

ISBN 978-1-4243-0291-8
KEYNOTE ADDRESS

Making a difference: A global intelligence briefing for educators

Dr. Rose Lee Hayden

International Consultant/Author

Good morning and welcome to Rome! Thanks to all of you, and in particular
to Dr. Bruce Swaffield, this Worldwide Forum has become a far more diverse
international gathering since I first addressed this group ranting and raving
about how little policy relevance professionals such as yourselves seem to have
in the so-called ―real world.‖ Well, guess what? I am going to do it again! I am
going to rant and rave about the fact that the more we learn in our field, the less
we seem able to contribute to assuring a better future for our increasingly
violent and fragile planet. It is a fatal paradox, my friends. Can we
international/intercultural educators make a difference, even on our own
campuses, or are we only making a little ―politically correct‖ noise here and
there? We possess more and more knowledge, knowledge that has never been
more relevant. Witness Dafur, Sri Lanka, Bosnia, and the Congo – only a few of
the seemingly endless genocidal tragedies in today‘s news. What about New
York, Madrid, London, Bali, and now Mumbai, where the murderous intentions of
a whole new generation of global psychotics use religious zealotry to fuel their
pathetic delusions and justify their hideous deeds.
So what‘s the deal? Is this an ―open moment‖ or an ―insurmountable
opportunity‖ for our field? Robert Benchley supposedly remarked, ―Drawing on
my fine command of language, I said nothing.‖ You may wish that this were so
this morning, but bear with me while I outline some challenges that I feel our
field is uniquely prepared to address. I will also suggest some specific projects
that we can, indeed, make a difference.
Fear not...I will not deal with each at length, given time considerations. I will,
however, touch upon these pressing concerns: demographics, wars and
immigration; new technologies and their ethical implications; the current
economic crash and its impact on societies and humanitarian assistance; crime
and nation building; global warming; and ―ethno-environmentalism.‖ Within the
realm of education per se, I will briefly focus on the globalization of higher
education, the growth of English as THE global language, and international
exchanges of students, faculty and professionals. Finally, I will conclude with a
quick look at the Obama phenomenon, and end with what is for me, at least, the
most intriguing of all cross-cultural phenomena – humor and jokes!

War & Demographics

As Ambrose Bierce remarked, ―War is God‘s way of teaching Americans

geography.‖ In fact, thanks to the media‘s insatiable coverage of worldwide
uprisings, all of us have had to focus on regions and nations that would
otherwise not even be blips on our daily radarscopes. As I once jokingly noted,
my infallible Peace Plan would be to prohibit ANY American President from going
to war with any nation that a majority of Americans cannot find on a map!
 It is important to stress that the very definition of what constitutes a ―war‖
and what types of wars there are out there is not so straightforward. In fact, our
international dealings are complicated by the existence of three very distinct
classes of countries: 1) the Pre-Moderns that are tribal and face a choice
between order and chaos; 2) the Moderns (e.g., Southeast Asia, the Middle East
and Latin America) that are 19th Century entities much devoted to nationalism;
and 3) the Post-Moderns: countries that have shed nationalism and hang ups
about sovereignty (e.g., the European Union), are moving beyond the nation
state, and increasingly depend on international constraints and multilateral
mechanisms.
Of the many hotspots today where genocidal wars are taking place, category
one, the Pre-Moderns, account for most of the flare-ups currently in the news.
Let‘s take the case of the Talls and the Smalls, the Tutsis and the Hutus. Tutsi
rebels continue their massacres in towns in North Kivu province, and the 17,000
UN peace keepers there are unable to cope. In the past two years, 850,000
people have fled their homes due to fighting between rebels, Congo‘s army and
assorted militias. At least 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus have been killed.
The genocide in Dafur, murderous raids in Liberia and slaughter in the Ivory
Coast are, sadly, only a few of the most recent entries in this category that
document our specie‘s murderous behaviors.
Category two, the Moderns, account for the bulk of what global threats,
violence and outbursts are regularly in the news. Skirmishes between Thais and
Malays in contested ethnic conclaves involve nation states with higher per-capita
incomes and industrialized economies. Ruthless dictatorships in North Korea and
elsewhere routinely starve thousands of their own citizens, while much of global
terrorism is aided and abetted by politically unstable Middle Eastern regimes
capitalizing on traditional hostilities to support religious sects and fellow ethnics
across borders. Many of these regimes are in fact quite unstable and use
external ―enemies‖ to justify their own internal corruption and brutality. This is
certainly true of Iran where at least 70% of the population is under the age of
30, is non-Arab, and is often pro-Western. The equivalent of an Islamic SS
patrols the streets to impose 7th century laws upon their own peoples. Extreme
modernism and 7th century fundamentalism live uneasily side-by-side in Saudi
Arabia, while Turkey and other nations in the region struggle to protect secular
civil societies from fundamentalist rivals.

Religion

Historically, the root of more violence and wars than any other has been and
remains that of religion. As you know, there are three major monotheistic
religions in the world: Christianity, Judaism and Islam. In the 16th century,
Judaism and Christianity reconciled with the modern world, not always
peacefully. Over time, church and state became separate, thus allowing the
Western world to experience an unprecedented scientific and cultural awakening.
Islam, which developed in the 7th century and counts a billion or so Moslems
around the world, has not managed to reconcile itself with modernity and has
periodically attacked the West when its radical clerics are in charge. From the 7th
century and well into the 16th and 17th centuries, the Moslems (Ottoman Turks)
were literally at the gates of Vienna battling, interestingly enough, on September
11, 1683. Global terrorism is yet another attack on Western civilization by
radical Islam. We can only hope that both Moslems and non-Moslems who
deplore this indiscriminate killing in the name of God will prevail, and that
Islamic moderates will, over time, find a way to bring Islam forward into the 21st
century.
Fundamentalism, of course, is not confined to Islam. All religions have their
lunatic fringe. Remember, going to church doesn‘t make you a Christian any
more than going to a garage makes you a mechanic! There are a lot of self-
righteous, bigoted fundamentalists loose in many nations, including my own, the
United States, where challenges to secularism take place daily at school board
meetings, community hearings, and most predictably during political elections at
all governmental levels.
It seems that everyone is raised to hate somebody else, thanks to ethnic and
religious grudges that are passed along over the centuries. Even the so-called
Post-Modern Europeans do not escape these Cain and Abel-like hatreds that pit
the Irish against the Irish, the Basques against the Spanish, and so on. It would
take all day to list the ethnic and other rifts in the Balkans and the former Soviet
Union. The need for negotiators and peace keepers with linguistic and
multicultural skills is evident, but there seems to be little input from our field
with respect to this pressing priority. What can we multicultural educators
contribute to prevent a fanaticized, globally operative minority from committing
even more mass murders? Samuel Huntington‘s ―clash of civilizations‖ is awfully
close to home these days.

The haves and the havenots: demographics and inequality

I invented the term ―techno-feudalism‖ to describe our post-colonial world.

Remember, in feudal times, if you did not own land or provide commercial and
other services to those who did, you were a ―serf.‖ Today, those who are not
part of the global system where information or money changes hands are, in
effect, ―techno-serfs.‖ Inequalities are bound to grow because the technological
and telecommunications revolution is only in its infancy. It has already changed
the way human beings live as much as the agricultural and industrial revolutions
and is a fertile breeding ground for global social unrest.
Demographics certainly fuel this explosive mix. Over-population in areas with
scarce resources coupled with corrupt regimes limits the possibility of escaping
poverty, especially in nations where the vast majority of the population is under
the age of 22. It has a direct role in breeding fundamentalist terrorists who
resent the wealth and freedom of the West at least as much as they purport to
be agents of their faith. Undereducated masses of young males with no future
and few if any skills to enable them to compete even within their own economies
latch onto fundamentalism as a way of getting even with those who have
supposedly victimized them. Are these so-called ―martyrs‖ just bad losers who
know it? Forget the religious justifications.
Home-grown young male terrorists, like those in London, were often raised in
non-fundamentalist homes, yet latch on to fundamentalism as a way of coping
with their own failure to succeed in their adopted European homelands. In fact,
their sisters regularly outperform them scholastically, yet are still victims of so-
called ―honor killings‖ let alone other 7th century punishments. Just recently,
here in Italy, a young Pakistani girl was murdered by her own father who
resented her socializing with her non-Muslim peers. This is a pan-European
problem and a recipe for disaster. Moslems make up 10% of the French and
German population as well as a reasonable percentage of the population on
other European nations but, overall, are not being integrated in their host
countries. Add to this the current severe economic crisis which is feeding
natavist and racist sentiments across Europe. Will immigrants become the
victims of yet another ―holocaust‖ in Europe? Is anyone in our field addressing
this very real and current danger?
At the other extreme of the demographic boom is the demographic bust in
developed nations. To put it bluntly, most countries in the Western world have
stopped breeding, despite an obsession with sex. Maintaining a steady national
population requires a birth rate of 2.1. In Western Europe, it is 1.5 or 30%
below replacement levels. The rate in Germany 1.3, Spain and Italy 1.2. With
the working age population declining by one-third, ever smaller numbers of
workers must support ever-expanding numbers of the elderly and infirm. The
economic consequences of a world where three times as many people will be
over the age of 60 and where there are only 2 workers to support one pensioner
are real.
Japan‘s rate of population growth is 1.3, which means that Japan will lose up
to 60 million people over the next 30 years. Japan generally refuses to import
people so immigration is not a credible alternative. Japan has already closed
2,000 schools and is closing them down at a rate of 300 per year. Meanwhile, in
the U.S. the population growth rate is somewhat higher, 2.0, just below
replacement level. However, this reflects a higher birth rate among immigrants.
The Anglo rate is 1.6, the same as France, while America‘s Hispanics have a 2.7
rate.
China and India do not have declining populations, but in each of these
nations, 70 million males will never find wives thanks to female infanticide and
widespread abortion of female fetuses. The birth rate in Russia is so low that by
2050, Russia‘s population will be smaller than that of Yemen. Russia has one of
the lowest life expectancies in the world with a death rate double that of other
developed nations. Indeed, given these statistics, the relative balance of world
power and predominance of Western nations is bound to shift even more during
our lifetimes and with unpredictable results.

Immigration

Wars, demographics and economic hardship have always fueled immigration

which is bound to increase exponentially. Most nations have no clue as to how to
manage, let alone cope with this vast, shifting tide of humanity. Politicians are
quick to manipulate fear in the face of these ―invasions,‖ further complicating
prospects for peaceful cultural integration.
About 3% of the world‘s population or 200 m people have left their
homelands to live elsewhere. The current global recession is particularly rough
on migrants who are being deported in record numbers. Mexican immigration to
the United States is down about 42% in the past two years, and there have been
36,000 deportations from the U.S. in 2008 alone. Spain is offering money via a
―plan of voluntary return‖ to encourage 87,000 migrants to leave. Xenophobia is
increasing throughout Europe where more and more violence is directed at
immigrants. ―Undesirable‖ immigrants from Romania, Bulgaria and Albania in
particular are constantly in the news in Italy where a rash of rapes, murders,
robberies and other crimes is fueling a backlash that has serious socio-political
implications.
Let‘s look at the United States and its so-called ―melting pot‖ that has
absorbed hundreds of millions of immigrants throughout its history. Despite
myths to the contrary, immigration in the States has never been without its
alarmists. To quote one commentator, ―These immigrants are ‗the most stupid in
the nation. Few of their children speak English and through their indiscretion or
ours, or both, great disorders may one day arise among us.‘‖ The immigrants in
question here are NOT Latinos, and the statement was made by none other than
Benjamin Franklin who was referring to the influx of German immigrants some
200 years ago!
In the United States, which is the fourth-largest Spanish speaking country in
the world, Latinos re poorer than other Americans and fare poorly in schools and
colleges. Hispanics have an overall unemployment rate of almost 8% compared
with the national rate of 6.5%. Seven American cities account for half of all
Latino immigrants, while whites leaving cities add to a new demographic with
political as well as economic ramifications. It must be noted, however, that the
tide of Hispanic immigration has slowed thanks to the current global slump and
increased crackdowns at the border. Many migrants are returning home where
remittances to Mexico have dropped over 4% in the past year.
True to its history, immigration continues apace in the United States where it
is amazingly diverse. In the New York City borough of Queens, students in one
school speak 26 foreign languages at home. Schools everywhere face the
challenge of schooling new immigrants, and bitter debates have taken place,
especially those related to bilingual education which was banned in California
because it was seen as a political sop to the teachers‘ unions. Test scores have
risen since, according to one source.
Educators in southern California regularly encounter students who speak
Spanish Vietnamese, Korean, Armenian, Cantonese, Khmer, Mandarin, Tagalog,
Arabic, Japanese, Farsi, Russian, Thai, Lao and Urdu. There are 800 schools
where at least ten languages are spoken by students not fluent in English. In
fact, in some areas, the concentration of immigrant sub-communities means
that whites are now a minority and are assuming the behaviors of a minority as
well.
The political fallout is real. Caught between natavism and multiculturalism,
American politicians know they cannot win. Without our professional intervention
on this front, bitterness can lead to socio-political divides that will harm our body
politic, and have already done so. And while America, compared to many
nations, has had substantial experience educating and absorbing immigrants and
refugees, we must still address ways multicultural educators can ease the
integration of immigrants into the political and cultural mainstream without
destroying their unique cultural and linguistic heritage. While many Americans
are monolingual, one in five Americans does speak another language at home –
most often Spanish, Chinese or Russian. How can we protect and cultivate these
linguistic resources while at the same time teach English and assimilate these
newcomers?
These are important issues because immigration is shaping America more
profoundly than trade or technology. You may not know that Iowa has been
quietly importing Bosnians and Sudanese to rejuvenate its aging population. In
Silicon Valley, whites are now in the minority, while Levittown, a quintessential
Pennsylvania suburb, has a Turkish mosque. Detroit claims to be the Arab
capital of America, and Miami, long seen as an essentially Cuban enclave, now
hosts citizens from more than 156 nations.
By 2050, one in four Americans will be Latino, and if you add Asians, one in
three will be ―non-Americans,‖ as some ―nativists‖ would phrase this. Roughly
one million immigrants enter the United States each year -300,000 illegally. In
times of economic crisis, the possibilities of a backlash increases, as it has in
Italy where gangs of young men have been attacking immigrants whose skin
color is different than theirs. It has become a national scandal here that is not at
all in keeping with Italy‘s laws and overall tolerant cultural norms.
Since 1990, the number of foreign born in America has risen by 6m to over
25 m, and half of the 50 m new U.S. inhabitants in next 25 years will be
immigrants or children of immigrants. Beware of generalizations, however,
because immigrants are surely not all alike. It makes no sense to lump together
a computer geek from Bangalore, a shopkeeper from Seoul and Hmong
tribesmen. Tejanos are not Chicanos. As a profession, we need to keep
examining whether or not the so-called ―melting pot‖ is still working. Does the
middle class understand that without these immigrants, their standard of living
would fall apart? What can we do as educators and professionals to prevent
violent reactions from those most affected, such as low-skilled Americans and
immigrants from the previous wave? These are not academic issues, and as
noted elsewhere, we need to train a cadre of professionals who can work with
policy makers as well as with educators to address these tensions and provide
constructive policies.
Lest I leave the impression that U.S. immigration policy is somehow coherent
or effective, let me state that America‘s immigration system is a mess. However,
let me also point out that this suits most people just fine as it provides loopholes
for those who come and for those who hire them illegally. What can you say
about a country that annually conducts a Green Card Lottery that allows 50,000
new immigrants a year to enter the States with papers more or less in hand? I
know this for a fact because during the past several months, every time I
opened my computer, I was invited to enter this lottery which offered me the
tantalizing prospect of eventually becoming an American – a status I somehow
assumed I already possessed having been born in New Jersey some 66 years
ago, and having held an American passport for the past 50 years!
As multicultural educators we must monitor and learn from others re: what
works when it comes to educating and integrating immigrants. An international
comparison in a recent edition of The Economist showed that among the world‘s
best performing immigrant children are Chinese children being taught in
Australia. They even outperform two-thirds of all Australians! It also revealed
that first-generation immigrant students are more motivated than succeeding
generations, and are often more motivated than the native born. We also need
to look at these realities and ask ourselves how our multicultural knowledge can
be applied to improve the educational achievement of immigrant populations
who do not succeed in our schools. After all, there must be something about
Asian cultures that promotes academic achievement. Can we identify those
socio-familial cultural patterns and design pedagogies that would be more
effective with under-achievers?

Life in times of recession

Focusing now on the international financial and economic crisis that has
frightful parallels with the Great Depression, I note that in times of great
downturns, there is always a turning inward. Americans, as well as Europeans,
are war-weary and fear for their economic futures. This has serious implications
for humanitarian assistance programs and for charitable donations. President-
elect Obama must make the difficult case for humanitarian intervention abroad –
in Somalia, Dafur, Rwanda, Congo, and elsewhere despite the backlash sure to
come thanks to America‘s involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan and the economic
slump. He must also be prepared for the fact that Europeans and other allies
may not step up to the plate when it comes to the military interventions that
must take place before any humanitarian programs can function. Witness Bosnia
and the years of killing there before NATO and America finally got involved.
Dafur is another instance where military force is needed to protect threatened
communities and refugees. The same is surely true in the Congo where UN
peacekeepers are undermanned, badly trained, and desperately need
reinforcements. While not endorsing military adventures, no peace-keeping or
humanitarian efforts can succeed until the violence is ended.
Another aspect of today‘s global financial scandal is that of outright criminal
activity on the part of nations as well as individuals, and the widespread ease
with which monies can be squirreled away in tax havens worldwide. This, in my
opinion, is the most frightening aspect of today‘s brand of ―globalization‖ and
encourages the spread of lawlessness which, in turn, spawns terrible social
crises in countries both rich and poor. According to the IMF, 5% of Gross World
Product or about $1.5 trillion is laundered every year. About 33% of GDP in
developing countries and 15% in developed nations is ―off the books.‖ Even if
some of this flow is not out-and-out criminal money, it nevertheless is money
that is being looted by the leaders of every nation, in particular the most
impoverished. In Nigeria, this figure approaches 80%, while in Switzerland it is a
mere 10%. Some refer to post-Soviet Russia as a ―kleptocracy.‖ The point here
is that corruption increases the divide between rich and poor, inhibits nation
building, degrades civil societies and puts them in danger of anarchic collapse.
Criminal empires hook our children on drugs, force scores of young women into
sexual slavery, and here in Italy, even keep garbage from being properly
collected so that toxic and other wastes become real health hazards. Obviously
cultural norms affect the rule of law. Why is it that the Swiss and Scandanavians
outperform the Greeks and Italians, let alone the Nigerians, Russians, Chinese
and Petro-dollar oligarchies when it comes to corruption indices. Money
laundering and tax evasion are financial cancers that have serious consequences
and undercut our prospects for sustaining our respective civilizations.
Before concluding these remarks with a specific focus on education, let me
quickly turn to economic and environmental issues, which I shall shamefully
gloss over given time constraints. Looking at current international business and
economic realities, the new buzz word is GLOBALITY, not globalization which
implies only a one-way street. Flows are increasingly in both directions, with the
result that multinationals are reducing their use of expatriates. However,
Americans still dominate the top slots of the largest multinationals. Even at GE,
which is wholeheartedly committed to emerging markets, around 180 of the top
200 managers are still Americans. The single biggest gap is the lack of emerging
market experience in senior executive ranks. Boardrooms are even less
representative with only 5% being non-Americans. Family-owned firms present
another problem.
However, the trend favors a much more multicultural workforce, and not just
on the factory floor. Today we talk about the G20 as much as the G7. There is a
substantial and growing demand for those who can provide effective cross-
cultural and language training for the world‘s (not just America‘s) businesses. I
suggest that multicultural educators reach out and work with the business
schools on your own campuses to create team-taught courses to prepare more
effective global managers. You can visit your local chamber of commerce to
design training programs to enable local and multinational managers to deal
more effectively with their increasingly diverse workforces.
Global warming and “ethno-environmentalism”

Culture counts when it comes to corruption, and equally so when it comes to

environmental degradation. Why is it that Northern Europeans make the most of
solar power when the sun does not shine all that much in their part of the world?
Why do some nations have clean streets and others trash-littered ones? In a
word, why is Denmark or Scandinavia, for that matter, more environmentally
inclined than China?
The stakes are high – that of the very survival of our planet. The world burns
some thirty-one billion barrels of oil, six billion tons of coal, and a hundred
trillion cubic feet of natural gas that produces, in aggregate, some 400
quadrillion B.T.U.s of energy. This yields around 30 billion tons of carbon
dioxide, of which about one-third ends up in the sea where it helps form a weak
acid. Another 25% is absorbed by terrestrial ecosystems, and the rest remains
in the air that we all breathe. At least 15% and possibly as many as 30% of the
planet‘s plant and animal species are threatened, and as sea levels rise, drought
and flooding will occur in many parts of the world. An expanse of the Artic icecap
the size of West Virginia melts each year, and matters can only escalate when all
those Chinese and Indians buy their first cars. Today, China has fewer than 3
cars/100 and India even less. The number of cars there is expected to increase
from 700,000 to 3 billion. Who are we to tell them they cannot enjoy the same
mobility and privileges that we have for the past century?
Global warming will create unimaginable waves of immigrants, refugees and
social chaos. Again, educators must do what we can to learn about the cultural
dimensions of environmentalism, to teach children around the world about
environmental dangers, and to modify negative cultural behaviors with respect
to environmental practices.

What‟s right and what‟s wrong? Are there universal human values?

One topic that must be treated more seriously in a future Worldwide Forum is
that of providing much more in the way of culture-neutral ethical and civic
education in our schools and universities. In the name of anti-terrorism, most of
us have experienced a serious threat to our civil liberties and have had to face
the ugly realities of Guantanamo, of widespread civil disorder, and worse. Are
today‘s students at all concerned about civic issues? Do our educational systems
even bother to teach civics anymore? If not, why not, and what does this mean
for our particular professional field? In a word, what‘s right and what‘s wrong?
Are universal human values compatible within the context of cultural relativism?
There will always be heated arguments with respect to ethnocentrism vs.
cultural relativism. Often common sense does not prevail, especially when one
attempts to craft universal standards for human rights and humane practices.
There are some truly abhorrent cultural practices out there which in good
conscience cannot be dismissed in the name of cultural relativism.
Unfortunately, those of us promoting ―multiculturalism‖ are accused of
fostering divisiveness and rewarding dysfunctional social behaviors. In the
United States, critics believe that ―diversity‖ is merely a code word for
reinforcing ethnic, racial and class hostilities.
At a global level, matters are even more contentious when it comes to
local/national vs. universal norms, especially with respect to the protection of
human rights and dignity. What can we do to strengthen the bonds of unity and
disseminate universal humane values while respecting diverse cultural practices?
Specifically, what happens to one‘s multicultural beliefs when one comes into
contact with aspects of another culture that one finds totally unacceptable, such
as female circumcision or slavery? In Niger, there are 43,000 inherited slaves,
plus tens of thousands of others in West Africa, notably in Burkina Faso, Mali and
Mauritania. Many children are sold into slavery and are subsequently sexually
abused. Does our field provide any meaningful input here? Are multiculturalists
overlooking cultural behaviors that conflict with fantasies of ―noble savages‖ a la
Rousseau? Is the current practice of slavery mentioned at all in African or Black
Studies courses? Is being imprisoned by Castro somehow better than being
imprisoned by Kim Jong II? Sadly, ―intellectuals‖ often overlook abuses in
countries they admire, even as they denounce these same practices in other
autocratic regimes. There are some truly evil cultural practices out there that,
frankly, should be eliminated in the name of our shared humanity. We must
avoid romanticizing pre-industrial societies and must not confine ourselves to
exploring the novelty or folklore of other cultures. Intellectual honesty requires
that we examine societies and cultures in their entirety – warts and all.

English as a global language

In 1898, Otto von Bismarck, by then an old man, was asked by a journalist
what he saw as the decisive factor in modern history. His answer: ―The fact that
the North Americans speak English.‖ The use of English as a global language has
been exponentially accelerated by electronic as well as the traditional media. As
an operating standard for global communication, English increasingly influences
the future of all languages. Today, over 80% of all information stored in the
world‘s computers is in English. Technology also adds vocabulary to the English
language - close to 60% of all new entries to Webster‘s Third New International
Dictionary.
Technology, in and of itself, is neutral and can actually be used to protect and
archive exotic languages even as it disseminates and reinforces the global use of
English. Unlike TV and radio, the World Wide Web has limitless space and one
can find people chatting in Aragonite, Armenian, Basque, Breton, Cambodian,
Catalan, Esperanto, Estonian, Gaelic, Galician, Hindi, Hmong, Macedonian,
Swahili, Welsh and Yoruba...and so on. With languages, we either use them or
lose them and it seems that the Internet does facilitate their use in many
instances and keeps speakers in touch and proficient.
The Internet can also be actively used to archive and preserve these
―endangered‖ languages threatened with extinction. Of 6,900 tongues spoken
today, some 50 – 90% could be gone by the end of the century. Oral history and
preservation teams are badly needed do deal with these ―endangered species.‖
Of course, the only real way to save a language is to speak it. People have to
talk to people and when the last speaker dies, so does the language.
But having said this, let us focus on the undeniable fact that in the history of
our species, there has never been a language spoken by so many people in so
many places as English is today. Soon it will be a language spoken by more
people as a second tongue than a first. While Britain and the U.S. constitute
70% of native English speakers, with an additional 57 million Creole speakers
out there, within a decade or so, mother-tongue or native speakers will be
outnumbered. Just think of it: English will be taught mostly by non-native
speakers to non-native speakers in order to communicate mainly with non-
native speakers!
 English is now the dominant language in over 60 countries and around 2
billion people – one-third of world‘s population – are routinely exposed to
English. Given that the demand for English is only in its infancy, educators face
the challenge of providing effective instruction via improved pedagogies that
take into account different learning styles and end uses of the language. This
should keep ESL types busy for many a generation.
And now for some more surprising facts. There is no such thing as English,
per se. There are many ENGLISHES: an ―Inner Circle‖ made up of the U.S., the
UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand; an ―Outer Circle‖ consisting of
Bangladesh, Ghana, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Nigeria, and Pakistan, the
Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, and Zambia; and an ―Expanding
Circle‖ – which includes, among others, China, Egypt, Indonesia, Israel, Japan,
Korea, Nepal Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Russia, and Zimbabwe.
The internationalization of English has reshaped the language and its
literature, providing linguistic innovations and a truly wondrous expansion of the
cultural identities associated with the language. The circles mentioned above
illustrate the types of spread, patterns of acquisition and functional allocation of
English in diverse cultural contexts. The ―Inner Circle‖ represents the traditional
cultural and linguistic bases of English; the ―Outer Circle‖ the institutionalized
non-native varieties of English spoken in regions that have passed through
extended periods of colonization with English being more or less an official
language (used in educational and commercial institutions, but not generally by
the native citizens). The ―Expanding Circle‖ includes regions where the active
varieties of English are used in foreign language contexts, but do not have
official status and are more restricted in their uses.
In sum, English has and continues to develop multicultural identities and
represents a repertoire of cultures whose underlying assumptions are no longer
exclusively Judeo-Christian. So beware, native speakers in the ―Inner Circle.‖ Do
not assume that others, no matter how fluent in English, are thinking like we do.
I have had this experience more than once, especially with Germans who speak
English so well that I am still inclined to assume that they are thinking like me
and not like Germans. As Unamuno observed, an idea does not pass from one
language to another without change. As more and more non-natives learn and
speak English, we must keep this in mind.
Many of you teach internationally or teach persons from other cultures, and
while you may not know the technical term, ethnopedagogy, you do know that
you must adjust your teaching to take into account the fact that culture shapes
learning styles, expectations and behaviors. Even within the same geographic
region, there can be real differences. For example, one ESL teacher noted that
her Slovak students liked to assemble lots of facts with no conclusion, while her
Hungarian students liked to reach lots of conclusions without bothering about
any facts. As many of you have learned the hard way, teaching in a society
where students are rarely asked their opinion, where they have never practiced
the means for independent thinking and argumentative expression, where higher
educational institutions are almost inert with apathy and anxiety challenges our
very identities as educators.
Teaching English effectively is not just a matter of dealing with foreign
students and immigrants. In fact, the sad truth is that while English literacy is
increasing around the world, America‘s literacy rates are eroding. Fully 21% of
adult Americans did not read a book last year because they could not, making
this one of the worst rates in the entire world. A National Assessment of Adult
Literacy in 2003 found steep declines in the English literacy of Hispanics in the
U.S., although there was a significant increase among Black Americans and
Asians. Black literacy increased from 29% - 33% and Asian literacy from 45% to
54%. Hispanics, on the other hand, suffered big declines in English proficiency.
The Hispanic reading proficiency failure rate increased from 35% in 1992 to 44%
in 2003. Once again, those of you teaching English face a real-world challenge
teaching this new generation of Hispanics who often arrive later in the United
States, stay for a shorter period of time, and are much less likely to speak
English at home. Have any of you set up language learning partnerships in your
schools pairing Johnny (who needs to learn Spanish) with Juan (who needs to
learn English)? I know that in my own case, I learned my Spanish thanks to
making friends with a Cuban refugee new to my high school. It was a mutual
exchange of language and culture that I value to this day, and one need not
travel internationally to have the benefits of such ―exchanges.‖

Cultural imperialism means always having to say “you‟re sorry?”

Inevitably, whenever we speak about the expanding role of English as a

world language we face serious charges of cultural imperialism - a phenomenon
almost always equated with the intentions and manipulations of the United
States. Americanization originally meant the shaping and assimilation of turn-
of-the-century immigrants, and in Europe, after WW II, a program of de-
Nazification, rebuilding and extending a freedom-loving ethos imbued with an
anti-Soviet stance. Post Cold War, Americanization has brought mostly cheap,
violent images to the rest of the world which, as a result, has no idea about how
the Protestant work ethic laid the moral foundations of America as a great
nation. There is no sense of the human solidarity that holds Americans together
in times of adversity, or of just how much human achievement is valued and
acknowledged, unlike in most of the rest of the world. Particularly for young
people, America is a brand name for big money, quick success, and sheer force
largely unconnected with the moral tradition and work ethic that shaped
American society.
When you teach or live or study abroad, and if you are American, be
prepared to be stereotyped as a typical ―Ugly American‖ by people who have
never been to the United States, who know very little about it, who have never
studied about it in any intellectually valid way, but who think they know
everything about it. Americans refer to these mostly Western critics as
―Eurotrash.‖ In fact, during America‘s recent Presidential campaign, to a person,
every Italian I spoke with was convinced that America is such a totally racist
country that no Black man could ever be elected president. And when Obama
was indeed elected president, the nay-sayers response was to note that Obama
is ―not really a Black American since his father was born in Kenya.‖ That makes
me wonder if I am a real American given that my father was born in Russia!
And speaking about anti-Americanism, if people choose to eat at McDonald‘s
maybe it is because they like it! Does everything have to be viewed as a cultural
conquest? Perhaps we should ask why so many are so intolerant of the free
choices willingly made by others? For me, the real question here is, ―Why is
American culture so popular around the world?‖ As the Czech leader Masaryk put
it: ―I see no harm in becoming Americanized; we‘ve been Europeanizing America
for centuries!‖
All of which points to a need for a whole new approach to American Studies,
one that is not ethnocentric or jingoistic, one that is not defensive and blind to
the negative as well as positive aspects of our history and society. American
studies should convey what American values are all about, and how these have
and continue to evolve in our still-young nation. Educators used to dedicate
more time and effort here given federal support in the wake of WW II and the
Cold War. However, for the past three decades, America has been unilaterally
disarming itself intellectually by closing down USIS libraries around the world, by
cutting back on international exchanges, by harassing applicants for student and
research visas, and by otherwise ignoring ―soft‖ as opposed to ―hard‖ power.
Hopefully under an Obama Administration this will change and we can update
American studies reflecting our more recent history and diversity.
Surely we must battle against the xenophobia that terrorism has spawned
and overturn knee-jerk, short-sighted student visa processes that have caused
the number of foreign students in the United States to decline by 90,000 in
recent years. The need to build a successor generation of allies is more urgent
than ever before. Not only do these foreign students spend $12 billion per year
in our country – an ―invisible export‖ in economic terms – they teach and
conduct research on the cutting edge of human knowledge and constitute our
best hope for a more peaceful and just world. Foreign students who no longer
feel welcome in the States are going to Australia or to the U.K. instead. Our days
of exclusively benefiting from the so-called ―brain drain‖ are over. In 2004, 60%
of U.S. research universities reported a decline in applications by foreign
graduate students between 2003–2004. Nine of the top 25 reported over a 30%
decline.
To repeat, the United States has failed to invest in a ―successor generation‖
of area/language/multicultural specialists at home and abroad and we shall pay
dearly for this mistaken policy. We must work together to support more
gatherings like this Forum which I hope will explore more fully the challenge of
increasing international educational exchanges at all levels and of all types.

The “Net” generation

One surprising fact, at least for me, was that while reading for pleasure and
writing with pens and pencils is no longer the norm, the so-called ―New
Generation‖ is not at all brain dead, despite having spent on average 20,000
hours on the Internet and 10,000 hours playing video games by the time they
are 20 years old. To quote Don Tapscott in an article entitled, ―Growing Up
Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing Your World, ―As the first global
generation ever, the Net Geners are smarter, quicker and more tolerant of
diversity than their predecessors... These empowered young people are
beginning to transform every institution of modern life.‖ He adds that they care
strongly about justice and are actively trying to improve society. Obama‘s recent
election campaign victory is pretty solid proof that this is so. Unlike the more
passive couch potatoes of my TV generation, these Net Geners are interactive
and are better at multitasking and processing complex visual information.
According to the author, they also value freedom and choice, love to personalize,
and demand integrity and openness. They want entertainment and play in their
work and educational settings, as well as in their social lives. They love to
collaborate, want everything to happen fast, and expect constant innovation.
But like it or not, these Net Geners are now our students. Perhaps we should
look at them as culturally different, not only from us professors, but from the
culture represented in the texts we teach them. If we recognize that all our
students are in a sense ―foreigners‖ (or, conversely that we are foreigners in
their country), it would surely improve our teaching. We could even create a
new sub-specialty called ―techno-pedagogy‖ to explore more effective means of
reaching today‘s wired generation.
Net Geners are also causing culture clashes in the workplace where older
managers consider them spoiled, narcissistic brats who spend too much time
instant messaging. However, taking steps like banning Facebook in the
workplace is the equivalent of forbidding rolodexes and is counterproductive.
According to a report from PricewaterhouseCoopers, a consultancy, 61% of CEOs
admit they have trouble recruiting and integrating these Net Geners, although
the recent economic downturn has reminded these Millennials that the world, in
fact, does not owe them a living, and that hopping from job to job in search of
personal fulfillment is no longer much of an option

“The clash of civilisations” American style: Race, Class & Obama

And now for a quick take on America‘s culture wars, the American ―mullahs‖
vs. the ―godless liberals,‖ the Red States vs. the Blue States, and on matters of
race and class, which our recent election has certainly brought to the attention
of the entire world. Educators like us have a duty to address America‘s serious
cultural divides. Today‘s political climate seems too divisive for reasoned debate,
and despite Obama‘s victory, our nation remains deeply divided. We have
entered an ―Age of Dichotomy‖ where there is little, if any, capacity for
compromise, where our citizens read only what they already believe, and where
educators are as much part of the problem as they are part of the solution.
We ―Liberals‖ are portrayed as the devil incarnate, not considered to be ―real‖
Americans, whatever that means. Educators like us who are concerned about the
overall human condition, the health and welfare of others, the loss of civil
liberties worldwide, the scourge of war, the plundering of the planet and
environmental degradation might as well have cloven feet, horns and a forked
tail. There is indeed a closing down of the American mind.
This ―clash of cultures‖ at home, as well as abroad, has blinded most of us to
the central truth of our times, namely that we cannot make common cause with
our own people, let alone with others. I, for one, have difficulty communicating
with my fellow Americans who are (statistically) three times as likely to believe
in the virgin birth of Jesus (83%) as in evolution (28%). I am in favor of one‘s
freedom to embrace such beliefs, but a ―live and let live attitude‖ must prevail
on all sides. Welcome to the ―Balkanization of America.‖
The complexities of race and class are universal social phenomena. I, for one,
have always wondered why Americans would rather admit to being racist than to
having any social classes. But, as I will show, the recent and historic election of
Barrack Obama as president of the United States is testimony to the emergence
of a new political coalition made up of people of all colors, ages and drawn from
all walks of life. For in fact, Obama owes his victory to Blacks (95%), Hispanics
(66%), the young (66%), women of all races, the poor and even the very rich.
McCain did best among uneducated voters in Appalachia and the South.
Republicans won in the South and Great Plains. But the interesting aspect here,
and this is not to deny that racism exists, is that the Republicans have become
the Wal-Mart party while the Democrats have forged a minority-meritocracy
party, an alliance joining upscale whites with blacks and Hispanics of all income
levels. The Republican Party‘s divorce from the intelligentsia is self-defeating
given that 25% of Americans have college degrees. Its anti-intellectual stance
could not be more evident than in the cynical choice of Sarah Palin, a right-wing
―ideocrat‖ who took five years to earn her degree in journalism. In terms of
demographics, this Republican redneck strategy will leave it appealing to an
ever-shrinking and backward-looking portion of the electorate who regard Palin‘s
ignorance as a badge of honor. Joe the Plumber becomes a cultural icon for that
large swath of our population that is steeped in fundamentalism, xenophobia,
homophobia, and takes a Yahoo stance with respect to science and technology.
For this significant percentage of Americans, politics is war, and there is no such
thing as a ―good loser.‖
At least Obama‘s victory makes my life here in a small Italian town a lot
easier. I no longer have to pretend to be a Canadian or to reply that, ―I come
from New York City, a small island off the coast of Europe!‖
My point here is that the Red/Blue divide still exists. Obama faces the
challenge of governing bitter and disparate groups who no longer believe in the
so-called ―American Dream.‖ The poor are getting poorer, the rich are getting
richer, and it is not simply a matter of race. America does indeed have its social
classes, although they are more subtle and difficult for foreigners to spot. The
current economic meltdown, worldwide recession, a staggering national debt,
global terrorism and wars on two fronts mean that Obama will have to forge
consensus, will inevitably have to compromise and will need to draw on all the
talent and determination of the American people. Red and Blue must somehow
be reconciled as the future unfolds.
Why is this so important? Let me just put it this way: when the rich get richer
and the poor get poorer, things get dangerous. Paul Krugman noted that
America is becoming a society in which the poor tend to stay poor, no matter
how hard they work; in which sons are much more likely to inherit the
socioeconomic status of their fathers than they were a generation ago. A
Business Week article, ―Waking Up from the American Dream,‖ shows that social
mobility in the States, never as high as legend had it, has declined considerably
over the past few decades. As I observed, American looks more and more like a
class-ridden society. According to the Congressional Budget Office, between
1973 and 2000, the average real income of the bottom 90% of American
taxpayers actually fell by 7%. Meanwhile the income of the top 1% rose by
148%, the income of the top 0.1% by 343% and the income of the top o.01%
by 599%. These numbers exclude capital gains so reality is even more skewed
in favor of the top income strata. Around 1% of the population of the United
States receives 44% our GDP, up from 20% in 1979, and equal to the income of
the poorest twenty million households in America. Close to 35 million Americans
now live in poverty, and close to 50 million have no health care. With millions of
jobs being lost and a serious recession on our hands, will America go the way of
Weimar Germany? Will neo-Nazi militias become popular once again as
household incomes plunge? Anti-Semitism is on the rise, especially in Europe.
There are over 700 hate groups in the United States, many armed and
dangerous. Is anyone in our field dedicating research and outreach to this issue
of race and class, of the impact of economic recession on the under- and middle
class and its implications for social unrest and ―hate crimes‖? Do communities
have programs, do universities have courses? Do any of YOU address what is the
most important single social development in America‘s recent history, namely
the decline of the middle class? If not, why not? Remember, it was the middle
class that supported fascist governments in Europe in the 1930s and initially
backed military juntas in the Americas in the 1980s. History is littered with
―revolutions‖ fueled by socio-economic malaise.
This divide between the ―haves‖ and the ―have nots‖ also infects our
campuses where downward or frozen mobility is now the rule rather than the
exception. Many college teachers are looking more and more like migrant factory
labor – lacking health benefits, job security, retirement funds, and any influence
over either their employment conditions or the goals of the institutions they
work for. As the percentage of adjunct faculty increases from today‘s 43%, a
two-tier class system has become the norm in American higher education, with a
tenured elite doing their own self-referential thing at the top, while a cadre of
indentured servants does most of the real work in the classroom. Perhaps
former Berkeley Chancellor Clark Kerr was correct when he noted that the three
central preoccupations of the American academy are sex for the students, sports
for the alumni, and parking for the faculty.

The global university and you

Universities, your professional home, have also been ―globalized‖ in our

lifetimes. There has been a worldwide democratization of higher education, a
massification if you will. OECD enrollments are up from 22% to 41% between
1975–2000. China has doubled its enrollments in the late 1990s, and India is
trying to follow suit. The number of students studying abroad has doubled over
the past 20 years to 1.9 million, while universities are opening campuses all over
the world.
There is also increased competition between public and private universities.
The largest private university in the States is the University of Phoenix with
280,000 students, 29 campuses and offshoots around the world. It is owned by
the Apollo Group and caters to working adults who make up 95% of its students.
Courses focus on practical subjects. It also spent a whopping $383 million on
marketing last year.
Corporate universities include, for example, Microsoft and Schwab. Some are
awarding degrees in conjunction with traditional universities. These institutions
may or may not offer courses in international business, but I doubt very much if
many of them have developed applied multicultural studies courses for their
students. This is a very promising target of opportunity for our field, but requires
us to become far more entrepreneurial on our home campuses, especially within
our own departments where we tend to be marginalized. I believe it is largely
our own fault that we are not seen to be very relevant or ―practical‖ despite the
fact that both at home and abroad, what we teach has never been more
relevant. Ever-narrowing specializations and the race for tenure which so
undervalues teaching and service, despite rhetoric to the contrary, means that
as far as the real world is concerned, we cannot see the trees for the leaves, let
alone the forest for the trees!
In general, universities and colleges in the United States are more flexible and
better funded than their counterparts worldwide. Our academics are not civil
servants trapped in a national labor market, and are very diverse. In France, for
example, only 2% of academics are foreign-born. In fact, European universities
are, overall, a mess. Only 1.1% of GDP is spent on higher education compared
with 2.7% in the States. In Italy, thousands of university students are protesting
recent attempts to reform higher education even though Italy has one of the
worst managed, most corrupt, and most badly performing university systems in
the world. Nepotism is widespread. In fact, tenured professors are called baroni
(literally, barons). For example, over 33% of the medical faculty at the University
of Palermo has the same last or family name! Furthermore, not one Italian
institution is in the top 100 of the Times Higher Education world university
rankings. Italian universities offer literally hundreds of courses with fewer than 15
students; 37 with one. Most shameful of all is that the university dropout rate in
Italy is 55%. Given Italy‘s low birth rate, this sector is not likely to be vigorous or
contribute to Italy‘s badly needed knowledge base in a very competitive world.
Private universities may take up the slack to some degree. In Portugal, private
universities and colleges have grown from almost nothing two decades ago to
account for over 66% of higher education institutions and 40% of all students.
They have also learned that compared with traditional European university
prejudice, it is all right to be useful.
In developing countries, higher education is also on the rise and faces the
universal problem of combining equity with excellence. There is much distortion of
education budgets. In Rwanda, for example, 15% of the total education budget is
spent on the mere 0.2% of students who attend universities. Many students are
attempting to study abroad as there is dramatic growth in the supply of potential
students. Here again, our field can contribute much more practical policy input
with respect to cultural orientation, dealing with differences in national standards,
and coping with corruption. Remember, in many nations, cheating, cronyism and
the selling of degrees is considered business as usual.
The ―good news‖ is that overall, nearly 3m students were enrolled in higher
education outside their own countries, an increase of more than 50% since 2000.
China exports the most students, 200,000, while a fifth of university students in
Australia were born abroad. The ―bad news‖ is that the United States has
proportionately fewer foreign students in relation to the size of the sector, a mere
3-5%. This limits the exposure that Americans have to students from other
countries and cultures. Educators such as yourselves must work to
―internationalize‖ your campuses since one of the most effective multicultural
tools is direct contact between and among young people worldwide.

Why multicultural education? When ignorance is not bliss

To recap former presentations of mine, and returning to the U.S. university

scene, America desperately needs ―brainpower‖ as well as ―firepower,‖ especially
given the colossal ignorance of our citizens about the rest of the world. How can
we make informed choices when 40% of those surveyed in a recent American
Council on Education report did not know that the Euro is a currency?
Let‘s face it. American college and university students – despite numerous
international course offerings and intercultural resources on campus – graduate
without any credible knowledge about other nations and peoples. They are
simply untouched by the international/intercultural dimensions of their alma
mater. Again we must ask, why?
Perhaps we are our own worst enemies. If it is true that departments will
outlive universities, it is equally true that many divisive tribes inhabit the
headwaters of international education: specialists in international relations; area
studies; comparative studies; foreign languages and literatures; technical
assistance and development. All too often, we form our firing squads in circles.
Again, what‘s an educator to do? What can multiculturalism contribute to
prevent a fanaticized, globally operative minority from committing even more
mass murders? The time has come to breathe real life into our calls for
international education and exchange. Why? Because we know that terrorism
breeds in the fertile soils of poverty, fundamentalism and authoritarianism.
Therefore, we must get actively involved in politics to make sure that our
government‘s policies minimize rather than exacerbate these root causes of
terrorism. But have we multicultural educators spoken up about these matters in
any consistent and sensible fashion? And if not, why not? If we do not speak out
and work to make a positive difference, then we are definitely part of the
problem.
Just what should an international or multicultural education be all about? I,
personally, would like to cite Robert Hanvey‘s most insightful definition of an
attainable global perspective, one which consists of these five basic components:
1. Perspective Consciousness: The recognition or awareness on the part of the
individual that he or she has a view of the world that is not universally
shared.
2. State of the Planet Awareness: Awareness of prevailing world conditions and
developments, including emergent trends.
3. Cross-Cultural Awareness: Awareness of the diversity of ideas and practices
to be found in human societies around the world, of how such ideas and
practices compare, including some limited recognition of how the ideas and
ways of one‘s own society might be viewed from other vantage points should
be tolerated.
4. Knowledge of Global Dynamics: Some modest comprehension of key traits
and mechanisms of the world system, with emphasis on theories and
concepts that may increase intellectual consciousness of global change.
5. Awareness of Human Choice: Some awareness of the problems of choice
confronting individuals, nations and the human species as consciousness and
knowledge of the global system expands.
This is an ambitious educational agenda that promises exciting times for
individuals like you should you decide to work towards its implementation. You
serve as transnational carriers of an emerging planetary awareness: that
governments ought to promote the general welfare of those they govern; that
starvation is unacceptable; that the use of nuclear or biological weapons is
equally unacceptable; and that cultural and ideological diversity should be
tolerated. We must make other more consciously aware of the fact that there is
no longer any neat line between what is ―domestic‖ and what is ―international.‖
In fact, we could probably use the term ―intermestic‖ to describe the bulk of
humanity‘s dealings today.

Get real of get out of the way

Throughout these remarks, I have tried to emphasize areas where practical,

policy relevant work desperately needs to be done. We have the research, skills
and experience to do it. Applied targets are many and include: (1) providing
multicultural input to those involved in assessing political risk for business and
government; (2) training managers and volunteers for NGOs and multilateral
agencies, as well as other organizations posting people around the world; (3)
developing effective training materials that focus on developing cross-cultural
skills utilizing case studies and simulation techniques with a practical focus; and
(4) reaching out more effectively on our own campuses to develop cross-
disciplinary courses with professional schools (business; nursing, journalism,
education, etc.).
Last but not least, if we train students for practical rather than academic
careers, we must help them find jobs. How many of you have ever worked with
your campus placement offices to make sure that recruiters from a wider range
of organizations visit your campus and interview your students? Recruiters from
business, NGOs, foundations, and professional associations of all types
desperately need more multiculturally competent employees even if they do not
yet widen their net to recruit them. It is our responsibility to see that our
students get a fair deal in today‘s marketplace for intercultural skills and
careers.
Specifically, I would recommend that in the future, this annual Worldwide
Forum should actively solicit papers focusing on these topics: (1)educating and
integrating immigrants; (2) developing improved multicultural training courses
for peacekeepers, NGOs, and negotiators; (3) managing corporate diversity; (4)
restructuring American Studies and ESL programs to reflect current socio-
political realities; (5) improving orientation pre- and post-arrival for foreign
students and faculty and for American students going abroad; (6) increasing
teaching abroad options in teacher training programs; (7) creating Internet-
downloads and blogs on any of the above. Hopefully, one panel could address
comparative research projects that have developed thanks to this Worldwide
Forum, for example, research on immigrant student achievement across nations.

In defense of humor

In closing, let me stress that ―no one gets it completely right‖ when it comes
to cross-cultural communication. I repeat, no one. If we were all alike, there
would be no need for multicultural education in the first place. What a dull world
it would be! And one thing that we must never lose, at all cost, is our sense of
humor when confronted with linguistic and cultural differences.
One panel I would personally like to have on the agenda for your next
Worldwide Forum would take a comparative look at humor. Yes, you heard this
right. It is my firm belief that to understand a country, you can study its
economic data and demographic statistics or you can collect its jokes. Laughter
is a civilized form of a primitive lethal instinct, after all, being a sublimation of
the ancient urge to kill.
All too often, politically correct censorship has limited what is permissible
with respect to jokes. Nowadays, most popular jokes lampoon the strong rather
than the weak, leaving only blondes to pick on these days. But let‘s not forget
the lawyers, in general not well-loved in any nation. Here‘s one: ―What do you
call 30,000 lawyers up to their necks in sand?‖ Answer: ―Not enough sand.‖ And
while racist jokes and jokes about women are generally considered in bad taste,
dumb white males are fair game, as in ―How many men does it take to wallpaper
a room?‖ ―That depends on how thin you slice them...‖ Now while this seems
unfair to men, at the end of the day, men do less than half of the work in the
world, own 90% of the property and can wear the same suit every day, which is
not fair either.
Of course, while humor is universal, some jokes do not translate well.
However, they provide lots of cultural information about the local landscape. For
example, in the Congo, high denomination banknotes are called ―prostates‖ in
honor the cancer that killed the kleptocratic president Mobutu Sees Seiko.
Some situations are too delicate for cross-cultural projects. Palestinian
muppeteers did not want their muppets to live on the same street as the Jewish
muppets. And some nations seem to prefer humor that to others is simply
smutty or intensely stupid, like a surprising percentage of Japanese television
shows.
Political shifts also affect jokesters. In a way, we will all miss the former
Soviet Union. However, Russia‘s new kleptocrats do spawn a successor
generation of jokes, for example: ―A new Russian is in a serious car crash.
Climbing out of the wreckage, he wails: ―My Mercedes! My Mercedes is
smashed!‖ ―How can you worry about your car,‖ asks a passerby, ―when your
arm is ripped off?‖ The new Russian looks at his bloody stump and wails, ―MY
ROLEX!‖
In any event, jokes can be a great release for political frustration in non-free
societies. In general, the less democratic the government, the less developed its
leaders‘ sense of humor. I would suggest that the thinnest book in the world
would be ―My Favorite Jokes‖ by Kim Jong II.
But my all-time favorite category of humor is based on GLOBISH, on truly
innovative uses of the English language that all travelers encounter on menus, in
hotels, and so on.
I saw a sign in a doctor‘s office here in Rome that read, ―Specialist in Women
and Other Diseases.‖
Here are some other linguistic gems you just might enjoy:
 Mexican Hotel on Bathroom Sink: ―All water personally passed by the
management.‖
 Munich: ―In your room you will find a minibar which is filled with
alcoholics.‖
 Spanish beach: ―Beach of irregular bottoms.‖
 Italian flat-pack furniture leaflet: ―Open the legs and screw as hard as
possible.‖
 England: ―Will any guest wishing to take a bath please make
arrangements to have one with Mrs. Harvey.‖
 New Delhi: ―Beware of your luggage.‖
 Paris: ―Please leave your values at the front desk.‖
 Thailand donkey ride offer: ―Would you like to ride on your own ass?‖
 Indonesia: ―Someday laundry service.‖
 Vietnam: ―Toilet was cleaned and spayed.‖
 Japan: ―You are invited to take advantage of the chambermaid.‖
 Finland: ―If you cannot reach a fire exit, close the door and expose
yourself at the window.‖
 Madrid: ―Our wine list leaves you nothing to hope for.‖
 Torremolinos: ―We recommend the hotel tart.‖
 Taiwanese shampoo: ―Use repeatedly for severe damage.‖
 Hong Kong: ―Indonesian Nazi Goreng.‖
 Tokyo Bar: ―Special Cocktail Hour for the ladies with nuts.‖
 Pirated videos in Suriname: ―Deep Trout‖ (for ―Deep throat‖) and ―Dead
on the Nail‖ (for ―Death on the Nile‖)
 Indian Shop: ―Why go somewhere else to be cheated when you can come
here?‖
 France: ―Swimming if forbidden in the absence of the savior.‖
And finally, here‘s my all-time favorite. While in Japan on a business trip, a
colleague called for a wake-up call. Given the 14-hour time difference, she was
groggy when the phone rang and unnerved when a sweet little voice at the other
end intoned, ―Dr. Jordan, your time has come!‖
So has mine. Thank you very much indeed for your kind attention and best
wishes for a successful Worldwide Forum here in the Eternal City.

Bibliographical Note

Statistics taken from numerous articles and surveys about globalization and
technology regularly published by The Economist. Please be aware that statistics
are time sensitive, especially during these turbulent economic times. Quotes re:
teaching overseas appeared in the ADE Bulletin, published by the Modern
Language Association (Fall 1999, Number 123). ―Globish‖ quotes selected from
Lost in Translation: Misadventures in English Abroad‖ and Still Lost in
Translation: More Misadventures in English Abroad‖ compiled by Charlie Croker
(Michael O‘Mara Books Limited 2006; Random House Books, 2007).

Author‟s Note

The opinions expressed here are my own and do not necessarily reflect those
of the conference sponsors or planners. They have been deliberately provocative
as a ―Keynote Speech‖ is supposed to stimulate debate and keep people awake,
if possible.

A Race-conscious Approach to Teaching American Literature

Agnieszka Lobodziec
University of Zielona Gora, Poland

The continued need for a race-conscious approach to teaching American

literature is exemplified by endemic racism in the United States and Europe. In
2007 the FBI reported: ―hate crime incidents in the United States rose (in 2006)
by nearly 8 percent,‖ and the US Justice Department revealed that it was
―actively investigating a number of noose incidents at schools, work places and
neighborhoods around the country. According to the Justice Department, ‗a
noose is a powerful symbol of hate and racially motivated violence‘‖
<[Link]>. In November 2008, after Barack Obama was elected President,
the American press began to talk of a so-called ―white backlash‖ (Jonsson),
citing „Cross burnings. Schoolchildren chanting ‗Assassinate Obama.‘ Black
figures hung from nooses. Racial epithets scrawled on homes and cars‖
(Washington).
The aforementioned events, among many others, testify to the timeliness of
Toni Morrison‘s poignant comment that ―racism is as healthy today as it was
during the Enlightenment‖ (63).
Black American writer James Baldwin wrote: ―People are trapped in history
and history is trapped in them‖ (138). Race is central to American history and is
also not marginal in relation to the history of Eastern Europe, specifically Poland.
A number of American fictional and non-fictional resources relate Midwestern
Polish racism. Toni Morrison‘s The Bluest Eye is set in Loraine, Ohio. One of the
characters is a racist Polish immigrant named Mr. Yakobovsky, a shopkeeper,
who treats Pecola Breedlove, a poor black girl, with distaste and even avoids
touching her hand when she pays for the sweets. Morrison writes:
 How can a fifty-two-year-old white immigrant storekeeper with the taste of
potatoes and beer in his mouth, his mind honed on the doe-eyed Virgin Mary,
his sensibilities blunted by a permanent awareness of loss, see a little black
girl? Nothing in his life even suggested that the feat was possible, not to say
desirable or necessary. (48)

The ―doe-eyed Virgin Mary‖ is a reference to the holiest icon in Poland, the
Black Madonna of Czestochowa. Nevertheless, most Poles are not conscious of
her blackness and gaze upon the image through the filtering lens of white
Christian aesthetics. The icon‘s black African features are erased and
rationalized. Danita Redd observes in her article ―Black Madonnas of Europe:
Diffusion of the African Isis:‖

Many anthropologists attribute the blackness of the European Madonnas to

their fertility quality, with black representing the earth. Another theory
attributes the blackness to extreme age or smoke from candles, but no
explanation is given why only the hands, face and feet were affected.
Unquestionably, all so-called ―Black Madonnas‖ are not actually black. (120)

Chicago, Illinois has the largest Polish community outside of Warsaw.

Historically, there has been a racial tension between the Black and Polish
American communities. In 1966, during a march at Chicago‘s Marquette Park,
―Martin Luther King declared he had ―never seen anything so hostile and so
hateful as I‘ve seen here today‘ (…)‖ (Garrow 500). Not even in the South was
he confronted by such racial hatred.
Nowadays, ―(i)t seems that (racism) has a utility far beyond economy,
beyond the sequestering of classes from one another, and has assumed a
metaphorical life so completely embedded in daily discourse that it is perhaps
more necessary and more on display than ever before‖ (Morrison 63). For
instance, the Polish language in daily discourse is replete with negative
references to blackness. Linguists and journalists have an ongoing debate on the
use of the word ―murzyn‖ which is equivalent to the English word ―Negro,‖ a
term regarded in the US as a racial slur. In fact, in daily discourse, the Polish
language is replete with sayings that affirm the word‘s pejorative connotations.
In November 2008 racial thinking has scandalously revealed itself even within
the political milieu. One of the most outrageous cases reported upon by the
international media was a speech made in the Polish Parliament by a legislator,
who contended that Barack Obama‘s ―election heralds ‗the end of the white
man's civilization‘‖ (Weeks).
The information cited above is just the tip of the iceberg. It evidences that
heralds of a post-racial America and Europe are most premature; the pendulum
is swinging back and forth. There is hope in the struggle against racism but
there are also grounds for pessimism.
In the context of racialized America and Europe, the use of canonical
mainstream American literary texts may raise students‘ awareness of the
complex systemic nature of racism that produces ubiquitous racist stereotypes,
images of black marginalization and white supremacy. A race-conscious
approach to teaching literary texts may help in understanding that racism is
manifested not only by extremist behavior, but also by certain mindsets that
subconsciously evolve from exposure to mainstream societal negative
representations of blackness.
Toni Morrison advocates, more often than not, a race-conscious approach to
the analysis of American literature that focuses on literary whiteness and
blackness. She observes that American literature contains

images of impenetrable whiteness (that) need contextualizing to explain their

power, pattern, and consistency. Because they appear almost always in
conjunction with representations of black or Africanist people who are dead,
impotent, or under complete control, these images of blinding whiteness
seem to function as both antidote for and meditation on the shadow that is
companion to this whiteness – a dark and abiding presence that moves the
hearts and texts of American literature with fear and longing. (33)

Such a race-conscious approach assists in discerning ―the nature – even the

cause – of literary ‗whiteness‘ (and) what parts do the invention and
development of whiteness play in the construction of what is loosely described
as ‗American‘‖ (9). Canonical literature has historically portrayed the American
as ―new, white, and male‖ (43) alongside a marginalized, pitiful or even
demonical black presence. Blackness became an oppositional reference point in
forming the representation of dominant, inaccessible, and spotless whiteness.
This whiteness is reflected in descriptions of characters in Scott F. Fitzgerald‘s
The Great Gatsby who, dressed in white, live in ―white palaces‖ (6), drive a
―white roadster‖‖ (48), speak ―as cool as their white dresses (…)‖ (10) and
whose ―complexion (is) powdered milky white‖ (20). Whiteness is not only
represented in the realm of aesthetics, but it also complements and companions
the worldview of some characters. Tom Buchanan very explicitly conveys a white
supremacist stance when he says:

Civilization‘s going to pieces (…). I‘ve gotten to be a terrible pessimist about

things. Have you read The Rise of the Colored Empires by this man Goddard?
(…) The idea is if we don‘t look out the white race will be – will be utterly
submerged. (…) This fellow has worked out the whole thing. It‘s up to us,
who are the dominant race, to watch out or these other races will have
control of things. (…) This idea is that we‘re Nordics. I am, and you are, and
you are, and (…) we‘ve produced all the things that go to make civilization.
(10-11)

Therefore, metaphorically, whiteness counters a perceived black threat to

white civilization. Paradoxically, the characters are situated in the 1920s, the so-
called Jazz Age and the period of the Harlem Renaissance. They imbibe black
music and at the same time reject black presence.
Toni Morrison further states that: ―cultural identities are formed and informed
by a nation‘s literature, and that what seemed to be on the ‗mind‘ of the
literature of the United States was the self-conscious but highly problematic
construction of the American as a new white man‖ (39). The new white men of
primarily Western European origin, fled from the Old World of ―oppression and
limitation to freedom and possibility‖ (34). Yet, ―it is just as important to know
what these people were rushing from as it is to know what they were hastening
to‖ (33-34). In the New World, ―Power – control of one‘s own destiny – would
replace the powerlessness felt before the gates of class, caste, and cunning
persecution. One could move from discipline and punishment to disciplining and
punishing; from social ostracism to social rank‖ (35). The transformation from
an object into subject required a referent that would embody all that was sinful,
fearful, horrific, and sinister. The Black Man, a figure imagined by the Puritan
characters in Nathaniel Hawthorne‘s The Scarlet Letter, exemplifies such a
diabolical presence. In the novel and reality alike, the concept of the Black Man
was a ―common euphemism for the Christian devil, whom the Puritans
associated with the forested wilderness that surrounded their settlements, and
with the Native Americans who dwelled within it‖ (Hawthorne 250). Up until
today the association of blackness with devilish forces and whiteness with
angelic purity prevails in Western religious aesthetics.
American literature also offers an allegorical representation of American
society by its particular focus on social and racial stratification. For instance, in
John Steinbeck‘s Of Mice and Men a black man is marginalized among the
marginalized. The character Crooks,

the negro stable buck (…) and a cripple (…) was more permanent than the
other men, and he had accumulated more possessions than he could carry on
his back (…) several pairs of shoes, a pair of rubber boots, a big alarm clock
and a single-barreled shotgun. And he had books, too; a tattered dictionary
and a mauled copy of the California civil code of 1905 (…). Crooks was a
proud, aloof man. He kept his distance and demanded that other people keep
theirs. (66-67)

On the one hand, isolated and servile Crooks is associated with marginalized
others in the white man‘s world: a mentally retarded Lennie, Curley‘s nameless
wife, and elderly Candy. However, Curley‘s wife reminds Crooks of his inferior
status and powerlessness when she warns him: ―Listen, Nigger (…) Well, you
keep your place then, Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain‘t
even funny‖ (80).

These three novels evidence that the ―literature of the United States, like its
history, represents commentary on the transformations of biological, ideological,
and metaphysical concepts of racial difference‖ (Morrison 65). They elucidate
some of the foundations upon which white supremacy is based. The focus on the
racialized language of classic American literature and its ideological implications
uncovers the pernicious nature of racism in ways that may lead to students‘
critical analysis. Such an approach may enable critically thinking students to
enter a contemporary debate on the issue of race, attempting to ascertain
whether indeed we are living in a post-racial space, whether being post-racial
means post-racist, and, finally, whether an internalized deracinated stance
should not be replaced with an appreciation and admiration of racial difference
and distinctiveness because recognition of difference does not in itself lead to
hostile expressions.
In this manner, academia might contribute to the teaching of values as Toni
Morrison offers in her essay ―How Can Values Be Taught In the University.‖ She
writes: ―I tend to think (…) that in the course of teaching, the material I ask
students to read, in the dialogue that ensues following those readings, and the
threads of argument I nudge students to explore, make up one part of how I
communicate value.‖
References
Baldwin, James. ―Stranger in the Village.‖ James Baldwin: Collected Essays. Ed.
Toni Morrison. New York: Library of America, 1998.
Fitzgerald, Scott F. The Great Gatsby. London: Wordsworth Editions, 1993.
―FBI: Hate crimes up by 8 percent.‖ The Associated Press. 19 Nov. 2007.
<[Link]>
Garrow, David J. Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference. New York: William Morrow and Company,
Inc., 1986.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: The Modern Library, 2000.
Jonsson, Parick. ―After Obama's win, white backlash festers in US.‖ Yahoo News.
17 Nov. 2008.
<[Link]
Malcolm X. The Autobiography of Malkolm X. New York: Ballantines Books, 1973.
Morrison, Toni. ―How can values be taught in the University?‖ Peer Review 22
June 2002 <[Link]/peerreview/pr-su02/documents/[Link]>.
---. Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination. London,
Picador, 1992.
---. The Bluest Eye. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1998.
"Murzyn." The Great Polish English Dictionary. 11th ed. 1995.
Redd, Danita. ―Black Madonnas of Europe: Diffusion of the African Isis.‖ African
Presence in Early Europe. Ed. Ivan Van Sertima. New Brunswick and Oxford:
Transaction Publishers, 1990.
Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. Great Britain, 2000.
Washington, Jesse. ―Election spurs 'hundreds' of race threats, crimes.‖
Associated Press. 15 Nov. 2008.
<[Link]
Weeks, Linton. ―Obama's Win Brings Racist Remarks From Europe.‖ NPR. 13
Nov. 2008.
<[Link]

Usage of Social Software in Indonesia State Universities;

A Qualitative Case Study

Akhmad Riza Faizal

Department of Communication Studies
Lampung University, Indonesia

Background

Uses and usage of social software within education field have been
investigated, suggested and reported by many scholars from developed
countries (Alexander, 2006; Anderson, 2007; Bryant, 2007; Franklin, G., 2007;
Franklin, T., 2007; Kirriemuir, 2007; Maxymuk, 2007; Miners and Pascopella,
2007; Shim et al., 2007; Topper, 2007; Eijkman, 2008; Virkus, 2008). However,
information or research that wrote about implementation of this software in
developing countries still remain low nonetheless insignificance. This condition
was quite irony because emerging of this web technology has impacted globally
thus uses and usage of social software emerged ubiquitously in many developing
countries. In Indonesia, as one of developing countries which has been impacted
by the emergence of this technology and advances of web development so called
―Web 2.0‖, the condition of uses and usage of social software could also be
found and investigates particularly in relation to education field and more over to
teaching-learning practices.
This article purposed was to seek some cases of implementation of social
software for teaching-learning process in Indonesia education system especially
in Indonesia state universities. By finding some examples of usage and uses of
this software in Indonesia educational system, it can be a reference for the next
researches either quantitative or qualitative approaches to seek and design an
appropriate education pattern and architecture. Significant from this article
especially dedicate to educators and researchers who have interest to more
investigate and implement these web technology nevertheless educational
technology researchers in general. Hopefully, with the same interest we could
build a network on this topic.
To reach the purposes, method that been used to investigate was qualitative
case studies. For data collection techniques, in order to have more
understanding about quality of usage of social software in university level,
combination of observation to several Indonesia state universities website and
interviews to several lectures in those universities who have been using and as
users of social software were conducted. The reason to used qualitative instead
quantitative approach comes from the needs to have a better view on the
condition of usage of social software in Indonesia state universities but not in
means of generalization because there is no sufficient enough data that can
showed practices and characteristics of usage of this software in Indonesia and
therefore can help the researcher to investigate more deeply. Robin Mason
(Seegmüller, 2008) has argued, depends on the political circumstances, that it is
hard to implementing social software in education in terms of student-centred
teaching in developing countries because there is a lack of books and poor
internet access. Indeed, nonetheless the more resources become available; the
more teaching with social software is possible. Thus, by having qualitative data
this article can be seen as a preliminary studied to the problems. Orderly, in this
article, we will have a look to the conception of social software hitherto in
general then shows some discussion and cases of usage of this web technology
in education field by numbers of institution report and literatures. Afterwards,
we will see some facts about internet adoption in Indonesia. Mainly, we will
discuss about several condition of usage of social software in Indonesia state
universities based on research findings.

Social Software: A Short Review

Social software is not just about new application, and the emergence is more
to ―humanity‖ rather than ―technology‖ (Bryant, 2007). Keep it in mind, social
software is not the same with Web 2.0 although social software has emerged as
major components in Web 2.0 (Bryan, 2006) but the history of this technology
might goes in different direction with the web itself. Christopher Allen (2004)
has done a splendid work to trace the history of social software. He related the
terms and the existence of software back to 1940s when Vannevar Bush wrote,
the famous, ―As We May Think‖, then to the emergences of late development of,
so called, collaborative technology such as ARPA, Licklider and augmentation
technologies (1960s), Office automation and Electronic Information Exchange
System/EIES (1970s), Groupware and Computer-Supported Collaborative
Work/CSCW (1980s and 1990s).
Allen (2004) pointed that the term ‗social software‘ was not commonly use
until late 2002 when Clay Shirky organized ―Social Software Summit‖ in
November 2002. In fact, the definition whether social software is still vogue,
Clay Shirky defined social software as simply ―software that support group
interactions‖ (Allen, 2004; Futurelab, 2006) while other practitioner like Tom
Coates see social software as ―augmentation of human's socializing and
networking abilities by software, complete with ways of compensating for the
overloads this might engender‖ (Allen, 2004; Farkas, 2007). Futurelab, a non-
profit organization based in UK, attempted to define social software by showing
some key attributes of social software in relation to education which are it;
delivers communication between groups, enables communication between many
people, provides gathering and sharing resources, delivers collaborative
collecting and indexing of information, allows syndication and assists
personalization of priorities, has new tools for knowledge aggregation and
creation of new knowledge, and delivers to many platforms as is appropriate to
the creator, recipient and context (Futurelab, 2006).
Taking from a different point of view, Patrick and Dotsika (2006) posted that
social software effectively is a convergence of the thinking of the domains of
social networks, human-computer interaction (HCI) and web services. Instead
requesting the users to adapt with the software, social software more attempt to
fit with users‘ environment nevertheless the software can be more intuitive and
attracting users to continue use it (Patrick & Dotsika, 2006). This change shifting
from pull to push technology has been influenced and matched with the
development of web, refers to O‘Reilly term Web 2.0 (O‘Reilly, 2005), thus
applications of such software can be found in most of web technology ―2.0‖.
Table 1 listed various categories of social software from different perspectives,
Wikipedia attempted to list the categories from functional approach, Futurelab
see the range of social software in relation to education technology, while Patrick
& Dotsika described the list more to understanding of social software as web
services.

Table 1: List of Social Software

Wikipedia (2008) Futurelab (2006) Patrick & Dotsika

(2006)
blogs, clipping, Text-based software Online services,
instant messaging, (Weblogs, wiki, social online networks (social
internet forums, internet bookmarking and and business),
relay chat, eLearning, tagging, fan fiction sites, collaborative
Massively Multiplayer RSS), Audio-visual shared/writings,
Online Games (MMOGs), software (Codeck, Tools/Services
media sharing, media Broadcast Machine, (communication, group
cataloging, personals, radiowaves), spatial and discussion, media
social bookmarking, geographic social sharing), Open
social cataloging, social software (Google Earth), standards (web
citations, social Finding like minds services, content
evolutionary (profile matching aggregation, network
 computation, social systems, affinity sharing, persona
networks, social systems, personal identity, reputation
scripting, virtual worlds, networks), mobile phone system), New forms of
and wikis. software (Push toTalk, collective action (Open
Mobiluck) Source, Civil Society
Projects, Smart Mobs)

Social Software for Education

Personalization is one of the key aspects in social software hereafter; Shim

(et al., 2007) have conducted a research using media-richness theory to test
factors that influenced students to use podcast and also RSS feature that
already include in this technology, in relation to their learning process. They
found that although podcast has many beneficial qualities including students‘
familiarity with the new technology, and the cost effectiveness in the long run
nevertheless podcasting technology should not be seen as a tool to replace
traditional classroom teaching of fundamental principles. Rather, it should
supplement class materials, so that students can better understand concepts,
theories, and applications that may not have been available during the class
(Shim et al., 2007).
Wikis is one of the most popular social writing platform software (Alexander,
2006) and being used in a variety of ways within education. Examples using
wikis such, as a course website where students present their research findings
and for collecting and storing data, or as a place to host a series of ice-breaking
activities for a group of distance learners. Franklin, G. (2007) has highlighted
tools such as wikis offer a new ways to engage and communicate with students
and to some extent as a reflection, especially when it relates to information
literacy skill. Information literacy skill is one of new literacy skills (Miners and
Pascopella, 2007) to be consider as 21st century skill beside media literacy and
ICT literacy. In wikis, students and teachers be able to quickly and easily explore
an area of knowledge, developing only as much structure as they need along the
way, by allowing this collaborative work wikis not only providing a medium in
teaching-learning process more over it is encouraging both student and teacher
to be active based on their own strength and style in writings (Bryant, 2007).
Although such open access software like Wikipedia, GoogleDocs, Socialtext,
and TWiki have proved to become very useful tools for education, there are
some debates and doubts about credibility and its content consistency since it is
vulnerable against malicious editing, vandalism, and group sabotage (Stvilia et
al., 2005 in Anderson, 2007; Futurelab, 2006). Rector (2007) has conducted a
comparison study on Wikipedia articles and articles from Encyclopedia
Britannica, the Dictionary of American History and American National Biography
Online about comprehensiveness and accuracy. Her findings were reveal
inaccuracies in eight of the nine entries and exposed major flaws in at least two
of the nine Wikipedia articles. Overall, Wikipedia‘s accuracy rate was 80 percent
compared with 95-96 percent accuracy within the other sources. This study does
support the claim that Wikipedia is less reliable than other reference resources.
Furthermore, the research found at least five unattributed direct quotations and
verbatim text from other sources with no citations.
Other social writing platform software is weblogs (blogs) and perhaps the
most common social software that has been used in education practices (Bryant,
2007). Activity that using blogs for education purposes for an instance;
collaborative project by a group of bloggers using their individual blogs to build
up a corpus of inter related knowledge via posts and comments. This might be a
group of learners in a class, encouraged and facilitated by a teacher, or a group
of relatively dedicated life-long learners. Other example, teachers can use a blog
for course announcements, news and feedback to students and combine it with
syndication technologies (RSS feed) to enable groups of learners to easily keep
track of new posts (Franklin, T., 2007). By using RSS feature or tags, teacher
and student also can use websites like Technorati and IceRocket to look for a
particular blog in their subject. Other social software is social bookmarking and
Bryant (2007) has argued that social bookmarking is ideally suited to classroom
use as it enables groups to build up a collection of resources very easily around
a particular topic such that each individual can benefit from the work of others.
Websites like [Link] and Bibsonomy are some of ―folksonomies bracket‖
which allow its users to bookmark online resources and easily build up their own
cluster of interest and ―share‖ it with other users. This ―create and share‖
principle, also applies to media and file sharing websites such as Youtube, Live
Journal, Flickr, and Megaupload.

Internet Adoption in Indonesia

The number of internet users in Indonesia has increased rapidly by more

than 1.150% from 2 million users in year 2000 to 25 million users by second
quarters of 2008 (Internet World Stats, 2008). Although it is indeed a fascinate
quantity but considering a population of 238 million, the density of internet
users is only 10,5% from total country population which is still below average
percentage of world internet users (21,9%) and Asian users (15,3%) (Internet
World Stats, 2008). Indonesia Internet Service Provider Association (APJII,
2008) report on internet users in Indonesia also showed some increasing
numbers.

Table 2. Internet Statistic in Indonesia (APJII, 2008)

ISPs 50 (1999) 298 (2007)

Broadband Subcribers 134.000 (1998) 2 million
(2007)
Domain (.id) 1.479 (1998) 21.762 (2004)
IPv6 accumulative (in 131.073 (2003) 655.361
block) (Nov.2007)
MRTG (Multi Router Traffic 2,05 Mbps (Feb. 3,9 Gbps (Jan.
Graph) Report 1999) 2005)
Spam report (by APJII 0 (Oct – Dec. 6770 (2004)
members) 2002)

A study carried out in 2004 found that two thirds of internet users in
Indonesia gain their access through internet cafés and 68% of those internet
cafes‘ users are men (Wahid, Furuholt, and Kristiansen, 2004 in Wahid, 2007).
Using Technology Adoption Model (TAM), Wahid (2007) has conducted a
research on internet adoption among men and women in Indonesia. His studied
found that internet adoption among men is affected by perceived of usefulness
rather than perceived ease of use, in contrary to women perceived. Men are
found to have a more flexible internet access venue when compared to women.
Proportion of women who use internet for chatting and study-related activities is
significantly larger than that of men. Conversely, proportion of men who use
internet for reading online news, testing and downloading software, shopping,
entertainment, seeking job vacancy, and visiting pornographic sites are larger
than women. High cost internet access, low access speed of internet and a lack
of English proficiency are identified to be most severe obstacles of internet
adoption in Indonesia. However, his concluded generally in Indonesia, internet
adoption among women is lower than that among men.
Center for Research and Application of Information and Electronic
Technologies of the Office for the Research and Application of Technologies,
Indonesia in 2001 have conducted a survey about internet users profile in
Indonesia. They found that users of Internet based on their professions can be
divided as follows: students (39%), workers (22%), managers (17%), assistant
managers (5%), professionals (5%), directors (4%), entrepreneurs (3%), and
others (5%). The users of Internet based on their educational backgrounds are
as follows, elementary school/junior high school (2%), high school (41%),
college graduates (9%), undergraduates (43%), and graduates (5%) (Yuhetty,
2002).

Social Software in Indonesia State University Websites

There are 46 state universities and more than 2200 higher education
institutions including institute, college, and academy all across Indonesia (DIKTI,
2004) and for the state university, Directorate General of Higher Education
under Indonesia Ministry of National Education (Direktorat Jendral Pendidikan
Tinggi/DIKTI) obligated them to have an official university website. To have a
robust database and investigate deeper into usage behavior of social software in
those universities, researcher attempted to find whether implementation of
social software already occurs along with other cyber-features in Indonesia state
university websites. Hence, a simple survey has been conducted to see how
many of them have put at least one of many social software platforms in their
websites. For operational definition, researcher took the social software
categories base on the list made by Wikipedia. The researcher used Wikipedia
list of social software instead others because of two reasons first, the list was
categorized based on common label that already familiarize by the social
software users since the article its self was constructed by the users. Second, is
to avoid misinterpretation for social software platforms label nonetheless
ambiguity.
For comparison on educational cyber-infrastructure, researcher also counted
availability of digital library in those websites; the assumption behind this
decision was the prominence of university digital libraries appears as a necessity
to have technology for education thus social software could be considered as
within the same need. The result (Figure 1.) shows that availabilities of e-
Learning and Digital Library stand in highest percentages among other
applications and software (50%). Between other platforms, researcher found
from 18 types of social software in Wikipedia list only 5 of them are used in
observed websites including e-Learning. The percentage of usage however, can
be said, are not quite significant by quantity especially if we consider web 2.0
applications have been worldwide known at least since 2004. Nevertheless,
researcher gives an applaud to Padjajaran University effort to create a ‗youtube-
like‘ media sharing websites ([Link] where lectures can store
video of their presentation and or as a class materials and it is open for public,
this website also a breakthrough among other university websites in Southeast
Asia countries for implementing web-based educational technology.

Figure 1: Social Software in Indonesia State University Websites (Per

July 2008)

Result of the initial observation was an availability score table of social

software usage in Indonesia state university websites, distributed as 1-2 (low
score), 3-4 (medium score), and 5-6 (high score). 9 invitations were distributed
to 9 universities based on availability score of social software in their website, 3
from each high, medium and low score universities to participate in this
research. Responses only came from 4 universities, 2 from high score
universities which are Padjajaran University and Lampung University, and 2 from
low score universities which are Sriwijaya University and University of General
Soedirman. Thus, interviews were conducted between July-August 2008 to 4
lectures, 3 men and 1 woman, with informants‘ age range between 26 to 38
years old. The interviewees are coming from responded universities with range
of teaching experience between 3 to 6 years. Interview was choose as the data
collection technique because the time when research conducted was during
midyear semester break so it was hard to conduct a field observation to
informants actual teaching environment which are the classes since all the
responded universities have academic breaks. However, the main focus for the
interview was whether they, as a teacher of a subject(s), have embedded social
software as a part of teaching-learning process in their class.

Interviews Findings

University internet infrastructure affect usage of internet among informants,

3 of them said that wifi/LAN facility provided by their university indeed leverage
their online hours between 6 to 12 hours per week, only 1 informant used dial
up connection since there is not wifi/LAN facility in her faculty, and the main
reason they choose to have internet access from university because it is free of
charge. Second place beside university as their main place to have internet
access is internet café and the intensity is between 1 to 6 hours per week. Only
1 informant said that a friend of his taught him how to use internet, the rest of
informants said that they learnt how to use internet and social software by
themselves. These findings might not correlate with previous research on
internet adoption among students in Indonesia by Wahid (2007) since this
research particularly look on qualitative aspect of usage on internet of lectures in
Indonesia state universities nevertheless it does support early research finding
by Wahid, Furuholt, and Kristiansen (2004 in Wahid, 2007) that most of internet
users in Indonesia gain their access from internet cafés.
From the interviews, researcher indeed found that usage of social software
already been embedded by informants as part of teaching-learning process in
their class. Popularity is one of motives why they using the technology while
there is also some need to just keep up with the latest fashion of technology. It
became understandable when it comes to remember type of social software that
they used the most hence they start the answers from the most popular social
networking websites such as Facebook, Multiply, and Friendster, then goes to
YouTube for media sharing website, Blogspot for blogging, and Wikipedia. For
others social software platforms they admit that they know about it but never
use it. Despite the form, one informant from University of General Soedirman
mentioned that he just begun to familiar with the use of social software for
about a year even though he still attempt to keep up with constant changes of
social software technologies nevertheless he seen the effort is quite exhaustive.
Thus, basic internet usage behaviors such as downloading, uploading, searching,
browsing, reading, watching are the most activities he do while using social
software. More advanced features in social software such as sharing,
commenting, tagging, flagging, and embedding are least activities that the
informant do.

That early finding is interesting since the advance features in social software
is kind of abilities that developers of social software brought to attract user at
the first place. However, relates to usage of social software in teaching-learning
activities, researcher found several models that represent, so to speak, some of
many activities that informants have conducted relate to usage of social
software that they already familiar of, there are;
a. Encouraging students writing skill by using blogs.
Learning is not always about the outcomes, especially for students in social
science and humanities field, they also need to be motivated and encouraged
about the way they see phenomena in social reality. One of activities that can
lead students to learns how to expressing their thought is by writing. Ease of
use and plenty of platform options made blogs is not only suitable for helping
students in their learning process and also for the teacher to express their
thought about the material itself. One informant attempted to combine
students‘ appreciations about his class material and their fond of blogs. Hence
he asked students to put their writings in their blogs, afterwards he select
some of the best articles as a component in semester exam. From 40
students, who participating in his political communication class, 23 students
have their own blogs.
b. Using examples from media sharing website for explaining class material.
There are many subject studies that sometimes students are get really
hard to understand it unless the teacher helps them with visualization of
examples. All the informants admit they are a YouTube user hence for
 embedding it as part of their teaching process, one informant said that he
uses video example of Public Services Advertising (PSA) product that he found
from YouTube in his Social Marketing class. It was difficult before for the
informant to have even an example of video because copyright and limited
budget for class activities in his university. By using file sharing website like
YouTube, it can help his students to have a better understanding on how to
see social phenomena and to take a portrait of it.
c. Putting examination grades and class material in teacher blogs.
Since more and more internet infrastructures are provided by the
government and university, Indonesian students are become more familiar
with using internet for leveraging their study process nonetheless for the
informants. They realize with all the limitation they have as teachers, they can
use these web technology to leverage and support their teaching activities
too. When researcher asked them whether they have used social software for
helping their teaching activity and for what reason, most of them admit that
they have used at least blogs to publish their class examination grades and
also their class material. One informant pointed that the reason he choose to
use blogs to disseminate his class material because it was more easy in term
of more effective and efficient in time for him instead delivering hand to hand
the materials to the students. He also argued that by using the blogs, he
gives his student more free time to access the class materials or reading the
exam grade without interfering their study hours at campus.
d. Sharing the class material using file sharing websites.
The prominence of file sharing websites such as Megaupload and
Slideshare that providing user with free file storage capability leverage
informants teaching activities by helping them store and disseminate any
class materials they have and made it available online.
e. Showing more empathy to the student through social networking site.
Another interesting fact that researcher found is by using social software,
especially the popular one, most of the informants feels that they are more
closer to their students than before using it. One informant mentioned that
since she joined as a member of one of the most popular social networking
sites in 2005, she met her students more than she met her colleagues. By
adding or approving her students‘ invitation to become their friends, she felt
like the students or more open to her in the sense when she asked the
students to give their feedback about what the students had during the class
activity, some the students are frankly said that s/he did not really
understanding of what her have taught to them. Not only has that, the
students sometime asked her about the class schedules and, in her own
words, talks ‗heart to heart‘ with her. In spite of personal matter, the talks
that she had with the students given some sour of insight for her of what
actually students in her class thought about her class material. For her, this
kind of information is indeed a very good reflection for her and gives her a
more reason to deliver and improve a better class material.

Some Challenges

Although, by using social software indeed helping informant jobs on other

hand usage of the technology also arise, so to speak, some resistances from
people who do not really being embrace by the technology. One informant said
that he was once gave his students an assignment using blogs for delivering the
task and ask students to send their answer via email to him. Then, he received a
protest from one of his student that the assignment causing the student to
spend more money to access the internet in internet café, in that time there was
no free internet access in the informant university. The resistance was not only
coming from students but also from other informants colleagues who do not use
the technology because a lot of factor, especially for senior lecture, such as age
and cost. As one informant said:

‖ Generally in my faculty, there are many people who still do not understand
this technology even though the Dean office has facilitated it. They ignorance
and lack of understanding basically because they unwillingness to learn...‖
(Male/38 years old/Padjajaran University)

Despite those resistances above, the challenge might come from themselves
such as they knowledge of software and how to use it although most of the
popular social software that online in web these days are very easy to use and
more intuitively, as one informant pointed that sometimes he also encounter
some problem using some of the social software because his lack of
understanding about use of the software.

Conclusion

Prominences of social software or also well known as social media has affect
in many aspect of human activities these days. As the study about usage of the
web technology in education have been carried significantly in many of
developed countries, the study for developing countries remains low. Thus from
this pilot study, researcher attempts was to seek some cases of implementation
of social software for teaching-learning process in Indonesia education system
especially in Indonesia state university. Initial survey that researcher conducted
to Indonesia state university websites in July 2008 found that usage of social
software in those academic websites are, so to speak, insignificant by numbers.
Nonetheless, the finding has been followed up with interviews to several lectures
from 4 Indonesia state universities. Researcher thus proposed several model of
usage of social software in Indonesia state universities such as; encouraging
students writing skill by using blogs, using examples from media sharing website
for explaining class material, putting examination grades and class material in
teacher blogs, sharing the class material using file sharing websites, and
showing more empathy to the student through social networking site.

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Vocational training in the Swiss and Romanian system of education and
teacher formation

Liliana Anton
Ecological University of Bucharest, Romania

Abstract

At present, the European educational systems tend to be more knowledge-based

than practice-oriented. On the opposite side, the Swiss model of education
comes in favor to the process of putting theory into practice from the
institutional level to teaching methods. The vocational training represents one
major educational dimension in Switzerland. The main principle is to create and
support a system of education according to the social and professional needs.
Teachers play an active-reflexive role and the methods are adapted to students
on curricular basis.

Key words: practice-oriented, vocational training, active/ reflexive roles in

education

The knowledge-based system of education in Europe, a common

framework

―A Europe of knowledge is now widely recognized as an irreplaceable factor

for social and human growth and as an indispensable component to consolidate
and enrich the European citizenship, capable of giving its citizens the necessary
competences to face the challenges of the new millennium, together with an
awareness of shared values and belonging to a common social and cultural
space.‖1
According to the Bologna Declaration, all the European member states have a
common institutional framework regarding qualifications in the European Higher
Education Area (EHEA). Qualifications frameworks are important instruments in
achieving comparability and transparency. The modules and study programmes
are based on learning outcomes and credits.
In the process of restructuring the educational systems, the objectives are
represented by comparable criteria and methodologies, the curricular
development, inter-institutional cooperation, mobility schemes and integrated
programmes of study, training and research. Each system of education aims to
be comparable, compatible and competitive.
The social dimension has a special importance as ―Higher education should
play a strong role in fostering social cohesion, reducing inequalities and raising
the level of knowledge, skills and competencies in society. Policy should
therefore aim to maximize the potential of individuals in terms of their personal

1
The Bologna Declaration of 19 June 1999, Joint Declaration of the European Ministers of Education
development and their contribution to a sustainable and democratic knowledge-
based society. We share the societal aspiration that the student body entering,
participating in and completing higher education at all levels should reflect the
diversity of our populations. We reaffirm the importance of students being able
to complete their studies without obstacles related to their social and economic
background.‖2
These reforms are expected to have as a result the functioning of one of the
best performing system of education in the world.

Policies of the vocational training in Romania and Switzerland (an

analytical perspective)

The analysis of the objectives and methods of education should be based on

the systematic approach of the cultural, economical and political background.
This perspective might help politicians to take the right decisions and to manage
properly various issues or problems that occur frequently because of a set of
particular factors that are specific for each European country.
Since 2005, the political guidelines in Romania and Switzerland have had
common priorities, such as: the assurance of the quality of education, free
access to education and equal opportunities given to children.
The specific priorities for the Romanian political agenda are the following:
Restructuring the educational system according to the European norms;
Lifelong learning, adult education; and
Vocational education with a focus on the individual development, the
professional values and the rapid integration in the active life, increasing
the chances of the individual to integrate in the labor market.
The Canton of Geneva has a set of priorities in education as follows:
To take measures against the educational failure at the individual level;
To have a close cooperation with the social partners for the professional
formation;
Excellence and democratization of higher education;
To oppose ill treatment ;
To have a partnership with families;
To have as a priority the cultural element in education; and
To have a political perspective based on evaluation and participation.

Reflexive politics needed

The politics of education have long-term effect on each domain of interest in

a country. In this context, setting clear priorities in education politics is of crucial
importance for the future structures at all national levels. A possible set of
factors in determining the priorities and influencing them could be:
The political arena:
-local factors: governance, types of local politics (left, right and centre
orientation) and categories of partnership: politicians-professionals in
education and economics; and
-external factors: the political international affairs and continental area
influence;

2
London Communiqué, Towards the European Higher Education Area: responding to challenges in a globalised
world
 The economical background and conditions (micro and macro economy) at
the external and internal level, specific economical processes and
particular aspects of the external and internal local market;
The educational system and its history, its cultural substratum and
particular aspects (main orientation, modalities of implementing new
educational policies and degrees of acceptance);
The population categories that are involved in the process of education
(general education, vocational training, long life learning, higher
education) and their particular characteristics that could be analyzed from
cultural, economical, sociological, psychological and anthropological
perspective;
The presence/absence of the ethical approach of examining the students
and enrolling them in the process of education, the juridical aspects in
terms of respecting the human rights; and
Other particular aspects of the country in case, of political, economical or
cultural origin such as the presence of positive discrimination in ethnical
or cultural terms (see prejudices)

Apprenticeship or vocational training?

Common European politics have as a result the process of implementation of

the new educational programs, curricula and syllabuses. Apprenticeship and
vocational training represent mainly the same concepts. The difference resides
in the fact that in Geneva this educational system focuses on the professional
training while in Romania the vocational training is represented by
apprenticeship schools in which the knowledge based curricula contain topics of
general interest and culture and professional topics.
The National Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training
Development in Romania is functioning since 1st January 1999 and gives its
contribution to the qualitative technical and vocational education. Since 2003
NCTVETD supported the process of restructuring the vocational system of
education and the reform is to be continued up to 2010. The systemic reform is
focused on quality, equity and efficiency. The Centre decides the number of
Romanian students enrolled in the vocational schools, according to the
estimation made after the analysis of the internal market.
In Geneva apprenticeship studies are based on the national curricula. At the
same time, there is a close cooperation between the social and economic
partners and on the other hand the educational institutions. This has a result the
schooling of a certain number of students enrolled in vocational schools, as a
precise request of the economic partners.

Results/ benefits of the vocational training in Romania and Switzerland

Apprenticeship or vocational training should be based on the internal market

needs of certain category of professionals in various domains of interest:
commerce, banking, services, industry, sales, computers, etc. Consequently, the
communication between the educational institutions in this area and the
economical factors is vital. In Romania the number of students is based on the
estimations made in a transition economy as long as in Geneva this number is
according to the market needs.
Teacher formation – common policies in Europe

Nowadays, there are common policies in Europe on teachers‘ formation. But

how should a teacher adapt the teaching methods in a vocational school?
As long as the educational system in apprenticeship is different from the
knowledge-based systems which are the other specific aspects that should be
taken into account? There is a need of having an adapted national curricula and
special programmes according to that type of education, lesson plans and visual
tactics. What‘s the teacher‘s role in the programme or what type of role should
the teacher play? In Romania there is a common educational system for the
teachers in all the institutions. Mainly they have to adapt themselves to the
vocational training according to the system. In Switzerland, there are special
programmes such as ―Professional minds‖ destined to the teachers who work in
vocational schools.

The teacher‟s reflexive attitude – the Swiss approach

The teacher‘s reflexive attitude might be perceived as the rejection of ―the

fear, the seduction, the power, and the evaluation, the dilemma given by the
order, the lack of responsibility, the ambiguous solitude, the routine and the
liberty without responsibility‖. 3
The teacher‘s reflexive attitude might be considered nowadays as being one
of the fundamental principles of teacher‘s formation in Switzerland. The
relationship between the action and the reflexive attitude should be considered
when taken into account the knowledge, the theories, the discourse. It is the
―know-how‖ of acting, of knowing and applying principles. Professionals in
education focus on the feedback at the psychological individual level. The
observational practices as monitoring the lessons by videotaping are generally
accepted.
Pedagogy, didactics and methodology are commonly grounded by teacher‘s
reflexive attitude studies. The apprenticeship and the process of education are
closely connected with the reflexive attitude.

The benefits of the teacher‟s reflexive/active attitude

This type of approach leads to a better knowledge at the individual level in

professional terms. As a teacher you become aware of your potential, attitude
and the ways of communicating knowledge. At the same time this attitude helps
to a better understanding of your students in terms of behavior, knowledge,
types of communication. The process of understanding the methodologies from
this perspective improves communication at interpersonal, professional level and
the one of assimilating new information.

Non-conventional methods of teaching: the playful and the theatrical

ones

The teacher should not be only the transmitter but the mediator of a certain
amount of knowledge or information. During the lessons he might use his

3
Perrenoud, Ph. (1995) Dix non dits ou la face cachee du metier d’enseignant, Recherche et Formation, no.20,
pp.107-124
theatrical abilities to find the appropriate type of communication in order to
shape the less attractive information in an appealing form.
In these terms, the type of communication between the teacher and the class
should be adapted to the students in case. The teacher becomes an actor who
gives to his public a certain amount of information, according to a set of pre-
established rules. A possible comparison with the Greek theatre could be made
in using a set of social masks and their meanings. In the Greek theatre, the men
were playing women‘s role, their dressing was specific, the scenery was painted,
etc. All the rules are known and they are accepted by the public before the play.
Non-verbal communication plays an important role as well: gestures, mimicry
and body position. In anthropological terms, the body language should be
educated in order to transmit the proper message to the audience. On the other
hand, the active role of the teacher should be based on a thoroughly knowing
process of his students, of their temperament and personality. The teacher
should adapt his communication and behavior to a choleric, melancholic type, an
extravert or introvert one. The teacher‘s active role comes with the adaptation
his speech in terms of adjusting the information.

The teacher should be

In the teacher-student relationship, the teacher should be:

active;
supportive;
energetic;
a good listener;
parenting not patronizing;
a professional;
always be there in need;
understanding;
ethical;
moral;
correct;
not siding a student;
a model;
friendly;
open; and
to prove the power of a good example.

Conclusion

As the knowledge-based system of education, the vocational training might

be a result of the progress made by the entire educational system according to a
variety of factors in the society it belongs to. Consequently, the types of politics
that give the guidelines play an important role. On the other hand the economic
factors and the development in progress represent the basis on which the
educational system develops its programmes and implements its strategies.
Vocational training is responsible for the category of professionals in various
important domains. Professions, such as: banking, cookery and other various
domains keep a society working. As much important as the intellectual potential
of a society, vocational training provides the necessary structures in a well-
balanced administration in the society.
 References

1. Audigier, F., Crahay, M., Dolz, J., (ed) Curriculum, enseignement et pilotage,
Raisons educatives, no.14, Les dossiers des Sciences de l‘education,
Bruxelles, De Boeck, 2006
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Ministers of Education
[Link]
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Reflexivite et formation des enseignants, Revue des HEP de Suisse Romande
et du Tessin, no.3, 2006
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activites reflexives : conduite empirique ou proactive de l‟activite ? Reflexivite
et formation des enseignants, Revue des HEP de Suisse Romande et du
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enseignants : comment aller au-dela du slogan ? Reflexivite et formation des
enseignants, Revue des HEP de Suisse Romande et du Tessin, no.3, 2006
8. London Communiqué, Towards the European Higher Education Area:
responding to challenges in a globalised world,
[Link]
9. Maurice, JJ., L‟experience de l‟enseignant: une reflexivite limitee Reflexivite
et formation des enseignants, Revue des HEP de Suisse Romande et du
Tessin, no.3, 2006
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[Link] Perrenoud, (1995) Dix non dits ou la face cachee du metier
d‘enseignant, Recherche et Formation, no.20, pp.107-124 (repris dans
l‘urgence, decider dans l‘incertitude. Savoirs et competences dans un metier
complexe, Paris, ESF, 1996, pp.69-85 (2 ed.1999)
[Link] Perrenoud, La formation des enseignants entre theorie et pratique,
Paris, 1994
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d‟enseignant. Professionnalisation et raison pedagogique, Paris, ESF, 2003
(2e ed.)
[Link]- Formateur et evaluateur d‘enseignants reflexifs en formation
professionnelle en emploi, http ://[Link]/dip/ifmes
[Link], M., L‟illusion reflexive, Reflexivite et formation des enseignants,
Revue des HEP de Suisse Romande et du Tessin, no.3, 2006
Bridging the gap between higher education and industry

Anush Shahverdyan, Ph.D.

USAID/Competitive Armenian Private Sector (CAPS)

Successful development of industry depends on the availability of a

competent workforce. Industries demand special requirements and skills in
those who are committed to make a career among their ranks. Higher education
is seen as a major engine for economic, cultural and social development.
However, it has been noted that recent graduates of higher educational
institutions in Armenia are not qualified enough to perform effectively in ever-
changing industries. Moreover, they do not understand the expectations and
realities of their profession. The strong message from industry (O‘Brien and
Hart, 1999; Owen, 2001) is that students need to have experience of the
workplace. In essence, students need appropriate skills to communicate across
disciplinary and institutional boundaries in order to be effective in their careers.
The quality of higher education has a direct impact on the industrial
development and hence socio-economic advancement of the country. The
industry expects the workforce to have skills keeping abreast with the latest
developments, while in a situation in which academia is facing hardship in
bridging the gap. The gap between the skills available and the skills required has
continued to increase, thereby adding to the already acute problem of
unemployment in Armenia.
In the face of international competitiveness, higher educational institutions
need to place a bigger emphasis on meeting labor market requirements and
responding to demands for more skilled workforce. They must also continue to
fulfill their traditional role of providing future "knowledge workers" with the
necessary competencies to succeed in an increasingly competitive labor market
and complex society.
Higher Education in Armenia is strong in human resources. Armenian
educators are tremendously dedicated to their profession and devoted to their
students. Armenia has a long history of making education a priority. Even in the
face of difficult circumstances, there is still nearly 100% literacy in the Republic
of Armenia [Link] and
one of the highest percentages of people with graduate degrees in the Former
Soviet Union. To quote one Armenian educator, ―An Armenian parent would
rather starve than fail to provide the resources for their children to study and
get an education.‖
Educators, while well respected by society, are underpaid in Armenia.
However, despite the lack of adequate remuneration, education is one of the
most popular majors in Armenian universities. Education is seen as incentive for
progress.
Weaknesses of higher education in Armenia include limited financial
resources, inadequate infrastructure, lack of professional development
opportunities for faculty resulting in outdated skills, and obsolete or scarce
instructional materials and equipment. Poorly maintained buildings and
equipment at public Universities and a high proportion of outdated content have
contributed to the current low-level-use of libraries, for instance. Even more
importantly, Armenian higher education faces serious challenges in the quality
and relevance of programs to prepare students to build careers.

The gap between academia and industry is affected by several factors:

1. The current higher education system and its disadvantages, including the
following:
a. Lack of practical skills of the new graduates
b. Overly broad and general education with a lack of focus on specialization
c. Limited communication between stakeholders and higher educational
institutions.
2. Workload of the academic staff, which consumes most of their energy and
time to communicate with industry specialists. The varied workload of
instructors includes teaching, involvement in research and development,
supervision of students‘ research work, graduation projects, etc. Additionally,
lecturers are responsible for curriculum development and compiling new
teaching material. At the same time, teaching staff need training and updating
of knowledge as much and as often as students, especially at the present age of
immediacy.

CAPS Research

In 2007-2008, the USAID-funded Competitive Armenian Private Sector

(CAPS) Project conducted Skills and Knowledge Needs Assessment for the
Tourism industry in Armenia. The assessment included detailed interviews with
key tourism firms, organizations and tourism education programs (TEP)
representatives, as well as extensive surveying of 250 managers and employees
within the Armenian tourism industry. The purpose of this research was to
assess the gap between required and available knowledge (awareness of
theories, facts, and workplace behaviors) and skills (worker functions, hands on
actions, and tactile activities) and to find out the issues causing the gap
between academia and the hospitality industry. Determining the extent and
specific components of this disconnect was another of the principal objectives of
the research which then led the way to finding possible solutions.
This research poses some major questions emphasizing the main problems
that can help solve some of the major issues that are forming the gap between
the academic studies and the hospitality industry in Armenia. The responses
gathered helped to focus on the problems facing each party, thus suggesting
ways to overcome them and finding simple approaches to help the hospitality
industry obtain better graduates from the Hospitality Educational institutions.
There are 16 public and 83 private universities, several of which are
providing Tourism specializations. It is encouraging that so many TEPs have
sprouted up in recent years. Yet, through the course of background research
and industry interviews, it became clear that the TEPs are simply not producing
graduates with the specific qualifications to meet the needs of the tourism
industry.
As the survey revealed, though a number of tourism education programs
have emerged in recent years, there remains a certain disconnect. This is not
only between educational offerings and the skills necessary to successfully
perform the jobs, but also in the business/education partnerships that must be
in place to achieve this alignment.
 Other findings, garnered primarily through interviews, related to the TEPs.
One of the key underlying questions the research posed involved evaluating
factors serving as the root cause behind the inadequately prepared graduates.
Some of the principal explanations that emerged by way of explanation were:
they are too focused on tourism and not enough on hospitality (where
most positions are),
their (academic institutions) curricula are not well-matched to the needs
of the industry,
professors often do not have sufficient (industry-related) experience
and/or academic qualifications,
internships are not as effective as they could be,
other practical experience opportunities are lacking,
there is not enough communication between TEPs and industry, and
resources (within the institutions) such as libraries and computers are
limited.
The Skills and Knowledge Needs report offers a series of recommendations to
help address the skills and knowledge gaps that had been identified. First,
creating a universal baseline for various skill sets will be important as a means
to communicate a common level of achievement needed within the Armenian
tourism industry. Therefore, a number of national and international certification
programs are proposed as an approach to creating this baseline for skills in:
wait staff and other hospitality training; customer service; foreign languages;
destination management; event management, food hygiene; tourist guide
training; heritage interpretation training; and first aid.
A set of ‗knowledge‘ recommendations are provided in the area of curriculum
development, including courses/modules to be added and skill development
activities or approaches to be integrated into coursework. The knowledge or
theoretical enhancements are complimented with recommendations for
enhancing ‗skills‘ through: the use of internships and other practical
experiences; building industry knowledge of professors and TEPS; and
improving connections between TEPs and the industry as a means to better
equip graduates with the reality of the Armenian tourism industry.

To address the mentioned gap, first of all, it is important to embed skills

into curricula. But how?

There are many existing examples of embedding skills development into

taught programs. Broadly speaking, this can be achieved through the teaching
of skills either as a ‗stand alone‘ taught unit or embedded within and throughout
the curriculum to ensure a fine balance of academic content and vocational
relevance. Furthermore, skills development is enhanced by the inclusion of
teaching staff with industry experience, the addition of visiting speakers, other
good contact and input from relevant professionals and the opportunity to
undertake work-based learning, e.g., ‗live‘ projects, work experience and
placements (Treby & Shah, 2005).
If students are to gain the qualities needed for employment, not only does
the academic focus of the course have to be suitable, but also, transferrable
skills need to be developed to ensure critical awareness, initiative in complex
and unpredictable situations, originality and creativity, self-reflection and
personal responsibility (SEEC, 2003; QAA, 2001). Transferable skills are
ultimately what the employers want and need (Owen, 2001), hence academic
degrees must be focused to provide the skills their students will need in the
workplace.

CAPS Copying Strategies

CAPS strives to play the role of a catalyst to enhance the employability of the
available workforce for all kinds of jobs in Tourism, IT, Engineering, and
Pharmaceuticals. Since its launch in 2006, CAPS established a direct interaction
with institutions of higher learning to ensure readiness and alignment of
graduate talent to the world of work as early as possible.
While students would traditionally remain in the student mode until the very
end of their course, CAPS is making headway in changing the culture by
enabling them to take employment opportunities during the course of study.
Through its Internships program for graduating and recently graduated students
in the fields of tourism and IT, and those who employ individuals within these
sectors, CAPS attempts to bridge the gap between the skills acquired in higher
education and the needs of employers and to assist individuals with limited work
experience to acquire a career oriented position. CAPS strives to provide:
students with authentic experience in working life; enterprises with a clear idea
of what the university stands for and how the future graduates might fit in as
prospective employees; and the university with feedback and cases which can
be integrated into courses. Having obtained the working experience and the
skills required, the promising candidates get hired by the companies. The
Internships program ensures the gap between academia and practitioners has
been bridged to develop students with a wide range of knowledge and skills and
who are well-equipped for the workplace.
Leading this mind shift, CAPS is establishing Career Centers within
Universities where students are provided with job counseling in the preparation
of their resumes, cover letters and interviewing techniques, company
background research, seminars on job search techniques, career and labor
market information, tips on how to be successful on the job, and internship
possibilities: [Link]/career. The system benefits students by ensuring that
once their profiles are on a particular company‘s database they become readily
available for reference and consideration for matching jobs. This time-effective
tool allows students to interact directly with potential employers for access to a
variety of employment opportunities.
In an effort to encourage more use of industry lecturers at higher and
vocational education institutions, CAPS has organized guest lectures by visiting
consultants and experts. Guest speaking is used to ensure students are exposed
to leaders in the field (both academic and practitioner), and aim to develop the
sense of ‗reality and relevance‘ and to inject realism into a subject matter.
CAPS Project is in the process of establishing Academic Partnerships between
Universities in Armenia and the USA to ensure skills development are embedded
into the curriculum. The initiative aims to upgrade and re-align curricula to be
more responsive to the employer market, offering more current teaching
methods and forming longer range professional relationships to transfer
knowledge from western institutions to those in Armenia. The skills that
students require need to be driven by an understanding of the workplace.
Therefore, the curriculum needs to shift to reflect changes in the industry and
the specifics of the workplace.
 Thus, CAPS conducts initiatives in Armenia to soothe the mismatch between
graduate skills and market demand, provide a fine balance of academic content
and vocational relevance and mobilize higher education in support of regional
development

Recommendations

The following steps are proposed as recommendations to address the

problem of a disconnect between academic institutions and industry.
1. Increase the communication between industry stakeholders and higher
educational institutions: conduct joint projects with businesses,
increase job opportunities for students, improve university reputations,
contribute to the regional community, and combine on-campus
education with company-based work, and set programs with industry
to give real practical training
2. Add vocational relevance to academic content in course syllabi: close
integration of theoretical/academic studies and practical training. Place
more focus on competences, not disciplines.
3. Place more focus on students‘ personal qualifications required by the
industry market.
4. Apply a ―whole-year-training-program‖ (Industry Placement). Students
should not graduate unless they finish with a ―Pass‖ under a one-year-
training/internship before graduation.
5. No longer is an advanced degree an automatic factor in the hiring
process. Employers now define what skills they need for a job and the
types of personal attributes they expect. Therefore, an integrated
survey should be conducted to reach the actual indicators about the
required specifications, characteristics and personality skills in the
fresh graduate.
6. Increase the number of faculty and conduct in-service training of the
existing staff.
7. Cooperate with other institutions locally and abroad in the field of
curriculum development, in-service training and preparing of new
learning resources.
8. Include practitioners among teaching staff who are experts in their
field and are well compensated.
9. Apply modern methods of teaching and e-learning.
10. Equip the facilities technologically to allow practical, hands-on classes.

―Knowledge has to flow from those who know things to those who make
things. There are many forms these flows can take, from the lectures,
philosophical societies, and encyclopedias of the 18th century to the
community colleges and internet of the 21st. But the institutions that
facilitate these flows have to exist.‖ Joel Mokyr, The Gifts of Athena,
Historical Origins of the Knowledge Economy, 2002, p. 291
References

O‘Brien, E.M. and Hart, S.J. (1999) Action learning: the link between academia
and industry? Educational Research, 41 (1) 77-89.
Owen, E. (2001). What key skills do employers need? Journal of Geography in
Higher Education, 25 (1) 121-126.
SEEC (2003). Credit Level Descriptors for Further and Higher Education. March
2003. Available online: [Link]
QAA (2001). The Framework for Higher Education Qualification in England,
Wales and Northern Ireland. Annex 1. January 2001. Quality Assurance
Agency for Higher Education. Available online:
[Link]
Treby, E. and Shah, A. (2005). Bridging the Gap Between Academia and
Practitioners: Training Coastal Zone Managers. Planet No. 14, June 2005 16-
17.
Weheba, D.M. (2007). The Gap between academia and hospitality industry in
Egypt Available online: [Link]
between-academia-and-hospitality-industry-in-Egypt-Paper2007
Tourism Skills and Knowledge Needs Assessment (December 2007). United
States Agency for International Development (USAID), Competitive Armenian
Private Sector (CAPS). Available online:
[Link]
[Link]

Industry placement for university academics - putting theory into

practice? An Australian perspective

Roberto Bergami, Senior Lecturer, School of Applied Economics, Institute for

Community, Ethnicity and Policy Alternatives, Victoria University, Melbourne,
Australia

Annamarie Schuller, Teacher, School of Business and Management, Chisholm

Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Abstract

In the past decade, universities have seen their very essence challenged, by
both neo-liberal governments with a ―corporate agenda‖, regarding education as
business and manage it as such, and also by students seemingly more
interested in practical applications and less so on theories.
The ―professionalization‖ of educational courses has also led to changed
approaches to teaching and learning in the higher education (university) sector.
Some universities have embraced the idea that aspects of vocational education
can be incorporated into higher education programs. In Australia, the learning
pathways negotiated from the Vocational Education and Training (VET4) sector to
provide credits towards a university qualification, exemplify the acceptance of
vocational studies towards the completion of an undergraduate degree.
In the VET sector, competency based learning and assessment and practical
applications are used for classroom learning. In the context of vocational
teaching, industry placements for VET teachers has been encouraged to broaden
teaching skills, develop networks, and connect the classroom learning activities
to industrial processes. An industry placement requires a teacher to be seconded
to a relevant industry host organisation for a pre-determined period of time to
undertake specific tasks generally agreed to beforehand.
Research on the perceptions of the value of industry placement for VET
teachers, was conducted in Australia by the authors during 2007. That study has
now been extended by also surveying business studies teachers at an Australian
university. This paper reports on the results of the research study with the
university teachers, and compares this with the results of the VET teachers‘
study.
The paper concludes that there are a number of similarities between the two
groups, but the implementation of teacher industry placement programs will
probably require a very different approach in the higher education sector to the
one used in the VET sector.
Although more in-depth research is required, this study provides some
preliminary data that may be a catalyst for further investigation, and may prove
useful in the early stages of policies, planning and development, to facilitate the
acquisition of practical skills for university teachers in the future.

1. Introduction and Background

Australian universities are publicly funded bodies (with the exception of two
private universities) that operate under their own statutes, and self-accredit
their educational programs. It is generally accepted that university programs in
Australia provide comparable teaching and learning philosophies to those in the
western world, such as the USA or UK. Undergraduate and postgraduate
programs are offered in a comparatively more liberal style of education than the
VET sector can offer. The reason for the difference between the university and
the VET sectors is that the latter relies on competency based instruction,
whereas the former does not, and therefore arguably this encourages a more
‗free thinking‘ spirit. The pedagogical content and approach is quite different
between these two sectors, however, discussion on their differences is beyond
the scope of this paper. Although there are a small number of dual sector
universities in Australia, offering both VET and university education, the two
systems are administered and delivered separately – they receive different
funding from different government sectors and for all intents and purposes
operate as if they were independent bodies, and in the majority of cases they do
not even share the same campus accommodation..
University education is perceived to contain a high degree of theoretical
content and an overwhelming number of diagrams used to explain processes
and ideas. These perceptions appear to be consistent regardless of the study
discipline - be it engineering, management, or almost anything else. Recently, in

4
In Australia VET education is competency based training (CBT), largely offered through the publicly funded
Technical And Further Education (TAFE) institutes.
some countries, the relevance of university education has been questioned by
industry and governments alike, as

in many countries, higher education institutions are or aspire to be focused on

academic research with little practical orientation (Hatakenaka 2007, p. 4)

Under these conditions research has a tendency to drift and become research for
its own purpose, rather than research for further motives, that is application to
industrial processes. Yet,

there is a complementary role in which academics undertake … work

with industry …this interaction with industry allows academics to learn
about industrial needs, but the relationships inform them equally about
what is relevant. A good starting point for building relevance is a
dialogue between universities, industry, and government. For that to be
effective, society needs to drop its scepticism and believe that
universities can contribute to its development, and equally academics
need to recognize that they can strive for relevance without
compromising their scientific integrity (Hatakenaka 2007, p. 4)

One way to make sure that university teaching curricula are relevant is for
academics to be more exposed to industrial practices. This may be achieved
through an industry placement program, whereby the academic is voluntarily
seconded for a specified period of time to work in a firm. In Australia, at least,
industry placement for VET teachers is quite common, and this is probably due
to the focus on practice that is embedded in vocational education and training,
however for higher education the process of an industry placement is not so
common, yet in the context of curriculum relevance, the authors argue here that
perhaps this ought to become more common than is currently the practice for
the university sector.
It is the context of making classroom education relevant to university
students, industry and the wider society, through the development of
communities of practice, that this paper reports on a scoping study of academics
teaching in business discipline areas, undertaken in Australia in 2008, to gather
their perceptions on the value of an industry placement. The paper firstly
presents and explains a previously developed industry placement model. This is
followed by the method by which the survey was conducted. The main results of
the scoping study are presented and discussed next. These results are used to
‗test‘ the model for its relevance to study and this if followed by the conclusion.

2. A theoretical model for industry placement for teachers

The model shown at Figure 1 (Schuller & Bergami 2008, p. 201) depicts the
major inter-related factors that comprise the industry placement experience.
Although this model was initially devised for industry placement for VET
teachers, its components ought to be generic enough in their nature to equally
apply to an industry placement experience for university academics.
Figure 1: Teacher Industry Placement: Theory into Practice (Schuller &
Bergami 2008)

Industry
placement
Industry
Theory into placement
practice experience

Community engagement
Knowledge & skills acquisition
Industry networks
Industry
placement
Classroom
skills
teaching
Theory
development

There are a number of considerations that are derived from the model shown
at Figure 1, and these are discussed clockwise from the ‗industry placement‘ box
before considering the items inside the circle.

 Industry placement and industry placement experience

An academic is expected to be a discipline specialist, able to impart relevant
knowledge to students. Industry placements provide an opportunity to
develop a curriculum that includes practical applications and insights into
particular industry sectors, to enhance teaching and learning practices. To be
able to develop such a curriculum, the academic will firstly need to be
exposed to industrial practices in situ. The length of industry placement is an
important consideration because ―true learning often proceeds slowly‖ (Gela
2004, p. 8) and it will take time to understand and appreciate a particular
industry‘s ‗culture‘. Funding and workload issues for relevant stakeholders:
teachers, educational organisations and industry, will also need careful
consideration and planning.

 Industry placement skills

An academic is likely to bring prior theoretical knowledge to an industry
placement. Theories may assist a comparatively faster assimilation of new
knowledge - the industrial processes that the academic will observe and
participate in as part of the placement. These activities should cause the
academic to reflect on the application of existing theories and consider
alternatives.

 Theory development
From the observation and participation in industrial processes, the academic
may identify gaps in existing theories and may be able to suggest
amendments to these, or develop completely new theories, based on
experiential learning.
 Classroom teaching
The placement experience should provide the academic a greater repertoire
of resources and examples to illustrate the theories of industrial processes.
As a result of this, the curriculum could be enriched, and the teaching and
learning experience enhanced. Additionally, the

knowledge of a company‘s management techniques, of marketing,

financial management, the chance to develop curriculum materials and
laying the foundation for a link with a local firm are just a few positive
spin-offs (Meadon 1990, p. 28).

 Theory into practice

The end of a placement secondment does not preclude further collaboration
between the academic and industry, indeed the development of longer terms
relationships are envisaged, as discussed later in the paper. This means that
the academic may have an opportunity to test amended or new theories in
the future in situ, and this may lead to other placement opportunities.

 Community of practice: community engagement, knowledge and

skills acquisition, industry networks
The academic, by nature, should be an agent of change and influence, but
this agency should not just be confined to the classroom, rather it should
become a catalyst for the development of a community of practice
(CoP)among the stakeholders – that is the academic, the university, industry
and the students.
A CoP has been defined as a group of individuals sharing a common
interest in their activities within a community (Lave & Wenger 1991). This
definition of CoP allows for participation at various levels. For this community
to be successful though, its membership must have a degree of commitment
and behave in a mutually respectful and trusting manner (Mittendorf et al.
2006, p. 300). Based on these notions, it is possible for an academic to
incorporate industry participation in the classroom through invited guest
speakers (an example of a CoP resource). It is generally accepted that guest
industry speakers add another dimension to classroom interactions, as
usually the focus will be on contemporary practices and challenges, thereby
providing a degree of industry exposure to the students. Whilst it is
acknowledged that this exposure is limited, it is argued here that
nevertheless it falls into the concept of ‗legitimate peripheral participation‘
through ―increased access of learners to participating roles in expert
performances‖ (Lave & Wenger 1991, p. 17). The invited speaker, the expert
performer, can be a role-model to the students. The classroom interactions
provide industry with opportunity to scout for new talent among the student
cohort, and this symbiotic relationship creates a ‗win-win opportunity‘.
As can be observed the model provides a theoretical framework to explain
the industry placement experience, however the model needs to be ‗tested‘ for
its relevance and therefore a scoping study was organised as discussed in the
next section.
3. Methodology

The scoping study instrument used was a written questionnaire. The target
population was academics teaching in the business disciplines at an Australian
university. The survey was distributed after obtaining the pre-requisite ethics
approval. Part of the approval requirements were that:
 the survey had to be voluntary,
 the surveyed organisation and/or respondents could not be identified, for
confidentiality and anonymity considerations, and
 prior organisational consent be obtained before distributing the survey.

Two hundred and twenty five surveys were distributed, and 54 completed
were returned, making the response rate approximately 24%. Once received the
surveys were coded and analysed accordingly. Because of space limitations, only
the major findings of the scoping study will be reported and discussed in the
next section.

4. The scoping study findings

4. 1. The average teaching experience of respondents was about 16.7 years,

with about 50% having other than university teaching experience. Whilst the
majority of respondents have higher degrees, only 24% identified their formal
qualifications as being in ‗education‘, and this is indicative of the focus that is
placed on discipline knowledge by universities.
4.2. Nearly all the respondents (96%) have no prior industry placement
experience and of these 61% expressed no interest in pursuing an industry
placement in the future, largely because they believed they did not need it. It
should be noted that for the industry placement experience to be attractive, the
academic would firstly need to perceive some inherent benefit, and clearly,
where the benefit is not perceived to exist, given that the industry placement is
voluntary, then no action will take place.
4.3. The top five scoring motivating factors for those considering an industry
placement in the future were (in ranking order):
 to gain industry experience,
 flexibility in placement arrangements,
 understanding industry practices,
 enhancing teaching practices / relevance to teaching area, and
 networking.
These factors represented just over 72% of all responses. It can be observed
that for this group of people at least, that there appears to be some links
between external engagement, forming relationships and teaching and learning
activities, all of which are elements of a CoP.
4.4. In relation to industry placement barriers, about a third of respondents
believed these existed and significantly, the most cited reason was that of lack
of employer support. The reason for this is not known, but perhaps the existence
of sabbatical leave provisions, already in place at most universities, may be
regarded as a substitute by the universities.
4.5. The response to the industry placement duration preference was clearly
in favour of a full time semester release, and this was preferred more than twice
over a fractional semester release. This is interesting because these were the
two top responses to the question, accounting for more than 80%, still favour a
relatively longer period of involvement with industry. It would seem that for this
group at least, the placement needs to be of some duration, perhaps this may
be attributed to the fact that a longer placement can be expected to yield deeper
understanding and therefore provide a ‗better value‘ experience.
4.6. The personal benefits expected to be derived from the industry
placement experience were (in ranking order):
 enhance classroom teaching practices,
 increased understanding of industry practices/processes,
 link theory to practice in the classroom, and
 community engagement: networking/development of relationships, and
 opportunities for applied research
and these responses in total accounted for more than 85% of all responses.
Based on the results from the survey, the theoretical model, shown in Figure
1, is reviewed in the next section.

5. The model and the findings

The results of the survey tend to support the theoretical model, as follows.
The responses to the questions discussed at points 4.3, 4.5 and 4.6 above,
indicate a desire to engage with the wider community and develop networks,
nurture relationships and acquire knowledge and skills – all of these are part of
the ‗product‘ of a CoP, and therefore this supports the inclusion of the elements
in the circle of the model shown at Figure 1. Likewise, the industry placement
skills, the development of theories, and their subsequent linking to classroom
activities, as shown in the boxes of the model at Figure 1 are supported by the
responses to the survey questions. Overall it is considered that the model
correctly reflects the perceptions that academics have of an industry placement
experience and its resultant benefits.

6. Conclusion

This paper reports on the results of a scoping study undertaken in Australia

with academics from the business discipline areas. There are some limitations to
this study that need to be firstly acknowledged. The sample size was small and
furthermore it was restricted to one university only, therefore bias may be
present in the responses.
Nevertheless the study provides at least anecdotal evidence to support the
perception that an industry placement experience could be beneficial to key
stakeholders, identified as: the academic, the university, industry and the
students. Furthermore there is some evidence that suggest that an industry
placement experience may lead to the formation of longer term relationships
that could foster the development of a CoP.
The model shown at Figure 1 is supported by the findings in this scoping
study and may therefore be useful in explaining the inter-related elements that
form the industry placement experience. The model should be more rigorously
tested through additional studies. These studies do not need to be limited to
Australia, and indeed it would be interesting to see whether the model has
generic international application.
It would also be desirable to design a study, in the future, that incorporates
interviews with the sampled population, with a view to gather richer data for
more in depth analysis.
References

Gela, B 2004, Deep change: professional development from the inside out,
Scarecrow Education, Lanham, MA, USA.
Hatakenaka, S 2007, 'The role of higher education institutions in innovation and
economic development', International Higher Education, vol. 47, p. 4.
Lave, J & Wenger, E 1991, Situated Learning: legitimate peripheral participation,
Cambridge University Press, New York, USA.
Meadon, L 1990, 'Review of a company's teacher secondment programme',
International Journal of Educational Management, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 27-8.
Mittendorf, K, Geijsel, F, Hoeve, A, de Laat, M & Nieuwenhuis, L 2006,
'Communities of practice as stimulating forces for collective learning', Journal
of Workplace Learning, vol. 18, no. 5, pp. 298 - 312.
Schuller, A & Bergami, R 2008, 'Expanding the profession: industry placement
for teachers', in I Guske & B Swaffiled, C. (eds), Education landscapes in the
21st century: cross cultural challenges and multidisciplinary perspectives,
Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle, UK, pp. 196-205.

Italian Canadian and Italian Australian Adolescent Speech: a

Comparative Analysis

Biagio Aulino, EdD

University of Toronto, Graduate

Roberto Bergami
School of Applied Economics, Institute for Community, Ethnicity and Policy
Alternatives, Victoria University, Melbourne

Abstract

This paper reports on two separate studies in Canada and Australia on

adolescent speech varieties used by high school students studying Italian as a
foreign language. The focus is on examining Italian Australian speech used as
the social dialect spoken by Italian Australian in certain social contexts. Students
pursuing Italian studies as a second language (L2) in a local high school in
Melbourne, Australia, completed a voluntary written questionnaire. The analysis
of the data collected reveals patterns of adolescent communication of clique-
coded language discourses. This pattern was used as the basis for cross-cultural
comparisons between Italian Canadian and Italian Australian adolescent
discourse.
The paper provides some contextual background to the Canadiana and
Australian immigration experiences, with comments on the study of Italian a L2
in both countries. This is followed by a discussion of a framework for anlysing
adolescent speech, with a framework that focuses on clique-coded discourse.
The data is then analysed and discussed with a focus on clique-coded discourse.
 The paper concludes by acknowledging that Italian Canadian and Italian
Australian adolescent speech reflects the types of observations suggested in the
literature by researchers such as Aulino (2005), Clivio & Danesi (2000) and
Danesi (2003a, 2003b);who are among the very few who have carried out cross-
cultural comparisons, that is a manifestation of similarities in a distinct and
recognizable speech code. The findings of these studies may have pedagogical
implications in the context of curriculumn content.

Introduction

Students of Italian origin pursuing Italian studies in Canada and Australia at

the secondary level display a speech that constitutes a particular discourse code.
In order to gain further understanding about these speech patterns and their
meaning, an investigation was conducetd to learn whether Italian Canadian and
Italian Australian adolescent reveal similar patterns of adolescent discourse
which can be caterogized as slang. Slang refers to the coinage and use of
informal vocabulary, especially sort lived coinages, that does not pertain to the
target language‘s standard vocabulary (Clivio & Danesi, 2000; Aulino 2005).
Students from both countries similarly ranged in age (from 14 to 18 years), as
well as sociolinguistic background.

History of Italian Immigration to Canada

A survey on the development of Italian in Canada conducted by Kuitunen

(1997, p. 40) reported that the history of immigration from the time of Canadian
Confederation in 1867 can be subdivided into four distinct periods: from 1867 to
1896, from 1896 to the beginning of the first world war, from 1914 to 1939 and
finally to the post second world war period, which was the most significant.
During this period 4,249,309 Italians were admitted to Canada representing 3.4
% of the population (Kuitunen 1997, p. 40). The 2006 Canadian census
(Statistics Canada, 2006) reported that 1, 449, 695 Canadian residents stated
that they had Italian ancestry consisting of 4.6 % of the total Canadian
polpulation making Italians the 5th largest ethnic group in Canada. The province
of Ontario in Canada has the largest concentration of Italians with 867,980
persons accounting for 7.2 % of residents in the province followed by the
province of Quebec with 299,655 comprising 4.0% of Quebec‘s population
(Statistics Canada 2006).

Teaching of Italian Language in Canada at the Secondary Level

The teaching of Italian plays a significant chapter in the history of language

education in Canada. Italian was among the first foreign languages taught in the
bilingual country of Canada where French and English are the official languages
(Danesi 1997; Mollica 2008). Italian is taught at all three levels of education:
primary, secondary and university.
The teaching of Italian at the secondary level is regulated by the Ministries
of Education of the various provinces, who set the curriculum guidelines and
teacher training. Italian is taught at the secondary level in five Canadian
provinces: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Quebec and Ontario, and can be
studied for a total of 3 to 4 consecutive years (Mollica 2008). The study of
Italian language continues to attract students across all three levels of education
today.
Italian Spoken by Adolescents in Canada

In order to better understand the typical Italian Canadian student pursuing

Italian studies at the secondary level, it is necessary to understand the nature of
the Italian language to which the second language (L2) learner is exposed, both
in and outside the home. In his discussion of the languages of Italian Canadians,
Nuessel (1999) cites Vizmuller-Zocco (1993, p. 513) who points out the
following:

The bulk of linguistic studies on the language of Italian Canadians

deals basically with two aspects of language contact: 1) lexical
borrowings from English (Clivio 1986, Danesi 1985); and 2) linguistic
interference illustrated in pedagogical settings where Italian is being
taught to students who are speakers of dialects and English.
(Pietropaolo 1974; Ferrara 1980, Danesi 1985)

Vizmuller-Zocco (1993, p. 514) cites Clivio (1985, p. 73) who explained the
following about the Italian language spoken by Italian Canadians:

Italiese, or Italo-Canadian, must not be regarded as a language

separate from Italian; rather, it may be considered as a new dialect
of Italian, or, better still, a continuum of idiolects, all of which share
a large common core and are mutually intelligible, but which reveal
the influence of English in an uneven manner, especially, but not
exclusively in the lexicon.

Italian sociolinguists commonly refer to the Italian spoken abroad as ―ai

margini della lingua‖ (as being on the periphery) (Menarini 1974). According to
Vizmuller-Zocco 1993), the L2 Italian Canadian learner‘s reality is Canadian, not
Italian, therefore, the majority of their referent is colored through English and
not Italian. This author (p. 514) also cites Danesi (1985, p. 3) who makes the
following observation about the Italian spoken by Italian Canadians:
I[talo]-C[anadian] does not have a single form; it is shaped by
the many dialects and regional variants which shape spoken
peninsular Italian … [as regards to loanwords] there really
appear to be two nativization forces at work: a dialectally-
based one which characterizes the language of the home and a
more general one which characterizes the I-C koine used in
the ethnic community at large. In the case of the former, it is
more accurate to say that the loanwords are assimilated into a
Sicilian I-C, a Calabrian I-C, a Friulian I-C, and so on; in the
case of the latter, it can be said that the loanwords are given a
more generalized Italian form.

History of Italian Immigration to Australia

Although there is evidence of Italian migrating to Australia in the 1850s as a

result of the gold rush in the State of Victoria, the most significant period of
migration was between 1950-1971, and this often referred to as the period of
‗mass migration‘. Italy was not in good economic shape immediately after the
war and ―encouraging the active discontent to leave‖ (Bosworth 2001, p. 505)
appeared to be a desirable option, so much so that Alcide De Gasperi (then
Prime Minister) in 1948 advised Italians to ―Imparate le lingue e andate
all‟estero (Learn some languages and go abroad)‖ (Bosworth 2001, p. 505).
Australia was not a mainstream destination at that time yet, but gained
increasing attention as a migrant destination, partly due to the assisted migrant
passage agreement signed between the Australian and Italian governments in
1951. Although many more unassisted migrants arrived to Australia, than
assisted passage migrants, that agreement was nevertheless a contributing
factor to enhancing the positive perception of Australia at the time. It estimated
that net migration over this period was over 300,000 (Cavallaro 2003). Many
more Italians migrated to Australia, but remigration back to Italy for permanent
settlement was a considerable factor, especially as the economic ‗miracle‘ of
Italy began unfolding from the 1960s onwards. It should be noted that
discussion on migration experiences and remigrations factors are beyond the
scope of this paper.
According to the 2006 Australian Census (Australian Bureau of Statistics
2006, pp. 34-43):
 Italians are one of the largest ethnic groups with 199,124 persons
born in Italy,
 852,417 persons in the Census identified themselves as having
Italian ancestry (either alone or in combination with another
ancestry). This is about 4.5% of the Australian population, making
Italian the fifth most identified ancestry in Australia, surpassed only
by 'Australian', 'English', 'Irish' and 'Scottish', and
 among the top 10 countries of birth, people born in Italy were the
oldest, with half of this group (or 98,000 people) aged 66 or over.
(This reflects the pattern of post-War migrations arrivals).
As can be observed, Italians in general represent a significant ethnic
proportion of the Australian population and their influence over Australian
society has been commented on as follows:
―Italians brought with them strong family and religious
values, great resourcefulness, and ethics of hard work …
Italians have been able to maintain a strong sense of identity
and pride, while at the same time participating successfully
in Australian life – be it political, economic, social or cultural.
They have played a critical role in transforming Australian
into the multicultural society it is today.‖ (Church 2005, p.
xiii)

Italian Spoken in Australia

The most common non-English language was Italian, with 311,600 speakers
accounting for 1.8% of the Australian population. As is the case in Canada,
Italian is taught at all three levels of education: primary, secondary and tertiary.
There are also a number of private providers, who offer non-award courses
mainly aimed at the adult population.
As Australia is a federation of states, primary and secondary school content
and curricula are the domain of each State Education Authorities. Significantly
there are a number of private schools, both Catholic and non-Catholic that offer
Italian as a L2 at the primary and secondary levels. The ethnic composition of
Australia differs to that of Canada, as there is a higher representation of foreign
origin groups in Australia, making Australia much more culturally deiverse than
Canada. The 2006 Australian Census discloses that a quarter of the population
was born abroad and that there are about 200 countries represented in
Australia. Although the majority of Italian L2 students would have some
ancestral links to Italy, it is known that the study of Italian as a L2 at each of the
three levels of education is also pursued by non-Italians.

Research on adolescent speech

In North America since the 1960‘s and Europe since the 1980‘s, and Australia
since the 1990s, a tradition in the language sciences of investigating teenage
speech patterns in themselves has been established by a wealth of researchers,
among which are: Gusdorf (1965); Leona (1978); Labov (1972, 1992); Rizzi
(1985); Shapiro (1985); Aulino (2005); Danesi (1988, 1989, 1994, 1996a,
1996b,1997,1999, 2003a, 2008); Clivio & Danesi (2000); Nippold (1988);
Giacomelli (1988); De Paoli (1988); Eble ( 1996); Munro (1989); Banfi (1998);
Cortelazzo (1994); Marcato and Fusco (2005); and Ciliberti (2007). Due to the
limitations in this paper it is not possible to comment on each of these authors‘
work, but the most relevant publications are referred to later in this paper.
Despite these investigations on adolescent speech patterns, little or no work
exists that correlates these patterns to the pedagogical implications except for
the research carried out by Danesi (1997), Nuessel (1999) and Aulino (2005).
They examined in a study how Italian second language (L2) teachers could be in
a better position to make classroom much more responsive to their clientele by
better understanding the nature of contemporary adolescent talk in Italy.
Adolescents have indeed made use of slang words since the Middle Ages in
order to confirm peer-group identity and to set themselves apart from adults.
For example, medieval university students coined the word ‗lupi‘ (wolves) to
refer to spies who reported someone for using the vernacular instead of Latin
(Eble 1989, p. 11). The origin of the word ‗slang‘ is unknown.
Clivio & Danesi (2000) define this special communication tool used by young
persons as ‗pubilect‘, (p183) which is a social dialect of puberty, a contraction of
puberty and dialect. Pubilect according to these authors is ―simply the sociolect
of teenagers‖ (p. 183). These authors see pubilect as a primary vehicle for
carrying out appropriate social interaction with peers.

A framework for studying adolescent discourse

Adolescent speech patterns detect three main discourse categories: emotive

language discourse, connotative language discourse, and clique-coded language
discourse (Danesi 1989, 1994, 1997, 2003a, 2003b; Clivio & Danesi, 2000). This
paper focuses on the clique-coded language discourses only. Adolescent
discourse is part of Roman Jakobson‘s (1960) model of verbal communication.
Clivio & Danesi (2000) listed constituents that determine different
communicative functions according to Jakobson. In relation to clique-coded, this
is primarily about the themes and topics that are of direct interest to the specific
cliques to which they belong.
Jakobson‘s analysis of verbal communication suggests that discourse goes
well beyond a situation of simple transfer – it is motivated and shaped by the
setting, the message contents, the codes and participants (Clivio and Danesi
2000). In other words, discourse makes an emotional claim on everyone in the
social situation. It is a form of acting, of presenting self through language.
Jakobson‘s model clearly points out the role of communication. Verbal
communication among adolescents is based on diverse forms of expression-
gestures, the vocal language, the need to engage in shared action that all play
an important role in communicative competence. Jakobson‘s model can be
applied to any communicative interaction occurring in the second language (SL)
classroom. It can serve as the basis for developing new methods and techniques
for SL teaching of Italian (Danesi 1989, 2003b). The present study highlights
clique-coded language discourse (CCLD) that is used as a framework for the
data analysis.

Methodology

Description of the Italian Canadian study

The school at which the study was conducted is located in an area comprising
the largest Italian population in Ontario. Presently, the student population is
approximately 88% second and third generation Italian Canadians. Students
who were pursuing Italian studies either at the grade 10, 11 or 12 level were
asked to voluntarily complete a written questionnaire. Data was collected from
25 adolescents (10 males and 15 females) between the ages of 15-18.

Description of the Italian Australian study

The Canadian study was similarly replicated in Australia with high school
adolescents. Students form a secondary school in the State of Victoria, Australia,
who had studied Italian for at least12 months in Year 8 and 10, were asked to
voluntarily complete a similarwritten questionnaire. Data was collected from 25
adolescents (19 males and 6 females) between the ages of 13-16.

Cross-Cultural Comparisons
After the initial Italian Canadian high students study was conducted, a
separate study was conducted in Australia on Italian Australian Adolescent
Speech (IAS). This study aimed to gather information on two broad questions:
1. Do Italian teenagers from Australia make use of a unique lingo when
dialoguing with their peers?
2. Would any of the three basic language discourse categories surface in IAS?
The aim of the questionnaire was to quantify the frequency of teenage

vocabulary usage in the Labovian (1992) tradition to examine particular usage of

certain phrases, words and metaphor. This paper reports on some of the results

obtained in both the Australian and Canadian studies.

Clique – Coded Language Discourse (CCLD)

Teenalect also varies according to the specific clique to which an adolescent
belongs. Clique-Coded language discourse (CCLD) refers to the fact that
teenalect constitutes a means for establishing peer-clique bonds (Danesi 1994,
1999). It mainly refers to discourse in which each clique engages. Adolescents
like to dialogue mainly what is of interest to their clique members (Danesi 1988,
1989, 1996a, 1996b, 1999, 2003a, 2003b; Clivio and Danesi 2000; Aulino
2005).
 The themes that surfaced mostly in the Italian Canadian and Italian
Australian data are centered around their immediacy and urgency of peer-
related events, for example, music preferences, automobile ownership, clothing,
physical appearance, and academic achievement. Students were asked to list
words that they use to describe other teenagers and provide a definition as well
as define a list of common clique names.
Some of the responses by the Italian Canadian adolescents include:
1. A gino/a connotes: ―someone who wears tight clothes, usually are
of Italian or Latino descent drives a Honda Civic, listens to freestyle
music and hangs out at Tim Horton‘s café and speaks with a certain
Soprano type cadence.‖
2. A thug connotes: ―someone who listens to rap, hip-hop music,
wears baggy clothes. Speaks using black ―lingo‖ and walks with a
limp. Also, it is someone who has crossed over from being a ―gino‖.
3. A jock connotes: ―someone who is very muscular, athletic and
tough‖.
4. A burnout connotes: ―someone who skips classes, smokes all day
and has a low academic average‖.
Some ‗teenalect‘ items were recognized:
 A nerd connotes: ―a person who receives high marks in a course,
spends a lot of time on the computer, not considered cool‖
 A geek connotes: ―someone who tries hard to be funny, does not
have many friends and tries to act cool‖.
A few students put these three ―teenalect‖ items into a global perspective by
stating that nerds and geeks dorks are all related in someway. Since Danesi‘s
work in the 1980s and 1990s the only ‗teenalect‘ item that seems to have
changed was ‗geek‘, as in Danesi‘s study a ‗geek‘ was seen as someone who
doesn‘t take showers, who is slimy, greasy, and drippy.
The definitions provided by the Australian students included:
1. A gino/a connotes: ―refers to Italian dudes and girls‖.
2. A thug connotes: ―someone who is a tank, tough, rebel and a
bully.‖
3. A jock connotes: ―someone who is very muscular, athletic and
tough‖.
4. A burnout connotes: ―someone who skips classes, smokes all day
and has a low academic average‖.
The recognized ‗teenalect‘ items included:
 A nerd connotes: ―a person who is unpopular, studies all the time
and does not socialize, wers thick glasses, is intelligent.‖
 A geek connotes: ―someone who is similar to a nerd, is a computer
freak, is lame and smart but dressed as a dork.‖

Conclusion

Italian Canadian adolescent speech of adolescents pursuing Italian studies as

L2 in Canada and Australia were surveyed. The cross-cultural comparisons
results confirmed that ‗teenalect‘ categories are apparent in all cultures where
adolescence forms a distinct social category.
McLuhan (1962) was convinced that in the global village, the world‘s
languages would connect and interface in various ways, especially in the
encoding of thoughts and ideas. Adolescent speech has become the unique
social dialect of the world, uniting youth in different continents of the earth in a
remarkable way (Danesi 2003a, 2003b).
This investigation of adolescent talk confirmed that the L2 Italian teacher, as
part of their pedagocial approach towards teaching and learning, should provide
a syllabus that meets the cultural and linguistical needs of the L2 adolescent
learner. The teacher of L2 Italian needs to be a ‗curriculum designer‘ where a
learning syllabus is tailored to adolescent interests, making it much more
meaningful for their communicative needs (Danesi 1996a, 1996b).
There is a need to constantly review the presentation of the pedagogical
material to cater for a changing clientele (Nuessel 1999; Danesi 1996a,1996b,
1997) and to ensure that the curriculum content does not become devoid of any
significance to the adolescent‘s world of experience (Danesi 1996b, p.9).
Research on adolescents (Danesi 1994, 1996a, 1996b, 1997, 1999, 2003a,
2003b; Danesi & Clivio 2000, Aulino 2005) reports their use of ‗verbal discourse
strategically‘, to portray themselves in everday life. Indeed, this is what the
Italian Canadian and Italian Australian students pursuing Italian studies
expressed as a desire to learn.
Further study in this are of research may be warranted. For example further
investigation could be undertaken in the future to determine whether the study
conducted in these two countries has international applications and implications
for coomunication and stusy of any language. After all, ―teen lingo is here to
stay, whether we like it or not, or just choose to ignore it‖ (Perruccio 2004, p.3).

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Learner Autonomy and its Indispensability in Second Language
Acquisition in Albania

Bledar Toska
University of Vlora, Albania

Abstract

This study enlightens Learner Autonomy (LA) in Second Language Acquisition

(SLA) from the theoretical and practical perspective. From the theoretical
framework LA is approached from its core factors, that is, linguistic, cognitive,
metacognitive, affective and social ones. Other elements in center of this
process are students‘ leading role and teachers‘ supporting role in facilitating
conditions under which autonomy can prosper. Of great importance is also the
concept of LA concept and especially its necessity in the language acquisition
context.
The second part, which is based on the theoretic notions of autonomy,
analyses collected data in order to assess its level in some Albanian educational
institutions, where empirical research was carried out. Four questionnaires were
compiled and an interview was conducted so as to discuss the LA impact on the
acquisition of English as a foreign language our Albanian students. The third part
tentatively lists a number of relevant, theoretic and practical conclusions drawn
from the study and also suggests important points for further study.

Introduction

There has been a lot of research and discussion on how to teach students to
learn a foreign language. In the SLA field, studies have demonstrated that
teaching is of primary importance, but some controversial issues concerning the
efficiency of knowledge retention and use have emerged. A new and more
central role of students in SLA process has been proposed and emphasized in
the last few decades. This process appears to be far more complex than it could
be expected. And indeed, several aspects, such as affective, social and
psychological factors and the role of teachers and students have been
recognized to occupy and play an indispensable part in SLA.
LA enables students not only to acquire a foreign language independently
but also to use it in various sociocultural and linguistic circumstances. However,
students are expected to undertake the language acquisition responsibilities, to
collaborate with one another as well as with teachers so as to determine and to
fulfill educational purposes in the future. They are also supposed to evaluate
their own progress in the autonomy framework. Futhermore, in this LA process
teachers occupy a new role, less ‗dictating‘ than they used to.
The concept of autonomy was first introduced to foreign language
teaching and learning when the communicative method became widely known
and was regularly applied to classrooms. The linguistic notion was not thought of
as an autonomous process before, since language was mostly seen as a closed
system, which could be mastered and regularly improved only if students
mastered various grammatical structures. But, in fact, these isolated linguistic
constructions did not constitute proper language acquisition. Freeman (2000)
observes that,

In the 1970s … some educators observed that students could

produce sentences accurately in a lesson, but could not use them
appropriately when genuinely communicating outside the
classroom. Others noted that being able to communicate required
more than mastering linguistic structures. … In short, being able to
communicate required more than linguistic competence; it required
communicative competence. (Freeman 2000: 121)

Thus, focus on foreign language learners‘ communicative competence was also a

shift to a more autonomous approach to acquiring languages. Old methods, such
as grammar-translation or direct methods, were abandoned and a new concept
was adopted to assist students overcome many of the problems they
encountered when acquiring a new linguistic code.
Research into LA and SLA has been prominent mainly in two directions.
Firstly, scholars in the sociology and psychology fields have demonstrated that
autonomy has a very positive impact on all school curricula and secondly,
studies have extended to the linguistic field over the last decades by supporting
the autonomy factor, especially in SLA.
The purpose of the present article is to explore, to some extend, the
representation of these two directions in the new post-communist area in
Albania and how to gear our students to a more elevated level of autonomous
selves, particularly in SLA. As far as we know, there are almost no studies in
regard to LA in the Albanian educational context. And this was one of the main
reasons for writing this paper.

1. Defining Learner Autonomy

It is, by no means, an easy task to define LA. Different scholars describe and
consider the LA concept from their own perspective and in accordance with the
priorities they attribute to it. For instance, Holec (1981: 3) defines LA as ―the
ability to take charge of one‘s own learning‖ and Little (1991: 4) describes it as
―a capacity for detachment, critical reflection, decision-making, and independent
action‖.
The drawback of the above definitions is that they include only some
aspects of LA; namely, learner‘s ability, independence, consciousness and
initiative. Broadly speaking, apart from them there are additional significant
factors for LA , that is, learner‘s responsibilities, setting one‘s own objectives,
undertaking initiatives, self-evaluating acquisition and use efficiency, social
linguistic interactivity etc. In other words, LA requires a set of internal and
external elements, which would favorably accommodate themselves within the
(meta)cognitive, psychological, linguistic, sociocultural and affective dimensions,
which almost always interact with each other in the SLA process.

1.1 Factors in Center of Learner Autonomy

In this short section we shall briefly discuss some theoretical contributions to
SLA, as approached by various schools5. Various elements and aspects are listed
in order of their priority within the field of study which they have been treated.
Sociolinguists describe language in terms of the sociocultural context, in
which it develops and serves as a means of communication and perception. As
Shkurtaj (1999: 77) observes, individuals display their linguistic solidarity
through their communicative competence in order to accept and alter social
reality. In doing so, they should be account for the social reality in their speech
and be aware of when, where and what to say to whom. From this perspective,
linguistic and metalinguistic knowledge ought to be appropriately used.
Individuals are socioculturally organized, and this reality, which constantly
changes and evolves, appears to be part of their language acquisition.
Furthermore, individuals are directly connected with and able to affect the
sociocultural context in a determined way by means of their language.
Language, learnt mainly at school, is used in very different ways, so it is
impossible for students to learn everything about it only through formal
education. At this stage, LA in SLA becomes especially prominent in practical
tones. It rests with students to deal with myriads of linguistic situations they
encounter.
Psychologists suggest that students should occupy a central role in their
experience development, which can hardly be taught since it is unique by nature
to every individual. And the process of SLA is interwoven with student‘s personal
experience and needs. There should be some self-awareness level preceding
successful SLA. Dubin and Olshtain (1986: 50), as cited in (Hayo 2000), add
that people should undertake their own responsibility to acquire, to make
decisions, and to undertake initiatives.
This psychological theory has had its own positive impact on SLA and has
redefined to a considerable extend students and teachers‘ roles in knowledge
acquisition and language assimilation. For instance, in the Silent Way technique
teacher‘s role is that of the facilitator in the learning process. Freeman (2000)
states that

… one of the basic principles of the Silent way is that ‗Teaching

should be subordinate to learning.‘ In other words, Gattegno
believed that to teach means to serve the learning process rather
than to dominate it. (Freeman 2000: 53-54)

Students‘ personal development is also affected by affective factors6, such

as encouragement and courage. Freeman (2000) suggests that students be
equipped with self-confidence and following George Lazanov‘ dessugestion
method she summaries

The reason for our inefficiency, Lazanov asserts, is that we set up

psychological barriers to learning: We fear that we will be unable to
perform, that we will be limited in our ability to learn, that we will
fail. One result is that we do not use the full mental powers that we
have. … In order to make better use of our reserved capacity, the
limitations we think we have need to be desuggested.

5
A more detailed discussion about the LA aspects and characteristics can be found in Hayo (2000). Certain
discussions in this section are attributed to his research.
6
A more detailed talk about affective factors will follow in the data discussion section.
 Dessugestopedia … has been developed to help students eliminate
the feeling that they cannot be successful or the negative
association they may have toward studying and, thus, to help them
overcome the barriers to learning. (Freeman 2000: 73)

Studies in cognitive psychology have also contributed to LA in SLA. The

core notion of these studies emphasizes the parallel development of students‘
knowledge with their personal experiences. For instance, active students, who
usually show high degree of self-motivation, are very willing to undertake
innovative initiatives and do not rely on external stimuli to be autonomously
involved in the SLA process. Furthermore, they recognize the potential of their
mind capacity and efficiency. They are aware of the whole learning process and
develop their own strategic plans.
Some linguists have provided theories and interpretations as to SLA
process. Krashen (1987), for example, sustains that the only and the most
important factor in SLA is students‘ exposure to comprehensible linguistic input.
Following Chomsky, such situation would activate the language acquisition
device (LAD), which enables FLS and SLA. Their main drawback is to attribute
the entire acquisition process to the passive mind, something which would
neglect other social and psychological factors.
Unlike some scholars, we do not wish to confine the LA concept to a single
definition, in which the description of it would take a more fixed character.
Various factors do influence its nature and play an important and frequently
simultaneous role in constructing LA in SLA. Thus, we distinguish the following
factors:

1. Cognitive factor. It is the ability to critically reflect so as to make decisions

as regard the autonomous learning consciously and willingly.
2. Affective factor. It is the willingness to undertake language acquisition as
a part of student‘s role in SLA process. Students equipped with this factor,
are self-confident, believe in their abilities to be leaders of the entire SLA
process.
3. Metacognitive factor. It is ability to direct the acquisition process by
defining aims, the processing its content and exploiting the self-evaluative
mechanism for the progress of the process.
4. Social factor. It is the social ability to collaborate with others. The higher
the collaboration the higher the level of knowledge acquisition.

2. Empirical Data and Discussion

This section of the paper focuses on students, their viewpoints and concepts on
LA, SLA and its motivation, as well as various factors which help autonomy and
language acquisition. These elements were discussed from the theoretical
viewpoint in the first part of this article. Now, we shall attempt to discover and
consider their practical representation among our students.
They are grouped under different headings, that is, LA concept and
hesitation to undertake it, external and internal motivation, social,
(meta)cognitive and affective factors. We have not included in this article some
additional but less important aspects such as foreign language use or language
resources, which, though significant in SLA process, fall out the scope of this
paper.
2.1 Research Methodology

We used two very frequent ways to collect information for our empirical
discussion, questionnaires and interviews. Thus, the data collection was
concentrated on two acting planes with two main actors, students and me, the
teacher. Firstly, we conducted 30 interviews with students7 of different linguistic
levels and secondly, we asked about 130 students to fill in four different types of
questionnaires8. Also various observations were made in some English classes so
to complement the information obtained from our students. Through the
observations, we wished to discover problems regarding the LA in SLA, which
might not have been encountered in theoretical literature and which occupy an
important part of our empirical research.

2.2 Data Discussion

a. LA concept and hesitation to undertake it.

The notion of LA in SLA for 63 % of the students was rather vague and for 27 %
was little or hardly clear at all. Also 46 % have made minimal efforts to
construct autonomy (questions 12, 13, questionnaire 4)9. It was noted a need to
make them more aware of LA notion and to show more initiative to build it.
Only almost half of the students valued individual undertaking as helpful
with regard to acquisition, a fact which showed a shallow viewpoint on autonomy
(q 4, Q 3). Furthermore, 58 % stated openly that they were hesitant to go
beyond the homework given by their teachers (q 1, Q 4).

b. motivation

Motivation is one of the most crucial factors when it comes to foreign language
learning. It appears in two forms, as internal motivation and external
motivation. The former is general and very characteristic for the individual. It
comes from internal stimuli (desires, objectives, needs or decisions) and is both
at the same time stable and unstable, much conditioned by circumstances,
which also vary among individuals. The latter is also part of motivation in
general but it refers to external stimuli (such as those which students perceive in
classroom from their teachers or from their classmates or in similar
environments). It affects student mainly through different factors such as the
ones we are about to discus below.
Both the external and internal motivations, either negatively or positively,
were present in our students. Below we shall tray to summarize and highlight
the main points concerning these factors in question.
In the second questionnaire, constructed to measure the level of
motivation, students were asked to express their own opinion on it. Almost all
the students recognized both their own capacity in acquiring foreign languages
in general, and the importance of English as an international/global language (q
1, 2, 3). Additionally, only a small number of them, about 12 or 10 %,
7
We lead our research at the University of Vlora, with students of English language (first, second and third
years), who made up nearly 80 % of all the questioned subjects, and at two secondary schools, where English
was taught as a foreign language.
8
The questionnaires and the interview are included in the appendix. The reader can refer to this section during
the discussing points in this second part of the article.
9
The words question and questionnaire will be abbreviated as q and Q respectively hereafter.
demonstrated little self-confidence as regard SLA (q 11, Q 2). In q 4 and 8 Q 2
students were explicitly asked about their motivation for learning foreign
languages. Around 90 % were interested in SLA and were ambitious to obtain
good results.
On the other hand, external stimuli were not very promising. From what
was perceived, external motivation can potentially affect internal motivation,
since the two interact silently with one another. We discovered an unsatisfactory
high percentage of students, who were not enough motivated by their teachers
(58 %, q 6, Q 2). Also quite surprisingly, 75 % were little or not satisfied at all
with teaching (q 10, Q 2). Furthermore, 65 % thought that the whole teaching
process was not inviting enough (q 13, Q 2).
Questions 5 a/b in the interview dealt with the most and least useful
teaching and learning class. What was dominant in interviewees‘ answers was
the creation of an environment where the communicative method could
dominate. Some students did not even like the fact that they were not
encouraged to be integral part of the lesson. Some students did hate a class, in
which teacher‘s aim was to mark student‘s answers.

c. social factors

A very high number of students (88 %, q 11 and 93 %, q 12 in Q 3) observed

that they were in favour of a close interactive relationship among themselves
and teachers. This tendency was also dominant in the conducted interviews.
Collaboration was also seen as a key factor for the benefit of SLA. On the other
hand, from what we observed and from our experience, collaboration is closely
connected with other aspects such as active participation in classroom (usually
only a small number of student contribute to it), linguistic competence (not
many possess it) or the subject which is under discussion in a certain lesson.
The above mentioned aspects were not common in our classes, not to mention
the low level of linguistic collaboration outside classrooms.
Almost all the questioned students (92 %) were willing to be part of the
teaching/learning process (q 5, Q 4), to collaborate with their classmates (82 %)
(q 7, Q 2)and they also recognized the contribution they can offer in a successful
process (67 %) (q 15, Q 2). In reality, only 46 % (q 4, Q 4) said they were
really collaborative. And they mostly enjoyed working in groups (q 4 in the
interview), in which they could acquire linguistic abilities.
It appears from these figures that students are aware of the collaboration
benefits, but their approach is little encouraging and hardly applicable to reality,
as it was observed in our classes.

d. cognitive factors

The percentage of students determined to decide themselves what is useful to

be studied in FL was low, only 38 % (q 1, Q 3) and 81 % (q 2, Q 3) believed
that the linguistic knowledge they received in academic institutions would suffice
and they also showed little enthusiasm to extend the acquisition process outside
the classroom.

e. metacognitive factors

As mentioned above, the most important metacognitive factors are setting

learning objectives and self-assessing the progress already made. Questionnaire
3 contains three questions regarding these factors. So, in question 8, 77 %
agreed or almost agreed about setting their own learning goals. Question 9 had
to do with the nature of acquisition process; 50 % thought that results could be
measured by students themselves. 46 % (q 10) did not think as necessary to
self- assess their progress. Thus, judging from the data, the metacognitive
factors are represented only in almost half of the students.
Questions 9 and 10 were intended to highlight studying strategies that
students applied. Some of the answers we obtained during the interviews were
relevant to these questions. Many interviewees showed considerably dependency
on school and its elements such as, teachers, books, dictionaries, classroom and
other institutional facilities. There were few of them who preferred individual
work and focused themselves on communicative aspects of language learning.
All in all, we noted lack of implementing the metacognitive factors properly,
even when they were partially present in our students.

f. affective factors

The factors included here have to do with student self-determination in

constructing his own autonomy in order to lead himself towards a successful
learning process. His emotional state and viewpoint are among the most
important aspects in SLA. We exploited some questions from questionnaires 3
and 4 to learn more about these factors. In q 3 and 5, Q 3, 85 % highlighted the
necessity for undertaking the SLA process themselves autonomously. However,
only 54 % expressed to be self-confident enough to undertake such a
responsibility.
In q 6, Q 3, very similar to q 5, was noticed a low percentage of students
(38 %), who were ready to be self-leaders, even though 77 % were able to work
according to their needs (q 7). We think that this high percentage is in
accordance with their various needs, and in only few of them, it appears as an
ability to construct their autonomy.
43 % are not ready to know the reality of their academic progress (q 6, Q
4), so they do not prefer to face negative aspects of their work, such as poor
results. All their viewpoints directly affect their work, possibly unconsciously. It
seems that they are more for innovative learning and teaching methods (79 %),
for new environments (88 %) and for new friends (65 %) (q 7, Q 4).
Their affective filter10 acts on their wish to be actively involved in FL
communication. 46 % thought that a poor linguistic performance would diminish
their linguistic self-image (q 15, Q 3). Also students‘ emotional state in the SLA
process has a considerable impact on their academic results. In some students,
this state could totally ―block‖ the whole process. Autonomy demolishes
psychological and affective barriers, and reduces undesired emotional states and
ultimately assists students in the SLA process. 78 % stated that these situations
prevent them to successfully communicate in a FL and for 70 % they are an
obstacle to be overcome in exams (q 10, Q 1 and q 14, Q 2).

3. Conclusions

10
Affective Filter is one of the five main hypotheses of Krashen’s Theory of Second Language Acquisition,
according to which learners with high motivation, self-confidence, good self-image and low level of anxiety are
bound to perform better in SLA process.
From the theoretical viewpoint, LA opens up a new bright perspective in SLA
education, in which students are encouraged to assess their own viewpoints and
to undertake their own responsibility in the SLA process. This method is
independent from the pedagogical styles, students‘ age and cultural background,
learning environment and goes beyond the different curricula. LA ought to be
one of the fundamental characteristics of education because only when LA is
allowed to act can education flourish.
In this paper we empirically discussed the indispensability of LA in SLA.
The analyzed data demonstrated that, generally speaking, students welcome
autonomy in the acquisition process, even though their notion on LA is not
crystallized sufficiently. Unfortunately, their attempts to master linguistic
abilities are accompanied by their minimal efforts to construct autonomy.
Based on the four factors in center of LA, we tentatively reached the
following conclusions:

a. As for the social factors, Albanian students are self-conscious for

collaboration, but, in most cases, they show little initiative to implement
cooperation and spread it. From our viewpoint, this can be owing to their
restricted linguistic competence. However, this provisional conclusion is not to
be generalized whatsoever.
b. Our data and observations show that students are not cognitively mature
enough to self-decide and that they rely mostly on academic institutions and
their teachers. The cognitive factors do not seem to be well represented in them.
c. Metacognitively speaking, students ignore making their own assessment in
SLA. Other aspects, such as learning planning activities or setting learning
objectives appear not to be sufficiently represented in many of them. There is a
general stream to neglect these elements.
d. In terms of the affective factors Albanian students recognize the
indispensability to undertake the SLA process, but lack of self-leading abilities.
However, it is not uncommon to find students who are self-determined to
monitor their own progress.
Stimuli phenomenon is possibly another element which could explain
some of the drawbacks and difficulties in our students‘ linguistic progress. We
believe that there is a clash between the internal and the external motivation,
rather than a real interface between them. This is a fact which deserves a study
from the cognitive aspects of language acquisition.
The amount of data considered here was rather limited in scale. Certainly,
there need to be a more extensive and detailed research in quantity and quality
in future studies. But we hope that this modest research could serve as a new
impetus to the educational emancipation, through which LA in SLA could act as
an indispensable aspect in Albanian schools for foreign language acquisition.

References

Freeman, D. L, 2000. Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching. Oxford:

Oxford University.

Hayo, R., 2000. Do It Yourself? A Learners‟ Perspective on Learner Autonomy

and Self-Access Language Learning in an English Proficiency Programme. MA
Thesis. [Link]
Holec, H, 1981. Autonomy and Foreign Language Learning. Oxford: Pergamon
Press.

Klein, W, 1986. Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge university

Press.

Krashen, S. D, 1987. Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition.

Prentice-Hall International.

Little, D, 1991. Learner Autonomy: Definitions, Issues and Problems. Dublin:

Authentik.

Shkurtaj, Gj, 1999. Sociolinguistika, Tirane: SHBLU.

Appendix

Questionnaire 1: General remarks about SLA. Choose from 1, the lowest score,
to 4 the highest score. Please do not write your name.

1. Foreign language is primarily learnt through imitation. ___

2. Only very intelligent students are bright learners of a foreign language. ___
3. The most significant indicator of success in SLA is motivation. ___
4. The sooner we start learning a foreign language at school, the more
successful its acquisition will be. ___
5. Most mistakes learners make in a foreign language occur because of the
influence of their mother tongue. ___
6. Reading is the best way to acquire new vocabulary. ___
7. Teachers should make use only of those teaching resources which include
only those language structures learners have studied. ___
8. When learners are given the opportunity to talk freely to one another (for
instance, in a group or in class activities), they are likely to learn from each
others‘ mistakes. ___
9. Students can grasp not only language but also academic content (e.g.
literature, history, phonetics etc.) concurrently in class if the subject is taught
in a foreign language. ___
10. The experience of feelings affects the use of foreign language in
conversation. ___

Questionnaire 2: Student‘s motivation. Answer the questions given below.

Choose from 1, the lowest score, to 4 the highest score. Please do not write your
name.

1.___ How competent are you to learn foreign languages in general?

2.___ How much do you like English?
3.___ How important is for you to learn English?
4.___ How much interested and motivated are you to learn a foreign language?
5.___ How stimulating are the subjects in this school to learn English?
6.___ How stimulating is to be taught by this school teachers?
7.___ How much do you like learning with your classmates?
8.___ How much do you wish to do better than your friends in English?
9.___ How useful is the teaching you get from your teachers in relation to your
goals in acquiring English?
10.___ How attractive is the teaching process at this institution?
11.___ How much do you rely on your abilities to obtain good results in English?
12.___ How much are you stimulated by the organization of a good lesson?
13.___ How stimulating and attractive do you find lesson organization by your
teachers in general?
14.___ How much does the experience of feelings affect your school results (e.g.
exams, tests, participation etc.)?
15.___ How much does your active class participation contribute to a successful
lesson?

Questionnaire 3: Psychological, (meta)cognitive, affective and social factor in

SLA. Answer the questions given below. Choose from 1, the lowest score, to 4
the highest score. Please do not write your name.

1. It is always the teacher and not the student who must decide what is useful to
be taught in a foreign language. ___
2. The linguistic knowledge obtained at school is enough for my linguistic level.
___
3. The learner himself/herself must undertake the process of foreign language
acquisition. ___
4. The learner can undertake no personal actions regarding autonomous
learning. ___
5. How confident are you to undertake the process of SLA (that is, without the
help of a teacher)? ___
6. How prepared are you to lead yourself to SLA? ___
7. How capable are you of following your needs in SLA? ___
8. It is the learner who must set his/her own goals in learning. ___
9. The results obtained in the process of SLA are advisable to be measured by
the learner himself/herself. ___
10. Self-assessment is indispensable for the learner‘s achievements. ___
11. Class collaboration among classmates is necessary. ___
12. The higher the collaboration with the teacher, the better the results. ___
13. Communication is very important in a foreign language class. ___
14. It is beneficial for the learner to express himself/herself in the foreign
language in class and to avoid using his/her native tongue. ___
15. Poor performance during a conversation in the foreign language diminishes
your linguistic abilities. ___

Questionnaire 4: Assessing the level of LA. Choose from 1, the lowest score, to
4 the highest score. Please do not write your name.

1. Do you hesitate to undertake the initiatives for your learning, that is, to go
beyond your teacher‘s assignments?
4 3 2 1
2. How confident are you about your academic work?
4 3 2 1
3. How motivated are you to learn English in this school? 4
3 2 1
4. How cooperative are you with your classmates? 4
3 2 1
5. How willing are you to participate in the lesson in class?
4 3 2 1
6. How ready are to talk about your progress? 4
3 2 1
7. How ready are you to adapt yourself to:
a. new methods of learning and teaching 4
3 2 1
b. new facilities 4 3 2
1
c. new friends 4
3 2 1
8. Have you ever thought about your learning goals?
Yes No
9. How do you prefer learning?
a. Listening passively 4
3 2 1
b. Reading 4 3 2
1
c. Discussing with classmates after class 4
3 2 1
d. Discussing with classmates during the lesson 4
3 2 1
e. Working in group 4
3 2 1
f. Talking to the teacher 4 3 2
1
10. How often do you use the following teaching resources in SLA?
a. The school library 4
3 2 1
b. The town library 4 3 2
1
c. The materials assigned by the teacher 4
3 2 1
d. Published resources (e.g. books, dictionaries, grammar books etc.) 4
3 2 1
e. Electronic resources (e.g. television, radio, computer etc.) 4
3 2 1
f. Human resources (e.g. native speakers, teacher, classmates etc.)
4 3 2 1
11. Have you ever thought about self-assessment?
Yes No
If yes, how objective is your self-assessment? 4
3 2 1
Is it difficult to self-assess? 4
3 2 1
12. How clear is to you the concept of the LA in SLA? 4
3 2 1
13. Have you ever tried to ‗build‘ your own autonomy as learner?
Yes No
14. How motivated are you to learn English? 4
3 2 1
15. Are you satisfied with teaching at your school? 4
3 2 1
16. How satisfied are you with the teaching resources used in class? 4
3 2 1
17. Would you like new teaching methods and resources to be used in class? 4
3 2 1
18. How helpful has your teacher been to you so far? 4
3 2 1

Interview

1. When does the process of foreign language learning take place?

2. Describe your ideal environment for language learning.
3a. In what circumstances do you grasp more easily?
3b. In what circumstances do you grasp more strenuously?
4. What is your reason for learning in class?
5a. Describe your ideal lesson.
5b. Describe your least useful lesson.
6a. What is the role of teaching in the process of language learning?
6b. What is the role of the learner in the process of language learning?
7. How do you learn a foreign language?
8. Why do you study English?
9. What is the most fruitful way to learn a foreign language?
10. What strategies or ways do you follow when you study?
Lines, Angles, and Squares:
Linear Epistemology in American English Idiom

Beth Jorgensen
Saginaw Valley State University
Michigan, United States

The seeds for this paper were sown when I was re-reading Black Elk Speaks,
the memoir of a Native American visionary as told to John G. Neihardt. I was
particularly struck by a comment Black Elk made when discussing how his tribe
was made to live in little, gray log houses: ―there can be no power in a square‖
(150).
Although the idea was not new to me, Black Elk‘s vision of the world as a
―hoop‖ began to haunt me, for I have long been troubled by the Euro-western
view of the world as a plane upon which to build civilization. Under this
construction, the wetland becomes a two-dimensional swamp rather than a
multi-dimensional ecosystem that begins at the edge of our atmosphere and
continues to the bedrock. As such, it can be paved over for a big box store and
accompanying parking lot or it can be tiled and drained for massive monocrop
agriculture that purports to feed the starving millions, but in reality, leads to
their starvation.
I began to look anew at the plane, the boxes which sit upon it, the lines
leading to the doors in the boxes, and all the points along the way when we
could have chosen differently. I began to perceive the irony that, while those
who made the squares seem to have all the power, they suffer from illusion, for
our quest for power has pitted us against the very mother who sustains us.
So I wish to make a point, or rather several of them: about points. About the
lines made up of points, the angles made when lines meet, and the squares
formed of angles. But I don‘t wish to address geometry, but rather reasoning,
logic, argumentation, and the epistemology that underlies what the Euro-
western world considers to be rational.
An argument consists of points. Points exist along a line. Or do they? Implicit
in the notion of linear movement is movement forward, which is seen as
progress. With regard to reasoning, we don‘t consider movement up or down,
which is to remain in constant position to the plane below, that is, to remain
static. Indeed, we often belittle those with whom we disagree by saying, ―She‘s
not even on the same plane as we are. Neither do we consider movement
sideways, which is to leave the beaten track, thus entering the realm of lunatics.
We expect individuals to ―toe the line,‖ that is, to do what is expected; to
―get in line,‖ or ―fall into line,‖ meaning to conform; and to ―be in line with‖ us,
that is, to agree. So the job of the authority is to keep us in line. Heaven forbid,
anyone step out of line.
In terms of communication, we often speak of lines of transmission. The
question arises: Is this an analogy for speech drawn from the movement of
electricity or is our analogy for electricity drawn from speech? Clearly the former
makes no sense, for electricity doesn‘t move in lines, but in circuits. Neither
does the latter, as anyone can observe from observing the constant digression
and disruption of any common conversation.
And yet, we claim that she who is circuitous is she who deviates; but perhaps
she merely detours around the point, perhaps the point of no return. Indeed, we
refer to a circuitous argument as tortured, but what is more torturous than
nailing your point home?
Paradoxically, to bring your argument full circle is contrary to talking in
circles, but why? We chastise those who circle around the point. But why is the
point so important? Because it exists on a line. And lines move forward. Yet in
the process of hovering around the point, one observes many perspectives.
Indeed, the ―Aha!‖ moment at which one arrives may be precisely that there is
no point or that all points are equally valid depending on your position in orbit.
Clearly, a revolution in thought does not occur by moving from point to point,
but by circling about, by revolving. Thus all or most points must be
acknowledged for the revolution to be fully operable.
Oddly enough, the wheels of your brain must turn so they may arrive at a
point, a stopping place, a fixed idea. All too often this means the wheels stop
turning.
One may also pivot upon a point, but the point remains. Thus, we refer to
some points as pivotal, as if they spin about an axis. Yet to spin about an axis is
to go nowhere, even though that axis rests upon a point.
We say, ―I‘m going to go through this point by point.‖ Then as we do so,
i
someone may suggest, ―You missed something.‖ When that something doesn‘t
follow along our line, we dismiss it as irrelevant, for without the line, we feel as
though we have no direction.
Which brings me to angles: when we meet someone of whom we are
uncertain, we wonder, ―What‘s his angle?‖; meaning of course, his angle of
attack. For we hold tight to our lines of reasoning, protecting them. We also
suspect that he may be out of line, at an angle, crooked, that is. And so, we
angle for his point, fish for his thoughts. We angle him on, give him the bait. We
suspect he may be biased, operating on the diagonal. We don‘t trust his slant.
From there, everything is downhill.
So we try to corner him, keep him from going off on a tangent. We square
off; draw a line in the sand. We look each other squarely in the eye. Then we
circle about until one of us crosses the line. We exchange points, try to find the
gaps in each other‘s lines of reasoning.
But of course, we want him in our corner. And once we get him in our corner,
we square accounts and figure he must be a square shooter. We trust him to
give us a square deal—until he makes a pointed remark. Then we go back to our
corners and re-evaluate our line of reasoning—until we square off again.

Expertise and Progress

My purpose in engaging in wordplay is to demonstrate that a geometric

model of reasoning is clearly embodied in the idioms English speakers use to
describe argumentation. But this is not mere wordplay, for language is thought
and thought, language. Indeed, our idiom reflects a view of rationality the aims
to rise above the messy world of human affairs to arrive at universal truths that
can then be applied to real-world problems—a view that has its roots in the
Euro-western tradition from Plato onward. However, the Euro-western view of
rationality has limitations, which often lead to unlooked for and undesirable
consequences.
 One such consequence is the notion of expertise and the power circumscribed
therein. The expert, we are told, is one who can rise above emotional concerns,
what the Greeks called pathos, to objectively calculate right outcomes which can
then be passed down to the inexpert audience. As the truth, or logos, at which
the expert has arrived is rationally correct and purely objective, proper ethos, or
ethics must necessarily follow. At bottom, the Euro-western preference for
linear, calculative rationality assumes that the expert has epistemological
purposes that take precedence over any social purposes, that is, that the expert
aims for the unerring truth of the matter, which, once discovered, can be justly
applied without further thought to the lives of real people. Failure to heed the
expert‘s advice is thus a sign of cognitive weakness or evidence of emotionalism,
a failure to get in line. Such a view is not only paternalistic, but potentially
dangerous, for such distanced calculation may fail to perceive genuine risks to
people and to our planet.
A case in point: in a study of public participation in the 1991 International
Joint Commission‘s (IJC) Great Lakes Water Quality hearings, rhetorician Craig
Waddell examines the problem of expertise, bringing to attention four models of
policy-making that are relevant to my observations:
the technocratic model, in which experts simply make decisions
without input from and unanswerable to concerned parties;
the one-way Jeffersonian model, in which expert knowledge is
imparted to concerned parties in the belief that once educated they
will see the light;
the interactive Jeffersonian model, in which expert knowledge is
passed down to concerned parties, while values, beliefs, and
emotions are passed upward to experts, with both parties adjusting
their positions accordingly; and
the social constructionist model, which acknowledges the role that
―the values, beliefs, and emotions of experts in science, engineering
and government‖ play in policy formation, as well as the flow of
technical information in both directions (141-142).
The flaw in the first model is fairly clear: the assumption that the public has
nothing at all to bring to the table, that their knowledge, values, beliefs, and
emotions are subjective, thus irrelevant. The second model offers little more.
While on the surface it appears to acknowledge the impact of decision-making
on human beings, it operates under the assumption that the public will bring
their values, beliefs, and emotions in line with objective, rational experts once
they understand the truth. Waddell quickly rejects both models outright as
ineffective and ethically dubious. Yet he also dismisses the interactive model as
implicitly paternalistic, in that it assumes that ―the values, beliefs, and emotions
of the public cannot truly be considered legitimate until those of technical
experts are also acknowledged‖ (144). He then asserts that the social
constructivist model plays out at the IJC hearings—which were convened to
address concerns about organochloride contamination. Of particular interest to
my discussion is the way in which emotional appeals became the subject of
discussion, dismissal, and ultimately, persuasion.
Waddell notes that while experts did not necessarily dispute the substance of
citizens‘ concerns, they did, indeed, caution against their emotional appeals, one
such expert stating explicitly that the commission could not ―afford to be swayed
by emotion from any angle‖ (149). Meanwhile, participant citizens felt the need
to justify or apologize for their emotional appeals, often pointing out that they
had no other recourse. (150). Yet experts also presented their cases with equal
emotional appeal, without apology, as if their concerns were grounded upon
more rational thinking. For example, Ron Hohenstein, superintendent of
environmental engineering for the Board of Water and Light in Lansing,
Michigan, spoke in opposition to a ban on chlorination of water supplies by
creating an emotionally-laden scenario of ―naturally evolved microbial life forms
. . . waiting to devastate vast numbers of human beings‖ (qtd. in Waddell 149).
While the substance of his concern was based on rational science, i.e. logos, his
concerns were grounded in emotion, i.e. pathos, and delivered with the intent to
strike fear into the hearts of his audience. Moreover, the emotional concerns of
citizens testifying in the hearings were likewise rationally grounded, as the US
Environmental Protection Agency has since indicated that organochlorines may
be implicated in breast cancer rates (EPA ―EDRI‖), immuno-suppression (EPA
―Comparative‖) and a host of other health problems—concerns which were at
the root of the Joint Commission. Moreover, all parties involved were concerned
with the ethics of the situation; they merely perceived different sets of risks to
the population, as well as the ecosystem. Waddell further points out that the
engagement of commissioners‘ values, beliefs, and emotions was essential to
the public‘s success in persuading them that action was needed to stem
organochloride contamination (158). Thus his analysis suggests that any notion
that rationality moves linearly without emotional and socio-ethical considerations
is likely illusory.
Waddell therefore concludes that the social constructionist model serves as a
―description of emerging public practice‖ (158) in US environmental policy
formation and proposes it as a prescription for future endeavors. Yet in some
ways these hearings suggest that the interactive Jeffersonian model was still in
play, for the hearings continued to appear marked by the assumption that
experts are capable of rising above emotion to achieve rational objectivity while
public reaction is merely emotional. In fact, upon being persuaded that
organochlorines were cause for action, commissioners indicated that public
testimony ―only confirm[ed] what they already believ[ed] based on scientific
evidence‖ (148). Moreover, commissioners displayed bias against emotional
appeals regarding environmental concerns, such as loss of biodiversity, in favor
of appeals regarding human health, thus indicating that only certain appeals to
pathos are acceptable (155). Such a bias suggests that fears about harm to
people are somehow more rational and ethical than fears about harm to the
environment which sustains us—evidence of paternalism.
Moreover, while the Joint Commission represents a context in which the
public‘s concerns were given hearing, all too often decisions are made under the
technocratic model, in which the affected citizen has no voice at all. Under this
model, experts observe economic, environmental, or social situations from a
distance, apply their allegedly rational calculations, and implement a plan or
enforce a policy.

Linear Rationality and Economics

Economic theory has been particularly susceptible to the assumptions of

objective, linear rationalism, for upon the assumptions that human beings are
rational economic actors, that human needs are endless, and that rational
experts can determine objective and unerring policies, lies another string of
assumptions—that economic growth is inherently progress, thus that economic
development inherently results in social improvement (Elshtain 13). Of course
this ideology of progress rests upon the notions that the market is indeed free
and that human beings are rational agents of choice in an environment which is
equally self-regulatory and rational. But as the market is regulated from multiple
directions, the real question becomes who these regulations benefit. Moreover,
an abundance of evidence suggests that the market is not rational, but subject
to the exuberance and hesitation of speculators—as the current global economic
crisis illustrates.
At any rate, under this set of assumptions, even the most basic needs of
people—food, water, even ―belongingness‖—have become products in the global
market. As human beings are reduced to producers and consumers of goods, the
virtue so prized by the ancient Greeks, that of self-sufficiency, becomes
impossible. The undesired outcome is movement away from a way of life that
was good for people, in which individuals and family units produced the
materials to meet their basic needs, toward a way of life that is good for
products, in which human beings purchase these materials from large producers,
thus producing profit, i.e. economic growth (Quinn).
To take food production as an example: the twentieth century witnessed a
move away from local production of healthy nutritious foods toward monocrop
commodity agriculture, the futures of which are traded on the market to provide
profit for speculators far removed from the land. The former, while labor
intensive, relies on natural cycles. Livestock grazes, consumes a diet of insects
or human food waste, and produces manure, which is returned to the soil where
it provides nutrients for crops which are grown to feed people in the family or
local community. The latter reduces the labor required to produce crops but
depends on huge amounts of fossil fuels to operate agricultural machinery, to
produce fertilizer, and to transport crops vast distances at great economic cost
for some, profit for others. In short, it becomes a linear supply chain. Moreover,
monocrops become targets for insects, requiring massive use of chemical
pesticides which may endanger human health, as well as that of the ecosystem,
including insects beneficial to agricultural production. In short, a cyclical view of
agricultural considers the ecosystem in its entirety, including the individuals who
will consume agricultural products, while a linear view considers only crop yields
and the profits which will emerge from higher yields—profits not only from sale
of the product, but from machinery manufacture, artificial fertilizer and pesticide
production, transportation, etc.
No doubt modern agriculture has increased production. But while increased
production should mean greater ability to feed the earth‘s population, the
starving millions remain. Indeed, much of the increase in consumable grains, for
example, has gone to feed livestock, which once found their food sources within
the natural cycles of the farm, in large animal confinement feeding operations
(CAFOs). The meat, in turn, is largely consumed by relatively rich people. The
problem is not merely a problem of distribution, for wherever one finds starving
people, one also finds a class of well-fed people, for the motivation behind
increased production is not to feed the world, but to increase profits in the name
of progress, namely economic growth (Quinn If 31-36). Food has become a
commodity rather than a basic human right and, as a commodity, it is locked
away from people (Quinn Ishmael 37), and thus they must produce some other
commodity or service in order to obtain it. In short, we cannot feed the starving
millions because we have separated them, not only from the indigenous ways
which sustained them, but from local control of their economies, under the
notion that ―development‖ can only proceed under a macroeconomic model
dominated by the interests of multi-national corporations.
 One specific arena in which this model has often resulted in dubious
consequences are the economies of less developed countries (LDCs). While the
stated aims of lending and regulatory agencies such as the World Bank,
International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Trade Organization (WTO) are
altruistic, their assumptions have been that the only means to bring prosperity
to these countries is to restructure LDC economies under the liberal, capitalistic
model which they hold responsible for the success of wealthier nations. In doing
so, they have often imposed macroeconomic analyses without regard for
microeconomic and social conditions (Elson 1). It bears repeating: under
macroeconomic assumptions, economic security rests upon economic growth,
i.e. more stuff moving around the globe, which means that economic
development consists of increasing export production into the free market.
We need only examine the African continent to see the effects. From 1966-
1970, Africa exported 1.3 million tons of food each year, while feeding local
populations. Today, 25% of Africa‘s food is imported, while over two dozen
African countries suffer from famine. A significant cause is the structural
adjustment programs required by the IMF and the World Bank in return for
assistance in servicing the external debt of LDCs. The expectation was that, by
removing the state apparatus from agriculture and introducing a ―free market‖
paradigm to the continent, African agriculture would become more profitable
(Bello), a macroeconomic assumption.
Unfortunately, risk as state expenditures were reduced, the private sector
perceived greater risk and investment did not follow. Indeed, while these private
sector experts employed what they perceived as rational calculations of risk,
they reacted both rationally and emotionally to the consideration that they could
lose profit. Meanwhile, many of the private sector investors sought to acquire
huge tracts of land from which they could collect rents, pushing traditional
agriculture, that which fed people, off much of the best land, exacerbating
microeconomic concerns. The Bank also required governments to channel
supports to export agriculture, such as cotton and cocoa, further forcing
production of food crops onto more marginal land. In addition, several
economies were encouraged by the Bank to turn their attention to the same
export crops, leading to overproduction and price collapses. Against this
backdrop, subsidies to agricultural products in the EU and the US allowed
producers to sell their products to world markets at prices unsustainable by
African producers (Bello), despite arguments that African producers would do
better under a free market. In short, Euro-western economic experts exported a
model of agriculture, which presumed an epistemological purpose, namely, that
increased export production is progress, which proved catastrophic to the social
and ethical purposes of feeding the population of Africa.
Of course economic engineering is only one factor, albeit a large factor, in the
food crisis facing Africa. Monocropping and the long supply chains created by the
globalization of agricultural production are also thought to contribute to climate
change, which may be a significant factor in devastating droughts, not only on
the African continent, but around the world. Australia, for example, is suffering
its sixth year of drought. Severe drought is also expected to persist across the
United States in California, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, and Texas, with smaller
patches in other states over the 2009 growing season (NOAA). In the meantime,
huge swaths of Argentina, Brazil, Eastern Europe, and the Mideast continue to
suffer catastrophic droughts (UCL).
Indeed, the United Nations climate panel predicts that global temperatures
are at risk of rising from 3.5 to 8 degrees Fahrenheit by 2050 if carbon
emissions are not drastically reduced (Audubon). Meanwhile, the US Energy
Information Agency predicts global energy demand to rise 54 percent by 2025
(EIA). As the global economy looks for energy alternatives to reduce our
dependence on oil, bio-fuels increasingly compete with food. For example, 30%
of the US corn harvest went into ethanol production in 2008 (Runge and
Senauer).
While the causes of climate change are many, climate experts suspect that
they are human in origin and that carbon emissions are a major factor. The
United States ranks at the top, accounting for 25% of annual global emissions as
of 2004, despite only housing 4% of the global population (USCUNDP). The diet
of the average US citizen alone accounts for 2.19 tons of carbon emissions
annually (Scribd). A gallon of diesel fuel contains 2.8 kg of CO2 (Global Climate
Fund). Thus, a single one-way trip by semi-truck from Florida to Michigan for
delivery of produce yields 812 kg of CO2, nearly a metric ton (1000 kg).
Another concern is methane, which the US EPA has indicated is ―20 times
more effective in trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide (CO2)
over a 100-year period.‖ Livestock production ranks fifth in US methane
emissions, particularly when manure is held in the lagoons and holding tanks
which characterize CAFOs (EPA ―Methane‖). Under a cyclical, localized paradigm
of food production, this manure returns to the soil where it fertilizes other food
crops. Under the linear high-efficiency globalized food paradigm, it is held for
long periods of time, often leaks into waterways, and, when applied to soil in
liquid form, often runs off into waterways.
The paradox is that the consequences of the ideology of progress and its
reliance on an excessive view of distanced expertise are not linear, but cyclical.
Economic development in agriculture is perceived as requiring monocropping
and confinement feeding, resulting in long supply chains, each of which require
huge amounts of fossil fuel. CAFOs and the burning of fossil fuels release
greenhouse gasses, which likely lead to climate change. Climate change
devastates agricultural regions, halting economic development and politically
destabilizing societies.

Geometry Revisited

Returning to my wordplay: we can note that one who refuses to rest upon a
point is said to vacillate, but could she not be seen to oscillate, which, in a word,
is to reciprocate, that is, simply to concede the validity of another‘s perspective
without wholly surrendering her own?
Meanwhile, we say that brilliant people have brainstorms, but what is linear
about a storm? Storms circle, they sometimes erupt from nowhere, they often
blow off course.
Of course, to argue is to discuss matters. But even matter is uncertain, as I
will explain. We speak as though points exist along lines, but points also exist
across planes and in multidimensional space. Indeed, points are merely
metaphors. One cannot find a point, for the point is in constant movement.
Take the simplest atom, for example. The sphere which represents the
movement of the electron around the nucleus is simply the realm of probability
in which you are likely to locate the electron. Said electron has two particular
properties: location and speed. Due to speed, one can only measure the location
of the electron within a certain degree of accuracy. Were one instead to attempt
to measure the location of the electron, the speed can only be measured within
a certain degree of accuracy. In short, the more you focus on one property, the
fuzzier the other becomes. Thus, according to Heisenberg, even physical reality
exists only in states of probability. Given this realm of probability, linear
argumentation is no more than the packaging of a position in a way which closes
off other probabilities.
Indeed, we can further note that the above model of rationality takes its
metaphors from the assumptions of Euclidean geometry, in which points exist
along a plane. As an alternative, we can take a look at non-Euclidean geometry,
in which points may exist upon spheres or in any number of configurations. I‘ll
begin with an observation clarified by Douglas R. Hofstadter in his examination
of the music, art, and mathematics of J.S. Bach, M.C. Escher, and Kurt Godel,
respectively: Proofs are only definitions within fixed systems (18).
While Hofstadter was working within formal, mathematical systems, he
provides a powerful analogy for any system of rationality, including what may be
called ―life systems,‖ those cultural narratives which make up perceptions of ―the
way things are.‖
If we consider cultures to be systems of rationality, we can apply a basic
principle of mathematics: To be internally consistent, every theorem must
become a true statement (95).
In verbal discourse, we can translate this principle to mean that every thesis
must be consistent with a shared narrative.
However, in both mathematics and verbal discourse, an internally consistent
system may not be externally consistent, that is, it may not be consistent with
the proofs of other internally consistent systems rationally based on alternative
narratives. So, just as Euclidean and non-Euclidean geometry are internally
consistent but externally inconsistent with one another, so are cultural
rationalities to an extent. For example, cultures of the East place value on
knowledge gained through transcendence in a way that Euro-western cultures do
not. Yet we do not reject either Euclidean or non-Euclidean geometries in the
way the economically dominant Euro-western world has often dismissed the
systems of other cultures.
At bottom, deliberation must begin with recognition of the internal
consistency of cultural rationalities, a process which requires parataxis, a non-
hierarchical laying out of the interests of all parties concerned with a particular
problem or opportunity. By contrast, the ideology of progress has proceeded by
virtue of hypotaxis, a discourse structure which is two-dimensionally ―vertical
and visual . . . ‗hypo‘ suggesting an organization ‗from under‘‖ (Jarratt 27), in
which the individual forming the arguments works to justify a prefigured
conclusion. Parataxis, by contrast, operates outside hierarchical confines,
allowing options to be laid out in a narrative structure which accounts for social
purposes. Rhetorician Susan Jarratt argues that ―the point is not exposing or
uncovering the unknown, but rearranging the known‖ for the purposes of
―revaluation‖ (28).
Indeed, if we return to the roots of Euro-western argumentation, we find that
Aristotle seemed to recognize these social aims. Significantly, the term Aristotle
most commonly use for wisdom is phronesis, or practical wisdom, rather that
sophia, a term which came to represent, in Platonic terms, universal, immutable
truth. For Aristotle, phronesis is a process of deliberation which culminates in
krisis, or judgment (Rhetoric 1377b21), ―the starting point of action (proairesis)‖
(Nichomachean Ethics 1139a31), ―deliberate choice . . . directed to an end‖
(1366a1). Krisis is not action but a point in time, a moment of decision which
must yet be realized in action (1113a10-11). Action is opposed to a wish,
opinion, appetite, or passion—which may be held while not acted upon. So, if the
end of deliberation is action, as Aristotle posits, then the end of deliberation is
not merely epistemological, it is social and, therefore, ethical, representing
action aimed toward solving shared problems.
Moreover, while Jarratt describes parataxis as linear and aural, we might
better think of it as web-like and aural, the presence of many voices and the
viewpoints they embody. Parataxis describes a conversation about shared
concerns, collaborative deliberation toward satisfactory solutions rather than a
hierarchical eristic of individual viewpoints. No conclusion is prefigured, for the
aim is not ―to know‖ but ―to act‖ in ways that best benefit all or most.
Unfortunately, the geometric idiom also reveals a suspicion of webs. We
worry about being trapped in someone‘s web or drawn into their net, snared, so
to speak. We speak of webs of deceit. Webs are spun and we are angered by
spin. ―Web‖ may also refer to a piece of woven fabric, consisting of weft and
warp. But to ―warp‖ is to ―cause to be abnormal or strange; to have a distorting
effect on.‖ So the English poet Alexander Pope writes of tangled webs. But webs
do not tangle, they thread from all directions or cease to exist altogether.
Similarly, we look with suspicion upon individuals who embroiders their
language, for to do so is ―to alter so as to mislead‖; it is to exaggerate, to
―represent (something) as being larger, greater, better, or worse than it really
is.‖ Perhaps it is no mere coincidence that these idioms are drawn from
traditionally feminine pursuits, for in the cosmology of Euro-western thought, sin
began with woman. Were it not for woman, we would still inhabit Eden, and
there would be no need for civilization. Indeed, such gender bias often marks
the application of expert opinion drawn upon distanced, linear rationality.
For example, economist Diane Elson points out the gender bias in economic
structural adjustment in Africa, a bias which I would argue is a feature of the
Euro-western rationalist view of objective truth in its essence. Of primary
concern to my discussion is the feature of structural adjustment programs in less
developed countries (LDCs) which motivate production of internationally tradable
goods while shifting resources from goods which are not internationally tradable.
The fine details of how tradability is determined are beyond the scope of this
paper. However, for my purposes it is sufficient to note that among non-tradable
goods are subsistence crops which are grown to feed one‘s family or to sell in
local markets. As Elson points out, ―[t]he prices of internationally tradable goods
are assumed to be determined on international markets . . . beyond the control
of any one LDC . . . taken as externally given. The prices of non-tradables are
determined by supply and demand within the LDC economy‖ (2). Development,
according to World Bank, IMF, and WTO economists, depends on increasing
production of tradables and decreasing production of non-tradables. To
manipulate production in the desired direction, they implement an array of
policies which raise the market price of tradables to encourage greater
production for export and to discourage internal consumption (2).
However, Elson points that these assumptions treat human resources as
easily transferable from one form of production to another, as it is assumed that
laborers will quickly catch on that more income is to be had from producing
tradables (2). A number of socio-cultural factors are overlooked in the process,
such as ―sexual division of labor‖ (2), ―reproduction and maintenance of human
resources‖ (6), and ―gender divisions and household expenditures‖ (9).
Sexual division of labor takes on a particular cast in sub-Saharan agriculture.
While variations exist across the region, some crops, namely those grown for
export, are considered ―men‘s crops,‖ while some crops, namely subsistence
crops, are considered ―women‘s crops.‖ Labor is generally allocated according to
gender as well. Men prepare the land for women‘s crops, while women
transplant, weed, and assist with the harvest of men‘s crops as well as their
own. Use of the crops is gendered as well, with men controlling profits from their
crops and women primarily using their crops to feed the family, though they
may sell surpluses in the local market (Elson 5). One concern that arises is the
allocation of labor in the face of increased demand for internationally tradable
crops. On the one hand, women may be coerced into laboring for production of
their husbands‘ crops at the expense of directly providing food for the family. On
the other hand, women may resist neglecting their subsistence crops, reducing
the productivity of crop land used to produce cash profit (6). In either case, as
income from men‘s crops tends to remain under the control of men, Women may
end up with insufficient resources to feed their families.
Reproduction and maintenance of human resources, i.e. childbearing and
rearing, pose other concerns, as the labor required is not taken into
consideration in macroeconomic models. While space prohibits full analysis of
the implications of this neglect, it is sufficient to say that women‘s time is not
infinitely ―elastic‖ (8).
Gender divisions and household expenditures come into play as well. While
Elson identifies three common theories used to describe family structures, she
notes that each treats the family as if it is a unity (9), ―an institution which
maximises the welfare of all its members‖ (10). Thus it is assumed that the
household ―pools‖ and ―shares,‖ enabling them to ―absorb[ing] any transitional
costs of adjustment‖ (10). But conflict and inequality are also features of
households, and these features are highly gendered, not only in LDCs, but in
much of the more developed world as well. Indeed, the discretion afforded a
man tends to be how much of his income will be passed on to the family, while
the discretion of a woman tends to be how to spend the income so allocated.
Although I have barely touched the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the
complexities of women‘s economic lives under the policies of the World Bank,
IMF, and WTO, a good body of research exists to demonstrate that women
experience greater risk when their homelands are subject to structural
adjustments. The bottom line is that the policies initiated have operated from a
internally consistent fixed system which is in many ways externally inconsistent
with the internally consistent fixed systems of the LDCs they purport to help. At
the root of this oversight is a vision of rationality which assumes that objectivity
is achieved through one or another form of linear calculation that rises above
emotion to arrive at ethical solutions. Such an assumption not only conflates
logos with ethos, while negating the rational element of pathos, it in turn,
ignores the value of mythos, or story, for macroeconomic solutions fail to
recognize the stories of real people in their environmental, social, and
microeconomic environments.

The Sustaining Power of Story

In the Euro-western view, stories, or mythos, have been posited against

logos, as non-rational and personal, rather than rational and public. However, it
is often through personal narrative that individuals come to know and make
sense of the world. Moreover, only through the personal narratives of individuals
affected by policy can we measure the real impact of such decisions.
Indeed, it is fair to say that a conflict of narratives is behind failure to solve
real-world problems, for if we examine the economic philosophies which
privilege development over sustainability, we can locate a mythos that goes
something like this:

Creation exists to serve human beings; we are the consumers of the

world. The world is a harsh place, which must be subdued. Thus
humans must compete with each other for scarce resources and
subdue the natural world. As the story of survival is one of success in
this competitive environment, we must take what we can get. Weak
actors are crushed in this environment, leaving the strong to build a
better civilization. Interference with competition disrupts the level
playing field and encourages weak actors (Quinn).

But suppose we imagine a different mythos:

Creation exists in a harmonious cycle, a hoop, which balances the

needs of all creation. Some resources are finite; some are occasionally
limited but ever renewing, so long as we care for the land. So as the
story of survival is cooperation with nature and with one another, we
must leave what we don‘t need. Humanity flourishes, building a
sustainable civilization. Competition invites greed, disrupts the
harmony and encourages total destruction (Quinn).

Of course these myths are simplistic, but the question is not which
one is right, but whether they can coexist and, in coexistence, be modified
toward a more sustainable vision of the future. My argument is that they
can.
To return again to my wordplay: while embroidered language can be seen as
deceitful and manipulative, embroidery consists of stitches and to stitch is to
heal, as is to knit. In the old country culture from which my family came, men
knitted. On the Norwegian fishing boats, they knitted nets to bring home food;
they knitted sweaters, caps, and mittens to keep themselves warm. They spun
stories to keep their hearts warm. In their knitting, they created patterns of
beauty to break up the monotony of the endless sea, images of the complexity
of the world they left behind. These stories, like stories in all cultures, created a
view of the world that was compatible with the environment in which they found
themselves. As these idioms demonstrate, possibilities do exist for reworking the
way we speak about truth.
The dominant English idiom which I have described throughout this paper
posits reasoning as a product of positionality rather than interests. But when
negotiators come to the table with positions already established, each assumes
that the problem has only one solution, theirs. Given that other players in the
negotiation will also bring their positions to the table, negotiations can be
rendered inefficient, as negotiators haggle, dig in their heels, and try to
persuade. Moreover, such positionality closes off possibilities that may not have
been considered by anyone at the table. Above all, it positions the people
involved as opposed to one another, rather than as involved in a shared concern
(Windle and Warren).
The alternative to positionality is to come to the table with the purpose of
sharing interests. Interests differ from positions in that they express concerns
about outcomes, reveal needs that must be met, and provide motivation for
solutions (Windle and Warren). For example, ―I want organochlorines banned‖ is
a position, while ―I‘m afraid my child will get leukemia‖ is an interest. Likewise,
―I don‘t want organochloride banned‖ is a position, while ―The banning of
organochlorines may lead to bacterial contamination‖ is an interest. Indeed, one
feature of negotiation that marked the IJC hearings as represented by Waddell,
is that interests were expressed, despite the fact that they were often seen as
overly emotional—which is just the point. Expressing interests rather than
positions allows negotiators to get to the underlying emotions that have led to
the positions, in this example, substituting fear of personal or community harm,
which may be addressed, for anger toward someone‘s position, which leads to
failure in negotiation. Expressing interests also opens up the possibility of shared
interests, which can be employed in seeking solutions. Moreover, interests are
subject to more than one solution, while positions assume only one solution.
Thus the sharing of interests paves the way for brainstorming, the opportunity
to see possible solutions never before considered.
The point is not to substitute interests for objective data, facts, and
information, but to share perceptions of data, facts, and information, recognizing
that every conflict has two components, emotion and substance, and that the
emotional component must be addressed before the parties can address the
substantive component (Windle and Warren). To do so is to recognize that
stories bring reflection to the rational process, whether they be stories about the
personal consequences of the way things are or stories about the personal
consequences if things don‘t change or change in ways which are harmful. As a
result, problems hold hope of being solved collaboratively.
Clearly, I am advocating a model of problem-solving that reaches down to
the grassroots. However, to suggest that positionality is the product only of
those in power would be disingenuous. All parties engaging in collaborative
problem-solving, therefore, must reconsider the ways in which we measure
justice, taking into account the entire web of overlapping concerns in a given
context. The Center for Whole Communities, initiated by environmentalist Peter
Forbes, offers a template for measuring the justice of decision-making which
takes into account the complexities of such webs and is guided by a set of
principles and values that recast the dynamics of power relationships.
Honed by a multidisciplinary panel of social scientists, biologists, urban
planners, writers, and land conservationists, the guiding principles include
valuing process as much as product, reflecting and articulating vision and
values, engaging in dialogue, inspiring rather than demanding action, and
respecting and honoring ―the capacities and assets of all people‖ (Whole 10).
Underlying these principles is a set of key values:

―Whole thinking‖ – recognizing ―critical interdependencies‖ and

educating people about them

―Respect, honor, and nurture‖ for ―peoples‘ values and passions for
place‖
―Integration of healthy land and people‖ – viewing life as ―one healthy
whole‖
―Honor for all life and the natural systems upon which we depend‖
―Reciprocity of success‖ – understanding that success need not be a
zero sum game
Fairness – including people ―equitably as full participants in the social,
political, and economic process of our communities‖
―Understanding of our connection to land‖ – recognizing land as ―the
foundation for our sustenance and survival‖
 Balance of ―specialization and integration, growth and natural cycles of
life and death . . . the health of the city and . . . the country
―Shared power‖
―Stewardship for future generations‖
Humility (11).
Upon these values and principles, The Center for Whole Measures has
established a set of rubrics which measure ―justice and fairness,‖
―relationships between land and people,‖ ―community building,‖ ―healthy
ecosystems,‖ ―healthy habitat for people,‖ ―stewardship,‖ ―economic
vitality,‖ ―community resilience,‖ ―power of story,‖ and ―being in service‖
(12-13). While these measures were originated to deal with land
conservation, the principles and values they represent open up the view of
land as a means of production, as well as the view of human beings as
mere producers and consumers. Doing so, they offer possibilities for
enhanced deliberation and results in all matters of community justice, for
they account for intertwining of economic, social, and environmental
needs. They do, in fact, begin the change the idiom with which one thinks
and speaks about argumentation and deliberation.
Fortunately, we have leaders among us who recognize that the key to
understanding these webs of interest lies in the power of stories and the
microeconomic contexts out of which they arise. Among these leaders is
Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh. An economist and
banker, Yunus understood that a small amount of money for tools and
materials could make an enormous difference in the ability of individuals
to make a living. He reached into his own pocket, loaning small sums of
money to 42 Bangladeshi women basket-weavers, relieving them from the
usurious interest rates of unscrupulous moneylenders. Their increased
profits allowed them not only to better provide for their families, but to
reinvest in their businesses, further increasing their prosperity. Yunus
recognized as well that the focus of these efforts needed to be directed at
women, for he knew full well the power dynamics that existed between
men and women in the homes of his people. In short, he perceived a
narrative unseen by bankers far removed from the daily life of villagers
(―Biography‖). Since his first small efforts, his micro financing model has
served as inspiration in over 100 developing countries, spreading even
into the developed world, including the United States (Fairbanks).
Nobel Peace Prize-winner Mangari Maathai also stands as an example of a
leader who brought the power of story to bear on world problems. Maathai knew
the stories of Kenya first-hand and refused to see the troubles of her homeland
from a distanced, objective viewpoint. Recognizing that environmental and
socio-economic justice go hand in hand, she worked collaboratively at the
grassroots to plant more than 40 million trees across Africa, reducing erosion in
sensitive watersheds, restoring forests rich in biodiversity, providing cooking
fuel, providing paid work for women, and teaching women and families to stand
up for their rights. She also provides a new idiom for rational problem-solving
that resonates with the cases I present in this paper: ―The planting of trees is
the pSlanting of ideas‖ (―Green Belt‖).
In her fashion, we can begin to think of rationality as sowing seeds of
thought which address the interconnections between environmental and socio-
economic justice. Seeing the earth and humanity as a whole, as a world hoop,
we can move forward in a mindset of stewardship and nurturance, plowing the
fertile soil of many minds, harvesting every kernel of truth in our efforts to
create a more sustainable future.
Food for thought.

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The Challenges of Quality Assurance in Distance Education: The Case of
the University of South Africa (UNISA)

Victoria Pholoso Seemela

University of South Africa
Department of Public Administration and Management

Abstract

Distance learning challenges the academic work of colleges and

universities as well as the politics of institutional self-regulation. This, in turn,
places significant responsibility on the accrediting community. Government
must take the initiative in defining the difference that distance learning makes to
teaching and learning in order to sustain the quality of the higher education
experience. Distance-based teaching and learning must respond the same
expectations that have such a long and respected tradition in the site-based
community (Eaton 2001). This paper reviews Unisa‘s present challenges in
terms of quality assurance and further explores appropriate policies and
strategies that can be used for implementing a quality management system
corresponding to different cultural contexts, stages of development and the
Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC).

Introduction and background

Many governments, believing that a large corps of highly educated people

is essential for the prosperity of society, are committing a large percentage of
public funds to higher education in order to provide places in degree and
diploma courses for increasing numbers of students. With the increase in funds
comes an increased concern on the part of the government regarding three
issues: - Firstly, are the higher education institutions explicitly planning and
organising to produce the graduates required by society, in other words, are
their objectives appropriate? Secondly, is the money being spent well, that is,
are the higher education institutions operating efficiently? Thirdly, are the higher
education institutions producing the desired graduates, that is, are they
operating effectively? These concerns have led to new interpretations of the
concept of quality. Traditionally, the word ‗quality‘ was associated with ideas of
excellence or outstanding performance. Much has been written in recent years
on the evolving meaning of quality in higher education and many definitions
have been suggested (Harvey & Green 1993), but the most commonly accepted
meaning now is ‗fitness of purpose‘. This allows institutions to define their
purpose in their mission and objectives, so quality is demonstrated by achieving
such objectives. This definition allows variability in institutions, rather than
forcing them to be clones of one another. At least, that is the theory, whether it
is actually achieved depends on the culture of the institution. Although there
seems to be no consensus on the definition of ‗quality education‘ the common
understanding is that it means excellence in education, that is, education that
meets or exceeds customer needs and thus provides satisfaction; education that
brings about freedom from deficiencies; and education that one might call ‗fit for
its purpose‘ (Steyn 2000; Mok 2000 in Sukati, et al., 2007).
Over the past two decades, the issue of quality education has become
important internationally. UNESCO (2004:37) recommends a comprehensive
framework for quality education that encompasses access, teaching and learning
processes and outcomes in ways that are influenced by both context and the
range and quality of available inputs. OECD (1999) supports this notion by
indicating that quality assurance thus encompasses policies, attitudes, actions
and procedures necessary to ensure that quality is being maintained and
enhanced. It may include approaches such as audit, assessment, accreditation
and quality improvement. Educators and higher education institutions are now
more concerned about the quality of their education and how to make certain
that a measure of success is achieved. The main goal is to first seek advice and
make improvements where necessary. Recently, educators have set up quality
assurance and accreditation systems and mechanisms to make sure that they
continuously monitor the quality of their educational systems. Such systems are
important because, according to Mugridge (2006:48), the improvement of
quality in education does not simply happen but requires constant attention. For
example, Unisa, as one of the largest providers of tertiary education, had to re-
examine its role and service to its learners and thus explore ways of changing
and expanding the character and nature of its tuition model. It must be noted
that whereas Unisa, as one of the mega-universities, had pioneered the
expansion of access to university education both in South Africa and
internationally, it was necessary for it to improve the quality of its course
materials and student support (Daniels 1995 in Nonyongo & Ngengebule 1998).
From the above discussion, quality assurance (QA) can thus be defined as
a data-driven system, which means that institutions need to establish quality
improvement and quality assurance procedures; they also need to include a
feedback loop in this system. Data on whether the institution is achieving its
outcomes must also include assessment such as surveys, for example students
currently studying, students completing studies, alumni and employers, as well
as statistics on completion and retention rates, for example benchmarking
nationally and internationally against other higher education institutions.
However, South Africa needs to avoid some of the mistakes that have been
made internationally. Morrison, Magennis and Carey (1995) warn that
universities are being encouraged to report simple, readily available quantitative
measures at the expense of complex qualitative assessments of the quality of
higher education, based upon professional judgements.
This tendency has also led to an unfortunate ‗ranking‘ of institutions in
other countries. It is, therefore, laudable that the focus of institutional audits in
South Africa is development and not accountability as such, given that the
country is looking at collaboration with a view to improving the whole system
rather than competition to see which university is ‗the best‘ (Kilfoil 2005:11). It
is also important for university staff to volunteer to train as peer evaluators to
ensure that good practices are shared in a collegial way. A further problem,
internationally, is the perceived threat to university autonomy in external quality
assurance measures. The planned system allows universities to guard their
autonomy by moving towards self-regulation and quality improvement and
gaining self-accreditation status.
Peer-driven audit and accreditation can make a difference to the quality of
education if implemented judiciously. It will have most benefit for those
institutions that take the process seriously, involve as many people on campus
as possible in the self-study and then use the results of the accreditation to
improve the institutions. Involvement in the system is important to ensure that
there is a contextualised quality assurance regime that meets the needs and
brings about continuous improvement in the country‘s system.
Kilfoil (2005) indicates that large, dedicated distance education providers
are in the best position to understand the systems that make open distance
learning (ODL) different from contact delivery. It is these providers that have
the expertise that allows for the creation of a quality management system that
works for dedicated distance providers, but which might not work as well for
institutions that offer only niche courses through distance or use purely online
approaches as opposed to blended approaches.

Factors that continue to affect the quality of distance education (Unisa)

Sukati et al., (2007) indicates the following factors that may cause lapses of
quality in the delivery of educational services.

Course material design and development

Course materials are important components of all higher education institutions
(HEIs). The design of materials can stimulate self-directed learning and thus
influence the quality of the system as a whole. Therefore, if a student‘s profile is
not taken into consideration, it might have a bad influence on the content,
language, teaching mode and technology used.

Lack of technology-based education

Information and communication technologies have revolutionised communication
systems throughout the world. Through the increasing influence of educational
technologies, education and training systems all over the world are adopting
new models of teaching, learning and student support.

Feedback on students‘ work

For the purpose of continuous assessment or evaluation, students are
periodically given work and forms of assessment that are intended to promote
two way communication. These forms of assessment allow the lecturers to
evaluate students‘ comprehension of the course materials and to motivate the
students by providing detailed comments. Students must receive effective
feedback, in the form of detailed comments, to gauge their level of
understanding of the subject matter; such comments allow students to correct
their mistakes and improve their skills. However, according to reports by
students at Unisa, many lecturers fail to give detailed comments when correcting
the continuous assessment work. The reasons cited for not making comments
on students‘ assignments were: the large number of students; time constraints
due to work overload; and lack of remuneration for marking assignments and
tests.

When lecturers are unable to write didactic comments, the value of

assessment is greatly reduced, which undermines the purpose of distance
education and affects the quality of education offered at Unisa.

Telephone network
One of the interpersonal communication networks is the telephone system. The
telephone is used in distance education to provide support to students and
enables them to seek clarification from lecturers, tutors and Unisa support staff.

Student support services

Distance learners have various needs which are influenced by their socio-
economic background and the use of the distance education delivery mode.

Critical issues and key challenges ahead

The overview of quality assurance in South African higher education

shows that the existence of the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC)
since 2001 has facilitated an accelerated focus on quality across the system. In
structural terms, this has entailed a shift from an ad hoc and uneven system to
a situation in which the HEQC is generating and applying national QA
frameworks and criteria across a coordinated system. In doing so, it is giving
effect to the key quality-related goals of national policy, namely to establish
quality as one of the key elements in the relationship between the state and the
higher education sector, and to support planning and monitoring, consistency of
provision and effective management in public and private institutions. As the
HEQC shifts from systems-building to implementation, a range of challenges lies
ahead (CHE 2004).
Firstly, from a systemic perspective, and especially in an environment of
system restructuring, it is clear that explicit strategic and operational links
between planning, funding and QA must be developed and sustained in ways
that reinforce the goals of policy, while also enabling HEIs to achieve the
benefits of those linkages.
Secondly, there is a range of difficulties for the QA system that can be
defined broadly as the difficulties of a system in flux. They include the ongoing
delay in finalising a new academic policy and, associated with this, the delay in
the resolution of the National Qualification Framework (NQF) implementation
review process; the complexities of academic programme and QA integration
associated with mergers; and the difficulty of knowing how to determine quality
standards in untried institutional environments for example universities of
technology and comprehensive institutions.
Thirdly, it is a key concern for the system and for HEIs, that institutional
autonomy be safeguarded in the presence of an external QA dispensation. The
intentions of the HEQC are to balance improvement and accountability roles, and
to build a culture of self-managed evaluation to support self-accrediting
institutions. However, despite a laudable set of objectives, there may yet be
risks and unintended consequences of the perception of checklist compliance, or
an excessive and expensive bureaucracy.
Fourthly, the equity and/or quality debate remains an important one. The
new funding formula does not reward under-capacitated institutions and these
HEIs have to find ways of delivering quality despite their disadvantages. The
throughput focus of the new funding formula leverages the tension between
equity and quality in that it may suggest a trade-off is necessary between
standards and throughput. Pressure for throughput poses a challenge, for
example for academic development programmes.
Fifth, a developed and implemented policy framework for QA is not
enough in itself to secure quality. Academics, management and students must
be successfully engaged in, and committed to, the QA process the voices and
needs of both must be heard; and the quality of their interactions in the context
of actual programmes must be fully interrogated if real transformation in higher
education is to be achieved.
Finally, and crucially, the institutionalisation of internal quality
management and continuous improvement within HEIs remains to be achieved,
and a common understanding of QA remains to be instilled in public and private
providers alike (CHE 2004).

Unisa‟s way forward on implementing a quality management system

(QMS)

The University of South Africa‘s mission is to establish a quality management

system (QMS). Swanepoel (2008) suggests that the university can achieve this
by having the necessary documentation in place, such as a portfolio document
that can be used for audit visits; the 2015 strategic plan which addresses the
agenda for transformation; the Unisa‘s institutional operational plan 2008-2010;
as well as Unisa‘s integrated quality management framework. From the above-
mentioned documents, areas that are likely to be covered in terms of QMS would
include the following:

planning process; leadership and management development;

performance management, student involvement in decision making;
regional structure and collaboration; communication of policies and decisions;
delegation of authority that includes clarifying roles and responsibilities for
teaching and learning research;
community engagement; academic and personal support for students;
support for staff such as induction and professional development,
rewards recognition and feedback from parties involved in the process.
Recommendations: A comprehensive approach to improvement of
Unisa‟s quality assurance

Because the existing performance patterns in the institution are

embedded in the long-standing systematic conditions, changing them calls for a
multi-faceted and multi-level approach, including the following key element:

Establishing effective frameworks for teaching and learning

The evident ineffectiveness of the traditional curriculum structures in

South African higher education serves as an example of how an inappropriate
framework restricts achievement. The need for effective frameworks applies not
only to structures within which formal teaching and learning take place, but also
to professional development and capacity building in higher education. Without
effective frameworks, effort and resources are not well utilised. Existing
frameworks are usually embedded in the system and are consequently resistant
to change. However, being prepared to examine them and change them as
necessary is particularly important in the South African context, where inherited
systems and approaches have some significant shortcomings in relation to
contemporary conditions and can, in themselves, be an obstacle to
development. It is ultimately the responsibility of the state to establish effective
frameworks, but given the nature of higher education, the involvement and
expertise of the sector are critical.

Conclusion

This paper reviewed Unisa‘s present challenges in terms of quality

assurance and further explored appropriate policies and strategies that can be
used for implementing a quality management system corresponding to different
cultural contexts; stages of development and the HEQC. However, the notion
good practice is constantly changing, therefore distance education institutions
must commit themselves to the following: conducting continual research;
benchmarking nationally and internationally to establish good practice using a
variety of standards to give multiple perspectives on their own systems and
processes; and becoming learning institutions. In many ways the HEQC is
correct in assuming that most of their generic indicators can be applied to
distance education, although, space must be created in the audit and
accreditation processes to explore and evaluate what is unique in the distance
education environment as well.

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‘I do not know how the native accents sound like but I like them’:
Preferences and attitudes towards English accents in Thailand

Chanpreeya Boonyarattapan
School of Humanities, University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce
Bangkok, Thailand

Abstract

In listening comprehension teaching, the relevance of a standard native

accent as a teaching and testing model needs to be reconsidered to respond to
the changing face of English. This study used a verbal-guise experiment that
involved rating different accents to test attitudes towards the native and non-
native English varieties of 30 university students. The results show a preference
for native accents. Although 63% of the participants stated that they could
differentiate between native and non-native accents, only 23% of the
respondents correctly identified the speakers‘ origin. The mismatch suggests
that EFL learners have a strong belief in the norm of native speakers even
though they do not actually know how the native accent sounds like. The results
are discussed with reference to the stereotypes Thai learners have about English
accents. This finding suggests a need for further deliberation of international
English in language classrooms.

Introduction

It is accepted that growing number of people who use English to

communicate allows English to act as a language of wider communication for
variety of purposes. The majority of uses of English occur in the contexts where
it serves as a lingua franca, far removed from its native speakers‘ norms and
identities (Seidlhofer, 2001; McKay, 2003). Fundamental issues to do with
global spread and use of English have become an important focus on research in
language studies, and yet the practices of most listening comprehension tests
seem to remain untouched by this development. The fact that most listening
tests rest on assumptions that were developed and tested with reference to the
learning of English in the Inner Circle countries, with little input from the
learning of English outside, has reflected in the use of only native speakers‘
accents as listening stimuli in the tests. Whereas, in reality, the great majority
of the world‘s English users are nonnative users who learn and use English
outside the Inner Circle circumstance. For instance, Thai users of English are
likely to encounter accents of nonnative users other than native speakers of
English. Morrison and White (2005) added that institutions often overlook the
resource available in their environment, focusing learner attention on Englishes
provided by member of the Inner Circle. Global listeners must also be reminded
to recognize the validity of varieties of English. Increasing exposure to English
varieties is one step. If listening comprehension tests are limited to native
speakers of English, they are not representatives of the range of listening
situations Thai students will encounter in the country.
 It is widely known that attitudes towards different varieties influence
comprehension. Major et al. (2005) stated that positive attitudes aid
comprehension, while negative attitudes interfere with comprehension. It
seems that stereotypes regarding nonnative accented speech exist as
perceptual constructs in the mind of both native and nonnative speakers of
English, and these attitudes may have strong influences on listening
comprehension. Further, Hiraga (2005) reported that only a few works
within language attitude studies have been presented since the end of the
1970s and most of these published since the 1980s used data gathered from
previous studies. It was also noted by Jarvella et al. (2001) that there were
not many attempts that have been made to examine reactions to varieties of
English of nonnative speakers. As a result, the study to investigate EFL
listeners‘ attitudes towards varieties of English is beneficial and worthwhile to
conduct with the intention to fill in the lack of further study in the field of
language attitudes towards English varieties. Given this, the study examined
of listening comprehension test takers‘ attitudes towards accent varieties of
English.
Listening comprehension is a complex construct, comprising a range of
processes and responses on the part of the listener. In a listening
comprehension test, a test taker‘s performance is seen to be a function of
three variables: his or her language ability, the test methods, and the nature
of listening input. Further, listeners‘ attitudes are also proved to contribute
to the nature of comprehension. Research indicates that listening
comprehension is supported when a listener has no negative attitudes
towards a particular variety of English (Major et al., 2005). The implication
of the present study would be best for choosing appropriate English varieties
as listening test input to accommodate EFL test takers in a similar situation in
order to minimize bias and raise fairness among test takers who possess
different ability and belief. Most of all, the use of the results would contribute
to the validity of the test construct which is the heart of all kinds of
assessment works.

Studies Concerning Attitudes towards Varieties of English

It is widely known that attitudes towards different varieties influence

comprehension. Positive attitudes aid comprehension, while negative
attitudes interfere with comprehension. Mackey and Finn (1997) emphasized
that untrained native-English-speaking listeners rate nonstandard native
English dialects as less natural sounding than standard speech and native
nonstandard English dialects as more natural sounding than nonnative
accented speech. Also, in 1994 Gill reported that native English students
rated standard accents more favorably than nonnative accented speech.
In a study on language attitudes conducted a the University of Puerto Rico,
Toro (1997) asked 152 students which voice they would like their English
professor to have and which they would most like to imitate. Students
mentioned Standard American English most favorably, followed by nonnative
Greek-accented English, then Puerto Rican English, and finally Southern
American English. These results suggest that an accent to which listeners
have had no exposures, such as nonnative Greek-accented English, might
appear more exotic and hence more attractive than more familiar accents
that stereotypically have negative social associations or connotations.
ESL learners also have biases against nonnative English. Pihko (1997) found
that Finnish ESL learners accepted native varieties as ‗real English‘, whereas
nonnative speech was perceived as ‗strange English‘. Dalton-Puffer et al.
(1997) conducted a study to test attitudes towards native and non-native
varieties of English in Austria. A language attitude study was undertaken
with 132 university students of English. The subjects evaluated three native
accents RP (Received Pronunciation), near RP and GA (General American)
and two Austrian non-native accents of English. The results confirmed the
low status the non-native accents have among their users and the overall
preferences for the three native accents. El-Dash and Busnard (2001) who
investigated Bralizian attitudes towards English also found out that Bralizian
subjects in their study rated English-speaking guises more favorably than
those of the native Portuguese in terms of status dimension. Not only did the
students have this rigid belief in native accents but teachers of English
shared the same attitudes too. In Jenkins‘ interview study (2005), eight NNS
teachers of English were interviewed and it was reported that these teachers
wanted NS English identity as expressed in a native-like accent. Native
accents, according to Jenkins‘ study participants, were ―good‖, ―perfect‖,
―correct‖, ―proficient‖, ―competent‖, ―original and real‖. Whereas nonnative
accents were perceived as ―not good‖, ―wrong‖, ―incorrect‖, ―not real‖,
―fake‖, and ―deficient‖ (Jenkins, 2005). It seems that stereotypes regarding
nonnative accented speech exist in the mind of NNSs of English, and these
attitudes may have influences on listening comprehension. Generally, the
respondents rate the accent best with which they have become familiar at
school or during stays in English-speaking countries. However, EFL students
can also have biases against some varieties of English produced by its native
speakers. In 2001, Jarvella et al. investigated the language attitudes of
advanced Danish students of English as a foreign language. The speech
samples were all from native speakers from Ireland, Scotland, England and
the USA. The speech of the Englishmen was rated as being the most
pleasant of the four varieties heard, and the speech of the Americans was
rated as being the least pleasant. Jarvella et al. (2001) stated that there is a
more widespread positive feeling about non-American accents among young
Europeans. This attitude is confirmed by another study done by Cenoz-
Garcia and Lecumberri in 1999. In their study, Spanish and Basque
university students rated American pronunciation less favorably not only than
RP, but also than other British accents and Irish English.
On the contrary, according to Giles (1970), British people rated British
regional varieties spoken in industrial conurbations such as Birmingham and
Manchester much lower than American English in terms both of pleasantness
and prestige. Hiraga (2005) re-examined Giles‘ report by using a similar
technique. Sharpening the focus of Giles‘ study, Hiraga‘s experiment (2005)
also found that only Standard American was significantly more favored than
British regional varieties. Bayard et al. (2001) reported that the American
accent seemed well on the way to equaling or even replacing RP as the most
prestigious or at least preferred variety in New Zealand, Australia and some
non-English-speaking nations. It is, then, very interesting to investigate
whether this attitude is similar for Thai listeners.
Research Methodology

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the participants‘

attitudes towards varieties of English accents and their preferences towards
using accent varieties as the input in a listening comprehension test. This study
was designed to provide preliminary answers to the following question:

What are the test takers‟ attitudes towards accent varieties of English and their
preferences towards using accent varieties as listening comprehension verbal
input?

Participants

The participants in this study was the second-year English major students
who enrolled in the Listening Comprehension Course in the second semester of
2007 academic year during November 2007 to February 2008 at the University
of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC) in Bangkok, Thailand. The total
population number was 318. The participants were homogeneous in terms of
nationality and background knowledge as they are all Thai students in the same
university. Most of them were about the same age and we could assume that
they have similar culture, interest and educational background. In order to gain
more in-depth information from the students concerning their attitudes and
preferences towards accent varieties of English, semi-structured interviews were
conducted a week after the students had participated in the listening
comprehension test. Thirty participants who took the test were invited for the
interview. These 30 participants were randomly selected from 8 groups of
students.

Table 1
Demographic Data of Thirty Interviewees

Samples Percent
Gender
Female 24 80%
Male 6 20%
Total 30 100%
Test Scores obtained
(full scores=40)
11 – 15 3 10%
16 – 20 6 20%
21 – 25 9 30%
26 – 30 7 23.3%
31 – 35 2 6.7%
36 - 40 3 10%
Total 30 100%

The Retrospective Semi-Structured Interview Questions

 To investigate the attitudes of the subjects towards varieties and their
preferences towards using English varieties as the listening input, the semi-
structure interviewing was used. This type of interview involves the
implementation of a number of predetermined questions and special topics.
These questions were typically asked to each interviewee in a systematic and
consistent order, but the interviewer was allowed freedom to probe beyond the
answers to the prepared structured questions. The present study uses
retrospective inspection to increase specificity. Here, the interviewees were
supported in recalling a specific situation by playing some part of the
conversations they had heard for the listening comprehension test, then they
responded to the interview questions.
The term ‗semi-structured‘ suggests a certain degree of standardization of
interview questions and a certain degree of openness of response by the
interviewer. All interview questions were structured with the purpose of the
research question set to investigate attitudes and preferences of the test takers.
The selected 30 subjects were recalled by listening to short speech
samples of each variety, and they corresponded to the interview questions
concerning attitudes and preferences. The present study used the traits studied
by Hiraga in 2005 to investigate the participants‘ language attitudes in the
questionnaire. Hiraga‘s choices of adjectives were chosen not only because her
study is the latest in the field but also she had extensively revised all adjectives
proposed to evaluate language attitudes in the preceding research studies and
concluded with a list of ten very concise adjectives to study ‗status‘ and
‗solidarity‘ traits. Hiraga (2005) employed Factor Analysis to verify that the
various adjective words were clearly divided into two response dimensions as
shown in Table 1.

The Modified Matched-Guise Method

For most language attitude studies, the matched-guise technique is the most
frequently used (Hiraga, 2005). The major principle of the matched-guise
technique is to examine only actual language varieties and to avoid control of
other variables such as the voice quality of speakers, the content of texts, or the
personality of speakers in the experiment situation. This technique requires that
the passages be read by the same speaker who can pronounce all varieties
correctly. However, the present study with its emphasis on subjects‘ reactions
to target language accents suggests the use of a modified matched-guise
technique, the ‗verbal guise‘ method (Dalton-Puffer et al., 1997). Instead of one
speaker assuming different guises, several speakers were used on the stimulus
tape. In the present study context, it is practically impossible to find speakers
who are equally convincing in several guises. This means that variables like
voice quality could be controlled only minimally.
There were 14 speakers for the seven varieties. This means there were
two people who represented each variety. The purpose of having two people
from each variety was to check whether the respondents had consistency in
responding to the same accent. The subjects were given instruction without
identifying which varieties were included. The speakers were asked to read a
short text on the same topic which was emotionally neutral and which also tied
in with the university setting of the study. The participants were told that the
test was done in the interest of finding the most appropriate English teacher. In
reality, people react to speech in specific situations and the same voice or
speaker may well get different evaluations in different contexts (Giles, 1992). It
was more than likely that the subjects would construct a context for themselves
if a specific situation was not provided, and this could lead to misinterpretation
of the subjects‘ attitudes evaluation. The selected 30 subjects listened to 14
speakers who spoke the same dialogue:
“I help students pass university entrance exams. I sometimes worry
about them and their futures because they don‟t know what they want to study
in college, or what kind of job they want in the future. A lot of my students go
to college because their families expect them to. Many of them think that once
they pass the entrance exam their future is guaranteed. That‟s a mistake. I tell
them, „Passing an entrance exam is just the beginning. To find a satisfying
career you have to be able to answer the following questions: What do you
want to learn about? What lifestyle do you want? What are your goals?”
The stimuli were presented one at a time because previous work indicated
that ratings of accentedness might become slightly harsher with repeated
hearing of an utterance (Munro et al., 2006). Upon hearing an utterance, each
participant was instructed to respond to the 10 questions starting with ‗do you
think this person is sociable?‘ by giving the answer in rating scales.
After these ten adjectives questions, another seven questions concerning
their preferences when varieties of English existed as the test stimuli were
followed. The questions asked were:
1. Are you able to recognize different varieties of English?
2. Which varieties do you find easy or difficult to comprehend?
3. Do you find different accents equally pleasing?
4. Do your judgments depend on the voice of the speakers or the content
of the utterance?
5. Do you like the listening comprehension test to incorporate varieties of
English?
6. Does the inclusion of English varieties make you uncomfortable?
7. Does the inclusion of English varieties make the listening test more
difficult or easier?
The content validity of the interview questions were validated by three
experts. The experts consist of one native speaker who holds a master‘s degree
in teaching English and has taught listening and speaking English for more than
15 years. The other two content specialists hold a doctoral degree in applied
linguistics and sociolinguistics. The three experts found the interview questions
acceptable and valid.

Selection of speakers‟ countries

The study required the test takers to encounter a range of English

varieties; however, the experimental design limited the number of accents that
could be tested. Given these limitations, three countries of the English native
speakers were chosen and four countries of the nonnative speakers of English
were selected. These countries were chosen according to statistics reported by
the two government offices – the Board of Investment (BOI) and the Tourism
Authority of Thailand (TAT) through their websites in 2006 (BOI, 2006; TAT,
2006). The goal of the study is to examine the influence of English spoken by
people from different parts of the world on listening comprehension. Therefore,
the people from the countries that the study participants who are Thai are likely
to encounter were selected according to the amount of their investment in
Thailand and their arrivals to the country.
 From the statistics provided by BOI and TAT, the major foreign investors
were from Japan, Europe, Taiwan, American, Hong Kong, and Singapore. This
information agreed with the amount of the foreign arrivals to Thailand reported
by Immigration Bureau. Three countries of English native speakers were
reported to visit Thailand the most. They were from United States of America,
United Kingdom and Australia, consequently, people from these countries were
chosen for Test A. For Test B, people from Japan, Malaysia, China were included
in the test as they were the major investors and account for the top of the
tourist number. However, considering the amount of the investment in
Thailand, Singaporeans has invested a large sum of money in the past three
years. They were second to Japan in terms of investment amount in Thailand.
Therefore, Singaporean variety was also included. The accent varieties that
were chosen for the study are as follows:

Native speaker varieties (NS) Non-native speaker varieties (NNS)

1. United States of America 1. Japan
2. United Kingdom 2. Malaysia
3. Australia 3. China
4. Singapore

Results and Discussion

Investigation of the test takers’ attitudes towards English accent

varieties
The sampled interviewees were asked to listen to the recorded speech and
gave instructions without knowing which varieties were included. The 14 speech
samples - 2 voices for 1 accent variety- lasted about 30 seconds each. The 7
varieties, which were from the United Kingdom, the United States of America,
Australia, Japan, China, Malaysia, and Singapore, were arranged to be heard at
random. While listening to each speech sample, the interviewees were asked to
give their opinions on a four-point scale rating according to the answer sheet
with the ten adjectives. All interview parts and instructions given were
conducted in their native Thai language so that the participants had a clear
explanation of the meaning of adjective words used. The higher the score, the
more positive the interviewees felt for that adjective word.
The next step was to analyze the data. First, attitude differences among
seven varieties for the solidarity and status dimensions were investigated. The
mean scores for each dimension were ranked. The mean scores of the five
adjectives for solidarity dimension and the other five adjectives for the status
aspect are demonstrated in Figures 1-2 and Table 2.

Figure 1: Figure 2:
The Solidarity Means The Status Means
 S ingapore S ingapore

China China

S uccessful S uccessful
Japan Japan
Wealthy Wealthy
Malay Intelligent Malay Intelligent
E ducated E ducated
AUS AUS
E legant E legant
AME AME

UK UK

0 1 2 3 4 0 1 2 3 4

Table 2: Mean Scores Ranking

Solidarity Dimension Status Dimension
Varieties Mean Mean Varieties Mean Mean
Scores Rank Scores Rank
America 3.04 1 America 3.16 1
UK 2.74 2 UK 3.15 2
Japan 2.73 3 Australia 2.75 3
Australia 2.58 4 Malaysia 2.66 4
Singapore 2.49 5 Japan 2.56 5
China 2.45 6 Singapore 2.48 6
Malaysia 2.41 7 China 2.26 7

In terms of solidarity dimension, the American variety was rated the

highest and the Malaysian variety was rated the lowest. Also, the American
variety was ranked the highest in the status dimension. The responses given by
the 30 test takers showed that the American variety is the most acceptable
accent in both solidarity and status aspects. Further, a hierarchy on the basis of
attitude ranking and the total mean scores (NS mean = 2.90, SD = .222; NNS
mean = 2.50, SD = .120) reveal that, on average, native speakers‘ varieties
were rated higher than nonnative speakers‘ varieties, except on the aspect of
solidarity that the Japanese variety received a higher score than the Australian‘s.
Among native accent varieties, the American variety is the most preferred
accent while the Japanese accent received outstanding attitude scores among
nonnative accents. It can be concluded from the data that the test takers have
more positive attitude towards the native speakers‟ accent varieties than the
nonnative speakers‟ accent varieties of English.

The investigation of the test takers’ preferences towards using accent

varieties of English in a listening comprehension test

After listening to 14 speech samples and expressing their attitudes on the

English varieties, the 30 participants were interviewed individually to find out
their preferences towards using varieties of English accents as stimuli for a
listening comprehension test. Seven questions were asked. The information
gathered is presented in Table 3.
.
Table 3
Interview Data of Preferences towards Accent Varieties
Questions and Answers Frequenc Valid
y Percent
1. Are you able to recognize different accent varieties of English?
Yes 19 63.3%
No 11 36.7%
Total 30 100%
2. Which accent do you find it difficult to comprehend?
Native speakers 6 20%
Nonnative speakers 24 80%
total 30 100%
Questions and Answers Frequenc Valid
y Percent
3. Do you find different accents equally pleasing?
Yes 4 13.3%
No 26 86.7%
Total 30 100%
4. Do your judgments depend on the voice of the speakers
or the contents of the utterance?
Voice 19 63.3%
Content 10 33.3%
Both 1 3.3%
Total 30 100%
5. Do you like the listening comprehension test to incorporate
accent varieties of English?
Yes 10 33.3%
No 20 66.7%
Total 30 100%
6. Does the inclusion of English accent varieties make you
uncomfortable?
Yes 14 46.7%
No 16 53.3%
Total 30 100%
7. Does the inclusion of English accent varieties make the listening
comprehension test more difficult?
Yes 26 86.7%
No 4 13.3%
Total 30 100%

From Table 3, the percentage of sampled interviewees who indicated that

they were able to recognize different accent varieties of English is 63.3%. About
36.7% of the test takers admitted that they could not recognize different English
accents used in the test. There were a lot of the interviewees who thought that
they were able to recognize English accent varieties but not all of them could
give correct varieties. A crosstabulation was conducted to investigate the results
of correctness. The results of the crosstabulation reveal that there were 19
people who mentioned that they were able to recognize the varieties of English
but only 7 of them could correctly identify the speakers‘ place of origin. The
number 7 out of 30 accounts for 23.3% of the total. This means that only
23.3% of the respondents could tell the origin of the speakers.
Most of the test takers (80 %) agreed that nonnative varieties were more
difficult to comprehend, and more interviewees which are about 86.7% thought
there were some varieties that were more pleasing to hear for them. Further, a
lot of interviewees (19 out of 30 participants) revealed that they made their
judgments on the voice rather than the content of speech they heard.
When asked if they wanted the listening comprehension test to include
different varieties of English, about two third of the interviewees, which was
66.7 %, disagreed with the idea to include different varieties of English as
listening stimuli in the test. The reason was disclosed by their answer to
question seven, when 86.7% of the test takers thought that inclusion of English
varieties made the test more difficult. It can be concluded from the data that
the test takers expressed stronger preference to use the native speakers‟ accent
varieties as the voice stimuli in the listening comprehension test. However, in
the answer to question six, more than half of the interviewees did not feel
uncomfortable when listening to different English accents.

Discussion
Concerning listeners‘ affective reactions to the varieties of English,
attitudes and preferences towards these accents were investigated separately in
the semi-structured interview. The answer for these questions is rich of
information and the result could be discussed in three main topics:

Native varieties are prestige varieties

The responses showed that, on average, native varieties were rated as

having more positive attitude than nonnative varieties. In status dimension,
particularly, American, British and Australian English received much higher
scores than those of Malaysian, Japanese, Singaporean and Chinese varieties.
Taking a closer look at the adjectives describing ‗status‘, the words –elegant,
educated, intelligent, wealthy and successful - convey prestige of varieties. The
findings concur with the classic pattern of such research that reflects the
tradition that prestige accents score highly in power/status variables (Bayard et
al., 2001). For Thai students in this present study, this means that a person
who sounds like a native speaker would be perceived as having ‗prestige‘. This
claim is confirmed by some responses provided by the interviewees when asked
about their preferences towards varieties. There were 13 respondents who
mentioned directly that a person, who sounded like a native speaker looked
smarter, more educated, and had a better personality than a person who did not
sound like a native speaker. Definitely, native varieties of English are the
prestige varieties for the respondents.

Stereotype on varieties

The study revealed an apparent result that nonnative varieties of English

are more difficult for the test takers to comprehend. Further, this is confirmed
by the interview part, 80% of respondents inferred directly that nonnative
varieties are harder to understand than the other three native English accent
varieties.
Although the test takers could distinguish between native and nonnative
English, not many of them could tell the difference between each English variety.
They, especially, did not really know the difference between general American
and British English. For instance, when they said they liked the British variety,
instead they gave examples of American people and sometimes an Australian.
This might be because of the fact they have been provided with a mixed
exposure of native English varieties. At UTCC, a lot of commercial textbooks
and teaching materials used are examples of mainly British and American
English, and these materials are taught by a mixture of native English lecturers
from the UK, the USA, Australia and a few from Canada, and New Zealand.
However, the students have not been exposed to a particular variety long
enough to tell the difference among native speakers, and they might not even
pay attention to this matter. This might lead to their inability to name correct
native varieties of English. A number of respondents mentioned that they loved
to listen to British English and some of them even said they wanted to sound
British but actually they just meant they wanted to be native-like. This is the
evidence that native speakers of English were often stereotyped as British
people for the respondents.
The discussion above reflects the respondents‘ fixed stereotype of the
native speakers‘ utterance. There are still a number of students who are
influenced by British imperialism. Although Thailand was not colonized by UK in
the past, it cannot reject that once dominant power such as British English which
had exercised control over a colonized area of Thailand‘s neighbors and a
number of countries worldwide also has a strong impact on some Thai people‘s
preference for British English. This claim is well-supported by a lot of
respondents‘ opinions (eight of them), when asked the reason for their
preference of British English, all of them said, ―British English is original because
British people are the owners of the language. It is very prestigious to sound
like an English person.‖ However, it is important to note here that this is their
personal believes. In reality, as stated in the findings, most of the respondents
did not really know how the British accent sounds like. This was revealed by the
matched-guised technique that actually they preferred the American accent
more than the British accent.
 In terms of nonnative varieties, from the interview findings, it was
revealed that a number of respondents had stereotypes about the accent
varieties in that they found they were hard ‗to catch‘. When asked whether they
could recognize the varieties used in the test stimuli, about one third of them
were certain that Indian English was included in the test (actually, there were no
Indian speakers in this study). From the crosstabulation, the results showed
that most of the test takers were unable to recognize the difference among
accent varieties. Therefore, this means that Indian English accent was
stereotyped as a hard-to-understand accent by the test takers. This rigid
stereotype was mentioned again when the respondents were enquired to name
any English varieties that they found difficult to comprehend. The Indian English
variety was ranked in the top by six respondents. Perhaps, they might think
that the voice examples from Malaysia were Indian English.
However, the participants, who have had experience English in native
environments, responded to these questions a little differently. They seemed to
be open-minded on varieties. All of them were more capable in distinguishing
the difference between American and British accents, and none of them
expressed special favor for British English or strong belief about Indian English.
It is interesting to note that those who mentioned the British English as their
model (without knowing how real British English sounds) have not been in an
English-speaking country. This confirms the result from Dalton-Puffer et al.‘s
study in Austria (1997) that the evaluations of the students with EFL experience
reflect rather rigid stereotype, while those students who have spent some time
in English-speaking countries reveal more individualized, situation-linked
attitudes.

Native speaker accents were preferred for listening comprehension

tests

Because of their familiarity and positive attitudes towards native English

varieties, two third of the respondents insisted that they wanted only native
varieties to be included in the test. On the other hand, another 33 % of
respondents thought that a listening comprehension test should incorporate
varieties both from native and nonnative speakers. They realize that in real
world there are more nonnative speakers and they wanted to expand their
comprehension ability to include these different English accents. Some of them
mentioned their excitement and amusement when hearing varieties. It is
obvious that those students who agreed with the idea of incorporating nonnative
speakers‘ voice were more advanced students, and they did not care much
about their performance on the test. On the contrary, the participants who
scored lower were more worried about not being able to comprehend unfamiliar
utterance which would affect their test scores. These lower-scores participants
did not want to score low in the test, whereas those who were more advanced
were more concerned in the test authenticity and wanted to be challenged by
something new in the test.
Another interesting point to discuss is the fact that more than half of the
respondents were not uncomfortable with accent varieties in a non-test
situation. Some respondents, who disagreed with the idea of incorporating
nonnative speakers‘ voice with the test, proposed they would love to have more
practice in listening to nonnative varieties in classroom. One respondent stated
clearly that she thought if she had been prepared to listen to nonnative varieties
more in class, she could have scored higher in test version B. This leads to the
idea that nonnative varieties will be more acceptable if the test takers are
provided with more chance of exposure. Familiarity, as stated previously, still
plays a significant role in the test takers‘ attitudes towards using varieties of
English as listening comprehension test stimuli.

Conclusion
The authority to create Standard English no longer resides solely with its
native speakers. Lowenberg (1993) indicated more than 10 years ago that there
were potential cases where the control of the future use of English would be
passed to nonnative speakers. This is indeed the case in many areas of the
English-speaking world. Jenkins (2006) called for a major rethinking of English
language goals and the overhaul of English language testing due to the recent
changes in both users and uses of English around the world. There is an
attempt in conducting the standard framework for English for international uses,
for instance, as seen in a work done by Nakano (2007) and many other more.
Language testers are facing the changing face of English. However, the
stakeholders of tests can be fairly conservative as it can be seen from the
present study results and other studies. Jenkins (2005) found out that teachers
from the expanding circle did not really wish to use their accented English to
express their L1 identity. Nemtchinova (2005) also reported that ESL students
in the USA prefer to be taught by native speakers. This is concordant with the
present study findings that the EFL students or the test takers still have strong
belief in the norm of native speakers. This might gradually change, but not
suddenly, because the people‘s past experience in classroom teaching, media,
and social association combines to affect their attitudes to English at the deeper
level. As it is noted by Taylor (2006) that over the next 10 or 20 years,
emerging Englishes including EIL may well grow in status and take on a role as
pedagogic and assessment models for English learners. While we are waiting for
this change, it is recommended for English teachers to nurture listeners by
increasing familiarity and appreciation for world Englishes because it is obvious
from the present study results that familiarity and appreciation of varieties could
lead to better listening comprehension. In the listening classroom, teachers can
provide resources to create a greater understanding of the concept of
international English among students and this can then be passed on to the
listening test situation.

The Author
Chanpreeya Boonyarattapan holds a Ph.D. in English as an International
Language from Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. She has been working as an
English lecturer for more than 10 years and currently works at the Department
of English for Business Communication, School of Humanities, University of the
Thai Chamber of Commerce. Her areas of interest are language assessment and
evaluation, second language listening, varieties of English and culture.

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The Recognition and Production Question Forms of English Intonation
by Turkish First Year Students of English inLanguage Education
Departments

Dr. Mehmet DEMİREZEN

Hacettepe University, Dept. of ELT,
Ankara, Turkey

Abstract

Intonation training is a challenging aspect of in ELT/EFL studies, that‘s

why it isthe most difficult topic in foreign language learning and teaching
because it depends on a specific training of stress, pitch and juncture, which are
collectively called intonation. In this research, it is assumed that the question
form of intonation, produced by the auxiliary verbs in a pitch level of /233/ and
tag questions, cannot be properly acquired by the first year Turkish students of
English Language education Department at Hacettepe University, Turkey and
many of Turkish English teachers who are on-the-job. About one hundred first
year student subjects will be handled first by a pretest, and then they will be
taught the recognition and production of the question intonation via related
intonation teaching activities eight weeks, three hours per week. In addition to
this research, 30 randomly chosen Turkish English teachers will be tested
through 42 sample sentences (see the appendix). Then they will be given a post
test so as to measure the expected intonation acquisition by the subjects. Thus,
the causes and the results of the difficulty of acquiring the question intonation
by the first year students will be disputed and evaluated in the end.

Difficulties in Intonation Education

A lack of precision in describing intonation is still a serious problem. The

term intonation is a fishy case because it is mostly confused with prosody.
Intonation is a broad term used by phoneticians to describe the effects of
contrastive pitch movement (Crystal, 1987: 423). According to Johnson and
Johnson (1999: 176), ―intonation refers to the meaningful changes in pitch of
voice in speech.‖ The difficulties in intonation rest on its multi-leveled
relationship with the following parameters:

Intonation and Prosody Relations

It is a suprasegmental term and ―refers to the metrical patterns found in

lines of poetry (Crystal, 2007: 74). It is also termed as the study of
speech rhythms.

Intonation and Rhythm Relations

 Rhythm ―is the regular repetition of stress in time (Seaton, 1982:1559.
According to Crystal (2007: 75), pitch, loudness, and tempo combine to make
up a language‘s expression of rhythm. English uses stressed syllable provided
roughly at regular intervals of time in fluent speech and separated by unstressed
syllables. Pitch, loudness, and tempo together enter into a language‘s expression
of rhythm Crystal (1987:161).

Intonation and Tempo Relations

It is the relative rate of speech habitually used by the native speakers. As

it is often realized in the practice of discourse analysis variations in the study of
tempo, which are like speeding up or slowing down in tempo, can create
different meanings in the spoken discourse. It is possible to speed up or slow
down the rate of the rate at which syllables, words, and sentences are produced,
to convey several kinds of meaning (Crystal, 1987: 169).

Intonation and Melody (Music) Relations

Prosody-and intonation in particular-has often been called ‗melody‘ ‗or

music‘ of speech (Crystal, 2007:78). It is the linguistic use of pitch, loudness,
tempo, and rhythm (Crystal, 1987:429). It is also called as prosody because of
having similar ingredients in its nature and composition.

Paralinguistic Relations of Intonation

Such paralinguistic features, which convey cultural trait, like whispered

speech, rounding lips, proxemics, and kinesics are truly universal, but function
differently by giving life to many different meanings. Because many of the
paralinguistic features are language specific, they are very hard to be learned by
the nonnative speaking teachers, who need real further education in them.
In brief, no matter the languages possess the same language typology or
not, prosody, rhythm, tempo, paralinguistic features, and melody (music) of a
language are parameters of intonation, making each language different from
each other to a greater extent. It is them that make the learning and teaching of
a language very difficult job.

The Elements of Intonation in Relation to Prosody

Intonation and prosody are treated under the term suprasegmentals. A

careful analysis of each of them is a must because many people confuse them
with each other. The ingredients of these terms can be given as follows:

Intonation Prosody Rhythm Tempo Melody

(Music)
Pitch pitch pitch the relative rate of speech pitch
Stress stress stress stress
Juncture tempo tempo tempo
rhythm rhythm
(Demirezen, (Crystal, (Crystal, (Crystal,
1986; Finch, 1987) 1987 1987)
2005)
 The intertwined intersection of the intonation with prosody and
paralinguistic features can be summarized as follows:

Figure 1: The ingredients of intonation and prosody

It must be noted that the term called juncture does not take place in
books anymore. This is a great handicap for the nonnative teacher of English
because it belongs to a trio which consists of stress and pitch that make the
term intonation. It is the juncture that divides the stream of speech into word
groups and tone units through the language specific pausing. If it is not studied
in a foreign language class properly, the nonnative speaker is bound to divide
the words, phrases, and sentences in accordance with ones in this mother
tongue. Thus, the absence of word grouping is likely to result in non-fluent
speech, with pauses occurring in unnatural places to facilitate the solving
linguistic problems, rather than to serve the purpose of signaling intonation
structure Jenkins (2005:45).

Research 1:

Introduction
It must be noted that it is not easy to cope with the distinctive features of
English intonation for the non-native speakers of English. The purpose of this
research was to examine intonation production on question note and tag
question tone of the Turkish students and teachers of English language. So, the
aim is to identify their intonation problem in picking of the question intonation.

Purpose

The experiment is based on auditory recording of 12 test sentences which

were uttered by 100 students. These subjects had a phonetics course of 14
weeks and know transcription. The aim of this research is to discover whether
the subjects would associate the required intonation contour with the related
meaning of the utterance. The second aim of this research is to find out how the
students went astray in using the question intonation contour in their
utterances.

Research Questions

The questions of this research can be stated as follows:

1. Turkish students of English Language Education Department (of the year
2008) have a serious problem in producing the rising question intonation tone in
relation to checking information to make sure.
2. Turkish students have fossilization in intonation.
3. Intonation Teaching is a difficult area in teacher education.

Methodology

100 Turkish students, who have finished a-year training in English at the
prep school, of English Language Education in the first year were involved in this
experiment. So the subjects constituted a homogenous socio-linguistic group
with regards to such variables as age, education, exposure to training in English
phonetics. We audio-taped the test questions of 100 subjects with an audio-
cassette recorder as a pretest. There are 12 test questions as given below:

1. Did the shop close down? 7. Were they present at the party?
2. Did you have a car? 8. Did you tell Jennifer about the party?
3. Are all slides in order? 9. Could I ask you a couple of questions?
4. Did they offer you the job? 10. Should I wear my grey dress?
5. Have you been to London? 11. Shall I turn on the air conditioner?
6. Was the king happy? 12. May I borrow your pen?

These questions actually require answers to YES/NO cases checking

information to make sure, which mainly depends on the basis of a stereotype
pattern of intonation requiring a rising tone at the end of the utterance. In the
pretest, all of the subjects read out the 12 test questions with a falling tone.
According to Hewings (2007:92), we can use a fall-rising tone or a rising tone
with little difference in meaning. However, a fall-rising tone often sounds more
polite than a rising tone. All of the students in the pretest gave a falling
intonation to the test questions without being aware of being polite. It must be
noted that being polite changes from culture to culture. In particular, a fall-rising
tone is often preferred in questions for social reasons, that is, mainly to be polite
and friendly, rather than to check information (Hewings, 2007:92). The students
are not consciously aware of the being polite and checking information to make
sure difference.
The subjects had a seven-week term of training in an intonation study
which is composed of pitch, stress, and juncture on English phonetics. In
addition, the related exercises of the book of Martin Hewings called English
Pronunciation in Use (2007 with CD) are used. After a training of 7 weeks in
general intonation practices within 21 hours along with pitch, stress and
juncture, the subjects read out the same 12 test sentences and were audio-
taped again. A comparative analysis of the pretest and posttest results (n=100)
can be stated as follows:

Pretest Questions Correct Answers (Giving the

rising tone “to make sure”)
1. Was the king happy? 10 students
2. Have you been to London? 9 students
3. Did you tell Jennifer about the party? 8 students
4. Did the shop close down? 7 students
5. Were they present at the party? 7 students
6. Could I ask you a couple of questions? 6 students
7. Should I wear my grey dress? 5 students
8. Did you have a car? 4 students
9. Are all slides in order? 5 students
10. Did they offer you the job? 3 students
11. Shall I turn on the air conditioner? 6 students
12. May I borrow your pen? 2 students

Posttest:

The number of students that gave the answers in the wrong falling tone is very
high. The order of difficulty in sentences can be stated as follows:
Success Rate
1. Was the king happy? 90 students wrong (90%). 0%
2. Have you been to London? 91 students wrong (91%. 0%
3. Did you tell Jennifer about the party?
92 students wrong (92%) 0%
4. Did the shop close down? 93 students wrong (93%) 0%
5. Were they present at the party?
93 students wrong (93%) 0%
6. Could I ask you a couple of questions?
94 students wrong (94%) 0%
7. Should I wear my grey dress?
94 students wrong (94%) 1%
8. Did you have a car? 94 students wrong (94%) 2%
9. Shall I turn on the air conditioner?
95 students wrong (95%) -1 %
10. Are all slides in order? 95 students wrong (95%) 0%
11. Did they offer you the job? 97 students wrong (97%) -1 %
12. May I borrow your pen? 98 students wrong (98%) 0%

As it is seen, the results are distressingly negative, emphasizing the

validity of the hypotheses of this research. There are many reasons behind the
difficulty of teaching and learning intonation. For example, shortness of the
intonation teaching period; Turkish is a syllable-timed language as opposed to
English which is a stress-timed language; Turkish students cannot hear the
stress difference in relation to tonic stress between content words (nouns, verbs,
adjectives, adverbs) and function words (conjunctions, prepositions, and
articles).

Research 2:

This is a shortened form of a presentation given at a symposium on

―Perspectives on Teaching Pronunciation: Where Theory Meets Practice,‖ 21
November 2008, Ankara-Turkey in Bilkent University in the School of English
Language under a title like ―Tag Questions and Intonation Problems for Turkish
English Language Teachers

Introduction

The utterance of the question tag intonation of English language

constitutes a serious problem for the Turkish teachers of English. Difficulties
experienced while learning the intonation of the target language must be
seriously handled especially in foreign language teacher education. Certain types
of fossilized intonation patterns, one of which is question tag intonation of
English language, play a disproportionate role by harming the accuracy,
intelligibility, and fluency of the nonnative speakers. Such a situation will harm
the communicative competence of the non-native English language teachers.

Purpose

Intonation training is a very crucial but a neglected issue in Turkey.

Intonation instruction is not appropriately emphasized in the curricula of English
language departments in Turkey. The aim of this research is to explore the
efficiency of Turkish English teachers on the intonation of tag questions and
their related factors like mother tongue interference, language typology, and the
curriculum inadequacy, which seem to contribute to the learning of intonation.

Research Questions

1. Turkish teachers of English have a partial success in achieving the question

tag intonation in the target language.
2. Turkish English teachers have an accent.
3. They have a high degree of intonation fossilization.
4. They also have very serious pronunciation problems, negatively influencing
the 1-2-3 research questions.

Methodology and Data Gathering

Subjects are 30 randomly chosen Turkish teachers of Turkish Ministry of

Education. 3 males and 27 females, with an age range from 22-32, from1 year
to 10 years of teaching experience. 15 of them had a course of Phonetics in
English. 5 of them had a phonetics course of two terms. None of them had
courses on intonation analysis studies.
The subjects were given 42 sentences (see the appendix, all of which are
recorded on a CD that can be listened to) which were taken from the book called
―English Pronunciation in Use‖ by M. Hewings (2007), and they were asked to
read out these 42 sentences by paying attention to English intonation; while
they read out these sentences, they were audio-taped. Their recorded
utterances were analyzed in the light of following rules that are presented here:

INTONATION RULES OF QUESTION TAGS

1. We use a falling tone for question tags when we expect the hearer to
acknowledge that what we have just said is correct, for example, when we
are giving our opinion:
They didn‟t play very well, did they?
Great film, wasn‟t it?

2. We use a rising tone when we invite the hearer to say whether what we
have just said is correct or not, for example, when we are not certain that
something is true:
Japanese, isn‟t it?
Not on a diet again, are you?

3. Question tags usually have a falling tone when the statement is obviously
correct:
 You‟re not well, are you?
Hot, isn‟t it?

4. We use also a falling tone when we want the hearer to admit that
something they may not have accepted before is, in fact, correct:
Wrong again, weren‟t you?

5. Question tags can also follow exclamations and these tags usually have a
falling tone:
A: He could have been killed crossing the road like that.
B: What a stupid thing to do, wasn‟t it?

6. When both the statement and the question tag are positive, the question
tag usually has a rising tone:
You‟ve finished, have you?

7. Question tags (usually will you, can‘t you, won‘t you, would you, or shall
we) can be added to imperative sentences. These tags usually have a rising
tone and are often used to soften a request or commend:
Let‟s get the earlier train, shall we?
Take care of these, would you?
(Hewings, 2007: 88).

Analysis

After an analysis of intonation patterns it was discovered that these

Turkish English teachers could not utter a single test sentence in forms of
question tags correctly through acceptable intonation patterns in the English
language. Obviously, intonation subject matter, as a further education issue for
Turkish English teachers of the Ministry of National Education, is a must to be
taken up very seriously in Turkish foreign language education programs.
The result of the research was very distressing. There are many
difficulties that pave the way for such a conclusion. One of the reasons is that
Turkish and English have different typologies in which English has a stress-timed
rhythm while Turkish has a syllable-timed one: this is the basis of mother
tongue influence. A second reason is the absence of courses on teaching
Intonation in the curricula of departments of English language Education. In
addition, the lack of juncture studies in the target language invites many errors
in connected speech for the Turkish students and English language teachers.

The Stress-timed Nature of English as a Difficulty

The typological difference between English and Turkish is the most

problem-causing case in Turkish students‘ failure of intonation learning. Celce-
Murcia, et al (1996:152) give the following example to demonstrate the stress-
timed nature of English:
• • •
CATS CHASE MICE.
The CATS have CHASED MICE.
The CATS will CHASE the MICE.
The CATS have been CHASING the MICE.
The CATS could have been CHASING the MICE.
 It must be noted that even though the above given sentences are
different in the number of syllable, they are equivalent in the number of stressed
syllables. Therefore, the time needed to utter these sentences is roughly
equivalent as well. The first sentence has the fewest syllables, but each of them
is longer. In the following syllables, however, there are more syllables with
unstressed syllables that are shorter than the stressed ones. ―In addition, the
stressed syllables of these sentences are also slightly shorter than the stressed
syllables of the first sentence in order to accommodate the extra unstressed
syllables (Celce-Murcia et al (1996:152). In stress-timed languages, it is as
though the unstressed words must be sandwiched together in order to allow the
stressed syllables to recur at regular intervals (Avery and Ehrlich, 1992:74).
The reduction of vowels into schwa in this sandwich style, as seen in
figure below, cannot be perceived by the students whose language is base on
syllable-time rhythm. Such students often assign equal weight upon each
syllable in speaking in English, subconsciously by not paying attention to the
syllables whether they are stressed or unstressed. This may give their speech a
staccato-like rhythm that can adversely affect the comprehensibility of their
English (Avery and Ehrlich, 1992:74).

/ / / / magic-magician, valid-validity
/ :/ / / idiotic-idiot, paradigmatic-paradigm
/e, / / / able-ability
/ / / / suspect(n)-suspect(v),suspicion-
suspicious
/o:/ / / photograph-photograpy
/u/ / / hand-handful, care-careful
/ / / / observation-observe, orator-oration

Figure 2: Vowel Reduction in English (Demirezen, 1986:74)

In English, stressed syllables are produced with more muscular effort, and
are louder and longer than the unstressed syllables (Davenport and
Hannahs,1988:115). The stress-timed nature of English signifies that the length
of an utterance does not depend on the number of syllables, whereas, it does in
Turkish since it is a syllable-timed language, just like in Spanish, Italian,
Japanese, Arabic, French, Cantonese, Polish, and some African languages.
―Maintaining a regular beat from stressed element to stressed element and
reducing the intervening syllables can be very difficult for students whose native
tongue has syllable-timed rhythm patterns. In these syllable-timed languages
(such as French, Italian, Japanese and many African languages), rhythm is a
function of the number of syllables in a given phrase, not the number of stressed
elements ―Celce-Murcia et al (1996:153).
As a result of these differences in stress level and syllable length, learners
from syllable-timed language background tend to stress syllables in English
more equally without giving sufficient stress to the main words and without
sufficiently reducing unstressed syllables (Celce-Murcia et al (1996:153). ESL
students who speak a syllable-timed language will often assign equal weight to
each syllable in English sentences, regardless of whether the syllable is stressed
or unstressed. This may give their speech a staccato-like rhythm that can
adversely affect the comprehensibility of their English (Avery and Ehrlich,
1992:74).

Certain Paralinguistic Features of Intonation

Examples of paralinguistic differences among cultures depend on cross-

cultural differences. A few of these differences given below are truly universal:

• People all over the world express their anger by speaking with increased
loudness, raised pitch height, and faster speed. That behaviour may well be
universal (Crystal, 2007:75).
• (For example) a breathy‘ or ‗husky‘ tone of voice conveys deep emotion or
sexual desire in many language, but in Japanese, it is routinely used as a way of
conveying respect or submission (Crystal, 1987:169)
• A ‗creaky‘ or ‗gravelling‘ tone of voice is often used in English to convey
unimportance or disparagement; but, in Finnish, it is a normal feature of many
voice qualities, and would not have this (the English) connotation (Crystal,
1987: 169).
• And there is no equivalent in English to the use of strongly nasalized speech to
convey a range of emotional nuances in Portuguese (Crystal,1987: 169).
• One of the clear examples of speech is the whispered speech. As a
paralinguistic feature, ―whispered speech is used in many languages to add
‗conspirational meaning‘ to what is said‖ (Crystal, 2007: 169).
• Traditional brides in Anatolia (Turkey) speak in whispered speech in the
presence of father-in-laws and mother-in-laws.
• German speakers often use falling intonation while Americans would use rising
intonation, so the Americans may come away with the impression that their
German conversational partners were peremptory or curt. Conversely,
Americans‘ tendency to end sentences with flat or rising intonation may give
Germans the impression that they are tentative or uncertain (Fasold and
Connor-Linton: 2006:345).
• Latinos, Arabs and African-Americans speak relatively in high volumes.
• Arabs use silence to establish privacy; Peruvian and Brazilian Indians become
silent when a guest enters.
• In Japan, a hiss is a sign of approval; in America it is a sign of contempt or
disapproval.
•.East Indian workers in England are often misjudged because their different
intonation is interpreted as rude by natives.
• Recently hired Indian and Pakistani cafeteria staff working at a British airport
were perceived as ‗surly and uncooperative‘ purely on the basis of their
intonational patterns. For instance, when offering gravy, they would say the
word ‗gravy‘ with a falling tone instead of the rising tone normally adopted by
the L1 speakers of English when making offers of this sort (Jenkins, 2005:45).
So their wrong intonation was interpreted as an indication of indifference, rather
than the engagement involved in taking the offer.
• Another paralinguistic feature is the lip rounding used by some adults to babies
or animals, which is a universal trait.
These above-mentioned examples signify the fact that intonation features
of languages convey deep-rooted cultural traits.
Conclusion

According to the results of this research, the Turkish subjects have serious
problems in learning the features of English intonation. The results of the two
researches are very distressing. The students‘ and Turkish English teachers‘
inability in identifying and producing the rising intonation tone during the pretest
is coupled with the interferences from the mother tongue, which gets to be
almost inevitable if the target language and the students‘ mother tongue do not
share the same language typology. During the professional education, shortness
of intonation teaching period, lack of intonation teaching courses in the curricula
as a nationwide case, Turkish students and teachers‘ inability in hearing the
stress differences in relation to tonic stress between content words and function
words are the main areas of faulty intonation. Moreover, the studies on
junctures are totally being neglected. Apparently, Turkish is a syllable-timed
language while English is a stress-timed one, and this dichotomy between
English and Turkish is a prime reason in the explanation of the failure of Turkish
students and Turkish English language teachers in failing in picking up the rising
intonation.
The fact must be widely noticed that in teacher education classes in the
present two researches the teaching of intonation occupies a minor position of
21 hours of teaching intonation patterns. This is obviously is not enough at all.
In teacher education intonation training is a very deep matter, requiring longer
periods of time. In addition, it is an apparent fact that intonation teaching is
either largely neglected in most EFL and ESL textbooks or mentioned very
briefly. Students and Turkish English teachers on-the-job must fight their faulty
intonation. Technical equipments can come to their rescue and they can be
autonomous learners. Then, the situation is not hopeless after the widespread
use of computer. There are various recommendable electronic and computer
mediated systems that have been developed to make the non-native teachers
and students autonomous learners, including WinPitch LTL I and II by Pitch
Instruments Inc. ([Link] BetterAccent Tutor
([Link] provides audio-visual feedback of intonation,
stress and rhythm in American English; the public domain software Praat
(available from [Link] can be used for the grammatical functions
of intonation in English with the aid of visual displays. Consequently, it must be
noted that not only the nonnative-speaking teachers but also the native-
speaking ones must be educated in the area of intonation studies.

References

Avery, P and Ehrlich, S. (1992). Teaching American English pronunciation.

Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Celce-Murcia, M., Brinton, D. M., & Goodwin, J. (1996). Teaching pronunciation:
A reference for teachers of English to speakers of other languages.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Crystal, D. (1987). The Cambridge encyclopedia of language.
Cambridge:Cambridge University Press
Crystal, D. (2007). How language works. Penguin Books.
Davenport, M. and Hannahs, S. J. (1988). Introducing phonetics and
phonology. London:Arnold.
Demirezen, M.(1986). Articulatory phonetics and the principles of
sound production. Ankara: Feryal Press.
Demirezen, M. and Sonsaat, S. (2008). ―Tag questions and intonation problems
for Turkish English language teachers,‖ Perspectives on Teaching
Pronunciation: Where Theory Meets Practice,‖ 21 November 2008, Bilkent
University-The School of English Language, Ankara-Turkey.
Fasold, R. W. and Connor-Linton, J. 2006. An Introduction to language and
linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Finch, G. (2005). Linguistic terms and concepts. London: Macmillan Pres Ltd.
Hewings, M. (2007). English Pronunciation in Use. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Jenkins, J. (2005). The phonology of English as an international language.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Johnson, K. and Johnson, H. (1999). Encyclopedic dictionary of applied
linguistics (eds.) Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
Seaton, B. (1982). A handbook of English language teaching terms and Practice.
London: The Macmillan Press Ltd.

APPENDIX

The following tag question items were read loudly by 30 subjects and all of the
utterances were all audio-taped. All of these sentences are recorded on a CD
that can be listened to.
1. A: We‘ll have to wait ages for the bus.
B: But they come every ten minutes, don‘t they?
2. [Link] we are at the top, aren‘t we?
3. A: Where shall I leave you?
B: Drop me in front of the station, could you?
4. A: Did you see the eclipse yesterday?
B: Fantastic, wasn‘t it?
5. A: Football is so boring isn‘t it?
B: Yeah, I know. I hate it.
A: Golf‘s much more fun, isn‘t it?
6. A: You‘re not tired, are you?
B: Exhausted. Give me some water, will you?
7. A: Great film, wasn‘t it?
8. A: Hot, isn‘t it?
9. A: I can‘t quite remember, you need 40 points to win, don‘t you?
10. A: I really like the town square.
B: Lovely, isn‘t it?
11. A: I‘m not sure. He was from Brazil, wasn‘t he?
12. A: It was interesting meeting the education minister yesterday,
wasn‘t it?
13. A: It wasn‘t a very interesting game, was it?
14. A: Japanese, isn‘t it?
15. A: Let‘s get the earlier train, shall we?
16. A: Not on a diet again, are you?
17. A: Of course, you know Dartmond well, don‘t you?
18. A: I can do that easily.
B: Oh, you can, can you?
19. A: Where do you want these boxes?
B: Put them over there, would you?
20. A: Ray‘s put on a lot of weight, hasn‘t he?
21. A: She isn‘t a very good swimmer, is she?
22. A: She ran well, didn‘t she?
23. A: She works at St. Mary‘s, doesn‘t she?
24. A: So you think you‘re clever, do you?
25. A: Sounds really good, doesn‘t it?
B: Fantastic!
26. A: Take care of these, would you?
27. A: Tennis is so boring, isn‘t it?
28. A: There‘ll be a lot of people, will there?
29. A: They didn‘t play very well, did they?
30. A: They‘re yours, aren‘t they?
31. A: Wait a sec., will you?
32. A: We can‘t turn round now, can we?
33. A: What a hideous shade of purple, isn‘t it?
34. A: What a stupid thing to do, wasn‘t it?
35. A: Wonderful view from up here, isn‘t it?
B: Great!
36: A: Wrong again, weren‘t you?
37. A: What a boring lecture!
B: Yes, dull, wasn‘t it?
38. A: You aren‘t hungry are you?
39. A: I think there is something wrong with the printer.
B: You broke it, didn‘t you?
40. A: You didn‘t tell your parents what you‘re going to do, did you?
41. A: You haven‘t seen my glasses anywhere, have you?
42. A: Your brother‘s a doctor, isn‘t he?
B: No, my father is a doctor.
43. A: Can I get a discount on these tickets?
B: You are a student, are you?
44. A: You‘re at fifty-seven, aren‘t you?
B: We live at fifty-nine.
45. A: What a terrible noise.
B: You‘re not a rock music fan, are you?
46. A: You‘re not well, are you?
47. A: You‘ve finished, have you?
48. A: You‘ve lost your handbook, have you?
The Image of Italy in Ernest Hemingway‟s Short Stories: a Unifying
Locale of Loss and Gain

Silvia Ammary
John Cabot University

Ernest Hemingway is one of the most famous American authors of the

twentieth century. His name is internationally recognized, even by many people
who have never read any of his books. He is highly anthologized and taught in
secondary schools, community colleges, and four-year college classrooms
around the world. Most students have already read something by Hemingway,
and they come into class with preconceptions. They usually either love him or
hate him and try to pin labels rather than give his work a new reading. As a
professor who teaches literature to American visiting students who come to
study for a semester in Italy, I try to create a bridge linking my specialization in
American Literature and my knowledge of Italian language and culture in an
attempt to create a cross cultural encounter and thus a new approach for
studying Hemingway. Teaching becomes very interesting when it transforms
itself into a cultural bridge which connects peoples, cultures and experiences.
Hemingway lends well to this kind of approach since he has travelled widely
around the globe and had many diverse experiences in different domains of life.
I will attempt a new critical reading of Hemingway which takes a cross-cultural
methodology of teaching and which brings new horizons to the teaching of his
fiction, especially his short stories.

Ernest Hemingway, like many numerous American authors such as

Nathanial Hawthorne, Henry James, Margaret Fuller and Edith Wharton, fell
under Italy‘s spell and beauty. Italy was second only to his Upper Michigan in
stimulating his lifelong passion for geography and for local expertise.
Hemingway knew the particulars of the region of northern Italy very well, and
his love extended into the foreign culture itself: the language, food, custom,
architecture, paintings, music and literature (Stoneback 131). Most of the Italy
that he experienced and recorded in his writing functions as an important
element in his fiction and becomes like ―the other‖, an alien culture that was
sufficiently different from his American roots, and yet this otherness serves him
first to fulfill his psychological needs to grow up and learn and become one of
the initiated through suffering, whether it involves himself or the loss of other
people around him. It was in Italy where he became a man, and it was to Italy
that he (re)turned for restoration. ―They say everyone loves Italy once and that
it is well to go through it young,‖ Hemingway wrote these words in 1931,
proclaiming his love of Italy, which became an important setting for his early
stories and his second masterpiece A Farwell to Arms (Galley 78).

Hemingway‘s first encounter with Italy is a mixture of contrasts: romance

and violence; love and war, close friendship and a complete sense of
foreignness; in Italy he plunged into the world of adulthood and learning, feeling
separated and freed from the constraints of a Midwestern protestant family and
a puritanical mother. Italy meant freedom for this Midwestern lad; a life of
discovery, adventure, camaraderie and passion. Italy is the place where this
young man will change and develop sexually, emotionally, and intellectually, but
as in a typical bildungsroman, our nascent hero will go through these stages of
experience through physical and psychological suffering and pain.

The Italian stories that I will discuss in this paper all come from In Our
Time, first published in 1925. This book is more of a collection of fictional
fragments than short stories. Like the modernist poetry and the imagist poems
of Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot, these stories seem more like epiphanies or
vignettes, about Nick Adams, a semi-autobiographical character who appears in
many of Hemingway‘s short stories. Hemingway found in Nick the vehicle for
expressing his vision, his hope and his suffering. A lot of the stories in this
collection take place in Italian locales. Such a setting enables the protagonist to
understand himself better while away from home. He can meditate about his life
back home and evaluate his experiences from a distance, thus gaining a new
perspective of himself and his surrounding. The stories are: ―A very Short
Story‖, ―Cat in the Rain‖, ―In Another Country‖, and ―A Way you‘ll Never Be‖.

―A Very Short Story‖ (written between June-July in 1923) is one of

Hemingway‘s most autobiographical pieces which echoes the love relationship
that he had with a nurse in Italy while he was serving as an ambulance driver
during World War I. An eighteen-year old Ernest Hemingway was taken to a
Milan hospital after an explosion badly injured his leg. In that hospital, he met
one of the great loves of his life - Agnes von Kurowsky, a twenty-six year old
American nurse who cared for him as he recuperated. Hemingway was
infatuated with von Kurowsky from the start, and for a time she seemed to have
feelings for him as well, though she later said she merely "liked" him and that
their relationship was nothing more than a "flirtation." Hemingway wanted them
to get married, but von Kurowsky - because of the age difference and her belief
that Hemingway was immature and aimless - rejected the idea.

In a similar manner ―A Very Short Story‖ is about the love affair of an

unnamed soldier and a nurse named ―Luz‖ during a war (probably WWI), and
how their relationship disintegrates after the war and eventually ends. Luz writes
the soldier a letter when he returns to America, and she starts working in a
hospital in Pordenone: ―Living in the muddy, rainy town in the winter, the major
of the battalion made love to Luz, and she had never known Italians before, and
finally wrote to the states that theirs had been only a boy and girl affair. She
was sorry, and she knew he would probably not be able to understand, but
might some day forgive her, and be grateful to her, and she expected,
absolutely unexpectedly, to be married in the spring‖ (CSS108). The words ―only
a boy and girl affair‖ suggest that Luz has finally met a man; not a boy. The
words before ―and finally‖ are the narrator‘s explanation to himself for Luz‘s
behavior. It is thus important to know what he means by ―she had never know
Italians before,‖ because from this quote it seems that the narrator is tacitly
admitting that the young woman‘s love for an American boy has quickly
dissipated in the presence of an ardent Italian lover. And that is by itself a
logical justification.
 According to Nancy Comley in ―The Italian Education of Ernest
Hemingway‖, Hemingway had acquired a cultural knowledge and appreciation of
―Italians‖ even before going to Italy. To him, Italians meant high culture, art,
opera, Romeo and Julie; Italian men like: Casanova, Lothario, Romeo or Don
Giovanni, were great lovers who were used to describe fast or faithless lovers
(43).In fact, ―the major did not marry Luz in the spring, or any other time,‖
(CSS108), and so while Luz was discovering the glories of Latin love, the
American boy decides to smite the beautiful girl by looking for a love that cannot
be consumed a L‟italien since it is devoid of any romanticism and leads him to
―contract gonorrhea from a sales girl in a loop department store while riding a
taxicab through Lincoln Park‖ (CSS108). The boy becomes the victim; wounded
both physically and psychologically by Luz. From the bed in Padua to the back
seat in Lincoln Park, our American hero is carried from wound to wound. The
salesgirl from the loop merely administers the literal blow to his already
figuratively damaged sexuality which was taken by the Italian major. This man's
relationship with Luz also serves to reveal the youth of the American nation.
America was just coming into power on a global scale. The First World War went
a long way to proving its viability as a major player in world affairs. However,
America remains much younger and more immature than the European nations.
Therefore, when the Italian general proves to be more of a man than the
American soldier, Hemingway is indicating that America is still a young and
immature nation.

Another story where the Italian man becomes a foil to the American one is
―Cat in the Rain‖ (written between February 1923 and March 1924). The story is
about a young American couple who is presented alone in a hotel room in Italy.
They are rich enough to afford a sea view room overlooking an empty square. It
is raining continuously throughout the story. From the hotel window, the wife
sees a cat crouching under a rain dripping garden table. She declares that she
will go down and fetch the ―poor kitty‖. The husband lying on the bed reading
offers to do it but does not rise. She looks for the car, but her mission fails as
the cat disappears, and she is then brought back to the room by the maid. She
is suddenly feeling unfeminine and looks at herself in the mirror yearning for
longer hair and for so many other objects including a cat, but she is finally
silenced by her husband‘s ―Oh shut up and get something to read‖. There is
suddenly a knock at the door, and the maid appears with a big tortoise shell cat
sent by the padrone of the hotel. Carlos Baker says that the story is derived
from a rainy day Ernest spent with Hadley in February at the Hotel Splendid in
Rapallo, and that the characters are derived from Hemingway, Hadley and the
manager and chambermaid (Baker 133). Jeffery Meyers says that the story is
based on the marital dissatisfaction with Hadley (Meyers 144). However, beyond
these interpretations, what stands out is the way Hemingway creates a foil to
the American husband through the character of the padrone, who seems to
enact the role model or the code hero figure. Hemingway‘s code hero is a man
who is usually an older foreigner, but more importantly, he is a man with
experience, maturity and endurance. He is a man who is already initiated and
has already fathomed a way to live in the world gracefully and stoically.

The padrone provides a sharp contrast to what the husband does not do
in the story. Diametrically opposed to the position of the husband who is sitting
comfortably on the bed ―lying propped up with two pillows‖; probably one of the
pillows is the wife‘s; the padrone is standing up at his desk doing his work.
While George, the husband, is busy reading disregarding his wife‘s wishes and
ignoring even to look at her when she is speaking to him and offering occasional
flippant and mean-spirited remarks, the padrone ―bowed‖ to the wife ―as she
passed the office‖. By bowing to the woman, the padrone assumes the role of
the Italian ardent lover making a conventional romantic gesture; a lover hungry
to cater for his lady‘s every whim. The padrone‘s only dialogue to the wife ―si, si
signora, brutto tempo. It is very bad weather‖ shows the contrast between him
and the husband. Not only does he stress the ―si‖ twice, but he also gives the
English translation ―it is very bad weather‖, a very lively and passionate
response as opposed to the cold one offered by the static husband. The padrone
is characterized as an admirable man, and although briefly sketched, he is
Hemingway‘s earliest role model. Each of the padrone‘s qualities corresponds to
the qualities of the role model as he later appears in Hemingway‘s fiction; a man
of dignity, will and commitment. The padrone has dignity, and he lends dignity
to his professions: he likes ―being a hotel keeper‖ (CSS 130). His ―will‖ is
demonstrated in the ―deadly way in which he receives any complaints,‖ (CSS
130) and his commitment to his profession as a hotel keeper is shown in his
efforts to ―serve‖ the wife who is his guest at the hotel. The only two
descriptions we are given by the narrator in the story is that ―he was an old man
and very tall‖ (CSS 129). Since these are the only two traits we have in this
terse short story, we assume they carry meaningful emphasis. The age is related
to the values that have been proven by experience over time; certainly George,
the American husband lacks these values that have shaped the padrone‘s
personality. The padrone belongs to the mature generation of Italian men, and
Hemingway pictures them as polite, mature, and having the old values in them.
The padrone belongs to the older generation, not ―the lost generation‖ who do
not have these values anymore. ―Very tall‖ signifies also the stature of his
character rather than his physical height. We see the padrone through the wife‘s
eyes, and this means that these attractive qualities that the wife sees in the
padrone are the qualities that George lacks.

Through the padrone, the wife experiences a moment of epiphany where

she realizes the indifference of George and his rejection of her rightful place in
the relationship. The effect this creates is an extreme sense of isolation and
homelessness, similar to the condition of the cat in the rain. They are both
dripped on and need a warm shelter where they feel wanted and fulfilled. We
see the narration focalized through the consciousness of the American wife. We
are over her shoulder, seeing what she sees and watching the ―cat crouched
under one of the dripping green tables‖ and ―trying to make herself compact
that she would not be dripped on‖ (CSS 129). Although the wife is standing
away from the cat, she calls her with the female designation ―kitty‖, which refers
to the animal as a fluffy creature needing help and protection. The symbol of the
cat remains ambiguous in the story as it can stand for the many things that the
woman lacks, but from the feelings aroused from the padrone, it seems that the
cat stands for the woman‘s femininity, sexuality and womanhood and her sense
of individualism and identity which are totally absent from the unfulfilling
relation to George. The passage which mostly reveals the effect that the
padrone has on the American wife is ―As the American girl passed the office, the
padrone bowed from his desk. Something felt very small and tight inside the girl.
The padrone made her feel very small and at the same time really important.
She had a momentous feeling of being of supreme importance‖ (CSS 130). The
padrone is causing the American girl to experience a strong attraction towards
his masculine qualities that initiate them. In Hemingway‘s description in the
story, the girl‘s feelings pass through three stages; tight inside, important and of
momentary supreme importance, and these stages reflect a correspondence of
sexual desire and intercourse (Bennet 249). In fact, when the girl goes back to
her room, her feminine sexual feelings are transferred to George. She first sits
on the bed, then goes in front of the mirror and examines her hair and face
―studying the back of her head and neck‖. Instead of responding to her needs,
George keeps on reading, and when she tells him that she wants to let her ―hair
grow out‖, George‘s response is ―I like it the way it is‖; like a boy‘s hair.
George‘s response is condescending as he expects his wife to suppress her
female sexuality and womanhood; he wants her to look like a male; to look
inferior; probably an inferior version of himself. At this point, the wife launches
into a desperate listing of the things she ―wants‖; I want to pull my hair back
tight and smooth and make a big knot at t