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1st International Conference on Foreign Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics
May 5-7 2011 Sarajevo
The Teaching of [θ] and [ð] Sounds in English
Ali KARAKAġ* Ecehan SÖNMEZ**
Department of English Language Teaching
Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, Turkey
akarakas@mehmetakif.edu.tr
Abstract: Pronunciation teaching has its unique place in the curricula of most of the
European countries though it has been neglected in Turkey so far. Mispronunciation
of some core sounds is among the fundamental problems in the speech of both
nonnative pre-service and in-service teachers in Turkey. The [θ] and [ð] sounds
constitute the biggest trouble for Turks, for they do not take place in the Turkish
sound system. To remedy this case, a sample lesson plan on teaching these problem
causing-sounds has been developed according to the audio articulation method,
which is claimed to be a fossilized pronunciation mistake breaker. It is hoped that the
sample lesson plan on the [θ] and [ð] sounds will correct the pronunciation mistakes
of non-native English teachers and teacher-trainees in Turkey.
Key Words: [θ] and [ð] sounds, corpus, pronunciation mistakes, the audioarticulation model.
INTRODUCTION
According to HiĢmanoğlu (2009, p. 1697) ‗‘Pronunciation is a significant part of foreign language
teaching‘‘, since having a good pronunciation is one of the most important signs of getting mastery in foreign
language learning and teaching. However, the fossilized pronunciation errors may be a barrier for learners who
are trying to get mastery in foreign language (FL) and second language (L2) in that such errors harm the
learners‘ speech fluency and prevent them from speaking English in the way native speakers do. Of all the
fossilized pronunciation errors, the phonemes /θ/ and / ð/ have always been problematic not only for Turkish
learners of English but also for Turkish teachers of English who are already on the job (HiĢmanoğlu, 2009).
These sounds cause severe pronunciation problems to the Turkish learners of English during the articulation
process. That‘s why, they need an urgent remediation, which is going to be provided with a model lesson on
teaching the /θ/ and / ð/ contrasts through the audio-articulation method (AAM) developed by Demirezen (2004)
as fossilized pronunciation error breaker. Besides the AAM, some principles of the Audio-lingual Method
(ALM) will be employed in the activities of the sample lesson plan to supplement the teaching of TH sounds.
The Nature of Difficulty of /θ/ and / ð/ for Turks
The main reason of difficulty of these phonemes lies under the fact that these sounds [θ] and [ð] do not
exist in the sound system of Turkish. As it is seen in figure 2, the [θ] sound, which is named theta, is a voiceless
interdental fricative sound while the [ð] sound, which is called eth, is a voiced interdental fricative sound as it is
seen in figure 1. They are among the problem-causing consonants for Turkish learners of English, for they are
not coded in modern standard Turkish (Demirezen, 2007, 2010). The voiceless [θ] sound can be heard clearly in
such words like thick /θɪk/, ethnic /ɛθnɪk/ and sheath /ʆiθ/. The voiced [ð] sound can be heard in such words like
thus /ðʌs/, within /wɪðɪn/ and lathe /leɪð/. Both [θ] and [ð] are highly frequent sounds in English language.
Therefore, they require a special attention if the aim is to properly teach these sounds at the micro level and
English at the macro level.
As can be seen apparently above, these sounds occur word initially, word medially and word finally. To
be able to get the bottom of the problem, it is beneficial to investigate the articulation of these sounds. After that,
it is necessary to diagnose the problem and find out a remedy for the treatment.
Figure 1: The mouth position of the /ð/ phoneme
Figure2: The Mouth Position of the /θ/ phoneme
(Adapted from Baker and Goldstein, 2008)
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The Articulation of the /θ/ and / ð/ Phonemes
Since these sounds are non-existent in Turkish sound system, difficulty arises in the production of them.
The most common tendency is that Turkish learners replace the phoneme /θ/ with the phoneme /t/ and the
phoneme /ð/ with the phoneme /d/. The word pairs below can be given as examples to the above statement:
/θɔt/
team /tim/ vs. theme /θim/
mat
/mæt/ vs. math
/mæθ/
boot /but/ vs. booth
/buθ/
taught / tɔt/ vs. thought
dose /doʊs/ vs. those /ðoʊz/
dough /doʊ/ vs. though /ðoʊ/
dare /dɛər/ vs. there /ðɛər/
sued /sud/ vs. soothe /suð/
The reason of this tendency to replace the non-existent unvoiced and voiced [θ] and [ð] sounds stems from ‗‘the
establishment of mother tongue interference‘‘ (Demirezen, 2008). As these sounds are not coded in the Turkish
consonant chart, they are converted to into the closest sounds in the mother tongue; in this case they are mostly
/t/ and /d/ to compensate for the lack of exact sounds in the target language (Dalton, 1997). To remedy these two
fossilized pronunciation errors, a model lesson plan will be presented below, which has been organized by taking
the principles of the AAM method and some ALM principles into account.
AN APPLICATION OF THE AUDIO-ARTICULATION PRONUNCIATION REHABILITATION MODEL ON
TEACHING THE /Θ/ AND /Ð/ PHONEMES
Time limit: 45-50 minutes.
Model: Audio Articulation Model & Audio-lingual Method.
1. Warm up – motivation
The teacher of the course starts up with a poem including the problem causing-sounds. This session lasts
nearly 3 or 4 minutes. If there occurs a probability of exceeding the time limit, the teacher has the right to keep
the warm up session short by skipping the last part of the poem.
T: Good afternoon everybody. How are you today? You all look very lively.
Ss: Good afternoon, sir. We‘re all fine.
T: Ok, friends. I wonder who likes poetry in the class.
Ss: (Students who like poetry raise their hands.)
T: Great. Today, we are going to read a poem. Who wants to read the poem? I need two volunteers. One
will be the mother while the other will be the child.
Hülya: I can be the mom, sir.
ġeniz: And, I can be the child.
T: Thanks, ladies. Ok, then. Let us start. Here is the poem. Enjoy it!
My Thumbies
Child:
I have two thin thumbies
They're with me day and night.
My favorite thumb is on my left.
The other's on my right
My thumbies always soothe me
when I am feeling sad.
They help me to protect myself
when I am feeling mad.
My thumbies help me fall asleep
when I am feeling tired.
I do not know how better friends
could ever be desired.
My mother says it's time to quit-that sucking thumbs is bad.
And every time I suck my thumbs,
my mom gets very mad.
Mom:
You've got to quit. Don't suck thy thumbs--your left
one or your right.
It's pushing all your front teeth out.
It's ruining your bite.
It might take years to get straight teeth,
with braces on your mouth.
It isn't fun. Believe me, son.
So keep your thumbs down south.
Child:
I'm 5 years old It's time to quit-of all the silly habits.
I don't want people thinking that
my teeth look like a rabbit's.
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Hùlya and ġeniz read the poem loudly and the other students listen to them. The teacher notices that they
have some problems with voiced and voiceless TH sounds. But, the teacher does not make any correction of
pronunciation and does not warn any of them, either.
T: All right ladies. Thanks a lot. Ok, class. Let‘s remember what we did in our former class.
2.
Reviewing the previous topic
T: Friends, do you remember what we did in our former lesson?
Ss: Yes, sir. We studied on the articulation of [t] and [d] sounds.
T: Well done. Who can give the phonetic identifications of these sounds together with sample words?
Ufuk: Sir, the [t] sound is a voiceless alveolar stop consonant and, the [d] sound is a voiced alveolar stop
sound in English. (Barlow, J.A. & Gierut, J.A., 2002, Demirezen, 1987). We can see the [t] sound in such words
tin /tɪn/, tank /tæŋk/, tease /ti:z/, and the [d] sound in the words day / dey/, and dice /daɪs/.
T: Very good, Ufuk. Thanks. Now, it is time for today‘s topic.
3.
Stating the aim of the lesson
The teacher sets the goal of the lesson and writes the topic on the board, by saying:
T: Dear friends, today we will study the articulation of [θ] and [ð] sounds in English, which were
mispronounced by your friends during the poetry session in such words as they and teeth. Your friends tended to
pronounce the [θ] as [t] and the [ð] sound as [d]. Please, be careful [t] and [d] sounds are mostly employed
instead of the [θ] and [ð] sounds by Turkish students. In fact, [t] is a voiceless alveolar stop fortis sound and the
[d] is a voiced alveolar stop lenix sound (Kelly, 2001, p. 49). However, the [θ] and [ð] sounds have different
phonetic identifications which do not exist out language.
After stating the aim of the lesson, the teacher gets ready to present his/her corpus that includes 50-100
words including the [θ] and [ð] sounds. The teacher arranges the words in the order of word-initially, wordmedially and word finally positions so that students can discriminate how they are articulated in all positions.
Besides this, the teacher puts the transcriptions of these words into the corpus. After doing so, the teacher makes
sure that students know all the words, otherwise it is better for the teacher to handle the unknown words in the
corpus.
a) Presenting the corpus
The corpus prepared by the teacher should be given to the students in the class. It is important that students
should also be provided with the sounds of the words in the corpus.
Table 1: The corpus of the [θ] sound
Word-Initially
thigh /θaɪ/
thread
Word-Medially
/θrɛd/
ether
/iθər/
/ɛθnɪk/
thou
/θoʊ/
theorem /θiərəm/
ethnic
thus
/θʌs/
therapy /θɛrəpi/
method /mɛθəd/
thistle /θɪsəl/
thicken
/θɪkən/
athlete
/θif/
thicket
/θɪkɪt/
pathetic /pəθɛtɪk/
thief
Word-Finally
bathtub
/bæθtʌb/
breath /brɛθ/
toothpick
/tuθpɪk/
sheath
/ʆiθ/
length /lɛŋkθ/
month /mʌnθ
bathrobe /bæθroʊb/
teeth
/ti:θ/
fourth
/fɔrθ/
panther
loath
/loʊθ/
broth
/brɔθ/
bathroom /bæθrum/
wreath /riθ/
math
/mæθ/
/iθɑs/
cathedral /kəθidrəl/
mouth /maʊθ/
worth
/bɜrθ/
beneath /bɪniθ/
/æθlit/
/pænθər/
theme /θim/
thimble /θɪmbəl/
ethos
thesis /θisɪs/
thug
/θʌg/
apathy
/æpəθi/
mouthful /maʊθfʊl/
sooth
thick
/θɪk/
thrift
/θrɪft/
earthy
/ɜrθi//
bathmat /bæθmæt/
bath /bæθ/
faith
/feɪθ/
thud
/θʌd/
thorn
/θɔrn/
ethic
/ɛθɪk/
cloth /klɔθ/
booth
/buθ/
thrift
/θrɪft/
thumb
/θʌm/
ethereal /ɪθɪriəl/
lethal
/liθəl/
lath
/læθ/
myth
/mɪθ/
pithy
zither
/zɪθər/
birth
/bɜrθ/
wrath
/ræθ/
thrash /θræʆ/
thrill
/θrɪl/
/pɪθi/
stealthy
/stɛlθi/
/suθ/
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To compare the [θ] sound with the [ð] sound, the teacher needs to present another corpus including the [ð]
sound in the words. This type of contrastive analysis will help students discriminate the difference between two
sounds.
Table 2: The corpus of the [ð] sound
Word-Initially
Word-Medially
Word-Finally
this‘ll /ðɪsəl/
thereof /ðɛərʌv/
either
/ˈiðər/
smoother /smuðər/
breathe /brið/
thus
/ðʌs/
thereby /ðɛərbaɪ/
mother /mʌðər/
northern /nɔrðərn/
bathe /beɪð/
scathe /skeɪð/
thou
/ðaʊ/
therefor /ðɛərfɔr/
father
/fɑ:ðər/
clothe/kloʊð/
blythe /blaɪð/
thy
/ðaɪ/
therefore /ðɛrfɔr/
tether
/tɛðər/
together /təgɛðər/
lathe
than /ðæn/
they‘ll
/ðeɪl/
dither
/dɪðər/
southern /sʌðərn
sheathe /ʆið/
those /ðoʊz/
then
/ðɛn/
feather /fɛðər/
heather
/hɛðər/
withe
gather
/gæðər/
/leɪð/
/wɪð/
the
/ðə/
theirs
/ðɛrz/
bother
/bɑðər/
rhythm
/rɪðəm/
soothe /suð/
these
/ðiz/
them
/ðɛm/
brother /brʌðər/
weather
/wɛðər/
teethe
they
/ðeɪ/
their
/ðər/
neither /niðər/
bathing/ /beɪðɪŋ/
wreathe /r:ið/
that
/ðæt/
thence/
/ðɛns/
within /wɪðɪn/
further
/fɜrðər/
mouth/maʊð/
there
/ðɛr/
thee
/ ði/
other
rather
/ræðər/
loathe /loʊð/
though /ðoʊ/
this
/ðɪs/
worthy /wɜrði/
/ʌðər/
another
/ənʌðər/
lithe
blithe /blaɪð/
scythe /sið/
seethe /sið/
tithe
/taɪð/
writhe /raɪð/
/ti:ð/
/laɪð/
After the presentation of the corpus, students are asked to repeat these words in small doses individually
or in group. Since over-repeating may be boring for the students, the teacher should avoid creating a parrot-like
repetition phase and should keep the phase as lively as possible. The teacher should target those students who
have trouble in articulating the words correctly. Having done all these chores, the teacher can establish the
minimal pairs by exposing the [θ-ð] differences.
b) Establishing the minimal pairs
The teacher firstly handles the unknown words. It is also advisable to establish the minimal pairs with
related pictures so that students can see the differentiations in meaning. The teacher tries to specify the words
into minimal pairs with contrastive analysis (Baker and Goldstein, 1992). Students are asked to repeat the
minimal pairs in single, group or choir. During the repetition phase, the teacher gets closer to the students to see
the students‘ mouth positions, and to observe whether they can articulate the sounds correctly or not. The
frequently encountered voiceless and voiced TH minimal pairs are as follows:
[θ]
vs.
sheath (n) /ʆi:θ/
thigh /θaɪ/
teeth (n) /tiːθ/
ether /i:θər/
loath (adj) /loʊθ/
wreath (n) /ri:θ/
mouth (n) /maʊθ/
thou /θaʊ/
sooth (adj) /su:θ/
thus /θʌs/
thistle /θɪsəl/
with /wɪθ/
[ð]
sheathe (v) /ʆi:ð/
thy /ðaɪ/
teethe (v) /tiːð/
either (Am.)/i:ðər/
loathe (v) /loʊð/
wreathe (v)/ri:ð/
mouth (v) /maʊð/
thou /ðaʊ/
soothe /su:ð/
thus /ðʌs/
this‘ll /ðɪsəl/
withe /wɪð/
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c)
Establishing near-minimal pairs
Sometimes an exact minimal pair contrasting two phonemes may not exist in a language. Linguists then
look for near minimal pairs. In a near minimal pair only the sounds surrounding the phonemes are identical.
[θ]
bath /bæθ/
cloth /klɔθ/
breath /brɛθ/
lath /læθ/
[ð]
bathe /beɪð/
clothe /kloʊð/
breathe /brið/
lathe /leɪð/
d) Tongue twisters
The tongue twisters are practiced individually, in pairs or chorus in class after the teacher exhorts them first.
The teacher can also make use of audio files of the tongue twisters.
1.
A sheath
A sword sheath
A sheathed sword sheath
A leather sheathed sword sheath
5.
Breath
Breathing the breath
Breathing the toothy breath
Breathing the toothy breath with a thief
2.
Either
Either of these
Either of these ethers
Either of these third-rate ethers
6.
A bath
A filthy bath
Bathing in a filthy bath
Bathing the baby in a filthy bath
3.
Teeth
Healthy teeth
Healthy teeth in the mouth
Healthy teeth teething in the mouth
7.
A cloth
A wool cloth
A thicker wool cloth
A thicker wool cloth to clothe
4.
Thigh
Thick thigh
Thy thick thigh
Thy thick thigh in a pie
8.
Wreathing
Wreathing Thomas
Wreathing Thomas in a wreath
Wreathing Thomas in a wreath with wrath
e)
Giving the rule
The teacher should give the rule in a way that will enable students to capture it in clear details. For this
reason, the teacher can use figures or charts illustrating the mouth position in the articulation of the problemcausing sounds. The teacher claps his/her hands to catch students‘ attention by saying:
T: Dear students, it is RULE TIME now. Wide open your eyes and lend me your ears, please. As you can see in
the figure below, we stick out our tongue a bit between the upper and lower teeth (Demirezen 1987: 39) and then
we blow out air. Both sounds are inter-dental fricatives (Ladefoged, 2001). Please, pay attention to the [ð] sound;
for it is a voiced consonant while the [θ] sound is a voiceless one.
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Figure 3: The articulational positinioning of of the [ð] and [θ] sounds in the mouth
(Figures taken from http://englishgoes.com/en/english-pronunciation-lesson-2-th/)
Kelly (2001) gives us some suggested ways of explaining how to form these two consonants: For the articulation
of the [ð] and [θ] sounds: ―Put the front of your tongue against the back of your top teeth. Let the air pass
through as you breathe out. Don‘t use your voice. Hold the sound, and add your voice‖ (p. 55). After giving the
rule, the teacher shows a video to the students, in which a native speaker models how to articulate these sounds
with sample words. Then, the teacher can do further exercises.
4.
Doing Further Exercises
In this part, the teacher does further articulations of the problematic sounds with different activities by
creating a game like atmosphere. For example, the teacher can establish minimal sentences for students.
A. Minimal Sentences
(The teacher practices minimal sentences without boring students. First, s/he reads the sentences, and then
s/he gets students to repeat in isolation, pairs or choir. It is advisable that the teacher should create his/her own
minimal sentences by appealing to students‘ areas of interest.)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
Elizabeth can easily spell the word THY / THIGH.
I don‘t like EITHER / ETHER.
My father makes a good LATHER / LATHER.
How do you say the word LOATHE / LOTH?
They will SHEATHE / SHEATH the blade.
(Nilsen & Nilsen, 1973)
Rachel doesn‘t know the meaning of SOOTH / SOOTHE.
Liz told me that she found THOU / THOU on the street yesterday.
TEETHE / TEETH is a difficult word to pronounce.
Does the word WREATHE / WREATH have two ‗e‘ letters?
Here is an example word including TH: BATH / BATHE.
LATH / LATHE is an unknown word for many students.
B. Sentences with contextual clues
(After the teacher exhorts the sentences, s/he practices the following sentences without boring students, in
single or in pairs.)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
Julia will EITHER get ETHER or novocain.
Please SHEATHE your knife in a SHEATH.
The baby‘s TEETH will soon TEETHE.
They will WREATHE him in a WREATH.
Michael is LOTH to LOATHE anyone in the class.
(Nilsen & Nilsen, 1973)
Don‘t MOUTH a speech when your MOUTH is full.
The three children BATHE in the same BATH.
My daughter couldn‘t find a CLOTH to CLOTHE her doll.
A SOOTH herbal tea will SOOTHE her.
Mine, THOU lord of life, send me a THOU again
Does THY THIGH hurt a lot after the operation?
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(voiceless Thou / /θaʊ/ /slang, one thousand dollars, pounds, etc.)
(voiced Mouth /maʊð/ v. to utter in a sonorous or pompous manner)
C. Oral Reading
(The teacher prepares or finds an interesting paragraph including the problematic sounds. S/he makes
students read the paragraph and want them to find the number of the TH sounds in the text. S/he can also invite
the students to the stage, and gets him/her show the voiced or unvoiced TH sounds in the paragraph. An example
is shown below.)
Instruction: Listen to the speaker carefully and note down the words that have /ð/ and /θ/ in it. How many
voiced and unvoiced TH sounds can you find?
Even though my father is a weatherman, he can't predict with absolute certainty whether it will rain or not.
Neither can the other people who work with him. They say there's only a thirty per cent chance of rain, and
the next thing you know, it's pouring. They predict snow, and there's nothing for another five days. Then,
there's a blizzard. So rather than trust my father's weather forecasts, I use a more reasonable approach. I
ask my mother.
(Taken from: www.eslgold.com/pronunciation/voiced_sound_th.html)
Students listen to the speaker and note down the words including voiced or unvoiced TH sounds. Then, the
teacher shows them the answer key so that the students can compare their own answers with the right ones.
D. Sound Discrimination Exercise
(The teacher presents an exercise in which students need to choose the sound they hear.)
1. "_____ be good medicine for you." the doctor said.
a. This'll
b. Thistle
2. Hospitals smell like ____.
a. either
b. ether
3. He could not speak. He couldn't even ______ the words.
a. mouthe b. mouth
4. In 1620, the Pilgrims believed in "love _____ neighbor".
a. thy
b. thigh
5. Swords and rapiers are kept in a ______.
a.sheathe b.sheath
6. The baby is crying. He must be cutting his _______.
a. teethe
b. teeth
7. Babies usually start to _______ around 6 months of age.
a. teethe
b. teeth
8. The carpenter is an excellent ____.
a. lather (/laythe-^r/) b. lather(/lath-^r/)
9. This shampoo doesn't produce enough _.
a. lather (/laythe-^r/) b. lather(/lath-^r/)
10. You hate him very much. In fact, you _____ him
a. loathe b. loth
E. Sentence Level Tongue Twisters
(The teacher can present sentence level tongue twisters that include both voiced and unvoiced TH words. S/he
practices the twisters carefully without boring the students. The order of the tongue twisters should be from
simple to complex. The teacher should be on alert to correct the committed mistakes immediately in class.)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
They threw three thick things.
Is this the thing? - Yes, this is the thing.
Father, mother, sister, brother - hand in hand with one another.
I thought a thought. But the thought I thought wasn't the thought I thought I thought.
The thirty-three thankful thieves thought that they thanked the other thirty three thankful
thieves throughout Thursday.
Three thin thieves thought a thousand thoughts. Now if three thin thieves thought a thousand
thoughts how many thoughts did each thief think?
Thirty thousand thoughtless thieves thought they would make a thundering noise, so the thirty
thousand thumbs thumbed on the thirty thousand drums.
(The teacher gets students to repeat these tongue twisters in single, pair or choir without boring them. S/he can
praise students after the practice by saying: very good, well done, great job and the like.) Then, the teacher ends
the lesson by giving homework.)
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5.
Making Summary
T: Dear friends, today, we have learnt how to articulate the [θ] and [ð] sounds in English. Don‘t forget that
you must practice these sounds in front of a mirror two times a day: one before the breakfast and the other after
dinner. You should do this in order to see your articulatory improvement. (Then, the teacher can go back to
his/her rule again and can summarize it using the same charts, figures or videos s/he used during the rule-giving
section.)
•
•
•
•
T: Ok! Let‘s have a brief look at our rule again. To articulate the voiceless TH sound,
put the tip of your tongue between your front teeth.
blow out air between your tongue and top teeth.
do not use your use.
to articulate voiced TH, just use your voice. That‘s all you have to do. It is a piece of cake, isn‘t it
Gizem?
Gizem: Yes, sir. I am more comfortable with these sounds now. I think it will be rather better after I
have practiced them in front of the mirror.
T: Sure! We all love you and believe that you can achieve this.
6.
Giving Assignment
The teacher gives students their assignments and warns them not to be negligent in doing these at home. The
teacher should not forget to recollect the assignments in the following lesson for evaluation. After making
necessary suggestions and correction, s/he can give them back to the students.
1. In which of the alternatives is there an articulation of the voiced TH sound?
a. think b. thumb c. thus d. thud
e. thistle
a. ether b. bath c. cloth d. thank e. either
a. that b. month c. broth d. tooth
e. path
2. In which of the alternatives is there an articulation of the voiceless TH sound?
a. three b. thee
c. thy
d. thou
e. bathe
a. though b. feather c. father d. these
e. ether
a. other b. method c. neither d. together
e. gather
3. Prepare 5 tongue twisters including both voiced and unvoiced TH.
4. Write down 3 sentences with contextual clues using the sounds we have learned today.
5. Write a poem including voiced and unvoiced TH sounds.
6. Consonant sound pair: voiced [ð] and unvoiced [θ]:
clothe_____
bath_____
that_____
thought_____
cloth_____
whether_____
them_____
father_____
think_____
three_____
mouthe_____
teeth_____
this_____
thorough_____
soothe_____
together_____
though_____
mouth_____
thousand _____
theater_____
breath_____
brother_____
bathe_____
those_____
wealthy_____
thread_____
weather_____
these_____
breathe_____
thumb_____
healthy_____
mouth_____
bathe_____
fourth_____
through_____
smooth_____
month_____
birth _____
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CONCLUSION
The consonants [ð], named as eth, and [θ] named as theta, are among the problem causing sounds for
both Turkish students and teachers in pre-service and on the job. That‘s because of the fact that Turkish language
has no [θ] and [ð] sounds (although Arabic and Spanish speakers do). Therefore, students tend to replace them
with [s] and [z] word-finally and [t] and [d] sounds word initially. ―The difficulty of /θ,ð/ lies not so much in
their articulation, which most learners can perform correctly in isolation, as in combination with other fricatives,
especially, /s/ and /z/‖ (Cruttenden, 2008: 196-197). They must be practiced with combinations of other sounds
in phrases, sentences or paragraphs as done in the above exercises but not in isolation.
To cure these problematic sounds, a sample lesson was prepared according to the AAM model in this
paper. While applying the sample lesson plan, the teacher should adapt the activities according to the level of
students. There should not be over-repetition in order not to bore students. The success of the model mostly
depends on teacher‘s creativity and classroom performance. The teacher should be very active by using his/her
body in class.
Although some teachers and students may think that replacement of /θ,ð/ with sounds in the mother
tongue can be tolerated, it is not favorable to do so. Because as teachers and learners of English, we should pave
the way leading us to the correct pronunciation, since having a correct pronunciation is a sign of both
professionalism and phonetic intelligence.
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REFERENCES
Baker, A. 1992. Introducing English Pronunciation, A Teacher‘s Guide to Tree or Three and
Ship or Sheep. Cambridge University Press, New York, the U.S.A.
Baker, A. & Goldstein, S. 2008. Pronunciation Pairs, an Introduction to the Sounds of
English. 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press, New York, the U.S.A.
Barlow, J.A. & Gierut, J.A. (2002). Minimal Pair Approaches to Phonological Remediation.
Seminars in speech and language, 23 (1).
Cruttenden, A. 2008. Gimson‘s Pronunciation of English. 7th Edition. Hodder Education, London, England.
Dalton, D.F. (1997). Some Techniques for Teaching Pronunciation. The Internet TESL Journal, Vol.3
Demirezen, M. (2010). ―The principles and applications of the audio-lingual pronunciation
rehabilitation model in foreign language teacher education.‖ Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies. Vol. 6
- No: 2, October 2010, 127-148.
Demirezen, M. (1987). Articulatory Phonetics and the Principles of Sound Production.
Ankara: Yargı Publications.
Demirezen, M. (May 2004). Ġngilizce‘nin peltek-d (ETH) sesbiriminin Türkler için çıkardığı sesletim sorunları
ve çözümler. Journal of Arts and Sciences vol 1.: Çankaya University
Hismanoglu, M. (2009). The Pronunciation of the interdental sounds of English: an articulation problem for
Turkish learners of English and solutions. Procedia social sciences 1, 1697-1703.
http://englishgoes.com/en/english-pronunciation-lesson-2-th/
Kelly, G. (2001). How to Teach Pronunciation. Oxfordshire: Pearson Education Limited.
Ladefoged, P. (2001). Vowels and Consonants. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English: (2004). The Living Dictionary. International Edition , 2004.
Essex: Pearson Education Limited
Longman Dictionary of American English. (2009). Pearson.
Nilsen, D. L. F & Nilsen, A. P. (1973). Pronunciation Contrasts in English. Regents Publishing Company,
New York, the U.S.A.
www.eslgold.com/pronunciation/voiced_sound_th.html
83
�
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/.
Extent
The size or duration of the resource.
15
Title
A name given to the resource
The Teaching of [θ] and [ð] Sounds in English
Author
Author
KARAKAŞ, Ali
SÖNMEZ, Ecehan
Abstract
A summary of the resource.
Pronunciation teaching has its unique place in the curricula of most of the European countries though it has been neglected in Turkey so far. Mispronunciation of some core sounds is among the fundamental problems in the speech of both nonnative pre-service and in-service teachers in Turkey. The [θ] and [ð] sounds constitute the biggest trouble for Turks, for they do not take place in the Turkish sound system. To remedy this case, a sample lesson plan on teaching these problem causing-sounds has been developed according to the audio articulation method, which is claimed to be a fossilized pronunciation mistake breaker. It is hoped that the sample lesson plan on the [θ] and [ð] sounds will correct the pronunciation mistakes of non-native English teachers and teacher-trainees in Turkey.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2011-05
Keywords
Keywords.
Conference or Workshop Item
PeerReviewed
P Philology. Linguistics
-
https://omeka.ibu.edu.ba/files/original/27c843e88dd674c94f2d7494e12fd36a.pdf
ade747dad2032a62972f7520a3d448af
PDF Text
Text
1st International Conference on Foreign Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics
May 5-7 2011 Sarajevo
University students‘ attitudes towards alternative assessment in FLT
Sanja Josifovic Elezovic
Faculty of Philology, University of Banjaluka
Bosnia-Herzegovina
sanjajosifovic@gmail.com
Abstract: This paper describes a small-scale study of newly enrolled
university students regarding their views of nontraditional strategies of
assessment in foreign language teaching. Taking into account the importance
of attitudes to student motivation for learning, as well as contemporary
education reform issues related to assessment, the research investigates
students‘ attitudes towards alternative assessment methods, primarily peer, self
and portfolio assessment, following a one semester, undergraduate course at
University of Banjaluka. Attitudes of students from 3 different faculties Philology, Philosophy, and Technology, are explored and compared.
The findings reveal that majority of students endorse alternative assessment
techniques in FLT, and suggest their implementation in other subjects. This
research confirms numerous benefits of alternative assessment application at
university level, supporting beliefs of other researchers that using alternative
assessment techniques to assess student learning can lead to increased self
reflection, higher cognitive skills development, improved intrinsic motivation,
creativity, communication, cooperation, integration of language skills and
enhanced overall student performance.
In conclusion, benefits for students, teachers and institutions have been
summarized, and the use of alternative assessment recommended as an
effective supplement, if not replacement, to traditional tests and exams, which
will suit the needs of individual students by paying more respect to their
personal, linguistic and sociocultural diversity.
Keywords: alternative assessment, attitudes, FLT, peer assessment, portfolio,
university students
Introduction
During the last decades of XX and the first decade of the XXI century assessment has become a
state-of-the-art topic for teachers, educators, researchers. It has been frequently mentioned in professional
publications, workshops, conferences, in-service training, and university courses. The term "assessment" is
used in different contexts and means different things to different people. It is perhaps most often
understood as testing and grading: scoring quizzes and exams and assigning course grades to students, as a
way of informing them about how well they did in the courses. An emerging vision of assessment is that of
a dynamic process that continuously yields information about how well they are doing, i.e. student
progress toward the achievement of learning goals. This vision of assessment acknowledges that when the
information gathered is consistent with learning goals and is used appropriately to inform instruction, it
can enhance student learning as well as document it. Rather than being an activity separate from
instruction, assessment is growingly being viewed as an integral part of teaching and learning, and not just
the culmination of instruction. The current reform movement in educational assessment encourages
teachers to think about assessment more broadly than "testing" and using test results to assign grades and
rank students.
Alternative assessment is another notion which may imply different things, but most often denotes
forms which differ from conventional assessment methods such as tests and exam essay questions. It is
compatible with constructivist ideas in that it favours integration of assessment, teaching and learning; the
involvement of students as active and informed participants; assessment tasks which are authentic,
meaningful and engaging; assessments which mirror realistic contexts, in contrast with the artificial time
constraints and limited access to support available in conventional exams; focus on both the process and
products of learning; and moves away from single test or exam scores towards a descriptive assessment
based on a range of abilities and outcomes (Sambell, McDowell & Brown, 1997). Many alternative
assessment techniques have been developed and implemented into educational practice, mainly as a result
of new insights into student learning, and as a counterpart to standardized tests, e.g. multiple choice tests
and the like. These alternative techniques often refer to peer assessment, self assessment and portfolio
assessment, sometimes also to authentic and performance assessment.
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Peer assessment (PA) is also a term that may mean many things. A range of situations are
encompassed by the term - assessment by other students, self assessment (of oral presentations/viva, of
written work, assignments, tests, for marks, for formative/feedback purposes, for participation in group
work/derive individual marks on group projects, mark one-on-one, whole class or group marks an
individual's performance), peer group assessment or collaborative assessment. PA is found to increase
student–student and student–teacher interactions, and can be used to increase learner‘s understanding of
other students' ideas during the learning experience (Falchikov,1995; Sluijsmans et al.,1999). It can
increase learners‘ understanding in the cognitive and metacognitive domains, and develop social and
transferable skills (Topping,1998).
Self assessment is nothing new, but in educational context it represents an alternative technique, a
way of increasing the role and involvement of students as active participants in making judgements about
their own learning (Boud, 1995). It is mostly used for formative assessment in order to foster reflection on
one‘s own learning processes and results (Sluijsmans et al, 1999). If carefully planned and encouraged it
can be a springboard for discussion - a comparison between teacher and student self assessed mark can
reveal agreement or disagreement in over or underscoring and provide space for dialogue and further
student improvement.
Portfolio assessment is an ongoing process involving the student and teacher in selecting samples
of student work for inclusion in a collection, the main purpose of which is to show the student's progress. It
demonstrates and evidences that students have, or have not, mastered a set of learning objectives during a
longer time period. More than folders containing students‘ homework, they are personalized, longitudinal
representations of students‘ work and efforts. Above all, they are excellent assessment and self-reflective
tools. Through selecting optional papers to include in their portfolios students discover their strengths and
weaknesses, they see where they are for themselves and increase their metacognitive awareness.
In the new era of assessment, students are supposed to be active, reflective learners, regulating
their own learning processes largely on their own and by their individual choices. This then also implies
that they should be active assessors, given that learning is inseparable from assessment. Taking into
account the well-proven importance of attitudes to student motivation for learning, it could be assumed
that their attitudes to assessment, an integral part of learning, are salient issues for all educators and
education researchers.
Problem Statement
Academic assessment of students serves two main purposes, formative and summative. The
former intends to improve the quality of learning and serves students' learning needs, and the latter is
needed for accreditation of knowledge or performance and serves the needs of the society to evaluate the
end-result of schooling (Boud, 1990). Boud was one of many who argued that the need for the formative
assessment is usually neglected, and alternative assessments should be developed in order to improve
student learning. And indeed, contemporary education reforms put forward new rules related to
assessment, that insist on constant taking account of students‘ progress throughout the academic year,
enforcing two or more mid-term tests, attendance and participation scores, homework and different
activities scores and other kinds of scores. However, in practice, it all too often appears that the whole
assessment process boils down to just that – continuous scoring. Both students and teachers seem to
endlessly count points, the side effect often being an absurd, detrimental preoccupation with grades and
scores, rather than progress and learning. Frequent quizzes and tests throughout the academic year may
represent a kind of formative, as well as summative, comment on students‘ learning and progress, but it
does not necessarily need to be that way. If teachers are pressured to complete demanding teaching
materials planned by the syllabus and curriculum, prepare, administer, score and correct tests all by
themselves all the time, it might be logical to assume that formative assessment and differentiated
instruction simply stand in the way. Furthermore, if we take into account big numbers of students per one
teacher, it becomes obvious that finding time for formative assessment must be a big issue. Tests are
usually administered as planned, but do they guarantee benefits with regard to students‘ learning and
progress? Many studies have shown that tests and grades themselves actually do not significantly improve
learning or ensure students‘ progress (Black and William, 1998).
In recent years of education reform implementation at Banjaluka University (BLU) there has been
a continuing overreliance on traditional tests and exams. Assessment practices are still most often limited
to pen and paper tests and exams, use of traditional assessment is dominant and little attention is given to
alternative assessment. These practices might partly be causes of frequently unsatisfying situation in our
academic context. On one hand, there are time and again frustrated students complaining about everlasting
tests and exams, workload, low grades, boredom. On the other, there are recurrently frustrated teachers
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complaining about countless tests and exams, workload, low students‘ performance, administrative
requirements.
The key question that this research is concerned with, the question for both students and teachers
to ask, is: Can alternative assessment application contribute to lessening earlier mentioned burden,
boredom and bureaucracy? Given that students are indisputably at the centre of teaching and learning it
seemed essential to enquire about their attitudes to alternative assessment first. In some other study, it will
be more than relevant to examine teachers‘ attitudes to alternative assessment as well, and compare the
two.
The purpose of this study is to identify, describe and compare undergraduate students‘ attitudes
regarding alternative assessment at BLU. Attitudes of students from 3 different faculties have been
explored and compared - Faculty of Philology, students of English language and literature, Faculty of
Philosophy, students of Primary Teacher and Preschool Teacher Education, and Faculty of Technology,
students of Graphic and Textile Technology and Design. Research questions to start with were:
What are the attitudes of undergraduate students to alternative and traditional
methods? What are the attitudes of undergraduates at Faculty of Philology to alternative
methods? What are the attitudes of undergraduates at Faculty of Philosophy to alternative
methods? What are the attitudes of undergraduates at Faculty of Technology to alternative
methods? Are there any differences between the attitudes of students from different faculties?
assessment
assessment
assessment
assessment
Research design
Sample
The study was carried out after the first semester of the 2010-2011 academic year, in February
2011, with the participation of 122 newly enrolled students at BLU. Students come from 3 Faculties and 5
Departments - Faculty of Philology, Department of English language and literature (66), Faculty of
Philosophy, Departments of Primary Teacher Education and Preschool Teacher Education (20), and
Faculty of Technology, Departments of Graphic Technology and Textile Technology and Design (36). In
the winter term 2010/2011 these students were involved in a range of both traditional and alternative
337
assessment techniques in their English classes.
The sample is convenient and not representative of the entire BLU student population. Majority of
the students were female, born in Bosnia-Hercegovina and age between 18 and 23. Level of proficiency in
English was ranging from A1-C1.
Method and instrument
The study employed a qualitative approach, and a post-course and post-exam questionnaire was
used as a data collection instrument. Students‘ general perceptions of different assessment practices and
formats, traditional and alternative, formal and informal, assessment with and without grades, were then
analysed and compared. The draft questionnaire had been pretested with fourth year students of English,
and also in different forms of midterm and end-of-term self-reflective essays.
The questionnaire University students‘ attitudes to assessment in FLT (EGP) (Appendix1) was
given to students of English, while the questionnaire University students‘ attitudes to assessment in FLT
(ESP) (Appendix2) was given to students of Primary and Preschool Teacher Education and students of
Technology. The questionnaires are the same, open-ended in nature, consisting of 10 questions related to
formal and informal, traditional and alternative, forms of assessment the students participated in during the
winter term 2010/2011, including final exams in February 2011. The only difference is in question nine,
the table providing scaffolding for assessment activities and the only closed-ended question asking for just
one answer, where the number of assessment activities is lower for the students of English for Specific
Purposes than for the students of English, who do English for General Purposes.
Content analysis and constant comparison method were used for interpreting qualitative data.
337
This was done to a slightly less extent at Faculties of Philosophy and Technology, not because these students
learn English for specific purposes but because the number of classes of English per week is much lower. Students
at Faculty of Philology have 8 classes of English weekly (four classes for integrated skills and four for translations
L1-L2 and L2-L1) whereas students at the other two faculties have only two classes per week.
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Data collection and procedure
Students were given questionnaires to fill in and clearly explained they were to be used solely for
research purposes, their anonymity secured. They were asked to be honest and given as much time as they
needed to complete the questionnaire. The language to be used was English, but it was made clear to the
students that the interest was in their thoughts and feelings, not at all in their language proficiency.
Moreover, they were offered to answer the questions using their mother tongue, if they found it easier.
In the analysis process all the responses were transcribed into a Microsoft Word file, and
afterwards analysed in terms of themes related to the study aims.
There are several limitations to this study that have to be highlighted in order to avoid
overgeneralisations and misinterpretations of results. First, due to time concerns the study was confined to
1st year students only, and only to students who came to class the day the questionnaire was delivered.
Second, due to the open-ended nature of the questionnaire on several occasions it was unclear what
students exactly meant, e.g. oral or written peer-assessment, speaking exam or speaking activity class,
translation from L1-L2 or L2-L1. Therefore, the results should be interpreted with care and only as an
initial insight into views of assessment of the students who participated in the sample. Further studies with
the same and broader sample are intended to be performed in the future in order to obtain a more reliable
and extensive picture.
Results - analysis and discussion
On the whole, students seemed very interested in discussing their views of assessment. They
answered all questions, often providing detailed reasons for their choices and offering suggestions. There
were only seven cases, all in Q9, when an answer was missing. Reasons for preferring some assessment
methods to others mostly fall into categories of affect and motivation, language learning and learning in
general. Substantial generalizations are impossible since great variability of answers was shown
throughout, proving considerable individual differences, but some insight is offered based on frequencies
of students‘ answers, analysed in categories determined by the questions in the questionnaire.
Personal preferences of assessment activity. In the first two questions, students expressed their
personal assessment favourites, individual likes and dislikes, and gave reasons for them. The form of
assessment that received the greatest frequency for both EGP (38%) and ESP students (40%) was an
alternative form - portfolio. The most frequently mentioned reasons for it being the favourite referred to
having enough time for learning, fostering creativity, interesting topics, handiness (‗everything in one
place‘). Findings show that students generally prefer home assignments to timed exam assignments. It is
not surprising, taking into consideration exam anxiety and stress. However, there were also students who
expressed doubts to reliability of assessing home assignments due to greater possibility of cheating –
copying essays from Internet or friends, or using Google translate. A third of ESP students disliked
traditional assessment form test, mostly because they found it boring and stressful.
Difficulty. Q3 and Q4 investigated students‘ opinion of the difficulty of assessment practices.
The results indicate that some forms are more difficult for individual students than others but generally
only small number of students found any of the assessment activities either too hard or too easy. This may
imply that the level of difficulty was appropriate for most students. Portfolio was mentioned as the easiest
by more than a third of the sample.
Usefulness. Next set of questions, Q5 and Q6, examined students‘ opinion of usefulness of
assessment practices. ESP students frequently mentioned portfolio and oral exam, while EGP students
showed a great diversity here by regarding very different assessment forms as useful for them. The
agreement in the most frequent answers was not higher than 20%. Generally, they found traditional forms,
like dictation, essay writing or translation tests, useful. However, peer assessment was also marked as
useful by 18% of students.
Potential for overall language competence assessment. Q7 asked which assessment activities
they feel show best their competence in English and why. The most frequent answer was oral assessment
(40%), and then writing papers‘ assessment. Dictations and translations came after speaking and writing,
and portfolio and peer assessment were mentioned by only 10 percent of the sample. In ESP group oral
exam as best method of showing their competence was mentioned by 52% of the students, and 33%
mentioned portfolio.
Potential for extensive holistic assessment of students – learner screening. Q8 asked which
assessment activities students feel show the teachers what type of student they really are. Similar to the
previous question answers, the most frequent answer was oral exam – about 40%. This suggests that
students value oral communication more highly than written. ESP students mentioned portfolio (34%)
more often than EGP students (17%) as revealing them as students.
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Q9 required from the students to evaluate more precisely each assessment activity undertaken
throughout the course and exam, deciding on only one word that best describes each. Results are shown in
the tables 1 and 2:
Peer assess oral
assess
Peer
Written
Portfolio
activities
Self assessment
Writing at home
Lett
Essays for nat
speak
Translation L1L2 test
Translation L2L1 test
exam
Dict Test
Timed
essay
Oral xamV
Oral examT
Table1 : Students‘ evaluation of traditional and alternative assessment forms (EGP – English Language
and Literature)
T
A
A
A
A
A
A
T
T
T
T
T
4
4
4
8
11
4
5
10
6
4
3
12
Assessment
Form/Activity
Dict Class
FACULTY OF PHILOLOGY
Assessment
A
Type/mode
Excellent
5
Interesting
4
5
18
9
18
13
9
15
4
2
19
19
15
Boring
1
2
7
7
5
3
8
14
3
3
4
1
2
Fun
4
0
9
9
12
11
5
6
4
3
3
4
8
Too easy
2
1
0
1
2
0
3
1
1
0
6
3
0
Too hard
3
7
2
2
0
2
2
1
6
15
4
5
5
Helpful
23
10
13
10
9
9
12
14
6
5
8
8
3
Important
7
23
2
0
0
6
9
1
22
23
11
11
10
Useful
16
10
9
14
6
6
13
6
10
6
4
5
1
Useless
0
1
0
10
3
2
0
3
0
2
1
0
2
Worthless
1
0
1
0
2
1
1
0
0
0
1
0
2
Other please0
state _______
3
1
0
1
2
0
0
0
1
1
7
6
Number
of66
responses N
65
Good (Little
stresfulhard)
NA
66
(good) (Little
hard)
NA
66
66
65
(stress (good) stres stres
ful)
5
5
NA 2 NA 1
66
66
66
66
66
64
65
Table2: Students‘ evaluation of traditional and alternative assessment forms (ESP - Technology&Teacher
Education)
FACULTY OF TECHNOLOGY and FACULTY OF PHILOSOPHY (TEACHER EDUCATION)
Peer
Assessment
assess Peer
assessPortfolio
Writing
atTest -grammar
form/activity oral
Written
activities
home
translation
Oral examV
Assess type
A
A
A
A
T
T
5
3
10
3
7
10
Excellent
9
1
6
Interesting
12
12
1
4
4
6
3
Boring
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Oral
examT
T
10
8
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Fun
Too easy
Too hard
Helpful
12
Important
Useful
6
12
1
4
6
Useless
Worthless
Other
please
state ________
N
56
3
1
3
10
4
7
9
3
1
6
5
2
1
14
10
7
4
2
56
56
56
1
11
7
2
2
10
4
3
6
6
4
22
7
3
17
12
16
9
//
54
56
56
Generally speaking, students in the sample found alternative assessment either interesting and
fun, or useful and helpful, whereas traditional assessment mainly important. It is obvious from the table
that traditional assessment forms, written exams were dominantly qualified as important, while less
traditional forms like peer-assessment, portfolio and self assessment were most frequently described as
interesting. It is slightly surprising to note that, contrary to other parts of formal traditional written exam
like translations and dictation, students of English found oral exam interesting, even excellent, more
frequently than important. Especially surprising is to see that timed essay, another traditional form of
assessment, was mostly qualified as interesting, rather than important.
It is important to note that although majority of students found peer assessment useful and
helpful, as well as interesting and fun, there were also almost 20 percent of those who thought written peer
assessment was useless. This form of assessment was mainly new to the students, and probably the most
demanding of their cognitive and linguistic abilities. The reasons they mentioned to explain their negative
attitude to this kind of assessment mainly referred to their incompetence, lack of expertise in language
assessment, or sheer insincerity to peers.
In Q10 students were asked which form of assessment was entirely new to them. Almost half of
the students said it was peer assessment, and immediately after that portfolio and essays for the native
speaker. Findings suggest that majority of students at BLU are not familiar with alternative assessment
methods when they start employing them. Only very few say their high school teachers used peer
correction, peer comments or portfolio. Instead, the entire assessment process throughout their preuniversity education, i.e. elementary and high school, seems to be heavily teacher dependent.
It was clear from the questionnaire that a great number of students of English expressed positive
attitudes to different assessment practices. When asked to say which assessment activities are the least
useful, more than a third of students in the sample answered that everything is useful. They show greater
awareness of the importance of various kinds of language assessment techniques than students from the
other two faculties in the study, especially Faculty of Technology. This may be explained by their better
understanding of complex nature of language as such, as well as of language learning and assessment.
It was interesting to note that, on the whole, students often did not make a clear distinction
between some assessment and learning activity. They commented portfolio as almost solely a learning
activity. This can further imply that they do not differentiate between the two. Such finding further
indicates that some students are not aware of certain assessment techniques, thus proving the fact that
learning and assessment are indeed, in practice, frequently inseparable.
Conclusions and Recommendations
The main conclusions that can be drawn from the study are that there is no major agreement
among students on the best assessment technique that fits all and that students are not indifferent to
assessment methods but have strong attitudes towards the ways their knowledge, and more particularly
their language competence, is assessed.
This study has also proved that students‘ perceptions of alternative assessment are to some extent
problematic. Students were sometimes contradictory in their attitudes in that despite very positive personal
preferences and opinions of alternative assessment activities they frequently viewed traditional, teacher
governed, assessment as a more important, valid and reliable indicator of their competence. This indicates
a strong social basis of attitudes in foreign language learning and the importance of educational strategies
aimed at developing appropriate attitudes toward assessment in general.
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In the light of the above conclusions it may be generally recommended that alternative assessment
strategies should be given more space in language classrooms, but must be very carefully organized,
explained to students and methodically monitored. Students need to be trained and given time to get
accustomed to the novelties in assessment. After that, alternative techniques could progressively be given
more credit in the overall assessment of students. The development of positive attitudes toward the
innovative assessment and learning activities is an important step toward developing more balanced
assessment designs in higher education.
Implications for theory are mainly in the confirmed finding that the questions which assessment
method is the best and which instruments best reflect student achievement and competence remain
unresolved. The purpose of this research was not to establish which method is the best, but to explore
students‘ attitudes towards different assessment practices and obtain deeper insight into experience of
assessment from the students‘ perspectives .
A practical recommendation to teachers would be to employ various methods and also offer
students choices regarding assessment, after which teachers could research which assessment their students
preferred to engage in. There is no, and probably never will be, one best method for assessing students‘
knowledge. It is yet another sound reason why many different assessment methods should be employed,
including various alternative assessment techniques. It is sensible to vary the weight of alternative
assessment marks against traditional assessment marks in the final grade according to context. In the initial
stages, when students are not used to the alternatives, it is more feasible to give them less importance in the
final mark than after a semester or two of using alternatives as ways of assessment. Some balance between
the two ought to be found so that a profile of students‘ abilities can be reliably assessed, and respect paid to
individual personal, linguistic and sociocultural differences.
Recommendations for further study in the area would include a larger and a more diverse
population during a longer research period. In future research, attitudes by male and female students could
be compared, as well as different age groups and students at different years of study. Teachers‘ and
administrators‘ attitudes to assessment should also be explored, particularly their readiness to employ and
experiment with alternatives to the canon.
All in all, it is not to be forgotten that changes for better or for worse take time to implement, and
so does alternative assessment. Teachers need to bear in mind that educating is greatly about raising
awareness, broadening horizons, fostering critical and creative thinking, developing whole persons. Some
students simply like to be spoon fed. Some teachers enjoy it too. That way is easier for both. However,
students need to learn how to feed themselves and they will not learn it unless someone puts a plate of food
and a spoon in front of them. What follows may not be pleasing or immediately successful, but is there
another way to learn how to eat? Students need to learn the material, but also to make decisions about what
they need to know, how they will acquire that knowledge and whether they succeeded in it. If students are
to become autonomous learners, better-equipped for life-long learning and improvement, they ought to
take greater responsibility for both learning and assessment.
It ought to be reminded that although teachers should be required to design various assessment
tasks that efficiently and continuously encourage students' learning and autonomy, the implementation of
this policy needs to suggest an optimistic future for teachers, as well as students. It has to be taken into
consideration that, while universities have been under increasing pressure to improve the quality of both
the teaching and learning of their students, they have also faced diminishing funding, increasing student
numbers and fulfilling complicated, time-consuming administrative requirements. Heavy workloads of
teachers resulting from these factors unquestionably have implications for assessment methods.
References
Alderson, J. C. and Banerjee, J. (2001). Language testing and assessment (Part 1). Language Teaching 34,
4:213-236.
Bachman, L. & Palmer A.S. (1996). Language testing in Practice: Developing Useful language tests.
Oxford: Oxford University Press
.
Black, P. and Wiliam D., (1998). Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards through Classroom Assessment .
London: School of Education, King's College.
Boud, D. (1990). Assessment and the promotion of academic values, Studies in Higher
Education 15, 110–113.
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Boud, D. (1995). Enhancing learning through self-assessment, London, Routledge Falmer.
Cohen, A. D. (1994). Assessing language ability in the classroom. 2nd edition. Boston, MA: Heinle and
Heinle Publishers.
Council of Europe. (2001). Common European Framework Of Reference for Languages: Learning,
teaching, assessment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Falchikov, N. (1995). Peer feedback marking: Developing peer assessment, Innovations in Education and
Teaching International 32, 175–187.
Falchikov, Nancy & Goldfinch, Judy (2000). Student peer assessment in higher education: A metaanalysis comparing peer and teacher marks. Review of Educational Research, 70(3), 287–322.
Falchikov, N. (2001). Learning Together: Peer Tutoring in Higher Education. London:Routledge Falmer.
Falchikov, Nancy (2005). Improving Assessment through student involvement: Practical solution for
aiding learning in higher and further education. New York: RoutledgeFalmer.
Genesee, F. and Upshur, J. (1996). Classroom-based Evaluation in Second Language Education.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hancock, C.R. (1994). Alternative assessment and second language study, CAL Digests
Huerta-Macias. (1995). Alternative assessment – Responses to commonly asked
questions. TESOL Journal. 5.8–11.
Kirkpatrick, D. and Fuller, R. (1995). The challenge of peer assessment. In Summers, L. (Ed), A Focus on
Learning, p146-149. Proceedings of the 4th Annual Teaching Learning Forum, Edith Cowan University,
February 1995. Perth: Edith Cowan University. http://lsn.curtin.edu.au/tlf/tlf1995/kirkpatrick.html
Peng, Jui-ching. (2010). Peer Assessment in an EFL Context: Attitudes and Correlations. In Selected
Proceedings of the 2008 Second Language Research Forum, ed. Matthew T. Prior et al., 89-107.
Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project. www.lingref.com, document #2387.
Richards C. J., Renenadaya A. W., (2002): Methodology in Language Teaching, Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Sambell, K., McDowell, L., & Brown, S. (1997). 'But is it fair?': an exploratory study of student
perceptions of the consequential validity of assessment. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 23 (4), 349371.
Sluijsmans, Dominique, M. A., Dochy, Filip, J. R. C., & Moerkerke, Geroge (1999). Creating a learning
environment by using self-, peer- and co-assessment. Learning Environments Research, 1, 293–319.
Topping, Keith (1998). Peer assessment between students in colleges and universities. Review of
Educational Research, 68(3), 249–276.
Tsagari, Dina. (2004). Is there life beyond language testing? Crile Working Papers No58.
APPENDIX 1
Sample questionnaire form for EGP students
University students‘ attitudes to assessment in FLT (EGP)
Please answer honestly the following questions related to your experience with Modern English 1
course:
1 Which assessment activities of the Modern English 1 course do you like the most? Please say why.
2 Which assessment activities do you dislike the most? Why?
3 Which assessment activities do you think are the hardest? Why?
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�Excellent
Interesting
Boring
Fun
Too easy
Too hard
Helpful
Important
Useful
Useless
Worthless
Other: please
state ________
10 Which assessment activities were totally new to you and how did you feel about them?
APPENDIX 2
Oral examT
Oral examV
–Gram
Test
Voc
at
Writing
home
Portfolio
activities
assess
Peer
Written
Peer
oral
assess
Sample questionnaire form for ESP students
University students‘ attitudes to assessment in FLT (ESP)
Please answer honestly the following questions related to your experience with English 1 course:
1 Which assessment activities of the English 1 course do you like the most? Please say why.
2 Which assessment activities do you dislike the most? Why?
3 Which assessment activities do you think are the hardest? Why?
4 Which assessment activities do you think are the easiest? Why?
5 Which assessment activities do you think are the most useful? Why?
6 Which assessment activities do you think are the least useful? Why?
7 Which assessment activities do you feel show best your competence in English? Why?
8 Which assessment activities do you feel show the teachers what type of student you really are? Why?
9 Please rate different assessment activities you engaged in using one word that best describes it:
Excellent
Interesting
Boring
Fun
Too easy
Too hard
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Oral examT
exam
Timed
essay
Translation
L2-L1 test
Translation
L1-L2 test
Essays for nat
speaker
at
Writing
home Lett
Self assessment
Portfolio
activities
assess
Peer
Written
assess
Peer
oral
Dictation T
Dictation C
4 Which assessment activities do you think are the easiest? Why?
5 Which assessment activities do you think are the most useful? Why?
6 Which assessment activities do you think are the least useful? Why?
7 Which assessment activities do you feel show best your competence in English? Why?
8 Which assessment activities do you feel show the teachers what type of student you really are? Why?
9 Please rate different assessment activities you engaged in using one word that best describes it:
Oral examV
1st International Conference on Foreign Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics
May 5-7 2011 Sarajevo
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May 5-7 2011 Sarajevo
Helpful
Important
Useful
Useless
Worthless
Other:
please
________
state
10 Which assessment activities were totally new to you and how did you feel about them?
If you have any additional comments please write overleaf.
Thank you
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University students‘ attitudes towards alternative assessment in FLT
Author
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Josifovic Elezovic, Sanja
Abstract
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This paper describes a small-scale study of newly enrolled university students regarding their views of nontraditional strategies of assessment in foreign language teaching. Taking into account the importance of attitudes to student motivation for learning, as well as contemporary education reform issues related to assessment, the research investigates students‘ attitudes towards alternative assessment methods, primarily peer, self and portfolio assessment, following a one semester, undergraduate course at University of Banjaluka. Attitudes of students from 3 different faculties - Philology, Philosophy, and Technology, are explored and compared. The findings reveal that majority of students endorse alternative assessment techniques in FLT, and suggest their implementation in other subjects. This research confirms numerous benefits of alternative assessment application at university level, supporting beliefs of other researchers that using alternative assessment techniques to assess student learning can lead to increased self reflection, higher cognitive skills development, improved intrinsic motivation, creativity, communication, cooperation, integration of language skills and enhanced overall student performance. In conclusion, benefits for students, teachers and institutions have been summarized, and the use of alternative assessment recommended as an effective supplement, if not replacement, to traditional tests and exams, which will suit the needs of individual students by paying more respect to their personal, linguistic and sociocultural diversity.
Date
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2011-05
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PeerReviewed
P Philology. Linguistics
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b7e8cf5bbada95f9580c832d057301b2
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Text
1st International Conference on Foreign Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics
May 5-7 2011 Sarajevo
Business English Courses:
Towards Sociolinguistic and Pragmatic Competence
Elzbieta Jendrych
Kozminski University, Poland
Head of the Language Centre and the Director of the Business English Postgraduate Program
jendrych@alk.edu.pl
Abstract: Global business environment requires a new approach to needs analysis in
business English courses for adult learners. With increasing demand for excellent business
communicators from multinational corporations, language teachers, publishers and
materials writers are expected to offer more effective language courses. To be good
communicators learners need to acquire both linguistic and non-linguistic competence.
The latter refers to sociolinguistic and pragmatic competence and includes four basic
components: (1) practicing transferable business skills and managerial skills, (2) being
aware of intercultural differences and business etiquette, (3) understanding the principles
of business ethics and corporate social responsibility, and (4) applying the principles of
effecting business writing. Time of the course permitting, these four components
incorporated into a language course are likely to make it more attractive and useful to the
learner. This approach to language teaching was assessed in a questionnaire – tertiary
level students were asked to assess their competence, strengths and weaknesses. The
results of the study suggest that students highly appreciate the non-linguistic course
components. The respondents believe that these components are of key importance in
effective business communication and contribute to increased employability and
promotion opportunities.
Key words: ESP, business English, sociolinguistic and pragmatic competence.
Introduction
Teaching business English in a systematic way has over fifty year old history. In business English
courses teaching priorities have changed in line with changing approaches and teaching methods. The relative
importance of course components has also changed over time. The priority of grammar, vocabulary and
pronunciation was replaced by the priority of communication. Good language skills do not guarantee that a
learner will be a good communicator in business situations. However, in the majority of cases they are
fundamental to acquiring good communicative skills.
As a result of corpus studies we have witnessed attempts to describe language more accurately. Corpus
studies have given ―ample evidence of the existence of significant language patterns which have gone largely
unrecorded in centuries of study‖ (Sinclair 1985: 251). Linguists started to create frequency lists of core
vocabulary and collocations. Today, there are more and more linguists and teachers who believe that acquisition
of vocabulary is central in second language acquisition (Zimmerman 1997; Nation 1990). Others think that not
only single words but also larger phrasal units, so called ‗chunks‘, are fundamental to improving fluency
(McCarthy 1990). The concept of teaching language formulae rather than single words has many supporters.
Most teachers adapt new approaches to language teaching and try to improve their methodologies. Now,
more than ever before, they should consider not only how to teach but also what to teach. According to the
guidelines for language teaching and learning published in the Common European Framework of Reference for
Languages (2001) communicative competence includes three components: linguistic competence, sociolinguistic
competence and pragmatic competence.
In order to improve communicative competence teachers need to incorporate course components aimed
at improving two non-linguistic competencies, i.e. sociolinguistic and pragmatic competence. Business English
students need to achieve excellent communicative competence if they want to be high performers in their
professional careers. If teachers and materials writers fail to recognize this need, they will not be able to offer
effective language courses. The aim of the paper is to demonstrate that inclusion of non-linguistic components is
essential when designing business English courses of today.
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Linguistic component
The linguistic component of a business English course has always been central. Linguistic competence
includes lexical, grammar, semantic, phonological, orthographic and orthoepic competence. In courses of
business English at tertiary level students usually need to improve their lexical competence in order to be able to
communicate in typical business situations.
Without good lexical input courses cannot be effective. Nation and Newton (1997: 238) say that course
designers need to ―decide what vocabulary will be selected for teaching, how it will be sequenced, and how it
will be presented‖. They also explore one more important issue: incorporating vocabulary development into
communicative activities. This element is crucial in business English courses at universities. Students can benefit
most when they have a chance to develop their business vocabulary in communicative activities.
Proper selection of core business vocabulary, terminology, collocations, and phrases is very important
in all business English courses. Without corpus studies the right selection of business terms and business lexis
items is hardly possible. The same refers to selecting metaphors, acronyms and abbreviations and presenting
them in the form of frequency lists excerpted from corpus texts. With this evidence language teachers and
course-book writers know which items to include in their teaching materials and what to prioritize in the
classroom practice. Students are more motivated if they know they learn the things that they will need most in
real-life business situations.
Today, methodological constraints do not exist. Teachers usually use a mixture of approaches that best
matches learners‘ needs. The eclectic approach to teaching has resulted in a more flexible syllabus design and
course design. Teachers are encouraged to develop tailor-made supplementary materials for specific group of
learners. However, they should be encouraged to use corpus evidence. Lists of highest-frequency specialized
business lexis in the form of single words, compounds and multi-word expressions as well as popular
collocations and acronyms are highly recommended in all courses of business English for adults.
Sociolinguistic and pragmatic components
The other two components of communicative competence, i.e. sociolinguistic competence and
pragmatic competence, contribute greatly to effective business communication. Why are they particularly
important in the language of business? Effective business communication helps in making new contacts,
networking, winning new markets, getting more customers; in short - it helps in making money.
―Communication is an essential function of enterprise. Whether written or oral, it is the conduit through
which an enterprise speaks to its customers. It is management‘s mechanism for influencing employees and
directing the work they do. And it is a means through which employees provide the information and feedback
that management needs to make sound decisions‖ (Luecke 2003: ix). If an organization wants to create a
favorable image and be perceived as a reputable enterprise, it needs good communicators. ―An organization that
is clear, consistent, and effective in its communications with customers, employees, shareholders, creditors, and
the community is in a good position to establish trust and to elicit their collaboration‖ (Luecke 2003: ix).
With excellent communication skills businessmen can achieve more. People who are good
communicators are much more successful at advancing in their careers than those who are poor communicators.
Language students know that and they understand that better communication competence means higher
employability, higher salary and better promotion opportunities. That is why they need business English courses
that can improve their communicative competence. Linguistic competence, important as it is, will not make them
good communicators.
In fact, experience shows that there are four areas that need to be incorporated into business English
courses: (1) business skills and managerial skills, (2) business culture and etiquette, (3) business ethics and
corporate social responsibility, and (4) business writing.
Business skills
Speaking about Business English, Harmer says that ―an enormous growth area in English language
teaching has been in the area of Business English because many students perceive a need for the kind of
language which will allow them to operate in the world of English-medium commerce. Once again there is
specific vocabulary and language events (presenting to colleagues, the language of contracts, etc.) which are
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unlikely to appear in a general English course, but which are vitally important for business students. And so
teachers find themselves training classes in such procedures as the art of negotiating, the correct use of phones
and e-mail, or the reading of business reports‖ (Harmer 2003 :10).
What does it mean in business English teaching practice? What students and language teachers need to
do is first to learn/teach the core business terms, and then to go beyond language correctness, mastery of
grammar, business lexis, and phraseology. In a course of business English at a higher level the traditional
business skills of negotiations, presentations, meetings and telephoning need to be combined with managerial
skills. Now, such new skills as conflict management, assigning roles in a team, setting tasks and goals and
communicating them, and organizing teamwork also need to be incorporated into a business English course.
The importance of practicing business and management skills in a course of Business English is
confirmed by many experts in ESP teaching (Harmer 2003); (McGrath 2002). McGrath is of the opinion that
―knowledge and skill combine in efficient communication. However, teaching for knowledge is very different
from teaching for skill. Knowledge can be ‘presented‘ or ‗discovered‘; it can also be forgotten. Skill, on the other
hand, can only be acquired through practice, and once acquired is relatively easily maintained. The fact is that
while we can ‗teach‘ knowledge, we cannot teach skill. Skill has to be learned, and practice is a central element
in that learning‖ (McGrath 2002: 98).
Many skills needed in the world of business are transferrable which means that they can be acquired.
Learning new skills requires practice in performing various realistic business roles. It is usually done either in
groups (e.g. negotiations, meetings) or individually (e.g. sales presentations, business writing). Students can
practice new skills most effectively through task-based learning. This method requires students‘ involvement in
real-life business tasks such as e.g. preparing an offer for a client, applying for a job or interviewing job
applicants, or discussing financial statements. Here, instead of doing language exercises students perform
various realistic business tasks in typical business situations and practice transferrable skills.
The case study method is particularly effective in the process of acquiring new managerial skills
because it is an active form of learning. The teacher is only a facilitator and it is students who analyze and solve
a given business problem themselves. Generally, students like to solve business cases. The case study method
gives them a sense of independence and competition and a feeling that they are decision-makers. Two factors are
of key importance: (1) students have a sense of achievement and progression which motivates them to learn
more and (2) they practice language skills in a very natural way.
Business culture and etiquette
It is a challenging time for business people operating in a competitive environment. In addition to
business skills, a successful business career also implies awareness of cultural differences, being tolerant to other
cultures and using this knowledge to the benefit of the company. Organizations are becoming more
multicultural; many companies operate internationally, use diverse labor and communicate with partners and
customers from various regions who represent different cultures.
Business people need to know and understand their own cultural background, their attitudes and
priorities. If they operate globally, they also need to know and respect other cultures. To avoid culture clashes
with their business partners, they have to be flexible and tolerant and remember that cultural differences cannot
be an obstacle to transacting business and attracting more customers. For teachers and learners of business
English it means that a component of intercultural communication needs to be added either as a separate subject
or as a component of a language course.
The cultural component can be helpful in identifying the characteristics of a given culture, it can teach
students what to do and what to avoid, how to address people, how to greet them or how to use body language
properly. Learners who know the dress code, business etiquette and who have good manners are likely to be
more effective in their future business contacts. ‗Manners make man‘ – this old proverb is true in the world of
global business nowadays. Those who do not know the principles of business etiquette may find it difficult to
establish and maintain good business relationships. Mistakes resulting from not knowing the etiquette may be
costly to a company and an individual. Therefore, the basic rules of business etiquette such as exchanging
business cards, extending invitations and accepting or declining them, etc. should also be taught.
With better understanding of globalization processes, a cultural component has been included in many
business schools curricula. Students are taught courses in intercultural or cross-cultural communication and
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business etiquette. Such courses can give learners the basic information on the main typologies of business
culture (e.g. monochronic versus polychronic, pro-partner versus pro-transaction, multi-active versus linearactive or reactive, and collectivist versus individualist) and of cultural do‘s and taboos in various regions and
countries.
Business ethics and corporate social responsibility
Business people also need to understand generally accepted principles of business ethics and rules of
corporate social responsibility (CSR). Rarely can one find a business organization that ignores these issues. A
company which violates ethical or moral rules or does nothing for the community is no longer considered a
reputable company. Students need to know which corporate practices as well as individual and collective
behaviors are desirable and which are publicly condemned. They need to be exposed to such negative practices
as tax evasion, using child labour, insider trading, cooking the books or mobbing. A business English course can
be a good forum for discussing ethical issues of that kind.
Business organizations also have to know and respect the rules of environmental protection, ‗going
green‘ and sustainable growth. The general public expects companies to keep the environment free from
contamination and pollution. Generating high profits at all costs and polluting the environment will quickly and
inevitably devastate a good image of the company and, in extreme cases, lead to its bankruptcy. That is why,
business people need to learn how to follow the standards and good practice guidelines and how to avoid bad
publicity.
Business writing
Business writing is of key importance for business professionals. It is a typical pragmatic competence –
here students need to know the principles according to which messages are organized, structured and arranged,
how messages are used to perform communicative functions and how messages should be sequenced (Council of
Europe 2001). Without this pragmatic competence students with a very good command of English are not able to
write a proper business letter or report. They need to learn what layout, style and tone to use as well as how to
structure, organize and sequence information.
Typically business English courses at universities include the component of business writing. Students
are first exposed to authentic examples showing models of commercial correspondence, memoranda, business
reports, contracts, financial statements and advertising materials. Then they are given a scenario of a business
situation which requires a response in writing. The basic principles of business writing include having a clear
purpose, staying on the topic, economizing on words and using short sentences. General guidelines on the proper
language use for each format are also useful.
The only method to learn effective business writing is the trial and error method. Long experience in
teaching business English to university students shows that it is the only successful way to learn business
writing. It may be painful and time-consuming for both students and teachers but it works.
Questionnaire study
More than 120 upper-intermediate and advanced students of Kozminski University were asked to
complete a questionnaire. It included questions on self assessment of their linguistic competence and on what
they consider to be the weak and strong points in their linguistic competence. The respondents were in the
middle of their business English course. They were divided into three groups: full-time undergraduate students,
part-time undergraduate students, and students of business English postgraduate course. The results are presented
below.
Score
Excellent
Good
Sufficient
Insufficient
Table 1. Self assessment of linguistic competence in the three groups (%).
Speaking
Writing
Speaking
Reading
comprehension
comprehension
24
14
33
35
44
59
50
55
20
24
13
9
10
3
4
1
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Table 2. Self assessment of strengths (%*).
Component
Business
vocabulary
Business writing
Business culture and
etiquette
Business skills
Full-time
students
Part-time
students
Postgraduate
students
Total
37
50
66
49
35
36
57
41
16
33
40
28
12
5
29
14
Table 3. Self assessment of weaknesses (%*).
Component
Full-time
students
Part-time
students
Postgraduate
students
Business vocabulary
35
40
29
Business writing
35
29
31
Business culture and etiquette
8
2
20
Business skills
33
52
34
* In question 2 and 3 the respondents could give more than one answer.
Total
35
32
9
40
The only finding which requires author‘s comment is a relatively low number of full-time and part-time
students who considered poor understanding of business culture and etiquette to be the main weakness in their
linguistic competence. It can be explained by the fact that they had taken a course on business culture and
etiquette before the questionnaire was completed.
Conclusions
Language learners have new needs resulting from the rapidly changing business environment of today.
They expect that language courses will make them good communicators in the global world of business.
Language teachers should try to understand students‘ new needs and be open to changes. It takes a lot of time
and energy to learn how to teach the non-linguistic components. Yet, it seems to be inevitable if language
teachers want to be successful in meeting the changing needs of their students.
The paper demonstrates how language teachers can best satisfy the new learners‘ needs in courses of
business English for university students. By incorporating the four additional components into a business English
course they provide their students with an opportunity to practice the language and to improve their
sociolinguistic and pragmatic competence. It seems that quite frequently sociolinguistic and pragmatic
competence cannot be developed properly at tertiary level due to a limited number of hours of instruction in a
language course. As a result of such limitations, teachers tend to concentrate on linguistic competence rather
than non-linguistic one. Consequently, learners‘ communicative competence cannot be improved.
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References:
Nation, P. (1990). Teaching and Learning Vocabulary. New York: Newburry House.
Council of Europe. (2001). Common European Framework for Reference for Languages:
Learning, Teaching and Assessment. Cambridge: CUP.
Harmer, J. (2003). The Practice of English Language Teaching. Harlow: Longman.
Luecke, R. (2003). Business Communication. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
McCarthy, M. (1990). Vocabulary. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
McGrath, I. (2002). Materials Evaluation and Design for Language Teaching. Edinburgh: Edinburgh
University Press.
Nation, P. & J. Newton. (1997). Teaching Vocabulary. In J. Coady & T. Huckin (Eds.),
Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition (pp. 238-254). Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Sinclair, J. (1985). Selected Issues. In R. Quirk & H.G. Widdowson (Eds.), English in the
World (pp. 248-254). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Zimmerman, C. B. (1997). Historical Trends in Second Language Vocabulary Instruction. In
J. Coady & T. Huckin (Eds.), Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition (pp.1-5).
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
412
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Title
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Business English Courses: Towards Sociolinguistic and Pragmatic Competence
Author
Author
Jendrych, Elzbieta
Abstract
A summary of the resource.
Global business environment requires a new approach to needs analysis in business English courses for adult learners. With increasing demand for excellent business communicators from multinational corporations, language teachers, publishers and materials writers are expected to offer more effective language courses. To be good communicators learners need to acquire both linguistic and non-linguistic competence. The latter refers to sociolinguistic and pragmatic competence and includes four basic components: (1) practicing transferable business skills and managerial skills, (2) being aware of intercultural differences and business etiquette, (3) understanding the principles of business ethics and corporate social responsibility, and (4) applying the principles of effecting business writing. Time of the course permitting, these four components incorporated into a language course are likely to make it more attractive and useful to the learner. This approach to language teaching was assessed in a questionnaire – tertiary level students were asked to assess their competence, strengths and weaknesses. The results of the study suggest that students highly appreciate the non-linguistic course components. The respondents believe that these components are of key importance in effective business communication and contribute to increased employability and promotion opportunities.
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1st International Conference on Foreign Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics
May 5-7 2011 Sarajevo
Ambiguity in Foreign Language Acquisition and Role of Language
Aptitude
Alma JeftiĤ
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
International University of Sarajevo
ajeftic@ius.edu.ba
Abstract: The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of cognitive theories
important for foreign language acquisition and to emphasize the role of language
aptitude for foreign language comprehension. Language comprehension is a specific
example of the perceptual processes, and the same principles that emerge in
perception also play important role in language. Ambiguity resolution is a key
component of language comprehension, and it is similar to ambiguity in perceptual
processes. According to CANAL-FT cognitive theory of foreign language
acquisition, one of the central abilities required for foreign language acquisition is the
ability to cope with novelty and ambiguity. This ability will be explained as a part of
the experiential aspect of intelligence, based on Sternberg‘s triarchic theory of human
intelligence. Novel tasks or situations serve as good measures of intellectual ability
and more intelligent individuals move from consciously learning in a novel situation
to automating the new learning. Applied to classroom environment, this theory
predicts that language aptitude is kind of information processing and developing
expertize, rather than an entity fixed at birth. Language aptitude training should
increase language performance and lead to ambiguity resolution.
Key Words: language acquisition, ambiguity resolution, CANAL-FT, triarchic
theory, language aptitude training
Introduction
The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of cognitive theories important for foreign
language acquisition and to emphasize the role of language aptitude for foreign language comprehension. Also,
the purpose and importance of statistical language mechanisms will be concidered through analysis of
contemporary researches. Language comprehension is a specific example of the perceptual processes, and the
same principles that emerge in perception also play important role in language.
Ambiguity resolution is a key component of language comprehension, and it is similar to ambiguity in
perceptual processes. According to CANAL-FT cognitive theory of foreign language acquisition, one of the
central abilities required for foreign language acquisition is the ability to cope with novelty and ambiguity. This
ability will be explained as a part of the experiential aspect of intelligence, based on Sternberg‘s triarchic theory
of human intelligence. Novel tasks or situations serve as good measures of intellectual ability and more
intelligent individuals move from consciously learning in a novel situation to automating the new learning.
Applied to classroom environment, this theory predicts that language aptitude is kind of information processing
and developing expertize, rather than an entity fixed at birth. Language aptitude training should increase
language performance and lead to ambiguity resolution.
The constrained statistical learning framework suggests that learning is central to language acquisition,
and that the specific nature of language learning explains similarities across languages. The crucial point is that
learning is constrained and learners are not open-minded, and calculate some statistics more readily than others.
Human learning mechanisms, such as statistical mechanisms, may themselves have played a prominent role in
shaping the structure of human languages.
Method of the Study
This study is designed in qualitative research approach in which literature review method has been
chosen. The main reason why this method has been chosen is that the overview of contemporary theories should
be provided as well as the results of recent researches on language acquisition. Moreover, this study does not
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attempt to generalize the results but aims to obtain deeper understanding of cognitive theories of foreign
language acquisition and its application to classroom environment.
Findings and Discussion
Language Comprehension as Perceptual Process
According to Galasso, acquisition is a sub-conscious process identical in all important ways to the
process children use in acquiring their first language, while Learning is a conscious process that results in
knowing about language (Galasso, 2002). The theories regarding second language acquisition are quite
debatable, especially because of the distinction that has been drawn by Stephen Krashen in respect to the
difference between second language acquisition and learning (Krashen, 1982). Thus, second language
acquisition is the process by which children unconsciously acquire their native language, while learning stands
for the ―conscious knowledge of a second language, knowing the rules, being aware of them and being able to
talk about them‖ (Krashen, 1982, 69).
First theory about second language learning states that the principles of the Universal Grammar count
only during the critical period, after which other learning mechanisms, not specific to first language acquisition,
operate in the process of second language learning (Krashen, 1982).
A second theory proposes that second language is acquired on the same universal innate principles that
govern first language acquisition, which is why we may find the same stages of development, although the
second language grammar is not completely acquired due to nonlinguistic factors that influence it (Krashen,
1982).
Language comprehension is a specific case of percpetual processes, since the similar stages that occur
in perception also occur in language. Perceptual system resolves the ambiguities inherent in a two-dimensional
representation by making assumption about the way objects in the world usually look (Willingham, 2007, 68).
Top-down and bottom-up processes, present in preception, also play a certain role in language processing. Also,
McGurk's effect, as well as categorical perceptions demonstrates connection between perceptual and language
processing.
McGurk effect is showing that both visual and auditory information are used in phoneme perception,
whilst categorical perception refers to the fact that people do not perceive slight variations in how phonemes are
pronounced (Willingham, 2007, 507). Phonemes can vary along certain dimensions with no costs in their
perceivability.
Given
the
close
relationship
between
second
language acquisition
and other
areas of inquiry, there are numerous approaches from which to examine second language data, each of which
brings to the study of second language acquisition its own goals, its own data-collection methods, and its own
analytic tools (Gass, 1994). Therefore, second language acquisition is truly an interdisciplinary field.
Ambiguity Resolution and CANAL-FT
Since psychologists have observed that people vary in their ability to learn foreign language, they have
tried to formulate theories and design tests of foreign language learning abilities (Grigorenko et al, 2000). Tests
can help psychologists and educators know to whom to devote what levels and what kinds of resources, be able
to predict success in language learning instruction, and be able to compare actual achievement with the
achievement one might expect on the basis of foreign language learning ability (Grigorenko et al, 2000).
There are several tests that are used to measure foreign language learning ability:
-
Modern Language Aptitude Test (MLAT; Carroll & Sapon, 1958) – measures phonetic cooding
ability, grammatical sensitivity, memory, and inductive language learning;
-
Pimsleur Language Aptitude Battery (PLAB, Pimsleur, 1966) – measures the ability to infer
language structure from artificial language stimuli;
-
Army Language Aptitude Test (ALAT, Horne, 1971) – predicts learner success, particularly in
learning to speak and read Westen Indo-European languages;
-
Defense Language Aptitude Battery (DLAB, Petersen & Al-Haik, 1976) - measures the ability to
infer language structure from artificial language stimuli;
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-
VORD (Parry & Child, 1990) – tests the ability to cope with grammar systems similar to that of
Turkic languages.
These tests have been generally effective in predicting foreign language abilities and success. But, when
foreign language aptitude and intelligence tests are used together as predictors of foreign language learning
success, results always reveal significant correlations between the two kinds of tests (Gardner & Lambert, 1965;
Weche, Edwards & Wells, 1982).
The hypothesis that intelligence and aptitude might play a different roles in foreign language learning
has been investigated within longitudinal framework (Lett & O‘Mara, 1990; Skehan, 1989). The Cognitive
Ability for Novelty in Acquisition of Language Test represents the possible instantiation of a cognitive theory of
foreign language acquisition that stresses the role of coping with novelty in such acquisition (Grigorenko et al,
2000).
The CANAL-F theory holds that one of the central abilities required for foreign language acquisition is
the ability to cope with novelty and ambiguity which is a part of the experiential aspect of intelligence described
by the triarchic theory of human intelligence (Sternberg, 1985, 1988, 1997).
Novelty and Ambiguity in Sternberg‘s Triarchic Theory of Intelligence
Sternberg‘s triarchic theory of intelligence includes three facets or subtheories: analytical
(componential), creative (experiential) and practical (contextual) (Sternberg, 1985).
Creative or experiential dimension examines how people approach new and unfamiliar tasks. This is
also insightful dimension to a person‘s intelligence. It can be further divided into two categories: novelty (how a
person reacts with a first exposure to a new scenario), and automatization (how a person handels repeated tasks,
or practice) (Sternberg, 1987).
In its application to foreign language learning, several knowledge acquisition processes specifying
CANAL-F theory are Present:
-
selective encoding – how to distinguish between more and less relevant information;
-
accidental encoding – how to encode secondary or background information:
-
selective comparison – how to determine the relevance of old information for current tasks;
-
selective transfer – how to apply decoded or inferred rules to new contexts and tasks;
-
selective combination – how to synthetize the disparate pieces of information that have been
collected via selective and accidental encoding and modify the learner‘s existing schemata.
(Grigorenko et al, 2000)
In foreign learning, the abovementioned five knowledge acquisition processes operate at four levels:
-
the lexical level deals with one‘s learning, understanding and use of words;
-
the morphological level deals woth the words‘ structures and derivations;
-
the semantic level deals with one‘s understanding and use of the meaning of the words;
-
the syntactic level deals with one‘s learning, understanding and use of the grammatical principles.
(Grigorenko et al, 2000)
These four levels of knowledge acquisition operates in two models of input and output: visual and oral
mode. The former predominates in reading and writing, while the letter is involved in listening and speaking.
CANAL-F theory suggests that language aptitude is based on expertize in certain kinds of information
processing that, like any other kind of expertize, can be developed (Sternberg, 1988). Therefore, language
aptitude is a form of developing expertizes rather than an entity fixed at birth (Grigorenko et al, 2000). On the
ground of that, language aptitude training should increase language performance and lead to ambiguity
resolution.
Mechanisms of Statistical Language Learning
Can learning-oriented theories also account for the existence of language universals? The constrained
statistical learning framework suggests that learning is central to language acquisition, and that the specific
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nature of language learning explains similarities across languages. The crucial point is that learning is
constrained and learners are not open-minded, and calculate some statistics more readily than others. Of
particular interest are those constraints on learning that correspond to cross-linguistic similarities (Newport &
Aslin, 2000). According to this framework, the similarities across languages are indeed nonaccidental, as
suggested by the Chomskian framework, but they are not the result of innate linguistic knowledge. Instead,
human languages have been shaped by human learning mechanisms (Saffran, 2003).
If human languages have been shaped by constraints on human learning mechanisms, it seems likely
that these mechanisms and their constraints were not tailored solely for language acquisition. Instead, learning in
nonlinguistic domains should be similarly constrained. Learning mechanisms not specifically designed for
language learning might have shaped the structure of human languages. Results of Saffran's study suggests that
human language learners posses powerful statistical learning capacities (Saffran 2003).
By investigating how infants weight statistical cues relative to other cues to word segmentation early in
life scientists have found ways in which statistical learning may help infans to determine the relevance of the
many cues inherent in language input, as well as to discover how infants in bilingual environments cope with
multiple sets of statistics.
Researches disagree about when learning is best described as statistically based as opposed to rule
based, and about whether learning can still be concidered statistical when the input to learning is abstract
(Saffran, 2002).
Although the answer to this question remains unknown, it is possible that a combination of inherent constraints
on the types of patterns acquired by learners, and the use of output from one level of learning as input to the
next, may help to explain why something so complex is mastered readily by the human mind (Saffran, 2003).
Therefore, human learning mechanisms may themselves have played a prominent role in shaping the structure of
human languages.
Conclusions and Recommendations
In this study, the clear overview of current cognitive theories as well as ability measures of foreign
language ability was provided.
There is no clear distinction on which test is the most applicable, since it depends on the purpose of
each research. The main contribution of this paper is that it provides an overview of contemporary ideas on
foreign language learning mechanisms with regard to psychological methods.
Novelty resolution as one of the concepts of Sternberg‘s experiential facet plays a big role in foreign
language acquisition. The main reccommendations of this papert for further analysis include the impact of
language aptitude on language acquisition and use of different leraning methods, especcially statistical language
learning mechanisms.
According to Chomsky, children are able to learn the superficial grammar of a particular language
because all intelligible languages are founded on a deep structure of grammatical rules that are universal and that
correspond to an innate capacity of the human brain. Therefore, stages in the acquisition of a native language can
be measured by the increasing complexity and originality of a child‘s utterances.
People learning a second language pass through some of the same stages, including overgeneralization,
as do children learning their native language. But, people rarely become as fluent in a second language as in their
native tongue.
Most traditional methods for second language acquisition involve some systematic approach to the
analysis of grammar as well as to the memorization of vocabulary. The cognitive approach described in this
paper emphasizes extemporaneous conversation, immersion, aptitude growth and development, intelligence and
techniques intended to stimulate the environment in which most people acquire their native language as children.
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References
Galasso, J. (2002). Interference in second language learning: A review of fundamental difference hypothesis,
Northridge: California State University.
Gardner, R.C. &Lambert, W.E. (1965). Language aptitude, intelligence and second-language achievement.
Journal of Educational Psychology, 56, 191-199.
Gass, S.M. & Selinker, L. (1994). Second language acquisition: An introductory course, Hillsdale, New Yersey,
Hove and London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Grigorenko, E.L., Sternber, R.J. & Ehrman, M.E. (200). A theory-based approach to the measurement of foreign
language ability: the Canal-F Theory and Test. The Modern Journal, No. 3, Vol. 84, 390-405.
Krashen, S. (1982). Second language acquisition and second language learning, South California: Pergamon
Press Inc.
Lett, J.A. & O‘Marra, F.E. (1990). Predictors of success in an intensive foreign language learning context:
correlates of language learning at the Defence Language Institute Foreign Language Center. In T. Parry & C.W.
Stansfield (Eds.), Language Aptitude Reconcidered (222-260), Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Regents.
Saffran, J.R. (2002). Constraints on statistical language learning. Journal on Memory and Language, 47, 172196.
Saffran, J.R. (2003). Statistical language learning: mechanism and constraints. Current Directions in
Psychological Science, No. 4, Vol. 12, 110-114.
Skehan, P. (1990). The relationship between native and foreign language learning ability: Educational and
linguistic factors. In H. Dechert (Ed.), Current trends in European second language acquisition research (83106), Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters.
Sternberg, R.J. (1985). Beyond IQ: A triarchic theory of human abilities, New York: Cambridge University
Press.
Sternberg, R.J. (1987). Most vocabulary is learned in context. In M. McKeown (Ed), The nature of vocabulary
acquisition (89-105), Hillsdale, NY: Erlbaum.
Sternberg, R.J. (1988). The triarchic mind: A new theory of human intelligence, New York: Viking.
Wesche, M., Edwards, H. & Wells, W. (1982). Foreign language aptitude and intelligence. Applied
Psycholiguistics, 3, 127-140.
Willingham, D. (2007). Cognition the Thinking Animal, (third edition), London: Pearson Edition.
95
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Ambiguity in Foreign Language Acquisition and Role of Language Aptitude
Author
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Jeftić, Alma
Abstract
A summary of the resource.
The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of cognitive theories important for foreign language acquisition and to emphasize the role of language aptitude for foreign language comprehension. Language comprehension is a specific example of the perceptual processes, and the same principles that emerge in perception also play important role in language. Ambiguity resolution is a key component of language comprehension, and it is similar to ambiguity in perceptual processes. According to CANAL-FT cognitive theory of foreign language acquisition, one of the central abilities required for foreign language acquisition is the ability to cope with novelty and ambiguity. This ability will be explained as a part of the experiential aspect of intelligence, based on Sternberg‘s triarchic theory of human intelligence. Novel tasks or situations serve as good measures of intellectual ability and more intelligent individuals move from consciously learning in a novel situation to automating the new learning. Applied to classroom environment, this theory predicts that language aptitude is kind of information processing and developing expertize, rather than an entity fixed at birth. Language aptitude training should increase language performance and lead to ambiguity resolution.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2011-05
Keywords
Keywords.
Conference or Workshop Item
PeerReviewed
P Philology. Linguistics
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0f5bf1e45f9a7023893a309da672ecf4
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1st International Conference on Foreign Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics
May 5-7 2011 Sarajevo
A Dialectial Analysis of Grammatical Terms Defining The English
Articles
Yunsang Jang
Kore a University of Technology and Education
Abstract: This study looks into the English article system from the perspective of
dialectics. The goal of the study is to enlarge the scope of understanding the English
article system by demonstrating that at the very elementary comminicative level is is
more appropriately characterized as a relational dialectial system rather than a simple
binary one as described in most traditional pedagogical frammar boks. This study tries
to reach this goal by interpreting such key metalingustic notions as anaphoric generic
uniquenness etc as well as the three main descriptors of the English articles which
involve article definite and indefinite For Plato dialogues or our Daily
communicational acts are fundamentally dialectial. Thus the base reasoning fort his
stady is that if we understand the Notion related to dialectic or dialectial acts better
this will in tum help us understand our own dialogical acts in general and the English
articles as a key dialogical marker in particular.
Key words: English articles, dialectic, definiteness, indefiniteness
1. OVERVIEW
The English articles the and a/an are most freauently used grammatical elements but are also wellknown as one of the most problematic areas in mastering this language as a foreing language (Butler. 1999). A
number of research attemps have been made hoping to explain what aspects of the English article system make
the learner of English as a Foreing Language (EFL) have difficulty acquiring the system (Master. 1990: Song &
Park. 2001). The purpose of this study has been generated out of this line of pedagagical thought. The study
aims to extend the scope of understanding the English article system bey demonstrating that at the very
elementary communicative level it is more appropriately characterized as a relational dialectial system rather
than a simple binary one as described in most traditional pedagogical grammar books . Specifically. This study
attempts to reach this goal by re-interpreting key metalinguistic notions of the English articles which have been
commonly used in the literatùre involving English grammar and linguistics.
This will be done from the perspective of the semantics of dialectics. By nature. This study is more
likely to pursue what Ellis (1997) calls practical knowledge as opposed to technical knowledge As part of the
discussion about the Professional relationship betwwen Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research and
language pedagogy. He characterizes the former as explicit while the latter as implicit. What he argues with the
technical knowledge which is obtained primarily by analytical and empirical work. On the other hand. Practising
professionals like doctors and teachers tend to rely more on the pratical knowledge which is intuitive and
experiential.
In what follows. I will first briefly discuss in what respects this instrumental Notion of dialectic or
dialectical help extend the scope of our understanding the English articles. A few key descriptions such as
article, definite, indefinite and the like will then be analysed.
ll. ON DIALECTIC
How has the nation dialectic or dialectical been defined in the literature ? As Watson (1985 p 85)
points out . Its origin seems to date back to Plato‘s period. Dialectic is Plato‘s Word coming from dialegesthai to
talk with and his Works tahe the form of dialogues. As such the terms dialectic and dialogue are closely
interrelated concepts. Here the implication is taht our daily comminicational act is fundamentally dialectical.
So if we undertand this notion better. This will in turn help us understand our own dialogical acts in general and
the English articles as a key dialogical marker in particular.
What follows are brief schematic descriptions of these terms. Which have been drawn selectively
from the Webster‘s Third New International Dictionary (1967). The nominal forms dialectic and dialectics are
defined in two respects. In one sense, they are often identified as the theory and practice of weighing and
reconciling juxtaposed or contradictory arguments for the purpose of arriving at truth –especially through
discussion and debate. In another sense and particularly on literature. They are often referred to as a type of
systematic reasoning that seeks to resolve a conflict. While both senses indicate a reality of tension or opposition
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between two interacting forces or elements their ultimate purpose is directed toward obtaining truth and solving
problems through transforming or transcending.
Dialectics for plato was used as a means of logical analysis or division of things and was expressed in
the from of representing both genera (or Form in his view of universe) and species (or particular) (Stevenson.
1987). In Aristotle dialectics was viewedas a method of arguing the different sides of any given problem. It was
olso used as an art intermediate between rhetoric (thus, more symbolic. Ġndefinite inclusive generic metaphoric
and less referential) and strict demonstration (thus more concrete or referential, specific, definite, and exclusive).
In the Kantian tradition, dialectics is used to account for paradoxical realities (i.e. both appearances
and illusions). And it thus deals with paralogisms (i.e. reasoning contrary to the rules of logic). Antinomies and
transcendental ideas. Dialectics in this tradition becomes meaningful where these antithetical problems arise
through logical fallacies, perceptural errors or the endeavor to use the principles ofthe understanding applicable
only within experience for determination of such transcendental objects as the soul the World and God.
In a slightly more developed form the Hegelian interpretiaon is spelled out as:
a logical development progressing from less to more compernsive levels that on its subjective
side is the passage of thought from a thesis through an antithesis to a synthesis that in turn becomes a thesis for
further progressions ultimately culminating on the absolute idea and on its objective side is an analogus
development in the process of history and the cosmos.
(Webster‘s Dictionary . 1967 . p 623)
It is noteworthy that historically up to Hegel‘s use of dialectics. Its majôr function was the acquistion
of truth and resolution of conflicts in problems. For Marx in contrast, the dialectic is viewed more as a
conceptual tool responsible for bringing about some change or transformation. He expressed this Notion as:
the process of self-development or unfolding (as of an action, event, ideology, movement or
institution) through the stages of thesis, antithesis and synthesis in accordance with the laws of dialectical
materialism and the method that regards change in nature and history as taking place in this way.
(Webster‘s Dictionary. 1967 .p. 623)
For him reality is a changing process to be decoded by the human mind.
The adjectival forms dialectic and dialectical are typically represented with the following
characteristic semantic features. They are (a) marked by a dynamic inner tension, conflicct and
interconnectedness of parts of elements: (b) they are used to denote the idea of mutuality and reciprocity: (c) thy
are used to refer to the acts of praticing being devoted to or employing a dialectic and (d) as regarding something
from the point of view of a dialectic.
In summary the dialectic has been used as a conceptual catch-all to account for various paradoxical
and co-existing aspects inheent in humah reasoing and pratices. Dialectics has been as both theory and practice
as indicating a solution. Recognition or acknowledgement of conflict contradiction. Oxy-moron and the like.
This use of dialectics is responsible for denoting involves the recegnition of change fifference distinction and the
like over time.
In fact because of ists potential utility in constructing social theory the concept of dialectics has been
given increased attention by psychologists (Gusfield. 1989: Georgoudi 1984: Perin-banayagam. 1991). In
reviewing many of the social psychological studies on this subject . Georgoudi (1984) concludes that dialectics
has been employed not just at the level of theory construction but also at a metatheoretical level and at the level
of methological application. He has also noted that dialectics. In its most general sense is viewed as a process of
relating nearly all aspects of human activity. Thus it is a form of medition with a wide range of applications and
nearly unlimited theoretical and practical potential. In other words. Its unstated implications are widely and
systematically distrubed to almost all sectors of the human and social sciences.
As briefly illustrated above the implications of the term dialectic are profound in terms of their
philosophical, psychological and methodological applications. Let me point out in what sense the Notion of
dialectic can be helpful for one to understand the English article system. Particularly from a pedagogical
standpoint. First as seen in Plato‘s view of dialectic the English articles signify both generic or specific meaning
and the articles are obviously key dialogical devices. Thus the system reflects the contradictory nature of relation
between a whole and its part as well as the processual nature of our human praxis or action. Second similarly to
the dialectic as a theoretical concept the semantic root of the English article connotes ―relation‖ which will be
discussed further later in this paper. Third just as the notion of dialectic entails system has an antithetical
structure ( i. e. definite and indefinite) The system is used for meaning differentiation and construction in
dialogical context In sum it seems obvious that there exists a certain conceptual parallel between what we have
seen
about
dialectic
and
the
English
articles.
3) KEY DESCRĠPTORS OF THE ARTICLES
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Let me start with the three basic descriptors of the English articles which involve ―definite‖ ―indefinite‖
and article. These terms have been commonly attributed and related to the usage of the articles the and a/ an
Although commonly used these three descriptors have not sustained a rigorous theoretical analysis by EFL/ESL
researchers. Typically these researchers have simply followed the lead of many earlier theorists. Both
philosophers and linguists who from a very different set of assumptions in the philosophy of science have
usually resorted to using them as simple referring devices for ―the‖ and a/an.
For instance Russell a leading philosopher of the logical positivist school is a typical case in point .
As cited by Rosenberg an Travis ( 1971 p 167) Russell (1973) used these terms to distinguish different modes of
philosophical description:
A ―description‖ may be of two sorts definite and indefinite (or ambiguous) An indefinite description is a
phrase of the form a so and so and a definite description is a phrase of the form ―the‖ so-and-so (in the singular)
(original emphasis). A similar but more specific usage of these terms has been proposed by Bickerton(1985):
In English ―definite‖ really means presumed known to the listener whether by prior knowledge (the man you
met yesterday) uniqueness in the universe (the sun is setting) uniqueness in a given setting ( The battery is deadcars do not usually have more than one battery) or general knowledge that a named class exists ( The dog is the
friend of man) : and ― indefinite‖ really means presumed unknown to the listener whether by absence of prior
knowledge ( A man you should meet is Mr. Blank) nonexistence of a nameable referent (Bill is looking for a
wife) or nonexistence of any referent (George couldn‘t see an aardvark) (p.147).
Accordingly authors of English grammar books usually use these notions as received categories They
assume the word ―the‖ is responsible for definiteness and the words a/an are responsible based on simple clear
and straightforward categorical meanings. It has had a broad pedagogical appeal. However because of its
theoretical simplicity this classification has also been problematic and misleading to many students. The fact is
that the a/an or no use of these words is found in the same or a similar communicative context without a
substantial difference in meaning (e.g. the tiger a tiger and tigers) This could thus lead one to confusion about
what it means to be definite and indefinite A separate descriptive analysis of these terms will I believe show that
a more relational meaning of these articles is warranted.
1. ARTICLE
The term ―article‖ is probably the most common descriptor used in reference to the words the and a/an
and is used either when referring separately to one or the other of these articles or to both as a common category
of grammatical elements A clue to the meaning of this term may be found by looking into its historical origins
its ancestral forms found both in Greek and Latin are arthron and articulus respectively They are said to be no
more than the ordinary words for link or joint (Lyons 1977) and appear to be analogous to relation or connection.
Note also that in the early Greek language no sharp distinction was drawn in terms of the forms or
syntactic and semantic functions between demonstrative pronouns the definite and indefinite articles and the
relative pronouns. As Herndon (1976 p10) states the term syndesmoi was at first applied to them all. And it was
chosen presumably. Because they were all regarded as connectives of various kinds. The primary function of
these various words is based on notions of linking, connecting, and other relating schema.
These relational concepts are virtually all time-bound in that relating one thing with another requires
time: namely a diachronic relation. Note also that the verb form ― articulate‖ is related to the notion ―article‖ in a
morphological sense. From this we can further speculate that the use of the articles as an act of articulation or
saying is itself an act of relating in a dialogical sense.
2. The Definite
When turning our attention to the notion of definite we are initially led to question why this adjective is
prefixed to the noun article (i.e. as the name of the which is an arbitrary array of written signs or that of aural
markings) and is used together as in the definite article. A basic level of understanding this relation may,
however, already be found in some of our usual dictionary meanings of this term. Some of these meanings
include : (a)exact limits: (b) precision and clarity in meaning: (c) explicitness and certainty: (d) limitation and
specificity From these lexical entries one can sense that the meaning of ―definite‖ is assumed to be something
obvious and self-evident which implies a type of confinement or a line-drawing and conversely excludes
something vague and unintelligible.
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This dictionary definition informs us that things or phenomena can be ontologically absolute while at
the same time remaining somewhat less defined. In fact, for us to be definite about something(or to define
something clearly) has been a central part of our knowledge what is definable through reasoning becomes the
source of knowledge as the definite or absolute Truth He symbolized the truth with the concept Forms in the
sense that they are more real than material thing for they do not change or decay(Stevenson 1987 p29) More
specifically in relation to the referential function of a word (i.e. a word used to refer to truly many different
individual referents) Plato thought that corresponding to each usage of the word there is one Form which makes
the particular individual referents meaningful entries in terms of its idealistic formal or symbolic resemblance to
the referents.
This formal and universal resemblance connotes the characterization of a class of certain entities by a
process of objective definition. Moreover for Plato only this intellectual acquaintance with the Forms can really
count as knowledge since only what fully exits can be fully known (Stevenson 1987 p29) In relation to a
common interpretation of Plato Hergenhahn notes that :
Before being placed in the body at birth the soul dwells in pure and complete knowledge. Thus all
human souls know everything before entering the body. Upon entering the body the knowledge of soul begins to
be contaminated by sensory information (1983 p34).
This implies that if humans naively accept what they experience through the senses they are doomed to
live a life of opinion and ignorance. For this reason Plato‘s concern was with reaching an idealistic state of
Forms responsible for uncontaminated human mind and society through education. In this regard the most
convincing illustration of his theory of Forms comes from the Euclidean geometry which Stevenson has
described
as
follows:
Consider how it deals with lines circles and squares but may always have some irregularity. Theorems
concerning these ideal objects-straight lines without thickness perfect circle et-are proved with absolute certainty
by logical arguments. Here we have indubitable knowledge of timeless objects which are the patterns that
material objects imperfectly resemble(1978 p.29).
In light of this one can think about the geometrical concept of point which in a perceptual sense is
thought of as standing in its own right but which is in fact a meaningful construct only if related to other
geometrical notions like line. Its understanding requires formal conceptualization Plato‘s conception of idealistic
knowledge has to do with this kind of geometrical definition of knowledge that he indefinable(thus indefinite
and perceptually contaminated) point in its own ontogenesis becomes definable( thus definite ) only in relation to
its totality the line. It is in the process of becoming definable that things become definite for us. In fact Plato‘s
conception of knowledge is typically dialectic.
Thus following Plato‘s we become both knowledgeable and ignorant by having a means to define ıt is
very improbable to speak of a ―definite point‖ as found in a geometrical sense. When we see a given point on a
geometrical plain. It may be viewed as having its own definite and obvious confinement but it is clear that this is
not the case because a point in its own right is theoretically impossible. In the mathematical word (e.g. the
Mobius strip numerical entities divided by zero etc) the matter of definition is similarly not posited as an
absolute
and
separate
notion.
This does not mean however that our acts of defining are always meaningless but that the definite
becomes meaningful only in relation. What appears as definite does not necessarily make it so and the term
definite with its dictionary significance is plausible only when the usage presupposes an indefinitely –given or
taken-for-granted condition. In effect this term must be seen in essence to presume an indefinitely-given as well
as a totality against which our acts of defining limiting confining specifying identifying and idealizing occur.
Thus even at a very general definitional level our uses of definite and indefinite are essentially relational and
dialectic.
When judged from only dictionary meanings the concept of exclusiveness may be seen as semantically
analogous to definiteness. However. Hawkins (1978) in an apparent reversal. Has characterized the grammatical
role of the definite article as inclusiveness and that of the indefinite article as exclusiveness on the basis of his
semantic and pragmatic analysis. His argument for the grammaticality of the definite and indefinite article.
Based on pragmatic premises is probably quite appropriate in the context of his analytical and
philosophical approach. But based on the two apparently opposing definitions we might infer that things or
phenomena can be thought of as both ontologically absolute and not so at the same time in that the definite or the
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absolute connotes both exclusion(by the criteria of its lexical meanings) and inclusion (by the criteria of
Hawkins‘ linguistic analysis) Here again one cannot ignore the dialectic.
3)The Indefinite
With the notion ―indefinite‖ one may also question why the adjective attaches itself so naturally to the
noun article (i.e. as the name of a/an) when they are used together like indefinite article. The lexical entries for
this term involve (a) Having no exact limits or having no limits at all (B) not precise sharp and clear in meaning
and outline vague: (c) not sure or positive inexplicit and uncertain and (d) not limiting and specifying not
referring to the specific. Given that all these descriptions imply no exclusion a prototype meaning of
indefiniteness may be said to be that of ― inclusiveness‖ As stated earlier this is contradistinctive to Hawkin‘s
(1978) generalization about the grammatical function of the indefinite articles in terms of ― exclusiveness‖ This
apparent contradictory nature of the English articles as related to their mate languages may be a partial
explanation for many non-native speakers‘ difficulty and confusion in mastering them.
The fundamental meanings of these attributive adjectives presupposes the postponement or reservation
of the act of defining. They are also suggestive of a certain contingency which requires further action. Having
no limits implies that whatever it means the meaning is to be open. This openness to contingency gives rise to
the question of motive. Potential and intention to be defined or on its way to becoming definite . All in all the
―indefinite‖ as a concept can be viewed as reflecting a mental state or process which has not been fully acted out
but is ready to be acted out. Because it is paradigmatically open it in some sense signifies a syntagmatic (or
simply temporal) induction and foretells a sense of meaning-making or of becoming definite.
4) OTHER METALANGUAGES OF THE ARTICLES
What follows is an attempt to reinterpret some descriptive terms that have commonly been used in
analyzing English articles usages. There are quite a number of classificatory notions which are reflected in our
common usages of the articles and which form another major class of metalanguages about the English articles
Some of these most commonly used notions which are used to describe our various communicative functions of
the English articles include the following: (a) deictic or demonstrative use: (b) back-pointing or anaphoric use:
(c) forward-pointing or cataphoric: (d) uniquiness: (e) communal sharing: (f) generic and specific: and (g)
endophora or in-text reference and exphora or out-text reference.
It should be noted at the outset tahat a general and common feature of all these categories can be
described as ‗the communicative act of pointing.‘ The key feature of the articles have generally been interpreted
as being dualistic and mutually exclusive. This has been the case. I contend because our treatment of the
grammatical aspects of the articles has usually been restricted to a within-sentence analysis. In order to have
been better understanding about the articles. I feel that we need to extend to scope of analysis to the much
broader context of communicative act. What follows is thus discussed from a communicative perspective which
involve all forms of human actions reflecting one‘s psycho-social-cultural history.
1.
Deictic
The notion of ‗‘deicic‘‘ along with its etymological link with ‗‘deixis‘‘ is analogous to the philosophical
notion of indexical expression (Crystal. 1986). And its literal meaning is pointing or indication. It should be renoted that a major function of the definite article has been understood as revealing an indicative or determining
role. Not unlike that of deixis. Lyons (1977) states that deixis refers to the variety of grammatical and lexical
features ‗‘which relate utterance‘‘ (p. 636). Here note that the essential features of deixis are also defined as
relational: in other words at the level of identifying which is linked to which the relational act must have a
context in order to make sense. This act necessarily involves both ‗‘agency‘‘ (i.e. who relates) and ‗‘object‘‘
(e.g. enactive, iconic, or symbolic) we are relate and thereby implies that a relational act arises from within an
instrumental context.
From this interpretation of the term ‗‘deixis‘‘ one is able to derive at least two meanings namely what is
pointing as inner motive—the pointer or intention and what is being pointed to—outer evidence or
actualization of pointing. The nature of indication itself is not a simple mechanical pointing behavior but is a
relational, intentional and psychological gesture mediating between pointer and pointee. It is this dual reality of
a pointing act that I content can be characterized as being dialectical and dialogical. More specifically we may
say that deixis entails a double dialectic: a relation between intention and a deictic sign: and a relation between
the sign and its referent in actual communication. In many cases of human communication the second relation
turns out to be reflexive in that the referent itself is language. In this sense language is our existential reference.
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‗‘Deixis‘‘ involves not only the characteristic feature of the demonstrative pronouns but also tense and
person and a number of other syntactically relevant features in the context-of-an utterance (Thavenius 1983;
Wilkins 1985). According to Lyons (1977) it also refers to the philosophical notion of ostension or ostensive
definition. It is worth nothing that ostensive, deictic, and demonstrative are all based upon the idea of
identification or drawing attention to something in a communicative space by pointing. So too is Hardwick‘s
(1977) term ‗‘indexical‘‘ which has been employed in the recent philosophical literature roughly in the sense that
we are assigning deictic to discursive acts (Lyons, 1977, p.637).
As such, the notion of deixis is understood as an indicative function which is conceptually similar to the
acts of pointing, locating and identifying. Lyons accounts for the act of pointing as follows:
The canonical situation-of-utterance is egocentric in the sense that the speaker by virtue of being the
speaker casts himself in the role of ego and relates everything to his viewpoint. He is at the zero-point of the
spatiotemporal co-ordinates of what is referred to as the deictic context (1977 p. 638)
What is insightful here is the use of the notion ‗‘zero-point‘‘ because it is conceptually similar to the
notion of indefinite. Specifically it does not seem to be a mere co-incidence that this egocentric sense of zeroness
in one‘s utterance is initiated with an indefinite expression such as once upon ‗‘a‘‘ time there lived ‗‘a‘‘ farmer
in ‗‘a‘‘ village. It appears to indicate a speaker‘s self-a wareness of where he or she is located in a given
discourse space. In other words the speaker knows that the story should start from scratch or nothingness. Or the
speaker is likely to assume that the hearer knows ‗‘nothing‘‘ about what he or she is going to talk about.
Although it may sound speculative the phrase ‗‘zero-point‘‘ above seems to connote the meaning of nothing.
In addition as it is found in the earliest stage of a child‘s cognitive development deixis, in terms of its
attention drawing property is the most rudimentary identifying act in a child‘s communicative conduct. In
summary English article usage when related to the metalinguistic notion of deixis as with many others reflects a
dynamic and dialectical reality that is often missed when we treat the articles as simply either definite or
indefinite.
2.
Anaphoric
The notion of ‗‘anaphoric use‘‘ or ‗‘back-pointing‘‘ refers to the case where an entity in a narrative text
which often occurs first with the indefinite article ‗‘a/an‘‘ is identified again in that text by replacing ‗‘a/an‘‘
with ‗‘the‘‘ to indicate its reappearance in the discourse. For instance in the sentence ‗‘Bill bought a TV and a
radio, but he returned the radio‘‘ ‗‘the ‗‘ in ‗the radio‘ is explained as revealing the anaphoric function.
What counts here is that the signification of ‗‘the‘‘ is predicated on the precondition of ‗‘a‘‘. ın this
context the use of ‗‘a‘‘ as an indefinite expression is viewed as a necessary condition for the latter use of ‗‘the‘‘.
In other words ‗‘the‘‘ becomes meaningful by virtue of ‗‘a‘‘. Moreover their linguistic value becomes
meaningful only when they are understood in temporal context because the notion of presupposition is a timebound one. This anaphoric usage reflects the temporal coordination or history-sharing function which is so
important between interlocutors in their broader mutual meaning-making and understanding processes.
Accordingly here again it is apparent that ‗‘a‘‘ and ‗‘the‘‘ are not really separate linguistic mechanisms or
entities but are rather constitutive semantic poles forming an interactive whole between interlocutors. Moreover
since this function can be expected to be acquired much later in conceptual and/or linguistic development than
the simple deictic or indicative act.
3.
Cataphoric
The ‗‘cataphoric‘‘ use or ‗‘forward-pointing use‘‘ of the articles is seen in the case where linguistic
identity is established by the post-modification that follows the noun. For example it involves the use of ‗‘the‘‘
in the sentence ‗Bill returned the radio he bought yesterday‘ as well as in the sentence ‗‘The‘‘ wines of France
(or which France produces) are the best in the world. Insofar as the fundamental meaning of the sentence retains
its central intent or sense the first sentence can be interpreted as ‗Bill bought a radio, and he returned it or the
radio.‘ As seen in each interpretation we can infer or presume that at least part of the meaning of ‗‘the‘‘ in the
examples connotes the indefinite meaning which the indefinite article ‗‘a‘‘ yields.
The same reasoning which was developed in the discussion of the anaphoric function above seems to be
at work here with the cataphoric function of the articles. What matters here is the matter of explicit observability
or of implicit sharedness between interlocutors. While not directly observable what appears to be functioning is a
certain dialectical interaction between the definite and the indefinite. The ‗‘the‘‘ in ‗Bill returned the radio he
bought yesterday‘ may be thought of as only a grammatical choice but its significance derives from the
recognition of the existential presupposition of ‗‘a‘‘ as connected in ‗Bill bought a radio yesterday.‘ Moreover,
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in a similar context, if Bill bought more than one radio, it would also be possible to say that ‗Bill returned ‗a‘
radio he bought yesterday.‘
Thus here again the definite and the indefinite meanings can not simply be prefixed grammatical
notions but are determined in actual communicative contexts, and choice for their usage seems to be determined
mostly on dialogical grounds. In effect this dialectical schema of the articles is structured through various and
processual dialogical experiences rather than the result of a simple instructional knowing of the meaning of the
words and grammar rules.
4.
Uniqueness
The notion of ‗‘uniqueness‘‘ refers to the definite usage where an object or a group of objects is
interpreted as revealing, characteristically, oneness and wholeness at the same time: for instance, the stars, the
earth, the world, the sea, the North Pole, the equator, the Reformation, the human race, etc. In other words, its
significance arises where referents are understood to be unique in a given context: the sun, the moon, the kitchen,
the car, etc. This notion indicates the existence of only one thing either as an individual entity or as a kind. The
definite expression seen in this category may be indicated as presuming a native speaker‘s ontological mental
index regarding a specific referent. For instance, in the case of the earth, we may say that the passage indicates
the native English speaker‘s recognition that something as a referent exists which is named ‗‘earth‘‘ (i.e. the
awareness of existential reality) and that the speaker learned to call it ‗‘the‘‘ earth as a conventional label to
indicate a common awareness of the referent. In this schema, the use of ‗‘the‘‘ requires both a self and others:
namely, without you as an other, the use of ‗‘the‘‘ turns out to be meaningless. We learn in this way that the
meaning of uniqueness and the related use of an article is conditioned (or becomes significant) by a speaker in
the face of a hearer.
A native speaker‘s competence in this aspect of language, as with other aspects appears as an
internalization and increasing awareness in the context of communicative socialization processes. Here again,
considering traditional language learning settings, where one-way instruction has been preferred over actual
communication it is understandable why it is so difficult for learners to develop this kind of social sense, and
have so much difficulty with the articles. This social sense can be properly acquired only through actual
dialogical (i.e. social) experiences, rather than in simple monological, instructional acts.
5.
Situational/Communal Sharing
Compared to the uniqueness expression the notion of ‗‘situational or communal sharing‘‘ refers to
article usage which is more adaptable to situational variations. The use of an article in this sense does not
necessarily signify the uniqueness of the referent. The usual examples in this category are: the radio, the
television and the telephone in a given social setting. In a similar way to what was discussed previously, I
content that the expression, ‗‘the radio‘‘ becomes intelligible only when interlocutors either explicitly admit that
there actually is a radio both as a thing and as a word (i.e. a classical reference problem). Hence, when ones says
‗the radio‘ he or she presupposes the ontology of its referent as well as the existence of a meaningful symbol.
It should be noted, however that while this type of referential function is necessary in most
communicative discourse acts. It is not sufficient. The referent which the noun phrase indicates is usually in a
social context, and as such it is obvious that its referential reality varies from context to context. For instance, in
the case of the phrase ‗ten minutes before ‗‘the‘‘ hour.‘ we all know that the noted temporal referent is relative to
the assumed time referent of the hour.
Whether we are talking about a physical referent or an imaginary referent it is clear that the definite
expression is contingent upon the existential cognitive index, which is characteristically adaptable to input, but
which retains certain indefinite properties.
6.
Generic and Specific
The ‗‘generic‘‘ and ‗‘specific‘‘ usages of the English articles refer to Noun Phrases (NPs) preceded by
‗‘the ‗‘, ‗‘a/an‘‘ or ‗‘the zero‘‘ article so that each reveals either the genericity or the specificity of the nominal
entity in a context. A generic expression refers to what is general or typical for a whole class of objects. In the
sentence, ‗The tiger is a beautiful animal‘ it means that ‗‘the‘‘ indicates the class of tigers, and not simply one
individual member of the class. This sentence is thus understood as expression essentially the same meaning as
the following sentences: ‗Tigers are beautiful animals‘ on the one hand and ‗A tiger is a beautiful animal‘ on the
other. Traditional English pedagogical grammar books usually describe such sentence as having a common
property of genericity simply taking their formal or morphological differences for granted without any plausible
explanation. Accordingly, they are understood the mean virtually the same thing. Moreover almost all informants
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of native English speakers cannot find any meaning difference among the three sentence above nor can they
explain ‗why so?‘
To recapitulate the generic expression represents the concept or idea which is generally attributable to
certain entities pervading all members of a given class. As shown in the previous examples while the dialectical
phenomenon is self-evident in this function of the English articles, questions have rarely been raised about what
this kind of semantic contradiction means in language pedagogy. Thus, what seems to be necessary to be
equipped with some meaningful ideas concerning how to explain it to the student.
In effect what I content here particularly in terms of seeing the article system as a dialectical relational
system is that genericity as semantic representation of ‗‘the‘‘ NP, ‗‘a/an‘‘ NP and NPs is embodied along the line
of semantic continuum between the definite and the indefinite. This in turn implies that ‗‘the‘‘ tends to appear
along the definite end of this continuum and that ‗‘a/an‘‘ along that of the indefinite. Moreover NPs can then be
viewed as a certain entity appearing somewhere in the middle. One may argue that seeing articles in this way is
only speculative at most. But I would rather argue that this interpretive schema is meaningful in that it possibly
offers a coherent way of explaining the varying nature of the English article usage both for the student and the
teacher. The bottom line here is that until we have a better one, we should dig something out hoping that it‘s
better than nothing.
A specific expression in contrast represents the entities rather directly as seen in such sentences as
‗Look at the tiger‘ or ‗ask a boy in this group‘ and does so especially in the context where both interlocutors
have specific knowledge about the referent. Hence, generally speaking, when representing a referent with its
related NP, the generic expression reveals an indirect ‗symbolic reference‘ (i.e. the referent does not have to be
real, and moreover the referents that the interlocutors may have in mind are not necessarily identical): a specific
expression reveals a direct symbolic reference in that both the speaker and the hearer are required to experience a
common shared meaning in conjunction with a given referent. Here again, under this re-interpreted theoretical
schema. I content that the locus of linguistic control that determines either the genericity or specificity of
meaning is not in the language terms (i.e. ‗‘the‘‘, ‗‘a/an‘‘, or ‗‘zero article‘‘) but in the degree of referent sharing
between interlocutors.
7.
Endophora and Exophora
Two more theoretical terms which appear to capture the relational properties of the English articles but
which are also often seen in the study of pronouns are known as ‗‘endophor‘‘ and ‗‘exophora‘‘. According to
Thavenus (1938)
A speaker will use pronouns to refer in two ways: he can refer to something that is mentioned in the
conversation and the reference is then textual or ‗endophoric‘; or he can refer to something that has not been
mentioned, but that can be retrieved from what can be perceived in the situational setting or from the speaker‘s
and listener‘s shared knowledge and experience. (p. 140)
He calls the latter case an example of situational or exophoric reference. Halliday and Hasan similarly
introduce the term endophoric ‗‘as a general name for reference within the text‘‘ (1976, p 33) but for them
endophoric covers both anaphoric and cataphoric reference (or forward-pointing) article uses, these two
functional categories of English pronouns also manifest the relational nature of language use and modes of
human thinking.
V. CONCLUSION
In order to isolate the dialectical aspects of the English article system study has attempted to reinterpret
key metalinguistic terms concerning the system. I have tried to show that even at the grammatical level when
viewed within the context of various metalanguages the articles are best seen as a relational and dialectical
system. This dialectical system I content, can be seen as ‗‘a higher system‘‘ (just as in the structuralists‘ world
view) which controls the interactive processes (i.e both syntagmatic and paradigmatic forces or both mutually
inclusive and exclusive). This higher system which may be represented as a symbolic sign of
‗(IN)DEFINITENESS‘ suggest that it be viewed in the holistic, communicative, relational context rather than
solely within a somewhat limited grammatical intra-sentential and word-centered one.
The rationale for my suggestion is not unlike our understanding that phonemic reality becomes more
meaningful at the level of morphology and morphological reality at the level of syntax and so on. These ideas are
illustrative of an understanding of our human language and communicative system as a multi-levelled and
somewhat hierarchical meaning system in which the higher and more inclusive levels of meaning supersede,
elaborate and constrain the lower and preceding ones. This mutually exclusive but at the same time codeterministic characteristic is a very essential feature of human language system. This idea was recognized some
years ago by the structural linguist Roman Jacobson (1968) who identified the human sound system in this
matter.ᶾ) Roman Jakobson`s (1968) theory of phonology development is based on his distinctive feature analysis
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(or phonemic distinction in general) of the sound systems of many different languages. A central theme of the
theory is that the pattern of phonological development is systematic in a relational sense.
Moreover this higher system is also indicative of our broader and more pervasive mental processes. One
can find it not only in our language use but also in all of our psycho-social acts of meaning making. Although
this argument requires much lengthy discussion. I wish to note briefly how our use of ‗‘the‘‘ which usually
presupposes the existence of ‗‘a/an‘‘ can be seen as revealing a form of higher order metacognitive functioning.
Specifically the use of one in relation to the other reflects our mode of metacognition (i.e. thinking about
thinking) which presupposes a continuation of discourse and continuous meaning specification. This kind of
metacognition is what makes text cohesion and coherence (i.e. meaning making and communication) possible in
a given dialogical contest.
Bruner‘s (1986) understanding of the semantics of human expressions while not explicitly stated in
relation to the use of the English articles is conceptually congruent with the current argument:
The relation of words or expressions to other words or expressions constitutes along with reference the
sphere of meaning. Because reference rarely achieves the abstract punctil-iousness, a ‗‘singular‘‘, ‗‘definite
referring expression‘‘ is always subject to ‗‘polysemy‘‘ and because there is no limit on the ways in which
expressions can relate to one another, meaning is always undetermined ambiguous. To make sense in language
as David Olson argued persuasively some years ago, always requires an ‗‘act of disambiguation.‘‘ (p. 64)
In effect, this act of disambiguation is a most fundamental metacognitive function that is inherent in our
cognitive activities and involves the various processes of differentiation, identification, definition, determination,
etc. The articles often called determiners or grammatical markers, by grammarians and linguists can thus also
and more importantly be viewed as a dialectical and semantically coherent system of symbols which not only
reflects our cognitive and communicative contexts but may serve the more active function of constructing
meaning in these contexts.
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A Dialectial Analysis of Grammatical Terms Defining The English Articles
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Jang, Yunsang
Abstract
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This study looks into the English article system from the perspective of dialectics. The goal of the study is to enlarge the scope of understanding the English article system by demonstrating that at the very elementary comminicative level is is more appropriately characterized as a relational dialectial system rather than a simple binary one as described in most traditional pedagogical frammar boks. This study tries to reach this goal by interpreting such key metalingustic notions as anaphoric generic uniquenness etc as well as the three main descriptors of the English articles which involve article definite and indefinite For Plato dialogues or our Daily communicational acts are fundamentally dialectial. Thus the base reasoning fort his stady is that if we understand the Notion related to dialectic or dialectial acts better this will in tum help us understand our own dialogical acts in general and the English articles as a key dialogical marker in particular.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2011-05
Keywords
Keywords.
Conference or Workshop Item
PeerReviewed
P Philology. Linguistics
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https://omeka.ibu.edu.ba/files/original/6833b8b725c6a23f2ed6da1eacafa261.pdf
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1st International Conference on Foreign Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics
May 5-7 2011 Sarajevo
THE METONYMS AND DEAF CHILDREN
Ljubica Isakovic
ljubicaisakovic07@gmail.com
Serbia, University of Belgrade,
Faculty of Special Education and Rehabilitation
Prof. Nadezda Dimic
Serbia, University of Belgrade,
Faculty of Special Education and Rehabilitation
ndimic@open.telekom.rs
Prof. Vesna Polovina
Serbia, University of Belgrade, Faculty of Philology
polovinav@fil.bg.ac.rs
Abstract: Language is an abstract system of symbols, which is concretely realized by
way of speech, writing and signing.
Difficulties in speech and communication in deaf children cause problems in their social,
emotional and cognitive development. Deaf children show inadequate results on semantic
tests due to their inadequate knowledge of the language, the level of concreteness and
underdeveloped linguistic associations.
These problems can be for the most part overcome with the adoption of sign language.
The aim of our study was to evaluate the meanings of certain words and their association
by deaf children, attending grades six to eight-24 students; as well as to establish the
development of the category of metonym words. We also wanted to examine the strength
of the relationship between the knowledge of sign language and the level of knowledge of
this category of words, if one existed at all.
The study incorporated a segment of the Semantic Test by S. Vladisavljevic. Pupils were
given 20 words-notions (snail, gold, snake, deer, flower, drop, fair, fox, rock and rabbit)
and it was requested of them to give all possible meanings for those words.
A qualitative and quantitative analysis was completed of the obtained linguistic material.
The obtained results showed a partial influence of the pupil‘s age and the level of
knowledge of metonyms. Also, it was observed that better knowledge of sign language
affects the results of the deaf pupils, i.e. they had better speech and understanding of word
meanings.
Key words: metonyms, semantic, speech, writing, signing language, deaf
children
Introduction
Semantics is the study of meanings within a language and it is concentrated on the phenomenon how people
exchange words with one another within the scope of their language. When referring to the number of words which
individuals make use of in their daily lives we observe that in the population of educated people in developed
societies this number is approximately twenty thousand. Whereas, it is important to differentiate between active and
passive lexicon, that is, the words we use ourselves and the ones we understand, precisely or roughly, although we
do not utilize them.
A word as a unit of a vocabulary (lexicon) of a language with all of its grammatical forms and possible
phraseological extensions is called a lexeme.
Lexicon is the speakers‘ use of a certain vocabulary and the correct usage of listed words in practical
situations. It also includes specific components of selection restrictions, which are the rules which define the types of
words that can be combined together when forming a sentence (Dimic, 1996).
Vocabulary building is the most tangible characteristic of language acquisition in the first months of life.
From the moment when the first word is identified, steady lexical development in both the understanding and
production of a language is effectuated. It is considered that a child of 18 months can produce about fifty words and
understand about five times as many words. Around the second year the spoken vocabulary surpasses 200 words.
During the third year, there occurs an impressive growth in the scope and diversity of vocabulary, and that to an
extent where precise calculations (especially relating to understanding of the vocabulary) or establishing the norm of
the spoken lexical frequency have shown to be impossible. After six years of age, children develop the ability to use
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figurative phrases and to understand dual meanings. In this latter period the ability of a child emerges to integrate a
number of characteristics of semantic knowledge into one statement which represents a definition. Semantic
development continues throughout the period of schooling, or better said an entire lifetime. There will always be
new words that need to be learned and new meanings that need to be sought.
Formation of notions in deaf children
Many authors emphasize that the process of understanding the meanings of words always involves the
―selection of a meaning amongst many possible ones‖. The child does not choose a meaning of a word by himself.
Instead, he obtains the meaning in the process of spoken communication with the environment that surrounds him. A
child follows the speech of those who are older than him, thus adopting concrete word meanings, which are already
established and given to him as such. The child does not create his own speech; instead it adopts the ―ready-made‖
speech of the adults surrounding him.
Working with children on forming notions represents an important segment in working with deaf children.
Correct formation of notions enables a deaf child to denominate the notions that exist in his mind, that is, for the
child to find verbal expression and in that way enable him to free his thoughts from using gestures to signify
activities or objects. New notions should be presented, whilst those already adopted should be continually expanded,
so that they will become permanent property of the child.
A child has adopted a notion, once it has come to understand that a word is only something that is used to
signify an object, event or occurrence and that by using that word the child is transmitting its thoughts and feelings
(Dimic, 2003).
Deaf individuals have a hard time forming abstract notions, because their process of thought only unravels
within the sphere of what can be seen.
Although nouns are the word type most often found in the vocabulary of hearing impaired children, these
children show difficulty in adopting abstract nouns. The obvious way of thinking and dominance of the visual factor,
which are characteristic of the hearing impaired, play a crucial role in the formation of notions (Dimic, Isakovic,
2007).
Savic (1996) provides particular set of principles relating to the formation of notions in deaf children and
emphasizes their goal is for the notion to be ―unbound from a concrete object‖ and make it a source of thought
development and adoption of notions of higher rank – abstract notions – which the child will use independently in all
situations.
Deaf individuals, who do not acquire speech in the process of live interaction, but instead by way of special
education, often adopt only one, narrow meaning of a word and do not master ―flexible polysemy‖ of words which
allows for the meaning to change in relation to the context. For this reason, the task of a deaf-mute child whence
adoption a language doesn‘t not only consist of simple adoption of a certain vocabulary, instead multiple word
meanings are pointed out in their use, as well as their various dictionary meanings (Luria, 1982).
Prior to a word being understood as a sign for an object, it must first pass through the stage of representing
an object characteristic and that it is an entity of its own. When it ―matures‖ the words is no longer associated with
an object or activity, but stands on its own signifying an object or activity.
Words can be understood at different levels of completeness of their meaning. One of the tasks of a teacher
is to expand the meanings of already learned words, in accordance with age level.
Sign and Verbal Linguistic Expression
The most complex and precise means of communication is spoken language, which in addition to
pronunciation - articulation has a written form as well – script. The simplest and most natural form of
communication is gesture.
Deaf children, in their expression, aside from spoken and written language primarily use sign language.
Speech by way of sign is a main source of communication amongst deaf individuals. They, in their
expression, in addition to spoken and written language primarily use sign language. Sign language is the natural
language of the deaf, one that is spontaneously developed by them. Sign language has a significant stimulative role
in the development of cognitive functioning. (Kovacevic, Isakovic, Dimic, 2010).
―Language, as an abstract symbolic system, is concretely effectuated by speech (most often), script (less of
often) and gesture (most rarely). For the form (substance) by way of which language is concretely effectuated in
linguistics is referred to with the term expression. Each of the three mentioned ways of effectuation of language has
its advantages and disadvantages. They mutually supplement each other and the result is an individual‘s ability to
communicate with other people and his need to communicate even in the most unfavorable conditions. (Kasic,
2000).
―In the development of individuals with hearing impairment gestures have a great significance. A deaf
individual is a visual type and everything he learns and experiences is by way of sight. Optical pictures which they
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receive from the outside world are concrete, direct, static or dynamic. They develop gestures as speech based on
their own spontaneous movement and simulation of the environment. Communication by way of movement is the
result of psychological development of a deaf child, and movement itself aid that development.
Gestures are used to express static or dynamic characteristics of the content which is being spoken of. When
enrolled into school a deaf child bears certain gestures which are specific to the family and only the family
understands them. Once in school the child quickly learns the movements in its surroundings. Deaf children whose
parents are also deaf, are socially and communicatively more developed than deaf children who have hearing parents
when the come to school, because they have developed the ability to communicate by way of gesture.‖ (Dimic,
2002).
Today, we know that sign languages have a structure that in their complexity can be compared with the
structure of a spoken or written language. In different parts of the world varying sign languages are used and they are
not mutually understandable. Different signs and different rules for their formation are used (different order of
signs), as well as different sentence structures (Crystal, 1996).
Should deaf children be thought sign language, is a very old question that has been the subject of many
debates. The main argument against sign language is that it separates deaf individuals from everyone, except from
those in their immediate small community. In that way they become marked, different and diverse and they are
disabled from communicating with the hearing world.
On the contrary, insisting on verbal speech, which is most often limited and difficult to understand for deaf
persons, increases their isolation even more. Today, it is known that a deaf child, or a hearing child that has parents
who are deaf, learns sign language as their ―mother tongue‖ and produces a level of manual awareness and
refinement which differs from the awareness of deaf children with hearing parents or persons who can hear and who
have learned sign language.
Many studies show that early bilingualism of hearing impaired children (knowledge of sign language and
spoken/written language) is of invaluable importance for their development. With the adoption of sign language
problems in limited receipt of messages and restricted communication, are eliminated. Deaf children have higher
self-esteem, are more communicative, more independent than others, and have more adequate reactions in various
everyday life situations and show a lower level of frustration connected with their relations with the hearing
population.
Also, recent studies (Most, 2003) show that children that communicate using sign language show more
variation and flexibility in their behavior, than they do when communicating using verbal speech. It is necessary to
equally develop linguistic communication by way of both sign and spoken language and to not forget that children
have a need to communicate in both languages.
Study Goals
The aim of this study was to examine the meanings of certain words and their associations in deaf children,
enrolled in grades six to eight and to establish how the development of the metonym (those are words-stimulus
which induce expression of transferable meaning) word category takes place. Also, we were interested to see the
relationship between knowledge of sign language and the adoption level of this category of words, that is, if any
existed.
Instruments
The study utilized a segment of the Semantic Test (S.Vladisavljevic). The pupils are given 10 nouns-notions
by way of which the knowledge of the meaning of these words is tested, as well as their active use. The given nouns
(for which we requested an adequate metonym) were: (snail, gold, snake, fawn, flower, drop, fair, fox, rock and
rabbit). The pupils were asked to give all possible meanings for those words.
Nouns have special significance in speech and language. They are used to express the most concrete and
abstract meanings in a language, which cannot be expressed by any other type of word. Each positive answer is
given one point.
Sample
The study was implemented at schools for deaf children in Belgrade. The study encompassed pupils
attending grades six to eight (8 pupils from each grade).
Methodology of data processing
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In the review and processing of the data we used the statistic packaged for data processing SPSS 14.0. We
applied the descriptive statistics procedure (mean score and SD, as well as statistical significance of the differences
seen in the average values (t-test for dependent samples, for checking the significance of the differences at the level
of the entire sample and non-parametric Mann-Whitney U-test for checking the statistical significance of differences
between the students of varying grade levels).
Study Results
Quantitative analysis of the acquired data
In analyzing the obtained results within the scope of the entire sample we observed that the minimal number
of achieved points in spoken and sign language forms of expression was one (1), whilst the maximum number of
points received was 12 (twelve) for (sign language) and 13 (thirteen) in (spoken form of expression). In comparing
these results (Mspeech=7.4167 and Msign l. =6.7083 we did not observe any statistically significant differences Sig.
(2-tailed) .208).
There was also no statistically significant difference found when comparing the results between the pupils
enrolled in different grades.
Qualitative analysis of the acquired data
The word: SNAIL
Adequate responses were: small, slow, slowness
Other received responses: animal, ugly, lazy, slow, goes slowly, weak, on foot.
The greatest numbers of responses were given using sign language expression.
The word: GOLD
The received responses were: good, she is good, valuable, obedient
The most common responses were: yellow, light, shiny, little chain, ring, earrings, necklace, beautiful, gorgeous,
shines nicely, husband-wife (ring), gold-love-husband, chain, wedding, watch, money, expensive, cash, gold coin
Inadequate responses were: glass, iron, silver, cute
The word: SNAKE
The given responses included: poisonous*, evil* (*given in both genders in Serbian/she is evil, he is evil)
Other responses included; fast, animal, does not love, catch-bite, scare.
As a wrong response, the word WOOD was seen.
The word: FAWN
Adequate response was gentle.
The pupils gave the following responses: small, peaceful, cuddle, deer, female deer, scare, scare you, afraid of,
beautiful, animal, Africa, slow, very cute.
Specific and incorrect responses included: black, black color, white.
The word: FLOWER
The given answers were pretty, beautiful, smells, aromatic.
Responses given often, but are incorrect: smells nice, beautiful flower, tulip, snowdrop, rose, green, yellow, plant,
flowers, grows, pokes, girl-gift, happy, good.
The word: DROP
The adequate response was small, little.
The pupils gave the following inadequate responses: in the nose, eye-nose, hat, scarf, when you drink medicine,
water, rain falling, drink, wash hands, one, juice, drop for nose, drop for ear, drop for eye.
The word: FAIR
The pupils gave the following responses: crowded, very crowded.
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Also characteristic are the responses: there is a big crowd at night lots, and during the day not; amusement park,
super, because people love it, car fair, crash-car, many people, we play, car hit, merry-go-round, shooting range,
trophy, carousel, park, drive car, swing, fire, merry, many people.
For the given metonym some were observed as having no response.
The word: FOX
The sought response was cunning.
Deaf pupils also gave the following responses: dangerous, lies, steals chicken, wild animal, loves to steal, steals
eggs, thief, thief - meat, coward.
All pupils gave a response to the given metonym.
The word: ROCK
Adequate responses given in sign language were: hard, solid, strong.
Other inadequate responses given by deaf students: mountain, white, small-grey, rock, large rock, small, large, large
boulder, strongest, stubborn.
A certain number of children gave no response.
The word: RABBIT
The most common responses were: fast, going fast, very fast, scare, I scared, he is scares.
The pupils also gave other responses: beautiful, not brave, runaway, cute, jumps, weak, escape, animal, hop, always
runs away fast, running away, hungry.
All pupils gave one or more responses to the given word.
Conclusions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
The obtained results show that there exist conformances in the development of certain notions and certain
categories of words.
Inadequate results of the deaf children on the semantic tests are due to the deficiency in their linguistic
knowledge, concreteness and underdeveloped linguistic association. A large number of inadequate words
were obtained that are specific for deaf children.
It was observed that there exist great individual differences between deaf pupils of the same age level.
The level of adoption of the tested categories of words grows with age, whilst the greatest increase in
results is seen in the group of pupils attending grades 6 to 8, although this is not evident in the statistical
significance calculations.
With age the spoken and sign language form of expression reaches equilibrium and are equally successfully
used. It can be said that better development of sign language affects the better results of deaf pupils in the
spoken form of expression.
Metonyms represent a difficulty, because children of this age group still have not sufficiently developed
this form of linguistic thought. However, it was observed that deaf children better understand the
transferable meaning of those words (notions) with which they have contact everyday at school. That
pertains to concrete notions, characteristics of animals (snail, snake, fox, rabbit- which becomes part of
everyday teachings from the earliest age, preschool level, through first songs, fairy tales, fables).
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Title
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THE METONYMS AND DEAF CHILDREN
Author
Author
Isakovic, Ljubica
Dimic, Prof. Nadezda
Polovina, Prof. Vesna Polovina
Abstract
A summary of the resource.
Language is an abstract system of symbols, which is concretely realized by way of speech, writing and signing. Difficulties in speech and communication in deaf children cause problems in their social, emotional and cognitive development. Deaf children show inadequate results on semantic tests due to their inadequate knowledge of the language, the level of concreteness and underdeveloped linguistic associations. These problems can be for the most part overcome with the adoption of sign language. The aim of our study was to evaluate the meanings of certain words and their association by deaf children, attending grades six to eight-24 students; as well as to establish the development of the category of metonym words. We also wanted to examine the strength of the relationship between the knowledge of sign language and the level of knowledge of this category of words, if one existed at all. The study incorporated a segment of the Semantic Test by S. Vladisavljevic. Pupils were given 20 words-notions (snail, gold, snake, deer, flower, drop, fair, fox, rock and rabbit) and it was requested of them to give all possible meanings for those words. A qualitative and quantitative analysis was completed of the obtained linguistic material. The obtained results showed a partial influence of the pupil‘s age and the level of knowledge of metonyms. Also, it was observed that better knowledge of sign language affects the results of the deaf pupils, i.e. they had better speech and understanding of word meanings.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2011-05
Keywords
Keywords.
Conference or Workshop Item
PeerReviewed
P Philology. Linguistics
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a7549d6c3d89cd78a2cafe120c5afce9
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1st International Conference on Foreign Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics
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Standard accent or Intelligibility: Desiderata for International
Communication in English as a Foreign Language with special reference to
the situation in Pakistan
Prof. Dr. Zafar Iqbal
UMT, Lahore (Pakistan)
drziqbl@gmail.com
Abstract:The main objective of learning a foreign language these days is to acquire
communicative competence in such a language in real life situations. Being the most
important lingua franca, English is the most sought- after foreign language in the
contemporary world. There are, of course, two main options in pursuing this goal in
countries like Pakistan. The so-called elite class of the society which always tends to
set its self apart from the general masses and in some ways still wants to promote the
colonial legacy wants to adopt the standard accent of English in their communications
which means either ‗general American‘ or British ‗RP‘. The general public perforce
resorts to ‗Pingilsh‘ due to many social constraints and pursues the criteria of mutual
intelligibility, as a benchmark in speaking English as a foreign language. The aim of
this paper is to highlight the significance of ‗Pinglinsh‘ as a model to be followed in
the country uniformly in its entire system of education.
Key Words :Comfortable Intelligibility, Accent, Pinglish, The Lingua Franca Core,
RP
INTRODUCTION
Like so many other countries where the English language was transplanted from Britain in the process
of colonization of such countries, Pakistan too inherited it as a colonial legacy but chose to retain it as the most
important international language in the world purely for pragmatic reasons, although initially there was a strong
reaction to this approach by those who perceived the English language as an undesirable reminder of the British
colonial rule in the subcontinent. Thus, over a period a long time the original model of the English language
transformed into what is now generally proclaimed as ‗Pinglish‘ or Pakistani variety of English characterized by
various indigenous linguistic and sociolinguistic factors which have impinged heavily on the form and function
of the prototype model of English. As corollary of all this, we have now two different models of English being
pursed in different educational institutions of the country. The so-called English medium institutions claim to
follow the original model of English, while the Urdu-medium institutions follow the Pakistani model of English
in all their linguistic pursuits. Given the social ethos of Pakistan, because of their British or American accents
students qualified from English medium institutions have an edge on students taught in the Urdu-medium
institutions. Ideally, the system of education in Pakistan should follow a uniform policy of adopting one and the
same model of English as a foreign language to avoid any social divisiveness or discrimination. But in reality, it
has not been the case. However, for national considerations we need to revise our attitudes towards the Pakistani
model of English presumed by some people to be inferior, and rethink our priorities which of course demands to
give equal recognition to the Pakistani model of English at all levels education and in all contexts of social
situations. Our financial resources do not permit us to follow the British or American models exclusively in our
educational institutions. As far as the ‗RP‘ is concerned, experts have started questioning its validity. (kannedy
2008; Macauly 1988; Crystal 1995). It has also been investigated that not more than three percent of the UK
population uses ‗RP‘. ‗RP‘ is a difficult model to acquire holistically for Pakistani learners of English in the kind
of social and educational contexts in which they learn the English language. Kenworthy (1987) recommends
pursuing what she terms comfortable-intelligibility in all international communications instead of ‗RP‘ or ‗GA ‗.
This kind of attitude is already noticeable in the pronunciations books of many writers (Celc-murcia, Briton &
Godwin, 1966; Kentworthy, 1987; Tench 1987). According to Walker (2001) there are now more exchanges
between non native speakers of English than between non native speakers and native speakers and this situation
is not going to change in favour of the native speakers. Some writers (Kenworthy 1987; Jenner 1989) have
advocated for the ‗lingua franca core‘ identifying seven areas to be taken care for improving speaker
pronunciation and facilitating mutual intelligibility amongst the native and non native speakers of English at
international levels.
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Conclusion
In the light of the above facts and empirical studies, it is reasonable in typical Pakistani situation to
follow a realistic and viable policy in its system of education with particular reference to adopting a model of
English which suits its needs nationally as well as internationally. It is essential that we come out of the accent
syndrome and concentrate our attention on the benchmark of international intelligibility as suggested by
Kenworthy and Jenner. This is expected to help the learners shun their anxiety in communication and improve
their communication at international level.
References
Brinton, D. (1995) Integrating Pronunciation in the Language Syllabus, Speak Out 16, IATEFL.
Celce-Murcia, M, et al. (1996), Teaching Pronunciation: A Reference for Teachers of English to Speakers of
other Languages. New York: Cambridge University.
Crystal, D. (1995), The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language. Cambridge Univ. Press
Jenner, B. (1989), Teaching Pronunciation: The Common core, Speak Out! 4, IATEFL
Jenkins, J. (2000), The phonology of English as an international Language. Cambridge Univ. Press
Kenworthy, J. (1987), Teaching English Pronunciation, Longman
Kennedy, S. (2008), Intelligibility Comprehensibility Accentednesss of L2 Speech: The role of Listener
Experience and Semantic Context
The Canadian Modern Language Review 64, 3
Macauly, R. (1988), RP RIP, Applied Linguistics Volume. 9 No. 2
Tench, P. (1981), Pronunciations Skill. London: McMillan.
Walker, R (2001) Pronunciation for International Intelligibility: English Teaching Professna, Issue 21
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Standard accent or Intelligibility: Desiderata for International Communication in English as a Foreign Language with special reference to the situation in Pakistan
Author
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Iqbal, Zafar
Abstract
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The main objective of learning a foreign language these days is to acquire communicative competence in such a language in real life situations. Being the most important lingua franca, English is the most sought- after foreign language in the contemporary world. There are, of course, two main options in pursuing this goal in countries like Pakistan. The so-called elite class of the society which always tends to set its self apart from the general masses and in some ways still wants to promote the colonial legacy wants to adopt the standard accent of English in their communications which means either ‗general American‘ or British ‗RP‘. The general public perforce resorts to ‗Pingilsh‘ due to many social constraints and pursues the criteria of mutual intelligibility, as a benchmark in speaking English as a foreign language. The aim of this paper is to highlight the significance of ‗Pinglinsh‘ as a model to be followed in the country uniformly in its entire system of education.
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2011-05
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1st International Conference on Foreign Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics
May 5-7 2011 Sarajevo
Genre and Gender as Byronic Subversions in Don Juan
Esma Husika
English Department at the Faculty of Philosophy
University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
esma_haaa@hotmail.com
Abstract: Don Juan by Lord Byron is puzzling and engaging for a contemporary
reader because of the subversiveness of its nature manifested in transgressions of both
social and literary kind. It is classified as an epic, but it subverts every convention of
the genre, retaining only the framework. The most prominent subversion of the genre
is at the same time the subversion of gender. It is manifested in the choice, description
and action of the main hero. Within the genre which normally serves as a mirror
reflecting patriarchal society values and imposing clear-cut patterns for desired
behavior in warrior societies, Byron presents us with an effeminate version of a
notorious Spanish lover Don Juan, who gets to be chosen a hero of this unusual epic
poem. This paper aims at exploring subversive nature of the aforementioned text and
pointing out to the way gender is socially constructed and therefore changeable
category, thus bringing it into connection with ideas of Judith Butler who questions
the patriarchal discourse of power and claims that what has been sold to us as a
difference of sex was actually gender all along.
Key words: Lord Byron, Don Juan, subversion, gender construction,
Introduction
The Romantic period was influenced by the French Revolution. Its main ideas were echoed in the lives
and works of the English Romantic writers. The United Kingdom proved to be a fertile ground for their growth
and development. Natural man, society as a limiting factor, institutions as means of corruption and human
hypocrisy revolved in one form or the other in the literature of this period. Since literature is reflective of social
and historic circumstances and therefore indivisible from them, thus these ideas had different forms in different
periods of time. It is interesting to note that one and the same event, in different stages of its development
though, produced literary works of a different mood altogether and with diverse representation of its central
ideas. It ranged from excitement and an impetus to act to the disappointment in the regime that followed, which
was as oppressive as the previous one. Putting the outcome aside, we notice that the pure idea of revolution in its
essence is in fact very Romantic. Romantic writers, who, according to Shelley, are unacknowledged legislators
of the world, brought about many changes, both in the society and in the artistic world. They experimented with
the language and form, trying to produce art which strived to be democratic.
Lord Byron, the most famous Romantic writer led quite a rebellious life transgressing many boundaries.
He experimented with unbounded freedom in his personal life and was quite free to model his works in an often
subversive way, thus transgressing the accustomed conventions. In terms of breaking social conventions,
transgression is Byron‘s middle name, for he literally stretched the vision of personal freedom to its utmost ends.
Personal life, however, was not enough. The rebellious spirit was reflected in his work, as well. The concept of
Byronic hero, which survived into the modern time sprung out of his rebelliousness. He promoted changes he
thought necessary, and he lived what he preached. Being harshly criticized for his loose morals and an
incestuous relationship, and being exiled even, Lord Byron himself was a perfect epitome of the Byronic hero.
He preferred action of almost any kind, and when there was nothing he could do, he escaped. However, there
was much that Byron actually did through his writings. The society judged him and agreed with Caroline Lamb
in her description of Byron as a person who is ‗‗Mad, bad and dangerous to know‘‘ (Web). Byron returned the
stroke with the harsh satire turned to the hypocrisy of English society of the time. Although he lived by his own
moral code, which was in most cases different from the one adopted by the society and which was considered
completely deprived of any moral whatsoever, there is one matter in which he went in line with the majority. He,
as well as most of his fellow-citizens, was disappointed with the political scene at home, as well as across the
Channel.
In this tempest of contrary emotions, a defiant but heavily disappointed spirit, found the way out in
creating a work of art which respected and opposed accustomed conventions at the same time, reflecting a
romantic spirit captured in a classical form, in an epic poem, celebrating no event, for the outcome of the French
Revolution was everything but the reason to celebrate, but introducing a legendary and notorious womanizer as
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its epic hero instead, with the difference that Don Juan as a hero, is a subverted one, neither manly nor heroic,
but naive and seduced instead, very often displaying the characteristic usually associated with the feminine
gender. The fact that Don Juan fits neither masculine nor feminine gender frame, but is something third, or first,
for that matter, echoes Byron‘s personal life, who bridged the gap between masculine and feminine by
experimenting with both. Remember his obsession with weight, or his experimenting with homosexuality.
Don Juan: Subverted Epic
The work which comprises transgressions of both social and literary kind is Byron‘s ‗‘Don Juan‘‘. First
and the most obvious Byronic subversion in ‗‘Don Juan‘‘ is his subversion of genre. Byron classifies this work
of his as an epic which leads our expectations in the direction quite opposite of the one he really takes. What he
respects of epic conventions is the framework, and even that, to some degree only, for within every convention
applied to this epic poem, there is a corresponding subversion, which is demonstrated as such through the
comparison with corresponding epic elements in ‗‘Beowulf‘‘, a typical traditional oral epic. Playing with the
expectations in terms of subverting the conventions of the epic genre is only a prelude to the real theme and a
major subversion of this work, namely the subversion of gender which is incorporated into genre subversion and
will therefore be analyzed as such.
In terms of length, Byron respects conventions, for ‗‘Don Juan‘‘ is quite a lengthy poem of some ‗‘16
000 verses‘‘(Dizdar, 1999: 184). It includes journeys and it has episodic structure. Conventionally, journeys in
epics often include elements of spiritual quest or some kind of sacrifice. Beowulf, for example, comes from
Geatland to Denmark, to help the Danish king Hrothgar, who suffers loses due to a monster called Grendel.
However, journeys in ‗‘Don Juan‘‘ have more elements of trips or even wanderings than of proper epic journeys.
Don Juan does not even leave willingly, but he gets expelled as most of Byronic heroes end up being because
they do not accept values and norms imposed by the society they live in. The story about Don Juan begins in a
quite unconventional way. Byron explains that conventionally epics begin 'in medias res' and then somewhat
later, the hero retells what had happened before in an episode. Not surprisingly, Byron decides to take different
course and he says: ‗‘That is the usual method, but not mine / My way is to begin with the beginning‘‘ (Dizdar,
2002: 564) Interestingly, he speaks about the beginning in the 6th stanza, so can it really be considered a proper
beginning?
After this ‗second‘ beginning Byron continues with the convention applied convention subverted
pattern and he gives us a sort of lineage, a story about Don Juan‘s parents, Don Jose and Donna Inez.
Conventionally, lineage is the most important didactic part of an epic poem, because it traces all the male
ancestors of a hero, placing them as role models for the young males of the tribe. At the beginning of Beowulf,
we are also presented with the lineage of the Danish king Hrothgar. However, in this lineage mother is not
mentioned; it neither ends with Hrothgar's father, nor it merely counts his predecessors and ancestors, but it
traces his ancestry through several generations and tells about their great deeds, establishing a model of a hero
for the next generations. From this example we see that the lineage, being a very detailed description presented
at the beginning, served the purpose of establishing code of behavior in a heroic society. It had all the important
qualities of a perfect hero stressed, because it was very important to educate the future warriors in both the battle
and tribe-management skills. The survival of the tribe depended upon the strength and courage of the warriors
and the wisdom of their leader. Another issue that can be read into this example is the fact that from the very
beginning of human history the community and nation have been a part of patriarchal discourse which
marginalized women.
In that sense Byron‘s lineage is a serious transgression of conventions. He introduced Don Juan‘s father
in a single stanza, whereas he described his mother in detail. However, Byron is not very fond of Donna Inez and
he actually mocks her by saying that she pretends to be intelligent, learned and able, whereas in reality, she is
none of that. He criticizes her 'learned' shallowness and the society which falls for her tricks. This attitude is
probably rooted in Byron‘s personal life, and the frustration caused by his learned wife, Annabella Milbanke,
referred to as ‗‘Princess of Parallelograms‘‘ (Web). When explaining how learned Don Juan‘s mother was, he
says: ‗‘She knew Latin – that is, 'the Lord's prayer' / And Greek – the alphabet – I'm nearly sure‘‘ (Dizdar, 2002:
566). This quotation, although short, demonstrates two other subversions as elements of Byron‘s peculiar
narrative style and technique. The irony contained in it shows that the tone is quite different from the one
expected in an epic. An epic tone is supposed to be elevated and solemn, in order to correspond to the content. A
poem dealing with the deeds of wise and courageous leaders had a sort of sacred value for the participants of the
culture it originated from. The tone of ‗‘Beowulf‘‘ for example, is not just solemn, but it gets depressing at
times. It ends with Beowulf‘s funeral, so its tone becomes elegiac. The subjects mourn for the best of kings, who
lived and died honorably.
The tone of ‗‘Don Juan‘‘, on the other hand has completely opposite characteristics. It is neither
solemn nor elevating, but, corresponding to the content, it has a relaxed, casual character. In the sixth canto, the
narrator clearly stated that his intention was to sing carelessly about interesting and adventurous topics. With the
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irony and satire underlying ‗‘Don Juan‘‘, the tone becomes comic quite often. This comic effect is achieved
mainly through witty and ironic comments of the narrator.
The role of the narrator in ‗‘Don Juan‘‘ is yet another Byronic subversion to deal with. Typically, epic
is narrated in the third person and the focus is never on the narrator. In ‗‘Beowulf‘‘, for example, we have a third
person omniscient narrator, who jumps in whenever an explanation is needed and who makes sure that his
listeners get the message he is trying to convey. In ‗‘Don Juan‘‘ the narrator is often more important than the
hero himself. Witty comments, colloquial language, and first person narration make the poem Byronic in tone
and comments and the narrator the central point of the poem. Such a narrator and quite an unusual hero lead us
to a conclusion that one way or another there is always Byron in the image of a hero, sometimes in the
foreground, sometimes not, yet always present and important. As Hadley J. Mozer (2005) suggests: ‗‘By taking
the notorious seducer and philosophical libertine Don Juan-a sort of alter ego of himself-as the hero of his epic
poem, Byron took another important step toward becoming the creature of his own imagining, the "hero" he so
longed to be‘‘. This quotation brings us to another important subversion underlying ‗‘Don Juan‘‘, and that is its
hero and the process of choosing one, which is dealt with in the first canto of the poem. In order to be able to
develop a fruitful discussion concerning this subject it is necessary to depict an image of a conventional epic
hero, to describe his traits and his role both in the society and in the epic poem celebrating such a society.
The central figure of an epic is its hero, being an idealized representation of virtues important for heroic
society rather than a real person. Since the society depicted in epics is a patriarchal and warrior society, the hero
is always a male, the embodiment of manliness, to be precise. He possesses a remarkable physical strength and is
extremely courageous. Yet, he is not simply a brute designed to kill. Quite the opposite, he shows dignity,
loyalty and readiness to sacrifice in order to protect his tribe and to be a servant of the good in the eternal fight of
the good against the evil. Furthermore, a hero is supposed to possess wisdom, the noblest of virtues, in order to
be a good leader. All these characteristics are comprised in Beowulf. He is brave and extremely strong. In fact, it
is said that Beowulf possessed the strength of thirty men. Being a fearless and dominant male figure, he perfectly
fits into the image of an epic hero. He is ready to do extraordinary tasks to prove his courage and over time, he
matures and gains wisdom, which makes him an excellent king. However, as any other human being, he must
die. But his death, corresponding to his life is noble. Although being aware of the fact that he cannot go out of
the battle with the dragon alive, he decides to take the risk and sacrifice himself in order to live up to the
standards of a perfect hero, a role model for generations to come.
Don Juan as an epic hero is completely different and unconventional in several aspects. The very
opening of the poem and introduction of its hero is subversive.
I want a hero: an uncommon want,
When every year and month sends forth a new one,
Till, after cloying the gazettes with cant,
The age discovers he is not the true one;
Of such as these I should not care to vaunt
I 'll therefore take our ancient friend Don Juan—
We all have seen him, in the pantomime,
Sent to the devil somewhat ere his time. (Dizdar, 2002: 562)
The situation which Byron‘s narrator is facing is quite strange. Writing an epic, with a vacant place of a
hero is extraordinary. One usually writes an epic primarily because of the hero, to describe heroic deeds and
praise virtues. Another unusual, even shocking occurrence is the fact that although writing an epic poem, he
rejects contemporary high-ranking military officials as possible heroes. It took him three stanzas to enumerate
famous military officials, both English and French, who should have suited for such a place, but, according to
Byron, they did not. He mocks them openly, by saying that they are not true heroes. Nelson, ‗‘Britain‘s greatest
admiral of the Napoleonic wars‘‘ (Dizdar, 2002: 209), was not a true hero. Nor were ‗‘the important persons and
politicians form the French Revolutions like Barnave, or La Fayette‘‘ (Ibid.). However, this is logical to some
extent, since it comes from a Romantic poet, who dreams about idealized society and advocates freedom in a
time of general disappointment in the outcome of the French Revolution and the tragicomic situation with
George III in England. What is not so logical at this stage is the fact that the hero he chooses is not real either,
but a fictional character, a womanizer from the 17th century, ‗‘our ancient friend Don Juan‘‘ (Dizdar, 2002: 562)
One possible explanation reveals itself in the identity of a hero. It is quite clear that it has autobiographical
connotations, since Byron was deemed immoral and had a reputation of a womanizer as well, and like Don Juan,
he was ‗‘sent to the devil‘‘ (Ibid.) by his fellow-citizens.
It can also be observed simply as a Romantic choice celebrating freedom and opposing the institutions
of society. According to the legend (Web), Don Juan was a notorious Spanish lover who has had over a thousand
sexual conquests, before meeting the unattainable and therefore fatal, Donna Ana. If we examine the idea
carefully we will see that it comprises main tenets of Romanticism. It disregards social conventions because it
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promotes ‗natural‘ love and opposes marriage. Sexual instinct is a natural thing, what constraints and directs it is
the institutionalized idea of love, or in other words marriage, which is designed to make love practical and useful
for an orderly society, rather than passionate and wild, as Romanticists perceived it. Common perception of
marriage is some kind of secured future, rather than an introductory chapter to a passionate love novel. Although
Byron changed legendary Don Juan substantially, he retained the idea that natural and passionate feeling is
above institutionalized love. Anne Crow (2007) explains it in the following manner: ‗‘ To Byron, it did not
matter that the lovers were not married in church; it was enough that they were in love, and that genuine feeling
blessed their union and made it holy.‘‘
Subverting the idea of marriage was just another brick in the wall of Byronic subversions. However,
there is a deeper layer within Byron‘s text of ‗‘Don Juan‘‘, the one that recalls Shelley‘s notion of poets as
unacknowledged legislators of the world. For Byron acted not only as a critic of his society, but as a sociologist,
as well, sensing an important social phenomenon that emerged as such in the 20th century. Crowning his highly
subverted epic with the subversion of gender, he designed his epic hero in a way that twisted accustomed notions
of gender roles. In the words of Vladimir Guerrero (Web) Don Juan from the legend was ‗‘the absolute male
chauvinist.‘‘ Many would agree with Guerrero, when it comes to original Don Juan. When speaking of Byron‘s
Don Juan, this statement would be completely out of place, because, contrary to epic conventions, Byron‘s Don
Juan comprises both masculine and feminine characteristics.
Byron‘s Don Juan is quite original in that he is different from both legendary Don Juan and a
conventional epic hero. Both the legendary Don Juan and an epic hero display manliness on a large scale,
whereas Byron‘s Don Juan behaves in a manner that is considered to be feminine. As Vladimir Guerrero (Web)
explains: ‗‘The character of Don Juan has two main components, the pursuit of pleasure and a total disregard for
codes of religion and society.‘‘ Guerrero is speaking about the character from the legend, but this can also be
applied to our Don Juan, as well, because the framework is the same. However, the core is different. Legendary
Don Juan takes an active role in his pursuit of pleasure, not to say, process of seduction, whereas our Don Juan is
always a passive victim of seduction. He somehow gets into a trap of more mature and sexually experienced
ladies, like Dona Julia, for example, and being young and naïve he ends up as a victim of both social conventions
and a heartbreaking romance, because, in the end, he is the one who gets expelled, for being in the wrong place
at the wrong time. Indeed, the only mistake the society acknowledged as such was the fact that he was not
careful enough and was therefore caught. The fact that he participated in adultery was irrelevant as long as the
affair was well hidden.
Why does Byron play with both epic and social conventions? One of the possible answers is to return
the stroke to the hypocritical English society which expelled him and abhorred his eccentric and immoral way of
life, for Byron experimented and explored his sexuality to the maximum, enjoying both male and female lovers,
changing them very often, and as a crown to the whole matter, he had an incestuous relationship with his halfsister Augusta Leigh. Indeed, he lived a scandalous life of a celebrity, but unfortunately, he was ahead of his
time, and therefore he had to pay the price. What bothered him was the fact that those who judged him were
immoral too, maybe not to the same extent as himself, but they were all actors of a big play, where everyone
knew what the other did, but considered it appropriate as long as there was a veil hiding it. Byron, on the other
hand detested veils. He loved to shock his fellow citizens and was completely open in his immorality. However,
he, as an individual, could not defeat the society. This notion of a doomed struggle between the individual and
the society was echoed in ‗‘Don Juan‘‘. Guy Steffan concludes that: ''Taken all together, Juan's adventures
become a coherent set of variations on a pessimistic idea about the relationship between the individual and
society‘‘ (West, 1963: 100).
Indeed, neither Byron, nor his Don Juan could have fought the society successfully, as individuals never
can, but what they could do and what they subsequently did was depicting a society as it was at the time, with an
emphasis on its many flaws and peculiarities. One of them was the satirical portrayal of upper class women.
Legendary Don Juan conquered women as trophies, observing them as passive objects made just for his pleasure.
And objects they were, in a patriarchal, male-centered 17th century Spanish society (Guerrero, Web). Two
centuries later, English women also lived in a patriarchal society, which considered them commodities possessed
by men and ranked them by the male established criteria. If there were no Byron and his satirical epic, maybe we
would think that 19th century English women were in the same position as the 17th century Spanish women,
since the framework remained the same. The world out there was still modeled by the image men projected.
Women were still financially dependent and marriage was still the only way to gain financial security and a
position in the society. For women, virginity before marriage was still a must. Yet many things changed, at least
with the upper class women, those that Byron was acquainted with, since he was a member of the upper class,
the one that was his inexhaustible source of satire. These women started modifying an image of passive and
submissive wives whose main goal was to satisfy their husbands. Long before Simone de Beauvoir and feminist
movement women began behaving as was at the time socially acceptable for men only in order to approach the
allegedly unattainable position of independence and freedom enjoyed by men. Lord Byron sensed this change
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and he documented it through the subversion of gender in his Don Juan. Now it becomes clear why his hero is
passive, naïve and seduced and why all the women in the epic are experienced, mature and in pursuit of pleasure.
Byron‘s satire was not directed towards English women only, although they were the most prominent
targets of it. The main hero changed countries and lovers quite often, due to lack of respect towards social
conventions, not to say total disregard of them. However, there was a constancy, repeating in every country, and
that is the reversal of the accepted and acknowledged gender roles, according to which men picked and chose,
and women obeyed and provided pleasure. The women Don Juan encountered across the wide globe were
neither passive nor submissive, at least when it comes to satisfying their sexual appetites. The part in which
Byron masterfully painted the game of power and subverted socially constructed and acknowledged gender roles
is the episode with the sultana Gulbeyaz. Don Juan ended up as a slave of this whimsical woman who got used to
get everything she wanted. When describing her Byron says:
‗‘To hear and to obey‘‘ had been from birth
The law all around her; to fulfill
All phantasies which yielded joy or mirth,
Had been her slaves‘ chief pleasure as her will (Byron, 2007)
Her will was respected as if she was an absolute dictator rather than a woman. Sultana is described in
terms that are even today associated with males and manliness. She is commanding, dominant, powerful and
determined to get whatever she wishes for. Upon seeing Don Juan, she felt a strong wish to possess him so her
eunuch came up with a marvelous plan of tricking the Sultan by smuggling Don Juan into sultana‘s chambers
dressed up as a woman. When he was asked to do so, not knowing the reason Don Juan replied: ‗‘I‘m not a
lady‘‘ (Byron, 2007) pointing out to the fact that clothes is an important gender marker. He eventually complied
with the request, being forced into dressing as a woman to save his life and the main marker of his sex. To make
the transformation complete Byron dressed his hero in silk and lace, so that in the end his hero ‗‘looked in almost
all respects a maid‘‘ (Ibid.) At the beginning he just looked like a maid, but was quite clumsy and did not really
know how to behave dressed in that strange way. He was irritated by the situation and was ready to use his fists
to defend his manliness in case someone would mistake him for a woman, when he looked like one.
Furthermore, he refused to pay respects to the Sultana in the usual manner, that is by kneeling and kissing her
foot. As if the situation was not complicated enough with an epic hero dressed as a woman, standing in front of a
commanding woman, whose property he was, he dared to refuse to obey her, saying that: ‗‘It grieved him, but he
could not stoop/To any shoe, unless it shod the Pope‘‘ (Ibid.) And just when you think that you got the idea of
what is Byron doing, he acts contrary to your expectations, by making Sultana ask such a sentimental question:
‗‘Christian, canst thou love‘‘ (Ibid.) to which Don Juan reacts in a correspondingly sentimental way, with tears,
which had been, are and probably will be part of exclusively feminine mannerism. Sultana, is taken aback by this
reaction, but she does not know how to react and console him since that was the first time she felt sympathy,
otherwise being merciless, which is yet another quality normally associated with men. It seems that Byron
shared Freud‘s view that the fate of women is predetermined by their sex (LeńiĤ et al., 2006), for he describes her
reaction in the following way:
But nature teaches more than power can spoil,
And, when a strong although a strange sensation
Moves—female hearts are such a genial soil
For kinder feelings, whatsoe'er their nation,
They naturally pour the 'wine and oil,'
Samaritans in every situation;
And thus Gulbeyaz, though she knew not why,
Felt an odd glistening moisture in her eye. (Byron, 2007)
Sultana‘s condition was paradoxical since she, as a favourite Sultan‘s wife had the power that was not
usually bestowed upon women, but on the other hand she herself was in the position of a slave to the Sultan.
Anyway, she could have had Don Juan killed for not complying with her wish to love her, but she decided not to.
The reason of her reaction, was, as Byron explains, rooted in her ‗female heart‘, which was by nature prone to
tears. ‗‘To them t is a relief, to us torture‘‘ (Ibid.) , says Byron, pointing out to the difference in perception of one
and the same phenomenon depending on whether it is done by males or females. The fact that his hero cries
because of love in front of a woman is thus justified with the explanation that tears are weakness in women and
torture in men. So, it must be about the clothes. Don Juan defended his manliness in the beginning of this
episode, but after being exposed to an important feminine gender marker for a bit too long, he started behaving
like a woman, as if his looks were not just an appearance, as if the clothes really determined his gender.
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Through the game of reversed gender roles, Byron tackled an important and sensitive issue. His
intention was to amuse his readers, and to expose upper class women to harsh satire. He demonstrated to what
extent gender is socially constructed and therefore changeable category. Unlike sex, which is fixed, gender is
something that is done and undone by the society as a whole. When saying that tears are part of feminine nature,
Byron is reflecting fixed gender role mannerism. Both males and females are biologically capable of producing
tears, and in childhood both use this ability extensively. But from the early childhood children are taught that
girls cry and boys do not, as well all the other important gender markers, such as appropriate male or female
clothes, behavior and occupation. Children in the kindergartens know that girls cry and use make-up, that boys
have short hair and that mummies cook lunch, while daddies go to work. Gender roles, however, have been
undergoing great changes. Yet, it is still very important to mark them as clearly as possible, because they
determine our social roles. And if those are questioned or changed, the society is not as orderly as it is supposed
to be. In order for the society to function properly, there must be a clear distinction of who does what, what are
whose rights and what are the responsibilities. In this division someone is always restrained. Men are not
‗‘allowed‘‘ to cry or wear pink clothes, but women are those who were traditionally marginalized in the society.
The sad thing is that the unfair treatment was justified by the biological difference between men and women, as
if sex was responsible for created boundaries and restraints. The fact that a woman is capable of giving birth
does not contain any assumptions that it is the only thing she is capable of. The assumption that women are
household queens is a part of gender construction. Sex has nothing to do with it. According to Judith Butler, sex
has never had anything to do with it. It was gender all along (During, 1999).
In connection to gender-sex opposition, Butler also questions the notion of gender as a binary
phenomenon, saying that: ‗‘there is no reason to assume that genders ought also to remain as two‘‘ (Ibid.)
Judging by clothes, as one of the most important gender markers, it seems that the number has been reduced to
one. The clothes is becoming prevalently androgynous and it is no longer a marker which helps you place person
into one or the other gender category. Quite the opposite, it confuses you very often, by displaying something inbetween masculine and feminine. It is not only the clothes that is combining both masculine and feminine and
creating something third. Just like Byron, who played with the accustomed gender roles, by shaping his hero in
both masculine and feminine terms, the society today is doing gender by promoting some of the traditionally
feminine features as desirable in males and vice versa. Men are advised to be calm, sensitive and talkative,
whereas women are advised to be strong, independent and self-confident. Byron was able to achieve comic
effect with his reversal of gender roles, because masculine and feminine was essentially different. Today, this
reversal is really happening and who knows where it will take us. In terms of clothes it could result in monotony,
but in terms of sending an important message of gender equality it could be a small step that is a giant leap.
Conclusion
‗‘Don Juan‘‘ by Byron is the right choice for those who enjoy in amusing, funny and complicated texts
which offer series of relevant discussion topics. While reading Byron one always has to think twice in order to
figure out what is he really saying, because Byron himself was not always sure which path he wanted to follow.
He simply let the spontaneity lead him in his ironic commentary on the social stage in the 19th century. It led
him into an interesting game of respecting and opposing conventions of the epic genre at the same time. He
classified his work as an epic, and then he modeled it as something quite different. ‗‘Don Juan‘‘ is in fact a
mixture of genres with the subverted epic domineering. It only follows the framework of an epic. It is long
narrative, written in verse with episodic structure. These are basically its all clearly epic characteristic.
Everything else belongs to the epic genre only nominally. Deep down it is simply Byronic and subversive; genre
is unimportant, it only serves as a basis for subversion.
Only its subversive nature can account for the fact that the epic hero is a legendary character, a
womanizer, who embodies everything opposite of an exemplary behavior for the next generations. His
adventures are told in an ironic and comic way, so as to amuse the readers, rather than to instruct them about
important social matters. However, Byron‘s intention was not just to amuse his readers. His text contains a
deeper layer which is supposed to reveal, to be ‗‘a satire on the abuses of the present states of Society and not a
eulogy of vice‘‘ (Crow, 2007). Byron felt free to go that far and seriously jeopardize the central characteristic of
an epic hero, his manliness. He played very skillfully with the sensitive notion of gender roles, shaping his hero
not as a seducer or womanizer, but as the one who repeatedly gets into traps of more mature ladies. Furthermore,
he presented gender as a socially constructed category, by using clothing and mannerism as colours of his
masterfully painted reversal of gender roles. He played with the gender marked notion that women are weak and
submissive, whereas men are strong and dominant in order to satirize upper class women, who were not as
submissive as they pretended to be. That is why his Don Juan, dressed as a woman, cries in front of the sultana,
whose slave he is. This episode shows what a great role mannerism and clothes had as important gender markers,
placing one into one of the two categories. It is also a link to the present situation, in which we still have quite
rigid gender standards of what is considered appropriate for males and females. However, things have changed
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and they are constantly changing, since gender is a mutable category. Judging by clothes, it seems as if we are
heading in a new direction, which tries to erase the existence of gender as binary phenomenon, but instead it
promotes neutral path, trying to equalize men and women so much that one could not make a distinction between
the two anymore. Gender as binary phenomenon has provided an opportunity for the domination of one and
marginalization the other. Maybe this reduction will show that there is no essential difference between men and
women which could justify such treatment and hopefully it will lead us into the world of equal opportunities.
References
Byron,
G.
G.
(2007).
Don
Juan.
(http://www.gutenberg.org/files/21700/21700.txt.)
The
project
Gutenberg
(Ebook
#
21700),
Byron‘s wife: Anne Isabella Milbanke, (http://englishhistory.net/byron/wife.html)
Caro: The Lady Caroline Lamb Website (http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/douglass/caro/index.html)
Crow, A. (2007). Byron: cynic or Romantic? Anne Crow explores the first four cantos of Byron‘s Don Juan, one
of
the
choices
for
AQA‘s
Romantic
poets.
The
English
Review
(http://find.galegroup.com/gps/start.do?prodld=IPS&userGropupName=ussd)
Dizdar, S. (1999). Poezija engleskog romantizma, Sarajevo: TKD ŃahinpańiĤ.
Dizdar, S. (2002). SazvjeţĎa romantizma, Antologija poezije engleskog romantizma. Sarajevo: TKD ŃahinpańiĤ.
During, S. (ed.) (1999). The Cultural Studies Reader. London: Routledge.
Guerrero,
V.
Gender,
Class,
Theology,
(www.duo.uio.no/roman/Art/RF2000.2/Guerrero.pdf)
and
The
First
Don
Juan.
LeńiĤ, KapidņiĤ-OsmanagiĤ, KatniĤ-BakarńiĤ, KulenoviĤ. (2006) Savremena tumačenja knjiţevnosti i
knjiţevnokritičko naslijeĎe xx stoljeća, Sarajevo: Sarajevo Publishing.
Mozer, A. J. (2005) ‗‘I WANT a hero‘‘: Advertising for an Epic Hero in Don Juan. Studies in Romanticism
2:239
The Legend of Don Juan, (http://tacit.caltech.edu/hell/djplot.html)
West, P. (ed.) (1963). Byron: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
445
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65
Title
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Genre and Gender as Byronic Subversions in Don Juan
Author
Author
Husika, Esma
Abstract
A summary of the resource.
Don Juan by Lord Byron is puzzling and engaging for a contemporary reader because of the subversiveness of its nature manifested in transgressions of both social and literary kind. It is classified as an epic, but it subverts every convention of the genre, retaining only the framework. The most prominent subversion of the genre is at the same time the subversion of gender. It is manifested in the choice, description and action of the main hero. Within the genre which normally serves as a mirror reflecting patriarchal society values and imposing clear-cut patterns for desired behavior in warrior societies, Byron presents us with an effeminate version of a notorious Spanish lover Don Juan, who gets to be chosen a hero of this unusual epic poem. This paper aims at exploring subversive nature of the aforementioned text and pointing out to the way gender is socially constructed and therefore changeable category, thus bringing it into connection with ideas of Judith Butler who questions the patriarchal discourse of power and claims that what has been sold to us as a difference of sex was actually gender all along.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2011-05
Keywords
Keywords.
Conference or Workshop Item
PeerReviewed
P Philology. Linguistics
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https://omeka.ibu.edu.ba/files/original/bd2c701e85c3afde42432905ff633934.pdf
a4aca9148d48a9c53fb40bf4da06c1ee
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1st International Conference on Foreign Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics
May 5-7 2011 Sarajevo
Language Change
Amra HodţiĤ Jejna
Department of English Language and Literature
International University of Novi Pazar
amrajejna@gmail.com
Abstract: Every language changes constantly. English has been changing throughout
its history and it is still changing today. New words are coming into use every day.
The input of those words changes vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar and spelling of
language. Of course, old forms and old pronunciations are dropping out of use as time
goes by. This work is about language change. There is a great variety of reasons for
language change: influence of the mass media, influence of travel and global
communications, computers and technology, social change, scientific and
technological discoveries, new concepts. First language has an effect on the
pronunciation of the English as a Second language as well. This work gives brief
answers to questions: why language changes, what are types of language change, how
language changes spread through communities, how historical circumstances
influence language change, what is the relationship between language learning and
change, what is the evolutionary path of a language etc.
Key Words: language, linguistics, change, grammar, pronunciation, spelling,
vocabulary, influence, relationship.
Introduction
Languages change over time. It perhaps sounds a bit uncommon, but linguists find out that, for
example, Japanese has not evolved a lot over centuries. On the other hand, English language changed very
quickly in a relatively short period of time.
Historical development of English language is long-lasting, permanent, versatile, but above all
fruitful, because of its rich lexicon in comparison to other language systems. Different changes happened in
phonetics, morphology, syntax and semantics and they are more radical than it actually appears. The
pronunciation of English has changed a lot in past five centuries. The spelling has altered very little over the
same period. So, we can conclude that English spelling is not the best marker for language change. Of
course, we cannot predict the path of change, but we can describe one when it appears (Crystal, 2001). That
is the way to find causes of change and to identify them. It is not easy to set a rule or pattern for an exact
alteration, but when once done it becomes very important because of the application of those rules to other
words, and also for building and expanding the vocabulary.
According to Grzega and Schoner (2007), lexical change may be based on the prestige of another
language or another variety of the same language or simply certain fashionable word-formation patterns. In
their study they say that the kernel of this force is mostly found outside of language and is often the prestige
of a culture, the superiority of a group or politics which cause speakers to adopt linguistic elements (words,
morphemes, morphs, sounds) from the prestigious group‘s speech. Example: English, for instance, borrowed
heavily from French during the Middle English period because the upper social classes were made up of
French people: garment, flower, rose, face, prince, hour, question, dance, fork, royal, loyal, fine, zero are all
Gallicisms. Today, English is the most prestigious language in many parts of the world.
Why Languages Change
Languages change for a great number of reasons. Various shifts usually happen in response to
economic, social and political situation. Throughout history many examples of language change were caused
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by invasions, colonization and migration. Of course, even without these extreme circumstances a language
can change if enough speakers alter it. Very often, users‘ needs cause language change. Information
technology, industry and some individual personal experiences require new notions and therefore, new
words. For example, all the neologisms connected with cell phones or the Internet didn‘t exist in Middle
English period.
No two individuals use a language in exactly the same way. That is also a great source of language
change. The vocabulary and phrases people use are linked to where they live, their age, education level,
social status and sometimes to their membership in a particular group or community.
Through conversation, we absorb new words and endings and later use them in our own speech.
Types of Change
There are three main domains of language change: vocabulary, syntactic structures and
pronunciation. In the process of borrowing words from other languages, vocabulary changes very quickly.
Some other ways are shortening, abbreviation or combining words. We also have examples of word creation
by mistake. On the contrary, syntactic structure does not change that quickly. But if we compare
Shakespeare‘s language to modern English — differences are more than visible. The sounds of the language
transform as well. Pronunciation changes are more difficult to track down, but we can notice that words first
written phonetically are now pronounced differently than their spellings suggest.
Borrowed Words
The simplest kind of influence that one language may have on another is the ―borrowing‖ of words.
When there is cultural borrowing, there is always the likelihood that the associated words may be borrowed
too (Sapir, 1921).
Jamil Daher (2003) writes that ―languages use various strategies in borrowing: perhaps adopting and
preserving the form used in the donor language, sometimes adapting the borrowed word to conform more
closely to their own phonological and morphological systems, and sometimes creating a new word through
loan translation. It is part of the cultural history of English speakers that they have always adopted loanwords
from the languages of whatever cultures they have come in contact with‖. Approximately 10 percent of
English words are actually of Anglo-Saxon origin. During its history, English has come into contact with
many other languages and has adopted words from many of them (Daher, 2003). Though most of the additions were borrowed from Latin and Greek — either directly from those languages or through French —
English has also borrowed words from other European languages, as well as from the languages of South
Asia (e.g. bungalow), the Americas (e.g. tobacco, tomato, and potato), and Africa (e.g. zebra).
The following is only a small selection illustrating the range of languages that have contributed to
English vocabulary: American Indian (caucus, moose), Arabic (alcohol, assassin, zero), Chinese (ketchup,
tea, wok), Czech (gherkin, robot, vampire), Dutch (brandy. cookie, landscape), Finnish (mink, sauna),
German (kindergarten, sauerkraut. snorkel), Hebrew (cherub, jubilee), Hindi (bungalow, dinghy, shampoo),
Hungarian (goulash), Italian (aria, balcony, lava, mafia, opera, piano. spaghetti), Japanese (futon, soy,
sushi), Mexican (avocado, chocolate, tomato), Persian (arsenic, lilac), Portuguese (buffalo, marmalade,
port), Russian (bistro, mammoth, sputnik, vodka), Sanskrit (candy, indigo, jungle), Spanish (cafeteria, cash,
cockroach, sherry, siesta), Tahitian (tattoo), Tamil (catamaran, cheroot, mango), Tongan (taboo), Turkish
(caftan, coffee, scarlet, yogurt), Yiddish (bagel, glitzy, kosher, schlep, schmooze, yenta) (Hogg, 2006).
English still borrows, and is likely to continue borrowing from other languages of the world. However,
borrowing in recent times is characterized by two main factors: the frequency of borrowing is considerably
reduced; and English seems to be spreading its tentacles to reach and borrow from less and less known
languages (Jackson and Ze Amvela, 2004). A study by Garland Cannon (1987) of more than a thousand
recent loanwords from 84 languages shows that "about 25% are from French, 8% each from Japanese and
Spanish, 7% each from Italian and Latin, 6% each from African languages, German and Greek, 4% each
from Russian and Yiddish, 3% from Chinese, and progressively smaller percentages from Arabic,
Portuguese, Hindi, Sanskrit, Hebrew, Afrikaans, Malayo-Polynesian, Vietnamese, Amerindian languages,
Swedish, Bengali, Danish, Indonesian, Korean, Persian, Amharic, Irish, Norwegian, and 30 other languages".
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Creating Words
English has different ways for creating new words from existing resources, like derivation,
compounding, conversion etc. There are many different ways in which speakers can coin new words by
using only the existing resources of their language. Compounding - combining two existing words and
forming a new one. From its earliest days, English has made frequent use of this device. Familiar examples
include blackboard, girlfriend, ginger bread, daredevil, paperback, strip-tease, skinhead etc. Occasionally a
new word is derived by combining two existing words with a suffix, as in blue-eyed, bookkeeper, sky-diving
etc. Some of these compounds have been in the language for centuries, while the others are very recently
formed. Among these words are ozone-friendly, laptop etc. (Trask, 1994). Great number of English words is
formed by blending of existing words (e.g. brunch from breakfast and lunch) and by back-formations (e.g.
donates from donation).
Change in Pronunciation
Like other aspects of language, pronunciation also changes over time. That is why we have different
‗accents‘- different ways of pronouncing a language. Every speaker of English has an accent. The range of
accents in English is impressive. Over the time, the pronunciation has changed at least as much as any other
aspect of language, and it has changed in different ways in different places (Trask, 1994).
Consider the words farther and father. Do you pronounce these words identically or differently? If you
pronounce those words identically you have what linguists call non-rhotic accent. If you pronounce
differently, you have rhotic accent. These terms reflect the observation that rothic speakers actually
pronounce an R-sound in the first word, though not in the second. Non-rhotic speakers do not pronounce Rsound in any of these words (Trask, 1994).
Change in Spelling
English spelling is complex and irregular, and it has only been fixed since the eighteen century. Much
of this complexity derives from the custom of spelling words as they were pronounced centuries ago, rather
than as they are pronounced now.
What is the reason for that? There is no single reason. The history of English spelling is a rather
complicated affair in which a number of distinct developments and influences can be identified. Of course
the language change is the most important factor of the odd-looking spellings. Words like break, night, one,
knife and should have spellings which accurately reflect the way they were pronounced centuries ago (Trask,
1994). Their pronunciation has changed, but not their spelling. The change in spelling these words were
considered by some people, but so far their arguments have had little effect.
Nevertheless, it is perfectly possible for spelling to change, and spelling of English has changed over
the centuries. For example, spelling of the word hloefdige was eventually changed to lady to keep up with
the newer pronunciation. In other cases spelling conventions have been altered, leading to a change in
spelling even without any change in pronunciation, as when Old English cwic was replaced by quick.
As an illustration of the complex history of English spelling, consider the word shield. According to the
Oxford English Dictionary, this word has various spellings: scild, scyld, sceld, seld, sseld, sheld, cheld,
scheld, sceild, scheeld, cheeld,schield,schilde, schylde, shilde, scield, scheild, shielde, shield,and shield.
Only in the eighteenth century did the last form become fixed as the only possibility many other words show
a similarly complex history (Trask, 1994).
Change in Grammar
Differences in grammatical forms between varieties of English are perhaps less serious than differences
in vocabulary and pronunciation, but nevertheless exist. For example the familiar verb go formerly had an
irregular past-tense form yede or yode. In the fifteenth century, however it acquired a new past-tense form:
went. Where did this odd-looking form come from? It came from the now rare verb wend, which was
formerly inflected wend/went, just like send/sent and spend/spent. But the past tense went was detached
from wend and attached to go, which lost its earlier past tense, giving the modern English pattern go/went.
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On the whole, the changes of English in the last several centuries have been less dramatic. At an earlier
stage of its history, however, English underwent some changes in its grammar which were decidedly more
spectacular and far-reaching. However grammar is continuing to change even today.
Agents of Change
Before one language changes, speakers absorb new vocabulary, sentence structures and sounds. The
next thing is that they spread new altered language through the community and pass it to the next generation.
According to linguistic researches, children are main agents for language change. They learn the language
from their parents, teachers and relatives, process it and then produce and spread different variation of that
language. Throughout the history, language constantly adapts to different circumstances. If we tried to
restrict usage of certain foreign vocabulary, our attempts would be unsuccessful. For example, the French
society tried to lower the introduction of English borrowings. As a result, le weekend, bouldozeur etc. are in
common use and more people use le computer than the officially restricted ordinateur.
Influence of the mass media, computers and technology
In 1755 Johnson‘s dictionary influenced spelling in the educated society. BBC pronunciation lowered
the usage of local non-standard accents and BBC television has been a language standard from the half of
the twentieth century onwards. US English has a great influence through film industry. The Internet is
predominantly an English / American language medium too.
Newspaper language is an ever present influence too:
an experienced or able person = ace
purpose, object or intention = aim
prohibition, refusal, restraint = ban
supervisor, governor or manager = chief
married = wed
There is also a standardization of spelling and grammar under the influence of Microsoft products and
their spelling checkers. Communications over the Internet reinforce a common language dominated by an
overwhelming number of US speakers and US websites.
Social change
Whenever one nation‘s culture has predominance in any sphere, its language leads the way. So we
have French words for cooking and ballet; German words for war; US words for marketing, rock music,
culture,
technology.
Transformations in formality cause the language to transform too, bringing in slang, jargon, accent,
dialect, where it may not have existed before. We refer to one group of words and phrases as politically
correct and decide that some are no longer acceptable in society - US army terms such as take out and
collateral damage as euphemisms for kill and dead; nigger is replaced by African American; queer is
used instead of mad.
More changes
- simplification of spelling in American English
- loss of whom
- they instead of he / she
- increase in computer vocabulary and effects of internet informal US-based vocabulary
- effects from non-native speakers
- loss of the apostrophe and the semi colon
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- acronyms, blends and contractions
Conclusion
Language is always changing — in vocabulary, in pronunciation, in grammar, in semantics, and
partially in spelling. Change is a constant process and therefore unavoidable. Language has been changing
since it first appeared on earth; it is changing now; it will surely continue to change for as long as human
beings survive (Trask, 1994).
English language, as any other, is always clarifying itself in order to be more efficient. Of course, that
process happens without sacrificing its expressivity, because we know that every change affects various
parts, and there is always something else to fix. Languages which changed more than others do not have to
be better. They only have different evolving power.
Language does not change everywhere in the same manner. When a language is spoken over a wide
territory, changes which occur in one area do not necessarily spread to other areas. As a result, as time goes
by, differences accumulate among the regional varieties of the language. Throughout history, older and more
conservative speakers have objected to changes in the language whenever they have noticed them. Those
attitudes are still with us today, but they rarely have much effect on the development of the language. A
certain amount of inertia in resisting language change is no bad thing (Trask, 1994). After all, we do not
want the language to change so fast that children cannot speak to their grandparents, or so fast that no one
can read anything written a hundred years earlier. Language changes in the way that is quite normal and
acceptable to all of its speakers.
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Hogg, R. M. and D. Denison (2006). A History of the English Language. New York : Cambridge
University Press
Jackson H. and Ze Amvela E. (2004), Word, meaning and vocabulary, The Cromwell Press, New York
Jucker, Andreas H. (2000). History of English and English Historical Linguistics, Ernst Klett. Stuttgart
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Lyons, J. (1968). Introduction to Theoretical Linguistics, Cambridge University Press, London
Romaine, S. (2000). An Introduction to Sociolinguistics, Oxford University Press. New York
Sapir, E. (1921). Language, New York: Harcourt Brace & Co.
Simon and Schuster, (1986). Webster‘s New World Dictionary, Prentice-Hall, New York
StojiĤ, S. (2000). Sociolingvistički i sociopsihološki aspekti standardizacije engleskog jezika, Beograd
Trask, R.L. (1994). Language Change, Routledge, London
Collins Softback English Dictionary, Harper Collins Publishers, Glasgow (1992)
The Longman Grammar of Spoken English, Longman, London (1999)
www.usingenglish.com
http://www.putlearningfirst.com/language/04change/issuesofchange.html
www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/caxton_william.shtml
www.dictionary.oed.com.
www.answers.com
www.about.com
http://www.soon.org.uk/page18.htm
http://www.askoxford.com/worldofwords/history/?view=uk
http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/society/A0858000.htmlEncyclopedia—English language
http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?dsid=2222&dekey=British+English
http://www.courses.fas.harvard.edu/~chaucer/vowels.html
http://www.linguist.de/reese/English/america.htmVarieties of English
http://www.ling.udel.edu/idsardi/101/notes/phonetics.html
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Title
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Language Change
Author
Author
Hodžić Jejna, Amra
Abstract
A summary of the resource.
Every language changes constantly. English has been changing throughout its history and it is still changing today. New words are coming into use every day. The input of those words changes vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar and spelling of language. Of course, old forms and old pronunciations are dropping out of use as time goes by. This work is about language change. There is a great variety of reasons for language change: influence of the mass media, influence of travel and global communications, computers and technology, social change, scientific and technological discoveries, new concepts. First language has an effect on the pronunciation of the English as a Second language as well. This work gives brief answers to questions: why language changes, what are types of language change, how language changes spread through communities, how historical circumstances influence language change, what is the relationship between language learning and change, what is the evolutionary path of a language etc.
Date
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2011-05
Keywords
Keywords.
Conference or Workshop Item
PeerReviewed
P Philology. Linguistics
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1st International Conference on Foreign Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics
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Interpretacija divanske poezije u nastavi bosanskog jezika i knjiţevnosti kroz
poetiku islamskog simbolizma, a posredstvom primijenjene lingvistike
Jasmin HodţiĤ
Department of Bosnian Language and Literature
University of Dņemal BijediĤ Mostar, BiH
lingvostop@yahoo.com
Saņetak: U radu se putem primjene znanja o etimolońkom znaĦenju rijeĦi daju odreħene
smjernice za interpretaciju divanske poezije u nastavi bosanskog jezika i knjiņevnosti.
Dekodiranju hermetĦke poetike islamskog simbolizma pristupa se interdisciplinarno;
etimologija je polazińte koje nas upuĤuje na suńtinu odreħenih pojmova koji su kontekstualno
vezani za ovu vrstu poezije, pri Ħemu se uzima u obzir i lingvostilistiĦki, semantiĦki,
pragmatiĦki i sociolońki pristup u interpretaciji pojedinih simbola, pojmova i termina, a tako i
ove poetike u cjelosti.
KljuĦne rijeĦi: etimologija, semantika, divanska poezija, metafora, simbol
Uvod
Uslijed mińljenja da je poetika islamskog simbolizma u divanskoj knjiņevnosti dosta znaĦenjski
neprohodna, onostrana, hermetiĦna i nerazumljiva, nasuprot tome postoje i brojna tumaĦenja simbola ove poetike,
razraħena do u tanĦine i dovedena do potpune jasnoĤe. Interpretacija divanske poezije pri tom za polaznu taĦku
uzima najĦeńĤe simbol, koji se kao osnova poetskog iskaza dekodira, i tako dalje interpretira.
Pod poetikom islamskog simbolizma podrazumijevamo sufijsku liniju u divanskoj poeziji, onu koja je
nastala na elementima islamske filozofije. ZnaĦenje tih utvrħenih simbola u divanskoj poeziji oscilira u krugu
nekoliko opet za nas apstraktnih pojmova koji se odnose na predmet poetskog iskaza, a ti pojmovi su: ljubav,
ljepota, tuga, čeţnja, volja, sreća, prijatelj i sl. Zato Ĥemo ovom prilikom krenuti korak dalje i uz pomoĤ
etimolońke analize pomenutih nekoliko tematskih odrednica zapravo pobliņe odrediti pojmove na koje se simboli u
divanskoj poeziji ( a tako i cijela ta poetika) najĦeńĤe svode, i time ovu poetiku dovesti do joń veĤe shvatljivosti.
Defincija divanske knjiţevnosti
Divanska knjiņevnost je „umjetnička knjiţevna produkcija (prvenstveno poetska), stvarana u duhu
islamskih kulturnih naslaga― ( Nametak, 1997) . Kako se prvenstveno misli na poeziju kada je rijeĦ o divanskoj
knjiņevnosti, prikladan je i termin divanska poezija, ńto Ĥemo imati u vidu kada budemo birali izvore primjera za
interpetaciju. Kada je u pitanju znaĦenje rijeĦi divan, treba znati da - „Sama riječ DIVAN ušla je u jezik islamskih
naroda iz perzijskog jezika, u osnovnom značenju SKUP, ZBIR― ( Nametak, 1997). Isto tako, ova rijeĦ je uńla i u nań
jezik, tako da je biljeņe rjeĦnici. Na HJP 224 Ħitamo sljedeĤe leksikolońko odreħenje ove rijeĦi:
dìvān m 〈G divána〉
1. pov. sredińnje drņavno raĦunovodstvo u Omejadskom i Abasidskom kalifatu (od 7. st.)
2. pov. u Osmanskom Carstvu a. skupina ljudi koji raspravljaju o nekom pitanju; skupńtina, savjet,
vijeĤe b. carsko ili vezirsko vijeĤe; drņavni savjet
3. pov. a. carski dvor (ili dvor, kuĤa kakva uglednika — vezira, pańe) b. carsko prijestolje
4. reg. razgovor, rijeĦ
5. vrsta sofe; otoman, seĤija
6. zbornik ili zbirka (orijentalnih) pjesama
✧ tur. ← arap. dīwān ← perz.
Vidimo da je znaĦenje rijeĦi dosta (naizgled) ńiroko postavljeno. Primijetili smo da se nekim razlozima i u
prevodu Kur'ana na nań jezik Ħesto koristi ova rijeĦ. U kur'anskom tekstu Ħitamo ajete koji sadrņe ovu rijeĦ, a svi ti
ajeti imaju jedan zajedniĦki koncept - grupa okupljenih u vrtovima edenskim. Takvi skupovi, ili skupovi sliĦni
njima, dņennetske su oaze na zemlji – a to su mjesta u kojima se okupljaju vjernici zarad spominjanja i sjeĤanja na
svoga Stvoritelja, Allaha dņ.ń. Upravo je dņennet od ovosvjetskih stvari zadrņao samo to, spominjanje Allaha dņ.ń. :
1. ―I Mi ćemo zlobu iz grudi njihovih istisnuti, oni će kao braća na divanima jedni prema drugima sjediti...―
(Odaje, 47)
2. „...čekaju sigurno edenski vrtovi, kroz koje će rijeke teći, u njima će se narukvicama od zlata kititi i u
zelena odijela od dibe i kadife oblačiti, na divanima će u njima naslonjeni biti. Divne li nagrade i krasna li
boravišta!― (Pećina, 31)
224
RjeĦniĦka baza hrvatskog jeziĦkog portala: www.hjp.srce.hr , koja je podesna za pretraņivanje i ovaj tip prouĦavanja te
prouĦavanje jezika inaĦe.
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3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
„oni i ţene njihove biće u hladovini na ukrašenim divanima naslonjeni,...― (Ja-Sin, 56)
„...na divanima, jedni prema drugima,...― (Redovi, 44)
„Biće naslonjeni na divanima poreĎanim, a vjenčaćemo im hurije dţennetske.― (Gora, 20)
„...na divanima izvezenim,...― (DogaĎaj, 15)
„...naslonjeni na divanima, oni u njemu ni mraz ni ţegu neće osjetiti,...― (Vrijeme, 13)
ĥesto spominjano sjedenje na divanima uokvireno je opisom dņennetske bańĤe, sa svih popratnim zgodama,
iz Ħega se otvara jedna ńira dimenzija u znaĦenju ove rijeĦi. (U arapskom izvorniku iskorińtena je rijeĦ سزُر
ُ koju
bismo u slobodnom prevodu interpretirali kao kauč,sofa, i sl.)
ZnaĦenja koja Ħitamo iz rjeĦniĦke baze HJP metonimijski su izvedena iz osnovnog znaĦenja rijeĦi divan.
Naravno da SKUP predstavlja i SKUP LJUDI, a to dalje moņe da bude SKUPŃTINA. Na SKUPŃTINI se raspravlja,
razgovara, pa time je izvedeno znaĦenje RAZGOVORA. Razgovor je i RASPRAVA, ili DIJALOG. On se
podrazumijeva pri SJEDENJU na nekom skupu. To se vidi i iz izvedenih rijeĦi od rijeĦi divan. Takve su rijeĦi
divanhana, divaniti, divandţija; koje po bazi HJP imaju sljedeĤi leksikolońki opis:
divanàna (divanhàna) ţ 〈G mn divanánā〉
1. arhit. veĤa prostorija u kuĤama orijentalne gradnje za boravak, razgovor i puńenje
2. lokal. natkriveni dio balkona na jednom zidu proĦelja ili oko cijele drvene kuĤe domaĤe gradnje; trijem
✧ tur. divan-hane: kuĤa, mjesto za razgovor
divániti ( ) nesvrš. 〈prez. dívānīm, pril. sad. -nēĤi, gl. im. -njēnje〉
1.
govoriti
2.
razgovarati, priĦati
✧ vidi dìvān
divàndţija m 〈N mn -e〉
reg. onaj koji je nazoĦan divanu (4) i lijepo govori; kozer, zabavljaĦ, duhovit Ħovjek
✧ vidi dìvān
PrimijeĤujemo da se opis izvedenica poklapa s nańom postavkom o metonimijskom karakteru izvedenih
znaĦenja u spektru znaĦenja koja se odnose na samu rijeĦ divan.
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Divanska poezija i društveno okruţenje - Tematski okviri divanske poezije
Tematski okviri divanske poezije izgraħeni su po uzusima druńtvenog miljea u kojem je ona nastajala.
Druńtveno okruņenje u kojem je divansko pjesnińtvo nastalo temelji se na islamskoj tradiciji a institucionalno i
drņavniĦki uokviruje Osmanskom carevinom. Zato su Kur'an, Hadis i islamska filozofija kao temelji osmanskog
druńtvenog ureħenja samim tim prevashodno i glavne koordinate tematskog odreħenja divanske poezije. Ipak, tu su
i neke druge taĦke po kojima moņemo razvrstati motive u divanskoj poeziji: „... divanska knjiţevnost se formirala na
osnovama stare turske narodne knjiţevnosti, pod snaţnim utjecajem islamske kulture i već formirane klasične
perzijske knjiţevnosti.― ( Nametak, 1997: 9) .
Mi Ĥemo se, kako je veĤ reĦeno, pozabaviti ovom prvom komponentom i time osvrnuti na poetiku
islamskog simbolizma utemeljenu na islamskoj filozofiji, zato ńto je poezija koja je proistekla iz nje „ pisana jezikom
alegorije i puna je simbola koji traţe pojašnjenje.― ( HaņiosmanoviĤ, Antologija...:13). Dalje je istaknuto da su to
„pitanja univerzalnog značenja, to je svevremeni govor o tajnama svijeta, ţivota, čovjekovog postojanja. Kroz
odgovore pjesnik pročićava svoju dušu, traţeći da dospije do Ljepote, Svjetlosti, što su sinonimi za Boga.―
(HaņiosmanoviĤ, Antologija... :10), u Ħemu moņemo nazrijeti i glavne motive preokupacije divanskih pjesnika.
Pońto je islamska filozofija tesavvufa utemeljena na pravcu koji se zasniva na putu ljubavi, u konkretnom
sluĦaju Ljubavi, dakle, ljubavi prema Bogu, a u svojoj podlozi ima Kur'an i Hadis, tako se isto za divansku poeziju
moņe kazati da je to ljubavna poezija usmjerena prema Bogu, koja za svoj objekt voljena u konaĦnici ima
Gospodara, Stvoritelja Allaha dņ.ń., a naravno podrazumijeva Ħistu ljubav u najńirem smislu rijeĦi, ukljuĦujuĤi i
ljubav prema poslaniku Muhammedu, s.a.w.s. i ljubav prema svim stvorenjima. Znano je da su „osnovni simboli
tesavvufske poezije : ljubav, vino, i ljepota― ( HaņiosmanoviĤ, Antologija...:13) pri Ħemu se ljepota uzima samo kao
odraz Apsolutne Ljepote, a vino kao simbol opijenosti, odnosno, ljubavi i mudrosti. MetaforiĦno uzeto, ljubavni
parovi leptira i svijeće te slavuja i ruţe, koncpti su ljubavnih odnosa koji su posluņili kao motiv divanskim
pjesnicima. Kao u svakoj vrsti ljubavi, krajnji cilj je sjedinjenje s Ljepotom.
Motiv povratka
Gospodaru je centrali motiv u viziji divanskih pjesnika, ńto je ujedno i kur'anska gnoma, gledajuĤi u poruke
kur'anskog teksta „ A ti o dušo smirena, vrati se Gospodaru svome zadovoljna, a i On tobom zadovoljan― (Kur'an,
EL-Fedņr), isto kao ńto je čišćenje duše centralni motiv u islamskoj filozofiji. IĤi Gospodaru moņe se samo Ħiste
duńe. A, duńa se Ħisti spominjanjem Gospodara, koje se u divanskom pjesnińtvu simboliĦno izraņava pićem, pijenjem
pića ljubavi, izgovaranjem Allahovih imena, sjeĤanjem, zikirom.
Primjeri analize
Divanski pjesnici pjevaju o ljubavi
Kazali smo da je ljubav u divanskom pjesnińtvu usmjerena prema Apsolutnoj Ljepoti. Koncept tog
ljubavnog odnosa je takav da, kao ńto to inaĦe biva, postoji i prepreka za ostvarenje te ljubavi. NajveĤa prepreka na
putu do Gospodara je vlastiti ego, koji se Ħisti, nakon Ħega se duńa dovodi do sedmog stepena, spremna na susret s
Gospodarom. ĥiĦĤenje duńe od egoizma ima vińestruku ulogu. Time se ona, osim ńto je spremna na Ħistu ljubav,
spremno pokorava, lińava nas vlastite osobnosti, stavljajuĤi nas u sluņbu Gospodaru. Koncept takve ljubavi najbolje
odraņava uvodni pjev Mevlaninih stihova u Mesneviji, Najnama. Parafrazirano, naj, otrgnut iz svoje pradomovine,
bańĦe, iz Najistana, tuguje zbog rastanka, ĦeznuĤi za sastankom, izgara vatrom ljubavi. Bez sviraĦa naj je samo
obiĦna ubrana trska, lińena osobnosti, koja oņivljava nakon ńto se oĦisti iznutra, i zatim propjeva boņanskom ljubavi.
To je alegorija koja podsjeĤa na nań rastanak od Gospodara joń od prapočetka, Ezela, kad su duńe stvorene.
Moņe li se poruka Najname nazrijeti donekle veĤ u samom izrazu za rijeĦ ljubav ?
ljúbav ţ 〈G -i, I -i/-lju〉
1. snaņan osjeĤaj naklonosti, strastvene privrņenosti, duhovna i/ili spolna privlaĦnost
jednog biĤa prema drugome [ljubav na prvi pogled; nesretna ljubav]
2. meton. ljubljena osoba
3. jaki osjeĤaj privrņenosti ńto ga jedni za druge osjeĤaju Ħlanovi iste obitelji ili iste zajednice [majčinska
ljubav]
4. jaka sklonost prema Ħemu [ljubav prema poslu; ljubav prema domovini; radim iz ljubavi; vene od ljubavi]
5. a. rel. osjeĤaj bliskosti i pripadnosti Bogu, svaka sklonost prema dobru b. kat. teolońka vrlina
Etimolońki, ljubav je izvedena od ljubiti. Mi u nańem jeziku imamo izraz priljubljen u znaĦenju spojen s
nečim, a ljubiti znaĦi spojiti usne. Zato Ĥe rijeĦ ljubav etimolońki znaĦiti spajanje odnosno veza. To je uostalom i
njena definicija: privrţenost, privlačnost, sklonost, bliskost; a kad se dvoje vole, kaņemo da su u vezi.
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Dakle, ljubav kao apstraktna kategorija ipak iz samog izraza pokazuje svoje suńtinsko znaĦenje. To je
čeţnja za spajanjem – ńto je istinski element svake vrste ljubavi.
Divanski pjesnici pjevaju o ljepoti
Ljepota je kao pojam dosta usko povezana s pojmom ljubavi. Voli se ono ńto je lijepo. U divanskoj poeziji
svaka ljepota je odraz Apsolutne Ljepote, kao ńto svaka Ħista ljubav vodi Ljubavi, ljubavi prema Bogu. Isto kao i
ljubav, ljepota je u ņivotu apstraktni pojam s konkretnom praktiĦnom stranom u manifestaciji iste.
Pitamo li se ńta je ljepota? Lingvistika daje svoj odgovor.
Ljepota je izvedenica od onog ńto je lijepo:
lijȇp1 prid. odr. -ī, komp. ljȅpńī
1. a. koji pruņa ugodan estetski doņivljaj, koji se sviħa oku [lijep krajolik; lijep cvijet; lijepa kuĤa];
divan, krasan, oĦaravajuĤi, opr. ruņan b. Ħiji fiziĦki izgled, posebno lice, odgovara odreħenim
kriterijima ljepote [lijepa ņena]
2. a. koji izaziva osjeĤaj divljenja ili zadovoljstva [lijepa gesta] b. koji je jako dobar, koji je zanimljiv,
ugodan [lijepa utakmica; lijepo putovanje]
3. sunĦan, bez oblaka (o vremenu)
4. koji je (po)velik [lijep komad mesa; lijepa svota]; znatan
5. (u raznim vezama rijeĦi) a. koji je dobar [lijepa prilika]; povoljan b. koji je poticajan, inventivan, koji
obeĤava [lijepa zamisao; lijepa ideja] c. koji je oĦit, jasno prisutan kao poņeljno svojstvo, svestrano
izraņen [lijepa sposobnost (za ńto)]
Etimolońki, izraz lijep ima sljedeĤi opis: prasl. i stsl. lěpъ (rus. lépyj, polj. lepszy: ljepńi) ≃ v.
lijepiti (izvorno znaĦenje bilo je: koji pristaje, odgovara) pa veĤ naziremo njeno suńtinsko znaĦenje.
Dakle, suńtinski gledano, ljepota je sve ono ńto nas privlaĦi, odnosno, lijepi za sebe. Ljepota je kao ljepilo.
Divanski pjesnici pjevaju o Ħeţnji
ĥeņnja za Voljenim, kako je veĤ reĦeno, u divanskom pjesnińtvu integralni je dio motiva ljubavi.
Meħutim, lingvistika nam daje odgovor o prirodi ove rijeĦi, u kojem se taĦno vidi isti onaj koncept ljubavi i
Ħeņnje koji je stvarna karakteristika Ħeņnje u divanskoj poeziji.
Zaljubljeni Ħezne za Voljenim, da se sastane, da se spoji. Ljubavni parovi leptira i svijeće i slavuja i
ruţe posluņili su za metaforiĦko obiljeņje i alegoriju ove Ħeņnje. Leptir Ħezne za svjetlom, spaja se s njim, i u
svjetlu nestaje, sagori. Imamo li to znaĦenje opisano u rijeĦi čeţnja?
Ħȅznuti (za kim, za Ħim) nesvrš. 〈prez. -nēm, imp. Ħȅzni, gl. im. ĦeznöĤe〉
jako priņeljkivati ńto, ginuti za Ħim, patiti za kim ili za Ħim, silno ņeljeti (koga ili ńto)
✧ prasl. i stsl. Ħeznǫti (rus. dijal. Ħéznut': nestati, polj. szcezną)
Dakle, pogledamo li bolje u etimologiju čeţnje, vidimo da ona ima znaĦenje nestajanja, odnosno,
iščeznuća, ńto je drugi oblik za oznaĦavanje nestanka; glagol izčeznuti i imenica iščeznuće znaĦe nestanak.
Zato Ĥe izraz – čeznem za tobom osim znaĦenja ţelim te, znaĦiti i topim se, nestajem, ńto frazeolońki takoħer
imamo u svakodnevnoj upotrebi.
Divanski pjesnici pjevaju o sreĤi
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ĥovjek je odraz Boņije Svjetlosti, i istraņuje puteve sreĤe, da bi se ponovo susreo s Gospodarom.
Divanski pjesnici pjevaju i o sreĤi. Pokuńajmo odgonetnuti ovu za nas apstraktnu kategoriju, kakvo je i njeno
funkcionalno znaĦenje: dosta apstraktno?! Znamo li ńta je sreĤa? Svako ima svoju definciju. Ipak, etimologija
nudi jedan odgovor. Pogledajmo analizu.
Po HJP, etimologija je sljedeĤa:
sreĤa
✧ prasl. *sъrętja: dogaħaj, susret (stsl. sъreńta, rus. vstréĦa, slov. sreĦa)
Dakle, sreća ima znaĦenje susreta. Kako bi se reklo: Sretni su oni koji se sreću. Gledano ńire, i
Kur'an nas upuĤuje na znaĦenje ove rijeĦi.
A srećni će u dţennet; dok je nebesa i Zemlje, u njemu će boraviti, - osim ako drukčije Gospodar
tvoj ne odredi; biće to dar koji će neprekidno trajati. (Hud, 108)
I nesrećni će u dţehennem, u njemu će teško izdisati i udisati; (Hud, 106)
SreĤni su dakle oni koji sjede na divanima.
Divanski pjesnici pjevaju o rastanku
Kontekstualno, divanska poezija u najńirem pjeva o rastanku i sastanku. Rastanak je tuga, sastanak je
sreĤa. NajveĤa sreĤa jeste sastanak s Allahom. Rastanak koji se Ħesto spominje u ovom pjesnińtvu, odnosi se u
prvom redu na prapoĦetak, Ezel, i na vrijeme prvog sastanka. Zato pjesnici divanske poezije Ħeznu za
povratkom, za ponovnim susretom! ( Vidi Hafizov DiVAN, predgovor)
sàstanak m 〈G -ānka, N mn -ānci〉
1. susret s kim, opr. rastanak
2. skup vińe osoba radi dogovora [sutra je sastanak upravnog odbora]
✧ vidi sàstati
Kako je samo lijepa nańa rijeĦ sastanak, sa svoja dva znaĦenja. Oba upotpunjuju znaĦenje sreće.
Sastanak s kim podrazumijeva i razgovor s njim. Najbolji je sastanak ( u znaĦenju razgovora) onaj sastanak s
Allahom, a to je namaz (molitva) .
U konaĦnici, postoji krajnji sastanak, u znaĦenju susreta. Takav je opisan u Mevlaninom Gazelu o
smrti.
Divanski pjesnici pjevaju o piĤu
Imamo jednu zanimljivost. U nańem jeziku sastanak znaĦi i spajanje. Etimologija nas upoznava s
Ħinjenicom da spajanje ima veze s pićem, a piĤe u divanskoj poeziji ima veoma vaņnu ulogu kao termin. Dakle,
✧ s (a)- + *pojiti (rus. paját': spajati, češ. pojiti) ≃ v. piti (prvotno znaĦenje iz kovaĦke terminologije:
Ħiniti da tekuĤa kovina »pije« pri spajanju) uĦiniti teĦnim-pa pomijeńati!
Spajanje dakle podrazumijeva i miješanje, taĦnije reĦeno stapanje. Isto tako, spajanje i sastanak
podrazumijevaju i uvezivanje, ili jednostavno reĦeno vezu. U nańem jeziku, kad smo u vezi s kime s njim smo u
ljubavi. Ovakav izraz se svakodnevno koristi.
Divanski pjesnici pjevaju o sudbini
Potpuno preda(va)nje Allahu dņ.ń. ( sadrņano u rijeĦi islam) podrazumijeva apsolutnu sluņbu,
odnosno robovanje Njemu. K tome u prilog svakako ide Ħovjekovo pomirenje sa sudbinom, odnosno,
Allahovom odredbom. Pitanje sudbine ( kao uostalom i pitanje ljubavi) jedno je od velikih svjetskih pitanja
cijelog ljudskog roda.
LingvistiĦko odreħenje sudbine je sljedeĤe:
sȕdbina ţ
1. sila koja prema mnogim vjerovanjima, upravlja ņivotom ljudi i odvijanjem dogaħaja
2. sve ńto je u skladu s takvim vjerovanjem, predodreħeno da se Ħovjeku dogodi; fatum, sudba
3. neumitan slijed u ņivotu Ħovjeka ili u odvijanju dogaħaj
ùdes m
1. ono ńto je odreħeno providnońĤu; sudbina
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2.
nesretan sluĦaj; sudar [prometni udes]
Sudbina je dakle ono ńto je presuħeno, odreħeno, poznato. Ilustracije radi, ovog puta uzeĤemo
etimolońku odrednicu iz engleskog jezika225, odnosno, etimolońku vezu meħu rijeĦima destination i
destiny:
destiny mid-14c., from O.Fr. destinée (12c.) "purpose, intent, fate, destiny; that which is destined,"
fem. pp. of destiner, from L. destinare "make firm, establish" (see destination). The sense is of
"that which has been firmly established," as by fate.
destination 1590s, "act of appointing," from L. destinationem (nom. destinatio) "purpose,
design," from pp. stem of destinare "determine, appoint, choose, make firm or fast," from de"completely, formally" (see de-) + -stinare, related to stare "to stand," from PIE base *sta- "to
stand" (see stet). Modern sense (1787) is from place of destination, where one is "destined" to
go.
Vidimo da je potpuno ista etimologija ( potpuno ista rijeĦ) iskorińtena za mjesto kao destinaciju i za
sudbinu kao neńto ńto je odreħeno. Zato se rijeĦ destinacija kod nas prevodi kao odredište. Sudbina je ono ńto
je odreħeno.
Divanski pjesnici pjevaju o zikiru
Zikir je u divanskoj knjiņevnosti odraz pokornosti i ljubavi spram Stvoritelja a ujedno i sredstvo
ĦińĤenja duńe. Kao odraz ljubavi, spominje se ime voljenog. Ono ńto voli, to se spominje. Zikir se prevodi kao
sjeĤanje, spominjanje.
Spominjati nekoga znaĦi izgovarati njegovo ime.
spoménuti svrš. 〈prez. spòmēnēm, pril. pr. -ūvńi, prid. trp. spòmēnūt〉
1. (koga, ńto) a. govoreĤi ili pińuĤi dotaknuti se koga ili Ħega b. podsjetiti na koga ili ńto
2. (se) dozvati u pamet, prisjetiti se [»spomeni se, ĦovjeĦe, da si prah«]
Etimolońki, spominjanje vodi porijeklo od rijeĦi spomen, ńto znaĦi da spominjanje i uspomena stoje u
bliskoj vezi. Dakle, u vezi su rijeĦi spominjanje, sjećanje i uspomena. SjeĤajuĤi se nekog, mi ga spomenemo,
prizivajuĤi svoju uspomenu na njega. U konkretnom sluĦaju, to je uspomena na Stvoritelja.
spȍmēn m
1. sjeĤanje na koga ili na ńto, uspomena [spomen na velikog borca]
2. predmet koji izaziva uspomene
3. spominjanje [o tome ni spomena; biti (ne biti) vrijedan (vrijedno) spomena biti (ne biti) znaĦajan,
vrijedan da se spominje]
SjeĤanje je u uskoj vezi i s jednom drugom rijeĦi, koja opet stoji u tematskom saglasju s poetikom
divanske poezije. Etimolońki, sjeĤanje vodi porijeklo od rijeĦi sjeta.
sjȅta ţ 〈G mn sjȇtā〉
duńevno stanje blage tuge i Ħeņnje ili sjeĤanja na drago, lijepo ili izgubljeno; melankolija
✧ prasl. *sěta (stsl. sětovati: tugovati, rus. sétovat') ≃ stir. sáith: tuga
Tuga je dakle, organski dio sjete i ne mora neminovno imati negativnu konotaciju; tugovati za nekim
ustvari znaĦi isto ńto i Ħeznuti za nekim.
Divanski pjesnici pjevaju o putevima pribliţavanja Bogu
Pribliņavanje Bogu odvija se posredno veĤ samim ĦińĤenjem duńe, zikirom. A, svaka molitva je odraz
pribliņavanja Bogu. Oni koji su Mu bliski, oni su Njegovi prijatelji, evlije.
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Ńta znaĦi biti prijatelj? Da li je prijatelj konkretna ili apstraktna kategorija?
prȉjatelj m
1. blizak poznanik s kojim se u druņenju njeguju pońtovanje, povjerenje i ljubav [intimni prijatelj;
prijatelj iz djetinjstva]
2. etnol. otac jednoga od braĦnih drugova prema ocu drugoga
3. poklonik, zańtitnik Ħega [društvo prijatelja ţivotinja]
4. biti prijatan, ugodan [prija mi razgovor]; goditi
Uħemo li u etimologiju glagola prijati, vidjeĤemo da se opet suńtina te rijeĦi odnosi na usmjerenje koje
nalazimo u poetici divanske knjiņevnosti :
✧prasl. i stsl. prijati: biti sklon (rus. priját', polj. przyjaĤ) ← ie. *priHo-: drag, voljen.
Dakle, Allahovi prijatelji su oni koji su Mu naklonjeni, dragi i voljeni.
U prevodu Kur'ana Ħitamo: „I neka se ničega ne boje i ni za čim nek ne tuguju Alla hovi prijatelji ; oni
koji budu vjerovali i koji se budu Allaha bojali, za njih su radosne vijesti i na ovom i na onom svijetu –
Allahove riječi niko ne moţe izmjeniti – to je, zaista, veliki uspjeh .― (Junus, 62-64.)
Divanski pjesnici znaju šta znaĦi voljeti
Direktno za pojam ljubavi i ljepote veņe se i osjeĤaj iskazivanja te ljubavi sadrņan u glagolu voljeti.
Koja je stvarna priroda, odnosno, koja je suńtina ovog osjeĤaja?
Sigurno je svakome poznat dijalog koji se odvija izmeħu prodavaĦa i kupca, izmeħu konobara i gosta,
ili sliĦnim dijalozima usluţne djelatnosti, kada Ħujemo ono zvonko i ljupko: Izvol'te, šta ţelite? Tu se direktno
vidi veza izmeħu glagola voljeti i glagola ţeljeti. Pogledajmo ńta kaņe lingvistika.
vòljeti (koga, ńto, se) nesvrš. 〈prez. vȍlīm, pril. sad. vȍlēĤi, prid. trp. vȍljen, gl. im. vȍljēnje〉
1.
2.
3.
osjeĤati ili iskazivati naklonost, privrņenost, odanost, prijateljstvo koje se osniva na zajednici
ideala, krvnog srodstva i sl. [oni se uzajamno vole; voljeti obitelj]
osjeĤati prema kome ljubav, osjeĤati strastvenu privlaĦnost prema kome [voljeti momka/djevojku]
biti sklon Ħemu, rado Ħiniti, sluńati, Ħitati, gledati, sluņiti se Ħim, imati sklonost prema zanimanju,
poslu, igri
1. ljudsko racionalno svojstvo, sposobnost duha da ńto hoĤe, da se moņe odluĦiti na ńto
2. jako htijenje, Ħvrstina odluke, snaga duha, ustrajnost, upornost duha
3. izraņena odluka, koja se ne mora izvrńiti [posljednja volja oporuka, testament]
4. ņelja za Ħim [dobiti, imati volju za što ņeljeti ńto postiĤi]
✧ prasl. i stsl. volja (rus. vñlja, stpolj. wola), lit. valia ← ie. *wel-: htjeti (lat. velle, stvnjem.
wala: izbor)
Glagol voljeti izveden je od izraza volja koji podrazumijeva ţelju, izbor. Zato je nevolja neņeljena.
vȍlja 〈G mn vȏljā〉 ţ
Dakle, sada moņemo povezati znaĦenje glagola voljeti i znaĦenje glagola ţeljeti. U divanskoj poeziji
predmet volje, predmet izbora, objekt Ħeņnje, sreĤe, i konaĦno, ljubavi, ujedno je objekt krajnjeg cilja i svih
nastojanja. Ţelja, volja, ljubav, sreća i čeţnja, stapaju se u jedno. S istim ciljem, suńtinom, i znaĦenjem.
ZakljuĦna razmatranja
Divanska poezija – put ljubavi
U ovom radu etimolońki je interpretirano nekoliko motiva na koje se svodi predmet divanskog
pjesnińtva. Pokazano je da su svi ti motivi u konaĦnici povezani jednom jedinom odrednicom, a to je ljubav.
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Molitva je osnovni izraz ljubavi prema Bogu, kao odraz privrņenosti i naklonosti. Ta ljubav izraņava se
posredno: ljubavlju prema Muhammedu s.a.w.s., jer oni koji njega vole sposobni su slijediti njegovu praksu; te
ljubavlju prema Allahu dņ.ń., izraņenu zikirom i namazom, odnosno molitvom. UĦenjem salavata na
Muhammeda a.s. jaĦa ljubav prema Poslaniku, a praksom molitve u formi namaza postiņemo blizinu i ljubav
prema Stvoritelju.
Napomenimo da nańa rijeĦ ljubav znaĦi veza, spajanje. ImajuĤi u vidu prethodni pasus koji pokazuje
koje su konkretnije forme iskazivanja ljubavi, ukazujemo da arapska rijeĦ salat koja se koristi da oznaĦi
molitvu u formi namaza, isto tako etimolońki oznaĦava vezu. Takoħer, blagoslov na Poslanika oznaĦava rijeĦ
salavat. Ta rijeĦ je mnoņina od rijeĦi salat, i takoħer u svom osnovnom znaĦenju podrazumijeva vezu.
KonaĦno, ono ńto je u Stvoritelj u Kur'anu rekao: „Allah i meleki Njegovi donose salavate na
Vjerovjesnika. O vjernici, blagosiljate ga i vi i šaljite mu pozdrav!― (Saveznici, 56) - a zatim i rijeĦi
Poslanika: „Ko donese na mene salavat, Allah na njega donese deset." (Muslim) - odańilju sveopĤu harmoniju
ljubavi. ImajuĤi u vidu znaĦenje rijeĦi salavat, time donošenje salavata moņemo slobodnim prevodom
iskazati kao uvezivanje. Posljedice: Putem salavata Allah i meleki se povezuju ( su u ljubavi) s Poslanikom –
Ljudi su povezani s Poslanikom – Allah je povezan s ljudima. Svaka ova veza ( ljubav) je opet naravno
dvosmjerna.
Da putevi ljubavi nemaju granica pokazuje i etimolńka veza izmeħu rijeĦi „safe― i „salutation― u
engleskom jeziku i arapskih rijeĦi „salat― i „salavat―. Engleski pridjev „safe― u znaĦenju: siguran,
nepovrijeħen, neozlijeħen, zdrav, potpun, vodi porijeklo od latinskog SALVUS. Engleska imenica „safe―,
u znaĦenju: spremanje, spašavanje, Ħuvanje, vodi porijeklo od francuskog SAUF, ili latinskog SALVUS.
Engleski „salute―, u znaĦenju: pozdrav, vodi porijeklo od latinskog SALUTARE u znaĦenju: pozdraviti, a
povezano sa SALUS, SALVUS. Ima znaĦenje bilo koje vrste LJUBAZNOSTI i pońtovanja. Englesko
„salutation“ zato ima znaĦenje pozdrava.226
References
HasanbegoviĤ, F. (1996): Čitanka za II razred gimnazije, Sarajevo
Memija, E. i Hadiziosmanovic, L. (1995): Poezija bošnjaka na orijentalnim jezicima, Peeporod, Sarajevo
226
Podaci su preuzeti s online baze etimologije engleskog jezika (www.etymonline.com ):
safe (n.) "chest for keeping valuables," early 15c., save, from M.Fr. en sauf "in safety," from sauf (see safe (adj.)). Spelling with f- first recorded 1680s, from influence of safe (adj.).
safe (adj.) late 13c., "uninjured, unharmed," from O.Fr. sauf, from L. salvus "uninjured, healthy, safe," related to salus "good
health," saluber "healthful," all from PIE *solwos from base *sol- "whole" (cf. L. solidus "solid," Skt. sarvah "uninjured, intact,
whole," Avestan haurva- "uninjured, intact," O.Pers. haruva-, Gk. holos "whole"). Meaning "not exposed to danger" is attested
from late 14c.; of actions, etc., "free from risk," first recorded 1580s. Safe-conduct (late 13c.) is from O.Fr. sauf-conduit (13c.).
salute (v.) late 14c., earlier salue (c.1300), from L. salutare "to greet," lit. "wish health to," from salus (gen. salutis) "greeti ng,
good health," related to salvus "safe" (see safe). The noun is attested from c.1400 as an utterance, gesture, or action of any kind.
The military and nautical sense of "display flags, fire cannons, etc., as a mark of respect" is recorded from 1580s (the noun in this
sense is from 1690s); sense of raising the hand to the cap in the presence of a superior officer is from 1832 (n.), 1844 (v.).
226
Podaci su preuzeti s online baze etimologije engleskog jezika (www.etymonline.com ):
safe (n.) "chest for keeping valuables," early 15c., save, from M.Fr. en sauf "in safety," from sauf (see safe (adj.)). Spelling with f- first recorded 1680s, from influence of safe (adj.).
safe (adj.) late 13c., "uninjured, unharmed," from O.Fr. sauf, from L. salvus "uninjured, healthy, safe," related to salus "good
health," saluber "healthful," all from PIE *solwos from base *sol- "whole" (cf. L. solidus "solid," Skt. sarvah "uninjured, intact,
whole," Avestan haurva- "uninjured, intact," O.Pers. haruva-, Gk. holos "whole"). Meaning "not exposed to danger" is attested
from late 14c.; of actions, etc., "free from risk," first recorded 1580s. Safe-conduct (late 13c.) is from O.Fr. sauf-conduit (13c.).
salute (v.) late 14c., earlier salue (c.1300), from L. salutare "to greet," lit. "wish health to," from salus (gen. salutis) "greeti ng,
good health," related to salvus "safe" (see safe). The noun is attested from c.1400 as an utterance, gesture, or action of any kind.
The military and nautical sense of "display flags, fire cannons, etc., as a mark of respect" is recorded from 1580s (the noun in this
sense is from 1690s); sense of raising the hand to the cap in the presence of a superior officer is from 1832 (n.), 1844 (v.).
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Memija, E. i Hadiziosmanovic, L. (1997): Antologija bosnjacke poezije na orijentalnim jezicima, Alef
Nametak, F. ( 1997): Divanska knjiţevnost bošnjaka, Orijentalni institut u Sarajevu, Sarajevo
Nametak, F. ( 2007): Pojmovnik divanske i tesavvufske knjiţevnosti, Orijentalni institut u Sarajevu,
Sarajevo
RjeĦniĦke baze: www. hjp.srce.hr, i : www.etymonline.com
679
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101
Title
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Interpretacija divanske poezije u nastavi bosanskog jezika i knjiţevnosti kroz poetiku islamskog simbolizma, a posredstvom primijenjene lingvistike
Author
Author
Hodžić, Jasmin
Abstract
A summary of the resource.
U radu se putem primjene znanja o etimolońkom znaĦenju rijeĦi daju odreħene smjernice za interpretaciju divanske poezije u nastavi bosanskog jezika i knjiņevnosti. Dekodiranju hermetĦke poetike islamskog simbolizma pristupa se interdisciplinarno; etimologija je polazińte koje nas upuĤuje na suńtinu odreħenih pojmova koji su kontekstualno vezani za ovu vrstu poezije, pri Ħemu se uzima u obzir i lingvostilistiĦki, semantiĦki, pragmatiĦki i sociolońki pristup u interpretaciji pojedinih simbola, pojmova i termina, a tako i ove poetike u cjelosti.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2011-05
Keywords
Keywords.
Conference or Workshop Item
PeerReviewed
P Philology. Linguistics