15 10 3494 https://omeka.ibu.edu.ba/files/original/65db79d591210f164c7b928b4f0779e1.pdf 32fc89b26cbe6321026bd642b4c4a758 PDF Text Text Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3 (1), pp. 81-104, Summer 2020 Professional paper ISSN 2566-4638 © International Burch University https://dx.doi.org/10.14706/JEH2020317 Globalization in the Time of the Coronavirus Pandemic: From the Erosion of the Nation – State to the Crisis of the Global Society Adis Maksić, PhD Adem Olovčić, MA Selma Delalić, PhD International Burch University adis.maksic@ibu.edu.ba adem.olovcic@ibu.edu.ba selma.delalic@ibu.edu.ba Abstract: This paper discusses the main structures and processes of globalization in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. It begins by revisiting the historical processes that have led to interstate economic, cultural, political, and security interdependence, and the consequent erosion of the capabilities of nation - states. The paper then proceeds to examine the inability of global institutions to cope with the pandemic, which has demonstrated that the nation – state remain the primary actor at the global political map. Yet, the discussion also shows that there is no viable alternative to global interdependence, and there is the resultant need for a more effective transnational governance. Keywords: Globalization, pandemic, coronavirus, nation – state, global governance, crisis. Article History Submitted: 30 June 2020 Accepted: 15 July 2010 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 1. INTRODUCTION It has been said that high expectations produce deep frustration. This phrase has found its empirical instantiation in the recent disappointments with the outcomes of globalization. The past few decades have been characterized by a great enthusiasm for globalization, where the world, in the form of a “global village,” (McLuhan & Powers, 1992) would be able to respond to challenges in ways that had not been seen in the earlier eras of human societies. Yet, the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic has shown that globalization is not a panacea for the world's ills. On the contrary, the pandemic has revealed the unpredictable and often contradictory consequences of global interconnectedness. The discussion that follows argues that the pandemic has indeed demonstrated the ongoing centrality of the nation-states at the level of global politics. Yet, it also concludes that there will be no permanent reversal of the trends of economic integration and cultural exchange. The first task is to provide conceptual clarity and situate the discussion in the historical context by revisiting the emergence of patterns of social interaction that are grouped under the term “globalization”. 2. GLOBALIZATION AND THE EROSION OF THE NATION-STATE Although there are different understandings of the concept of globalization, at the most basic level, it signifies the process of creating new, multiplying and expanding social networks and activities. David Held (1997) thus understands globalization as “the expansion and the deepening of social relations and institutions in space and time that make daily activities increasingly influenced by the events that take place on the other side of the world” (p. 310). Globalization includes two interrelated elements: the openness of international borders to increasingly fast flows of goods, services, finance, people and ideas; and the changes in institutions and policies on national and international level that facilitate or promote such flows. As patterns of human interaction assume transnational forms, they create a new demand for governance, to be addressed with what Ulrich Beck has termed “institutionalized cosmopolitanism” (Beck, 2007, p. 9). This globalized governance signifies the emergence of the various transnational institutional forms, from non – state political actors, to global agencies and judicial structures. Globalization can be disaggregated into “three general aspects” (National Geography Encyclopedia, 2020). The first one is cultural, which speaks of cultural interdependence, and the potential emergence of a global culture. The second one is economic, and deals with trade and financial integration, along with the reduction of the impact of government policies in the economy. Finally, the 82 �Globalization in the Time of the Coronavirus Pandemic: From the Erosion of the Nation – State to the Crisis of the Global Society Adis Maksić, Adem Olovčić & Selma Delalić political/legal aspect relates to the role of a state in a globalized world. All three aspects are driven by the development of new technologies, such as the internet, satellite, and high – tech computers. The inevitable and the most significant changes in the globalization process are evident in the field of economics and politics, and to a lesser extent on the cultural plane, therefore the following two sections discuss the economic and political aspects in greater depth. 2.1. ECONOMIC ASPECT OF THE GLOBALIZATION AND EROSION OF THE NATION – STATE Economic globalization refers to strengthening and expanding of economic relations worldwide. International economy, in the era of globalization, has become closely integrated in a system based mainly on global production and global finances aided by the global economic institutions and their agencies. Thus, the end of the Cold War increased the power of the international economic system by emphasizing the role of two main actors of economic globalization: Multinational corporations (MNCs) and international economic institutions. Global economy knows no boundaries and operates as if there are no political barriers. All that is happening in the name and for the benefit of the world community. The roots of globalized economy, according to Baalam and Dillman (2014), can be found “in the early 1980s when U.S. President Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher popularized the ideas and policies associated with economic liberalism and free trade” (Baalam & Dillman, pp. 17 – 19), whereupon, in the late 1980’s and through 1990’s many of the newly industrializing countries in East and Southeast Asia integrated themselves into the new global economy. Economic globalization is offered as universal, benevolent, self – understanding, systematic, scientifically legitimate and justified. Still, many dramatic events and the phenomena of the modern world showed how the new management and the new knowledge economy, through sophisticated and coarse practices, is transformed into the dangerous and largely deceptive ideology, which rests on pure commercial interests and consumerism. For this aspect are particularly noteworthy the activities of international economic institutions such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group. The establishment of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank as a result of the conference in Bretton Woods in 1944, and after that, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, (GATT) in 1947 are important moments of the economic globalization, especially, considering their main task to “create more peaceful relations between states that traded with one another” (Baalam & Dillman, p. 19) It is widely known that these organizations undoubtedly affect the globalized economy nowadays by involving 95 – 100% of the total number of countries worldwide in their activities. Their main task is to implement and supervise the common global economy rules and policies that all countries are 83 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 expected to follow. For example, WTO has about 160 members today (covers approximately 95% of world trade) and the IMF today has 189 members (same as the World Bank), with its mission to “foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world” (International Monetary Fund, 2020). On the other hand, the main objectives of the World Bank are reduction of poverty and improvement of living standards among its member states. (World Bank, 2020) So how can all this be connected with the nation – state? First and foremost, traditional economic assumptions that the state encompasses a national economy, that international economic activity takes place between such national economies, that international trade takes place between national firms, and that the primary function of international financial transactions was to facilitate trade, in the era of globalized economy, are no longer valid. Globalization has encouraged the development of a global capitalist economic system in which every country has a stake. Capra (1983) claims that this is because world systems are “integrated wholes whose properties cannot be reduced to those of smaller units (such as nation states)” (p. 15). In the book Losing control? Sovereignty in an Age of Globalization (1996) Dutch – American sociologist Saskia Sassen, argues that economic globalization has contributed to a “denationalization of national territory, in a highly specialized and functional way” (Sassen, p. 33), caused mainly by international corporate practices. The author identifies two important moments of influence of the global economy on nation state, both based on practices of MNCs. First, MNCs, although they are multinational (which is opposite to the traditional concept of mono – national corporations) are highly centralized, and, second, despite this, globalized companies are not strengthening countries in which they are established. The first implication is connected with the fact that multinational corporations are relying on themselves and not on the countries where they are situated or have affiliates. In such conditions, they are focused on strengthening their own establishments, hierarchies of control, and degrees of autonomy. Yet, these central functions are disproportionately concentrated in the national territories of the highly developed countries. This means not only that a single state is not able to tackle this, but also the necessity to include all the top – level financial, legal, accounting, managerial, executive, and planning functions of the company, nationally and worldwide, in order to run a corporate organization properly. Involving all these national and international actors, the company is confirming its global position and excludes the possibility of national domination in its central structures and processes. This is creating what the author names a “space economy” (Sassen, p. 10), which affects the state in the way that one has lost its significance on its own companies and their transactions. The second important moment of the space economy is the influence of international institutions; whose influence we have already presented. 84 �Globalization in the Time of the Coronavirus Pandemic: From the Erosion of the Nation – State to the Crisis of the Global Society Adis Maksić, Adem Olovčić & Selma Delalić With such a thesis, we can see that Sassen expanded the thesis of the role of MNCs on the erosion of the nation – state, which is the one that most authors agree with. The thesis is summarized by the former Malaysian prime – minister Mahathir Mohamad, who claimed that international economic giants are not only much bigger than developing countries, but also that such giants have an aspiration to enter those countries. Once this is achieved, “local businesses will simply shut down”. Furthermore, although their intention is not to influence the state – policies, “the temptation to interfere with local politics may be too great for these foreign giants to resist” (Mohamad, 2002, p. 134). Raghavan (1996) expresses the significance of MNCs in terms of influence, estimating that MNCs account for around one - third of total world economic output and control around “two - thirds of the world economy” Based on liberal aspirations of the liberation of the economy from the influence of the state and relying on the aforementioned corporate practices and the influence of international organizations, globalization, in economic sense has contributed to the erosion of the nation – state and the strengthening of global interdependence. From this point of view, we need to agree with scholar Thomas Friedman, who was concerned about the extent to which globalization has a homogenizing effect on societies around the world.i Friedman even argues that the basic characteristic of contemporary economic markets is that “no one is in charge” and that “today, more than ever, the traditional boundaries between politics, culture, technology, finance, national security and ecology are disappearing” (Friedman, 1999, p. 15). Albeit the economy plays an essential role in the processes of globalization, and contributes, as we have seen, to erosion of the nation – state, the strengthening of global economic relationships is intertwined in a relationship of mutual reinforcement with a series of political decisions. The next section offers a more targeted analysis of the role of politics in the erosion of the nation – state. 2.2. POLITICAL ASPECT OF THE GLOBALIZATION AND EROSION OF THE NATION– STATE Just as economic globalization has involved the strengthening and expansion of economic relations around the world, political globalization refers to the same processes when it comes to global political relations. Political processes raise an important set of policy issues, pertaining to the principle of state sovereignty, the growing influence of NGOs and the prospect of potential global leadership. It is evident that these outgrow frames of nation-state, thus promoting nation-state erosion. Political globalization refers to the transfer of decision – making places from national to international organizations and institutions. This is achieved through interstate integration (e. g. European Union)ii and by ordering the world as a global civil society that promotes the achievements of democratic citizenship, i.e. universal human rights and the rule of law. With this said, and with our purpose in mind, we will take into consideration the most significant political structures and processes of the globalized world. 85 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 Contemporary manifestations of globalization led to permeation of the nation state boundaries founded during the previous several centuries, dating back to rise of the concept of state sovereignty in the 1648 Peace of Westphalia iii. Author David Held in his work Global Transformations (1999) describes the impact of the Peace of Westphalia on creating a modern nation-state, emphasizing that with this agreement the world is made up, and divided into sovereign territorial states that do not recognize any higher authority. Creating long lasting relations between countries is a goal, but only in order to meet national goals. Furthermore, the common priority of every nation state should be minimizing the interference of the state freedom(s). In the centuries following the Peace of Westphalia, there was a centralization of political power, the expansion of state administration, and the development of professional diplomacy. Although trade ties between the states strengthened (and with that the emergence of capitalism as an economic system), they were controlled and conducted by the states themselves. The nation – state system got its full swing at the end of the First World War in the so – called Fourteen Points declaration, given by the former U.S. president Thomas Woodrow Wilson, based on the principle of national self – determination, and with aim to propose a postwar peace settlement. Relying on liberal values, Wilson advocated that civic and political rights in all countries of the international community should be as equal as possible, which would serve as the basis not only for faster development of universal international legal norms, but also for the liberalization of economic systems in the international community. Wilson’s presumption that all forms of national identity should get their territorial expression in a sovereign national state led him, however to the idea of establishing global system of collective security known as The League of Nations. This international organization aimed to ensure collective security as global regime based on agreement between the states that would join forces to check any potential violator of international order. The basic idea of The League of Nations was to reject war as a legitimate instrument of national policy and to insist on collective security, which would find ways to prevent war by threatening based on collective action. Yet, the League of Nations had quickly shown its impotence, and was utterly unable to respond to the rise of fascism in Italy and Germany, and militarism in Japan. Wilson’s idea to give international cooperation a new institutional expression was eventually realized through the founding of the United Nations in 1945. Although deeply rooted in a political order based on a modern nation – state system, the UN also served as a catalyst for the gradual expansion of political action across state borders. While this mission in theory weakened the principle of state sovereignty, in practice the next 45 years were shaped by power politics between two super states – the USA and the Soviet Union. The decisions on major political issues could be undertaken only with the approval of the UN Security Council, which served as a club of powerful states, 86 �Globalization in the Time of the Coronavirus Pandemic: From the Erosion of the Nation – State to the Crisis of the Global Society Adis Maksić, Adem Olovčić & Selma Delalić Thus, UN decisions could be made and implemented only if they also overlapped with these national interests. When it came to specialized agencies whose activities were not as central for the Cold War power competition, the picture was somewhat different. The agencies such are World Health Organization (WHO) and International Labor Organization (ILO), and funds and programs like United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) were able to provide humanitarian relief in many parts of the world, thus manifesting the principle that international organizations were genuinely global, and that their subjects were human beings regardless of their various subdivisions. With the end of the Cold War, this role has become even more pronounced, and humanitarian interventions, sometimes without the immediate agreement of the host government, have become more frequent. In this context, Paul Taylor (2001) observed that „The United Nations had become involved in a multilayered system of governance sometimes working with the states, sometimes alongside them and sometimes apart from them”. (p. 340) Basically, the UN’s involvement in states does not necessarily depend on actual government approval, but rather, once present, it could act independently of governments. With such impact, the matters of state became the matter of international order, where states are no longer homogeneous entities and they must be understood as open systems, having many channels for governmental, non – governmental and transnational connections to international systems. Another significant moment was the institution of international law. As a historical artefact and product of revolutions, international law has emerged as the expression of the mutual will of nations, undermining the traditional concept of a legitimate hegemon derived from natural law. Designed to facilitate international order, and first and foremost, to regulate the inter – state relations, international law, with its multilateral form of legislation and its discourse of institutional autonomy, in the age of globalization, is increasingly affecting domestic legal regimes and practices. ivAs a mutual will of nations and based on presumption that there’s no international legislature, executive and/or judiciary, international law emerges as a normative force “generally accepted by states as rules of conduct, with expectations that states will follow suit” (Joyner, 2005, p. 6) Although, states were the primary agents of international law, being the only actors empowered to formulate, enact, and enforce international law, as, Rosalyn Higgins emphasizes, “that international law applies only to states”, (Higgins, 1995, p. 40) rules of international law, nowadays, are no longer confined to issues of establishing and maintaining order only among states. Events of the modern world have contributed that individuals, groups, and organizations are increasingly becoming recognized subjects of international law. In this sense, Saskia Sassen emphasizes that in the age of globalization international law “emerges as a site for regulatory competition among essentially national approaches, whatever the issues – environmental protection, 87 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 competition policy, or human rights” (Sassen, 2007, pp. 222 – 223). As a consequence of this, a new and expansive body of international humanitarian law was ushered in, supported by a mechanism of enforcement. This in turn has given individuals, as well as some wider groups, such as various minorities, clear rights under international law, effectively turning international law into supranational law in that aspect. Finally, it is not only the UN and international law that shape the contemporary world. On the contrary, globalization has important political functions in the context of maintaining peace, bringing peoples and their cultures and civilizations closer together, thus fulfilling its cosmopolitan significance. For that purpose, thousands of voluntary and non – governmental organizations represent millions of ordinary citizens who are willing to oppose the economic and political nation – states. Over the past fifty years, NGOs have increased rapidly in number. The spread of their influence shows that the nation – state is finding it increasingly difficult to manage these widespread networks of social interdependence. The aim of this part of the paper was to briefly mark contemporary structures and processes that, as we have seen, from a political point of view have contributed to the erosion of nation – states. However, globalization grounded in this way has its risks, which will be discussed below, and will ultimately lead us to the answer to our central question. 2.3. GLOBALIZATION AND THE CHANGING CONCEPT OF SECURITY In the hierarchy of physical and emotional needs of human beings, security ranks high second place immediately after meeting the basic psychological impulses for survival. Human perception of security is extremely complex. Man, by nature, has had the primordial urge to achieve safety and security against myriad threats such as conflict, war, and violence. Apart from that, a constant drive to attain economic security, job security, access to health and education, undisturbed retirement revenue, guaranteed human rights, and equality, i.e. security against any kind of social discrimination, has been ubiquitous (Manning & Curtis, 2014). In other words, people, throughout their lives, aspire to protect whatever they value and hold dear. With the evolution of human race, values have changed, but the aspirations remained consistent. “Feeling secure and well protected is one of humankind’s most cherished goals” (Hough et al., 2015, p. 21). Yet insecurity, violence, and conflicts are as old as social communities and omnipresent in human life. If we rise above the individual level, nation-states on the same matrix strive to achieve security, economic, first of all, through the accumulation of wealth, which is consistent with the Mercantilist theory, but also the military security through the accumulation of weapons, as the Realism theory teaches us. According to Realists, we live in an anarchic world with no supreme authority that would bring order and protect states from the pervading violence, wars, and conflicts (Brown & Ainley, 2005). Viewed from a historical perspective, different economic, cultural, political, and social changes and developments have 88 �Globalization in the Time of the Coronavirus Pandemic: From the Erosion of the Nation – State to the Crisis of the Global Society Adis Maksić, Adem Olovčić & Selma Delalić influenced the occurrence and spread of violence and conflict. In this context, globalization has brought about revolutionary changes in all spheres of social, economic, political and cultural life, especially in the field of information and communication, which in terms of volume cannot be measured with any period in the development of human societies. The pace of changes taking place in the modern globalized world is perhaps best illustrated by the words of Bill Gates: “The pace of technological change is so fast that sometimes it seems the world will be completely different from one day to the next.” (Gates, 2019, p. 16). In this regard, Sorokin (1937, p. 430) in his classic work on social relations and war emphasizes that globalization is "inherently disruptive and that an increasing incidence of conflict is an inevitable bi-product of it." During the last decade of the twentieth century, as the world suddenly entered a new era of unipolar world order, which was created following the collapse of the Soviet Union as one of the two Cold War superpowers, ideological competition, arms race and fear of nuclear war were replaced by geo-economics and plethora of non-traditional, unconventional and non-military risks and threats. Liberal ideas have flooded the world, becoming generally accepted guidelines even in the orthodox communist countries. As Oliver Ramsbotham et al. (2011) argue “the dissolution of the Soviet Union brought to close the long period in which a single international conflict dominated the international system.” (p. 5) The processes of political and economic globalization were given full swing, conferring, at the same time, a strong impetus to security aspect of globalization, which gained its full momentum after 9/11 with George W. Bush declaring a global war on terrorism. Interstate conflicts have been replaced by intra-state, extra-state, religious and ethnic conflicts, and secessionist movements. The traditional concept advocated by Realists, which focuses on the teachings of sovereign nation-states, established by the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia that face almost exclusively military threats, has long been outlived and deficient (Buzan & Hansen, 2012). In contrast, “neoliberals suggest that military force is declining as a tool of foreign policy as states seek the greater economic interaction necessary to prosper in a globalized world.” (Keohane & Nye, 2001, p. 98). Although nation-states are still the backbone of the international system, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, particularly following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the system have come to be dominated by myriad non-state actors, both in political and economic, as well as in the sphere of security. The most notable are multinational corporations, regional and international organizations, non-governmental and intergovernmental organizations, but also international organized criminal groups and terrorist organizations. Hence, the concept of security in a globalized world is not limited exclusively to the state, but to the individual, state, and non-state, and apart from military aspects (wars, ethnic and religious conflicts, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, terrorism), it comprises manifold nonmilitary facets such as organized crime, environmental, disasters, food, health, economic, and political 89 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 security. In addition to the extended scope, the concept of security has different meanings and interpretations in different parts of the world. Some people spend almost their entire lives fearing earthquakes, floods and other natural disasters, some have daily fears that they will have nothing to feed their families the next day, while some fear terrorist attacks and violence from mafia or other criminal groups (Booth, 2012). Therefore, for man to be truly safe and secure, it is necessary to live in a society free of direct violence (war and conflict), as well as indirect structural violence in the form of economic and political insecurity, inequality, segregation, vulnerable human rights, etc. In this regard, Johan Galtung, one of the most remarkable scholars and founders of modern peace and security studies coined the terms ‘positive’ and ‘negative peace. In his view, "thinking solely in terms of a negative conception is insufficient because this fails to take into account the deep-rooted causes of conflict, as well as less obvious forms of violence" (Galtung, 1990, p. 104). Globalization has dramatically affected the increase of free trade, free and fast flow of information, ideas, knowledge, but also the movement of people, goods and services, especially those in the field of banking and insurance. These developments have influenced economic, political, cultural, but also security interdependence of countries unprecedented in human history. In the context of security, the post-Cold War globalization favored the emergence and spread of the influence of plentiful terrorist organizations, organized criminal and insurgent groups, as well as mercenaries and warlords. “Such groups begin to compete with one another for the resources of the failing states and this competition has often taken a violent turn” (Kaldor, 2006, p. 92). These groups began to behave and act in the same way as economic entities ignoring national borders. Like multinational corporations, transnational organized criminal and terrorist groups have their 'headquarters' in one country in which they plan operations; the same operations are carried out in countries around the world; they use some of them as transit countries, i.e. to transport 'goods' across the territory to the final destination; and deposit their criminal proceeds in those countries that have favorable banking and financial regulations (Godson & Williams, 2002). In other words, we are witnessing the globalization of crime, to the same extent as is the case with the economic and all other aspects of modern life. With this in mind, and the fact that today countries and societies around the world are faced with a number of unconventional security challenges, significantly different from those of the past, nation-states have found themselves in a situation no longer able to make their own respond to these threats. “Whereas in the past states were able to maintain internal order within their territories, in large part as a result of globalization this ability has been severely energized”. (Hough et al., 2015, p. 109) Therefore, states seek to eliminate security threats and establish order, security and the rule of law in their territory, through bilateral and multilateral agreements and association in various regional organizations like the League of Nations, NATO, OSCE, EU, Europol, SELEC, 90 �Globalization in the Time of the Coronavirus Pandemic: From the Erosion of the Nation – State to the Crisis of the Global Society Adis Maksić, Adem Olovčić & Selma Delalić and global agencies such as the United Nations, as a collective security system, whose mission, in addition to conflict prevention, consists of peacebuilding, peacemaking, and peacekeeping. The core UN mission is carried out with the support of different programs and agencies such as: − UN International Drug Control Program – UNDCP − UN Centre for International Crime Prevention – CICP − UN Office for Drugs and Crime – UNODC − UN Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Division – CCPCJ (Hough et al., p. 252) − World Health Organization – WHO – an organization that has a leading role in combating the coronavirus pandemic. − Interpol − World Customs Organization Due to the current moment in which we live, constantly in fear for our lives endangered by the invisible enemy COVID-19, we will finally pay special attention to this serious security threat. Good connoisseurs of history are familiar with the fact that infectious diseases since the Middle Ages onwards have claimed more human lives than all wars combined. "Today, AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is the second biggest killer in history." (Hough et al., p. 271) From the Second World War onwards, international relations were dominated by military threats - organized crime, weapons of mass destruction proliferation and terrorism. The outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic re-emphasized importance of non-military, health threats to the security of people, but also the national and economic security of states, and showed the extent to which we are vulnerable to events occurring thousands of kilometers away from our home. It only took a few months for the coronavirus to spread, affecting almost every part of the planet. And all this took place precisely 'thanks' to the immense mobility of people made possible by globalization. (Chen & Wilson, 2008) The seriousness of the situation regarding the COVID-19 pandemic will undoubtedly push us to rethink and prioritize security threats. “The health of all peoples is fundamental to the attainment of peace and security” (Preamble to the WHO Constitution) By making individual efforts or by joining various regional and international security organizations to combat a myriad security threats, states seek to preserve peace and order in society, as a precondition for prosperity and economic well-being, and to provide security to their citizens, which is the primary function of every state. 91 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 3. THE POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC RISKS OF GLOBALIZATION AND COVID-19 Uncertainty, as an inherent condition of globalization, is themed by various authors such as Giddens (1991, 2009) and Beck (2001). Globalization has its risks, and our goal in this part of paper is to understand them and related them to the current pandemic. 3.1. GLOBALIZATION AND RISK Throughout history, human societies were exposed to “external risks” (Giddens, 2009, p. 193), whose appearance wasn’t caused by human action. By this we primarily mean the dangers from natural phenomena, such as droughts and earthquakes. With globalization, however, we are increasingly confronted with different types of “manufactured risks” (Giddens, p. 193), or those risks created by the impact of our own knowledge and technology on the natural world. These kinds of risks are outcomes of human interventions. What is unique in the era of globalization is the creation of a space in which responsibility for addressing the risks cannot be allocated to any single actor. As in The Consequences of Modernity, Giddens observes, that the global spread of modernity tends to produce a “runaway world” (Giddens, 1991, p. 137) in which it appears that no one and no government is in overall control. In a world of rapid change, traditional forms of trust are dissolved. While in the years past humans engaged in social activities and shared responsibilities for their excesses through tight-knit local communities, nowadays people influence one another in numerous distinct ways and across large distances. Such impersonal relations mean that humans are pushed to “trust” or have confidence in “abstract systems”, as in environmental regulation agencies, multinational corporations or international systems. Furthermore, people also rely on different policies and laws (e.g. international law) that are closely related with quality of their lives, believing that these structures will protect them in a certain way. Based on this, trust and risks are closely bound together. For Ulrich Beck (2001) German – born American sociologist, globalization implies the processes that result from activities of transnational actors, while identity and networks undermine nation – states and their sovereignty and interconnectedness (p. 28). Events in different corners of the world produce global shockwaves a phenomenon that Beck names “reflexive modernity”. This reflexive modernity is a paradigm shift of the “industrial modernity” and appears as “a multidimensional, polycentric, contingent and political” risk – based society (Risikogesellschaft) (Beck, p. 25). The notion of a risk society means that the past is losing its determining power for the present. In a nutshell, we’re not able to learn from the past anymore. Beck argues that this situation should be changed by reorganizing our lives, behaviors, and processes on the “local – global” basis (Beck, p. 30). One area of this reorganization is global health. Along with the people, diseases travel to all corners of the globe at an increasingly fast rate, creating a 92 �Globalization in the Time of the Coronavirus Pandemic: From the Erosion of the Nation – State to the Crisis of the Global Society Adis Maksić, Adem Olovčić & Selma Delalić need for global health governance. No case has made this as evident as the 2020 rapid spread of the coronavirus from a market in the Chinese city of Wuhan to nearly every country in the globe in a span of a couple of months. The case has demonstrated a global threat on the one hand, and the absence of a global institution equipped with staff, finances and policy enforcement capacities to effectively address it on the other. In response to the crisis, the most relevant international organization, the World Health Organization (WHO), has been forced to take a back seat. It was the nation-states that quarantine citizens, closed borders, and created social distancing practices, in some cases in disregard of the WHO analyses and recommendations. The most powerful of these and the primary WHO funder, the United States, has accused the WHO of mishandling the crisis and threatened to hold back the funds. COVID – 19 pandemics has undoubtedly shown that neither international organizations with their agencies, nor national governments were ready for an immediate and effective response in the face of a deadly global pandemic. Therefore, our main task, in the following rows, is to understand the impact of the coronavirus on the main structures and processes of the globalized world. 3.2. THE EMERGENCE OF CORONAVIRUS AND ITS IMPACT ON GLOBALIZATION Based on Giddens’ theory of “external” and “manufactured” risks of globalization, we can say that the emergence of coronavirus is, undoubtedly a manufactured risk based on human activity, and/or human influence on nature. The emergence and spread of the coronavirus (an animal virus) arose as a result of the meat consumption of certain animal species in China, in the Wuhan region, where the virus first appeared. If we take into consideration Beck's understanding that globalized risk society is multidimensional, polycentric and political, we can see that coronavirus has affected several dimensions of global society at the same time – mainly the processes and structures that we’ve discussed in the first part of this paper. Now all these processes and structures are in question, and their order is on the brink of survival. The coronavirus pandemic has undoubtedly had a devastating effect on the global economy. OECD identifies this crisis as the largest economic crisis of the 21st century, even bigger than the crisis that followed after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the 2008 financial crisis (OECD, 2020). The following chart shows the impact of the pandemic on national economies, based on the decline of annual GDP. 93 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 Figure 1. Decline of annual GDP as a sign of a recession (Retrieved from: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-52089127) However, the first real indicator of this crisis is the rapid decline in world oil prices, bringing the price of a barrel of oil below 30 USD/barrel. The price of crude oil fell even below 20 USD/barrel, which is the lowest price recorded in the last 18 years, and OPEC and other countries have now agreed to cut production. Besides this, the world still has more crude oil than it can use, so, the predictions are that the Gulf states, dependent on oil exports, will feel the brunt of the crisis. On the chart below, we can see the fall of oil prices on the world market at the time of the pandemic. 94 �Globalization in the Time of the Coronavirus Pandemic: From the Erosion of the Nation – State to the Crisis of the Global Society Adis Maksić, Adem Olovčić & Selma Delalić Figure 2. Oil Prices from 2000 to 2020 (Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/business-52089127 ) On the other hand, all world stock markets recorded a large slump. Many investors fear that the spread of the coronavirus will destroy economic growth. In response, central banks in many countries reduced their interest rates. In order to boost the economy, this process should make borrowing much cheaper and affordable and therefore encourage spending rate. Still, the fact is that the poor countries will, due to their inability to answer properly, encounter the greatest effects of the crisis. On the following chart, we can see the impact of coronavirus on stock markets since the beginning of the pandemic. Figure 3. The impact of coronavirus on stock markets (Retrieved from: https://www.bbc.com/news/business51706225?intlink_from_url=&) 95 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 However, despite the efforts of governments, the global economy cannot survive without the influence of international economic actors. For the purpose of this paper, we will focus on the reaction of international economic institutions, the roles and capacities of MNCs and the global supply chains they’re involved in. Firstly, we will summarize the response of the World Bank Group, which represents a prime example of a global institution in charge of helping countries deal with economic shocks. It is directly involved with the most vulnerable countries in the world, and as such has the most important role in helping countries deal with this crisis of all international institutions. In that context it has already reached out to 100 developing countries with some sort of aid. For that purpose, the World Bank Group has delivered record amounts of aid and has pledged 160 billion USD in the next fifteen months, for developing countries – to help deal with health, social and economic issues which emerged as a consequence of the pandemic. Regarding this, the potential issue for the World Bank Group is the threat that this institution has reduced funding from member countries due to their reduced fiscal capacities and small budgets, which are direct consequences of diminished economic activity in the countries. Secondly, the World Trade Organization, is nowadays concerned about the impact of the pandemic on global trade. According to a statement given by Roberto Azevedo, in the recent meeting in Geneva, the pandemic will incur significant consequences on world trade. Regarding this, their efforts are directed towards reaching an agreement on subsidies in food production, online trade and fishing industry. (World Trade Organization, 2020) The full extent of repercussions on global trade by this crisis remains to be seen. Thirdly, like all other global economic institutions, the International Monetary Fund, is faced with the duration and uncertainty that the global crisis caused by the coronavirus brings. The emergence of coronavirus has changed the expectations of the IMF on the projected growth of per capita income in different countries. The managing director of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva says that this institution projects that more than 170 countries will experience negative per capita income growth this year (International Monetary Fund, 2020). In order to face such a crisis, the IMF created a so - called 4-Point Plan (Georgieva, 2020), which summarizes the four main priorities of IMF action in the coming period. The activities of the IMF will be aimed at: first, prioritizing health spending for testing and medical equipment, in order to defeat the virus and defend people’s health; second, providing timely financial and fiscal support to households and businesses; third, reducing financial stress while monitoring global economic stability; and, fourth, planning recovery by minimizing the potential scarring effects of the crisis through policy. For these purposes, the IMF has a lending capacity of about 1 trillion USD, which is already placed at the service for the member countries. It is important to keep in mind that the activities of the IMF are short - term, and that this institution will adapt to the new situation(s). 96 �Globalization in the Time of the Coronavirus Pandemic: From the Erosion of the Nation – State to the Crisis of the Global Society Adis Maksić, Adem Olovčić & Selma Delalić The pandemic brings with itself a damage for multinational corporations as well, and that situation can be understood in two ways: first, halting production in the affected countries, mostly semi - periphery and periphery countries, where MNCs have their branches and with that, hitting supply chains around the world; and, second, steep drop in consumption together with collapse in confidence, which results in giving priority to domestic products and turn to smaller domestic producers. Not just with pandemic, many companies are now seeking alternative suppliers in countries that appear less vulnerable to disruption, but also, the confidence of producers and consumers is now oriented toward its own markets. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), 42 of the 100 largest multinational companies in the world said they were facing the problem of profitable business (UNCTAD, 2020). his means that they have to reduce allocations for investments, which will have a negative impact on the operations of banks, and then on the rest of the economy. The situation is made worse by the dramatic increase of private sector debt which was ushered by FED’s expansive monetary policy in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. According to the Washington Institute of International Finance, non – financial private sector debt was on level 56.25 percent higher in 2019, than it was in 2009. Now, the bill might come due by increasing economic damage and further shaking the financial markets. It is not clear yet what the final economic outcome of the coronavirus pandemic will be. Yet, we can say with certainty that the rigorous measures applied by international economic actors, albeit necessary to combat the virus, are putting most of economies “on life support — into some sort of deep freeze” (Oxenford, 2020), with the prediction that they will come out of in the period of the next six months. Although some economic analysts have gone so far as to state that the coronavirus has dealt a final blow to globalization and the global economy, the future is, in our opinion, much less certain. In political terms, coronavirus has, undoubtedly, led to a crisis of globalization. Such a crisis is anticipated through many major or minor events in the recent past, like Britain’s exit from the European Union (Brexit), closing the boundaries for migrants in western states, and awakening of nationalism in many countries worldwide. Still, no one could have predicted that the aforementioned crisis would rapidly escalate amid the intensifying health crisis, which prompted countries around the globe to effectively shut down and turn to themselves. Although globalization, with its features, has brought the possibility of local, regional and global spread of diseases, as a consequence of interregional movement of people, goods and ideas, where a health problem in any part of the world can rapidly become a health threat to many or all (Lee, 2004) there was no concerted, coordinated international effort at tackling it. In this context, we will discuss the role of the World Health Organization as a main global institution for health – related issues On international level, global health has become a concern since the early 1990s, (with emergence of HIV/AIDS), and interest for this issue has been 97 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 expressed significantly during the 2000s. This concern produced Resolution 1308, the first health - related UN Security Council resolution (Cf. Lee, 2004). Likewise, health has begun to play an increasingly prominent role in Group of Seven (G7) and Group of Eight (G8), during their summits in the early 2000s. These summits produced the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria at the G8 Summit in Genoa in June 2001 and was accompanied by commitments by the wealthiest countries to dimidiate the infectious disease burden by 50% by 2010. Similar discussions have been held at the World Economic Forum, attended by government leaders, corporate executives and other prominent individuals, held annually in Davos, Switzerland. All of these initiatives have been related to “health security” (Cf. Lee, 2004). With these developments, and together with the support of the health community, the WHO certainly began to play a prominent role. Yet, the WHO’s position, as the main global actor on health issues was conditioned with different epidemiological trends, the emergence of new actors, paradigmatic shifts in ideology and values, and pressures on resources (Godlee, 1994; Lucas et al., 1997; Vaughan et al., 1995). States, as financiers, still had the upper hand, and WHO over the past decades has “faced criticism for being overly bureaucratic, politicized, and dependent on a few major donors”. (King, 2020) These criticisms have become even more prominent in the case of the coronavirus pandemic. There is widespread belief among governments and public across the globe that the World Health Organization, as an umbrella institution in this area, failed to adequately respond to the crisis. Due to pressure from financier countries, especially after Trump's statement about reducing donations that the U.S., as a main donor (see the chart below), gives to WHO, this organization is now concerned, not just with the pandemic, but also, with the aspiration not to anger its main donors. Namely, Trump's concept envisions reducing US contributions to 10 percent of what they used to be. Measured by the U.S. contribution for 2018 and 2019, that would mean a reduction to approximately 44.7 million USD per year, from the previous number of 115.8 million. The crisis has thus fully illuminated that the influence of WHO in the area of health governance pales in comparison with that of nation-states in general, and with those of its powerful donors in particular. Indeed, the growth of global governance over the last several decades has not elevated the primary international health organization above its dependence on the will of national governments. 98 �Globalization in the Time of the Coronavirus Pandemic: From the Erosion of the Nation – State to the Crisis of the Global Society Adis Maksić, Adem Olovčić & Selma Delalić Figure 4. The main financial contributors to the WHO (Retrieved from: https://www.statista.com/chart/21372/assessed-contributions-tothe-world-health-organization) The chart above shows that the main donors of the WHO are U.S., China, and Germany, countries among those most affected by the pandemic. It is important to note that by April 30th, 2020, neither China nor the United States had paid their 2020 membership fees, although this was supposed to be done on January 1st (WHO, 2020). Germany, for example, has so far paid only half of its membership fee. WHO thus remains dependent on the help of its donors, unable to answer properly and autonomously to a genuinely global crisis. In addition to shaking the importance of the WHO, the pandemic has also shown that nations – states have become aware of their own power. While the coronavirus crisis will not put an end to globalization, it is this newfound confidence of national governments that will carry over into the post-pandemic age, slowing the speed, density and breath of future flows of people, goods and information across state borders. Most importantly, it will encourage states to resist delegating parts of their sovereignty to transnational actors. The world we live in is, as Thomas Friedman emphasized, “more easily prone to shocks and extreme behaviors”, and these are showing that such a world “is not flat, but fragile” (Friedman, 2020). When it comes to globalization, we have gone too far and from this point, our return to other, old systems is highly improbable. Yet, the shock of COVID-19 and its lessons will strengthen tendencies of states to resist the spill over of the ongoing sociological 99 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 transformations that globalization brings about into the realm of political governance. 4. CONCLUSION This paper has discussed several phenomena connected, with the concept of globalization in general, and the influence of the coronavirus pandemic on its main structures and processes in particular. For that purpose, we explored the extent to which globalization contributed to the erosion of a nation – state by examining the political and economic structures and processes that affect global governance. Globalization, as we could see, has transformed and firmly integrated the global community, creating rapid flows of goods, people, technology, information and ideas across national and transnational borders. Reflected in the expansion and the strengthening of social relations and activities, the phenomenon of globalization affected economic, security, and political structures of nation-states, thus leading to internationalization and erosion of state sovereignty. With its economic and political, and to a lesser extent cultural aspect, globalization has created a global governance system in which many decisions are made by international institutions and transnational corporations (TNCs). Parallel to this shift in political actors, we have seen the development and a growing importance of international law. As a result of an increasingly globalized world, states lost power and authority to control policy making in several areas, the most pronounced of which is in the economic realm. On the other hand, globalization has created new risks, which can cause unpredictable and very often long – term consequences. Indeed, the outbreak of coronavirus, primarily in China and then all over the world, has shown that the risks carry the seeds of globalization’s own reversal. While the pandemic will not bring global integration to a screeching halt in any permanent sense, the quarantine measures, the curfews, economic stimulus packages and other responses have largely followed nation-state lines, bringing to full visibility those same lines that many observers have speculated were on the path of disappearance. At the same time the WHO, as an umbrella international institution for these issues-pressured by the member countries with debts and conditionings – found itself unable to react properly on the lasting health crisis. In the end, we could say that coronavirus has slowed down and called into question globalization as we know it. States have found new confidence, and in the post-corona world will be more daring in resisting political transformations that come at the expense of their power. Yet, the coronavirus has also reminded us that people everywhere belong to one single humanity. Nations were united in their vulnerability, while the success of measures against the threat depended on responsibilities of people to one another. Moreover, as state responses varied, they produced divergent results. Many states depended on outside advice and assistance. The less developed ones emulated measures from those with greater expertise and a better health system. 100 �Globalization in the Time of the Coronavirus Pandemic: From the Erosion of the Nation – State to the Crisis of the Global Society Adis Maksić, Adem Olovčić & Selma Delalić Thus, COVID-19 has also confirmed that the world in which we live in is genuinely global. 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Retrieved from: https://www.who.int/governance/eb/who_constitution_en.pdf?ua=1. Galtung, J. (1990, August). Cultural Violence. In Journal of Peace Research, vol. 27 issue: 3, pages: 291-305. 103 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 Friedmann understands the globalization process as extremely dynamic. Globalization means the undeniable integration of markets, nation states and technologies to an unprecedented degree, so that it is now to individuals, companies and countries it is possible to reach around the world, farther, faster, deeper and cheaper than ever before. According to him, globalization is determined by some of its own technologies, computerization, miniaturization, digitalization, satellite communications, fiber optics, and the Internet. ii In the European Union, states have transferred their competences to supranational organizations, so they even made a monetary union – the Eurozone. The visible consequence of these processes and decisions is erosion of nation – states. iii The formulation of sovereignty (the term coined by French philosopher Jean Bodin in the 16th century), as a core concept in contemporary international relations, was one of the most important intellectual developments leading to the Westphalian revolution. For Bodin, sovereignty is understood as a „absolute and perpetual power vested in a commonwealth“. (Bodin, 1967, p. 25) iv International law consists of a body of both rules and norms, regulating interactions among states, between states and intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), and in more limited cases, among IGOs, states and individuals. In the era of globalization, the third moment is particularly prominent. i 104 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Globalization in the Time of the Coronavirus Pandemic: From the Erosion of the Nation – State to the Crisis of the Global Society https://omeka.ibu.edu.ba/files/original/6260826265ae8452197005fac432bc23.pdf 78bf3d856e4a6481503f75eaaa197734 PDF Text Text Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3 (1), pp. 67-80, Summer 2020 Original research paper ISSN 2566-4638 © International Burch University https://dx.doi.org/10.14706/JEH2020316 Attitude towards learning English as a foreign language Haris Delić, MA International Burch University harisdelic91@gmail.com Abstract: Attitude of students towards learning and learning outcomes is one of the main predictors on the basis of which teachers can establish a productive and successful learning environment. This study aims to investigate the negative attitudes that students may have towards language learning in high school. This is a descriptive study with a quantitative approach. The data has been collected from 160 high school students in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) using a questionnaire adapted by researchers. The data analysis encompasses means, standard deviations, frequency, multiple comparisons, Pearson correlation coefficient, ttest and One-way ANOVA. We looked into the frequency of reported attitude towards English language learning, the differences between positive and negative attitude, as well as the differences between genders and grades in terms of the representation of reported attitudes. The results show that our participants report more negative than positive attitudes towards language learning and that the factors which influence their negative attitudes are school policy, learning environment and teaching methodology. The results also indicate that there exists no statistically significant difference between genders, as well as between four high school grades in terms of their interpretation on positive and negative attitude towards English language learning. Keywords: Negative attitude, language learning, learning environment. Article History Submitted: 22 May 2020 Accepted: 6 July 2020 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 1. INTRODUCTION Students’ attitudes towards language learning as well as the factors that influence them have been studied by various researchers using different methods. According to one definition, attitudes are beliefs or opinions about a certain issue, in this particular case, the language (Gardner, 1985), and Wenden (1991) classifies the term “attitude” into three interrelated components: cognitive (beliefs, thoughts or viewpoints), affective (an individual’s feelings and emotions), and behavioral (the tendency to adopt particular learning behaviors). Among authors, Gardner (1985), Dörnyei (2001) and Allport (1935), to name a few, serve as pioneers in this scientific field. Since the school represents the environment of community and education there are, according to Gardner (1985), educational and social types of attitudes, the first observing teachers, materials and the language, and the latter concerned more with cultural and environmental aspect of the school. Students’ attitude towards a language, whether positive or negative, represents impressions of linguistic difficulty or simplicity (Dervić & Bećirović, 2019), i.e. ease or difficulty of learning. They can also shape an image about the speakers of that language. Language attitudes may have an effect on second language or foreign language learning. The measurement of language attitudes provides information which is useful in language teaching and language learning. However, the negative attitudes of students, as predictors of possible failure to succeed in the process of second language (L2) learning (possible failure to learn a second language), have not been extensively studied. As such, the concept was adopted and research has been conducted by Ghaedsharafi et al. (2019), whose questionnaire was used in this research. Successful teachers lead their students towards the goals of education (Delić & Bećirović, 2016) and creating positive attitudes about learning. This study looks into the concept of attitude, focusing on its negative aspects as one of the major affective factors for failure in learning a foreign language. More specifically, it investigates Bosnian high school students’ negative attitudes towards learning English language. Additionally, it attempts to determine the influence of students’ demographic profile i.e. gender, class and English language final grade on their negative attitudes towards learning English. Thus, the current research may serve as a pioneer project in the context of Bosnian high school students’ language learning and may, together with the research on motivation, gender, and age (Ahmetović, Bećirović, & Dubravac, 2020; Bećirović et al., 2018; Dubravac & Latić, 2019; Kovačević & Akbarov, 2015; Latić & Dubravac, 2019; Mašić et al., 2020) contribute to the improvements in the L2 learning processes in general. 68 �Attitude towards learning English as a foreign language Haris Delić 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1. RESEARCH ON ATTITUDES Attitude has been regarded as an important factor of academic success. Attitude as a concept is as important as cognitive behaviors (Bloom, 1995). Gardner (1985) sees attitude as a component of motivation, while the existence of motivation depends on three elements: effort, desire to attain and favorable attitudes. Among the factors that influence students’ attitude towards language learning are teacher’s pedagogical approach, family expectations, parents’ socioeconomic status, gender, age, etc. (Abolfazli & Sadeghi, 2018). Based on their investigation, Abolfazli and Sadeghi (2018) have concluded that “gender and age range do not contribute significantly to the differentiation of participants according to their attitudes towards English, even though males had a slightly higher mean score than females and elder students had more positive attitude than younger students” (p. 14). Other authors, such as Lasagabaster (2005), investigated whether language competence, the socio-linguistic context and the knowledge of the second/foreign language play a significant role in shaping students’ attitudes towards a language. Attitude towards language learning can be both negative and positive. The positive attitude enhances learning, since the willingness to be able to communicate with native speakers of the language they are learning motivates learners to learn more and the process is therefore more likely to succeed (Noels et al., 2003, p. 36). On the contrary, negative attitude can hinder or slow down language learning because those attitudes emerge when learners are not motivated, not interested or have difficulties with the teacher (Ellis, 1994, p. 197201). Negative attitudes, even though producing negative effect on learners, may also have a positive effect. This may happen if the learners have a strong will to learn a language (Ellis, 1994, p. 200), or when students are persistent and struggle hard and fight those negative attitudes. The willingness to achieve a good grade or language fluency may turn negative attitudes into positive ones (Lennartsson, 2008). Another characteristic of students’ attitudes is that they can change. They may have negative attitudes at the beginning of the language learning process and later on they may get used to it and acquire positive attitudes, or their positive attitudes may change into negative ones due to low grades, failure to lead a fluent conversation, and the like. Dewaele (in Wei & Cook, 2009) states that attitudes “shift as a consequence of political circumstances (war), or migration patterns, when a new language suddenly emerges in the local linguistic landscape and becomes associated with a particular style of music or activity” (p. 172). He mentions other works on this issue (such as Dörnyei & Clément, 2001), and provides results which say that attitudes vary within a particular country and even between regions. He also concludes that “macro contextual, geopolitical factors significantly affect people’s language attitudes” (p. 173). These factors, along with age and gender, are likely to affect the attitudes towards EFL learning. 69 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 2.2. NEGATIVE ATTITUDES Attitudes towards language learning, since they represent reactions to objects and environmental factors in the learning process that can be evaluated, can be positive and negative. Certain factors contribute to each type. Zainol Abidin et al. (2012) state that “negative beliefs may lead to class anxiety, low cognitive achievement, and negative attitudes” (p. 120). Aliakbari & Gheitasi (2017) researched the connection between attitudes towards foreign language learning and test anxiety and they found that there was a relationship between test anxiety and attitude and that females showed more optimistic attitudes towards English language learning (ELL). Shvidko (2013), presenting the results of the findings of students' attitude towards English-only environments in school reports that their expressed negative attitude is due to forcing students to speak English, and punishments, teachers' reactions to students speaking L1 (p. 2). Negative attitudes have a detrimental effect on learners’ motivation (Bratož et al., 2019, p. 3). Gömleksiz (2010) concludes that, in order to understand how negative attitudes can be changed into positive ones, “teachers should be aware of the factors affecting students negatively and should take the needs of students into consideration” (p. 917). Rahimi & Hassani (2012) investigated the role of learning materials in learners’ attitude shaping and they found correlation between them. They conclude that “it is evident that students often develop negative attitudes towards learning English as a foreign language due to the lack of stimulating and authentic learning material and tasks” (p. 71). The analysis of predictors of negative attitudes towards language learning can be found in Ghaedsharafi et al.’s paper “Investigating Predictors of High School Students’ Negative Attitudes Towards Learning English by Developing, Validating, and Running a Questionnaire“ (2019). There, the authors have reported that the materials that students use for English language learning are “the best predictor of negative attitudes that can be considered as the most practical and key finding of the present study” (p. 147). Materials, they conclude, can have an effect on other teaching and learning factors and contribute to inappropriate learning environments. Moreover, they found that the learning environment and difficulty to learn English contribute to the development of negative attitudes as well. 2.3. ATTITUDES AND GENDER, CLASS AND SUCCESS The overall findings of a great deal of research on the attitudes’ role in second language learning show that positive attitudes and motivation are related to success in second language learning (Gardner, 1985). Among the factors that affect attitudes are gender differences, education level, socio-economic status, grade level, GPA and proficiency level, etc. 70 �Attitude towards learning English as a foreign language Haris Delić Investigating 1275 students, Gömleksiz (2010) found out that there exists a statistically significant difference between gender, grade level and department variables. In his research, female students obtained more positive attitudes than males, and in terms of grade level sophomores demonstrated more positive attitudes than freshmen. Bećirović (2017) found that females are significantly more motivated to learn English as a second language than males are. Pourfeiz (2014) conducted similar research on 157 students learning English language in the Turkish context. The findings of his research reveal that 75% of Turkish EFL students have positive attitudes toward FLL. In terms of the BiH educational context, there are various research papers that took into consideration language acquisition processes. Latić and BrdarevićČeljo (2018) investigated the differences in language use by men and women and found no significant differences between genders regarding their beliefs about communication. According to Bratož et al. (2019), to define language attitudes one needs to include various concepts such as “attitudes towards language variety or dialect, attitudes towards speakers of a specific language or variety, attitudes towards language learning, attitudes towards the learning situation, and attitudes towards language related behaviors, such as language use and language maintenance” (p. 3). Despite the importance of students’ attitude in the language learning process and its impact on their achievement, the role of L2 students' attitude towards English has not met sufficient observation in the context of B&H, and thus the importance of this study is a try to bridge such a gap. 3. METHODOLOGY In this research a quantitative approach to data collection and analysis was employed. For the purpose of the research a questionnaire was used. Questionnaires in general, and in this particular case a questionnaire distributed online, are easy to construct and allow researchers to gather data practically, economically, and in a short period of time. By using the questionnaire researchers can easily collect information about students’ habits, preferences and backgrounds. 3.1. DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENT The instrument used for this research was developed and validated by Ghaedsharafi et al. (2019) and was used in this research with the authors’ permission. The questionnaire was translated into Bosnian language and as such delivered to students so that its administration to the Bosnian students at different levels of language proficiency would be easier. It was delivered to students in online form (using surveyplanet platform). It contains 30 questions with response options on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 to 5 (1= Strongly disagree, 2= Disagree, 3= Neutral, 4= Agree, 5= Strongly agree). Following the 71 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 explanation of the nature and purpose of the study, students were asked to complete the questionnaire anonymously and without time limit. It contains statements of attitudes towards language learning which were later grouped into six groups, namely teaching methodology, difficulty to learn English, learning environment, materials, affective factors and school policy. Cronbach’s alpha was employed to assess the reliability of the instrument and the coefficient amounted to 0.86, which is an acceptable index. Each set of questions was assessed for internal consistency using Cronbach’s alpha (see Table 1). Table 1 Reliability Indices N of items Cronbach’s alpha Affective Factors 4 .81 Teaching Methodology 4 .71 School Policy 4 .63 Learning Environment 4 .50 Materials 9 .84 Difficulty of Learning 5 .81 English 3.2. PARTICIPANTS Participants in this research were 160 high school students, both males and females, studying at four different grade levels in a public high school in Visoko, Bosnia and Herzegovina. There were 47 girls (47.5%) and 52 boys (52.5%). As for the grade level, there were 30 first grade students (30.3%), 24 second grade students (24.2%), 26 third grade students (26.3%) and 19 fourth grade students (19.2%). Almost half of the participants, precisely 45.6 %, indicated that they had an excellent average grade in English language course. Table 2 summarizes participant information. Table 2 Gender, grade, and average course grade of participants Frequency Percent Frequency Percent Mark 1 4 Gender Male 74 46.3 2.5 Female 86 53.8 2 16 10.0 Class First 39 24.4 3 29 18.1 Second 54 33.8 4 38 23.8 Third 37 23.1 5 73 45.6 Fourth 30 18.8 Total 160 160 3.3. DATA ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES The collected data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS, v. 26). Frequencies and means were computed to ascertain the types and frequencies of the students’ attitudes towards language learning. Firstly, 72 �Attitude towards learning English as a foreign language Haris Delić descriptive analysis including mean, standard deviation (SD) and frequencies was employed. An independent samples t-test and a one-way ANOVA were used to show the differences between the grade levels. 3.4. RESEARCH QUESTIONS The following research questions guided the study: 1. Will Bosnian EFL learners report more negative than positive attitude towards foreign language learning? 2. Is there any statistically significant difference between positive and negative attitude towards foreign language learning and gender? 3. Is there any statistically significant difference between positive and negative attitude towards foreign language learning and different grade levels of students? Based on the research questions, the following hypotheses have been tested: 1. Bosnian EFL learners will not report more negative than positive attitude towards foreign language learning. 2. There is no statistically significant difference between positive and negative attitude towards foreign language learning and gender. 3. There is no statistically significant difference between positive and negative attitude towards foreign language learning and different grade levels of students. 4. RESULTS A Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient was computed to assess the relationship between the grouped variables of different types of students’ attitudes. There is a strong positive correlation between the affective factors and the variable “difficulty to learn English”, r = .681, n = 160, p < .001, between affective factors and “materials” variable, r = .768, n = 160, p < .001, and between “difficulty to learn English” and “materials” variables, r = .827, n = 160, p < .001. The correlation between other subscales is low and even insignificant, such as between the variables “materials” and “school policy”, r = .035, n = 160, p < .001. Table 3 below represents grouped variables correlation and descriptive statistics. Table 3. Descriptive statistics and correlation for grouped variables M SD (1) (2) (3) (4) ** (1) Affective factors 2.28 .94 1 -.255 .011 .027 (2) Teaching methodology 3.44 .71 -.255** 1 .291** .368** ** (3) School policy 3.62 .70 .011 .291 1 .364** ** ** (4) Learning environment 3.44 .58 .027 .368 .364 1 ** ** (5) Difficulty to learn English 2.31 .90 .681 -.258 -.055 .038 (6) Materials 2.37 .77 .768** -.169* .035 .132 (5) .681** -.258** -.055 .038 1 .827** (6) .768** -.169* .035 .132 .827** 1 73 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed) *. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed) After dividing the questions on attitudes into 6 groups or subscales and analyzing them separately, a general distinction was made between positive and negative attitudes to check whether students experience more positive or negative attitudes towards language learning, as well as to be able to conduct an independent t-test and a one-way ANOVA test on the overall students' attitude. To do so, the median of the scores was considered as the measure of central tendency; the scores equal or higher than the median were considered to reflect negative attitudes and those lower than the median were interpreted as positive attitudes. This is due to the fact that responses in the questionnaire are marked on a Likert scale ranging from 1(strongly disagree) to 5(strongly agree) Table 4 given below presents descriptive statistics of scores from the questionnaire. N Valid Missing Median Table 4. Descriptive Statistics of Scores from the Questionnaire Investigating Attitudes Affective Teaching School Learning Difficulty to learn factors methodology policy environment English 160 160 160 160 160 0 0 0 0 0 2.00 3.50 3.75 3.50 2.20 After conducting descriptive analysis of the median score of 6 grouped variables, the teaching methodology, school policy, and learning environment variables were categorized into negative attitudes group, and affective factors, difficulty to learn English, and materials variables were categorized into positive attitudes group. Having determined positive and negative attitudes that the participants reported, conditions were created to answer the second research question which aims to determine which attitudes are more reported by the participants. As presented in Table 5 below, the participants reported more negative attitudes towards language learning (M = 3.49, SD = .78) than positive ones (M = 2.22, SD = .50). Table 5. Descriptive statistics of overall attitudes scores N Mean Std. Deviation Positive attitudes 160 2.33 .78 Negative attitudes 160 3.49 .50 Valid N (listwise) 160 The next research question aimed at investigating whether there exists a statistically significant difference between positive and negative attitudes toward foreign language learning in case of different genders. An independent samples t-test was conducted to investigate this. The results show that there exists no statistically significant difference between positive attitudes in the scores for 74 Materials 160 0 2.22 �Attitude towards learning English as a foreign language Haris Delić males (M = 2.25, SD = .75) and females (M = 2.40, SD = .81); t(158) = -1.27, p = 0.20. Also, scores on negative attitudes for males (M = 3.43, SD = .58) and females (M = 3.55, SD = .41); t(158) = -1.51, p = 0.13 were statistically insignificant. Thus, gender does have an effect on neither positive nor negative attitude towards language learning (see Table 6). Positive attitudes Negative attitudes Table 6. Independent samples t-test Gender N M SD F Male 74 2.25 .75 .801 Female 86 2.40 .81 Male 74 3.43 .58 2.56 Female 86 3.55 .41 t -1.27 Sig. .205 -1.51 .132 A one-way ANOVA between subjects was conducted to compare the effect of positive and negative attitudes towards language learning on four different high school grades. Conditions of four different grades did not have significant effect on positive attitudes on language learning at the p < .05 F(3, 156) = .958, p = .414. Insignificant difference was also found between negative attitudes and four grades at the p < .05 level, F(3, 156) = .071, p = .976 (see Table 7). Table 7. A one-way ANOVA between subjects Negative attitudes Positive attitudes M 3.40 2.57 SD .57 .82 Second M 3.76 2.03 SD .36 .67 Third M 3.61 2.50 SD .43 .80 Fourth M 3.57 2.52 SD .37 .69 F .071 .958 Sig. .976 .414 Class First 5. DISCUSSION AND SUMMARY As mentioned earlier in this work, English language plays an important role in the Bosnian educational system (Dubravac, Brdarević-Čeljo & Bećirović, 2018). Given that it is a mandatory foreign language in all primary and high schools its importance, the need to learn it and use it, is growing and developing (Kovačević, Brdarević-Čeljo & Bećirović, 2018). Numerous researchers have conducted investigations of English language acquisition among Bosnian primary school, high school and university students so far, thereby investigating processes, implications, similarities and differences among procedures, approaches, and methods of language acquisition, taking into consideration participants’ age, 75 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 gender, grade level, socio-economic status and other social, cognitive, or affective differences (Bećirović et al. 2018; Brdarević-Čeljo & Asotić, 2017; Dubravac & Latić 2019; Kovačević & Akbarov 2015; Mašić et al. 2020; Rizvić & Bećirović, 2017). However, this particular research aimed to investigate what kind of attitudes, positive or negative, towards language learning will Bosnian high school students demonstrate while learning English language in a school setting. Based on the results of the questionnaire items’ analysis, variables that are reported as negative predictors are teaching methodology, school policy and learning environment, where the items investigating the school policy variable show the highest score, i.e. school policy is the strongest cause of negative attitudes. These results, particularly school policy as the main cause of students’ negative attitudes, do not support the results reported by Ghaedsharafi et al. (2019) where this type of variable is not among negative ones. The items referring to school policy in the questionnaire used in this research were mainly concerned with the way of teaching English language in schools, the ways of distributing and covering materials during lessons and the time English language enters the school curriculum. Based on the reported results, students seem to have negative attitude towards language learning if these conditions are not met in the school. The next predictor of students’ negative attitudes as reported by the participants is the learning environment variable. Ghaedsharafi et al. (2019) have reported that learning environment and teaching methodology, which are relatively close issues in the language learning process, are among the sources of negative attitudes. Learning environment has been extensively observed in the classroom management procedures (Jones & Jones, 2007; Delić, Bećirović & Brdarević-Čeljo, 2018) where the positive atmosphere in the classroom has been determined as one of the main predictors to a learning process success. Moreover, Tsuda (2003) points out that an unpleasant environment cannot offer students, as well as teachers, a place to successfully apply English language in learning and communication. The statistical analysis displayed in the previous section confirms the last two hypotheses of this investigation. Gender and grade level did not significantly differ in reporting the types of attitudes asked in the questionnaire. Interestingly, at each point of research questions they obtained almost identical mean scores. The concept of gender in Bosnian EFL context has been studied. Dubravac and Latić (2019), for example, researching students’ language learning beliefs, insignificant main effect of gender and grade on students’ learning beliefs. Thus, it appears that gender and grade level do not play a key role in modifying students’ attitudes in this case, as both male and female participants, across all four grade levels, shared more or less the same attitudes towards the English language learning experience. 76 �Attitude towards learning English as a foreign language Haris Delić 6. CONCLUSION The aim of this study was to determine the presence and the nature of high school students’ attitude towards English language learning. The results show that participants express more negative attitudes and that school policies are the factor that contributes to this type of attitude the most. Other factors that also contribute to negative attitudes towards L2 learning are learning environment and difficulty to learn English language. Moreover, a conclusion was reached that gender and grade level differences play no significant role in rendering these types of attitudes. A suggestion for further study of this concept would be the inclusion of other educational contexts (primary schools, universities), since the data collected and analyzed in this research do not provide a strong basis for generalization due to narrow research context. Furthermore, the concept of (negative) attitude can be investigated in combination with motivation, learning styles and strategies, and gender and grade level differences between students. 77 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 LIMITATIONS This study is limited to one public high school in Bosnia and Herzegovina and, therefore, provides only a partial representation of students’ attitudes towards learning English. REFERENCES Abolfazli, Z. & Sadeghi, K. (2018). Iranian language learners’ attitudes towards teaching/learning english: the role of university major, gender, and age. Journal of Modern Research in English Language Studies, 5(1), 1-26. doi: 10.30479/jmrels.2019.10399.1297 Ahmetović, E., Bećirović, S., Dubravac, V. (2020). Motivation, anxiety and students’ performance. European Journal of Contemporary Education 9(2), 271 – 289. Aliakbari, M. & Gheitasi, M. (2017). Investigating students’ test anxiety and attitude toward foreign language learning in secondary school in Ilam. Journal of Pan-Pacific Association of Applied Linguistics, 20(2), 51-69. Bećirović, S. (2017). The relationship between gender, motivation and achievement in learning english as a foreign language. European Journal of Contemporary Education, 6(2), 210-220. doi: 10.13187/ejced.2017.2.210 Bećirović, S., Brdarević-Čeljo, A., & Dubravac, V. (2018). The effect of nationality, gender, and GPA on the use of reading strategies among EFL university students. SAGE Open, 8(4), 1-12. doi: 10.1177/2158244018809286 Brdarević-Čeljo, A. & Asotić, M. (2017). The influence of social context, grade level and gender on the use of language learning strategies in primary schools. Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR), 3(12), 7-14. Bratož, S., Pirih, A., & Štemberger, T. (2019). Identifying children’s attitudes towards languages: construction and validation of the LANGattMini Scale. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 1-13. doi: 10.1080/01434632.2019.1684501 Delić, H. & Bećirović, S. (2016). Socratic method as an approach to teaching. European Researcher, 111(10), 511-517. doi: 10.13187/er.2016.111.511 Delić, H. & Bećirović, S. (2018). The influence of grade point average and socioeconomic status on learning strategies. Journal Of Education And Humanities, 1(2), 53-64. doi: 10.14706/jeh2018123 Delić, H., Bećirović, S., & Brdarević Čeljo, A., (2018). Effects of grade level and gender on foreign language learning process in Bosnian high schools. International Journal of Educational Policy Research and Review, 5(6), 83-89. https://doi.org/10.15739/IJEPRR.18.010 Dervić, M., & Bećirović, S. (2019). Native and non-native EFL teacher’s dichotomy: terminological, competitiveness and employment 78 �Attitude towards learning English as a foreign language Haris Delić discrimination. Journal of Language and Education, 5(3), 114-127. https://doi.org/10.17323/jle.2019.9746 Dubravac, V., & Latić, E. (2019). The plasticity of students’ language learning beliefs: the interplay of gender, grade and educational level. Journal of Language and Education, 5(4), 36-53. doi: https://doi.org/10.17323/jle.2019.9732 Dubravac, V., Brdarević Čeljo, A., Bećirović, S. (2018). The English of Bosnia and Herzegovina. World Englishes, 37(4), 635652. https://doi.org/10.1111/weng.12347 Ellis, R. (1994). The Study of Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Gardner, R. C. (1985). Social Psychology and Second Language Learning: The Role of Attitudes and Motivation. London: Edward Arnold. Ghaedsharafi, A., Yamini, M., & Dehghan, F. (2019). Investigating predictors of high school students’ negative attitudes towards learning English by developing, validating, and running a questionnaire. Journal of Research in Applied Linguistics, 10(2), 136-158. Gömleksiz, M., (2010). An evaluation of students’ attitudes toward English language learning in terms of several variables. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 9, pp. 913-918. Jones, V., & Jones, L. (2007). Comprehensive Classroom Management. Pearson Education, Inc. 8th ed. Kovačević, E., & Akbarov, A. (2015). Language learning beliefs and strategies: a Bosnian EFL case. Epiphany, 8(3), 74. doi: 10.21533/epiphany.v8i3.178 Kovačević, F., Brdarević-Čeljo, A., Bećirović, S., (2018), Opportunities and challenges facing bosnian high-school EFL learners. European Researcher. Series A, 9(4), 298-306. doi: 10.13187/er.2018.4.298, Lasagabaster, D. (2005). Attitudes towards Basque, Spanish and English: An analysis of the most influential variables. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 26(4), 296-316. Latić, E. & Brdarević-Čeljo, A. (2018). An Exploration of Beliefs about Gender Differences in Language Use. Journal of Language and Education. 4(3), pp. 48-57. doi:10.17323/2411-7390-2018-4-3-48-57. Latić, E., Dubravac, V. (2019). Bosnian students’ language learning beliefs with respect to their proficiency level. Zbornik radova Islamskog pedagoškog fakulteta u Zenici, 17, 377- 400. Li, W., Cook, V., & Flowerdew, J. (2009). Contemporary Applied Linguistics. London: Continuum. Mašić, A., Polz, E., Bećirović, S. (2020). The relationship between learning styles, GPA, school level and gender. European Researcher. Series A, 11(1), 51-60. doi: 10.13187/er.2020.1.51 Noels, K., Pelletier, L., Clément, R., & Vallerand, R. (2003). Why are you learning a second language? Motivational orientations and self-determination theory. Language Learning, 53(S1), 33-64. doi: 10.1111/1467-9922.53223 79 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 Zainol Abidin, M., Pour-Mohammadi, M., & Alzwari, H. (2012). EFL students’ attitudes towards learning english language: the case of libyan secondary school students. Asian Social Science, 8(2). doi: 10.5539/ass.v8n2p119 Wenden, A. (1991). Learner Strategies for Learner Autonomy. London: Prentice Hall. Rahimi, M., & Hassani, M. (2012). Attitude towards EFL textbooks as a predictor of attitude towards learning English as a foreign language. Procedia - Social And Behavioral Sciences, 31, 66-72. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.12.018 Rizvić E., & Bećirović, S., (2017). Willingness to communicate in english as a foreign language in Bosnian-Herzegovinian EFL context. European Researcher, 8(3), 224-235. doi: 10.13187/er.2017.3.224 80 � https://omeka.ibu.edu.ba/files/original/cda931f28f60b13108ffe7211f60e54d.pdf 78bf3d856e4a6481503f75eaaa197734 PDF Text Text Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3 (1), pp. 67-80, Summer 2020 Original research paper ISSN 2566-4638 © International Burch University https://dx.doi.org/10.14706/JEH2020316 Attitude towards learning English as a foreign language Haris Delić, MA International Burch University harisdelic91@gmail.com Abstract: Attitude of students towards learning and learning outcomes is one of the main predictors on the basis of which teachers can establish a productive and successful learning environment. This study aims to investigate the negative attitudes that students may have towards language learning in high school. This is a descriptive study with a quantitative approach. The data has been collected from 160 high school students in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) using a questionnaire adapted by researchers. The data analysis encompasses means, standard deviations, frequency, multiple comparisons, Pearson correlation coefficient, ttest and One-way ANOVA. We looked into the frequency of reported attitude towards English language learning, the differences between positive and negative attitude, as well as the differences between genders and grades in terms of the representation of reported attitudes. The results show that our participants report more negative than positive attitudes towards language learning and that the factors which influence their negative attitudes are school policy, learning environment and teaching methodology. The results also indicate that there exists no statistically significant difference between genders, as well as between four high school grades in terms of their interpretation on positive and negative attitude towards English language learning. Keywords: Negative attitude, language learning, learning environment. Article History Submitted: 22 May 2020 Accepted: 6 July 2020 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 1. INTRODUCTION Students’ attitudes towards language learning as well as the factors that influence them have been studied by various researchers using different methods. According to one definition, attitudes are beliefs or opinions about a certain issue, in this particular case, the language (Gardner, 1985), and Wenden (1991) classifies the term “attitude” into three interrelated components: cognitive (beliefs, thoughts or viewpoints), affective (an individual’s feelings and emotions), and behavioral (the tendency to adopt particular learning behaviors). Among authors, Gardner (1985), Dörnyei (2001) and Allport (1935), to name a few, serve as pioneers in this scientific field. Since the school represents the environment of community and education there are, according to Gardner (1985), educational and social types of attitudes, the first observing teachers, materials and the language, and the latter concerned more with cultural and environmental aspect of the school. Students’ attitude towards a language, whether positive or negative, represents impressions of linguistic difficulty or simplicity (Dervić & Bećirović, 2019), i.e. ease or difficulty of learning. They can also shape an image about the speakers of that language. Language attitudes may have an effect on second language or foreign language learning. The measurement of language attitudes provides information which is useful in language teaching and language learning. However, the negative attitudes of students, as predictors of possible failure to succeed in the process of second language (L2) learning (possible failure to learn a second language), have not been extensively studied. As such, the concept was adopted and research has been conducted by Ghaedsharafi et al. (2019), whose questionnaire was used in this research. Successful teachers lead their students towards the goals of education (Delić & Bećirović, 2016) and creating positive attitudes about learning. This study looks into the concept of attitude, focusing on its negative aspects as one of the major affective factors for failure in learning a foreign language. More specifically, it investigates Bosnian high school students’ negative attitudes towards learning English language. Additionally, it attempts to determine the influence of students’ demographic profile i.e. gender, class and English language final grade on their negative attitudes towards learning English. Thus, the current research may serve as a pioneer project in the context of Bosnian high school students’ language learning and may, together with the research on motivation, gender, and age (Ahmetović, Bećirović, & Dubravac, 2020; Bećirović et al., 2018; Dubravac & Latić, 2019; Kovačević & Akbarov, 2015; Latić & Dubravac, 2019; Mašić et al., 2020) contribute to the improvements in the L2 learning processes in general. 68 �Attitude towards learning English as a foreign language Haris Delić 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1. RESEARCH ON ATTITUDES Attitude has been regarded as an important factor of academic success. Attitude as a concept is as important as cognitive behaviors (Bloom, 1995). Gardner (1985) sees attitude as a component of motivation, while the existence of motivation depends on three elements: effort, desire to attain and favorable attitudes. Among the factors that influence students’ attitude towards language learning are teacher’s pedagogical approach, family expectations, parents’ socioeconomic status, gender, age, etc. (Abolfazli & Sadeghi, 2018). Based on their investigation, Abolfazli and Sadeghi (2018) have concluded that “gender and age range do not contribute significantly to the differentiation of participants according to their attitudes towards English, even though males had a slightly higher mean score than females and elder students had more positive attitude than younger students” (p. 14). Other authors, such as Lasagabaster (2005), investigated whether language competence, the socio-linguistic context and the knowledge of the second/foreign language play a significant role in shaping students’ attitudes towards a language. Attitude towards language learning can be both negative and positive. The positive attitude enhances learning, since the willingness to be able to communicate with native speakers of the language they are learning motivates learners to learn more and the process is therefore more likely to succeed (Noels et al., 2003, p. 36). On the contrary, negative attitude can hinder or slow down language learning because those attitudes emerge when learners are not motivated, not interested or have difficulties with the teacher (Ellis, 1994, p. 197201). Negative attitudes, even though producing negative effect on learners, may also have a positive effect. This may happen if the learners have a strong will to learn a language (Ellis, 1994, p. 200), or when students are persistent and struggle hard and fight those negative attitudes. The willingness to achieve a good grade or language fluency may turn negative attitudes into positive ones (Lennartsson, 2008). Another characteristic of students’ attitudes is that they can change. They may have negative attitudes at the beginning of the language learning process and later on they may get used to it and acquire positive attitudes, or their positive attitudes may change into negative ones due to low grades, failure to lead a fluent conversation, and the like. Dewaele (in Wei & Cook, 2009) states that attitudes “shift as a consequence of political circumstances (war), or migration patterns, when a new language suddenly emerges in the local linguistic landscape and becomes associated with a particular style of music or activity” (p. 172). He mentions other works on this issue (such as Dörnyei & Clément, 2001), and provides results which say that attitudes vary within a particular country and even between regions. He also concludes that “macro contextual, geopolitical factors significantly affect people’s language attitudes” (p. 173). These factors, along with age and gender, are likely to affect the attitudes towards EFL learning. 69 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 2.2. NEGATIVE ATTITUDES Attitudes towards language learning, since they represent reactions to objects and environmental factors in the learning process that can be evaluated, can be positive and negative. Certain factors contribute to each type. Zainol Abidin et al. (2012) state that “negative beliefs may lead to class anxiety, low cognitive achievement, and negative attitudes” (p. 120). Aliakbari & Gheitasi (2017) researched the connection between attitudes towards foreign language learning and test anxiety and they found that there was a relationship between test anxiety and attitude and that females showed more optimistic attitudes towards English language learning (ELL). Shvidko (2013), presenting the results of the findings of students' attitude towards English-only environments in school reports that their expressed negative attitude is due to forcing students to speak English, and punishments, teachers' reactions to students speaking L1 (p. 2). Negative attitudes have a detrimental effect on learners’ motivation (Bratož et al., 2019, p. 3). Gömleksiz (2010) concludes that, in order to understand how negative attitudes can be changed into positive ones, “teachers should be aware of the factors affecting students negatively and should take the needs of students into consideration” (p. 917). Rahimi & Hassani (2012) investigated the role of learning materials in learners’ attitude shaping and they found correlation between them. They conclude that “it is evident that students often develop negative attitudes towards learning English as a foreign language due to the lack of stimulating and authentic learning material and tasks” (p. 71). The analysis of predictors of negative attitudes towards language learning can be found in Ghaedsharafi et al.’s paper “Investigating Predictors of High School Students’ Negative Attitudes Towards Learning English by Developing, Validating, and Running a Questionnaire“ (2019). There, the authors have reported that the materials that students use for English language learning are “the best predictor of negative attitudes that can be considered as the most practical and key finding of the present study” (p. 147). Materials, they conclude, can have an effect on other teaching and learning factors and contribute to inappropriate learning environments. Moreover, they found that the learning environment and difficulty to learn English contribute to the development of negative attitudes as well. 2.3. ATTITUDES AND GENDER, CLASS AND SUCCESS The overall findings of a great deal of research on the attitudes’ role in second language learning show that positive attitudes and motivation are related to success in second language learning (Gardner, 1985). Among the factors that affect attitudes are gender differences, education level, socio-economic status, grade level, GPA and proficiency level, etc. 70 �Attitude towards learning English as a foreign language Haris Delić Investigating 1275 students, Gömleksiz (2010) found out that there exists a statistically significant difference between gender, grade level and department variables. In his research, female students obtained more positive attitudes than males, and in terms of grade level sophomores demonstrated more positive attitudes than freshmen. Bećirović (2017) found that females are significantly more motivated to learn English as a second language than males are. Pourfeiz (2014) conducted similar research on 157 students learning English language in the Turkish context. The findings of his research reveal that 75% of Turkish EFL students have positive attitudes toward FLL. In terms of the BiH educational context, there are various research papers that took into consideration language acquisition processes. Latić and BrdarevićČeljo (2018) investigated the differences in language use by men and women and found no significant differences between genders regarding their beliefs about communication. According to Bratož et al. (2019), to define language attitudes one needs to include various concepts such as “attitudes towards language variety or dialect, attitudes towards speakers of a specific language or variety, attitudes towards language learning, attitudes towards the learning situation, and attitudes towards language related behaviors, such as language use and language maintenance” (p. 3). Despite the importance of students’ attitude in the language learning process and its impact on their achievement, the role of L2 students' attitude towards English has not met sufficient observation in the context of B&H, and thus the importance of this study is a try to bridge such a gap. 3. METHODOLOGY In this research a quantitative approach to data collection and analysis was employed. For the purpose of the research a questionnaire was used. Questionnaires in general, and in this particular case a questionnaire distributed online, are easy to construct and allow researchers to gather data practically, economically, and in a short period of time. By using the questionnaire researchers can easily collect information about students’ habits, preferences and backgrounds. 3.1. DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENT The instrument used for this research was developed and validated by Ghaedsharafi et al. (2019) and was used in this research with the authors’ permission. The questionnaire was translated into Bosnian language and as such delivered to students so that its administration to the Bosnian students at different levels of language proficiency would be easier. It was delivered to students in online form (using surveyplanet platform). It contains 30 questions with response options on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 to 5 (1= Strongly disagree, 2= Disagree, 3= Neutral, 4= Agree, 5= Strongly agree). Following the 71 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 explanation of the nature and purpose of the study, students were asked to complete the questionnaire anonymously and without time limit. It contains statements of attitudes towards language learning which were later grouped into six groups, namely teaching methodology, difficulty to learn English, learning environment, materials, affective factors and school policy. Cronbach’s alpha was employed to assess the reliability of the instrument and the coefficient amounted to 0.86, which is an acceptable index. Each set of questions was assessed for internal consistency using Cronbach’s alpha (see Table 1). Table 1 Reliability Indices N of items Cronbach’s alpha Affective Factors 4 .81 Teaching Methodology 4 .71 School Policy 4 .63 Learning Environment 4 .50 Materials 9 .84 Difficulty of Learning 5 .81 English 3.2. PARTICIPANTS Participants in this research were 160 high school students, both males and females, studying at four different grade levels in a public high school in Visoko, Bosnia and Herzegovina. There were 47 girls (47.5%) and 52 boys (52.5%). As for the grade level, there were 30 first grade students (30.3%), 24 second grade students (24.2%), 26 third grade students (26.3%) and 19 fourth grade students (19.2%). Almost half of the participants, precisely 45.6 %, indicated that they had an excellent average grade in English language course. Table 2 summarizes participant information. Table 2 Gender, grade, and average course grade of participants Frequency Percent Frequency Percent Mark 1 4 Gender Male 74 46.3 2.5 Female 86 53.8 2 16 10.0 Class First 39 24.4 3 29 18.1 Second 54 33.8 4 38 23.8 Third 37 23.1 5 73 45.6 Fourth 30 18.8 Total 160 160 3.3. DATA ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES The collected data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS, v. 26). Frequencies and means were computed to ascertain the types and frequencies of the students’ attitudes towards language learning. Firstly, 72 �Attitude towards learning English as a foreign language Haris Delić descriptive analysis including mean, standard deviation (SD) and frequencies was employed. An independent samples t-test and a one-way ANOVA were used to show the differences between the grade levels. 3.4. RESEARCH QUESTIONS The following research questions guided the study: 1. Will Bosnian EFL learners report more negative than positive attitude towards foreign language learning? 2. Is there any statistically significant difference between positive and negative attitude towards foreign language learning and gender? 3. Is there any statistically significant difference between positive and negative attitude towards foreign language learning and different grade levels of students? Based on the research questions, the following hypotheses have been tested: 1. Bosnian EFL learners will not report more negative than positive attitude towards foreign language learning. 2. There is no statistically significant difference between positive and negative attitude towards foreign language learning and gender. 3. There is no statistically significant difference between positive and negative attitude towards foreign language learning and different grade levels of students. 4. RESULTS A Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient was computed to assess the relationship between the grouped variables of different types of students’ attitudes. There is a strong positive correlation between the affective factors and the variable “difficulty to learn English”, r = .681, n = 160, p < .001, between affective factors and “materials” variable, r = .768, n = 160, p < .001, and between “difficulty to learn English” and “materials” variables, r = .827, n = 160, p < .001. The correlation between other subscales is low and even insignificant, such as between the variables “materials” and “school policy”, r = .035, n = 160, p < .001. Table 3 below represents grouped variables correlation and descriptive statistics. Table 3. Descriptive statistics and correlation for grouped variables M SD (1) (2) (3) (4) ** (1) Affective factors 2.28 .94 1 -.255 .011 .027 (2) Teaching methodology 3.44 .71 -.255** 1 .291** .368** ** (3) School policy 3.62 .70 .011 .291 1 .364** ** ** (4) Learning environment 3.44 .58 .027 .368 .364 1 ** ** (5) Difficulty to learn English 2.31 .90 .681 -.258 -.055 .038 (6) Materials 2.37 .77 .768** -.169* .035 .132 (5) .681** -.258** -.055 .038 1 .827** (6) .768** -.169* .035 .132 .827** 1 73 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed) *. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed) After dividing the questions on attitudes into 6 groups or subscales and analyzing them separately, a general distinction was made between positive and negative attitudes to check whether students experience more positive or negative attitudes towards language learning, as well as to be able to conduct an independent t-test and a one-way ANOVA test on the overall students' attitude. To do so, the median of the scores was considered as the measure of central tendency; the scores equal or higher than the median were considered to reflect negative attitudes and those lower than the median were interpreted as positive attitudes. This is due to the fact that responses in the questionnaire are marked on a Likert scale ranging from 1(strongly disagree) to 5(strongly agree) Table 4 given below presents descriptive statistics of scores from the questionnaire. N Valid Missing Median Table 4. Descriptive Statistics of Scores from the Questionnaire Investigating Attitudes Affective Teaching School Learning Difficulty to learn factors methodology policy environment English 160 160 160 160 160 0 0 0 0 0 2.00 3.50 3.75 3.50 2.20 After conducting descriptive analysis of the median score of 6 grouped variables, the teaching methodology, school policy, and learning environment variables were categorized into negative attitudes group, and affective factors, difficulty to learn English, and materials variables were categorized into positive attitudes group. Having determined positive and negative attitudes that the participants reported, conditions were created to answer the second research question which aims to determine which attitudes are more reported by the participants. As presented in Table 5 below, the participants reported more negative attitudes towards language learning (M = 3.49, SD = .78) than positive ones (M = 2.22, SD = .50). Table 5. Descriptive statistics of overall attitudes scores N Mean Std. Deviation Positive attitudes 160 2.33 .78 Negative attitudes 160 3.49 .50 Valid N (listwise) 160 The next research question aimed at investigating whether there exists a statistically significant difference between positive and negative attitudes toward foreign language learning in case of different genders. An independent samples t-test was conducted to investigate this. The results show that there exists no statistically significant difference between positive attitudes in the scores for 74 Materials 160 0 2.22 �Attitude towards learning English as a foreign language Haris Delić males (M = 2.25, SD = .75) and females (M = 2.40, SD = .81); t(158) = -1.27, p = 0.20. Also, scores on negative attitudes for males (M = 3.43, SD = .58) and females (M = 3.55, SD = .41); t(158) = -1.51, p = 0.13 were statistically insignificant. Thus, gender does have an effect on neither positive nor negative attitude towards language learning (see Table 6). Positive attitudes Negative attitudes Table 6. Independent samples t-test Gender N M SD F Male 74 2.25 .75 .801 Female 86 2.40 .81 Male 74 3.43 .58 2.56 Female 86 3.55 .41 t -1.27 Sig. .205 -1.51 .132 A one-way ANOVA between subjects was conducted to compare the effect of positive and negative attitudes towards language learning on four different high school grades. Conditions of four different grades did not have significant effect on positive attitudes on language learning at the p < .05 F(3, 156) = .958, p = .414. Insignificant difference was also found between negative attitudes and four grades at the p < .05 level, F(3, 156) = .071, p = .976 (see Table 7). Table 7. A one-way ANOVA between subjects Negative attitudes Positive attitudes M 3.40 2.57 SD .57 .82 Second M 3.76 2.03 SD .36 .67 Third M 3.61 2.50 SD .43 .80 Fourth M 3.57 2.52 SD .37 .69 F .071 .958 Sig. .976 .414 Class First 5. DISCUSSION AND SUMMARY As mentioned earlier in this work, English language plays an important role in the Bosnian educational system (Dubravac, Brdarević-Čeljo & Bećirović, 2018). Given that it is a mandatory foreign language in all primary and high schools its importance, the need to learn it and use it, is growing and developing (Kovačević, Brdarević-Čeljo & Bećirović, 2018). Numerous researchers have conducted investigations of English language acquisition among Bosnian primary school, high school and university students so far, thereby investigating processes, implications, similarities and differences among procedures, approaches, and methods of language acquisition, taking into consideration participants’ age, 75 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 gender, grade level, socio-economic status and other social, cognitive, or affective differences (Bećirović et al. 2018; Brdarević-Čeljo & Asotić, 2017; Dubravac & Latić 2019; Kovačević & Akbarov 2015; Mašić et al. 2020; Rizvić & Bećirović, 2017). However, this particular research aimed to investigate what kind of attitudes, positive or negative, towards language learning will Bosnian high school students demonstrate while learning English language in a school setting. Based on the results of the questionnaire items’ analysis, variables that are reported as negative predictors are teaching methodology, school policy and learning environment, where the items investigating the school policy variable show the highest score, i.e. school policy is the strongest cause of negative attitudes. These results, particularly school policy as the main cause of students’ negative attitudes, do not support the results reported by Ghaedsharafi et al. (2019) where this type of variable is not among negative ones. The items referring to school policy in the questionnaire used in this research were mainly concerned with the way of teaching English language in schools, the ways of distributing and covering materials during lessons and the time English language enters the school curriculum. Based on the reported results, students seem to have negative attitude towards language learning if these conditions are not met in the school. The next predictor of students’ negative attitudes as reported by the participants is the learning environment variable. Ghaedsharafi et al. (2019) have reported that learning environment and teaching methodology, which are relatively close issues in the language learning process, are among the sources of negative attitudes. Learning environment has been extensively observed in the classroom management procedures (Jones & Jones, 2007; Delić, Bećirović & Brdarević-Čeljo, 2018) where the positive atmosphere in the classroom has been determined as one of the main predictors to a learning process success. Moreover, Tsuda (2003) points out that an unpleasant environment cannot offer students, as well as teachers, a place to successfully apply English language in learning and communication. The statistical analysis displayed in the previous section confirms the last two hypotheses of this investigation. Gender and grade level did not significantly differ in reporting the types of attitudes asked in the questionnaire. Interestingly, at each point of research questions they obtained almost identical mean scores. The concept of gender in Bosnian EFL context has been studied. Dubravac and Latić (2019), for example, researching students’ language learning beliefs, insignificant main effect of gender and grade on students’ learning beliefs. Thus, it appears that gender and grade level do not play a key role in modifying students’ attitudes in this case, as both male and female participants, across all four grade levels, shared more or less the same attitudes towards the English language learning experience. 76 �Attitude towards learning English as a foreign language Haris Delić 6. CONCLUSION The aim of this study was to determine the presence and the nature of high school students’ attitude towards English language learning. The results show that participants express more negative attitudes and that school policies are the factor that contributes to this type of attitude the most. Other factors that also contribute to negative attitudes towards L2 learning are learning environment and difficulty to learn English language. Moreover, a conclusion was reached that gender and grade level differences play no significant role in rendering these types of attitudes. A suggestion for further study of this concept would be the inclusion of other educational contexts (primary schools, universities), since the data collected and analyzed in this research do not provide a strong basis for generalization due to narrow research context. Furthermore, the concept of (negative) attitude can be investigated in combination with motivation, learning styles and strategies, and gender and grade level differences between students. 77 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 LIMITATIONS This study is limited to one public high school in Bosnia and Herzegovina and, therefore, provides only a partial representation of students’ attitudes towards learning English. REFERENCES Abolfazli, Z. & Sadeghi, K. (2018). Iranian language learners’ attitudes towards teaching/learning english: the role of university major, gender, and age. Journal of Modern Research in English Language Studies, 5(1), 1-26. doi: 10.30479/jmrels.2019.10399.1297 Ahmetović, E., Bećirović, S., Dubravac, V. (2020). Motivation, anxiety and students’ performance. European Journal of Contemporary Education 9(2), 271 – 289. Aliakbari, M. & Gheitasi, M. (2017). 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Identifying children’s attitudes towards languages: construction and validation of the LANGattMini Scale. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 1-13. doi: 10.1080/01434632.2019.1684501 Delić, H. & Bećirović, S. (2016). Socratic method as an approach to teaching. European Researcher, 111(10), 511-517. doi: 10.13187/er.2016.111.511 Delić, H. & Bećirović, S. (2018). The influence of grade point average and socioeconomic status on learning strategies. Journal Of Education And Humanities, 1(2), 53-64. doi: 10.14706/jeh2018123 Delić, H., Bećirović, S., & Brdarević Čeljo, A., (2018). Effects of grade level and gender on foreign language learning process in Bosnian high schools. International Journal of Educational Policy Research and Review, 5(6), 83-89. https://doi.org/10.15739/IJEPRR.18.010 Dervić, M., & Bećirović, S. (2019). Native and non-native EFL teacher’s dichotomy: terminological, competitiveness and employment 78 �Attitude towards learning English as a foreign language Haris Delić discrimination. Journal of Language and Education, 5(3), 114-127. https://doi.org/10.17323/jle.2019.9746 Dubravac, V., & Latić, E. (2019). The plasticity of students’ language learning beliefs: the interplay of gender, grade and educational level. Journal of Language and Education, 5(4), 36-53. doi: https://doi.org/10.17323/jle.2019.9732 Dubravac, V., Brdarević Čeljo, A., Bećirović, S. (2018). The English of Bosnia and Herzegovina. World Englishes, 37(4), 635652. https://doi.org/10.1111/weng.12347 Ellis, R. (1994). The Study of Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Gardner, R. C. (1985). Social Psychology and Second Language Learning: The Role of Attitudes and Motivation. London: Edward Arnold. Ghaedsharafi, A., Yamini, M., & Dehghan, F. (2019). Investigating predictors of high school students’ negative attitudes towards learning English by developing, validating, and running a questionnaire. Journal of Research in Applied Linguistics, 10(2), 136-158. Gömleksiz, M., (2010). An evaluation of students’ attitudes toward English language learning in terms of several variables. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 9, pp. 913-918. Jones, V., & Jones, L. (2007). Comprehensive Classroom Management. Pearson Education, Inc. 8th ed. Kovačević, E., & Akbarov, A. (2015). Language learning beliefs and strategies: a Bosnian EFL case. Epiphany, 8(3), 74. doi: 10.21533/epiphany.v8i3.178 Kovačević, F., Brdarević-Čeljo, A., Bećirović, S., (2018), Opportunities and challenges facing bosnian high-school EFL learners. European Researcher. Series A, 9(4), 298-306. doi: 10.13187/er.2018.4.298, Lasagabaster, D. (2005). Attitudes towards Basque, Spanish and English: An analysis of the most influential variables. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 26(4), 296-316. Latić, E. & Brdarević-Čeljo, A. (2018). An Exploration of Beliefs about Gender Differences in Language Use. Journal of Language and Education. 4(3), pp. 48-57. doi:10.17323/2411-7390-2018-4-3-48-57. Latić, E., Dubravac, V. (2019). Bosnian students’ language learning beliefs with respect to their proficiency level. Zbornik radova Islamskog pedagoškog fakulteta u Zenici, 17, 377- 400. Li, W., Cook, V., & Flowerdew, J. (2009). Contemporary Applied Linguistics. London: Continuum. Mašić, A., Polz, E., Bećirović, S. (2020). The relationship between learning styles, GPA, school level and gender. European Researcher. Series A, 11(1), 51-60. doi: 10.13187/er.2020.1.51 Noels, K., Pelletier, L., Clément, R., & Vallerand, R. (2003). Why are you learning a second language? Motivational orientations and self-determination theory. Language Learning, 53(S1), 33-64. doi: 10.1111/1467-9922.53223 79 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 Zainol Abidin, M., Pour-Mohammadi, M., & Alzwari, H. (2012). EFL students’ attitudes towards learning english language: the case of libyan secondary school students. Asian Social Science, 8(2). doi: 10.5539/ass.v8n2p119 Wenden, A. (1991). Learner Strategies for Learner Autonomy. London: Prentice Hall. Rahimi, M., & Hassani, M. (2012). Attitude towards EFL textbooks as a predictor of attitude towards learning English as a foreign language. Procedia - Social And Behavioral Sciences, 31, 66-72. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.12.018 Rizvić E., & Bećirović, S., (2017). Willingness to communicate in english as a foreign language in Bosnian-Herzegovinian EFL context. European Researcher, 8(3), 224-235. doi: 10.13187/er.2017.3.224 80 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Attitude towards learning English as a foreign language Attitude towards learning English as a foreign language https://omeka.ibu.edu.ba/files/original/f97c209b06e1325354a900be5572d299.pdf 2ba8bdbe76cb8a051a21eaa398301924 PDF Text Text Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3 (1), pp. 53-66, Summer 2020 Professional paper ISSN 2566-4638 © International Burch University https://dx.doi.org/10.14706/JEH2020315 The Relationship Between Covid-19, Online Learning and Intercultural Education Amila Dautbašić Jasna Saračević International Burch University International Burch University amila.dautbasic@stu.ibu.edu.ba jasna.saracevic@live.com Abstract: This paper aims to describe and analyse various effects that COVID-19 pandemic might have on online learning and multicultural education. The following questions will be investigated: Has COVID-19 pandemic made an impact on the development on multicultural education during online classes?; How have the teachers contributed to enhance online multicultural education?; and What are the positive effects of COVID-19 pandemic on multicultural online education? Multicultural online learning received unfavourable criticism and was characterized with prejudice primarily due to stereotypes that have been present from the very beginning of online education. The paper proposes constructive ways of online collaboration, various strategies applied by both teachers and students, and applicable activities and materials provided for students in order to sustain a multicultural online learning environment. Findings demonstrate that cultural diversity is beneficial for learners and that their involvement in online activities as well as their overall achievements and grades improved due to efficiently organized online lessons. Further, other factors like motivation, communication, anxiety, and confidence all proved to have been positively impacted by crosscultural learning, where students themselves contributed to learning and understanding of cultural knowledge. A multicultural community was formed during online classes and students generated their own community of learning following the guidance from their teacher. Ethnicity and cultural backgrounds of students only encouraged them to learn from their peers and merged them into a united multicultural environment. Keywords: COVID-19, multicultural education, online classes Article History Submitted: 15 April 2020 Accepted: 29 June 2020 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 1. INTRODUCTION The aim of this paper is to present the status of the multicultural education in the times of pandemic, to prove how well-developed multicultural classrooms are, and to indicate that students face no difficulties in communication through online platforms. Online lectures are held without any difficulties in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and it was of great importance to establish good communication with students from diverse cultures and ensure a comfortable online learning experience. It was an unfamiliar environment to students, however, using the online platforms and websites which are all in a foreign language has further proved the importance of having mixed classrooms and signified comprehensive benefits of such organized classes. Multiculturalism represents a rather broad topic, but the most important component of a term is that it enlightens its participants; it helps students meet other cultures and accept everyone as they are. Online platforms used during the pandemic have shown that everyone can be connected and multiculturalism can exist even when students are not present in the same room. The importance of multicultural education has been continually emphasized, however, in the wake of predicaments like the current one caused by COVID-19 pandemic, the significance of multicultural education resurfaced and acknowledged an extensive impact of COVID-19 on the development on multicultural communication in online classes. Due to the overall contemporary social trends, the need for pedagogical reflection on the relationship between multiculturalism and education, that is, upbringing and education in a multicultural society, is of extreme importance in today's society. Hence, it is evident that there is an increasing number of authors who are tackling this issue. The phenomenon of multicultural education is gaining importance, referring not only to some distant countries, but also to closer geographical and ethnic areas, especially where and when social contradictions are resolved by conflicts and wars between nations. Analogously, the crisis of multicultural education can be at the same time a component of both cause and effect of social conflicts. Additionally, regardless of the sign in the evaluation and approach of observing the relationship between multiculturalism and education, it is certain that this phenomenon is high on the agenda of many scientific, primarily social, humanistic, cultural, sociological, and pedagogical disciplines (Ivanović, 2009). Especially significant to note is that multiculturalism is important for eliminating discrimination, which exists in classrooms on a different level, such as discrimination based on the model of assimilation, aimed at the full inclusion of individual members of minorities in the society - by abandoning their mother tongue, traditional norms and other specific cultural characteristics. The concept of assimilation is based on the belief that by complete absorption into the society, the basis for ethnic conflict ceases to exist. In such a social environment, the effort 54 �The Relationship Between Covid-19, Online Learning and Intercultural Education Amila Dautbašić & Jasna Saračević to preserve the cultural norms of minority groups implies rejection by the majority culture, perceiving it as a threat (Baron & Byrne, 1997; Van Oudenhoven et al., 1998). Many previous studies have been conducted on the topic of multicultural online learning and its affects as well as empirical studies on various online courses from different academic fields (Ke & Kwak, 2013). It is vital that studies on this topic are based on the learning environments and how student’s cultural background and ethnicity affect their online learning overall. Thus, the questions addressed in this study are: Has COVID-19 pandemic made an impact on the development on multicultural education during online classes? How have the teachers contributed to enhance online multicultural education? What are the positive effects of COVID-19 pandemic on multicultural online education? Positive effects during online lessons include interaction among students during discussions, willingness to discuss various topics and provision of responses to ideas from their peers through postings and comments, and ultimately, access to a large variety of readings and materials on LMS encouraged participation in online activities (Learning Management Systems and Course Management Systems). In comparison with traditional classroom settings, aside from the increased participation in class and lowered anxiety levels, students also interacted with each other and teachers by e-mail. 2. MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION WORLDWIDE As noted in a plethora of previously conducted studies, multicultural education plays a very important role in the development of many educational systems worldwide. According to Han Erbas (2019), multicultural education in Turkey was among its best improvements introduced there and it contributed to the connection and combination of different cultures, while helping students to communicate and create interactive discussions with people of different backgrounds. Research has showed that students were not aware of the importance of multicultural education so far, and there was a need for raising their awareness on different cultures and importance of coexistence, but of course, some pedagogical and organisational processes needed to be established, in order to create the proper environment to teach about and in people of different cultures (Salavatova, 2019). Breshkovskaya and Ezhkova (2020) agree with Salavatova on the previously mentioned insight, while explaining the dialogue approaches in multicultural education, which is needed in order to establish good communicative and interaction activities in a multicultural classroom, it is of great importance to create good educational environment and have certain problems carried out that might occur in multicultural education, as it depends on whether the students are ready to interact with people of another culture. Zamurueva (2019) argues that multicultural education certainly is a 55 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 concept which needs to create a mixture of various approaches to fight the problems concerning racism and discrimination. When speaking of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bećirević, Brdarević-Čeljo, and Zavrl (2019) agreed that in education on territory of BiH, a certain need for the development of multicultural education is evident. The afore-mentioned authors proved that it is crucial to introduce the importance of introducing multicultural education in educational systems. According to Bećirević (2012), the role of multiculturalism is to enhance diversity and promote good interpersonal activities among people of different cultures. Podojak and Bećirević (2018) proved that the culture of people who live out of their culture changes as they get acclimatized to the new culture they live in, and as such it is of great importance for everyone to learn how to embrace other cultures, and that is done best in multicultural classrooms. Nowadays people face many difficulties and many types of influences which evolve form their lives and education. It is of great importance that students study and are acquainted with the benefits of multicultural classrooms, from broadening student’s horizons about other cultures, but also making teachers’ professional lives a lot easier (Bećirović & Bešlija, 2018). Online learning has been implemented in education since the mid-1990s and has proven to be immensely successful and versatile for students of various ages and cultures. These online classes began at universities and were expected to cause issues, especially sociocultural issues. There are different opinions of whether multicultural online classes are beneficial and whether they can be compared to face-to-face learning. As claimed by Terenzini et al. (2001) and Gurin et al. (2002), in standard face-to-face classes not only was student learning promoted, but also ethnic identity, as well as growth and understanding of various racial groups. A major point that needs to be emphasized is that a lot of hard work and time go into the planning of multicultural online classes. However, during the pandemic, a mutual decision by the state was made for education to continue uninterrupted and that is how a multicultural online community began to form. Online courses saved students as well as teachers a lot of time, by not having to hold make up classes. The goals of multicultural education are meta-cultural with the ultimate goal of liberating and empowering students. By considering the issues and problems of different races and cultural groups, students will be emboldened to understand themselves and the diversity of others and thus enable them to gain insight into different interpretations of the world that various individuals have. It is believed that this way students are enabled to understand broader social problems, which is the basis for inclusion in a society characterized by a multitude of value-ideological orientations (Washburn, 1995). The learning and teaching environment can be quite isolating which makes it more challenging for teachers to further their lessons by implementing different methods. In online education, success rates based on cultural diversity mostly depend on how the teachers acknowledge students and their cultures and how they connect and implement them into their teaching materials. The teacher’s competency plays a major role and possesses great responsibility to 56 �The Relationship Between Covid-19, Online Learning and Intercultural Education Amila Dautbašić & Jasna Saračević include various reading materials and prepare various activities complemented by additional handouts so that students from diverse backgrounds are presented with a variety of resources (Bećirović, Delić & Brdarević-Čeljo, 2019; Bećirović, & Brdarević-Čeljo, 2018). During the period of COVID-19 pandemic, teachers and their preparation patterns for online classes were much easier because they have been well informed about cultural backgrounds of their students in advance, since they have been teaching the same students for years. Equally important to highlight is the fact that the multiculturalism in online classes was promoted through different learning materials which helped students of diverse cultures to be involved in discussions and online debates, where they are provided with opportunities to relate to their past experiences and culture. According to Wahyuni and Bayu (2020), multicultural education during the refugee crisis might cause some difficulties due to the sociocultural diversity. Some things that might seem unimportant to some, are considered very problematic to others; most of the issues being the ones dealing with their homecountries, ethnicities, or even social status. All of these factors might add up to creating a huge gap in communication between students. In order to overcome these issues, promotion of multicultural education by default promotes diversity and variety of different social and ethnical groups which can prompt individuals to overcome prejudice towards different groups of people, in this case refugees. Saha (2019) claims that Australian education system, contributed to Australia’s changing immigration and immigration policy due to the development of multicultural education. He claims that an assimilation policy promoted a multiculturalism policy in the time period between 1973 and 1979, and helped change the lives of immigrants coming from different cultural backgrounds, and it stayed until today. In his paper, Saha also claims that while taking into consideration backgrounds of all European children, Asian migrants, many other refugees and indigenous Australians, their educational profiles require different sociological variables. Today, educational differences between indigenous Australians and migrants are almost completely overcome. 3. MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION AND MEDIA The work within international and multicultural conditions is increasing and there is an emphasized need to learn foreign languages (Dubravac & Skopljak, 2020; Dubravac, Brdarević-Čeljo & Bećirović, 2018; Skopljak & Dubravac, 2019), as well as the need for multilingual and multicultural courses (Yaman & Bećirović, 2016) at universities. Learning foreign languages can enhance an individual's potential and can also be useful in their professional career (Kyppo, Natri, 2016). The sociocultural component of foreign language learning is the most important part of this type of education in the context of multicultural experience. It involves introducing the individual to the cultural traditions of the 57 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 community from which the foreign language comes but also enables the individual to present their own culture using a certain foreign language and thus achieve communication between the two cultures. Through learning foreign languages, dialogue between different cultures is enabled, reducing the possibilities of misunderstandings. Developing a multilingual and multicultural personality is one of the main aspects of multicultural education. It is believed that an individual with a multilingual and multicultural personality possesses an advanced linguistic consciousness but also a developed multicultural consciousness. An individual with a developed multicultural consciousness recognizes the integrity of human civilization and accepts the differences that exist between different cultures (Khairutdinova, Lebedeva, 2016). 4. BACKGROUND ON MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION This paper deals with how beneficial online classes are and how multicultural education is emphasized through these platforms. Online instruction needs to be properly designed, as stated by Banks (2004) and students need to be exposed to different voices and also exposed to online discussions on various topics in which they have many opportunities to lead cross-cultural dialogues. This has proven to be very effective in online classes, especially when different cultural backgrounds are mixed and where students learn from one another and assist one another in learning. The teacher’s role in multicultural classrooms is to motivate the students no matter what race, gender, or ethnicity they are, which is also the case in online classes. As stated by Le Roux (2001), the influence and attitudes of teachers determine the student’s expectations and outcomes. At the time of COVID-19 pandemic the teachers placed all their energy and skills into teaching diverse students online, their education program being very beneficial, proving to have communicated with students of different cultures on all given topics. Most students approached online classes with a positive and an open mind, trusting their teachers and allowing the cross-cultural experience and learning to develop. Thus, just as in a traditional classroom, the teacher in online classes must be mindful of cultural sensitivity whilst engaging in the crucial process of inspecting prejudices as well as personal biases and realizations that influence the students learning experiences. Students are also the ones who contribute to the online classes with their own resources that amplify their learning experience. Since communication is the main asset in online classes, the teacher is the one who leads the lessons and encourages all the students to speak and get involved in discussions. Cultural background and even social network diversity are the factors that affected the involvement of some students with their colleagues from different countries (Mittelmeier, Héliot, Rienties, & Whitelock, 2016). Current multicultural situation in Germany has been changing over time, and research conducted by Josefova (2016) proved that other countries such as 58 �The Relationship Between Covid-19, Online Learning and Intercultural Education Amila Dautbašić & Jasna Saračević Czech Republic are influenced a lot by migrations. Therefore, she also claims that multicultural education plays significant role in development of eLearning courses, and providing opportunities for creating intercultural dialogues. She agrees that the importance of intercultural expansion is a common topic and that more countries and nations are becoming aware of the cultural sensitivity. 5. STUDENT INTERACTION IN ONLINE CLASSES The inclusion of online cultures helps the learning process for students as they relate more to certain topics and want to participate in discussions for which they are familiar with. That in itself leads to a more successful and valuable learning that can be seen at the time of the pandemic. Students willingly wish to participate and enjoy discussions (Rizvić & Bećirović, 2017) because they express their divergent social views and their cultural background flourishes as well, making them feel confident and empowered. This type of multicultural online education which allows interaction between teachers and students as well as students and students, leads to a higher appreciation of cultural diversity among the students and indicates cultural inclusion in the online classes. Students are not only benefitting on an educational level but also their cultural experiences are broadening. One of perhaps the most important factors influencing the effectiveness of online classes is the physical distance between students and professors. If students, apart from virtual cooperation, are not introduced to at least a small number of face-to-face meetings, during which they would establish a common framework of knowledge and experience on the cognitive level, and establish mutual relations of support and understanding on the affective level, online collaboration might become very slow, complicated and crowded. In addition, the absence of a non-verbal component in virtual collaboration can slow down or completely prevent the effective exchange of ideas, which in turn can be resolved by face-to-face meetings in situations where that is possible (Walsh & Maloney, 2007). 6. TEACHERS’ ROLE IN ONLINE TEACHING When teachers provide students with activities they need to be strategically conducted and planned in order to be constructive and favorable, whether they are problem-based activities, group-based discussions or student-based content, they need to be appropriate for the students’ needs and their backgrounds. Furthermore, teachers have also been observed to have incorporated various learning activities and materials in order to help culturally diverse students achieve better results. As stated by Boone, Safrit and Jones (2002), students have individual learning strategies and needs when it comes to learning, as well as diverse interest’s communication styles, values and learning outcomes. 59 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 All of these factors must be taken into consideration and aligned in order to compose an effective online curriculum, beneficial for all students. During the time of COVID-19 pandemic and online classes, teachers have mostly been focused on motivating students, by using videos, visual tools, blogs, assigning projects, and encouraging group work and pair work; a variety of options to boost student’s motivation. Students needed extra motivation because they were not used to online classes at first, many of them have never had the opportunity to experience an online class prior to the pandemic. Through group work or pair work the students had a chance to be acquainted with each other’s backgrounds better, the activities proved to be very beneficial and allowed students to share ideas and get feedback from teachers. Communication between the teachers and students in online classes was encouraged immensely, which lead to the creation of diverse groups, and it is of great importance for teacher to introduce and incorporate more multicultural content. These multicultural online classes enhance education as well as cultural experiences for the students. Halverson and Tirmizi (2008, p. 12), claimed that students of diverse cultures bring positive aspects to online classes and also positively influences their academic success. On the other hand, Gay (2010) and Ladson-Billings (2009), argue that teachers should include as much diverse materials and use various techniques as possible to enhance the students learning outcomes. Butorac and Mraović (2013) claim that differentiation and segregation of members of a minority can generate many different types of discrimination that have shown devastating effects on human rights and freedoms. Therefore, multicultural education becomes a central element of social policy at the national and transnational level. This is why they believe how increased professional education in the field of recognizing, combating, and sanctioning discriminatory treatment is also a form of support for victims of discrimination. Potential victims of discrimination, and in particular the most vulnerable groups, must be made aware of the available protection instruments available, and the protection system must be effective and without harmful consequences for the victim. According to Marjanovic at al. (2013) a system such as an online platforms allow organizations to save their employees, the time they would spend in classroom training by accessing the system at a time and place that suits their schedules. In order for the e-learning platform to be used effectively in corporate education, it is necessary to measure learning outcomes in a systematic way. Also, various cultural resources and perspectives can be integrated into the curriculum in order to stimulate cross-cultural activities that enhance multiculturalism in online classes (Pattanpichet, 2011). Dautbasic and Saracevic (2019) agree that choosing proper learning methods and techniques will improve students’ skills and achievements. 60 �The Relationship Between Covid-19, Online Learning and Intercultural Education Amila Dautbašić & Jasna Saračević 7. IMPORTANCE OF A LEARNING ENVIRONMENT Findings of several studies disclosed that teachers were not familiar with cultural diversity in their curriculums and of the importance of including those curriculums in the classes (Anakwe & Christensen, 1999; Thompson & Ku, 2005). Luckily that was not the case with online classes during the pandemic, where the teachers were well informed and well prepared to include cultural diversity in any sphere of their online teaching. Communicative activities in which students build relationships with their peers are crucial for students’ academic success, therefore their intercultural competencies need to be taken into consideration to make communication more beneficial. Students of diverse cultures need to be able to read and understand the reading materials provided, since that is one of the main steps in increasing their confidence and motivation for learning (Hofstede & Hofstede, 2005). Studies by Adeoye and Wentling, (2007); Goodfellow and Hewling (2005); Mushtaha and Troyer, (2007), claim that online classes promote cross-cultural learning where students themselves contribute to the learning and cultural knowledge understanding. Teachers must consider the identities of students and not just their ethnic backgrounds in order to provide the best learning strategies for online multicultural classes Ladson-Billings (2014). He goes on by saying thsee strategies should help the student intellectually, their skills and most importantly their attitudes towards multicultural learning (Ladson-Billings, 1994, p. 16-17). The achievements of students in class are based completely on how skilful the teacher is (Ladson-Billings,2006).Since students need to be aware of their cultures and the importance of their backgrounds (Ladson-Billings, 2006, p. 36), their consciousness will develop and their beliefs will broaden, making them self-aware of the multicultural community they live in. That way they will bring that awareness to class and be willing to share it with others, creating a healthy multicultural learning community. Since students in Bosnia and Herzegovina are mostly aware of their cultures, because it is something that is taught in schools from a very early age, students had no difficulties engaging in a multicultural online class during the COVID-19 pandemic. The environment of a classroom, in this case online classe, is of great importance for the students, therefore their learning environment must feel trusting and safe so that the students will feel comfortable and motivated to learn and participate. According to Kourova & Modianos (2013), the teacher’s main obligation in a multicultural class is to create a learning environment which will empower the students to learn more about their peer’s cultures. Also the findings of Zhang, Briggs, and Nunamaker (2006), show that teachers should include as many visuals like videos, and various images to enrich multicultural learning but also to keep the classes interesting. Students like to be involved in learning (Brdarević-Čeljo & Asotić, 2017; Sinanović & Bećirović 2016), they like the feeling of their contribution to the procedure of learning and that is the reason why their needs and diverse cultural backgrounds must be carefully investigated by the teachers. Students enjoy 61 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 discussing their cultural differences and experiences and sharing their thoughts with other students, that is why different cultures collide together and make the online learning even more meaningful. There are many stereotypes claiming that students cannot learn online, that media only distracts them and the students are not interested and not motivated to learn during online classes. That is not the case at all, proven now during the COVID-19 pandemic that online multicultural education is running smoothly, and with the right preparation it is on the same success level as in traditional face-to-face classes. 8. IMPORTANCE OF APPROPRIATE LITERATURE USED IN ONLINE CLASSES The books utilized by teachers need to be appropriate and useful as well as diverse, so that all the students can locate the content that is relatable and not exclusive. Also, teachers make lesson plans just as they would normally do for traditional classes; they construct their plans according to the student’s needs, using various teaching strategies. The results of the students exceeded many expectations especially because they only had online classes, their achievements had not lowered, they remained at the same level or they improved. That was viewed with much scepticism before the online classes began; people were sceptic about how the students would adjust to the online classes and whether multicultural education would even be possible. Kim and Bonk (2002); Zhao and McDougall, (2008), encourage teachers to create diverse online classes as much as possible, the more diverse the better and more beneficial they will be. Some of the issues teachers face in online classes is linked to the situations in which they do not provide enough diverse reading materials, or if teachers fail to create a discussion among students as well as if students lack motivation. These issues can all lead to having negative results when it comes to online learning, but that has not been the case with online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic, where the teachers were very aware of their duties and very successfully engaged students in multicultural classes. 9. CONCLUSION The results of various findings proved that COVID-19 pandemic had made an impact on the development of multicultural education in online classes, benefiting the students and requiring a lot of preparation and work from the teachers. During the classes the students shared ideas and learned of different cultures, they participated in online discussions and they built a multicultural online community. The online environment motivated them to collaborate with their peers, working in groups or pairs, which is one of the most effective ways of promoting multicultural education in online classes. The curriculums and teachers lesson plans play a major role in the effective online classes, literature 62 �The Relationship Between Covid-19, Online Learning and Intercultural Education Amila Dautbašić & Jasna Saračević and materials used and student’s backgrounds evaluated in order to develop multicultural classes which will engage and benefit the students. That is how have the teachers have contributed to enhance online multicultural education during COVID-19 pandemic, they helped the students adapt to the online classes and multiculturalism as quickly as they could, by using appropriate strategies of planning the classes. Multicultural education is advanced in terms of approach to education transformation that has been criticized and corrected by following the discriminatory curricula, as well as the bad practices and policies in education. It is based on ideal social justice and equality and is dedicated to help all students become equal citizens and become culturally aware of diversities around them. Thus, multicultural education is recognized as a type of education that helps remove early injustices and connect racial ties (Ford, 2014) The positive effects of COVID-19 pandemic on multicultural online education are that students learned from their peers, they got to bond over their cultures and ethnic backgrounds more than they had in traditional face-to-face classes. A multicultural community was formed during the online classes which motivated the students and encouraged teachers for further online classes. In a community such as online classes, students have a major part when it comes to building interaction and communication amongst themselves; they build their community of learning with the guidance of the teacher (Garrison, 1997). The achievements of the students during COVID-19 pandemic were impressive, as many had doubts of how the students will adapt to online learning, the results showed few setbacks and many benefits. As Gunawardena and Zittle (1997, p. 10) claimed that social presence of the teacher is the most important, a real person is perceived differently in communication that a voice or video presence in the online classes. That proved to be wrong, communication was just as successful online through microphones and video chats, as it had been in face-to-face classes. 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The impact of English on the Bosnian language and the use of English words in Bosnian, HUM 14 (22), 138 -156. Wahyuni, D. S., & Bayu, E. P. S. (2020). Multiculturalism education for refugees in transit. SALTeL Journal (Southeast Asia Language Teaching and Learning), 3(1), 28-33. Walsh, J. P., & Maloney, N. G. (2007). Collaboration structure, communication media, and problems in scientific work teams. Journal of computer-mediated communication, 12(2), 712-732. Washburn, E. David. 1995. Multicultural education policy in the United States: A social fundations analysis. http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED381887.pdf Yaman, A., & Bećirović, S. (2016). Learning English and media literacy. Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR), 2(6), 660-663. Yılmaz, F. (2016). Multiculturalism and multicultural education: A case study of teacher candidates’ perceptions. Cogent Education, 3(1), 1172394. Zamurueva, N. (2019). Multicultural education: concept, goals and objectives. education and science without limits: Fundamental and Applied Researches Актуальные Аспекты Фундаментальных и Прикладных Исследований, (10), 256– 257. 66 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Relationship Between Covid-19, Online Learning and Intercultural Education https://omeka.ibu.edu.ba/files/original/f57b6a1b2a199bd385af5b20ef7a91d3.pdf 09bb6cf9e8a8962f6f63bd901710aaef PDF Text Text Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3 (1), pp. 43-52, Summer 2020 Original research paper ISSN 2566-4638 © International Burch University https://dx.doi.org/10.14706/JEH2020314 Politics and the Novel in a Post-Brexit World: Ali Smith’s Autumn Lejla Mulalić, PhD University of Sarajevo, Faculty of Philosophy, English Department Bosnia and Herzegovina lejla.mulalic@ff.unsa.ba Abstract: Hailed as the first great Brexit novel (Lyall, 2017), Ali Smith’s Autumn (2016) has been warmly welcomed by critics as a subtle analysis of the fractured national and personal identities in contemporary Britain. By repeatedly acknowledging the wounds inflicted on the British body politic by the divisive 2016 referendum, the novel yields readily to the new subgenre. As politics in the novel inevitably provokes criticism from the other side of the political spectrum, it comes as no surprise that Autumn is read as an overtly intellectual middle class response to Brexit crisis, from those interested in the mindsets of Leavers and of the less visible Remainer segments of British society. Starting with the slipperiness of the terms “political novel” and “Brexit novel”, this paper discusses the ways in which Autumn addresses the complex inscrutable present alongside ghosts from the past. It examines the novel’s representation of Brexit’s divisive effect, and relates it to the inherent subversiveness of the novel as a genre. Finally, the paper identifies Smith’s ultimate political statement in her celebration of the transforming power of language. Keywords: Ali Smith, Autumn, Brexit, Novel, Politics. Article History Submitted: 16 June 2020 Accepted: 8 July 2020 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 1. INTRODUCTION Autumn is the first novel in Ali Smith’s tetralogy, “Seasonal Quartet”. Released in 2016, the year of the controversial Brexit referendum, the novel consciously draws on the atmosphere of despondency and resignation that dominated Remainers, who were deeply worried for Britain’s future now that it was irrevocably tied to its own resources and the insular Shakespearean image of “the sceptered isle”. Hailed as the first great Brexit novel (Lyall, 2017), Autumn has been warmly welcomed by critics as a subtle analysis of the fractured national and personal identities in contemporary Britain. By repeatedly acknowledging the wounds inflicted on the British body politic by the divisive 2016 referendum, the novel yields readily to the new subgenre. As politics in the novel is bound to provoke criticism from other sides of the political spectrum, it comes as no surprise that Autumn is read as an overtly intellectual middle-class response to Brexit crisis, from those interested in other less visible Remainer segments of the British society, such as the immigrants, as well as the mindset of the Leavers. The urge to classify this novel within the empty Brexit literary landscape is one of the dominant features of the critical response, as university courses on “Brexlit” are being developed and the literary columns of reputable newspapers welcome the advent of a new genre. Although the strong political intertext of Autumn underlies its genre identity, Wally (2018, pp. 81-82) suggests that we should not classify it as a political novel; rather we should consider it an example of politics in a novel. Politics (Brexit) is not the thematic focus of Autumn, but it is the backdrop for the novel’s complex web of personal relations. Starting with the slipperiness of the terms “political novel” and “Brexit novel”, this paper discusses the ways in which Autumn addresses the complex inscrutable present alongside ghosts from the past. It examines the novel’s representation of Brexit’s divisive effect, and relates it to the inherent subversiveness of the novel as a genre. Finally, the paper identifies Smith’s ultimate political statement in her celebration of the transforming power of language. 2. THE FRACTURING OF BRITAIN’S POLITICAL LANDSCAPE In line with its pensive and melodious name, Autumn signifies the process of quiet transformation that follows the youthful exuberance of summer. Smith’s novel accordingly tells the story of the week after the frantic vote and media madness, when people begin to notice the cracks in the body of the state. Young protagonist Elisabeth Demand tries to pull together the fragments of her life as she keeps vigil by the bedside of her 101-year-old lifelong friend Daniel Gluck, whose prolonged sleep embodies autumn: a link or a crack between life and death. 44 �Politics and the Novel in a Post-Brexit World: Ali Smith’s Autumn Lejla Mulalić Metaphors and images of division and dismemberment create the background against which the story unfolds. When Elisabeth, an art history lecturer without permanent employment, tries to file an application for a new passport, she encounters an impenetrable wall of bureaucracy. The Post Office clerk informs her that her incorrectly proportioned photograph is “wrong in the head” (Smith, 2016, p. 25), and rejects her application. Elisabeth’s attempts to establish a bond with the clerk are drily rejected: Witticism, the man says, will make not a jot of difference to the stipulations which mean you can, in the end, be issued a passport, which you will need before you are permitted to go anywhere not in this island realm. In other words. Will get you. Nowhere. (Smith, 2016, p. 23) The image of the head, separated from the body in the photograph, invites comparison with the dismemberment of the body politic (i.e. the State) through the divisive referendum, while the clerk’s use of the poetic term “island realm” echoes Shakespeare’s Richard II and other literary texts that construct a notion of national identity embedded in insularity. However, as John Sutherland (2018) playfully notes, the long-cherished notion of Englishness articulated by John of Gaunt in Shakespeare’s play is inherently problematic: That’s all very well. But the real John of Gaunt was a French-speaking Plantagenet, born in the city of Ghent. In other words, he was a Belgian. What right does he of all people have to rhapsodise about England? Perhaps Brexiteers need to look elsewhere in Shakespeare’s work for inspiration. (p. 13) The island realm, also represented by the image of Elisabeth’s head, is to be politically and economically separated from the European Union, which implies that its inhabitants are effectively prisoners. This is especially hard for Elisabeth to accept, since her life has been moulded by the powerful influence of her much older friend Daniel, who introduced her to European art and cosmopolitan thinking. This enabled Elisabeth to transcend the limitations of her provincial upbringing, and her lack of travel opportunities. The concept of division and separation is further reinforced through the image of enclosed common land, electrified fences and security cameras in the village where Elisabeth’s mother lives. It unmistakably conjures moments in British history when the enclosure of land anticipated turning points: the eighteenth-century exodus of the rural population to cities, which enabled Britain’s rapid industrial growth, and the notorious Highland Clearances of the same period, which resulted in the eviction and emigration of the Scottish Highlanders to make space for profitable sheep farming (Stewart). In both cases, Britain’s political and economic landscape was irrevocably changed, bringing general prosperity but also misery to ordinary people. Although the novel is almost entirely embedded in the daunting present, references to the past are woven subtly into the narrative. They give us glimpses of Elisabeth’s childhood and Daniel’s extraordinary life, and summon moments of tension and division from Britain’s turbulent past, such as land enclosure. It is difficult to discuss a “Brexit novel” without contextualising Brexit alongside similar turning points in British history, when national identity was constructed 45 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 or reconstructed. Besides its references to historical enclosures, Autumn invokes another historical landmark, a Brexit before Brexit: the sixteenth-century break from Rome, which separated Britain from the Catholic Church. England became a Protestant country and other parts of today’s UK followed, while Ireland remained Catholic. As historian Norman Davies (2000) explains: The ‘Break with Rome’ […] cut England off from the cultural and intellectual community to which she had belonged for nearly a thousand years; and it forced her to develop along isolated and eccentric lines. The English have had little chance but to take pride in their isolation and eccentricity. Indeed they have recruited it as a virtue. (p. 434) Links with the Continent “were severed by a self-inflicted injury” (p. 434). Metaphoric dismemberment dominates Davies’ representation of history and reinforces the links between Smith’s Brexit narrative and its sixteenth-century alter ego. The powerful impact of propaganda (such as anti-immigrant sentiments and “GO HOME” graffiti) is articulated in Smith’s novel by Elisabeth’s mother’s anti-Brexit speeches. I’m tired of the news. I’m tired of the way it makes things spectacular that aren’t, and deals so simplistically with what’s truly appalling. I’m tired of the vitriol. […] I’m tired of the violence there is and I’m tired of the violence that’s on its way […] I’m tired of having to wonder whether they did it out of stupidity or did it on purpose. (Smith, 2016, pp. 56-57) Similarly, Davies (2000) points out that “systematic state propaganda” created “an enduring English myth” (p. 426) of Tudor achievements. He maps the myth in its various manifestations: “The myth was set running by Thomas Cromwell […], clothed in golden words by William Shakespeare, reinforced by the Protestant Establishment of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and set in stone by the dominant ‘Whig Interpretation’ of history” (p. 426). In both Smith’s and Davies’ examples the purpose of propaganda is to construct a particular national identity. In the former, it is based on twenty-first-century ideas of self-sufficiency in the face of “harmful” EU regulations and uncontrolled immigration, while in the latter it revolves around the sixteenth-century mythridden concept of an ancient yet moderni English Protestant state, which naturally progressed to become a great parliamentary democracy. While Smith does not directly implicate the sixteenth century, she does identify the Thatcher era as a time that triggered a lack of empathy for immigrants and discouraged integration. Through a spokesperson on the radio we learn that self-policing and selfishness are considered virtues in place of empathy, and the notion of society is proclaimed untenable. To complete the dialogue, a second spokesperson retorts: “Get over it. Grow up. Your time’s over. Democracy” (p. 112). The full potential of Smith’s irony lies in the fact that the outcome of the Brexit referendum is democracy at work, which, nevertheless, has left a significant number of people in Britain silenced as they are forced to watch their lives irrevocably change. As I reread Smith’s novel during the coronavirus pandemic I could not ignore the ironic shift in Conservative ideology when Prime 46 �Politics and the Novel in a Post-Brexit World: Ali Smith’s Autumn Lejla Mulalić Minister Boris Johnson addressed the nation from self-isolation in March 2020. Johnson thanked the NHS staff for their tremendous efforts to fight the virus, and admitted, somewhat prophetically, that there was such a thing as society after all. In doing so he openly challenged the doctrine of his party predecessor Margaret Thatcher, by acknowledging that solidarity and genuine care for the well-being of communities might save Britain in the present global crisis, and renew the faith of its citizens in the shared values that bind them, irrespective of their differences. Given the urgency of the political matters in Smith’s novel and the newness of Brexlit as a subgenre, it is not surprising that Autumn has been criticised by those who expected more Brexit and politics and less literature in Smith’s writingii. One such reading resents that Smith “chose to represent the views of a white, British-born, middle-class liberal whose predictable views on Brexit are already vastly overrepresented in the media” (Bradley, 2017). The author of this review indicates that those most affected by the EU referendum, such as British Muslims, migrants, and those whose views do not reflect a simple binary opposition, have only a marginal presence in the novel. Autumn is found to lack genuine political conflict; the dominant political attitude is that of disappointment and resignation from characters who will not suffer the consequences of the referendum, because they are protected in their middle-class niche. Elisabeth’s economically independent mother is thinking of buying property “up there” (probably in Scotland) because she is not leaving the EU, and she has saved the opening of the Scottish Parliament on TV so she can savour its every word (“Wisdom. Justice. Compassion. Integrity.” [Smith, 2016, p. 197]) with her girlfriend. Although the devolution in 1999 and the referendum for Scottish independence in 2014 raised tensions in England over the potential break-up of the UK (intensified by Scotland’s overwhelming Remain vote in 2016), Smith’s novel transcends reductive national identities and loyalties: Elisabeth’s mother, as well as Smith, embrace Britishness as an unproblematic label in order to explore the complexities of personal relationships. Autumn’s anti-Brexit stance does not enforce an explicit political attitude. Rather it is embodied in Elisabeth’s deep friendship with her friend Daniel Gluck, a German Jew whose life refuses to be confined by national borders. This friendship reaffirms the bond between Britain and Europe, of which more will be said in the following section. 3. REAFFIRMING THE POWER OF THE NOVEL The previous section discussed Autumn’s representation of Brexit’s disruptive effects. It explored a critical response that found the novel unwilling to explore political views divergent from those of its author, and considered it to have more in common with a monologue or a Guardian column (Bradely, 2017). This idea is particularly important because it draws attention to the inherent contradictions of the democracy of the novel genre, which gives writers freedom of choice, and 47 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 readers freedom of expectation and interpretation. Rebellious and subversive from its inception in the early eighteenth century, the novel has both instilled and undermined dominant ideologies. This partially explains the politically motivated criticism of Smith’s Autumn. In this section, I will discuss the ways in which Autumn reaffirms these premises of the genre, and invokes the power of the novel as its final political statement. In his brilliant analysis of the nature of the novel, Terry Eagleton (2005) mentions its indebtedness to other literary and non-literary forms, which makes it a “mongrel among literary thoroughbreds” (p. 1). Smith’s Autumn confirms this, being part-realistic narrative, part-modernist stream of consciousness and contemplation of art, and part-postmodernist collage of narrative techniques and nostalgic invocation of the past, while the mood of post-postmodernist renewed faith in truth and ethical consciousness eventually triumphs over political despair. Eagleton (2005) explains that the novel is a form particularly associated with the middle class, “partly because the ideology of that class centres on a dream of total freedom from restraint” (p. 2). This is exemplified in the canonical status of Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, whose unliterary narrative draws strength from its absence of economic and political barriers and the triumph of Crusoe’s re-inscription of middle-class civilisation on a desert island. Middleclass ideology of liberalism and laissez-faire capitalism, however, go hand in hand with Crusoe’s being a slave-trader who genuinely believes in the “white man’s burden” doctrine. These factors have not diminished the popularity of Defoe’s novel; rather its contradictions have created a cultural space within which we can continually reread it in manifold contexts. When explaining the novel’s diversity and its scepticism of authority, Eagleton (2005) warns us not to take these terms literally, as “not all diversity is radical, or all authority oppressive” (p. 6). Another novel whose reception is inseparable from its sociopolitical context is Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. The lack of visible markers to denote the novel’s turbulent historical context (the French Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars, and their impact on Britain) forces the reader to adopt Austen’s keen observations, and look for signs of revolution not in events and statements, but in subtle changes of mind and heart and moments of self-realisation. Austen endorses the Tory belief in the moral superiority of tradition, and portrays the upper class (including Mr Darcy) as the custodians of this tradition and national culture in the face of the violent social changes incurred by the French Revolution (Irvine, 2005, p. 61). She is, however, deeply aware of the inevitability of social and political change, and accordingly represents marriage across class barriers (between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy) as an ideological compromise, necessary to ensure that Britain stems the revolutionary threat (Irvine, 2005, p. 57). Nevertheless, Austen does not “hold up romantic love as a value transcending all social convention” (Kelly, 1989, p.117), as it is carefully integrated within the social order. The change takes place within the individual self, subtly regenerating society from within while preserving its hierarchies and institutions (Kelly, 1989, p. 117). As Eagleton remarks, the novel is a selfauthorising genre (2005, p. 7), so no fixed notions of diversity, (political) 48 �Politics and the Novel in a Post-Brexit World: Ali Smith’s Autumn Lejla Mulalić radicalism and the oppressiveness of authority should mould our reading. Another defining feature, as the name suggests, is that novels address “whatever’s new to us in the contemporary” (Smith, 2017, p. 42), even when they are about the past. Austen offers us a unique insight into early nineteenth-century England, shaped by its fear of revolution; Defoe explores the early eighteenthcentury concept of the self-confident homo-economicus and slave-trader; and Smith’s novel resonates with the contemporary political fragmentation of Britain along lines drawn by the Brexit referendum. In an article based on her 2017 talk at Goldsmiths University of London, Smith defines the contemporary as the age of Trump, and contextualises the novel (i.e. fiction) in a world in which truth is redundant. She claims that “in an age in which living by fiction means having powerful fictions politically, nationally, internationally foisted upon us, fiction lets us read and understand such fictions” (p. 43). Contrasting lies with fiction, she states that the former subvert truth, while the latter helps us “get to truth, maybe truth that’s difficult to articulate, and for which reason has had to take another shape” (Smith, 2017, p. 43). The novel is, therefore, a mode of knowing and understanding in a world constantly changing and contesting its own narratives. Smith’s preoccupation with truth echoes the politically charged notion of “post-truth”, which Oxford Dictionaries announced as its 2016 word of the year, thereby endorsing the arrival of a new cultural paradigm – postpostmodernism. The prefix “post” affirms an indebtedness to postmodernist doubt, while “truth” remains an elusive but necessary part of our existence (Gibbons, 2018). Although the cracks in the post-Brexit body politic widen in Autumn’s narrative, Smith’s most passionate political gesture in the novel is to reaffirm the act of reading and writing – another salient feature of the genre. The novel opens with Daniel’s dream of waking up on a beach. The 101-year-old is confined to his bed in an assisted care facility, decomposing like the grains of sand in his dream. We can feel it sifting through his fingers and filling his mouth before the feeling of sandiness gives way to the shock of being surrounded by dead bodies, next to which the living sunbathe in ignorance. Daniel overpowers death by madly pursuing the thought of sand in the way John Donne pursues his thought of tears in “Valediction: Of Weeping”iii: he plays with words to feel their scent and touch, and to stretch the boundaries of his literary conceit to their limits. The dream becomes a threshold between life and death, as Daniel wonders: “Can you be hungry and dead?” (Smith, 2016, p. 6) Daniel transforms ordinariness to extraordinariness throughout Elisabeth’s childhood. He teaches her to touch and imagine colours by describing to her the art of Pauline Boty, forgotten British Pop artist from the 1960s, and his great unrequited love. Elisabeth too becomes a teacher (a lecturer in art history), and writes her dissertation on Boty’s unacknowledged work, much to her supervisor’s disapproval. Rather than pillaging the past or pursuing what Frederick Jameson sees as a meaningless postmodern pastiche of bygone times and styles, the narrative strand on Boty renews the bond of past and present in a world falling apart. Elisabeth’s exploration of the 1960s London art scene helps 49 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 her find her vocation as a teacher and as an interpreter of the past; it gives shape to her childhood memories of Daniel’s wondrous stories, as the images and colours he summoned for her now become recognisable in Pauline Boty’s work. Elisabeth’s decision to look after her lifelong teacher and friend in turn brings her back to her mother, whom she can now see without her former intellectual contempt. The novel thus enacts diverse ways of reading, which is one of Daniel’s early lessons: “Always be reading something, he said. Even when we’re not physically reading. How else will we read the world? Think of it as a constant” (Smith, 2016, p. 68). Because the political context of Smith’s novel is steeped in notions and images of fragmentation, it is natural that “only a re-affected, empathic language may heed the broken, inflected language of a political body that has for so long been alienated” (Bernard, 2019, p. 11). In line with the precepts of the emerging cultural paradigm of post-postmoderism, Smith insists on “our essential relationality – our connectedness as humans to one another in the globalizing world and with fictional characters as representations of our selves” (Gibbons, 2018). The language of empathy connects the characters in Autumn, and interlaces their narratives in a celebration of life as a form of incessant and avid reading of each other. The novel’s final question embodies this, as Daniel asks upon miraculously awakening, “What you reading?” (Smith, 2016, p. 258) 4. CONCLUSION Smith’s Autumn is deeply entrenched in the fragmentation of Britain’s political landscape after the EU referendum, but it transcends the Brexit reality to explore the autumnal interplay of life and death through Elisabeth and Daniel’s friendship. Smith upholds the power of language and empathy as a way of healing the contemporary world’s manifold divides. Accordingly, Elisabeth’s writing and teaching about Pauline Boty is a political gesture: as she inscribes the names of the forgotten women of British Pop art, Elisabeth simultaneously reestablishes her bond with her mother, and acknowledges that she never invested any real effort in getting to know her. The novel’s themes of disruption and healing are echoed in the author’s use of diverse discourses and styles. This is beautifully exemplified when Elisabeth problematises the gap between languages of dissertation and languages of passionate spontaneous thinking. The content and form of Autumn reflect and determine one another in pursuit of new ways in which to manage the contemporary. Many things are uncertain in this post-millennial world, but the survival of the novel as a genre is not one of them. It remains to be seen, however, how the novel will evolve and adapt to the vagaries of the post-Brexit reality. 50 �Politics and the Novel in a Post-Brexit World: Ali Smith’s Autumn Lejla Mulalić REFERENCES Bernard, C. (Dec. 2019). “It was the worst of times, it was the worst of times. Again': Representing the Body Politic after Brexit”. Etudes Britanniques Contemporaines. 57, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.4000/ebc.7401 Bradley, K. (2017, Mar 12). Review: Ali Smith’s Autumn, the first Brexit novel. Revolutionary Socialism in the 21st Century (rs21). Retrieved from https://www.rs21.org.uk/2017/03/12/review-ali-smiths-autumn-the-firstbrexit-novel/ Davies, N. (2000). The Isles: A History. London, Basingstoke and Oxford: Papermac Macmillan. Donne, J. Weeping: Of Valediction. Retrieved from https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44132/a-valediction-of-weeping Eagletone, T. (2005). The English Novel: An Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. Gibbons, A. (2019, Feb 18). Postmodernism is dead. What comes next? Times Literary Supplement February. Retrieved from https://www.thetls.co.uk/articles/postmodernism-dead-comes-next/ Irvine, R. P. (2005). Jane Austen. New York: Routledge. Kelly, G. (1989). English Fiction of the Romantic Period 1789-1830. London: Longman. Lyall, S. (2017, Feb 17). From Ali Smith, it’s the first great Brexit novel. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/17/books/review/autumn-alismith.html Lynskey, D. (2019, Aug 24). Is the political novel dead? The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/aug/24/is-the-politicalnovel-dead Smith, A. (2016). Autumn. New York: Anchor Books Smith, A. (2017, Oct 15). Ali Smith’s Goldsmiths Prize lecture: The novel in the age of Trump. When politics is built on fictions, it’s fiction that can help us get to truth. New Statesman. Retrieved from https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/2017/10/ali-smith-sgoldsmiths-prize-lecture-novel-age-trump Stewart, T. The Highland Clearances. Retrieved from https://www.historicuk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofScotland/The-Highland-Clearances/ Sutherland, J. (Sept 2018). ‘Brexit Lit’. Literary Review. 468 Retrieved from https://literaryreview.co.uk/brexit-lit There is such a thing as society, says Boris Johnson from bunker. (2020, Mar 29). The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/mar/29/20000-nhs-staff-returnto-service-johnson-says-from-coronavirus-isolation Wally, J. (2018). The return of political fiction?: An analysis of Howard Jacobson’s Pussy (2017) and Ali Smith’s Autumn (2016) as first reactions to the phenomena ‘Donald Trump’ and ‘Brexit’ in contemporary British literature. 51 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 AAA: Arbeiten aus Anglistik und Amerikanistik, 43 (1), 63-86. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26556725 The Tudors took great pride in tracing their ancestry to King Arthur, while historian Geoffrey Elton introduced the myth that Henry VIII’s rule was the beginning of modern English government (Davies, 2000, p. 442). ii Commenting after his novel Middle England was not longlisted for the inaugural Orwell Prize for political fiction in 2019, Jonathan Coe said: “My response would be that sometimes there is a time to speak loud and clear,” [...]. “And anyway, as my character Doug Anderton says in The Rotters’ Club: ‘Subtlety is the English disease.’ I think it’s a peculiarly English thing, this recoiling from a novel whose political message seems too overt” (Lynskey, 2019). iii Let me pour forth My tears before thy face, whilst I stay here, For thy face coins them, and thy stamp they bear, And by this mintage they are something worth, For thus they be Pregnant of thee; Fruits of much grief they are, emblems of more, When a tear falls, that thou falls which it bore, So thou and I are nothing then, when on a diverse shore. i 52 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Politics and the Novel in a Post-Brexit World: Ali Smith’s Autumn https://omeka.ibu.edu.ba/files/original/6d8025ce6bd321ed4ea80448682990db.pdf 805fcb823fc7c3c9cf7df0e97732c1af PDF Text Text Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3 (1), pp. 30-42, Summer 2020 Professional paper ISSN 2566-4638 © International Burch University https://dx.doi.org/10.14706/JEH2020313 Multimodal Analysis of two Anti-Semitic Posters in the Independent State of Croatia Damir Bešlija International Burch University d.beslija@gmail.com Abstract: Drawing on the researches of Rotim (2012) and Macut (2012), two posters of the same kind published by the State Reporting and Promotion Office under the Prime Minister's Office (Državni izvještajni i promičbeni ured pri Predsjedničtvu vlade; Further in the text: DIPU) are analysed from the perspective of critical discourse analysis as well as multimodal analysis. Thus, the analysis of the text as well as images of the two posters was conducted and different linguistic and non-linguistic devices employed in this type of an advertising poster were identified and explained. The poster is observed as a social practice and different Discourses used in the text are identified. Thus, the use of a masculine man who represents the Croatian people and ideas in this image and the non-human, animalistic representation of the Jews are clarified in terms of dominant ideology of the period in question and vividly portrayed through the poster. The paper also points to the unavoidable impact such posters and the promoted ideologies have on the society’s perception of the Jews. Keywords: Critical Discourse Analysis, Discourse Analysis, AntiSemitism, Anti-Semitic propaganda, Ideology. Article History Submitted: 1 June 2020 Accepted: 30 June 2020 �Multimodal Analysis of two Anti-Semitic Posters in the Independent State of Croatia Damir Bešlija 1. INTRODUCTION With the establishment of the Independent State of Croatia on April 10, 1941, and the adoption of racial and anti-Semitic laws, the persecution of Jews, Serbs, Roma people, communists, as well as all those who opposed the Croatian policy, began. The totalitarian regime had the task of creating a homogeneous state and the Croatian authorities took Nazi Germany as their role model. In order to convince people of validity and desire to enforce anti-Semitic laws, the government launched a vigorous propaganda that was very similar to the one in nationalsocialist Germany and fascist Italy. When the supporters of the Independent State of Croatia came to power, they put under control all media that could be exploited for informing the public about their current affairs. This media control allowed them to reach out to every citizen and expose their policies, as well as glorify the Fascist movement and leader. In the early days of the Independent State of Croatia, the central institution for the control of the media-promotion system, known as the State Secretariat for National Education was founded, and finally, in January 1942, the State Reporting and Promotional Office under the Prime Minister's Office was established. The establishment of these offices only proves the fact that propaganda played a large role in NDH (Goldstein, 2001). Its anti-Semitic rhetoric having its role model in Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, the Independent State of Croatia invested large amounts of money into promotion and advertisement of newly created theories that supported the Holocaust and the most significant person who endeavoured to proliferate different kinds of art exhibiting anti-Semitic ideas, was Joseph Goebbels, the president of the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda (German: Propagandaministerium). Advertisements of different events, including the “Exhibition on the development of Judaism and their destructive work in Croatia before 10/6/41. The solution to the Jewish question” (Croatian: Izložba o razvoju židovstva i njihovog rušilačkog rada u Hrvatskoh prije 10. IV.1941. Rješenje Židovskog pitanja; translated by the author) were meant to appeal to emotions of common people and to assert the State’s ideology (Jareb, 2009). As different ideologies have intertwined in these areas for centuries, some of which have had a significant impact on human lives, this paper draws attention to devastating anti-Semitic propaganda, in particular to the posters for the exhibition held in 1942 in Zagreb and Sarajevo, and seeks to establish a link between the way posters convey information and the socio-political context in which they are created. Furthermore, the paper analyses the posters in terms of formal, functional, and social approaches to advertisement discourse and points to the ways in which the use of multimodal discourse practice can project a particular ideology. Finally, it seeks to point out how the impact of a not-soclearly visible ideology can be devastating. 31 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 2. LITERATURE REVIEW Advertisement genre is usually used to promote and eventually sell certain products or ideas (Jones, 2012) and advertisements are believed to be one of the most useful persuasive devices prominently displayed in newspapers, leaflets, posters and nowadays mainly on-line. Thus, they are used as an effective tool aptly exploited for promoting dominant ideology and accomplishing one’s aims through different linguistic and non-linguistic devices. They might or might not attract the people’s closer attention, but they surely indicate how people think and what they believe in (Cook, 1996). Karlsson (2015) analyses advertising as a process of persuasion and identifies several steps in the process, including comprehension, acceptance, attitude change and retention of the message that is being conveyed. Namely, the product or idea that is being advertised needs to be comprehensible enough for a viewer to accept it and, consequently, change his attitude. Finally, research has shown that our perception of the message being advertised is rather subconscious, which is contrary to the belief that our acceptance (or refusal) of the product is a matter of choice (Karlsson, 2015). Since advertisements are very influential and might possibly sway one’s opinion, they are usually considered a very controversial genre. Two most prominent characteristics of advertising material is that it uses language in a way that is appealing to the target audience, and that the language used is usually followed by some visual aids in order to make it more memorable or to dramatize the content. Thus, it is of considerable importance that both linguistic and nonlinguistic properties of advertisements be systematically analysed (Cook, 1996). An additional dimension that advertising carries is ideology. Ideologies are proliferated by constructing specific versions of reality adopted by followers of certain beliefs, who are interconnected and share common customs and ideas (Jones, 2012). Hence, these subliminal ideological messages in advertisements are frequently the focus of the modern linguistics analysis conducted by a close observation of the text’s linguistic features and their relationship with the context that surrounds them. Judith Williamson (1978), for instance, claims that advertisements have two main functions: the economic one which makes us potential buyers of certain products and the ideological function which gathers people around certain idea and produces the feeling of unity (Chong, 2017). The theoretical background of the current paper needs to be based on critical discourse analysis and multimodal discourse analysis due to the fact that language is combined with other modes of communication, i.e. images and visuals, and they are exploited as the main tools politics exploits for promoting its own ideologies and accomplishing its goal. Critical Discourse Analysis Critical discourse analysis refers to the field that unites linguistic disciplines and social science and aims at studying and analysing written and spoken texts in order to find and understand the discursive sources of power, 32 �Multimodal Analysis of two Anti-Semitic Posters in the Independent State of Croatia Damir Bešlija dominance, inequality and bias (Dijk, 1998). Furthermore, as Rogers claims, critical discourse is always “socially, politically, racially and economically loaded” (Rogers, p. 6). Its main focus is examining the relationship between the usage of language and the contexts (either social or political) in which it occurs. Moreover, critical discourse analysis explores issues such as gender, ethnicity, cultural differences, ideology and identity and how these are constructed and reflected in texts. Fairclough and Wodak (1997) define principles of critical discourse and state the major four as following: A Social and political issues are constructed and reflected in discourse. Critical discourse analysis addresses political and social issues and examines ways in which these are constructed and reflected in the use of discourse. B Power relations are negotiated and performed through discourse. Critical discourse analysis conversational interaction, and aims at defining who controls, i.e. who allows the person to express themselves and how they allow that. C Discourse both reflects and reproduces social relations. Social relations are both established and maintained through the use of a discourse. D Ideologies are produced and reflected in the use of discourse. Critical discourse analysists claim, that ideologies are what represent and construct society. They are usually focused on forming relations of power which are based on gender, class and ethnicity. Critical discourse studies aim to make connection between social and cultural practices and the values and assumptions that underlie the discourse. They try to reveal what people say and do in their use of discourse in relation to their views of world, themselves and relation of each other. Any analysis of any text that contains linguistic elements is based on four main assumptions, which revolve around the facts that (1) it is never absolutely clear what is expressed by a certain expression; that (2) what language means is the matter of place and time in which it is used; that (3) we use language to display different social identities we possess; and that (4) linguistic features of languages are always combined with some non-linguistic elements (Jones, 2012). Multimodal discourse analysis Modal discourse analysis refers to analysing how certain types of advertisement use different modes of communication in order to convey their message (Martinez Lirola, 2016). The posters which this paper analyses combine both visual and textual modes. We could say that the textual basis of the posters is rather strengthened by the images which are supposed to attract readers’ attention. However, the posters need to be observed as a whole together with all the modes used in order to fully comprehend the message they send. Much research has focused on political and ideological advertising primarily through electronic media (Shäffner & Bassnett, 2010) or interviews conducted for purposes of political advertising (Chen, 2007). However, to our knowledge, there are not many papers which have focused on the posters as overly influential means of proliferating political and even ideological beliefs. In 33 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 such papers, analysis similar to this one was done and posters were analysed from the perspective of modal discourse analysis with their potential ideological influence further clarified Aulich & Sylvestrová, 1999; Johnston, 2006; Popova, 2012). The current study Through the analysis of the two aforementioned posters, observed as a social practice, the present paper aims to communicate the socio-cultural situation of the period and how social and power relations were established through the use of both linguistic and non-linguistic devices, visual elements in particular. Thus, relying on two theoretical constructs, namely critical discourse analysis and multimodal analysis, the current paper seeks to show how ideology promoted by the image on the poster is identified and explain its influence on the society’s perception of Jews. Due to the fact that posters, advertising posters in particular, send different subliminal messages and sometimes skilfully conceal some strong political ideologies, this paper is an attempt to help readers recognize and understand how such messages are conveyed, which might lessen the devastating effect different ideologies might have on them. 3. METHODS AND DATA Two advertising posters of the same kind published by the State Reporting and Promotional Office under the Prime Minister's Office (Croatian: Državni izvještajni i promičbeni ured pri Predsjedničtvu vlade; translated by the author) were selected from the book Media and Promotion in the Independent state of Croatia (Croatian: Mediji i promidžba u Nezavisne Države Hrvatske; translated by the author) written by Jareb (2009). They can be found in a private collection which belongs to professor Eli Tauber who lives in Sarajevo. The posters are presented and analysed by the use of textual analysis methodology, which involves the analysis of linguistic (i.e. grammatical and lexical) and non-linguistic (i.e. images, symbols) features in the posters. Finally, ideological functions of the posters are presented and explained together with a possible effect they might have had on the discourse community to which they had been presented. The posters may be found in Appendix section and due to the fact that the posters are originally in Croatian, the original texts as well as their translations are presented below. 1. Original text: ŽIDOVI IZLOŽBA O RAZVOJU ŽIDOVSTVA I NJIHOVOG RUŠILAČKOG RADA U HRVATSKOJ PRIJE 10IV1941 RJEŠENJE ŽIDOVSKOG PITANJA U N.D.H. 34 �Multimodal Analysis of two Anti-Semitic Posters in the Independent State of Croatia Damir Bešlija 1.V.1942 1.VI.1942 Translation: JEWS EXHIBITION ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF JUDAISM AND THEIR DESTRUCTIVE WORK IN CROATIA BEFORE 10IV1941 THE SOLUTION TO THE JEWISH QUESTION IN N.D.H. 1.V.1942 1.VI.1942 2. Original text: ŽIDOVI IZLOŽBA O RAZVOJU ŽIDOVSTVA I NJIHOVOG RUŠILAČKOG RADA U HRVATSKOJ PRIJE 10IV1941 RJEŠENJE ŽIDOVSKOG PITANJA U NDH 6.-20. RUJNA 1942 FERHADIJA ULICA BR. 11 (BIVŠA BOGOSLOVIJA) ULAZNICA KN. 10.-ZA SKUPINE KN. 5 PO OSOBI Translation: JEWS EXHIBITION ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF JUDAISM AND ITS DESTRUCTIVE WORK IN CROATIA BEFORE 10IV1941 THE SOLUTION TO THE JEWISH QUESTION IN NDH 6.-20. SEPTEMBER 1942 FERHADIJA STREET NO. 11 (FORMER FACULTY OF THEOLOGY) TICKET KN. 10.-FOR GROUPS KN. 5 PER PERSON 4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The posters from Zagreb and Sarajevo contain several linguistic and nonlinguistic elements that are analysed in the following sections. The first notable non-linguistic feature that grabs readers’ attention is the image of a snake wrapped around a muscular man who is trying to kill it. In the poster from Sarajevo (Figure 2) this image is even more influential due to the fact that it is colourised and it vividly portrays certain ideologies that are represented through colours. The most significant linguistic elements that are analysed are the text, its form and content. As it could be seen in the previous section, the texts from Sarajevo and Zagreb slightly differ in word choice, however that does not majorly influence the conveyed message. 35 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 Figure 1: Poster from Zagreb Figure 2: Poster from Sarajevo The first part of the analysis will focus on the language of the two posters. The very first property of language to be discussed is its ambiguity, i.e. the same message that is being conveyed by certain linguistic or non-linguistic devices might be understood differently. In these posters, ambiguity can be observed in the phrase “exhibition on the development of Judaism”, which, on its own, indicates that there is an exhibition in which some posters showing how Judaism has developed are displayed and thus anyone seeing the poster and reading only the first line without knowing the context and focusing on the image presented on the posters would possibly conclude that this exhibition was about Jewish tradition and culture. Even though this situation is highly improbable, taken all the historical context and developing anti-Semitic beliefs of that time, it shows how a single sentence can be seen and understood differently. The second property of language is that it is placed in the world. This means that language is always used in the material world, it is situated in time and reflects its circumstances, it exhibits some kind of a relationship between people who use it, and it can always be compared within a relation towards other languages. The language of two posters, therefore, is placed in the material world of Zagreb and Sarajevo streets during The Second World War and it exhibits the relationship of three participants: The State, ordinary people and the Jews. It is also rather interesting to observe how phrases and sentences are put together to form a coherent and cohesive text, while possibly referring to some 36 �Multimodal Analysis of two Anti-Semitic Posters in the Independent State of Croatia Damir Bešlija other source of information. When it comes to the analysis of the posters, one might conclude that the text present on them is coherent because it follows a generic framework which sets certain expectations about how advertising should be organised and what kind of social actions will follow. A reader will understand that there is an exhibition on the development of Judaism at certain place and time, and that everybody is invited. In addition, Sarajevo’s poster suggests that the exhibition is not free, but that group visits can get a discount. Furthermore, the posters’ text exhibits both lexical and grammatical cohesion. There is an obvious lexical chain between Jews, development of Judaism and the solution to the Jewish question. Grammatical cohesion, on the other hand, is seen in the use of a conjunction and (figure 1): EXHIBITION ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF JUDAISM AND THEIR DESTRUCTIVE WORK After reader’s attention was caught by an ‘ordinary’ event that might present Jewish culture, and adds a new piece of information that tells more about the exhibition which will actually present the Jews as a destruction force. Another element that adds to grammatical cohesion is the use of referencing. In the poster from Zagreb (figure 1), the pronoun their refers to the Jews from the title. By this the creators of the poster mark a whole group of people, as if destruction were something naturally inherent to the Jewish population. EXHIBITION ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF JUDAISM AND THEIR DESTRUCTIVE WORK In the poster from Sarajevo (figure 2), the reference is different and, instead of referring to the title, it refers to Judaism. By this, the creators of the poster rather blame ideology and religion for destruction than their followers. EXHIBITION ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF JUDAISM AND ITS DESTRUCTIVE WORK Moreover, the third property of language refers to its function of showing who are the people (or participants) who use it. The posters show that The State was publicly expressing its fascist ideology, but that, at the same time, the audience consisting of ordinary people shared government’s political views and was interested in such an event. This element is closely related to ideological behaviour that has been previously defined and exemplified and clearly portrays how the Fascist Nazi ideology was being used to represent one group of people (Jews) in contrast to the other (the Aryans). The last assumption is that language is never used in isolation, i.e. it is always followed by certain non-linguistic elements. These elements might be facial expressions, gestures, tone of voice, different fonts or graphics. In the case 37 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 of the posters, image plays rather central role because it most vividly depicts the power relation between Jews and Croats. It sends a very strong message: the monstrous snake which has stars of David all along its body represents Jewish people attacking a very masculine man who, on the other hand, represents all that is Croatian. Furthermore, the title “Jews” is written in much larger letters than the rest of the text in order to attract readers’ attention. However, it does not necessarily mean that it is the most important part of the poster. Actually, the whole text is written with capital letters which might mean that all the information present on the poster is, if not of the same, then of almost equal importance. The poster from Zagreb is much simpler in terms of colour than the poster from Sarajevo. While the first one is just black and white, the second one depicts the colours of the Croatian Chessboard and that of a stereotypical Aryan Caucasian man with ginger hear. More interestingly, the snake on the second poster doesn’t only have the stars of David on it to suggest its Jewish identity, but is also coloured in blue which is one of the biblical colours of Israel (both nation and country). Finally, another interesting observation is that the snake wrapped itself around the man's waist and covered his genitals. Taken the context in which Jews were condemned on the basis of their genetics and their physical appearance was scientifically analysed as rather unhealthy, this probably implies that the Jews not only ruled over economy and politics, but that they began to infiltrate traditional families, thereby "polluting" them (Jareb, 2009). The posters that are analysed in this paper clearly have the aim to inform people about the events that will take place in Zagreb and Sarajevo, as well as give further information about the time and entrance fee. However, informing or advertising is done in a way that undermines the Jews, who are presented as evil. The Jews are believed to have been a main destruction force and the exhibitions will, therefore be about “the Jewry’s destructive work” in Zagreb and “Judaism’s destructive work” in Sarajevo (as analysed before). Moreover, at the end of the posters’ text, the authors suggest that at the exhibition there will be given a “solution to the Jewish question”. Back then “The Jewish Question” was a common way of addressing the Jewry and everything connected to it. However, a choice of words is interesting because the event will give a solution to, or will solve the Jewish Question as if it were a good deal of misfortune or a problem that is to be solved. Finally, the poster from Sarajevo informs people about entrance fee and a discount that is to be given for group visits. By this, it clearly communicates two things; it shows that the event is prestigious and only for the people who can actually pay for it but it also encourages institutions and individuals to organise groups and come in large numbers. All these linguistic and non-linguistics elements are combined to portray different ideologies through the posters and point to specific social and political issues, as well as (in)directly assert the authors’ opinion (Aulich & Sylvestrová, 38 �Multimodal Analysis of two Anti-Semitic Posters in the Independent State of Croatia Damir Bešlija 1999). There are two ideologies which are present in these two posters and which will be discussed further. Firstly, the ideology of anti-Semitism which was a core of the NDH, found its place in all the media, and the highlight of it is certainly the aforementioned exhibition organized by the DIPU at the Art Pavilion at Strossmayer's Square in Zagreb from May 1, 1942 to June 1, 1942. Apart from Zagreb, the exhibitions that aimed at promoting aforementioned ideologies were staged in Osijek and Sarajevo, and very similar posters were exploited in advertising these events. The content of the posters accused Jews of exhausting the Croatian nation, the economical and ideological occupation of Croatia, and all of this was usually justified by the belief that the existence of the Jewish people threatened the survival of any state wherever they lived. It is through this exhibition, which was created in 1942 after severe and cruel persecution of the Jews, that the Facist regime ultimately convinced the Croatian people of the correctness of their decisions (Gitman, 2012). Yet another ideology that is found in these two posters, and that was very often used to empower the message being conveyed is the ideology of masculinity. Nowadays, sexuality is often used in advertising for the purpose of making the process more appealing to the opposite gender. Nudity is usually manifested in the form of visuals, although it can be expressed through verbal, musical, or scent elements (Gould, 1994). However, the elements of masculinity presented through nudity in these two posters for their primary aim have to show how strong and handsome is a man who is to protect the Croatian nation. The ideology present in the posters helps people create a shared worldview but also limits their ways of looking at reality. That is way many people were not aware of the atrocities that were done to the Jewish population (Zuckerman, 2010). In regards to ideology, it is clear how both posters openly support two of them which were present in the NDH politics, fascism and anti-Semitism, and exemplify their functions. The first function is ideational, meaning that the Jews were chosen as a specific subject around which revolves a new worldview that represents them as evil characters. The second function of the ideologies of the posters is interpersonal, and its main task is to create a relationship with readers who, if not yet, might become followers of that idea. This function is especially significant for forming a certain discourse community which might later on participate in creation of new advertising materials. The last function is purely textual, and takes care of how the text itself is structured. Finally, several different discourses might be found in the posters. Discourse of advertising is a primary discourse because both posters are advertisements of a kind and intend to inform readers about the exhibitions. In addition, discourse of politics is also very obvious since the posters speak about “the solution to the Jewish question”, which is, as already stated, a political phrase used by the NDH government. Ultimately, unlike two aforementioned discourses which are rather textual, another discourse present in a form of image is discourse of art. Namely, through this artistic depiction of the Jewry and a 39 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 Croatian man, the authors send a strong message which tells that this exhibition is a cultural event. The current study is of great importance because it exemplifies and analyses how the NDH employed a variety of devices, both linguistic and nonlinguistic, in order to proliferate the ideology and institutionally assert antiSemitism as well as make ordinary people blame the Jews for all problems in the society. One can also see how the government makes a difference between a pure Croat who is represented as a masculine man, and a Jew who is depicted as a snake. Both posters rely on the linguistic and non-linguistic structure, but also on emotion and feelings. Moreover, these posters have an enormous influence on the society in a sense that they establish a certain sort of a relationship between the readers who share the government’s opinion and the Jews. The advertisements of the exhibition clearly communicate the fact that the Jews are an evil, destructive force and that the exhibition will provide some kind of a solution to the Jewish Question. Nevertheless, we have to take into consideration that only two posters of the anti-Semitic propaganda were analysed in this paper. In order to get a complete image of the NDH propaganda and its influence on society, an analysis of a larger number of advertisements needs to be done. Ultimately, taken the unprecedented analysis of such posters from the modal discourse analysis perspective that is presented here, this paper might be useful for future studies on the topic of Croatian anti-Semitic politics, in terms of defining and exemplifying the ways in which different advertising and ideological discourses might be used to sway public’s opinion. It also might serve future researches as a reference for evidence of anti-Semitic presence in spheres of culture and public life in the Independent State of Croatia. 5. CONCLUSION Two advertising posters published by the State Reporting and Promotional Office under the Prime Minister's Office display all four properties of language: (1) language is ambiguous, (2) it is always in the world, (3) it displays different identities of its users and (4) it is never used in isolation. They also might be observed from a perspective of three different ways of looking at discourse and analysed as a part of Critical discourse analysis. Furthermore, the authors of the posters used a variety of linguistic and non-linguistic devices in order to make them more cohesive, coherent and to include some outside references, which is an instance of intertextuality. In addition, both of these posters make use of different discourses, such as discourse of advertising, discourse of politics and discourse of art. The primary purpose of the posters is to make readers perform an action of visiting the exhibition. It is important to emphasise how both of them contain the same anti-Semitic ideology with rather no hidden agenda: The Jews are a destructive force and an evil power that needs to be eliminated. 40 �Multimodal Analysis of two Anti-Semitic Posters in the Independent State of Croatia Damir Bešlija The analysis provided in the paper relies on Critical Discourse and Multimodal Analysis and it points to a blend of specific vocabulary and word choices as well as concrete and vivid imagery employed to create textual and visual meaning in order to show how discourses are constructed and what is their purpose, as well as how ideologies are promoted and how they shape readers’ ideology. Thus, the political message clearly sent through the posters at the time was that one nation, e.g. Jews, depicted in a non-human, animalistic shape, fighting a brave Croatian warrior, represented a destructive force that needed to have been dealt with and then, at the time, needed to have been continually warned against. Without any doubt, such a vivid imagery combined with the appropriate text contributed to shaping the ideology of the readers and exhibition visitors at the time. 41 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 REFERENCES Aulich, J. & Sylvestrová, M. (1999). Political posters in central and eastern Europe, 1945-95: Signs of the times. Manchester: Manchester University Press. Cook, G. (1996). Discourse of Advertising. New York: Routledge. Chen, L. (2007). Negatives and positives in the language of politics attitudes towards authority in the British and Chinese press. Journal of Language and Politics, 6(3), 475-502. Fairclough, N., & Wodak, R. (1997). Critical Discourse Analysis. In T. van Dijk (Ed.), Discourse Studies: A Multidisciplinary Introduction (Vol. 2, pp. 258-284). London: Sage. Gitman, E. (2012). Kad hrabrost prevlada. Zagreb: Novi liber. Židovska općina u Zagrebu. Goldstein, I. (2001). Holokaust u Zagrebu. Zagreb: Novi liber. Židovska općina u Zagrebu Gould, S. J. (1994). Sexuality and Ethics in Advertising: A Research Agenda and Policy Guideline Perspective. Journal of Advertising, 73-80. Hrvatski glasnik. (1941). Židovsko pitanje u Državi Hrvatskoj. No. 7. Jareb, M. Mediji i promidžba u Nezavisne Države Hrvatske. Nezavisna Država Hrvatska – 1941. -1945. Zagreb. 2009, 88. Jones, R. H. (2012). Discourse Analysis. New York: Routledge. Karlsson, S. (2015). Advertising as Discourse: A study of Print Advertisments Published in New Yorker. Bachelor Thesis. Popova, M. (2012). Presidential campaign posters: 200 years of election art. A brief visual history of political propaganda design [on line]. Available in: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/06/04/presidentialcampaign-posters/. Shäffner, C. & Bassnett, S. (2010). Political discourse, media and translation. Newcastle upon Type: Cambridge Scholars Publishers. Zuckerman, B. (2010). Psihologija holokausta: protužidovska propaganda u NDH i Srbiji (1941.-1945.). Zagreb. 42 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Multimodal Analysis of two Anti-Semitic Posters in the Independent State of Croatia https://omeka.ibu.edu.ba/files/original/3f7fbbbb9b5c15bedf4fc744b7740f8f.pdf 669c74f3a445b12b39a934c9fb61a08b PDF Text Text Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3 (1), pp. 18-29, Summer 2020 Original research paper ISSN 2566-4638 © International Burch University https://dx.doi.org/10.14706/JEH2020312 An observation on the introduction of mobile messenger apps for collaborative online tasks in post-secondary education Robert Schrenk University of Applied Sciences Eisenstadt robert@schrenk.cc Abstract: Positive effects of cooperative and collaborative learning have been investigated by a large number of studies. When using cooperative learning in blended or online learning the use of online forums is a popular means to organize the cooperation between learners in order to assist the learning process besides the lessons in presence. In the last years the introduction of instant messengers like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and such were becoming more popular and enjoy the reputation to be easier to use as they run on mobile phones and are always at hand. It can be expected that students behave differently depending on the device and communication tool that they use. Consequently, this would have an impact on the learning outcomes. Recent researchers claim a negative impact of the use of mobile phones on the students’ grade point average (GPA). Within this article cooperative online assignments were used as instruments to compare the use of an instant messenger compared to communication using traditional online forums. The results show a significant impact on the length of contributions within the cooperative tasks and a significant impact on the working times of the learners. The GPA of learners was not significantly influenced. Keywords: Cooperative/collaborative learning; distance education and telelearning; postsecondary education; teaching/learning strategies Article History Submitted: 1 January 2020 Accepted: 22 June 2020 �An observation on the introduction of mobile messenger apps for collaborative online tasks in post-secondary education Robert Schrenk 1. INTRODUCTION The positive effects of cooperative and collaborative learning on several aspects of learning have been investigated by a large number of studies (Rahman et al., 2020; Casey & Fernandez-Rio, 2019; Delić & Bećirović, 2016; Bećirović & Akbarov, 2015; Sharan, 2014). Higher learning outcomes can be achieved in settings of small groups rather than a single person working. The terms cooperative and collaborative learning are often used synonymously although there is a different meaning (van Leeuwen & Janssen, 2019). Within this article the abbreviation CL stands for collaborative learning. This means that the learners need a “mutual engagement of participants in a coordinated effort to solve the problem together” (Roschelle & Teasley, 1995, p. 70). In order to facilitate collaborative assignments, the use of discussion forums is very popular. These are seen as the traditional form of communication in online courses at universities (Bećirović & Brdarević-Čeljo, 2018) or in Massive Open Online Courses (Srba, Savic, Bielikova, Ivanovic, & Pautasso, 2019). Some researchers experiment with other tools as an alternative to discussion forums like chatrooms, social networking sites or community question answering systems (Jeff, Stephen, Huang, & Indy, 2010; Moorthy et al., 2019; Srba et al., 2019) and as a very new kind of implementation the use of instant messengers, like WhatsApp, for the purpose of teachers’ guidance (Raiman, Antbring, & Mahmood, 2017). Especially the possibility to introduce seamless learning scenarios seems promising and allows the creation of collaborative learning outcomes without dependence on location or time (Schmid & Schrenk, 2017). Although the introduction of such tools seems very appealing, current research has showed a negative impact of social networking sites on the academic achievement. A significant negative correlation seems to be present between the frequency of the students’ use of Facebook or the Internet per day for entertainment and their GPA (grade point average) (Feng, Wong, Wong, & Hossain, 2019). Whereas discussion forums, social networking sites and such are mainly used on personal computers, instant messengers are dedicated to be used on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. Mobile devices are always at hand and are used very frequently by their users. Therefore, it seems very promising that learners may contribute more frequently and accurately within a collaborative learning process (Bećirović, Brdarević-Čeljo & Zavrl, 2018). Research revealed that within a group of 118 college students more than 57% of messages were answered within less than one minute and 79% of messages were answered within an hour (Rosenfeld, Sina, Sarne, Avidov, & Kraus, 2018). On the other hand, the use of mobile devices may affect the contribution in a negative way. Research analyzing the impact of the use of mobile devices compared to desktop/laptop computers on the contribution of people in surveys revealed that mobile device users needed more time for their contributions and were more likely to interrupt tasks (Liebe, Glenk, Oehlmann, & Meyerhoff, 2015). 19 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 Furthermore, there is a negative correlation between the frequency students used Facebook or the Internet per day for entertainment and their GPA (Feng et al., 2019). Interestingly, according to the statistics of Rosenfeld et al. (2018) more than 90% of instant messages were sent between 8am and 12pm. Thus, the research question of this work is: which impact has the use of an instant messenger on the length of messages, grades and times of contribution compared to discussion forums? The study is guided by the following hypotheses: H1: there will be a statistically significant difference between the use of an instant messenger in comparison to a discussion forum regarding the length of messages. H2: there will be a statistically significant correlation between the use of an instant messenger in comparison to a discussion forum regarding the students’ GPA. H3: there will be a statistically significant difference between the use of an instant messenger in comparison to a discussion forum regarding the times of contribution. 2. METHODOLOGY For this study students’ communication behavior was observed during a blended learning course that implemented cooperative learning scenarios. “Observation allows the description of behavior as it occurs naturally” (McMillan, 2012, p. 164) and “puts you where the action is and lets you collect data” (Bernard, 2006, p. 344). According to Bernard (2006, p. 356) “participant observation makes it possible to collect quantitative survey data”. The quasi experiment as other possible method was considered but discarded. Within an experiment the researcher treats a specific group in a planned way and compares the results to another, untreated group (McMillan, 2012). For this study this approach was not applicable. All participants had to pass all activities using all types of media to pass the course. Therefore, splitting into two groups was no option and the “single-group posttest-only design” seemed to weak as an option (McMillan, 2012). In quantitative research an observation focuses on particular aspects of behavior and quantifies it in some way. The “researcher strives to be as objective as possible” (Leedy & Ormrod, 2005, p. 180). According to McMillan (2012) this is a “low-inference observation”. In this observation only quantitative data is collected automatically and does not need to be interpreted during the collection. The only possible influence of the observer in this study is, that the contributions were graded during the observation. But as grading and giving feedback is a normal part of the learning process the effects to the data are considered to be minimal. 20 �An observation on the introduction of mobile messenger apps for collaborative online tasks in post-secondary education Robert Schrenk 2.1. PARTICIPANTS This research took place as part of a lecture about “basics of e-Learning” in the master degree program “Applied Knowledge Management” at the University of Applied Sciences in Burgenland (Austria) in the summer semester 2019. In that lecture, the students learned about e-Learning principles and trends that include the topic mobile learning and collaborative learning. All participants were obligated to execute all tasks to pass the course. As the overall learning outcome of this lecture, the students had to collaboratively design a collaborative online course for a given topic. Before that, they had to undergo two collaborative online tasks themselves to gain experience and practice on collaborative online learning. Based on these two collaborative tasks their communication behavior was analyzed. 2.2. DATA COLLECTION TOOLS AND PROCESS During the first lecture, students were informed that the two collaborative tasks will be observed for a reflection and analysis. In order to minimize possible influence on the communication behavior, they were not informed in detail about hypotheses or research questions. For the purpose of this research a special kind of instant messenger, called “eduMessenger”, was used. This messenger connects to the learning management system Moodle, that was used for the discussion forums, and stores all messages using the very same discussion forums in Moodle. That way all meta-information related to messages was at hand for the analysis. The main differences between the two types of media was, that the students using the messenger were informed about new messages via push notifications on mobile devices, while the other group was informed via email notifications on the computer. Contributions to the discussion should have been made on the particular device. As a consequence, the learners using the messenger had to answer on their mobile phones, while the others answered using their computers and a regular keyboard. During the learning process all contributions of the students were constantly graded and feedback was given to propagate their contribution. At the end of the course all students were asked to take part in a short survey, to reflect upon their attitudes towards the used media and lessons learned. At that stage, they were informed about the purpose of the study and were given a possibility to opt-out from the study. After the survey was finished, all contents of the Moodle-forums were exported, the contributions were anonymized and analyzed. The contributions of those students who did not give their consent to be part of the study were removed. Out of the 33 students, who participated the course, 32 finished the questionnaire and 29 agreed to include their data into the analysis, only 3 disagreed. One participant dropped out during the course and was not able to take part in the questionnaire at all. These data were removed too. 21 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 2.3. DESIGN OF THE COLLABORATIVE TASKS The students were split into 8 groups. Each group consisted of 4-5 students. In the first task [T1] the students had to discuss the pros and cons of collaborative online tasks based on literature that was given to them. Each group was asked to agree upon the most important three pros and cons as the outcome of the task, but for the grading only the quality of each single message was considered according to the criteria (1) number of contributed pros/cons and (2) if arguments were based on literature. For each message the students could be awarded 5 points, and 10 points as maximum for the whole task. The students had a time range of 14 days for discussion and providing an outcome. In the second task the students had to develop an own collaborative task [T2a], and provided feedback to at least two colleagues [T2b]. The feedbacks ought to contain (1) if the designed tasks engage collaboration among learners, (2) all aspects of Salmon’s eTivity-concept (Salmon, 2002) were fulfilled and (3) additional hints were given. T2a was awarded 10 points at maximum, in T2b each feedback could be graded with 5 points. T2 in total had a maximum of 20 points. The feedback had to be done within a time range of 21 days. In both tasks the students had the choice to contribute with few high quality posts or with a higher amount of posts with minor quality. By design the students were asked to use a certain type of media for a certain task. Groups 1-4 5-8 Table 1 Disposition of groups, tasks and type of media T1 T2a eduMessenger Free choice Forum Free choice T2b Forum eduMessenger The purpose of this was to give all the students the opportunity to use a messenger and a discussion forum at least once during the course. For each task a dedicated discussion forum was provided and the groups were separated using the ”separated groups”-feature in Moodle. This means that the groups could not see the other groups nor their process. Consequently, an influence between the groups was prohibited. Unfortunately, many students did not follow the guidelines and used both media types within all tasks. Whatever seemed more appropriate for them in a particular situation was used. 22 �An observation on the introduction of mobile messenger apps for collaborative online tasks in post-secondary education Robert Schrenk 3. FINDINGS 3.1. H1: LENGTH OF MESSAGES H1: there will be a statistically significant difference between the use of an instant messenger in comparison to a discussion forum regarding the length of messages. Figure 1 shows the average length of messages of forum posts compared to messenger posts. Posts contributed using the messenger seem to be shorter than those contributed using the forum. Figure 1: MediaType and lengths of contributions An independent samples t-test was conducted to compare the length for messages created by the messenger or the forum. Table 2 T-test of MediaType on length of contribution Independent Samples Test Levene's Test for Equality of Variances length Equal variances assumed t-test for Equality of Means F Sig. t df Sig. (2tailed) Mean Difference Std. Error Difference 22,439 ,000 4,799 346 ,000 555,011 115,643 23 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 Equal variances not assumed 5,132 336,311 ,000 555,011 108,152 The t-test shows a significant difference in the lengths of contribution for forum (M = 1143.66, SD = 1241.68) and eduMessenger (M = 588.65, SD 768.268); t(346) = 4,799, p = 0.000. 3.2. H2: IMPACT ON GPA H2: there will be a statistically significant correlation between the use of an instant messenger in comparison to a discussion forum regarding the students’ GPA. As mentioned in section 3.3, students mixed both types of communication for a natural use of their communication channels and did not follow the guideline to use the predetermined type of media for one assignment, and the other type of media for the other assignment. Consequently, it was not possible to analyze the effect on the GPA by a comparison of the two assignments. Therefore, a new variable “MediaTypeRatio” [MTR] was introduced to determine a correlation between the MTR and GPA. MTR indicates the amount of posts written using the messenger as a percentage of the amount of posts written using the forum. If, as proposed by H2, the use of an instant messenger has a negative impact on the GPA there must be a correlation of this ratio compared to the graded results. Both assignments had a cap of 30 points as maximum. Because of that cap, the correlation was tested with and without a cap of 30 points. MTR Table 3 Correlation between MTR and GPA MTR GPA without cap Pearson Correlation 1 -,007 Sig. (2-tailed) ,969 N 29 29 **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). GPA max. 30 ,056 ,771 29 There was no correlation between MTR and GPA without cap r = -0.01, n = 29, p = 0.969. There was no correlation between MTR and GPA with cap r = 0.06, n = 29, p = 0.771. 3.3. H3: TIMES OF CONTRIBUTION H3: there will be a statistically significant difference between the use of an instant messenger in comparison to a discussion forum regarding the times of contribution. 24 �An observation on the introduction of mobile messenger apps for collaborative online tasks in post-secondary education Robert Schrenk All produced posts were categorized according to the hour they were written as (1) before 8 am, (2) between 8am and 4pm, and (3) after 4pm. Figure 2 shows the allocation of messages over day times. Figure 2: MediaType and times of contribution An independent samples t-test was conducted to compare the times of contribution for messages created using the messenger or the forum. The t-test showed a significant difference in the times of contribution for the forum (M = 2.52, SD = 0.56) and the messenger (M = 2.35, SD 0.56); t(346) = 2.79, p = 0.006. Table 4 T-test of MediaType on times of contribution Levene's Test for Equality of Variances Workshift Equal variances assumed Equal variances not assumed t-test for Equality of Means t-test for Equality of Means F Sig. t df Sig. (2tailed) Mean Difference Std. Error Difference ,829 ,363 2,789 346 ,006 ,16865 ,06048 2,789 316,897 ,006 ,16865 ,06048 25 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 4. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS The results of this study reveal that the use of an instant messenger on mobile devices significantly reduces the length of written messages in comparison to messages that are written on a computer. This may be misinterpreted as a decreased quality of the learning outcomes. This is not necessarily true, if the assignment is designed accordingly. Therefore, it must be assured that either the length of contributions does not predetermine the points awarded, or learners can compensate shorter contributions with higher frequency and quantity. For the purpose of collaborative assignments, this can even be advantageous as it raises the flow of the communication in the learning process. Qamar, Riyadi and Wulandari (2019) reported similar experience when they introduced the popular messenger WhatsApp to a Blended Learning. Learners who contribute in a discussion will think about the subject and reflect on the outcomes more frequently. Consequently, it can be expected that they identify themselves more with the outcome of the collaborative work and are overall more actively concerned with the learning. Furthermore, the combination of traditional digital communication channels like forums and new channels like messengers allows to expand the times of contributions of the learners. They stick to the learning on a more frequent basis instead of providing punctual contributions. So, the learning happens perpetually on a seamless basis. This means that learners can learn whenever (Sinanović & Bećirović, 2016) and wherever they want, also during breaks or holes in their working schedule. Interestingly the use of an instant messenger has another significant effect, that was not analyzed by the initial hypotheses. The analysis focused on the contributions that were required by the assignments. It was very salient that many contributions did not get a grading. Most of these messages were intended to support the social binding of the group. An investigation into this showed that out of 200 forum posts, only 33 (16.5%) were not intended for grading, but out of 128 messenger posts these were 63 (42.6%). A chi-square test approved a significant association between the MediaType and the purpose of grading, χ2 (1) = 28.93, p = 0.000 (0 cells have expected count less than 5, minimum expected count is 40.83). This proves, that the introduction of instant messengers in online learning significantly supports the social cohesion of a learning group in comparison to traditional forms of digital communication. Instant messengers can help to bring close all collaborators of a group in a virtual team, so that collaborators assist each other on a mutual basis. Berewot and Fibra (2020) found a similar impact on students motivation in project learning. Compared to the findings of Liebe, Glenk, Oehlmann and Meyerhoff (2015, p. 24) and Feng et al. (2019) who suggest a negative impact of the use of instant messengers on the grade point average, no such significant impact could be confirmed in this study. Furthermore, research findings show that willingness 26 �An observation on the introduction of mobile messenger apps for collaborative online tasks in post-secondary education Robert Schrenk to communicate (Rizvić & Bećirović, 2017) and learning styles (Mašić, Polz & Bećirović, 2020) are significantly affected by GPA. This makes the introduction of instant messengers to the learning very attractive, although there must still be some awareness about possible negative impacts, that were not discussed in this study (e.g. privacy), and there are certain limitations to the tasks because of the form factor of the devices. 27 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 REFERENCES Bernard, H. R. (2006). Research methods in anthropology: Qualitative and quantitative approaches (4th ed). OCLC: ocm60824194. Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press. Bećirović, S., & Akbarov A. (2015). Impact of social changes on teacher’s role and responsibilities in the educational system. 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Sharan, Yael. „Learning to cooperate for cooperative learning.“. Anales de Psicología 30, Nr. 3 (1. Oktober 2014): 802–7. https://doi.org/10.6018/analesps.30.3.201211. Sinanović, J., & Bećirović S. (2016). The Determinants of Lifelong Learning. European researcher, 103(2), 107-118. doi: 10.13187/er.2016.103.107. Srba, I., Savic, M., Bielikova, M., Ivanovic, M., & Pautasso, C. (2019). Employing community question answering for online discussions in university courses: Students’ perspective. Computers & Education, 135, 75–90. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2019.02.017 van Leeuwen, A. & Janssen, J. (2019). A systematic review of teacher guidance during collaborative learning in primary and secondary education. Educational Research Review, 27, 71–89. doi:10.1016/j.edurev.2019.02.001. 29 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource An observation on the introduction of mobile messenger apps for collaborative online tasks in post-secondary education https://omeka.ibu.edu.ba/files/original/a9d7b5bafadf581bc65a27d385a9507d.pdf ffca1e5369851d455465038f382c5bb3 PDF Text Text Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3 (1), pp. 3-17, Summer 2020 Original research paper ISSN 2566-4638 © International Burch University https://dx.doi.org/10.14706/JEH2020311 Relationship between thinking styles and cognitive load: A contextual study of Arab special learners Mogbel Aid K Alenizi Northern Border University alenizimogbel@gmail.com Abstract: The current study aims to assess the relationship between thinking styles and cognitive load of regular students and of the students with learning difficulties. It also evaluates to what extent cognitive load is related with patterns of thinking according to Harrison and Bramson’s theory. Random samples of 105 male and female regular students’ along with 79 male female students with learning disabilities were chosen for the study. An interview form was used to identify the family situation of the samples and the Raven matrix sequence test was used to determine the intelligence level of those with learning difficulties. To diagnose the nature of samples’ learning difficulties, Michael Best’s scale was used and to measure five thinking patterns (synthetic, ideal, pragmatic, analytical, and realistic) researchers’ self designed tool was used. To measure cognitive load, a scale prepared by ASRC was used. The results of the study indicated that those with learning difficulties think random, i.e. they do not use the five methods of thinking in an organized way for their academic achievements and in problem solving which burdens their cognitive faculty. As for regular students, their thinking was organized, and they used the five methods of thinking in a regular manner to enhance their academic achievement, which eventually reduces their cognitive load. Keywords: Cognitive load; thinking patterns; Harrison and Bramson theory; special learners; learning disability Article History Submitted: 13 May 2020 Accepted: 18 June 2020 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 1. INTRODUCTION It is important for students to acquire scientific knowledge and operations, thinking skills and problem solving skills, but the common teaching practices in the educational field pay more attention to memorization, but rarely pay attention to the mental processes of the learners which eventually is reflected in learners’ differential levels of educational achievement. Cognition helps us understand human behavior through the mental processes; it is significant in learning processes as well because knowledge acquisition goes through several stages until it stabilizes in the mind (e.g. emotions, awareness, attention and memory). Due to the limited capacity of the brain, the information stored determines the nature of its processing. Every individual has his/her own cognitive capacity to process a mental function, and any disturbance in such processes cause cognitive load. The educators and teachers should not give excess information as the increased load of information may hinder the learning process of the ordinary students, and students with special needs in particular (Zoghbi, 2012). Al-Maati (2005) indicated that thinking is a refined cognitive process that involves re-organization of the elements of a given situation in a noble way that requires problem solving skill. In other words, it involves many other cognitive processes such as attention, awareness, remembrance etc., and some cognitive skills such as classification, conclusion, analysis, installation, comparison, generalization and so on. There are a number of theoretical perceptions of thinking styles that differ from one another in terms of individuals’ preference in their thinking. One such model is the Paivio model (1971), which envisions the existence of two types of preferences of individuals and their ways of thinking: verbal thinking and conceptual thinking. Harrison & Bramson’s (1982) model proposes that the idea of thinking styles are closely related to the study of educational psychology and cognitive psychology, as the roots of research in the methods of thinking emerged in the early seventies of the last century as naming of personal concepts, but the concept of style is more related to personality (Harrison & Bramson, 2008). For those with learning difficulties, it is clear that they have difficulties in memorization, understanding, attention and awareness. They mainly suffer a lack of understanding and awareness, so those involved in developing curricula should take into account learners’ low ability of retaining and understanding information. Saudi Arabia is witnessing an alarming increase in the number of cases with learning difficulties. As their percentage ranged from 5% to 10% of the total population, the cognitive load of learners with learning difficulties needs to be taken care of well, so that the decision-makers could take into account their low abilities of memorization and understanding (Aburiah 2007). The presentday students need reduced load of knowledge/information during their learning process in order to use their higher thinking skills which require a lot of information and extensive mental processes for a successful learning (Mai, 2012) 4 �Relationship between thinking styles and cognitive load: A contextual study of Arab special learners Mogbel Aid K Alenizi Statement of the problem The cognitive load theory is related to facilitating the processing of information in working memory with a lot of efforts (Sweller et al, 1998). Memory, with its coding, storing, and retrieval of information, is the basis for most of thinking and learning. Discrimination and recognition processes also depend on memory, so that the individual can perform several mental processes through the information stored in the memory (Abboud & Jassem, 2011). The cognitive load is concerned with the way in which knowledge resources are used during the process of learning and problem solving (Shehab, 2011). Thus, thinking styles are influenced by the nature of the subject (the internal cognitive load) or the way in which students demonstrate the required information and activities (the external cognitive load) (Sweller, et al., 1998). Therefore, educational materials should be designed to keep learners' cognitive load at its lowest level during the learning process (Stachel, 2011). Each learner has a preferred style of processing information, which is also known as learning method. Therefore, the level of cognitive load during the learning process may be affected by the learner's preferred learning method or his/her method of processing the information presented to him. The cognitive load theory is based on cognitive structure consisting of partially independent processing operations for visual / spatial verbal and auditory information that interact with long-term memory (Pass, et al., 2003). From the above it is clear that the excessive cognitive load negatively affects the styles of thinking. The level of cognitive load can be reduced by finding effective ways to present information to the learners. Learning methods can explain the differences among learners and in terms of the ways they process information. Given the paucity of studies in Arabic context, the present study explores thinking styles in the light of Harrison and Bramson's theory and its relationship to the cognitive load of ordinary students and those with learning difficulties, by answering the following two questions: Is there a relationship among the styles of thinking (synthetic, idealistic, pragmatic, analytical and realistic)? Is there any relationship between thinking style and cognitive load of the learners? Objectives of the study The study has following objectives: a. What are the patterns and levels of cognitive load between the students with learning difficulties and regular students? b. How Harrison and Bramson's theory accounts for this difference? Theoretical Background The cognitive load theory has recently become one of the crucial theories to describe cognitive processes involved in learning using multimedia or internetbased learning (Brunken, et al, 2003, p. 53). Pass et al (2003, p.1) refers to cognitive load theory as a framework for research on cognitive processes and educational design. Allen (2011, p. 11) suggests that cognitive load theory assumes that an 5 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 individual allocate part of his mental processes in order to process or learn a bundle of information. To perform a task, the amount of knowledge resources needed requires processing of memory, which eventually loads the cognitive efficiency (Huang et al, 2006, p. 141; Yao, 2006; Curie, 2008). The idea of cognitive load theory is based on the premises that working memory has a very limited capacity and learning process needs active working memory. If the working memory capacity exceeds the maximum limit, then the learning becomes ineffective. It assumes that long-term memory has unlimited capacity. Increased levels of cognitive load may result from the content of educational materials, problem solving skill in learning using traditional methods (Abu Riyash, 2007, p. 196). Therefore, there should be variation in the content to suit various learning methods (Sweller, 2008). Adnan Yousef Al-Atoum (2004) sees that each individual has his/her own way of thinking, and the way of thinking measures individuals' linguistic and cognitive preferences and their levels of flexibility in their work and in their dealing with others; though there are different approaches to the understanding of thinking style in terms of types and nature of the methods followed by individuals in their thinking processes. For instance, the Paivio model (1971) envisions two types of individuals' preferences; verbal reasoning and conceptual way of thinking. Harrison and Bramson referred to the individual’s preferred methods of dealing with different life situations, and these methods include the scale of thinking as prepared by Harrison and Bramson (Magdy Abdel Karim Habib 2008, p. 5-11). It includes the following methods: A. Synthetic thinking means the individual’s ability to communicate new and original ideas is completely different from what others do in synthesizing various ideas. In this process, an individual looks for views that may provide better equipped solutions, and link seemingly opposing views. It requires clarity and creativity. B. Idealistic thinking is the individual's ability to form different points of view towards goals and to pay attention to the needs of what is beneficial for him and the society. It focuses on social values. C. Pragmatic thinking is the individual's ability to verify what is right and wrong in terms of personal experience and freedom to experiment and excel in finding new ways of doing things using the available resources. D. Analytic thinking is the individual's ability to confront problems carefully and in a systematic way, pay attention to detail and plan carefully before making a decision, and collects as much information as possible while not forming a holistic view (Anwar Omar Ibrahim, 2007, p. 18). E. Realistic thinking includes reliance on observation and experimentation of the real life things or events. 2. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE Cognitive Load: Working memory (WM, hereafter) regulates the efficient use of cognitive resources (Mayer & Moreno, 2003), and there are other factors too such as 6 �Relationship between thinking styles and cognitive load: A contextual study of Arab special learners Mogbel Aid K Alenizi individual traits and knowledge repository, as well as fresh information related to a specific task (Wouters, Paas, & van Merriënboer, 2009). Individuals with greater WM capacity have more attentional capacity to devote to complex tasks; thus, an individual with high WM may experience less cognitive load (i.e., find the task less difficult) than an individual with low WM. The established relationships between WM and performance on complex tasks (Geary, Frensch, & Wiley, 1993; Linderholm & van den Broek, 2002; Schelble et al., 2012), and between cognitive load and complex task performance (Beilock & DeCaro, 2007; Paas et al., 2003) support this idea. Thus, individuals with fewer attentional resources (i.e., lower WM) are likely to perceive a complex task as requiring more mental effort than those who possess more attentional resources. Given the impacts of cognitive load and WM on complex tasks and the similarity of the demands of creative thinking tasks to other complex tasks (Beaty & Silvia, 2012; Benedek et al., 2012; Benedek et al., 2014; Nusbaum & Silvia, 2011; Lee & Therriault, 2013; Silvia, 2015), links among WM, cognitive load, and creative thinking are likely. Flad (2002) conducted a study aimed at identifying the effect of increasing cognitive load in the standards of self-report and bilateral tasks of mental effort in the problem solving process. The results of the study indicated that there was a positive and statistically significant relationship between the cognitive load and the difficulty of the task. Likewise, Farnsworth (2009) conducted a study aimed at identifying differences in the Cognitive load as perceived by teachers in training manual or electronic assistive technology to teach reading and writing to the blind. The results of the study showed that there were no statistically significant differences between the groups of technological devices in quantitative measures of cognitive load or the efficiency of the Braille method in learning to read and write. While the results of the interviews indicated that there were qualitative differences in the required mental effort (cognitive load) between the groups of technological devices. Abdul Amir Aboud and Mahdi Jassem (2011) conducted a study aimed at identifying the level of cognitive load among middle school students, and identified the differences between males and females from arts and science specializations. The results indicated a decrease in the level of cognitive load among the sample members in general, but there were no statistically significant differences in terms of gender and specializations. The results also indicated that there were no statistically significant differences in the level of cognitive load in terms of areas of study. Abu Joudeh (2004) aimed to know the effect of an educational program based on the theory of cognitive load in developing critical thinking skills. Statistical indication of the California test of critical thinking skills as a whole and of each skill reflected the effectiveness of the educational learning program based on cognitive load theory in developing critical thinking. AlShamsi and Hassan Study (2009) aimed at knowing the cognitive load of middle school students in Baghdad, and concluded that there were statistically significant differences in their possession of a low ability to high ability tasks. 7 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 The study also concluded that there were no statistically significant differences in terms of their gender and specializations. Thinking Styles: Fouqia Abdel-Fattah (2007) explored the relationship between thinking styles and moral judgments, and revealed that there were differences between the prevailing thinking methods among the academic staff, as per their styles and specializations. The results indicated that there were statistically significant differences between the averages of male and female. Ideal thinking style was in favor of females, and analytical thinking style was relatively in favor of scientific specializations. Al-Sukari and Abdul-Fattah (2006) studied emotional intelligence and its relationship to thinking styles among a sample of university students. The study revealed that there was statistically significant positive relationship between emotional intelligence and ideal and analytical thinking styles, but statistically significant negative relationship between Pragmatic thinking styles. There was a statistically significant relationship with the rest of the thinking styles. Zhang, Li-Fang (2001) showed the relationship between thinking styles and personality patterns. 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The research sample included a group of regular students and students with learning difficulties who were randomly selected from some primary schools in the northern border region of Rafha, Saudi Arabia. A total of 105 regular students included 60 males and 45 females. A total of 79 learners with learning difficulties included 56 males and 23 females. The study was conducted in the second semester of academic year 2019-2020. The method used in the current study was descriptive in nature. Pearson correlation coefficient was used to measure thinking styles and cognitive load of the students with learning difficulties. The same was used for the regular students as well. Hypotheses: The hypotheses formulated are as follow: H01 = There is no statistically significant correlation between the scale of thinking styles and the measure of cognitive load among students with learning difficulties. H2 = There is a statistically significant correlation between the scale of thinking styles and the measure of cognitive load among ordinary students. Study tools: Family Diagnostic Interview Form: The aim of the questionnaire was to identify the economic, social and cultural levels due to the important role of these levels in influencing research variables. 8 �Relationship between thinking styles and cognitive load: A contextual study of Arab special learners Mogbel Aid K Alenizi Raven Colored Sequential Matrices (Takaneen, Emad Ahmad Hassan, 2014): Its goal was to measure intelligence, and it was largely free of cultural influence. It mainly depended on the collective application. It could be applied individually in certain circumstances. Successive matrices consisted of 36 items distributed in three sections: (a), (a) b, and (b), and colored matrices were suitable for ages from 5.6 to 10.5 years, and were suitable for those who had disabilities. Colors were used as the background to the problems, to make the test more interesting and clear. Psychometric properties of the test: Stability of the test: The coefficient of persistence in the study sample ranged from male and female students to repeat the test after two weeks to the stability factor of (0.85), and p-value at the level of (0.01). Validity of the test: Formative validity was used, where the correlation coefficient was estimated by months between the total grades (0.77) in the first application of the test, while the correlation coefficient was (0.81) in the second application. A student’s behavior scale (Best and Sharif, 2007) was used to assess the nature of learning difficulties of the samples. This scale is one of the survey tools for the detection and initial recognition of learning difficulties through the teacher’s assessment of the verbal and non-verbal behavioral features. Verbal measure includes assimilation and language whereas non-verbal measures include general knowledge, motor coordination, personal and social behavior. This scale was valid for individual application in the age group of 5.5 - 14 years, and it consisted of 24 questions sets distributed on two scales; 13 questions sets for the verbal scale and 11 for the non-verbal measure. Under each paragraph five graded questions (1, 2, 3, 4, 5………………) were given wherein each grade represented the level of teacher’s assessment of the student's ability. The score ranged from 24 to 120. The score was interpreted on the basis that each regular student got a score of minimum 48 and students with learning difficulty got lesser than that. The psychometric properties of the scale Honesty: Michael Best (1981) codified the scale to assess the significance of honesty of the sample, whereby the validity of the scale for gender variable was * 17.32 and the status of learner variable (normal students, and students with learning difficulties) was 98. 28*. The confidence interval was found to be 0.38 – 2.25. To measure thinking styles within the framework of Harrison and Bramson's theory, the researcher adopted the following five thinking styles: synthetic, ideal, pragmatic, analytical, realistic. These five styles represented a reference framework and thus the researcher validated that in that case the content of the scale was able to achieve the set out goals. The researcher had the following procedures in building the scale: 9 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 The content of the questions sets was well defined. The questions sets were developed in the light of Harrison and Bramson's theory. The total number of question sets (25) was divided into five dimensions; each dimension was having five questions sets as distributed in table 1 below: Table 1. Distribution of questions and questions sets thinking style-wise Dimensions Order of questions No. of question sets Realist 1-2-3-4-5 5 Synthesist Pragmatist Analyst 6-7-8-9-10 11-12-13-14-15 16-17-18-19-20 5 5 5 Idealist 21-22-23-24-25 5 Psychometric properties of the scale: To ensure statistical validity, it was applied to a sample of 25 students, and the following equation was applied to the results. (Z = 2) = Seronov - Colmogrov = to know the nature of the distribution of data (normal or not). The significance level of 0.01 meant that the distribution was not normal. Since the distribution was not normal, laboratory tests were not applied to the data, rather non-parametric tests were applied to data (Mann-Whitney's test for calculating terminal honesty). The results are as shown in the following table 2: Table 2. Results of psychometric properties of the scale test Gr. N Total Avg. Z value Sig. St. sig. score score level Max 8 100 12.5 3.393 0.001 Sig. Min 8 36 4.5 The table above shows that the value of the significance level is 0.001, which is statistically significant, because it is less than 0.05. This indicates that there are differences between the maximum and minimum. This means that the tool has terminal honesty. Internal consistency validity: To extract this type of validity, correlation coefficients were found between the five styles and the results as shown in Table 3 below: Table 3. Correlation coefficients between the five thinking styles Correlation Syn. Ideal. Prag. Analy. Real. Factors Synthesist 1 **-.202 *-0.10 **-0.347 **-0.297 Idealist 1 **-0.307 **-0.191 **-0.272 Pragmatist 1 **-0.272 **-0.161 Analyst 1 *-0.11 10 �Relationship between thinking styles and cognitive load: A contextual study of Arab special learners Mogbel Aid K Alenizi Realist 1 It is clear from table 3 that there is a negative correlation with a function at the level of 0.01, but it is very weak among the five thinking styles. The negative correlation between one group (structural and pragmatic) and the other one (analytical and realistic) is at the level of 0.05. It is indicated that negative correlations are quite higher at the top level factors, but it decreases over the downward factors. The results confirm the validity of the scale because the styles are distinct and are independent of one another. Stability of scale: The stability was determined by the following two styles: Mid fragmentation, Alpha-Cronbach equation The value of each of them is as shown in the table 4 below: Stability type NA Table 4. Stability of scale test results SpearmanSig. AlphaSignificance Brown level Cronbach level coefficient 0.78 0.001 0.73 0.003 It is clear from the table that the stability coefficients have relatively high values that allow the tool to be applied safely, and with this form of honesty and reliability the tool has become valid. The cognitive load scale as prepared by the American Space Agency Research Center (ASARC), was further translated and codified by Al-Banna (2008). The researcher assessed the cognitive load and its relationship to the styles of thinking of ordinary students and of those with learning difficulties, on the task load index of the National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA), which allows measuring the total workload by itself during the completion of the task or immediately after it. It consists of six dimensions; each of them constitutes a source of the total workload represented in defined requirements such as physical requirements, time requirements, performance, effort, and frustration. It also consists of a scale sheet assessing the degree to which the scale dimensions contribute to the overall load. The scale included a description of the five dimensions and instructing the student to place a mark (x) on the intersection of eleven gradients with the horizontal line under each question and make sure to place a mark (x) on one of the gradient lines and not between the gradient marks. The total load is calculated by dividing the total cognitive load of the six measures divided by 15 which is the number of possible statistics between each pair of measures. The study found that there is a high degree of honesty, as the correlation coefficient is 0.52 between the scale of thinking styles and the cognitive load (Al-Banna, 2007). Al-Banna (2007) verified the stability of the scale by the Alpha Cronbach method with a value of (0.77). It 11 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 is clear from the above that the scale enjoyed a good degree of honesty in many studies and therefore it was used in the current study as well. Research procedures: The researcher followed the following steps in carrying out the research as follows: A questionnaire was applied to identify the economic and social status of the sample so as to ensure that these conditions did not affect the study variables. The scale of thinking styles and cognitive load was applied to 105 ordinary students in some government primary schools in the northern border region of Rafha, to determine the mental requirements of their preferred methods of thinking. The questionnaire of methods of thinking and the cognitive load was applied to 79 students with learning difficulties from some government primary schools in the northern border region in Rafha. The procedures for diagnosing learning difficulties carried out in two stages: first, application of Raven's successive matrix test to determine the level of intelligence of the sample, which measures non-verbal intelligence, and was largely free from any cultural influence, second, using the Michael Best scale to diagnose and identify people with learning disabilities. The researcher used statistical methods to know the effect of the five thinking methods (syntactic, idealistic, pragmatic, analytical and realist) on the cognitive load of students with learning difficulties and of regular students as well. 4. RESULTS & DISCUSSION The First hypothesis: 1. There is no statistically significant correlation between the scale of different styles of thinking (synthesist, idealist, pragmatist, analyst, and realist) and cognitive load among students with learning difficulties. Pearson correlation coefficient was used to measure the relationship between thinking styles and cognitive load of the students with learning difficulties. The results of the Pearson correlation coefficient are given in table 5 below: Table 5. Pearson correlation coefficient result of students with learning difficulties Thinking Total degree of cognitive Styles load Synthesist 0.004 Idealist 0.005 Pragmatist 0.006 Analyst 0.003 Realist 0.008 ) -(there is no correlation 12 Indication *---*----*--------* ----* �Relationship between thinking styles and cognitive load: A contextual study of Arab special learners Mogbel Aid K Alenizi It is clear from table 5 that there is no correlation between the thinking styles and the cognitive load of people with learning difficulties. This means that they have random thinking, that is, they use the five thinking styles in a random, disorganized manner, and this also indicates that the sample suffers from this weakness due to, to the fact that students do not use sound mental awareness in their academic achievement, which increases their cognitive load. The second hypothesis: There is a statistically significant correlation between thinking styles and cognitive load among ordinary students. The results of the Pearson correlation coefficient are given in table 6 below. Table 6. Pearson correlation coefficient result of regular students Thinking Total degree of Cognitive load methods Synthesist 0.238 Idealist 0.235 Pragmatist 0.240 Analyst 0.236 Realist 0.237 (**)(t) is at 0.01 Indication ** ** ** ** ** It is clear from table 6 that there is a correlation between thinking styles and cognitive load of regular students. This strong relationship means that thinking is organized for them, that is, they use the five methods of thinking in an organized way. This indicates that the sample has the ability to use the five thinking methods in their academic achievement and in solving their problems. This may be due to the fact that students use mental perceptions in a proper way in their academic achievement in their efforts to use their ability to organize the curriculum content and reduce their cognitive load. Psychologists and educational researchers believe that explicit instructions are necessary for the learners to do the best what is expected of them (Klahr & Nigam, 2004; Mayer, 2004), and they have provided empirical support to their claims. Research has clearly shown that for novices (almost all), explicit instruction is more effective than partial guidance (Clark, Kirschner, & Sweller, 2012). Zhang (2002) found that students with higher cognitive development level tended to use a wide range of thinking styles than the students with lower cognitive development. The results of the present study suggest similar patterns wherein normal students follow a regular pattern in terms of thinking styles during a cognitive function, whereas the students with learning disabilities exhibit a random pattern. Thinking styles vary among the regular students exhibit a particular style of thinking (study based on Sternberg’s theory of selfgovernment) under the dimensions of functions, forms, levels, scope and learning (Thomas & John, 2019). They observed differences in preferences of 13 �Journal of Education and Humanities Volume 3, Issue 1, Summer 2020 thinking styles in terms of gender, but the present study exhibited contrary results. Thomas and John’s (2019) study helped the learners’ self-efficiency to gain a sense of self-efficiency, and also helped the teachers to better realize students’ strengths and weaknesses to take necessary steps to compensate for their limitations. Cheng (2019) also proposed similar results that qualitative conception of learning was significantly related with a wide range of thinking styles among the students with hearing impairments. Likewise, this present study found a direct relation between thinking styles and learners’ cognitive load. Overloaded working memory during various learning processes cause learning impairments in normal cases as well (Kalyuga, 2015, 2016; Sweller, 2011). Therefore, it is imperative to note that the students with learning difficulties do suffer cognitive burden in their learning processes if the content and the teaching strategies are not considered well (Likourezos et al, 2019). 5. CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATIONS In conclusion, the researcher presents a set of recommendations which is expected to lead the development of educational work by reducing the cognitive load by using thinking styles that encourage creativity. The recommendations are: 1. Teachers should be encouraged to diversify their teaching methods to suit learners’ thinking patterns. 2. Agencies and institutions concerned with students with learning difficulties should provide them with educational programs appropriate for the learners, such as the Learning Resource Room (LRC), because this would reduce the severity of the difficulty of the student, and trained and qualified staff should follow-up well to deal with the cases of learning difficulties. 3. Attention should be paid to students' preferred methods of thinking, especially those with learning difficulties, and taking this into consideration while framing educational curricula and designing educational activities that may stimulate creativity and innovation. 4. Appropriate attention should be given to school activities that encourage creativity, and improvise methods of thinking that encourage creativity. 5. Establishing educational programs and holding workshops and seminars dealing with explaining the types of thinking and their roles in educational process; these will eventually help in reducing the cognitive load of the students with learning difficulties and of regular students as well. 6. 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For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Relationship between thinking styles and cognitive load: A contextual study of Arab special learners https://omeka.ibu.edu.ba/files/original/cfd4bd924f50f430b9b77d3de65bb630.pdf 5df4ce187d54a38721f94c977d44e30a PDF Text Text Journal of Natural Sciences and Engineering, Vol. 2, (2020) DOI number: 10.14706/JONSAE2020218 Information Systems Project Success Factors: Literature Review Nermina Durmic International Burch University, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina nermina.durmic@ibu.edu.ba Abstract – The purpose of this paper is to identify and collect most commonly discussed project success factors in the context of information systems (IS) projects. Through the process of review of 88 books, relevant studies and scientific works 72 success factors were detected, with a total of 689 appearances, which are then classified into six factor groups: Planning, Project team, Project management, Development, Customer, Project facilitation. The paper reveals that factors that were recognized as the most critical ones for the success of information systems projects by majority of authors belong first to Planning, and then to Project team and Project management groups of factors. Findings in this paper are expected to serve as a valuable theoretical basis for future empirical research of success and failure of projects in modern information technologies (IT) organizations, and development of related IS project success models. Keywords – Project success, project success factors, information systems, literature review. 1. Introduction Despite efforts IT organizations are making today to survive and take a lead in the high competitive market, reports show that project success rates haven’t changed significantly over the past 15 years. Back in 2003, King [1] reported that in one IT organization three out of ten projects fail on average. In the same year, Lewis [2] reported that around 70% of all IS projects fail to fulfill the objectives set, where all failed and defectively completed projects were included. According to Arcidiacono [3], International Data Corporation published in 2009 that 25% of observed projects failed completely, and 50% of projects required rework. Eight years later, in 2017, PMI [4] performs a study observing “underperforming” organizations with less than 60% of project completed successfully, meeting their fundamental goals and business purpose. It is reported that 24% of projects in these organizations were completed within set timeframes, 25% within budget, 33% met original goals/business intent, 68% experienced scope creep, 24% were a complete failure and 46% of the budget was lost in case of project failures [4]. Considering the project definition adopted from Pinto and Slevin [5], explaining a project as an organization of people committed to common goals, involving valuable, high risk tasks of different sizes that have to be completed by previously set deadlines for a certain budget with high quality, and must have a very well defined objectives and sufficient resources necessary for task execution undertakings, it becomes clear that project success depends on many different factors. It’s very important to recognize and understand these factors because they serve as a guidance for definition of project management processes [6]. While investigation of �Journal of Natural Sciences and Engineering, Vol. 2, (2020) DOI number: 10.14706/JONSAE2020218 project success factors has been a topic of interest for many researchers and authors, there is still a lack of literature that summarizes findings in this context. This paper is intended to fill in this gap by collecting success factors in a broad range of relevant material in order to determine which aspects of project development process should be given the biggest attention to ensure the project success. After this introduction, a short background of the topic is presented, followed by explanation of the literature review methodology. Then, outcomes of the literature review process are presented in several segments, with short conclusion that gives suggestions for future research directions. 2. Background A. IS projects Most of the authors who contributed to the theory of project management by formulating a concrete definition of a „project“ agree that the definition is always based around five aspects, regardless of the field the project belongs to. Those are: people, project goals and requirements, project tasks, resources and various conditions. More specifically, a „project“ is generally defined as a complex organizational system of coordinated activities being performed in predefined order to achieve desired outcomes, in accordance with time and resource constraints ([7], [8], [9], [10], [11]). Information System (IS) projects on the other hand, which are objects of examination in this review, have more concrete characteristics. IS projects can be described as IT projects designed to answer the information processing needs of a certain organization. Attributes that make them different from any other non-IS project are three-fold: (1) they depend heavily on human resources and significant capital that is usually a constraint; (2) they are people oriented projects and their stakeholder teams are composed of three groups: development team members, managers, end users; (3) they are conceptual, meaning that IS projects can often be subjects to risks that come from stakeholder teams, their lack of knowledge or project type [12]. B. Project success criteria When it comes to defining the project success, the majority of researchers agree about the general success criteria: a successful project is a project completed on time, within scope and budget constraints ([13], [14], [15]). However, the application of this definition in real project environments is usually not that simple. The empirical research, conducted by Hussein [16], reveals that inadequate definition of the project success criteria is commonly a result of incomplete understanding of the project itself and setting unrealistic expectations about the benefits provided by project outcomes. Better understanding of project stakeholders' inputs, who have the impact on project context and who define the final outcome expectations, is recognized as the right approach to solving this challenge [16]. �Journal of Natural Sciences and Engineering, Vol. 2, (2020) DOI number: 10.14706/JONSAE2020218 According to Frerer et al. [17] review of project success criteria literature, authors like Pinto and Slevin [18], Freeman and Beale [19], Khosravi and Afshari [20], Bryde and Robinson [21] define even five to nine criteria for measuring the project success. Collins and Baccarini [22] and Munns and Bjeirmi [7] find that there is a direct effect of project success towards project management success. Baccarini [13] concludes that there is no unique definition of project success that could be applied on any project, and that criteria specific for a given project needs to be defined at its inception point to ensure that all team members and stakeholders work in the same direction. 3. Methodology In order to respond to the research goal, it was necessary to review larger amount of literature, thus semisystematic review approach was selected as the most suitable. It helps discover theoretical aspects and teams, or common issues within a certain research discipline [23]. Books and journals suitable for review were collected from journal databases and online libraries. To shorten the material collection process search keywords like “information systems project success”, “project success factors”, “project success criteria” were used. 88 books, scientific works and articles were collected. Materials with repeating content adopted from previous literature were not taken in consideration. The review process was executed through three steps: (1) in the first literature walkthrough list of unique project success factors was created, 72 of them in total; (2) frequency of appearance of every factor was registered; (3) factors were grouped into 6 groups for easier interpretation: Planning, Project team, Project management, Development, Customer, Project facilitation. 4. Literature Review A. Project success seminal works According to Pinto and Prescott [24] critical success factors represent factors that lead to significant improvement of project implementation chances, if appropriately addressed. Therefore, many researchers have tried to recognize critical success factors that can be significant for all IS project in general. Leidecker and Bruno [25] explain these factors as variables or conditions that, if properly maintained, managed or sustained, can have a crucial impact on the organization success or failure. Definition of critical success factors may also depend on development of country, type of organization and business [26]. An overview of project success factors that have been discussed by the authors in previous studies on this topic is presented in the next sections. First studies in this field have started in early seventies, and in the next 20 years seven seminal works related to this topic have been created, written by seven different groups of authors. All other works that followed have considered these seven works as a starting point of their research. Seven seminal works and project success factors they define as critical ones for project success are listed below: �Journal of Natural Sciences and Engineering, Vol. 2, (2020) DOI number: 10.14706/JONSAE2020218 - Sayles and Chandler [27]: Capability and knowledge of a project manager, continuing involvement in execution of project activities, control subsystems, scheduling and time frames, monitoring activities and feedback provision. - Martin [28]: Project and organizational philosophy, project planning, definition of project goals, control and monitoring mechanisms, top management support, authority delegation and organization, project team, resource allocation. - Cleland and King [29]: Project schedule, project scope, process of task execution, financial support, logistic requirements, facility support, market intelligence (who is the client), executive development and training, manpower and organization, acquisition, information and communication channels, project review. - Baker et al. [30]: Project manager, skills and knowledge of the project team, team commitment, project goals, project planning, budget and cost estimates, monitoring and control techniques, project inception difficulties, inadequate hierarchy. - Lock [31]: Team commitment to project activities, top management support, communication procedures, progress review meetings, control mechanisms, project manager - Morris and Hough [32]: Technical complexity, project goals, project scheduling, budgeting, legal issues, implementation issues, project idea and innovation. - Pinto and Slevin [33]: Client involvement, human resources, monitoring and control, project team lead, communication, issue handling, technical difficulties, urgency, project politics, environmental impact. B. Project success factors In this section 72 project success factors collected through literature review process and their groupings are presented. Graph on Figure 1 shows the comparison of number of different success factors contained in every one of the six factor groups, while graph on Figure 2 shows the frequency of appearance of success factors in each group in the reviewed literature. Figure 1. Number of success factors in each group of factors �Journal of Natural Sciences and Engineering, Vol. 2, (2020) DOI number: 10.14706/JONSAE2020218 Figure 2. Frequency of appearance of success factors in literature Charette [34] claims that IS projects almost never fail for only one or two reasons. According to him the reason of projects failing is a combination of few factors from the following list: bad estimation of necessary resources, poorly defined project requirements, unrealistic expectations and project goals, absence of communication between customers, poor management of users and developers, inadequate technology, lack of a good reporting of the project status, poor risk management, low quality of project management and development practices, project complexity. Ewusi-Mensah [12] agrees with him, indicating that the cancelation of IS development projects is usually caused by few combined factors, such as: project objectives, knowledge and skills of a project team, monitoring and control, lack of involvement of the top management, project costs and deadlines. Both authors consider definition of project goals and management as the most significant factors. Moohebat et al. [26] did an investigation about the country difference impact on project success factors, considering developed and developing countries. According to their research, the only project success factor, which is of equal importance for both groups of countries, is the top management support. Procaccino et al. [35] focus on the project success factors strictly from developers' point of view. They find that successful project for a developer means a project that is managed the way that ensures that development team has enough of necessary resources and the least possible amount of distractions when executing their daily jobs. For them, involvement of the customer in the project execution who is available to give feedback for the work done, and well defined project scope lead to successful project outcomes [35]. Egorova et al. [36] focus on stakeholders' point of view, dividing them into three groups: strategic-view stakeholders, operational-view stakeholders and tactic stakeholders. In their work, Egorova et al. [36] state that both operational and strategic stakeholders place „understanding the customer's problems“ to the first place. Operational respondents give a special attention to good programming, and strategic respondents see „customer involvement“ and „completed and accurate requirements“ as more important factors. Tactic stakeholders choose „very good project management“ as the most important factor for the project success. For both operational and tactic respondents, „team experience“ plays the essential role. Frese and Sauter [37] divided reviewed projects into failed, challenged and successful projects groups, aiming to see if there are common factors affecting project outcomes in all three groups. The conclusion they draw is that the quality of customer involvement and requirements definition affect the project's final status in all three groups. �Journal of Natural Sciences and Engineering, Vol. 2, (2020) DOI number: 10.14706/JONSAE2020218 Planning factors In 95% of reviewed literature the Planning group of factors is discussed as the essential one for the project success. Project planning, scheduling and control, project requirements and scope, project goal, mission and vision are recognized as leading success factors in this group by majority of authors. All Planning success factors are listed in Table 1. Table 1. Planning group of project success factors Planning success factors Project planning, scheduling and control Requirement specification and scope Definition and understanding of project goals, mission and vision Budgeting – cost estimates Project/technical complexity Process and working procedures Time estimations Project organizational philosophy/ organization structure Realistic expectations Project itself/ project idea Project strategic fit Project size Project pace TOTAL (max = 88) Source [5], [18], [27], [28], [29], [30], [31], [32], [33], [35], [36], [37], [38], [39], [40], [41], [42], [43], [44], [45], [46], [47], [48], [49], [50], [51], [52], [53], [54], [55], [56], [57], [58], [59], [60], [61], [62], [63], [64], [65], [66], [67], [68], [69], [70], [71], [72], [73], [74] [11], [12], [18], [20], [26], [34], [35], [36], [37], [38], [39], [40], [43], [45], [47], [49], [50], [52], [53], [55], [56], [58], [60], [62], [67], [68], [69], [70], [71], [74], [75], [76], [77], [78], [79], [80], [81], [82], [83], [84] [5], [11], [12], [18], [26], [28], [30], [32], [33], [34], [37], [43], [45], [47], [48], [50], [52], [58], [60], [61], [63], [66], [67], [68], [69], [72], [74], [75], [76], [77], [81], [83], [85], [86], [87], [88], [89], [90], [91] [12], [29], [30], [36], [39], [45], [50], [51], [53], [59], [60], [62], [64], [67], [68], [69], [71], [73], [74], [78], [81], [89] [12], [34], [47], [48], [63], [69], [70], [74], [78], [79], [81], [82], [87], [90], [92] [6], [34], [35], [49], [64], [66], [67], [68], [69], [70], [74], [75], [81], [87], [93] [12], [22], [35], [36], [50], [53], [71], [83], [94] [6], [12], [28], [29], [38], [57], [59], [73], [95] [36], [37], [58], [71], [75], [81], [96], [97] [6], [29], [49], [70], [76], [95] [6], [26], [38], [60], [75] [78], [87] [59], [92] Freq. 49 % 56% 41 47% 39 44% 22 25% 15 17% 15 17% 10 9 11% 10% 8 6 5 2 1 84 9% 7% 6% 2% 1% 95% Morisio et al. [45] write that definition of requirements before projects starts or, if not possible, their completion in the initial phases is a factor of success, which supports the “Glass law” which says that insufficiently defined requirements are the major reason for project failures. Zouaghi and Laghouag [11] find that clear definition of needs through requirements is one of three factors that present a high risk for the final result of a project. According to Kappelman et al. [52], not documenting the functional performance and reliability of requirements and scope is an early warning sign of IS project failure, which shouldn't be ignored. Definition of requirements is also stated by Frese and Sauter [37] as a common factor for successful, challenged and failed projects. Nasir and Sahibuddin [74] rated the clear requirements and specifications factors as the most important ones among all project success factors. �Journal of Natural Sciences and Engineering, Vol. 2, (2020) DOI number: 10.14706/JONSAE2020218 Reel [75] sees project complexity as the basic problem of computing in the context of project development. Handerson [78] agrees with him, saying that complexity, together with the project size, is the main reason why large IT projects fail. On the other hand, Nguyen [87] does agree that complexity, from technical perspective, makes a strong negative effect on project success, but unlike Handerson [78], he rates project size as a factor that almost doesn't affect the project success. Ogden [76] finds that the project idea is a success factor, but not a very important one for the project success. Hirshfield and Lee [96] say that successful projects are ones with realistic expectations and timeframes, and suggests „planning in advance“ as an activity that should ensure meeting schedule related conditions [96]. Project team factors As presented in Table 2, 89% of reviewed literature detected Project Team related factors as the most common success factors in an IS project creation. Role of a project manager, team commitment and communication are recognized as leading success factors in this group. Morisio et al. [45] asserts that human factors play a key role in software development. Zouaghi and Laghouag [11] and Ogden [76] also put the accent on productivity and motivation of the project team and their crossfunctionality. According to the research study of Wong et al. [54], poor project manager's effectiveness serves as a critical project failure factor. Manager's capability and skills are recognized by Nguyen [87] and Nasir and Sahibuddin [74] as a strong positive effect on a project's success. Perkins [98] states that the major cause of project failure is project manager not having the required knowledge, or not being able to apply it appropriately. While many researchers share opinion that project manager's field experience is also very important, Kaya et al. [70] disagree with that. Surprisingly, researchers in only 2% of reviewed literature found that working environment is a factor that affects the success of an IS project. Unlike Nguyen [87] and Pinto and Slevin [33], Nasir and Sabihuddin [74] even find environmental influences as completely unsubstantial factor. Hong et al. [73] suggest that it's important to have a good communication among all related parties including planners, consumers and developers for establishment of a good project model. Table 2. Project team group of project success factors Project team success factors Project manager Team commitment Source [12], [26], [29], [30], [31], [35], [36], [37], [38], [39], [42], [43], [47], [49], [50], [52], [54], [55], [57], [70], [71], [74], [76], [77], [78], [80], [83], [85], [87], [88], [90], [91], [92], [94], [98], [99] [6], [11], [26], [27], [28], [30], [32], [31], [33], [35], [37], [38], [39], [40], [41], [44], [48], [52], [55], [58], [59], [61], [66], [70], [71], [72], [74], [75], [76], [93], [100] Freq. 36 % 41% 31 35% �Journal of Natural Sciences and Engineering, Vol. 2, (2020) DOI number: 10.14706/JONSAE2020218 Communication Knowledge and skills of development team Capability, skills and experience of a project manager Team composition and assembly Personal Recruitment/ Ambition Education and training availability Team motivation and productivity Losing skilled team members Experience of development team External consultant Knowledge sharing Teamwork and collaboration Team building Personal interests Knowledge application Working environment Adding new team members Access to talented people Best practices and lessons learned TOTAL (max = 88) 31 35% 21 24% 21 24% 11 13% 5 6% 5 6% 4 5% [45], [52], [54], [75] 4 5% [12], [36], [47] 3 3% [49], [69], [76] [38], [54], [101] [41], [78] [12], [47] [44], [98] [98], [56] [33], [87] [45] [47] [75] 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 3% 3% 2% 2% 2% 2% 2% 1% 1% 1% 78 89% [5], [12], [26], [29], [31], [33], [34], [36], [37], [38], [39], [43], [47], [48], [52], [53], [56], [60], [61], [63], [66], [67], [69], [70], [72], [73], [74], [76], [79], [90], [93] [12], [30], [37], [41], [42], [49], [52], [53], [62], [66], [67], [68], [69], [70], [72], [74], [78], [81], [82], [87], [98] [27], [33], [36], [37], [45], [49], [50], [55], [61], [63], [66], [67], [68], [69], [70], [72], [74], [81], [82], [95], [98] [5], [12], [36], [38], [66], [69], [74], [82], [86], [90], [91] [12], [30], [41], [60], [77] [29], [47], [70], [88], [98] [11], [59], [74], [81] Project management factors Project management activities are defined as success factors in 85% of the reviewed literature (Table 3). In this group, top management support and effective monitoring and reporting are recognized as leading success factors. Whittaker [50] avers that inadequate risk management is among biggest IS project failure reasons. As the organization gets bigger, risk management becomes more significant factor of success. Taylor [51] states that inability to manage the risk and project related uncertainties has been frequently recognized as a critical segment of IS project management. Kappelman et al. [52] find the lack of support of top managers as an extremely important early warning sign of IS project failure, even the most important among other factors. Nguyen [87] emphasizes that good management in general is essential for a project to succeed, especially human resources management, quality management and time management. �Journal of Natural Sciences and Engineering, Vol. 2, (2020) DOI number: 10.14706/JONSAE2020218 Table 3. Project management group of project success factors Project management success factors Top management support Monitoring and reporting Change management Project risk management Effective leadership Executive management support Quality management Time pressure Measurement systems Authority delegation Time management Late failure warning signals Success criteria Definition Overtime handling TOTAL (max = 88) Source Freq. % [5], [11], [12], [26], [28], [33], [34], [35], [36], [47], [48], [50], [52], [54], [55], [57], [60], [61], [66], [67], [68], [69], [70], [72], [73], [74], [78], [81], [91], [92], [94] [12], [26], [27], [28], [29], [33], [34], [47], [48], [50], [55], [56], [59], [60], [63], [64], [65], [67], [68], [69], [70], [71], [72], [74], [79], [81], [93], [98] [26], [37], [41], [42], [44], [46], [47], [50], [52], [55], [56], [61], [64], [67], [69], [71], [74], [75], [79], [89], [90], [91] [6], [11], [14], [34], [38], [41], [45], [47], [50], [51], [55], [59], [67], [74], [78], [80], [92], [101], [102] [12], [38], [41], [47], [63], [67], [69], [71], [74], [90], [99], [100], [103] [12], [37], [44], [58], [71], [83], [97], [100] 31 35% 28 32% [41], [62], [64], [65], [70], [74] [33], [34], [75], [76] [12], [31], [76] [28], [31] [39], [78] [53] [52] [45] 22 19 21% 13 15% 8 9% 6 4 3 2 2 1 1 1 75 7% 5% 3% 2% 2% 1% 1% 1% 85% Development factors Development related factors are recognized as ones critical for project success in 46% of the reviewed literature. Technology and tools, together with the availability of adequate resources are recognized as leading success factors in this group. Yet, many authors agree that success of technical development depends on the proper project planning phase. May [53] concludes that projects with inflexible technical architecture and undefined guidelines for managing the project technical requirements have high risk of failures. According to him the key of success lays in correct handling of technical aspects of the project. White and Fortune [47] underline that quality of planning must be taken into account peculiarly to have a successful development phase, and that it's extremely important that schedule of development activities is realistic. All detected Development group success factors are listed in Table 4. Table 4. Development group of project success factors Development success factors Source Technology, tools [12], [32], [34], [49], [50], [57], [59], [61], [67], [68], [69], [71], [74], [75], [81], [82], [88], [91], [92] [28], [34], [37], [47], [49], [53], [65], [66], [67], [71], [72], [74], [76], [81], [82], [94] Adequate resources availability Freq. % 19 22% 16 18% �Journal of Natural Sciences and Engineering, Vol. 2, (2020) DOI number: 10.14706/JONSAE2020218 Development approach IT infrastructure Testing, verification and validation Programming Data quality and integrity Architecture and design Technical tasks Interface with other projects Facility support TOTAL (max = 88) [18], [74], [83], [91] [54], [64], [74], [83] [26], [54], [79], [80] 4 4 4 5% 5% 5% [26], [36], [80] [26], [91] [53], [80] [30], [33], [60] [57] [29] 3 2 2 2 1 1 40 3% 2% 2% 2% 1% 1% 46% Customer factors Customer related group of factors is recognized as an important one for IS project success in 42% of reviewed literature, having the overall customer involvement as the most critical factor. Frese and Sauter [37] find that certain level of user involvement is a prevalent factor of project success and failure. According to Hirshfield and Lee [96] project team with their project manager can be sure their project meets its goals only if end users are involved in the process. On the contrary, Nasir and Sahibuddin [74] claim that project champion is not important in project development process at all. All detected success factors in the Customer group are presented in Table 5. Table 5. Customer group of project success factors Customer success factors Customer involvement Customer approval Involvement of project champion Inflexible customer TOTAL (max = 88) Source [5], [11], [33], [35], [36], [37], [42], [45], [47], [48], [49], [52], [54], [59], [60], [61], [66], [67], [68], [69], [71], [72], [73], [74], [82], [83], [84], [85], [88], [94], [96], [97], [100] [5], [33], [36], [72] [26], [49], [58] [54] Freq. 33 % 38% 4 3 4% 3% 1 37 1% 42% Project facilitation factors Project facilitation factors are recognized as project success factors in 17% of reviewed literature. Although the most significant literature about project management and project success doesn’t write about troubleshooting, conflict handling or external influences as project success factors a lot, the 10-factor model of the project development process defined by Pinto and Slevin [33] lists troubleshooting as its tenth component. Human error factor is recognized as the success factor by White and Fortune [47] and Levenson [79], but Attarzadeh and Ow [13] who also discuss human error factors as significant ones for the project success, claim that the reason for the human error is the cause of bad project management and inability of responsible roles to convert the theory of project management into practice. �Journal of Natural Sciences and Engineering, Vol. 2, (2020) DOI number: 10.14706/JONSAE2020218 All detected success factors in the Project facilitation group are listed in Table 6. Table 6. Project facilitation group of projects success factors Project facilitation success factors Troubleshooting Conflict handling External influences Human error factor Tolerance of bad news Technical difficulties Start-up difficulties TOTAL (max = 88) Source [5], [26], [33], [48], [70], [72] [39], [47], [53] [47], [95], [98] [47], [79] [90] [89] [30] Freq. % 6 3 3 2 1 1 1 15 7% 3% 3% 2% 1% 1% 1% 17% 5. Conclusion The paper summarizes findings of the review of 88 works that discuss factors that affect the success of IS projects. While each of 72 detected success factors can play a major role for the outcome of an IS project, the majority of authors agree that project planning, scheduling and control; requirements and defined project scope; definition and understanding of project goals, mission and vision; role of a project manager; team commitment; communication and involvement of customers belong to the most significant ones. On the other hand, technical difficulties; overtime work; project size and strategy; development team dynamics; overtime handling; project architecture and design are the least frequent success factors in reviewed literature. Detected factors are classified into 6 groups, according to the segment of IS project development process these factors may have an impact on. The outcome shows that Project team group of factors is found to be the most diverse and highly significant, while Planning group of factors is recognized to be the most significant one for the IS project success. During the review process, it is noticed that not a lot of empirical research was conducted on this topic in the last 10 years, which results in the lack of literature with fresh findings and conclusions published in this period. This paper provides a foundation for conducting such empirical research as a future research direction, with two-fold goal: (1) to discover if recent trends in the process of IS project development – like Agile methodologies, and unpredictable dynamic of software market today, resulted in significant changes in the list of key project success factors and definition of “project success” overall; (2) to establish a project success model that can be used as a guidance in the process of IS project development. REFERENCES [1] J. 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Title A name given to the resource Journal of Natural Sciences and Engineering Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 2637-2835 DOI Digital object identifier 10.14706 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available International Burch University Description An account of the resource Journal of Natural Sciences and Engineering (JONSAE) is a peer-reviewed, biannually published international journal focusing on empirical and theoretical research in all branches of Engineering and Natural Sciences. It is published on the behalf of Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences of International Burch University and aims to provide the best content regarding by publishing original research papers, review articles, special issues, feature articles, and book reviews. All manuscript submissions are subject to initial appraisal by the Editor, and, if found suitable for further consideration, to peer review by independent, anonymous referees. All peer review is double-blind and submission is online. The journal welcomes theoretical, applied, interdisciplinary and methodological work, with preference on empirical research, critical approach and problem-solving methods in manuscripts. Language A language of the resource English Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Information Systems Project Success Factors: Literature Review Author Author Nermina Durmic Abstract A summary of the resource. The purpose of this paper is to identify and collect most commonly discussed project success factors in the context of information systems (IS) projects. Through the process of review of 88 books, relevant studies and scientific works 72 success factors were detected, with a total of 689 appearances, which are then classified into six factor groups: Planning, Project team, Project management, Development, Customer, Project facilitation. The paper reveals that factors that were recognized as the most critical ones for the success of information systems projects by majority of authors belong first to Planning, and then to Project team and Project management groups of factors. Findings in this paper are expected to serve as a valuable theoretical basis for future empirical research of success and failure of projects in modern information technologies (IT) organizations, and development of related IS project success models. Keywords Keywords. Project success, project success factors, information systems, literature review. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 2637-2835 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available International Burch University, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Journal of Natural Sciences and Engineering Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource January, 2020 https://omeka.ibu.edu.ba/files/original/097f70db222c171be9a1b8c5a393af84.pdf b3ead4db3fc460f477e7d5dce620b6e5 PDF Text Text Journal of Natural Sciences and Engineering, Vol. 2, (2020) DOI number: 10.14706/JONSAE2020217 Analysis of Transient and Voltage Stability of an 11-Busbar Testing System Alma Halilović1, Mirza Šarić1 1 International Burch University, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina alma.halilovic@stu.ibu.edu.ba mirza.saric@ibu.edu.ba Abstract – A comprehensive treatment from the physical and mathematical perspective supply modelling, analysis, control and covers a range of topics including modelling, computation of load flow in the transmission grid, stability analysis of the transient state. It is widely accepted that transient stability is an important aspect in designing and upgrading electric power system. In utility planning, transient stability is studied by numerical simulation. It involves the study of the power system following a major disturbance. In order to study Electric Power System transient stability, the models to describe their components should be defined. The components are defined using the classical model, which is valid to time periods up to 2 seconds. This project contains 11 busbars, 1 synchronous generator, 3 loads and 8 transformers. This research is done in DIgSILENT PowerFactory software for network modeling and simulation by using Stability Analysis Functions (RMS) advanced feature. In this paper we are analyses the maximum rated power of distributed generation (DG) considering only the terms of voltage limit constraints, the N-1 operational criterion analysis and three-phase symmetrical fault analysis for N-1 criterion is examined. Keywords - high load, n-1 criterion, synchronous generator, transient stability analysis 1. Introduction Stability in Power Systems is one of the importances of a system that had increased. It is the most widely used from power blackouts. Today, usage of power systems interconnection had increased using of new technologies and controls, and the increased its usage in highly demanding situations. In order to maximize the system stability research on power system stability should be carried out. In order to design the perfect system to solve this problem a detailed study of the design should be performed. In the last years [1], due to the spread of electric generation facilities and economic factors, Electric Power Systems operate more closely to their limits. Thus, more than before, it is of crucial importance the existence of methods to assess the system stability. In [2] there are two kinds of stability problems: voltage stability and transient stability. This paper addresses the transient stability. Transient stability analysis of a power system is concerned with the system’s ability to remain in synchronism following a disturbance. Following a large disturbance, the synchronous alternator the machine power (load) angle changes due to sudden acceleration of the rotor shaft. The objective of the transient stability study is to ascertain whether the load angle returns to a steady value following the clearance of the �Journal of Natural Sciences and Engineering, Vol. 2, (2020) DOI number: 10.14706/JONSAE2020217 disturbance. The loss of synchronism develops in a very few seconds after the disturbance inception, among the phenomena transient stability is the fastest to develop. These challenging aspects motivate our choice to mainly concentrate on transient stability. The conventional transient stability measure of the system robustness to withstand a large disturbance is its corresponding critical clearing time (CCT). This is the maximum time duration that the disturbance may act without the system losing its capability to recover a steady-state operation. Another transient stability measure of great practical importance is the power (generation or transfer) limit. It is defined as the largest power sustainable without loss of synchronism, given the occurrence of a large disturbance and it’s clearing scenario. In [4], note that the measures imply consideration of three distinct phases: the pre-fault, the during-fault, and the post-fault one. In [5] faults need to be cleared within critical clearing time and after that system need to be able to regain stability. Some of the most important parameters influencing stability are fault clearance time, fault location, and type of the fault. 2. Literature Review Mania Pavella [3] identified three classes of approaches – Decision Tree, KNN and neural network - to transient stability and analyzed which can meet most stringent requirements of transient stability. It is found that stability could be achieved with the appropriate combinations of numerical, direct, and automatic learning techniques. Mirza Saric and Irfan Penava [5] in their research discussed theoretical background of induction generator, its simulation model, as well as dynamic response analysis procedure for a wind farm connected to real network. Thought their research they showed the importance of transient stability in case of integration of large renewable sources to the network. In terms of rotor angle, frequency and voltage stability issues the observed case of wind farm integration was not appropriate to connect to the network with induction generator as the rotor speed was too large, with sharp reduction of reactive power as voltage and active power equal to zero for period that are too long for system to operate in stable state. Innocent Davidson and Immanuel Mbangula [6] examined and analyzed the fault that appeared on the 330kV transmission line between Omburu sub-station and Ruacana power station where the blackout happened for 6 hours. The goal of this research was to investigate what fault occurred, what is the cause and solutions to prevent such fault occur again. The results from DIgSILENT PowerFactory are compared with data obtained from NamPower records and it is found that it was the single phase to ground fault. Ioanna Xyngi, Anton Ishchenko, Marjan Popov, and Lou van der Sluis [7] in their research described the transient stability analysis of a 10-kV distribution network with wind generators, microturbines, and CHP plants modeled in Matlab/Simulink and investigated faults that are simulated on various locations. They showed that in the network with distributed generators (DGs) the protection settings must be adjusted accordingly in order to have stable system as the undervoltage protection should be different for different DGs. �Journal of Natural Sciences and Engineering, Vol. 2, (2020) DOI number: 10.14706/JONSAE2020217 Diaz-Alzate, Candelo-Becerra and Villa Sierra [8] investigated and found a new way of managing and controlling transient stability based on relative angles. They showed how predefined thresholds of relative angles which they attained by offline simulations and the relative angles attained during the online operation with PMUs are useful in the process of monitoring as well as predicting transient stability under real-time operation. They performed analysis on New England with 39 busbars and IEEE with 118 busbars networks with different contingencies and control actions that are applied at predicted time. The relative angle and the predefined thresholds of the relative angle helped in monitoring and predicting of the systems instability with enough time to respond to oscillations that appeared in the system. 3. Methodology In this part we will show 3 different steps of methodology. In first step we will search and show what is the maximum power that satisfies standards of synchronous generator while checking the voltage profile. In the second step we will do N-1 operational criterion analysis for 6 different cases in this grid and found the new maximum power that satisfies the network. In the last step we will do three phase symmetrical fault analysis for N-1 criterion, with 4 different cases in it. (a) In the first part of the project the maximum rated power of a generator at BB13 (DG), considering only the voltage limit constraints is found, and then the three-phase symmetrical fault analysis is performed for the value of maximum power. We investigate fault duration period of 0.02 seconds. After the RMS simulation is done, voltage development, rotor angle, active and reactive powers are plotted for the further analysis. b) In the second step the n-1 criterion in terms of voltage profile development, as well as line and transformer loading, for 6 different cases for high load scenario, with maximum DG power was investigated. An operational criterion N-1 can be applied to the existing network, if there may be planned or unplanned congestion that may exist at a certain moment. If the criterion is satisfied, that means the system will be able to support a predefined contingency, operating after that, with a minimum performance. The N-1 criterion requires that the system can be able to tolerate the outage of any one component without disruption and does not concern itself with the probability of an outage. If an outage is highly unlikely, the criterion is still generally applied because system failure due to a lost component is unacceptable. The criterion is generally considered as the need to balance generation and load. For modeling network for 6 different scenarios, 6 lines from which the network is consisted are modeled with the following event that placed lines one by one out of service. The voltage on the critical busbar – point of coupling - was monitored along the way, as well as the voltage in the entire system, with the line and transformer loading, making sure that the voltage or line and transformer loading does not exceed the permitted limit specified by the standard EN 50160 for delivered power quality. Minimum upper limit for the voltage, as denoted in the EN 50160 standard, is 0.9 p.u., while maximum upper limit for the voltage is 1.1 p.u. Regarding the line and transformer loading the constraint limits determined by the standard EN 50160 is that it does not exceeds loading of 100 %. In such way the n-1 criterion is investigated and the maximum power for which the system is in the stable mode operation is found for each of the different scenarios when one by one line were out of service. For different events that �Journal of Natural Sciences and Engineering, Vol. 2, (2020) DOI number: 10.14706/JONSAE2020217 placed different line out of service, the system will be stable for different maximum power produced from generator. c) In the next part of the research the three-phase symmetrical fault is simulated and the rotor angle, active power, reactive power and voltage development for the following cases, for high load conditions and maximum DG power is to be reported in the results and discussion part of this research project. Three-phase symmetrical fault is simulated in the DIgSILENT PowerFactory software for network modeling and simulation, one second before, during and 5 seconds following the fault on 6 different lines for each of the case scenario. This research is done in DIgSILENT PowerFactory software for network modeling and simulation by using Stability Analysis Functions (RMS) advanced feature. First, the maximum power generation from synchronous generator is found by using the power flow option in the program where all voltage on all busbars, as well as line and transformer loading in the network, is checked so to satisfy EN 50160 standard limits. Next, in order to satisfy limits, set by EN 50160 standards in terms of voltage profile, line and transformer loading when 6 lines of which the system is consisted are modeled with an event that placed line one by one out of service. In such way, by using the power flow analysis function when lines are out of service the n-1 criterion is investigated. For the third part of the research, where three-phase symmetrical faults are simulated on each of the 6 lines that were investigated. The duration of the fault is for the analysis of the 4 case scenarios set on lines to be 0.02, 0.05, 0.5 and 5 seconds and then rotor angle, active power, reactive power and voltage development for the following cases, for high load conditions and maximum DG power are plotted in the graphs, and in such way the behavior of the system could be tracked. d) In the last part of this project the power factor is changed when line 2 is followed with an event that placed it out of service, thus when investigating the N-1 criterion. Values of power factor that are taken into consideration are 0.8, 0.9 and 1, both capacitive and inductive while the voltage development is analyzed and new maximum power of generator is determined in order to satisfy EN 50160 standard for voltage variation in the network for new values of power factor. 4. Results and Discussion A. Maximum Power from Generator in Terms of Voltage Profile In the first part the maximum voltage in the network is found by changing the power generated by the synchronous generator while checking the voltage profile of the network in order that voltage does not increase beyond allowed limits. In the Table III. main results of power flow in terms of voltage magnitude and angle at the busbar BB11 which is the point of coupling, are shown when network operates with no any faults occurring in the system. Maximum power generated from synchronous generator that satisfy the voltage limits set by EN 50160 standard is found to be 286 MW, while the maximum power that satisfy all criterions from the standard – voltage, line and transformer loading – is found to be 104 MW. �Journal of Natural Sciences and Engineering, Vol. 2, (2020) DOI number: 10.14706/JONSAE2020217 Fig. 1. Network Model from DIgSILENT PowerFactory software The power stability analysis of the given network is done in terms of three-phase symmetrical fault analysis for the maximum power which satisfies the allowed voltage limits and equals to 286 MW. The three cases are investigated where the duration of the fault is set to be 0.02 seconds in fist case, 0.05 seconds in second case and 0.2 seconds in third case. The results obtained when duration of fault is taken to be 0.02, which is expected to show the best results due to lowest fault duration, are shown in Fig.1. In the Fig 1. where the graphs of voltage of the busbar which is the point of coupling, angle of rotor of the synchronous generator, as well as active and reactive power of the synchronous generator are plotted. It can be seen from the graphs that for the maximum power that satisfy the EN 50160 standard only in terms of voltage profile, the system is unstable even for the very small periods of fault duration and it shows that for this high power of generator the network quite inadequate to operate. B. N-1 Operational Criterion Analysis Summary of results obtained when different lines in the network placed out of service are presented in the Table I. and dynamic response of voltage profile in Fig.2., as well as rotor angle in Fig.3. It can be observed which line is the most critical and which is maximum power for such line. The maximum power that satisfies the n-1 criterion for the entire network is found to be 93 MW, since it satisfys the n-1 criterion for the most critical line, which is little bit lower than the maximum power that satisfys the EN 50160 standard for delivered power quality when all lines are in service that is found to be 104 MW. The maximum power for line 1 and line 2 is 93 MW, thus, this value of generated power is compared with maximum power of all other lines in the system, while the voltage magnitude, as well as angle, does not change significantly. In the Table II. the line and transformer loading is compared for same lines for their maximum power and value of 93 MW, and as it can be seen, there is approximately more that 10% of difference in line loading and around 4% in transformer loading. From the results obtained it can be concluded that the most realiable solution is to consider value 93 MW as maximum power that satisfy N-1 criterion for entire network. �Journal of Natural Sciences and Engineering, Vol. 2, (2020) DOI number: 10.14706/JONSAE2020217 Table 1. Voltage developments for maximum power for each line in the network determined by N-1 criterion Out of service (BB11) Line 1 93 MW Line 2 93 MW Line 3 93 MW Line 3 105 MW Line 4 93 MW Line 4 105 MW Line 5 93 MW Line 5 100 MW Line 6 93 MW Line 6 105 MW UI, Magnitude MV 67,81801 67,1283 67,4659 68,03866 67,39707 67,94841 65,03935 65,13477 67,48871 68,16291 u, Magnitude p.u. 1,027546 1,017095 1,022211 1,030889 1,021168 1,029521 0,985445 0,98689 1,022556 1,032771 U, Angle deg 6,905885 6,473696 6,748108 8,197442 6,682203 8,111645 8,237019 9,947232 5,909104 7,01058 Table 2. Line and transformer loading for N-1 criterion in % N-1 criteria (BB11) Line 1 Line 2 Line 3 Line 4 Line 5 Line 6 Power Loading [%] line 2/1 93 MW 93 MW 93 MW 105 MW 93 MW 105 MW 93 MW 100 MW 93 MW 105 MW 97,9854 99,39992 87,84784 99,58101 87,93902 99,71524 91,17996 98,65325 87,81764 99,39667 Loading [%] Two-winding transformer (5) 93,85382 96,90187 81,66314 84,96854 81,74933 85,08491 84,81535 87,13317 81,63461 84,80878 Fig. 2. Dynamic response for 0.02 s fault duration on lines – Voltage Fig. 3. Dynamic response for 0.02 s fault duration on lines – Rotor Angle �Journal of Natural Sciences and Engineering, Vol. 2, (2020) DOI number: 10.14706/JONSAE2020217 C. Three Phase Symmetrical Fault Analysis for N-1 Criterion Since it has been shown that the system is unstable for the maximum power that satisfy EN 50160 standard in term of voltage variation, the three-phase symmetrical fault analysis is done after the N-1 criterion is satisfied for the observed network. The maximum power on the most critical line is previously found to be 93 MW by using the N-1 criterion, and in this part, this is the power for which the system is analyzed. The four cases are examined where the duration of the fault is set to be 0.02 seconds in the first, 0.05 seconds in the second, 0.5 seconds in the third and 5 seconds in the fourth case. Since the line 2 is shown to be most critical in the network after the N-1 criterion analysis done for this case, the result for this line are shown in the graph plotted after the RMS simulation done. In the Fig. 4. the dynamic response for 0.02 seconds fault duration on line 2 in terms of voltage profile is shown. As it can be seen from the graph, when the fault occurs in the system on the line 2, there is voltage drop at the time of fault occurrence and as the duration of the fault is 0.02 seconds, the system returns to be in the balance eventually. In the Fig. 5. there is rotor angle of synchronous generator, active and reactive power presented. As it can be observed from the figures, the system is for the 0.02 seconds fault duration stable and the network for power of 93 MW generated from synchronous generator is adequate and secure for operation as the system after some period reaches equilibrium state. The dynamic response in terms of voltage profile is same as for 0.02 s which is shown is Fig.3., while in Fig. 6. dynamic response of rotor angle of synchronous generator, active as well as reactive power is shown when duration of fault is taken to be 0.05 s for the three-phase symmetrical fault simulation. As it can be seen from Fig. 5. when the fault occurs in the system on the any line, there is voltage drop as the fault occurs on the line, after which, for all lines except line 1, system is stable and able to reach new equilibrium. Voltage dynamic response is same as in Fig.3 when the fault occurs in the system on line 1. There is the voltage drop where voltage drops to approximately zero for longer period than it was case on all other lines, and it will oscillate in the range from value slightly higher than 0 p.u. to approximately 0.35 p.u., with no signs that it will eventually come to the state of balance. However, observing the dynamic response of rotor angle, active and reactive power for the line 1 from Fig.7. for 0.05 s fault duration, the system is unstable to adequately operate since it is unable to attain equilibrium state again. In the Fig. 8. and Fig. 9. after the RMS simulation is done, the results obtained show that in terms of voltage development seen from the Fig. 8., at the time of fault occurrence there appears the voltage drop where the system goes back to the balanced state eventually. In the Fig. 9. the system response of rotor angle of synchronous generator, active and reactive power show that the system for the 0.5 seconds fault duration is stable and the network for power of 93 MW generated from synchronous generator is adequate and secure for operation in case for all analyzed lines except for line 2. Considering case when fault simulated on line 2 for 0.5 s, the dynamic response of voltage development, rotor angle, active and reactive power is similar as response in Fig. 8. while voltage dynamic response is shown in Fig. 10. There is a major voltage drop in the system which is the consequence of the fault that occurred on the line 2. The voltage, after it drops to value slightly higher than zero, is oscillating from that value to approximately 0.35 p.u. Since, also, all other �Journal of Natural Sciences and Engineering, Vol. 2, (2020) DOI number: 10.14706/JONSAE2020217 parameters continued to oscillate equally for all 10 seconds and t will not came back to the balanced state, thus, the system is denoted as unstable in terms of all parameters examined. Fig. 4. Dynamic response for 0.02 s fault duration on line 2 – Voltage Fig. 5. Dynamic response for 0.02 s fault duration on line 2 – Rotor Angle (blue), Active (purple) and Reactive Power (green) Fig. 6. Dynamic response for 0.05 s fault duration on lines – Rotor Angle (blue), Active (purple) and Reactive Power (green) In the Fig. 11. the results obtained from the three-phase symmetrical fault analysis when duration of fault is taken to be 5 seconds occurring on the line 2 is shown in terms of voltage profile and in Fig. 12. rotor angle response is shown. Since the duration of the fault on lines is taken to be 5 seconds, which represents too long period for a fault, it can be observed that there is the breakdown of the system in terms of rotor angle where the dynamic response is infinitely oscillating where the speed of the rotation is increasing causing system to �Journal of Natural Sciences and Engineering, Vol. 2, (2020) DOI number: 10.14706/JONSAE2020217 be out of balance. There is with the voltage drop at the time the fault occurs there is rise in the angle of rotor which starts to excessively rotate, and drop in active power to the respect of reactive power rise. At the time there is fault on the line 2 it can be observed that all analyzed parameters are oscillating in the smaller range, while at approximately 6th second, when the duration of the fault is over, there are greater oscillations where the system is unable to reach the equilibrium state and, instead, and reaches the state of complete breakdown. Fig. 7. Dynamic response for 0.05 s fault duration on line 1 – Rotor Angle (blue), Active (purple) and Reactive Power (green) Fig. 8. Dynamic response for 0.5 s fault duration on lines – Voltage Fig. 9. Dynamic response for 0.5 s fault duration on lines – Rotor Angle (blue), Active (purple) and Reactive Power (green) �Journal of Natural Sciences and Engineering, Vol. 2, (2020) DOI number: 10.14706/JONSAE2020217 Fig. 10. Dynamic response for 0.5 s fault duration on line 2 –Voltage Fig. 11. Dynamic response for 5 s fault duration on lines – Voltage Fig. 12. Dynamic response for 5 s fault duration on lines – Rotor Angle D. Voltage Control by Power Factor Correction for N-1 Criterion In the Table III. The results of voltage development on the BB11 busbar are presented when the power factor of the synchronous generator is varied. As the generator is operated under different power factor, there is a change in the active and reactive power production in order to maintain voltage within limits set by EN �Journal of Natural Sciences and Engineering, Vol. 2, (2020) DOI number: 10.14706/JONSAE2020217 50160 standards. The results obtained show how the voltage is regulated by power factor correction as the in the case of 0.8 capacitive power factor voltage magnitude for 93 MW falls below allowed limits, and new maximum power is determined to be 45 MW. As in the case of 0.8 inductive power factor the voltage goes beyond upper allowed limit in case when power production of 93 MW, and the new maximum power for stable operation is found to be 74 MW. In cases when power factor is 0.9 in both capacitive and inductive mode, the voltage on the critical busbar, as well in the entire network, stays within allowed limits and does not change significantly for both power of 93 MW and new found power. It can be then concluded that if the generator operates under power factor of 0.8 in both modes, there is less active power produced, while if it operates under power factor of 0.9 in both modes, as well as under power factor of 1, the maximum power of 93 MW previously determined satisfy N-1 criterion and offers stable and secure network operation. Considering results obtained and presented in Table IV., in terms of line and transformer loading, for power of 93 MW any power factor in either capacitive or inductive mode less than unity, the power of 93 MW will distort the network operation and stability. Thus, it can be concluded that considering only voltage constraints the system will be stable for power factor of 0.9 capacitive and inductive, while when line and transformer loading taken into consideration, there is all cases when power factor less than 1 new maximum power for unstable and unsecure network operation. Table 3. Voltage developments for different power factor Power factor BB11 Line 2 0.8 (45 MW) Line 2 0.8 (83 MW) Line 2 0.8 (74 MW) Line 2 0.8 (93MW) Line 2 0.9 (73MW) Line 2 0.9 (93MW) Line 2 0.9 (89MW) Line 2 0.9 (93MW) Line 2 1 (93MW) CAP CAP IND IND CAP CAP IND IND IND UI, Magnitude MV 59,59856 55,44239 72,79612 75,16263 60,93922 60,2638 72,12859 72,52091 67,06188 u, Magnitude p.u. U, Angle deg 0,903006 0,840036 1,102971 1,138828 0,923322 0,913088 1,092857 1,098802 1,016089 3,5407772 13,12576 1,038122 2,164138 7,032856 10,3019 3,275636 3,567566 6,509941 Table 4. Line and transformer loading for different power factor Power Factor CAP CAP IND IND CAP CAP IND IND IND 4. Line 2 0.8 Line 2 0.8 Line 2 0.8 Line 2 0.8 Line 2 0.9 Line 2 0.9 Line 2 0.9 Line 2 0.9 Line 2 1 Power 45MW 93MW 74MW 93MW 73MW 93MW 89MW 93MW 93MW Loading [%] line 2/1 40,80236 167,4764 92,47962 116,5894 98,69827 131,5861 99,38897 104,098 99,53208 Loading [%] Twowinding transformer 74,93822 123,1931 87,84803 98,82892 93,07358 109,3657 93,99311 96,17869 96,96105 Conclusion Voltage stability is the main problem concerning utilities due to the continuous growth and deregulation. In this paper, the network with 11 busbars is examined for a transient stability. Transient stability studies deal �Journal of Natural Sciences and Engineering, Vol. 2, (2020) DOI number: 10.14706/JONSAE2020217 with the effects of large and sudden disturbances that occurs within the network such as it is a fault, the sudden outage of a line or the sudden removal or application of load. It is very important to do the transient stability analysis of a system in order to ensure that the system can handle the transient condition which is followed by a major disturbance. Transient stability and voltage instability analysis done in this research for the network with high load conditions shows that for a smaller period of fault duration, the system can be denoted as stable, while in case when the fault duration is somewhat higher than 0.02 seconds, the system is unstable and not secure in operation being unable to attain the equilibrium state and synchronism considering all parameters analyzed – voltage development, rotor angle speed, active and reactive power. In cases when fault duration greater than 0.02 seconds, there is breakdown state appearing in the network after the fault where the rotor speed is increasing, thus, causing system to go unstable and out of synchronism. Also, during the fault, there is voltage drop, active power drop and reactive power rise, after which there is an oscillation which cannot reach equilibrium. When fault duration increased to 0.05 or 0.5 seconds, the system is unstable only when fault simulated on one line, while when fault duration is increased to 5 seconds, then for every line examined and analyzed for three-phase symmetrical fault, the system is unstable. REFERENCES [1] Kundur, P. (1994) Power System Stability and Control. USA: McGraw-Hill, Inc. [2] Sucena P., J. P. (2007) Redes de Energia Eléctrica: uma análise sistémica. 2ª edição. Lisboa, IST Press. [3] Mania P. (1997) Power System Stability and Control Comparative Analysis. IFAC Control of Industrial Systems, Belfort, France. [4] Lau, Mark A. and Kuruganty, Sastry P. (2010) "A Spreadsheet Illustration of the Transient Stability Analysis of Power Systems," Spreadsheets in Education (eJSiE): Vol. 3: Iss. 3, Article 6. Available at: http://epublications.bond.edu.au/ejsie/vol3/iss3/6 [5] Saric, M., & Penava, I. (2014, May). Transient stability of induction generators in wind farm applications. In 2014 14th International Conference on Environment and Electrical Engineering (pp. 230-235). IEEE. [6] Davidson I. and Mbangula I. (2014) Power System Modelling and Fault Analysis of NamPower’s 330 kV HVAC Transmission Line. Journal of Energy and Power Engineering 8 (pp. 1432-1442). [7] Xyngi I., Ishchenko A, Popov M., and van der Sluis L. (2009) Transient Stability Analysis of a Distribution Network With Distributed Generators. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, vol. 24, no. 2. [8] Diaz-Alzate, A. F., Candelo-Becerra, J. E., & Villa Sierra, J. F. (2019). Transient Stability Prediction for Real-Time Operation by Thresholds. Energies, 12(5), 838. Monitoring the Relative Angle with Predefined � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Journal of Natural Sciences and Engineering Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 2637-2835 DOI Digital object identifier 10.14706 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available International Burch University Description An account of the resource Journal of Natural Sciences and Engineering (JONSAE) is a peer-reviewed, biannually published international journal focusing on empirical and theoretical research in all branches of Engineering and Natural Sciences. It is published on the behalf of Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences of International Burch University and aims to provide the best content regarding by publishing original research papers, review articles, special issues, feature articles, and book reviews. All manuscript submissions are subject to initial appraisal by the Editor, and, if found suitable for further consideration, to peer review by independent, anonymous referees. All peer review is double-blind and submission is online. The journal welcomes theoretical, applied, interdisciplinary and methodological work, with preference on empirical research, critical approach and problem-solving methods in manuscripts. Language A language of the resource English Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Analysis of Transient and Voltage Stability of an 11-Busbar Testing System Author Author Alma Halilović, Mirza Šarić Abstract A summary of the resource. A comprehensive treatment from the physical and mathematical perspective supply modelling, analysis, control and covers a range of topics including modelling, computation of load flow in the transmission grid, stability analysis of the transient state. It is widely accepted that transient stability is an important aspect in designing and upgrading electric power system. In utility planning, transient stability is studied by numerical simulation. It involves the study of the power system following a major disturbance. In order to study Electric Power System transient stability, the models to describe their components should be defined. The components are defined using the classical model, which is valid to time periods up to 2 seconds. This project contains 11 busbars, 1 synchronous generator, 3 loads and 8 transformers. This research is done in DIgSILENT PowerFactory software for network modeling and simulation by using Stability Analysis Functions (RMS) advanced feature. In this paper we are analyses the maximum rated power of distributed generation (DG) considering only the terms of voltage limit constraints, the N-1 operational criterion analysis and three-phase symmetrical fault analysis for N-1 criterion is examined. Keywords Keywords. high load, n-1 criterion, synchronous generator, transient stability analysis Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 2637-2835 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available International Burch University, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Journal of Natural Sciences and Engineering Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource January, 2020 https://omeka.ibu.edu.ba/files/original/6f132e73da7a55449a2406e39a5fcb3b.pdf d10a56d18bf5288213375abc8cf94ffe PDF Text Text Journal of Natural Sciences and Engineering, Vol. 2, (2020) DOI number: 10.14706/JONSAE2020216 Distribution of inherited thrombophilia markers in Bosnian-Herzegovinian population: a review of previous studies Nermin Đuzić1, Adna Ašić1 1 International Burch University, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina nermin.djuzic@stu.ibu.edu.ba adna.asic@ibu.edu.ba Abstract – Thrombophilia is a condition that is associated with an individual’s risk for venous or arterial thrombosis, as well as a risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes. Gene variants that are the most commonly associated with inherited thrombophilia are F5 mutation 1691G>A (Factor V Leiden), F2 20210G>A (prothrombin mutation), MTHFR 677C>T, and PAI-1 variant 4G/5G. This paper aims to review currently available literature on the prevalence of heritable thrombophilia genetic markers and their association with thromboembolic events in Bosnia and Herzegovina. PubMed and PubMed Central databases of the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) and ResearchGate were searched to identify the most relevant studies. The results of the previously published studies show discrepancies when it comes to reported findings, thus implying that further research on this topic is necessary. It is suggested that new studies include greater sample size in order to confirm the correlation between the studied variants and conditions associated with heritable thrombophilia in the Bosnian-Herzegovinian population and to advance the understanding of these variants. Keywords - Bosnia and Herzegovina, Factor V Leiden, Inherited thrombophilia, MTHFR, PAI-1, Prothrombin mutation 1. Introduction Thrombophilia is a condition putting an individual at risk of venous or arterial thrombosis and is mainly divided into hereditary and acquired. Hereditary thrombophilia is associated with genetic mutations influencing the level or activity of proteins involved in coagulation cascade and includes both loss-offunction and gain-of-function mutations [1,2]. Three genetic markers are the most commonly studied as indicators of inherited thrombophilia. F5 gene variant 1691G>A, usually termed Factor V Leiden, gives rise to a peptide that is uncleavable by the activated protein C (APC) [3]. According to Inbal and Carp (2007), this mutation is responsible for 3-42% of pregnancy losses [4]. If present in homozygous state, this mutation increases a risk for venous thrombosis up to 50-100-fold. The second most studied variant is F2 20210G>A, also known as prothrombin mutation (PTM), that causes elevated levels of prothrombin and 25-fold increased risk of venous thrombosis as well as pregnancy loss [5]. MTHFR gene variant 677C>T codes for thermolabile variant of protein methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase which is a loss-of-function mutation and causes elevated levels of homocysteine in blood, the condition known as hyperhomocysteinemia, which is in turn considered a risk factor for venous thromboembolism [6-8]. The fourth variant indicative of inherited thrombophilia is 4G/5G in type 1 plasminogen activator inhibitor �Journal of Natural Sciences and Engineering, Vol. 2, (2020) DOI number: 10.14706/JONSAE2020216 (PAI-1) gene, which is a 4328G>T missense variant located 675 bp from the promoter that results in four or five guanine nucleotides in a row [9,10]. The protein product of this gene has a role in fibrinolysis and is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as intrauterine fetal death, intrauterine growth restriction, preeclampsia, recurrent miscarriage and placental abruption [11]. The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of the current knowledge regarding the prevalence of heritable thrombophilia markers and their correlation with thromboembolic events in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) based on previously published population studies. 2. Methods In order to investigate associations between the abovementioned genetic variants and inherited thrombophilia that may lead to adverse primary outcomes, National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) databases PubMed and PubMed Central (PMC), and ResearchGate were searched to discover relevant studies published previously. Included were original research papers published in peer-reviewed journals that matched the search of the following keywords: “Factor V Leiden”, “F5 1691G>A”, “prothrombin”, “F2 20210G>A”, “MTHFR 677C>T”, “PAI-1 4G/5G”, “polymorphism”, “thrombophilia”, “Bosnia and Herzegovina”. In order to enhance the search, Boolean “AND” and “OR” operators were used to investigate the association between two searched terms. 3. Prevalence of genetic markers of inherited thrombophilia in Bosnian-Herzegovinian population The search results offered a total of seven studies related to the topic of the prevalence of genetic markers of inherited thrombophilia in B&H, all of them being conducted as of 2013. The study of Karić and colleagues in 2013 was the first study which deals with prevalence of MTHFR 677C>T polymorphism in Bosnian-Herzegovinian population. They studied 102 men and 105 women, who were unrelated and healthy and originating from south-east B&H. At the time of blood sampling, the study participants ranged between 18 and 84 years with a mean age of 45.62 years. The results have shown that 44.44% were heterozygous and 11.11% were homozygous for the study allele. No significant difference was found in allele and genotype frequencies between male and female participants [12]. The first study aiming at analyzing Factor V Leiden prevalence in B&H was performed in 2013 by Valjevac and colleagues. A group of 67 women with mean age of 58.6 years (range 41 to 75 years) with no previous history of cardiovascular diseases and pregnancy loss was recruited and tested. The study failed to find any mutant allele, thus suggesting that, considering functional importance of this allele, there is a need to conduct more research on that topic, as the results of this study were heavily influenced with the small sample size [13]. �Journal of Natural Sciences and Engineering, Vol. 2, (2020) DOI number: 10.14706/JONSAE2020216 The prevalence of polymorphisms Factor V Leiden, prothrombin mutation and MTHFR 677C>T was studied by Adler and colleagues (2014). The study involved a cohort of 100 healthy unrelated individuals from B&H (82 females and 18 males) with the year range of 24-82 years and the mean of 58.8 years. The analyzed loci were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium with the following minor allele frequencies (MAF): 6% for Factor V Leiden, 6% for F2 20210A allele, and 37.5% for MTHFR 677T allele. The authors noted the drawback of a small sample size and imbalanced sex ratio. The study, however, demonstrated the coinheritance of thrombophilia markers, since nine participants had Factor V Leiden and MTHFR 677C>T mutant. Compared to 17 European countries, the prevalence of Factor V Leiden and F2 20210G>A variants was significantly higher in B&H [14]. Another study examined the prevalence of the same three variants and their association with deep venous thrombosis (DVT) in B&H [15]. The study group included 111 thromboembolic patients (59 females and 52 males ranging from 21 to 84 years) and 207 healthy controls (105 females and 102 males ranging from 18 to 84 years) with no history of venous thromboembolism (VTE). When it comes to Factor V Leiden prevalence, 18% of the study group patients were heterozygous and 2.7% were homozygous, while 3.86% of the control group participants were heterozygous for this variant, which a statistically significant difference between groups. Statistically significant difference was also found between men with DVT and the control group, as well as between women with DVT and the control women group. F2 20210G>A variant was detected in 2.7% of the study group patients and was absent in control group, which was not statistically significant. Frequencies of MTHFR C677T alleles and genotypes did not differ significantly between the two groups. Allele frequency and functional significance of Factor V Leiden variant detected in this study was in agreement with earlier studies in Caucasians [16-20]. Also, the results of this study were found consistent with the data from other neighboring countries [21-23]. The absence of functional significance of the studied MTHFR polymorphism was also in line with previously published literature [4,16,24,25]. Finally, the authors of this study found that 14.9% of the patients from the DVT group were compound heterozygotes for Factor V Leiden and MTHFR 677C>T variants, therefore proposing further studies that would aim to analyze whether such genotype combination might be a risk factor for DVT development [15]. A study of Mahmutbegović and colleagues (2017) enrolled 308 women, including 154 women who experienced pregnancy loss as the study group (mean age 33 ± 5.4 years) and 154 women with at least one live-born child and without pregnancy loss as the control group (mean age 31.4 ± 6.7 years) to investigate the correlation between three genetic markers and pregnancy loss. Detected allele frequencies were 3.9% in both study and control groups for Factor V Leiden, 1.9% and 1.6% in the study and control groups, respectively, for prothrombin mutation, and 35.7% and 29.9% in the study and control groups, respectively, for MTHFR 677C>T. Although allele frequencies obtained in this study were in accordance with allele frequencies obtained for other European countries, the authors, however, were not able to find the significant correlation between these three variants and pregnancy loss in Bosnian-Herzegovinian women, which may be due to small sample size of women with three or four pregnancy losses recorded [26]. �Journal of Natural Sciences and Engineering, Vol. 2, (2020) DOI number: 10.14706/JONSAE2020216 The prevalence of Factor V Leiden, prothrombin mutation, MTHFR 677C>T and PAI-1 4G/5G in BosnianHerzegovinian women and their correlation with recurrent pregnancy loss was studied by Jusić and colleagues (2018). The study group included 60 women with two or more consecutive pregnancy losses that occurred before 20th gestation week with the same partner and without history of known causes of pregnancy losses due to chromosomal abnormalities, chronic diseases, or infections. The control group was consisting of 80 women with one or more successful pregnancy outcomes and without any pregnancy complication which could lead to the pregnancy loss. The results have shown that Factor V Leiden and MTHFR 677C>T were proved to correlate with recurrent pregnancy loss, while prothrombin mutation and PAI-1 4G/5G were not found to be significantly associated with the pregnancy loss. Reported allele frequencies were as follows: 7.5% for study and 1.88% for control group for Factor V Leiden, 2.5% for study and 0.63% for control group for prothrombin mutation, 39.17% for cases and 25% for control group for MTHFR 677C>T, and 30% for study and 20% control group for PAI-1 4G/5G. The authors are reporting allele frequencies that were in agreement with previous findings for all study polymorphisms. However, the role of genetic factors for inherited thrombophilia in recurrent pregnancy loss is still a matter of debate, especially when it comes to MTHFR and PAI-1 variants studied. Therefore, the authors are suggesting further studies with larger study and control groups, as well as the need to prevent recurrent pregnancy loss by assessing the status of these variants and calculating individual risk and optimum therapy for each patient [27]. In the most recent study by Ašić and colleagues in 2019, the prevalence of common thrombophilia markers was studied in a population of 130 unrelated healthy Bosnian- Herzegovinians of both sexes, from different age groups, with no recorded history of thrombotic events and originating from different parts of the country. Seven markers most commonly associated with the risk of heritable thrombophilia were investigated, namely Factor V Leiden, F2 20210G>A, MTHFR 677C>T, MTHFR 1286A>C, PAI-1 4G/5G, PAI-1 -844G>A and F13 V35L. Whereas some of these markers were examined in previous studies as described above, this is the first study to include MTHFR 1286A>C, PAI-1 -844G>A and F13 V35L polymorphisms in the population of B&H. The results have shown that the two main thrombophilia markers Factor V Leiden and prothrombin mutation appeared with MAF values of 0.023 and 0.008 respectively. For the remaining four loci, reported MAF values were 0.331 for MTHFR 677C>T, 0.323 for MTHFR 1286A>C, 0.446 for PAI-1 4G/5G, 0.588 for PAI-1 -844G>A, and 0.315 for F13 V35L. This study provides the most extensive population data on the prevalence of main heritable thrombophilia risk factors in B&H and reported allele frequencies were consistent with those reported for other European populations [28]. 4. Conclusion Previously conducted studies in B&H represent a small and rather heterogenous group of studies, including either population studies or case-control studies with the aims to report heritable thrombophilia marker prevalence in the population or their potential association with DVT, pregnancy loss or recurrent pregnancy loss. While initial preliminary studies offered surprisingly low or high MAF values for the most well-known genetic variants Factor V Leiden and F2 20210G>A, later studies reported allele and genotype prevalence �Journal of Natural Sciences and Engineering, Vol. 2, (2020) DOI number: 10.14706/JONSAE2020216 that is in line with reported data for most European populations. While DVT was found to be positively associated with Factor V Leiden variants [15], the data for obstetric complications are more controversial since two studies reported conflicting results. The first study reported no statistically significant association between Factor V Leiden, F2 20210G>A and MTHFR 677C>T and pregnancy loss [26], while the second one reported a significant increase in mutant allele frequency for Factor V Leiden and MTHFR 677C>T in women with recurrent pregnancy loss [27]. Therefore, it is strongly suggested that further studies assess the functional importance of the most important markers for inherited thrombophilias in B&H by clearly defining study and control groups in order to assess the potential association of these variants with conditions such as (recurrent) pregnancy loss and venous thromboembolism with the goal of assessing the importance of genetic testing in Bosnian-Herzegovinian population and establishing the groundwork for the personalized treatment of inherited thrombophilia and conditions connected to it. In that effort, larger study cohorts including individuals from all parts of the country will be necessary. REFERENCES [1] S. 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Höppner, D. Marjanović, and D. Primorac, ”Population study of thrombophilic markers and pharmacogenetic markers of warfarin prevalence in Bosnia and Herzegovina”, Croatian Medical Journal, vol. 60, no. 3, pp. 212-220, 2019. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Journal of Natural Sciences and Engineering Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 2637-2835 DOI Digital object identifier 10.14706 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available International Burch University Description An account of the resource Journal of Natural Sciences and Engineering (JONSAE) is a peer-reviewed, biannually published international journal focusing on empirical and theoretical research in all branches of Engineering and Natural Sciences. It is published on the behalf of Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences of International Burch University and aims to provide the best content regarding by publishing original research papers, review articles, special issues, feature articles, and book reviews. All manuscript submissions are subject to initial appraisal by the Editor, and, if found suitable for further consideration, to peer review by independent, anonymous referees. All peer review is double-blind and submission is online. The journal welcomes theoretical, applied, interdisciplinary and methodological work, with preference on empirical research, critical approach and problem-solving methods in manuscripts. Language A language of the resource English Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Distribution of inherited thrombophilia markers in Bosnian-Herzegovinian population: a review of previous studies Author Author Nermin Đuzić, Adna Ašić Abstract A summary of the resource. Thrombophilia is a condition that is associated with an individual’s risk for venous or arterial thrombosis, as well as a risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes. Gene variants that are the most commonly associated with inherited thrombophilia are F5 mutation 1691G>A (Factor V Leiden), F2 20210G>A (prothrombin mutation), MTHFR 677C>T, and PAI-1 variant 4G/5G. This paper aims to review currently available literature on the prevalence of heritable thrombophilia genetic markers and their association with thromboembolic events in Bosnia and Herzegovina. PubMed and PubMed Central databases of the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) and ResearchGate were searched to identify the most relevant studies. The results of the previously published studies show discrepancies when it comes to reported findings, thus implying that further research on this topic is necessary. It is suggested that new studies include greater sample size in order to confirm the correlation between the studied variants and conditions associated with heritable thrombophilia in the Bosnian-Herzegovinian population and to advance the understanding of these variants. Keywords Keywords. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Factor V Leiden, Inherited thrombophilia, MTHFR, PAI-1, Prothrombin mutation Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 2637-2835 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available International Burch University, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Journal of Natural Sciences and Engineering Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource January, 2020