Applications of Sustainable Architecture

Applications of Sustainable Architecture ‘Sustainability: What it means for Architecture’ Abstract This thesis considers what sustainability means to architecture, and how architects can utilise their knowledge to not only ensure a greener future for buildings, but to promote a better understanding of sustainability on a far wider scale. The areas under study include an appraisal of the technical, social, and financial and energy-saving aspects of sustainable development. Research proposes that systematic research and study into what sustainability means can help the concept to be more fully understood and better implemented in industry. Research is secondary, and uses three case studies which I have selected for their relevance to my design interests and which I believe represent a unique and innovative approach to the concept and interpretation of sustainability in architecture. Introduction Contemporary definitions of sustainability suggest that it is a generic term which encompasses many areas of society and industry, including buildings, transport, and public space. Sustainable architecture has been defined as a ‘cultural construction in that it is a label for a revised conceptualization of architecture [†¦] A sustainable design is a creative adaptation to ecological, sociocultural and built contexts (in that order of priority), supported by credible cohesive arguments.’[1] This dissertation seeks to address and discuss the varied ways in which sustainability relates to architecture, including physical constraints, impact of sustainable design, political and social trends and needs, and the availability of resources with which to build sustainable architecture. For architects sustainability and its implications have become of great value and importance ultimately changing the direction of architecture as a discipline and practical science. I believe that the term sustainability is a term thrown around very often without much thought as to what it means often because it is a concept of such great depth with potentially world-changing consequences and that the concept requires far more research if it is to be fully implemented on a mass scale. Throughout this thesis, I seek to define my own professional and creative interpretation of sustainable architecture by examining and learning from the work of others. In my structuring of the thesis I have narrowed down these interests to focus on three key areas as represented by three chosen case studies. These are to include: Chapter One. Technical sustainability: Werner Sobek This chapter examines how German engineer and architect Werner Sobek has integrated sustainable technical features into the design of his ecological home. The social housing Bed Zed project in London is also examined for its contributions to developing a clearer understanding of how architects might incorporate sustainable technology into their designs. Chapter Two. Social Sustainability: Seattle Library OMA. This chapter considers the impact and function of the public building for the immediate neighbourhood, and why the development is socially important. Chapter Three. Economical and Energetic Sustainability at Beddington. This chapter examines the key features of the Bed Zed project and what energy-saving and economic incentives the project offers to the wider community. Now one of the most well-known sustainable social housing developments, designed by Bill Dunster Architects, Bed Zed provides a useful and insightful point of comparison for the other studies. This allows me to assess the changes and improvements which sustainable development has undergone over the last decade. Chapter One: Technical Sustainability: Werner Sobek As outlined by Stevenson and Williams the main objectives of sustainability include significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions, conserving resources, creating well-structured and cohesive communities, and maintaining a consistent and successful economy[2]. For architecture these concepts have opened up a new industry involving use of alternative often re-usable materials, which offers the architect space to experiment with new designs. A considerable body of research exists into the best use of construction materials, offering guidance to architects and construction companies. For example, in 2000 The Building Research Establishment published a paper called a ‘green’ guide to construction materials which presents Life Cycle Assessment studies of various materials and their environmental impacts[3]. Whereas Energy Efficiency Best Practice in Housing have already established through research that there is global pressure to ensure that construction materials are susta inable.[4] Sobek’s design of his own sustainable home has been described as ‘an ecological show house of precise minimalism.’[5] Its principal design is of a cube wrapped in a glass shield, where all components are recyclable. The most obviously sustainable technical feature is the building’s modular design glass panels and a steel frame, which forms a lightweight structure. Sorbek’s work illustrates a high degree of thought behind the architect’s conceptual understanding of sustainability. Sorbek has obviously thought about what sustainability means and has implemented his knowledge to create an example from which future practitioners will learn. In Sobek’s work we see the high degree to which he has embraced new technology and made sophisticated use of new materials, while also maximising user comfort by incorporating sensor and controlling technology. Furthermore, the use of arbitrarily convertible ducts makes the use of traditional composites unnecessary. Thus, Sorbek is progressing the discipline of sustainable architecture, branching out into bolder, and stranger designs, which displace the functionality and detract saleability from traditional designs. In contemporary sustainable designs there needs to be a regularity and simplicity of form as this seems best to reflect the sustainable philosophy of the architect. As Papenek said of the designs of ecologically sensitive projects: ‘common sense must prevail when a design is planned.’[6] Considering the example of Sobek it is clear that sustainable building although fairly simple can nevertheless draw from a range of theoretical models in its designs. For example, the influence of traditional, even classical traditions will never be entirely absent from contemporary design; moreover contemporary sustainable designs require a re-assessment of architectural theory and practice. As Williamson et al phrases it: ‘green, ecological, and environmental are labels that embody the notion that the design of buildings should fundamentally take account of their relationship with and impact on the natural environment [..] labels refer to a particular strategy employed to achieve the conceptual outcome, and the strategies that occur in a discourse must be understood as instances from a range of theoretical possibilities. The promotion of a restricted range of strategic options regulates the discourse and the ways of practising the discipline [..] Overall, practitioners modify their concept of their discipline to embrace these new themes, concerns and ways of practice.’[7] Ways in which these theoretical influences might be expressed include experiments in symmetry, and regularity of form. Very often, as shown by Sobek’s work, the sustainable features require certain areas of space which can be unified under the more common purpose of working collaboratively. At Bed Zed in London any aesthetic compromises are more than compensated for by the provision of its own renewable energy. Forms, although not ambitious or ornamental do adhere to the Vitruvian principles of symmetry, where symmetry is defined as : ‘A proper agreement between the members of the work itself, and relation between the different parts and the whole general scheme, in accordance with a certain part selected as standard.’[8] In the BedZed project the regular layout, consisting of the assimilation of many component parts, reflects the sense of collaboration amongst the different companies which joined forces to create BedZed, and also the community feel amongst the people who live there. There is certainly a sense of completeness, deriving from the presence of many different units, fortified by sustainable features, where vents of varying colours detract from the strict regularity of forms, creating a light-hearted and ‘sunny’ aspect. Order and symmetry are integral to the design, as without these principles the amalgamation of materials and technological apparatus has the potential to look untidy. In both Sorbek’s project and at Beddington the presence of many windows, and solar panelled roofs, will come to symbolise not a lost tradition of architecture, but the securing of conceptual ideologies which aim to combine practicality with ecological sound principles and materials. Chapter Two. Social Sustainability: Seattle Library OMA. The Seattle Central Library, that opened in 2004, offers a unique blend of technical and social sustainability; where multi-functional spaces are combined with the most recent and efficient methods of construction. An important feature of the library’s placement is that it occupied the same site as the previous library. All too often new developments such as the newly proposed re-building of the Thomas Cooper Library at USC, Columbia involve purchasing a bigger site, often removed from the original location. This changing of location alters the layout of the city or town and thus changes the social dynamic of the area as well as the ways in which the public use the building. Designed by OMA Architects (Rem Koolhaas) and LMN Architects, the Seattle library has become one of the most famous buildings in North America[9]. Athens attributes this rise to fame to the building’s ‘daring form, soaring spaces, and unique interpretation of library functionality’, a s well as being a primarily green building with a LEED certification. The building is an irregular shape; this is necessary in order to maximise the exposure of the high performance glazing system to the light. A triple-layered glass wall allows for people within to have a shaded view out, while having plenty of daylight in the interior. One of the most sustainable features of contemporary projects should be to maximise daylight within the building and make best use of the energy that the sun affords. This not only means a greener ethic behind the building’s construction but also encourages people to make more use of the building as a public space, eg: for conferences, functions etc. The Seattle Library seeks to mark out a new definition of what public space means to the public, and how such a space can be multi-functional and dynamic in nature and design. Furthermore, the function of the building is not entirely contained to the immediate area or immediate society. For instance, the library has a rainwater collection system that is combined wit h a storm water detention tank. This means that the 40,000 gallon tank makes use of the required stormwater detention tank and increases its size by about 50% offering additional storage capacity for landscape irrigation, thus both conserving natural resources and benefiting the local farming and economic community. This library project is of particular relevance to the subject of this dissertation as it made use of LEED NC points an assessment method for the sustainable ‘points’ of a building as it is created. The Seattle library LEED NC points check highlighted social credits as being 28%: This project is a good example of how sustainable development can benefit the community and promote social engagement within the design process. As expressed by Athens,[10] ‘by its very nature, design process can represent the social side of sustainability because it is all about the people involved—their vision, creativity, and collaborative skills.’ Because the library project was aiming to provide a large community of people with an important service, and because the project needed to ensure a high level of longevity for the building, an extra three months was taken before the actual project design in order to research and map out the future of libraries their evolution, functionality and use of technology. Athens explains that ‘this process served to question assumptions regarding the core purpose of the project, and assess fundamental concepts for how needs could be met.’[11] The Bed Zed project in London although a social housing development provides a useful point of contrast to the Seattle project. For example, Bed Zed is a good example of how local government can work with local society, in a community-based project. While Athens expresses, ‘social aspects are harder to define as value propositions within the triple bottom line, and are often thought of as â€Å"externalities,†[12] it was the primary objective of the Bed Zed project to ensure that all parties were represented and consulted throughout the course of the project. In this way the social sustainability of the project is best achieved as once completed, the residents of the 82 homes have expressed their enthusiasm for the project, highlighting its convenience, its thoughtfulness in design, and its energy-efficiency. As Buckingham said of the social cohesion that went into the Bed Zed project, and which the project itself precipitated: ‘There is a synergy from building on these links so that capacity building is achieved through partnership in delivering local environmental sustainability projects and policies. Greater capacity as the sum of the collective work done in various initiatives is greater than the individual parts or partners, and, overall, individual projects and initiatives have a positive impact locally regarding environmental sustainability[..] The design provides a carefully researched balance between the needs of residents, businesses and community activities; the need for sunlight and daylight; an economic construction system and high levels of insulation without losing contact with the outside world.’[13] As designers Bill Dunster Associates have noted, ‘the true value of any site is determined by the amount of accommodation the local planning area sub-committee will allow to be built on it-empowering local communities to promote zero emissions developments, without relying on large central government grants, or asking the developer to pay for the increased building costs of super efficient urban fabric.’[14] Thus, in the design and implementation of sustainable projects it is necessary for architects to work closely and liaise with the local planning committee, stakeholders, and potential residents. Chapter Three: Energetic and Economic Sustainability In this chapter I seek to define the nature and importance of low-energy expenditure in construction and how to lower the building’s eventual energy output through new and innovative designs. Bed ZED Project, or Beddington Zero Energy Development, is the UKs largest carbon-neutral eco-community in the UK. It was built in 2002 in Wallington, within the London Borough of Sutton, and offers 82 residential homes. The Project was developed by the Peabody Trust, a social housing initiative in London, that aims to fight poverty within the capital. The aim of this project was to build in partnership with both an architect and an environmental consultancy firm, in order to create a housing project that incorporates new approaches to energy conservation and sustainability, and to develop a thriving community to live within it[15]. The BedZed design is unique for having incorporated a zero energy policy, where the energy that the building’s inhabitants need is produced by renewable sources generated on site.[16] Reclaimed materials were used, including floorboards, bollards, and timber.[17] It is a large site, including a sports field, offering 50 dwelling spaces per hectare, 120 workspaces per hectare, and over 4000m2 of green open space per hectare.[18] Utilisation of space is a key component of the design; the roofs of workspaces are used as gardens, where in comparable circumstances, most densities might only have room for a balcony.[19] According to the designers of BedZED, the â€Å"combination of super-insulation, a wind driven ventilation system incorporating heat recovery, and passive solar gain stored within each flat by thermally massive floors and walls, reduces the need for both electricity and heat to the point where a 135 kW wood fuelled combined heat and power plant (chp) can meet the en ergy requirements for a community of around 240 residents and 200 workers.†[20] The community treats all its black and grey water on site, and collects rainwater to minimise mains water consumption. A photovoltaic installation provides enough solar electricity to power 40 electric cars and the community has the capability to lead a carbon neutral lifestyle-with all energy for buildings and local transport being supplied by renewable energy sources. Other environmentally sensitive practices include community composting and plans for urban gardening on part of the adjoining Metropolitan Open Land, subject to local authority approval. Using the Bio-Regional principles of local material and labour sourcing stimulating the local economy, and minimising pollution from transportation, the team is now developing a site based prefabrication technique. Buckingham records that on-site workshops took second hand materials directly from demolition sites, cleaning up both timber and steel, and using simple jigs to build structural frames. Materials for this development such as new hardwoods, including oak and chestnut were sourced from local WWF Forest Stewardship Council approved woodland. Whereas local brick, concrete aggregate and precast floor planks were all sourced within 35 miles of the site, thus ‘ensuring that all bulky materials have a reduced embodied energy.’[21] It is important for architecture to embrace and promote new sustainable housing as a viable and prosperous alternative to renovating older style homes and installing sustainable features as to the potential home-owner an affordable, sustainable home is far more likely to be a more valuable asset of the future, offering them more efficient use of energy and a better quality of life. As highlighted by Glasgow Housing Association[22] the most toxic build up of emissions occurs within the home, rather than outside the home, which is why new developments have greater viability for meeting the needs of housing associations and potential inhabitants. As stated in The Architectural Review, BedZed is ‘a piece of radical architectural design, and deserves to be seen within a wider context as a model for future volume housing.’[23] In terms of sustainability BedZed betters the Millennium Village as it includes photovoltaic cells and individual power units, and the heating require ments of BedZED homes are around 10% of that of a typical home.[24] On their design of BedZed, Bill Dunster Architects is quoted as saying that it was a ‘high profile housing development: designed to be carbon neutral eco-housing with ostensible eco styling’[25]; one where the houses were designed around a heat and power unit that operates on heat and electricity from tree waste[26]. The project, did however, run over budget and well over its timescale due to problems in implementing the design and generating a truly sustainable outcome. As discussed by Williamson et al, sustainable design can be problematic in decision processes being made throughout the design process: â€Å"In practice an architect must make many decisions quickly and simply, on the basis of apparent fittingness with the right thing to do rather than deep analysis. Designers are also typically concerned with many decisions at the same time, switching from one to another in an attempt to find a fit between them, and initially regard most decisions as provisional anyway. Moreover, design problems are notoriously difficult to manage, to the extent of being labelled wicked.† Whereas traditional strategies for decision-making and overcoming problems might rely upon an architect’s experience and ability to identify key features of a new situation and apply their knowledge correctly, within the relatively new field of sustainable architecture, architects have to make decisions based on the work of others. As Williams and Radford suggest: ‘skilful practitioners learn to conduct frame experiments in which they impose a kind of coherence on messy situations and thereby discover consequences and implications of their chosen frames. Long webs of what if I try this? speculations are spun out in the process of making a design. In this way designers come to understand the possibilities and scope of a problem through a circle of making proposals and reflecting on their implications. From time to time, their efforts to give order to a situation provoke unexpected outcomes back talk that gives the situation a new meaning. They listen and reframe the problem.’[27] It is this ability to problem frame; to on-the-spot experiment, and detect the consequences and implications of sustainable designs that will allow architects to succeed in creating truly sustainable designs designs which do not overrun budget or time-frames, but which seek to make a compromise between the interests of all parties and the resources available. As suggested by a number of researchers including Buckingham and Healey, ‘building local knowledge and building on local knowledge within civil society is key to the development of social capital and institutional capital.’[28] Healey comments on the importance of local knowledge within different areas of civil society, and suggests that there is a need for local government to learn about different social worlds from which stakeholder groups and organisations come.[29] Analysis The case studies under discussion have exhibited the varied considerations and implications that sustainable development involves. Contemporary projects require an interdisciplinary approach one that consolidates information and can be used as a resource for future projects and research. As expressed by Hinchcliffe et al calculations and projections for the economic viability of sustainable projects require making ‘what formerly might be held to be no expertise as a resource for possible innovation, and to think of a project whereby expertise is less about distant judgments and more about learning to gather together in innovative ways.’[30] A thorough means of assessing to a specific degree the sustainability of projects can be achieved by measures such as the LEED NC, which should be a valuable and essential element of architectural practice. What the case studies have shown is that all sustainable projects need to be cohesive stakeholders, interested parties, need to be involved and to work with the architect, if the sustainable aims are to be achieved. What all the sustainable developments under study have shown is that sustainable development is concerned with creating a build that is durable, while being economically, energetically, and practically sustainable. The overriding principle as expressed by company ‘Sustainable Build‘ is that ‘less is more’, and it is easy for a design to run over its budget simply by trying to include too much or be too clever. Thus, a professional architect will need to aim for simplicity and functionality, and aim to make optimum utilization of space, often by thinking dual-purposefully as shown by the water tank at Seattle Library. Peter Fawcett sums up the contemporary relationship between architecture and sustainability offering an explanation to the question posed at the beginning of this thesis: ‘People may ask what does sustainability mean for architecture? but perhaps the proper question is what does architecture mean for sustainability? The former question suggests a weak approach to sustainability, i.e. an implicit assumption that sustainability has implications (possibly serious) for our present ways of procuring the built environment but those ways are basically appropriate. The latter question recognizes sustainability as the overarching concern, in terms of which all social disciplines and conduct must be reinterpreted and reformulated.’[31] As mentioned above, sustainable development is about keeping within the means of a realistic and attainable budget and within the aims and scope of the people involved. It is not only about ‘installing energy efficient and environmentally friendly appliances, some of which can be expensive and where the paybacks may not materialise for some time but also about recycling and making the most use out of natural materials and other materials which may have been discarded or dismissed.’[32] Different people have different environmental goals that they wish to achieve, and each sustainable development will thus reflect these goals. Benefits to the community and to the individual can be huge, and often simultaneous. Yet more than this, sustainable development is more of an umbrella term that affects (or should affect) the ways in which people live and build within their environments, and how these attitudes and practices can evolve and make best use of these environments. In an article for the Guardian, architect Bill Dunster expresses his concerns that green-living should not mean ‘dull’ living: ‘I find the checklist-orientated green movement very dull. I am worried about eco-fascism and a distinct loss of joie de vivre‘[33] With respect to the designs studied in this thesis there is certainly a lively, contemporary feel to the design of the Seattle project, combined with an optimum utilisation of space. Again, in the Bed Zed project, the symmetry of design and the colours used in the materials created a fun, individual look, that could not easily be replicated. Taking all the above into consideration my own research into what sustainable development means has led me to the conclusion that sustainable architecture does not mean dull or simple living for buildings’ inhabitants. Rather, the use of sophisticated technology as exemplified by the work of Sorbek can mean a wholly different form of living to traditionally constructed buildings which are not sustainable. This new way of living where space is used differently and more efficiently, and the impact of a person’s existence is immediately reduced and made to feel ‘sustainable’ offers a unique and more wholesome existence for the occupier. Conclusion In conclusion, research for this project has highlighted the term ‘sustainable’ to relate both directly and indirectly to architecture. While depending upon the social, technical, and financial structure of a project and its outcomes, sustainable development necessitates a flexible and dynamic understanding of energy, it’s potential, and its conservation. Sustainable development is all too often restricted by the options available, whereby practitioners modify their concept of their sustainability to suit individual projects. Although a degree of flexibility is required in order to modify design projects to suit the needs of all parties involved, it is essential for a professional architect to keep a clear focus on his or her definition of sustainability and what sustainability brings to the discipline and to their working life. In this way architects such as Sorbek can ensure that they create examples of truly sustainable architecture that can be used to teach younger architects entering into the profession. As explained by Williamson et al, the practice of the discipline of sustainable architecture is necessarily subject to ‘concepts and strategies based on common themes or concerns’ where ‘the continuation, small shifts, fundamental transformations, or replacement of issues can be affected by institutional settings such as political events, changes in technologies, scientific discoveries, calamities (actual or imagined) or economic practices and processes.’[34] Seen in this way, says Williamson et al, green, ecological, and environmental are ‘labels that embody the notion that the design of buildings should fundamentally take account of their relationship with and impact on the natural environment’, but the practice of implementing these concepts into physical realities requires a much deeper and more intrinsic understanding of what sustainability means for design, operation, and budget of a project. Designs of longevity thus require an intellige nt assimilation and interpretation of cultural trends and the ability to envision how a design might be embraced by future generations. Designs for the BedZed project might appear to have compromised some aesthetic elements in favour of cost and time efficient means of production. Yet these principles are essential to the future of housing design if the demands of the housing market are going to be met. Design thus involves incorporating aspects of the traditional, and the classical, in a new and dynamic housing solution, whereby the traditional principles of an architecture will never disappear from design, but will necessarily adopt a more subtle position in the ideologies of contemporary architects. The potential remains for further research into the construction of more gracious buildings than the BedZed project, but perhaps less expensive than the Seattle library. Sustainability is about finding middle ground between sustainable objectives and availability of resources and the type of budget available. Research has shown that it is possible to construct buildings which can incorporate the fundamental technologies to propitiate sustainability, but remain aesthetically impressive or even monumental in their design. Yet it is important to remember that building with sustainability in mind is still a recent trend, and one that has not yet overridden the non-ecological techniques of mass housing developments which are all too often seen as the easier, cheaper option for local governments. Therefore, sustainable designs remain very much in their infancy and future research will require sustained interest and financial support from both architects and from Governments alike if they are to be incorporated into mainstream architectural

Problems Faced by Asian Students in English Pronunciation

Problems Faced by Asian Students in English Pronunciation Introduction Speaking regarded as the most important and difficult micro-skill of the four skills in foreign language learning. Most adult non-native students of English in the UK particularly Asian students face a lot of difficulties when they speak English and they sometimes get frustrated when they could not understand or be understand by native speakers of English. Therefore, they encounter the same problems that confront any students studying in a foreign culture, such as grammar, pronunciation, listening comprehension and different cultures. Also, it is difficult for them to adjust to the English language especially when they speak it. They may have difficulty understanding class lecture, making them feel reluctant to participate in class discussion, seminars and tutorials. This essay will first explain and evaluate only one issue that face adult Asian students in UK when they speak English which is English pronunciation. Therefore, pronunciation is a difficult aspect in language learning f or adult Asian students which lead to real barriers to communication and can contribute to motivation with native English speakers. This essay also will examine what are the most frequent difficulties encountered them in English pronunciation, the factors that affecting the pronunciation of non native students of English , some solutions to surmount the difficulties of mispronunciation among Asian adult students and finally it will throw some light on the implications of language teaching. Literature review: Teachers of English as a FL or a L2 know so well how important pronunciation is. Nevertheless, sometimes it has been obvious that a teacher has been paid little attention to the students pronunciation in the process of second language learning and teaching. Celce Goodain(1991) states that over the past years, there have been different views about the value of teaching pronunciation in language teaching and they reported that the cognitive approach and grammar translation reading based method which used by teachers attach no importance to pronunciation. However, in the direct approach, pronunciation is considered important. In addition, Jack and William (2002) reported that pronunciation is no longer considered as an indispensable aspect in a foreign language teaching. According to Beebe (1984,51), `Most current textbooks in English as a second language either ignore the teaching of pronunciation or rely primarily on old stand-bys-to teach non-native learners to pronounce English accurately. Trammell (1993) also indicates that instruction in pronunciation has been deemphasised due to the new teaching methods like the Communicative Approach. Communication is an important need of in daily life and it should be the primary purpose of language learning and teaching . Therefore, teaching English speaking to non-native students of English how to speak English accurately and fluently with native speakers of English is one of the general objectives of the foreign language teaching. According to Yule (2006: 33), language is primarily speech and it is more basic to language than the written form. Knowles (1987) argue that written language is permanent and looks imperfect version of the spoken language whereas spoken Language is more elusive. It is clear that we all speak and hear the sounds spoken in our environment first before we write or read. For instance, child before goes to school, he will speak before write because he will acquire his first Language from his family when he imitates what they said. It is seem that as long as one can communicate with others in the second language, everything is fine but the questions is ,how can communicate with people fluently if your pronunciation is incorrect? Beebe (1984) insists that pronunciation always affect what we communicate and how well we communicate it, and therefore it should be take seriously. Weeren Theunissen(1987: 109) pointed out: Firstly, good pronunciation allows one to be better understood. It gives the speakers oral production a certain redundancy. And this can help to get a message across more effectively as a learning objective because of it is high pay off. The number of sound, sound clusters and intonation pattern in a Language is finite, as is the alphabet. Once the system has been mastered, it can be used, thus giving it fundamentally an infinite scope. Thirdly, a deviant pronunciation means that one is immediately marked as non-native abroad. Harmer (2007) suggests that if students want to be able to speak fluently in English, they need to be able pronounce phonemes correctly and appropriate stress and intonation. Pronunciations of students need to be good enough to communicate the message so that it is understood by other speakers of English. Therefore, most Asian adult students have difficulties to pronounce words or sentences correctly which can be a major cause of misunderstandings. They have difficulties in recognize sound of English, word stress( which part of a word are more heavily stressed that is spoken louder and longer), sentence stress( which part of a sentence can be more heavily stressed), sounds in connected speech( how to link the sounds together in a sentence),and finally in intonation(how our voice rises and falls at a certain point of the sentence).From my own experience as a teacher in a secondary school, most students have potential pronunciation problems when they speak English. They have problem wi th stress and intonation that they unable to put the right emphasis on the right part of the word. Also they have problems with vowels bends and consonants blends as well. For example, sounds likeea and ou can be confusing them because when they listen to the audio recordings, it can be very difficult for them to pick up the subtle blends of two or more vowels. Additionally, In consonants blends, they have problem with th sound because they are not accustomed to putting t and h together to form th sound to reproduce. It is clear that pronunciation is so difficult to learn. The first language of most overseas students effect on learning the second language. Problems that face Asian students in English pronunciation: Most Asian adult students work and study hard to become very fluent in English. However, there are many different varieties of spoken English and non-native students may have achieved fluency such as knowing correct grammar and knowing a large numbers of vocabulary especially when they have been taught by non-native speakers but they have a non-standard accent which make the use of English difficult for native speakers of English to understand. Vowels Celce-Murcia, Brinton and Goodwin (1996) states there are different types of vowel sounds in English pronunciation. Firstly, received pronunciation. It has twelve monophthongs (single or pure vowels).Secondly, eight diphthongs (double vowels) and two thriphthongs (triple vowels).therefore, some of in Asian students like Arabices , Japanese and Chinese have fewer vowels in their first Language which lead to have problems with hearing and pronouncing these distinctions of vowel sounds. For example, Japanese language has only 5 vowels /i/,/e/,/a/,/É‘/,/o/. According to, Kenworthy(1987) there are five vowels letters which are (a, e, i, o, u) .They map to 13 different sounds. For instance, the letter is pronounced differently in the words: boat, boot, out and hot. This is one of the problems that encountered by Asian adult students in pronunciation subject. They have problem with the /a/ sound (e.g. at) because it is not easy for them to hear and pronounce this sound. Also, they could not differentiate between the long sound/a/ and the sound/e/ (e.g. paper-pepper).They also have problems in differentiating between the long/e/ and the short /i/ (e.g. eat-it). Furthermore, diphthongs in English are difficult to learn and definitely tribal markers in English. .They are also very easy for native speakers of English to identify but not easy for non-native speakers of English. So, speech sounds which involve a slide from one vowel to another is the biggest problem which face Asian adult students when they speak English. For example, theou sound in the word out is a blend of /ah/ and /oo/. Several of diphthongs are quiet subtle .For instant the long /ee/ sound in the words feel and fear is a blend of /ee/ and /ah/ as (fee-ah). Celce-Murcia , Brinton and Goodwin ( 1996 ) Consonants Kota(2006) stats that English consonants are less difficult than vowels. Most languages have the sounds which are represented by the letters d, t, s, and z .Nevertheless, some languages do not use certain consonants which can be difficult for non-native speakers of English. For examples, the r and l sounds are not used by Japanese and Korean native speakers. Then, the so- called ra-la distinction is especially difficult for them. They have also difficulty to distinguish between /b/ and /v/ sounds. The /th/ sound is not simply to use it in the naÃÆ' ¯ve language. It can be difficult for Vietnamese students. Therefore, they substitue a /zh/ instead of /th/ as in: /zh/ese problems may be caused by pollution. Also, he adds that there are more consonants in English than in Japanese language .Therefore, the /f/, /v/ /o/, A/, /s/,/3/,/ts/,/d3/ do not exist in the Japanese consonantal system. In addition, Munro((1993) states that some Arabic language do not make use of separate sounds for /b/ and/p/.then, they have difficulty to distinguishing and pronouncing b and p sounds as in : do not bark while I park the van. The difference is quite subtle. They may confuse z withj .These problems cause misunderstanding by native English speakers when they communicate with each other From my own experience as a Libyan student at Leicester University in the UK, I had a car accident in university road because the weather was slippery and snowing which cause that the brake of my car was out of the control. After that the police came to me and asked me some questions about the accident. I said to him I feel slippery. The problem here, the police wrote in the report driver feel asleep but he did not write what I said I feel slippery .I think that was a misunderstanding between the police and me because of my language. He misunderstand me because of his linguistic constraints particularly his heavily -accented English. Other problems which face Asian adult students, is dropping medical stopped consonants. Some of them tend o drop stopped consonants such as, sounds /p/ and /k/ from the middle of poly syllabic words. For example, Chinese students tend to drop the difficult c from the word of success. They say/ suhsess/.Also, some native speaker of English pronounce the word accessory as/ assess or ee/ instead of / ack-sess-or-ee/.(Dalton,1994) Syllable structure: According to Joanna Heather (2003), English allows for in syllable structure a cluster of up to three consonants before the vowel and four consonants after the vowel as in the words straw and glimpsed. Therefore, the structure of syllabus cause issues for speakers of many languages. For instance, Japanese students usually try to in between the consonants (e.g. desk-/desks/) becomes desukusu or in the word milk shake / mIlk ʃeIk/ becomes mirukushȆ¡ku.Kota(2006) there are two types of syllable in English which are open syllables( CV) and closed syllables( CCCVCC).On the other hand, Japanese only permit one type of syllable which is open syllable. For example, Word meaning syllable Ke hair CV Kare boyfriend CVCV So, Words in Japanese do not end with consonants and it Japanese does not allow both initial and final consonants. Knowles (1987) maintains that some Asian students who first languages end in vowels, they often tend to make all English words end in vowels. For example, they pronounce the word make as /meIkÉâ„ ¢ / instead of/ meIk/. Also, they sometimes find it is so complicated when native speakers of English may drop consonants in the more complex blends (e.g. the word months, they say /mɆ¦nÉ µs/ instead of / mɆ¦nos/. Rhythm and Cadence: Brown (2001: 121) pointed out that cadence is the pattern of stresses within a sentence and rhythm refers to the beat syllabus. If each one were marked by tapping fingers on a desk: rat a-tat-tat-tat TAT of this. He adds that the main issue that trips up Asian adult students that British English are stress timed whereas most Asian languages are syllable timed. Stressed syllables are roughly equidistant in time and they like the sound of the mechanical tat-tat-tat-tat of gun machine with equal length to each syllable. However, native English speakers stretch syllables at the same time like putting emphasis on some syllables and not others. For instance,hi. Wonderful to see u again .They say this sentence like this hiiiii woooood fl to seeeeeee yu agaiaiainn. This mean, won- see- gain is both emphasized and lengthened but other syllabuses in the sentence are so lightly and shortened spoken. According to Kota (2006), stress time in English is one of the problem that encounter Asian students particularly for Singaporeans students. They speak in the way which is very difficult for English speakers to understand. Intonation Roach, (2002: 50) defines intonation as the rising or falling pitch of the voice while pronouncing words or syllables. He believes that intonation enables speakers to express their emotions and attitudes when they speak. The most problematic area of pronunciation for most Asian students is intonation. They find it extremely difficult to hear tunes or identify the different patterns of rising and falling tones. Therefore, some Asian languages have less pitch variation than English especially Japanese language.They use pith changes to mark stress on the word level which result the so-called monotonous intonation. Wong(1987) suggests that English as a tonal language(not using tones).We can understand the words in isolation but if we put them together in sentences, the meaning of the sentence may change by a shift in tone. For example, Are you going to the library?(low-then-high on word library) but if u wondered which of two persons agreed to get the list of books, the same words would have a different emphasis Are you going to the library?, and the tone for you would be rather deep which is different from the first question. Jack and Willy (2002) introduce other problems in English pronunciation .Firstly, difference between spelling and sounds. There are lots of words in English language which have silent letters. Therefore, most Asian students specifically Pakistani students pronounce these silent letters unknowingly which make them mispronounce the words. For example, knowledge, kneel .These two word have k silent letter which they should not pronounce it at all. Secondly, multiple sounds of the same letters are also one of the issues that encounter Asian adult students. This mean there are many letters and combinations of letters which produce numerous sounds at different place. For instance, the letter c produces two sounds like s and k (e.g. circle, car) and also ch letter produce three sounds as ch,k andsh. Factors affecting the English pronunciation of Asian students: The effect of native language: Every language in the world has different accent and varsities is true that non native speakers speak the target language in a different way. Sometimes, they speak highly different than native speakers of English do. Avery Ehrlich (1987:9) calls the foreign accent the nature of which is determined to a large extended by a learners native language. Then, native language of speaker may influence on the pronunciation of the target language. Jack and Willy(2002: 184) states that the way we speak is a part of our identity ,that is, phonemic differences between language cause, a target language which will be spoken with a foreign language. Some Asian students specifically Turkish adult students have difficulty in some English sounds or words that are not exist in their first language. For example, the sounds/ÃÆ' °/ and / ÆÅ ¸/ are not exist in Turkish language which lead Turkish students to face difficulty to pronounce these sounds when they speak English. So they produce these sou nds under the influence of their first language. Then, the influence of native language is inevitable. The factor of age: This is the most important factor in learning English pronunciation. If someone wants to pronounce a foreign language with a native like accent, he/she should start to learn it during his/her childhood. For example, children who start learn English language in foreign language speaking people environment. As a result, they have more advantage than the children who learn the second language in their motherlands. Krashen (1988) mentions that people who expose their second language during childhood, they achieve higher foreign language proficiency than those who beginning as adults. It seems that age is the main factor which effect on adults English pronunciation. They are difficult for them to learn English language after puberty. Therefore, it is better to learning it in short run and should be started in puberty. Phonetic Ability: According to Jack and Willy (2002) pointed out that some people who have a good ear, they have the ability to discriminate between the two sounds accurately. So, learners phonetics ability affects the development of their pronunciation. Kenworthy(1987) believes that the influence of age is an efficient factor for phonetics ability. Because it is so difficult for adult students to have more ability in pronunciation than immigrants children who start their learning process in a second language speaking environment. The Amount Exposure: Many non native speakers have not opportunity to practice the English language in their motherlands. English also do not only used in the classroom. If the learners live in an English- speaking country, the learners will have opportunities to listen and speak with native speakers of English. Conversely, there will no advantage for learners if they live in a non English speaking country. Kenworthy (1987) insists that exposure can be a contributory factor but it is not necessary factor for developing adult learners pronunciation. Learners should make use of it is opportunities, if they are aware of the necessity of being exposed to the second language. If the learners do that, they will be more successful in case of improving their pronunciation. Personality and Attitude This factor affect the pronunciation of most Asian adult students in a bad way if the learners have negative attitudes for the English environment .learners or they are introverted students. From my own experience as a student in the UK, I am one of the students who are introverted or shy. Therefore, I usually do not take part in classroom activities; seminars and tutorials .Whereas extrovert students have more chance to improve their pronunciation. Brown (2001) states attitude of the students toward the new language have an effective role in pronunciation learning. Also, if the learners have a good attitude for the target culture, they can develop their pronunciation accurately. If the learners have some prejudices on the second language and its society, this event will influence their approach to the language. It is clear that these above factors are effective in the learners pronunciation and also exert much influence on the adult learners. So, teachers play a significant role for helping adult learners to develop their English pronunciation. Also, they should pay attention to the students concern for pronunciation because they are not aware of the way that they speech. Therefore there are lots of methods and types of teaching English pronunciation which help Asian adult students to overcome the difficulties of it. They will also help them to acquire an accurate pronunciation and improve their speech. Solutions to surmount the difficulties of mispronunciation among Asian adult students:- Teaching pronunciation:- Jigsaw: Pennington (1996) maintains that jigsaw is a form of information gap. Students work in pairs or small group to exchange their information. They try to combine words with each other to create sentences. These sentences consist of words that the learners have difficulty to pronounce these words. For example, in the word rise which has the letters s that they must pronounce it as z and producing /raIz/ e.g. I was surprised that the raisings rise! B-Tongue Twister: This kind of activity helps adult Asian students to say difficult words and phrases so quickly. Celce-Murcia (1987:55) stress that there is a little transfer from practice to natural information. But, if it is needed and necessary, they can be used. Example: Paul piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. 2-Drilling Techniques There are lots of drills which helps adult Asian students to improve their English pronunciation. They are very useful for teaching the correct pronunciation of the words and sentences. A- Saturation drill Wong (1987) proposed it is vey suitable for all position of the problematic sound. For instance, the sound /s/ as a problem sound. It can be drilled in its three positions Initial media final See leasing peace Seem clinic purse Substitution drill Dalton (1994) says that this drill can be applied by substituting any sound instead of other sound. For instance,/t/ sound instead of /ÃŽÂ ¸/ and /d/ in place of /ÃÆ' °/( e.g. this is thin/tin.) It is clear that there are other ways helps learners to overcome difficulties of pronunciation .First, media which give to the students positive advantage especially when they watch standard English news channel like BBC. Second, is practice. Students should practise English with native speaker or non native speakers of English to improve their English speaking Conclusion: To sum up, teaching pronunciation is one of the important areas of foreign language teaching. Most overseas students especially Asian adult students encounter troubles when they try to communicate with native speakers of English. Then, communication should be the primary purpose of language learning and teaching. One crucial part of effective communication for Asian adult students to grasp is: comfortably intelligible pronunciation. They have certain difficulties such as produce correct sound and recognition of English sounds, understanding of stress and intonation, difference between spelling and sounds and other problems. Therefore, it should be studied in the early age (from puberty) to eliminate these problems and also to overcome the negative influence from the first language interference. Teachers must be a ware of the techniques which help students improve their pronunciation according to their age, ability, needs, attitudes and expectations. Count words (3200) Classroom Implications: Appendix I: Generally, pronunciation is really complicated process in foreign language teaching. There are some of sounds which have similar sounds but have different meanings. This can be causing much confusion to the learners. Therefore, most ESL students have problem with English pronunciation when they speak English. From my own experience as a teacher in Libyan secondary school, I used several ways to teach pronunciation which can be benefit all learners. Firstly, introducing phonemes .because the biggest problem that faces them is the distinguage between sounds. For example, in the words fat, mat, cat, sat, the letters /f/, /m/, /c/, /s/ are the phonemes which are the beginning letters of these words. Phoneme makes the distinct difference between similar words. After that, students listen and repeat these different sounds and then identify them. For the best result, I introduce phoneme in pairs. (e.g. the /f/ and/v/ sounds).They listen and speak them and also repeat simple words like( fat- vat)Secondly, practicing phonemes for making the sound accurately. I drew pronunciation diagrams on the blackboard because they help them to know how to hold the tongue and lips. For example, the sound /th/ in #the word this and thank. Anxiety is usually common among students when they lean pronunciation. Then, I usually use some verbal games such as, handclap rhythms and jazz charts which can help them to improve their speaking and relieve much of pressure. Appendix II: Students listen to audio recordings and they practice what they hear because recordings get them attuned to stress, intonation, pitch and phonological distinctions. For example: Listen and say what word you hear: is it from column (a) or column (b)? Some words are unusual. Appendix III Word stress and intonation Listen and mark the stressed syllable. Daughter- orbit-planet- computer- meaning- handle-homework- hospital derision. 2-Read these sentences and mark the pauses with / and mark the intonation pattern with à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ and à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬Å". People who look different from others in some way are interesting. The one who looks bored is my sister. The latest design, with CD player is very expensive. A tidy, conventionally decorated room with everything in its place is boring.

Platonic Justice Essay -- Papers Essays Philosophy Plato

Platonic Justice Throughout Platos Republic, the subject of platonic justice and its goodness to its self arise and are discussed amongst Plato and his peers. At the beginning of The Republic, Plato asks the fundamental question of what is justice? Looking to define the ideal state of justice, Plato reasons that he must first define justice in theory before he can use justice practically. Platonic Justice is defined as being a harmony between the tripartite soul in which reasons guide the spirit and appetite. Justice is said to be good in itself and good in its practical ends. It is educating desires, implementing the human faculty of reason. Justice is not the interest of the stronger, but more the interest of the weaker. An unjust life, which is dominated by the spirit, leads one to an addiction for material goods or possessions. A platonically just life leads to harmony, balance, and virtue. A just life in this case allows attainment of satisfaction where as an unjust life does not. The truly unj ust ultimately destroy themselves, whereas the truly just preserve themselves. Wether or not Platonic Justice is good for its own sake is to be determined. After Plato debates and dismisses that justice is the interest of the stronger and that the unjust life has an advantage to the just life, Plato, lacking a firm answer on justice seems to say that justice is a balance of the soul. As Plato is debating this question Thrasymachus joins in and presents the first possible definition of justice as the interest of the stronger, that might is right. Socrates enters the conversation and attempts to define justice. Socrates says that subjects obey their rulers and these rulers are not perfect, they sometimes make mistakes. If justi... ...an animal the spirited man moves from one satiation to the next. However, a life dominated by reason, in which reason balances the spirited and appetitive natures to harmony, results in a good life. Thus the just person will have the appetitive, spirited, and reasoning aspects of the soul in harmony, with reason to guide and director of the passions and appetite. Lacking a concrete definition, justice would be the balance of the tripartite soul, with reason in control. Justice is a harmony between the tripartite soul in which reason guides the spirit and appetite. Justice is good in itself and good in its practical ends. Justice is educating desires, implementing the human faculty of reason. A just life leads to harmony, balance, and virtue. This is to what Plato ponders throughout the opening of The Republic and considers the great question amongst his peers.

Absurdity: An Essay On The Stranger :: essays research papers

An Essay on†¦ The Stranger; The Absurd "One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all And in the Darkness bind them" (Lord of the Rings Volume II, The Council of Elrond) Within the Stranger, Albert Camus brought up many questions and a few answers. He created an outsider to society and showed us how he lived, Meursault. Meursault was always indifferent. Meursault accepted death. Why? Meursault saw the purpose of life meaningless. That is â€Å"Absurdity†! Absurdity, how does that word sound? Pretty bad, eh? Absurdity when used like â€Å"that’s absurd!† gives the feeling of negative judgment and a sense of finality. The idea of the Absurd seems to attach itself with meaningless, pointless and other such words that express a destination but without the means to get there and vice versa means but no destination. So from there I inferred that Camus does not believe in God nor any high law or universal law that are associated with a divinity, which is a path in life (either the means or the destination). So what is Absurd? The Absurd is living, a quest to find the meaning of anything within a reality with no purpose. Reality has no purpose because there is no high law, a universal law nor a God. Therefore this reality must be randomness. I believe that Camus wants us to see thi s and begin questioning our existence. So he wants he wants us to see the Absurdity and to cope with the Absurdity. If there is no point to living why do we continue to live? If this reality is absurd why don’t we recognize that and commit suicide? Taking one’s life shows the lack of will or reasons to live and also the needlessness of suffering. So what is living? Living is the Absurd. Living is hopelessness. Living is keeping the absurd alive. To keep the absurd alive you only have to live the absurd. 'Life will be more fully lived in so far as it has no meaning.' is a quote from Camus that shows this. Camus shows that you can â€Å"hope† for the best without hope. â€Å"Hope† is not the same as hope. â€Å"Hope† is optimism. Freedom from hope is freedom to your soul. You can no longer hurt yourself by living. It is hard to believe that being hopeless leads to living but living is an imprisonment. We try to be the best we can be but does not life limit us?

Dramatic Dialogue Analysis Essay

Language is a natural process of living. It plays a great part in our lives. Its effects are remarkable, and include much of what distinguishes man from animals. We use it to interact with one another, to construct and maintain our interpersonal relations and order. In doing so, we interpret and represent the world for one another and for ourselves. Language is used to store the experiences built up, both personal and collective. It is a tool for constructing knowledge and for constructing meaning. The study of language is an inquiry into the nature of mind and thought on the assumption that languages are the best mirror of the human mind (Stainton, 1999). Analysis of everyday language use affirms that it is in the realm of art that their challenges are most evident and tangible (Gerbig and Muller-Wood, 2006). Linguistics shares a common tradition with literary study. Not so long ago, language and literature were studied together by philologists, who saw the study of both areas as mutually beneficial. Later development and the advent of specialization in both fields have oven produced scholars whose work does not cross over form one field to another (Oaks, 1998). Even so, scholars in either discipline regularly voice the truism that there is natural conjunction between literature and linguistics. After all, both fields deal with the raw material of human communication and expression – language. There is a need for interdisciplinary cooperation between the disciplinary identity of linguistics as empirical and descriptive while literary study being interpretative and analytical (Gerbig and Muller-Wood, 2006). Linguistics helps us to â€Å"trust the text† (Gerbig and Muller-Wood, 2006), to interpret the text, rather than impose interpretations upon on it. Application of linguistic empirical tools to literature may not lead to ultimate truths. It can nevertheless bring precision to otherwise often impressionistic treatment of text. There is a need to treat text as interchangeable products of a discursive system. Mogliola (1981) posed the question: â€Å"what are the structural conditions for the valid reading of a text, in so far as these conditions are revealed by a phenomenology of interpretative experience? † Heideggerian hermeneutics takes as its origin the pre-objective oneness of interpreter and phenomenon (be the literary text) – sees in interpretation a reading that is faithful to this oneness. Interpreter is never neutral, but always approaches a text with an explicit or implicit question. Interpretative activity manifests three functions: the interpretative question, the textual aspect, and the interpretation which is the meaning. Any given interpretative question should select and illuminate its affiliated â€Å"textual aspect†, an aspect which is there is the text. Linguistics can place literature more firmly and credibly in its context for other aspects of meaning depend more on the context and the communicative intention of the speakers. Communication clearly depends not only on recognizing the meaning of words in an utterance, but recognizing what speakers mean by their utterances. The principles and rules of grammar are the means by which the forms of language are made to correspond with the universal form of thought. The study of generative grammar represented a significant shift of focus in the approach to problems of language. The shift focus was from behavior or the products of behavior to states of mind/brain that enter into behavior, the central concern becomes knowledge of language: its nature, origins, and use. The three basic questions arise: ‘What constitute knowledge of language? ’, ‘How is knowledge of language acquired? ’, and ‘How is knowledge of language put to use? ’. The answer to the third question would be a theory how the knowledge of language attained enters into the expression of thought and the understanding of presented specimen of language, and derivatively, into communication, an other special uses of language (Stainton, 1999). The third question takes an important part in this study, particularly in the performance of the language which main purpose is communication. Communication is conceived as a relation that binds together the three elements: sender, receptionist, and topic. Corresponding to the three elements are three distinct functions: expression, appeal, and representation. These functions consist communicative function depending on what takes the center-stage. The function does exclusively what is represented or depicted in the communicative act. The three functions become the explicit focus of conversation (Medina, 2005). Alongside communication is conversation. Smith (2001) describes conversation as a process of two people understanding each other. Thus it is a characteristic of every true conversation that each opens himself to the other person, truly accepts his point of view as worthy of consideration and gets inside the other to such an extent that he understands not a particular individual, but what he says. The thing that has to be grasped is the objective rightness or otherwise of his opinion, so that they can agree with each other as a subject. Furthermore, in conversation, knowledge is not fixed thing or commodity to be grasped. It is an aspect of process. It arises out of interaction. In conversation, there is a to-and-fro play of dialogue. Dialogue is the encounter between men, mediated by the world, in order to name the world. It is culturally and historically specific way of conceiving certain verbal transactions and as such has considerable rhetorical force (Maranhao, 1990). The root sense of dialogue is that of talk (logos) that goes across or back and forth (dia). In contemporary English, dialogue is a conversation of two persons. At formal level, it is an economics of verbal exchange. In the functional usage of dialogue, a text or social interaction is treated as a social field across which multiple voices and multiple cultural logics contend with each other (Tedlock and Mannheim, 1995). What makes something as dialogue? The spirit of its participants of the form its utterances take? In Plato’s inception, dialogue has always been and continues to be programmatically liminal: interstructural, between two states or conditions, essentially unstructured rather than structured by contradictions; because of its deliberate avoidance of closure and finality. It serves perpetually as a vehicle for reformulating old elements into new patterns. Dialogue provides a meeting ground, community, and manifests itself in a variety of spontaneous and ritual modes of discourse in which nature and structure meet. Understood as a conceptualization of a kind of discourse and also a way of viewing and interpreting discourse, dialogue shares with narrative the characteristic of being atemporal, existing in many times and places. As discourse phenomena, it is internally atemporal. It does not talk about events in time; instead it spans in ‘dialectic event (i. e, discourse event) and meaning’; it presents utterances, ideas, and undertakings in nonlinear, recursive, diaeretical, and synthesizing sequences (Maranhao, 1990). Treating dialogue as an ideal evidently has an ethical implication. Furthermore, when a particular mode of communication is chosen as a model of dialogue, it becomes identified with the sense of goodness or rightness adhering in the ideal to the exclusion of other modes of communication. (Maranhao,1990). Spoken and written languages are what Maranhao (1990) termed as modes of communication. Although written and spoken languages are very different, they are not easy to separate. In fact, they are closely intertwined, and in daily life people participate in literacy events where reading and writing are mixed with spoken language and with other means of communication. Writing is based on speech in some very real ways; spoken language is the basis for the most people’s learning of written language, for instance, and the very form of written language gets inspiration form spoken language. However, other aspects of communication come into play with written language. Most significantly, it is visual: laid out in some way and displayed. The importance of the role design, layout and other aspect of the physical context should be evident and they form part of what is meant by writing. Writing enables us to go much further than spoken language: its ability to fix things in space and time. Writing results in text. It extends the functions of language, and enables to do different things (Barton, 2006). It is in the realm of art where study of language is evident and tangible. Dramatic dialogue, the interplay between written and spoken language, fits for the study. It is therefore desirous to investigate the workings of dramatic dialogue. Dramatic dialogues usually serve a number of purposes such as developing the plot, and presenting the characters and providing information about them. Playwrights attempt to achieve balance between some features of actual speech and the employment of dialogue by putting not too much closeness to actual speech so as not to make dialogues dull and uninteresting (Al-Rubai’i and Al-ani, 2004). Dramatic dialogues (plays) exist in two ways – on the page and on the stage. It is therefore necessary to adhere to the argument that sensitive understanding of plays (explicitly contains dramatic dialogue) can be arrived at through â€Å"mere reading† through linguistic analyses that dramatic text contains very rich indications as to how they should be performed. Dramatic dialogue takes into account that one crucial aspect in which drama differs from poetry and fiction is in its emphasis on verbal interaction, and the very relationship between people are constructed and negotiated through what they say. It is where linguistics takes into its own. Linguistics, and the techniques of discourse analyses in particular, can help analyze the exchanges between characters, in order to: help us understand the text, help us understand how conversation works, and allow us to appreciate better the skill demonstrated by the playwright (Thornborrow and Wareing, 1998). Chapter 2 Dialogue as discourse is characterized by a fundamental structural principle: it is interactive and interactional. It is a mode of speech exchange among participants, speech in relation to another speech not merely the verbal expression of one character or actors’ part. In the study of dialogue as interaction, the dramatic text as written text, addresses a context of performance which requires a change in mode of discourse – the transformation and transmutation of the written lines into dynamics of speech, which involve more than recitation of the lines by the actors (Herman, 1995). In the study of dramatic dialogue, understanding the workings of the dialogue as interaction and conversational speech versus dramatic speech are taken into account. It is also important to note that dramatic dialogue, taking part in the speech exchange system, must be safeguarded from conversation in order to preserve the formers’ ‘literary’ quality (Herman, 1995). In the construction of conversational practices and actions, participants use co-occurring structures and devices from different levels of linguistic organization as well as the employment of linguistic features in conversation. In the linguistic analyses of dramatic dialogue, Gricean semantics and analyses on the linguistic features: turns, pauses or silences, adjacency pairs, chaining, and back channel support, will be employed. According to Gricean Semantics, in ordinary conversation exchanges, there is much more to the meaning of an utterance than what appears on the grammatical and logical surface: utterances often convey things other than what they literally mean and they often imply things other than what they strictly entail. The adequate understanding of meaning requires the processing of what has been termed as ‘an invited inference’. Grice formulated the maxims as follows: ‘Make your contribution to the conversation as informative as possible, but not more informative or less informative that is required (Maxims of Quantity); ‘Do not say what you believe to be false’ and ‘Do not say that which for you lack adequate evidence (Maxims of Quality); ‘Avoid obscurity’, ‘Avoid ambiguity’, ‘Be brief’, Be orderly’ (Maxims of Manner), and ‘Be relevant’ (Maxims of Relevance). According to Grice, all these different maxims are corollaries of the most fundamental principle of communication that governs all conversation. This is what he called as Cooperative Principle which read as follows: ‘Make your conversational contribution such as is required, at the stage at which it occurs by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk-exchange in which you all engaged. ’ (Medina, 2005). The central premise of the Gricean approach is that the communicative intention of a normal speaker under normal circumstances conforms to the cooperative principle and the conversational maxims that derive from it. For Gricean semantics, the speakers’ conversational contributions are governed first and foremost by these general rules of cooperative communication, rather than by the semantic conventions that fix word-meanings and sentence-meanings. It is also important to note that intended meanings of speakers can depart sometimes even wildly like that of ironic utterances. Grice’s analyses of intended meanings put a lot of weight in the speaker’s communicative intentions undermining the traditional emphasis on linguistic conventions, which on his view become mere tools to be used and bent in all kinds of ways (Medina, 2005). One of the linguistic features in conversation which tends to be modified in dramatic dialogue is the way turns are taken, the way people having a conversation organize who is going to speak next. Schegloff (1995) had the idea that syntax of spoken language in interaction should be looked upon as resource that is deployed and exploited for the organization of turns and sequence in conversation. Turn-taking is one important communication skill emerging during preverbal routines. It is a mechanism use to reorganize conversation so that interactants smoothly exchange speaking consequences. Through turn-taking, participants coordinate their conversational contributions to each other. Turn-taking works as the onset of dialogue and is a prerequisite for latter emergence of communicative rule (Haslett and Samter, 1997). In general, for the construction of conversational practices and actions, participants use co-occurring structures and devices from different levels of linguistic organization, not only from prosodic, phonetic-phenological, but also form morpho-syntactic and lexico-semantic structures in turns-at-talk in their sequential context. The possible types for turn constructional units (TCU), for English, are sentential, clausal, phrasal, and lexical. Syntactic units are important resources for the construction of TCU and turns. TCU is a linguistic unit in talk constructed in the interplay of syntax and prosody in its sequential context. For spoken language in interaction, syntactic entities like sentences are not to be conceived as static or fixed, but flexible. That is why when talking about transmission relevance placed as the relevant loci for the negotiation of turn-taking; ends of sentences, clauses or phrases etc. are not talked about but the ‘possible completion points’ of sentences, clauses, phrases, and one-word construction. It is the flexibility of the possible syntactic unit that enables them to be used for the organization of turn-taking in conversation (Hakulinen and Selting, 2005). In the construction of conversation, participants are not concerned with the construction of units as such, but the construction of units is contingent upon practices or activities such as holding, organizing, and yielding the turn. TCUs are not themselves relevant for participants, but for the practices and activities of turn-taking and activity constitution (Haslett and Samter, 1997).

English Language Learners Essay

English Language Learners (ELLS) are usually foreigners who composed the minority students of the country. Even if they are not native citizens of the United States there needs and rights should be properly respected and protected especially in terms of the process of their learning of the English language. The succeeding paragraphs will discuss some cases that affect the rights of these ELLs. The cases of Lau v. Nichols (1974) and Plyler v. Doe (1982) have substantial improved the education of ELLs. The unanimous decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Lau v. Nichols orders that all students should have an equal access not only to facilities, textbooks, teachers and curriculum but also in learning the English language. The court believes that difficulty in comprehending the English language deprives the student of meaningful education. Moreover, the case of Plyler v. Doe opens the doors for immigrants to enroll their students in public schools. This gives immigrant children the right for free public education regardless of whether their parents are documented or not (Legal Responsibilities of Education Agencies Serving Language Minority Students). Other judicial rulings like in the case of Serna v. Portales (New Mexico, 1974), Cintron v. Bretwood (New York, 1978), and Castaneda v. Pickard (Texas, 1981) have also contributed in enhancing the rights of ELLs as well as in addressing their needs. These are clearly shown by the bilingual and bicultural instruction programs that were implemented after the court found out that Spanish students are discriminated in the Serna v. Portales case. Equal treatment among ELLs are also further emphasize by the remaining two cases wherein it made sure that the bilingual programs would uphold both languages rather than subordinating the other one. Lastly, the Castaneda v. Pickard case has a very important role in the enhancement of the right of ELLs because it served as a basis in assuring a school’s compliance with the Equal Educational Opportunity Act of 1974 (Legal Responsibilities of Education Agencies Serving Language Minority Students). In all these, it is seen that judicial rulings are indeed important because there interpretation of the law had been a way in order to improve the situation of ELLs in their learning process. Work Cited â€Å"Legal Responsibilities of Education Agencies Serving Language Minority Students†. 1995. 28 August 2008 .

Freedom VS Security Essay

Many theories and assumptions have been fabricated upon the basis of man’s desires and beliefs. H. L. Mencken wrote, â€Å"The average man does not want to be free, only to be safe. † However, this observation does not correlate with what has been witnessed over the course of contemporary society. Since the 18th century, man has sacrificed safety for a reward that is much more paramount, freedom. Patrick Henry, an orator for freedom in the middle to late 1700’s, knew that liberty was a vital necessity in every man’s life, and that one must do whatever it takes, including sacrificing their security, in order to achieve it. In his speech to the Virginia House of Burgesses, he is most memorably quoted for his concluding antithesis, â€Å"Give me liberty, or give me death! † Henry conveyed to his audience, as well as the entire nation, that freedom is a virtue worth dying for. Mencken’s allegation fails to attribute this instance, even though Patrick Henry was able to convince a whole nation that their liberty was worth dying for. In the past we have had many examples of security vs. freedom. During the civil war we had soldiers and people fighting to be free. They risked their own life everyday stepping out on the battle field just so they could have their own rights. This also happens in the American Revolution; people fight and risk their lives for freedom. Many events in history show how much people truly care about their freedom. Our Founding Fathers created this nation so we wouldn’t have to be living in a society full of regulation. Freedom vs. Security is a non-stop debate in our country. However, freedom is unalienable. Freedom is what keeps the common man happy. Freedom allows us to treat every day as a new day, knowing that we can do and accomplish anything because we are free. On the other hand, while safety is what keeps man calm and secure, it is not what our nation thrives off of. Security is a blanket, while freedom is a threshold. Therefore it is desired, while security is expected. No man cries out for safety, but the same cannot be said about freedom. Freedom gives us hope and excitement, while security gives assurance. Both are essential, yet only one is craved. Mencken’s presumption of what man wants, and what man deserves are in disarray. Freedom is everything, and not even safety can over shadow it.