The 1 st International Conference on Language, Literature, and Cultural Studies

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2 ICLLCS st International Conference on Language, Literature, and Cultural Studies August 22-24, 2013 Organized by: Department of Western Languages, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Burapha University, THAILAND ISBN : Get Good Creation, Co.,LTD Copyright@2013 by Department of Western Languages, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Burapha University ii

3 The scientific committee The scientific committee is in charge of the reviewing process for the papers that have been accepted to be published on the conference proceedings. It is composed of scholars having an expertise in the diverse and complementary areas pertaining to the conference theme. 1. Assoc. Prof. Supannee Pinmanee, Faculty of Humanities, Chiangmai University 2. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Budsaba Kanoksilapatham, Faculty of Arts, Silpakorn University 3. Asst. Prof. Dr. Saiwaroon Chumpavan, Faculty of Humanities, Srinakharinwirot University 4. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tipa Thep-Ackrapong, Faculty of Humanities, Srinakharinwirot University 5. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kitima Indrambarya, Faculty of Applied Linguistics, Kasetsart University 6. Dr. Nataporn Srichamnong, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce 7. Dr. Laura Bailey, School of European Culture and Languages, University of Kent 8. Dr Alex Ho-Cheong Leung, Department of Humanities, Northumbria University 9. Dr. Jean Odnor Starobinsky Jomskey, Department of Philosophy, Université Paris Dr. Nasser Al-Horais, Arabic Department, Qassim university 11. Asst. Prof. Dr. Somboon Chetchumlong, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Burapha University 12. Asst. Prof. Dr. Ubon Dhanesschaiyakupta, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Burapha University 13. Assoc. Professor Thanu Tewrattanakul, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Burapha University 14. Asst. Prof. Dr. Preedee Pitpoomwittee, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Burapha University 15. Asst. Prof. Dr. Pakpoom Jaimeearee, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Burapha University 16. Dr. On-Usa Phimsawat, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Burapha University 17. Dr. Somphob Yaisomanang, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Burapha University 18. Dr.Wanwisa Kunpattaranirun, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Burapha University 19. Assist.professor Dr.Nanchaya Mahakhan, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Burapha University 20. Assist.professor Dr. Wilai Limthawaranun, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Burapha University 21. Dr. Phoommarin Phiromlertamorn, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Burapha University 22. Assoc. Prof. Dr.Sujaritlak Deepadung, Mahidol University iii

4 CONTENTS Alexander Klemm 4 Writing the City into Being: Cold War Bangkok in The Ninth Directive (1966) Anusorn Saechan &Sugunya Ruangjaroon 14 WH-Arguments versus WH-Adjuncts Asymmetry in the Acquisition of English WH-Questions by Thai Learners Pudsadee Kaewchawee 25 The Effectiveness of Multimedia-Based Instruction in Developing the Sixth Grade Students English Ability Akkarapon Nuemaihom 34 An Analysis of Thai-English Translation Strategies in the Short Story Level 8 Abbot Budsaba Kanoksilapatham 44 University Students Attitudes towards English Pronunciation Models Chitra Phunkitchar & Supaporn Yimwilai 54 Environmental Awareness in Children Picture Book: The Secret Garden Aram Iamlaor 63 An Analysis of Translating Figurative Language by English-Major Students in Thailand Farhad Mazlum & Fatemeh Poorebrahim 69 English Language Teaching in Iran: A Meta-analytic and Triangulated View of Persistent Challenges Hataya Anansuchatkul 81 Effortlessly Yours: A Discursive Construction of Spa Service in Chiang Mai Jaime Moreno 100 Between Christianity and Modernity: Spain in the History of Boredom-as-Laziness Jose G. Tan, Jr. 110 English Instructional Materials: Imperative Learning Aid for the High School Bound Summer Program of the MSU-Science High School Khaing Khaing Oo & Kantatip Sinhaneti 122 An Investigation of Myanmar Migrant Workers Job-related English Language Problems and Needs at D.E.A.R Burma School Meechai Wongdaeng & Rangsiya Chaengchenkit 135 Interlanguage of English Question Use among Thai EFL Learners: An Investigation into Acquisition Patterns and a Testing of Implicational Universals Khanita Limhan 148 English-Thai Time Expressions Used by Thai EFL Learners Nani Indrajani Tjitrakusuma 158 The Metaphors of Verbal and Pictorial Verbal Advertisement Texts in Online Magazines 1

5 Nanik Mariani Effendie 168 The Student Wheels Strategy in Teaching Speaking Skills to Cultivate Politeness at Junior High School Paul Ashford 180 Improving English language skills through extensive reading: A literature review Reza Abdi & Salim Zalgholizadeh 190 An Analysis of the Use of Collocation by Iranian EFL College Students Rungaroon Injai 211 An Analysis of Paraphrasing Strategies Use in Expository Writing by 3 rd Year Students at Burapha University Hossein Siahpoosh 221 Pronunciation Performance in EFL Learners at Different Age Groups: Extraversion vs. Introversion Thitinan B. Common 228 Music and the Echo of Cultural Identity: The Case Study of Lanna Contemporary Music Wayne George Deakin 238 Thailand, Occidentalism and Cultural Commodity Fetishism Wimonwan Aungsuwan 247 The Similarities and Differences between Imagination and Reality in Harry Potter Pipittaporn Inpanich & Atipat Boonmoh 259 The Effects of Peer and Teacher Feedback through an Electronic Medium (Facebook) on Students Writing at Different Points of Their Writing Apichai Rungruang 270 The Relationship between the Perception and Production of English Onset Clusters by EFL Thai Learners Chadchavan Sritong 280 Comparative Analysis of Usages of the Preposition "de" in Spanish and Thai Language Elisa Cristina Díaz 290 Spanish and Thais surnames: Similarities and differences. Intira Charuchinda 299 Beautiful or Pretty as Conceptualized in Katherine Mansfield s A Cup of Tea: Feminist Ironies Irana Astutiningsih 310 Women s Breaking Taboos in Cyberculture: Tearing up Patriarchal Net through Slash Fiction? Kay Liu ( 劉采婕 ) & Jason Mattausch ( 馬傑生 ) 319 Tone Perception Errors in Mandarin Chinese 2

6 Krongtham Nuanngam 327 Politeness in English of Thailand s Ordinary National Educational Test (O-NET) María de las Mercedes Fuentes Hurtado 338 How can Thai students learn Spanish literature? A practical approach. Marilou L. Villas 348 An Investigation of Students Types and Frequency of Errors in Paragraph Writing Moh d Tawfiq Bataineh 356 Language Ideology and the Development of Arabic Parin Tanawong & Somsak Kaewnuch 378 The Relationship between Cohesion and Coherence in Writing: The Case of Thai EFL Students Raksi Kiattibutra 390 The effectiveness of teaching foreign language to a non-background group: A case study of teaching Elementary French for social sciences students at the University of Phayao Sorapong Nongsaeng & Supaporn Yimwilai 397 The Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy in Scott O Dell s Island of the Blue Dolphins Wannaprapha Suksawas 407 Exploratory Talk in EFL Classroom from a Systemic Functional Linguistics View Yaowarut Mengkow 418 Derek Walcott and the Pastoral Yoga Prihatin 429 Conversational Implicature Analysis in a Classroom Interaction at English Department of Tegal Pancasakti University Yulia Makhonko 439 Listening to learn in an L2: Noticing and Restructuring Listening Activities versus Traditional Way of Teaching Fuangket Tongwanchai 449 Grammatical Use of Politeness Strategies in Requests by Thai Learners of Spanish Hendar & Chairiawaty 458 Improving the students Business English Communication and Intercultural Competence through Role Playing and Simulation Ida Zuraida Supri 465 A Dialogue Journal: A Tool to Improve Classroom Interaction 3

7 Writing the City into Being: Cold War Bangkok in The Ninth Directive (1966) Alexander Klemm Assumption University of Thailand Graduate School of English Abstract This paper presents an analysis of the novel The Ninth Directive (1966) by British author Elleston Trevor (a.k.a. Adam Hall) by focusing on its historical and literary contexts and on the construction of Bangkok as an urban stage of Cold War clashes between British, U.S. American and Chinese interests. The paper seeks to determine exactly how Bangkok is portrayed in the novel and to what ends. The theoretical framework is based on various recent publications that deal with the representation of Bangkok and Thailand in western fiction and non-fiction texts. The results show that The Ninth Directive fits some characteristics of the city novel genre, yet it does not fully develop Bangkok into a character of its own right because the primary purpose is to present Bangkok as a strategic center from where the western and Thai forces succeed at stopping the spread of Chinese Communism. This representation is solely based on the observations of the British agent Quiller, the protagonist. At first, the city is portrayed as an idyllic paradise before it is turned into a city under siege. Moreover, the author s imagined Cold War confrontation reveals his underlying Orientalist, colonial and imperial attitudes, which are most apparent in the portrayal of the antagonist. Named Kuo the Mongolian, the Chinese-Communist assassin Kuo embodies western fears of a rising China and the spread of Communism. Keywords: Bangkok, Cold War, city, fiction, representation, Orientalism Introduction During my research about the numerous ways in which post-world War II English-language novels have appropriated and represented Bangkok, I could not find any critical texts of note that have engaged with this topic. This may be due to an apparent lack of serious western novels set in Bangkok, or an ostensibly more fruitful focus on colonial and post-colonial literature set in other Southeast Asian cities. Nevertheless, a great number of noteworthy novels have given unique portrayals of Bangkok by way of interpreting the city and the lives of Bangkokians. One such novel is The Ninth Directive (1966), written by the British author Elleston Trevor and published under the pseudonym Adam Hall. The novel is set in Bangkok in the mid-1960s. The Bureau, a top-secret British spy agency, directs agent Quiller to Bangkok where his mission is to protect a member of the British Royal family who is referred to as the Person (possibly based on Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh) throughout the novel. The Person is going to visit Bangkok on a diplomatic mission to maintain the strong ties between Great Britain and Thailand. The Bureau fears an attempt on the Person s life during the visit, possibly by an assassin hired by China, and that the Thai and British security services would be unable to prevent such an attack. The threat becomes real when the Chinese- Communist assassin Kuo the Mongolian, henceforth Quiller s cunning enemy, and a group of helpers cross from Laos into Thailand. Quiller finds Kuo in Bangkok and soon believes that his plan is to hide on an oriel of a Buddhist stupa named Phra Chula Chedi from where he would shoot and most certainly kill the Person when he is passing in an open car. However, this plot has been a cover to mislead the British agent. Kuo s actual intention is to abduct the Person. This abduction succeeds through an attack on the car and at the cost of the lives of several innocent 4

8 Thais. Quiller, however, has no chance to stop Kuo and his men. Apparently, they were hired by the Chinese Government with the goal to force the British Government to swop the Person for a spy named Huang Hsiung Lee, who is in British custody. Lee has memorized plans for revolutionary laser technology needed by the Chinese to build a super-weapon. After the kidnapping Bangkok is in a state of shock and finds itself under siege by Thai, U.S. and British special forces. Quiller s revised directive is to find Kuo and to get the Person back alive. After several setbacks he succeeds. By sparing Kuo s life, he prevents Lee from running over to the Chinese and secures the Person s safe return. This was a Cold War period when western concerns about the spread of Communism, the nuclear standoff among the world s superpowers, and an escalation of the ongoing Vietnam conflict were very intense. The novel takes these tensions and lets them spill into Bangkok, turning it into a city under domestic and foreign occupation. On the surface, Bangkok appears to serve as a stage of a clash between British and Chinese interests, but there is much more to Hall s portrayal of Bangkok. This paper engages critically with The Ninth Directive with regard to its role within the western literary genre of city novels, and the actual Cold War context. The paper also analyzes the novel s complex portrayal of Bangkok as a city that is tested by an unwanted conflict. The analyzes below are significant for readers to arrive at an understanding of how a city like Bangkok is written into being, and how westerns portrayals of Bangkok are less indicative of the Thai nation but more so of the ideological objectives and socio-cultural conditions of western nations themselves. Historical context: The Cold War The Cold War began in 1947 with the Truman Doctrine, i.e. the president s pledge that the U.S. would support Greece and Turkey economically and militarily so as to prevent the USSR from gaining a foothold there, and with the simultaneous beginning of the U.S. s containment policy to oppose the USSR s expansionistic ambitions in other parts of the world. After decades of intense international conflicts, global repositioning of the superpowers, proxy wars, and fears about a nuclear catastrophe, the Cold War officially ended in 1991 with the collapse of the USSR. There were several major Cold War events prior to the publication of The Ninth Directive that led to its conflict-charged mood. For example, in 1953 the CIA overthrew the Iranian Government, 1955 marked the year of the Warsaw Pact, and 1956 saw protests in Poland and an uprising in Hungary. In 1961 the crisis culminated in Berlin with a faceoff between U.S. and Soviet tanks at Checkpoint Charlie and with the construction of the Berlin Wall. Yet another critical high point was reached in 1962 with the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Cold War also affected Southeast Asian nations. The First Indochina War ( ) between French and Vietnamese forces ended with the exit of the French troops from Vietnam. The French withdrawal marked the beginning of CIA activity in the region that lasted until 1975 and was most intense during the Vietnam War (a.k.a. Second Indochina War, ). The U.S. was concerned about a possible domino effect in Indochina, i.e. the unstoppable spread of Communism from China to Vietnam, Laos, and further into Southeast Asia. The U.S. s containment strategy included the prevention of a communist takeover of South Vietnam and thus the stop of the spread of Communism. Thailand could not evade the ongoing international conflicts as it was pressured to side with one of the superpowers. It decided to cooperate with NATO, and closely with the U.S. The Ninth Directive takes place in the mid-1960s, which was a period when the infrastructure in Bangkok and in other areas in Thailand developed rapidly not least due to U.S. financial and logistic support. Thus, the strategic alliance between the U.S. and Thailand was mutually beneficial. During the Vietnam War, particularly since 1964, Thailand permitted the U.S. Army Air Force to use the country s military bases. As a result, more U.S. military personnel arrived every 5

9 year to support the war effort. Chris Burslem (2012) considers the period from 1945 to 1964 as significant for Bangkok because it underwent transitions affecting all spheres of urban life. He writes: The end of World War II ushered in a political dark age of dictatorial rule, not unrelated to the rise of the US as Thailand s new patron. When American GIs arrived in the 1960s they found a city with a well-established and lively nightlife. Their presence, however ensured it gained a worldwide notoriety. While the bars, Western restaurants, rock n roll and youth culture were the most obvious trappings of an increased exposure to America, US influence ran much deeper. Through its investments in Thailand s infrastructure, institutions and markets, as well as its policy input and economic guidance, it put Thailand on the road to becoming an Asian tiger. The great drive to development since the 1960s marked the end of Old Bangkok (p. 9). While the global developments of the 1960s led to the end of an era in Bangkok s history, it also meant that a new era of the city had begun, which western novelists would exploit accordingly. The tense Cold War mood gave a push to the literary genre of the spy novel. There are at least four English-language spy thrillers appropriating Bangkok as a Cold War city: Secret Mission to Bangkok (Mason, 1960), The Spy in Bangkok (Ballinger, 1965), The Ninth Directive (Hall, 1966) and Assignment Bangkok (Aarons 1972). By using the global tensions of the 1960s and letting them culminate in Bangkok, the four Cold War novels stand out for writing Bangkok into being like none before them because of their anti-communist dogma and historical context. However, they are not sold in Thailand, although with the exception of The Spy in Bangkok they have been reprinted several times. This unavailability may be due to some comments in the novels and their distortions of historical facts that can be construed as insensitive to the Thai nation. Literary context: Bangkok as a novel setting In Reading Bangkok, Ross King (2011) observes: There are difficulties in understanding - reading - Bangkok. It is, at least to the Western eye, a city of chaos, a landscape of incoherent collisions and blurring overlays (p. 1). Based on the premise that Bangkok resembles a chaos, King develops three connected concepts of politics, culture and history to understand Bangkok. First, the pillars of Nation, Religion, King are omnipresent in Bangkok s spaces, expressed through landmarks, monuments, governmental institutions, buildings, streets, names, temples, and shrines. They intersect in many ways and are thus inter-dependent (p. xxvii). Second, the apparent chaos is, on the visual level, mostly a consequence of juxtapositions of the dissimilar and even the incompatible (p. 12). There are also superimpositions, where new activities and images partially cover old ones, which creates visual disharmony. Moreover, Bangkokians maneuver through the urban chaos with flexibility, endurance and skill. Hence, confusion is a necessary aspect of the city s vibrant energy (p. 12). Third, understanding Bangkok in relation to colonization is crucial. King claims that Thailand was colonized over the last centuries in various ways: The three circles of the Western appropriation of Siam - economic infiltration, territorial intrusion and discursive Orientalism - were always in action, though there were significant waves: the mid-19 th -century treaty era, the early 20 th -century territorial expansion of Malaya, the Japanese disruption (certainly more Western than Asian), America and the Vietnam War, the cultural neo-colonisation of the present (p. 45). These forms of quasi-colonization have affected the economic center of Thailand permanently. Moreover, King s main concepts to read and make sense of Bangkok are relevant to the literary strategies by which The Ninth Directive envisions Bangkok. Many novels use a city merely as a broad background, whereby the city itself plays only a minor role and is treated superficially by a story that could easily take place elsewhere. It then serves to give a certain atmosphere to the story, to name and describe the places occupied by the 6

10 characters, or to justify events that are typically set in an urban rather than a environment. Alternatively, an author may deeply engage with the urban setting by describing it in detail, relating it to the characters, and making a city and urban life the main foci. In such a city novel, city and citizens enter into a fluid relationship, and the city is explored by a flâneur, i.e. someone who wanders through city-spaces simply to experience them and who gives order to the story. The literary city may then be read as a text in itself, or its labyrinthine quality may mirror the narrative complexity or the psychological condition of the principle character. In the city, politics, laws, order, justice, identities, cultures, and co-existence are constantly renegotiated. Cities and societies define each other, and true city novels manage to show this. Around the turn of the 20 th century, city novels reflected the state of mind of urban societies that had to come to grips with industrialization and modernization processes and the transformation of cities into metropolises. New York, London, Paris, Berlin, and many other cities brought forth countless novels that engaged with the challenges of changing urban life. Contemporary city novels, on the other hand, often see the city as the place where the effects of globalization are most intense and where the identity of the global citizen is shaped. Whether a city serves as a superficial backdrop or is developed into a full-fledged character in a novel, it affects the characters just as any actual city influences its residents and reflects the spirit of the time. This is especially true in the case of Bangkok as seen in western novels. It is a city of fascinating contradictions. In recent decades, Bangkok has endured a number of serious crises with many coups d état, deadly street clashes between demonstrators and the military, an occupied airport, and devastating floods. Yet it is also the host of many international events in economics, culture and science. Inspired by an urban cosmos made up of a rich history, natural beauty and human conflict, western novelists chose to set stories in Bangkok, either using it as an atmospheric background or endeavoring to grapple with the Asian city experience. Hall uses conventions of the city novel genre without making The Ninth Directive a city novel per se. While Quiller describes specific locations and comments on them, the reader has never the impression that the city portrayal is imperative to the plot advancement, but that the conflicts taking place in the urban environment are the driving forces. On occasion, Quiller walks and drives around Bangkok almost like a flâneur, mapping and describing the city. He passes through numerous real and invented places. A reader unfamiliar with Bangkok - then and today - is left to accept the false place names simply as foreign and exotic-sounding. This combining of authenticity and fiction is typical for the author s appropriation of Bangkok as a city of the western imagination. Only a reader familiar with Bangkok understands that the city, even in the mid-1960s, was already quite large. In essence, Hall s fictional geography of Bangkok is deceivingly authentic. Thus, one gets the false impression that these locations are in close proximity to one another, which makes the city seem small and orderly. This simplified version of Bangkok as a comprehensive space goes against the common notion of it as chaotic. It is striking just how many contemporary fiction novels include the word Bangkok in the title. This marketing practice indicates the belief that Bangkok evokes certain reader expectations to which the author writes. Nevertheless, most of these self-proclaimed Bangkok novels are not city novels per se because they use Bangkok merely as a gloomy background. Osborne (2009) translates Bangkok s full name as The city of angels, the great city, the eternal jewel city, the impregnable city of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnu (p. 34). In short, Bangkok is the City of Angels, a city of divine origin which makes it an Asian counterpoint to the U.S. city of Los Angeles. In the 19 th century admired for its picturesque canals, it was also named Venice of the East, reminiscent of Italy s romantic city. Such quasi-branding shows how Bangkok has been a city appropriated by East and West alike. Throughout the evolving tradition of western novels set in Bangkok, the city has been conceived and portrayed so as to serve western ideals and ideologies, to explore East-West 7

11 cultural issues, and to describe the western experience in a distant and exotic land. As a result, fiction and non-fiction novels set in Bangkok have decisively influenced western perceptions of Bangkok. In pre-world War II travel literature situated in Thailand, Bangkok is often described as a prime location of encounters between East and West. Caron Eastgate Dann (2008), in her article on western travel novels representations of Thailand, makes the case that many of these literary fantasies reflect very real Orientalist, Eurocentric, colonial and/or imperialist ideologies. She stresses that Thailand is often depicted as a dangerous place in Western imaginations (p. 1), that the goal of many novels is a penetration by the tourist, whether prostitutes, land or culture (p. 2), that there is a dichotomy between the portrayal of an apparently vice-ridden Bangkok in contrast to the edenic/parasidical Thailand that invites escape (p. 3), and that although Thailand has never been conquered and directly colonized by a western power, novelists colonize it with fantastical stories (p. 13). Even to this day, western novels set in Thailand - in Bangkok in particular - show remnants of Orientalism, requiring dissections of the misrepresentation of the nation, the city, and Thai culture. Every author struggles to cast off his or her cultural heritage, the tourist gaze, and to adopt an unbiased position from which to observe and describe foreign places and cultures. With their tendency to exoticize Thailand, 19 th -century to pre-world War II novels have left a lasting impression of how the country and its capital are imagined in the West. Post-World War II to contemporary novels have continued this misrepresentation, increasingly exploiting and at the same time solidifying Bangkok s reputation as Sin City of Asia. Bangkok under siege The first meeting between agent Quiller and his superior Loman at the beginning of the novel serves not only to outline the agent s mission, but also to highlight Thailand and Bangkok s increasing significance in the schemes of the global superpowers. Loman explains: Politically - one can even say militarily in view of local wars - Thailand is becoming drawn into the vortex of affairs involving China, India, Malaysia, and of course also Laos and Cambodia. Global interest is now centered on this capital, which has been a focal point in Southeast Asia for half a century in any case. Thailand is a stable kingdom with close ties with the U.S. and to a lesser extent with Britain. We have NATO here in this city and we have the SEATO headquarters here as well. Bangkok is a key city in the Southeast Asian complex, and geographically it finds itself in the middle of the China-India situation. (Hall, 1966, p. 10) This expository statement puts Thailand in relation to a number of other Asian nations, emphasizing its important geographical location and stable position compared to the instability around it. By being the home to NATO forces and SEATO (Southeast Asian Treaty Organization, ), Bangkok is portrayed as a strategic and geo-political hub in alliance with the West to contain Chinese influence in Southeast Asia. The statement also serves to justify the seamless cooperation between Thai, U.S. and British forces seen throughout the novel. The novel names many countries, e.g. Egypt, Cuba, China, Hong Kong, Laos, etc., and cities, e.g. Berlin, Tokyo, London, Paris, Naples, Peking, Buenos Aires, Athens, Munich, New York, Damascus, Oxford, etc. Fictitious Cold War military operations are also invoked, such as the Karachi show of 63. (p. 111) Such references serve to broaden the scope of the conflict unfolding in Bangkok and to make it one of many international Cold War hotspots. When Quiller is worried he and Loman may fail to prevent the assassination of the Person, he asks: What are the consequences if we miss? Another Sarajevo? (p. 71) This question about Sarajevo is key to the understanding of the novel as it refers to the city that became the starting point of World War I. Chris Trueman (2000) explains that on 28 June 1914 Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austrian Empire, was on a royal tour through Bosnia s capital Sarajevo, then controlled by Austria. He chose to ignore prior warnings that his visit could stir up trouble because he 8

12 wanted to demonstrate strength in public and not jeopardize Austria s control of the city. Gavrilo Princip, a member of a revolutionary independence faction, shot the emperor and his wife while they were touring the city in an open topped car. Historians consider this assassination as the direct cause of World War I (Assassination at Sarajevo). Quiller s reference to Sarajevo suggests that Hall took this historic event as the inspiration for The Ninth Directive, and it shows his awareness of the widespread fear in the 1960s that a single event, such as the killing of a highranked state representative, could provoke the outbreak of a new global war. The Cold War context is given further shape by Quiller s ample use of war jargon that implies other Cold War fears. He repeatedly refers to the West as the free world (pp. 114, 148) and uses phrases such as the Laos frontier (pp. 89, 154, 157, 160) and the Chinese frontier (pp. 114, 132, 141). The word frontier suggests a border between civilization (West) and barbarism or wilderness (Communist China), and is reminiscent of U.S. President John F. Kennedy s neo-colonial concept of the New Frontier, i.e. a modern social welfare spending program. Thus, by way of implementing the language of war, The Ninth Directive invokes concerns the spread of Communism, while also voicing concerns about China s potential to build a weapon capable of challenging the whole world East and West (p. 128) and about the West jeopardizing its own security. Before 1966, the year The Ninth Directive was published, Bangkok was not unaccustomed to being the stage of coups and demonstrations, sometimes witnessing the occupation of its city streets by its own military and police. Hence, it was already in the process of becoming a dangerous Bangkok when Hall conceived his Cold War version of it. In the novel, following the abduction of the Person, Bangkok becomes a city under siege. Quiller s extensive description of the lookdown reads almost like a prophecy of the self-inflicted occupations the real Bangkok would suffer in future decades: The city was under siege. Roadblocks had been set up at all major points of exit and were manned by units of the Royal Thai Army. Traffic attempting to leave the city had to pass through a bottleneck of tank traps, machine-gun posts and barbed wire in depth. Outward passage was permitted only after credentials had been examined by teams from the Bangkok Special Branch and all vehicles rigorously searched. [ ] Units of the U.S. Special Forces permanently stationed in the country had been drafted into the area following the immediate acceptance of an offer by the U.S. Government to place certain troops and facilities at the services of the Thai Army. Infantry search parties were linked across the rice-field areas working in radio liaison with military helicopters flying a nonstop schedule. Sea-going traffic moving southward down the Chao Phraya River was caught in the dragnet set up by naval gunboats on the north side of Kratumban. [ ] In the besieged city the flags had been taken down. Five thousand police drawn from the North and South Bangkok Metropolitan and auxiliary forces had begun a systematic search of every room in every building in every street. Mobile patrols cruised on a twenty-four-hour schedule covering a search pattern especially devised by the city traffic-control planners. All crews were armed. [ ] The city was numbed by the shock of the realization that its streets were not safe, by fear for its missing guest and by grief for its dead. [ ] News of world reaction reached the city hourly by radio and cable. Little news went out. (Hall, 1966, pp ) This passage epitomizes the menacing atmosphere that pervades the entire novel, i.e. Bangkok as a city first threatened, then in fear, and finally occupied by domestic and foreign military. The lockdown of the city is justified by Thailand s ostensible understanding of its failure to protect the Person on its soil and the obligation to do everything possible to solve the problem. Furthermore, the passage is congruent with Eastgate Dann s findings that colonial and imperialistic attitudes pervade most Western novels set in Thailand and Bangkok, and that the Thai nation is penetrated in one way or another (2008). In the given context Bangkok is penetrated by a Cold War fantasy that envisions the city as a militarized and colonized dangerzone. 9

13 Connected to this ideological and physical infiltration of the Thai nation is the novel s practice to mention a flurry of mostly invented British and Thai security agencies and government institutions, e.g. the Thai Home Office, Special Branch, and Metro Police, or the British organizations Control, Bureau, MI5, MI6, Special Services, and the British Embassy. Loman is frustrated with the stupidity of inter-services rivalry (p. 126) because he perceives this competition as the cause of their individual failures. His annoyance also implies a critique on western nations lack of cooperation and coordination in the fight to stop Communism. On the other hand, the novel gives the impression that the mutual assistance between the Thai, U.S. and British security forces is quite ideal, with the Thais usually facilitating their allies maneuvering in the city. Again, this matches with the subversive colonial-imperialistic attitude of the novel. Orientalist discourse Agent Quiller describes Bangkok in detail in several passages. He comments on golden temples, colorful preparations for the motorcade, floral arrangements and flags on the streets, and to a lesser degree he describes the Thai citizens without demonstrating much insight into their culture. The following city description stands out: Bangkok is a city whose temples have towers of gold and whose hotels rise in alabaster from emerald palms. Here fountains play in marble courts and women walk in silk with jeweled hair; the air is heavy with the perfumes of all Araby. It is a paradise expressly fashioned for the beguilement of princes; by day the sun spills rose light along private paths and the blue of night is webbed about with music. (Hall, 1966, p. 53) The passage includes the words Araby and paradise. Araby is the title of one of James Joyce s short stories in Dubliners (1914). In the story, a boy is in a rush to get to Dublin s Araby bazaar where he intends to buy a present for a girl he is infatuated with, but when he arrives at the market almost all the stalls have already closed for the night, leaving him disappointed. As Umme Salma (2012) shows, Araby is pervaded by an Irish version of Orientalist discourse - not synonymous with English or French Orientalism - through metaphors and the main character s fascination with the Orient that leads to a wasted journey. Salma concludes: Joyce, using the Orient as a tool to orient the boy to the reality of his existence in drab Dublin, teaches the young boy that escapist fascination to the Orient is a vain vision for an Irish (p. 67). Hall s use of the word Araby cannot be accidental. While The Ninth Directive and Joyce s Araby are certainly different in focus, both stories are solidly founded in urban surroundings and exploit Orientalist imaginations. The description of Bangkok as a paradise is also noteworthy. While it is part of an Orientalist discourse, its usage here is quite unusual. Thailand is traditionally viewed as a rural and coastal paradise, while the capital city is likened to an abyss. This is to build a necessary contrast between the beauty (countryside and coast) and the beast (Bangkok) to make the construction of the Thai paradise work. The Ninth Directive uses such a stark contrast in its own way by describing Bangkok as a paradise that loses its innocence through the siege. The key landmark in the novel is the fictitious Phra Chula Chedi, which oversees the equally made-up Link Road, a major artery that intersects with Rama IV Road at a corner of Lumpini Park. Thus, Link Road could be based on Ratchadamri Road. The attack and abduction of the Person is staged on Link Road, next to the Phra Chula Chedi. Quiller reports: The Phra Chula Chedi, with its white-frescoed walls and golden tower and beautiful gardens, was a perfect vantage point for Kuo. It was a gun sight commanding the whole length of the Link Road. (Hall, 1966, p. 49) It is striking that the Phra Chula Chedi and Link Road are invented, because the names of Bangkok s landmarks and streets are often given by a Thai King and therefore carry great symbolic meaning and cultural importance. By staging the main attack in an imaginary location, Hall may have sought to avoid a cultural offence. This is even more significant because the Chinese Communist Kuo desecrates the holy Phra Chula Chedi with his murderous plot. 10

14 Already before the attack on the Person, Quiller thinks that the shot would be fired from there, from the middle oriel of the Phra Chula Chedi, a shrine to a god who held life sacred. And it would make no difference that I could afterwards present, as evidence, a portrait of Diabolus. (p. 56) Kuo is called Diabolus - the devil - not only because he uses a sacred space as part of his plan, but also because he embodies everything the West fears about its nemesis China. Quiller describes Kuo as an ambivalent and dangerous man, a devil in disguise: Kuo the Mongolian was a difficult image, partly because he was Mongolian and partly because his features were not typically Mongoloid. He could have passed for a Manchurian, a Sikhote Alinese, a Kunlunese or even a Cantonese. (p. 30) Kuo the Mongolian was a man short in the body and with a deliberate gait, his face disguised by smoked glasses; but he would be more accurately described as a man who would do this thing in this way. Here was his whole character expressed in one gesture. He was Diabolus. (p. 49) The climactic fight between Quiller and Kuo in a rice field in Nonthaburi serves to humiliate, dehumanize and defeat the Chinese enemy, as Quiller sees him as a coward who loses all dignity when he begs for mercy like a bloody dog (p. 151). Of course, the defeat of the Chinese is a necessary aspect of the novel s anti-communist message. The dehumanization of Kuo goes hand in hand with some sweeping generalizations in which Quiller refers to Asians as Orientals, ignoring the vast cultural differences among the many Asian nations. In an equally simplifying manner, westerners are lumped together as Occidentals. Obviously, the novel is not a study of cultural differences between British, Thai, Chinese and other nationalities. It makes inaccurate statements in order to justify the unfolding of a Cold War conflict in Bangkok. The novel does not praise the western side, except at the end of the story when Quiller s comments about the Person s conduct are overly positive, not only elevating him to the royal role-model he is supposed to present, but also implying that British citizens should follow his great example. Conclusion This paper has analyzed The Ninth Directive regarding its appropriation of Bangkok as a Cold War city. The majority of novels set in a city do not make an effort to explore it in detail, treating it rather superficially instead. On the other hand, a city may be at the center of a novel s interest and be developed into a full-fledged character. In such a city novel, urban life and the relationship between city and citizens are explored, e.g. through a flâneur who wanders through urban spaces and comments on landmarks, urban life and culture. The Ninth Directive falls in between these two categories as it does not treat Bangkok as a plain background, nor does it develop it into a character of its own right. This is due to agent Quiller s dual role as protagonist and narrator. In the search for his enemy, he roams the city for days, describing it in some detail, but stays more interested in his actual mission. Fascinated by Bangkok s many social, cultural and historic contradictions, western novelists choose to set their stories there. Such novels usually seek to come to grips with the western experience in an Asian metropolis. In 19 th -century to pre-world War II travel literature, Bangkok is commonly portrayed as a place of East-West encounters and cultural learning. The so created literary fantasies reflect the author s ideological mindset based in Orientalism and even Eurocentrism, colonialism and/or imperialism. In this sense the words Araby and paradise are particularly reminiscent of an orientalist attitude. The first word indicates Adam Hall s appreciation of James Joyce s short story Araby, in which a Dublin boy is guided by his imagination of the Orient, while the second word hints at the common western practice of imagining a contrast between Bangkok as hell and coastal Thailand as paradise. The novel somewhat breaks with this traditional view as it describes Bangkok first as a paradise before turning it into a dystopia. 11

15 With their habit to exoticize Thailand, 19 th -century to pre-world War II novels have had a lasting ideological influence on post-world War II novels, including The Ninth Directive, in their rather western approach in dealing with an Asian city. The post-colonial imagination of Bangkok as Sin City of Asia and the solidifying of this reputation began during the Vietnam War ( ) when American GI s stayed in Bangkok during their R n R. In those years U.S. military presence and CIA activity in Southeast Asia was intense, as the strategy was to contain the spread of Communism in the region. The mid-1960s, then, saw much development of infrastructure in Thailand due to the U.S. s support and a mutually beneficial alliance between both nations. This historic background is fundamental to the understanding of The Ninth Directive. The novel portrays Bangkok as a strategic center from where the West tries to stop the spread of Communism further into Southeast Asia. Quiller s references to other countries, cities and crises serve to broaden the scope of the conflict, suggesting that Bangkok is just one of many Cold War hotspots. Moreover, his reference to Sarajevo indicates the actual Cold War fear that an unpredictable event could trigger a new war of global scale. The novel first presents Bangkok as a city in jubilant expectation of the arrival of the foreign dignitary, and at the same time in Quiller s view as a city under threat. After the abduction of the British royal, Bangkok is occupied by domestic and foreign forces and becomes a city of fear. Thus, The Ninth Directive lets the global tensions of the 1960s culminate in Bangkok instead of in a western city. Another Cold War fear exploited here is that of the Chinese-Communist enemy, who is embodied by the ruthless mastermind Kuo the Mongolian, described by Quiller as the devil. Kuo personifies the West s fears about the rise of China, Chinese men as the others, and Communism in general. Quiller s defeat of Kuo carries the crucial message of the novel that the western world must oppose its communist nemesis. Regarding further research into the topic at hand, it would be interesting to analyze other Cold War novels as well as movies set in Bangkok concerning their modes of representation of the city. It would also be useful comparing these Cold War stories to the large number of contemporary detective stories set in Bangkok in order to learn which literary and cultural elements of city-portrayal have carried over to modern notions of Bangkok. 12

16 References Aarons, Edward S. (1972). Assignment Bangkok. New York: Fawcett Gold Medal. Ballinger, Bill S. (1965). The Spy in Bangkok. New York: Signet Classics. Burslem, Chris. (2012). Tales of Old Bangkok: Rich Stories From the Land of the White Elephant. Hong Kong: Earnshaw Books. Eastgate Dann, Caron. (2008). Thailand for Travelers: From Exotic Fantasy to Complex Destination. 17 th Biennial Conference of the Asian Studies Association of Australia in Melbourne, 1-3 July. Proceedings. Retrieved from Hall, Adam. (1966). The Ninth Directive. Colchester, England: Ostara Publishing, Joyce, James. (1914). Dubliners. London: Penguin Books, King, Ross. (2011). Reading Bangkok. Singapore: NUS Press. Mason, van Wyck. (1960). Secret Mission to Bangkok. Maryland: Wildside Press Osborne Lawrence. (2009). Bangkok Days. Farrar Straus Giroux: North Point Press. Salma, Umme. (2012). Orientalism in James Joyce s Araby. Research on Humanities and Social Sciences. Vol. 2, No. 2. pp Retrieved from Trueman, Chris. (2000). Assassination at Sarajevo. Retrieved from 13

17 WH-Arguments versus WH-Adjuncts Asymmetry in the Acquisition of English WH-Questions by Thai learners Anusorn Saechan Sugunya Ruangjaroon Abstract In this paper, we adopted Best's Perceptual Assimilation Model (PAM) and proposed a rank order of English WH-question (WHQ) acquisition to account for how Thai learners acquire English WHarguments and WH-adjuncts. The rank order predicts that subject WH-arguments, labeled category A, which occur in the same position in both languages, will be easiest to acquire for Thai learners. WH-adjuncts are, on the other hand, split classes between 'when' and 'why', labeled category B; and 'where' and 'how', which are grouped together with object WH-arguments, labeled category C. Category B, whose WH-phrases occur both in-situ and in clause-initial positions in Thai, may reduce the burden on Thai learners when recognizing and producing their English equivalents, and therefore is easier to acquire than category C. Category C, whose WH-phrases between the two languages occur as a mirror image, is most difficult to acquire. There were two groups of participants: 20 students from an English Program (EP) and 10 students from a regular Program (RP), both in grade 8 selected through purposeful sampling. The test of error recognition was administered one week prior to the test of production. Note that φ features and tenses were taken into account when being scored. The data were analyzed by percentage, and the correlation between error recognition and production was tested using Pearson's correlation coefficient. The results regarding error recognition partially corresponded to the rank order of acquisition and revealed consistency in the EP and RP groups who obtained the same rank orders of B>>C>>A. The results in terms of production were largely positive as the EP group s rank order was A>>B>>C, as predicted, and the RP group s rank order was A>>C >>B. The study also indicated that there was a significantly strong correlation between the two tests on category B and an insignificantly moderate correlation on category C but a negligible correlation on category A. Keywords: L2 acquisition, Recognition, Production, WH-questions, Rank order of English WHquestions 14

18 1. Introduction Recent literature on Thai learners acquisition of English has not yielded many studies which measure the grammatical judgment abilities of L2 learners of English, whereas studies similar to this kind were frequently found in perception tasks in phonetics. Research on L2 acquisition in Thai context generally aims at analyzing the frequency and the types of grammatical errors and/or elaborating on their consequences by the adoption of Error Analysis (EA) or Contrastive Analysis (CA) (Bennui, 2008; Intratat, 2001; Noojan, 1999; Tawilapakul, 2002; Thep-Akrapong, 2005). Similar to those mentioned, we usually found mistakes made by Thai learners when forming English WHQs, as evidenced in (1) through (3). This results in ineffective communication. (1) *Which dress match with she? (2) *What country are you like? (3) *Who is scold Paul? The study in the field of phonetics by Best, McRoberts, & Goodell (2001) investigated adult native speakers of American English s perception of Zulu and Ethiopian Tigrinya consonant contrasts, addressing Best s Perceptual Assimilation Model (PAM). Best proposed the assimilation of L2 sound/phone into the native system of phonemes as follows: A non-native phone may be perceptually assimilated to the native system of phonemes in one of three ways: (1) as a categorized exemplar of some native phoneme, for which its goodness of fit may range from excellent to poor (2) as an uncategorized consonant or vowel that falls somewhere in between native phonemes (i.e., is roughly similar to two or more phonemes) (3) as a nonassimilable nonspeech sound that bears no detectable similarity to any native phonemes (p. 777). Assuming PAM, we classify English WHQs into three categories by discriminating their structures according to how well they assimilate into Thai WHQs. We predict that Category A will be easiest to acquire for Thai learners of English because both English and Thai WH-phrases in subject positions in this category, that is to say who and what, occur in clause-initial positions in a surface structure (S-structure). The questions of this type do not undergo Do-insertion in English as they do not in Thai either. So they are identical in syntactic structures between the two languages. Let s consider the following figure. Who called Martin? Well assimilated [kʰa j tʰo ːha ː ma ːti n] who call Martin Figure 1 L2 syntactic structure highly assimilated into that in L1 Category B is predicted to be more difficult to acquire than category A. The WH-phrases when and why in this category serve as an adjunct and occur in a clause-initial position in English but both 15

19 in-situ and in clause-initial positions in Thai in an S-structure. The questions of this type undergo Do-insertion in English but they do not in Thai, as illustrated in Figure 2. Consequently, they are less similar in syntactic structures between the two languages than those in category A. Why does Alex learn Japanese? Better assimilated Poorer assimilated [ta mma j ʔəle k riān pʰa ːsa ːji ːpu n] [ʔəle k riān pʰa ːsa ːji ːpu n ta mma j] why Alex learn Japanese Alex learn Japanese why Figure 2 L2 syntactic structure roughly assimilated into 2 or more structures in L1 Category C is predicted to be most difficult to acquire for Thai learners of English. The WHphrases where and how as WH-adjuncts, together with who and what as WH-arguments in object positions are subsumed in this category. They occur in a clause-initial position in English but conversely they occur in an in-situ position in Thai in an S-structure, as manifested in Figure 3. The questions of this type undergo Do-insertion in English but not in Thai. So they are least similar in syntactic structure between the two languages. What does Nick want? Non-assimilable [niḱ tɔ ːŋka ːn ʔa ra j] Nick want what Figure 3 L2 syntactic structure non-assimilated into that in L1 2. Statement of Hypotheses We hypothesize that (1) Thai participants will score highest on category A questions, followed by B and C respectively on both the error recognition test and production test and (2) the error recognition and the production are correlated. The rank order is as follows: WH-arguments [Subject] >>WH-adjuncts [why & when] >> WH-adjuncts [where & how] WH-arguments [Object]. 16

20 3. Methodology 3.1 Participants The subject group consisted of 30 students in total. Twenty of the subjects, at the time of study, were the entire class from an English Program 1 (EP), whereas the other 10 students were from a regular program (RP), both in grade 8 at Samchukratanapokaram school. The students in the EP gained more exposure to the English language than those in the RP, so it was predicted that they would score higher on both tests. The participants from the RP who attained an A grade in English in the previous semester were, however, exclusively selected for 2 reasons: (1) to control the subjects English proficiency levels as the subjects with different levels of English proficiency would statistically result in a scatter in test scores and (2) advanced students are likely to make more predictable and constant errors than slower students whose interim grammars are at low developmental stage. 3.2 Instruments The research instrument in this study subsumed (1) a table discriminating English and Thai WHQ syntactic structure, (2) a test of error recognition and (3) a test of production A Table discriminating English and Thai WHQ syntactic structure The following table exhibits how syntactic structures of English WHQs were discriminated according to the degree to which they assimilate into those of Thai (how similar they were to those of Thai), and then were classified into 3 categories. 1 Its official name is actually known as a Smart Class program. The program aims to provide its students with an extra number of hours taught in English. Three subjects, namely mathematics, science and English are taught in English by native-speakers. 17

21 18 The 1 st International Conference on Language, Literature, and Cultural Studies Table 1 Di scrimination of English and Thai WHQ syntactic structure Category A Questions WH[Q],[Sub] V NP[Obj] Questions WH[Q],[Sub] V NP[Obj] -Who called Martin? [kʰa j tʰo ː ha ː ma ːti n] who called Martin Who called Martin? Category B Questions -Why does Alex learn Japanese? -When is your birthday? WH[Q], [ADJ] Aux NP[Sub] V WH[Q], [ADJ] - Questions [ta mma j ʔəle k riān pʰa ːsa ːji ːpu n] why Alex learn Japanese [ʔəle k riān pʰa ːsa ːji ːpu n ta mma j] Alex learn Japanese why Why does Alex learn Japanese? [mɯ a ra i wa n kɤ ːt kʰu n] when birthday your [wa n kɤ ːt kʰu n mɯ a ra i] birthday your when When is your birthday? WH[Q], [ADJ] Aux NP[Sub] V WH[Q], [ADJ] ( ) - Category C Questions -What does Nick want? - Where did Tom find a pen? - How did you travel to Hong Kong? WH[Q], [Obj/ADJ] Aux NP[Sub] V WH[Q], [Obj/ADJ] - 18 Questions [niḱ tɔ ːŋka ːn ʔa ra j] Nick want what What does Nick want? [tɔ ːm tɕɤ ː pa ːk ka ː ti ːna j] Tom found pen where Where did Tom find a pen? [kʰu n d ɤ ːnt h a ːŋpa j h ɔ ːŋko ŋ ja ːŋra j ] you travel to Hong Kong how How did you travel to Hong Kong? WH[Q], [Obj/ADJ] Aux NP[Sub] V WH[Q], [Obj/ADJ] - -

22 3.2.2 The test of error recognition and the test of production The test of error recognition and the test of production each comprised 10 questions. The test of error recognition utilized a multiple choice format in which the participants were to select the grammatical WHQ of the four given, whereas the test of production utilized a translation task in which the participants were to translate Thai WHQs into English. Table 2 Questions utilized in the tests Questions in the test of error recognition 1. a. What often hurt Mary? b. What hurt Mary yesterday? c. What is hurt Mary the most? d. What hurted Mary yesterday? 2. a. Who Martin dislike? b. Who do Martin dislike? c. Who does Martin dislike? d. Who is Martin dislike? 3. a. When did you go to Korea? b. When you go to Korea? c. When did you went to Korea? d. When are you go to Korea? 4. a. He traveled to where? b. Where did he travel to Singapore? c. Where did he travel to? d. Where was he travel to? 5. a. Why do they teach Chinese to their sons? b. Why they teach Chinese to their sons? c. They teach Chinese to their sons why? d. Why are they teach Chinese to their sons? 6. a. How did you went to school this morning? b. How did you go to school this morning? c. How you went to school this morning? d. How are you go to school this morning? 7. a. Who studys French? b. Who is study French? c. Who studies French? d. Who study French? 8. a. What did Mark buy for his mom? b. What Mark bought for his mom? c. What did Mark bought for his mom? d. What was Mark buy for his mom? Questions in the test of production 1. [kʰa j ti ː lu ːksa ːw kʰɔ ŋtɕʰa n mɯ awa ːn ni ː] who hit daughter my yesterday Who hit my daughter yesterday? 2. [niḱ tɔ ːŋka ːn ʔa ra j] Nick want what What does Nick want? 3. [mɯ ara j lu j tɕa pa j kɛ ːnnəda ː] when Louise will go Canada When will Louise go to Canada? 4. [tɔ ːm tɕɤ ː pa ːk ka ː kʰɔ ŋtɕʰa n ti ːna j] Tom found pen my where Where did Tom find my pen? 5. [ta mma j de p riān pʰa ːsa ːka wli ː] why Dave study Korean Why does Dave study Korean? 6. [kʰu n tɕa dɤ ːnta ːŋ pa j hɔ ːŋko ŋ ja ːŋra j] you will travel Hong Kong how How will you travel to Hon g Kong? 7. [kʰa j tʰo ː ha ː ma ːti n] who called Martin Who called Martin? 8. [ta mma j ʔəle k riān pʰa ːsa ːji ːpu n] why Alex learn Japanese Why does Alex learn Japanese? 19

23 9. a. When your birthday is? b. Your birthday is when? c. When is your birthday? d. When are your birthday? 10. a. Where did she found her teddy bear? b. Where she found her teddy bear? c. Where did she find her teddy bear? d. Where was she found her teddy bear? 9. [kʰu n riān pʰa ːsa ːʔa ŋkri t tʰi ːna j ] you study English where Where do you study English? 10. [mɯ ara j kʰu n tɕa tɛ ːŋŋa ːn] when you will marry When will you marry? 3.3 Marking Criteria Each test was worth 10 points. The tests of error recognition and production were examined with the same marking criteria with φ features and tenses taken into account. Any questions ungrammatical were not totally deducted if they were still comprehensible. How much they were deducted, depending on the degree to which they were ungrammatical. Let s consider the following data: WH-arguments [Subject] (4) a. Who called Martin yesterday? b. *Who call Martin yesterday? c. *Who calls Martin yesterday? d. *Who is call Martin yesterday? e. *Who do call Martin yesterday? f. *Martin call who yesterday. In both error recognition and production tests, the question, such as in (4a), is completely grammatical; therefore, one mark is assigned. However, in (4b) and (4c), the questions are ungrammatical in terms of φ features and/or tenses, and consequently 0.75 is assigned. In (4d) and (4e), the questions are incorrect as they unnecessarily undergo the Do and Be-insertion, and accordingly 0.5 is assigned. As for (4f), the meaning of the question is, to some extent, distorted so no mark is assigned. WH-arguments [Object] WH-adjuncts (5) a. What does Nick want? b. Where did he travel last month? c. *What do Nick want? d. Where do(s) he traveled? e. *What did Nick want? f. Where did he traveled? g. *What is Nick want?/ h. Where was he travel? i. *What Nick want(s)/wanted? j. Where he travel(s)/traveled? k. *Nick want(s)/wanted what? l. He travel(s)/traveled to where? m. *What do(s) Nick want a toy? n. Where did he travel to Thailand? The questions, such as in (5a) and (5b), are totally grammatical; consequently, one mark is assigned. The questions in (5c) through (5h) are ungrammatical in terms of φ features and/or tenses; therefore, 0.75 is assigned. In (5i) and (5j), the questions are ungrammatical as they do not undergo Do-insertion, resulting in subject verb disagreement and/or improper tense. 20

24 Therefore, 0.5 is assigned. The questions, in (5k) and (5l), 2 do not undergo WH-movement, and therefore result in ungrammaticality, so no mark is assigned. In (5m) and (5n), their meanings are, to some extent, distorted, so no mark is assigned as well. 3.4 Procedure The test of error recognition was administered to the EP class in the morning and to the RP class in the afternoon on the same day; however, the test of production was administered one week later to the EP class in the morning and to the RP class in the afternoon. This prevents the participants from translating Thai questions into English by means of memorizing the structures from the recognition test. The time allotted for the participants taking each test was 30 minutes. 4. Results and Discussion The analysis predicts that Thai learners will acquire the rank order of A >> B >> C. The prediction on production part was totally borne out. However, the scores from the error recognition part, to some degree, violate the rank order. As regards the error recognition test, the EP class scored higher than the RP class on category B and C; nonetheless, the RP class turned out to score higher on category A. In respect of the production, the EP class scored higher on category A and B; however, the RP class scored unexpectedly higher on category C. This suggests that, in large part, the extra exposure that the EP class had to English resulted in their better performance. The average percentage is shown in Figure 4. Figure 4 Comparison of EP s and RP s scores in error recognition and in production tests, classified by WHQ categories. 4.1 Hypothesis 1 2 Although the questions are still comprehensible but no mark is assigned as they do not undergo WHmovement which is our primary focus of the study. 21

25 Our first hypothesis posited that the participants would score highest on category A, followed by B and C respectively in both tests. The results revealed that error recognition part partially corresponded to the rank order of English WHQ acquisition, whereas the ranking of production scores were largely positive toward the rank order proposed here. The average scores on the error recognition test by the EP class were ranked in the order of B (66.67%) >> C (61.5%) >> A (55%), and correspondingly the average scores by the RP class were ranked in the order of B (64.17%) >> C (58%) >> A (57.5%). On the production test, the average scores among the EP class were ranked in the order of A (71.25%) >> B (55.94%) >> C (45.63%), as predicted, and among the RP class were ranked in the order of A (60%) >> C (51.88%) >> B (31.13%). This clearly indicates that the production by the EP class is totally borne out by the rank order of English WHQ acquisition. Although the results from the error recognition test by both classes were not borne out by the rank order proposed in this study, that is they obtained the recognition scores ranked in the order of B >> C >> A, these results are consistent with some previous research claiming that object WH-arguments were acquired earlier than subject WH-arguments. As a matter of fact, object WHQs are more syntactically complex than subject WHQs, which do not involve subjectauxiliary inversion and are identical to declarative sentences with the subjects replaced by WHexpressions. Subject WHQs, therefore, should be acquired first (Philip, Coopmans, Atteveldt, & Meer, 2002; Stromswold, 1995; Van Valin, 1998). Hence, our findings support the claim that object WH-arguments were easier to acquire than subject WH-arguments in terms of perception. With respect to WH-arguments versus WH-adjuncts, Lee (2008) and Stromswold (1990) claimed that there was WH-argument versus WH-adjunct asymmetry in which subject-auxiliary inversion in argument WHQs were more successfully acquired than in adjunct WHQs. In our study, we cannot state exactly that there was asymmetry of WH-arguments versus WH-adjuncts in that we did not simply classify English WHQs into WH-argument and WH-adjunct categories as traditional classification did. However, we argue that WH-arguments in subject positions were easier to acquire than those in object positions, and thus there was WH-subject versus WH-object asymmetry. The analysis predicts correctly on the production part but it partly predicts on the recognition one. So the rank order we proposed in this paper seems more consistent with the production than the recognition. 4.2 Hypothesis 2 The second hypothesis posited that the error recognition and the production of English WHQs by Thai learners were correlated. The r correlation was tested utilizing Pearson's correlation coefficient. We took account of EP and RP classes as a single sample group. As predicted, the findings were largely positive toward the hypothesis. Starting with the category B in which the error recognition and the production by both classes bore a significantly and strongly positive correlation (r = 0.417, p = 0.022). In category C, there also existed a moderate positive correlation but it was insignificant (r = 0.338, p = 0.068). However, the error recognition and production in category A bore a negligible correlation (r = 0.165, p = 0.384). 22

26 Although there appeared to be no pertinent prediction on the relationship between syntactic error recognition and production, in phonetics, Flege, Takagi & Mann (1995) suggested that perception and production of speech sounds in a language bore a relationship to each other. A study, by Kludge, Reuder, Reis & Hoffmann Bion (2007), which investigated the relationship between the perception and the production of English nasal codas by Brazilians, proved the above prediction was true. 5. Limitations & Recommendations The results from this study may not be truly generalized to the entire target population because a sample group was rather small and their attributes may not be representative of the population. Also, the test procedure can affect reliability. Responses from the participants who conducted the test in the afternoon were lower than expected. This can be affected by fatigue. In addition, inter-raters are required for more reliability. We suggest these factors should be taken into account, otherwise, these pose problems to the rank order of English WHQ acquisition proposed here. 23

27 References Bennui, P. (2008). A study of L1 interference in the writing of Thai EFL students. Malaysian Journal of ELT Research, 4, Best, C. T., McRobert, G. W., & Goodell, E. (2001). Discrimination of Non-native Consonant Contrasts Varying in Perceptual Assimilation to the Listener s Native Phonological System. Journal of Acoustical Society of America, 109(2), Flege, J. E., Takagi, N., & Mann, V. (1995). Japaneses adults can learn to produce English /ɹ/ and /l/ acculately. Language and Speech, 38(1), Intratat, C. (2001). Thai errors in using English adjectives. KMUTT Research and Development Journal, 24(2), Kluge, D. C., Reuder, A. S., Reis, M. A. and Hoffmann Bion, R. A. (2007). The relationship between the perception and production of English nasal codas by Brazilian learners of English. In Interspeech 2007, Lee, S. U. (2008). Argument-adjunct asymmetry in the acquisition of inversion in wh-questions by Korean learners of English. Language Learning Research Club, 58(3), Noojan, K. (1999). An Analysis of Errors in English Abstracts of Srinakharinwirot University Graduate Students. Unpublished master s thesis. Srinakharinwirot University, Bangkok. Philip, W. C. H., Coopmans, P. H. A., Atteveldt, N. M. van & Meer, Matthijs van der. (2001). Subject-Object Assymmetry in Child Comprehension of WH-Questions. In A. L-J. Do, A. Johansen & L. Dominguez (Eds.), Proceedings of the 25th Boston University Conference on Language Development (pp ). Massachusetts: Cascadilla Press. Stromswold, K. (1990). Learnability and the acquisition of auxiliaries. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. MIT, MA. Stromswold, K. (1995). The acquisition of subject and object WH-questions. Language Acquisition. 4, Tawilapakul, U. (2002). The use of tense by Thai university students. Paper presented at CULI's National Seminar 2003, Chulalongkorn University. Retrieved from Thep-Ackrapong, T. (2008). Teaching English in Thailand: An uphill Battle. Journal of Humanities, 27(1), Van Valin, D. R. (1998). The Acquisition of WH-Questions and the Mechanisms of Language Acquisition. In M. Tomasello, (Ed.), The New Psychology of Language: Cognitive and Functional Approaches to Language Structure (pp ). 24

28 The Effectiveness of Multimedia-Based Instruction in Developing the Sixth Grade Students English Ability Pudsadee Kaewchawee Abstract This study was an experimental study examining the use of multimedia based instruction (MBI) to enhance the English ability skills of Thai sixth grade students. The aim of study also investigated the attitudes of the students towards their English lessons during learning through MBI. The participants of the experiment were 50 students, selected by the convenience sampling procedure at Tessaban 1 Buriratdarunwittaya School in Buriram province. The English ability skill tests were used to collect data from the participants and were administered to the group before and after learning through MBI, as a pretest and posttest. Meanwhile, the questionnaires were distributed to students after the posttest. The students were taught with MBI lesson plans for eight weeks, a total of 26 sessions. The data collected from pretest, posttest and questionnaires were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. The results indicated that the English ability skills of the students were significantly higher than before learning through MBI at the level of.01. Additionally, the attitudes of the students toward MBI after the experiment indicated a high level of satisfaction. Keywords: multimedia- based instruction, the use of MBI, communicative skills Background of the Study English has played a very important role in many developing countries where it has been used both as a second language (ESL) and a foreign language (EFL). In Thailand, like in many other countries, English has been taught as a foreign language for many decades. Thai students are required to learn English as a compulsory subject from primary school to university levels. However, Thai people use only one official language, Thai, so most Thai students cannot communicate in English fluently and successfully (Wiriyachitra, 2002) like students in ESL contexts. Thai students lack opportunities to communicate in English in their real life situations and in daily activities outside the classroom (Techa-Intrawong, 2003). It is apparent that Thai students cannot fulfill the communicative goals of learning English. Therefore it is teachers responsibility to think critically about how to improve their teaching techniques and skills to help Thai students become successful in English language learning and be able to communicate in English effectively. Wiriyachitra (2002) points out that Thailand will be left behind in the competitive world of business, education, science and technology if English language teaching is not improved to develop Thai students English ability. With the advancement of technology and the digital revolution such as the Internet and computer software, the demand for language learning and teaching English through computer and new media has increased (Wiriyachitra, 2002). Multimedia is increasingly accepted as a means of English language teaching (Fang, 2006). Fang states that more English teachers who have attempted multimedia instruction agree that teaching English with multimedia makes English classes more active than the teacher-centered model. In addition, compared to the traditional methods in which students are usually passively spoon fed with large amounts of grammar rules and vocabulary, multimedia has shown its superiority (Fang, 2006, p. 1). In traditional English classroom, teachers have to spend time writing important language points 25

29 and information on the board. Conversely, in multimedia classrooms, teachers can press a key on a computer to show significant content in a few seconds as long as he or she can operate the multimedia (Gilakjani, 2012). Learning through multimedia has also proven that students can be easily exposed to sounds, videos, visual images and animations of authentic target language. Students are able to get involved with authentic language, so their use of authentic language can be improved through integration of text, sound, graphics, animations and images presented in the multimedia (Fang, 2006). Moore (2012) states that multimedia has become an important classroom teaching tool because it can integrate all the sensory learning methods and it can address an individual student s needs by requiring total interaction and response. Furthermore, Moore points out that multimedia language programs interest student with visual effects, audio effects and interesting real life situations. Consequently, students become enthusiastic and wish to participate more in the language learning process. Many researchers have come to the consensus that learning English through multimedia can be one attempt to solve the problem of unsuccessful English classes and help develop a new teaching approach to encourage students interest in English language learning. Multimedia refers to computer-mediated information that is presented concurrently in more than one medium; it consists of text, graphic images, motion graphics, animations, hypermedia, photographs and sounds (i.e., songs, music). Multimedia has the potential to create high quality learning environments, with the capacity of creating a more realistic learning context (Nusir, Alsmadi, Al-Kabi, and Sharadgag, 2012, p.18). Nusiret. al. further explain that multimedia allows a learner to take control of their own learning process. Interactive multimedia can provide an effective learning environment for different kinds of learners (Margie and Liu, 1996, cited in Nusir et. al., 1996). It also helps teacher take better control of a classroom especially in large class. According to Mayer (2001) the principle of education is to help people learn. Whether it is for education or training, the goal of a teacher is to plan for effective, efficient and appealing instruction (Moore, 2009, p.12). Hence, one of the most influential learning theories in effective instruction is the use of multimedia as a teaching tool that helps make instruction effective and efficient (Plass, Moreno and Bruken, 2010). Many studies have discussed the benefits of multimedia for learning a foreign language. Among these are studies by Mayer (2001, 2003); Fang (2006); Fang and Yang (2008). These studies have demonstrated the positive results of the use of multimedia in English learning and welldesigned multimedia helps learners build more accurate and effective mental models than reading text alone. Mayer (2001, 2003) also points out the potential benefits of multimedia. Given that humans possess visual and auditory information -processing capabilities, multimedia, he explains, takes advantage of both capabilities at once. These two channels process information quite differently, so the combination of multiple media is useful in drawing on the capabilities of both systems. Meaningful connections between text and graphics potentially allow for deeper understanding and better mental models than from either source alone.fang (2006) also describes the advantages of multimedia and network-based language teaching in four aspects: providing authentic language environment, promoting students autonomous learning, providing flexibility, and realizing individual teaching. In consideration of research studies described above, the researcher also proposed two subproblems for the main research objective to examine the effect of MBI on learning four basic skills of English: listening, speaking, vocabulary and grammar and to determine whether there is a significant difference in overall mean scores as well as four different skills in the effect of MBI between high and low proficient students. The study also examined the students attitudes toward English language learning through Multimedia. The research results can be utilized for 26

30 teachers looking for techniques to improve their teaching methods and increase their students English ability. Objectives of the study The study explores the communicative skills of sixth grade students and their attitudes towards multimedia-based instruction. The main objectives of this study are as follows: 1. To examine the effectiveness of Multimedia-based instruction on the sixth grade students English ability. 2. To examine students attitudes towards learning English through Multimedia based Instruction. Research questions This study addressed two main research questions as in the following. 1. Is Multimedia-based instruction effective in enhancing the sixth grade students English ability? 2. What are the sixth grade students attitudes toward learning English through Multimediabased instruction? Research methodology Population and sample groups The population of the study was 200 students of the sixth grade students at Tessaban 1 Buriratdarunwittaya School, Buriram province. The participants were 50 of the sixth grade students in the second semester of academic year 2012, selected by the convenience sampling procedure. Instrumentation The research instrument used to collect data were the pre-test and post-test of English communicative skills, and the questionnaire on the learners attitudes towards their English lessons after learning English through multimedia-based instruction. English Ability Skills Pretest and Posttest The tests were designed and constructed to test English ability skills. The same test was used for the pre and posttest. There were three parts of the pretest including listening, speaking, vocabulary and grammar. In the listening part, students were listening to the audio which included the three short stories then choose the correct answer. Meanwhile there were two parts of information gap for the speaking part. Students worked in pair as A and B, they were asked for information with their partner. Then the latest part, vocabulary and grammar test was a 30-item multiple choice test with three alternatives a, b and c. It was constructed to determine students cognitive achievement in English. The test content of the items covered the topics which were taught during the eight- week lessons. The administration of the achievement test took 50 minutes. Rubric of Speaking Ability The rubric of the speaking ability was adapted from Phisutthangkoon (2012), Phuphanpet (2004). The components of the speaking rubric focus on fluency, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and communication strategy. 27

31 The Questionnaires Regarding Learning English through Multimedia-Based Instruction Attitudes The questionnaire was designed to obtain information on the sixth grade students attitudes towards the multimedia-based instruction activities used in classroom. The questionnaire consisted to two main parts. The first part contained ten Likert-type items which consisted of five levels. The students rated each statement based on their satisfaction and feelings towards Multimedia-Based Instructional learning in classroom by using the five point scale ranging from highest to lowest. The questionnaire was constructed in order to explore the attitudes of the students regarding learning English through MBI. The questionnaire was created in Thai with two parts. The first part consisted of ten questions used to measure the attitudes of the students towards the film clips and their impact on their communicative skills. The mean scores of the questionnaires were rated as 4.51 to 5.00 = highest, 3.51 to 4.50 = high, 2.51 to 3.50= neutral, 1.51 to 2.50 = low and1.00 to 1.50 and lowest. The students rated each statement in accordance with their opinions. The second part of the questionnaire consisted of open-ended questions. This provided students opportunities to comment on their experience of learning English through MBI including their ideas, concerns and feelings. Multimedia-Based Instructional Lesson Plans The participants were taught English through MBI lesson plans by the researcher. The researcher constructed eight lesson plans. Each lesson plan consisted of two or three periods, each period was 50 minutes long. The research took 26 periods excluding the pre- and-posttest. The lesson plans based on Presentation, Practice and Production approach (PPP) The teacher presented the target language and then gave students the opportunity to practice it through various multimedia activities. The final stage of the lesson gave the students the opportunity to practice the target language. Students acquired listening, speaking, vocabulary and grammar learning through Multimedia in the form of Multimedia Instruction Software (MIS), short stories, PowerPoint Presentation,clips, Images, audio. Therefore, they attended the class with visual aid and were in the computer room when they learned through websites. Findings The first objective of the study was to examine the effectiveness of multimedia based instruction to enhance the English ability skills of the sixth grade students.the pre-test and post-test scores of the English ability skills tests group were calculated using descriptive statistics and standard deviations. Then the mean scores were of both pretest and posttest were compared to determine whether or not there was a significant difference between the mean scores of the participants before and after learning English through MBI by using dependent t-test. The results indicated that there was a significant difference at the.01 level, in terms of the overall means of the pretest and posttest results of the students.table 1 shows the results of the overall means of the students. Table 1 Differences in the Overall Mean Scores of the English Pretest and Posttest of Students Students N Pretest Scores Posttest Scores t p-value M S.D. M S.D. Experimental group ** * Significant at the.01 level (p<.01) 28

32 As shown in Table 1, there is a significant difference between the pretest and posttest mean scores of the students in the experimental group at the.01 level (t=14.563, p<.01). The posttest mean scores (M=20.96, S.D= 3.20) is higher than the pretest (M=12.06, S.D.=1.99) The differences in the mean scores between the English pretest and posttest of the students in the experimental group are also illustrated graphically in Figure Pretest Posttest 0 Experimental group Figure 1 The Comparison between the Overall Means of the Pretest and Posttest of the Students To support the results of the first objective, the mean scores students English ability on pretest and posttest in four skills were also compared. The results showed significant differences between the pretest and posttest of the four skills at the.01 level. The posttest mean scores were higher than those of the pretest in all skills. The highest mean score of the posttest was vocabulary skill (M=5.56), which was higher than the pretest (M=3.65). The mean score of speaking skill (M=5.40), was higher than the pretest (M=2.96). The mean score of English grammar ability (M=5.06), was higher than the pretest (M=2.78). The mean score of listening skill (M=4.94) was higher than the mean score of the pretest (M=2.66). Table 4 shows the comparison of the mean scores in terms listening, speaking, vocabulary and grammar skills. Table 2 The Differences in the Mean Scores of Listening, Speaking, Vocabulary and Grammar of the Pretest and Posttest of the Experimental Group English Skills n Pretest Posttest M SD M SD t p-value Listening ** Speaking ** Vocabulary ** Grammar ** * Significant at the.01 level (p<.05) The differences in the mean scores between the English pretest and posttest in terms of four skills; listening, speaking, vocabulary and grammar of the students in the experimental group are also illustrated graphically in Figure 2. 29

33 Pretest Posttest Listening Speaking Vocabulary Grammar Figure 2 The Comparison of the Mean Score Between the Pretest and Posttest of the Four Skills of the Students Students attitude towards Multimedia-Based Instruction The overall mean scores of students attitudes toward learning English through MBI were highly positive with a mean score of The result showed that students had positive attitudes towards the use of MBI. Learners had the highest positive attitudes towards items 1 (M=4.78). They liked learning English through computers. The next highest positive mean score was item 7 (M=4.78). They responded that learning through multimedia helped them gain knowledge. However, four items yielded positive mean scores. In items 10, 11, 15 and 17, they thought they were not pretty good language learners (M=4.49) and people would laugh at them when they said something wrong (M=4.40). Item 15 showed that students believed English music was more enjoyable music in any other language (M=4.40). They also felt that use of English in many careers (item 17) helped getting things done easily (M=4.42). Students opinions towards Multimedia-Based Instruction from open- ended question. The research focused on students views towards learning English in general and their opinions toward learning English through MBI during the 8 weeks of the research project. Students95%commented that they enjoyed learning English through PowerPoint presentations and video clips because they understood the lessons more clearly. Four students commented that they gained more knowledge about English vocabulary and grammar through a variety of multimedia. They also reported that they learned to communicate better. Two students reported they enjoying learning through computers. The results showed that they gained more knowledge of English through the MBI. They explained that the PowerPoint presentation and the visual clips displayed words and pictures, so they remembered and understood the meaning of words more easily. In addition, the voicing of new vocabulary on the websites allowed students to hear how to say words correctly. They could also see how the words were used in sentences. Moreover, they did exercises by themselves by utilizing their technical abilities and experience of using computers. The students thought that MBI was beneficial and helped them to develop their English ability. Discussion Discussion of the finding related to the effectiveness of Multimedia-Based Instruction The main research question of the study was to investigate the effectiveness of MBI on students English ability, specifically listening, speaking, vocabulary and grammar. The results revealed 30

34 that students improved their English ability after learning through multimedia. They also had high scores in all four skills on the posttest. This confirmed that the multimedia contributed to their English learning achievement. This was true for both high and low proficiency students. However, the high proficiency students gained higher scores in all four aspects.to confirm the result, differences in the mean scores of the four skills were compared. The findings showed that the mean score of the English ability posttest of the experimental group (M=20.96) was higher than the pretest. This indicated that the English ability of the students taught through the multimedia-based instruction was significantly higher. The findings were consistent with Camel et el. (2003). who indicated that ICT tools in teaching can lead to increased students learning competencies.moreover, the multimedia can provide a sensory and real learning experience; it presents a greater potential for learning (Lindfors, 1987).There are many advantages of using multimedia tools in the classroom. These include more active learning, diversified teaching methods, better student attention, less time and energy for professors, and visual stimulation. However, there are some downfalls to using technology when teaching the courses. They are equipment failures, need for back-up plans, anxiety for teachers, time spent learning new technologies, etc. (Dale, 1969). Discussion of the finding related to students attitudes towards multimedia-based instruction The result showed that their satisfaction with learning English through multimediabased instruction was highly positive. Furthermore, this study revealed that multimedia-based instruction could successfully improve the students English ability at the.01 level.therefore, the result of the study was in line with the study by Al-Jarf (2005). Al-Jarf s study found that students learning vocabulary and grammar online had positive attitudes because the way of learning with computers and the media online heightened students motivation and self-esteem. It also created a warm climate between students and teacher and among students themselves; therefore, they enjoyed working and doing exercises with computers. Moreover, according to Gardner (1985), positive attitudes lead to improved student language proficiency and play a very important role in language learning. This might be because the MBI satisfied the students in all aspects; listening, speaking, vocabulary and grammar. Implications of the Study The results indicated that MBI could successfully improve students English ability. Some implications for the English teachers to consider when using multimedia, particularly for primary students including the role of the teacher and the role of multimedia. First, multimedia learning emphasizes individualized learning, so teacher should be aware of the different proficiency levels of students. Teachers should walk around the class as a facilitator to help the low proficiency students. Teachers have to be patient and encourage them to understand what they have to do. They might have the technical problems about computers or language problems. Moreover, MBI should be applied as a teaching tool for Thai students from the primary level to higher education levels of students to meet the requirements of the digital age. This effective tool provides students an opportunity to develop their learning ability in English and it also helps develop positive attitudes. In addition, selecting the media with the best characteristics for communicating information is very important. For example, graphics help students to retain spatial information better than text. Also, the methods and techniques, and ways of teaching should be varied according to students needs and interests. 31

35 Finally, promote students to learn successfully, the media elements should be also presented together so that they support each other. Presentation of multimedia should use both verbal and visual channels so that students could integrate content with prior knowledge. As for the role of the teacher, teachers need to encourage students to actively process and integrate rather than receive passively: allow them to control and work out on the multimedia material and give them the feedback and appropriate assessment for multimedia learning that matches the presentation of media. Finally, teacher should present new media in the English class with other components of language and encourage students to work on their own and devise some language activities. Limitations of the Study Although this study clearly contributed to English teachers understanding of multimedia learning, there were limitations to consider. First, the focus of the implementation of the study was not long enough to obtain in-depth results of the benefits of using multimedia in the classroom technical problems occurred while using the computer. Moreover, the study tested for statistical significance, a mixed research design combining qualitative data should be conducted to observe students behavior while learning, practicing and doing exercises through the computer. The period of the experiment was limited because of school. During the experiment, an annual sport event took place. After that, the students had to attend school tutoring for future education for two weeks. Thus, the period of experiment was forced to extend beyond the planned schedule. Finally, the students questionnaire in this study was only open-ended comment. If a semi-structured interview were conducted, the study would yield more profound data and results that would have better the effectiveness of using MBI. Recommendations for Further Studies The results of the study showed the effectiveness of MBI on developing students English ability as expected. However, in developing EFL students English ability through multimedia, the following recommendations are made both for teachers and researchers. 1. Further studies should be carried out to investigate the effectiveness of multimedia for different groups of students at various levels of education, primary, secondary and tertiary levels. 2. This study was limited to 8 weeks of MBI integrating listening, speaking, vocabulary and grammar. Therefore, longer study should be conducted and regular time is recommended to investigate separate skill or combine listening with speaking and reading with writing. 3. This study was designed as a single group pretest-posttest design. Further studies should be carried out to compare between a control group and an experimental group. 4. Qualitative study such as observing students using CALL, CAI, or online learning should be conducted. This kind of research is might be beneficial and shed light on other techniques involving multimedia. 5. A similar study could be conducted taking teachers attitudes, and students perception into consideration. This would be useful for teachers in developing students motivation to learn. 32

36 References Al-Jarf, R. (2005). The effects of online grammar instruction on low proficiency EFL college students achievement. Asian EFL Journal, 7(4), Carmen et.al (2003). Use of ICTs and the Perception of E Learning among University Students: A Differential Perspective according to Gender and Degree Year Group in Interactive. Educational Multimedia, 7, Dale, E. (1969). Audiovisual Methods in Teaching. New York: Dryden Press. Fang, Z. (2006). Using multimedia and network technology to reform college English teaching in the teaching of New Horizon College English. CELEA Journal (Bimonthly), 29(3), Gardner, R. (1985). Social psychology and second language learning: The role of attitude and motivation. London: Edward Arnold. Gilakjani, A.P. (2012). A study on the impact of using multimedia to improve the quality of English language teaching. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 3(6), Lindfors, J. (1987). Children's Language and Learning. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Mayer, R. E. (2001). Multimedia learning. New York: Cambridge University Press. Mayer, R. E., Dow, G. T. & Mayer, S. (2003). Multimedia Learning in an interactive self explaining environment: what works in the design of agent-based micro worlds? Journal of Educational Psychology, 95, Moore, D. (2011). Computer Aided Learning. Innovation in Education and Training International, 37, (3), Nusir, S,.Alsmadi, I., Al-Kabi, M., &Shardgah, F. (2012).Designing an interactive multimedia learning system for the children of primary schools in Jordan. Amman, Jordan. Phisutthangkoon, K. (2012). The use of communicative activities to develop English speaking Ability of the first year diploma vocational students (Master s thesis). Srinakarinwirot University, Bangkok, Thailand. Phuphanpet, U. (2004). The effect of using oral activities to develop English speaking ability of the first certificate vocational students (Master s thesis). Srinakarinwirot University, Bangkok, Thailand. Plass, L., Moreno &Brunken, R. (2010). Cognitive Load Theory. Cambridge [England]; New York: Cambridge University Press. Techa-Intrawong, D. (2003). Communication Strategies: An Appealing Solution for EFL Instruction in Thailand. The Celebration of Her Royal Highness Princess Maha ChakriSirindhorn s Fourth Cycle Birthday Anniversary, Wiriyachitra, A. (2002). English Language Teaching and Learning in Thailand in this Decade.Retrieved from. e%20teaching%20and%20learning%20in%20 Thailand.pdf 33

37 An Analysis of Thai-English Translation Strategies in the Short Story Level 8 Abbot Asst. Prof. Dr. Akkarapon Nuemaihom Buriram Rajabhat University, Thailand akkarapon2512@yahoo.com Abstract The purpose of this study was to analyze the translation strategies used in the short story สมภารระด บ แปด/Somphan Radap Paet or Level 8 Abbot. This short story was written by Wongkrabakthawon under the pen name Thatsanawadee who was granted the Naiin Award for the Best Short Story Writer in 1999, and the translated text (English version) was translated by Nuemaihom (2013). Eight translation strategies of Baker (1992) i.e. translation by a more general word (S1), translation by a more neutral word/less expressive word (S2), translation by cultural substitution (S3), translation by using a loan word or a loan word plus explanation (S4), translation by paraphrase using a related word (S5), translation by paraphrase using an unrelated word (S6), translation by omission (S7), and translation by illustration (S8) were applied for dealing with problems of non-equivalence at a word level. The source (Thai) and target (English) languages were translated, analyzed and compared paragraph by paragraph. The result revealed that seven strategies proposed by Baker were found and employed in the study. The table was also presented to clarify the study results. Keywords: Analysis, Thai-English Translation, Translation Strategies, Short Story Significance of the Study Translation is variously defined by well-known linguists. For instance, Roger (1995: 5) says that translation is the expression in another language (or target language) of what has been expressed in another, source language, preserving semantic and stylistic equivalences while Nida and Taber (1982: 12) state that translation consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source-language message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in term of style. English and Thai languages are different in systems and cultural aspects. Translation problems are inevitably caused by this distinction of the two languages because a translator cannot find and pick proper words with right meanings in both source and target texts. For example, the Thai phrase จต ป จจ ย/Cha Tu Pai Yat from the full passage ท านสมภารว ยย างห าส บกล าวแสดงความย นด ขณะท เขาวางจต ป จจ ยลง in the short story Level 8 Abbot should not be simply translated into English as four factors, but it should be clearly translated as requisites (for Buddhist monks) so that a reader of the target language (English) is able to understand the equivalent meaning in the source language (Thai). Translation strategies are, therefore, very important tools to cope with these problems of non-equivalence. Many theorists propose different types of translation strategies to solve the translation problems of nonequivalence. Some of them are Larson (1984) who points out four translation strategies including using a general word instead of a specific word, using a general word with a descriptive phrase, using a loan word, and using a cultural substitution while Saibua (1999) 34

38 proposes five types: adding descriptions, replacing words with phrases or sentences, using a word with the more general meaning instead of specific meaning, adding connectors between groups of ideas, and deleting words or expressions. Also Baker (1992) suggests eight translation strategies e.g. translation by a more general word, translation by a more neutral word/less expressive word, translation by cultural substitution, translation by using a loan word or a loan word plus explanation, translation by paraphrase using a related word, translation by paraphrase using an unrelated word, translation by omission, and translation by illustration. The present study is based on Baker s translation strategies because his strategies are more elaborate and practical to tackle non-equivalence at a word level. These strategies can be described in brief as below: 1. Translation by a more general word It is a general way to cope with the problem of non-equivalence where the propositional meaning concerns general words that cover the meaning of specific words in the target language. Example: ST: ปลาหมอหาซ อได ง ายท ตลาดสด TT: It s easy to buy freshwater fish in a fresh market. In this example, it is better for the translator to use more general word to replace the meaning of the word fish Mo. 2. Translation by a more neutral word/less expressive word This strategy is applied when there is no word in the target language that expresses the exact meaning as in the source language; and then the translator may use a more or less emotional word in the receptor language. Example: ST: ท ต นไม น นม ผ ส งอย TT: A ghost resides in that tree. From the above example, there is no word in the target text which can express the exact meaning in the source text, so a near equivalent word resides which is less expressive is used in the target text. 3. Translation by cultural substitution The strategy is the way to replace a culture-specific object with a target language object which does not have the same propositional meaning but has a similar impact on the target readers. Example: ST: ค ณชอบส งขยาหร อเปล า TT: Do you like custard? In this example, the translator translates a kind of Thai dessert Sangkhaya by using the English word custard which provides similar information of the dessert as that in the western countries. 4. Translation by using a loan word or a loan word plus explanation It is employed to deal with culture-specific items, modern concepts and buzzwords. A translator may give an explanation of a loan word in order to make it clear and understandable. Example: ST: ประสงค ไปเท ยวสงกรานต ท เช ยงใหม ป ท แล ว 35

39 TT: Prasong went to cerebrate Songkran or water festival in Chiangmai last year. From the above example, the translator translates Songkran into English by using a loan word plus explanation. 5. Translation by paraphrase using a related word It is used when the concept expressed by the source items is lexicalized in the target language, but in a different form or pattern. Example: ST: สถาป ตยกรรมโรม นงดงามอย างย งหาท เปร ยบไม ได TT: Incomparable sophistication of Roman architecture In this example, the translator does not use the simple word very beautiful but he uses the related word sophistication instead in order to give readers the idea that the architecture is very cleverly designed. 6. Translation by paraphrase using an unrelated word This strategy is used when the concept expressed by the source items is not lexicalized at all in the target language. It is also applied to unpack the meaning of the original object if that object is semantically complicated in order to achieve a degree of precision in exact propositional meaning. Example: ST: เม อวานน ฝนตกหน กมาก TT: It rained cats and dogs yesterday. In this example, the translator does not literally translate หน กมาก as it rained heavily, but he uses the unrelated expression it rained cats and dogs which is very common to the native speakers of English. 7. Translation by omission The seventh strategy is used when the meaning of a specific object or expression is not necessary for the target readers in understanding the text. In this case, a particular word or expression can be omitted. Example: ST: หน งเด อนต อมา ศาลาฮ อยเค าก เป นร ปเป นร างข น ณ สถานท แห งใหม ร มแม น า เจ าพระยา TT: One month passed, Sala Hoi Khao took shape on the bank of the Chao Phraya River. (Duangloy, 2006) From the above example, though the word ณ สถานท แห งใหม is omitted in the translated text, the whole meaning of the source text is still maintained. 8. Translation by illustration The last strategy is used when a particular word lacks equivalence in the target language, and the requirement is that the text remains to the point, short and concise. For instance, the word tagged appeared on a Lipton Yellow Label tea packet prepared for the Arab market. There is no easy way of translating this word as in tagged teabags, into Arabic without going into wordy explanations which would confuse the text. An illustration of a tagged teabag is used instead of a paraphrase (Baker, 1992: 42). A short story is an invented prose fiction that is shorter than a novel. It usually deals with a few characters and aims at unity of effect. A short story can reflect ways of life of people 36

40 as Bogart (2013) says that Thai short stories contain many moods and reflections about the way of life in Thailand. It also serves as a time maker for events that took place in Thailand. Culture is one of three main pillars of ASEAN i.e. Socio-Cultural Pillar with the purpose of promoting an active collaboration and mutual assistance on matters of common interest in social and culture aspects. According to this ASEAN object, a Thai short story can undoubtedly tell ASEAN culture in a case of Thai culture and lifestyle. The Thai short story สมภารระด บแปด/Somphan Radap Paet or Level 8 Abbot was written by Wongkrabakthawon. It was granted the Naiin Award for the Best Short Story in 1997, so the awarded Thai short story was selected and translated into English, a working language of ASEAN, by Nuemaihom (2013). It is hoped that translation of this story will be one of many ways to promote Thai culture and tradition to other countries. The researcher who is also a translation has an interest in translating Thai into English and in analyzing translation strategies, therefore the study entitled A Case Study of Translating the Short Story Level 8 Abbot was conducted. Study Objective The objective of this study is to investigate translation strategies for translating the short story Level 8 Abbot. Study Methodology The data was gathered using the original text i.e. the short story entitled Level 8 Abbot (Thai version) written by Wongkrabakthawon, and the translated text (English version) translated by Nuemaihom. The source (Thai) and target (English) languages were studied, and compared paragraph by paragraph. Eight translation strategies proposed by Baker (1992) were utilized and applied to analyze the non-equivalence at a word level. The abbreviations used in this study are as follows: ST means the source text TT means the target text S1 means translation by a more general word S2 means translation by a more neutral word/less expressive word S3 means translation by cultural substitution S4 means translation by using a loan word or a loan word plus explanation S5 means translation by paraphrase using a related word S6 means translation by paraphrase using an unrelated word S7 translation by omission S8 translation by illustration Study Results The findings revealed that seven out of eight translation strategies proposed by Baker (1992) were applied in this study: translation by a more general word (S1), translation by a more neutral word/less expressive word (S2), translation by cultural substitution (S3), translation by using a loan word or a loan word plus explanation (S4), translation by paraphrase using a related word (S5), translation by paraphrase using an unrelated word (S6), and translation by omission (S7); while one strategy i.e. translation by illustration (S8) was not found. Some examples of the obtained strategies were presented in the tables as follows: Table 1: Translation by a more general word (S1) 37

41 No. ST TT Non-equivalence at a word level Thai English 1 อาตมาก ว ตกน กเร องน ส งคมป จจ บ นม นแย เอามาก ๆ โลกว บ ต ว ปร ตไปหมด I'm also so worried about this. Our present society is very terrible. The world has gone mad. ว บ ต ว ปร ต gone mad 2 เล กย งได ม ย น าเบ อจร ง พวกปากหมาน นไปสนใจ ทาไม ม นหาเง นมาให ใช หร อเปล า Don't poke your nose into my personal life. It s really boring. Don t pay attention to people who use insulting words cause our lives don't depend on them. ปากหมา who use insulting words As shown in table 1, the translator applied this strategy by using the more general word i.e. gone mad because ว บ ต ว ปร ต which literally means ruined and unusual was in the semantic field of gone mad, and in the second example he used the phrase people who use insulting words which was more general than พวกปากหมา which is literally translated into English as people with a dog mouth. Table 2: Translation by a more neutral word/less expressive word (S2) No. ST TT Non-equivalence at a word level Thai English 1 เด กสาวก มลงกราบแทบเท า ขณะท ห วใจเต นกระทบ อกอย ต ง ๆ She bowed to pay respect to the director while her heart was beating heavily. ก มลงกราบ แทบเท า bowed pay respect to 2 ว ย! ค กจ งว นน เข าไปข างในก อนเถอะค ะ ม ด ๆ เยอะ เด ก ๆ ท งน น Oops! How vigorous you are! Let s go inside. There are many beautiful girls here. ค กจ ง vigorous 38

42 Table 2 shows that this strategy was applied by using a less expressive word bowed to pay respect because the word ก มลงกราบแทบเท า which literally means bowed to pay respect to somebody and prostrate at his/her feet contains more emotional meaning than the word bowed to pay respect, and in the second example he used this strategy because vigorous provides a more neutral word than ค ก which literally means horny or sexual desire in this context. Table 3: Translation by cultural substitution (S3) No. ST TT Non-equivalence at a word level Thai English 1 คนท กล าวหาท านเส ย ๆ หาย ๆ พวกน ม นบาปหนา น แหละท เขาว าพระด ๆ ม กอย ได ไม นาน..พวกมาร ศาสนาม นจ องทาลายท กเม อเช อว น.. Those who accused him of bad conduct are really evildoers. Good monks are frequently disrobed and attentively destroyed by wicked persons. มารศาสนา wicked persons 2 ท านสมภารว ยย างห าส บกล าวแสดงความย นด ขณะท เขาวางจต ป จจ ยลง The monk in his fifties greeted him while the school director was putting down the requisites. จต ป จจ ย requisite s As shown in table 3, the translator used wicked persons to culturally substitute พวกมาร ศาสนา in the source language, and in the second example he replaced a culture specific expression จต ป จจ ย with requisites, not four factors (literal meaning) in a target language. Table 4: Translation by using a loan word or a loan word plus explanation (S4) No. ST TT Non-equivalence at a word level Thai English 1 ใบหน าอ นอวบอ มของท านแดงเถ อกราวกวนอ ม อถ อแก วเหล าส ายโงนเงน อ กข างทางานใต ท องน อยของสาวว ยคราวล ก His plump face became red as Kuean-u (a character in Chinese Three Kingdoms) while he was holding a wine glass with one hand and another hand was moving under the waist of a young girl. กวนอ Kuean-u 2 จากน นไม นานอด ตนางนพมาศประจาตาบลก Soon afterwards, she who was a former Miss Nopphamat (a นางนพมาศ Miss Noppha 39

43 No. ST TT Non-equivalence at a word level Thai English กลายเป นธ ดาช าง kind of beauty contest held during Loy Krathong festival in the 11 th lunar month) at a subdistrict level became a jumbo queen. mat Table 4 presents that the translator applied this strategy by using the loan words i.e. Kuean-u (a character in Chinese Three Kingdoms) in the source target plus explanation for กวนอ, and in the second example he utilized the loan word plus explanation for นางนพมาศ in the source text with Nopphamat (a kind of beauty contest held during Loy Krathong festival in the 11 th lunar month). Table 5: Translation by paraphrase using a related word (S5) No. ST TT Non-equivalence at a word level Thai English 1 อาย ท มากข น ประกอบก บงานท เปล ยนไป เขาม เพ อนกล มใหม บรรยากาศของการก นการด มเท ยว เตร กล บมาค กค กอ กคร ง He got older, held a bigger position and had a new group of friends, so a lifestyle of chilling out was revived once again. บรรยากาศของ การก นการด ม เท ยวเตร a lifestyle of chilling out 2 ด อย างว ดป าน ส เหล อมาฟ งเทศน ฟ งธรรมแค คนแก ส ซ าห าคน As you can see that just a few old devotees come to the monastery. ส ซ าห าคน just a few old devotees Table 5 reveals that the translator applied S5 by not using the literal meaning an atmosphere of eating, drinking and roaming but using the related word a lifestyle of chilling out instead, and he translated ส ซ าห าคน into English as just a few which is identical to four to five. Table 6: Translation by paraphrase using an unrelated word (S6) No. ST TT Non-equivalence at a word level Thai English 1 เขาพยายามหลบเล ยงเร องท เก ยวก บช ว ตของต วเอง He tried to avoid talking โยนห นถาม to see 40

44 No. ST TT Non-equivalence at a word level Thai English โยนห นถามทางไปย งค สนทนาอย างไม ต งใจ about his personal life, referring to his interlocutor just to see which way the wind blows. ทาง which way the wind blows 2 คงไม ม ผ อานวยการคนไหนปล มก บการลากเม ย ชาวบ านห นช างน าไปออกงานแน ๆ..เขาค ด No director is so happy to go to the function with a jumbo-sized wife, he said to himself. ห นช างน า a jumbosized As shown in Table 6, the translator did not literally translate โยนห นถามทาง as throw a stone and ask the way, but he paraphrased the content and used the expression to see which way the wind blows which is common to a native speaker of English. The table also shows in the second example that he used the unrelated word a jumbo-sized instead of the literal word water elephant-sized. Table 7: Translation by omission (S7) No. ST TT Non-equivalence at a word level Thai English 1 เขาพ ดก บต วเองแล วแอบย มก อนเด นมาคว าข าว ของท เหล อเด นตามหล อนไป He said to himself, and happily smiled before grasping the stuffs and following her. ข าวของท เหล อ stuffs 2 ต วแทนน กเร ยนแต ละช นเด นเข าประคองพานมา ย นให ท านผ อานวยการร บ ก อนจะส งต อไปให คร บาอาจารย ท านอ น The student representatives walked on their knees and handed the tray to the school director, who in turn passed it on to other teachers. ประคองพาน มาย นให handed the tray Table 7 presented that though the words ท เหล อ in the first example and ประคอง in the second example were omitted, the whole meaning of the two examples in the source text is still understandably maintained. 41

45 Conclusion and Discussion This study aimed to investigate translation strategies for translating the short story Level 8 Abbot. The study results revealed that seven translation strategies proposed by Baker (1992) were used and applied in this study while one strategy i.e. translation by illustration was not found. Moreover, the findings were discussed as follows: The S1 was applied because the translator could not find a specific or proper word that has the identical meaning with the ST, so he solved this problem by translating it with a more general word. The translator used the S2 because he was not able to find English expressive words equivalent with Thai words which have more shades of meaning. The third strategy was utilized because each language has its own cultural specific items or expressions which should be replaced by the same propositional meaning in another language. The translator employed the S4 because some words of the source language (Thai) which are not equivalent in the target language (English) have to be translated by using a loan word plus explanation. The fifth strategy was applied because different words or structures might be used by the translator in order to meet the equivalent meaning in the target text. Regarding the sixth strategy, it was employed because some concepts in Thai language were not understandable in English language, so these concepts should be paraphrased to make readers of the target language (English) acquire the concepts in the source language (Thai). Translation by omission was the last strategy utilized in this study. By doing this, the translator cut many unimportant words in the source language which he considered redundant in the target language, and these unnecessary words did not affect the meaning of the text. 42

46 References Baker, M. (1992). In Other Words: A Coursebook on Translation. New York: Routledge. Bogart, W. V. D. Thailand Short Stories. (online). Retrieved February 21, 2013 from Duangloy, M. (2006). An Analysis of Translation Strategies in the Novel Behind the Painting. Master s Project, M.A. (English). Bangkok: Graduate School, Srinakharinwirot University. Nida, Eugene and Charles R. Taber. (1982). The Theory and Practice of Translation. Leiden, The Netherland: EJ. Brill. Nuemaihom, A. (2013). Village Aerobics. Translated from Village Aerobics by Wongkrabakthawon. Unpublished. Roger, T. Bell. (1995). Translation and Translating: Theory and Practice. New York: Longman Inc. Saibua, S. (1999). Principle of Translation. Bangkok: Thamasart University Press. Wongkrabakthawon, S. (1999). Village Aerobics. Bangkok: Amarin Printing and Publishing. 43

47 University Students Attitudes towards English Pronunciation Models Budsaba Kanoksilapatham English Department, Faculty of Arts Silpakorn University Abstract It has been agreed that the English language is going to be the working language in ASEAN. To comply with this decision, it is essential that Thai students be prepared to be competent in the English language, particularly for international communication. To successfully prepare Thai learners for this challenge, the question of whether Thai university students should conform to native-speaker norms of English, in an era when English is increasingly used in international contexts and when the integration of AEC is approaching, is one of the topics which has been keenly debated in recent years. However, it is not a debate in which the voices of students have been heard. Therefore, this research attempts to shed some light into the issue. This research study is based largely on onequestionnaire survey, which examined Thai university students attitudes about their English pronunciation to the question of conforming to native-speaker norms or to the ideologies of EIL, WEs, and ELFwhich focus on intelligibility. Taken together, the survey drew 387 responses from first and second year students studying in a public university. Theanalysis of the completed questionnaires demonstrates that Thai university students held more favorable attitudes towards the model of native speakers. The study demonstrates that students views may differ from the expectations of teachers and academics, and that it is important for educators to be aware of these viewsfor future decisions related to national educational plans. Keywords: EIL, pronunciation, attitudes, learners of English, university students 1. Introduction It is acknowledged that among all languages in the world, the English language plays an increasingly vital role in our daily life particularly in business, education, entertainment, communication, and work. Moreover, the use of the English language is not limited locally but also internationally for communication between speakers from diverse language backgrounds. Since the role of the English language used at present is primarily for communication, the English language skills related to, or emphasizing, communication are significantly important(graddol, 2004). As known, oral communication skills include two principal language skills: speaking and listening. In this regard, it is well known that listening and speaking are the basic skills needed in order to subsequently develop reading and writing skills, contributing to the enhanced effectiveness and efficiency of English language learning. This in turn contributes to the integration of language use in daily life (e.g., Graddol, 2006; Amberg & Vause, 2009). Although the English language has been taught in Thailand as a foreign language for many decades, according to educators, Thai students performance in the English language subject in general seems unsatisfactory (Foley, 2005; Wongsothorn,1996). Specifically, even though English speaking and listening skills are pivotal, Thai learners of English seem to find these skills difficult to achieve (Kanoksilapatham, 2005, 2009, 2010). It is claimed that, among other things, some of the major reasons contributing to incomplete mastery of these two skills include the lack of or limited exposure to the target language of English and other factors related to teachers, learners, environment, teaching materials, supporting technology, etc. In addition to these external factors, the success of speaking for communicative purposes is 44

48 determined by how much the language learners know about pertinent linguistic characteristics of the English language. That is, in addition to the content or message to be conveyed and the appropriate choice of language, the clear understanding of the English language sound system is vital. Different from the Thai language to a certain extent, the English language displays its own unique set of consonant and vowel sounds, stress placement, and intonation. Finally, paralinguistic features appropriate for certain situationsare important, contributing to successful communication (Kanoksilapatham, 2009). In general, English language teaching in Thailand, as far as pronunciation is concerned, aims to enable learners to master or approximate native-like pronunciation. In other words, it can be said that, traditionally, the ultimate goal of the English language teaching of pronunciation in Thailand is to speak like a native speaker of the English language. However, in practice and in reality, as demonstrated by the studies conducted by Kanoksilapatham (2005, 2010), the pronunciation of not only Thai learnersbut also Thai teachers of English seems to be unsatisfactory. The factors responsible for the findings include inadequate instruction, learners, curriculum, and educational administrators. To elaborate, most of the Thai teachers of English in these studies did not complete their highest degree in English or in the fields related to English teaching. However, due to the lack of English teachers with appropriate qualifications, they were asked to teach English. Obviously, these teachers werenot prepared to teach English. Thai learners, as found in these studies, were timid and hesitant,when required to use intonation patterns containing high pitches. The national English curriculum also downplays the integral role of pronunciation, placing an emphasis on the four major skills of reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Finally, educational administrators assumed that pronunciation did not need to be explicitly instructed, but can be acquired through exposure to the language input. However, given the fact that the principle source of English input for many Thai students was from the Thai teachers of English, as demonstrated by these studies, the input was usually flawed especially in word stress. In contrast to the ultimate goal of native-like pronunciation, recently, the notions of World Englishes (WEs), English as a Lingua Franca (ELF), and English as an International Language (EIL) have merited substantial and worldwide attention (e.g., Kachru, 1995; Firth, 1996; Warscharuer, 2000; Savignon & Sysoyev, 2002; Jenkins, 2003; Graddol, 2006; Kirkpatrick, 2007). To elaborate, for instance, English as a Lingua Franca or ELF refers to a situation in which English is chosen to be a language of communication among speakers who share neither a common native tongue nor a common national cultural background (Firth, 1996: 240; Jenkins, 2004, 2009: 200). According to Jenkins (2009), in the context of ELF, the opportunity for learners of English to be exposed to, or actually use, the English language with native speakers of English is limited. Therefore, intelligibility, rather than native speaker norms, is considered the ultimate goal of English language learning. The advent of Thailand s integration of the ASEAN Economic Community (or AEC) in the near future has highlighted the fact that the opportunity to use English with the ASEAN members becomes more imminent and realistic than the expected interaction with native speakers of English from America, England, New Zealand, Canada, or Australia. Consequently, based on the ELF concept, the goal and expectation to develop Thai learners pronunciation of English for the purpose of communicating with the ASEAN members should be for intelligibility, a more reasonable and attainable goal than native-like. That is, these notions of EIL, WEs, and ELF together with the AEC integration suggest that native speaker norms that the learners of English have to follow might not be valid. Indeed, a form of language that takes into account their first language and cultural identities might be more appropriate in the current context. At this juncture, given the merits for intelligibility of English, the practice of teaching and learning English in Thailand needs to be reviewed and challenged. This means all sectors and personnel involved should cooperate in revising the implementation of the English curriculum 45

49 and respective pedagogical applications. However, learners voice should be heard with regard to their ultimate goal of learning English pronunciation. Currently, there is no empirical study investigating Thai learners attitudes towards English pronunciation, with reference to the notion of ELF in the context of, and in preparation for, the AEC integration. A study conducted on Thai university students would provide insights into how Thai learners of English perceive the spread of English as a lingua franca, and whether they find the ELF suggestions suitable. To be precise, it remains to be determined if Thai learners of English favor the traditional goal of native-like pronunciation or the emerging goal of intelligibility. 2. The study This section presents the details pertaining to the current study, including the objective, the participants, the instrument, data collection and data analysis Objective This study sets out to investigate Thai students attitudes towards the native-speaker and other ASEAN models in English pronunciation learning in relation to the ideologies of EIL, WEs, and ELF that highlights intelligibility. Corresponding to the objective stipulated, the research question addressed in this study is: What are the Thai English learners attitudes towards native-like pronunciation or the pronunciation of other varieties of English advocated by the notions of EIL, WEs, and ELF? 2.2. Participants The participants of this study consist of first and second year students at SilpakornUniversity. These students, at the time of study, had not selected their majors or minors. This pool of population was selected for a number of reasons. First, they were considered future users of English who would be confronted with many English varieties and be judged in their professional life with competence, intellect, and character based on their English accent. Therefore, their attitudes towards different varieties of English are considered important and are likely to provide some empirical insights into the field of EIL, ELF, and WEs. Second, this pool of students was selected because, as opposed to high school students, these tertiary students were free from the heavy pressure of learning English in order to pass the national examinations for entering into higher educational institutions. Consequently, students would have more autonomy in deciding their investment in learning English.Finally, these first and second year students from SilpakornUniversity were selected for academic reason. At the time of study, they were not influenced by the contents of the English phonetics course, which was offered to students majoring and minoring in English when they are in their third and fourth years. Given the fact that typically this course is likely to focus on American English or British English, as reflected from a number of textbooks available, the course contents might have an impact on their attitudes towards pronunciation. Therefore, it is ideal and crucial that the study be conducted on first and second yearuniversity students Instrument The instrument used in this study is a questionnaire. To assure that the participants of this study had no difficulty understanding the questions asked and responding, the questionnaire was written in Thai. The initial version of the questionnaire was piloted before being used with 30 first and second year students at the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Science, Kasetsart University in the second academic semester of the 2012 academic year. The purpose of this piloting was to make sure that the language used in the questions asked was understood by the respondents, and the questions were successful in eliciting what they were supposed to. Based on the comments and feedback from the respondents, the questionnaire was revised 46

50 accordingly. Some question items were rewritten, and others were elaborated to make sure that confusion was eradicated, and clarity was enhanced. The revised questionnaire used in this studyconsists of three major parts. Part One collects the participants personal information regarding gender, age, the year of study, the onset time of studying English, and the Likert scale self-assessment of theirenglish language skills. Part Two consists of five questions which aim to elicit the respondents experience with native-like pronunciation and other ASEAN English varieties. Part Threeconsists of a series of nine statements to collect information on the respondents attitudes towards English pronunciation models of native like and other models along the concept of ELF Data collection Upon the final revision and improvement of the tried out questionnaire in 2.3, the questionnaire was administered to the participants for a period of one week in the middle of the second semester of the 2012 academic year. The participants were first and second year students of the Faculty of Arts, SilpakornUniversity. The activity took place on campus and was conducted entirely on a voluntary basis Data analysis All of the returned questionnaires (N = 387) were quantitatively analyzed by using the SPSS program for descriptive statistics in order to calculate mean ratings andpercentages,and to highlight any trends and significant commonalities, anomalies, etc. The Likert scale data analyzed by descriptive statistics provided a summary of data that not only identified the most popular answer for each question but also a group average. 3. Results and discussion This section presents the analysis results generated by the three parts of the questionnaire, which are individually presented as follows: 3.1. Respondents personal information A summary of key descriptions about the cohort of 387 respondents as elicited through the five questions of the questionnaire is as follows. Out of 387 respondents, 73 respondents (18.86%) are male, and 314 (81.14%) are female. Most of the respondents (271 or 70.03%) are first year students; 116 (or 29.97%) are second year students. The participants age ranges from 17 to 21 years old, with an average of years old. Most of them (315 or 81.40%) began studying English since they were in kindergarten, and the calculated average of English language learning years of the participants was years.the last question on this part probes into the self-assessment of their English language skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The five Likert scales were used from the highest to the lowest (5 = excellent, 4 = good, 3 = moderate, 2 = poor, and 1 = very poor). Table 1 displays the frequency of responses regarding their self-assessment of their English language skills. Table 1 Frequencies of responses regarding their self-assessment of four English skills Language Excellent Good Moderate Poor Very Mean SD skills (5) (4) (3) (2) poor(1) score Listening Speaking Reading Writing

51 To guide the interpretation of the mean scores, in this study, the equidistance between each pair of the five categories (e.g., categories 1 and 2, and categories 3 and 4) was assumed in this study. Because there are five categories and the range of the data is 4, the cutoff point was set at interval of 0.8. The mean scores facilitating the comparison of the responses to this question and used as default statistics for summarizing Likert scale data are as follows: was interpreted as very poor ; as poor ; as moderate ; as good ; and as excellent.on the whole, the mean values ranging from 2.54 to 3.17 for the four skills demonstrated that generally the respondents did not think they are not capable user of English.Additionally, the average score for the four skills was 2.75, revealing that the respondents perceived that they were most confident in their reading skills, with the highest average of 3.17, followed by writing (2.66), speaking (2.56), and listening (2.54), respectively. As shown, the respondents rating of their language skills related to oral communication (including listening and speaking) was quite low, with an average of 2.73, indicating their low satisfaction with the two skills. Taken together, despite the fact that the majority of the respondents had studied English extensively for more than 15 years, the way they perceived their English language skills was illuminating, demonstrating the imbalance between the amount of time spent on studying English and the level of achievement as rated by the respondents Respondents English pronunciation experience Based on the responses to the five questions focusing on the respondents experience with native-like pronunciation and other ASEAN varieties, the majority of the respondents (291 or 75.19%) reported not having lived, studied, or travelled abroad, whereas 96 respondents (or 24.81%) claimed to have travelled to ASEAN countries (Question 1 or Q1). Even though most of the respondents had no, or relatively limited, experience in other ASEAN countries, given the era of technology that allows people around the world to connect to each other, this finding cannot lead to the conclusion that the respondents were not aware of ASEAN countries, or the English varieties spoken by the people of those countries. In response to Q2 (the respondents exposure to the other ASEAN English varieties), 226 respondents (or 58.39%) gave a positive answer, and 161 respondents (or 41.60%) had no exposure. This finding substantiates the interpretation that even though about 75% of the respondentshad no experience in ASEAN countries, again, thanks to technology and other means of communication available, exposure to other language varieties could be possible without being physically abroad. Q3 aims to elicit the extent to which the respondents understood the other ASEAN English varieties to which they were exposed. Only 1 respondent (or 0.44%) claimed that he/she could understand the other AEAN English varieties very well, whereas 73 respondents (or 32.30%) claimed that they could understand the varieties most of the time, 128 respondents (or 56.64%) could moderately understand those varieties, 18 respondents (or 7.96%) understood very little, and 6 of the respondents (or 2.65%) claimed that the ASEAN varieties were not intelligible to them. The mean score of 3.20 suggests that, on the whole, the respondents could understand other ASEAN varieties to a certain extent. Q4 directly focuses on their English learning experience. Most of the responses indicated their experience being taught by native speakers of English and some by Filipinos (146 respondents), Singaporeans (16 respondents), Malaysians (6 respondents), and others including Japanese, Chinese, Canadian, Indonesian, etc. As reported, many of the respondents were taught by Filipinos. This finding is congruent with the current scenario of English language teaching in Thailand in which a large number of schools recruit Filipinos to be English instructors. 48

52 Q5probes into the respondents awareness about the pertaining characteristics of English as an International Language or EIL. Based on a list of four statements provided, 296 out of 387 respondents (or 76.49%) seemed to have an accurate understanding of the central notion of EIL. To summarize, even though most of the respondents had no experience spending time in other ASEAN countries, many of them admitted that they had exposure to other ASEAN English varieties. They also claimed that they could moderately understand those ASEAN English varieties. Most of the respondents, in their previous education, were taught by native speakers of English, teachers, as well as non-native speakers of English including Filipinos, Singaporeans, and Malaysians, etc. Finally, the majority of the respondents seemed to have an accurate understanding of the concept of EIL Respondents attitudes towards varieties of English pronunciation This part consists of nine statements (Ss). Based on the Likert scale of five categories (5 = strongly agree, 4 = somewhat agree, 3 = neutral, 2 = somewhat disagree, and 1 = strongly disagree), the researcher was able to observeto what degree different Englishes were favored when students reflected upon what they wished to study. Descriptive statistics for the ratings is presented in Table 2.Similarly, to guidethe interpretation of the mean scores, based on the equidistance assumption between each pair of the five categories, the cutoff point was set at interval of 0.8. Thus, the interpretations of the average score or the mean values pertaining to individual statements are as follows: was interpreted as strongly disagree ; as somewhat disagree ; as neutral ; as somewhat agree ; and as strongly agree. Table 2 Respondents attitudes towards pronunciation (N = 387) Descriptor (5) (4) (3) (2) (1) Mean SD Meaning 1. Aspiration for native-like pronunciation 2. Necessity to have nativelike pronunciation 3. Native-like pronunciation and positive attitudes 4. Ideal English teachers not limited to native speakers 5. Native-like pronunciation instruction limited at university level 6. Perceived usefulness of native-like pronunciation at work and in society 7. Ability to work with employers speaking other ASEAN English varieties for communication 8. Comfort to communicate with colleagues and foreign friends speaking other ASEAN English varieties strongly agree somewhat agree somewhat agree neutral somewhat disagree somewhat agree somewhat agree somewhat agree 49

53 Descriptor (5) (4) (3) (2) (1) Mean SD Meaning 9. Willing to adopt other ASEAN Englishes for communication neutral S1: As shown, 207 respondents (53.49%) strongly agreed that, if they could, they would aspire for the native-like English pronunciation model. The average score for this statement is 4.37, the highest of all nine statements, indicating that the respondents strongly aspired for native-like pronunciation as their ultimate goal of pronunciation learning. S2: Even though most of the respondents aspired for native like pronunciation in S1, the respondentswere more liberal, welcoming other varieties for communication in the region. The average score for this statement is 3.93, which might be interpreted as showing that the respondents somewhat agreed on the need to possess native-like pronunciation. It should be noted that even though the respondents strongly aspired for native-like pronunciation, they were aware that native-like pronunciation is not the only requirement for successful communication. S3:No respondents disputed that having native-like pronunciation entailed positive recognition. It thus becomes clear that native-like pronunciation was believed to have greater prestige or superiority to others. The average of 3.93, indicates that the respondents somewhat agreed on the increasing acceptance and positive attitudes from people by using native-like pronunciation. S4: The majority of the respondents had neutral attitudes about this statement. It should be noted that, even though the native variety was judged more favorably than the other varieties for their aspiration, the respondents did not perceive negatively about having teachers who were native speakers of other English varieties. The average score for this statement is 3.38, implying that the respondents were neutral about their English teachers being native speakers of English even though their desirable endpoint was a so-called native-like pronunciation. S5: This statement drew the highest rate of disagreement and thus the average score is the lowest of all, 2.29.On the whole, the respondents perceived negatively about the practice of teaching the native speaker model at the university level only. This means, if possible, they would like to see native-like pronunciation be taught at other educational levels. S6: The average score for this statement is 4.14, indicating that, in general, the respondents somewhat agreed that native-like pronunciation was an asset. This rating on S6 substantiates their rating in S1, displaying their strong aspiration for native-like pronunciation. The ratings to these two statements suggest that the respondents aspired for native-like pronunciation especially when job and social life was concerned. S7: Most of the respondents had neutral attitudes about this statement, and very few of them (6 respondents or 1.55%) did not think they could handle the communication with their potential employers in English varieties other than native-like pronunciation. The average score for this statement is 3.61, suggesting that even though the respondents aspired for nativelike pronunciation, the respondents tended to have somewhat positive attitudes in working with those speaking other varieties of English. S8:The number of the respondents who felt comfortablecommunicating with colleagues and foreign friends speaking other ASEAN English substantially outnumbered those who did not. The average score for this statement is S9: The average score for this statement is On the whole, this finding suggests that even though they were more or less ready to communicate with people speaking other English 50

54 varieties, the cohort respondents did not feel overwhelmingly committed to adopt other ASEAN Englishes pronunciation as a benchmark for communication. On the whole, with the use of the questionnaire administered to 387 Thai university students, the current study has provided a lot of insights related to English pronunciation, including learners previous training, learners views of their own pronunciation, learners awareness of their goals and skills, and learners awareness of their motivation to speak English and of their aspiration to achieve native-like pronunciation. Finally, the study also sheds light onto the learners positive attitudes towards other ASEAN English varieties. 4. Pedagogical implications The findings contribute to a better understanding of Thai university students attitudes associated with the native speaker norms and other ASEAN English varieties. The study also reveals which varieties are perceived more favorably or less favorably. Although the current study adopted a learner perspective, their results are practically relevant for both teachers and learners Suggestions for learners As shown, Thai learners attempt to emulate the model of native speakers might not be enough to meet local needs and global needs. Learners need to be more accommodating to variations of ASEAN English because it is likely that no one language or code is appropriate in all cases. Therefore, they need to have sufficient awareness of other varieties of English. It is also possible that many students, due to insufficient exposure to the varieties of English, might hold a monolithic view that native-like pronunciation is the only norm for international communication. However, in the era of ELF, an attitude of not downplaying other English varieties while exalting native speaker English needs to be instilled in them Suggestions forteachers To accommodate the learners preference and at the same time prepare them for the challenge of the AEC integration, teachers of English might need to revise or reform their pedagogy. With the knowledge about the learners actual desires and attitudes towards their preference of English pronunciation available, practical pedagogical implications are multiple. Here are some suggestions what teachers can do to prepare their students. Speech samples, as well as audio and video examples, of ASEAN English varieties from various speech communities should be collected and let learners explore them at their own pace or use them in a class setting as supplementary materials. Moreover, the access to media content, such as films and TV series which, focusing on the native speaker norms and other ASEAN English varieties, also allows learners of English to be increasingly exposed to other varieties of English. According to Kanoksilapatham (2010), many Thai teachers of English lack training particularly in pronunciation, one of the descriptors of teachers competence and also one of the key elements in the speaking component. It is anticipated that, with additional training on pronunciation, teachers will be better equipped to be a more powerful resource person contributing to the learners aspiration for native-like pronunciation. Meanwhile, pronunciation training will empower teachers with sensitivity to pronunciation subtleties belonging to individual ASEAN English varieties. Since most Thai university students in this study aspire for native speaker norms, teachers should strike a balance between promoting a high standard of English in the classroom and exposing learners to other ASEAN English varieties, by promoting greater understanding of cultural differences of language use in classrooms. In so doing, students not only gain greater intercultural competence but will also be empowered users of their own English. 51

55 In short, knowing more about Thai learners attitudes is illuminating and beneficial to all sectors concerned. While learners aspiration can be made explicit, they should be more aware of other English varieties prevalent in the region. For teachers, the findings help determine and assess if the current pedagogical directions are empirically validated. Eventually, an appropriate pedagogy for learners needs to be developed. 5. Conclusions This research study aims to gain a better understanding of the extent to which English learners are aware of varieties of English prevalent in the ASEAN region and what patterns of recognition are associated with their awareness.given the introduction of the notions of EIL, WEs, and ELF, the pronunciation model can be divided into two categories: one is the native-like pronunciation and the other is the expected intelligibility as imposed by the ideologies of EIL, WEs, and ELF. Because learners attitudes play a crucial role, determining the level of success in language learning, the findings generated by this study provide some empirical insights into the field of English language teaching in Thailand. A questionnaire was administered to first and second year students of the Faculty of Arts, SilpakornUniversity. On a voluntary basis, 387 questionnaires were completed and subsequently analyzed. The analysis results clearly suggest that, despite current ideologies of EIL, WEs, and ELF, Thai students attitudes towards native-like pronunciation modelswere very positive. They still strongly aspired for native speaker norms. Despite their awareness of language variations and other ASEAN English language varietiesas cultural uses of English, the dominance of native speaker norms in Thailand prevails. This preference for native speaker norms contradicts the theories of ELF. Meanwhile, their attitudes towards other ASEAN English varieties as the target of pronunciation training, if necessary, were rather positive. At this juncture, the survey presented in this paper is preliminary, and thus the perspectives for further research are vast, and as such, will be improved and expanded on in further work. It would be interesting to find out whether there is any consensus on this issue among teachers, and whether this consensus is in harmony with students views. The comparison of the learners data with the teachers will be insightful. It will be interesting to find out whether and how far studentswant to conform to native-speaker norms, not just in the field of pronunciation, but also in relation to traditional written-based grammar and the kind of informal grammar highlighted by spoken corpora. Following Graddol (2006), teaching materials should embrace linguistic diversity and recognize the language shift. Correspondingly, in order to be effective, the materials that are authentic in terms of variety of Englishes need to be constructed. Caveats are in order. The above data presented in this study in no way represent all university students in Thailand. Therefore, tentative conclusions based on this study remain to be substantiated by additional future research. This study included only first and second year Arts students at SilpakornUniversity. Due to the rather restricted pool of students and consequently restricted opinions, generalizability of the findings can be limited. It is thus highly possible that students from different disciplines and different universities might have different attitudes from the ones in this study. Therefore, a larger breadth of disciplines and a larger sample size of the respondents will more accurately illuminate Thai university learners attitudes. To complement the data elicited from the questionnaires, a more accurate picture of the students attitudes can be obtained by integrating in depth interviews with university students. Acknowledgement This study was financially supported by the Faculty of Arts, Silpakorn University. My appreciation went to my students who helped out with the completed questionnaires. 52

56 References Amberg, J., & Vause, D. (2009). American English: History, structure, and usage. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press. Firth, A. (1996). The discursive accomplishment of normality: On lingua franca English and conversation analysis. Journal of Pragmatics, 26, Foley, J. A. (2005). English in Thailand. RELC, 36(2), Graddol, D. (2004). The future of language. Science, 303(5662), Graddol, D. (2006). English next. Plymouth: The British Council. Jenkins, J. (2003). World Englishes: A resource book for students. London: Routledge. Jenkins, J. (2004). Research in teaching pronunciation and intonation.annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 24, Jenkins, J. (2009). English as a lingua franca: Interpretations and attitudes. World Englishes 28(2), Kachru, B. (1995). World Englishes: Approaches, issues, and resources. In D.H. Brown & S.T. Gonzo (Eds.), Readings on second language acquisition (pp ). Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall. Kanoksilapatham, B. (2005). Intonation meaning in English discourse: Thai speakers.indonesian Journal of English Language Teaching, 1(2), Kanoksilapatham, B. (2009). Teaching English Intonation in Thailand: Overview. Journal of the Faculty of Arts, 31(2), Kanoksilapatham, B. (2010). Word stress assignment. In Gregory T. Papanikos & Nicholas C. J. Pappas (Eds.), Horizons in education (pp ). Athens: Athens Institute for Education and Research (ATINER). Kirkpatrick, A. (2007). World Englishes: Implications for international communication and English language teaching. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press. Savignon, S. J., & Sysoyev, P. V. (2002). Sociocultural strategies for a dialogue of cultures. Modern Language Journal, 86, iv. Warscharuer, M. (2000). The changing global economy and the future of English teaching. TESOL Quarterly, 34(3), Wongsothorn,A. (1996).National profiles of language education. Bangkok, Thailand: Chulalongkorn University. 53

57 Environmental Awareness in Children Picture Book: The Secret Garden Chitra Phunkitchar Department of Western Languages, Faculty of Humanities, Srinakharinwirot University Asst. Prof. Dr. Supaporn Yimwilai Department of Western Languages, Faculty of Humanities, Srinakharinwirot University Abstract Environmental crisis is one of the major concerns in this century. Picture books can be used as powerful tool to raise environmental awareness. This paper aims at studying the environmental awareness raised in picture book version of Frances Hodgson Burnett s The Secret Garden and examining the techniques employed for the awareness. The results show that the picture book version of The Secret Garden reflects the role of nature. That is, nature can be children s companions and can heal humans both mentally and physically. It is also presented as a comforting space that can set children free from their obstacles. In addition, artistic techniques such as illustrations and colors are used to raise the awareness. In this way, the picture book version of The Secret Garden can inspire readers to have appreciation and concerns for the environment. Keywords: picture books, children literature, environmental awareness, nature writing, THE SECRET GARDEN Introduction Our planet is polluted by the hands of human and advance technologies. Nowadays, people invent innovations to make their life become easier. Environment such as trees, rocks or water are used as raw materials for turning into energy in order to improve or achieve their innovative projects. This shows that, as more innovations grow, more environments are destroyed. Glotfelty (1996) comments, if we are not part of the solution, we are part of the problems (p. xxi). In raising environmental awareness effectively, the process must be started from the root. According to the study by Müller, Kals and Pansa (2009), children relationship with nature will be the predictor for their willingness to protect the environment. Furthermore, children who have experience or activities with natural environment will have willingness to protect it when they grow up (p. 65). Many methods for raising environmental awareness are created to gain children s attention. Picture books are one of them. According to Kriesberg (1999), in A Sense of Place: Teaching Children Environmental Awareness through Picture Books, the issues and concepts of environmental awareness in picture books can be applied to children of all ages because there is no age limited for reading picture books. Nowadays, numbers of classic literature are adapted into picture books because it can be easily accessed by younger readers with limited reading ability. The picture book version of The Secret Garden is one of them. This book reflects the role of nature. That is, nature can be children companions and it can heal humans both mentally and physically. Nature is also presented as a comforting space that can set children free from their obstacles. The aim of this study is to answer the following questions: What is the environmental 54

58 awareness that the author and the illustrator want to raise in the picture book version of The Secret Garden? And what techniques employed to reach their goal? Theoretical Framework Ecocriticism Ecocriticism is a field in literature and environmental study. It is a study regarding the relationship between human and environment and their attitudes toward environment by reflecting ideas through writings. There are many definitions to define ecocriticism. According to Tošić (2006), ecocriticism is the relationship between literature and environment or how people s relationships with their physical environment are reflected in literature (p. 44). Glotfelty (1996) gives the definition that, ecocriticism is the study of the relationship between literature and the physical environment (p. xviii). For Oppermann (1999), ecocriticism aims to bring a transformation to literary studies by linking literary criticism and theory with the ecological issues at large (p. 1). The purpose of ecocriticism is raising awareness and finding solutions or the improvements for environmental crisis. According to Murray (1999), environmental writings share the themes on communion, renewal and liberation (as cited in Yimwilai, 2013, p. 7). The theme of communion is the close relationship between human and natural environment. For the theme of renewal, natural environment has a role for vitalizing human both mentally and physically. The third is the theme of liberation. This theme often involves the sense of being disencumbered and quite literally free from internal or external burden (Yimwilai, 2013, p. 7). Raising awareness is one of the most important goals for ecocriticism. It is more effective to foster the awareness from the roots. Ecocriticism has a very short history in the world of children s literature (Lankford, 2010, p. 16). Lensnik-Obserstein comments about the history in her essay Children Literature and Environment : The tie between children and environment emerged primarily because John Locke s belief in the existence of a true nature in a child. Lockes implies that nature is at once definable and real while it also mirrors the pure and simple nature of a child. This pairing of children and nature allows adults and parents and also writers for children to create a connection between the presence of nature and a child s own understanding (as cited in Lankford, 2010, p. 16). Using ecocritical writing to raise children s awareness will provide many benefits. It will make children return to nature. Nowadays, children rarely contact with nature. The closest experience with nature that children can receive is watching documentaries. According to Chipeniuk, documentaries on television and environmental fundraising appeals are conditioning children to think that nature is exotic but too far from them to experience (as cited in White, 2006, p. 3). In order to gain children s attention to environmental awareness, adults must provide them some information and encourage children to experience natural environment and to make them understand that the natural world are easy to access and everyone can experience the nature. According to the guide book, Teaching Children about the Environment with Picture books by Kriesberg (1999), he suggests, instructors should provide children some picture books on topics such as, plants, wildlife, insects, habitats, etc, to give children some information before letting them explore natural environment to complete the given tasks (p. xxiii). Children will have a good time in natural environment and they will get many benefits after their experiences. 55

59 Several studies indicate that natural environment can improve life of children. According to Darcy in her ecocritical study, The Representation of Nature in the Wind and the Willows and the Secret Garden, She comments that closeness to the natural world can promote physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual health (as cited in Lankford, 2010, p. 18). The report Nature, Childhood, Health and Life Pathways also shows that physical activities and interaction with nature are important to children health. Children will get benefit from nature contact and the potential role of green exercise. For children with special needs, farms and wilderness therapy will give them benefits on cognitive health and learning (Pretty et al., 2012, p. 14). Some ecocritical works show that natural environment has ability to heal. According to Carson in A Sense of Wonder, There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrain of nature the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the winter (as cited in Bohling-Philippi, 2012, p.49). Bohling-Philippi (2012), also comments on Carson s quote in her article The Power of Nature to Help Children Heal, nature teaches that sad times do not last forever, the life experience with change as seasons. She adds They [children] experience growth as well as decay (p. 49). It shows that children s sadness will not exist forever. Playing in natural environment area will slowly erase children s bad experiences as they concentrate on their explorations in the surroundings. The Secret Garden The Secret Garden is the story of a selfish and spoiled orphan girl, Mary Lennox who was raised in India. In the opening, the illustrator uses bright colors to represent tropical climate in India and Mary s moods. Bright colors create the feeling of liveliness of the house. These also imply to Mary s happiness. In India, she has everything that a girl could wish for. However, the only thing that is missing in her life is her time with parents. Mary s characteristic is shown to readers by her rude and demanding behavior to the native servant which is opposite to the traditional protagonist in children s picture books. Mary s lack of parental guidance reflects in her actions, Mary Lennox stamped her foot. Fetch me a drink NOW! she ordered (Davidson & Marks, 2007, p. 3). Donna E. Norton (1983) notes that characters in picture books must have specific traits to make them appeal to children (p. 224). Mary s characteristic appeals to readers because of her uniqueness. Most heroines in picture books are portrayed as having ideal characteristics such as kindness and caring but Mary is presented as unattractive, selfish, spoiled and a hot tempered child. However, there is also a hint that Mary is not completely horrible child. Eventhough Mary is self-centered, she is aware of the natural environment around her. In India, Mary enjoys playing in the garden. In there, she tries to make a pretend garden by sticking flowers into the hot dry earth but she fails to finish because of her wrong planting skills. This scene reflects Mary s environmental awareness. However, nobody cares to show her how to plant because her temper tends to keep people away. Later, all of her parents and servants pass away because of cholera. Mary is locked up and left alone in her house. According to Denis Pelinis (2002), colors in the scene can create the feeling of excitement, arousal, joyfulness or desperation (p. 43). Similarly, the illustrator in this story uses color to describe Mary s feeling. Colors in each scene start to grow darker to represent Mary s despair and grief. She is now unwanted as she is passed around like a package between her parent s friends. At the end, she moves to Yorkshire, England to live with her uncle, Mr. Craven. 56

60 Mary s life at her uncle s manor in Yorkshire at first is dreadful. To present this situation, colors in each scene in Yorkshire grow darker to represent Mary s loneliness and fear. The different shades of purple and grey are employed in order to create the moods of the story. Later, Mary discovers the abandoned secret garden and it changes her life. The cover of the picture book version of The Secret Garden shows Mary s discovery scene. The book cover presents the mystic of the garden. The half opened door with a key gives readers the feeling of curiosity and temptation. The garden s door also symbolizes hope and future that waits for Mary to enter. Furthermore, only few details of the garden are given which will tempt readers to wonder about the secret behind the doors. The illustrator, Alan Marks employs artistic techniques to draw attention from readers to the picture book. Rather than using bold colors and sharp lines like other picture books, he creates blurry lines with a soft tone of water colors that create the feeling of nostalgia and welcoming. Different shades of green are employed to emphasize the beauty of the garden. The garden plays the significant role in the story. Firstly, it unites children together and makes them become part of it. Mary wishes to save the garden and make it becomes alive again. The maid s brother, Dickon is the first person to join Mary. In order to bring back the garden, Mary needs his help as she feels desperate to save the garden alone, I ve found the secret garden, she said quickly. I think it s mostly dead. I m the only person who wants it to live. Come and see. (Davidson & Marks, 2007, p. 31). Dickon is portrayed as a good-hearted boy who is keeping Mary company. He also comforts her when she confesses that nobody likes her because of her hot temper. I feel safe and happy here, too, Mary confided. But I used to be angry all the time. Nobody liked me. Dickon s fawn nuzzled Mary s hand and he laughed. There s someone who likes you, he said. So does the robin and so do I. (Davidson & Marks, 2007, p ). Dickon is the only character who shows his fondness towards nature at the beginning. According to Ben, the gardener, Dickon can grow flower out of stone and charms the birds (Davidson & Marks, 2007, p. 21). The gardens around the manor are his sanctuary. Dickon is always surrounded by a number of untamed wild animals which is unusual for human. Readers can see that he truly connects to the natural world. Dickon often spends his time alone with plants and animals such as birds, gooses, rabbits and deer. He thinks of nature as his companion and that he must protect it. He also has excellent plating skill for improving natural environment around him. Actually, Dickon is the only character in the story that has extremely intimate relationship with nature. He always keeps the secret of wild animals habitat to himself in order to protect them from harms. He looked so friendly and kind, Mary felt she could trust him. Can you keep a secret? Dickon chuckled. I keep secrets all the time. If I told where wild animals live and birds make their nests, they wouldn t be safe. (Davidson & Marks, 2007, p.31). Next, Mary and Dickon invite Colin to join them to save the garden. Colin is Mr. Craven s son. He is portrayed as spoiled, physically and mentally crippled young boy. Colin rarely goes outside because of his sickness. For Colin, the garden is the only thing that connects him and his late mother together. In order to find the bond between him and his mother at the garden, Colin agrees to join Mary and Dickon. Mary s idea of garden renovation unites her and other children together. From the story, the garden is the place where children come to visit and spend their time with natural world. At first, Mary, Colin and Dickon are alone. Mary likes to wander around the manor because she is bored. For Mary s cousin Colin, he always keeps himself in his bedroom because of his poor health condition while the maid s brother Dickon likes to play alone with nature and animals. After spending their time in the garden, children feel that they are united with the garden. Their action also creates a bond between them and nature. Later, the children become aware that 57

61 human and nature are connected. The more they spend their time there, the more they feel that they are part of the natural world. In addition, natural environment has ability to renew human both mentally and physically. Firstly, the garden revitalizes Mary both ways. According to Vicki Bohling-Philippi (2012), nature teaches us that sad time does not last forever and just as seasons change, so do the experience in our lives (p. 49). At first, Mary feels insecure and heartbroken at the loss of both of her parents in India. Later, she has to relocate to England to stay with her uncle. The illustrations of her first night at the Craven s manor portray her loneliness through the use of colors and the character s placement. Mary wears a dark grey coat which is not suitable with her young age. Furthermore, the coat also symbolizes her grief. In this scene, the illustration of Mary s bedroom creates the mood of emptiness. Mary is staring at the window alone in the corner of her room. The warm shades of purple are employed to emphasize her grief. The illustrator places Mary in the corner of the picture to show the contrast between Mary and her bedroom. Mary is a small child, but her bedroom is portrayed as large and lifeless. This also delivers Mary s loneliness and desperation to readers as the sudden change in Mary s life is too hard for the little girl. Mary s sadness starts to fade away after she spends most of her time in the garden. After moving to Yorkshire, Mary finds many difficulties to adjust herself to the new place as she does not feel right at here. People around her try to keep the distance. Also, she has to dress by herself and obey the housekeeper. Actually, she even feels that all of servants do not like her. These are all new experience for her. She feels unwanted by servants. However, her life changes forever after the housekeeper, Mrs. Medlock gives her the choice of staying at the manor or playing outside. Mrs. Medlock sighed at the pale skinny child, swamped by the big bed Just drink your milk then, she said, and you can go out. Don t want to, retorted Mary. Well, if you don t, you ll be stuck in here and there s nothing to do inside, snapped Mrs. Medlock. (Davidson & Marks, 2007, p. 18) Mary s decision to explore the garden changes her life forever. After spending her time there, her sadness starts to fade away as the garden rejuvenates her. Mary starts to explore surroundings by wandering around. She now sees things she never notices before such as birds and many kinds of plants while enjoying the beauty of the natural environment around the manor. After she found the key to the garden, she suddenly has hope. In the illustration of the next morning scene, Mary pulls up her bedroom curtain and bright sunlight shines down on her. The bright yellow color represents Mary s hope. When she starts to renovate the secret garden, Mary soon starts recovering from her sadness because her plan to save the garden takes all of her attention. Her life becomes happier and her health also improves. Spending her time in the garden makes Mary becomes healthier. Many outdoor activities at the garden such as growing trees or playing with her friends improve her health. At first, people describe Mary as pale and skinny. Eventhough she lives in India, the tropical climate and sunlight there are not providing her with any benefits. However, after she spends her time renovating the garden, Mary s physical appearances are continually improved. Furthermore, spending many hours planting makes her regain her appetite. She soon becomes healthy and her complexion changes from pale to rosy. Mrs. Medlock also notices Mary s improvement. She looks down right pretty now, with her rosy cheek, (Davidson & Marks, 2007, p. 24). In order to describe Mary s health improvement, the illustrator changes color tone little by little from dark into a bright tone. The moods in each scene becomes brighter and brighter. A brilliant color of sunlight and blue sky comes to replace the dark and gloomy atmosphere in each scene in order to represent hope and a new life. 58

62 The garden also changes Mary s characteristics. In India, Mary is seen as spoiled and rude. However, she turns into an optimistic, gentle and caring person. After she spends her time in the garden, Mary learns that she must speak to Dickon and Ben, the gardener with respect. Once she learns, her friendship with Dickon grows as she treats him nicely and asks for his help politely. In the picture book, the writer does not need to explain her emotion through the texts as it is already expressed through the illustrations. Mary is now portrayed as a cheerful and lively young child. Her smile in each scene turns bigger in order to show her happiness. Her dark grey coat is gone and she now wears only pink pastel dresses. Color tones in the illustrations also become brighter to reflect moods. The garden not only changes Mary characteristic but also encourages her to save the others. Mary s caring characteristic can be seen when she is with Colin. On her first night at the manor, she hears an unidentified sobbing voice. She later finds Colin and starts to be concerned about his poor health condition. Colin s spoiled characteristic and his loneliness mirror Mary to herself. You are horrible bossy, said Mary. I used to be like that, when I lived in India. (Davidson & Marks, 2007, p. 50). In order to help Colin to feel better from his desperation, Mary decides to come to visit Colin every day and tells him the story about her time at the garden to make him feel better. Later on, Mary even forces Colin to go outside to experience the garden by himself for the sake of his health. The garden has the power to help Colin heals. Colin is believed to be sick. The cause of his sickness is unknown. At first, Colin is not able to walk. People at the manor including his father keep Colin in his bedroom all day which make him loose his willingness to recover. Actually, Colin is damaged both mentally and physically. He believes that he is responsible for the death of his mother and also became a burden for his father. And my father doesn t even care, Colin went on, as if he hadn t heard. He hates me because my mother died when I was born. He can t bear to look at me. (Davidson & Marks, 2007, p. 42). Colin s spoiled and hot tempered characteristic is the barrier that keeps other people away from him. The illustrator employs the same technique with Mary to Colin. That is, his room is gloomy. Colin s room is portrayed as dark and uncomfortable. All of the curtains are closed. The only light source in his room comes from the fireplace as Colin avoids keeping himself from direct sunlight. The dark grayish blue is employed to represent his desperation. After Mary meets Colin and tells him about his mother s secret garden, he begins to recover. Colin s condition is fully developed after spending time in the garden with his friends, Mary and Dickon. Nature helps Colin to recover both mentally and physically. For mental healing, Colin s curiosity for the garden makes him want to experience it by himself. It motivates him to leave his room with help from Mary. Colin now sees the beauty of nature and becomes aware of garden s poor conditions. With his concerns, he agrees to join Mary and Dickon to renovate the garden. For Colin s physical healing, atmosphere in the garden makes Colin feels better than staying in his room. He becomes healthier after he stays in the garden and plays with his friends. Later, nature enhances his hope towards his illness and motivates him to walk again. Unsteadily and clinging to Dickon, Colin forced his weak limbs to move. The others saw his pale face grow rosy in the sunlight. Mary! Dickon! he cried. I m going to get well. I can feel it. (Davidson & Marks, 2007, p. 56). The garden leads children to be free from their past. For Mary, she keeps herself in her room at the manor after her arrival. The manor symbolizes prison that keeps people locked away with their past and sadness. In the picture book, colors of the manor are dark and gloomy. Stephen D. Roxburgh comments, The house is dead, imprisoning labyrinth. It is as if the house 59

63 with its dark, tapestries rooms is antithetic to the garden (as cited in Parsons, 2002, p. 258). According to Mary on her arrival, the place has a huge hall, up steep stairs and a long twisting corridor. She can sense the coldness of people, especially Mrs. Medlock, the housekeeper who does not wish to befriend her. Mary s first week at the Craven s manor is difficult. She stills in the state of sadness, and she has been left alone in the house. The manor is her new home which she has to fit in. On her first night, Mary is left alone in her new bedroom which is dark and chilling. She can hear the wind blowing at her window, and the strangest is, she can hear the unidentified sobbing sound. However, Mary s sadness stars to fade away after Mrs. Medlock steps in. This scene shows that Mary has to choose between being stuck in her sadness and stays at the manor or having to move on and overcome her sadness and loneliness. Mary s interaction with the garden sets her free from her past and sadness. The garden is important for Mary s transformation and freedom. It is the first time in Mary s life, she is able to stand by her own. According to Lankford (2010), young characters like to go to green environment because it makes them feel relaxed and safe. Gardens and woods in the stories are presented as a comforting space for children. They are the place that children can temporarily escape from their home to respite their sadness (p. 73). In the garden, Mary has the opportunity to do whatever she wants. There are no authorities from adults. The garden also sets Colin free from his sickness and his imprisonment in his own home. Colin's bedroom can be interpreted as his jail as it keeps him away from his freedom. In there, he cannot even see sunlight from his windows and cannot walk. This makes him loose his hope until Mary steps in. Mary's story about the garden encourages him to go out of his room and see the outside world. His freedom starts when Mary pulls out his window's curtains to prove that sunlight cannot harm him. Then, Colin reaches to another level of freedom in the garden where he can see the world around him goes by. There, he has new experiences that he never had before. He can do anything he wishes to do such as, playing with his same aged group of friends and explore the garden. With the help of Mary and Dickon, Colin can walk again and later, he unites with his father, Mr. Craven. Conclusion Raising environmental awareness by using picture book version of The Secret Garden can be applied with children all over the world. Environmental crisis is one of the major concerns in this century. As mentioned earlier, in order to raise environmental awareness effectively, the process must be started from the roots. Picture books are one of the easiest and most convenient tools for applying to children. To make it becomes more effective, adults or teachers should take children outside to experience gardens which related to the story. These activities can increase children s attention to natural environment as they can experience nature visually and physically. Picture books can be guideline and raise children s awareness but nature itself is the best teacher to teach them about environment. The picture book version of The Secret Garden raises readers awareness through the story. It emphasizes on the relationship between human and nature, and the interconnection between these two. The garden has significant part in the story. It unites children together and encourages them to spread the awareness to other people. Later, Mary s garden renovation plan creates a strong bond between children and nature. They realize that they become a part of natural world. The garden also has the ability to heal and set human free from their obstacles as it gives them hope and encourages them to overcome their sadness. Interactions with the garden set children free from their past. For children, the garden is where they can escape from 60

64 their place. Children can feel free to do whatever they want to do in there. In order to raise the awareness effectively, artistic techniques are employed. The soft toned water color illustrations can support young readers to understand the message by using the characters expressions. Symbols and different shades of colors are also employed throughout the story in order to create moods in each scene. With these techniques, the picture book version of The Secret Garden can motivate readers, especially children, to see the importance of natural environment and also encourages them to become aware of the natural environment in our planet. 61

65 References Bohling-Philippi, V. (2012, November 6). The Power of Nature to Help Children Heal. Retrieved from Place_Conference/power%20of%20nature%20to%20heal.pdf Davidson, S., Marks, A. (2007). The Secret Garden. London: Usbourne Publishing. Doonan, J. (1993). Looking at Pictures in Picture Books. Stroud: Thimble Press. Glotfelty, C., & Fromm, H. (1996). The Ecocriticism Reader : Landmarks in Literary Ecology. Athens: University of Georgia Press. Kriesberg, D. A. (1999). A Sense of Place: Teaching Children about the Environment with Picture Books. Colorado: Teacher Ideas Press. Lankford, M. (2010, April 8). Nature and Greif: An Ecocritical Analysis of Grief in Children s Literature. Retrieved from Müller, M. M., Kals. E., & Pansa, R. (2009). Adolescents Emotional Affinity toward Nature: A Cross- Societal Study. The Journal of Developmental Processes, 4.1, Norton, D. E. (1983). Through the Eyes of a Child: an Introduction to Children's Literature. Ohio: C.E Merrill Publishing Oppermann, S. (1999). Ecocriticism: Natural World in Literary Viewfinder. Hacettepe University Journal of Faculty of Letters, 16.2, Parsons, L. T. (2002). Otherways into the Garden: Re-Visioning the Feminine in The Secret Garden. Children s Literature in Education, 33.4, Pilinis, D. (2002). Visual Literacy: the Language of Picture Books. Classroom, 22.7, Pretty, J., Angus, C., Bain, M., Barton, J., Gladwell, V., Hine, R., Sellens, M. (2012, February 5). Nature, Childhood, Health and Life Pathways. Retrieved from Tošić, J. (2006). Ecocriticism Interdisciplinary Study of Literature and Environment. Working and Living Environmental Protection, 3.1, White, R. (2006). Young Children s Relationship with Nature: Its Importance to Children s Development & the Earth s Future. The Coalition for Education in the Outdoors, Yimwilai, S. (2013, May 2). Environmental Awareness in Three Females Writings: Literature that Inspires the Appreciation and Concerns for the Environment. Retrieved from 62

66 An Analysis of Translating Figurative Language by English-Major Students in Thailand Aram Iamlaor Ph.D. Student of Graduate School of Language and Communication National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA) Abstract The objectives of this research are to study and analyze the translation techniques used by English-major students in a private higher educational institute of Thailand for translating figurative language; to evaluate their English and Thai languages skills; and to categorize figurative language found in assignments and exams of Principles of Translation I and II classes in academic year According to the findings, there are 5 devices of figurative language which were categorized by Murray Knowles and Rosamund Moon, used in the assignments and examinations simile, metaphor, personification, metonymy, and conventional metaphor. In addition, vehicles were used in the figurative language in 3 categories of cultural words, including ecological, material, and social words. The English-major students used the following translation techniques for translating figurative language from English into Thai and from Thai into English: translating into figurative language, translating into non-figurative language, and translating into Thai saying. In addition, translating into figurative language is categorized into 2 sub-techniques translating into the same category of figurative language and translating into different category of figurative language. It was found that most of the students translated figurative language by translating into the same category of figurative language. Obviously, the students did not only maintain the original figurative language, but also conveyed the same meaning in the translated version that indicates their good English and Thai languages skills. Keywords: translation, figurative language, students, English, Thai Introduction Presently, translation is a means of communication among people from disparate nationstates in the world of globalization. Since English is used as a lingua franca, it is very necessary for Thai people to translate English into Thai correctly and appropriately. Barnwell (1980) stated that translators should produce translation with three qualities: 1) accurate: representing the meaning of the source text as faithfully as possible; 2) natural: using the receptor language in ways appropriate to the text being translated; and 3) communicative: expressing the meaning in an understandable way to the intended audience. However, there are discrepancies between English language and Thai language, like the use of figurative language. According to Knowles and Moon (2006: 3-6) they defined that figurative language (In their book, Introducing Metaphor, the word metaphor is used instead of figurative language.) is the use of language to refer to something other than what it was originally applied to, or what it literally means, in order to suggest some resemblance or make a connection between the two things. For this reason, the researcher has chosen to study the translation techniques for translating figurative language used by 80 English-major students in a private higher educational 63

67 institute located in Samutprakan Province, Thailand. The samples were chosen given that they can be representatives for young generation of Thai people who have good English proficiency. Thus, the result of this study would indicate the extent to which they know about the discrepancies and the nature between English and Thai structures, and how they solved these aforementioned problems. Purpose of the Study 1) To analyze the translation techniques for translating figurative language used by the English-major students 2) To evaluate the English-major students English and Thai languages skills 3) To categorize figurative language found in assignments and examinations of Principles of Translation I and II classes in academic year 2011 Scope of the Study In this study, figurative language, found in assignments and examinations of Principles of Translation I and II classes and translated by 80 English-major students, were analyzed. Hypothesis Most of the students translated figurative language into the same category of figurative language. Methods Data Collection Samples of figurative language found in the assignments and examinations have been categorized according to definition and categorization defined by Knowles and Moon (2006) as follows: 1) Simile is an explicit comparison. It is introduced or signaled by words such as like, as, compare, resemble, etc. For example, He eats like a horse. 2) Metaphor is non-literal language that involves some kind of comparison or identification: if interpreted literally, they would be nonsensical, impossible, or untrue. The comparison in a metaphor is implicit. Metaphor is a comparison that used verb to be (i.e. am, is, are, was, and were ) as a signal. For example, Love is blind. 3) Personification is where something inanimate is treated as if it has human qualities or is capable of human actions. For example, Thailand is the only country in this region that has never lost her independence. 4) Metonymy is a non-literal language that involves part-and-whole relations and associations. The word for a part of something is used to refer to the whole, or else the whole is referred to in terms of something associated with it. For example, Democrat to hold flood charity football match today. 5) Conventional Metaphor is a kind of metaphor which is institutionalized as part of the language. Most of them are idioms and proverbs. For example, Would you please give me a hand? In the part of figurative language analysis, the researcher would analyze by using vehicle to categorize according to cultural issues for translation defined by Nida (1964: ) that can be separated into 5 types, but the researcher would use only 4 types as follows: 1) Ecological culture animal, plant, geography, and season. 2) Material culture tool/equipment, food, places, and garment/decoration. 64

68 3) Social culture sport/game, human behavior/career, and famous people. 4) Religious culture people who relate to Christianity. Results According to the study, it was found that there are 65 samples of figurative language in the assignments and examinations and can be categorized as follows: - 8 samples of simile - 1 sample of metaphor - 4 samples of personification - 8 samples of metonymy - 44 samples of conventional metaphor The 5 categories of figurative language contain vehicles which are cultural words categorizes by Nida (1964) as follows: 1) Ecological culture (n=12). The examples are as follows: - Animals such as a horse, a starving pit bull, butterflies, etc. - Natural features such as thin air, the smoke, a dark side, etc. 2) Material culture (n=11). The examples are as follows: - Tool/equipment such as mirror, phone, the roof, etc. - Food such as food, water, ยา, milk, etc. - Places such as museums, etc. 3) Social culture (n=42). The examples are as follows: - Abstract things such as อ นตราย, ความร ก, etc. - Behavior/career such as ตารวจ, break the record, throwing wild parties, etc. - Nationalities such as Americans, The Russians, etc. - People/agencies such as PTT, Democrat, Navy, etc. - Sport/game such as ง วโรงใหญ, etc. 4) Religious culture (n=0) According to the analysis, it was found that the students used translation techniques for translating figurative language as follows: 1. Translating into figurative language this technique have been classified into two sub-techniques as follows: 1.1Translating into the same category of figurative language this technique is mostly found. The students translated English figurative language into Thai in the same form, and has equivalent meaning. For example, a simile is kept as a simile but may not in the same literal form. Most of the students translated conventional metaphor into conventional metaphor, followed by translating simile into simile, translating metonymy into metonymy, translating personification into personification, and translating metaphor into metaphor, respectively. For example, No wonder Ping is becoming so fat. He eats like a horse. was translated into ไม ประหลาดใจเลยว าทาไมป งถ งอ วน เพราะเขาก นเก งราวก บม า. 1.2 Translating into different category of figurative language there are not 65

69 many students who use this technique. They used this technique when English figurative language used as comparison is unfamiliar to Thai readers. They used another category of figurative language which has the same meaning. Most of them who used this technique translated simile into another category of figurative language and followed by conventional metaphor. There is no data of personification and metonymy. For example, Music, he said, was like food or water for me. was translated into เขาบอกว า ดนตร เป นอาหารหร อน าสาหร บเขา, which simile is translated into metaphor. 2. Translating into non-figurative language the students use this technique when English figurative language used as comparison is unfamiliar to Thai readers, so they interpreted its meaning, and then conveyed it by normal language which is not in a comparison form. Most of the students who used this technique to translated simile into non-figurative language, followed by conventional metaphor. There is no data of metaphor, metonymy, and personification. For example, The audience gave him a big hand. was translated into ผ ชมปรบม อให เขาอย างก กก อง, which conventional metaphor is translated into non-figurative language. 3. Translating into Thai saying few students used this technique; however, it could convey the meaning from the source language to the target language quite well. For example, He looked at me for several endless seconds, the way a starving pit bull looks at raw meat. was translated into เขามองมาท ฉ น ราวก บว าจะก นเล อดก นเน อก น, which simile is translated into Thai saying (i.e. ก น เล อดก นเน อ ), or He gave a sign of relief when his daughter won by a nose. was translated into เขาถอน หายใจอย างโล งอกเม อล กสาวของเขาชนะแบบเส นยาแดงผ าแปด, which conventional metaphor is translated into Thai saying (i.e. เส นยาแดงผ าแปด ). Discussion According to the result of the study, it was found that the students used several techniques to convey and maintain the meaning and tone of English and Thai figurative language. They used equivalent form and familiar categories of figurative language, so the translated version is easier to understand. The most used translation technique is translating into the same category of figurative language that followed the original form and meaning. It corresponds with the statement of Pinitphuwadon (2001) that Translation is transmitting a message from one language to another by maintaining the equivalence of form, value, and meaning. However, there are differences between Thai and western cultures in various issues like ecological, material, and social. Thus, some figurative language cannot be translated directly into the same category of figurative language in another language. Some students had solved the problems by translating into familiar figurative language in the translated version, so that it is easier to understand and convey the meaning that equivalent to the original version. It corresponds with the hypothesis that most of the students translated figurative language into the same category of figurative language. Also, it corresponds with the statement of Saibua (2001: 63-78) that in order to maintain the original meaning as much as possible, the translator needs to change the form for presentation when necessary which is not a change that makes the translated version different from the original version, but a change that helps it to be communicative and understandable to the readers. In addition, there are some figurative language which cannot be translated into figurative language in the translated version due to the discrepancies between Thai and western culture. Thus, some students translated these figurative languages into non-figurative language or explanatory sentences by emphasizing on the meanings. It corresponds with the opinion given by Knowles and Moon (2006: 89-94) that the same figurative language may exist in both the source 66

70 language and the target language; however, some figurative languages have no equivalence between the both languages, so the only or best translation would be non-figurative language. Furthermore, it was also found that some students translated English figurative language into Thai sayings which have equivalent meaning. Although this technique is rarely used by the students, it could convey the meaning from the source language in a form of target language which readers can understand easily. In conclusion, the results of the study indicate that most of the students understand the use of figurative language and have good English and Thai languages skills, because they could convey the meanings of most of the figurative language by translating both English into Thai and Thai into English. Moreover, the techniques for translating figurative language found in this study can be applied with any type of translation. Most problems found in translating figurative language from one language to another is the target language does not have the same type of figurative language or it is unknown to the readers of the target language. The translator has to use other technique for translating figurative language, like translating into non-figurative language; however, such technique might affect form and meaning of the figurative language. Thus, the translator is the one who has to choose appropriate technique for translating figurative language which maintains the equivalence between the figurative language in the source language and the target language. 67

71 References Barnwell, K.G.L. (1980). Introduction to Semantics and Translation. England: Summer Institute of Linguistics, Horsleys Green. Decha, N. (2006). Bridging Linguistic and Cultural Gaps in Translating the Being Thai Column in Kinnaree Magazine from Thai into English. M.A. Thesis in Language and Culture for Communication and Development, Faculty of Graduate Studies, Mahidol University. Dobrzyńska, T. (1995). Translating metaphor: Problems of meaning. Journal of Pragmatics, 24, Iamlaor, A. (2009). A Study of Translating Figurative Language in the Thai Versions of Red Dragon and The Silence of the Lambs by Suwit Khaoplod. M.A. Thesis in Language and Culture for Communication and Development, Faculty of Graduate Studies, Mahidol University. Knowles, M. & Moon, R. (2006). Introducing Metaphor. New York: Routledge. Newmark, P. (1981). Approaches to Translation. Oxford, Great Britain: Pergamon Press. Nida, E.A. (1964). Linguistic and Ethnology in Translation Problems. In Dell Hymes (Ed.), Language in Culture and Society: A reader in Linguistics and Anthropology. New York: Harper and Row. Phinitphuwadon, S. (2001). Professional Translator s Handbook. Bangkok: Nanmeebooks Publishing. Saibua, S. (2001). Principles of Translation. Bangkok: Thammasat University Press. Suwannalai, S. (2003). Translation Techniques of Figurative Language in Venice Vanich by H.M. King Rama VI. M.A. Thesis in Language and Culture for Communication and Development, Faculty of Graduate Studies, Mahidol University. 68

72 English Language Teaching in Iran: a Meta-analytic and Triangulated View of Persistent Challenges Farhad Mazlum Assistant Professor of TEFL Maragheh University, Iran mazlumzf@yahoo.com Abstract Fatemeh Poorebrahim Faculty Member of Maragheh University, Iran Macro-level national documents in Iran s Ministry of Education and High Council of Cultural Revolution report about inefficiency of ELT programs in the country. The present study aimed at investigating the causes of such inefficiency by examining the challenges and problems that mainstream English language teaching in Iran encounters. To collect data, sixteen research studies dealing with the topic and conducted in different provinces were investigated. Additionally, standardized open-ended interviews were conducted with fifteen public school teachers in three provinces. The analysis of the studies as well as interview data revealed that the following challenges contribute to the inefficiency of Iranian ELT programs. Parents low socio-economic status comes first (24.52%) followed by teacher factors (20.75%). Teacher factors include two sub-elements: teachers low professional qualification levels; and, job dissatisfaction due to low salaries. Poorly developed English textbook is the next factor (18.06). Iranian English textbooks, the results indicate, are grammar-oriented, bulky and dull, and contain artificial language. Equally contributing to the inefficiency of Iranian ELT program is the insufficiency of supplementary learning/teaching materials and educational aids (18.06%). A late start age policy is assumed to be the next factor (11.12%) since Iranian students begin learning English formally when they are 12 or 13. The last factor is argued to be insufficient time allotted for English in Iran s national curriculum (7.04%). The findings are used to argue that as long as micro level challenges are disregarded, implementation of ELT programs, like any other programs, will face serious challenges. Finally, several suggestions are made. Keywords: ELT, ELT in Iran, curriculum implementation, ELT challenge Introduction English language teaching (hereafter ELT) in Iran has gone through interesting ups and downs. Safavi (2004) notes that before the Islamic revolution in 1979, ELT programs in Iran aimed at Westernization of the country. After the Islamic revolution, however, the education system underwent dramatic changes and, as a result, the goals for ELT programs were thoroughly revised. According to Yavari (1990), post-revolutionary ELT programs aimed at facilitating academic communicatin, knowledge dissemination and spreading Islamic ideals, ideologies and values. Additionally, ELT programs were regarded as a means to gain self-sufficiency in industry, agriculture, economy, etc. In other words, English was assumed to help with making Iran independent from the West in such domains. ELT program planners, therefore, gave a higher priority to the development of 'reading skills' since it was argued that a good level of reading ability was needed to benefit from the latest technological and scientific information in written materials. A high English reading competence of post-revolutionary Iranian students was assumed to be a necessary measure to move the newly founded government on self-sufficiency track. 69

73 Two criticisms have been raised against Iran's post-revolutionary ELT planning. First, it is argued that such program planning has been limited to one skill only with the cost of marginalizing equally important skills such as speaking, listening, and writing; and, that the public sector has not fulfilled such a limited goal (i.e., developing Iranian students' reading abilities) satisfactorily (Investigation of ELT Quality in Iran, 2002). Similar views are expressed by independent researchers too (e.g. Hayati & Mashhadi, 2010). Such critiques are fuelled by Riazi s arguments about the new needs of the younger generation in Iran to functional and communicative English in globalization era (Riazi, 2005). Briefly, then, the general inefficiency of ELT curricula in public sector has been recognized by both Iranian officials in the Ministry of Education and independent researchers. Numerous studies have been conducted in different provinces of Iran with a focus on the potential causes or reasons of the above problem. In this study, it is intended to examine the problems and challenges identified and reported by different researchers and then to provide a more comprehensive picture by putting such studies together. It should be noted that the studies examined by the researchers cover a wide scope geographically, linguistically and culturally; from Azerbaijan provinces in the North West to Tehran the capital to Ilam and Zahedan. Furthermore, the studies have been conducted either by the Research Department of Iran's Ministry of Education or as MA thesis projects in state universities. As stated earlier, the purpose of this study was to provide a meta-analytic and triangulated view of the persistent challenges that Iran's ELT program encounters. To achieve the goal, the following research question was formulated: Which problems and challenges contribute to the inefficiency of Iranian ELT programs at national level? Although several studies have been carried out in Iran recently, they are more like puzzle pieces that need to be put together to get the totality and complexity of the picture from a broader perspective. It is hoped that the study can make such a contribution. Methodology Instrumentation Research studies. Sixteen research studies conducted by different Iranian researchers in different provinces were selected for this study. These studies were conducted either by the Research Department of Iran s Ministry of Education or by MA students in different universities. Interviews. Standardized open-ended interviews with fifteen English teachers in three provinces were conducted. The interviews were carried out for triangulation purposes. In other words, to increase the validity of the study, the researchers decided to use interview data as a complementary source with the intention of uncovering and gaining deeper meanings in the data. Data Analysis Research studies dealing with the topic of this research were carefully examined. Of particular relevance were the result sections where researchers reported the challenges and obstacles most pertinent in their corresponding provinces. First, the challenges reported in each study were listed in a table (Table one below). Then, frequency analysis was followed to find which challenge comes first as the most prevalent and frequently reported across the nation, which one comes second, third, etc. Six main factors were identified and listed based on their frequencies. Finally, percentages were calculated for each category. Table one below gives a 71

74 summary of the studies in terms of the researchers, the cities where they were conducted, data collection instruments applied, the participants, and the challenges identified. Table 1 Summary of studies examined by the researchers Researcher(s) City Instrument(s) Participants Problems/challenges detected Moradi (1996) Tehran Questionnaire Students & Parents low education, Teachers Insufficiency of resources, Textbooks, teachers dissatisfaction with their jobs, lack of friendly relationship between teachers and students, lack of oral drills Bagheri Sistan & Questionnaire Students, Incompetent & uncreative (1995) Balachestan & interview Teachers, Principals, teachers, Parents low education, low family income, not using Heads of educational equipments, students English Teachers with no plans for future Javdan (2005) Rudan Questionnaire Students Family, students selfunderstanding, school, textbooks Doudman Hormozgan Questionnaire Teachers & Use of L1 in class, lack of (2006) students educational aids, textbooks, not Rahimi (1996) Isfahan Questionnaire Teachers & students Rashidi (1995) Kordestan Questionnaire & interview Teachers, students, officials & textbook developers of Ministry of Education Bajelan (2004) Lorestan Questionnaire Teachers & students updating teachers Over-populated classes, teachers not using educational aids, textbooks, parents low education, teachers dissatisfaction with their jobs and salaries, late start age, no oral drills Unmotivated students, not using English in class, not using teaching aids, textbooks, overcrowded classes, low salary of teachers, late start age, inappropriate conditions of classes Inappropriate teaching methods, dull & uninteresting texts, lack of educational aids, inappropriate conditions of classes, insufficient time devoted for English, parents low education & income, families & schools lacking relations Khani (2002) Ilam Questionnaire Teachers Theoretically & methodologically old-fashioned teachers, traditional testing techniques, ignoring listening, speaking & writing skills, dissatisfaction with books Zarei (2002) Qazvin Questionnaire Teachers Lack of supplementary teaching aids, overcrowded classes, bulky 72

75 Researcher(s) City Instrument(s) Participants Problems/challenges detected and grammar-oriented textbooks, late start age, insufficient time allotted to English, parents financial and educational issues Mazlum (2010) Madadlu (2001) Danafar Derakhshan (2003) Takrimi (2007) & E. Azerbaijan W. Azerbaijan Semistructured interview Teachers Questionnaire Teachers & students Yazd Questionnaire Teachers & students Khuzestan Questionnaire & interview Saadat (1995) Fars Questionnaire & interview Bakhshi (1995) Teachers Students, teachers principals Hamadan Questionnaire Students & teachers Lotfi (1998) Ilam Questionnaire Students, teachers, principals & counselors 73 & Parents socio-economic status, problems with textbooks, inadequate time, insufficiency of supplementary educational aids, unmotivated teachers due to low income Undefined lesson objectives, poorly developed materials, teachers unaware of latest teaching methods, lack of audiovisual facilities, unmotivated learners, lack of supervision, short time devoted to English, late start age, parents level of education & income, lack of friendly relationship between teachers and students Lack of eclecticism among teachers, students socioeconomic status, parents level of education, type of school, unmotivated students Undesirable instructional strategies, negative attitudes towards English, inadequate time Lack of teaching aids, overcrowded classes, bulky textbooks, late start age, insufficient time allotted to English, unsupportive parents Teachers not using teaching aids, lack of resources, unsupportive families, parents level of education, poor classroom conditions, L1 use in class, poorly developed textbooks, teachers low salaries, no in-service training, type of school, improper exams, late start age, short time allocated to English students personality characteristics, short time allocated to English, socio-cultural problems of families, teaching methods, parents economic level, unemployment threat, school staff

76 Researcher(s) City Instrument(s) Participants Problems/challenges detected managerial behavior Zanganeh Kermanshah Questionnaire Students & Parents level of education, (1995) teachers teachers not using educational aids, lack of resources, too much focus on textbooks, heterogeneous classes, low salaries of teachers Interview data were also examined for the most common and frequent themes across transcriptions. In other words, interview transcriptions were read and reread several times to identify and extract clear categories. To take care of interpretive validity, 'member checking' was followed with five of the participant teachers, i.e., the categories obtained from their answers were revealed to and discussed with them. To take care of investigator triangulation, a colleague was also required to do the same analysis, yet independently, on five interview transcriptions to ensure descriptive validity in this phase. Findings and Discussions Table two demonstrates the six major challenges and problems that are believed to be contributing to the general inefficiency of ELT programs and curricula in Iranian EFL (English as a Foreign Language) context. These six factors are listed based on the percentages calculated for each category. Each challenge is explained in turn. Table 2. Six major and most frequently reported challenges of ELT programs in Iran Challenge/problem Parents' low socioeconomic status Teacher variables Problems with English textbooks Insufficiency of supplementary educational materials Late start age policy Insufficient time allotted for English Percentage 24.52% 20.75% 18.06% 18.06% 11.12% 7.04% Challenge One: Iranian Parents' Low Socio-economic Status As it is evident in table two, Iranian parents' low socio-economic level comes first in all these studies. Demarest, Reisner, Anderson, Humphrey, Farquhar and Stein (1993) maintain that a family's socioeconomic status (SES) is based on family income, parental education level, parental occupation, and social status in community. Research studies by Davis-Kean (2005) and Dika and Singh (2002) indicate that as far as academic achievement or performance is concerned, children coming from lower SES families are usually outperformed by their peers coming from higher SES families. Scrutinizing the last column in Table one, it becomes clear that parental education level of Iranian families is highlighted more by the participants of the studies. The fact that Iranian families' low SES is regarded as the number one challenge is a further reaffirmation of the existing literature on the significance of SES as one of the major predictors of students' academic achievements in schools. Of course, this is not limited to Iranian students' achievement level on English only. Samadpour (2006), for instance, studied the effects of 74

77 Iranian families' SES on their children's academic achievement on Natural Sciences at high school level and drew similar conclusions. Studies by Khodadady and Farrokh Alaee's (2012) lend support to the finding of this study too. They investigated the effects of Iranian parents' education level on students' achievement in English and argued that, "the students with parents having secondary and higher education scored significantly higher than those with primary education" (ibid: 1811). Therefore, it is not surprising to find that Iranian families' low SES is seen as the prime challenge by the participants of the studies. Interview data also suggest that parents SES level is a major factor in predicting academic achievement of Iranian students. For instance, interviewee 3 stated that: Students whose parents are rich and capable of affording private language schools are somehow better. I mean their English knowledge is more satisfactory. So parents financial status affects their children s performance and achievement at schools. Students who are from lower layers [low SES] of society have a lot of difficulties of course not only in English or any other subjects in behavior, discipline, socialization, etc. (Translated from Azerbaijani Turkish, 2012) Challenge Two: Teacher Factors The second main challenge contributing to the general inefficiency of Iran's ELT programs is to do with issues related to English teachers serving in the public schools. Two subelements are dominant in such a broad category: Iranian teachers' low professional qualification level and their dissatisfaction with the teaching job due to low salaries. As for the first factor, national level documents in Iran's Ministry of Education and High Council of Cultural Revolution indicate that Iranian teachers' low proficiency level has had negative effects on successful implementation of ELT programs in Iran. Similar findings have been reported by several independent researchers (e.g. Hayati & Mashhadi, 2005) too. Given the fact that scholars such as Nunan (2003) attribute a high significance to language teachers' professional and language proficiencies in successfully implementing a given curriculum and that several local studies regard Iranian teachers' professional qualifications as low, it becomes clear why this subelement has been emphasized in the studies. The second sub-factor subsumed under teacher factor is teacher s dissatisfaction with their teaching occupation. Generally speaking, teaching is regarded as a low-paid job in Iran. Studies by Nazarpour (2006) on Iranian teachers at primary, junior high school and high school levels demonstate that the most frustrating and disappointing part of teaching profession is to do with teacher s financial status and their income. Therefore, it is not difficult to explain why and how dissatisfaction with teaching occupation turns out to be a persistent challenge in ELT practice throughout the nation. Interestingly, the interviewees unanimously agreed with the second sub-factor but hold different views on the first one. More specifically, some interviewees believed that they were professionally competent. During the interviews, for example, interviewee 10 argued that: The problems lie somewhere else English teachers knowledge and capabilities are unfairly judged. I don t accept that we are professionally inefficient or our professional level is low no I want to ask a question who says and on what basis that our professional qualifications are not satisfactory. As with many professions in the society, we have highly proficient teachers and also teachers who are really unknowledgeable, weak, and and poor. (Translated from Azerbaijani Turkish, 2012) 75

78 Challenge Three: English Textbooks ELT textbooks taught in Iranian public schools are developed and authorized by the Ministry of Education. The problems pertaining to these books have been hotly and extensively debated by numerous researchers. First and foremost, the dominance of English grammar is frequently objected to in most of the studies examined. There is a general consensus among the participants that too much attention to structural properties of English has been accompanied with overlooking listening and speaking skills. On the other hand, obsession with grammatical structures of English is in contrast with Iranian students' needs to functional and communicative English as discussed earlier. This feature of Iran's ELT textbooks might explain the teaching method that Iranian teachers employ in general. Riazi (2005) holds that Grammar Translation dominates Iran's mainstream education system. Mazlum (2007) argues that too much concern with grammatical accuracy on the part of Iranian teachers has negatively affected their assessment practices as well. Data from the interviews suggest that the reason teachers focus on grammar does not lie in textbooks only but in National Entrance Exam for Universities (known as Konkour in Iran) where a high level of grammar knowledge is expected. Interviewee 8 noted that: Konkour is a big problem. No one can deny its negative effects on our practice our students have to answer grammar-oriented items in Konkour what can we do then? We have to prepare them and train them because Konkour plays a big role in their futures. We want to teach other skills or components of English but you know these are not what students need. (Translated from Azerbaijani Turkish, 2012) Secondly, other problems such as 'dullness' and 'artificiality' of textbooks might originate from the first problem, that is, dominance of grammar. It goes without saying that frequent exposure of young learners to mechanical structural rules will wipe the 'fun' of English learning out and demotivate them in the long run. Of relevance to this argument--which explains the 'artificiality' element--is the point made by Mazlum (2012). His study demonstrated that The book contents... are not well-suited with Iranian students in terms of affective considerations. The incongruence between book contents and students' interests, needs, their everyday life, and experiences could be an explanation to such a finding." (p.169) Attempts by Iranian curriculum developers to exclude cultural elements of the target language might be complementary to arguments raised by Mazlum (2012). Lastly, the books are believed to be 'bulky'. If both teachers and students at practice level share such a belief as is the case in Table one planning level officials and materials writers need to tailor their products to the practice level realities. Challenge Four: Insufficiency of Supplementary Educational Materials In addition to textbooks, teachers and learners can take advantage of supplementary learning/teaching materials and educational aids to facilitate and improve teaching and learning processes. Lack of such supplementary facilities can turn out to be a problem exerting undesirable affects on both teachers and learners performances and efficiency. Inaccess to the Internet and software applications, lack of teaching realia, audio-visual facilities, video projectors and poorly resourced or poorly managed school libraries are given as instances of this problem. In professional literature on language planning and policymaking, Baldauf, Li, and Zhao (2010) use the term 'resourcing policy' to refer to several questions one of which is if the resources provided by language planners and policymakers for language programs are adequate. Inadequacy of resources means that a language program is likely to fail to meet its 76

79 aims and goals fully. The participants of the studies in Table one maintain that a potential cause of problems with regard to ELT programs is the fact that teachers and learners are not resourced and supplied adequately enough to reach their potentials. It should be noted that in schools in which such resources are available, there is little interest to use them. Moreover, the interviewees noted that the following obstacles make them not use such resources: insufficient time planned for English in national curriculum, too much emphasis by the officials on students' success on final exams, and not knowing how to use such resources. Interviewee 6 maintained that: It seems that book writers and some officials do not know the realities. We are under pressure to finish the book on time and the books are bulky. Go and ask other English teachers I am sure they have problems finishing the book. How then can we bring supplementary materials to our classes? One more thing school officials expect higher pass rates in final exams only. Under these conditions, you cannot expect teachers to use additional or supplementary materials. (Translated from Azerbaijani Turkish, 2012) Challenge Five: Late Start Age Policy According to Ferguson (2006), a key issue in foreign language policy of different nations is when to introduce a foreign language into national curricula. Although some researchers such as Nunan (2003) argue that the start age of learning English has been lowered in Asia-Pacific areas, changing the onset age of teaching English to Iranian students has stirred debates several times. Iranian students begin learning English formally in junior high schools when they are 12 or 13 years old. A firmly entrenched idea among Iranian teachers, students, and parents is younger is better as reflected in results of several surveys in Table one. The participants of the studies in Table one as well as the interviewees believe that Iranian students begin English learning later than those in many other countries and lose opportunities younger children have. For example, one of the interviewees stated that: Our students should begin learning English from primary schools. All countries begin at this level we lose opportunities in Iran. Younger children can learn English more easily their brains are sharp and flexible you know. If our students were taught English earlier, we would have fewer problems now. (Translated from Azerbaijani Turkish, 2012) Careful considerations should be given to the latest arguments made by Nunan (2003) and Singleton (2005) in this regard. These scholars stress that the commonly held belief 'the younger, the better' is a controversial issue. As a result, language policymakers need to critically examine such an issue before setting it the rationale for ELT policymaking. Challenge Six: Insufficient Time Allotted for English in National Curriculum Until recently, Iranian students went through the following timetable (Table 3). This last challenge is in direct relation with the bulkiness of ELT textbooks in Iran discussed above. It is natural to expect a better outcome and performance from both teachers and students if they have enough time to work together. Further investigation of the studies listed in Table one demonstrates that both groups (i.e., teachers and students) are more concerned with finishing the course book in due time and getting prepared for the final exams. 77

80 Table 3. Iranian EFL timetable Level Junior high school High school Pre-university G1 G2 G3 G1 G2 G3 Duration (year) Hours per week Note. G = Grade Interview data provide some further support. Participant teachers agreed that they had difficulties in covering the assigned textbooks. One of them asserted that: I myself have problems with the number of lessons I have to finish. There are many points I have to explain but little time. I don t understand what book writers had in their minds when writing these books for example, I have two hours a week for second graders and during this short time, I should teach, check students notebooks, do formative assessments, answer questions it is really hard. (Translated from Azerbaijani Turkish, 2012) Also, in some of studies in Table one, comparisons are made with the time allocated for English in national curricula of other countries such as Kuwait to justify this last problem. According to Mazlum (2012), a dysfunctional discourse between ELT curriculum planners and curriculum implementers (i.e. teachers) leads to these problems. Concluding Remarks This study was an attempt to examine the problems and challenges contributing to the general inefficiency of Iran's ELT programs in mainstream education. In so doing, several related research studies conducted by different researchers in different parts of Iran were closely examined. Six major challenges were identified. Attempts were made to contextualize the findings in the existing literature. Several points are worth mentioning. First of all, although these challenges were discussed in separate sections, it is obvious that some are interrelated. For instance, if teachers feel they do not have enough time for efficient teaching, they are less likely to use supplementary educational aids and materials even if accessible. Secondly, the findings are based on data coming from micro level of ELT practice or implementation as opposed to national level ELT planning and policymaking. This provides valuable information on how a given plan or policy is perceived and interpreted in real contexts. However, it is equally valuable to seek ELT planners and policymakers views in order to see both sides of the coin. Finally, some of these challenges are brought about by the gaps that exist between ELT planners in Iran's Ministry of Education and ELT implementers (i.e., teachers and students) in the classrooms as argued by Atai and Mazlum (2012). As long as teachers' and students' feedback and context-informed views are not systematically sought and processed in policy planning, such problems are inevitable. Only through efficient communication between these two layers (i.e. planning and practice) one can come to know how teachers and students feel about textbooks, supplementary resources, etc. Therefore, it is suggested that teachers as policymakers in practice should be involved in ELT planning process so that some of the challenges could be dealt with. 78

81 References Atai, M. R. & Mazlum, F. (2012). English language teaching curriculum in Iran: Planning and practice. The Curriculum Journal, 21, Bagheri, H. (1995). A profile for teaching and learning English in pre-university schools of Sistan and Baluchistan: Problems and solutions. Unpublished MA thesis. Shiraz University, Shiraz. Bajelan, G. (2004). Why the goals defined for English are not realized in high schools of Lorestan? Research Department of the Ministry of Education, Tehran. Bakhshi, A. (1995). Teaching and learning English in pre-university education in the Hamadan province: problems and possible solutions. Unpublished MA thesis. Shiraz University, Shiraz. Baldauf, R. B., Li, M. & Zhao, Sh. (2010). Language acquisition management inside and outside the school. In B. Spolsky, & M. Hult (Eds.), Handbook of educational linguistics (pp ). UK: Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Five-year Program for English Language Development. (2002). English Language Teaching Office, Organization of Research and Educational Planning, Ministry of Education, Tehran, Iran. Investigation of ELT Quality in Iran. (2002). High Council of Cultural Revolution, Tehran, Iran. Danafar, A. & Derakhshan, P. (2003). Investigation of factors contributing to high school students English academic achievement in Yazd. Research Department of the Ministry of Education, Tehran. Davis-Kean, P. (2005). The influence of parent education and parent income on child achievement: The indirect role of parental expectations and home environment. Journal of Family Psychology, 19, Demarest, E.J., Reisner, E.R., Anderson, L.M., Humphrey, D.C., Farquhar, E., & Stein, S.E. (1993). Review of research on achieving the nation's readiness goal. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education. Dika, S. & Kusum, S. (2002). Applications of social capital in educational literature. Review of Educational Research, 27, Doudman, M. (2006). Investigating the problems of teaching/learning English in high schools of the Hormozgan province. Unpublished MA thesis. Shiraz University, Shiraz. Ferguson, G. (2006). Language planning in education. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Hayati, A. M. & Mashhadi, A. (2010). Language planning and language-in-education policy in Iran. Language Problems and Language Planning, 34, Javdan, M. (2005). Investigation of challenges in English learning in high schools of Roudan. Research Department of the Ministry of Education, Tehran. Khani, R.(2003). Investigation of teachers views on improving English teaching quality in public schools of Ilam. Research Department of the Ministry of Education, Tehran. Khodadady, E. & Farrokh Alaee, F. (2012). Parent education and high school achievement in English as a foreign language. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 2, Lotfi, M. (1998). Factors contributing to students poor achievement in math, physics, chemistry and English: principals', teachers' and students' views in Ilam. Research Department of the Ministry of Education, Tehran. Madadlu, G. (2002). Investigation of potential causes of weakness in English among high school students of West Azerbaijan. Research Department of the Ministry of Education, Tehran. Mazlum, F. (2007). Scoring open-ended reading comprehension items: competing and contrasting criteria. Iranian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 10, Mazlum, F. (2010). Problems and challenges of English teaching/learning in junior high schools and high schools of Maragheh. Unpublished Manuscript. 79

82 Mazlum, F (2012). English language policymaking, planning, and practice in Iran. Unpublished PhD dissertation, Kharazmi University, Tehran. Mohammadi, J., & Rashidi, R. (2002). Investigating English teaching quality in high schools of Najaf Abad. Amuzeh (Teaching), 13, Moradi, F. (1996). An investigation into the problems of teaching/learning English in the Tehran province. Unpublished MA thesis. Shiraz University, Shiraz. Nazarpour, S. (2006). The relationship between personality characteristics of Iranian teachers and job satisfaction in primary, secondary and high schools of Masjed Soleiman. Science and Research in Education and Curriculum Planning, 20, Nunan, D. (2003). The impact of English as a global language on educational policies and practices in the Asia Pacific region. TESOL Quarterly, 37, Rahimi, M. (1996). The study of English language instruction at the secondary schools of the Isfahan province. Unpublished MA thesis. Shiraz University, Shiraz. Rashidi, N. (1995). Teaching and learning English in guidance and high schools in Kordestan: problems and suggested solutions. Unpublished MA thesis. Shiraz University, Shiraz. Riazi, A. (2005). The four language stages in the history of Iran. In A. M. Y. Lin & P. W. Martin (Eds.), Decolonization, globalization language-in-education policy and practice (pp ). Multilingual Matters Ltd. Saadat, M. (1995). An investigation into the problems of teaching/learning English in the guidance and high schools of the Fars province. Unpublished MA thesis. Shiraz University, Shiraz. Safavi, A. (2004). The history of education in Iran. Tehran, Roshd Publications. Samadpour, N. (2006). Investigating the effects of socio-economic status of families on their children's academic achievement. Unpublished MA thesis, Islamic Azad University of Roudhen, Tehran. Singleton, D. (2005). The critical period hypothesis: A coat of many colours. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 43, Takrimi, A. (2007). Investigation and identification of factors affecting English teachers efficacy and their relationship with students' attitudes. Research Department of the Ministry of Education, Tehran. Yavari, F. (1990). A historical survey of English textbooks in Iran. Unpublished MA thesis. Teacher Training University, Tehran. Zangeneh, M. (1995). Analysis of the problems of teaching/learning English in the high schools of the Kermanshah province. Unpublished MA thesis. Shiraz University, Shiraz. Zarei, A. (2002). Investigating problems of teaching methods in Qazvin province and suggesting effective solutions. Research Department of the Ministry of Education: Tehran. 80

83 Effortlessly Yours: A Discursive Construction of Spa Service in Chiang Mai Hataya Anansuchatkul Faculty of Liberal Arts, Maejo University Chiang Mai, Thailand hataya@mju.ac.th Abstract The spa concept is a newly-introduced health care trend which has significantly defined urban lifestyle during the last decade. In the process of becoming a niche product in the service and hospitality industry, the spa concept has been reshaped under the constraint of commercial competition. In order to survive and compete in the market, apart from other material resources, the prosperity of this business relies heavily upon the discursive practice of image making. This research applies the approach of Critical Discourse Analysis to show the dialectic relationship between discourse and society. The analysis of lexical choices and grammatical features found in a random collection of spa brochures in Chiang Mai shows how the concept of the spa service is discursively constructed so as to attract holiday makers and how the social roles of the spa and the customer are defined under the condition of the hospitality industry. Keywords: advertisement, critical discourse analysis, spa, textual analysis, visual analysis 1. Introduction Spas are an imported health care trend that has become one of the fastest growing businesses in Thailand. The term spa was originally derived from the name of the town of Spa in Belgium which was renowned as the source of iron-rich spring water that was therapeutic for people suffering from iron deficiency. Nowadays, however, spas are promoted as a place of leisure and as a holiday destination. What spas provide no longer focuses solely on the use of mineral water for treatments, but rather on a combination of various kinds of treatment. As distinct from institutionalized health care, spas focus not on curing ailments but on promoting the revitalization of health and well-being. They often claim that their mission is to bring the customer mental, physical, and spiritual balance holistically, while institutionalized health care tends to deal with the three domains separately. According to the International Spa Association (ISPA)(2013), the term spa is defined as a place devoted to overall well-being through a variety of professional services that encourage the renewal of mind, body, and spirit. However, as a part of niche tourism, promoting the therapeutic values of spa treatment alone is not sufficient to guarantee the success of spa business. In order to market themselves in the hospitality and service industry, spas need to advertise themselves by identifying the pleasurable experiences a customer can have when vacationing at a spa. Therefore, the discrepancy between the original concept of spas and what they now stand for is growing increasingly wide. This study has an aim to portray the role of language in a course of social production and social change. Hence, I draw upon Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) as the theoretical and analytical framework. CDA is an approach of discourse analysis which directs its attention to the discursive dimension of social tendencies, both as a reflection of social realities and on account of its role in social change. CDA urges us to see the dialectical relation between discourse and society discourse is, simultaneously, socially constructed and socially constructive (Fairclough 81

84 1992). The concept of discourse in this study applies to the realm of the meaning of things. Discourse is realized through the appropriation of semiotic resources in the system under the constraints of particular social conditions. It might be shaped in ways which serve certain purposes (such as, disseminating particular ideas, or constituting social identity and relations), either to sustain or compete with co-existing discursive practices. The constructed discourses have the potential to work ideologically to constitute perception, perspective, or knowledge that, in effect, influences social behaviors: ways of thinking, acting, and reacting to the world around us. In the field of linguistics, critical practitioners do not focus their study on the linguistic system itself. Their works usually demonstrate the association between linguistic choices and social meanings in various dimensions of social life, especially when they aim to decipher ideological codes that work through the meaning potentials of the choices of words and grammatical features. The analysis will demonstrate the role of language in constructing the discourse of spa health care that is brought into the context of the tourism market where spa health care services are defined for commercial purposes. This will reflect the way the health care experience is represented in ways which are meant to be perceived by prospective consumers and influence their decision to choose this kind of experience. This, in effect, (re-)shapes, and disseminates knowledge about present-day spa health care. The discourse of the spa health care experience will be explored in two realms: 1. the realm of the meaning of health care per se within the context of the service industry; and 2. the minimization of the responsibility of the customer which establishes the subject positions of the prospective customer as the service consumer and the spa itself as the service provider of health care. By adopting the critical approach of discourse analysis, the aim of this study is not to improve businesses advertising strategies, but to raise awareness and defamiliarize representations that are, by and large, taken for granted and yet which are, in fact, shaped by value-systems, mediated through language and disseminated in various forms of text and media. (Fowler 1996:4). In this study, brochures are chosen as the platform for the analysis since they are the main form of publicity by which the spas are marketed to the public. The brochures of some leading spas in the city of Chiang Mai are collected as the data for the analysis. Being aware of possible variations among the advertising images and being constrained by the rationale of the service industry, I assume that common discursive features will be appropriated. The data include the brochures of AKA Spa (AKA), Chiang Mai Oasis Spa (CMO), Cheeva Spa (CV), Lanna Come Spa (LC), and Peak Spa and Beauty Salon (PS). Because the brochures consist of both verbal and visual elements that work together to communicate with the reader/viewer who is meant to be a prospective customer of the spa, both advertising captions and images will be analyzed. 2. Analytical Framework 2.1. Analytical Framework for Textual Analysis Textual analysis of the realm of meaning within the spa health care experience in this study is conducted by analyzing the choice of words that reflects the semantic fields on which the discourse is centered. The concentration of certain fields of meaning reflects the significance of particular areas of reality in such a discursive domain. Moreover, in order to demonstrate the linguistic realization of discourse at clause level, I follow M.A.K. Halliday s functional grammar as the main source for grammatical categorization. Halliday s functional grammar is functional 82

85 and semantic in orientation (1985: xvii). The relationship between semantics and grammar is one of realization - that is the wording (words and grammar) realizes or encodes, the meaning (Halliday 1985:xx). On a socio-semantic basis, linguistic patterns are described in accordance with the social function they are meant to serve (Fowler 1996, Chouliaraki and Fairclough 1999). A clause which is typically realized by a verbal group, nominal group, and adverbial group or prepositional phrase, respectively, will be explored in terms of process, participant, and circumstance. They are considered to provide the frame of reference for interpreting our experience of what goes on (Halliday 1985:107). Process and participant are two fundamental components of transitivity, reflecting what is going on who does what kind of action (process) (to whom/what ). As for circumstantial elements, they are the part that constitutes, for an incident, the notion of extent, location, cause, accompaniment, role, etc. (Halliday 1985: ). Halliday s terminologies for the categorization of process, participant, and circumstance will be italicized with capitalized initial. In addition, Teun van Leeuwen (1995 and 1996) suggests in his articles, Representing Social Action and The Representation of Social Actors we take the representation of social action /actors into account because different ways of representing social action / actors encode different attitudes to the social actions /actors represented. In these two articles respectively he categorizes the ways in which social actions /actors are possibly represented in discourse, and identifies their grammatical realization. I draw upon the categories that are applicable to the cases of the study. Moreover, the concept of role allocation - active and passive roles - especially, will reflect the distribution of social relation between the spa and the prospective customers. Words do not only nor usually convey straightforward literal meanings: on many occasions they are used symbolically. Metaphor is one of the literary devices that will be examined because it is extensively used in advertisements as a powerful technique that makes advertising copy more interesting through the interplay of symbolic meanings. According to Collins Cobuild Dictionary, a metaphor is an imaginative way of describing something by referring to something else which is the same in a particular way. A metaphor is ideologically significant since it allows a concept or value from one domain of reality to be transferred to another. New ideas or areas of knowledge are created through the selection of particular imagery to represent a given concept. Ways of thinking, worldviews, or social values are reflected in the selection of imagery. There are lexical metaphors and grammatical metaphors. The metaphorical nature of a lexical metaphor is based on the use of a single word, while a grammatical metaphor conveys a symbolic connotation by means of the type of grammatical construction used (Taverniers 2006) Analytical Framework for Visual Analysis In the study of spa brochures, advertisers include a lot of images relating to the spas. They work with captions, both to, in Barthes (1977) term, anchor what is presented by the texts. Working in accordance with the captions, images primarily portray the description in the brochures for visual evidence. They illustrate two main component areas of spa experience: the atmosphere and environment of the place, and the activities, such as massaging, and aromatic bathing, so as to inform the viewer of what the place looks like and enable him/her to visualize the scenario s/he will encounter. Moreover, Kress and Van Leeuwen (1996) suggest we consider images, although they seem to reflect the world objectively, as being representational. They see images of whatever kind as entirely within the realm of ideology, as means always- for the emergence of ideological positions, [ ] (1996:12). I adopt Kress and Van Leeuwen s grammar of visual design which provides an analytical framework for reading the syntax of the composition and structure of the image. In this work, they also adopt Halliday s Functional Grammar 83

86 terminologies for the categorization of action and reaction to classify the visual representation of actions and reactions. 3. Textual Analysis 3.1. Representing the Therapeutic Value of Spas In respect to health care, unlike certain institutionalized forms of health care, such as hospitals or clinics, spas do not focus on curing illnesses, but often claim to maintain and enhance wellness. Many claim to adopt a holistic approach which incorporates the betterment of both physical and mental realms. However, the findings show that all the spas in the study share a common emphasis on the benefits for the mind and identifying sensory pleasures. This is realized through the semantic property of lexical choices. By comparing the density of words relating to the mind and sensory pleasure and those associated with physical benefits, we can see the overwording of the former. Overwording is characterized by an unusually high degree of wording relating to a particular aspect of reality (Fairclough 1989: 115). This textual characteristic plays an important role in constituting social reality since it indicates which aspect of reality is particularly significant in a text. That is, although most spas claim both physical and mental benefits, mental benefits and pleasures in the realm of the senses are given more emphasis and thus considered the more significant aspect. Figure 1 Number of words relating to the mind and senses and those relating to the body The Representation of the Mind and the Realm of the Senses Looking at the semantic field of these lexical choices, it can be noticed that the meanings of these words range from a state of being free from stress and tension, to a state with certain degrees of sensual pleasure. The range of adjectives, which includes relaxing, warm, calming, pleasurable, sensual, and delicious, is chosen to modify nouns that refer to what the following spas claim to offer. Adjectives 1. AKA: the sensual experience of your choice 2. LC: the comfort of our warm welcome in Sib Song Panna style [ ]Thai delicious desserts and relaxing atmosphere 3. CV: [ ] your time here at Cheeva Spa is relaxing, rejuvenating, calming, and 84

87 pleasurable. Nouns denoting the states of mind include serenity, tranquility, calmness, comfort, pleasure and relaxation. Some are included to convey the qualities of serenity that belong to the place (1 and 2), the others the qualities that, as claimed in the texts, the customer will obtain or experience by visiting the spas (3-5). Nouns 1. CMO: Come away unwind and relax rejuvenating and indulge yourself at the Chiang Mai Oasis Spa. Come into an exotic world of beauty, serenity, and pleasure. 2. PS: Escape from the hustle and bustle of the city and pamper yourself at Peak Spa, an oasis of serenity and calmness. 3. CMO: Using therapeutic Thai herbs and techniques both ancient and modern, the trained specialists gently coax you to a state of better health, beauty, and tranquility. 4. LC: [ ] enjoy all this natural beauty while luxuriating in the comfort of our warm welcome in Sib Song Panna style. 5. AKA: An Asian-theme spa lets you experience ultimate relaxation and total tranquility with its luxurious spa program [...] The majority of verbs that are found in the brochures are verbs that can be classified according to Halliday s systematic-functional grammar as Material process verbs, which represent process of doing : unwind, relax, indulge, luxuriate, and pamper. Yet, it needs to be noted that they are processes that, in fact, cover a series of actions that bring about pleasurable states of mind in varying degrees. The processes unwind and relax bring about a stress-free state. The processes pamper relates to enjoyable experience. The processes indulge and luxuriate are associated with experience of excessive joy. We can also find the use of Mental process verbs of perception: feel, and experience in the brochures of LC and Mental process verbs suggesting affection: enjoy, and delight in the brochures of CMO, and LC. They are Mental processes with you - the addressee, i.e. the prospective customer - as the Senser (Halliday s terminology for the conscious being that is feeling, perceiving or seeing) while the spa services, the place, and the experience (in 1, and 3) and the atmosphere of the spa (in 2) are the Phenomenons (Halliday s terminology for the participant that is sensed felt, perceived, or seen). Verbs 1. CMO: [ ] unwind and relax rejuvenating and indulge yourself at the Chiang Mai Oasis Spa come into an exotic world of beauty, serenity and pleasure. [...]You will enjoy a complete menu of treatments and therapies: scrubs, wraps, facial, foot, and body massage, Jacuzzi, outdoor shower, steam baths, and much more. [...] For a spa experience like no other, allow us to pamper you in your own private garden villa orchestrated to delight all your senses. 2. LC: Feel the genuine contemporary atmosphere of upper northern region and enjoy all this natural beauty while luxuriating in the comfort of our warm welcome in Sib Song Panna style which is combined of Thai culture and our various traditional teas that served with Thai delicious desserts and relaxing atmosphere. 85

88 3. AKA: Unwind under the skillful guidance of AKA s top massage therapists and immerse yourself in the sensual experience of your choice. An Asian-theme spa lets you experience ultimate relaxation and total tranquility [ ] 4. PS: [ ] pamper yourself at Peak Spa, an oasis of serenity and calmness. Relax and unwind under the guidance of Thailand s best massage therapists. 5. CV: Relax for a longer life It is interesting that while elsewhere, such as in religious/spiritual discourses, sensory indulgences (represented through indulge, pamper, and luxuriating ) are considered a cause of inner imbalance that contaminate the soul, in these cases an excess of joy is represented as being legitimate, and co-existing unproblematic with the state of tranquility and serenity The Representation of Physical Benefits The physical benefits suggested in these brochures revolve around physical vigor and beauty. The physical benefits are mainly represented through Material processes that are acted upon the physical realm: rejuvenate, revitalize, improve, and beautify. 1. CMO: Come away unwind and relax rejuvenate and indulge yourself at the Chiang Mai Oasis Spa. 2. LC: It [Digi-Esthetique] will immerse you in a state of deep relaxation, and revitalize the organism in order to improve the circulation of energies and the assimilation of active products. 3. PK: Our complete salon services will beautify you from head to toe. Through their semantic property, they indicate Material processes of creating / changing - (Halliday1985:111). Looking at the lexical structure of the terms rejuvenate and revitalize : re- [again] + juvenis [young], and re-[again] +vitalize [to give life/vitality to], they convey recovery processes a recovery of youthfulness, and that of vitality. In my view, these processes convey the presuppositions that the prospective customer is losing his/her youthfulness and vitality; hence the need to bring these qualities back. Similarly, the term improve (to make better) presupposes an inadequate degree of wellness of the circulation of energies and room for betterment. The term beautify (to make or to become beautiful) presupposes the lack or an insufficient degree of beauty. The prepositional phrase from head to toe indicates the circumstantial of location - which, in this case, suggests the whole area of the physical appearance of you the prospective customer. These choices of verbs that presuppose loss and inadequacy reflect the marketing strategy which includes the creation of new desire or building up new needs or demands (Myers 1994:24) Minimization of Customers Responsibility Constrained by the customer-oriented rationale of the hospitality industry, one main task of a service provider is to assure the customer maximum convenience. The captions in the brochures show the spas attempt to make the customer feel that s/he will gain benefits with the least effort, if not effortlessly. His/her responsibility for actions is kept to the minimum. This is reflected in a number of different linguistic features. 86

89 Distillation The choice of Material process verbs of a creative type such as rejuvenate, revitalize, and improve in reflects the representation of social actions in terms of distillation as suggested by Van Leeuwen (1995:99). Distillation is a sub-type of abstraction where one aspect of action is highlighted at the expense of the others; furthermore, the highlighted aspect normally achieves purposes and effects legitimation. These processes mark transformation the change from one state to another preferable state - rather than convey concrete actions that are necessarily involved in such processes. He suggests that when a social action is represented through a more abstract term, the complexity of the represented social activity is obscured. This can be considered as a linguistic strategy that, on the surface, helps suppress the complexity of actions and responsibilities involved in these courses of action. It, nevertheless, can be drawn from the context that they are hospitality practice and spa services. Moreover, it can be noticed that while strict dietary regulations or demanding work-outs may be expected elsewhere as a prerequisite for vitality and youthfulness, such activities demanding physical and mental efforts are not included as the paths to wellness in the context of spa practice. Therefore, through these choices of verbs, spas are represented as the place for transformation or change rather than action. However, it can be drawn from the context that physical activities that bring about the transformation are spa services (massaging, applying treatments, etc.) which are conducted by spa staff, not the customer Metaphorical Devices Two spas, AKA and LC, play with the same metaphor, the verb immerse, which literally means dip or submerge into liquid, to represent an intensive indulgence. 1. AKA: immerse yourself in the sensual experience of a massage of your choice. 2. LC: It will immerse you in a state of deep relaxation [ ] As spa treatments principally involve the use of liquids (e.g. aromatic bath or hydrotherapy pool), this choice of metaphor potentially suggests the addressee associate the attainment of the preferable experiences with immersion in water presumably, an aromatic bath, Jacuzzi, or perhaps hydrotherapy pool, at the spa. The nominal groups in 1-2 above: the sensual experience of a massage of your choice, and a state of deep relaxation, are situated in the prepositional phrases functioning as the circumstantial elements indicating location. These abstract processes of action and reaction are represented as though they were tangible entities, i.e. space, wherein the customer immerses him/herself. Focusing on the nouns experience of massage and relaxation, we can see that by nominalization, a process or activity or property is expressed in a noun instead of congruent wording that could be formulated as a clause where the details about participants (who do what to whom?) and time (when?) can be included (Hodge and Kress 1993:26-7). Hence, through these nominalized forms, the complexity of processes, activities, or people that are involved in the massage and relaxation is covert. In these particular cases, through nominalization these courses of actions are objectivated in the sense that they are represented as though they were entities (space) rather than dynamic processes as mentioned above (van Leeuwen 1995:93). Moreover, not only are tasks and 87

90 responsibilities associating with the processes concealed but they are also recontextualized being moved away from the domain of health-promoting activities and becoming associated with the action of dipping yourself in the water (by the literal meaning of immerse ) in the domain of leisure. Additionally, there is another metaphor in LC s brochure which creates similar connotations. 1. LC: Digi-Esthetique is a genuine gateway to well-being for mind and body. The spa s technology, Digi-Esthetique, which is a method of treatment, is metaphorically referred to as a gateway. In the post-modifier to well-being for mind and body with to as a preposition indicating destination, well-being for mind and body is turned into a place of destination to which the gateway leads. Being materialized as places, they are represented as entities already existing in the outer material world rather than abstract accumulative qualities of the inner personal world to be achieved by perseverance and efforts. In addition, through the metaphor of travel, the domain of health is shifted to be that of leisure. We can see that the metaphorical devices discussed in this section help suppress series of actions and responsibilities, creating, in effect, the atmosphere of a duty-free zone, either for the spa staff, or the customer, which is an ideal state to attain when taking leisure time Role Allocation Role allocation is the question of who (are assigned) to do what - what types of action are allocated to which participant as well as how their actions are represented (Van Leeuwen: 1995 and 1996). Moreover, the allocation of active and passive roles to different participants (activation/passivation) will reflect the distribution of social relation of power among participants in the given text (Van Leeuwen:1996). The analysis of role allocation finds that the amount of cases where spa staff (including personified spa features) play the active role and those where the prospective customer does, is not significantly different. However, it can be noticed that when the prospective customer is assigned to an active role, in most cases, s/he is assigned to the processes which are intransitive, or reflexive. In 1-4, s/he is the Actor of the Material processes such as, unwind, relax, indulge, and rejuvenate. In 5, s/he is the Senser of the Mental process of perception, such as feel and the Mental process of affection enjoy with the preferable atmosphere offered by the spa as the Phenomenons. 1. CMO: Come away unwind and relax rejuvenating and indulge yourself at the Chiang Mai Oasis Spa come into an exotic world of beauty, serenity, and pleasure. 2. AKA: Unwind under the skillful guidance of AKA s top massage therapists and immerse yourself in the sensual experience of your choice. 3. PS: Relax and unwind under the guidance of Thailand s best massage therapists. 4. CV: Relax for a longer life. 5. LC: Feel the genuine contemporary atmosphere of upper northern region and enjoy all this natural beauty while luxuriating in the comfort of our warm welcome in Sib Song Panna style. On the contrary, the active role of the spa staff, as the Actor, is assigned to transitive verbs (such as pamper, immerse, beautify ), representing Material processes with the prospective 88

91 customer or features related to the customer as the passive agents the Goal, in Halliday s term. In 2 3, some spa features ( Digi-Esthetique, and our complete salon services ) are personified as human, taking charge as the Actor of the actions or activities related to spa services. 1. CMO: For a spa experience like no other, allow us to pamper you in your own private garden villa orchestrated to delight all your senses. 2. LC: It[Digi-Esthetique] will immerse you in a state of deep relaxation, and revitalize the organism in order to improve the circulation of energies and the assimilation of active products. 3. PK: Our complete salon services will beautify you from head to toe. 4. CV : At Cheeva Spa you will be nurtured and cared for by our certified and experienced therapists, as you are more than just a customer. In these cases, personification works to amplify the service-consciousness of spas. Through personification, inanimate spa features, i.e. Digi-Esthetique, and our complete salon services, are no longer mere tools or means but rather, it is suggested they be seen as capable agents that provide services and bring pleasure. Parts of the human physique are not taken as unconscious organs, but they are elevated and gain the status of conscious agents capable of justifying the way they are treated. It is true that when the customer is an active agent, s/he is authorized to undertake actions that render beneficial effects to him/herself. Yet, when the spa staff takes the active role, they perform activities for the sake of the customer and their efforts are required to render physical benefits or pleasures to the customer. The prospective customer is the passive agent who, nevertheless, is beneficially affected. In the context of service discourse a passive role does not always imply powerlessness. 4. Visual Analysis 4.1. Accentuation of Sensory Pleasure: The allocation of salience Figure 2 Salience provides a set of meaning in visual composition. It tends to imply the degrees of importance of a particular part. Salience can be realized by the position of placement (foreground/background), relative sizes, contrast in colours, sharpness of focus, etc. I consider the front page or the cover to be the most prominent part of the brochure and the first thing to 89

92 attract the attention of passers-by. It appears that the most salient part of most images on the front pages of these brochures depicts the represented customer s smiling face as they receive treatments. This, similar to the captions that give emphasis to sensory pleasure, connotes the prominence of the represented participants expression of satisfaction. The viewer is informed of the source of her satisfactory experience only through the part of the image showing the spa masseuse s hands working on the customer s body. With nothing but her hands visible in the frame, the role of the masseuse is included but not highlighted. The sight of the masseuse s hands is just sufficient to inform the viewer of the source of the represented customer s satisfaction Minimization of Customers Responsibility: The arrangement of vector Visual designs not only portray patterns or objects but also have the potential to signify roles and relations between represented participants the subjects of the communication: people, places, and things, including abstract things. The analysis finds that, in accordance with the written elements, all the images which represent the activities and roles of the participants tend to minimize the customer s responsibility. Kress and Van Leeuwen (1996) suggest that roles and social relations among represented participants: the spa and the prospective customer, in this case, are represented through the arrangement of vector. In the most prominent pictures (especially those on the brochure cover), the represented customer is found to be represented as the reactor of non-transactional reactional processes (See Figure 2). According to Kress and Van Leeuwen (1996:46), the representation of reactional process is visually encoded in the eyeline vector. The reactor is the represented participant who does the looking, and/or reacts with facial expressions. In a representation of non-transactional reactional processes the vector is formed by an eyeline vector emanating from the reactor, but does not point at someone or something. The reactor in these pictures has a serene or smiling face. Some cases show the reactor lying with her eyes closed. In other cases, as required by the massage, she turns her face away from the other represented participants. It is, therefore, not clear whether her reaction is caused by the massage - perhaps she is smiling because some happy memory is being evoked in her mind while having the massage. Nevertheless, in connection to this particular context, it is more likely that the smile is meant to suggest her reaction to the massage or treatments as shown on the brochures. In other minor images with participants in the brochure, we can find more evidence of the representation of nontransactional reactional processes such as in Figure 3. However, there are also some images that represent transactional reactional processes. These show the represented customers with a smiling face and eyeline projected at the spa staff or certain items outside the viewer s frame of vision (See Figure 4-5-6). 90 Figure 3

93 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 In those pictures where the represented customer is represented as the reactor, she is, at the same time, the Goal of certain actions by the other participants represented. According to Kress and Van Leeuwen (1996:74), a transactional Material process is represented visually through the vector that is formed by depicted elements connecting two participants. The Actor is the active participant from which the vector emanates, and the Goal is the passive participant at which the vector is directed. In the majority of the most prominent pictures in the brochure the Actor (who performs the massage or treatment) is only referred to through the image of her hands, making a meronymic reference to the spa staff member whose hands are used for giving a massage and treatments to the customer (See Figures 2 and 7). Whereas the spa staff member is represented in a more impersonal way as a functional part of a process, the customer is represented as a person through the images which show her upper torso and a facial expression that expresses feelings. 91

94 Figure 7 Figure 8 Figure 9 However, there are also some minor images where the spa staff is represented in more personalized ways with their body in the frame (See Figure 5 & 8). The other images depict the represented customers assigned to non-transactional Material processes, such as lying down, having a bath or shower (See Figure 9). To sum up, all these images are in accordance with the written elements in constituting the subject position of the spa and its customers. When the customer is the active agent, s/he is the active agent of non-transactional processes. S/he is the participant who takes responsibility for the sake of him/herself. In transactional action processes, s/he is the passive participant - Goal with the spa staff as the active participant the Actor who takes responsibility for the action that brings about a satisfactory reaction on behalf of the other represented participants. 92

95 4.3. Positioning the Viewer: Gaze and angle The analysis of gaze and the selection of angle demonstrate how the viewer is positioned in the communication between the advertiser and the prospective customer from the point of view of the advertiser. The absence of gaze connotes an offer of information, whereas the gaze of the represented participant signals a demand for the viewer to enter into some kind of imaginary relation with him or her (Kress and Van Leeuwen 1996:121-3). The horizontal angle connotes involvement: a frontal angle in photographing an event encodes the involvement of the viewer, while an oblique angle represents their detachment. The vertical angle creates the sense of detachment. A picture taken from a high angle represents the viewer s power while one that is taken from below represents the participant s (Kress and Van Leeuwen 1996:141-8). The analysis finds that the absence of gaze in most pictures in the brochures shows the intention of the advertiser to offer information and to position the viewer as an invisible onlooker with a degree of detachment (See Figure 10). Objects or people in the pictures are represented as an object of contemplation for the viewer. However, there are a few cases with the spa staff s gaze and smile inviting the viewer to enter into an amicable relationship (Kress and Van Leeuwen 1996:123) (See Figure 11). Figure 10 Figure 11 The sense of disengagement is constituted through the use of oblique angles in most pictures (See Figure 12). It suggests that the viewer is not involved in any way with the participants in the represented incident - what you see here is their world - not ours (Kress and Van Leeuwen 1996:143).The top-down angle also detaches the viewer from the represented participants as well as suggesting the viewer s power over the represented participants (See Figure 13). The viewer sees the represented items from a god-like point of view, contemplating them. 93

96 Figure 12 Figure 13 Through these visual designs, we can see the attempt of the advertiser to ensure the viewer a truthful portrayal of spa experience. The viewer is positioned as an invisible observer of what is going on at the spa while the spa staff is not aware of it. The sense of disengagement and detachment makes the viewer feel that what s/he sees is genuine, not artificial. S/he can expect the same experience as shown in the pictures when going to the spa. 5. Conclusion As shown in the analysis, both the lexico - grammatical choices and the visual designs work together to represent the spas. Through captions and images the addressee is invited to identify him/herself with the customer who reaps the benefits and enjoys the desirable experiences which the spas claim to offer. What is said and seen in texts and pictures does not reflect the world straightforwardly, but rather, selectively as being constrained by situational context or social conditions. As an integral part of the late modern era economy, the service industry relies on such relative abstracts as experience, prestige, and affluence as a form of commodity (Urry 1990). It is a response to the rationale of tourism which works by appealing to the consumer s inclination to escapist tendencies, yet at the same time providing comfort and entertainment (Lury 1997). The therapeutic value of spas is mainly identified with desirable experience in the mental and sensory realm; and this is realized through the high density of words that relate semantically to the realm of mind and senses. Not only is wellness defined as a stress-free state of mind, but it also permits a varying degree of pleasure and self-indulgence. In addition, the choice of some verbs (i.e. rejuvenate, revitalize, improve and beautify) semantically creates the presuppositions of the loss or inadequacy of physical vigor and beauty. Moreover, because the spa experience is represented as an experience within the terrain of leisure and pleasure, the sense of personal responsibility is obviously suppressed. Health and wellness is represented as being achievable by expending the least physical and mental effort. The minimization of customers responsibility is realized through a number of discursive devices, i.e distillation, metaphorical devices, and role allocation The visual syntax of images in the brochures also echoes the representations realized textually through the allocation of salience which reflects the prominence of the realm of mind and 94

97 senses. The arrangement of vector connotes the role allocation of the spa as the active service provider with the customer as both the service consumer as well as the agent of reflexive activities that are supposedly in his/her own interest. In order to enhance the credibility of the advertising message, the advertiser uses the allocation of gaze and angle as a visual technique to constitute the position of participants in the communication. The analysis shows that the advertiser pays more attention to offering the information to the viewer, supposedly their prospective customer, through images in which the gaze is absent and oblique angles create the sense of detachment that connotes a truthful portrayal of the spa experience. Nowadays spas provide services that have crossed over the border of health care into the terrain of leisure. In addition to other non-semiotic elements that constitute the spa as a service industry, semiosis is an indispensible element because it works in the symbolic realm to foster this change. CDA provides an analytical approach that scrutinizes language beyond its face value to decode the encoded ideology to de-naturalize the naturalized in discourse. As shown in the analysis, a variety of semiotic means are appropriated to construct the realm of meaning for the spa so as to designate how we make sense of it and influence our decision as a consumer. However, the power of the advertising discourse of these brochures is potentially more extensive since it not only works to influence the consumer s immediate decision, thus determining the survival of the business, but also plays a role both in shaping their ideas of health and wellness in general, and, in effect, representing spas as a part of the contemporary lifestyle. 95

98 References Chouliaraki, L. and Fairclough, N. (1999) Discourse in Late Modernity. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Fairclough, N. (1989) Language and Power. London: Longman. Fairclough, N. (1992) Discourse and Social Change. Cambridge: Polity Press. Fowler, R. (1996) On Critical Linguistics, in C.R. Caldas-Coulthard, and M. Coulthard (eds)texts and Practices: Readings in Critical Discourse Analysis. New York: Routledge. Halliday, M.A.K (1985). Introduction to Functional Linguistics. London: Arnold. Hodge, R.; Kress, G. (1993) Language as Ideology (Second edition). London: Routledge. International Spa Association (2013). Global Best Practices for the Spa Industry. Retrieved from Kress, G. and Van Leeuwen, T. (1996) Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design. London: Routledge. Lury, C. (1997) The Objects of Travel. In C. Rojek and J. Urry (Eds.) Touring Cultures: Transformations of Travel and Theory (pp ), New York: Routledge. Myers, G. (1994) Words in Ads. London: Edward Arnold. Taverniers, Miriam (2006) Grammatical metaphor and lexical metaphor: Different perspectives on semantic variation. Neophilologus 90/2: Urry, J. (1990) The Tourist gaze: leisure and travel in contemporary societies. London: Sage Publication. Van Leeuwen, T. (1995) Representing Social Action, Discourse and Society. 6/1: Van Leeuwen, T. (1996) The Representation of social actors in C.R. Caldas-Coulthard, and M. Coulthard (eds)texts and Practices: Readings in Critical Discourse Analysis. New York: Routledge. Van Leeuwen (undated) The grammar of Legitimation, Working Paper, London College of Printing. Full-text captions AKA Spa : CONTEMPORARY ASIAN SPA In a peaceful area of Chiang Mai set in a secluded garden the AKA spa offer a treatment from everyday life. Unwind under the skillful guidance of AKA s top massage therapists and immerse yourself in the sensual experience of your choice. An Asian-theme spa lets you experience ultimate relaxation and total tranquility with its luxurious spa programs designed to suit your individual needs and moods. 96

99 Cheeva Spa: Relax for a longer life At Cheeva Spa you will be nurtured and cared for by our certified and experienced therapists, as you are more than just a customer. You are a part of our family. In traditional Thai Lanna style we will touch that warm place deep within you with all our heart to soothe and relax your body and soul. Using high quality products and traditional Thai Herbs we will ensure that your time here at Cheeva Spa is relaxing, rejuvenating, calming, and pleasurable Chiang Mai Oasis Spa : Discover The Ultimate Thai Lanna Spa Experience Come away unwind and relax rejuvenating and indulge yourself at the Chiang Mai Oasis Spa come into an exotic world of beauty, serenity and pleasure. Choose an individual treatment that is perfect for you spend an hour or an afternoon. You will enjoy a complete menu of treatments and therapies: scrubs, wraps, facial, foot, and body massage, Jacuzzi, outdoor shower, steam baths, and much more. Using therapeutic Thai herbs and techniques both ancient and modern, the trained specialists gently coax you to a state of better health, beauty, and tranquility. For a spa experience like no other, allow us to pamper you in your own private garden villa orchestrated to delight all your senses. Lanna Come Spa: A Touch of Sib Song Panna Lanna Come Spa is the first Thai Northern spa which has Sib Song Panna style. Feel the genuine contemporary atmosphere of upper northern region and enjoy all this natural beauty while luxuriating in the comfort of our warm welcome in Sib Song Panna style which is combined of Thai culture and our various traditional teas that served with Thai delicious desserts and relaxing atmosphere. Sothys, the Signature of Excellence in Professional Skin Care: the mythology, the professional expertise, the quality process. Digi-Esthetique at the heart of Sothys programmes. In order to reinforce the efficiency of your treatment, Sothys has created the Digi-Esthetique method, combining finger pressure, modeling and drainage. Digi-Esthetique is a genuine gateway to well being for mind and body. It will immerse you in a state of deep relaxation, and revitalize the organism in order to improve the circulation of energies and the assimilation of active products. Peak Spa & Beauty Salon Escape from the hustle and bustle of the city and pamper yourself at Peak Spa, an oasis of serenity and calmness. This chic, luxurious, contemporary spa provides a full range of specialty treatments that are catered to your individual needs. Our complete salon services will beautify you from head to toe. We offer a large selection of services, including custom hair design, coloring manicures and pedicures. Relax and unwind under the guidance of Thailand s best massage therapists. 97

100 Brochures AKA SPA Chiang Mai Oasis Spa Lanna Come Spa 98

101 Peak Spa 99

102 Between Christianity and Modernity: Spain in the History of Boredom-as- Laziness Jaime Moreno Khon Kaen University Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Abstract This article examines boredom and boredom-as-laziness in Western history, with particular reference to Spain. It is thus an approach to the problem of boredom and laziness through the lens of Christianity and modernity. Here I will attempt to introduce Spain into the question of how boredom passed from the classical world to modern society, via religion. From the late Middle Ages, Spain became a stronghold of Christianity, its economy often lagging behind that of France, the UK and Germany. Thus boredom was central, as it was central too to the Christian notion of sin, as well as to the capitalist take on laziness. After discussing the origins of boredom in classical and medieval texts, I will pay particular attention to the views of two French scholars, Voltaire and Paul Lafargue, who lived in the late 18 th and late 19 th centuries respectively. The goal of this text is to show how the experience of boredom is inextricably linked to the history of Western culture, and how for the past two thousand years but not earlier boredom has been denigrated by both the religious and economic forces that ultimately built Western society as we know it. In turn, from the 19 th century at least, boredom-as-laziness, often equated with primitivism, has been celebrated by those who are skeptical about the Western notion of progress. Spain was not unique in this respect, it must be said, but it seems a good example of Western values and attitudes on the periphery. Keywords: boredom, laziness, Spain, modernity, Christianity, history. 100

103 Introduction Boredom: the state of being weary and restless through lack of interest Lazy: disinclined to activity or exertion; not energetic or vigorous Merriam-Webster Dictionary. What does it mean to be bored? Nowadays boredom is a somewhat fluffy concept, having very little philosophical depth. It is often said that young people are bored, their sedentary lifestyles saturated with useless information. In this sense, boredom goes hand in hand with laziness: indolence, a disinclination to activity. The contemporary opposite of boredom and laziness would include words such as entertainment, action and focus. Boredom-as-laziness, however, has sinister implications. It relates to extreme physiological and psychological states alienation, ill-health, depression and so on. Some of the historical symptoms of boredom include restlessness, indifference and apathy. Since the 19 th century, both psychology and pop culture have reflected on various aspects related to this condition. Yet there is more to it. I would like to suggest that boredom, as laziness of the mind and body, is not just an individual sickness and/or a superficial joke. One the contrary, it seems clear to me that boredom has played a crucial role in Western history. What I want to do in this paper is to examine the experience of boredom between Christianity and modernity, and to explore the extent to which laziness (a form of boredom) has penetrated ideology during this transition. By looking at the place of Spain in Western European thought, I argue that boredom has been central to the construction of the two most comprehensive ideologies of Western civilisation Christianity and modernity. I will pursue this idea using the methodology of cultural history, and therefore I will study the interplay between experience, text and discourse. This paper is divided into three parts. The first part is a history of Western Europe and Spain until the 18 th century that brings boredom-as-laziness from the periphery to the centre. The second part deals with Voltaire s opinions and the third part discusses Paul Lafargue s The Right to be Lazy. I will suggest that the mainstream understanding of boredom has evolved over two thousand years. In classical thought, boredom was seen with much ambiguity, but it became a philosophical and ethical priority as Christianity grew in importance. In the Christian mind, boredom was tantamount to laziness, one of the seven deadly sins. When capitalism displaced religion from the core of Western civilisation, laziness became a secular sin, and a burden on economic progress. Critical views began to emerge in the 18 th century, and Spain slowly became a symbol of happy underdevelopment. I will take on Spain, although any other country would have served my purpose, which is to study boredom in transition from Christianity to modernity. If anything, Spain is interesting because it has historically been a central player in European Christianity, while being marginal to the history of modernity. In the past decades, there have been several academic studies on boredom, but none have explored in detail the connections between literary or philosophical boredom and the outside world. Several scholars in the humanities and social sciences have investigated boredom over the past twenty years or so (Meyer Spacks, 1995; Goodstain, 2005; Toohey, 2011). These are useful academic approaches, and they provide a basic framework for further research, but they tend to revolve 101

104 around English-language texts. Most importantly, I feel there is a need for research on the perception of boredom as a social disease, one with profound historical implications. Boredom becomes a sin In this section I summarise the transition from the Ancient to the modern worlds. I will argue that 1) the Ancients were fascinated with boredom, but they did not see it as a threat to their cosmology; 2) the early Christian establishment turned boredom into a problem; 3) the rising capitalist economies inherited and secularised the idea of boredom-as-laziness, and put Spain at the heart of it. Homer, in the 8 th century BC, might have referred to the experience of boredom, or rather to some of its manifestations, when describing in detail the famous rage of Achilles and other melancholy-like states in the Iliad (Toohey, 2004). Latin provided a wealth of terms upon which Western civilisation built the linguistic scaffolding of boredom. Most of the following words, regularly used two thousand years ago amongst the literati at least are today understandable in any given language of Latin origin, and they all refer to the modern experience of boredom: desidia, otium, tepiditas, molitia somnolentia, dilation, incuria, tristitia, tarditas, negligentia and remissio amongst others. An expression that might have been more accurate than any of these terms is taedium vitae, which means weariness or loathing of life. Otium (Sadlek, 2004) is a particularly interesting term, since it points directly towards the problem of time: time used for a good purpose (say, poetry or love melancholy as in the case of Catullus) or wasted in idleness (drinking, gambling or lusting) without getting any profit in return. For some Roman writers, otium was the opposite of negotium ( business ). Overall, though, the Romans did not universally condemn boredom. They just seemed to ponder extensively about it being a double-edged sword. This is relevant because the early Christians would not feel as relaxed around boredom as their pagan counterparts did. The first hermits had indeed a troublesome relationship with the condition. Most of the known Desert Fathers, who lived in isolation in Northern Africa and the Near East during the foundational years of Christianity, wrote about this looming spiritual dryness. Sometimes they referred to it as the daemonio meridiano the demon of noontide (Kuhn 1976; Irvine, 1999), an expression also used in psalm 90 of the Vulgate, that is, the Latin translation of the Bible, which dates back to the 4 th century AD. Generally, prayers and manual work were cited as remedies. Although it already had negative connotations, the noontide demon was part and parcel with a virtuous Christian existence it was an inevitable enemy. Otium was a source, or perhaps a consequence, of sloth. From around the first century of the Christian era the negative connotations of boredom began to gain ground against the positive ones. Slowly, boredom-as-laziness, opposed to the ora et labora ( pray and work ) dogma, began to be incorporated into the official Christian philosophy (Wenzel, 2012). This process took more than one thousand years, but by the 12 th century it was completed. In Western Europe, boredom became an aberration. At one point during the early Middle Ages the word accidia, acidia or acedia, entered the Latin language. Acedia was different from the demon of noontide. Acedia was sloth, and its victims were entirely responsible for it. Soon acedia became a deadly sin, one of the seven capital vices 102

105 the other six being envy, avarice, gluttony, vainglory, lust and anger. Acedia, writes Lars Svendsen, had to be considered as an unprecedented insult to God How could God, in His perfection, ever be thought of as boring? To be bored in relation to God is implicitly claiming that God lacks something (Svendsen, 2005: 22). Melancholy, and more specifically love melancholy, came into the picture through literary works such as La Celestina (1499). Furthermore, the picaresque novel, a literary genre at which Spanish writers excelled, could also be interpreted as a celebration of idleness. It is interesting to note that the earliest example of picaresque novel, El lazarillo de Tormes, the story of a rascal in early modern Spain, was published anonymously in 1554 because its content was considered heretical. A praise of notworking in a popular printed volume was too much of a gamble in 16 th century Spain (MacKay, 2006: 89). In Catholic Spain, boredom was man s fault, a mystical vice, and this was soon to be reworked and incorporated into the increasingly secular mindset of modern Europe. As the market economy grew, the late Middle Ages prepared the ground for the capitalist condemnation of boredom-as-laziness. The most popular Spanish literary work, Don Quixote, is the story of a man who reads too much and does not work for a living. Don Quixote is a thing of the past, and his anti-heroic boredom results in madness, ridicule and ultimately death (Bartra, 2001). It is worth noting that by the time the novel was published the first volume in 1605, and the second one in 1615 Spain was already a decaying empire, its stagnant economy having been long surpassed by the entrepreneurial spirit of Northern Europe. In Renaissance and Baroque times, Spain was also the most important Catholic stronghold outside the Vatican. Thus along with the rest of the Mediterranean nations, not to mention the colonial tropics Spain became a symbol of boredom-as-laziness: the dark side of modernity, trapped in the sin of not being productive. Voltaire, capitalism and the Romantics Here, I will put forward the following ideas: 1) the French Enlightenment was the philosophical culmination of the process described above; 2) Voltaire pointed out some of the ethical contradictions inherent to this process, which we may call modernity ; 3) the Romantics would take Voltaire s doubts further, celebrating Spain in a nostalgic, anti-modern return to a more authentic world. In the 18 th century, then, Spain was everything the Enlightenment stood against: irrationality, inaction, and intellectual backwardness. These beliefs were articulated through the discourse of a nation fundamentally averse to hard work, and therefore economically stagnant (MacKay, 2006). While Voltaire did not address the question of boredomas-laziness explicitly, he did write of Southern Europe as archetypically irrational, an indolent region, hostile to the principles of the Enlightenment. Yet at the same time, Voltaire was critical with the rising economic order, based on those very same principles. Voltaire despised Spain to the point of displaying his lack of interest in the place. Spain, he wrote, is a country with which we are no better acquainted than with the most savage parts of Africa, and which does not deserve the trouble of being known (as cited in de Salvio, 1924: 69). The secular and rationalist stance of the Enlightenment would soon be put to the test. The most memorable natural disaster to strike Europe in the eighteenth century was the earthquake, and tsunami, that destroyed Lisbon in This event reportedly inspired the writing of Candide, 103

106 Voltaire s celebrated attack on the doctrine of optimism a typically enlightened faith in the kindness of the Christian God, the infallibility of Cartesian reason and the inevitability of progress. All of these were, in the European mind, the result of mainly German, French and British developments in sciences and politics. It could be argued that Voltaire was wary of capitalism, while feeling sorry for the regions situated on the periphery. Before he set out to write Candide, Voltaire composed a Poem on the Lisbon disaster (1756) in which he put forward his views on the European capitalist order: Would it console the sad inhabitants Of these aflame and desolated shores To say to them: Lay down your lives in peace; For the world s good your homes are sacrificed; Your ruined palaces shall others build, For other peoples shall your walls arise; The North grows rich on your unhappy loss; Your ills are but a link in general law (Voltaire, 1912 [1756]: 255). In Candide, the character of Pangloss, the protagonist s tutor, represents inherited truths, academic learning and all the pitfalls of Western philosophy. There is also a great deal of cruelty and fanaticism (the Inquisition, the Jesuits) in the novel, and clearly Voltaire has no sympathy for the aristocracy either. Against this background, Cacambo, Candide s valet and a quarter Spaniard, is the epitome of freedom, common sense and child-like honesty. Cacambo lacks formal education, but he is the voice of natural reason. Cacambo is a rascal domesticated, and he is also reminiscent of Sancho Panza in Don Quixote and of Friday in Robinson Crusoe: a good man and a servant by birth. In short, Voltaire stood for several principles, which may or may not seem contradictory. First, as the poem on the Lisbon earthquake shows, Voltaire was of the opinion that a global market was being created for the benefit of Northern Europe, and on this respect he sympathised with the South. Second, he had little time for the ancient regime, and despised both Portugal and Spain as medieval residue. Third, the Hispanic world did provide Voltaire with an important figure: Cacambo, the uneducated Everyman, the loyal squire whose simplicity was a levelling weight against the abstraction and learned truths of academia, and a lesson in materialism too. Finally, it is also worth stressing that Cacambo is one quarter Spaniard, the product of mestizaje, a practice that was frowned upon in northern latitudes. In this respect Cacambo is typically southern too. In many ways, the publication of Candide in 1759 marked a turn in Western European philosophy, whereby dissenting voices against the fruits of 104

107 modernity/capitalism began to emerge. These were the origins of Romaticism: an awe of nature, and a utopian approach to the savage man, uncorrupted by modernity. For the first time in centuries, Spain would be seen in a positive light. From the early 19 th century, the mal-du-siècle took over the minds of the European youth (Hoog, 1954). Romanticism was escapist and generally critical with the perceived ugliness of modern life. Spain, being sparsely industrialised and right across the border from France, was an easy target. And thus it became the symbol of a lost world. Furthermore in 1795 Napoleon had invaded the Iberian Peninsula, which led to a renewed interest in the southern neighbour. From that date Spain was re-imagined as languid and exotic, not just African but also Oriental by virtue of geography and (Islamic) heritage. In an account of the Peninsular War, published in 1816, Dominique Dufour de Pradt wrote: It is an error of geography to have assigned Spain to Europe; it belongs to Africa: blood, manners, language, the way of life and making war, in Spain everything is African (1816: 168, my translation). Alexandre Dumas and Stendhal would famously repeat this argument, creating a new cliché: Spain was a sub-tropical Mecca of idleness, not because of its material poverty, but because of its oriental (Muslim) heritage. Again, the idea was that Spain was closer to the past and the primitive peoples than any of the industrialised nations, and this was something to be admired. Paul Lafargue, boredom, and politics The transition to modernity continued into the 19 th century. I will argue that in the late 19 th century, Spain s uneven modernity became a case-study in the development of anti-capitalist ideologies, entering Marxist politics in the process. The secret languor of the French Romantics had political intent. In this context Spain s comparative backwardness was to be linked with boredom. Paul Lafargue, French revolutionary Marxist and incidentally Karl Marx s son-in-law, was probably the first and only Western European intellectual to incorporate boredom-as-laziness into a political agenda. For him, Spain symbolised hope because it was unmodern. In 1883 Lafargue published a lengthy pamphlet called Le droit à la peresse (The Right to Be Lazy). The text was presented as a refutation to the principle of the right to work (droit au travail), which in Lafargue s opinion had been part of a grand middle-class programme, a trick on the masses, since at least the revolts of As explained in the Preface, written during the author s stint at the prison of Sainte-Pélagie, the book s driving idea was as follows: Capitalist ethics, a pitiful parody on Christian ethics, strikes with its anathema the flesh of the labourer; it reduces the producer to the smallest number of needs, suppresses his joys and his passions and condemns him to play the part of a machine working without rest, and without thanks. (Lafargue, 1883, Preface, unpaginated, para. 2, my translation). The Right to be Lazy is a condemnation of factory work and its ideological justification, which was seen by Lafargue as a parody on Christian ethics. Lafargue does not distinguish Protestant from Catholic ethics in the sense Max Weber did (Weber, 2005 [1930]). Lafargue sees capitalism as a process of secularisation, the Christian idea of laziness being at the core of this process. According to Lafargue the 19 th century proletarian had been led to believe that work is a blessing, whereas rest would be a sin. Lafargue envisions a communist future, in which men and 105

108 women shall be free from the hypocritical values of the bourgeoisie. The French writer was very critical of Herbert Spencer and of the practical implications of the theory of evolution. When he states that In capitalist society work is the cause of all intellectual degeneracy, of all organic deformity (Lafargue, 1883: 8), we can safely assume that Lafargue is paraphrasing, and parodising, social Darwinism. A few lines below, the author further explains his views on laziness: Look at the noble savage whom the missionaries of trade and the traders of religion have not yet corrupted with Christianity, syphilis and the dogma of work, and then look at our sad slaves of machines (Lafargue, 1883: 8). Lafargue relies on the myth of the good savage to explain his views. In other works the French thinker also spoke admiringly of primitive societies described by the new science of ethnography. In fact, it could be argued that Lafargue s criticism of modernity relied upon the 19 th century rediscovery of otherness (Lafargue, 1907). Thus after commenting on colonialism, he turns the mirror towards Europe, which in the 1880s was by no means fully industrialised. After the Paris commune of 1871, Lafargue had been forced to leave France temporarily, and for a year or so he resided in Spain. With the exception of Barcelona, Bilbao and a handful of smaller towns, the place had barely noticed the Industrial Revolution. To be sure, there was a considerable middle class in the cities, and Spanish writers of the time were too exploring the notion of boredom-as-laziness, from a Christian as well as middle-class perspective. But Spain was by any standards a marginal player in the Western European quest for progress. Like Voltaire and the Romantics, Lafargue would equate Spain with the European colonies places like Africa and the Orient where the human spirit had not yet been crushed by economic growth. The Right to be Lazy depicts Spain as an essentially pre-modern, content, and therefore noble nation: When, in our civilized Europe, we would find a trace of the native beauty of man, we must go seek it in the nations where economic prejudices have not yet uprooted the hatred of work. Spain, which, alas, is degenerating, may still boast of possessing fewer factories than we have of prisons and barracks; but the artist rejoices in his admiration of the hardy Andalusian, brown as the chessnuts of his land, straight and flexible as a steel rod... For the Spaniard, in whom the primitive animal has not been atrophied, work is the worst sort of slavery (1883: 9-10). Lafargue explains that there was a pre-industrial time in Europe, when manual labour was only done three hours per day, and when this relatively small amount of work produced enough wages for the labourer to indulge in great feasts as depicted by authors such as Rabelais and Cervantes (Lafargue, 1883: 28). Furthermore, the French author notes that the capitalist economy involves constant growth, and that when one market becomes saturated and stagnant, it is necessary for the industrialist to move on to the next, untapped region. In this picture of industrial doom, Spain was Lafargue s last frontier in Western Europe. 106

109 Conclusions This short article has explored some of the meanings of boredom, and boredom-as-laziness, in Western culture from its origins to the late 19 th century. It has been constrained by word limits, and it is part of a wider investigation on modernity in the Hispanic world and Asia. Emphasis has been put on the transition between Christianity and modernity, and in the use of Spain as a stronghold of boredom-as-sin and boredom-as-laziness. There are several important points that are worth summarising here. Before Christianity, boredom was a very ambiguous experience: many authors devoted a long time to the condition, but they did not reach a universally applicable moral conclusion. This was left to Christianity. The early Christians feared boredom as a negative charge (a demon) but they thought it was inevitable. With the establishment of the Deadly Sins at the heart of the Christian philosophy, boredom became a vice, acedia or sloth, a personal failure to control one s relationship with God. This pessimistic view of boredom would be incorporated into the increasingly secular capitalist world. Spain, a decaying imperial power, comparatively backward from the 17 th century, became a symbol: a country ruled by obscurantism and fanaticism, and ultimately lazy. But as Voltaire s words show, this view was not straightforward. Voltaire condemned capitalism but also despised anything outside the Cartesian or mechanistic limits of the Enlightenment. The 19 th century brought new definitions: the Romantics sought to escape from the rapidly growing industrial landscape, and for this purpose, they elevated Spain to the category of Oriental Eden, untouched by the evils of modernity. Paul Lafargue took this view, and made it political. In the 19 th century, thus, as the capitalist work ethic expanded triumphantly, boredom became a form of protest. There is much left to be said. Boredom is far more complex a concept than I have suggested. I have not written about the long history of melancholy. It dates back to the origins of Western philosophy and medicine. There is science too, then. The development of psychology in the 19 th century had something to do with the scholarly attempt to redefine boredom (mania, neurosis, depression and so on) according to the rules of modern science. The 19 th century is indeed a particularly fertile ground for the study of boredom: countless philosophers, scientists, novelists and journalists wrote about it in one way or another. The question of class is paramount too: the bourgeoisie have always pointed the finger at the working class for being indolent, poor by choice or merit much like those who suffered from acedia in the Middle Ages. This was true in Spain, England and everywhere. Obviously, this paper has not aimed to analyse Spanishlanguage writings, although Spanish intellectuals devoted much ink to the question, since at least the 16 th century. One such example seems appropriate to conclude this paper. La Regenta, perhaps the most popular Spanish novel of the 19 th century, authored in 1884 by Leopoldo Alas Clarín, opens with the following words: The heroic city was taking a nap (La heroica ciudad dormía la siesta). Boredom as a middle class malaise, a transnational experience, a quintessential element of modernity, filled with irony and decadent wit, should also be taken into account. 107

110 References Bartra, R. (2001). Cultura y melancolía: las enfermedades del alma en la España del Siglo de Oro. Barcelona: Anagrama. Cervantes, M. de. Don Quijote de la Mancha. (1855) [1605]. México: P. Mellado. Clarín, L.A. (1999) [1884-5]. La Regenta. Mexico: EDAF. Goodstein, E. S. (2005). Experience without Qualities: Boredom and Modernity. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Irvine, I. (1999). Acedia, Tristitia and Sloth: Earlier Forerunners to Chronic Ennui. Humanitas, vol. 12, no. 1, Hoog, A. (1954). Who invented the Mal du Siècle? Yale French Studies, 13, Romanticism Revisited, Kuhn, R. (1976). The Demon of Noontide: Ennui in Western Literature. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Lafargue, P. (1883). Le droit a la paresse: refutation du Droit au Travail de Paris: Henri Oriol. MacKay, R. (2006). Lazy, Improvident People : Myth and Reality in the Writing of Spanish History. New York: Cornell University Press. Meyer Spacks, P. (1995). Boredom: A Literary History of a State of Mind. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press. Pradt, M. de. (1816). Mémoires historiques sur la révolution d Espagne. [France]: Rosa. Ripley, W.H. (1899). The Races of Europe: A Sociological Study. London: Trubner & Company. Rojas, F. de. (1822) [1499]. La Celestina, o tragicomedia de Calisto y Melibea. [Spain]: Don León Amarita. Sadlek, G.M. (2004). Idleness Working: The Discourse of Love s Labor from Ovid Through Chaucer and Gower. The Catholic University of America Press: Salvio, A. de. (1924). Voltaire and Spain. Hispania, vol. 7, no. 2, Sánchez, T.A. (1780). Colección de poesías castellanas anteriores al siglo XV, ilustradas con algunas notas e índice de voces antiquadas. Tomo II. Madrid: Don Antonio de Sancha. Svendsen, L. (2005). A Philosophy of Boredom. (John Irons, trans.). London: Reaktion Books. Siguan, M. (1987). Sobre el demonio meridiano y el pecado del aburrimiento. El Ciervo, 417, 13 & 14, Toohey, P. (2004). Melancholy, Love and Time: Boundaries of the Self in Ancient Literature. Michigan: The University of Michigan Press. Toohey, P. (2011). Boredom: A Lively History. London: Yale University Press. Voltaire. (1734). Lettres ecrites de Londres sur les anglois et autres sujects. London: William Bowyer. Voltaire. (1912) [1756]. Poem on the Lisbon Disaster; Or an Examination of the Axiom, All is Well, in Toleration and Other Essays by Voltaire. (Joseph McCabe, trans.). New York: G.P. Putnam s Sons,

111 Weber, M. (2005) [1930]. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. (Talcott Parsons, trans.). London: Routledge. Wenzel, S. (2012) [1967]. The Sin of Sloth: Acedia in Medieval Thought and Literature. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. 109

112 English Instructional Materials: Imperative Learning Aid for the High School Bound Summer Program of the MSU-Science High School Prof. Jose G. Tan, Jr. English Faculty Mindanao State University, Marawi City Abstract This study was conducted to meet the long-felt need of the MSU-Institute of Science Education- Science High School to have English instructional materials that will be used for its High School Bound Summer Program. The descriptive method of research and a quantitative analysis of the performance of the respondents on the Proficiency Test were used in this study. The inquiry started off with a needs analysis through a proficiency test administered to the Grade VI pupils of MSU-Integrated Laboratory School (ILS), Ibn Sienna Integrated School, Foundation (ISISF) and Ranao Child Development Center (RCDC). A modified proficiency test was used in this study. To establish reliability and validity, it was patterned after the English Language Proficiency Test (ELPT) of the Language Center of MSU- College of Social Sciences and Humanities. The proficiency test consisted of three parts: Test of Language Use (TLU), Test of Written English (TWE) and Test of Spoken English (TSE). Each respondent was given an answer sheet for Parts I and II. By means of stratified random sampling, a smaller number of respondents drawn from the original sample of 263 respondents were selected to take Part III which was in the form of an interview. Their answers were tape recorded and then evaluated and rated by three (3) competent faculty members. The needs analysis yielded the following findings: majority of the respondents of the three elementary schools have a minimum knowledge about the structure of English language such as sentences, clauses, vocabulary and reading comprehension; majority of the respondents have attained only low proficiency levels in writing; and majority of the respondents displayed hesitations and difficulty in listening and speaking. In short, there is a serious problem in English language proficiency of the respondents in terms of writing, listening and speaking. Based on the overall result, majority of respondents could be said to be suffering from what is known as Limited English Proficiency (LEP) and are likely at risk for learning disabilities or failure. Although no single cause could be pin-pointed, it can be hypothesized that impoverished background and inadequate training are contributory factors. The problem can be remedied by addressing the students weaknesses. Materials can be designed for this purpose. Hence, better performance in English language proficiency is possible if lessons and activities address the needs of the pupils. Keywords: English Instructional Materials, Learning Aid, Instructional Design, Language Materials, Learning Instruction 110

113 Introduction Experts vehemently expressed English as the language of the global village. This is particularly true in the domain of Science and Technology, especially in the pure and applied sciences. A knowledge of English is often required if one wants to publish in the influential journals. It is undeniable that increasingly the language of publication is English. In the face of all these, the rationale of putting science and technology to work more constructively and humanely in the context of education takes on greater significance and urgency. This fact is true in the Philippine setting. However, according to Joel Adriano in his article, The Philippines: Still Grappling with English, Filipino students scores on the 2009 annual international student performance tests in math and science are some of the lowest in the world. What could be the probable causes? Accordingly, some education policy experts believe that the trouble lies in the language being used for instruction: English. The shift from home language to another language used as medium of instruction requires adjustment; the shift creates a problem that could have dire consequences for academic performance. Language is obviously a vital tool (Brown, 2000). One must understand that English is not just a subject; it is also a means of communicating thoughts and ideas, but it also establishes identity, promotes economic growth and sustainability and forges cultural ties and friendships. Throughout history, many have reflected and argued on the importance of language. For example, the scholar Benjamin Whorf has noted that language shapes thoughts and emotions; thus, determining one s perception of reality. John Stuart Mill as cited by Brown (2000) further said that language is the light of the mind. Edward Sapir, a linguist and a mentor of Whorf also noted that language is not only a vehicle for the expression of thoughts, perceptions, sentiments and values characteristics of a community. It also represents a fundamental expression of social identity. The position of English in some of the sciences is even more solidly rooted. The vast majority of articles in computer science, for example, are published in English. The major journals in practically all disciplines are in English, from the general scientific journals like Nature and Science to the New England Journal of Medicine or Cell, to more specialist journals like Oncogene or Lupus or name half-a-dozen in whatever field one is working in. Even many journals of smaller nations or scientific societies, like those of Slovenia and the Philippine s Bato Balani are published in English. When abstracted more widely these are accessible to a world audience. The fact is that a scientist who publishes in a language other than English cuts himself/herself off from the worldwide community of scientists who publish in English. His influence remains local or limited. The work, groundbreaking or revolutionary though it possibly is, may then be ignored simply because it is published in a language unknown to the rest of the world. However, the worth of science lies in how people would embrace its vitality in their lives for there is a need for economic competitiveness and this need will continue to grow as the world continues to become more technology dependent and need more science literate workers. This essential competitiveness is made possible through education. A famous Chinese statesman once said that if the rest of the world like Asia is to catch up with, and surpass the advanced countries in science and technology, the former must improve not only the quality of 111

114 higher education but, first of all, that of primary and secondary education because these are foundational. This study thus takes this challenge as its point of departure since this is important in education. Accordingly, education exemplifies the methods of imparting knowledge, culture and values from one generation to the next. The only known way of producing effective people is through something that has to be called education. This education must use a language, that is, language effectively geared to actuality and action. As language experts have restated the ease for education, the legitimate and inevitable function of education is to cultivate character. This summarizes the intent of the study as it is envisioned to be of help by designing and providing instructional materials that integrate meaningful content and language objectives and addressing a particular need in the MSU-Science High School. Theoretical Framework An authenticity of a language learning situation is reinforced with different factors involving learning and educational theories (Gagnè, 1985). One very important theory is progressivism. This theory stresses the view that all learning should center on the child s interests and needs (Dewey, 1916). Accordingly, progressive education needs a philosophy based upon experience, the interaction of the person with his environment. The true aim of progressivism is to meet the learning needs of a growing child. This has been supported with the learning theory called constructivism which can best be thought of as a way of improving instruction. This theory is greatly influenced by Piaget s (1950) genetic epistemology and Lev Vygotsky s (1978) Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). According to them, knowledge is a product of the activities practiced in a social environment. Constructivists place the learner at the center of the equation; the idea is that the learner constructs knowledge rather than passively absorbing it. Meaning is constructed by each learner via his experiences and in his own ways and means. It is based on how the learner's understanding is currently organized. In the last 100 years, three major schools of learning theories have emerged (Ornstein, 1990). These formulations provide theoretical grounds for this study. First, the behavioral theories see learning in terms of changing what people do. They emphasize behavioral modification through conditioning by means of reinforcement. Second, field and gestalt theories consider how the individual perceives the learning environment or situation. They emphasize observational learning, imitation and modeling. Third, cognitive theories consider how the learner thinks, reasons and transfers information to new learning situations. The rapid turnover or succession of language teaching methods is a proof of dynamism, vitality and vibrancy in the field of language pedagogy. The search for methods, approaches, strategies and materials to facilitate, enhance and maximize language learning is relentless; it is pursued with great expectations. However, experts emphasize that the current theories which suggest that humans have the unique species-specific ability to test various hypotheses about the structure of language are indispensable. Emphasis must be put also on Thorndike s law of readiness which is an important condition of learning because satisfaction or frustration depends on an individual s state of readiness. It focuses on the idea that to do so is satisfying; not to do so is annoying. In other words, it is unlikely that learners will acquire a new pattern 112

115 unless they are developmentally ready for it. It is primarily on this that the value of the study hinges i.e. the learners must be ready to undergo rigid academic training with the aid of instructional materials. In the recent language learning continuum, a learner is considered as an active learner. Current linguistic and psycholinguistic theories suggest that efforts to teach language to human learners should actively engage them in the learning process. Such active engagement consists of providing opportunities to explore and implore about language rather than simply requiring learners to memorize bits of language. With the dynamism of language and systematic changes in knowledge, materials for teaching language should be designed to fit the varying developmental levels of children within a classroom. The Concept Underlying Instructional Materials In the course of the history of language learning and teaching, instructional materials played an important role to achieve meaningful learning. Tomlinson (2004) aptly expressed that instructional materials provide procedural frameworks for the systematic production of instructions. They give structure and meaning to instruction. Bruner (1975) n his view believes that people should learn a foreign language for performing different functions. Therefore, it is natural to introduce authentic learning materials in class according to Nunan (1992). Fradd & McGee (1994) has demonstrated that instructional materials are to be prepared by teachers. Furthermore, Reiser & Dempsey (2007) emphasized that materials should be as authentic as those from real life language situation. Tomlinson (2004) added that materials should provide sources of language input and exploit the said sources to maximize learning. Hence, materials can be anything deliberately used to increase the learners knowledge and/or experience of the language. In the totality of a language teaching and learning, the elements such as students and instructional materials coupled with the curriculum offered are intertwined with instructional materials in the frontlines or forefront of a successful learning process. There are benefits of a good learning product through an effective good instructional material: the learning material meets the needs of the learner; the learner feels stimulated throughout; the leaner retains the acquired abilities after the learning experience is finished and; the learner is able to apply the acquired abilities in his or her working environment. Accordingly, this amounts to a learning product that is centered on the learner rather than on the instructor, as in more traditional approaches. Nunan (1992) stressed that the instructional materials should not only encourage the students to help one another but also increase motivation to learn; the instructional materials should allow students to focus on the formal aspects of language; the instructional materials should provide students with efficient learning strategies and; the instructional materials should encourage students to apply their developing language skills to the real world, a world beyond the bounds of the teachers and classroom. Bloom (1976) believed that in the designing and construction of materials, one should not lose sight of the fact that there are faster and slower learner instead of thinking that learners are good and poor. He considered the role of attitudes in the instructional process as equally important as the learners themselves. 113

116 Contemporary educators encourage teachers to rethink their approach, using wellplanned and well-designed instructional materials especially in a specialized science curriculum high school. These will be a bridge to learning and doing mathematics and science. Educators have this perspective as an area of agreement: We can begin to envision pedagogical possibilities that are built on the instructional materials as an intellectual resource (Reiser & Dempsey, 2007). There are criteria for evaluating effective instructional materials (Tomlinson, 2004). These include 1. Instructional materials should be based on current and confirmed research; 2. Instructional materials are designed to ensure that all students master each of the English language content; 3. Instructional materials reflect and incorporate the content of the language; 4. Sufficient instructional time is allotted to content standards that require extensive teaching and are clear prerequisites for later content standards; 5. Instructional materials include activities that relate directly to the learning objectives. Extraneous material is kept to a minimum; 6. Instructional materials use proper grammar and spelling; 7. Instructional materials provide strategies for teachers to develop students academic language, including more difficult, abstract, technical and specialized vocabulary and concepts. Aside from the curriculum planners and teachers, the students are also vital a factor in successful language teaching and learning processes. This involves their learning needs, abilities and interests. It is not the quantity of students that justifies the quality of performance but it is the quality of students. As expounded by language experts, students everyday experiences and first language can and do serve not only as obstacles but also as resources. Their interests as well as their experiences mean something in learning environments. Method Respondents The respondents were the Grade VI pupils of the three elementary schools in the Lanao area, namely: Mindanao State University-Integrated Laboratory School (MSU-ILS); Ibn Sienna Integrated School, Foundation (ISISF) and Ranao Child Development Center (RCDC). The respondents were assumed to have a general knowledge in science. This assumption is based on the record or reputation of the schools from which the sample used in the study was drawn. Design and Procedure The study employed the descriptive method of research with a quantitative analysis using statistical tools by means of a thorough analysis of the English needs of the incoming freshmen students of the MSU- Science High School as a basis for the preparation of English instructional materials to be used in its High School Bound Summer Program. This study set out with a needs analysis through a proficiency test administered to the respondents. The descriptive research design was used to treat data on the needs analysis. There were two (2) stages in the conduct of this study: (1) establishing the need for English instructional materials and the needs analysis of the respondents through a proficiency test; and (2) the designing and developing of instructional materials based on the needs analysis conducted. 114

117 The number of the respondents was determined by Sloven s formula with two hundred sixty-three (263) out of a population of Grade VI pupils totaling 460, were randomly selected. Using the formula, a sample of 263 respondents was drawn from the population of the study. From this number, a smaller sample or 20%-30% -- was drawn for interview to assess their listening and speaking skills. The selection for this data-gathering stage was done through stratified random sampling. To gather the needed data, the researcher used a modified proficiency test based on the English Language Proficiency Test (ELPT) of the Language Center of the College of Social Sciences and Humanities, Mindanao State University. The ELPT as a standardized test consisted of three parts: Test of Language Use (TLU), Test of Written English (TWE) and Test of Spoken English (TSE). It aims to measure the test taker s macro skills, namely, reading, writing, listening and speaking. Specifically, the TSE measures the listening and speaking skills of the test takers; the results of which were evaluated and rated by competent raters. The rubric of the level of proficiency is shown in Table 1. Table 1 Levels of Proficiency HIGH ADVANCE LOW ADVANCE HIGH INTERMEDIATE LOW INTERMEDIATE HIGH BEGINNER -displays fluency with no hesitations in speaking, employs complex sentences with no grammatical lapses, uses a wide range of vocabulary, comprehends fully the task given, produces clear, crisp and correct sound of English. -is fluent with very minimal or no hesitations in speaking, employs complex sentences with very few or no grammatical lapses, uses a wide range of vocabulary, completes the task given, produces clear, crisp and correct sound of English. -displays a degree of fluency with occasional hesitations in speaking, employs complex or often simple sentences with very few or no grammatical lapses, uses a variety of vocabulary, completes the given task, produces mostly clear and correct sound of English. -displays a considerable degree of fluency with some hesitations in speaking, employs simple sentences and/or with occasional fragments and other grammatical lapses, uses a variety of vocabulary, almost completes the given task, produces clear but with occasional errors in the sound of English. -displays hesitations in speaking. 115

118 LOW BEGINNER -displays difficulty in speaking. Results and Discussion Table 2 Frequency and Percentage Distribution of the Respondents According to Reading Skill Level ILS ISIS RCDC TOTAL Percentage High Advance Low Advance High Intermediate Low Intermediate High Beginner Low Beginner TOTAL Table 2 posited that a considerably large proportion of the respondents fall in the low intermediate and high beginner. This suggests a serious proficiency deficiency. The data presented reveal that majority or 63.3 percent of the respondents do have a minimum required knowledge of the structure of the English language, such as grammar, vocabulary and reading comprehension. The data further reveal that percent of the respondents are considered average learners and less than 1 percent of the total number of respondents is above average. Specifically, the figures from MSU-ILS were heavily concentrated in the low intermediate and high beginner levels of proficiency. This result is alarming. At their grade level, the respondents are already expected to have a minimum knowledge of the basic structure of the English language. These imply that in terms of reading skill, the respondents have the basic skills in reading with only few of them having the ability to do more than is required and expected of them. But it is sad to note that as the data show, there were still many among the respondents who were below the required and acceptable level of proficiency in reading. Hence, there is basis or warrant for the conclusion that there is a need to maximize learning potentials of the pupils in terms of exposure to the use of the language. They should be exposed to a variety of inputs in English. 116

119 Table 3 Frequency and Percentage Distribution of the Respondents According to Writing Skill Level ILS ISIS RCDC TOTAL Percentage High Advance Low Advance High Intermediate Low Intermediate High Beginner Low Beginner TOTAL Table 3 shows that 9 (3.4%) of the total number of respondents are low beginners; 171 (65%) are high beginners; 65 (24.71%) are low intermediate learners and 18 (6.84%) are high intermediate learners. The overall result implies that more than half or 68.4 percent of the respondents are considered to experience difficulty and hesitations in writing. This means that most of the respondents could hardly put into words their thoughts in an organized manner with English as a medium of communication. Specifically, the data from the MSU-ILS show that majority of the respondents have low proficiency level in writing and only few are classified as average. This clearly means that the respondents have weak background in writing. On the other hand, the data from ISISF show that majority or 56.2% of the respondents have difficulty in writing. The figure compared with MSU-ILS is smaller, which means that in terms of writing skill, the ISISF sample was far better. The data from RDCD reveal that only 2 respondents have a minimum knowledge in writing. The rest of the respondents are considered to experience more serious difficulty and hesitations in writing. From this can be deduced that there is a grave problem among the respondents in terms of writing skill. The problem can be attributed to a host of problems, among which are pupils interest in and focus on writing, language use, exposure to writing, poor comprehension, teaching materials and teacher s teaching strategies. This is a serious problem considering the multiplicity of writing tasks high school students are required to do like reports, research papers, critical analysis, essays and answering test questions and various write-ups. The overall result shows lack of preparation for these tasks. 117

120 Table 4 Frequency and Percentage Distribution of the Respondents Based Listening and Speaking Skills Level ILS ISIS RCDC TOTAL Percentage High Advance Low Advance High Intermediate Low Intermediate High Beginner Low Beginner TOTAL Table 4 shows that 11 (16.9%) out of the 65 respondents interviewed are low beginners; 45 (69.2%) respondents are high beginners, and 8 (12.3%) are low intermediate learners. There is only one respondent who is considered a low advance learner. These data show that majority or 86.1 percent of the total number of respondents have deficiency in listening and speaking, a receptive (passive) and productive (active) skill, respectively. This means that more than 75 percent of the respondents display difficulty and hesitations in speaking as they listen. Poor background and less exposure to the use of English in speaking are some of the factors that contributed to this problem. Hence, it could be inferred that there is a common problem among the Grade VI pupils in the Lanao areas that needs to be addressed in these skills. This means that generally in the classroom situations where English is used as a medium of instruction and communication, the respondents experience difficulty both in listening and speaking. English being a second language poses difficulties to Filipino students who are not native speakers of the language. This problem can be partly accounted for by the home language. School language shift can be a strain for many students. The shift does not happen automatically and smoothly. Accordingly, learners experience much strain or pressure in learning lessons through a language different from, or other than, their first language. In general based on the results of the proficiency test, there is a need to enhance the pupils macro skills in terms of writing, listening and speaking skills. These skills are necessary to achieve language competence in high school years. To maximize the learning potentials of the students in terms of writing, reading, listening and speaking, they must be exposed to a variety of teaching methodologies and learning principles that enhance learning. Hence, deficiency in writing, listening or speaking can be remedied. Moreover, the study of Brandford (1998) 118

121 supported the findings of the present study. He has cogently argued for multiple access to ideas media using different media and a rich learning context enriched with examples and explanations. Although as pointed out by contemporary researches, second language learning is affected by culture, instruction and assessment. This should not be a hindrance to successful second language learning. Conclusions On the basis of the findings, analysis and interpretations of the data, the following conclusions are drawn: 1. There is a serious problem regarding English language proficiency of the respondents in terms of writing, listening and speaking skills. Majority of the respondents from all three schools are diagnosed for Limited English Proficiency (LEP). There is, in fact, a high probability that a more thorough investigation could reveal more serious weaknesses or deficiencies e.g. pidginized English; 2. Better performance in English language proficiency is possible if lessons and activities address the need of the pupils; 3. Majority of the respondents are likely to experience greater difficulties as they advance to higher grade levels and encounter increasingly cognitively demanding tasks. Recommendations In the light of the aforementioned findings and conclusions drawn from the study, the following recommendations are presented for serious consideration of all stakeholders in the education of the young: 1. The pupils of the Lanao areas should be given more support to help English language skills since language is an indispensable tool. They must be immersed for a long time in the target language to develop competence in oral and written communication; 2. Parents, teachers and school administrators should work hand in hand in a concerted effort to cultivate learners competence in reading, writing, listening and speaking; 3. Parents should support their children by providing a variety of good reading materials at home and exposing them to the use of the target language. They should be good models themselves. The stimulation provided by the immediate environment can hardly be emphasized; 4. Teachers should provide interactive, integrative and communicative learning situations for their pupils. They should continuously seek furtherance of their training and growth by attending seminars and workshops to gain more knowledge and skills in language teaching to benefit not just themselves but also the students; 5. School administrators should take it upon themselves to create the conditions conducive to effective teaching and learning e.g. providing essential facilities, such as a rich and updated library, modern laboratories, furnished with computer units, projectors, and the like; 6. Researchers should use the information or result from the study to conduct similar studies to enable to realize the need for English instructional materials; 119

122 7. Similar studies should be undertaken involving other feeder schools in Lanao areas to determine or assess the state of affairs in these schools and discover similar or distinctive features/problems and work out solutions to these; 8. Further efforts should be exerted to assess the needs of the respondents in terms of subject matter or topics (e.g. tense, subject-verb agreement, punctuations and pronounantecedent-agreement) in the English language. In view of the findings of the study, the proposed English Instructional Materials to be used in the High School Bound Summer Program of MSU- Institute of Science Education Science High School is strongly recommended for review and be used for the purpose it was intended to serve. 120

123 References Brown, H.D. (2000). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited. Bloom, B. (1976). Taxonomy of educational objectives. New York. David McKay. Brandford, J.D. (1998). Invited Address Presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Reading Conference, Tucson, Arizona. Bruner, J.S. (1975) Language as an instrument of thought. In A. Davies (ed.), Problems of Language and Learning. London: Heinemann. Cummins, J. (1996) Negotiating identities: Education for empowerment in a diverse society. Los Angeles: California Association for Bilingual Education. Dewey, J. (1916). Democracy and Education. New York: Macmillan. Edwards, J., et al. (1992). Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics. Essex, England: Longman Group, UK Limited. Fradd, S.,& McGee, P. (1994) Instructional Assessment: an Integrative Approach to EvaluatingStudent Performance in Reading, Addison Wesley Gagnè, R. (1985). The Conditions of Learning and the Theory of Instruction, (4th ed.), New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. Krashen, S. (1982). "Principles and practice in second language acquisition." Oxford: Pergamon Press. Nunan, D. (1992). Research Methods in Language Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. O Malley, M. & Chamot, A.(1990). Learning Strategies in Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge University Press. Ornstein, A. (1990) Strategies for Effective Teaching. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. Piaget, J. (1950). The Psychology of Intelligence. New York: Routledge. Reiser, R. A. & Dempsey, J. V. (2007).Trends and Issues in Instructional Design (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. Tomlinson, B. (2004). Material Development in Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press. Villamin, A. (1998). Innovative Strategies in Teaching Reading. Quezon City. SIBS Publishing House. Vygotsky, L. S. (1978).Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 121

124 An Investigation of Myanmar Migrant Workers Job-related English Language Problems and Needs at D.E.A.R Burma School Assco. Prof. Dr. Kantatip Sinhaneti and Khaing Khaing Oo Shinawatra International University Abstract English is a pathway for local and global market to all workers who work in a foreign country. This includes Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand. A survey of their job-related English language problems and needs is required in order to improve their use of English at work. The purpose of this study was therefore to investigate their job-related English language problems and needs. The study employed a survey design to collect data from 240 Myanmar migrant workers at D.E.A.R Burma School in Bangkok, Thailand. The instruments included a questionnaire and an interview. The results of this study revealed these two major findings. On English language problems at work, the most common problem was cultural difference. The most problem for personal life at work was a lack of opportunity to receive a scholarship to continue study for the majority of the respondents graduated from high school and wished to study for job promotion. On job-related English needs, the majority of the respondents reported that they somewhat needed all English language skills for work. The most common needed sub-skills were listening skill for attending training; speaking skill for social communication in their workplace; reading skill for understanding contracts, official documents, discipline documents and announcements; writing for reporting finished tasks. For pedagogical implications of this study, it is suggested that the teachers should focus cultural awareness, practical job-related English skills relating to their needs. Further investigations should be studied focusing on their cultural consciousness and jobrelated English competency. Keywords: English Language Problems, English Language Needs, Myanmar Migrant Workers Introduction There have been a large number of studies investigated various factors on EFL/ESL learning. Many researchers proved that age (Krashen, Long and Scarcella, 1979), gender (Bernat and Lloyd, 2007), learning objective (Cown, 2004), education and language background (Gradman and Hanania, 1991), learning history (Deacon, Murphey and Dore, 2006), personality, motivation (Conttia, 2007), cultural awareness, instructional variables, learning styles and strategies, atonomy (Brown, 2007) were significant factors affecting EFL/ESL learning. Among these factors, employment and career development is one of the most important influences (Damschen, 2012) and EFL teachers should pay attention to this factor (Ganschow, Sparks and Jovorsky, 1998), especially to the students job-related needs in EFL/ESL contexts (Kaewpet, 2009). There were numerous studies to support this as mentioned in the literature review below. 122

125 Literature review In recent decade, English language needs have been studied in various careers, for instance, police officers (Alhuqbani, 2008), engineers (Rungnirundorn and Rongsa-ard, 2005), academic learners (Balint, 2005). There has been a significant relationship between English competency and employment and career development in Australia, Ireland and New Zealand, especially for non-english speaking migrants/immigrants (Roshid and Chowdhury, 2013; Bell, Caughey, Hansson, Martynowicz and Scully, 2009; Henderson, Trlin and Watts, 2006). English ability was necessary for migrants in English speaking countries. For example, English competency was the most important barrier to be effective communication, to integrate into the society, and to raise earnings in the United States (Casale and Posel, 2010). Due to the combination of migration theory and human capital theory, the language pattern was very fundamental for them (Chiswick and Miller, 1997; Espenshade and Fu, 1997). Principally, all migrants needed knowledge and skills of local language or global language. They also needed to know target culture. English ability was an essential role for all migrants to overcome language barriers (Tubergen and Kalmijn, 2005). Accordingly, English language problems and needs for migrants/immigrants were very critical in English speaking countries and/or countries where English is spoken as a second language (Martinez and Wang, 2006). However, it depended on the kind of job and environment (Dustmann and Fabbri, 2003; Kim, Ehrich and Ficorilli, 2012) in non-english speaking countries and/or countries where English is spoken as a foreign language. English language needs were complicated in Asia, non-english speaking countries. The need of English in the workplaces was different between English speaking countries and non- English speaking countries. For example, migrant workers in construction areas were encouraged to learn local language in Malaysia (Nurul Azita Binti Salleh, Norazah Binti Mohd Nordin and Abdul Khalim Bin Abdul Rashid, 2012) even though Hanapiah (2004) pointed out that English is essential and challenged for development in Malaysia, a non-english speaking country. Moreover, Filipino domestic workers needed English for everyday life in Singapore but it was a different aspect from English speaking countries because of inequality of English needs in the workplace (Lorente, 2007). On the other hand, Crebo (2003) evidently pointed out the role of English speaking Filipino domestic helpers was important to provide English language learning for their Chinese employers children in Hong Kong. Interestingly, nowadays, many Myanmar migrant workers (the researcher used the initials MMWs for Myanmar migrant workers throughout this study) have been working in various kinds of jobs in Thailand. They have been dealing with difficulties concerning health care, education requirements, human rights, social and culture awareness, security, opportunity, communication barriers or language difficulties (Punpuing, Caouette, Panam, Zaw, 2004; Isarabhakdi, 2004; Huguet and Punpuing, 2005; Purkey, 2006; Yang, 2007; Jinsong, 2008; Fox, 2009). Besides, several MMWs have been studying English, Thai and computer courses at community schools including D.E.A.R Burma School in Bangkok, Thailand. According to the school s annual reports (Wai, ), there have been some problems to solve in the area of English language learning success for MMWs that could be solved through effective teaching and specific syllabus. Drawing upon the prior research study, this present study was particularly different from the previous studies for the following two main reasons. One is that D.E.A.R Burma School needs a study to promote teaching method, learning approach and syllabus design based on the students English language problems and needs in their workplaces. The other is that many other issues of MMWs in Thailand have been studied in numerous prior studies. However, their 123

126 language needs have not been studied, especially English language learning effectiveness. This study therefore was conducted to solve the following research questions: What are Myanmar migrant workers English language problems in their workplaces? What the English skills and job-related sub-skills do they need for their work? Purpose of the study As this study was intended to enhance MMWs English learning and to promote teaching technique and syllabus outline at D.E.A.R Burma School based on their job-related English language problems and needs, the main purpose of this study was to investigate MMWs English language problems and needs in their workplaces. Research design Sample The participants of this study were MMWs who study English courses at D.E.A.R Burma School in Bangkok, Thailand. The population was about 600 students in fifteen English classes in every semester at the school. Thus, the calculated sample size according to Taro Yamane s (1997) equation was 240 subjects. Then, due to the simple random sample method, 30 subjects for interview were selected among all subjects and 14 teachers were selected for interview among a total 15 English teachers. Instruments This study used a mixed method according to Dornyei s (2007) QUAN + qual approach. This exploratory mixed method design is that quantitative data are collected first and more heavily weighted. Then, qualitative data are collected as a follow-up to the quantitative data. Therefore, the student questionnaire was used to collect data from the students and then follow-up interviews with students and teachers, which were used to remedy ambiguous data from the questionnaire. The student questionnaire was developed by adapting from the prior studies (Alhuqbani, 2008; Rungnirundorn and Rongsa-ard, 2005; Van Avermaet and Gysen, 2006; Lorente, 2007) and language research theories (Richards and Lockhart, 2002). Then some unnecessary questions were deleted while others relating to essential questions were added by tailoring based on MMWs English language problems and job-related needs. Then, in order to verify the questionnaire reliability, two pilot studies were administered with 14 students from the school. The questionnaire was reliable with Cronbach s Alpha value (0.917) which indicated high internal consistency. The two structured interviews with teachers and students were conducted to complete the quantitative results of the survey. Thus, for both student and teacher interviews, questions were designed by the researcher. The teacher interview questions were based on the concepts of their students job-related English language problems and needs to promote teaching methods and learning approach as well as the student interview questions were based on English learning notion relating to their workplaces and career progress. 124

127 Data collection and analysis The constructed questionnaires were distributed to 310 students at the school. The students were assigned to answer the questionnaires by explaining how to fill it and research objectives. Then, the completed questionnaires were collected. Only 248 students completed and returned them. Therefore, according to sample size, 240 completed questionnaires were assembled. Next, interviews were conducted with both 13 teachers and 22 students by making appointments week by week. After collecting data, the student questionnaire data were analyzed using the SPSS 17. Frequencies, percentages, and descriptive statistics were assessed to illustrate the respondents opinions on English language difficulties and job-related needs. Then, interview results were analyzed, deriving information to support quantitative data analysis based on the perception of MMWs job-related English language problems and needs. Results of the study Preliminarily, the data were analyzed in the relation to two research questions. The descriptive statistics was interpreted according to Malhotra s (2006) mean score interpretation as follows. Likert scale interval Mean score Interpretation Strongly agree/always/great need Agree/Often/Need 3.50 to 5.00 High No opinion/sometimes/moderated need 2.50 to 3.49 Medium Strongly disagree/seldom/slight need Disagree/Never/No need 1.00 to 2.49 Low Research question (1): What are Myanmar migrant workers English language problems in their workplaces? Table 1 Mean and standard deviation of English language problems at work Do you have English language problems in the following situations in your workplaces? 1. I find difficulty in using English because of cultural differences (e.g. religious differences, social traditions). 2. I find difficulty in using English in non-english speaking workplaces. 3. I find difficulty in responding to all that is said in English. 125 Mean Standard Deviation Interpretation Low Low Low

128 Do you have English language problems in the following situations in your workplaces? 4. I find difficulty in understanding all that is said in English. 5. I find difficulty in communicating in English with foreigners who speak different dialects of English (Americans, British, Indians, Filipinos, etc.). Average Mean Standard Deviation Interpretation Low Low Low Table 1 showed that the mean range of English language problems was between 2.43 and The ranks of MMWs English problems from the highest to the least were cultural difference (M=2.43, SD=1.115), non-english speaking environment (M=2.25, SD1.167), immediate response (M=2.17, SD=1.072), understanding difficulty (M=2.11, SD=0.996), and accent diversity (M=2.03, SD=1.012) respectively. The average mean was 2.20 (SD=1.072). The aspect of English language problems was low, which showed that the participants were unaware of their English problems at work because they had dominant local language abilities (80 percents of their foreign language abilities was Thai). Table 2 Mean and standard deviation of English language problems for personal life Do you have English language problems for personal life in the following situations at your work? 1. Increasing my chances to receive a scholarship to pursue my further study or a reward to engage from my employer 2. Promoting me to a higher job position 3. Passing job examinations/evaluations 4. Passing my job training courses 5. Raising my monthly salary 6. Using the internet to search the English websites that include information about my work specialization, and other topics of general interests (e.g. international news, cultures, ads) 7. Increasing my knowledge in my field of specialization and work 8. Conversing with people who can speak English in the various fields of life such as hospitals and shopping centers 9. Advancing my continuous study 10. Performing my job effectively Mean Standard Deviation Average Interpretation Medium Medium Medium Low Low Low Low Low Low Low Low 126

129 Table 2 showed that the range of English problems for personal life at work was between 2.97 and The ranks of MMWs English problems for personal life at work from the highest to the least were opportunity for further study (M=2.97, SD=1.300), job promotion (M=2.68, SD=1.332), job evaluation (M=2.56, SD=1.346), and job effectiveness (M=2.00, SD=1.107) respectively. The average mean was 2.34 (SD=1.227). The proportion of English problems for personal life was low, which indicated the participants seldom have English problems for their personal life at work because they usually use Thai language in their work (82.5 percents) and they were not aware of English difficulties for personal life at their work. Regarding student interview responses, they faced some difficulties of using English at work depending on their particular job and situations, for instance, some of them said that it was difficult to use English in the non-english speaking environment. Meanwhile, some who use English in their workplaces have the problems in cultural difference because of their employers different nationality. The majority of the employers were Thai (64.6 percent) and the second group was in others (19.2 percent) such as Chinese, Korea, Japanese, etc. Almost all the teacher interviewees reported that MMWs could use English in their workplaces is valuable. It is proved that some of them can apply English in their work life have good English language skills. Similarly, some who work in English environment acquire more knowledge and easily communicate with peers and employers. Additionally, they have opportunities in anywhere and could solve problems in their workplaces. The sample of the information obtained from a teacher interviewee as follows: Some students learn English to use in their daily life even though English cannot be used in their workplaces. If they get more knowledge of English language, they have opportunities in anywhere and can solve problems in their workplaces. English language is not much applicable to their work environments for them but English can give them a wide environment to see and happy society to participate. Therefore, in their workplaces, sometimes English language is needed to use but they cannot always use English language. If they have abilities and knowledge of English language, they have a chance to use it when needing. Then the researcher analyzed for the research question (2) as follow: Research question (2): What English skills and job-related sub-skills do Myanmar migrant workers need for their work? Table 3 Mean and standard deviation of English four skills needs in the workplaces What English language skills do you need in Standard Mean your workplace? Deviation Interpretation 1. Writing Medium 2. Reading Medium 3. Speaking Medium 4. Listening Low Average Medium Table 3 showed that almost all MMWs indicated that writing (M=2.9, SD=1.364), reading (M=2.68, SD=1.274) and speaking (M=2.61, SD=1.311) were sometimes needed and its interpretation of the mean values were medium. Listening skill (M=2.36, SD=1.305) was seldom 127

130 needed and its interpretation of the mean was low. The average mean was 2.64 (SD=1.314) and it was medium, which indicated the participants moderately required all basic English language four skills for their job. The student interviewees replied that the needs of English depend on the kind of job and some jobs in low levels of organizations no need to speak much. However, some students believed that writing and reading are required for job promotion while some believed that listening and speaking are essential for their particular job. Regarding teacher interview results, they believed that all English abilities were useful and needed at their students work. However, some teachers supposed their students more need listening and speaking skills than others do in the workplace. All the teachers supposed that their students study English even though any English skills are not needed for their current job because they desire to promote their career and to continue their education. Table 4 Mean and standard deviation of English sub-skills needs in the workplaces What English sub-skills do you need in the following activities/circumstances in your workplace? Mean Standard Deviation Interpretation Listening 1. Attending on training Medium 2. Listening to announcements/ advertisements/ Medium news 3. Following instructions Low Average Medium Speaking 1. Communicating in workplace societies Medium 2. Discussing agreements Medium 3. Asking information Medium 4. Giving explanation Medium 5. Answering interviews Low Average Medium Reading 1. Contracts/ Official documents/ Disciplines Medium documents/ Announcements 2. Magazines/ Newspapers Medium 3. Reading advertisements/ Brochures Medium Average Medium Writing 1. Reporting finished tasks/ projects 2. Asking for sick leave 3. Note-taking from listening Medium Medium Medium 4. Applying for a position/ promotion Medium Average Medium 128

131 In Table 4, they stated the needs of job-related sub-skills in their real work situations. From the results, it could be interpreted that the most needs of all participants were listening skill for attending training (M=3.00, SD=0.152); speaking skill for social communication in their workplace (M=3.15, SD=1.591); reading skill for understanding contracts, official documents, discipline documents and announcements (M=3.01, SD=1.560); writing for reporting finished tasks (M=3.41, SD=1.584). The least needs were listening to instructions (M=2.25, SD=1.459); answering interviews (M=2.25, SD=1.434); reading advertisements/ brochures (M=2.66, SD=1.399); applying for a position/promotion (M=2.93, SD=1.609). Almost all the MMWs, who have working experiences for more than two years, said that they desire to improve their English focusing on utilization in their working conditions. Moreover, some students, who do not presently work in English environment, are willing to study English for their future life development. They believed that English skills are very essential to find and improve job wherever they are. For example, writing and reading competencies is useful to write the best resume and cover letter for applying job as the first step of employment and to read the job advertisement, job description, etc. According to the teacher interview results, all interviewees reported job-related English needs is very important but it is not for all as their students, MMWs who work in the non- English speaking situation. Exceptionally, the senior course coordinator widely supposed English is the key to accomplish in anywhere and it could make definitely to promote MMWs situation in the work environment because of going to Asia Economic Community by ASEAN countries. As another aspect, English could be effective to the economic development of the host country. On the part of education reform, English teaching and learning were promoted for the international economy in Thailand in this decade even though official language is Thai. Furthermore, the teacher trainer advised to all the teachers to persuade their students to build independent study, for example, using internet, books, CDs, etc. It is very worthy for the students who work in an English environment and they could apply English every day. In so doing, as one of the opportunities, they could continue their further study to good education and better job through good English knowledge. The sample of the information obtained from a teacher interviewee as follows: The majority of the students English four skills needs depended on their working condition and environment. Actually, they need all basic English four skills for their future career improvement and education development. They believe English is useful for communication and it provides them to obtain opportunities for their life Conclusion To summarize with discussion and implications, this study related with identifying the MMWs English language difficulties and job-related needs in D.E.A.R Burma School in Bangkok, Thailand. The results were concluded that the most common English problem of MMWs at their work was cultural awareness and the least common problem was accent discrimination. Then, the most common English problem for their personal life at work was opportunity of further study and the least common problem was job effectiveness. Regarding English four skills need, MMWs rather needed all English four skills for their work. The most needed sub-skills were listening skill for attending on training; speaking for social communication in their workplaces; reading for understand contracts/ official documents/ discipline documents/ announcements; writing for reporting finished tasks. It showed that English is important for their particular job and they need it to use in the real situations. All MMWs mostly desire to continue their education through learning English. 129

132 Discussion The findings were discussed based on the purpose of the study as below. Investigation of job-related English language problems On MMWs English language problems and personal life at work, the results of this study showed that MMWs were unaware of job-related English problems and the local language was useful in their workplaces. Therefore, this study agreed with Nurul Azita Binti Salleh, Norazah Binti Mohd Nordin and Abdul Khalim Bin Abdul Rashid (2012) showed foreign workers faced language barriers in the construction industry in Malaysia and local language was dominant in low level employment. Hanapiah (2004) asserted that English role, as an international language is vital in a country s development process. However, this study differed with the findings of Martinez and Wang (2006) in that English language problems were serious in English speaking countries for people who are migrants and their mother language is not English. They highlighted English is critical and (LEP) Limited English Proficiency is the most vital challenge for both better-educated and lesseducated immigrants who are from different backgrounds in the USA. Tubergen and Kalmijn (2005) also indicated destination-language (English proficiency) was significant in English speaking countries and difficulties in new language learning were more significant for immigrants in those countries. They also underlined English proficiency is a key factor for immigrants earnings. Investigation of job-related English language needs On job-related English language needs, the findings of this study showed that MMWs moderately needed all basic English four skills for their work and they needed English for their particular job and environment. They learn English for their future career development. For example, some MMWs who work in English speaking environment significantly needed English while some did not but all MMWs desired to learn English for their future career progress. Thus, this study supported with Lorente (2007), pointing out English language capital of Filipino domestic workers in Singapore. He highlighted English skills are very worthwhile in struggling work, but it was different in the aspects of English speaking countries because of inequalities in using value and meaning of English language among employers and workers. However, in Asia, non-english speaking countries, English language needs at work are very complicated for all migrants and immigrants. This study differed with Crebo (2003), in regards to Filipina immigrant domestic helpers English language effectiveness for not only communication, but also for their work, to provide in English language learning for their employers children in Hong Kong. Moreover, this study differed with the following researchers findings. In English speaking countries, Espenshade and Fu (1997) made clear that English is the essential major language used in social and business communication for immigrants in the US. Likewise, English proficiency and sub-skills are needed in the various sectors such as health care services, schools, government agencies for relegated workers and professional immigrants in the US, especially in regards to earnings or job effectiveness (Chiswick and Miller, 1997; Posel and Casale, 2010). In Australia, English proficiency is also a dominant factor in the immigrants employment status (Roshid and Chowdhury, 2013; Chiswick and Miller, 1994; Sun Hee Ok Kima, John Ehrichb and Laura Ficorilli, 2012). In Europe, Bell, Caughey, Hansson, Martynowicz and Scully (2009) found English is a particularly importnat need in regards to employment for migrants in Ireland. Dustmann and Fabbri (2003) also stated English proficiency is very essential in the labor market performance of immigrants in the UK. 130

133 Implications The findings have important implications for English teaching, learning and syllabus development at D.E.A.R Burma School. Firstly, language materials and particular syllabus should meet the job-related needs of MMWs. The materials have to be appropriate to migration, e.g. inclusion of daily life conversations that will persuade and motivate them. The results showed that language materials have clear content to satisfy the level of MMWs and their intended condition of English use and need. Secondly, teaching methods have to be effective and efficient because teaching time is very short, two hours per day, one day per week, for three months per semester. The findings indicated that MMWs need English to progress their career and to participate in the various social functions. Therefore, teaching techniques should be in communicative and create activities including grammar focus such as role-play, group work, daily conversation, etc. Moreover, teachers have to motivate their students to self-study by training with homework activities for reading and writing. Finally, the goal of MMWs English language learning in D.E.A.R Burma School should be specifically related to their workplaces. Particularly, the teachers should notify them of their English problems and needs at work to increase their learning performances. This study has also some limitations. First, the research does not assess all MMWs in Thailand. It only addresses the learning English of MMWs at D.E.A.R Burma School. Second, this study is limited to obtain the information concerning the effectiveness of English language learning for MMWs. A standard score is needed to measure English proficiency or learning effectiveness. Third, it is difficult to pinpoint completely the perception of effective teaching and knowledge of efficient learning from interviewing English teachers who teach at the school because the teachers were from different educational backgrounds and different experiences. Finally, this study is restricted to the production and development of language materials for Myanmar migrant works. However, this study suggests guidelines that are necessary to follow in the design and development of particular syllabus for MMWs in D.E.A.R Burma. Consequently, the present study implies the need for future investigations related to MMWs English language learning in D.E.A.R Burma School to address some other issues concerned with MMWs English language competencies in Thailand. The following topic areas for MMWs in D.E.A.R Burma and other schools need to be taken into account: curriculum project, conductive teaching technique, learning style and strategy, linguistic factors, vocabulary learning, etc. In conclusion, the researcher recommended identifying of MMWs English language problems and job-related English needs improves the actual teaching and learning situations, which involve particular syllabus development, as the guideline for D.E.A.R Burma School. 131

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137 Interlanguage of English Question Use among Thai EFL Learners: An Investigation into Acquisition Patterns and a Testing of Implicational Universals Meechai Wongdaeng Thammasat University Thailand firdaos@hotmail.com Rangsiya Chaengchenkit Thammasat University Thailand rangsiya.neung@gmail.com Abstract The acquisition order of a particular linguistic feature has been widely investigated in first and second language acquisition research. The acquisition of interrogative structures by second language learners are found in several studies to exhibit identifiable systematic patterns. Some scholars e.g. Greenberg and Eckman say that there exist language universals in the learner s acquisition of questions. Several studies on acquisition patterns and typological universals have found support in their claims. However, research studies with typological universal in focus have been rarely seen in Thai context. This gives grounds for the present study to be carried out with an aim to investigate if there is a systematic pattern shared by Thai EFL learners in their acquisition of English interrogative structures. The study is also aimed to examine whether the two questionrelated implicational universals, i.e., wh-inversion implies wh-fronting and yes/no inversion implies wh-inversion proposed by Greenberg (1963) are applicable to the data from Thai EFL learners. The cross-sectional design which recruits two groups of participants differing in English proficiency is adopted so as to find the participants developmental sequence of question acquisition. Sixty-nine participants are selected from Prince of Songkla University students. Thirty- Three of them are a group of high proficiency students and the rest have low English proficiency. Elicited Production Task and Grammaticality Judgment Task are used as tools for data collection. As revealed by the data from both methods, the participants pass through 4 general stages of acquisition, i.e., (1) a pre-transformational stage in which students don t apply any transformational rules related to question formation, (2) fronting of wh-words in wh-questions and inappropriate fronting of auxiliaries do and be in both question types, (3) inverted yes/no questions and inverted wh-questions with auxiliary be, and (4) inverted wh-questions with auxiliary do. Concerning the two implicational universals tested, the first universal finds a strong support in the participants production. Meanwhile, not every participant performs wh-inversion better than yes/no inversion, leaving the second universal disconfirmed. Keywords: Interrogative Structures, Acquisition Order, Typology, Language Universals, Second Language Acquisition 135

138 1. Introduction How a learner acquires interrogative structures has been investigated by a lot of researchers who are interested in the learner language which is technically known as interlanguage. A number of interlanguage studies have shown that second language learners from diverse mother tongues exhibit systematic developmental sequences in their acquisition of English interrogative structures (e.g. Pienemann & Johnston, 1986; Spada & Lightbown, 1999). Some scholars are interested in testing language universals in the data from language learners across languages (e.g. Eckman, Moravcsik and Wirth (1989). These two inquiries drive the researcher to conduct the present study to investigate the acquisition order of interrogative structures among Thai EFL learners and to evaluate the language universals proposed about the formation of questions. 2. Literature review 2.1 Interlanguage The term interlanguage was coined by Selinker (1972) to refer to a linguistic system developed by a second language learner who is in the process of learning. It is the learner's evolving language system that reflects their developing second language knowledge. According to Lightbown and Spada (1999), the interlanguage has (1) some characteristics influenced by the learners' previously learned language(s), (2) some characteristics of the target language and (3) some characteristics influenced by developmental process in the learners' mind. The interlanguage is transitional (Ellis, 1997). The second language learners develop a series of mental grammar as they build up their L2 knowledge pertaining to a particular feature. Such a series is technically referred to as interlanguage continuum or its rather board term sequences of acquisition. 2.2 Sequences in L2 learners acquisition of questions A number of researchers have reported the results from their investigation into second language learners production of questions. The learners interlanguage has been found to exhibit systematic acquisition patterns. Shimada (1986) observed her 11-year-old daughter for 11 months in order to investigate her use of English interrogative structures. The research participant learned English as a second language in a natural setting. Shimada found three developmental stages of her daughter s acquisition of English questions shown in Table 1. Table 1: Developmental stages in the acquisition of English questions by a Japanese speaker (from Shimada, 1986 p.4) Stage I One- or two-word sentences were used with different intonation and gestures e.g.: Play? Jump rope? Daddy, where going? 136

139 Stage II No inversion was made in either Yes-No or wh-questions e.g.: Play jump rope? You want this? Amanda, when you have to go home? Stage III Both Yes-No and wh-questions were sometimes inverted and sometimes not. e.g.: Can I play jump rope? You want this? Do you want this one? What kind of drink you like? Which do you like best? When Tomoko is coming? When is she coming? During the 11 months of investigation, Shimada found that her daughter started to produce English questions by using fragments with use of rising intonation. In the next stage, her daughter managed to put words into Subject-Verb-Object order without auxiliary inversion. The third stage found in the study was the learner s ability to invert subject and auxiliary in both yes/no and wh-questions. However, the inversion did not occur consistently. In a more recent study conducted by Spada and Lightbown (1999), 150 French speaking children who learned English in an instructional setting were selected as participants. One of the researchers aims was to explore the participants development of English question formation. Spada and Lightbown found 5 developmental stages of English question formation exhibited by their participants as presented in the Figure 1 below. Figure 1: Developmental Stages of English Question Acquisition (from Spada and Lightbown,1999 p. 5) Stage 1: Single words or Fragments A spot on the dog? Stage 2: SVO with rising intonation A boy throw the ball? Stage 3: Fronting Do-fronting: Do you have three astronaut? Wh-fronting: What the boy is throwing? Other fronting: Is the boy is beside the bus? Stage 4: Wh- with copula BE Where is the ball? Yes/No questions with aux inversion Is the boy beside the garbage can? Stage 5: Wh- with auxiliary inversion What is the boy throwing? Note: Stage 3 questions can be grammatical or ungrammatical. The questions are categorized by their word order, not their grammaticality. As presented in Figure 1, the learners started to form questions by using just single words or fragments. Then, they can string words into sentences with Subject-Verb-Object order as well as with use of rising intonation. In the third stage, the learners learned to front wh-words and auxiliary verbs. However, the auxiliary inversion was incomplete. The learners managed supply auxiliary inversion properly in yes/no questions as well as in wh-questions with copula be. Finally, wh-questions with other auxiliary could be inverted properly. Investigating acquisition patterns among the learners is one of the major purposes of the present study. The knowledge of the developmental sequences of the learners can be a valuable 137

140 ground for pedagogical implications. The information about a leaner's developmental status is valuable for teachers since it enables them to predict and classify errors. The teachers will also be able to determine what the relationship between the linguistic items to be presented in the course and what the learner's current stage of interlanguage is (Pienemann 1989). 2.3 Typology and language universals Interlanguage studies have provided evidence that the learner language is systematic and rulegoverned. The errors produced by second language learners from various L1 backgrounds share some characteristics in common. This commonality across languages is one of the reasons motivating a number of researchers to become interested in exploring what the human languages of the world have in common. This type of studies is claimed to investigate language universals. Language universals refer to features, patterns or properties which are claimed to be present in all languages of the world. According to Croft (2003), language universals are language properties beyond the essential definitional properties of language that hold for all languages" (Croft, 2003 p. 4). Simply put, the language universals make claims that there are features, patterns or properties that the languages of the world have in common. There are two major approaches to the study of language universals- Generative Grammar and Typology. Despite upholding different theoretical bases, the two approaches share several grounds to the study of language universals. Both approaches deal with the analysis of language structures and try to find answers to the central question "What is a possible human language?" Also, both approaches are universalists, believing in the universality of all human languages. For this present study, the typological approach to the study of language universals was adopted as the approach has been scarcely employed in the investigation of Thai EFL learners interlanguage (e.g. Phoocharoensil & Simargool, 2010). Therefore, some concepts related to typology will be discussed the next section Typology and Implicational Universals The term typology is defined differently according to various domains it is used in. The definition which is mostly related to the present study is the one defined by Croft (2003) as the study of patterns that occur systematically across languages. Typology in this sense is used as an approach to describing language universals. Therefore, the language universals explained by this approach are known as typological universals. A typological universal which is also called a linguistic universal is cross-linguistic generalization of a linguistic pattern. In other words, if a pattern exists across languages, it can be said to be a linguistic universal. Linguistic universal is classified into two types unrestricted universal and implicational universal. An unrestricted universal, also known as an absolute universal, refers to a pattern, feature or property which is claimed to exist in all languages. This type of universal makes claims about the existence of a particular feature in all human languages. The assertions such as All languages have nouns and All languages have verbs are examples of unrestricted universals. This type of universal is relatively rare and has not seen much exploration by researchers. An implicational universal is also generalization of properties across languages but this generalization does not apply to all languages. Implicational universal is often accompanied by restrictions. Below is an example of an implicational universal. 138

141 If a language is SOV, then the genitive precedes the noun. SOV > GN (Croft, 2003:52) From the above example, it can be noticed that the claim in implicational universal, unlike unrestricted one, is less absolute. Instead of proposing just "The genitive precedes the noun in any language", it adds a restriction to allow rooms for other types of language which are not SOV to have other relationship between genitive and noun. Implicational universals have been hypothesized and investigated by a large number of researchers. One of the pioneers in implicational universal study was Greenberg (1963) who formulated numerous universals. Two of the Greenbergian question-related universals, i.e., (1) wh-inversion implies wh-fronting and (2) yes/no inversion implies wh-inversion were adopted and tested in the present study Typological Markedness and Its Implication in SLA research Markedness is applied to various concepts in linguistics. In regard to typology, markedness is an asymmetric relationship between linguistic representations of equal linguistic elements across the world's languages (Croft, 2003 and Eckman, 2008). A member of these representations is assumed to have wider distribution than other members. The one which is more widely distributed is described as unmarked and the other one(s) which is less widely distributed is designated as marked. According to Eckman (2008), the unmarked member is seen to be in some way simpler, more basic or more natural than the marked member(s). For example, in English singular and plural reference as in cat and cats, the adding of morpheme -s to form plurality suggests that reference to plural is more marked than to singular in English. Typological markedness is a universal property because the concept can be utilized as a tool to describe the distribution of representations of equal linguistic elements across languages. Cross linguistic comparisons have shown that the presence of some linguistic feature implies the presence of another feature but not vice versa. Considering the two universals proposed by Greenberg (1963), i.e., wh-inversion implies whfronting and yes/no inversion implies wh-inversion with the concept of typological markedness in view, we can interpret that wh-fronting is the least marked among the three rules while yes/no-inversion in the most marked. 2.4 Studies on implicational universals in L2 learners acquisition of questions Eckman, Moravcsik and Wirth (1989) applied Greenberg s two universals pertaining to questions in their investigation of interrogative structures used by a group of ESL learners. Their aim was to examine whether Greenberg s two universals which were originally made about primary languages can be applicable to second language learner data. They investigated L2 learners s acquisition of questions in 14 learners of English whose L1 varied in three languages, namely Japanese, Korean and Turkish. In their discussion, Eckman, Moravcsik and Wirth concluded that generally the two tested universals were held in the interlanguage of the participants. They set 90 % of accurate use as a benchmark to state whether a student has acquired a rule. In the first universal i.e. wh-inversion implies wh-fronting, no students performed wh-inversion better than wh-fronting, in line with 139

142 the universal. The second universal had a similar trend with only one exceptional case that contradicts the universal. To accommodate the application of the two Greenbergian universals to the second language learners' interlanguage and to eliminate the arbitrary benchmark for determining if a feature is acquired by a learner, Eckman, Moravcsik and Wirth (1989) reinterpreted the above two universals i.e. wh-inversion implies wh-fronting and yes/no inversion implies wh-inversion into: 1a. "The relative frequency of occurrence of subject-verb inversion in wh-questions is never larger than the relative frequency of occurrence of the fronting of the wh-word." 2a. "The relative frequency of occurrence of subject-verb inversion in yes/no questions is never larger than the relative frequency of occurrence of subject-verb inversion in wh-questions". Following Eckman, Moravcsik and Wirth (1989), Zhang (2004) examined the English interrogative interlanguage of fifty two ESL learners at the Monash University English Language Center. With interviews and role-play as data collection instruments, Zhang s findings supported the universals proposed by Eckman, Moravcsik and Wirth (1989). In 2007, Philipsson conducted a cross-sectional design to examine direct and subordinate questions in Swedish as a second language. The researcher employed oral production, written production, grammaticality judgment and receptive skills tasks as data elicitation techniques. It was found that the participants production of direct questions in the oral task confirmed the predictions proposed by Eckman, Moravcsik and Wirth (1989) as it was found that his participants acquired wh-fronting before inversion and acquired wh-inversion before yes/no inversion. Nonetheless, the data from the written production task and grammaticality judgment task didn t support such predictions. For the present study, the two Greenbergian implicational universals which were reinterpreted by Eckman, Moravcsik and Wirth (1989) were tested. This was to examine whether such universals are generalizable to the acquisition of questions among Thai EFL learners. The findings are hoped to complement the previous literature in terms of language universals and the acquisition of questions. 2.5 Interrogative Structures in Thai and English Yes/No questions While English employs subject-verb inversion in order to transform a statement into a yes/no question, the rule of subject-verb inversion is not present in Thai syntax. In Thai, statements are transformed into yes/no questions by the addition of question particles at the end of the sentence (Smyth, 2002). The words are examples of Thai question particles for yes/no questions. Below are examples of Thai yes/no questions and the underlined parts are Thai question particles. The symbol Q prt refers to question particles. Statements Yes/No questions [food Japanese expensive] [food Japanese expensive Q prt] Japanese food is expensive. Is Japanese food expensive? 140

143 [he bored] [he bored Q prt] He is bored. Is he bored? (Adapted from Smyth, 2002 pp. 153,156) Wh-questions In the formation of English wh-questions, subject-verb inversion remains obligatory. Additionally, placing a question word at the beginning of the sentence which is also known as wh-fronting is another rule in forming English wh-questions. For Thai, subject-verb inversion is absent in Thai wh-questions equivalents. Most question words are placed at the end of the sentence. However, some question words, i.e., who, when and why can occur either at the beginning or at the end of the sentences according to their grammatical functions, formality and speaker s purposes as shown in the below examples. wh-word at the sentence final position wh-word at the sentence initial position [ you will go with who] Who are you going with? [ who teach] Who taught you? 141 (Adapted from Smyth, 2002 pp ) As presented in this section, the interrogative structures of Thai differ tremendously from ones of English in terms of subject-verb inversion and wh-fronting. The differences between English and Thai interrogative structures lend themselves to being investigated through implicational universals. 2.6 Research questions and hypotheses The present research is aimed at answering the following research questions: 1. Is there a systematic acquisition pattern of English interrogative structures in the interlanguage of Thai EFL learners? 2. Does the use of wh-fronting, wh-inversion and yes/no inversion in English questions among Thai EFL learners conform to the two implicational universals proposed by Eckman, Moravcsik and Wirth (1989)? To answer the second question, which requires the testing of two implicational universals, the following sub-questions are formed. 2.1 Is the frequency of occurrence of subject-verb inversion in wh-questions in Thai EFL learners never higher than the frequency of occurrence of the fronting of the wh-word? 2.2 Is the frequency of occurrence of subject-verb inversion in yes/no-questions in Thai EFL learners never higher than the frequency of occurrence of subject-verb inversion in whquestions?

144 The aforementioned research questions lead to the following hypotheses: 1. The interrogative structures used by different Thai EFL learners exhibit a systematic acquisition pattern. 2. The use of wh-fronting, wh-inversion and yes/no inversion in English questions among Thai EFL learners conforms to the two implicational universals proposed by Eckman, Moravcsik and Wirth (1989). 3. Methodology 3.1 Participants The present study recruited 69 participants who were divided into two groups in accordance with their English proficiency levels. Thirty-six low proficiency participants were selected from non-english major students at Prince of Songkla University. Thirty-three participants with high English proficiency were English major students of the same university. The Oxford Placement Test was used to place the participants into the groups. 3.2 Data Collection Two main instruments were employed as elicitation tools in the present study. First, the participants were asked to perform Grammaticality Judgment Task (GJT). The task is commonly used in linguistics because it can reveal the respondents receptive skills. In the GJT, participants were presented with L2 sentences and were asked to state whether or not the sentences are grammatical. For the items marked as ungrammatical, the participants needed to supply the correct versions. The task contained 24 items. Eight items elicited wh-questions and eight other items elicited yes/no questions. Eight declarative sentences were included as distracters. Another instrument was an Elicited Production Task (EPT). The EPT was chosen because the technique is effective in eliciting linguistic constructions that students rarely produce and in revealing the participants grammatical knowledge. In this task, participants were provided with prompts and were asked to write a response to the prompts. The task consisted of 24 items, eliciting 8 wh-questions and 8 yes/no questions and including 8 distracters. The targeted items in both tasks are in present simple tense only. This is to avoid other factors, such the differences in the complexity of each tense, from influencing the participant s responses. For the items which elicit wh-questions in both tasks, only four wh-words, namely what, who (object), where and how are selected. These four wh-words do not occur in the sentence initial position in the syntax of the participants mother tongue, Thai. The exclusion of wh-words which can occur at both initial and final positions such as why and when is hoped to eliminate the chance of interference from the participants mother tongue. 3.3 Data Analysis Both qualitative and quantifiable data was obtained through the data collection instruments in this study. Both types of data are crucial for answering the research questions. At a glance, the data collected from both instruments can be considered qualitative data because the answers the participants supply are in textual form. This textual data can reveal the 142

145 interlanguage of the Thai EFL learners in regard to their use of questions. Moreover, the interlanguage of interrogative structures used by the two groups of participants can represent the developmental sequence of interrogative sentences of Thai EFL learners. This can provide an answer for the first research question. The data from the two elicitation tasks can also be analyzed quantitatively because the collected textual data is quantifiable. The implicational universals proposed by Eckman, Moravcsik and Wirth (1989) were applied as a framework for analyzing the data. To answer the second research question, the students' answers in both tasks were put into three categories: the use of wh-fronting, the use of wh-inversion and the use of yes/no inversion. The accuracy rate of use of each category was counted and calculated into percentage. Then, a comparison between the participant s accurate use of wh-fronting and wh-inversion was made to test the first universal. After that, the participants accurate use of wh-inversion and yes/no inversion was compared to test the second universal. In addition, the data underwent statistical analysis. Descriptive analysis was conducted and T-test was calculated. 4. Findings and Discussio 4.1 Acquisition pattern of interrogative structures among Thai EFL learners As revealed by the data from both data collection methods, four general stages of acquisition were found in the participants interlanguage of English questions, as presented in Table 2. Table 2: Thai EFL learners acquisition of English interrogative structures Stage Question types Examples Description 1 Pre-transformational Peter often goes to the movies with who? Learners don t apply any transformational rules related to question formation. 2 Wh-fronting Inappropriate fronting of auxiliaries be/do What the secret ingredients in your soup is? Are you often have sandwich for lunch? Where is your brother often go on Sundays? Learners front wh-words in whquestions. But for inversion, do is inserted in auxiliary verb questions and be is fronted in lexical verb questions. 3 Inverted yes/no questions Inverted wh-questions with be Is your father a photographer? Do you often go to the movie on weekends? What is in Anna s bag? Learners invert subject and auxiliary verbs in yes/no questions. For wh-questions, only auxiliary be is inverted properly. 143

146 Stage Question types Examples Description 4 Inverted wh questions with do How does Peter come to school? Learners invert subject and auxiliary verbs in wh-questions. Note: Grammatical mistakes are not directly related to the formation of questions. Thus, the questions are categorized by their word order, not their grammaticality. From Table 2, the first stage the learners went through was pre-transformational. In this stage, the students produce English questions with no supply of any transformational rules. As the data collection was not conducted orally, the chunking and rising intonation were not present. However, if an oral production task had been carried out, the chunking and rising intonation would also be considered pre-transformational. In the second stage, both the high and low proficiency participants could front wh-words more accurately than invert the subject and auxiliary verb. The accuracy rate of wh-fronting was not considerably different among the high and low proficiency groups. Meanwhile, inappropriate fronting of auxiliaries be and do were produced higher by the low proficiency learners, preventing them from acquiring inversion in both types of questions. In the next stage, the high proficiency learners could supply inversion consistently in yes/no questions. Only wh-questions with auxiliary be were produced consistently by the high proficient learners. The fourth stage is the mastery of inverted wh-questions with the other auxiliary, do. 4.2 Testing of the two implicational universals The collected data could also provide an answer to the second research question which deals with the testing of two implicational universals, i.e., wh-inversion implies wh-fronting and yes/no inversion implies wh-inversion. The participants responses to the GJT and EPT tasks were categorized, calculated into percentage and T-scores, as presented in Table 3. Table 3: The frequency of occurrence of each rule targeted in the tested universals 1 st universal GJT Mean % Correlation t Mean % Correlation t wh-frt * * * * wh-inv (.000) (.000) (.000) (.000) EPT 2 nd universal wh-inv * * (.006) (.554) (.000) yn-inv * (.000) Note: The first universal refers to wh-inversion implies wh-fronting and the second universal refers to yes/no inversion implies wh-inversion. It could be seen from Table 3 that in the production of all participants, the accuracy rate of whfronting is higher than the one of wh-inversion. In addition, the difference in the occurrence of 144

147 wh-fronting and wh-inversion in both data collection methods were statistically significant. In this way, the first universal which posits that wh-inversion implies wh-fronting is confirmed. On the other hand, for the second universal, the occurrence of wh-inversion in the GJT was only minimally higher than yes/no inversion and the difference was not statistically significant (p=.554). Contrary to the second universal, the occurrence of wh-inversion in the EPT was obviously lower than the occurrence of yes/no inversion. Such difference was statically significant (p=.000). In this way, the second universal was rejected. It is obvious that the validity of the second universal is not as strong as the first universal. In my speculation, the second universal was rejected because the implicational relationship in inversion in wh-questions and in yes/no questions might not lie in the question type but in the type of auxiliary verb. As the results from the present study suggest, the students could appropriately apply be inversion better than do inversion. Thus, it could be said that copular inversion is less marked than do-inversion. 4.3 Pedagogical Implication The central question that has driven this investigation is to look into the acquisition pattern of interrogative structures of Thai EFL learners. The acquisition order can reveal the process of learning. According to Pienemann (1989), the acquisition order is shaped by the way the learner acquires necessary processing prerequisites. Therefore, the information about a leaner s developmental status enables the teachers to predict and classify errors. It is also helpful for teachers in determining what the learner s current stage of interlanguage is and what to be presented in the course. In addition, the knowledge of acquisition order could help the teachers to monitor and facilitate the learners. For the stage which is found to be difficult to the learners, the teachers can manipulate the teaching material which is the major input in EFL context to represent the target feature substantially. According to Gass and Selinker (2001), input frequency can override the difficulty of a marked feature. 5. Conclusion The present cross-sectional study was carried out with the main aims to investigate the acquisition pattern of English present simple interrogative structures among a group of Thai EFL learners who differ in their English proficiency. The results drawn from the grammaticality judgment task and elicited production task indicate that the Thai EFL learners systematically traverse along a developmental sequence in gaining mastery of English questions. Thai EFL learners find wh-questions especially the ones with do inversion more difficult than yes/no questions. Wh-fronting was the least difficult transformational rules for the formation of questions. Regarding the auxiliary verbs, Thai EFL learners managed to produce questions with be consistently accurately before the ones with do. For the testing of two implicational universals, namely wh-fronting implies wh-inversion and yes/no inversion implies wh-inversion, the first universal was well supported by the present study s data while the second universal was refuted. The testing of language universals, in my views, is not to see whether the relevant universals are accurate. The essence is the information about language or language learning each universal conveys. As the results suggest, the first universal which implies the acquisition order of the wh-fronting and wh-inversion is confirmed. 145

148 Meanwhile, the acquisition order of wh-inversion and yes/no inversion implied in the second universal was rejected. The findings about acquisition order from the testing of the two universals correspond to the acquisition pattern of interrogative structures found in the participants production. 146

149 References Croft, W. (2003). Typology and universals, 2nd edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Eckman, F. (2008). Typological markedness and second language phonology. In Phonology and second language acquisition, ed. J. G. Hansen Edwards and M. L. Zampini, Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Eckman, F., Moravcsik, E., & Wirth, J. (1989). Implicational universals and interrogative structures in the interlanguage of ESL learners. Language Learning 39: Ellis, R. (1997). Second Language Acquisition. Oxford University Press. Gass, S. M. & Selinker, L. 2001: Second Language Acquisition: An Introductory Course. Second edition. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Greenberg, J.H. (1963). Some universals of grammar with particular reference to the order of meaningful elements. In J.H. Greenberg (Ed.), Universals of language (pp ). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Lightbown, M., & Spada, N. (1999). How languages are learned (2 ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. Philipsson, A. (2007). Interrogative Clauses and Verb Morphology in L2 Swedish: Theoretical Interpretations of Grammatical Development and Effects of Different Elicitation Techniques. Ph.D. dissertation, Center for Research on Bilingualism, Stockholm University. Pienemann, M. (1989). Is Language Teachable? Psycholinguistic Experiments and Hypothesis. Apply Linguistics 10/1: Pienemann, M., & Johnston, M. (1986). An acquisition based procedure for second language assessment (ESL). Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 9(1), Selinker, L. (1972). Interlanguage. International Review of Applied Linguistics., 10/3: Shimada, Y. (1986). The acquisition of English interrogatives by a Japanese speaker. JALT. Journal, 8, Smyth, D. (2002). Thai: An Essential Grammar. London: Routledge. Spada, N. & Lightbown, M. (1999). Instruction, First Language Influence, and Developmental Readiness in Second Language Acquisition. Modern Language Review. 83/1: Zhang, M. (2004). Interrogative structures in the interlanguage of ESL learners : further evidence of the role of language universals. In Australian Review of Applied Linguistics. 27 (1),

150 English-Thai Time Expressions Used by Thai EFL Learners Khanita Limhan Faculty of Liberal Arts and Faculty of Graduate Studies Mahidol University Abstract Time expression is an important linguistic feature found in many languages. People who speak different languages use different forms of the time expressions to reveal their time reference, aspect, and mood (Comrie, 1985; Hoi, 1965). For example, English indicates its expressions through the suffixes e.g. the past tense -ed, whereas, Thai does not carry verb infixes but has a Thai tense marker such as /lǽæw/ completed action, already (Charunrochana, 1999). Due to the differences of the time expressions, foreign language (FL) learners need to be aware of this aspect so as to speak and write the target language (TL) accurately and effectively. In the previous studies, Thai EFL learners have faced difficulties in using the English verb system and the tenses as a result of their L1 influence, background knowledge, and fields of study (Noochoochai, 1978; Pholthee, 2008; Tawilapakul, 2002; Yamput, 2011). This study examined how Thai EFL learners used English time expressions (tenses) when compared to their use of Thai equivalent in a university context. In this study, 40 Thai EFL university learners from English and Thai majors were asked to complete a test with the English-tense identification items, the English-Thai/Thai-English translation, and sentence completion with verbs in correct forms. The results revealed that up to 85% of Thai EFL learners used Thai time expressions appropriately whereas over half of the learners had difficulties in using English time expressions although most of them identified the grammatical structure properly. Keywords: Syntax, Tense, English, Thai, Time Expression Introduction Due to the significance of English language nowadays (Crystal, 2003; Harmer, 2004; Mollin and Karls, 2006; Kirkpatrick, 2007), non-native speakers, such as Thai, are required to master English language as a medium important of communication. Based on the Kachru s model (1985), English is Thailand is regarded as a foreign language (Harmer, 2004; Kirkpatrick, 2007). In general, EFL learners have less opportunity to use English language in real life. Thus, teaching and learning focuses on the grammar knowledge for their examinations, according to Kirkpatrick (2007) and Rao (2002). A significant linguistic feature found in many languages is time expressions. The EFL learners had difficulties in using the English time expressions due to the native language interference (Ekmekcі, 1990). Similarly, Thai EFL learners have struggled using the 148

151 English time expressions due to the L1 interference and different grammar rules (Arakkitsakul, 2008; Isarankura, 2011; Phumklom, 2011; Tawilapakul, 2003). Obviously, the most difficult linguistics device faced by Thai EFL learners is tenses because they could not fully comprehend its concepts (Tawilapakul, 2003). The definition of time expressions employed in this study refer to tenses and adverbs which include the verb tenses and adverb of time in English; and the tense markers and adverb of time in Thai. Based on the rationale and background, this study was consequently conducted to investigate the use of the English and Thai time expressions by Thai learners. Research question: How do Thai EFL learners use the English time expressions (tenses) when compared to their use of Thai equivalent? Literature Review It is widely known that the expression is used to reveal a speaker s time reference, aspect, and mood (Comrie, 1985; Hoi, 1965; Jacob, 1995). Thai and the English time expressions can be similarly expressed. However, what makes these two languages different are the tense markers in Thai language (Charunrochana, 1999; Harley and Elizabeth, 2002; Higbie and Thinsan, 2003; Noochoochai, 1978; Noss, 1964; Phumklom, 2011; Yates et al., 1970), and the inflectional morphemes in English language. Thai language does not have verb conjugation along with subject-verb agreement like the ones in English (Higbie and Thinsan, 2003). Here are some examples: (1) Thai Scripts: เม อวานฉ นจะไปต ดผม แต ฉ นไม ว าง (Past action) IPA: [mɯa-waan cʰǎn c{ɂ paj t{t phǒm tὲɛ cʰǎn m}i w}aŋ] Gloss: Yesterday I will go cut hair but I no free English = Yesterday I would have had a haircut, but I was busy. Example (1) refers to the past action according to the adverbs of time. However, a Thai modal verb [c{ɂ] will is also used to illustrate the future action in the past time. (2) Thai Scripts: ฉ นจะไปต ดผมพร งน (Future action) IPA: [cʰǎn c{ɂ paj tàt p h ǒm p h rûŋ-níi] Gloss: I will go cut hair tomorrow English = I will have a haircut tomorrow. Although Example (2) is the future action, the same form of modal verb will is used, as in Example (1) with the adverbial of time tomorrow. In fact, the adverbial expressions of time can be placed either in the initial or final positions of the sentence, as shown in Examples (1) and (2). As mentioned above, the tense markers can be, moreover, used to express time in Thai. Here are some examples of tense markers. (3) Thai Scripts: ส ร ได ก นข าวแล ว (past tense) IPA: [Siri dâaj kin kâaw lέɛw] Gloss: Siri completive eat rice already English = Siri ate rice already. Example (3), the Thai tense markers [dâaj -lέɛw] completive-already are used to reveal the completed action of the speaker. 149

152 (4) Thai Scripts: ฉ นกาล งก นอาหารเท ยง (อย ) (present tense) IPA: [cʰǎn kamlaŋ kin Ɂaa-hǎan t h i{ŋ jùu] Gloss: I - ing eat food noon progressive English = I am having lunch. Example (4), the Thai tense markers [kamlaŋ jùu] -ing-progressive are used to indicate the happening action. (5) Thai Scripts: ล งกาล งจะก นอาหารเท ยง IPA: [luŋ kamlaŋ-c{ɂ kin Ɂaa-hǎan t h i{ŋ] (future tense) Gloss: Uncle ing to eat food noon English = An uncle is going to have lunch. Example (5), the Thai tense marker [kamlaŋ c{ɂ] in the process of is used to indicate the immediate future action. In contrast, English indicates its expressions through the suffixes such as -ed for the past tense, -ing for the progressive tense, and -s/-es for the present tense for third pronouns (he, she, and it). Actually, there are four important suffixes used to indicate the time expressions in English. First, the inflectional morpheme -ed, which represents the completed actions, is used in four distinctive tenses such as the past simple tense (with regular verbs), the past perfect tense, the present perfect tense, and the future perfect tense (Dowing and Locke, 2006; Murphy, 2004; Quirk et al. 1972; Soars and Soars, 2005). It is morphologically placed at the end of the main verb of the sentences as follows. (6) Tim walked to school yesterday. Second, the inflectional morphemes -s/-es, which represent the eternal truths, are used particularly for the third pronouns (he, she, and it). These morphemes are always placed at the end of the main verb excluding the verb to be and the verb to have (Dowing and Locke, 2006; Quirk et al. 1972; Soars and Soars, 2005), as in Example (7). (7) Tim watches TV every day. Third, the inflectional morpheme -ing represents the progressive/ongoing actions in the past, present, and future time (Dowing and Locke, 2006; Murphy, 2004; Soars and Soars, 2005). It is also placed at the end of the main verb, as in (8). (8) Sally has been painting her house for a week. Research Methodology This study employed a test to examine how the participants used English time expressions (tenses) when compared to their use of Thai equivalent in a university context. Participants were Thai male and female undergraduate students from Thai and English majors at the Faculty of Liberal arts. The freshmen and seniors were selected in this study in order to compare their English language proficiency on their use of English and Thai time expressions. Thus, forty participants volunteered to participate in the study. They were divided into four groups: 2 Thai-major groups (10 freshmen and 10 seniors) and another 2 English-major groups (10 freshmen and 10 seniors). All participants were asked to complete a test with the English-tense identification items, the English-Thai/Thai-English translation, and sentence completion with verbs in correct forms. The test was designed based on English and Thai syntactic structure. It consists 7 items on the English verb-tense identification, 10 items on English-Thai translation, 10 items on Thai-English translation, 6 items on the English verb tenses completion which aimed at examining the learners proficiency in conjugating the 150

153 missing English verb tenses based on the narrative story. Also, the participants were asked to explain the reasons for answering each Thai or English equivalent for all items concerning the identification of verbs and uses of verbs to complete sentences. The explanations were allowed to be written either in Thai or in English language depending on the learners choices. The data were afterward analyzed and calculated by the SPSS program and Microsoft Excel program. The mean score and percentage were used in this present study. Results Results are reported in four sections: 1) how the participants identified tenses in English language; 2) how the participants translated English language items into Thai language; 3) how the participants translated Thai language items into English language; 4) how the participants accurately used verb forms to expressed tense in English language. The English-tense identification The section presents learners proficiency on identifying the English tenses. As shown in Table 1, the abbreviation THA1 stands for the Thai freshmen, THA4 stands for the Thai seniors, ENG1 stands for the English freshmen, and ENG4 stands for the English seniors. Table 1 English-tenses identified by Thai and English-majors learners Tense Linguistic devices 151 Participants (%) THA1 THA4 ENG1 ENG4 Present The inflectional morpheme -s simple The sentence context The time expression Past simple The verb was The sentence context The sentence structure 10 N/A 10 Future simple The modal verb will The sentence context The time expression The sentence structure N/A Present prog. The inflectional morpheme ing The sentence context The sentence structure The time expression 50 40

154 Tense Linguistic devices Participants (%) THA1 THA4 ENG1 ENG4 N/A Present The sentence structure perfect progressive The sentence context 20 The time expression 20 N/A Past perfect The sentence structure The sentence context N/A Future perfect The sentence structure The sentence context N/A The results show that both of the Thai and English-major learners used at least two linguistic devices to identify the English tenses. The most common method is that they identified tenses from the sentence structure. Moreover, the Thai-major group used many linguistic devices to identify the tenses rather than the English-major group. However, many of the Thai-major learners could not accurately identify some English tenses such as the present progressive tense, the present perfect progressive tense, the past perfect tense, the future simple tense, and the future perfect tense. As presented in Table 1, the THA1 (80%), the THA4 (60%), the ENG1 (50%), and the ENG4 (80%) identified the present simple tense because the inflectional morpheme -s of the main verb. Also, the ENG1 (50%) and the ENG4 (20%) categorized from the sentence context; and another 20% of the THA1 and 40% of the THA4 used the time expressions to identify it. For the past simple tense, all of the THA1 and the THA4, and the ENG1 (30%) and the ENG4 (70%) identified this tense from the verb tense was. The ENG1 (50%) and the ENG4 (30%), furthermore, identified this tense by analyzing the sentence context. Surprisingly, a few of ENG1 (10 %) could not identify this tense. The THA1 (30%), the THA4 (60%), the ENG1 (40%), and the ENG4 (40%) identified the future simple tense from the modal verb will. The THA1 (40%) and the THA4 (30%), additionally, identified English tense from the time expression next month. However, some of the THA1 (30%) and a few of the THA4 (10%) did not identify the tense. In terms of present progressive, the THA1 (10%), the THA4 (20%), the ENG1 (70%), and the ENG4 (70%) identified this tense from its sentence structure. They also identified the present perfect progressive tense from its sentences structure. Yet, most of the THA1 (80%), many of the THA4 (60%), and some of the ENG4 (20%) could not identify this tense. The ENG1 (70%) and the ENG4 (90%) identified the past perfect tense of the sentence structure. In contrast, most of the THA1 (90%) and the THA4 (50%) did not identify this tense. the THA1 (10%), the THA4 (50%), the ENG1 (70%), and the ENG4 (90%) identified the future perfect tense, from its sentence structure; however, neither the THA1 (90%) nor the THA4 (50%).identified this tense. In brief, the English-major group identified the English tenses better than the Thai-major group. 152

155 THA1 THA4 ENG1 ENG4 The 1 st International Conference on Language, Literature, and Cultural Studies In addition to the identification of tense in English, the participants were required to translate English given item into Thai. The following section reports the results. The English-Thai translation This section exhibits the learners use of Thai time expressions: tense markers, adverbs of time, and modal verbs; when they were required to translate the given English items to Thai immediately. As shown in Table 2, the learners use of Thai time expressions is demonstrated as follows. Table 2 Thai EFL learners use of the Thai time expressions The use of Thai time expressions Participants THA1 (%) THA4 (%) ENG1 (%) ENG4 (%) Used appropriate tense markers Used appropriate adverbs of time Used appropriate modal verbs Mean From Table 2, the results reveal that all of the English-major students (100%) used the Thai tense markers more appropriate than the Thai-major groups (89%) and (90%). On the other hand, the Thai-major groups used the Thai modal verbs more appropriately than the English-major groups at the rate of 60% for the ENG1, and 80% for the ENG4. Overall, most of the participants used the Thai time expressions which included the tense markers, the adverbs of time, and the modal verbs accurately and appropriately. The examples of learners inappropriate uses of Thai time expressions are illustrated in Table 3. Table 3 Thai EFL Learners inaccurate use of Thai time expressions English time expression The targeted expressions The used expressions Participants (%) Always เป นประจา/สม าเสมอ [pɛn pr{ɂ cam/s{ɂ m{m ม กจะ[màk c{ɂ] ท กว น[t h úk wan] 5 s{ɂmɤɤ] Will จะ [c{ɂ] กาล ง[kamlaŋ] น าจะ [ nâa c{ɂ] 37 Month เด อน [dɯan] อาท ตย [Ɂaat h ít]

156 From Table 3, the results indicate that the English-major students translated the adverb always inaccurately. The ENG1 (15%) and ENG 4 (10%) used the modal verb [m{k c{ɂ] instead of [pɛn pr{ɂ-cam/s{ɂ-màm-s{ɂ-mɤɤ] in their translations. Additionally, there were 5% of the ENG1 used the adverb of time [t h úk wan]. As shown, none of the Thaimajor students used of this adverb inaccurately. However, the Thai-major students translated the modal verb will into [kamlaŋ] instead of [c{ɂ]; and the adverb of time month into week [Ɂaat h ít] ; whereas, all of the English-major students could use this adverb of time accurately. The Thai-English translation This section presents the learners use of English time expressions: verb tenses, modal verbs, and adverbs expressions of time when they were required to translate the given Thai items into English as shown in Figure 1. Figure 1 The learners use of the English time expressions The results reveal that the Thai-major group had difficulties in using the English time expressions rather than the English-major group. The THA1 had the lowest accuracy in using the English tenses especially the future progressive tense, the future perfect tense, and the future perfect progressive tenses at the rate of 0%. The THA4 had higher accuracy than the THA1 but lower than the English-major counterparts. The highest scores of the THA1were the present simple tense and the future simple tenses (40%) while the highest score of the THA4 was on the future simple tense (60%). On the contrary, The ENG1used the future perfect progressive tense at the high rate of 90% which was the highest score. The highest score of ENG4 was the future simple tense. Overall, all of the participants had difficulties in using the past perfect tense, the future progressive tense, and the future perfect tense. Moreover, the Thai-major group could not translate some given Thai items into English appropriately. The examples are in (9)-(11) as shown below. (9) Rain heavy drops for five hours [sic] (10) Rain fall heavy for a 5 hours [sic] (11) In 2014, we anniversary 7 years in Bangkok [sic] So far, results on tense identification and translation items have been reported. The following section reports how the participants used English verbs. 154

157 The English verb tenses This section presents the participants use of the English verb infixes when they were required to fill in the English verb tenses to complete sentences as shown in Figure 2. Figure 2 The learners use on the English verb tenses The ENG4 had the highest score in using the English verb tenses whereas the THA1 had the lowest scores. All of the participants had no difficulties in using the past tense verb forms and verb to be. However, the majority of all participants had very low scores (0%- 10%) in using the past perfect tense. Moreover, the ENG4 used the verb to be and the future simple verb form Will+V.1 more accurately than the other groups with the score of 90%. The THA1 had difficulties in using the inflectional morpheme -s/ es for the third subject pronouns in the present simple tense (10%), but not the ENG4 who gained as high score as 90%. Discussion and conclusion The results of this study demonstrated that most the Thai EFL learners grammatically used the Thai time expressions (L1) better than the English time expressions (L2). However, the Thai EFL learners, who from the English-major group, perceived its similarities and differences between Thai and English greater than the Thai-major group. Therefore, they expressed English time expressions better than the one from the Thai-major counterparts. Regarding difficulties, all the participants were found to have difficulties in identifying and using eight English tenses. These included (1) the present perfect tense; (2) the present perfect progressive tense; (3) the past progressive tense in accordance with Yamput (2011); (4) the past perfect progressive tense; (5) the past perfect tense; (6) the future perfect tense; (7) the future continuous tense; and (8) the future perfect continuous tense. Some of these findings are similar to those in previous study. In previous studies, the participants were found to have difficulties using the present perfect tense (Arakkitsakul; 2008 and Phumklom; 2011), the present perfect progressive tense (Tawilapakul; 2003), the past progressive tense (Yamput; 2011), the past perfect progressive tense (Isarankura; 2011). These difficulties occurred because of the differences between the participants perspective of time. They viewed the 155

158 actions as the way they did in their mother tongue. In terms of language devices, the L2 learners would choose their native grammar rules or vocabulary to construct their L2. Overall, it can be summarized that Thai EFL learners understand the concepts of the Thai and English time expressions in terms of forms and functions although their uses of the time expressions are inaccurate. For examples, the Thai-major participants performed greatly in the English-tense identification but their uses of English time expressions in the Thai-English translation were mostly ungrammatical items. However, the participants evidently used the Thai time expressions more accurately than the English-major groups. This probably might occur because the Thai-major group had more opportunities in improving their Thai proficiency in their classes. Furthermore, the English-major participants identified English tenses better than the Thai-major group; nevertheless, their competence in using of English tenses was not accurate in terms of the usages of the English tenses such as the past perfect tense, the past perfect progressive tenses, the future progressive tense, the future perfect tense, and the future perfect progressive tense. As a result of these English tenses do not exist in Thai language which is their native language therefore it is hard for the Thai learners to understand these mentioned tenses. Therefore, the implications of this present study are to perceive how Thai EFL learners really used the English time expressions and identify the learners problems or struggles in their learning. Moreover, a clear objective of learning and teaching English in Thailand should be set whether it is only for the examination or not. For the reason that this could help the English teachers encourage and motivate their students appropriately. Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge my indebtedness and gratitude to Asst. Prof. Dr. Apisak Pupipat, Lect. Dr. Rungpat Roengpitya, and Lect. Dr. Chirasiri Kasemsin Vivekmetakorn for their advice and guidance. Besides, I deeply appreciate the supports from the M.A. program in Applied Linguistics, Faculty of Liberal Arts, and from Faculty of Graduate Studies, Mahidol University. This project is also made possible by grant from Faculty of Graduate Studies. 156

159 References Arakkitsakul, Y. (2008). An error analysis of present perfect tense case study of freshmen students at Nakhon Si Thammarat Rajabhat University. M.A. Thesis (Teaching English as a foreign language), Bangkok: Language institution, Thammasat University. Charunrochana, J. (1999). Sex and gender in Hindi. India Studies Journal.Vol. 4 (pp.78-89). Dörnyei, Z. (1994). Motivation and motivating in the foreign language classroom.the Modern Language Journal, Vol. 78, No. 3 (pp ). Blackwell publishing on behalf of the national federation of modern language teachers associations. Downing, A. & Locke, P. (2006). English grammar (2nd edition). Great Britain: Routledge. Ekmekcі, Ö. (1990). Use of adverbial expressions of time in context and some guidance to avoid missentence contexts. Ç.U. Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, N 3, (pp ). Higbie, J. &Thinsan, S. (2003). Thai reference grammar: the structure of spoken Thai. Bangkok: Orchid Press. Phumklom, P. (2011). A comparative study of L1 interference with the use of the present perfect tense by Thai English, business Chinese, and law major students at Mae Fah Lung University. School of Liberal Arts. Mae Fah Lung University. 157

160 The Metaphors of Verbal and Pictorial Verbal Advertisement Texts in Online Magazines Nani Indrajani Tjitrakusuma English Department Petra Christian University Surabaya-Indonesia Abstract Advertisements are not strange things in humans life and they can take various forms and media. In creating the message about the advertised products, advertisements often use metaphorical language as stated by Kővecses (2010: 65) that an appropriately selected metaphor may work wonders in promoting the sale of an item. By using a good choice of pictures and words to create especially conceptual metaphor, advertisements can evoke people s desire to buy the advertised products. Therefore, this research was done to find out the kinds of metaphors found in the verbal and pictorial verbal advertisement texts in online magazines. The theories of metaphor by Kövecses (2010), Knowles and Moon (2006), Forceville (1998), and Lakoff and Johnson (1996) were used to uncover the metaphors. This research was a qualitative one. The source of data was taken from online magazines and the data were advertisements on food ingredients, food and beverages products. The units of analysis of the research were words in context, including phrases, clauses, sentences and the contextual pictures in the advertisements. The research found that various kinds of metaphors were applied to make the advertisements interesting and eye catching; this is also in accordance with Goddard s (2002) definition of advertisement as texts (including visual artifacts and verbal language) that make a person turn towards them. Keywords: metaphor, verbal, pictorial verbal, online advertisement Introduction Advertisements are not strange things in the society and they take many forms such as souvenirs that have the logo or information about some products. When people bring the souvenirs everywhere they go, automatically they have advertised the products informed in the souvenirs. Based on Goddard (2002: 6), the word advertisement comes from the Latin verb advertere which means to turn towards ; therefore, advertisements can be defined as texts (including visual artifacts and verbal language) that make a person turn towards them. Advertisements can be found in numerous media; yet, in this research, written advertisements in the online magazines are chosen since online magazines, including the advertisements, can be accessed easily and world widely, so people are familiar with them. Apart from it, advertisements in magazines are more attractive and colorful compared to the ones in newspapers. 158

161 Among the various kinds of advertisements, in this research, advertisements of food ingredients, food, and beverages products are to be analyzed for some reasons. First, the advertisements of food ingredients cannot be separated from the foods which are the products of the ingredients themselves, and food and beverages are the primary needs for human beings; therefore, the advertisements of food ingredients, food, and beverages products must be very attractive for whoever sees or reads the advertisements. The second reason is that people nowadays are alert with what they consume to keep their life healthy; therefore, it can be assumed that they also pay attention to food ingredients, food, and beverages advertisements to get information about the kinds of food ingredients, food, and beverages products sold in the market. In this research, the researcher is interested in investigating the kinds of metaphors found in the verbal and pictorial verbal advertisement texts of food ingredients, food, and beverages. One of the reasons is because advertisements contain many metaphors (Forceville, 1996). Besides, Kővecses (2010: 65) states that an appropriately selected metaphor may work wonders in promoting the sale of an item. Metaphor is very closely related to humans everyday life since people s conceptual system is metaphorical, even the way we think, what we experience, and what we do every day is very much a matter of metaphor (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980: 3); therefore, it is not surprising if the language of advertisements is full of metaphors in expressing the intended meaning. In other words, the advertising language tends to be not straightforward in giving the real message, so to understand what is being communicated by the advertisers to the readers or consumers, it is essential to find the metaphors and the implicit meanings of the advertisements. For this reason, metaphors and the hidden meanings are interesting to be analyzed in this research. Conceptual Framework Metaphor has become cognitive linguists attention when Lakoff and Johnson (1980) published their book Metaphors We Live By. The word metaphor means the use of language to refer to something other than what it was original applied to, or what it literally means, in order to suggest some resemblance or make a connection between the two things (Knowles and Moon, 2006: 3). In other words, utterances that have metaphor cannot be interpreted just literally since it would create a new meaning; therefore, metaphor shows the creativity of a language. Forceville (2008: 179) states that there are three important aspects of metaphor (:1) it involves no less and no more than two domains; 2) one of the domains pertains to the topic about which something is predicated (the target), while the other domain pertains to the predication (the source). Principally, target and source are irreversible; and 3) a metaphor is not necessarily verbal in nature. A metaphor is characterized as understanding one conceptual domain in relation to another conceptual domain; thus, it connotes that CONCEPTUAL DOMAIN A IS CONCEPTUAL DOMAIN B, that is, what is called as a conceptual metaphor (Kövecses, 2010: 4). Thus, conceptual metaphor has two conceptual domains. These two domains in the conceptual metaphors are called as target domain and source domain. It can be formulated as A IS B, in which the target domain (A) is comprehended through a source domain (B). The linguistic expressions that come from the language or terminology of the more concrete conceptual domain (domain B) are called metaphorical linguistic expressions. In the conceptual metaphor LIFE IS A JOURNEY, for example, all the expressions that deal with life and that come from the domain of journey are the metaphorical linguistic expressions. The use of small capital letters shows that the 159

162 particular wording does not occur in language as such, but it underlies conceptually all the metaphorical expressions listed underneath it. Conceptual metaphors can be divided into three types: structural metaphor, orientational metaphor, and ontological metaphor. Structural metaphors have the characteristic that one concept is metaphorically structured in terms of another (Kövecses, 2010: 14). There are metaphorical concepts of the expressions like TIME IS MONEY, TIME IS A LIMITED RESOURCE, TIME IS A VALUABLE COMMODITY because we use our everyday experiences with money, limited resources, and valuable commodities to conceptualize time; thus, time is seen as something that can be wasted, saved, spent, invested, etcetera and this is seen through the words waste, save, spend, cost, invested, budget. In this conceptual metaphor, there are structural similarities between the abstract concept of time and that of money. The metaphorical concepts TIME IS MONEY, TIME IS A LIMITED RESOURCE, TIME IS A VALUABLE COMMODITY are based on subcategorization, that is, time is a limited resource and limited resources are valuable commodities. This subcategorization results in entailment relationships between the metaphors: TIME IS MONEY entails TIME IS A LIMITED RESOURCE that entails TIME IS A VALUABLE COMMODITY. Orientational metaphor is a kind of metaphorical concept that organizes a whole system of concepts with respect to one another (Kövecses, 2010: 14). Most of the orientational metaphors are about spatial orientation such as up-down, in-out, front-back, on-off, deepshallow, central-peripheral and they give a concept of spatial orientation. Lakoff and Johnson (1996: 15-17) give some examples of the orientational metaphors, among others: HAPPY IS UP; SAD IS DOWN, CONSCIOUS IS UP; UNCONSCIOUS IS DOWN, HEALTH AND LIFE ARE UP; SICKNESS AND DEATH ARE DOWN. The other type of conceptual metaphor is ontological metaphor (Kövecses, 2010: 25). He stated that ontology is a branch of philosophy that has to do with the nature of existence (38). The basis of the varieties of ontological metaphors are related to our experiences with physical objects, especially our bodies. Thus the ways of viewing nonphysical things such as events, activities, ideas, emotions, and so on as entities or substances are the basis of ontological metaphor. For example, by conceiving the mind as an object, it will be easier to know what the mind is. These ways of viewing nonphysical things as entities or objects enable us to use ontological metaphor for the purposes of quantifying, referring, identifying a particular aspect of them, seeing them as causes, or acting with respect to them. Metonymic Relationships and Metaphor A great deal of conceptual metaphors derives from conceptual metonymies (Kövecses, 2010). There are two general metonymic relationships which are applicable to conceptual metaphor: CAUSE AND EFFECT and WHOLE AND PART. It means that some metaphorical relations are motivated by a CAUSE AND EFFECT type of metonymy and some others by a WHOLE AND PART type of metonymy. In the folk model of emotion, for example anger, it can be said that anger is the result of increased subjective body heat and the metonymic relationship between anger and body heat is CAUSE AND EFFECT since anger can be said as the result of increased subjective body heat. This results in EFFECT FOR CAUSE (BODY HEAT FOR ANGER) metonymy. This metonymic vehicle (body heat) becomes the source domain (Kövecses, 2010: 184) of the conceptual metaphor ANGER IS HEAT through the process of generalization. This also shows that metaphors are often based on correlations in experience (184). 160

163 Method This study was qualitative study with the general nature of having data in the form of words, that is, language in the form of extended text (Miles and Huberman, 1994: 9); thus, it was descriptive. This research described the observed phenomena of written advertisements in the form of words rather than numbers and the data analysis was based on interpretation. The units of analysis were words in context, which include phrases, clauses, sentences and the contextual pictures in the advertisements. The metaphors found in the advertisements were identified and qualitatively described and analyzed, from the point of view of content analysis or textual analysis. The source of data was written advertisements on food ingredients, food, and beverages products taken from online magazines. The data were the verbal and pictorial verbal texts that contained metaphor so that they had hidden meanings to be analyzed. Analysis and Discussion 1.1 Prosecco Dan Murphy s Wine Advertisement (Delicious, December 2011/January 2012, p. 42) Figure 1 Sparkling Wine This is an advertisement of Dan Murphy s traditional Sparkling Wine of Northern Italy, Prosecco. The conceptual metaphor realized in the utterance Sparkling Wine is a structural metaphor. The idea is similar to the structural metaphors TIME IS MONEY, TIME IS A LIMITED RESOURCE, and TIME IS A VALUABLE COMMODITY which are based on subcategorization, that is, time is a limited resource and limited resources are valuable commodities. This subcategorization results in entailment relationships between the metaphors: TIME IS MONEY entails TIME IS A LIMITED RESOURCE that entails TIME IS A VALUABLE COMMODITY. The word sparkling in the structural metaphor Sparkling Wine conceptualizes the idea of a diamond or brilliant gem which is always sparkling, and it is distinguishable from other gems. Thus, the novel metaphor is PROSECCO IS A BRILLIANT GEM, which entails the conceptual metaphor BRILLIANT GEM IS A VALUABLE COMMODITY, and entails PROSECCO IS A VALUABLE COMMODITY. The target domain (Prosecco wine) is characterized through the source domain (brilliant gem). The features of the source domain (brilliant gem) as being valuable and, distinguishable are mapped on the target domain to convey the concept that Prosecco is not just a common wine, but it is a special wine which is generally dry, light and crisp, with hints of pear, citrus blossom, spice and sherbet-acidity that characterizes the Italian style as written in the advertisement. The word sparkling also connotes the idea of light so that the conceptual metaphor seen in this advertisement is PRODUCT IS LIGHT. The features of light being a primary need for everybody and everybody must have it since without light, people can do nothing as the source domain are mapped on the product Prosecco wine, which is the target domain. Thus, it is essential for everybody to have Prosecco; this is supported by the verbal text in the advertisement which says: Prosecco, the traditional Sparkling Wine of Northern Italy, is the must-have wine as the weather warms up 161

164 1.2 Vaalia Yoghurts Advertisement (Delicious, December 2011/January 2012, p. 93) - Figure 2 Only Vaalia Yoghurts offers this unique trio of feelgood probiotic cultures. Acidophilus, Bifidus and Lactobacillus GG (LGG*), the world s most researched probiotic. There is nothing like it to help maintain and regulate your digestive system naturally, keeping you happy inside. Vaalia s deliciously creamy range of flavours keeps your taste buds happy too With a unique trio of feelgood cultures It s hard to hide when you re happy inside The utterance contains conceptual metaphor HAPPINESS IS A PHYSICAL FORCE. In everyday life, when a person is happy, s/he cannot hide ( it s hard to hide ) his/her feeling of happiness. A physical force cannot be kept inside since it tends to explode. The form of happiness which is commonly referred to as joy, based on Kövecses (2010) cognitive model, can be characterized as having the cause of joy and the existence of joy. The cause of joy: You want to achieve something, in the case of this Vaalia advertisement, it is maintaining and regulating your digestive system naturally ; and keeping you healthy inside. The existence of joy: You are satisfied and display expressive and behavioral responses. The explosion of physical power can be seen clearly through human s facial expression and or behavior. The explosion can be either the result of satisfaction or anger, but in this advertisement, it is the result of satisfaction so that the manifestation of the explosion is in a positive way. The conceptual metaphor HAPPINESS IS A PHYSICAL FORCE leads to conceptual metonymies. Based on Kövecses (2010: 112), the conceptual metonymies that apply to happiness correspond to behavioral, physiological, and expressive responses and the expressive responses correspond to happiness are BRIGHT EYES FOR HAPPINESS and SMILING FOR HAPPINESS. Thus, in the advertisement, the expressive and behavioral responses are supported by the brightness of the woman s eyes and her happy smile in the picture. In word unique which is written in the biggest font and its white color which is as white as the woman s teeth and the product she is holding her hand, gives a cue for a pictorial metaphor PRODUCT IS A UNIQUE, HAPPY LIFE. The features of happiness and uniqueness seen from the woman s laugh are mapped on the target domain, the product, specifically Vaalia Yoghurts. This implicates the meaning that Vaalia Yoghurts could make the consumers happy and it is not just the usual happiness, but a unique one since nobody else can feel as happy as what Vaalia Yoghurts consumers feel. From the utterances in the advertisement: there is nothing like it to help maintain and regulate your digestive system naturally and the discussion above, it can be inferred that eating Vaalia Yoghurts makes a person have a healthy digestion so that there is no problem with his/her digestive system and this is the source of the happiness: s/he will always feel fit as what is expressed in the verbal context: feelgood. 1.3 So Good Almond Milk Advertisement (Delicious, February 2012, p. 77/April 2012, p. 156) Figure 3 Sanitarium health s walking The way it makes you feel So Good This advertisement of Almond Milk contains the conceptual metaphor of event 162

165 structure metaphor: MEANS ARE PATHS. It is seen from the slogan The way it makes you feel So Good written at the bottom of the advertisement. The way which means method or course of action, in the slogan suggests that the almond milk is the method or the means for people to feel so good, or to be in a good health; while So Good, which has the capital letters S and G, clearly refer to the brand name of the product itself. This implicates that So Good as the product is the path to make people feel good physically and spiritually, which can mean healthy and happy as a result. The idea of MEANS ARE PATHS is supported by the utterance Sanitarium health s walking as the type of the product, which indicates that the product is the path for being healthy and it is a health resort itself so that when people drink the product, they will get a healthy life since the product besides being delicious also contains a third less calories than low fat milk. 1.4 Heinz Tomato Ketchup Advertisement (Delicious, February 2012, p. 155) Figure 4 MORE TOMATOES MAKE ME RICHER OUR KETCHUP SPEAKS FOR ITSELF The type of conceptual metaphor found in this Heinz Tomato Ketchup advertisement here is orientational metaphor which has to do with spatial orientation: MORE IS UP; LESS IS DOWN. It is conceptualized in the utterance More tomatoes make me richer through the words more and richer. Conventionally the idea of being more often has a positive connotation since it is above average or extraordinary; thus it is related to the upward orientation. More tomatoes shows that Heinz tomato ketchup is not just like the other ordinary tomato ketchups; if it has more tomatoes, than it must be thicker, has stronger taste, so it is richer for the taste again, richer also has the idea of being more. Besides the orientational metaphor, the utterances can be included as ontological metaphor, specifically personification since it gives human s qualities/characteristics and actions. If a person has more money, he is richer; thus, in this utterance the tomato ketchup is characterized as a person. It conveys the conceptual metaphor THE PRODUCT IS A PERSON. Since the advertisement is for tomato ketchup, what it has more is the tomatoes instead of money and the more tomatoes it has, the richer it is. In the second utterance OUR KETCHUP SPEAKS FOR ITSELF - the advertised product is characterized as a person as well; thus, the conceptual metaphor THE PRODUCT IS A PERSON is realized in this advertisement, that is, personification. Heinz tomato ketchup does not need people s reference since it can speak for itself. People who buy the product will directly know its quality since it has more tomatoes, its color, taste, and quality are certainly the best among all other tomato ketchups. 1.5 Rosella Relishes Advertisement (Delicious, June 2012, p. 105) Figure 5 RELISH THE THOUGHT The product in this Rosella advertisement is relishes or pickles which consist of three kinds of relishes: Roasted Corn, Australian Corn and Vegetable Medley relishes as written below the picture Introducing three new relishes to the Rosella family. The conceptual metaphor ACHIEVING A PURPOSE IS EATING/FOOD is applied in this advertisement through the use of metonymy OBJECT INVOLVED IN AN ACTION FOR THE ACTION. 163

166 To check the applicability of ACHIEVING A PURPOSE IS EATING/FOOD metaphor, metonymical expression of relish the thought should be discussed. As has been explained in the conceptual framework, metaphor is the understanding one concept domain in terms of another concept domain; it involves two concepts that are distant from each other in our conceptual system (although they are similar) (Kövecses, 2010:175). Thus, metaphor uses two distinct and distant domains. The concept of achieving a purpose in the conceptual metaphor ACHIEVING A PURPOSE IS EATING/FOOD is distant from that of eating/food. In metonymy, on the other hand, there are two elements or entities that are closely related to each other in conceptual space (175). Thus, the elements in metonymic relationship form a single domain. In this advertisement slogan Relish the Thought, the word relish functions as a verb or an action for the object thought. In everyday usage, the term is to relish the thought of something which means to enjoy an experience or the thought of something that is going to happen ; thus, the metonymic relationship OBJECT INVOLVED IN AN ACTION FOR THE ACTION is utilized in this slogan and to relish the thought becomes a purpose to achieve. The same word relish conceptualizes food since it also functions as a noun which means pickles, the product itself: Rosella relishes. By relating the metonymic relationship and the meaning of relish as food/the product itself, a conceptual metaphor ACHIEVING A PURPOSE IS EATING/FOOD is conveyed. The combination of the metonymical and metaphorical expressions in this advertisement would lead to the interpretation that eating Rosella relishes will make you get fresh mind so that you can enjoy your experiences or whatever that is going to happen to you. Conclusion From the discussion, it is seen that food ingredients, food, and beverages advertisements contain a great number of conceptual metaphors with their various categories such as orientational metaphor, ontological metaphor, personification. Through the use of the metaphors, the advertisements can deliver their messages creatively. Whatever conceptual metaphors used in the advertisements, they convey the property of concise and briefness of lack of context so that it enables them to get more than one interpretation for the same utterance. It is very common that different people will give different interpretation, depending on their experience and knowledge. However, no matter what interpretations that may arise in the advertisements, the advertisement verbal and pictorial texts are intended to achieve the advertisers goal, that is, selling the products to the prospective buyers. Acknowledgement The writer would like to express her gratitude to the Indonesian Directorate General of Higher Education since this research has been sponsored by the Indonesian Directorate General of Higher Education via the dissertation fund (Hibah Penelitian Disertasi Doktor). 164

167 References Delicious (January-July, 2012). Retrieved April 10, 2012, from Forceville, C. (1998). Pictorial Metaphor in Advertising. London and New York: Routledge.. (2008). Pictorial and multimodal metaphor in commercials. In E. F. McQuarrie and B. J. Phillips (Eds.), Go Figure! New Directions in Advertising Rhetoric ( ). London: M. E. Sharpe. Goddard, A. (2002). The Language of Advertising (2 nd ed.). London: Routledge. Knowles, M. and Moon, R. (2006). Introducing Metaphor. London and New York: Routledge. Kövecses, Z. (2010). Metaphor (2 nd ed.). Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. Lakoff, G., and Johnson, M.( 1996). Metaphors We Live by. London: The University of Chicago Press. Miles, M. B., and Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative Data Analysis (2 nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. 165

168 Appendix Figure 1 (Delicious, December 2011/ Figure 2 (Delicious, December 2011/ January 2012, p. 42) January 2012, p. 93) Prosecco Dan Murphy s Wine Advertisement Vaalia Yoghurts Advertisement Figure 3 (Delicious, February 2012, p. 77/April 2012, Figure 4 (Delicious, February 2012, p. 155) p. 156) So Good Almond Milk Advertisement Heinz Tomato Ketchup Advertisement 166

169 Figure 5 (Delicious, June 2012, p. 105) Rosella Relishes Advertisement 167

170 The Student Wheels Strategy in Teaching Speaking Skills to Cultivate Politeness at Junior High School Nanik Mariani Effendie Student of Doctorate Program at Graduate Program of University of Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI), Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. Lecturer of English Department,FKIP Unlam Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, Indonesia. Abstract English learning is presented at Junior High School (SMP) is more stressed on knowledge of the four standards of competence or the four language skills, such as, Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing, without considering the ethical values contained in that four language skills. It means that the teaching and learning English, especially in speaking skills, should be taught not only in the cognitive skills, but also in the affective skills as well. The education regarding how languagespeaking politely, considering the value of tolerance, sympathy, and empathy. So the cognitive and affective skills must be balanced. For example, implementing politeness in the process of teaching English speaking skills. Teaching English speaking means to teach students to produce the English speech sounds, and sound pattern, using word and sentence stress, intonation pattern and the rhythm of the foreign language, select appropriate words and sentence according to the proper social setting, situations and object matter, organize their taught in a meaningful and logical sequence, use language as means of expressing values and judgments, use the language quickly and confidently with few unnatural pauses, which is called as fluency. Meanwhile, learning speaking means the activity of students to get knowledge of make use of words to communicate in appropriate situation in order to improve their knowledge. Politeness, courtesy, or etiquette is a procedure, custom, or custom prevailing in the society. Politeness is the rules of conduct established and agreed upon jointly by a particular community so that politeness as well as be concluded by the prerequisite of social behavior. To cultivate politeness in English speaking class, the English teachers at Junior High Schools (SMP) can use the teaching strategy. Student wheels is one of the strategy can be used. Student Wheels is adopted from Hadfield (in Sulistiyowati, 2009: 72-73) to get the students more active in speaking class and accustomed in using polite language. Using Student wheels, all students can get their roles in speaking because they have to interact each other by standing in two circles formed as wheels. In this strategy, all students use the expressions of English speaking thought by the teacher and they can accustom by themselves in implementing politeness in the classroom. Keywords: Politeness, student wheels, English speaking class. Background of Study Education is one important aspect of nation building. When the East Asian countries appeared new industries, many experts declared that the successful of development of these countries are supported by the availability of many educated people. Therefore, almost all nations put the development of education as a priority in their national development programs. The quality of human resources, which have good education, is the key to successful development of a country. 168

171 A formal education is done at school in Indonesia and it has some subjects taught to the students, such as Mathematical and Natural Sciences, Social Studies, Indonesian language, and foreign languages. One of the foreign languages learned by the students is English. English becomes the most essential language in the world. Almost all the people from many different countries around the world use English to communicate. English is one of the foreign languages for Indonesian students, which should be learnt in school since Elementary until University. English is considered as a difficult subject for the Indonesian students, because English is completely different from Indonesian language based on its grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary. English learning presented at Junior High School (SMP) is more stressed on knowledge of the four standards of competence or the four language skills, such as, Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing, without considering the ethical values contained in that four language skills. It means that the teaching and learning English, especially in speaking skills, should be taught not only in the cognitive skills, but also in the affective skills as well. Muslich (2006:1) stated that politeness, courtesy, or etiquette is a procedure, custom, or custom prevailing in the society. Politeness is the rules of conducting established and agreed upon jointly by a particular community so that politeness as well as be concluded by the prerequisite of social behavior. Teaching English speaking skills means to teach students to produce the English speech sounds, and sound pattern, using word and sentence stress, intonation pattern and the rhythm of the foreign language, select appropriate words and sentence according to the proper social setting, situations and object matter, organize their taught in a meaningful and logical sequence, use language as means of expressing values and judgments, use the language quickly and confidently with few unnatural pauses, which is called as fluency. Meanwhile, learning speaking means the activity of students to get knowledge of make use of words to communicate in appropriate situation in order to improve their knowledge. The education regarding how language-speaking politely, considering the value of tolerance, sympathy, and empathy. So the cognitive and affective skills must be balanced. For example, implementing politeness in the process of teaching English speaking skills. Problems Identification Based on the expression on the backgound of study above, the writer wants to describe that the process of teaching and learning English at school, from elementary to university, is still focused on the knowledge of English as in standard competence of English Syllabus and English language components without considering their ethical values. It might be of the lack of teachers knowledge about the language of politeness theories and how to implement it in their teaching. Therefore, the writer wants to try to assess how the ethical values or the politeness of English taught or implemented at schools, especially in the classroom. Actually the standard competence and based competence of English syllabus used by Junior high school has already been contained of ethical values, especially in teaching speaking skill, which has politeness expressions in it. But it is not implemented as well because it s taught the knowledge how to express the terms in conversation only. In cultivating politeness in students behaviour during the teaching and learning English speaking process can be done by using some strategies. One of the strategies can be used in teaching English, especially in English speaking skills is Student wheels strategy. The student wheels strategy is adopted from Hadfield (in Sulistiyowati, 2009: 72-73) to get the students more active in speaking class and accustomed in using polite language. By using student wheels strategy, all students can get their roles in speaking because they have to interact each other by standing in two circles formed as wheels. In this strategy, all students use the expressions of English speaking thought by the teacher and they can accustom by themselves in implementing politeness in the classroom. 169

172 Statement of the Research Problems 1. How the implementation of student wheels strategy can improve the students ability in English speaking skills? 2. How the implementation of student wheels strategy can cultivate politeness to the students speaking skills? Objective of the Study 1. To improve the students ability in English speaking skill by implementing the student wheels strategy. 2. To cultivate the students politeness in English speaking skills by implementing the student wheels strategy. Literature Review 1. Ethics of Language Chaer (2010:6) states that the ethics of language is relating to speech act behavior or to speaking behavior. Acoording to Masinambouw (1984:6), the language system has a function as a means of human interaction in a society that has norms which applied in that culture. Meanwhile, according to Geertz (1976) in Chaer (2010:6) that the system of speech acts behavior in that cultural norms is called ethics of language. The ethics of speaking is closely related to social norms and cultural systems that apply in a society. So, the ethics of speaking will arrange us in: (a) what should a speaker say to a hearer at the certain time based on the social and cultural status applied on the society, (b) register of languages used in the time and particular culture; (c) when and how we use our turn to speak and interrupt or how interrupting the other speech, (d) when we should be silent, to hear the speech, and (e) how we should arrange our voice, to be loud, slowly, or rising, and how our physical attitudes or gestures should be in that speaking. Someone can be said that he is a language proficiency if he can master the precedure and the ethics of the language as well. English does not have the difference terms to call an older people shown to be more respected or ethics but it s more directed at the use of language, words choices, the use of correct pronunciation, the stress placement, and the use of intonation correctly based on the speech situation. For example, we could use the word 'would' instead of the word 'will' to show more polite situation as "Will you clean the board" or to be more polite by "Would you like to clean the board please". 2. Politeness Polite behaviour is equivalent to socially correct or appropriate behaviour: other consider it to be the hallmark or the cultivated man or woman. Some might: characterise a polite person as always being considerate towards other people: others might suggest that a polite person is self-effacing. To characterise polite language usage, we might resort to expressions like the language a person uses to avoid being too direct, or language which displays respect towards or consideration for others. Once again, we might give examples, such as language which contains respectful form of address like Sir or Madam, language that displays certain polite formulaic utterances, like please, thank you, excuse me, or sorry or even elegantly expressed language (Watts, 2003: 1-2). In everyday conversation, there are ways to go about getting the things we want. When we are with a group of friends, we can say to them, "Go get me that plate!", or "Shut-up!" However, when we are surrounded by a group of adults at a formal function, in which our parents are attending, we must say, "Could you please pass me that plate, if you don't mind?" 170

173 and "I'm sorry, I don't mean to interrupt, but I am not able to hear the speaker in the front of the room." In different social situations, we are obligated to adjust our use of words to fit the occasion. It would seem socially unacceptable if the phrases above were reversed. According to Brown and Levinson, politeness strategies are developed in order to save the hearers' "face." Face refers to the respect that an individual has for him or herself, and maintaining that "self-esteem" in public or in private situations. Usually you try to avoid embarrassing the other person, or making them feel uncomfortable. Face Threatening Acts (FTA's) are acts that infringe on the hearers' need to maintain his/her self esteem, and be respected. Politeness strategies are developed for the main purpose of dealing with these FTA's. What would you do if you saw a cup of pens on your teacher's desk, and you wanted to use one, would you; a. say, "Ooh, I want to use one of those!" b. say, "So, is it O.K. if I use one of those pens?" c. say, "I'm sorry to bother you but, I just wanted to ask you if I could use one of those pens?" d. Indirectly say, "Hmm, I sure could use a blue pen right now." There are four types of politeness strategies, described by Brown and Levinson that sum up human "politeness" behavior: Bald on-record, Negative Politeness, Positive Politeness, and Off- Record-indirect strategy. They are: Bald on-record: These provide no effort by you to reduce the impact of the FTA's. You will most likely shock the person to whom you are speaking to, embarrass them, or make them feel a bit uncomfortable. However, this type of strategy is commonly found with people who know each other very well, and are very comfortable in their environment, such as close friends and family. For example: An Emergency: HELP!! Task oriented: Give me that! Request: Put your coat away. Alerting: Turn your headlights on! (When alerting someone to something they should be doing) Positive Politeness: It is usually seen in groups of friends, or where people in the given social situation know each other fairly well. It usually tries to minimize the distance between them by expressing friendliness and solid interest in the hearer's need to be respected (minimize the FTA). For example: Attend to the hearer: "You must be hungry, it's a long time since breakfast. How about some lunch?" Avoid disagreement: A: " What is she, small?" B: "Yes, yes, she's small, smallish, um, not really small but certainly not very big." Assume agreement: "So when are you coming to see us?" Hedge opinion: "You really should sort of try harder." Negative Politeness: The main focus for using this strategy is to assume that you may be imposing on the hearer, and intruding on their space. Therefore, these automatically assume that there might be some social distance or awkwardness in the situation. For example: Be indirect: "I'm looking for a comb." In this situation you are hoping that you will not have to ask directly, so as not to impose 171

174 and take up the hearer's time. Therefore, by using this indirect strategy, you hope they will offer to go find one for you. Forgiveness: "You must forgive me but..." Minimize imposition: "I just want to ask you if I could use your computer?" Pluralize the person responsible: "We forgot to tell you that you needed to by your plane ticket by yesterday." This takes all responsibility off of only you and onto "we", even if you were the person responsible for telling the hearer when the deadline was to buy the ticket. Off-Record (indirect): You are removing yourself from any imposition whatsoever. For example: Give hints: "It's cold in here." Be vague: "Perhaps someone should have been more responsible." Be sarcastic, or joking: "Yeah, he's a real rocket scientist!" 3. Teaching and Learning English Speaking Skills According to Hornby (1995:37) teaching means giving the instruction to a person, giving a person knowledge, skills, etc, while learning means an activity of someone to improve their behavior, knowledge, skills so he becomes a better person. Speaking is the most attractive skill among others (Listening, Reading, Writing). In speaking, students are given the opportunity to develop their ability in an attractive way. According to Herrel and Jordan (2004:85), speaking gives students confidence to interact and collaborate with other students. They communicate each other by using English verbally. The communication is building their ability in collaborating and sharing their ideas, responses, and solutions. In the speaking activities, students are given opportunities to have verbal communication practice among them. Students have the opportunity to discuss together, work together, and communicate together. In order to make an optimal interaction depends on how the teacher leads the students in the classroom activities, and it also much depends on the kinds of strategies he uses. Teaching English speaking means to teach students to produce the English speech sounds, and sound pattern, using word and sentence stress, intonation pattern and the rhythm of the foreign language, select appropriate words and sentence according to the proper social setting, situations and object matter, organize their taught in a meaningful and logical sequence, use language as means of expressing values and judgments, use the language quickly and confidently with few unnatural pauses, which is called as fluency. Meanwhile, learning speaking means the activity of students to get knowledge of make use of words to communicate in appropriate situation in order to improve their knowledge. Teaching and learning speaking skills means the activity of teacher in giving knowledge and student s activity in improving the knowledge of making use of word in an ordinary voice. Students should try to avoid confusion in the message due to faulty pronunciation, grammar or vocabulary and to observe the social and cultural rules that apply in each communication situation (NCLRC: 2004). 4. Student Wheels Strategy Cooperative learning is a learning approach that focuses on the use of small groups of students to work together to maximize the learning conditions for achieving learning goals, and also the learning strategies that involve the participation of students in small groups to interact each other (Nurulhayati, 2002:25 in Rusman, 2010 : 203). The concept of cooperative learning is to create a critical, lovely, and carely interaction in creating learning communities, and the students are not only learning from their teachers but also from their friends or other students. Student Wheels is one of the learning strategies adopted by Jill Hadfield and Charles 172

175 Hadfield (1999:12) to enable students in learning speaking. This strategy is suitable to be applied in a number of students more than 20 people. All students are involved in speaking activities because they can face their partners in asking and answering some questions each other. For example, when the number of students in a class of 40 students, of course each circle will be in 20 students, 20 will be in the outer circle and 20 will be in the inner circle. The shape formation in this strategy likes a wheel. In this student wheels strategy, each student gets their own spouses to converse in a circle formation which formed two layers, then each student in each circle should shift one step and get a new pair to chat again. Once students have a conversation with their partner, they will be asked to move each one step to the left so that they get a different pair of interviews than first one. In this activity the students who are in the inner circles will ask questions while the partners on the outside circles will aswer those questions. Once the interview is completed, students are required to present the results of an interview in a big circle formed by the whole number of students there and commented on by other students. So no one of the students will not involve in the speaking activity. Before applying the Student Wheels, of course the students are provided the informations how to make sentences or phrases that are being studied, such as the phrases of asking, giving, accepting or rejecting the invitation, services, goods, and so on. Method of the Study This research was limited to a second-grade Junior High School classroom in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, so that a case study is appropriate to choose. The focus was on one classroom teacher as the researcher examined how the teacher promoted the student wheels strategy in teaching English speaking skills to cultivate the language politeness in the classroom through two cycles of action. This study use Classroom Action Research (CAR). Action research is an applied research that contributes to principle and theories and is also actionoriented. A problem-solving technique is used to improve conditions and processes of the real world (Alwasilah, 2011). Action research differs from other research because the process is a cycle. The cycle leads research participants to new questions upon which they act, observe, and reflect, thus creating the cycle effect (Alwasilah, 2011). Throughout this study, two cycles had been conducted. The teacher acted the treatment and researcher acted as a passive observer. It can be drawn as on figure 1 below. PLAN REFLECT CYCLE 1 ACTION OBSERVED PLAN REFLECT CYCLE 2 ACTION OBSERVED Figure 1 Action Research Model (Suharsimi, 2008:133) 173

176 This action research was a qualitative study. In qualitative research, the researcher strives to understand meaning constructed by people. The inductive process is richly descriptive and allows the researcher to be the primary instrument for data collection (Merriam, 1998 in Apriliaswati, 2011:63-64). For this research, a qualitative approach allowed the researcher to gather information using assorted resources. The researcher was able to triangulate information and draw from various resources to justify her conclusions and increase the validity. Creswell (2008) states that document analysis consists of taking apart the data to determine individual responses and then summarizing it by putting it back together. In this study, the researcher analyzed the data from classroom observations, field notes, audiotape, photographs, conversations, and interviews. By analyzing those data sources such as classroom observations, field notes, classroom document collection, and interviews through digital voice recordings, the researcher was able to interpret that cultivating language politeness in learning English speaking skills through student wheels strategy in the classroom was done successfully. Discussion 1. The Concept and the Application of the Politeness In everyday conversation, there are ways to go about getting the things we want. When we are with a group of friends, we can say to them, "Go get me that plate!", or "Shut-up!" However, when we are surrounded by a group of adults at a formal function, in which our parents are attending, we must say, "Could you please pass me that plate, if you don't mind?" and "I'm sorry, I don't mean to interrupt, but I am not able to hear the speaker in the front of the room." In different social situations, we are obligated to adjust our use of words to fit the occasion. It would seem socially unacceptable if the phrases above were reversed. The values of the students linguistic politeness are formed by listening and learning from the people around them. Beside the family at home, the teacher is the closest person to the students and has a very big influence for them. Any teachers behavior whether good or bad, their politeness or impoliteness language will be imitated by students. Therefore, teachers need to implement a good attitude and behavior, as well as the polite language, especially in English lessons which students are much more influenced by impoliteness behavior or language shown by uneducated movies or other medias. Therefore, the task of English teachers are to explain, implement, and cultivate the language politeness by using polite expressions, whether inside or outside the classroom continuously. Any teachers efforts will be successful if they are always use polite language anytime as a good model in the classroom and also at school. Parents and family at home are the primary responsibled in implementing courtesy and manners for their children. Then, teachers at school will continue to implement the politeness as well as the society. The three elements, according to Achir (2000: 43), should be done together harmoniously. Politeness and manners should be instilled in children as early as possible. Linguistic politeness (speech) is reflected in the procedures to communicate through the verbal language signs. In communicating manners, the speaker and the hearer should pay attention to the cultural norms beside to convey the idea that we think only. If someone does not speak or obey the procedures in cultural norms, he will get a negative value, for example, accused of being arrogant, haughty, indifferent, self-centered, well-mannered, even uncivilized. One of the main purposes of sociopragmatics is to find out how different people 174

177 organize maxims based on their point of view and culture of giving politeness. In speech act communication, the term politeness refers to how to do face-work, that is the attempt to establish a good relationship during a conversation. Leech (1983:81) defines that in a conversation there is indirect information which is associated with indirect implicatures. Thus, this indirect implicatures is known as the Politeness Principle (PP). Take one of Leech s examples (1983:80) A: We ll all miss Bill and Agatha, won t we? B: Well, we ll all miss Bill In the exchange between A and B, B apparently fails to obey the Quantity Maxim because B only confirms part of A s opinion. B s statement implicates that both A and B will not miss Agatha. In truth, B conceals the desired information in order to support the Politeness Principle (PP). Then, who should speak to courtesy? Theoretically, everyone should speak in a dignified manner. Everyone must communicate in order to maintain ethics in communication. Language is a tool of communication and the use of it must consider whether the rules of language as in the linguistic rules or the politeness rules can be achieved. It means that the use of rules of sound, form of words, sentence structure, and the English grammar must be correct in order to achieve the communication goes smoothly. 2. Teaching and Learning English Speaking Skills at Junior High School Nowadays, our government has been applying the newest curriculum, namely School Based Curriculum (KTSP) as revision of curriculum It is stated in Government s Rule (Peraturan Pemerintah No 19/2005) which is also supported and issued in National Education Rule (Peraturan Menteri Pendidikan Nasiona RIl/PERMENDIKNAS RI No 24/2006). Each language skills has own standard competence and basic competence. For example, in standard competence for speaking skills at eight grade students of junior high school are required to be able to use simple expression in transactional and interpersonal interaction. Besides, they are required to be able to express simple short meanings functionally and monologue in form of descriptive and recount. Simple expression in transactional and interpersonal interaction include asking, offering and declining offers; asking, giving and declining things; accepting and rejecting a fact; asking and giving opinion; making, accepting and refusing invitation; agreeing and disagreeing; praise and congratulation (Depdiknas, 2007:45). Nunan (2005:97) explains transactional speech involves communicating to get something done, such as the exchange of goods and/or service. Interpersonal speech is communication for social purpose, including stabling and maintaining social relationships. Drill, dialogue, interview and role play are activities which use in their teaching and learning activities. Meanwhile, the simple short meanings functionally and monologue in form of descriptive and recount which include the activities of making invitation, telling an event, retelling a story or passage, and discussing about information in a recount text (Depdiknas, 2007: 48). Students need to know how speakers differ from one another and how particular circumstances call for different forms of speech. They can learn how speaking styles affect listeners. Thus, the rate at which they speak, the volume and the precision of pronunciation may differ substantially from one situation to another. It is useful for students to know that speech should differ in formality, such as when speaking to a judge, a teacher, a parent or a playmate. They may also benefit from learning about the differences among various dialects. The subjects in the curriculum and examples from the media may provide occasions for different forms of speech. 175

178 3. Implementation of politeness in teaching speaking As mentioned on the introduction that actually on the syllabus of teaching speaking skills has already contained of the ethical values or politeness principle. But the teacher still teach the knowledge how to use the expressions mentioned on the indicators of basic competence only without implementing the ethical values of that expression clearly. The writer gives the example of one Standard Competence and Basic Competence of Speaking taught at the eighth grade of junior high school as viewed on table 1 below: Table 1 Standard Competence and Basic Competence of SMP Standard Competence: Speaking Basic Competence 1. Revealing the meaning in short verbal simple transacsional and interpersonal conversations to interact with the environment 3.1 Revealing the meaning in transacsional (to get Things Done) and interpersonal (social) conversations by using a variety of simple spoken language accurately, fluently, and acceptable to interact with the environment that involve speech acts: asking, giving, refusing service, asking, giving, reject the goods, admitting, denying the facts, and ask for and giving opinion. From that syllabus, the teacher should develop the teaching material based on the topic as mentioned on table 2 below: Table 2 Teaching Material No. Topic/ Teaching Material 1. Asking, giving, and refusing opinion 2. Asking, giving and denying information 3. Asking, giving, and refusing service 4. Asking, giving, and rejecting the goods 176

179 The writer take one of the teaching material, Asking, giving, and refusing opinion, which have some expressions learned by the students, such as shown on table 3: Table 3 Asking and Responding Opinions Asking opinions Responding opinions Do you think it is good? What do you think about his work? What do you think if you stay in my house? Do you think it s allright if I move your car near to the Mosque? May I come to your house tonight? I think it is. Sorry, I can t say anytrhing. I think it s very nice, but I m sorry I can t. Sure, with pleasure. Sorry, I won t be at home tonight. Then, ask students to divide into two groups to make two circles in front of the class. They have to use the English polite expressions which have discussed before. They form a formation like a wheel, 10 students will be in the outer circle and 10 others are in the inner circle. If the number of students in a class of 40 students, of course in each circle will be 20 students. The shape formation in this model can be seen in figure 2 below: Figure 2: Wheel formation with small circles in 2 layers, the students face each other Each student gets their own spouses to converse in a circle formation which formed two layers, then each student in each circle should shift one step and get a new pair to chat again. Once, students have a conversation with their partner, they will be asked to move each one step to the left so that they get a different pair of interviews than the first one. In this activity the students who are in the inner circles will ask questions while the partners on the outside circles aswer those questions. After having cultivated the students politeness by using student wheels strategy, the teacher gives model of conversation in using those expressions and ask the students to read and perform the model. The models are: 1. Dimas meets his friend, Rizal in front of a coffee shop. Dimas: Hi, Rizal. How are you? Rizal : Fine, thanks. And you? Dimas: O.K. By the way, what do you think if we have a cup of coffee? 177

180 Rizal : I d love it, but I m so sorry I can t, cause I ve to go home soon. Dimas: Well, may be next time. 2. Two neighbors begin talking in their backyards. Nancy: Mary. What are you doing? You look so busy. Mary : Oh, hi! My mother will visit me next Friday so I ve to prepare a room for her. Nancy: May I help you? Mary : With pleasure, thank you. Nancy : Don t mention it. We re neighbour. After performing the model, the students are asked to work in groups to arrange dialogues using polite expressions they have learned and performed before. Then, they can perform their owned dialogues in front of the class. From the expressions learned in models above and the dialogues they have prepared, the teacher can implant the ethical values that how to refuse the speaker s opinion politely and nicely. It means that the teacher is not only teaching the cognitive domain but also teaching the affective domain as well. A. Closed The Indonesian, who believes strongly in politeness in language, will be conveyed the meaning, not only related to the selection of words, but also how its delivery as well. For example; when someone deliver the selected words in rude manners, it s still impressed impolite expression. Politeness is very important in everyone s life because they believe that politeness implementation can reflect the culture of a society. Although politeness in English is different as the Indonesian language, but politeness is also used in English, especially how one's attitude in uttering his speaking, respect the other person or the listener by keeping the eye contact, distance-spoken, and sincere smile without coercion. Based on discussion above, can be concluded that teaching and learning English at school, especially junior high school, should consider the affective domain to be implant to the students. Because ethical values and politeness of students language is formed by looking and learning from people around them. Beside the family at home, a teacher is the person closest to the child or student and had an enormous influence. All the teachers behavior good or bad, politeness or impoliteness will be imitated by students. Therefore, teachers need to apply the attitude and good manners, and polite language for a good students personality formation. By using student wheels strategy in teaching and learning English speaking skills, it can implement and cultivate politeness in English because all students can get a turn to speak and be able to use the English politeness expressions continuously so that they are accustomed in using English politeness expressions when they are speaking. Besides being able to cultivate students in using English politeness expressions, students can also be accustomed to hear other people talking or arguing before submitting comments or personal opinion as well. The students can also cooperate well, consider and respect someone opinions, and ask some opinion in polite speech, and always be able to choose appropriate vocabulary (diction) in any situation. To keep the ethical values and English politeness implemented, the English teachers at Junior High Schools (SMP) should implement it at their teaching, especially in English speaking class. 178

181 Reference Adawiyah, Nurul R A Descriptive Study on the Process of Teaching and Learning Speaking Skills in Eight Grade Students of SMPN 10 Banjarmasin. Unpublished thesis. Banjarmasin: FKIP Unlam Alwasilah, A.C. (2008). Filsafat Bahasa dan Pendidikan. Bandung: PT Remaja Rosdakarya. Apriliaswati, Rahayu. (2011). Promoting Peer Interactions to Develop Positive Civil Discourse. (A Case Study of Action Research at Elementary School 42 Pontianak) Disertasi. Bandung: Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia. Austin, J.L. (1962). How to Do Thing with Words. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard U.P. Brown, Penelope and Stephen C. Levinson (1998). Politeness Some Universals in Language Usage. Cambridge University Press. Chaer, Abdul. (2010). Kesantunan Barbahasa. Jakarata: Rineka Cipta Coulthard, M. (1985). An Introduction to Discourse Analysis. New York: Longman Inc Creswell, John W. (2008). Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research. Boston: Pearson Hadfield, Jill dan Charles Hadfield Simple Speaking Activity. New York: Oxford University Press. Halliwell, Susan Teaching English in The Primary Classroom. London and New York: Longman. Leech, N., Geoffrey. (1983). Principles of Pragmatics. London and New York: Longman Group Ltd. Levinson, C., Stephen Pragmatics. London: Cambridge University Press. Lickona, Thomas. (1991). Educating for Character, How Our Schools can Teach Respect and Responsibility. Bantam Books, New York. Mariani, Nanik Conversational Implicatures in Bernard Shaw s "Pygmalion". Unpublished thesis. Malang: State University of Malang Megawangi, R. (2004). Pendidikan Karakter, solusi yang tepat untuk membangun bangsa. Jakarta: BP. Migas Muslich, Masnur (2006). Kesantunan Berbahasa. Suatu Kajian Sosiolinguistik. Malang: UM Press. Prayitno dan Belferik Manullang. (2010). Pendidikan Karakter dalam Pembangunan Bangsa. Medan: Penerbit Pascasarjana Universitas Negeri Medan. Rusman. (2010). Model Model Pembelajaran, Mengembangkan Profesionalisme Guru. Jakarta: PT Rajagrafindo Persada. Sauri, Sofyan. (2006). Pendidikan Berbahasa Santun. Bandung: PT Genesindo Sulistiyowati, Ari. (2009). Peningkatan Kemampuan Speaking melalui Pembelajaran yang Menyenangkan dengan Model Student Wheels pada Kelas VIIC SMP Negeri 2 Mirit Tahun Pelajaran 2007/2008. Kebumen Jawa Tengah: Jurnal Widyatama Volume 6 Nomor 1, halaman 69 77, Maret Watts, Richard J. (2003). Politeness. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. 179

182 Improving English language skills through extensive reading: A literature review Paul Ashford Mahasarakham University Thailand pashford1606@gmail.com Abstract The aim of this literature review is to explore the effects of extensive reading of both graded readers and authentic novels and critically analyse the associated research findings. Despite widespread praise of the benefits of extensive reading, it is not widely used inenglish as a foreign language (EFL) programs in Thailand. The search of the research found that reading skills and vocabulary are important areas associated with extensive reading. Reading fluency is a rapid process associated with automaticity and precision. While vital for study at university level, it is not a main focus in EFL teaching. It is best achieved through extensive reading. Vocabulary knowledge is directly linked with reading comprehension, with a vocabulary size of 8,000 to 9,000 word-families being necessary for comprehension of most authentic texts. The research into extensive reading has found positive effects from the practice involving both graded readers and authentic texts. However, some emerging issues suggest a need for more investigation in the area in general and specifically in regard to the effect of L1 language transfer on cognate knowledge, the cultural influences on reading and the role of technology on extensive reading practices. Keywords: extensive reading, graded readers, authentic novels, EFL, reading fluency, vocabulary knowledge. Introduction Throughout the world, English is used as a global language and many Englishlanguage students devote their time and resources towards improving their skill levels in English. In the Englishas-a-foreign-language (EFL) context, there is a strong focus on communicative competence and on intensive language skills study in EFL classrooms using coursebooks. But to attain high levels of English skills for use in English teaching or academic studyin an English-speaking country, this reliance on intensive language study in classrooms may not be sufficient on its own to attain the high skill levels required. In order to approach the levels in reading skills, vocabulary knowledge and other language competencies that native speakers have been gradually building up through extensive exposure to English since birth, EFL students may benefit greatly from extensive reading, firstly of graded readers and then of authentic novels and other texts. The purpose of this review of the most relevant recent research on extensive reading and related topics is to see if this practice has been found to be beneficial and to survey and critique the studies undertaken, with a particular focus on the methods, results and conclusions. Specifically, the researchers experimental designs and testing instruments, the length of the studies, reading material used and other related issues are examined and compared, in order to gain an overall picture of the state of knowledge about this topic based on primary research published in recent years and to find gaps in the current state of knowledge and the missing links in order to plan future research that would best add to the topic in question. Specifically this review aims to answer the following questions. 180

183 Do the research articles and readings analysed in this review address extensive reading effectively? What are the benefits of extensive reading found in the research? What needs to be done next to add to the current state of knowledge and fill the gaps in this knowledge? Firstly, an examination of reading skills will introduce many relevant factors, after which comes a critique of the issue of how much vocabulary is needed for comprehension of authentic texts and academic study. Following this, the findings of specific studies in extensive reading, in the first language (L1) and then in the second language (L2), with graded readers and then authentic novels will be discussed, before a brief look at other contextual factors influencing the effects of extensive reading such as student s L1 transfer on L2 learning and the effects of culture on reading is undertaken. Reading skills The reading process,readingfluency and reading speed For comprehension of a text to occur, a fast, efficient and interactive process has to operate in conjunction with fluent reading, according to GrabeandStoller (2002, p. 17). Studying this process in depth, Nation (2009) found that for native speakers, whose reading speed was between 200 and 300 words/minute if fluent readers, there was a physical limit of about 300 words a minute because reading at a faster rate would result in a loss in comprehension. He states that the eyes move from word to word in rapid jumps at the rate of about five words a second in a process involving automaticity and accuracy, both prerequisites for reading fluency (Macalister, 2010). Automaticity refers to the automatic and unconscious ability to recognize and store words together in rapid succession, a process called parsing (Grabe&Stoller, 2002, p. 22). Nation believes that a rate of 250 words per minute would be a good goal for a non-native speaker. The process must be rapid because a rate of less than 100 words per minute would be too slow for comprehension to occur, because the words are being processed by the reader in too slow a sequence. The need to read a large amount of text in academic contexts means slow readers would need far too much time to cover the same material as a fast reader would read quickly. Macalister (2010) describes a virtuous circle of success of a good reader while a poor reader is caught up in a vicious circle of lack of comprehension, lack of motivation and a reluctance to continue reading. Activities to improve reading fluency To improve fluency, extensive reading, repeated reading and speed reading, all at an easy level, with a focus on meaning, pressure to go faster and a large amount of input are suggested bynation (2009) and Macalister (2010).Grabe and Stoller (2002, p. 21) state that word recognition skills, reading comprehension and reading fluency are difficult to develop unless the reader gets a large exposure to print through extensive reading. Thus reading fluency and reading comprehension are primary factors to investigate in extensive reading studies. A tendency among many teachers to see these processes as different for L2 readers leads to limitations on their students development. Another limiting factor in reading comprehension for L2 learners, vocabulary knowledge, will be examined in the following section. Vocabulary needed for comprehension of authentic texts and academic study. 181

184 One of the main obstacles to achieving reading fluency is the lack of knowledge of vocabulary, which causes a reduction in reading speed and a lack of comprehension if too many words in the text are unknown to the reader. Using computer analysis of corpuses, researchers have subsequently tried to calculate the amount of vocabulary needed for various purposes. Corpus research Firstly, looking at the nature of word frequency, Nation (2006) describes how the British National Corpus (BNC) has been used to group word into 1000 word family lists. Estimates of the total number of word families in the English language put it at about 100,000 (Bee, Thomas & Bragg, 2002),while studies of educated native speakers show they know around 17,000 (Cobb, 2007) or between 15,000 and 20,000 word families (Nation, 2006). Word family frequency lists Studying the word family frequency lists indicates that the most frequent 1,000 words occur very frequently in all kinds of texts, but after that word family ranks thin out rapidly. Cobb (2007) used RANGE software to compare fiction, the press and academic texts. Nation s (2006) research found that while the first 1000 word families cover 82.9% of all words when proper nouns are included, the first 2000 covered 90%, the first 4000 cover 95% and 98% was covered by the first Thus comprehension may be possible if the reader knows the most frequent words since the others will be so infrequent as to not interfere with comprehension. Vocabulary amounts in various texts Studies seeking to calculate the percentage of known word families needed for comprehension and then the number needed to adequately understand texts of varying complexity have been able to determine this. Graded readers have been writtenwith carefully selected vocabulary and structures to enable a beginner reader to progress through to a level of 2,500 to 3,800 word families, depending on the publisher (Pellicer-Sanchez & Schmitt, 2010). Matsuoka and Hirsh (2010) also found that an upper-intermediate ELT course book covered the first 2000 word families well enough considering repetition of words, but concluded that there were few opportunities to expand vocabulary knowledge beyond this. Beyond these modified texts, authentic texts vary widely in degree of difficultydue to the quantity of less frequent words, the lexical density and the complexity of structure. For example, the George Orwell novel, Animal Farm is much easier to read than a Thomas Hardy novel in terms of length, structure and vocabulary. Nation (2006) reports on an earlier study by Hirsh and Nation which found that to comprehend short authentic teenage novels, knowledge of 5000 word families was needed. He then found that, assuming that 98% of words had to be known for comprehension, (Hu & Nation, 2010),8,000 to 9,000 word families were needed for authentic novels. Nation found newspapers needed the same degree of knowledge, children s movies required 7,000 words, and knowledge of 6,000 to 7,000 wordswould allow adequate comprehension of spoken English. Regarding academic texts, Nation (2006) also found that a good knowledge of the most frequent 9,000 would be required, a similar result to a Dutch study by HazenbergandHulstijn(1996).A considerable contribution to this knowledge of academic vocabulary was the compilation by Coxhead (2000) of an Academic Word List of about 500 words not in the 3000 most frequent word families that appear very frequently in academic texts, with subsequent implications for EAP students and textbooks authors, showing how the computer analysis of corpuses has contributed to English language learning. 182

185 The gap between graded readers and authentic texts The most striking point to note in the above is the large gap between the vocabulary demands of modified texts, about 3000 word families, and those of authentic texts, including academic texts, of around 9000 word families. To help bridge this gap, Matsuoka and Hirsh (2010) suggest that the higher level for graded readers needs to be raised to 5000 word families, after which easy authentic texts could be used, while Cobb (2007) maintains that computer technology should be used to modify texts to allow frequent repetition oftarget words. Now that the key issues of reading skills and vocabulary size have been introduced, the research studies on extensive reading with L1 and L2 learners using graded readers and finally authentic texts will be examined. Related reading studies in L1 Several landmark reading studies in L1 (Nagy, Herman & Anderson, 1985; Saragi, Nation & Meister, 1978) have had a profound impact on the field, resulting in academics relating their findings to L2 reading situations. Subsequent studies in L2 reading have been able to draw from these studies to refine and improve their research design after looking at the limitations of this early research, which opened up the field and prepared the way for the later studies. Both Saragi et al., (1978) and Nagy et al., (1985) focussed their research on incidental vocabulary acquisition. Despite big differences in the research designs, withsaragi et al. having adult participants read a novel, Clockwork Orange while Nagy et al., had 70 eighth grade children read two texts of about 1000 words each and tested them on acquisition of words from the texts. Thus neither study incorporated extensive reading,a factor that has made later studies in L2 more realistic considering the situation of native speakers in real-life who are, according to Nation (2009) and Cho and Krashen (1994), developing a deeper knowledge of already known language. Instead, these studies tested vocabulary acquisition after some reading and extrapolated these findings to extend to real-life situations, i.e. years of reading and acquisition and deepening of knowledge of vocabulary and other language features, which may not be valid. Both Saragiet el. (1978) and Nagy et al. (1985) concluded that gains in vocabulary acquisition occur from reading, and as Nagy(ibid.) claims,in agreement with Elley (1991) and Krashen(1985), it is possible to generalize that incidental learning from contexts accounts for a substantial proportion of vocabulary growth during school years in L1 readers. Nagy et al. go on to claim that children growing up in print-rich environments display superior comprehension in various aspects of language and literacy, syntax, vocabulary, spelling but also in knowledge of culture, history, literature and practical information. However, can these studies be extended to include L2 contexts? Cobb (2007) questions this because of the different situations of readers, which Grabe and Stoller (2002) describe in detail, citing issues such as a wider range of language proficiencies in L2, L1 language transfer, L1 reading skills transfer and varying differences between the diverse L1s and the L2, differing amounts of exposure to L2 reading and the interacting influence of working in two languages. Despite this, these historic studies paved the way for studies in EFL/ESL contexts and even with their limitations, such as the relatively small amounts of reading and the short timeframe of the studies, they were able to gain meaningful results. Saragi et al. (1978) found an important correlation between the number of times a word appeared and the depth of knowledge acquired of the word showing that repetition helps learning. 183

186 L2 studies of extensive reading using graded readers While the L1 studies described above focused on the influence of reading on vocabulary acquisition, L2 studies of extensive reading using graded readers have shown a positive correlation with vocabulary acquisition (Horst, 2005; Lee, 2007; Pigada and Schmitt, 2006), reading fluency (Horst, 2005; Iwahori, 2008; Taguchi, Takayasu-Maass&Gorsuch, 2004), reading comprehension (Elley&Mangubhai, 1983; Lee, 2007;Taguchi, Takayasu- Maass&Gorsuch, 2004), grammar structure (Elley&Mangubhai, 1983) and writing skills (Elley&Mangubhai, 1983; Lee & Hsu, 2009;Taguchi, Takayasu-Maass&Gorsuch, 2004). The correlation between extensive reading and these various language skills, instead of a narrow focus on vocabulary acquisition, such as by Nation (2006, 2009) and Schmitt (2008), is a positive development in recent studies, since the reading process should lead to the internalization of a wide range of language factors which therefore should all come under focus and be tested. Another positive factor in some of the research studies is their relatively long duration. In a pioneer study, ElleyandMangubhia (1983) carried out a book flood for two years, while Lee (2007) reports the findings of three consecutive studies extending over two and a half years in total, and another year-long study was by Lee and Hsu (2009). These lengthy studies closely replicate the real-life situation of students reading for extensive periods and all reported significant gains in the different language skills tested. The research designs used in most of the studies were relatively similar, with pre-tests and post-tests used for experimental and control groups. Nation s (1990) vocabulary measurement tool was used by Lee and Hsu (2009), while Lee (2007) and Lee and Hsu used Mason s cloze test to test reading. Similarly to Nagy et al.(1985), Pigada and Schmitt (2006) tested partial knowledge of vocabulary using the Wilson Signed Ranks Test. ButElleyandMangubhia(1983) and Lee and Hsu s (2009) assessment of students writing and its correlation with extensive reading is also very important when considering students possible need for increased skills in academic writing. By showing possible correlation between these factors, these researchers add weight to calls for the inclusion of extensive reading in academic English courses for EFL or ESL students. Lee and Hsu s (2009) use of Jacob s measurement for writing, which incorporates content, organization, vocabulary, language use and mechanics is an effective way to see gains in writing ability. Importantly, similarly to Elley and Magubhai (1983), their study showed gains in all subscales and led them to note that writing is a far too complex process to be learnt consciously. While I feel that there is definitely a place for explicit teaching of writing in the curriculum, the effect of extensive reading is also significant and therefore both approaches in tandem would give students the combined benefits of both methods. While the testing of vocabulary acquisition, reading fluency and reading comprehension are perhaps easier within the positivist paradigm using quantitative methods, I feel that testing of the productive skills of writing and speaking, as Lee and Hsu (ibid.) have done with Jacob s measurement of writing would lead to more significant results in the area of extensive reading than a narrow focus on vocabulary knowledge of some researchers. Looking at the combined results of the studies into graded readers, the benefits to EFL/ESL students are clear, especially if the practice of extensive reading is a long-term feature of the language program. The benefits in all areas tested were most significant for the longer studies. The careful selection of vocabulary and structure allows the student to read for pleasure while acquiring important skills such as reading fluency. The unconscious internalization of language then helps with later speaking and writing skills as the student also strengthens their 184

187 knowledge of known language and learns more of the most frequent 3000 words in the target language. However, for progress to continue after a graded reader program is finished, students will have to look to the reading of accessible authentic texts to acquire the high level of language skills required for academic study in English. L2 studies using extensive reading of authentic texts. In contrast to the relatively confined range of text types, mostly narratives, found in graded readers, there is much more diversity to choose from when using authentic texts for extensive reading. While Cho and Krashen (1994) used a selection of light teenage novels called the Sweet Valley series with some adult ESL students, Pellicer-Sanchez and Schmitt(2010) chose a fairly easy-to-read, interesting African novel for their participants to test words from an African language in the novel, Things Fall Apart. Meanwhile, Maxim s (2002) ambitious selection of a full-length novel in German for first semester German-as-a-foreign-language students is not recommended. Horst, Cobb and Meara (1998) and Kweon and Kim (2008) also chose novels for their studies, while others chose science articles (Fernandez, 2009) and online material (Arnold, 2009; Pino-Silva, 2009). This choice of reading material has a big effect on the results and subsequent possible generalizations. While the focus of many of the studies was on vocabulary acquisition (Cho &Krashen, 1994; Horst et al., 1998; Kweon& Kim, 2008; Pellicer-Sanchez &Schmitt, 2009), other factors studied include reading fluency (Cho &Krashen; Fernandez, 2009), various language skills (Maxim, 2002) and reading comprehension (Fernandez). Arnold s (2009) research differed from the others in that it was a qualitative study. Duration of the length of the studies was another relevant variable in the research design. Pellicer-Sanchez and Schmitt (2010) and Horst et al. s (1998) work involved the reading of just one novel, while KweonandKim s (2008) had participants read three authentic novels in five weeks. By contrast, other studies took an entire semester in the case of Fernandez (2009), Maxim (2002), Arnold (2009) and several months for Cho andkrashen (1994). Significantly, some of the studies using graded readers took much longer. In general, the longer studies show more validity as they have produced much more significant results, confirming Nation s (2006) belief in the cumulative long-term effects of extensive reading on gains in language skills. While all the other studies mentioned above found significant gains in language skills, Fernandez (2009) and Maxim (2002) found no significant difference between the treatment and control groups involved in their studies, which in Maxim s case may have been due to the heavy demands of reading an authentic text in German after just four weeks of language study. But these results can also be tempered by the fact that the control group were explicitly studying items that were to be later tested, so the extensive reading in lieu of textbook reading of the control group did not lead to lower achievement by the experimental group who were reading the novel either, a factor leading the author to suggest that longer treatments would perhaps show gains by the readers of authentic novels. Certainly the need for such a study is made obvious by Maxim s findings. All work in which vocabulary knowledge was tested (Cho &Krashen, 1994; Horst et al., 1998; Kweon& Kim, 2008; Pellicer-Sanchez & Schmitt, 2010) showed significant gains, particularly noting that the increase in word frequency in texts aids the acquisition and depth of knowledge gained from each word. They noted that some earlier studies had showed only slight gains, which cast doubt on the effectiveness of extensive reading, due to limitations in the designs used such as short duration of the studies, small amounts of reading done and the small amount of words tested. The more recent studies above all sought to rectify these shortcomings, and with improved designs have appeared to show the benefits of extensive reading on the vital 185

188 area of vocabulary acquisition, despite also agreeing in the most part that explicit teaching of target vocabulary would be also beneficial. Cho and Krashen are the most notable exception here, believing along with Elley (1991) that extensive reading alone,if enough was done, would be sufficient to teach all the vocabulary that ESL/EFL students would need. My opinion is that the teacher s role in providing scaffolding and adequate opportunities to meet and recycle target vocabulary in classroom work is necessary and that in conjunction with extensive reading would provide the student with the best approach when time constraints of study programs are borne in mind. The success of most of these studies in showing positive benefits in many important language skills due to extensive reading of authentic texts underlines the importance of this practice for EFL and ESL students especially if aiming for university study in English. The need to acquire a large vocabulary of about 8,000 to 9,000, reading fluency and comprehension skills, as well as speaking and writing skills involving many factors, when combined with the evidence of the studies involving authentic texts above indicates that extensive reading as a practice would be a highly beneficial practice to incorporate into English programs. Factors to consider in this approach are the time needed to benefit from such an approach, the need to combine this with intensive language skills study and the range of texts which could be used. It may be that the teacher s most important role is in explaining the need for such a practice and in showing students the range of suitable texts to match their language level, interests and future study needs. Other factors to consider in studying extensive reading Effect of L1 language transfer on cognate knowledge Given the varying proximity that other languages have to English as a result of historical factors, vocabulary acquisition may be an easier task for L1 speakers of Romance languages, which include French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, due to the large volume of cognates shared with English. Estimated at three-quarters of the most common word families (Bee et al., 2002), these cognates also feature prominently in academic English. Although no extensive reading studies considered this factor and in fact mainly involved students with first languages from East Asia such as Japanese (Iwahora, 2008; Taguchi, Takayasu-Maass&Gorsuch, 2004), Chinese (Lee, 2007; Lee & Hsu, 2009) and Korean (Cho &Krashen, 1994; Kweon& Kim, 2008), a study by Bellomo (2009) of students in a preparatory University reading class in the United States found that in a pre-test, Romance language L1 students, mainly Spanish speakers, showed a significantly greater knowledge of Latin-origin words in English than either English L1 or non- Romance L1 students due to transfer from their first languages. Cultural influences on L2 reading Another factor to consider in the focus on extensive reading is the influence of the habit of reading in cultures and educational settings where EFL is being taught. Reading skills also transfer from L1, being influenced by the student s skills and attitude to reading (Grabe&Stoller, 2002). Such cultural influences may affect the use of extensive reading as a practice in the classroom and as an extra part of the program to be done at home. Conclusion EFL/ESL students planning to undertake academic study in English will need a substantial knowledge of a large vocabulary of about 8,000 to 9,000 word families to be able to cope with academic texts. Reading fluency, writing and speaking skills with good use of vocabulary and structure is also vital. In summary, in the light of the studies discussed in this review, it can be 186

189 said that extensive reading does lead to significant improvement in the language skills, particularly with longer studies, accessible, interesting texts and a large number of words tested. Graded readers are useful in improving the language skills of beginners and intermediate level students to cover the most frequent 3000 word families. Then authentic texts need to be used to expand the students vocabulary and language skills beyond this elementary level. The implications of these findings for EFL contexts where extensive reading is not now normal practice is that students reading skills and vocabulary knowledge are severely restricted, limiting their proficiency as English teachers and their ability to access university studies in English resulting from less ability in English, as well as a lack of motivation and confidence in reading in a second language. Extensive reading programs should be implemented with the objectives of students developing a positive attitude, confidence and motivation towards reading as well as developing vocabulary knowledge and reading skills and other language skills. Despite the positive outcomes of the studies examined, there is a need for a lengthy study of about two years, along the lines of ElleyandMangubhia (1983) and Lee (2007) but involving authentic texts. Testing should involve more than simply vocabulary knowledge, but also speaking (as per the IELTS speaking test), writing composition (using Jacob s measurement of writing) (Lee & Hsu, 2009) and reading fluency, reading comprehension and vocabulary knowledge (as per Nation s Vocabulary Knowledge Test). Other factors that have been observed as relevant are the effect of L1 on cognate knowledge and the cultural influences on L2 reading. Any research findings associated with them would be important additions to the field. However, it has been found that extensive reading is a worthwhile practice to undertake in conjunction with intensive language skills study in the classroom. A combination of both practices with an increased focus on the students autonomous learning as they advancewould be the best possible approach for students whose ultimate goal is academic study in an Englishspeaking country or employment as an English teacher in their own country. Referring to questions raised in the introduction, it was found that:- 1. There are considerable research findings from the articles critiqued in this review. 2. Extensive reading does increase students vocabulary, knowledge, grammar use, writing skills, reading fluency and reading comprehension. 3. A long-term study on the effect of extensive reading of authentic novels on reading fluency, reading comprehension, vocabulary knowledge and writing skills is needed to add to the existing knowledge and fill gaps in the field. 187

190 References Arnold, N. (2009). Online extensive reading for advanced foreign language learners: An evaluation study. Foreign Language Annals, 42(2) Bee, R.,& Thomas, D. & Bragg, M. (2002).The adventure of English. London Weekend Television. (Documentary). London: Bellomo, T. (2009).Morphological analysis as a vocabulary strategy for L1 and L2 college preparatory students.tesl-ej. 13(3), Cho, K. &Krashen, S. (1994). Acquisition of vocabulary from the Sweet Valley Kids Series: Adult ESL acquisition. Journal of Reading, 37(8), Cobb, T. (2007).Computing the vocabulary demands of L2 reading.language learning technology. 11(3), Coxhead, A. (2000). A new academic word list.tesol Quarterly, 34(2), Elley, W. (1991).Acquiring literacy in a second language: The effect of book-based programs.language Learning, 41, Elley, W.,&Mangubhai, F. (1983).The impact of reading on second language learning. Reading Research Quarterly, 19(1): Fernandez, N. (2009). Extensive reading: Student s performance and perception. Reading Matrix: An International Online Journal, 9(1), Grabe, W., &Stoller, F. L. (2002).Teaching and researching reading. Harlow, Essex: Longman. Hazenberg, S., &Hulstijn, J. (1996).Defining a minimal receptive second-language vocabulary for non-native university students: an empirical investigation.applied Linguistics, 17, Horst, M., Cobb, T. &Meara, P. (1998).Beyanda clockwork orange: Acquiring second language vocabulary through reading. Reading in a Foreign Language, 11(2) Horst, M. (2005).Learning L2 Vocabulary through extensive reading: A measurement study.the Canadian Modern Language Review, 61(3): Hu, M & Nation, P. (2010).Unknown vocabulary density and reading comprehension.reading ina Foreign Language, 13(1), Iwahori, Y. (2008). Developing reading fluency: Astudy of extensive reading in EFL.Reading ina Foreign Language. 20(1), Krashen, S. (1985).The input hypothesis: Issues and implications. Torrance, CA: Laredo. Kweon, S.,& Kim, H. (2008). Beyond raw frequency: Incidental vocabulary acquisition in extensive reading. Reading in a Foreign Language 20(2), Lee, S. (2007). Relevations from three consecutive studies on extensive reading.relc Journal38:150. Lee, S.,& Hsu, Y. (2009). Determining the crucial characteristics of extensive readingprograms: the impact of extensive reading on EFL writing. The InternationalJournal offoreignlanguage Teaching, Summer 2009, and 188

191 Macalister, J. (2010). Speed reading courses and their effect on reading authentic texts: A preliminary investigation. Reading in a foreign language. 22(1), Matsuoka, W., & Hirsh, D. (2010). Vocabulary learning through reading: Does an ELT course book provide good opportunities? Reading in a foreign language.22(1), Maxim, H. H. (2002). A study into the feasibility and effects of reading extended authentic discourse in the beginning German language classroom. Modern Language Journal 86 (2002) Retrieved from EBSCOhost Nagy, W., Herman, P., & Anderson, R. (1985). Learning words from context. Reading research quarterly, 20 (2) Nation, P. (1990). Teaching and learning vocabulary. New York: Newbury House. Nation, P. (2006). How large a vocabulary is needed for reading and listening? The Modern Language Review, 63(1) Nation, P. (2009). Reading faster.international Journal of English Studies. 9(2), Canadian Pellicer-Sanchez, A., & Schmitt, N. (2010). Incidental vocabulary acquisition from an authentic novel: Do things fall apart? Reading in a Foreign Language.22(1) Retrieved from Pigada, M. & Schmitt, N. (2006). Vocabulary acquisition from extensive reading : A case study. Reading in a Foreign Language, 18(1), Pino-Silva, J. (2009). Extensive reading through the Internet: Is it worth the while? International Journal of English Studies, 9(2), pp Saragi, T., Nation, S.P. &Meister.G.(1978). Vocabulary Learning and reading.system, 6, Schmitt, N. (2008). Instructed second language vocabulary learning.language teaching research, (12)3, Taguchi, E., Takayasu-Maass, M., &Gorsuch, G. (2004). Developing reading fluency in EFL: How assisted repeated reading and extensive reading affect fluency development.reading in a Foreign Language, 16(2),

192 An Analysis of the Use of Collocation by Iranian EFL College Students Reza Abdi a Salim Zalgholizadeh b a Associate Professor, ELT Department, Mohaghegh Ardabili University, Ardabil, Iran b English Language Instructor, Islamic Azad University, Ardabil Branch, Iran Abstract Teaching writing has proved to be a challenging task in that an array of factors plays a role in developing writing ability. From among many elements constituting writing ability, this study investigated the lexical collocational errors in EFL college student writing in Iran on the grounds that is has become one of the primary concerns in EFL teaching and learning for decades. If collocations are not properly taught and learned, the high load of the employed declarative knowledge on the part of novice writers will affect the writing procedure which generally leads to problems in both fluency and accuracy. In order to develop a better image of the frequent collocational problems, a total of 120 final exam papers of BA level EFL college students accessed through the formally required procedures from the university archive was selected. The unacceptable lexical collocational errors were identified based on the Benson et al. (1986) model. The BBI Dictionary of English Word Combination and the British National Corpus were employed to analyze the students collocational errors. As a result, a total of 83 lexical collocational errors were found and categorized according to the model. The further analysis indicated that the L1 (V+N) and L2 (Adj+N) errors occurred more frequently and L5 (Ad+Adj) error types were the least occurring ones. This shows that students had difficulty mostly in choosing appropriate verbs and adjectives in writing acceptable collocation. The type and frequency of all collocational error types were discussed on the light of L1 and L2 grammatical and cultural features, and the implications for teaching writing were suggested. Key words: writing ability, lexical collocation errors, transfer, culture Introduction Collocation has become one of the primary concerns in EFL teaching and learning for decades. Several researchers have perceived the significance of collocation and the requisite of collocation teaching in EFL courses (e.g., Bahns & Eldaw, 1993; Brown, 1974; Channell, 1998; Howarth, 1998; Nattinger, 1980,). They also pointed out the benefits of learning collocation such as enhancing learners communicative competence, and achieving native-like fluency. Hence, collocational knowledge is essential for EFL learners and collocation instruction in EFL courses is required. Previous studies (e.g., Aghbar, 1991; Bahns & Eldaw, 1993; Channell, 1998; Farghal & Obiedat, 1995; Hsu, 2004; Liu, 1999; Lien, 2003;) indicated that EFL learners made many collocational errors in their writing and speaking for lack of collocational competence in English. These errors may be due to many factors such as L1 transfer, ignorance of rule restriction, overgeneralization, use of synonym, approximation. On the other hand the students written work is corrected and rewritten several times by teachers. Unfortunately, these efforts 190

193 are mainly wasted As Hill (2000) points out; teachers tend to focus on correcting grammatical mistakes, failing to notice those mistakes which are made due to a lack of collocation. Consequently, although accurate grammar is used, problems concerning areas such as lexical selection are left. It is reasonable that learners continue to make such mistakes considering the teachers focus on grammar rather than collocation instruction. for example, for noun-verb type Iranian EFL learners use color spread instead of color run (This color so wash the shirt separately) because of L1 influence on L2. Thus, several researchers proposed that teacher would increase EFL learners collocational knowledge through raising EFL learners awareness of collocations. For instance, Woolard (2000) claimed an effective way to raise awareness of collocations is to help EFL learners pay more attention to their mis-collocations in their production of the language. In that way, learners gradually realize that learning more vocabulary is not just learning new words, but being familiar with word combinations. Lewis (2000) also argued that EFL learners need to know not only what is right but also what is wrong. If teachers can find out learners collocational errors and point out these errors to learners, they can raise learners' awareness of collocations. Thus, studying learners miscollocations is vital importance to teaching and learning because it can help teachers understand difficult collocations for EFL learners and realize what should be emphasized in classes for teachers to raise EFL learners awareness of collocations. Vocabulary in general and collocation in particular are important to language learning. If collocation are not properly taught and learned, the learning process will immediately mark the learners speech or writing as problematic and non-native such as hindering their fluency and accuracy in language production. Therefore, collocational errors made by students are of great importance in conducting research. Both teachers and learner s attention should be drawn to word combinations at all stages of learning especially for college students that wring is their common skill. This investigation is an attempt to discover frequent collocational errors in final essay writing examination of Iranian EFL college students, just in lexical collocations. The results of this study may help curriculum designers to identify lexical collocational errors in a continuum from the least to the most problematic ones and emphasize the most difficult ones in instruction program. Teachers not only would raise learners consciousness about word combinations but also make learners focus on frequent lexical collocational errors found in this study. Collocational error studies show that EFL students tend to depend on cognitive and communicative strategies Liu (1999), to facilitate learning. Some of these strategies account for students source of error. Findings frequent source of error or the more influence strategies on student word combination in EFL writing can give teachers a clear picture of different behaviors of the word combinations of college student. For example one probable reason for the learners lack of competence in collocation may be due to L1 influence this is because of the differences between English and their L1 and negative transfer may be an indication of such influence. It is also hoped that further studies of collocations could be engendered by this study. This study investigates EFL college students usage of lexical collocation in their essay by analyzing their written production qualitatively and quantitatively based on classification of Benson et al. (1986). All of the six types of lexical collocation will be analyzed in order to answer the following questions. 191

194 1. What lexical collocational error types are made by student? 2. What is the frequency of lexical collocational error types in the students writing? 3. What are the sources of lexical collocational errors in students writing? Review of Related Literature The notion of collocations With regard to the term collocations, previous studies fall into two broad categories. Most researchers defined collocations from the aspect of partnership or co-occurrence of words. Halliday and Hasan (1976) classified collocations from the aspect of discourse. In terms of partnership of words, Mitchell (1971, as cited in Carter & McCarthy, 1988) defined collocations from the view of grammar and vocabulary. On the other hand, most other researchers tackled collocations from the lexical aspect. Mitchell regarded a collocation as a lexicogrammatical unit, and it brings morphology and syntax back into the center of lexical matters. For example, on-going, whose meaning is different from the meaning of the word, going-on. He argued that it is a valuable approach to make grammatical generalization concerning collocations. On the other hand, among the researchers who defined collocations from the lexical aspect, Firth was one of the earliest linguistics to introduce the term collocations. Firth (1957) defined that collocation is part of the meaning of a word. He, moreover, proposed that lexical meaning should be derived from their co-occurrence with other lexemes in contexts and the meaning of a word should be known by the company it keeps (Hill, 2000). Nattinger and DeCarrico (1992) as native speakers defined collocations as a habitual association of words that co-occur with mutual expectancy (p.36). In other words, a collocation, such as rancid butter, great probability, and drug addict is a word or phrase which is arbitrary. Benson, Benson, and Ilson (1986) gave the definition of collocations in general: In English, as in other languages, there are many fixed, identifiable, non-idiomatic phrases and constructions. Such groups of words are called recurrent combinations, fixed combinations, or collocations They also classified English collocations into two major groups: lexical collocations and grammatical collocations. Lexical collocations are further divided into six types, whereas grammatical collocations are divided into eight. Lexical collocations contain nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Lexical collocations may be verb+ noun, adjective+ noun, noun+ verb, noun+ noun, adverb+ adjective and verb+ adverb (see Table 1). On the other hand, grammatical collocations are phrases containing a dominant word, such as a noun, an adjective, or a verb and a preposition or grammatical structure like an infinitive or clause. Halliday and Hasan (1976) defined collocation from the aspect of discourse. The central interpretation of collocation derived from Holidays (1966, cited in Al-Zahrani, 1998) study in which he proposed that collocation is the co-occurrence of two words, independence of grammatical types and likely to take place over sentence boundaries and the set is a family of members that have the same privilege to co-occur in collocation. For example the adjective 192

195 strong and powerful belong to the same lexical set, because they all collocate with argument. Later in 1976 Halliday and Hasan adopted the notion of Holidays lexical set and defined collocation as cohesive effect of pairs of words such as flame candle, king crown and hair comb (as cited in Al-Zahrani, 1998) they proposed that this similar patterns of collocations would generate cohesive force if they occur in an adjacent sentence. Table 1 Types of Lexical Collocation Based on Benson et al. (1986) Type Pattern Example L1 L2 L3 L4 L5 L6 Verb + noun Adjective + noun Noun + verb Noun1 + Noun2 Adverb + Adjective Verb + Adverb Dispel fear Strong tea Bombs explode A pack of dogs Closely acquainted Appreciate sincerely L1=lexical collocation type1, etc. Empirical studies of English collocation It was not until recent years that experimental research on collocations in EFL or ESL was conducted (Channell, 1981 Al-Zahrani, 1998; Aghbar, Bahas, 1993; Biskup, 1992; Bahans and Eldaw, 1993; Bahans 1993; Farghal and Obieedat, 1995). Among these studies the focuses were on measuring learners knowledge of collocations, investigating the relationship between EFL learners collocational knowledge and their overall language proficiency, revealing collocational errors that EFL learners may have and analyzing cause of the collocational errors. Measuring collocational knowledge Most of studies (Channell, 1981 Al-Zahrani, 1998; Aghbar, Bahas, 1993; Biskup, 1992; Bahans and Eldaw, 1993; Bahans 1993; Farghal and Obiedat, 1995; Liu, 1999) intended to investigate EFL collocational knowledge, and findings of those studies demonstrated EFL learners insufficient knowledge of English collocations. Among the earliest researchers, for instance, Channel (1998) conducted a study to investigate L2 knowledge of collocations. Eight students whit advanced- level English ability participated in her study to fill in a collocational grid which had adjective as its vertical axis and nouns as its horizontal axis. Findings indicated that learners all understood the meaning of these words clearly, but they still could not produce number of acceptable collocations. She therefore suggested that it may be necessarily to encourage learners to pay more attention to collocations. Afterward, the findings of Aghbar s study (1990) were similar to the findings of Channel s study. Aghbar (1990) used a cloze test to examine ESL and native speaker s knowledge of 193

196 verb-noun collocations. His experiment included 27 faculty members, 44 native undergraduate and 97 advanced ESL students at Indiana university of Pennsylvania. The results revealed that ESL learners provided the least number of appropriate word combination, and they performed well only on the items where the verb get was most likely anticipated, such as get knowledge get independence and get admission. A similar study was conducted by Bahans and Eldaw (1993) employed a translation and cloze test to assess German post secondary learners active knowledge of 15 English verb noun collocations. The findings of this study revealed that all the subjects had insufficient knowledge of lexical collocations, for they performed poorly on tests, a blank-filling test and a translation test. In general previous studies reported that ESL learners have insufficient knowledge of collocation. However, not only advanced EFL learners but also teachers have insufficient collocational knowledge. For example Farghal and Obiedat (1995) used an English blank- filling test and Arabic translation task to test Jordanian EFL students knowledge of English lexical collocations. The blank-filling test consisting of eleven collocations was given to Group A, thirty four seniors and juniors majoring in English, whereas an Arabic translation task was given to Group B, twenty three English major seniors at the Higher college for the certification of Teachers. The analysis of the data revealed that both ESL learners and English teachers were seriously deficient in knowledge of collocations. Moreover, in more recent research, Gitsaki (1997) used essay writing, a translation test, and a blank- filling test to measure collocational knowledge of 275 Greek learners in junior high school at three proficiency levels, post beginning, intermediate and post intermediate. The writing essay was to elicit free production, a translation task was employed to measure cued production of collocations, and a blank-filling task was used to elicit accuracy in the uses of collocation. The results overall showed that L2 learners had deficiency in producing acceptable collocations. From the studies reviewed above, we can see that findings were quite consistent. It has been showed that EFL college students, high school students and professors lack collocational knowledge. The major reason why EFL leaner s generally lack collocational knowledge is that collocation has been neglected in EFL classroom and thus learners tend to ignore learning collocations. Hence those researchers all stated that collocations, the most needed and useful genre of prefabricated speech should be highlighted in EFL classrooms. Teachers should present collocations with every new word and incorporate collocations which are linguistically and culturally distinct from learners L1 in their teaching syllabi, and encourage EFL students to use English dictionaries emphasizing on collocations such as BBI Combinatory dictionary and Oxford dictionary of Current Idiomatic English. Types of collocational error Several empirical studies (Al-zahrani, 1998; Bahns, 1993; Biskup, 1992; Chen, 2002; Howarth, 1998; Liu, 1999b; Nesselhauf, 2004) showed that certain collocations are difficult for non-native learners to produce in collocation tests or in writing and pointed out what types of collocational errors may occur frequently. To know L1 influence on learners perceptions and production of collocations, Biskup (1992) conducted a comparative study of 28 German and 194

197 34 Polish students of English to investigate with lexical collocation in general and verb + noun collocations in particular. He made conclusions that learners faced difficulties on the type of verb. Moreover, Polish learners relied more on their L1 and made more transfer errors since they perceived a distance between polish and English. In contrast to Polish students, German students tended to produce errors resulting from assumed formal similarity (e.g. code switching, blends). Afterwards, the findings of Bahns (1993) supported Biskup s viewpoints and indicated that learners seem to rely on hypothesis of transferability (p.61), which means that learners are apt to use their L1 lexical knowledge in transferring to L2. Farghal and Obiedat (1995) found that non-native learners and students attempted to employ four strategies of lexical simplifications such as synonym, paraphrasing, avoidance, and transfer while encountering collocations and they adopted the strategy synonym, more frequently. Except negative transfer, Al-zahrani (1998) also found that EFL students made positive transfers, which aided them to respond to collocations easily. Different finding was found in Hill s (2000) study. He analyzed students essay writing and found that students were seriously lack of collocation competence, especially in de-lexicalized verbs such as get, put, make, do, bring, and take. The major reason of making this error was that learners did not know the most important collocates of a key word. Liu (1999) examined collocational error in students writings, 127 copies of final exam papers, and 94 copies of their compositions and examination papers. Among these errors, it was found that the verb + noun pattern and verb + preposition + noun pattern were noticeable errors and out of six, five sources of learners errors were found, According to Liu (1999), negative transfer was the most noticeable source of collocational errors in these five sources of errors. Source of Making Collocational Errors Recent experimental studies have pointed out several factors that may influence EFL learners performance in making correct colloacations. The researchers discovered that the cause of collocational errors is related to analogy, overgeneralization, paraphrase, the L1 interference, interlingual transfer, intralingual transfer, and shortage of collocational knowledge (Bahas, 1993; Bahns & Eldaws, 1993; Channel, 1998; Farghal & Obiedat, 1995; Liu, 1999). In terms of the L1 interference, Bahns (1993) investigated Polish and German learners performance in English collocations. The conclusion of this study was that the majority of collocational errors can be traced to L1 influence and a number of subjects provided; drive a bookshop, make attention at, win money and finish a conflict, for the target collocation run a bookshop, pay attention, make money, and resolve a conflict. Similar conclusion was made by Bahans and Eldaw (1993), Farghal and Obiedat (1995), and Al-zahrani (1998). They claimed that many EFL learners collocational errors were caused by their L1 interference. Liu (1999) generally analyzed collocational errors due to seven main factors, as shown in Table

198 Table 2 Source of Collocational Errors Based on Liu (1999) Cognitive Strategies Communication Strategies Intralingual Transfer Interlingual Transfer Paraphrase Overgeneralization Ignorance of Rule Restrictions False Concepts Hypothesized The Use of Synonym Negative Transfer Word Coinage Approximation Method Corpus This study aims to analyze written production of sophomore students in Islamic Azad University (Ardabil Branch). Two majors of English language and literature and English language teaching at BA level were established in this branch, at fourth semester, they are taught how to develop essay and paragraph writing through a two-credit course. They have to expand writing an essay in five paragraphs including introduction, body and conclusion, the first one is the introduction paragraph that includes topic sentences and the blue print in which the three following body paragraphs are introduced. The three next body paragraphs are written in detail and with more words about three points introduced at the blue print, and finally the last paragraph includes the conclusion. Teacher allots three to four scores for the mid-term paper and sixteen or seventeen scores to final examination where students choose one of the several presented topics. The same teacher who has taught lesson through the term is in charge of rating. Students writing is scored based on cohesion and coherence. In order to access students final examination papers, I applied for permission to vice-chancellor of education at Ardabil Azad University. First Supervisor and the head of the English Department signed application then it was considered at instructional council, finally after obtaining permit from the council, security manager of university agreed with the application providing following two points, first the copies should belong to the previous academic years, second the identification of the students should be omitted from sheets. Material and Instrument Materials for the present study involve 170 copies of the written corpus stored in university archive, these corpus are students final essay writing examination. Two groups of corpora from two separate semesters were taken; the first one containing 80 compositions which belonged to the first semester of academic years and the second one including 70 compositions which belonged to the second semester of academic years. 140 samples out of 196

199 170 copies that scored above 12 were selected. 20 students didn t commit any error in their compositions. As a result just 120 samples were selected to analyze. The academic years essay writing examination administered in such a way that students were asked to choose one of the following topics and write a five paragraph assay; 1.Responsibility 2.Freedom 3.Shyness 4.Fear 5.Laziness 6. insecurity and the academic years writing examination conducted with two topics then students were required to select one of the following thesis statement and develop a four-paragraph; 1.in general people are living longer now discus the causes of this phenomenon. Use specific reasons and details to develop your essay. 2. The government can take some major steps to overcome the unemployment of the youth. BBI dictionary of English word combination (1986) and British Online National Corpus are two instruments applied in this study as a reference to examine the errors. BNC, available at is an online corpus which records native speakers sentences, words, and collocations and BBI dictionary represents co-occurrence of words. If a suspected collocation was not found at BNC, I referred to BBI, and looked up correct combination of two words, then found collocations again was searched in BNC. For convenience I entered collected data into Excel database. Procedure In the present study, the errors learners made in lexical collocation were classified. At the beginning, I read the students compositions and tried to find out messages they wish to express. After reading their compositions two times, I embarked on identifying, classifying, and analyzing the students lexical collocational errors as follow. Identifying collocational errors and errors checking: Identifying collocational errors is not an easy task for researchers, especially for a nonnative researcher. Therefore, In the process of detecting the students collocational errors and presenting correct ones, the BBI Dictionary of English Word Combination and the Online British National Corpus were used as references to analyze the collocational errors. Through these references, it would be easier for the researcher to extract example of common authentic usages from the corpus and from the books. The following steps illustrate stages of detecting students collocational errors in their composition by utilizing Online British National Corpus and BBI Dictionary of English Word Combination For example suppose I find a suspicious L1 (verb + noun) collocational error I learnt knowledge from him, especially in English. In which the verb learnt collocates with the noun knowledge in an unusual way. I search the British National Corpus with the phrase query command and the search key learn knowledge no solutions are found. I look up BBI dictionary of English word combination to find appropriate word which co-occurs with word knowledge. The appropriate words are acquire and gain. After looking up in the dictionary, I search the British National Corpus 197

200 with phrase query command and the search key acquire knowledge and gain knowledge. I find these collocations presented in sentences. 5. I record acquire knowledge or gain knowledge as an evidence. Classification of lexical collocations and analyzing the errors: I identified the collocational errors in the students written corpus according to the classification of collocation proposed by Benson et al. (1986) (see Table 1). Since one of the purposes of this study is finding source of errors in order to avoid subjectivity in making decision I benefited from Triangulation, consensus of two more proficient colleagues for detecting source of errors. They were presented the list of found lexical collocational errors made by students and asked to judge according to Luis classification and definition of source of error (1999) (see table 2). Data Analysis Data used for statistical analysis in the present study includes the number of lexical collocational errors, and the frequency and percentage of lexical collocational error types in the students writing. The data elicited from the students written corpus were typed into a database by using Excel for the purpose of data analysis including: the types of collocational errors, the incorrect collocation used by students, the sentences consisting of collocational errors, the topic students wrote about, the suggestion for correction and evidence from BNC. For convenience I rewrote numbers of topics that students selected to write about from two corpuses as follow 1.Responsibility 2.Freedom 3.Shyness 4.Fear 5.Laziness 6.Insecurity 7.In general people are living longer now discus the causes of this phenomenon. Use specific reasons and details to develop your essay. 8. The government can take some major steps to overcome the unemployment of the youth. Topics 1 to 6 belong to one corpus and topics 7 to 8 belong to another. Since there is a variety of information in the database, the materials analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Table 3 is an example of categories in the database. Table 3 Data used for Analysis in Database topic Types of collocation error Source of error collocation error Ill-formed sentence correction Evidence from the BNC 1 L1(V+N) False concept hypothesi zed Do mistake If they do mistake in their works they can t do their works good. If they makei don t mistake in want to their works make any they can t mistake. do their works good. 198

201 Results The first research question of this study deals with types of lexical collocational error made by the students. Among six types of lexical collocations proposed by Benson et al. (1986), the students committed five collocational error types. In fact type L5 (Ad+Adj) never occurred either correctly or incorrectly, so in the statistical description the value of L5 (Ad+Adj) is zero. Among these five lexical collocational errors the errors of L1 (V+N) appeared most frequently in the college students writing corpus. Figure 1 shows the collocational error types made by the EFL college students including: L1 (V+N) L2 (Adj+N) L3 (N+V) L4 (N+N) L6 (V+AD). Figure 1 Numbers of Lexical Collocational Errors in the Students writing. The second research question of this study is going to find the frequency of collocational error types in the students writing. It was found that L1 (V+N) error occurred most frequently in the students writing corpus and percentage of L1 (V+N) errors amounted 39%, on the other hand, L6 (V+AD) were least errors with the percentage of 2%. Table 4 and figure 2 show the frequency and percentage of lexical collocational errors in the 120 writing samples. 199

202 Table 4 The Frequency of types of Lexical Collocational Errors in Students Writing Type example Frequency percentage L1 (V+N) Do mistake 30 36% L2 (Adj+N) Big happen 32 39% L3 (N+V) Breeze flow 4 5% L4 (N+N) Property aid 15 18% L6 (V+AD) Go foreign 2 2% Figure 2 Ratios of Lexical Collocational Errors in the Students Writing. In order to develop appropriate materials to teach learners more effectively and to make students focus on correct collocation production, it is needed to understand why the students or learners made collocational errors. The third research question of this study was: what are the sources of the lexical collocational errors in students writing? Tables 5 to 9 represent five sources of 200

203 error in this study. The found errors were categorized based on the classification of the sources of the error proposed by Liu (1999) (see Table 2). Approximation, false concepts hypothesized, negative transfer, ignorance of rule restrictions, and the use of synonym are five dominant sources of error in this study as follow. Approximation: Paraphrase can be categorized into two types: word coinage, which means making up new words to communicate desired concept, and approximation. Since there was no error belonging to word coinage, in this study we discussed the errors which belong to approximation. Approximation means that learners use incorrect vocabulary items and structures, which shares enough semantic features in common with the desired item to satisfy the speaker (Tarone, 1981, as sited in Liu, 1999). When assessing the word in the lexicon, the learner selected samesounding lexical items; hence they made collocational errors like historical space and average of living, instead of historical place and average life. Table 5 shows the example of Collocation Errors Resulting from Approximation. Table 5 Collocation Errors Resulting from Approximation Type Students Collocations Target Collocations L2 (Adj+N) In some countries the average of living is too long that make people astonish. The average life of the machine is three and a half. False concepts hypothesize: False concepts hypothesized errors result from learners faulty comprehension of distinctions in the target language. For instance students may use the words teach for learn, do for make, come for go and bring for take. Liu (1999) stated that some students may think that words such as make, do, and take are de-lexicalized verbs so they can replace another one freely. Therefore, the students made errors such as getting mistake instead of make mistake. Table 6 shows example of collocation errors resulting from false concept hypothesized. 201

204 Table 6 Collocation Errors Resulting from False Concept Hypothesized Type Students Collocations Target Collocations L1 (V+N) People lost life for illness or die for getting mistake. I don t want to make any mistake. Negative transfer: Some previous studies (Bahans, 1993; Wang, 2001; Liu, 2002) proposed that learners first language influence their production on collocations and were the common source of error. The item in L1 (V+N) showed a serious problem in the use of verb. The college students produced collocations like decrease weight by word for word translation. These collocation errors appeared because the students failed to observe the restrictions on the collectability of weight. Table 7 shows the example of collocation errors resulting from negative transfer. Table 7 Collocation Errors Resulting from Negative Transfer Type Students Collocations Target Collocations L1 (V+N) If he wants to decrease his weight he has to eat fruit and vegetable. I have lost weight by using healthier meals. Ignorance of rule restrictions: Errors of ignorance of rule restrictions were the result of analogy and failure to observe the restriction of existing structures (Richards, 1973). For instance, big happen is the rule restriction of verb. Happen is verb and it never comes after adjective. The student without considering parts of speech restrictions applied big happen instead of big event. Table 8 shows example of collocation errors resulting from ignorance of rule restrictions. Table 8 Collocation Errors Resulting from Ignorance of Rule Restrictions Type Students Collocations Target Collocations L2 (Adj+N) There were three big happens in my childhood that remained in my memory: terrible film, heavy rain and ghost. The concerts, held in the evening, were a big family event. 202

205 The use of synonyms: The use of a synonym for a lexical item in a collocation is seen as a straightforward application of the open choice principle (Farghal & Obiedat, 1995). Students might use *broaden your eyesight instead of broaden your vision. In other words, whenever students cannot find a semantically correspondent collocation, they will use a synonym to replace in target English collocation. It was shown that the reason students brought about the unacceptable collocations was the absence of the lexical items, it could be explained that the students failed to know the collocability of invest with money, horror with films Table 9 shows example of collocation errors resulting from use of synonyms. Table 9 Collocation Errors Resulting from Use of Synonyms Type Students Collocations Target Collocations L2 (Adj+N) When I was child I fell sick so we went to the cinema and watched dreadful film. Boys like that shouldn t be packed off to horror films all on their own. Table 10 shows frequency and percentage of five sources of errors in the present research. Among four kinds of intralingual transfer just one kind, overgeneralization wasn t occurred; and as for paraphrase, word coinage did not influence students writing. The most influential sources of errors attributed to intralingual transfer. The use of synonym with 37% was the biggest source of error. Table10 Rate of Sources of Collocational Errors Identified in the Study Cognitive Intralingual Transfer Ignorance of Rule Restrictions 5 6% Strategies False Concepts Hypothesized 14 17% The Use of Synonym 31 37% Interlingual Transfer Negative Transfer 21 25% Communication Strategies Paraphrase Approximation 12 14% 203

206 Discussion With respect to the frequency of 83 collocational errors, it was found that the EFL college students in the present study tended to use adjective and noun with synonym and made more errors in L2 (Adj+N) pattern (83:39%) such as fit nutrition and variety of dietary instead of proper nutrition and variety of food. This study also revealed less errors in L5 (Ad+Adj) and L6 (V+Ad). It doesn t mean students used these two latter patterns correctly, in fact they applied them much less either correctly and incorrectly in their composition, it is likely that the students may not try to use adverb after verb and before adjective. L1 (V+N) pattern with a nuance difference stand at level two (83:36%) it means that L1 (V+N) is a second type of collocation that EFL college students have difficulty. This conform to the results of Liu (1999), Chen (2002), and Nesselhauf (2004) who discovered that more frequent lexical errors are L2 (Adj+N) and L1 (V+N). Frequency and percentage of L3 (N+V) (83:4) and L4 (N+N) (83:15) in result revealed that these two collocations are easy for students. The result of the present study suggest that L1 (V+N) and L2 (Adj+N) still need to be emphasized in the English classroom for EFL learners. In this study most of the errors made by students related to the two patterns L1 (V+N) L2 (Adj+N) in whish verb and adjective are the first parts and noun is the second part of the collocation. As to L2 (Adj+N) pattern, out of the 32 errors 21 errors was because of the wrong choice of the adjective for example *precocious death, perfect programme, precise plan, absolute freedom, hard fear, dreadful stress instead of definite plan, comprehensive programme, deep fear, complete freedom, untimely death, severe stress. About L1 (V+N) pattern, out of the 30 errors 21errors was because of the wrong choice of the verb, for instance establish business, establish opportunity, do mistake, make factory, fulfilling needs, instead of set up business, create opportunity, make mistake, build factories, meet need. This shows that students had difficulty in choosing appropriate verb and adjective in writing acceptable collocation therefore, adjective and verb play an important role in student s correct collocation and it should be emphasized in EFL collocation instruction. In terms of the source of the errors, use of the synonym was the major source of collocational errors because it brought about 37% of the total errors. This is consistent with Farghal and Obiedat s (1995) study in which the more frequent source of error in non-native learners was use of synonym. More collocational errors resulted from intralingual transfer than interlingual transfer. This shows that students mother tongue has less influence in the production of lexical collocation. With respect to false concept hypothesized, another interesting finding in this study is use of de-lexicalized verbs. It seems that students had difficulty in using these verbs. Because not only they have applied verbs such as make, do and get interchangeably for instance do mistake and get mistake instead of make mistake, but also they have used de-lexicalized verbs with any other verb they like for example get rise instead of rise. This is opposite to Aghbar s (1990) study in ESL setting where he used cloze test to examine ESL and native speakers knowledge of verb-noun collocations. The results showed that they performed well only on the items where the verb get was most likely anticipated such as get knowledge, get independence, and get admission. But Hill s (2000) finding showed that de-lexicalize verb is more difficult to EFL learners. Negative transfer mostly replete with word to word translation of L1 204

207 (V+N) and L2 (Adj+N) patterns for instance past people and simple illness are direct translation of Persian collocations. Ignorance of rule restrictions which has the least proportion among sources of errors in the present study revealed that students have neglected parts of speech and label of verbs in selecting collocations, for instance, laid on the bed and big happen instead of lay on the bed and big event. This study findings is consistent with previous research results conducted to measure collocational knowledge of EFL learners (e.g., Aghbar, 1990; Bahans and Eldaw, 1993; Farghal and Obiedat, 1995; Channel, 1981; Gitsaki, 1997) their findings revealed that all the subjects had insufficient knowledge of lexical collocations, for they performed poorly on tests, a blank-filling test, a translation test and essay writing. The major reason why EFL leaner s generally lack collocational knowledge is that collocation has been neglected in EFL classroom and thus learners tend to ignore learning collocations. Hence those researchers all stated that collocations, the most needed and useful genre of prefabricated speech should be highlighted in EFL classrooms. Most of the previous studies findings on students written collocation such as (Al-zahrani, 1998; Liu 1999; Biskup, 1992) revealed that interlingual transfer is the most dominant source of error but the present study outcome shows that intralingual transfer is the main source of error. Limitation of the study The aim of this study was to investigate lexical collocational errors in EFL college students writing. Other types of errors such as grammatical collocational errors, tense errors, auxiliary errors, or other syntactic errors are not included in this study. Further research can take these types of errors into consideration. Other limitation was the small number of corpus. Further studies require larger number of corpus in different levels. By doing this, it may gain a clear picture of learners collocational errors. 205

208 References Aghbar, A. A. (1991). Fixed expressions in written texts: East Lancing, MI: National Centre for Research on Teacher Learning. Al-Zahrani, M. S. (1998). Knowledge of English lexical collocations among male Saudi college students majoring in English at a Saudi University. Ph.D. Dissertation, Indian University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania. Bahans, J. (1993). Lexical collocation: A contrastive view. ELT Journal, 47(1), Bahans, J., & Eldaw, M. (1993). Should we teach EFL students collocations? System, 21(1), Benson, M., Benson, E., & Ilson, R. (1986). Lexicographical description of English. Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamin s Publishing. Benson, M., Benson, E., & Ilson, R. (1986). The BBI dictionary of English word combinations. Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamin s Publishing. Company. Biskup, D. (1992). L1 influence on learners renderings of English collocations. A Polish/German empirical study. In P. J. Arnold, & L. H. Bejoin (Eds.), Vocabulary and Applied Linguistics (pp ). London: Macmillan academic and professional Ltd. British National Online Corpus. htt:// Brown, D. F. (1974). Advanced vocabulary teaching: The problem of collocation. RELC Journal, 5, Carter, R., & McCarthy, M. (1988). Vocabulary and language teaching. New York: Longman. Channall, J. (1998). Applying semantic theory into vocabulary teaching. ELT Journal, 35(1), Chen, P. C. (2002). A corpus-based study of the collocational errors in the writings of the EFL learners in Taiwan. MA thesis. National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan. Farghal, M., & Obiedat, H. (1995). Collocations: A neglected variable in EFL. IRAL, 33(4), Firth, J. R. (1957). Papers in Linguistics. London: Oxford University Press. Gitsaki, C. (1997). Second language lexical acquisition: A study of development collocational knowledge. Maryland: International Scholars Publications. Halliday, M. A. K., & Hassan, R. (1976). Cohesion in English. London: Longman. Hill, J. (2000). Revising priorities: from grammatical failure to collocational success. In M. Lewis (Ed.), Teaching collocation: Further developments in the lexical approach (pp ). London: Language Teaching Publications. Howarth, P. (1998). Phraseology and second language proficiency. Applied Linguistics, 19(1),

209 Hsu, H. (2004). Senior high school English teachers perceptions and opinions of the new English teaching materials and their current usage status in northern Taiwan. MA thesis. National Kaohsiung normal University, Taiwan. Lewis, M. (2000). Language in the lexical approach. In M. Lewis (Ed.), Teaching Collocation: further developments in the lexical approach (pp ). Language Teaching Publications. Lien, H. (2003). the effect of collocation instruction on the reading comprehension of Taiwan college students. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation. Pennsylvania: Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Liu, C. P. (1999). An analysis of collocation errors in EFL writings. The Proceedings of the Eighth International Symposium on English Teaching, 25, Taipei: Crane Publishing Co. Nattinger, J. R. (1980). A lexical phrase grammar for ESL. TESOL Quarterly, 14(3), Nattinger, J. R., & DeCarrico, J. S. (1992). Lexical phrases and language teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Nesselhauf, N. (2004). The use of collocations by advanced learners of English and some implications for teaching. Applied linguistics, 24(2), Richards, J. C. (1973). A noncontrastive approach to error analysis. In J.W. Oller, & J. C. Richards (Eds.), Focus on the learners: Pragmatics perspectives for the language teacher. Massachuset: Newbury House Publishers. Wang, C. J. (2001). A study of the English collocational competence of English major in Taiwan. MA thesis, Fu-jen Catholic University, Taiwan. Woolard, G. (2000).Collocation-encouraging learner independence. In M. Lewis (Ed.), Teaching collocation: Further developments in the lexical approach (pp ). London: language teaching publication. 207

210 topic number The 1 st International Conference on Language, Literature, and Cultural Studies Appendix A Sample of Raw Data source of error types of lexical collocation lexical collocationl error Ill-formed sentence correction Evidence from the corpus 1 2 synonym L4 (N+N) Deduction of jobless Building new factories cause deduction of jobless. Building new factories cause reduction of jobless. Our emergency program should be reduction of jobless. 2 2 approximation L3 (N+V) government Government superannuat should e superannuate old people. Government should retire old people. He became ill and retired early. 3 1 negative transfer L2 (Adj+N) Past people Modern people have more problem than the past people. Modern people have more problem than the primitive people. Do you know how primitive people generate fire? 4 2 false concept hypothesized L1 (V+N) Create facility Government creates facility for young people. Government provides facility for young people. They also provide personal loan facility and financial advice to their customers. 5 1 negative transfer L2 (Adj+N) Simple illness In the past there were not medicine and drug even for simple illness. In the past there were not medicine and drug even for Common disease. Common childhood disease. 6 2 approximation L1 (V+N) Establish business Some people couldn t establish business. Some people couldn t set up business. The bank gave me a loan to help me set up business. 208

211 Appendix B A Sample of Students Final Examination paper 209

212 210

213 An Analysis of Paraphrasing Strategies Use in Expository Writing by 3 rd Year Students at Burapha University Rungaroon Injai Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Burapha University, Chonburi, Thailand Rungaroon.ce@gmail.com Abstract The purpose of this study is to investigate paraphrasing strategies employed by 3 rd year students at Burapha University. The data for this study was collected from English major students who enrolled in Summary Writing course. The research instrument was a paraphrasing task which is divided into sentence and paragraph level. The participants were assigned to complete 15 items of sentence level and 5 items of paragraph level. The findings of the study indicated that, for a part of sentence level, the most frequently used paraphrasing strategy was using synonym (43.08%) followed by using varied sentence patterns (21.14%) and changing word order (10.65%) respectively. Meanwhile, condensing the original and making long sentence to short sentences were rarely used, with the proportion of only 0.15 percent. In term of paragraph level, using synonym (40.25%) and using varied sentence patterns (33.11%) were respectively used for the most followed by combining sentences (3.89%). The least frequently used was changing the order of idea (0.64%). As an overall view, using synonym and using varied sentence patterns were the most frequently used paraphrasing strategies for both sentence and paragraph level. In contrast, the least frequently used for sentence and paragraph level was significantly different. Some of student s paraphrase, in paragraph level, were omitted an important idea, and some were sentence missing. By the use of these strategies, the problem of meaning preserving occurred more often in the level of paragraph. Keywords: Paraphrasing, Paraphrasing Strategies, Writing Tasks, Meaning Preserving Introduction Paraphrasing might be only one word, but it likely causes a great impact towards nonnative English students on several aspects. They found, many times, paraphrasing is such a challenging task. Many researchers claimed that, in academic writing, the inability to paraphrase is considered as one of the serious problems faced by students (Ismail and Maasum, 2009; Choy and Lee, 2012) Paraphrase, theoretically, is an alternative way to express same information in a different way. Based on the Webster s New World Dictionary, paraphrase is defined as a rewording of the meaning expressed in something spoken or written. In the same way, according to definitions provided by many institutions, (the Purdue OWL Writing Lab; Booth College s Guideline for Paraphrasing; Montgomery College s Writing Center) Paraphrasing is the way of expressing someone else s idea in your own words without changing the original meaning. The studies of paraphrasing have been received great effort since paraphrasing is very essential for many reasons. Mainly in academic basis, an acceptable paraphrase can be the assessment of students truly understanding of any particular material. The importance of 211

214 paraphrasing relies not only on writing skill, but also involved in other three skills in English listening, reading and even speaking. It is also crucial for natural language processing. Since a huge benefit from paraphrasing, the study on paraphrasing strategies use in expository writing by university students will shed light on the way they interpret information in their own styles. Review of the Related Literature What is paraphrase? Driscoll and Brizee, 2012 from the Purdue OWL mentioned the meanings of paraphrasing as followings: Your own rendition of essential information and ideas expressed by someone else, presented in a new form. One legitimate way (when accompanied by accurate documentation) to borrow from a source. A more detailed restatement than a summary, which focuses concisely on a single main idea. In the same way, according to Leibensperger, 2003, a paraphrase is a detailed restatement in your own words of a written or sometimes spoken source material. Apart from the changes in organization, wording, and sentence structure, the paraphrase should be nearly identical in meaning to the original passage. Montgomery College s Writing Center also purposed the definition of paraphrase. Paraphrasing is when you take someone else s ideas and put them into your own words. This can be done for a sentence, a paragraph, or a longer passage. To paraphrase, you want to include the main idea of the sentence without using the author s own words. Why is paraphrase important? There are numerous reasons assert that paraphrase is a valuable skill; the followings are proposed by the Purdue OWL Writing Lab. It is better than quoting information from an undistinguished passage. It helps you control the temptation to quote too much. The mental process required for successful paraphrasing helps you to grasp the full meaning of the original. The role of paraphrase has been considered as the most essential skill for students in many aspects. On academic basis, paraphrasing plays an essential role for note making from reading and note taking in lectures in order to accumulate learners comprehension. Besides, integrating evidence from any kinds of source materials cannot success without paraphrasing. (Booth College s Guidelines for Summarising and Paraphrasing )To avoid plagiarism, most importantly, paraphrasing is also considered as an alternative. The Higher Score, 2007, also supports that paraphrasing skill is useful when students take the standardize examination like TOEFL, IEITS and TOEIC test. In addition, many researchers also reveal the significance of paraphrasing. As Bark and Watts,2001; Campbell,1987; Shi, 2001, mentioned, many academic English instructors and ESL recognize that quoting, paraphrasing and summarizing skills are the strategies that very essential for 212

215 students to develop and use in a real academic context. Moreover, paraphrasing is one of the most important techniques in writing skills of English learners (Dung, 2010). How to paraphrase The Purdue OWL Writing Lab provided 6 steps to produce effective paraphrasing: 1. Reread the original passage until you understand its full meaning. 2. Set the original aside, and write your paraphrase on a note card. 3. Jot down a few words below your paraphrase to remind you later how you envision using this material. At the top of the note card, write a key word or phrase to indicate the subject of your paraphrase. 4. Check your rendition with the original to make sure that your version accurately expresses all the essential information in a new form. 5. Use quotation marks to identify any unique term or phraseology you have borrowed exactly from the source. 6. Record the source (including the page) on your note card so that you can credit it easily if you decide to incorporate the material into your paper. The Learning Centre, The University of New South Wales, 2007 also proposed paraphrasing procedures as followings: Read the source carefully. It is essential that you understand it fully. Identify the main point(s) and key words. Cover the original text and rewrite it in your own words. Check that you have included the main points. Write the paraphrase in your own style. Consider each point; how could you rephrase it? Paraphrasing Strategies Paraphrasing strategies can be inferred as paraphrasing techniques or even paraphrasing methods. It depends upon any particular source. Anyhow, all of them were intently defined the way students employ when dealing with paraphrasing tasks. 1. Active VS Passive: The trip was cancelled by the researcher because of the rain. The researcher cancelled the trip because of the rain. (St. Francis Xavier University s Writing Centre) 2. Positive VS Negative: Shuan was disappointed, because the movie wasn t very good. Shuan wasn t satisfied, because the movie wasn t very good. (Dung, 2010) 3. Long sentence to short sentence: Ireland is a wonderful country, which has beautiful scenery and friendly people. Ireland is a wonderful country. It has a beautiful scenery and friendly people. 213

216 4. Expand phrase for clarity: A college student usually has homework to do. A person going to college typically has to study at home. (Dung, 2010) 5. Condense the original: 65 is the traditional age for worker to retire in Canada. 65 is the traditional retirement age in Canada. (St. Francis Xavier University s Writing Centre) 6. Combine sentences: Elizabeth I was the daughter of Henry VIII. She is one of England s most famous queens. Elizabeth I, who was the daughter of Henry VIII, was one of England s most famous queens. 7. Use varied sentence structure: Technology can cause a disaster. A technological disaster is possible. (USCA s Writing Room) 8. Change word order: The field researchers cancelled their trip because it was raining. Because it was raining, the field researchers cancelled their trip. (St. Francis Xavier University s Writing Centre) 9. Change parts of speech: Fifty-four men signed the Declaration of Independence. Fifty-four men put their signatures on the Declaration of Independence. (Dung, 2010) 10. Use synonyms: It can be difficult to choose a suitable place to study English. It can be hard to select an appropriate place to learn English. (The Higher Score, 2007) 11. Change number and percentage: More than half of women who attended the one-day meeting were in business with their spouses. Over 50% of female who attended the one-day meeting own a business with their partners. 214

217 Framework of Paraphrasing Strategies Changing structure and grammar paraphrase (syntactic paraphrase) a. Active versus passive b. Positive versus negative c. Long sentence to short sentences d. Expand phrase for clarity e. Condense the original f. Combine sentences g. Use varied sentence structures Changing word paraphrase (semantic paraphrase) a. Change word order b. Change parts of speech c. Use synonyms d. Change numbers and percentages Changing structure of ideas (organization) a. Changing structure of ideas Methods Participants The subjects in this study were 30 students, studying in third year at Burapha University. They were English major students who enrolled in the course of Note Taking and Summarizing. They were classified as a purposive subject. All participants attended in the same class so that they were under the same condition. Instruments 1. Task According to the purpose of current study, paraphrasing task was created by the corporation of the researcher and the instructor who took the responsibility on Note Taking and Summarizing class. There were fifteen items of sentences and five items of paragraph. The length of paragraph was from five to eight sentences. The task provided for investigating the use of paraphrasing strategies. They were asked to generate their own paraphrased from the original in both sentence and paragraph level. 2. A framework for analysis In this study, Pieterick s conceptual framework was adopted. Then, it was combined and synthesized from eight sources that proposed strategies for paraphrasing in order to get a complete conceptual framework. This framework was classified in to three groups: changing structure and grammar paraphrase (syntactic paraphrase), changing word paraphrase (semantic paraphrase) and changing structure of ideas (organization). Objectives 1. To investigate the use of paraphrasing strategies among university students. 2. To compare the strategies used to paraphrase at sentence and paragraph level. 3. To determine whether students are able to preserve original meaning or not. 215

218 Change No. and percenta Use synony ms Change parts of speech Change word order Use varied sentence structur Combine sentence s Condens e the original Expand phrase for Long sentence to short sentence Positive VS Negative Active VS Passive Strategies The 1 st International Conference on Language, Literature, and Cultural Studies Research questions Result 1. What types of paraphrasing strategies do students employ when dealing with paraphrasing tasks? 2. Is there a difference between strategies used to paraphrase at sentence and paragraph level? 3. Does students use of paraphrasing strategies preserve original meaning? Result for research question 1 What types of paraphrasing strategies do students employ when dealing with paraphrasing task? The data of paraphrasing strategies used collected from paraphrasing tasks given to participants. There were fifteen items at sentence level required to paraphrase. The results are revealed in the table below. Table 1: Paraphrasing strategies used at sentence level Syntactic Paraphrase Semantic Paraphrase Total (%) *Assignment = 15 items at sentence level *Pilot study= 30 students From the result above, a paraphrasing strategy that the participants in this study employed the most when they were asked to generate their own paraphrase was using synonyms (43.08%). The second was using varied sentence structures (21.14%) followed by changing word order (10.65%) respectively. On the other hand, condensing the original and making long sentence to short sentences were found as the least frequently used paraphrasing strategy at this level. In students paraphrased sentences, it was typically found that students tended to replace vocabulary with some other words that conveyed equivalent meaning or synonym. Moreover, some students lacked of using a combination of other strategies within their particular sentences. The example of using synonym: Original: More than half of women who attended the one-day meeting were in business with their spouses. Paraphrased: More than 50% of women who joined the one-day meeting were in business with their partners. The example of using varied sentence structures: 216

219 Change structur e of Change No. and percenta Use synonym s Change parts of speech Change word order Use Varied sentence Combine sentence s Condens e the Expand phrase for Long sentence to short sentence Positive / Negative Active / Passive The 1 st International Conference on Language, Literature, and Cultural Studies Original: It is necessary for political candidates to give a good performance during a TV debate. Paraphrased: Political candidates have to perform well during a TV debate. In paragraph level, all paraphrasing tasks were collected in order to analyze the use of paraphrasing strategies as well. Percentage was employed for the data analysis. Table 2: The paraphrasing strategies used at paragraph level Strat egies Syntactic Paraphrase Semantic Paraphrase Organi zation Total (%) According to Table 2, using synonym was also the most frequently used strategy at paragraph level with percent, followed by using varied sentence structures and combining sentences, with and 3.89 percent respectively. In contrast, changing structure of ideas was rarely used by university students in the present study. To answer research question 2 Is there a difference between strategies used to paraphrase at a sentence and paragraph level? A comparison of paraphrasing strategies used at both sentence and paragraph level presented in Figure 1 as follows: sentence level paragraph level 10 0 Synonym Varied sentence structure Combine sentence Change word order Figure 1: The most frequently used strategies at sentence and paragraph level 217

220 Figure 1 reveals that using synonym is the first strategy students try to use the most both sentence and paragraph level. The second method most students employ is using varied sentence structures. The researcher found the difference occurred in the third strategy use; combining sentences is chosen when students dealing with sentence paraphrase. Meanwhile, changing word order is utilized in order to complete paragraph paraphrase. Result for research question 3 Does students use of paraphrasing strategies preserve original meaning? Apart from the analysis of paraphrasing strategies use, the investigation on students preserving of original meaning was likely practical in academic field. For this sake, a further study relied on whether students use of paraphrasing strategies conveys the equivalent meaning. Figure 2: An analysis of meaning preserving at sentence and paragraph level The result depicts that the problem of meaning preserving occurred at both levels. Students make mistakes at paragraph level more than at sentence level as shown in Figure 2. With this phenomenon, it leads us to concern about the reasons why students cannot preserve original meaning and what types of strategy they use when paraphrasing. In sentence level, using synonym is actually the first strategy they use most. At the same time, it causes a huge impact on meaning equivalence. Although there are many synonyms in English available for students such as large and big, they are not express exactly the same meaning in particular context. This can be implied that many students lack of using an appropriate word. In paragraph level, half of mistake caused by omission of an important idea. Students produced their own paraphrased without preserving original meaning and left the important idea in each sentence behind. Moreover, sentence missing found in students paraphrase with percent. From all factors mentioned above, these are core reasons that have a great effect on preserving original meaning among students work. Conclusion 218

221 Burapha University students mostly tend to replace synonyms in their own paraphrases for there are numerous synonyms in English available for them. Apart from using synonyms, using varied sentence structures is the second strategy students try to use most. They intend to change their own sentence with a different sentence patterns and also a different grammar. There is not significantly different in the use of paraphrasing strategies at sentence and paragraph level. In term of effective paraphrasing, some students attempt to combine other paraphrasing strategies within a particular sentence. In contrast, some other students mainly focus on only one strategy in order to produce their own paraphrase. With the diversity among students, some paraphrased sentences and paragraphs do not preserve the original meaning. The major factor comes from students use of synonyms. Due to lacking of understanding, students normally replace words with some synonym they found in the dictionary without concerning on the appropriate meaning. It sounds easy for students to apply this strategy, but definitely it can be an obstacle. It is because many synonyms in English cannot provide exactly the same meanings; it depends upon its context. Moreover, using varied sentence structures can easily cause mistake since meaning of students paraphrases can be distorted if students are unable to interpret original sentence correctly. Paraphrasing is not only the way you express something in your own words, but also the way showing you are truly understand what you have heard or read. 219

222 Reference Barzilay, R., & Lee, L. (2003). Learning to paraphrase: an unsupervised approach using multiple-sequence alignment. In Proceeding of HLT/NAACL. Choy, S. C., & Lee, M. Y. (2012). Effects of teaching paraphrasing skills to students learning summary writing in ESL. Journal of Teaching and Learning, 8(2), Dung, T. T. M. (2010). An investigation in paraphrasing experienced by Vietnamese students of English in academic writing. Master thesis, Driscoll, D. L., & Brizee, A. (2012). Paraphrase: Write it in your own words. Retrieved from Devie, E. (2012). Paraphrasing in academic writing. Ragam Journal Pengembangan Humaniora, 12(1), Higher Score. (2007). How to paraphrase effectively. Retrieved from Ismail, S., & Maasum, N. R. (2009). The effects of cooperative learning in enhancing wrting. SOLLS.INTEC 09 International Conference. Putrajaya, University Kebangsaan Malaysia. Keck, C. (2006). The use of paraphrase in summary writing: A comparison of L1 and L2 writers. Journal of Second Language Writing, 15, Leibensperger, S. (2003). Decide when to quote, paraphrase & summarize. Retrieved from McInnis, L. (2009). Analyzing English L1 and L2 paraphrasing strategies though concurrent verbal report and stimulated recall protocols. Master thesis. Phucharasupa, K., & Netisopakul, P. (2012). Thai sentence paraphrasing from the lexical resource. 26 th Pacific Asia Conference on Language, Information and Computation Shi, L. (2012). Rewriting and paraphrasing source texts in second language writing. Journal of Second Language Writing, 21,

223 Pronunciation Performance in EFL Learners at Different Age Groups: Extraversion vs. Introversion Hossein Siahpoosh English Department, Ardabil Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ardabil, Iran Abstract Because of the complex nature of pronunciation, the primary consideration must always be the learners and what they bring to the classroom in terms of their own identity and their purposes for language learning. Language learning success is associated with a range of factors, including age, sex, motivation, intelligence, anxiety, learning strategies, and language learning styles. A more sophisticated system for describing learning styles is to describe different personality types and the different ways individuals with these traits approach a task. In this study the researcher compared two groups of teenagers and adults regarding the effect of introversion and extraversion on their performance in pronunciation. To do this, Eysenck s test of personality was administered on a sample of 100 participants (50 teenagers and 50 adults) along with a researcher made test of pronunciation. The results were impressive as in the group of teenagers, introverted ones outdid their extroverted counterpart in the pronunciation performance; however, in the group of adults extroverted ones were better than the introverted ones. This study has provided further evidence relating extraversion/introversion to better language learning, because it was found to be a significant predictor of pronunciation accuracy in English. The findings of this study could be useful for the following people: 1. Language Teachers 2. Syllabus Designers 3. Teacher Trainers 4. English Learners Keywords: pronunciation, introversion, extraversion, personality factor Introduction The role of pronunciation in the different schools of language teaching has varied widely from having virtually no role in the grammar-translation method to being the main focus in the audio-lingual method where emphasis is on the traditional notions of pronunciation, minimal pairs, drills and short conversations (Castillo, 1990). Situational language teaching, developed in Britain, also mirrored the audio-lingual view of the pronunciation class (Richards and Rodgers, 1986). Morley (1991) states, 'The pronunciation class...was one that gave primary attention to phonemes and their meaningful contrasts, environmental allophonic variations, and combinatory phonotactic rules, along with...attention to stress, rhythm, and intonation.' During the late 1960's and the 1970's questions were asked about the role of pronunciation in the 221

224 ESL/EFL curriculum, whether the focus of the program and the instructional methods were effective or not. Pronunciation programs until then were 'viewed as meaningless noncommunicative drill-and-exercise gambits' (Morley, 1991). Because of the complex nature of pronunciation, the primary consideration must always be the learners and what they bring to the classroom in terms of their own identity and their purposes for language learning. Celce Murcia et al. (1996) summarizes the most important learner variables and offer suggestions for needs analysis by means of student profile questionnaires. The factors they highlight are age, exposure to the target language, amount and type of prior pronunciation instruction, aptitude, attitude and motivation, and the role of the learner's first language (L1). It should be noted that many of these are dependent on the learning purpose and setting in which instruction takes place. Language learning success is associated with a range of factors, including age, sex, motivation, intelligence, anxiety, learning strategies, and language learning styles. The last of these has received some attention, but there has been a neglect of certain traits within the typology of learning styles. A more sophisticated system for describing learning styles is to describe different personality types and the different ways individuals with these traits approach a task. Personality factors like extraversion-introversion, anxiety and empathy all contribute in second language acquisition. There is some clear evidence that extroverted students learn foreign languages better because of their willingness to interact with others and because of their reduced inhibitions. Extroverted students are more likely to prefer interactive role-plays and group work (Ehrman & Oxford, 1995). Introverted personalities may not have so many friends, and have a preference for working in pairs or smaller groups. They may prefer individual activity, perhaps with one clear purpose. Working in groups may well be less successful, because of a reluctance to participate in speaking activities. Badran (2001) in a study on Egyptian college students learning English found that extroverted students were more accurate in their English language pronunciation than introverted ones; furthermore his study showed that male students outperformed female students in their performance of the pronunciation accuracy test. Taeko and his colleagues (2004) in another study investigated the relationship between personality of Japanese students and their oral performance in English on 73 native-speakers of Japanese who were studying English at various language schools in New Zealand. They found significant correlations between extraversion and global impression scores and clause accuracy scores. These findings suggest that participants who were more extraverted produced better global impressions during their oral performance. The Toronto study (Naiman et al. 1978, 1996) found no significant effect for extraversion in characterizing the good language learner. Busch (1982), in a comprehensive study on extraversion, explored the relationship of introversion and extraversion to English proficiency in adult Japanese learners of English in Japan. She hypothesized that extraverted students (as measured by a standard inventory) would be more proficient than introverts. Her hypothesis was not supported by her findings. In fact, introverts were significantly better than extraverts in their pronunciation (one of four factors which were measured in an oral interview). 222

225 As learner variable is one of those variables which affects ESL, the main goal of this study was to see the effect of introversion and extraversion in English pronunciation. To do this Eysenck's test of personality was chosen to determine the introversion and extraversion of the students and to compare them with the results of English pronunciation scores. Method Participants One hundred female students were included in this study. Fifty students were teenagers (13-17) and the other fifty were adults (20-25). The teenagers were randomly selected from a language school and the adults were selected from the students of Ardebil University of Medical Sciences. The teenagers were explained about the personality factors like extraversion or introversion and they got anxious to know about their type of personality and the same thing went for the medical students. In order to administer the pronunciation test for the teenagers, they were told that this test was like midterm exam like other diagnostic tests they used to take and the result of which would be considered as part of their class participation score. Medical students took the pronunciation test when it became a competition test for getting a high score as part of their final exam score. Instruments The instruments for this study were Eysenck's test of personality and a researcher-made test of pronunciation. The Eysenck's test of personality includes 57 items from which 48 items were selected to show extraversion-introversion and neuroticism-emotional stability. Students had to give yes-no answers. The reliability of the test was measured through alpha Cronbach and it was The researcher made pronunciation test included four sections. There were sections like Multiple-Choice Hearing Identification, and Stress in this test. The reliability of the test was also measured through alpha Cronbach and it was The following questions represent the kind of questions used to assess the participants performance in pronunciation. Which vowel sound is different? 1. A. close B. got C. smoke 2. A. accept B. another C. apple Design This was a causal-comparative study in which the independent variables were teenagers and young adults and the dependent variables were introversion and extraversion. To analyze the data a multivariate analysis of variance was used. 223

226 Procedure The study was made up of a test of personality and a researcher made pronunciation test. These two tests were administered to both groups in different days. First the test of personality was given to the participants and then the following week the researcher-made test was administered. In addition those who administered the tests were English teachers and provided verbal translations when requested and when they thought it appropriate. Results Table 1: Descriptive Statistics group type of personality Mean Std. Deviation N teenager introvert extravert total adult introvert extravert total total introvert extravert total Table 2: Tests of Between-Subjects Effects source Type III sum of squares df Mean Square F Sig. Corrected Model Intercept Group Type of personality Group type of personality

227 source Type III sum of squares df Mean Square F Sig. Error Total Corrected total According to the results of Table 1 the mean of pronunciation scores for the teenagers was with SD=8.2 and it was with SD=8.5 for the adults and regarding the results of table 2, F (1-96) =0.795 with P>.05 and confidence of 95% is not significant which means between pronunciation score of teenagers and adults there was no significant difference. Table 1 also showed that the mean of pronunciation in the introverts was 70.4 with SD=8.4 and in the extraverts it was 70.0 with SD=8.4 and according to the results of table 2, F (1-96) =.766 with P>.05 and the confidence of 95% is not significant. That is, it can not be concluded that there is a significant difference between scores of introverts and extraverts. However, the mean score of introvert teenagers was 76.3 and extravert teenagers was 68.0 and it was 67.9 for introvert adults and 72.9 for extravert adults and according to the results of table 2, F(1-96) =11.8 with P<.01 and the confidence of 99% is significant. It means with 99% confidence it can be concluded that the interaction between introversion and extraversion and age is effective in the pronunciation performance. The results showed that among teenagers, introverts and among adults, extraverts had highest score in pronunciation. The following chart shows the above finding: teenager adult introvert extravert 225

228 Discussion The findings of this study showed that the introverted teenagers got higher score in English pronunciation. This finding is consistent with those of Busch (1982) in which she explored the relationship between introversion and extraversion to English proficiency and found that introverts were better than extroverts in their pronunciation. This could be due to social growth the teenagers are about to face and since introverted teenagers are more reserved and less seeking stimulation, they tend to pay more attention to new things in this case English pronunciation. They care more for their language identity and pronunciation is part of language identity. They may have patience and focus to attend to clear articulation in a foreign language. On the other hand it seems that since extroverts generally are more easygoing and carefree especially during teenage years they got lower scores. The findings also showed that extraverted adults got higher score in English pronunciation. This is consistent with the findings of Badran (2001) in which he had found better pronunciation scores in extraverted college students. Taeko and his colleagues (2004) also had found a positive correlation between extraversion and global impression scores and clause accuracy scores. However, the findings of this study did not correspond with those of Busch (1982). In her study she found that introverts were better in their pronunciation than extraverts. It seems after having spent some years at university they have almost gained their language identity and are more eager and determined in learning a foreign language. Since they are more talkative and sociable they are able to correct themselves through communication and correct pronunciation. Finally, the results of this study were all in contrast with those of the Toronto study in which Naiman et al (1978) found no significant effect for extraversion in characterizing the good language learner Given that the total number of subjects in the studies being considered here is small (total n=100) and that there are cultural and educational biases in the samples, it would not be advisable to make generalizations about all female population. However it is interesting to note that there are very high percentages supporting the findings. Further work needs to be done with larger samples to see other personality trait effects and within the other gender on English pronunciation. The results of this study might be of benefit for language teachers, syllabus designers, teacher trainers, and English learners. Language teachers by understanding their students personality traits can be selective in their methodological choices and by recognition of individual differences they can improve teacher-student understanding. Teachers need to consider the facilitating or interfering effects of personality traits in learning English and should also consider the cultural norms, a student's willingness to speak out in class, and optimal points between extreme extraversion and introversion that may vary from student to student. Syllabus designers can develop programs for improving the deficiencies of introverted and extroverted learners. Moreover, teacher trainers can bring the attention of would-be teachers to the personality factors and the effects they have on learning. Finally English learners can become aware of their personality traits and maximize the positive effects they have on their pronunciation and minimize the negative ones. 226

229 References Badran Hassan, A. (2001). Extraversion/Introversion and Gender in Relation to the English Pronunciation Accuracy of Arabic Speaking College Students. Retrieved July 15, 2011 from Brown, A. (1992). Approaches to Pronunciation Teaching. London: Macmillan. Busch, D. (1982). Introversion-Extroversion and the EFL proficiency of Japanese students. Language Learning 32: Castillo, L. (1990) L2 Pronunciation Pedagogy: Where have we been? Where are we headed? The Language Teacher. Vol.XIV, No Celce Murcia; M., D. Brinton; and J. Goodwin (1996). Teaching Pronunciation: A Reference for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. Ehrman, M. & Oxford R. (1995). Cognition plus: correlates of language proficiency. Modern Language Journal, 74, Hockenbury D & Hockenbury S. (2004). Discovering Psychology. Third Edition. Worth Publishers. Jenkins, J. (2000). The Phonology of English as an International Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Levis, J. (1999). Variation in Pronunciation and ESL teacher training. TESOL Matters 9 (3), 16. Morley, J. (1991). The Pronunciation Component in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. TESOL Quarterly 25/ Naiman, N; Frohlich, M; Stern, H; and Todesco, A. (1978). The Good Language Learner. Toronto: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. Reprinted 1996 by Multilingual Matters, Clevedon, UK. Richards & Rodgers. (1986). Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Taeko, O., Manalo, E., Greenwood,J (2004). The influence of personality and anxiety on the oral performance of Japanese speakers of English. Applied Cognitive Psychology. Volume 18, Issue7.RetrievedAugust13,2011fromhttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/ /acp.1 063/abstract 227

230 Music and the Echo of Cultural Identity: The Case Study of Lanna Contemporary Music Assist. Prof. Dr. Thitinan B. Common Faculty of Coomunication Arts, Dhurakij Pundit University Mobile: Abstract This article, Music and the Echo of Cultural Identity: the Case Study of Lanna Contemporary Music, is an exploration into the relationship between music and an articulation of cultural identity within the contemporary Lanna community. It explores the roles of music, artists, and song writers in the reflection of culture and identity, as well as its relation to the Lanna audience. Keywords: Music, Culture, Identity, Community Introduction Music is not just an esthetic part of human life, but it is also one of the oldest tools of communication. In a collective level, music is a shared meaning which demonstrates and connects culture and the ways of life of people in the community. When listening to the music, it is not only that the artist is communicating with the listener through rhythms and lyrics, but that listeners are connecting with others who share the same feelings, thoughts and ideology communicated through the music. Music is a way of expressing our identities; it is a means of telling who we are and who we are not. Music can connect people. In this way, artists can play an important role in connecting music and culture within the imagined community of the listeners who share the same music and identity. The Kingdom of Lanna is renowned for its rich cultural heritage, and music is one example of the uniqueness of Lanna culture. Lanna music and artists have played a prominent role in an articulation of cultural identity within Lanna community. Lanna artists and their music are influenced and inspired by the culture. At the same time, music has demonstrated the changing culture and way of life of people in the Lanna Community. This article, Music and the Echo of Cultural Identity: the Case Study of Lanna Contemporary Music, aims to demonstrate an articulation between Lanna contemporary music and the formation of culture and identity within Lanna society. In this article, three main aspects will be discussed. The paper will start with a brief introductory history of the Kingdom of Lanna and its traditional music. This part of the article is aimed at facilitating an understanding of a background of Lanna music and society. An analysis of Lanna contemporary music, its genre, artists, and how it reflects the changing society of Lanna will follow. The last part of the paper will be a discussion on the role of Lanna music and artists in the construction of cultural identity. The Kingdom of Lanna and Traditional Music of Lanna The term Lanna is often associated with the Northern Thai traditions, customs, arts, music, and culture. Lanna is also now a term widely used to refer to Northern region of Thailand 228

231 comprising of 8 provinces; Chiang Mai, Chaing Rai, Mae Hong Sorn, Phrae, Phayoa, Nan, Lampang and Lampoon. The richness of Lanna traditional music has long been influenced by the neighboring countries of China, India, Myanmar and Laos, and also the neighboring region of E- san. Even with a cultural hybridity of cut and mix, Lanna music still carries its own distinctive style. Lanna traditional music has different kinds of ensembles, ranging from a small group of 3 to the big band orchestra. However, the most well-known traditional Lanna music triumvite is known as the Salor, Sor, Seung. Seung Salor Sor FIgure 1: Picture of Lanna music triumvite, Salor, Sor, Seung Salor, Sor, Seung is a small group comprising of 2 musical instruments. The first instrument is called Salor, a Lanna style violin played vertically, instead of horizontally. The second one is called Seung, a Lanna guitar. Sor is a traditional Lanna style of singing rhymes and poems. This traditional Lanna style of singing called Sor is the method of singing whereby the singer drags the voice in a long and sweet way. This method of singing, which is called Kab Sor is a uniqueness of Lanna traditional music and has a lot of influence upon contemporary Lanna music. Contemporary Music of Lanna Contemporary Lanna music has developed during the time of Lanna modernization. The government s economic plan during the 1960s and 1970s had a major impact, not only upon Lanna economics, but also on the music. From the government s plan to develop the big city of each region, Lanna, specifically Chiang Mai at that time, was forced to develop. Lanna has opened to modernity, which has changed the ways of life of people in the community. Lanna music artists also opened up to modern music and were inspired by western music. Lanna music has been consequently adapted to incorporate modern kinds of music and emerged with contemporary hybrid genres. The contemporary Lanna music is called Plang Kham Meung or Kham Meung Music. 229

232 The 1st International Conference on Language, Literature, and Cultural Studies Kham Meung or Phasa Kham Meung is the term used to refer to traditional language locally spoken by the people of Lanna. This Kham Meung Music can be devided into three forms (Wanna, 2000: 4), which are Look Tung Kham Meung, Folk Song Kham Meung, and Pop and Hip Hop Kham Meung. 1. Look Tung Kham Meung and grass root s way of life Look Tung Kham Meung or Look Tung Lanna is a lively kind of music with fun and often fast beats. The rhythm is led by traditional Lanna music with a touch of western instruments, accompanied by the singing method of Sor in a fast and modernized style. The lyrics of Look Tung Kham Meung mainly concern the way of life of grass roots people in the Lanna community. Boonsri Rattanang is claimed to be one of the pioneers of Look Tung Kham Meun. He has written and sung hundreds of songs, with the content mainly focused on peasants way of life in the Lanna community. One of the most popular songs written and sung by Boonsri Rattanang, called Boaw Kaen, meaning poor man, is one of the quintessential songs of Look Tung Kham Meung. Boaw Kaen depicts the life of a man without money and with only hardship; he definitely cannot find a woman. The song became very popular during the heyday of Boonsri Rattanang because it represented the hardship of rural life and Lanna society at that time. Figure 2: Boonsri Rattanang, one of the founding fathers of Look Tung Kham Meung. 2. Folk Song Kham Meung and Lanna Modernization Folk Song Kham Meung is influenced by American country and folk music. Jaran Monopetch is the founding father of Lanna Folk Song Kham Meung. The late Jaran was the great musician and poet of the Lanna, having a love of arts, music and poetry. Like other youths growing up in Thailand at that time, he was exposed to American folksong music and inspired by Bob Dylan, John Denver, Peter Paul and Marry, and Simon and Garfunkel. Jaran transformed Lanna music from the traditional music to the hybrid kind of music by mixing western instruments with traditional instruments to perform pieces of music, sung with lyrics from traditional Lanna verses and poems. He replaced the Seung, or Lanna guitar, with the western guitar, and used the western flute rather than the traditional Lanna one; however, he still maintained the traditional Lanna singing style known as Sor. Jaran wrote, played and sang his own songs. He 230

233 also had a female vocalist named Suntree Vechanon, who, even now in her advanced years, still sings beautifully with her sweet and heart melting voice. Jaran s Folk Song Kham Meung is claimed to have had a great contribution to Lanna culture. Most of his songs demonstrate the beauty and value of Lanna cultural heritage and tradition. His songs were inspired by the beauty of Lanna scenery, women, tradition, architecture, character of people, food culture, and the changing way of life in Lanna society. The song called Long Mae Ping is regarded as a prominent example of the music which depicts Lanna, as it demonstrates the beauty of Lanna countryside, the Mae Ping river, the mountains, the unique flowers, and the kindness of people in the Lanna community. Figure 3: Jaran Monopetch, Lanna cultural warrior and father of Folk Song Kham Meung. 231

234 Figure 4: Jaran s female vocalist, Suntree Vechanon, also the most well-known and popular female singer of Lanna. The late Jaran, who passed away 11 years ago, is claimed as the Cultural Warrior of Modern Lanna. Jaran s Folk Song Kham Meung became very popular both within and outside the Lanna community. This hybrid kind of music was used by Jaran to promote and maintain traditional Lanna music and poems; it has also paved the way for a new generation of contemporary Lanna music named Pop and Hip Hop Kham Meung. 3. Pop and Hip Hop Kham Meung and the reflection of Dynamic Lanna Pop and Hip Hop Kham Meung has emerged and became very popular during the past ten years. This new hybrid genre of music is mainly sung and performed by a young generation of Lanna artists. The music and rhythm of Pop and Hip Hop Kham Meung are modernized with western instruments in the pop and hip hop style. Traditional Lanna instruments are rarely used and songs are only sung with a touch of Sor singing method. However, Pop and Hip Hop Kham Meung still carries Lanna cultural identity in terms of the use of Lanna language, or Phasa Kham Meung. The lyrics in Pop and Hip Hop Kham Meung relate to the way of life in modern Lanna community, somehow still with a pride in the culture. An example of Pop and Hip Hop Kham Meung artists that utilize music as a tool to promote Lanna culture is a group called Hip Hop No Name. Their most popular Hip Hop song called Look Kow Neung, which means a son of sticky rice, is aimed at promoting the pride of Lanna identity among the young generation. The song metaphorically uses the term Look Kow Neung, or a son of sticky rice, to refer to all Lanna youngsters who have been away from home, and to remind them of who they are and where they are from. They merged together modern Hip Hop with Lanna culture.the song uses modern Hip Hop style to reach popularity among the youth; at the same time, it maintains the use of local Lanna language and inserts cultural value. 232

235 Figure 5: The band Hip Hop No Name, an example of Pop and Hip Hop Kham Meung. The Roles of Lanna Music and Artists in the Construction of Cultural Identity The rhythm of Lanna music has changed along with the socio-cultural development in the Lanna community. At the same time, Lanna music has depicted the changing face of Lanna cultural Identity (Common, 2010: 337). 1. Music and the Lanna way of life Content and lyrics in Lanna music have demonstrated the ways of life of the Lanna community. Through the music, listeners learn about Lanna culture and identity, such as traditional food, important local places and beautiful countryside, and the Lanna way of life. Lanna people feel proud of their culture, while the non-lanna listeners admire the unique aspects of the culture. In this way, Lanna music also encourages Thai tourists to visit Lanna communities, as they are persuaded by lyrics that depict the beauty of its culture. 2. Music and the portrait of Lanna ladies Lanna women are known as gentle, kind and sweet. Lanna songs written by Jaran always promote the values of good Lanna women. He expressed his admiration towards Lanna women, and some of his songs were written to encourage the ladylikeness of Lanna women. Some of the songs taught female listeners about how to be a good wife and also reinforced ideas against pre-marrital sex. In the eyes of older generations, when love is dissatisfied, the female would cry to herself and mourn for her heart. This can be heard in the lyrics of the song, Soa Chiang Mai or Chiang Mai Girl, written by Jaran, and again sung by Soontree. The song, Soa Chiang Mai, tells the story of a Chiang Mai woman with a broken heart. The man who promised to marry her disappeared; she cried to herself and decided to marry a tribal man instead. 233

236 Nevertheless, culture and identity are an on-going process. Lanna culture has changed and is now changing. Attitudes of Lanna women, especially the younger generation, have shifted from a traditional to modern perspective, and this is reflected in the music. In the lyrics of modern Pop Dance Look Tung Lanna music, the female Lanna singer Kratae Sao Lampang (real name Nipaporn Pang Uan), sings in Lanna dialect Chang Man Teae, meaning, never mind, I don t care, to the man who broke her heart. Both this song Chang Man Teae and the singer Kratae became very popular among the younger generation of Lanna females. The song also represents modern attitudes of Lanna youngsters. 3. Music, nostalgia, and Lanna s value of sustainability One of the results of globalization is the movement and relocation of people. Lots of people from Lanna communities have had to move to the city of Bangkok in search of jobs and education. Listening to Lanna music, when being away from home, rekindles the listeners memories of home and community. Nostalgically, Lanna music recalls a sense of community: the good old days and fine old memories. The songs also compare and contrast the city life and the Lanna way of life. Life in the city is hectic, with more high-rise buildings than trees, and people who are too busy and distanced. But life in the Lanna community is more slow, tranquil, and peaceful. Through his music, Jaran always promoted Lanna s sustainable way of life, as in the old days people grew their own rice, farmed their own food, and wove their own clothes. Lanna music creates a sense of belonging and the love of the homeland. The song called Ban Bon Doi, meaning House on the Hill is an example of a song that promotes a peaceful and sustainable way of life of the Lanna community. The song demonstrates the easy but honest way of life in Lanna community, in comparison with the modern, deceitful life in the city of Bangkok. Lanna listeners always feel homesick every time they hear this song. Some words in the lyrics say, Our house on the hill doesn t have a cinema, pub, bar, perfume, Coca Cola or Pepsi, but we have hospitality. It shows the contrast between the country and the city; it also nostalgically recalls a good rememberance of Lanna s value. 4. Artist, Phasa Kham Meuang and Lanna traditional costumes When the artists perform their music and shows on the stage, they communicate with the audience in Phasa Kham Meuang, traditional Lanna language. They wear traditional Lanna costumes. The performance does not only deliver the entertainment of music, but also carries and promotes Lanna culture. Some of the Lanna artists such as Jaran and Soontree would almost always wear traditional Lanna clothes, both on stage and in everyday life. They believed that it was their role to maintain and preserve Lanna culture through music. 5. The young generation of Lanna modern music The above view might be different for the Lanna artists of the younger generation, since they think that music is about pleasure and entertainment. Culture can be incorporated, but it might not necessarily be the role of the artist to carry or promote it. The work of younger generations of Lanna artists is produced by Bangkok based music companies. These companies 234

237 are focused mainly on business, and benefit: for them marketing is more important than culture. Lanna artists themselves need to adapt to the taste of the listeners in order to sell their music. However, with or without intention, Lanna music artists of the younger generation still carry their Lanna culture. This can be seen from the use of Phasa Kham Meuang in the songs, although this is not as evident and ubiquitous as it was in the previous generation. They still wear Lanna traditional costumes, although in a more modern style. Figure 6: Examples of artists in Lanna Pop Kham Meuang, left: Kratae, and right:lanna Cummings, both in the contemporary style of Lanna costumes. Discussion and Conclusion Music is an omnipresent aspect of day-to-day existence (Hosokawa, 1984: 166). It also plays a pivotal function at a collective level as a tool for communicating culture and identity in the community of audiences. Culture, according to Stuart Hall, is about shared meanings where language is the privileged medium with which and through which we make sense of things (Hall, 1992: 1). Culture also operates as a representational system in which meaning is produced and exchanged through the use of language in the form of signs and symbols (i.e. sounds, written words, images, musical notes, and objects). In this way, music, as a form of culture, has produced rhythm and lyrics through which thoughts, ideologies and feelings are shared by groups of people. Music thus becomes central to an understanding of cultural identity. Lanna music has been playing an important role in an articulation of culture and identity within the Lanna community. For the Lanna artists and musicians, music is a form of their identity expression. The work of Lanna artists and musicians is influenced by Lanna culture, tradition, and language. At the same time, they utilize music as a means of conveying their meanings and ideologies of Lanna values and tradition in relation to the audience. At the collective level, Music can create a shared experience amongst its audiences, the members of its community. Thus, Lanna music has been playing a role in the connection of the Lanna listeners who share the same music, culture and identity. Lanna cultural identity has been changed and is still changing. Lanna community is inevitably influenced by modernization and westernization, which is the result of globalization. The 235

238 development of Lanna contemporary music has been shaped by the power of globalization. From the traditional point of view, this might be seen as a simple process of cultural homogenization, in which Western music is a tool of media imperialism for western influenced music. However, as Mike Featherstone suggests, It s no longer possible to conceive global process in terms of the dominance of a single centre over the peripheries. (Featherstone, 1995: 12) Hence, instead of thinking of the global replacing the local, globalization should be seen as a new global and local articulation which leads to the creation of a new kind of hybridity. Artists such as Boonsri Rattanang and Jaran Monopetch mixed together western music and Lanna traditional music. As a result, it has led to the production of distinctive hybrid genres of music such as Look Tung Kham Meung and Folk Song Kham Meung. In addition, artists such as Jaran and Boonsri have intentionally employed the modern western music as a tool to strengthen local cultural identity, while the later generation like Hip Hop No Name has followed their predecessors footsteps by incorporating the modern hip hop rhythm with Lanna traditional language in order to promote and remind the listeners about the uniqueness of Lanna values. The cultural mix of these new kinds of contemporary Lanna music can be seen as a new global and local articulation, which has led to the formation of cultural hybridity in Lanna music. As Featherstone further adds, The process of globalization does not seem to be producing cultural conformity, rather, it makes us aware of new levels of diversity. In this way, Lanna music has played a role in the new global-local articulation, therefore producing a new kind of cultural hybridity. This article, Music and the Echo of Cultural Identity: the Case Study of Lanna Contemporary Music has been an attempt to explore the relationship between music and cultural identity within the Lanna community. This paper will not conclude with a definitive answer to the question What is Lanna cultural identity and music since culture is an on-going process. When talking about Lanna culture, identity or music, these concepts should be considered within the context and socio-cultural environment of the time. Lanna music and culture have been evolving; listening to Lanna music can help us learn about the changing values and a dynamic way of life of Lanna, a unique and distinctive culture. 236

239 References Bennett, A. (2000). Popular Music and Youth Culture: Music, Identity and Place. London: Macmillan. Common, T.B.(2010). Music and Culture, in Asian Way: new management, Bangkok: Dhurakij Pundit University, P: Featherstone, M. et al (eds.) (1995) Global Mordernities. London: Sage. Frith, S. (1981). The magic that can set you free: the ideology of folk and the myth of Rock, Popular Music, Volume 1. Frith, S. (1987). Towards an aesthetic of popular music, in R. Leppert and S. McClary (eds.) Music and Society: The politics of composition, performance and Reception. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Frith, S. (1988). Music for Pleasure: Essays in the Sociology of Pop. Oxford: polity Press. Gilroy, P. (1993). The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness. London: Verso. Hall, S. (1992). The Question of Cultural Identity in Stuart Hall, David Held and Tony McGrew (eds.). Modernity and Its Futures. Cambridge: Polity Press. Hosokawa, S. (1984). The Walkman Effect, Popular Music, Volume 4, Issue 4. Lull, J. (1992). Popular music and communication: an introduction, in J. Lull (ed.) Popular Music and communication, 2 nd edition. London: Sage. Wanna, P. (2000). Plang Kham Meuang in Wattanatham Thai Phak Neau. Bangkok: Wattanatham Thai Foundation 237

240 Thailand, Occidentalism and Cultural Commodity Fetishism Wayne George Deakin Senior Lecturer in English Language and Litertature Division of English Chiang Mai University Abstract In this paper I argue that Thailand as a culture, has fallen prey to what I call cultural commodity fetishism. Developing Marx s initial concept of commodity fetishism I claim that Thailand, as a culture, absorbs Western cultural products, practices and values, and as such treats these cultural phenomena as fetishes that serve a greater sensory need, whilst having no notion of the politics, agency or historical transformations that have gone into the formation of these cultural phenomena. I further claim that this process is part of the wider spread of capitalism, and as capitalism spreads internationally the domestic event of commodity fetishism becomes an international event that is cultural commodity fetishism. This in turn facilitates the growth of capitalist, consumer culture to the Far East. Drawing on a number of historical examples, and using a Barthesianstructuralist analysis, I illustrate how this has taken place in the context of modern Thailand. I argue for a more critical assessment, within cultures such as Thailand, of their own inherent Occidentalism and cultural commodity fetishism and place emphasis on the tacit responsibility of the culture itself to de-mystify this facet of late capitalism within their own cultural framework. I encourage the Thai humanities to develop not only a more deepened critical awareness of this phenomenon, but also a more critical awareness of their own historico-cultural constructions. Keywords: Marx, structuralism, Barthes, commodity fetishism, Thai culture Thailand, Occidentalism and Cultural Commodity Fetishism In Capital:Volume One(1867), Karl Marx describes commodity fetishism in the following terms: The mysterious character of the commodity-form consists therefore simply in the fact that the commodity reflects the social characteristics of men s own labour as objective characteristics of the products of labour themselves, as the socio-natural properties of these things. Hence, it also reflects the social relation of the producers to the sum total of labour as a social relation between objects, a relation which exists apart from and outside the producers. Through this substitution, the products of labour become commodities, sensuous things which are at the same time suprasensible or social.[ ]In order, therefore, to find an analogy we must take flight into the misty realm of religion. There, the products of the human brain appear as autonomous 238

241 figures endowed with a life of their own, which enter into relations both with each other and with the human race. So it is in the world of commodities with the products of men s hands. I call this the fetishism which attaches itself to the products of labour as soon as they are produced as commodities, and is therefore inseparable from the production of commodities. (pp ). For Marx therefore, commodity fetishism is a form of mysticism, and one that can only be demystified when we understand the true nature of the capitalist system, a system that hides it s true workings and produces a one-size-fits all homogenised view of abstract labour-value, a mystified viewpoint that obscures the real and personal labour value involved in the ultimately alienating system of laissez faire capitalism. This in turn means that, as consumers we consume as part of a self-perpetuating system that masks its true, exploitative nature. Taken to its logical conclusion, we are following a negative path of freedom, as opposed to a positive path. 1 Marx reiterates this point in terms of the alienation of individual labour power and the transmigration of individual labour into the exchange value of the products themselves in his Critique of the Gotha Programme (1875), where he argues for the direct recognition of individual labour power in the products of labour themselves: Within the co-operative society based on common ownership of the means of production, the producersdo not exchange their products; just as little does the labour employed on the products appear here as the value of these products, as a material quality possessed by them, since now, in contrast to capitalist society, individual labour no longer exists in an indirect fashion but directly as a component part of the total labour. The phrase proceeds of labour, objectionable even today on account of its ambiguity, thus loses all meaning. (p. 8) In other words, the true nature of the economic relations are revealed, in line with Marx Labour Theory of Value, and are not perceived in terms of a fetishistic,reified and autonomous relationship between products on the market. This change of perception would accompany a corresponding shift in socio-economic relations, and would entail a supersession of the capitalist mode of production. One final quote from Marx postscript to the 1873 version of Capital: Volume One should further serve to clarify the point I am making here. In this section of prose, Marx criticises the rightwing Hegelianism first targeted in his Critique of Hegel s Doctrine of the State (1843).Marx here critiques Hegel s use of the Concept (Begriff) as the axiomatic basis for his dialectic for Marx this is a further mystification that obscures the true praxis of the Hegelian dialectic a praxis that is rooted in material conditions and is obscured in Hegelian dialecticism. The reason for this, as famously explored in The German Ideology (1845), is that the mystical nature of the Hegelian dialectic, rooted in the Concept or in Spirit(Geist), had been used to propagate the bourgeoisie Prussian State. Marx famously argued for the extraction of the rational kernel (p. 103) of the Hegelian dialectic in what amounts to a dialectic rooted in material, and consequently socioeconomic, conditions. Marx writes: My dialectical method is, in its foundations, not only different from the Hegelian, but exactly opposite to it. For Hegel, the process of thinking, which he even transforms into 239

242 an independent subject, under the name of the Idea, is the creator of the real world, and the real world is only the external appearance of the idea. With me the reverse is true: the ideal is nothing but the material world reflected in the mind of man, and translated into forms of thought. (p. 102). Marx here discloses what I take to be the root of his key concepts: de-mystification; Marx therefore in de-mystifying the Hegelian dialectic, goes on to de-mystify the State (as a concretisation of the Idea/Concept) in Hegel s Foundations of thephilosophy of Right (1820) and by the time of Capital goes on to de-mystify the illusions of capitalism, as propagated by the State; illusions which, include the fetishism of market commodities and the consequent alienation (Entfrerndung) of the producer an alienation, which in Hegel s Phenomenology of Spirit (1806) is the alienation of the mystical Concept. I d like to argue in the next part of this paper that these mystifications which Marx railed against at all points in his overall oeuvre, are mystifications that are now present in modern Thai society, not just in the mystical power of the State, but also in the form of what I would like to call cultural commodity fetishism something that is not a specific characteristic of Thai modernity, but rather a characteristic of late capitalism itself, a mystification of capitalism asit transcends and spreads across international and cultural boundaries. Second Order Signification in Thai Culture. Bringing Marx original theory somewhat up to date, and applying it to the historically recent encroachments into Thai culture of Western cultural values and practices, one can discern a certain sense of commodity fetishism, however this is a fetishism that disguises the labour value of a wholeculture itself, a whole history and period of enlightenment, an industrial revolution and a whole learning curve. By culture here, I am taking practices such as clothing, entertainment, infrastructural systems and civic/state institutions. 2 A present sensory need is satisfied, at the cost of another history of empirical relations. What I would like to do now, using a structuralist analysis, is read this cultural phenomenon in terms of Roland Barthes influential designation of the cultural sign in his essay Myth Today (1957). Barthes writes of the social/mythic sign in terms of its dual nature, one side of which is drained of its past cultural or political construction, and one that retains this history. Speech as myth for Barthes is a second-order system of semiotics. Barthes writes: That which is a sign (namely the associative total of a concept and an image) in the first system, becomes a mere signifier in the second. We must here recall that the materials of mythical speech (the language itself, photography, painting, posters, rituals, objects, etc), however different at the start, are reduced to a pure signifying function as soon as they are caught by myth. (p. 114) In terms of the argument I am presenting here, cultural symbols, indexes or signs are taken as de-mystified by Thai culture, or to use Barthes term de-politicised and taken as already given neutral signifiers within a second-order semiological system. It is through this system of 240

243 second order signification that they become fetishised within a second-order cultural system. Barthes later describes the nature of the new signifying system: The signifier of myth presents itself in an ambiguous way: it is at the same time meaning and form, full on one side and empty on the other. As meaning, the signifier already postulates a reading, I grasp it through my eyes, it has a sensory reality, (unlike the linguistic signifier, which is purely mental), there is a richness in it [ ] As a total of linguistic signs, the meaning of the myth has its own value, it belongs to a history, that of the lion or that of the Negro: in the meaning, a signification is already built, and could very well be self-sufficient if myth did not take hold of it and did not turn it suddenly into an empty, parasitical form. (p.117). My italics. In this process of second-order signification, or in more Marxist terms, this mystification, one sees the sign drained of its original history, whether it be something as simple as a red phone box, or a black umbrella, or more indexical as a tea bag, or more highly symbolic such as a civic function or an infra-structural piece of social engineering whatever the specific case, and wherever the transformation the original history bound up with this action, object or institution is parasitically drained, and an empty signifier remains. The capitalist transition between borders and cultures is thence completed; whilst at a local and primary signifying level the true social relations bound up with commodity productions are objectified in the commodity itself, so at this higher, secondary level, cultural commodities are exported and mystified or drained of their integral history. This parasitical action facilitates the smooth export of capitalism into other cultures, where the capitalist gifts or fetishes are warmly received, without any of the political posturing, struggle, or intellectual work that went into the original cultural artefact. Thai Occidentalism. Edward Said famously argued for a similar kind of cultural commodity fetishism in his book Orientalism (1978), in which he famously argued that there was a whole Western construct of oriental beliefs and practices that was subsumed into the discourse of orientalism. One thinks of the grand tour, the pictures of Byron adorned in Arabic regalia and the whole romantic fixation with the magic of the Orient, originally explored though literature but later codified into a system of knowledge a system of knowledge based upon poststructuralist binary logic. However, on closer examination, it appears that Said s important book fails to fully engage with the hegemony and ideological process at work in the late capitalist age. Firstly, Said fails to acknowledge fully that there is a more dialogical process at work between the East and the West, certainly since the Second World War and the final dissolution of the British Empire. Said s book is in fact a partial deconstruction, in that it fails to account for the cultural acquiescence at work for example in Thailand, in its acceptance of Western hegemonic models or its nascent Occidentalism. Capitalism, with all its trappings of modernity, is very attractive to a culture trying to move into a new Gestalt and away from a predominantly feudal socioeconomic situation. 241

244 Thai historians have themselves written of the self-colonisation and Occidentalism that took place in Thai culture in the twentieth century.phanichphant (2009)has claimed recently ofthailandduring the second half of the twentieth century we were not a colony, but we were colonised, we colonised ourselves. (Chiangmai Citylife.com, 2009).This self-colonisation aptly demonstrates the protean notion of the Thai conception of culture, or Wadthanatham, which more literallysignifies the stage of progress the Nation has reached in the present and is therefore itself, in one sense, devoid of a deeper historicity. Thus, the lack of deeper historicity connoted in the term Wadthanatham, runs throughout Thai cultural encounters, encounters that engender an animistic view of reality. Therefore, the cultural discourse of Thailand is protean, non-reflective and a-historical. Mulder (1994) has also written of Thai culture: Eclectic borrowing, temporisation, adaptability, and pragmatism are the very flavour of the Thai cultural genius. The Thais are no philosophers, ideologists, or essentialists; they are little interested in questions of deeper meaning, mysticism, or religious development, but are rather eminently able to judge things in terms of their usefulness and survival value. (p. 121) This sense of cultural bricolage that seems to pervade Thai culture (Wadthanatham), also means that things are taken as signifiers in terms of the present, and are as such de-historicised on a macro level. Cultural signs are read in a synchronic, (as opposed to diachronic) sense, and are thus de-historicised and de-politicised. As Phanichphant argues, we never had an industrial revolution. We went from telling the time by the sun and moon to the cell phone." (Chiang Mai Citylfe.com, 2009).He even ascribes Thai people's well known chronological tardiness to the fact they never got used to watches and telling the time; in this sense, a whole new cultural sense of chronology. This has a two-fold significance in that, firstly, it ties in with the Thai notion of culture,wadthanatham, as being synchronically of the present, of the now; but secondly, the sense in which Thai culture assimilates other cultural artifacts, rather like a language assimilates other languages, but without any philological or etymological concern for word roots or historical usage. In this case there is an absence of knowledge of the cultural etymology or philology of signs appropriated as second-order signifiers in the Thai cultural system: something that could be remedied with a Barthesianstructuralist analysis. There are various concrete examples of Thai culture importing cultural signs from other cultures and then re-appropriating them in a second-order signification. This was arguably something that commenced with the new conceptualization of the role of the State after the 1932 revolution, after which Phibun introduced an Hegelian concept of the State, the kind of conception Marx had attacked in the The German Ideology and his early treatment of Hegel s Philosophy of Right. Chaloemtiarana (1979) argues that this notion of the state placed the state in the mystical position of a powerful entity to which subjects were the adjuncts in Marxist terms an upside-down conception of ideology, or Phibun s state ideology of the rhatthaniyom(state preference movement) of 1939: The concept of the state (rhatthaniyom) changed from that of a mere legalistic term to encompass a wider meaning with ideological implications. It became similar to such ideas that became currency in Europe underlying the philosophical foundations of 242

245 modern totalitarianism. The position of the citizenry was relegated to secondary importance after having duties to perform for the glory and survival of the state. (p. 23) Once the state had become an ideological tool in Thailand, its decrees were to be followed by the populace, in order to maintain the glory and survival of the state. One example of cultural commodity fetishism under this new superordinate conception of the state was the ideal of bobbed haircuts or the Gatsby look which is still being enforced in state schools today, another was the ideal image of a Thai woman under the new regime. Phibun actually delivered the following address to the people during a public address on National day, I have seen in our society today, [something] which has made me happy proper dresses and correct manner are no different from other civilised countries In the past, it was seldom that one heard the remark I saw a well-dressed lady; one only heard I saw a beautiful [face] lady. But now, men remark after coming back from any social affair that I was lucky today because I met a lady who wore a skirt and hat gorgeous shoes. She was as beautiful as any lady from any other country. (Chaloemtiarana, 1979,p. 143) However, this cultural fetishism can even be traced back to the reigns of King Mongkul and King Chulalongkorn. 3 King Mongkul died of malaria after taking a delegation of the court to Southern Thailand to witness a solar eclipse he had predicted using Western astrological methods in August King Chulalongkorn was renowned for his love of Western attire, and there are many surviving portraits, which attest to this fascination. The Grand Palace was even called by some Thai commentators, the farrang (foreigner) in a Thai hat. (Wright, 1991, p. 34).The cultural engineering programmes went on and on, and have continued to the present day, even under the hyper-conservatism of Gen. Sarit, the role of the state in controlling public behaviour only grew. 4 More recent versions of this cultural commodity fetishism can be seen in examples as diverse as playboy bunny signs, which appear all over clothing and on cars in Thailand a culture with such strict family values would surely not affiliate itself with the Hugh Heffner Playboy empire? Not however, unless the sign has become drained of its original meaning and re-appropriated as a second-order cultural signifier. The recent events at Chulalongkorn University also brought this home, during which a representation of Hitler was placed next to Spiderman and other superheroes. Used as a simple sign in an aesthetic (bric)collage, thisis fine, as long as it s been drained of its history or depoliticised. On first arriving in Thailand, I was rather bemused by the number of Nazi swastikas over walls and on shirts not anymore not when I understand that these are second-order significations, drained of all history and depoliticised. If time allowed, I could produce a long list of these semiotic examples of cultural commodity fetishism. Thai Identity and Agency. Indeed, not only would the commodity fetishes, translated into cultural commodity fetishes, appear appealing in facilitatingthe new dawn of Thai modernity, if we follow Marx line of thought, there is a certain inevitability about this anyway. In one sense capitalism transcends agency, the system is almost self-fulfilling as Marx himself acknowledged a culture needs to 243

246 go through the so called free markets of capitalism, in order to prime itself for the next dialectical stage in materialist history. Capitalism, as an international phenomenon, isn t really interested in agency as such, whether it be Thai, Vietnamese or Laoation. The point is that the internal logic of capitalism was inevitably going to gestate and then become the nascent cultural commodity fetishism we are now experiencing in the form of newer economic success stories. If I am right, and this growth was inevitable, indeed if Marx was right, then what sort of questions should nations such as Thailand be posing in order to problematise the march of capitalism and the cultural commodity fetishism, which has taken hold? Academics such as ThongchaiWinichakul are already questioning the older modes of state pedagogy that are now, in the new era of ASEAN, holding Thailand back as a progressive culture. Winichakul spoke at Thammasat University in July 2013, of Thailand in the following terms: We don t know the world, we don t know our neighbours, we don t know our region because we are so Thai-centric. We believe in [our] superiority, our being exceptional, our never having been colonised. (Prachatai.com, 2013).These persistent pedagogies, which are at the root of Thailand s cultural commodity fetishism, together with it s almost a-temporal and a-historical view of cultural discourse, were arguably formalised and developed byphibun and further implemented by Sarit. The notion of never having been colonised is not completely true it is more the fact that protean Thai culture has found ways of assimilating other cultures into it s a- historical cultural discourse. Furthermore, as late capitalism has crept East, in it s attempt to fend off the communist threat, these cultural transmissions have been almost inevitable. However, now with a strong historical awareness, a cultural awareness, and the heuristic and methodological tools at their disposal, the Thai humanities should be focusing on what is Thai or even Thai-ness with one eye focused on the cultural past, and one focused firmly on the future. Prime Minister Shinwatra just last month started a campaign for Thais to promote Thai-ness abroad, but how can this be firmly established when, on Winichakul s astute analysis, Thais are not even sure of their identity or history at home and by history I am also of course referring to the slow, homogenising movement of late capitalism Eastwards. They appear unsure of the true nature of the historical signs they have incorporated into their own cultural discourse. All of these signs need de-mystification and historical understanding. One final way of viewing this issue could be in terms of negative and positive freedom. Cultural commodity fetishism raises questions about the true nature of human freedom is one free because there are no impediments in their attaining commodities on the free market? Or is one more free when one gets to ask questions of the overall capitalistic enterprise, and the way it has insinuated its life into everyday Thai culture? Marx, I think, would argue that whilst it was inevitable that the capitalistic homogenising machine would roll into a culture such as Thailand, and indeed mystify itself as cultural commodity fetishism, now is the real epoch for Thais to grab their own positive freedom and start to interrogate the issue that has in fact problematised not only their own culture, but has paradoxically atomised them and challenged their sense of community and self-hood. A truly positive freedom is a freedom grown from conscience and autonomous reason, not a freedom granted in light of an alienating financial system that is already showing signs of collapse in the free Western world

247 Notes 1. The essay Two Concepts of Liberty (1969) adumbratedisaiah Berlin s important thesis on freedom that is negative and freedom that is positive. Negative freedom is the freedom whereby you can act of your own will and volition without external impediments to this freedom, and as such is, on my reading of late capitalist society, very much prevalent in modernity. Positive freedom entails agency in making decisions and actively choosing for oneself, using reason. Positive freedom is usually connoted more with civil action and communitarian movements. Positive freedom is usually associated with social philosophy that emphasizes the collective group over the individual, such as that of Rousseau, Hegel or Marx. Hobbes emphasizes a contractualist and collective view of freedom, however his theory is more in line with a negative view of freedom obstacles to your selfish needs are mutually negated this however is not a truly positive view of freedom. 2. This is not to say that the same de-politicisation of cultural history and transformations is not practiced in the West. There are numerous instances of Western youths taking on board cultural concepts and icons without a true historical awareness of their origins or indeed value. Many years ago a royal prince, Harry, went to a fancy dress party dressed as a Nazi something that caused a stir in the tabloid press. Capitalism isn t concerned with agency, whether it be singular or societal the point is that the fetish mystifies and disguises not only the true relations in terms of labour value, but also in terms of historical content and value. 3. It may be more precise if we date the onset of Occidentalism to the important signing of the Bowring Treaty in 1855, which effectively opened Siam to trading with the British Empire, and almost certainly helped in preventing the later colonisation of the country. Baker &Phongpaichit, (2005) explain that In 1855, Mongkut invited John Bowring, the governor of Britain s opium capital of Hong Kong, to negotiate a trade treaty. This treaty abolished the remnants of royal monopolies, equalized the dues on western and Chinese shipping, granted extraterritorial rights on British citizens, and allowed the British to import opium for sale through a government monopoly. (p. 45) 4. It is important to note however, that under the leadership of Gen.Sarit, in his role as Phokhun, (father of the nation), Phibun s state ideology had been replaced by a rightwing populism, which actively discouraged engagement with certain corruptive Western cultural values and resulted for example in the banning of Western-style fictions in the kingdom after The appropriately titled Western-style literary journal LakWittya(Stealing Knowledge) had kick-started an interest in Western literary texts, which eventually switched from more romantic texts to realist texts after the coup in Further to these despotic stipulations in 1958, young people with a Western hippy/beatnik look were arrested as anthapan (hoodlums). Additionally, the dancing of the twist was banned, as were the dance nights at Lumpini Garden in Bangkok, due to the use of rock n roll music. (Chaloemtiarana, 1979, p. 190). These were, ironically, labelled under the homogenous term of communist threats by the Field Marshall s regime. 5. I would like to thank Dr. Peter Frank Freeouf, Dr. Joseph Wheeler and Dr. Donald Ray Mott for reading and commenting on original versions of this paper. 245

248 References Baker, C., Phongpaichit, P. (2005) A History of Thailand. Cambridge: Cambridge Cambridge University Press. Barthes, R. (1992)Mythologies.(A. Levers, Trans.). London: Vintage. (Original work published 1957) Chaloemtiarana, T. (1979) Thailand: The Politics of Despotic Paternalism. Bangkok: Thammasat University Press. Farrel, J.A. (2009) The Lanna Deception. Chiang Mai Citylife, Vol. 18, No. 12, (Nov. 2009). Retrieved from Kaewmala. (2013) Thongchai: Thai-style History Education Makes Thais Ignorant and Narcisstic. Prachatai-en. Retrieved from Marx, K. (1976) Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, Vol. I. (B. Fowkes, Trans.). London: Penguin Classics. (Original work published 1867) Marx K. (1989) A Critique of the Gotha Programme. (Marx-Engels-Lenin Institute, Trans.) New York, NY: International Publishers. (Original work published 1891) Mulder, Niels. (1994)Inside Thai Society: An Interpretation of Everyday Life. Bangkok: Editions DuangKamol. Wright Jr., J.J. (1991) The Balancing Act: A History of Modern Thailand. Oakland, CA: Pacific Rim Press. 246

249 The 1st International Conference on Language, Literature, and Cultural Studies The Similarities and Differences between Imagination and Reality in Harry Potter Wimonwan Aungsuwan Ph.D. Student in English Language Studies, Thammasat University Abstract A few previous studies are focused on imagination and reality in Harry Potter. Corriveau, Kim, Schwalen, & Harris (2009) studied on Abraham Lincoln and Harry Potter: children s differentiation between historical and fantasy characters. However, this study is done on other aspects. My purposes are to study the similarities of reality in Harry Potter compared with Boarding school in UK. And to study differences between imagination in Harry Potter and reality in the real world. The concepts of Reality, imagination and intertextuality were adopted. In this study, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer s Stone was selected. Imagination in Harry Potter is similar to the real world in terms of age of the students, starting date, places, people, punishment, and personalities of the characters. However, Imagination in Harry Potter differs from the real world in terms of magical subjects, laces, objects, sports and games, dessert, and creatures. The results are useful for literary studies. This book expresses British children s ways of life due to the similarities found in Harry Potter and the real world. Imagination is important in the fantasy books. The writers use it in order to help the readers forget their real life problems for some time and to support the readers need. It helps them do something which they cannot do in the real world. The concepts of imagination and reality can be adopted in other fantasy books. Keywords: Imagination, Reality, Harry Potter, Fiction, Fantasy book Introduction Harry Potter series are studied in many aspects such as translation strategies from English into Thai (Boonterm, 2008; Chamroensap, 2005; Manomaivibool, 2004; Sinprasert, 2004), plots and characters (Arayasukaphat, 2009; Chalermkarnnon, 2005; Jaisook, 2007; Phalayotha, 2002; Unchanthee, 2010), Harry Potter Film (Jaorasdr, 2005), Harry Potter and online community (Siriphaiboon, 2008), and Discourse analysis in Harry Potter (Cherland, , pp ; Suwarti, 2009). A few previous studies are focused on imagination and reality in Harry Potter. Corriveau, Kim, Schwalen, & Harris (2009) studied on Abraham Lincoln and Harry Potter: children s differentiation between historical and fantasy characters. However, they are not focused on the similarities and differences between reality in British children s ways of life and imagination in Harry Potter. Thus, this study is aimed to study similarities of the reality in Harry Potter compared with Boarding school in the United Kingdom and to study differences between imagination in Harry Potter and reality in the real world. The results of this study will be useful for literary studies in the future. The concepts of imagination and reality can be adopted in other fantasy books. 247

250 According to Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia (n.d.), Harry Potter series, including seven books, written by J.K. Rowling, are very popular. They are bestselling children s books because they have been sold about 450 million copies worldwide. They have been translated into 67 languages. In Thailand, the translated versions have been sold more than 30,000 copies. Harry Potter films have been made and become very popular like the novels. Due to the popularity, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer s Stone, including 310 pages and 17 chapters, written by J.K. Rowling and published by Scholastic in 1998, was selected in this study. It is because this book is not only the first book of Harry Potter s series, but also reveals the beginning of the story, and background of the characters. In addition, Bloomsbury (n.d.) cites that Harry Potter and the Sorcerer s Stone had earned many awards such as Nestle Smarties Book prize 1997 Gold Metal 9-11 year, FCBG Children Book Award 1997 overall Winner and Longer Novel Category Birmingham, Cable Children s Book award 1997, British book awards 1997 the children s book of the year, parenting Book of the Year Award 1998, Sheffield children s book award 1998, and Whitaker s platinum Book Award In terms of reality in co-educational boarding school in the United Kingdom, the data from six schools including ACS Cobham International School, Aldenham School, Alexanders International School, Ashford School, Ashville College, and Bearwood College were randomly selected. The data from co-educational boarding school in the United Kingdom were selected because J.K. Rowling lived in United Kingdom. She may express British children s ways of life in her work. After that the data from co-educational boarding school were compared with the data in Harry Potter. Reality, Imagination, and intertextuality Reality, imagination and intertextuality were adopted in this study. Chuarayapratib (2012) explains about quantum physicists by Neils Bohr and Werner Heisenberg related to reality that reality is determined by perspectives. In other words, absolute reality does not exist. According to Bakhtin (1981, intertextuality means that nothing in this world is original and everything is inspired from something else. Fantasy books contain many imaginations. A fantasy is inspired by imagination that do not necessarily have any relationship to reality. Zafar (n.d.) cites that fantasy is like living in another world which is immensely perfect and where various impossible things can be possible. Some people like to imagine about fantasy because that when they imagine about this world, they forget their real life problems for some time. Intertextuality was coined originally by Julia Kristeva, and refers to the ways in which all utterances (whether written or spoken) necessarily refer to other utterances, since words and linguistic/grammatical structures pre-exist the individual speaker and the individual speech. Intertextuality can take place consciously, as when a writer sets out to quote from or allude to the works of another. But it always, in some sense, takes place in all utterance. Thus the structure of language can be said to be intertextual inasmuch as meaning is not intrinsic to any single word (Wolfreys, 2004, p. 119). In addition, it is not merely a formal, literary matter, it is also historical and therefore culture and ideology (Allen, 2000; Wolfreys, 2004, p. 120). According to Bakhtin (1981), intertextuality is the discursive space that makes any text intelligible. This means that any text assumes significance when it builds on or refutes the existing arguments, opinions of earlier works done by other people. The concept of 248

251 intertextuality goes against the notion of the autonomy or originality of a text as the text becomes relevant only when explained from other s point of views. Intertextuality contains several different voices or points of view. For example the novel contains authorial voice presenting the relations and dialogues between characters and all characters voices (Allen, 2000, p. 23). Results of the Study This section contains the similarities and differences between imagination in Harry Potter and reality in the real world as discussed below. 1. The Similarities between Imagination in Harry Potter and Reality in Co-educational Boarding School in the United Kingdom Imagination in Harry Potter is similar to the real world in terms of age of the students, starting date, places in school, people, punishment, and personalities of the characters as discussed below. 1. Age of the Students In wizarding school, the students are about eleven to eighteen years. Similarly, the students in co-educational boarding schools are about eight to eighteen years. For instance, the students in ACS Cobham International School are about twelve to eighteen years. The students in Aldenham School are about eleven to eighteen years. The students in Alexanders International School are about eleven to seventeen years. The students in Ashford School are about ten to eighteen years. The students in Ashville College are about eight to eighteen years. The students in Bearwood College are about eleven to eighteen years. 2. Starting Date Both wizarding school and co-educational boarding schools in the United Kingdom start in September, January, and April. 3. Places in School In Harry Potter, magical school contains many places such as Dormitories, categorized by the house including Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin, commonrooms, classrooms for teaching many subjects such as Defence Against the Dark Arts, herbology, potion, transfiguration, history of magic, and charm, library containing many magical books, and hospital wing (Rowling, 1998). Like wizarding school, co-educational boarding schools include many similar places such as Dormitories categorized by the house, commonrooms, and classrooms for teaching many core subjects including English, and Maths and additional subjects such as science information and education technologies (ICT), geography, world history, art, music, physical education, food, technology and environmental studies. 4. People The wizarding school contains many people in many positions as mentioned below. Professor Dumbledore is a head master. Professor McGonagall is a deputy Headmistress. In addition, it contains many teachers. Professor McGonagall teaches transfiguration. Professor Snape teaches potion. Professor Flitwick teaches charm. Professor Quirrell teaches Defence 249

252 against the Dark Arts. Professor Sprout teaches herbology. Professor Binns teaches history of magic. Besides, magical school contains many wizarding students such as Harry, Ron, and Hermione. In terms of heads of boarding house, professor McGonagall is a head of Gryffindor. Professor Sprout is a head of Hufflepuff. Professor Flitwick is a head of Ravenclaw. Professor Snape is a head of the Slytherin. Furthermore, it contains many house staffs. Percy Weasley is a prefect at Hogwarts in Gryffindor. Additionally, Madam Pomfrey or Poppy is a Nurse. Madame Pince is a librarian. Argos Filch is a Caretaker (Rowling, 1998; Rowling, (n.d.)). Like the wizarding school, co-educational boarding schools include many people in many positions such as head master, teachers for teaching many core subjects including English, and Maths and additional subjects such as science information and education technologies (ICT), geography, world history, art, music, physical education, food, technology and environmental studies, students, head of boarding, and house staffs. 5. Punishment In Harry Potter, taking the marks and giving detention are used when the students do mistakes. When Harry, Neville, and Hermione go outside the dormitory at night, professor McGonagall punishes them by taking the marks and giving detention (Rowling, 1998, pp ). According to School discipline, suspensions and expulsions, (n.d.), the co-educational boarding schools contain many ways of student punishment such as a reprimand, letter to parents or carer, removable from class or groups, loss from privilege, confiscating something belonging to your child if it s inappropriate to school, and detention. 6. Personalities of the Characters Like people in the real world, the characters in Harry Potter have both good and bad personalities as shown in the following examples. Professor Snape Professor Snape has strong bias toward Harry Potter because he hates his father. He always makes him lose his face as illustrated in the following conversation. Professor Snape Potter! What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood? Harry Potter I don t know, sir. Professor Snape Tut, tut fame clearly isn t everything. Let s try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar? Harry Potter I don t know, sir. Professor Snape Thought you wouldn t open a book before coming, eh, Potter? What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane? Harry Potter I don t know. I think Hermione does, though, why don t you try her? Professor Snape For your information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the 250

253 Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite. Well? (Rowling, 1998, pp ) In this example, it shows that Professor Snape dislikes Harry Potter because he wants him to lose face by calling him to answer these difficult questions. Professor Snape may know that Harry cannot answer these questions. Although, Professor Snape has strong bias towards Harry Potter, Harry knows at the end of the story that professor Snape tries to save him from dangerous countercurse (Rowling, 1998, pp ). Hermione Granger Hermione Granger is Smart know-it-all at Hogwarts in Gryffindor house. She works very hard and always gets the best marks in her exams. However, she always breaks the rules. For example, she always goes to the forbidden place and went outside the dormitory at night together with her friends: Harry and Ron (Rowling, 1998; Rowling, (n.d.)). In the author s view, the real personalities containing goodness and badness in the literary work make the story believable. 2. The Differences between Imagination in Harry Potter and Reality in the Real World Imagination in Harry Potter differs from the real world in terms of magical subjects, places, objects, sports and games, dessert, and creatures as discussed below. 1. Magical Subjects In harry potter, many students in the wizard world learn magical subjects such as Defence Against the Dark Arts, herbology, potion, transfiguration, history of magic, and charm (Rowling, 1998). Unlike the magical world, co-educational boarding schools in The United Kingdom contain both core subjects such as English, and Maths and additional subjects such as science information and education technologies (ICT), geography, world history, art, music, physical education, food, technology and environmental studies. Although, the subjects in Harry Potter and co-educational boarding schools are different, they are useful in everyday life. For example, Defence against the Dark Arts is useful subject in the wizarding world for protecting the students from the dark magic. However, English and science information and education technologies are important for communication in the real world. 2. Magical Places In Harry Potter, it contains many magical places such as Hogwarts, Gringotts, and the Ministry of Magic. Hogwarts According to Rowling (n.d.), Hogwarts is School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The best school of its kind in the world. The greatest witches and wizards of the age founded Hogwarts more than a thousand years ago: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin. They built a remote castle, far away so that witches and wizards could train in safety. Pupils attend from age eleven for seven years of rigorous training in the art of witchcraft 251

254 and wizardry. There are a hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts and everything keeps moving around, so things are not always in the same place. Hogwarts is in a secret location somewhere in the North. Unlike the magical school, everything cannot keep moving around at the schools in the real world. Gringotts Rowling (n.d.) defines Gringotts as The wizard bank in London, with vaults far below the streets, run by goblins. Harry Potter s parents keep their money at Gringotts. In addition, Philosopher's Stone is protected here because it is the safe place (Rowling, 1998). Unlike the wizarding bank, the banks in the real world are run by the non-magical people. The Ministry of Magic The ministry of magic is Government agency that tries to keep witches and wizards secret from non-magical people. 3. Magical Objects In Harry Potter, it includes many magical objects such as wand, broomstick, wizarding money, Invisibility Cloak, put-outer, national wizarding newspaper, mirror of erised, sorting hat, and Philosopher's Stone or sorcerer s stone as discussed below. Wand In the magical world, the wizards use wand together with saying the proper magic words in order to make charms. For example, the wizards swish and flick the wand and say Wingardium Leviosa in order to make object fly (Rowling, 1998, pp ). Broomstick In the real world, non-magical people fly by airplane. In addition, broomstick is only used for cleaning the house. However, magical people fly by using broomstick. When Harry Potter is the first year student, he is trained how to fly by using broomstick (Rowling, 1998). Wizarding money In the real world, pound is used in Britain. One British pound is divided into a hundred pence. However, wizarding money is different. According to Rowling (n.d.), it contains many types such as GalleonGold, Sickle (Silver wizarding money. Seventeen Sickles to a Galleon.), Knut (Bronze wizarding money. Twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle). Invisibility Cloak Invisibility Cloak is Magic cloak granting the wearer invisibility. Harry Potter gets it in Christmas day. His father s owned it. Harry Potter uses it when he wants to break the rule in order that no one can see him (Rowling, 1998). Put-outer According to Rowling (n.d.), put-outer is the Device resembling cigarette lighter, used to turn street-lamps on and off. It is used by Albus Dumbledore. 252

255 National Wizarding Newspaper National wizarding newspaper (daily, prophet) contains many wizarding news. Mirror of Erised The mirror in the real world is used for looking the onlooker face. According to Rowling (n.d.), Mirror of Erised is Magical mirror that shows the onlooker their heart's desire. When Harry Potter looks in this mirror, he sees his family for the first time in his life. He sees a woman standing right behind his reflection was smiling at him and waving. His parents just look at him, smiling. Harry looks into the faces of the other people in the mirror, and sees other pairs of green eyes like his, other noses like his, even a little old man who looks as though he has Harry s knobbly knees. The Potters smile and wave at Harry (Rowling, 1998, pp ). When Ron looks in the mirror, he sees that he is alone but he is different. He looks older and he is Head Boy. He is wearing the badge like Bill used to and he is holding the House Cup and the Quidditch Cup. He is Quidditch captain, too (Rowling, 1998, p. 211). This mirror showed the deepest, most desperate desire of human hearts. Harry, who has never known his family, sees them standing around him. Ronald Weasley, who has always been overshadowed by his brothers, sees himself standing alone, the best of all of them (Rowling, 1998, p. 214). Sorting Hat Sorting hat is the hat that decides which house students shall be in while at Hogwarts (Rowling, (n.d.)). The sorting ceremony takes place in the start-of-term banquet. The first year students wear the hat and it selects the proper house. When Harry Potter wears the sorting hat, he hears the small voice in his ear Hmm. Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There s talent, oh my goodness, yes and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that s interesting.... So where shall I put you? Harry Potter thinks, Not Slytherin, not Slytherin. After that, the sorting hat says Not Slytherin, eh? Are you sure? You could be great, you know, its all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that no? Well, if you re sure better be GRYFFINDOR! Then Harry hears the hat shout the last word to the whole hall. Unlike the sorting hat, the hat in the real world cannot speak and cannot read the wearer s mind. Philosopher's Stone Sorcerer s Stone Rowling (n.d.) explains that philosopher's Stone is Legendary stone which will transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal. Lord Voldemort needs it in order to be immortal. 4. Magical Sports and Games Magical sports and games include quidditch, and wizarding chess as mentioned below. Quidditch According to Rowling (n.d.), quidditch is The wizarding national sport. Played on broomsticks by seven players: three Chasers, one Keeper, two Beaters, one Seeker. Played with four balls: the Quaffle (red) is used for scoring; two Bludgers (black) which try to knock players off their brooms; One Golden Snitch (bright gold with silver wings). The Chasers throw the Quaffle to each other and try to score by throwing the Quaffle through one of the six hoops. Ten points every time a player scores. The Keeper guards the goalposts and tries to prevent the Chasers from scoring. The Beaters try to keep the Bludgers away from their team and knock 253

256 them towards the opposing team. The Seeker tries to catch the Golden Snitch. Whichever team catches the Golden Snitch earns 150 points. The game ends when the Snitch is caught. Quidditch in the magical world differs from football in the real world. Quidditch contains seven players but football contains eleven players. Besides, quidditch includes four balls: one Quaffle, two Bludgers and one golden snitch but football includes one ball. In addition, quidditch players can fly but football players cannot fly. Wizarding Chess Unlike the chess in the real world, chessmen of wizarding chess are alive, which make them a lot like directing troops in battle. In addition the chessmen can speak. They always keep shouting different bits of advice at Harry Potter such as Don t send me there, can t you see his knight? Send him, we can afford to lose him. (Rowling, 1998, p. 199). When touching or commanding, they can automatically move. When Ron walks up to a black knight and puts his hand out to touch the knight s horse. At once, the stone springs to life. The horse paws the ground and the knight turns his helmeted head to look down at Ron. The black knight nods. Ron turns to the other two. Then Ron commands Harry to take the place of a bishop, and Hermione to go instead of a castle. Ron is a knight. The chessmen seem to have been listening, because at these words a knight, a bishop, and a castle turn their backs on the white pieces and walk off the board, leaving three empty squares that Harry, Ron, and Hermione take (Rowling, 1998, pp ). 5. Dessert Chocolate Frog Rowling (n.d.) explains that chocolate frog is Wizard confectionery that contains collector's cards of famous witches and wizards. Unlike the real world, the photos in the cards appear for a while after that they vanish (Rowling, 1998, pp ). 6. Creatures In Harry Potter, it contains many creatures including centaur, goblin, giant, owl, unicorn, and three head dog as discussed below. Centaur Rowling (n.d.) defines centaur as Half-man, half-horse creature. Centaur lives in the Forbidden Forest. Goblin Goblin is Small creature with swarthy faces, pointed beards and very long hands and feet (Rowling, (n.d.)). Harry Potter finds them at Gringotts (Rowling, 1998, pp ). Giant Giant is one of the most important characters in Harry Potter. Harry Potter has close relationship with a giant named Rubeus Hagrid. According to Rowling (n.d.), he is Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts. Professor Dumbledore allows him to stay as gamekeeper. Hagrid is almost twice a tall as any other person and seems five times as wide. He has masses of bushy, black hair and a huge tangled beard. Has a liking for strange and dangerous creatures especially dragons. 254

257 Owl The magical people use owl for sending the letters or other messages like the postman in the real world (Rowling, 1998). Unicorn Rowling (n.d.) explains that a unicorn is Mythical white horse-like creature with golden mane and a golden horn sprouting from the head. Innocent, beautiful creatures. Tail hair and horn can be used in magic. Dark wizards have been known to kill unicorns and drink their blood; this will sustain the life of the drinker but at a grave price. The Three Head Dog In the real world the dog has one head. However, in the magical world, a dog had three heads; three pairs of rolling, mad eyes; three noses, twitching and quivering in their direction; three drooling mouths, saliva hanging in slippery ropes from yellowish fangs. It is on the third floor at Hogwarts in order to protect the sorcerer s stone (Rowling, 1998, p. 161). Conclusion and Discussion The purposes of this study are to study the similarities of reality in Harry Potter compared with Boarding school in the United Kingdom and to study differences between imagination in Harry Potter and reality in the real world. The concepts of reality, imagination, and intertextuality were adopted. In this study, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer s Stone was selected. The results of this study show that Imagination in Harry Potter is similar to the real world in terms of age of the students about eleven to eighteen years, starting date in September, January and April, places in school including Domitories categorized by the house, commonrooms and classrooms, people in many positions containing head master, teachers, students, head of boarding and house staffs, punishment such as detention, and personalities of the characters including both good and bad personalities. However, imagination in Harry Potter differs from the real world in terms of magical subjects such as Defence Against the Dark Arts, herbology, potion, transfiguration, history of magic, and charm, magicalp laces including Hogwarts, Gringotts and the Ministry of Magic, magical objects containing wand, broomstick, wizarding money, Invisibility Cloak, put-outer, national wizarding newspaper, mirror of erised, sorting hat and Philosopher's Stone or sorcerer s stone, sports and games consisting of quidditch and wizarding chess, dessert such as chocolate Frog, and creatures including centaur, goblin, giant, owl, unicorn and three head dog. In some cases, this book reflects British children s ways of life. It is because imagination in Harry Potter series is similar to the co-educational boarding school in the United Kingdom in terms of age of the students, starting date, places in school, people, and punishment. In terms of intertextuality, many creatures found in Harry Potter are similarity to other fantasy books. Many creatures such as dragon, centaur, giant, and unicorn are not only found in Harry Potter but also found in other fantasy novels. For example, dragon is found in Eragon. Many creatures in Harry Potter such as centaur and giant can speak like human. Creatures in other fantasy books can also speak. For instance, lion in Narnia can speak like human in the real world. In the author s point of view, this book contains many voices from other fantasy novels. J.K. Rowling may adopt the information from other fantasy novels in her work. According to Encyclopedia of Psychology (2005), a fantasy is inspired by imagination characterized by mental images that do not necessarily have any relationship to reality. In 255

258 psychoanalysis, fantasy is regarded as a defense mechanism. For example, after being reprimanded by a supervisor, a worker may fantasize about taking over the company and firing the supervisor. Similarly, a child may fantasize about running away from home in retaliation against her parents for punishing. Zafar (n.d.) cites that fantasy is like living in another world which is immensely perfect and where various impossible things can be possible. Fantasy is a world where we can imagine that everything is beautiful and colorful. Some people like to imagine about fantasy because it has some psychological reasons. The reason is that when they imagine about this world, they forget their real life problems for some time. J.K. Rowling use imagination in her fantasy work: Harry potter such as magical subjects, wizarding places, magical objects, wizarding sports and games, magical dessert, and creatures which are not found in the real world. She uses them because they may help the readers forget their real life problems for some time. In addition, the wizarding world may support the readers need. It may help them do something they cannot do in the real world. To illustrate, they cannot fly in the real world but they can do in the magical world. Besides, imagination is useful for the children; it is the space that they can adventure, break away from the adults rules, and gain many experiences. Like Harry Potter, other fantasy books contain many imaginations. In terms of the future studies, they should be done on the similarities and differences between imagination and reality including objects, and creatures found in other fantasy novels such as Narnia, The lord of the rings, The hobbit, and Eragon. Additionally, they should be focused on similarities and differences between the results found in Harry Potter and other fantasy books. 256

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260 Manomaivibool, P. (2004). Avoidance of the /thuk/ adversative passive construction in the Thai version of Harry potter. M.A. Thesis, Chulalongkorn University, Faculty of Arts, Translation and Interpretation. Phalayotha, P. (2002). An analysis of elements of fiction in Harry Potter and the Philosopher s stone by Joanne K Rowling. M.A. Thesis, Khonkaen University, Graduate School, English. Rowling, J.K. (1998). Harry Potter and the Sorcerer s Stone. New York: Scholastic. Rowling, J.K. (n.d.) Retrieved August 1, 2007 from School discipline, suspensions and expulsions. (n.d.). Retrieved October 14, 2012 from Sinprasert, S. (2004). Techniques of adjustment in translating Harry Potter and the Philosopher s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets into Thai by Sumalee Bumrungsook. M.A. Thesis, Mahidol University, Faculty of Graduate Studies, Language and Culture for Communication and Development. Siriphaiboon, N. (2008). Harry Potter and the online community in Thailand. M.A. Thesis, Ramkhamhaeng University, Mass Communication. Suwarti, E. (2009). An analysis of narrative discourse of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. B.Ed. Research Paper, Muhammadiyah University of Surakarta, School of Teacher training and Education, English. Unchanthee, A. (2010). The characteristics of children in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer s stone. M.Ed. Thesis, Mahasarakham University, English. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. (n.d.) Harry Potter. Retrieved September 28, 2011, from Wolfreys, J. (2004). Critical keywords in literary and cultural theory. Houndmills: Macmillan. Zafar, N. (n.d.) Effect of fantasy on imagination. Retrieved November 18, 2012, from ws.elance.com/file/cartoons.docx?crypted

261 The Effects of Peer and Teacher Feedback through an Electronic Medium (Facebook) on Students Writing at Different Points of Their Writing Pipittaporn Inpanich King Mongkut s University of Technology Thonburi fondojo@hotmail.com Asst. Prof. Atipat Boonmoh, Ph.D. King Mongkut s University of Technology Thonburi atipat_b@yahoo.com Abstract This study investigates how peer and teacher feedback through an electronic medium (Facebook) affects students writing at different points of their writing. A Facebook group can be used as an online discussion group to improve students writing. Four participants in KMUTT were required to perform essays by following three stages of the writing process including generating ideas, organizing ideas, and writing a draft. Peers and the teacher were asked to give feedback on their work. All pieces of work before and after receiving the feedback were compared in order to see the improvement of their writing. The results show that peer and teacher feedback helped them improve their work in all three stages. They incorporated teacher feedback into their work more than peer feedback because experienced teachers could increase students confidence in performing writing tasks. The teacher could check and correct their grammatical errors effectively. Despite the fact that students valued peer feedback less than teacher feedback, comments from peers could identify strengths and weaknesses in their writing tasks so this led to increasing the level of their awareness in performing writing tasks. The implications from this study could be useful for teachers who would like to use Facebook as an electronic medium in giving and receiving feedback on students writing. In order to improve the effectiveness of peer feedback, teachers can train students how to correct grammatical errors on peers writing tasks in detail. Keywords: Facebook, peer feedback, teacher feedback, writing, essay Introduction Recent developments in technology have heightened the need for the teaching and learning process. Nowadays, everyone can use computers and the Internet, not just only the experts. The amount of time people, especially the young generation, spends online and on social networking sites is increasing, nearly round-the-clock. They mostly use Facebook, the most popular social networking site, as the medium for communication. Without speaking, they can send and receive messages via the share menu. This can be related to the development of language learning especially learning through peer and teacher feedback. In order to move forwards from the traditional methods of learning, using Facebook as a tool for communication can help the teacher and students give and receive feedback effectively and conveniently. 259

262 Literature Review A Facebook Group: An Online Discussion Group In a traditional classroom, it might be difficult for students to produce multiple drafts of their essays due to the following factors: time constraints, the large number of students in a classroom, absence of the practice of writing process and students lack of motivation (Maarof et al., 2011: 29). In order to sort out these problems, the teacher can employ a Facebook group as an online discussion group to help students improve their writing. Instead of a physical classroom, a Facebook group, an online discussion forum, can be used as a virtual classroom in improving writing. After receiving comments and advice from other people on a Facebook group, students are able to apply knowledge to improve their language skills (Suthiwartnarueput & Wasanasomsithi, 2012). Besides, being noticed by other people can raise students awareness of the need to improve their writing. Peer and Teacher Feedback on Students Writing Peers and the teacher are responsible for being the audience to students who are writers. According to two kinds of readers, feedback can be categorized into two types: peer feedback and teacher feedback. Comments from both peers and the teacher can help students improve their writing but in different ways. After students receive comments from whomever, they have to think critically about which comments can help them perform better writing tasks. Numerous studies (Farrah, 2012; Lin & Chien, 2009; Tsui & Ng, 2000) found that students rely on teacher feedback more than peer feedback due to the teacher s role. Ferris (1995: 33 cited in Kasanga, 2004) defines the teacher's role in providing feedback to students as one factor [which] has remained constant. Students do not agree that peer feedback can help them improve their writing much more than teacher feedback (Lin & Chien, 2009). Teacher feedback is more complex, detailed, and knowledgeable than peer feedback due to the ability of the teacher. Straub (1997 cited in Tsui & Ng, 2000) claims that students expect specific comments on sentence structure, wording, and grammar. Since the abilities of students to correct peers language are not obviously different from their peers, it is inconvenient for students to give comments about grammar and vocabulary. Conversely, peers focus on sharing ideas as well as receiving ideas from others (Farrah, 2012). Thus, peer feedback is beneficial in helping students add, reduce, adjust or organize ideas of the texts. Students can gain different points of view from peers to perform better writing tasks. As a Facebook user, the researcher perceives peer and teacher feedback through Facebook to be necessary in performing writing tasks. A preview of previous researches (Rusli, Ahmad & Daud, 2011; Shih, 2011; Suthiwartnarueput & Wasanasomsithi, 2012; White, 2009; Yunus & Salehi, 2012) showed that, their studies did not focus on a comparison of peer and teacher feedback on students writing. In their investigations, the aims were to observe how feedback from other people through Facebook can help students improve their writing. Thus, the researcher would like to be more specific by studying how peer and teacher feedback through Facebook affects students essays. The finding can be used as a guideline for teachers who are interested in using Facebook as an electronic medium in teaching writing, especially completing essays by making use of peer and teacher feedback. Research question 260

263 How does peer and teacher feedback through an electronic medium (Facebook) affect students writing at different points of their writing? Methodology Participants The participants of this study were four second-year undergraduate students who enrolled for LNG 103 Academic English at King Mongkut s University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT) in the academic year of 2012 and had accounts on Facebook. The LNG103 course focused on academic writing, and as the researcher aimed to choose the students who were studying how to write an essay, the researcher chose these students to be the subjects of this study. There were 30 students in this class. The criteria for choosing four participants based on their English abilities and willingness. The researcher asked the students to participate in this study as volunteers. The students would not receive extra points but could improve their writing skills. Additionally, the role of the researcher in this study was to be the teacher who would give feedback to the students. Instruments The students pieces of work: The researcher used 7 pieces of work including the first free writing, the second free writing, the first outline, the second outline, the first draft, the second draft, and the essay from each student as the data of this study. Thus, the researcher had to collect 28 pieces of work in total from all students. Semi-structured interview: The researcher used a semi-structured interview to get in-depth information in order to support the data from the students pieces of work. The semi-structured interview was conducted after the students submitted essays to the Facebook group. Procedures Each student was asked to write an essay in the Facebook group by following three stages of a writing process generating ideas, organizing ideas, and writing a draft. In addition to performing their own essays, the students were asked to give feedback to peers. Four topics for the essays were presented to the students. However, the students could create their own topics by themselves if they did not want to choose the topics provided by the researcher. Four topics chosen by the students are The Benefits of Facebook (Student 1), The New Capital of Thailand (Student 2), Things to Do to Have Fun in Bangkok (Student 3, and Good Places to Go to on Vacation in Thailand (Student 4). In the first week, the students posted their first free writing to the Facebook group, received peer and teacher feedback, revised their pieces of work and posted their second free writing to the group. In the second week, they posted their first outlines to the group, received peer and teacher feedback, revised their pieces of work and posted their second outlines on a group. In the third week, they posted their first drafts on a group, received peer and teacher feedback, revised their pieces of work and posted their second drafts to the group. Then, they received peer and teacher feedback on the second drafts, revised their pieces of work and posted their essays to the group. This study was not aimed to be an experimental research. The researcher wanted the subjects to work in a natural setting so the students were allowed to use the dictionary and online language checking. Besides, the writing task was not timed but the students had to submit each 261

264 Peers Did Ss follow? Peers Did Ss follow? Peers Did Ss follow? Peers Did Ss follow? Peers Did Ss follow? The 1 st International Conference on Language, Literature, and Cultural Studies piece of work by following the submission schedule. In each piece of work, the students had to submit within five days. Thus, they had 120 hours to finish each piece of work. The data were analyzed in order to see how peer and teacher feedback through Facebook affect students writing at different points of their writing judging from the points which will be stated in the Data Analysis section. Data Analysis The students pieces of work that they submitted before and after receiving peer and teacher feedback in the three stages of the writing process were compared progressively in order to see the improvement of their writing. The data were analyzed separately in terms of peer and teacher feedback. In each stage of the writing process, feedback that all students received from peers was gathered and categorized. Peer and teacher feedback was divided into different types of problems. The researcher analyzed the data of each student by checking the types of problems arose from peer and teacher feedback that he received. After that, the researcher compared two pieces of work in order to see the types of problems arose from peer and teacher feedback that he followed. The researcher calculated the percentages of peer and teacher feedback that was followed by the students. Data Presentation and Interpretation Stage 1: Generating ideas Comments from peers were grouped into six problems arose from peer feedback as shown in Ss 1 Ss 2 Ss 3 Ss 4 Frequency Problems 1. The content is not well-organized The content is too short The ideas do not support the topic There are not enough ideas Other ideas are suggested to be added There is a grammatical error Table 1. Total Percentage % Table 1 Problems arose from peer feedback on free writing Table 1 shows that there are 12 comments given by peers and the students followed eight of them (66.67%). Most comments were found in the fifth problems arose from peer feedback ( Other ideas are suggested to be added. ) and almost every comment from this problem was followed. The researcher categorized comments from the teacher into two problems arose from teacher feedback as displayed in Table

265 Peers Did Ss Peers Did Ss follow? Peers Did Ss Peers Did Ss follow? Peers Did Ss follow? Teacher Did Ss follow? Teacher Did Ss follow? Teacher Did Ss follow? Teacher Did Ss follow? Teacher Did Ss follow? The 1 st International Conference on Language, Literature, and Cultural Studies Table 2 Problems arose from teacher feedback on free writing Ss 1 Ss 2 Ss 3 Ss 4 Frequency Problems 1. The ideas do not support the topic Other ideas are suggested to be added. According to Table 2, all comments (100%) from the teacher were followed by the students and most comments were found in the second problem arose from teacher feedback ( Other ideas are suggested to be added. ). In comparing Tables 1 and 2, the number of problems arose from teacher feedback (2) is fewer than peer feedback (6). The reason for the fewer problems arose from teacher feedback could be explained that the teacher gave feedback based on the objective of performing free writing to generate ideas in order to support the topic so her comments were related to ideas only, not content and grammar. On the contrary, there were many problems arose from peer feedback because the students might not focus on the objective of performing free writing. They gave feedback when they could find mistakes in every point including ideas, content and grammar. Stage 2: Organizing ideas Total Percentage % The researcher grouped comments from peers into seven problems arose from peer feedback as presented in Table 3. Table 3 Problems arose from peer feedback on outlines Ss 1 Ss 2 Ss 3 Ss 4 Freque ncy Problems 1. The introduction has wrong information There is no topic sentence Major and minor supporting details do not support the topic. 4. Minor supporting details do not support a major supporting detail. 5. Minor supporting details are too long There is a grammatical error The vocabulary is used inappropriately Total 10 5 Percentage 50% 263

266 Teacher Did Ss follow? Teacher Did Ss follow? Teacher Did Ss follow? Teacher Did Ss follow? Teacher Did Ss follow? The 1 st International Conference on Language, Literature, and Cultural Studies Table 3 illustrates that only half (50%) of 10 comments were followed. Most comments were found in the fourth problem ( Minor supporting details do not support a major supporting detail. ) and almost every comment from this problem was followed. Comments from the teacher were categorized into seven problems arose from teacher feedback as presented in Table 4. Table 4 Problems arose from teacher feedback on outlines Ss 1 Ss 2 Ss 3 Ss 4 Frequency Problems 1. The introduction has wrong information. 2. The topic sentence does not have enough information. 3. Major supporting details do not support the topic. 4. Minor supporting details do not support a major supporting detail. 5. Minor supporting details do not have enough information. 6. The conclusion does not have enough information. 7. The vocabulary is used inappropriately. Percentage 85.71% Table 4 explains that the teacher gave the students seven comments and of these, the students followed six (85.71%). Nonetheless, only one comment from the first problem arose from teacher feedback ( The introduction has wrong information. ) was not followed. In comparing Tables 3 and 4, the percentages of peer feedback that the students followed were lower than those of teacher feedback. Hence, it was reasonable to make an assumption that the students might think that comments from the teacher were more believable than comments from peers. Stage 3: Writing a draft Total 7 6 Peers comments on the first drafts were grouped into six problems arose from peer feedback as shown in Table

267 Peers Did Ss follow? Peers Did Ss follow? Peers Did Ss follow? Peers Did Ss follow? Peers Did Ss follow? Peers Did Ss follow? Peers Did Ss follow? Peers Did Ss follow? Peers Did Ss follow? Peers Did Ss follow? The 1 st International Conference on Language, Literature, and Cultural Studies Table 5 Problems arose from peer feedback on the first drafts Ss 1 Ss 2 Ss 3 Ss 4 Frequency Problems 1. Delete the word Delete preposition Change the word Use uppercase Correct a spelling mistake Add more information Total 9 8 Percentage 88.89% Table 5 illustrates that the students followed 8 comments (88.89%) out of 9 comments given by peers. Most comments were found in the fourth problem arose from peer feedback ( Use uppercase. ) and they followed every comment from this problem. Comments from the teacher on the first drafts were grouped into 21 problems arose from teacher feedback as shown in Table 6. Table 6 Problems arose from teacher feedback on the first drafts Ss 1 Ss 2 Ss 3 Ss 4 Frequency Problems 1. Insert a word or words Insert a verb to be Insert a preposition Insert a conjunction Insert an article Insert s Insert a comma Insert a period Delete a word or words Delete a verb to be Delete a preposition Delete a conjunction Delete an article Change a word or words Change a form Change a preposition Change the position of a word Use uppercase Use lowercase Rewrite a sentence or sentences Add more information Total Percentage % 265

268 Table 6 shows that there are 168 comments given by the teacher and the students followed 151 comments (89.88%). Most comments were found in the 14th problem arose from teacher feedback ( Change a word or words. ) and almost every comment from this problem was followed. In comparing Tables 5 and 6, the number of problems arose from teacher feedback (21) is higher than that of peer feedback (6). The reason for the numerous problems of teacher feedback could be concluded that this stage focused on grammatical errors and the teacher was responsible for checking the students mistakes. As presented in Table 6, the teacher checked grammatical errors thoroughly before asking the students to perform their second drafts. Peers, on the other hand, have roughly the same level of English proficiency so they might not be able to identify mistakes completely, compared to the teacher. Since the teacher played a significant role in this stage, the students believed comments from the teacher more than they did peers. Therefore, the percentages of peer feedback that the students followed were fewer than the percentages of teacher feedback. The last part of this stage was to give comments on the second drafts. After comparing peer and teacher feedback, it was found that the number of problems arose from teacher feedback (24) is still higher than peer feedback (7) because it was the role of the teacher to check the students grammatical errors before asking them to post their essays to the Facebook group. Moreover, the number of comments from the teacher on the second drafts (59) is lower than the first drafts (168) because after receiving teacher feedback on the first drafts, the students corrected almost every mistake as the teacher suggested. They believed teacher feedback more than they did peer feedback so in this part the percentages of teacher feedback that the students followed were higher than peer feedback. Comments from peers and the teacher that were chosen to follow in three stages of the writing process were compared in order to see whose comments affected students writing. In stages 1, 2, and 3, the percentages of the comments from the teacher that the students followed are higher than the percentages of comments from peers. It is possible, therefore, that the students seemed to prefer to follow teacher feedback. Although the percentages of peers and the teacher s comments in stage 3 (the first draft) are not too different, the number of comments in two kinds of comments are obviously different. There are only 8 comments from peers that the students followed whereas there are 151 comments from the teacher that the students followed. Peers comments were distinctly fewer than the teacher s comments because the students might not have knowledge to comment on peers writing tasks compared to the teacher. Information from the interview also clearly supported this finding. The students indicated that teacher feedback increased confidence in performing essays and it was comprehensible. The example of the students responses is: Comments from the teacher are clear so it is easy for me to follow and revise my writing task. (Student 3) In comparing the focus of peer and teacher feedback, the teacher tended to focus on language while peers were likely to focus on content. In stage 3 (writing a draft), the number of problems arose from the teacher feedback is obviously higher than that of the peer feedback because the teacher had to check grammatical errors thoroughly at this stage. Thus, it shows that the teacher might focus on language when giving feedback. Information from the interview also clearly supported this result. It revealed that comments from the teacher focused on language. One of the students mentioned that: 266

269 I like comments from the teacher because she focused on grammar which is the important part of performing essays. (Student 2) On the contrary, peers, who had the same level of English proficiency as the students, seemed to focus on content while giving feedback because the number of problems arose from peer feedback is more than teacher feedback in stage 1 (generating ideas). Additionally, information from the interview clearly supported this finding. One of the students explained that: I agree with comments from peers because peers can inform strengths and weaknesses of my writing. (Student 4) 6. Discussion and Recommendations Due to the number of the participants, this study is presented as a small-scale research. Although the results of this study may not be generalized, the study provides valuable findings as it thoroughly examines every stage of the writing process. The findings of this investigation show that peer and teacher feedback helped the students improve their work in all three stages. Similarly, peer and teacher feedback had a positive effect on the students writing. However, the students incorporated teacher feedback into their pieces of work more than they did peer feedback. Other studies (i.e. Farrah, 2012; Yang et al., 2006) confirmed this result. It was discovered that students followed teacher feedback more than peer feedback because feedback from the teacher who had more experience and knowledge could increase confidence in performing writing tasks. Although the students valued peer feedback less than teacher feedback, it did not mean that peer feedback did not affect their writing. The finding also shows that peer feedback through Facebook was beneficial to the students writing. When the students presented their pieces of work in each stage of the writing process, peers, who were the audience, were allowed to give feedback on their individual articles of work. Peers could identify strengths and weaknesses of their incremental stages of work so this led to increasing the level of their awareness in performing writing tasks. To support this finding, Tsui and Ng (2000: 168) stated that peer comments enhance a sense of real audience in the students and raise the students awareness of strengths and weaknesses of their own writings. In addition, Yang et al. (2006: 193) pointed out that although peer feedback had a lesser effect on students writing than teacher feedback, it could reveal the usefulness of learning from others strong points to offset their own weaknesses. Since the researcher aimed to conduct research in the natural setting, the students were not trained how to give comments. Then, it led to a mismatch between the focus of peer and teacher feedback in the first stage of the writing process (generating ideas). The nature of giving comments on the first free writing should be that comments were related to ideas. On the contrary, the result shows that the students gave comments according to every problem that they found. This may imply that student training in giving feedback could be a an important aspect if teachers would like to apply peer feedback in writing. The findings reveal the obvious differences between the focus of peer and teacher feedback. According to the teacher s role, it was the responsibility for the teacher to help the students write their essays well by checking for grammatical errors. Thus, most comments from the teacher focused on grammatical accuracy. This result is supported by a previous study (Jalalifarahani & Azizi, 2012) which claimed that teacher feedback played a key role in checking accuracy and helped students abate the number of their grammatical mistakes. Differently, content was the focus of peer feedback. It was found that comments from peers enhanced the generation of ideas for the students writing. Peers preferred to share ideas and opinions with 267

270 each other. This view was supported by Srichanyachon (2012) who noted that students writing skills were improved due to the exchange of ideas and inspiration. Submitting writing tasks to a Facebook group provides the opportunity for peers, not only the teacher, to give feedback to the students. Peer feedback through Facebook is valuable because the students can receive a variety of opinions from peers to expand the ideas of their writing tasks instantly and conveniently. However, some students preferred to receive comments from the teacher orally since they thought that teacher feedback through Facebook was not clear enough. One of the students mentioned that: I like teacher feedback through Facebook because it is instant feedback. However, I would like to receive teacher feedback in a classroom because the teacher can explain my mistakes clearer in oral communication. (Student 1) To summarize, using Facebook as an electronic medium to receive peer and teacher feedback can effectively help students improve their writing. As presented in numerous studies, Facebook can promote motivation in performing tasks because students can interact with other people immediately without meeting in person. Additionally, most students have their own Facebook account and they use it almost every day. As a result, the teacher should consider using this tool in language learning but he or she should be aware that face-to-face communication still plays a significant role in the teaching and learning process. Students need face-to-face discussions to receive some ideas or thoughts which cannot be adequately explained through messages. 268

271 References Farrah, M. (2012). The Impact of Peer Feedback on Improving the Writing skills among Hebron University Students, An - Najah Univ. J. Res. (Humanities), 26(1), Jalalifarahani, M. & Azizi, H. (2012). The Efficacy of Peer vs. Teacher Response in Enhancing Grammatical Accuracy & General Writing of Advanced vs. Elementary proficiency EFL learners, 2012 International Conference on Language, Medias and Culture IPEDR, 33, Kasanga, L.A. (2004). Students' Response to Peer and Teacher Feedback in a First-Year Writing Course, Journal for Language Teaching, 38(1), Lin, G.H.C. & Chien, P.S.C. (2009). An Investigation into Effectiveness of Peer Feedback, Journal of Applied Foreign Languages Fortune Institute of Technology, 3, Maarof, N., Yamat, H. & Li, K.L. (2011). Role of Teacher, Peer and Teacher-Peer Feedback in Enhancing ESL Students Writing, World Applied Sciences Journal (Innovation and Pedagogy for Lifelong Learning), 15(15), Rusli, W., Ahmad, W. & Daud, N.M. (2011). Developing Arabic writing skills using Facebook, International Language Conference (ILC), Shih, R.C. (2011). Can Web 2.0 technology assist college students in learning English writing? Integrating Facebook and peer assessment with blended learning, Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 27(5), Srichanyachon, N. (2012). An investigation of university EFL students attitudes toward peer and teacher feedback, Educational Research and Reviews, 7(26), Suthiwartnarueput, T. & Wasanasomsithi, P. (2012). Effects of Using Facebook as a Medium for Discussions of English Grammar and Writing of Low-Intermediate EFL Students, Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, 9(2), Tsui, A.B.M. & Ng, M. (2000). Do Secondary L2 Writers Benefit from Peer Comments?, Journal of Second Language Writing, 9(2), White, J. (2009). The Use Of Facebook To Improve Motivation And Academic Writing, Proceedings Of The Third International Wireless Ready Symposium, Yang, M., Badger, R. & Yu, Z. (2006). A comparative study of peer and teacher feedback in a Chinese EFL writing class, Journal of Second Language Writing, 15(3), Yunus, M.Md. & Salehi, H. (2012). The Effectiveness of Facebook Groups on Teaching and Improving Writing: Students Perceptions, International Journal of Education and Information Technologies, 6(1),

272 The Relationship between the Perception and Production of English Onset Clusters by EFL Thai Learners Apichai Rungruang, Ph.D Naresuan University Abstract The interrelationship between perception and production is currently receiving an increasing amount of attention in the literature on second/foreign language phonetics and phonology (De Wilde. 2009; Peperkamp and Bouchon. 2011). This study has continued this trend by investigating whether there is an interrelationship between the perception and production of the English onsets. The major focus is placed on three main areas: 41 English onsets to see the overall picture, 6 two-member onsets that share the same phonotactics between the two languages, and finally 7 three-member onsets, which are regarded as the most marked structure for Thai participants. 38 second year native Thai students took part in this study by taking two tests. Perception was assessed through an intelligibility test, and production data was collected by means of a word-list reading test. Two native English speakers graded participants speech production, and the framework to analyze the outputs was the markedness principle. The results revealed that there was no relationship between their production and perception in three major focuses (r =.14,.17, and.19, N =38, p >.01).The findings also indicated that Thai participants did much better in the perception task than the production one, which covered almost 80 percent of all onset tokens. In terms of the onsets that fit the Thai phonotactics the average mean scores were 52% and 87% in production and perception tasks, respectively. /kw/ achieved nearly 100% in both tasks. Finally, marked onsets, especially the three-member onsets, did not show any sign of difficulties for the Thai participants to produce and perceive due to the influence of some extralinguistic factors. Keywords: English onsets, speech production and perception, markedness principle Introduction Perception and production in L2 interlangauge phonology have gained attention from many researchers (De Wilde. 2009; Peperkamp and Bouchon. 2011). However, there is some controversy between the two. That is, some researchers state that both show interrelationship. Learners with good perception also have good production skill, poor perception skill corresponds with poor production skill. That means both skills develop interdependently (Bradlow et al., 1997; de Jonge, 1995). The next question is which skill occurs first. In first language acquisition infants learn to perceive the sounds before being able to produce them. But there is no clear-cut agreement in L2 whether one precedes the other. Flege (1995) and Best (1995; Best et al., 2001) claim that perception precedes production. Nonetheless, Sheldon and Strange (1982) strengthen the hypothesis that production may also precede perception in relation to L2 acquisition. On the other side of the scale, some researchers claim that both perception and production have nothing to do with one another. In this study, the relationship between production and perception was investigated through English onset clusters by Thai learners. The focus of this study also was placed on the English onset clusters which were/were not found in Thai to see how those had an impact on Thai learners production and perception. 270

273 Objective The major objective of this study was to describe the relationship between the students production and perception in English onset clustersin the following three major areas: First, 41 English onsets to see the overall picture ofenglish onsets; Second, 6 two-member onsets that shared the same phonotactics between the two languages; Finally, 7 three-member onsets, which were regarded as the most marked structure for Thai participants. Hypothesis The researcher hypothesized that students perception was related to students production in English onsets. In other words, if Thai learners were able to identify English onsets, they would be able to produce them, and vice versa. Research methodology Participants The study was carried out in July to August second year English major students participated in this study. All of them took two required English courses (Fundamental English and Developmental English) and a basic writing course when they were in first year of BA study. They had learned English for at least 10 years and usually used English only in class. Their mother tongue, Thai, was used outside the classroom and in everyday conversation. None of them had studied abroad, nor spent extended periods of time in English speaking countries. Research instruments There were two major tools: an intelligibility test and a word-list reading test. The intelligibility test was to examine how well the participants were able to identify onset clusters. The researcher made 45 items from selected 45 onset clusters and also made four choices (a, b, c, and d) for each item. Items 1-4 were distractors. That means only items 5 to 45 were analyzed. Before the test was carried out, the sounds from a native speaker of English was recorded. The researcher asked an American native speaker to pronounce each word twice. The pause between each word was approximately 4-5 seconds. The native speaker reading was recorded in a sound-proof room through a phonetic computer software named Praat. In this test, the participants were asked to indicate which English word they had just heard. The second tool was a word-list reading test. Since this study also examined participant s production, all 45onset clusters from the intelligibility test were listed on a sheet. Unlike the first tool, the second tool did not have all four choices. Each participant was taperecorded in a face-to-face manner with the researcher. What the participants had to do was to read out words twice from items 1 to 45. Again, items 1-4 were distracters and were not analyzed. All their speech sounds were recorded by a phonetic computer software Praat. Data Collection Procedure The researcher ran the intelligibility test first by scheduling all 38 participants to sit in a sound-proof room. They were not informed of the real purpose of the study but were instead told to listen to the record of 45 words as a part of research. Each word was read twice. A slight 271

274 pause between words marked the end of the preceding word. They listened carefully to each word, and circled the best choice (a, b, c, and d). It took them 5 minutes to complete this task. To ensure that the participants did not have a clue what the researcher would do to them in the next task, four weeks later the researcher recorded individual participants speech sounds. They had to pronounce 45 target words, including the first four distractors. Individual participants used a microphone to pronounce each word. During the tape recording the researcher raised a finger as a signal to have the participant pronounce the next word. It took approximately 5-6 minutes to record all 45 words each. Below are all the tokens used in this study. 1. dr- drive 15. gl- glue 29. st- stamp 2. p - prey 16. g - gray 30. sk- scan 3. pl- play 17. fl- fly 31. sf- sphere 4. pj- pupil 18. f - fry 32. sw- swing 5. t - tree 19. fj- few 33. mj- mute 6. tw- twelve 20. vj- view 34. nj- new 7. kw- queen throw 35. spl- splay 8. kl- clue 22. w- thwart 36. spj- spew 9. k - crew 23. zj- Zeus 37. sp - spring 10. kj- cute shrimp 38. st string 11. bl- blue 25. hj- huge 39. sk - scrape 12. b - brew 26.sn- snow 40. skw- squeeze 13. bj- beauty 27. sm- smoke 41. skj- skewer 14. gw- Gwen 28. sp- spin Research validity and reliability To establish content validity in the intelligibility test, all tokens were collected from different textbooks and previous studies, and then had them checked by three phoneticscourse instructors. Two of the experts received a doctoral degree and one held a master s degree. All tokens reflected possible types of English complex onsets. Another measure used to set up content validity was through two English native speaker raters, both of whom hold Bachelor degrees from accredited universities in the United States and Australia. Before doing the rating, the two raters were trained to understand what the study aimed to investigate and how to investigate them. Both raters independently rated the participants speech sounds. The other measure to establish validity is the researcher assessed the appropriateness of the test by running a pilot test with 10 students. Based on the pilot test outcomes, a few changes were made to the test. In its final form, the test was printed on two (double-sided) A 4 pages; the average time to complete the test was 5 minutes. In terms of reliability, to ensure that two raters agreed on their judgment or to confirm that the coding was reliable, interrater correlations were calculated through Pearson Product Moment Correlation (r).a computer software was operated to find the inter-rater reliability score (r). It turned out that the r value was 0.823, which referred to a very strong relationship between the two raters (Salkind 2010). Theoretical framework The first concept of markedness is related to syllable structure. It is claimed that all languages have CV syllable structure (C refers to a consonant; V refers to a vowel).in other words, CV is an unmarked form. So, any syllable structure that is more complex than the CV one 272

275 is regarded as a marked structure. To be more precise, if the number of consonants (or the length of onset/coda) increases, the level of markedness increases. The longer consonant margin, the more marked. For instance, CCV is more marked than CV; CCCV is more marked than CV and CCV. By the same token, VC is less marked than VCC, VCCC, etc. Therefore, the first concept of markedness focuses on the length of consonantal margin. The second concept of markedness is related to sonority hierarchy scale. Besides margin length, sonority between two phonemes of a complex onset goes hand in hand with markedness and plays a crucial role in acquiring CC sequences in English (Clements 1990; Sperbeck and Strange 2010). Below is the Sonority Sequencing Principle (SSP): low sonority high sonority Oral stops Fricatives Nasals Liquids Glides Vowels voiceless voiced voiceless Voiced (Giegerich, 1992, 133) It can be concluded as the following hierarchy scale. Low sonority stops>fricatives>nasals>liquids>glides>vowels High sonority Based on the scale, the least sonorous sounds are low-ranked on the left, and the most sonorous sounds are high-ranked on the right. According to Carr (1999:72) sonority is an acoustic effect: the more sonorous a sound, the more it resonates. Vowels are more sonorous than consonants. Phonologically, the sonority rises from the left and reaches a peak (a vowel), and then falls. Not surprisingly, languages tend to have /pl-/ rather /lp-/ because in /pl-/ the sonority rises from its lowest value for /p/, increasing for /l/, and reaching a peak or a vowel. SSP is a universal principle of languages, but its application is language specific. For example, English allows a voiceless fricative followed by a voiceless stop such as spill, stop, skill, etc. even though it should be vice versa to fit in SSP. However, among world languages, onsets that violate SSP are less frequent. So, the English case is very rare. The last concept to account for markedness, particularly in second language phonology, is the Markedness Differential Hypothesis (MDH) by Eckman (1977). He states that areas of difficulty for L2 learners are predictable as follows. a. Those areas of the target language which differ from the native language and are more marked than the native language will be difficult; b. The relative degree of difficulty of the areas of difference of the target language which are more marked than the native language will correspond to the relative degree of markedness; c. Those areas of the target language which are different from the native language, but are not more marked than the native language will not be difficult. Eckman (1977, 321) In conclusion, markedness is an abstract property of the no convention or unusualness, and difficulty of a sound. The unmarked elements are more basic, neutral, more universal, and first acquired; the marked elements are more specific, less frequent, and later acquired. The 273

276 length of margin, the distance between consonants on the hierarchical scale, and marked/unmarked sounds in mother tongue and target languageplay a significant role in the concept of markedness. Findings and Discussion 1. The relationship between the students production and perception in 41 English onset clusters. A Pearson's correlation was run to determine the relationship between students production and perception. Table 1 shows that the relationship between participants production and perception was not statistically significant (r = 0.14). That is, no relationship between the two was found.in other words, if the participants could produce the clusters, it did not mean that they were able to identify them and vice versa. In 41 onset clusters, the students did much better in perception than production. Their mean scores in perception and production were and 31, respectively. Participants could identify onset clusters better than they produced them. By the same token, standard deviation (SD) score in production was higher than that of perception. So, there was greater variability for the production task (SD =4.52) than in the perception task (SD =2.95). The data points in production were more spread out over the mean than those in perception. Table 1: Perception and production correlation(overall) X SD No of students No of tokens Perception Production r Notice Table 1draws the overall picture of participants production and perception. Let s consider which consonantal sequences participants did well in both tasks. It turned out that 21 clusters had over 80% in both production and perception. Interestingly, they performed very impressively in some consonants that were not in their mother tongue s consonant inventory, particularly those that were contradictory to the sonority hierarchy principle, namely / -/, / -/, / -/, and / -/. See Table 2 below. Table 2: S+consonant Types of onsets Tokens Number of correct answers (%) Production Perception (1) - spin / / 38 (100%) 37 (97%) (2) - stamp / / 37 (97%) 38 (100%) (3) - scan / / 38 (100%) 38 (100%) (4) - swing / / 37 (97%) 38 (100%) Average means 37.5 (98%) (99%) Surprisingly, Thai speakers had nearly perfect scores on both production and perception task. /sk-/ achieved 100% in both production and perception. Why did Thai 274

277 participants demonstrate an impressive performance in these four tokens? It turned out that / -/ spin, / -/ stamp, / -/ scan, and / -/ swing were found in their everyday conversation. To be more precise, they were English loanwords in Thai. Thai people have used the term spin in tennis or table tennis such the term as top spin. They used the term stamp rather than their Thai word or ตราไปรษณ ยากรsince the latter is too formal, and it has more syllables than the English one. scan is widely used in student life, particularly the term scanner when they want to scan the documents or pictures. The term swing is widely found in a newspaper headline such as swinging in the context of swapping partners in sexual activities. It can be said that the amount of contact with English in the form of loanwords in daily life enhances participants ability to produce and perceive these words. As a result, they were not very new for Thai participants. So, Thai ESL learners of English had no difficulty producing and perceiving these types of onsets. 2. The relationship between the students production and perception in 6 two-member onsets that shared the same phonotactics between the two languages. Another area in which Thai speakers should perform well is the English onsets that are found in Thai phonotactics.those onsets are and -. In terms of markedness perspective, the six complex onsets are unmarked. Thai learners are supposed to identify and produce those complex onsets very well. In other words, it is expected that their scores on production and perception tests should be high and show correlation between the two.that is, if Thai speakers could identify these six complex onsets, they were should be able to produce them, and vice versa. A Pearson's correlation was run to determine the relationship between students production and perception. Once again, the statistical result showed that no relationship between production and perception was found(r = 0.17, N=38, p >.01). Table 3 shows that participants were more accurate on perception than on production clusters (4.84 vs. 3.21). The mean score in production was only a half of the total score (6). It looked like unmarked structures did not help them much to produce correct pronunciation. In contrast, there was not high variability for the production task (SD =0.77). Their scores did not greatly disperse away from an average score. Even though participants did better in the perception task, its SD revealed more variability (SD =1.05). Table 3: Perception and production correlation (six two-member onsets) X SD No of students No of tokens Perception Production r Let s consider the six complex onsets in details. In Table 4, tokens (1), (2), (4), and (5) are like minimal pairs. When comparing (1)-(2) and (4)-(5), each pair has only one different segment, namely the second segment in the onset clusters. Basically, / / and / / are very problematic for Thai L2 learners of English. In Thai, / /-/ / contrast is likely to be found in formal contexts, but it islost in informal contexts such as in everyday conversation or casual speech. / / is always replaced by / /, not vice versa. In this case, / / is more marked than the counterpart. In complex onsets/ / and / / as the second segment are retained in high registers or formal speech but are deleted in low registers (Chunsuvimol 1997; Phootirat2012). So, / / is not very salient for Thai speakers, particularly in low register or causal speech.as can be seen above, in (1) and (2), students did rather well in the perception task; the degree of accuracy was 275

278 rather high (95% vs 90%). However, they produced 26% and 17% of both onset clusters correctly. The results were incompatible with the previous studies in that / / seemed to be more marked. In (4) and (5), students showed a poorer performance than (1) and (2) in the perception task with 47% and 84% respectively. In (4), the number of students who identified and produced / -/ correctly was lower than 50%. In / -/, students did quite well in the perception task, and did better in the production task (63%). Unlike (1) and (2), (3) and (4) showed no clear-cut claim that/ / wastruly problematic. So, there was inconsistency for the / /-/ / contrast. When / -/ was taken into account, participants showed that they did better in the production task than in the perception task (86% and 68%, respectively). It was expected that this token was not very new for Thai participants because they probably had learned this word since they were in a primary school. Therefore, they could pronounce the word easily. In the perception task, they were expected to achieve a high percentage. In general, English allows / -/ tree, but /tl-/ does not exist in English phonotactics even though it is possible to have a liquid preceded by a stop. Thai speakers should have done well in the perception task, but the statistical results did not correspond to the assumption. Perhaps, the participants were not familiar with the / / from the English speaker. As a result, they made more errors in the perception than the production task. Finally, the only onset cluster that supports the idea that markedness concepts can predict difficulty of learners is / -/. Participants showed an impressive performance in both tasks. All participants could produce and identify / -/100%. Notice that (6) was the only one on the list that did not deal with / /-/ / contrast. This might be one of the reasons students had high accuracy in both tasks. Participants chose the right choice easily while doing the perception task. In sum, when employing minimal pairs with / /- / / contrast, it became an uphill task for Thai learners to do the tasks. However, / / did not show a sign of markedness as it did in the previous literature. Table 4: Perception and production in six two-member complex onsets Types of onsets Tokens Number of correct answers (%) Production Perception (1) - pray / / 10 (26%) 36(95%) (2) - play / / 07 (17%) 34 (90%) (3) - tree / / 33 (86%) 26(68%) (4) - crew / / 18 (47%) 18(47%) (5) - clue / / 24 (63%) 32(84%) (6) - queen / / 37 (97%) 38 (100%) Average means 20 (52%) 33 (87%) 3. The relationship between the students production and perception in 7 three-member onsets, which were regarded as the most marked structure for Thai participants. Another area that shows a markedness perspective to the Thai speakers is threemember onset clusters. In general, there is only single structure in this type of onset clusters. That is, an/ / is followed by a voiceless stop, then either a liquid or a glide. Below is its structure. / / + voiceless stop + liquid/glide Seven tokens were employed to examine the Thai participants. Those tokens were: splay / -/, spew / -/, spring / -/, string / -/, scrape / -/, squeeze / -/, and 276

279 skewer / -/. Comparatively, the maximum number of onsets in Thai is two. Three-member onsets in English are very marked for Thai participants. According to the markedness concept, the longer the length of consonants, the more marked they are. Therefore, Thai participants were expected to have a great deal of difficulty producing and identifying three-member onsets. A Pearson's correlation was run to determine the relationship between students production and perception. The statistical results showed that there was no correlation between production and perception (r =.19, N=38, p >.01). Table 5: Perception and production correlation in 7 three-member onsets X SD No of students No of tokens Production Perception As shown in Table 5, perception s score was very high; it was near a perfect mean score (7). The statistic results also revealed that all 38 participants had scores very close to the mean score since the SD or the spread of the scores across the students was very low (0.57). Again, their production was slightly poorer than the perception. The mean score (5.80) was rather far from the perfect score (7). In addition, the SD (1.08) was nearly two times the perception s SD. To be more precise, in the production task Thai participants had much more variation on scores, and those scores were fairly far from the mean. Table 6 provides more details. Table 6: Perception and productionin7 three-member onsets Types of onsets Tokens Number of correct answers (%) Production Perception (1) - splay / / 25 (74%) 33 (87%) (2) - spew / / 32 (84%) 37 (97%) (3) - spring / / 24 (62%) 37 (97%) (4) - string / / 36 (95%) 38 (100%) (5) - scrape / / 37 (97%) 34 (89%) (6) - squeeze / / 36 (95%) 38 (100%) (7) - skewer / / 28 (74%) 37 (97%) Average means 31 (82%) 36 (95%) As mentioned earlier, it was expected that Thai participants should have had a great deal of difficulty producing and identifying three-member onsets. For one important thing, Thais do not have three-member onsets in their mother tongue; they are non-allowable consonant sequences. In addition, the markedness principle claims that the longer length of margin, the less frequent and later acquired they are. The major reason is they are a marked form. Things turned up-side-down when research results were presented. As can be seen in Table 6, each token was over 50 % in the production task. The lowest score was spring, which accounted for 62%; the highest score was scrape which accounted for 97%. In the perception task, participants showed a very high performance since the lowest score was splay, which accounted for 87%. The other six tokens were nearly 100%. A question is raised: Why did Thai participant have an excellent performance in three-member onsets compared to the twomember ones? Apparently, nearly half of the tokens were found in Thai contexts as English r 277

280 loanwords. They were: spring, string, and squeeze. To illustrate, the term spring is used to refer to a piece of curved or bentmetal that could be pressed into a smallerspace but then return to itsusualshape. It could be related to a springboard at a swimming pool. So, spring in the Thai context refers to something that could be pressed and returned to its usual shape. The term string was related to a G-string or a narrow piece of women s cloth. It can be used when Thais, particularly teenagers, talk about musical bands The term squeeze is found in a fruit juice brand name, Tipco in Thailand. This product is on the shelves of all supermarkets or convenience stores, like 711. The other four onsets splay, spew, scrape, skewer are slightly new for them, but they could guess from the orthography. The term splay has a very common term play inside. The terms spew, scrape, and skewer are not too difficult to get the right consonants, but many of them provided wrong vowels. However, the vowels were not the major focus of this study. Notice that scrape is the only one for which the production score was higher than the perception score. In conclusion, the findings reveal that there is no correlation between production and perception in English onsets by Thai L2 learners of English. Most Thai participants did better in the perception task than the production one. Surprisingly, they did well in some marked onsets. What might account for this discrepancy was some extra-linguistic factors play a role here. That is, their previous classroom experience heightens their possibility to pronounce and perceive some marked tokens. Another important factor is the amount of contact to English in the form of loanwords in daily life, which enhances participants ability to produce and perceive certain types of onset clusters. As a result, they had no difficulty producing and perceiving them. Their overall performance did not support the sonority-based markedness concept about relative difficulty. The predicted difficulty was only true for some. Suggestions for Further Studies 1. Apparently, there are some influences from both their previous classroom experience and English loanwords in the Thai context. Thai participants did rather well in marked onsets. To avoid these factors in similar future research studies, pseudo words can be employed as tokens to elicit the production and perception skills. 2. To gain more in-depth information, face-to-face interview is required. It helps to clarify ambiguous answers. For example, the researcher can ask why the participant did well in some marked forms such as sphere and scrape or they can pronounce some words, but cannot identify them. 3. To see language development in the future, the same sample group when they are fourth year students participate in the study for three reasons. First, to see whether the frequency of correct production and perception increase over time. Second, to analyze possible causes for changes in correct production and perception by examining crucial courses they took, first-hand experience with native speakers, etc. Finally, to determine whether the influence of marked/unmarked forms remains as strong/weak as when they were second year students. 278

281 References Best, C. T A direct realist perspective on cross-language speech perception. In W. Strange (ed.), Speech perception and linguistic experience: Theoretical and methodological issues in cross-language speech research, (pp ). Timonium, MD: York press. Best, C. T, Gerald W. McRoberts, Elizabeth Goodell Discrimination of non-native consonant contrasts varying in perceptual assimilation to the listener s native phonological system. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 109(2), Bradlow, R A., Pisoni, B. D., Akahane-Yamada, R. & Tohkura, Y Training Japanese listeners to identify English /r/-/l/: IV. Some effects of perceptual learning on speech production. Journal of Acoustic Society of America, 101, Carr, P English phonetics &Phonology: An Introduction. Hong Kong: Blackwell publishers. Chunsuvimol, B Variation of cluster (l) in Thai speakers. Thammasat Review. 2 (1), Clements, G. N The role of the sonority cycle in core syllabification. In J. Kingston and M. E. Beckman (eds.) Papers in Laboratory Phonology I: Between the grammar and the physics of speech. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press De Jonge, E. C Interlanguage phonology: Perception and production. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Indiana University. De Wilde, E Perception and production in second language phonology. The effect of audiovisual training on the acquisition of the English dental fricatives. MA thesis, Universiteit Gent. Netherlands. Eckman,F.R.1977.Markedness and the contrastive analysis hypothesis.language Learning, 27, Flege, J. E Second language speech learning: Theory, findings and problems. In W. Strange (Ed.), Speech production and linguistic experience: Issues in cross-language research (pp ). Timonium, Md: York Press. Peperkamp, S and Bouchon, C The relation between perception and production in L2 phonological processing. INTERSPEECH 2011, 12th Annual Conference of the International Speech Communication Association, Florence, Italy, August 27-31, ISCA Phootirat, P Register variation in Thai-English interphonology: The contrast of /r/ and /l/. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, The University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. Salkind, N. J Statistics for people who (think they) hate statistics. USA: SAGE Publications. Sheldon, A and Streange, W The acquisition of /r/ and /l/ by Japanese learners of English: evidence that speech production can precede speech perception.applied Psycholinguistics, 3,

282 Comparative Analysis of Usages of the Preposition "de" in Spanish and Thai Language Chadchavan Sritong Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Khon Kaen University, Thailand Abstract This article is part of a larger study called Errors in Spanish Writing Influenced by the Interference of Thai Language Produced by Thai Undergraduate Students. The purpose of the article is to analyze and compare usages of the preposition de in Spanish and Thai language, in order to discover similarities and differences between both languages. It is obviously agreed that there are several usages of the Spanish preposition de. This particle can be used widely in different contexts and also can be translated variously depending on how it is used.this study focused on six common usages of the preposition de, which were 1) possession, 2) materials of objects or topic of the noun, 3) characteristics of persons, places and things, 4) Prepositional verbs, 5) amount or part of something, and 6) identification of the place where or the time when an action begins. The data of this study was collected from languages used in four well-known newspaper in Spain and in Thailand; two Spanish newspaper 1) -El País- 19 th August 2010, a newspaper in Spanish, distributed worldwide, 2) -As- 19 th August 2010, a sports daily newspaper in Spanish, and two Thai newspaper 1) -Thairath- 22 nd May 2012, a daily newspaper in Thai, 2) -Siam Kila- 22 nd May 2012, a sports daily newspaper in Thai.The results indicated that there were five of six usages of de in Spanish that coincided with de in Thai, except the usage as prepositional verbs, which did not appear clearly the equivalence between both languages. The study also found some irregular and special characteristics inside some kinds of usages and we also discovered that the Spanish de was more multifunctional that the de in Thai. It was required using other Thai prepositions or other particular words to make a meaning complete and to be equivalent to some usages of the de in Spanish.This result indicates that the Spanish preposition de holds an important role in the Spanish-Thai transfer; positive and negative. It is considered one of the main difficulties for Thai students when it comes to writing, to speaking and to translating Spanish language correctly, although there were some similar usages between both. In addition, in some different usages of de in Spanish, Thai students unavoidably need to change Spanish semantic structures to Thai structures in order to transmit truly the real meaning of the language. Key words: Comparative Analysis, the preposition de, Spanish prepositions, Interference Introduction For the common sense, we know a preposition as a connection that links noun, pronoun and phrases to other words in sentence or it can be a type of word that is used to form a phrase; the phrase in turn functions as an adjective or adverb. From its very common aspect of prepositions, many learners or teachers may be consider them as an easy element in sentence but, in fact, the prepositions can be one of the most challenging aspects of using language because of their multifunctional rules. Within a language the very same preposition may carry several meanings. 280

283 In Spanish there are many kinds of prepositions that could be used to express different meanings; de is one of them that hold an essential role in the language structure and hold several semantic roles. The preposition de is used generally in a daily conversation to express a lot of differences of meanings. Trujillo (1971:261) stated, Prepositions are not empty words and each carries a content (or more) regardless of which may appear fixed in a linguistic rule. From this statement we could assume that although prepositions are a very small element in sentence, their role is something contrasts. Furthermore, studies on language acquisition have shown that the standard use of prepositions in language as English and Spanish is difficult to achieve. As Romaine (1995) said, prepositions are a difficult grammatical category to acquire and understand for native speakers of a given language, and yet more difficult for second language speakers. Although, there are few previous researches on comparative study in prepositions among Spanish and Thai language, we can observe from several studies of prepositions in English. Generally, these studies aimed to find causes and solutions for a weak understanding of using English prepositions. The use of preposition is a concern. Among the twenty most frequently use words, eight are prepositions: of, to, in, for, with, on, at and by (Kucera and Francis, 1967). Leech and Svartvik (1975) defined prepositions as words which connect nouns or noun phrases with other structures in a sentence. Most English prepositions are simple, short, invariable forms, (Biber, Johansson, Leech, Conrad and Finegan, 1999) the same as Spanish, such as, at, for, in, into, on, off to and with. However, according to a short or an invariable form of those prepositions are not simple as its appearance. Learners, particularly, the L2 learners have problems in using correct prepositions. Scarcella (2002) reported that approximately 60% of the university students failed and had to attend a remedial freshman writing course despite their previous schooling experiences. The prepositions use is one of main grammatical errors committed by them. The prepositions are often either absent of used incorrectly. Meanwhile, in another study conducted by Connors and Lunsford (1998) on college students writing, prepositions surfaced as the list of frequency of errors made by students. The finding clearly indicated that prepositions are one of the language areas that should be addressed in classroom teaching. Silayong (1984) affirmed that Thai students encountered problems in the use of prepositions in English due to interference from their mother tongue language. In similar vein, Mariano (1984) highlighted that the fourth grade students of Juan Sumulong Elementary School in Philippines made mistakes when using simple prepositions like in, on, over, beside, under and behind because of a hazy concept of the meaning. From the result of previous studies above, we can get an agreement that, to use effectively and correctly the prepositions is not an easy task. It requires an understanding collected by experience of using languages. Logically, because of the multiple use, the Spanish preposition de is difficult for Thai learners to understand especially in the time that need a correct translation into Thai that need a good knowledge between two languages and get more complicated to use it correctly as the native s use. Fortunately, we still find an advantage for Thai learners who have been studying as a second language and can significantly count on positive transference. According to Davie (2003) in this study stated that the preposition de is used as a highly frequently comparing to the English preposition of. The complexity of preposition usage has been argued by various scholars. In addition, we cannot reject the importance of language transfer that has been playing a essential role in second language acquisition. The grammatical category like prepositions may experience transfer from languages, in this case from Spanish to Thai or form Thai to Spanish 281

284 (sometime sometime English prepositions interfere significantly between both languages. Thomason and Kaufman (1988) argued that transference of linguistic feature at any level (i.e.phonological, morpho-syntactic, etc.) is possible between languages in contact. Silva- Corvalán (1994), on the other hand, claimed that while languages seem to be more permeable at a discourse-pragmatic level, they are strikingly impermeable to foreign influence at the syntactic level. Meanwhile, in Thai, the usages of the prepositions de are also a very important part to express certain meanings, the same as the Spanish s. Some Thai usages of the de can be found as Phrasal Preposition to use in certain meanings, but they cannot interpret exactly the same meaning of the preposition de, so we did not consider as a common usage for this study. Basically, in this study we tried to analyze among common usages of the de in Spanish and in Thai appeared in newspaper and tried to explain possible similarities and significant differences. Objective This study aimed to analyze and compare six usages of the Spanish preposition de (of and from) in the Thai de; its direct translation is Khong (of) and Chak (from), in order to establish similarities and differences between both languages. Limitation of the study This study focused on only six usages of the preposition in Spanish and Thai which appeared frequently in daily Spanish and Thai newspaper. In the data obtained, we could see the real languages used for journalism, which is a real use in a daily life. In the result we concentrated on the possible similarities and differences from sample sentences without mentioning to other kinds of usages. Moreover, we did not focus on any grammatical rules to correct the samples obtained from newspaper. Data The data of this study was collected from languages used in four well-known newspaper in Spain and in Thailand; two Spanish newspaper 1) -El País- 19 th August 2010, a newspaper in Spanish, distributed worldwide, 2) -As- 19 th August 2010, a sports daily newspaper in Spanish, and two Thai newspaper 1) -Thairath- 22 nd May 2012, a daily newspaper in Thai, 2) -Siam Kila- 22 nd May 2012, a sports daily newspaper in Thai. Analysis of data All of data was categorized in six parts divided by order from the most frequently used usage to the less used as in the list below. 1. Function as of when indicating ownership or possession 2. Precede a noun to describe characteristics of persons, places and things 3. Function as of when indicating parts of a whole 4. Function as made of (Thi Tham Chak in Thai) when dealing with materials of which things are made 5. Function as prepositional verbs 6. Function as from: identification of the place where or the time when an action begins This study tried to analyze only the common meaning of the de in both languages. Do not cover other meanings that the preposition could be used for. In each part, and outstanding sentence or word was selected as an example in order to explain and indicate how each function works. Also, the analysis provided English translation 282

285 for each original example. All of examples were discussed and compared between the usages of both languages applying a comparative discussion technique. Then, we conducted a critical comparative discussion at the end of each part. Finally, we tried to achieve the final conclusion of the result and tried to demonstrate how each functions show significantly similarities and interferences between Spanish and Thai. Result The most common meaning of the preposition de in Thai is Khong (of) and Chak (from) depending on how it is used in different contexts. So, in this part we basically tried to analyze for that meaning to compare usages between both languages in order to find coincidences and differences. 1. Function as of when indicating ownership or possession El País La necesidad del país de valorar el coste de las infraestructuras The country's need to assess the cost of infrastructure As Sabemos que la gente de este país ama el baloncesto. We know that the people of this country love basketball. Thairath Kan Thutcharit Thang Kanmueang Khong Prathet Thai (การท จร ตทางการเม องของประเทศไทย) Thailand s political corruption Siam Kila Raikan Ni Thue Pen Kan Unkhrueang Khong Thim Wonlebon Sao Thim Chatthai (รายการน ถ อเป นการอ นเคร องของท มวอลเลย บอลสาวท มชาต ไทย) This tournament is a training of Thailand woman s national volleyball team. From the examples above, we can assume that the use for ownership between both languages could be equivalent and each sentence needed necessarily the presence of the preposition to express correctly the ownership. Above, we can easily notice that the position after preposition always followed by a noun to complete the meaning of possession and it is grammatical correct. However, we also found a curious case to express ownership in Thai usage. See examples below. (1). Samakhom Tong Tham Tam Rabiap Mai (Khong) FIFA. = The association has to respect the new rules of FIFA. (2). Khwamkhlueanwai (Khong)Thim Chatthai Lasut = Thailand s national team update The two examples above showed us an irregular aspect for express ownership in Thai because of the absence of the Thai de. However, this kind of omission of preposition is generally acceptable and it is widely used in both formal and informal language including for the journalism use. The meaning also remains the same. 2. Precede a noun to describe characteristics of persons, places and things El País Los fallecidos son el conductor del coche, de 32 años; su mujer 27; la madre de primero, 59 y un sobrino, de 14. Thairath Ongkon Khong Rat Tongkan Bukhlakon Thi Mi Khunnaphap (องค กรของร ฐต องการบ คลากรท ม ค ณภาพ) 283

286 El País The dead are the 32 year-old car driver, his 27 year-old wife, 59 year-old mother of the first and a 14 year-old nephew. As Incluso sin Paul, España es un rival de alto nivel. Even without Paul, Spain is a high-level opponent. Thairath Government needs quality personnel. Siam Kila Sathanthi Haeng Khwam Suk Khong Prachachon (สถานท แห งความส ขของประชาชน) The happy place for people. In this kind of use we found that it was very typical in Spanish to use de for the description of persons, places and things. It was considered a type of modification that functions as a normal adjective, which in Spanish basically there are two positions; before and after a noun. The de in this usage acted, as we had commented, likes an adjective to describe a noun coming before. We believed that this aspect made us understand better the syntactic relation between noun and adjective, which could be used in several types, and especially for this case; a noun always follow the preposition. Meanwhile, in Thai, there is a variety of translation of de. From the data obtained there were many possible translations such as Thi (that), Thi Mi (that own), Haeng (of), An Song (that) depending on the level or the beauty of required meaning, and the meaning of those different translation is still the same, not change at all. All of them express the same meaning and were a connection between the first noun to the second and the second changed its function as an adjective. Here there were some possible examples that have the same meaning in Spanish or in English an important place - Sathanthi Haeng Khunkha - Sathanthi Thi Mi Khunkha - Sathanthi An Song Khunkha From those examples, it is not easy for Thai native speaker to distinguish how different they are between all of cases because all of them are generally acceptable and could be used frequently depending on how each user use them. 3. Function as of when indicating parts of a whole El País El gobierno se enfrenta a una de sus grandes medidas económicas. The government is facing one of its greatest economic measures. As Es uno de los restaurantes más futboleros de la ciudad. It is one of the most football of the city. Thairath Pen Nueng Nai Hetkan Fai Dap Khrang Yai Khong Prathet (เป นหน งในเหต การณ ไฟด บคร งใหญ ของประเทศ) It is one of the biggest electricity cut of the country. Siam Kila Kanlueaktang Dairap Siang Khangmak Chak Song Nai Sam Khong Samoson Samachik Thangmot (การเล อกต งได ร บเส ยงข างมากจากสองในสามของสโมสรสมาช ก ท งหมด) The election received a majority of two thirds of all the members of the club. 284

287 From the data we obtained, it was totally obvious that both languages own the same usage to express parts of a whole. This kind of usage always required the presence of the preposition de in sentences. It was impossible to omit it. In Spanish, when requiring this kind of usage, the noun that came after preposition always was a plural noun to show a whole amount of the main word, as we can see in the example in the table above; de sus grandes medidas económicas, de los restaurants futboleros At the same time in Thai, there was also an important notification that after the preposition always followed by another preposition, which is Nai (in) in order to make a context complete as parts of a whole. Those prepositions serve each other systematically. 4. Function as made of (Thi Tham Chak in Thai) when dealing with materials of which things are made El País Mundo de reciclaje: recicla un vaso de plástico World Recycling: recycle a plastic cup As Özil se dio un baño de plata a su llegada a Madrid Özil took a bath of silver in his arrival for Madrid Thairath Mi Kan Chat Nithatsakan Sadaeng Chut Pha Mai Chak Chumchon (ม การจ ดน ทรรศการแสดงช ดผ าไหมจากช มชน) A silk dress exhibition from community Siam Kila Nakkila Daorung Thi Chanaloet Rianthong Nai Sikem (น กก ฬาดาวร งท ชนะเล ศเหร ยญทองในซ เกมส ) Young athletes winning gold medals in the SEA Games. In Spanish, it is clearly that de is always needed to express materials of which things are made. It is incorrect when omitting it. Meanwhile, in Thai, the omission of the de can be generally acceptable; without Khong or Ti tam Chak, but the meaning remains the same. So, in Thai examples above also can be expressed with the presence of Ti tam Chak but it could be sound a bit unnatural or sometime it is considered redundant. Here are examples above with a small modification but still carrying the same meaning. - Mi Kan Chat Nithatsakan Sadaeng Chut ( Thi Tham Chak Pha Mai ) Pha Mai Chak Chumchon ม การจ ดน ทรรศการแสดงช ด (ท ทาจากผ าไหม) ผ าไหมจากช มชน - Nakkila Daorung Thi Chanaloet Rian ( Thi Tham Chak Loha Si ) Thong Nai Sikemน กก ฬาดาว ร งท ชนะเล ศเหร ยญ (ท ทาจากโลหะส )ทองในซ เกมส 5. Function as prepositional verbs El País El muchacho iba a disfrutar de unas vacaciones en casa de sus abuelos. The boy was going to enjoy a holiday at home with their grandparents. As Nos sentimos muy satisfechos de culminar ese objetivo. Thairath Song Mae Luk Long Chak Rot Pracham Thang สองแม ล กลงจากรถประจ าทาง Mother and daughter get out of the bus. Siam Kila Nai Korani Khong Nakkila Khon Ni Tong Thuk Phak Kan Khaengkhan (ในกรณ ของน กก ฬาคนน ต องถ กพ กการแข งข น) 285

288 As We are very pleased to complete this objective. Siam Kila In case of this athlete, he must be punished for the competition. In this case, only a few examples were found in Thai newspapers such as Long Chak Rod (get out of the bus) is the equivalence with Spanish prepositional verb bajar de. The unclear discovery, made us curious whether the function as prepositional verbs or a phrasal verb is a special characteristic of many western languages that need a verb accompanied by a certain preposition to express a certain meaning or not. In this study we found a lot of Spanish prepositional verbs with de in both newspapers such as disfrutar de (have fun with), acabar de (have just finished), hablar de (talk about), tartar de (try to), bajar de (get off), haber de (have to), dejar de (give up) or sentirse de (feel about). Regarding to Thai language, it is hardly found this kind of case because Thai native speaker never realize the existence of prepositional verbs in their mother tongue. Notice that those Spanish prepositional verbs can be followed by noun or an infinitive verb depending on how the speaker wants to say. Conversely, in Thai exists only an only one possibility to be followed by a noun. In addition, in Thai, we cannot clearly find this kind of use with preposition de and in grammatical use we never study seriously the prepositional verbs because of the variety of Thai prepositions that can be applied severally with just the same verb to express the same meaning or we do not need the presence of any preposition for that certain meaning. In fact, there is a grammatical category similar to this function which is phrasal preposition, but we did not find any exact sentence with the presence of the de and with the exact meaning of de to be an example in this part. 6. Function as from: identification of the place where or the time when an action begins El País Trabajamos de lunes a viernes. We work from Monday until Friday. As De 30 a 15 euros precio para los aficionados libres en la vuelta. Ticket price from 30 to 15 Euros for fans in the return match. Thairath Phupokkhrong Tong Ok Pai Thamngan Chak Chao Thueng Kham (ผ ปกครองต องออกไปทางานจากเช าถ งค า) Parents have to work from dawn until dusk. Siam Kila Nakkila Tong Doenthang Chak Thiphak Pai Yang Sanam Som Praman Samsip Nathi (น กก ฬาต องเด นทางจากท พ กไปย งสนามซ อมประมาณสามส บ นาท ) Athletes have to travel from the accommodation to practice for about 30 minutes. Both languages hold the same aspect for using prepositions to express this meaning and it requires necessarily the presence of prepositions. We also observed that it not only needs the presence of de and Khong but also the presence of another preposition in order to complete the meaning. In the examples, we can see a couple of prepositions in each language: In Spanish, de (from).a (till) in both sentences. In Thai, also needs Chak (from)...thung (till). For this case 286

289 there is also another Spanish preposition that can function similarly as de which is desde (from), but depends on movement of subject. Conclusion From the result, we can draw conclusions below; - Ownership or possession Basically a possessive expression between both languages is equivalent by using the same preposition; we found an exception from Thai usage. The observation was that sometimes the presence of the preposition is not necessary in sentences and the meaning still can be understood equally - Precede a noun to describe characteristics of persons, places and things In this case we found some equivalent sentences in Thai that demonstrated the same use as Spanish s. We considered that the Spanish use is very clearly and is very acceptable to use for all sense of contexts, but Thai use is not exactly the same. In Thai, there is another common style without using any preposition in order to describe a noun more literal and more natural. - Function as of when indicating parts of a whole The analysis demonstrated obviously the same usage between both languages. It was impossible to leave out the presence of the preposition. We also could probably assume that this kind of usage was very similar to the usage of ownership, only appeared a small different point in the main meaning of the context between both usages of both languages. - Function as made of It is generally similar but not equal in all the cases because in Thai language there is an acceptable use that makes language sound smoothly and naturally by omitting some particles that come with a main noun, so the presence of preposition is not necessary. - Function as Prepositional verbs This kind of use is a very common in Spanish, but in Thai, although we found some equal sentences in data, it is hardly found the rule of prepositional verbs because of multifunctional use of Thai prepositions. So, Thai-speaking learners of Spanish always have problems when learning Spanish prepositional verbs. - Function as from: identification of the place where or the time when an action begins From the data we obtained, it was obviously acceptable that two languages are equivalent in term of using the same preposition to indicate parts of a whole. The observation was that it required another preposition to make a meaning completed. The general idea of this study has demonstrated that although there were a lot of similarities between both languages, learners should be careful about some exceptions that may cause a confusion when attempt to equate the prepositions across languages especially for the possessive use. From the result, we considered the Spanish de seems more multifunctional than the Thai de because it not only works by itself individually as a preposition but also a verb complement in order to function like a prepositional verb. In contrast to Spanish, the Thai de could not work the same because of its unfixed structure. In Spanish, it can be used more frequently and naturally than in Thai both in formal and informal language to express the same meaning, especially to act like an adjective. In Thai it is more general that an adjective modifies noun without the presence of preposition. It sounds more naturally according to the nature of language, meanwhile in Spanish de is necessarily needed to appear in the sentence and cannot omit it. Finally we reached the final conclusion that the preposition de in Spanish and in Thai holds significantly two effects in the time Thai-speaking learners learning Spanish. A positive and a negative transfer were found clearly in this study. Although the results proved that there were more similarities than interferences, each of them still could be a good supporter and bad supporter for the learners. It is a fact that learners have a dificulty to master all usages of the 287

290 preposition de, so it would be very productive to keep analyzing it in depth and keep trying to study its other several functions to be able to use it correctly and appropriately. 288

291 References Biber, D., Johansson, S., Leech, G., Conrad, S. and Finegan, E. (1999). Longman grammar of spoken and written English. Pearson Education: China Campos, J.L. (2004). Gramática de las preposiciones. ASELE, actas XV. Web site: cvc.cervantes.es/ensenanza/biblioteca_ele/asele/pdf/15/15_0524.pdf Davies, M. (2003). Corpus del español.vol (vol.2003) Kucera, H. and Francis, W.N. (1967). Computational Analysis of Present-Day English. Providence: Brown University Press. Romain, S. (1995). Bilinguaslism.Oxford:Blackwell Scarcella, R. (2002). Effective Writing Instruction for English Language Learners. California English, 7(4), Retrieved March from Education Research Complete Database. Silayong, D. (1984). A Comparative Study of English and Thai prepositions with some suggestions for pedagogical application at secondary levels. SEAMEO Regional Language Center: Singapore Silva, C., Carmen.(1994). Language contact and change: Spanish in Los Angeles. Oxford:Clarendon Press Suriati, A. A Study on the Use of prepositions mediated by an ICT Tool. Thomason, S.G. and Kaufman, T.(1998). Language contact, creolization, and genetic linguistics. Berkeley: University of California Press Trujillo, R.(1971). Notas para un estudio de las preposiciones españolas, in Thesaurus, XXVI, p The Royal Institute of Thailand. Royal Thai General System of Transcription (RTGS), PDF file. Web site: 289

292 Spanish and Thais surnames: Similarities and differences. Elisa Cristina Díaz Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. Spanish Department. Khon Kaen University, Thailand Abstract The goal of this presentation is to demonstrate the etymology of Thais and Spanish surnames. This presentation is about something simple but very important in every culture. Two countries with their own language, culture, values,traditions and history, where everybody carry a surname with a story behind. Working as a Spanish Lecturer I have noticed that some of my Thai students have long surnames and most of Thais surnames have a beautiful meaning. I discovered that 99% of my students know the meaning of their surnames and also I never met two Thai students with the same surname. This presentation focuses in surnames origins and classification: Patronymic surnames, toponimic surnames, gentile surnames, theonimic surnames, surnames related to professions, related to geography and surnames related to animals and plants. Wars and history influenced in both Spanish and Thais surnames. This dissertation analyzes similarities and differences between Thais and Spanish surnames through the history. Due to the colonization Spanish surnames are mixed with Italian, Jewish and Arabic surnames. Besides in Spain four languages are spoken apart of the Spanish and this has a strong influence in the surnames formation. Same in Thailand we found Thai surnames, Chinese surnames and Pali-Sanskrit surnames. Khon Kaen University students, Thai people from Northeast of Thailand, friends and people from South America made possible this presentation through the interviews. Key words: origins, surnames. etymology. Introduction According to the Oxford dictionary, Surname or family name is the part of your name that shows which family you belong to. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name". In the western hemisphere, it is commonly synonymous with "last name" and is usually placed at the end of a person's given name. In Spain and most Hispanophone and Lusophone countries, two or more surnames are used. In Hungary, along with Madagascar, China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam and in many other East Asian countries, the family name is placed before a person's given name. History History can tell us a lot about the different invasions or periods in different parts of the territory that we know today as Spain and Thailand. Invasions, wars, periods of peace, etc, make us to think about law, cultures and traditions. Spain: The Greeks named Iberos the people from the Iberian Peninsula. Archeologists and genetic evidences say that the Iberos arrived there during the Neolithic period ( years B.C.).Some experts think that the Iberos came from East Europe and others came from occidental Europe like France, Great Breton and Ireland. 290

293 Thailand: Thai peoples who originally lived in southwestern China migrated into mainland Southeast Asia over a period of many centuries. The oldest known mention of their existence in the region by the exonym Siamese is in a 12th-century A.D. inscription at the Khmer temple complex of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, which refers to syam, or "dark brown" people. The Tai Kadai languages, also known as Daic, Kadai, Kradai, or Kra Dai, are a language family of highly tonal languages found in southern China and Southeast Asia. Inscriptions in Thai writing began to appear around 1292 A.D. Objective The objective of this investigation is to find out any kind of links, similarities and differences between Thai and Spanish surnames. Even though are different culture it is possible that in some cases similarities may occurred Methodology This research is a documentary research with following steps: Data collection Questionnaire to over 70 Thai students from Khon Kaen University and Khon people Tell me your surname. Do you know the meaning of it? Where does your family come from originally? (China, Thailand, Isan, etc) Tell me at least three surnames from the North of Thailand. Tell me at least three surnames from the South of Thailand. Tell me at least three surnames from Isaan. Tell me at least three surnames from Central Thailand. Tell me one or two tribal surnames. (Karen, Hmong). Tell me three Chinese surnames. Tell me three Arab surnames (South of Thailand). Thai people can change their surnames? If your answer is yes, tell me why do they change their surnames? Do you know surnames related to the nature like: moon, river, mountain, trees, etc? What does it mean Na Ayuthaya, Na..? Do you know any noble surname? In Spain and Thailand history we can see different period s.spain has the influence of different cultures from Europe and North of Africa. Thailand is completely different. We can say that Thailand since 1000 years ago has its own distinctive even though there were many wars with the neighboring countries. Data analysis After receiving all the information that the students and Khon Kaen people submitted was possible to find and to classified similarities and differences between Spanish and Thais surnames. Results After and exhaustive investigation results came out and we can see important points like: When Spanish and Thais started using surnames? How many surnames a person can have? Frequency of the surnames Onomastic or onomatology: General classification of: 291

294 1- Patronymics surnames. 2-Toponimic surnames. 3- Theonymic surnames. 4- Surnames relating to good luck. 5- Surnames corresponding to the names of professions or jobs. 6- Surnames relating to physical or moral characteristics of the person. 7- Surnames relating to animals or plants. History Spain and Thailand both countries have a long history but very different.spain was influenced for Europe and Afica and Thailand for Asia and India. Spain history: : BC: Neolithic period. The Tartessos, Fenician, Celtian, Greeks and Cartagins. 218 B.C-264: Hispania period where it was invaded for the Roman Empire : Visigoth period : Al Andalus period (Beginning of the Middle ages) : Catholic Kings period : The Hasburg period : The Borbon period : Bonaparte period : The Borbon period again. 1868: Revolution, where the Queen Elizabeth II was forced to leave the country : Saboya period. 1873: Proclamation of the first Republic The Borbon period : The Second Republic : Civil War : Dictature period. 1975: Restoration of the Democracy. Thailand: Sukhothai Period ( ). Ayutthaya Period ( ). Thonburi Period ( ). Rattanakosin Period (1782-Present). General Chakri became the first king of the Chakri dynasty, Rama I, ruling from 1782 to Rama II ( ) King Nang Klao, Rama III ( ) reopened relations with western nations. King Mongkut, Rama IV, ( King Chulalongkorn, Rama V ( ) abolishing slavery and improving the public welfare and administrative system. King Vajiravudh, Rama VI (วช ราว ธฯ)( ) Compulsory education and other educational reforms were introduced by Him. During the reign of King Prajadhipok, ( ), Thailand changed from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy. The king abdicated in 1933 and was succeeded by his nephew, King Ananda Mahidol ( ). The country's name was changed from Siam to Thailand with the advent of democratic government in When Spanish and Thais started using surnames? SPAIN: Since the ten century during the Middle Ages. (711 AD-1492) 292

295 In 1870 Spain established the law about having two surnames, The father surnames first and the mother surname second. THAILAND: Royal Decree since March 1913 (King Rama IV) The decree became a law on 1st of July Married woman will take her husband surname. The surname has to be suitable in keeping with the family position, and with no coarse connotations. The name must not require more than ten letters. How many surnames a person can have? In Spain and Latin America Spanish speaking countries most of the people have two surnames: Father surname first and mother surname in second place. For example: Juan Rodríguez Iglesias. Rodriguez: is the father surname and Iglesias is the mother surname. The Ministry Javier de Burgos in 1835 established a law about having two surnames. No one does know the reasons behind it. Thai people can have only one.that surname will be the "father surname" Divorce women have to change to their old surname. Frequency of the surnames Spanish surnames are no unique. Many people around the world can have the same surname. Common Spanish surnames: García, Fernández, González, Rodríguez, López, Martínez, Sánchez, Pérez, Martín, Gómez. In Spain there are persons with the surname García. In U.S.A. there are people with the surname García. In Argentina in 2005 González was the most popular surnames.there were persons with this surname. In second and third place were: Rodríguez people and Gómez people. Thai surnames are exclusive of a family and have a powerful meaning. Thai people feel quite proud of it because each family surname is exclusive. As mentioned before Onomastic or onomatology is the study of proper names of all kinds and the origins of names. It is possible to have the following surnames classification: 1- Patronymics surnames. 2- Toponimic surnames. 3- Theonymic surnames. 4- Surnames relating to good luck. 5- Surnames corresponding to the names of professions or jobs. 6- Surnames relating to physical or moral characteristics of the person. 7- Surnames relating to animals or plants. 1-Spanish Patronymic surnames Surnames created from common names. Are the most frequent cases, and that are unique to the genealogies of Spain and Portugal, are the surnames ending in "ez" ("es", in Portuguese).This system of surnames derived from the Visigoths, the Germanic people who, with the decline of the Roman Empire, was established in the Iberian Peninsula and founded a kingdom. 293

296 "EZ" means "son of" and is equivalent to the endings "are" of names Nordic origin (Anderson),"- vitch" or"-ievna "of Russian patronymics (Nikolaevich), etc. Most of the common Spanish surnames have their origins in the Middle Ages and came from the proper name of the father. Examples: Alvarez: Son of Alvaro. - Díaz, Díez: Son of Diego. - Gutiérrez: Son of Gutier (Wutier o WWotier). - Fernández: Son of Fernando. - Henríquez: Son of Enrique or Henrique. - Hern ndez: Son of Hernando or Fernando. - López: Son of Lope. - Márquez: Son of Marco. - Martínez: Son of Martín. - Rodríguez: Son of Rodrigo (Roderick in German). - Sánchez: Son of Sancho. - Suárez: Son of Suero. Thai Patronymic surnames There are not Thai patronymic surnames. 2- Spanish Toponymic surnames. Toponymic surnames. Are relates to a location. Derived from a name of a place or location. Sub division Toponymic Majors: Egea, Huesca, Soriano, Valencia. Toponymic Minors: are those that do not have a specific name, but are referred to landforms. : Lagos = Lake. Valle = Valley. Colina = Hill. Río = River. Thai Toponymic surnames Toponymic surnames. Are relates to a location. Derived from a name of a place or location. Examples: Phukao.(ภ เขา) Mountain Phukhaotong:(ภ เขาทอง )Golden mountain 3-Spanish Theonymic surnames. Are Christian surnames or surnames related to God or any divinity: De Dios = Of God. Buena Fe = Good Faith. Santamaría = Holy Mary. De Jesús = Of Jesús. Thai Theonymic surnames. Jutapaed(จ ฑาเทพ) Crown of God Thewaphrom( เทวพรหม)Hindu god 294

297 Thephasadin (เทพห สด น) Elephant of God. Thewaphrom ( พรหมมา) Hindu god 4- Surnames relating to good luck. Among the Spanish surnames we can find very interesting ones. Buenaventura = Fortune, Good Luck Próspero = Prosperous Fortuna = Fortune Among the Thai surnames relating to good luck there are many of them because money and good luck are important topics among the Thais. Munkhunchokdee ม งค ณโชคด Good luck. Khot โคตร:Lot of fortune o good luck. Meesuk ม ส ข Happines. Bunmee บ ญม I have merit. Phasuk ผาส ข To have happines. 5-Surnames corresponding to the names of professions or jobs. We can find in both :Spanish and Thai surnames Zapatero = Shoemaker. Carpintero = Carpenter. Herrero = Blackmith. Labrador = Farmer. Monkhonkaset มงคลเกษตร Farmer. Chanayota ชนะโยธา Army winner. Kruwaanphat คร วรรณพ ฒน Teacher. Phanichtrakul พาน ชตระก ล Seller. Vendor. 6-Spanish Surnames relating to physical or moral characteristics of the person. Valiente = Courageous Bravo = Brave Guerrero = Warrior. Delgado = Thin. Rubio = Blond. Moreno = Brown / Dark. Precioso = Precious. Salado = Salty. Thai Surnames relating to physical or moral characteristics of the person. Phiwon (ผ วอ อน) Beautiful skin. Kaokham (ขาวข า) White and charming. Phiwkhom (ผ วขม) Dark skin. Kaengraeng (แข งแรง) Strong. Damkham (ดาข า) Black and charming. 7-Some of the Spanish and Thai surnames are related to animals, plants or nature. They are very interesting point because we can see these animals and plants in the daily life of the people. 295

298 Olivo = Olive tree. Viñas = Vineyard. León = Lion. Pimienta = Pepper. Gallo = Rost. Phukhaotong ( ภ เขาส ทอง) = Golden mountain Buntarit (บ ณฑร ก) =White Lotus. Sureenat (ส รส หนาถ) = The voice of Lion. Maliwan( มะว นล ) = Jasmine. 8- Strongest settler influence in Spain. Sephardic Jews is a term referring to the descendants of Jewish settlers, originally from the Near East, who lived in the Iberian Peninsula until the Spanish Inquisition. The term essentially means "Spanish" or Spain in modern Hebrew. Jewish surnames: Colors: Rojo, Verde, Verde, Blanco, Negro, Amarillo. Geography and nature: Montaña, Valle. Metals: Oro, Plata, Diamante, Perla, Hierro, etc. Plants and trees: Flores, Rosa, Madera, etc. Physical characterístics: Lindo, Alto, Pequeño. Professions: Panadero, Sastre, Escribiente, Cantor. Strongest settler influence in Thailand. Chinese. Chinese people escape communism and ended all over Thailand. Originally the Chinese surnames have the word Sea, for example: Sea Tea, Sea Sung, Sea lee. The Chinese in Thailand changed their surnames but kept the meaning. Chinese surnames are very long and their meaning have to do with money and economy. Examples: Tangviriyaphaibul: Progression. Dhanpanich: Good luck in trade and get better in everything. 9-Spanish surnames belonging to different geographical areas Basque surnames: Aguerreche: house is a lonely place. Echabide: the way to may house. Barrenechea: Inside of the house. Inchaurreta: Walnut place. Surnames from Galicia: Fariña, Quiroga, Mosquera, Mariño, Moreira, Rocha, Castro, etc. Surnames from Andalucia: Martín De La Parra, Enrile, Jácome, Zurera, Casas, Arcos. Thailand surnames belonging to different geographical areas North: อ นต ะสาร Intassan, อ นต ะนาม Intanaam, อ นต ะยศ Intayot. South: Damsamud, Sanubud, Arhamuth-chula. Northeast: Buriram: Yeeram,เสร มร มย Korat province: Tangthaisong ต งไธสง, Phiamkhunthod เพ ยมข นทดม, Sinpru ส นปร Chetsungnaen เช ดส ง เน นม, Tangsanthia ต งส นเท ยะ Tribal surnames: Mhopogu, Arkoe 296

299 Famous people with Spanish surnames. All of them hold two surnames: father and mother. José Antonio Domínguez Banderas - Antonio Banderas Penélope Cruz Sánchez - Penélope Cruz José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero -José Luis Zapatero Jennifer Lynn López Rodríguez- Jennifer López Rafael Nadal Parera Rafael Nadal Conclusions Spanish Surnames: usually the people can not change or they choose not to change their surnames. Are not exclusive of a person or family. Spanish surnames have meaning according to the classification. Indigenous or aborigines and slaves got their surnames from their Lords or master so indigenous surnames disappeared. Central and most of the South America countries had been colonized by Spaniards, so the influence of Spanish surnames is significant.even The Philippines has been colonized by Spain and there are a lot of Philippines people with Spanish surnames. Thailand surnames: You can change surnames as many times as you want. You need to keep a record of your previous surnames. If someone want to change her or his surname sometimes will consult a Buddhist monk and him will choose a new surname that bring good luck to the person. Thailand has only introduced surnames during the last 100 years. Thai surnames meaning: power and growing. Thai surnames of Chinese origin meaning: wealthy. Thai surnames are exclusive of a family. Acknowledgements. Asst. Prof. Dusadee Ayuwat,Ph. D. in Philosofy Program.Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.Khon University. Thailand. Students from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of Khon Kaen University. Spanish Department of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of Khon Kaen University. Thailand. 297

300 References AragónGen. Asociación Cultural e Historia de Aragón (2012) Tipos de apellidos. García, Wikipedia.(2013) Apellido. Oxford dictionary. Besta cyber dictionary. Thailand Tales.Kriengsak Niratpattanasai.(1997) Why many Thais have a long surname? 298

301 Beautiful or Pretty as Conceptualized in Katherine Mansfield s A Cup of Tea: Feminist Ironies Intira Charuchinda Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences PhranakhonRajabhat University, Bangkok, Thailand limsongprot@gmail.com Abstract The paper aims to identify the meaning of beautiful and pretty as conceptualized in Katherine Mansfield s A Cup of Tea.The main theoretical framework of this textual analysisis feminism. It proves that Rosemary,the main character in this story is not beautiful in the feminist sense. Throughout interpretation of the meaning of both words, one encounters a number of feminist ironical terms such as sisterhood, lesbianism, talking back, psychological freedom, and women s values. Rosemaryis not presented as a beautiful woman. Although talk over a teacupoffers a good chance for women to meet each other in a friendly and informal atmosphere to establish a sisterhood bond and to raise consciousness of the invisible effects of the patriarchy,this chance is ruined when Rosemaryfails to recognizeand acknowledge the effects of male-domination. Moreover, how Rosemary treats the girl she has causally picked up can be viewed in terms of lesbianism but not defined as feminism. Also, her act of talkingback, in which she takes the subject position, simply lapses into blind obedience to male authority. Furthermore, her writing room is not a place where she can achieve psychological freedom as it is in Virginia Woolf s A Room of One s Own(1928), but rather one in which she blindly responds to the demands of male authority. In addition, Rosemary inadvertently compares herself with the price of a little ornamental box she has just seen. Her frame of mind is conveyed to the reader by the allegorical picture on the lid of the box she intends to buy. For these reasons, she does not possess inner beauty in the sense of feminism, which moves towards rehumanization of women. However, although Rosemary may be considered pretty, at best she is a superficially attractive woman, and at worst, an annoying and disgusting one. Keywords: Feminist, Ironies,Beauty Introduction Beauty is what women desire. For centuries, women in all cultureshave been pursuing beauty. Chinese women used to bind their feet, trying to compress them to the ideal three inches. To achieve this ideal beauty, they suffered a great deal. Nowadays, women still pursue beauty. In the same way, a girlat the present time has to suffer when she wears her first pair of high heels.many girls beg to have their ears pierced although it will hurt them. Older women wince bravely as they pluck their eyebrows. With the advance of technology, some women have botox injections, plastic surgery, liposuction, and other forms of treatment in order to look more attractive or younger. Furthermore, many women s magazines, especially ones commonly found in beauty salons such aselle, Cosmopolitan, Vogue, Allure, Glamour, Madame Figaro, andin 299

302 Style, to name just a few,advise women who want husbands to turn their body into a man-trap. Even after marriage, a good woman is supposed to continue to look sexy. Moreover, beauty is a man s main reason for lusting, loving, and marrying a woman. People often find it strange when a man marries a girl who is not pretty. However, they find it not strange at all when they hear of a man marrying a brainless beauty. This concept of beauty is not one that is consonant withfeminism. The meaning of beauty in the feminist sense is reflected in Katherine Mansfield s A Cup of Tea.Putting the work intotextual analysis, this study proves that the main character in this short story is not beautiful in the feminist sense. The author writes in the first lines of the story, Rosemary Fell was not exactly beautiful. No, you couldn t have called her beautiful. Pretty? Well, if you took her to pieces (Mansfield, 1922: 1102). However, in the last line of the story, the author writes that Rosemary asks her husband Am I pretty? when she presses his head against her bosom. The beginning and ending of this story invite a close reading to find the meaning of beauty. As the writer reveals Rosemary s actions and her states of mind, we will see that Rosemary does not possess the quality of inner beauty in the feministsense, which encourages a womanto establish herself on an equal footing with men,and take up the subjectposition.in other words, the writer does not mean physical beauty but qualities thatlet a woman sinner beauty shine through. A Cup of Teatells us why a woman cannot define herself in accordance with feminism. The main character of this story is Rosemary Fell, who is very rich. Although she is not especially pretty, she makes up for it by living in extreme style and fashion. One day in the winter afternoon, after leaving a shop of fancy antiques, she comes across a poor girl by the name of Smith, who asks the price of a cup of tea from Rosemary. Rosemary takes the girl home. She leads the poor girl into her bedroom.she helps her take off her outer clothes.after a meal, the girl looks much better. When she is about to start a conversation with the girl, her husband, Phillip, comes in. Rosemary introduces the poor girl Miss Smith to him as a friend. Phillip is amazed. He asks Rosemary to come to the library. When they are alone, he asks her about the girl. Rosemary tells him how they have met and how she intends to keep the girl in their house and be generous to her. Phillip protestsbut Rosemary will not listen to him.at the end of the story, however, Philip has Rosemary get rid of the girl, as he wishes. Feminist Ironies This story reflects some ideas grounded in feminist theory. Thus,the main theoretical framework of this analysis is feminism. It is worth mentioning that it is a mistake to try to find a single common point from which to start constructing a framework of feminist politics and criticism, and whichever point we should, there will always variations(keith Green and Jill LeBihan, 2002:255). In the same respect, all feminist theory has been concerned in many different ways and through many different means with establishing the subject-position of women (Jennifer Rich,2007). However, broadly speaking, feminism is a set of beliefs and ideas that belong to the social and political moment to achieve equality for women. Women seek equality in all realms of life and use divergent strategies to achieve that goal. This paper will consider some feminist issues which are relevant to the textual analysis. 300

303 On reading the short story A Cup of Tea, the reader sees that the irony is not concentrated only in the end of the story, in which the poor girl is turned out of Rosemary s house. In fact, ironies on feminist issues are found throughout the story. These ironies suggest that Rosemary is not a beautiful woman in the feminist sense of the word. The discussion of feminist ironies covers some feminist issues such as sisterhood, lesbianism, talking back, psychological freedom, and women s values, along with the allegory of the little box. Sisterhood The feminist idea of sisterhood is ironically presented in this story. Robin Morgan (1970:xx) says thatsisterhood is powerful and she claims that women who have been struggling on a one-to-one basis with their men, begin to see that some sort of solidarity is necessary; otherwise insanity would result.likewise, Denise Thompson (2001:13) writes that creation of a human status for women requires that women seek recognition from each other. Beyond that, they should live in connection with women and recognize each other in ways which are outside male control and definition. This is to say, sisterhood helps women acquire their subject-positions. In this story,rosemary asks the poor girl to come to her home, as the author writes: She (Rosemary) was going to prove to this girl that [ ] women were sisters (Mansfield, 1922:1100). The reader would expect to see how Rosemary manages to help the girl establish the subject-position of women. Apparently, at the end of the story, Rosemary gets rid of the girl. This satirizes the idea of feminist sisterhood, which holds that women s relationships are powerful. Along with the concept of sisterhood, the feminist idea of consciousness-raising is also satirized. Hester Eisenstein (1984) claims that consciousness-raising is founded on the idea that women have to talk about the details of their daily lives and about their personal experiences and histories that have significance and validity. Moreover, women are the experts, the authorities, and the source of knowledge about themselves. Likewise,Mary Field Belenky et al. (1986: 134) emphasize that quest for self and voice plays an important role in transformations in women s ways of knowing. They say that to learn to speak in a unique and authentic voice, women must just jump outside the frames and systems authorities provide and create their own frameand raise a new way of thinking. In the same respect, Carol Gilligan in her work In a Different Voice (1982), found that women s voices, when heard in their own right and with their own integrity, change voice of psychology. The sense of self, the experience of relationship, morality, and development itself all appear in a different light when setting from a premise of connectedness rather than separateness, and when imagining their relationships as webs. In this story, Rosemary, who is described as well read in the newest of the new books (Mansfield, 1922:1097) tells the poor girl when they first meet I only want to make you warm and to hear anything you care to tell me. (Mansfield, 1922:1099).Also, Rosemary tells the girl when they are in the private space in Rosemary s bedroom Don t you see what a good thing it was that you met me? We ll have a cup of tea and you ll tell me everything (Mansfield, 1922:1101). It seems that Rosemary will encourage the poor girl to find her voice during her talk with Rosemary. At this point, the reader expects to see how Rosemary manages to establish solidarity with the girl and how they will share their experience and what good things 301

304 Rosemary will do for the girl out of the knowledge she has gained from reading the newest of the new books. However, the relationship between Rosemary and the girl cannot be established sincerosemary is more concerned about her value as defined or measured by a man than sisterhood bond establishment. She throws the girl out of her house.this can be explained in accordance with feminist theories. According to Mary Wollstonecraft (1972: 8), in a patriarchal society, women s values are measured by their connections with men. She writes, Connected with men as daughters, wives, and mothers, their moral character may be estimated by their manner of fulfilling those simple duties. Pauline B. Bart (1972: 172) writes that the most important roles for women are the roles of wife and mother; the loss of either of these roles might result in a loss of self-esteem in the feeling of worthlessness and uselessness. In the same respect, Simone de Beauvoir in her work The Second Sex (1952) contends that women do not have a sense of their history and unity. For women, there is no we. Women have always been subjected to men, but they also have always been in a relationship of dependence on and filiation to men. Men constitute their families. They are their fathers, their husbands, and their sons. Therefore, women cannot imagine an identity independent of men (cited in Jennifer Rich, 2010). As such, Rosemary, at the end of this story, no longer cares about establishing a sisterhood bond with the poor girl. Rather she is depicted as the patriarchal stereotype of a woman whose simple dutyis to please her husband. Under the influence of patriarchal ideology, Rosemary changes her attitude towards the poor girl. After her husband praises herto Rosemary, she considers the girl her rival, due to her envy of the girl s prettinessas estimated by a man. Where envy is concerned, UnaStannard, a feminist critic, writes that women look at other women with a more intense and discriminating eye than any man does. Rivalry between women is inevitable, and friendship among women is impossible. As a result, women may have an overreaction to over-attractive women (1971: 201). In this story, Rosemary makes the girl leave her home. This can be viewed as showing that Rosemary wants to be the only woman in this male dominant sphere. From this point on, Rosemary no longer stands up for the girl, or for the sisterhood idea. This implies that the sisterhood bond is not easy to establish as long as women are over-concerned about their value as defined by men. Lesbianism Apart from sisterhood, the author also tackles the issue of lesbianism. Obviously, lesbianism is defined as women identifying with women, women loving women, women seeing each other as human individuals lacking nothing (Abbott and Love, 1972, Myron and Bunch, 1975). In addition to the concept of lesbianism, Denise Thompson (2006: 13-14) writes that lesbianism within the feminist context is meant as a challenge to the exclusiveness and naturalness of heterosexual desires. Lesbianism is the only form of intimacy which women are allowed. It is a refusal to serve or service men, a withdrawal of recognition from men as the only human individuals, and a commitment by women to a woman s full humanity. It is sexuality with a potential for equality rather than domination. In the same way,martha Shelly (1970: 306) writes that lesbianism is one road to freedom freedom from oppression by men. The lesbian, through her ability to obtain love and sexual satisfaction from other women, does not depend on 302

305 men for love and sex. In this story, how Rosemary treats the girl can be viewed in terms of lesbianism but not defined as feminism, however. Not seeing the girl as a full human being, Rosemary abuses the poor girl in her bedroom, instead of providing her with care. The author writes: [S]he wanted to spare this poor little thing from being stared at by the servants; she decided as they mounted the stairs she would not even ring for Jeanne, but take off her things by herself. The great thing was to be natural! And There! cried Rosemary again, as they reached her beautiful big bedroom with the curtains drawn, the fire leaping on her wonderful lacquer furniture, her gold cushions and the primrose and blue rugs. [ ] Oh, please, Rosemary ran forward you mustn t be frightened, you mustn t, really. Sit down, and when I ve taken off my things we shall go into the next room and have tea and be cozy. Why are you afraid? And gently she half pushed the thin figure into its deep cradle. 303 (Mansfield, 1922, 1100) As for the setting, the big bedroom with the curtains drawn, the fire-light leaping on her wonderful lacquer furniture, her gold cushions and the primrose and blue rugs may suggest Rosemary s passion for the poor girl, even though the girl does not cooperate with her. It is worth mentioning that for Austin Warren(1961: 203), domestic interiors may be viewed as a metaphoric expression of character. A man s house reflects its owner; and its atmosphere affects the people who must live in it.by the same token, the fire in Rosemary s room may imply that Rosemary is possessed by the fire of passion. The soft mass of gold cushions and the primrose and blue rugs can be seen as indicating that Rosemary is fond of touching soft things. And the curtains drawn on this room can be interpreted as suggesting that the owner of the room hides something from the public. Also, this suggests that when Rosemary is alone with the girl, she is driven by a desire for her, which is rejected by society. At this point, the author is touching on the issue of lesbianism. For Rosemary, the girl she has picked up is referred to as the poor little thing. She is like a small child to be pushed into its deep cradle. Needless to say, cradle is a small low bed for an infant. In this way, what Rosemary does to the poor girl in her bedroom is not considered lesbianism within the feminist context because it does not promote equality between two women, or mutual recognition between women. Rather, it is just a fetishization of romance in which Rosemary treats the girl as an object, or a person in an inferior position. However,Rosemary simply abandons lesbianism and becomesa straight woman for her husband when she finds that her husband shows interest in the poor girl. Talking Back Among significant ironic details is Rosemary s radical change in response to her husband s reaction to the girl.this concerns the issue of talking back, in which women are

306 encouraged to disagree with male authority and speak up for themselves. Bell hooks, an American social activist and feminist,states in her book Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black (1989) that talking back means speaking as an equal to authority figures. It means daring to disagree and sometimes it just means having an opinion. It moves silence into speech for the oppressed, the exploited, and suchlike. It is a gesture of defiance that heals, that makes new life and new growth possible. The act of talking back is no mere gesture using empty words, but the expression of our movement from object to subject the liberated voice. In this story, Rosemary dares to talk back to her husband about her decision in respect of the girl.however, she turns out to be a silent woman after her husband expresses interest in the girl. The author (1922: 1102) writes, I knew you d say that, retorted Rosemary. Why not? I want to. Isn t that a reason? And besides, one s always reading about these things. I decided Although the act of talking back is an act of defiant speech, hers soon turns out to be a mere gesture involving empty words. The author writes: Half an hour later Philip was still in the library, when Rosemary came in. I only wanted to tell you, said she, and she leaned against the door again and looked at him with her dazzled exotic gaze, Miss Smith won t dine with us tonight. Philip put down the paper. Oh, what s happened? Previous engagement? Rosemary came over and sat down on his knee. She insisted on going, said she, so I gave the poor little thing a present of money. I couldn t keep her against her will, could I? she added softly. 304 (Mansfield, 1922:1102) Instead of moving from object to subject in accordance with hook s view, Rosemary in turn simply moves from the subject position to the object position, and from speech to silence. In this light, Rosemary is still a patriarchal woman whose self-confidence and assertiveness are undermined by the patriarchal power. Although her husband does not straightforwardly tell her to throw the girl out of their house, Rosemary simply reacts in the way that her husband wants just so as to keep out of trouble,so that she isstill the only woman for her husband in this patriarchal realm. Mary Field Belenky et al. (1986: 28) points out that women who see blind obedience to authority as being of the utmost importance for keeping out of trouble and insuring their own survival are silent women. Psychological Freedom Another irony can be found in the situation in which Rosemary is alone in her writing room. Drawing on an analogy of A Room of One s Own (1928), we will see that the author of this essay Virginia Woolf, one of the twentieth-century s most important modern novelists encourages women to write. She advises women to write exactly what they think in a room where women can preserve the privacy of their own psyches. In this way, women will acquire a

307 habit of freedom, a frame of mind freed from the demands of gender roles, and this will open the possibility of a transcendent humanness for women. In addition, Woolf writes that a woman must have a room of her own and an adequate amount of money (cited in Jennifer Rich, 2010). In addition, Woolf argued that woman s writing should explore female experience in its own right, not form a comparative assessment of women s experience in relation to men s. She believed that women had always encountered social economic obstacles to their literary ambitions (cited in Raman Selden el al, 1997:125).As opposed to the idea presented in A Room of One s Own, Rosemary in this story has a room, money, and privacy, but she does not use her writing room as a place to free her mind from the demands of gender roles and to write to achieve transcendent humanness. The author describes the envy she feels for the girl when she is on her own in her writing room: Her heart beat like a heavy bell. Pretty! Lovely! She drew her cheque book towards her. But no, cheques would be no use, of course. She opened a drawer and took out five pound notes, looked at them, put two back, and holding the three squeezed in her hand, she went back to her bedroom. (Mansfield, 1922:1102) For Rosemary, her writing room is not a room of her own where she canwrite about female experience in her own right. Actually, it is just a place of confinement of the patriarchal discourse in which she locks herself. Women svalues The reader can find irony in the way that Rosemary values herself. Instead of seeing herself as a human being, Rosemary identifies herself as an object worth the price of the little box. Her body is just an object for a man to look at and a source of pleasure for a man to exploit. After she has made the girl leave her home, she returns to her husband, as the author describesin the final part of the story: Rosemary had just done her hair, darkened her eyes a little, and put on her pearls. She put up her hands and touched Phillip s cheeks. him. Do you like me? said she, and her tone, sweet, husky, troubled I like you awfully, he said, and he held her tighter. Kiss me. There was a pause. Then Rosemary said dreamily. I saw a fascinating little box today. It cost twenty-eight guineas. May I have it? he. Philip jumped her on his knee. You may, little wasteful one, said But that was not really what Rosemary wanted to say. 305

308 Philip, she whispered, and she pressed his head against her bosom, am I pretty? (Mansfield, 1922:1102) Rosemary s preoccupation with her appearance can be explained within the terms of the pornographic imagination and under male supremacist conditions, in which sex is a male prerogative. It exists for men who need another human being to stimulatethem to orgasm but the other human being must then be fetishized into something less than human (Denise Thompson, 2001: 41). In addition, where the female body is concerned, UnaStannard (1972: ) says that women are narcissists and also exhibitionists whose exhibitionism, like their narcissism, is approved by the culture. The female who thrusts her bosom, bottom, and legs at a male is admired. The culture wants to keep her identity focused on her physical person, not on her accomplishments. A man wants a woman to remain a pretty, dependent child, so that through a woman he can reunite himself with his lost childhood, because he isthen allowed to be soft, tender, helpless, narcissistic, and exhibitionistic, rather than a developed character and mind, relieved of the onerous duty of being a hard-working, responsible,assertive man. In this way, Rosemary is compared to a more minute creature on the lid of the little box [who] still had her arms around his neck. She is a more minute creature in that she fetishizes herself into something less than a human being, who uses her bosom as an object of arousing her husband s sexual interest or a tool to win her husband s favor. In the same way, her husband is compared to the other minute creature on the little box in that he reunites himself with his lost childhood through a woman. Ironically, Rosemary compares herself with the price of the box. Rosemary sexually pleases her man to enhance his valuation of her as a little material object. In other words, Rosemary values the box so greatly that she equates herself with it, while its price is nothing for her husband. In this respect, she is not different from a prostitute, a person who provides sexual services in return for payment. Sarcastically speaking, whereas Rosemary is described as a girl [who] amazingly well read[s] in the newest of the new books (Mansfield, 1922:1097), she lowers herself into the world s oldest women s occupation and into a subservient status. This is contradictory to feminism,which intends to disentangle a woman from the dangerous nexus of objectification, prejudice and cultural norms and, most importantly, to establish her on an equal footing with men, or to encourage her to take up the subject-position (Jennifer Rich, 2007). Allegorical Meaning of the Little Box As the story comes to its end, we find that the pretty piece of Rosemary s body isher bosom. In the last line, the author writes that Rosemary asks her husband, Philip she whispered, and she pressed his head against her bosom, am I pretty? At this point, she offers her bosom for her husband to enjoy. In the first lines of the story, the author writes, Rosemary Fell was not exactly beautiful. No, you couldn t call her beautiful. Pretty? Well, if you took her to pieces... (Mansfield, 1922:1102). This may suggest that her bosomcould be considered pretty. Tracing what Rosemary wishes to clutch to her bosom, we find her attachment to the 306

309 little box. Foreshadowing the last line, the author writes She pressed her muff against her breast; she wished she had the little box, too, to cling to (Mansfield, 1922:1099). In order to know the meaning of pretty, the meaning of the little box needs interpreting. As the story unfolds, the meaning of the little box becomes clearer to the reader. We find that the story on its lid can be an allegory of Rosemary and her husband. The author describes it: An exquisite little enamel box with a glaze so fine it looked as though it had been baked in cream. On the lid a minute creature stood under a flowery tree, and a more minute creature still had her arms around his neck. Her hat, really no bigger than a geranium petal, hung from a branch; it had green ribbons. And there was a pink cloud like a watchful cherub floating above their heads. [ ] She liked it very much. She loved it [ ]. She must have it. 307 (Mansfield, 1922:1098) The story suggests that Rosemary s mind is as little as the box. Her thinking is framed and limited. She cannot liberate herself from the female gender roles. The male creature on the lid may represent her husband and the female Rosemary in that they are little beings. To make it clear, Philip, Rosemary s husband, reunites himself with his lost childhood through a woman s body. And Rosemary herself is the more minute creature in that her husband can make her do what he wants. To explain more clearly, he can have her get rid of the girl, as he wishes.having her arms around the neck of the male creature, the female creature is interpreted as giving physical pleasure to the male creature. The hat of the female creature, which is smaller than a geranium petal, would signify that Rosemary has little brain. It may indicate that she has neither grounded understanding of the newest ideologies such as sisterhood and lesbianism within the feminist context, nor keen awareness of male domination. The green ribbons on the hat of the female creature may associate green with envy, which means wishing very much that you had what someone else has (Free dictionary by Farlex, n.d.).thus, we may associate her state of mind, relative to the girl she has picked up, as Rosemary s green with envy. She envies the girl, when her husband expresses interest in her. In addition, a watchful cherub, or the representation of a small angel, portrayed as a child with a chubby rosy face, that floats above their heads suggestsrosemary and Philip schildishness. To make it clear, they both are emotionally immature, and they refuse to hold themselves accountable for their own actions. This makes the girl their victim. The pink cloud above their heads could suggest dusk or dawn when the sun is setting or rising. Needless to say, dusk is time of the day when the light has almost gone. In contrast, dawn is time of the day when the light first appears and it is recognized by the presence of weak sunlight. This would suggest uncertainty in Rosemary s mind about whether to move forward to the modern idea of feminism or to move backward to the traditional idea of sexism. Undoubtedly, inside the small box is emptiness. This means that under the stylishness of her surface appearance, Rosemary s mind is nothing but vanity. This allegory on the little box is not a story to be admired in the view of the feminist. It does not relate with the meaning of beauty in the sense of feminism. However it may be associated with the meaning of pretty, which has a broad meaning including both positive and negative elements. In the New Oxford American Dictionary (2005), beautiful when used as

310 adjective has two positive meanings. One is pleasing the senses or mind aesthetically, and the other, of a very high standard; excellent. In contrast, in the same dictionary, the meaning of pretty as an adjective does not suggest a really positive tone. The word has two meanings. One of them is attractive in a delicate way without being truly beautiful or handsome. The other is used ironically in expressions of annoyance and disgust.that is to say, in this story,rosemary does not possess inner beauty in the feministsense, which is intent on moving towards rehumanization of woman. In fact, she may besomewhatpretty. She is considered asuperficially attractive woman who lacks substance. Her frame of mind, actions, and speech are annoying and disgusting when viewed from a feminist perspective. Conclusion Throughout the course of the story, the author depicts Rosemary as not exactly beautiful. For this writer, the concept of beauty does not concern physical beauty. Rather, it is about inner beauty revealed through how a woman contributes to the social and political moment to achieve equality for women. Along with the depiction, the story embraces feminist ironies and touches on some aspects of feminism i.e. sisterhood,lesbianism, talking back, psychological freedom, and women s values.moreover, the little box, to which Rosemary is so attracted, offers an allegorical meaning. The interpretation of the little box reveals everything about her, which is antithetical to the feminist movement. Although Rosemary possesses socially admired qualities, and is in a position to empower women and emancipate herself,shemerelydefines herselfas anobject, not a full human being. She cannot disentangle herself from the dangerous nexus of objectification and patriarchal practice. Her reading of the newest of the new books cannot help her in establishing herself on an equal footing with men and taking up the subject position. Thus, the concept of true beauty proposed by Katherine Mansfield, the author of this story, is similar to that of feminism. That is to say,rosemary is not beautiful. However, she may be considered pretty. At best, she is a superficially attractive woman, and at worst, an annoying and disgusting person. 308

311 References Abbott, S., & Love, B. (1972). Sappho was a right-on woman: A liberated view of lesbianism. New York: Stein & Day. Bart, P. B. (1972). Depression in middle-aged women. In V. Gornick& B. K. Moran, (Eds.), Woman in Sexist Society: Studies in Power and Powerlessness (pp ). New York: Basic. Beautiful. (2005). In New Oxford American dictionary (Kindle ed.). Oxford University Press. Beauviour, S. (1952).The second sex. New York: Knopf. Eisenstein, H. (1986). Contemporary feminist thought. London: Unwin. Envy.(n.d.).In Free dictionary by Farlex.Retrieved from Gilligan, C. (1982). In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women s Development. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. Green, K., &LeBihan, J. (2002).Critical Theory & Practice: A coursebook. London: Routledge. Hooks, B. (1989). Talking back: Thinking feminist, talking black. Cambridge: South End Press. Mansfield, K. (1922). A Cup of Tea. In Glencoe literature: The reader s choice (California ed.). (pp ). New York: McGraw-Hill. Morgan, R. (Ed.). (1970). Sisterhood is powerful: An anthology of writing from the women s liberation moment. New York: Vintage. Myron, N., &Bunch, C. (Eds.) (1975).Lesbianism and the women s movement. Baltimore: Dianna Press. Pretty.(2005). InNew Oxford American dictionary (Kindle ed.). Oxford University Press. Rich, J. (2007). An introduction to modern feminist theory. (Kindle ed.). Humanities-Ebooks. Selden, R. et al. (1997). A reader guide to contemporary literary theory. London: Prentice Hall. Shelly, M. (1970).Notes of a Radical Lesbian. In R. Morgan, (Ed.),Sisterhood is powerful: An anthology of writing from the women s liberation moment(pp ). New York: Vintage. Stannard, U. (1972). The Mask of Beauty. In V. Gornick& B. K. Moran, (Eds.), Woman in Sexist Society: Studies in Power and Powerlessness (pp ). New York: Basic. Thomson, D. (2001).Radical feminism today.london: SAGE. Warren, A. (1961). The nature and modes of narrative and fiction. In R. Scholes (Ed.), Approaches to the Novel (pp ). San Francisco: Chandler. Wollstonecraft, M. (1972). A vindication of the rights of woman. In M. Schnier (Ed.), Feminist: Essential Historical Writings(pp. 5-16). New York: Vintage Book. 309

312 Women s Breaking Taboos in Cyberculture: Tearing up Patriarchal Net through Slash Fiction? Irana Astutiningsih Faculty of Letters, Jember University Indonesia irananingsih@gmail.com Abstract Apart from women objectification in media as a topic commonly discussed either in scholarly or non scholarly context; this article provides an overview about women s potential to become the subject rather than the object on the Internet. Cyberculture providing more freedom and less control than offline world gives the same opportunities for everyone to actively participate in producing cultural symbols by constructing his/her expectation on the Internet including breaking taboos prevailed in offline world. In terms of online slash fiction, a fiction about homosexual relationship written and uploaded on the Internet by fans (mostly women) of particular source text, cyberculture enables women to become subject and construct their expectation as a response to the dominant ideology. In other words, being positioned as the subordinated gender in patriarchal culture, women are potential in generating a counter discourse towards the dominant ideology. More particularly, the women s fantasy as seen in their online works shows that becoming the subject, the women enable what the so-called female gaze to exist. Some slash fictions written by Indonesian women and uploaded on show how such female gaze exists and furthermore, how women, in spite of being the second-class gender in patriarchal culture, attempt to break the cultural taboos by constructing their sexual expectation through the portrayal of their major male characters sexual activities. However, further analysis on the selected Indonesian women s slash fictions, authors note and online interviews show that in spite of their potential of being the subject due to more freedom and less control in cyberculture, the women are not totally capable to liberate themselves from the dominant ideology concerning its discourse of women objectification as well as the sexual taboos in patriarchal culture. Key Words: cyberculture, female gaze, sexual taboos, dominant ideology, slash fiction. Gender Representation: Women as Objects? Gender discourse in patriarchal culture frequently concerns with media representation of men and women regarding their bodies and social role. In one article, Wood (1994) says that there are three themes concerning media representation about gender: First, women are underrepresented which implies that men are the cultural standard and women are unimportant or invisible. Second, men and women are portrayed in stereotyping ways that reflect and sustain socially endorsed views of gender. Third, depictions of relationships between men and women emphasize traditional roles and normalize violence against women. Meanwhile, in Feminist Media Studies, Zoonen (1994) believes that the main element of patriarchy is the women display for the sake of public (men) gaze. This correlates with what Mulvey says about her concept known as male gaze. Mulvey believes that visual pleasure in mainstream cinema reproduces a structure of male looking and female to-be-looked-at-ness (1975). The previously-mentioned assumptions underline that women representation by media is under the domination of patriarchal culture; positioning women as subordinated and underrepresented object. Through gender representation, media has power to strengthen the patriarchal value persisting and being considered as true in society. Furthermore, media has 310

313 power to produce an image on stereotyped gender identity with reference to the patriarchal culture dominance. This is due to the media power in producing such reality, like Grossberg has said that media make meanings and organize them into various codes and systems, which implies that these code interpret reality; they make world meaningful and comprehensible (2006: 194). What have been assumed about women subordination and objectification refers more to media having power in producing cultural symbols which pose audience as passive text consumers. Throughout its history, however, new media such as the Internet provide broad opportunities to audience to actively participate, instead of passively consume text. The Internet as a new media has its unique characteristics; it is more democratic as it enables anyone to be actively involved by producing cultural text through creative process since it has less control and frequently operates out of control. The Internet as a product of culture is in fact, the producer of culture commonly known as cyberculture or cyberspace (Bell, 2001). Cyberculture providing more freedom and less control than offline world gives the same opportunities for everyone to actively participate in producing cultural symbols. In cyberculture, everyone can construct his/her expectation including breaking taboos in offline world, in which women are not the exception. In cyberculture, women are able to become the subject and speak about what they really expect, instead of being merely objectified. This paper is based on a research conducted in 2012 about slash fictions, a genre of fan fiction uploaded on the Internet which tells about homosexual relationship and is written by fans (mostly women) of certain source text. The women writing slash fictions (Indonesian women in my research) are assumed to have potential to become subject in cyberculture, rather than being objectified in patriarchal (offline) world. In conducting the research, I start with a question about to what extent cyberculture provides women (slash authors) freedom in constructing their expectations through their slash fictions. More particularly, my question is about how liberated the women (slash authors) speak as subjects on the Internet about sexualities, the issues commonly considered taboos in patriarchal values as the dominant ideology persisting in (Indonesian) offline world. Cyberculture and Slash Fiction: Being Subjects through Subcultural Activities In cultural studies context, study of the Internet is not solely focused on the technological aspect, but more on its socio cultural one. It doesn t mean, however, that cultural studies exclude the technological aspect of the Internet at all, as cultural studies believe that technology is always cultural. One of cultural studies theorists paying close attention to the study of the Internet is Bell, who has put his conceptual definition about cyberculture as follows: cyberculture is a way of thinking about how people and digital technologies interact, how we live together so the suffix culture is used in that elastic way that one of the founding fathers of British cultural studies, Raymond Williams (1976), uses it, to talk of ways of life (2007: 5) In defining the term, Bell also refers to what Frow and Morris says about culture and puts it as ways of life in cyberspace, or ways of life shaped by cyberspace, where cyberspace is a matrix of embedded matrix and representation (2007:5). While the origin of the term cyberculture, as Bell has said, is obscure and uncertain, the word cyberspace is conventionally believed to be originally created by Gibson in his cyberpunk novel Neuromancer. Gibson states cyberspace is a consensual hallucination experienced daily by millions of legitimate operators. A graphic representation of data abstracted from the banks of every computer in the human system... (1984: 67). As cyberculture refers to ways of life in cyberspace, the phenomenon of slash fiction, I believe, relates to women s (slash writers) ways of life in cyberspace. More particularly, what 311

314 the slash writers do in cyberspace corresponds to what Bell explains as cybersubculture. In An Introduction to Cyberculture, David Bell explains what he calls as subcultural or countercultural use of cyberspace, which is divided into two groups: those that use cyberspace to advance their project, in the same way they might use other forms of communication; and those that signal an expressive relationship to the technology through subcultural activities... " (2001: 163). Since in this paper the Internet is not only considered as a medium but more as an arena for women actively involved in the process of giving meaning to the source text they consume, the second thought of Bell about cybersubculture is considered more appropriate. Even though the term subculture is debatable regarding the prefix sub which means beneath and makes subculture regarded as the culture that lies under, subculture cannot, matter-of-factly, be considered as unimportant or non-standard culture. In Bell, it is said that subculture should be assumed as something subordinate, subaltern or subterranean, as explained by Bell that subculture is a term used to describe groups of people who have something in common with each other which distinguishes them in a significant way from other social groups (2001: 164). Furthermore, Thornton in Bell emphasizes that not every group that shares similar interest and stands opposition to other group can be considered subculture; they must be doing some kind of cultural work with those interests and that opposition (2001: 164). On account of such cultural work, Hebdige says in Subculture: the Meaning of Style that cultural work is often codified through dress, attitude and lifestyle, and circulated through the subculture s own micromedia output: music, fanzines, flyers and so on (1979). Regarding cultural work mentioned by Hebdige, fanzine (fans magazine) is the pioneer of fan fiction recently booming in cyberspace. Slash fiction is one genre of fan fiction focusing on homosexual relationship between main male characters. For this reason, I see slash fiction as cultural work reflecting sub-ordinate culture in cyberspace. I regard the word sub-ordinate in terms of slash fiction as a matter of subordination in two levels. First, it refers to women (slash authors) considered as subordinated gender and second, it relates to the subordination of samesex relationship (illustrated in slash fiction) in patriarchal values as the dominant ideology. The internet users actively involved in the site of fan fiction not only use the Internet as a medium, but also do their fandom activities in it; expressing their minds by uploading their own fictions, collaborating and having interaction with other fans, and expressing their expectations. This corresponds to what Bell says about cybersubcultures as those that signal an expressive relationship to the technology through subcultural activities" (2001: 163). The scholars studies about fan fiction show that most fan fiction is written by heterosexual women. Regarding the less controlled and anonymous characteristic of the Internet, the question that may rise is: is it true that women write slash fictions? Isn t it possible that anonymities in cyberculture enables slash writers to fake their identities as real women? To answer this, it is necessary to have a brief review about the history of slash fiction. In the mid 70s, far before the fanfiction phenomena are booming in the Internet, the fans of Star Trek TV series published fanzine (fans magazine) in limited number and distributed it among fans. The first slash fiction in the fanzine was written by a heterosexual woman who told about homosexual relationship between Kirk and Spock, the major characters in Star Trek, who were originally heterosexuals. In Textual Poachers, Jenkins depicts in detail how the women fans of Star Trek illustrate homosexuality between Kirk and Spock. He claims that fans write fan fiction out of a combination of fascination and frustration with their favorite media products. Furthermore, he believes that fans are not passive consumers, but active producers and manipulators of meanings (1992). Jenkins writing is based on his ethnographical research for years which proves that what has been said about heterosexual women being the slash writers is not a mere assumption. Furthermore, Derecho s assumption about fan fiction corresponds to what Jenkins has put by saying that fan fiction is the literature of the subordinate, because most fan fiction authors are women responding to media products that, for the most part, are characterized by 312

315 an underrepresentation of women (2006: 71). Regarding more freedom cyberculture offer compared to offline world, the slash writers attempts to express their dissatisfaction to media text dominated by patriarchal values. They do subcultural activities by uploading their cultural work in forms of slash fictions; constructing their expectation unfulfilled by patriarchal media text, and hence, becoming the subject in cyberculture. Providing opportunities for women to be the subject by creating stories about homosexualites between main male characters, cyberculture enables the women to have power over men, while in offline world dominated by patriarchal values they are frequently underrepresented and objectified. Women s attempts to depict homosexual relationship between main male characters in slash fictions are interesting due to their position as second class gender in patriarchal culture and the taboos they have to face in the hierarchy of system. In patriarchal world with its dominant ideology, particularly in Indonesia, the matter of sex cannot be separated from the discourse of gender dichotomy that poses men as subject and women as object of sex. Since men are the subject, it is believed that men are to be aggressive while the women are the otherwise. Furthermore, the women s sexual satisfactions are valued as long as they satisfy men s sexual needs (Munti, 2005: 37). Researches have been conducted regarding to female potential as the subject of sex; one of which is conducted by Warianto about a rubric of sexuality in Cosmopolitan Indonesia magazine. The interesting findings Warianto has shown in her research is that despite being considered as a pioneer magazine which tries to liberate women from patriarchal values, it is concluded that the construction of gender role regarding sexualities in the magazine is still under the dominance of patriarchal values: objectifying women as those who are to satisfy men s sexualities. Since women are the objects of sex, women being initiative in sexual acitivies is considred taboo; sex become more about their service towards men rather than pleasure and attempt to fulfill their own needs. One of Indonesian cinemas representing women s attempt to be liberated from patriarchal value is entitled Perempuan Berkalung Sorban, which tells about the life of a woman who questions her right to be initiative in sexual actitivies, and gets answer from her teacher that an initiative woman must be a bad woman (Bramantyo: 2009). Based on previous elaboration about cyberculture, slash fiction, and sexual taboos for women, I believe cyberculture provides wide opportunities for women to produce a counter discourse towards the dominant ideology. In other words, cyberculture enables them to express their resistance in two levels: first, the resistance towards women s objectification in patriarchal culture and second, the resistance toward mainstream values believing that heterosexual relationship is the right one, all of which is represented through their cultural activities in cyberspace. The Method As stated before, this paper writing is based on previous research in 2012 about slash fictions written by several Indonesian women. They uploaded their fictions on the biggest site of fan fiction today. Millions of non-professional writers uploaded their fictions on the site, and those fictions are written in various languages. As the main resource of data, I chose several slash fictions written by Indonesian women who wrote their fiction in Indonesian language. At the first step, textual analysis was done referring to two slash fictions entitled More Than Words (2011) and Another Time Another Attitude (2010). The two fictions were written by two Indonesian women pen-named Confeito and Mizore Kibishi. The analysis was done not only based on the fictions, but also based on the author s note commonly found in the end of the fictions. Author s note sometimes contains the author s comments on the story they have written, but sometimes it is a means of an author to address their readers. By analyzing the two texts, it expected to figure out how the two women construct their expectations concerning sexualities represented through their main characters physical 313

316 attraction and sexual activities. Furthermore, since the research was conducted to figure out how the Internet provides them freedom to speak as subjects, more particularly to speak about sexuality as an issue considered taboo for women to speak frankly in patriarchal value, online interview with Confeito and Mizore was also conducted. In conducting the interview, the two women were initially sent personal message provided in to ask for their agreement as interviewees. The interview was conducted online using chatting facilities on the Internet. Female Gaze and Women s Version of Male Sexualities Slash fiction, being very popular among heterosexual women, is commonly uploaded in personal weblog or particular websites. Considered as the biggest fan fiction site, contains millions of fan fictions written in various languages. In one of her writings, a slash writer pen-named Confeito, depicts the homosexual relationship between two main characters in Harry Potter: Tom Riddle and Harry Potter. Her attempt to exploit male s body is seen in the following quotes of slash fiction: Harry bisa dikatakan sebagai cowok cantik. (They say Harry is a beautiful boy) Dengan wajah berbentuk hati, iris mata indah hijau zamrud, dan bibir merah merekah yang menantang siapapun untuk menciumnya.(with a heart-shaped face, beautiful green eyes and red lips challenging everyone to kiss him) (Confeito: 2011) The foregoing quotes show how Harry s physical appearance is illustrated not only through its physical attraction but also its sensuality. The phrase challenging everyone to kiss him emphasizes such sensuality. Like what is commonly seen in patriarchal media text on women s physical exploitation, Confeito s illustration in her slash is obviously a matter of male s physical exploitation through the character of Harry. Further depiction of homosexualities between Tom and Harry is illustrated by Confeito in the followings:. Jari-jari Tom berlari meraba tubuh Harry. (Tom s fingers ran through Harry s body).... Dalam posisi terikat, dia tersenyum setengah malu-setengah genit pada Tom. (Being tied, he smiled timidly, but seductively, to Tom). Then punish me, Master. Sorotan mata Tom berubah menjadi sorotan predator yang mengincar mangsanya. Dia tanpa segan lalu meremas pantat Harry keras, membungkam desahan Harry dengan ciuman ganas.(tom s eyesight turns predatory ready to attack its preys. He squeezed Harry s bosom hard, silenced Harry s moan with fierce kiss) Harry hanya bisa mengangguk, entah menangkap perkataan Tom atau tidak. (All Harry could do is nodding, either he understood what Tom was saying or not) Dia akhirnya menyerahkan diri pada dominasi kuat Tom. Berada sepenuhnya pada kuasa si laki-laki bermata hijau turquoise (He finally surrendered to Toms domination. Being totally dominated by the man with green turquoise eyes). (Confeito: 2011). The dictions chosen to describe Harry and Tom s sexual activities emphasize Harry s position as a passive object. During their intimacy, Harry is described in tied position saying Punish me, Master. The illustration of Harry s being tied and the words punish, master surrender and domination implies to the unequal power relation between the couple. Harry Potter is placed as a dominated object, and even asks for the domination himself. Confeito also illustrates Harry as a prey and uses the word predatory, which also underlines the domination over Harry. In sum, Harry is portrayed as a sexual object being dominated by his lover. 314

317 What Confeito describes in her slash initially leads me to ponder her attempt in objectifying male s body through the portrayal of Harry. The voyeurism persisting in slash fiction is voyeurism over male s body through his body exploitation and sexual activities. In cyberspace, not only is the male body exploited by the women authors of slash, but also consumed by women readers of slash fiction. This proves that cyberculture enables female gaze to exist. Due to the female gaze in cyber space, it can be said that Mulvey s concept about male gaze in media texts as well as what Hayles says about masculinitst bias in virtual reality are to be reconsidered. The concept of masculinits bias, as Hayles states, corresponds to the logic of capitalist market with its masculine characteristic: the desire to have autonomy and control (Trend: 2001). What Hayles states about masculinits bias, is perhaps, more compatible to the media text representing dominant ideology that places women as objectified gender class. In terms of slash fiction, which represents women s expectation as their respond toward patriarchal values, it is obvious that the concept of male gaze and masculinist bias becomes irrelevant. On account of women slash authors, masculinist bias in cyberspace is potential to transform into feminist bias. In describing the sexual activities between two male characters, it is obvious that Confeito doesn t attempt to be gentle or romantic. Instead, she depicts the sexual activities in a direct language with reference to domination and power over Harry. This shows how Confeito really tries to liberate herself from the sexual taboos she has to face in offline world. As a subject in cyberculture, she ignores the rules in offline world by constructing her expectation about sex; talking about sex using direct language. However, it seems more interesting to me as I continue reading the slash fiction which is closed by Confeito s note: *sigh* Yep, I know I'm pervert. Shush *blushing* (2011). This note shows Confeito s ambivalence. Despite using direct language in her slash, Confeito closes her story by expressing her feeling of embarrassment as she calls herself a pervert. Confeito s saying of being pervert basically represents her limitation in being a real subject in cyberculture. In other words, this shows that Confeito does not totally liberate herself from sexual taboos persisting in patriarchal culture. With regards to homosexualities, I was interested to know more about how Confeito faces challenges in offline world concerning such issue. Being involved as a reader in as well as a researcher on slash fictions in 2012, I managed to make online interview with her. The following quotes show Confeito s response to my questions about whether or not she would be interested in publishing her stories about homosexualities in offline world: Tidak. Indonesia bukanlah negara yang menerima slash dengan suka rela. Masyarakat kita sebagian besar menganggap slash adalah suatu hubungan yang seharusnya tidak boleh dijalani. Saya sebagai warga negara Indonesia harus tahu diri dan menerima hal ini pada batasan tertentu, ie saya hanya akan menulis cerita slash di internet (lebih tepatnya di FFn), dimana orang-orang yang membacanya berkemungkinan besar adalah penggemar slash. Boleh dikatakan, saya ambil jalan amannya saja. (I won t. Slash is not kindly accepted in Indonesia. Most people consider relationship in slash the wrong thing. Being an Indonesian, I really have to know my position. I will go on with this idea of slash relationship in limited area, in the internet, whose readers are also the fans of slash. Let me put it briefly: I want to play safe in this slash matter. (online interview, March 2012) Being a part of society who believes that homosexuality is not acceptable, Confeito decides to keep living in a secure world, where people are more tolerable to the idea. Cyberspace is an ideal place for Confeito in playing with her fantasies, though from the previous elaboration it is obvious that she cannot totally liberate herself from the patriarchal values persisting in offline world. 315

318 Further analysis on Confeito s story reveals more about her ambivalence in being a subject. The character of Harry, being a sexual object, is obviously dependent on the character of Tom, which is also the main character in her slash. This proves that despite exploiting Harry s body, Confeito also poses male s dominance through her characterization of Tom who has power over Harry. It can be said that as a subject, Confeito maintains patriarchal values which pose men as the subject of sex, as portrayed through Tom in her slash fiction. When Confeito illustrates sexual activities between male characters using direct language, Mizore depicts it differently, as seen in the following quotations: Harry, aku selalu menunggu saat ini datang. Aku selalu menunggumu memelukku dan menenangkanku seperti ini. (Harry, I ve been waiting for this moment to come. I ve been waiting for you to hold me and comfort me like this ). Harry merasa jantungnya berdebar kencang ketika Draco mengungkapkan lagi rahasia perasaannya. Ia memejamkan mata pelan ketika mulai memasuki tubuh pria yang sudah lama ia cintai.(harry felt his heart beating fast as Draco expressed his true feeling. He closed his eyes while getting into Draco, the man he had always loved for ages).. Yah, aku disini Draco. Aku mencintaimu, sayang. Harry memeluk erat Draco dan mencium bibirnya lembut. Aku mencintaimu sejak lama. ( I am here, Draco. I love you, honey. Harry hold Draco tight and kissed him gently. I ve loved you since ages ago ) (Mizore, 2010). It is interesting to discuss that in describing the sexual intercourse between Harry and Draco, Mizore refers to a gentle, unhurried attitude which emphasizes more on love expression. In other words, Mizore does not construct her idea about sexual activities with reference to domination or power. It is obvious that the sexual activities between Harry and Draco is not focused on technical matter related to body per se; it focuses on their spiritual intimacy expressed as love between them instead. Sex is not, in Mizore s slash, a matter of sole penetration, but more about their ways in expressing the deepest feeling of love. Mizore is more interested in illustrating emotional attachment between Harry and Draco. When patriarchal media texts commonly pinpoint the notion that sex is closely related to power and conquest, as Seidler has put that sex is a means of proving men s masculinities in Rediscovering Masculinities (1998), Mizore as a subject in cyberspace has a different view through her slash fiction. Sex in Mizore s notion is focused more on emotional attachment between lovers. Sexualities in Mizore s expectation is not autonomous, as Seidler (1998) says, which ignores the emotional aspects. In Mizore s slash, despite being engaged in sexual intercourse, the two male characters emotional attachment is considered more important than sexual intercourse per se. Sexual activities in Mizore s slash does not refer to the belief about sex for the sake of power and conquest. The previous elaboration on the quotes of two slash fictions shows that the women authors have uniqueness in constructing their idea about sexualities. When Confeito is more direct and aggressive in illustrating the sexual activities, Mizore is the otherwise. Due to this distinction between the two authors, further question may rise. Regarding their contrastive illustration on sex, do the two women represent contrastive ideas regarding the dominant ideology? If Confeito is unable to totally liberate herself from patriarchal values, does it mean that Mizore is more successful in her attempt of liberation? Does it mean that, being gentle in portraying the main characters intercourse in her slash, unlike pornography media text which is, as Dowkins (in Seidler, 1998) believes, the perfect example of male s domination over female, Mizore represent her counter idea towards the dominant ideology? To answer this question, it is important to know more about Mizore s subcultural activities in cyberspace. As a slash author, Mizore has two accounts in facebook. One account is specifically made for her fans as a slash author, which disguises her real name. The following shows our conversation about her reason of using a disguised name in one of her facebook accounts: 316

319 Q: ada alasan mengapa akun FB untuk pembaca fanfic disendirikan? (Are there any reasons why you created a specific account for slash readers?) A: karena bahasanya membahayakan, hehehe. Akun FB saya yang asli banyak teman yang baik-baik sih, saya tidak mau mereka menjadi sesat, hoho (because the language (of my slash) is dangerous I have a lot of friends, who are good people, and I certainly don t want them to be deviants (online interview, March 2012). The illustration of sexual activities in Mizore s slash is far from being direct and aggressive. Nevertheless, Mizore finds it necessary to make a special account for her slash readers in facebook due to the language she considers dangerous. On the other hand, Mizore believes that all her friends in her real person account are good people whom she doesn t want to be deviant. This implies that she considers the subcultural activities she has been doing in the internet morally wrong in real life. In deeper level, her subcultural activities concerning slash fiction will keep her from being a good woman in real life. Mizore s attempt to reveal herself as a good woman makes her make two accounts concurrently; one (with her disguised name) for her slash readers and the other with her real name for her friends in real world. Mizore chooses to be a good woman in offline world by hiding herself as a slash author. Regarding the slash fictions and cyberculture, it is obvious that the slash authors attempt to escape from dominant ideology with its patriarchal values in two levels: first, the women attempt to get involved in taboo area ; constructing their ideas through the depiction of sexual activities between main male characters in slash fiction. It implies that cyberculture enables them to have control and power over men and thus, become the subject in terms of sexualities. Secondly, cyberspace paves the way to the women authors of slash to construct gender ideology which is liberated from the hetero-normative values in dominant ideology. It is furthermore seen, however, the slash women authors seem to play in the position of in-between-ness. As has been previously elaborated, they choose to remain safe by disguising themselves as slash women and thus, maintain the dominant ideology regarding sexual activities; which put them as objectified gender class with sexual taboos to avoid. In this point, it is obvious that being actively engaged in subcultural activities as subjects, they cannot, however, become the real subject totally liberated from dominant ideology with its patriarchal values. While previously I see the potential of cyberspace s masculinits bias to transform into feminist bias, in this context the cyberspace seems to lose its feminist spirit due to its inability to totally liberate the women from dominant ideology with its patriarchal values. Conclusion As a new media, internet enables anyone to be actively engaged in cultural text production, instead of merely become passive text consumers. Cyberculture eases people to do what is considered taboos in offline world. In terms of slash fiction, women are potential to break the taboos they face in offline world by doing subcultural activities in cyberspace; constructing their ideas about male sexualities in cyberspace and hence, become the subject. Cyberculture enables female gaze to exist as the women slash authors have power and control over the objectified males as the main characters, which are also objectified by slash readers most of whom are heterosexual women. In slash, the women as slash authors are able to show their resistance toward dominant ideology: their resistance toward women objectification and their resistance toward the hetero-normative relationship. However, their subcultural acitivies in cyberspace cannot totally liberate them from the dominant ideology with its patriarchal values. 317

320 References Bell, David An Introduction to Cyberculture. London: Routledge. Bell, David Cyberculture Theorists. USA: Routledge. Confeito More Than Words. (accessed 12 Januari 2012). Derecho, Abigail Archontic Literature: A Definition, a History and Several Theories of Fan Fiction. Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Age of the Internet: New Essays. Ed Karen Hellekson & Kristin Busse. London: McFarland & Company. Gibson, William Neuromancer. London: Grafton Grossberg, Lawrence & Ellen Wartella Media Making: Mass Media in A Popular Culture. USA: Sage. Hayles, N. Katherine The Seductions of Cyberspace. Reading Digital Culture.ed David Trend. USA: Blackwell Publishing. Hebdige, Dick Subculture: The Meaning of Style. London: Routledge. Jenkins, Henry Textual Poachers. New York: Routledge. Liesbet, Zoonen Van Feminist Media Studies. London: Sage. Mizore Kibishi Another Time and Another Attitude. (accessed Agustus 2011). Mulvey, Laura Visual Pleasure and Narrative C inema. Screen 16.3, Autumn 1975, pp Munti, Ratna Batara Demokrasi Keintiman Seksualitas di Era Global.Yogyakarta: Lkis. Seidler, Victor J Rediscovering Masculinity. London: Routledge. Warianto, Vivi Natalia Konstruksi Peran Gender dalam Rubrik Seks di Majalah Cosmopolitan dan Femina. Surabaya: Universitas Kristen Petra. Wood, Julia T Gendered Media: The Influence of Media on Views of Gender. (Accessed12 Januari 2012) 318

321 Tone Perception Errors in Mandarin Chinese Kay Liu 1 ( 劉采婕 ) and Jason Mattausch 2 ( 馬傑生 ) Providence University Taiwan, R.O.C. 1g @pu.edu.tw, 2 jason@gm.pu.edu.tw Abstract This study investigated tone identification performance of learners of Mandarin Chinese as a foreign language. We sought to determine which of the four lexical tones of Mandarin were most commonly misidentified by Chinese language learners, and to explain the results in terms of a contemporary model of tone perception. The study begins with a perception experiment, whose results are analyzed in terms of an incremental tone perception paradigm. We ultimately argue that the major causes of toneidentification errors of in our study werethreefold: (a) a positive correlation between onset tone height and identifiability,(b) the tendency of subjects to overestimate contour distance, rather than underestimate it, and (c) lack of awareness regarding the so-called 3rd tone half-sandhi of standardchinese. Keywords: tone perception errors, tone sandhi, CFL, gating paradigm Introduction The purpose of this paper is to report and interpret the results of a tone perception experiment involving lexical tones in Mandarin Chinese and adult second-language learners of Mandarin. The authors conducted a toneidentification experiment whose subjects were adult learners of Mandarin Chinesewith 2+ years of Chinese language learning experience,whose mother languages were non-tonal languages. The results show that Mandarin s 2 nd and 3 rd tones were muchmore likely to be misidentified as compared to the other two tones (the 1 st and 4 th tones). In addition, a conspicuous lack of symmetry in the confusion among certain pairs of tones (i.e., mistaking x for y, but not y for x) is noted. We ultimately argue that the cause of the majority of tone-misidentification errors were due to two factors:(a) a positive correlation between onset tone height and identifiability,(b) the tendency of subjects to overestimate contour distance, as opposed to underestimating it, and (c) lack of awareness regarding the so-called 3rd tone halfsandhi of standard Mandarin. Background Mandarin Chinese is a tonal language with four lexical tones, typically referred to as: the 1 st tone, often called a high level tone, e.g., [da ] (pinyin:dā) to hang over something ; the2 nd tone, often called a rising tone, e.g., [da ] (pinyin:dá) to answer ; the3 rd tone, often called a dipping or falling rising tone, e.g., [da ] (pinyin:dǎ) to hit ; and the4 th tone, often called a falling tone, e.g., [da ] (pinyin:dà) big. Following (Lee-Schoenfeld & Kandybowicz, 2009), we identify the underlying forms of the four lexical tones of Mandarin as consisting of various combinations of tone-segments of three different heights: High (H), Mid (M), and Low (L). 1 st tone (T1): /HH/ 2 nd tone (T2): /MH/ 3 rd tone (T3): /MLH/ 4 th tone (T4): /HL/ 319

322 Additionally, the 3 rd tone in Mandarin has three possible pronunciations or allotones. The underlying /MLH/ contour is actually only pronounced fully when the syllable bearing it also bears contrastive stress. (Contrastive stress is exhibited in a phrase like 好看 good looking with emphasis on the contrast with, say, average looking). T3 can also be pronounced as a 2 nd tone, in particular when it appears before another 3 rd tone, as a result of a well-known 3 rd tone sandhi rule of Chinese: T3 T2 / _T3. (The actual rule is a bit more complex, though this will not concern us. See, e.g.,(zhang, 1997)for details.) (Chen, 2000)and(Lee-Schoenfeld & Kandybowicz, 2009), inter alia,also recognize a second type of 3 rd tone sandhi in Mandarin, socalled 3 rd tone half-sandhi, whereby the complex contour of Mandarin s T3 collapses to a midfallingtone, whenever it does not appear before another T3, and is not in a syllable that bears contrastive stress).the half sandhi ruleresults in what is, thus, the most usual pronunciation of the 3 rd tone, and anunderlying /MLH/contour typically surfaces allotonically as [ML]. Figure 1 Allotonic variation of Mandarin s 3 rd tone For speakers whose native language is not tonal, learning to differentiate various tones in a tonal language is often the source of significant difficulty. Much pedagogical and academic attention has been paid to the issue of the teaching and learning of the tones in tonal languages, of which Mandarin Chinese is the most widely spoken in the world.(see, e.g., (Kiriloff, 1969), (Bluhme & Burr, 1971), (Shen, 1989), and(wang, Sereno, & Jongman, 2006).) The goal of this study was to investigate the frequency and character of tone-perception errors of Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) learners, with particular attention paid to which tones caused the most difficulty and what, if any, confusion might be caused by their perception of the the phenomenon of half sandhi and the resulting collapsed 3 rd tone. Methodology In order to examine how well Chinese learners perceive the four tones of Mandarin, and to examine which tones are the most challenging for them, and explain the differences in difficulty among the various tones, we first conducted a tone perception experiment. Our subjects were six adult CFL learners with 2-4 years experience learning Chinese, all of whose native languages(spanish, Japanese and English) were non-tonal. Subjects were played recordings of trisyllabic nonsense-phrases spoken in native Mandarin.The purpose of using meaningless phrases was to insure, as best as possible, that each subject s judgments would need to rely on his/her own actual perception of the phrase and its tones, rather than on his/her knowledge of memorized of vocabulary.the experiment was designed in such a way that the phrasesthat were recorded represented the full range of possibilities of tone patterns that could show up in a three-syllable phrase of Chinese(111, 112, 113,, 444), with a total of sixty-four possible combinations. Thesephrases were played in random order. No word in any of the examples bore contrastive stress, and thus all phrases consisted of syllables with one of four surface tones: T1 [HH], T2 [MH], T3 [ML], or T4 [HL]. 320

323 Pinyin transcriptions (asystem of romanization for Chinese, which all subjects were familiar with, as it is one of the first things they were taught as students of the language), without tone markings, were provided toeach subject for the purpose of recording his/her perception judgments about the tone that each syllable in each phrase bore. The subjects were instructed to add tone markings ( ˉ for T1, ˊ for T2, ˇ for T3, and ˋ for T4) to each syllable to indicate what s/he perceived to be the tone carried by the syllable s/he heard in the recording. Results The average error rate for all the subjects in the experiment was around 20%.This number alone is fairly meaningless, though, as certain tones were much more likely to induce errors than others.the misidentification rates for the four individual tone-types were as shown in Table 1, with the actual tone that was pronounced on the top-horizontal axis and the subjects identifications on the left-vertical axis. The most significant error rates are highlighted. As shown in Table 1, the T1 [HH] and T4 [HL] were the least problematic and were each misidentified less than 7% of the time.on the other hand,the T3 [ML] was misidentified over 25% of the time. Where the T3 was misperceived, it was usually misidentified as a second tone or as a fourth tone.the most problematic of all was the T2 [MH], which was misidentified almost half the time. Very often it was misheard as a third tone, and less often it was misidentified as a first tone.interestingly, every time (27.5%) that a subject falsely identified a syllable as having a third tone, he or she was actually hearing a T2. Table 1 Tone perception errors based on four pronounced surface forms Analysis In order to analyze the error patterns reflected in the data, we referred to the Gating Paradigm model of tone identification proposed by(lai & Zhang, 2008). They propose an incremental model whose first step is to identify the onset tone height, i.e., the height of the first part of the tone segment and whether it is high or mid, then proceed stepwise.based on that model, and on the three tone-height system (H, L and M) proposed by(lee-schoenfeld & 321

324 Kandybowicz, 2009), we may put the five surface tones of Mandarin (T1-T4 + contrastive T3), successful perception of T1 and T4 would both first involve the identification of H_ as the onset tone height, with T1 (red arrow in Figure 2) being resolved as final _H, versus T4 (blue arrow) being recognized as having _L as its final segment. Likewise, correctly identifying T2 or T3 would require the initial identification of M_ as the tone onset height, after which the distinction between the two could be made by distinguishing the final tone segment as either _H (T2, green arrow) or _L (T3, purple arrow).correct identification of the contrastive 3 rd tone [MLH]would require the incremental identification of three tone heights: M_, _L_, and _H (represented by the additional pink arrow), in that order. Figure 2 Procedure for Mandarin tone identification, per (Lai & Zhang, 2008) With these things in mind, the major findings of our experiment can be summarized with three separate points: Fact 1: T1 and T4 were much easier to perceive for CFL learners than T2 and T3. Fact 2: T3 was often misidentified as T4, but T4 was never misidentified as T3. Fact 3: T2 was misidentified as T3 more than twice as often as T3 was misidentified as T2. What follows is an analysis of those facts, taking them one at a time. Interpreting Fact 1: Why are T1 and T4 easier to perceive than T2 and T3? Based on the results of our study, CFL learners ability to distinguish the two groups based on onset tone height was a lopsided affair: Initial-H was interpreted correctly almost 97% of the time. Initial-M was interpreted incorrectly as H more than 30% of the time. Figure 3 Error rates for onset tone height (dotted lines indicate errors) We believe there are three reasons for this. 322

325 Firstly, we can gather that initial H is much easier to identify than initial M, and that it is the less marked choice for the listener. This matches some of the predictions in the generative literature (e.g., (Lee-Schoenfeld and Kandybowicz2009)), which identify H as the most marked tone for the speaker, and thus could be assumed to be the least marked for the auditor.more simply put: it should not surprise us that the tone with the highest pitch is the most identifiable. This interpretation would also help explain why T1, when misidentified was always misidentified as a T2 or a T4, but never as a T3: both the [MH] T2 and the [HL] T4 share a H tone segment with T1, whereas the [ML] T3 does has no H segment. Additionally, regardingthe ease with which CFL learners identified the T1 as compared to the T2 and T3: the fact that the first tone [HH] is the only Mandarin tone that lacks any contour (i.e., any change between the onset tone height and final height) gives it a substantially recognizable character. Finally, regarding the relative ease with which CFL learners identified the T4 as compared to the T2 and T3: the distinction between H and L is greater than the distinction between M and H or M and L. In other words, the T4 has a long-distance contour, which should be easier to hear then the short-distance contours of the T2 and T3. Those three observations alone facts alone would predict that first and fourth tones are much easier to identify than second tones and third tones. Interpreting Fact 2: Why was T3 often misidentified as T4, but never vice versa? In our results,cfl learners confused the [ML] T3 with the [HL] T4 almost 10% of the time they were exposed to a [ML] tone. Conversely, though, [HL] T4 was never misidentified as a third tone. Part of our explanation for this is related to two things that was already observed about Fact 1. Firstly, high onset tones are easier to identify than mid. Secondly, the long-distance contour of the T4 is more easily recognizable than the short-distance contour of T3. Additionally, though, we must also draw the following conclusion: CFL learners tend to overestimate the distance of the contours they perceive, rather than underestimate them.only this fact would fully explain the unidirectionality of the tone perception errors between T3 and T4. In terms of the gating paradigm, Figure 4 illustrates the two types of errors we are talking about, one of which never occurred in our data, and the other which occurs with significant frequency. Figure 4 Error rates misidentifying T3 as T4 and vice versa (dotted lines indicate errors) Interpreting Fact 3: Why wast2 misidentified as T3 more than twice as often as T3 was misidentified as T2? One major question that remains is what to say about the discrepancy between the degrees of difficulty that pertain to T2 and T3. In our study, subjects mistakenly identified the [MH] T2 as a third tone an outstanding 27.5% of the time, but made the opposite mistake misidentifying a 323

326 [ML] T3 as second tone only in only 12.5% of cases. As stated, both T2 and T3 were the most challenging for all subjects, but confusion between the two clearly favored one direction. This invites the questions: if distinguishing H from L is so easy after a H onset tone, why is it so difficult after a M onset tone, and why is one so much more likely to (think that s/he) hear(d) MH as opposed to ML? We think that an intuitive explanation can be given, and is related to the conclusion we drew from Fact 2.We concluded that subjects tend to overestimate the contours of tones rather than underestimate them. With this fact in mind, we believe that listeners who are hearing a final M-to-H rise are often misperceiving it as an L-to-H rise. Recall that, lexically, a third tone is /MLH/. And when learners are introduced to the third tone, that is what they learn, and this is despite the fact that, as noted in section 2, Mandarin s dipping tone is in fact usually not a dipping tone at all, since it is pronounced as [ML] in the large majority of cases.because the phenomenon of half-sandhi is not something that tends to show up in textbooks or other pedagogical instruments, it is likely something that students of Mandarin as a second language are unfamiliar with. Because of their ignorance of this phenomena, they could associate the final rise with the third tone and interpolate a low segment that wasn t actually there. In other words, we believe that the results can be interpreted not as an actual miscue of confusing final H with final L, but rather as a misinterpretation of the [MH] surface form as an [MLH] surface form. (I.e., inferring the existence of a medial L tone where there is in fact none.) In terms of the gating paradigm, it will be a picture that looks as in Figure 6. Where a listener perceives a M-to-H rise, s/he exaggerates his/her experience a bit and mistakes an MH for MLH, being wholly or partially ignorant of the fact that a third tone is usually pronounced [ML] anyway, not [MLH]. Figure 5 Model of [MH] interpreted as [MLH] (T3) tone error Conclusion This research presented here investigated which tones of Mandarin were most easily confusable with which others, and offered an explanation for the most common type of error in terms of a familiar model of tone recognition. In brief, we found evidence in the data that we collected that supports the conclusion that the major discrepancy between the relative ease of identification of T1 and T4 is due to the relative ease with which H onset tones are identified versus M onset tones. Two other major patterns, namely the discrepancy between the tendency to misidentify T3 as T4 (which was common) versus the misidentification of T4 as T3 (which never occurred) and the discrepancy between the tendency to misidentifyt2 as T3 (which was the most common error in the data) versus the misidentification of T3 as T2 (which occurred far less) evidences a tendency for learners to overestimate the distance of tonal contours rather than underestimate them. 324

327 Finally, we argued that a second causal factor contributing to the fact that Mandarin s T2 is most commonly misidentified, and is usually mistaken for a T3 occurs partly due to unfamiliarity with 3 rd tone half-sandhi, which, coupled with athe tendency to exaggerate the distance of tone-contour, causes learners to mistake a [MH] tone for a tone that involves a [ LH] contour, although the latter contour is not present in spoken Mandarin, except when involving contrastive stress. A more formal (i.e., rule-based or constraint-based analysis of the misperception of Mandarin tones by non-native speakers must remain a matter of further research. 325

328 References Bluhme, H.& Burr, R. (1971). An audio-visual display of pitch for teaching Chinese tone. Studies in Linguistics, 22, Chen, M.Y. (2000). Tone Sandhi: Patterns across Chinese Dialects. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Kiriloff, C. (1969). On the auditory discrimination of tones in Mandarin. Phonetica, 20, Lai, Y.& Zhang, J. (2008). Mandarin Lexical Tone Recognition: The Gating Paradigm. Kansas Working Papers in Linguistics, 30, Lee-Schoenfeld, V.& Kandybowicz, J. (2009). Sandhi Sans Derivation: Third Tone Patterns in Mandarin Chinese. University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics, 15(1), Shen, X.S. (1989). Toward a register approach in teaching Mandarin tones. Journal of Chinese Language Teachers Association, 27, Wang, Y., Sereno, J.A.& Jongman, A. (2006). L2 acquisition and processing of Mandarin tones. in LiP., Tan, H.L., Bates, E.,& TzengJ.L.O (eds.), Handbook of East Asian Psycholinguistics (Vol. 1: Chinese), Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Zhang, N. (1997). The Avoidance of the Third Tone Sandhi in Mandarin Chinese. Journal of East Asian Linguistics, 6,

329 Politeness in English of Thailand s Ordinary National Educational Test (O- NET) Krongtham Nuanngam Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia Mahidol University, Thailand krongtham@yahoo.com Abstract Although many studies found pragmatic failures among Thai students learning English as a foreign language, pragmatic aspects in English subject of the O-NET (Thailand s national test) have never been investigated. This paper, therefore, attempts to encourage pragmatic awareness by categorizing the types of linguistic politeness in the O-NET s English conversation section which requires students to fill the gaps of the dialogues with the most appropriate utterance of all options. Completed by the answer keys of all five academic years ( ), 40 dialogues in the tests for Prathom 6 (2009), Matthayom 3 ( ), and Matthayom 6 ( ) students were analyzed by the theories of speech act, adjacency pairs preference, and of politeness. The content of dialogues in the O-NET for three education levels depends on Ministry of Education s standards of learning foreign language (English) which manipulate English teaching in Thai schools and English testing in the national test. The most common type of speech act found in the O-NET is requesting, especially in the tests for Matthayom 6. There are also a number of suggestions, offers, and invitations in that order. According to adjacency pairs preference, it is found several preferred responses (acceptance) of requests, suggestions, offers, and invitations. The number of their dispreferred ones is, however, quite small. Each speech act was constructed based on English conventional structures and strategies as in previous studies. Due to politeness theory of Brown & Levinson (1987), the findings reveal four types of politeness strategies: 1) bald on record, 2) on record with redressive action by positive politeness strategies, 3) on record with redressive action by negative politeness strategies, and 4) off record. This study has implications to teaching English pragmatics for Thai primary and secondary school students. Keywords: linguistic politeness, speech act, adjacency pairs preference, testing, TESOL Introduction Apart from linguistic competence focusing on grammatically correct structures, pragmatic competence dealing with language use in a particular context has been considered crucial to teaching and testing English as a second/ foreign language (Canale & Swain, 1980; Schmidt & Richards, 1980; Bachman 1990; Bachman & Palmer, 1996; Kasper, 1997; Rose & Kasper, 2001; Roever, 2011). Even though many aspects of pragmatic competence have been investigated, pragmatic failure is still found among English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) learners. For Thai EFL learners, it has been recently found, to illustrate, pragmatic transfer in the speech acts of refusal (Wannarak, 2005), and of apology (Thijittang & Lê, 2010; Srisuruk, 2011), and pragmatic failures in the context of hotel front office (Sirikhan & Prapphal, 2011). According to the standards of learning foreign language (English), pragmatic competence has been set as one of the criteria for all students after finishing each basic educational level (Ministry of Education, Thailand, 2001; 2008). These criteria certainly manipulate teaching English in Thai schools and testing English in the national test (NIETS, 2012). As the content and structure of language testing always influence those of language teaching, Rose & Kasper (2001) recommended investigating the ways the existing tests can 327

330 assess pragmatic ability. Hence, English subject in the high-stakes test of Thailand needs to be analyzed in terms of pragmatic perspective. Subsequently, some pragmatic aspects might be noticed significant to be introduced or emphasized in English classrooms where the students can develop their pragmatic competence to reach such learning standards assessed by the national test. In Thailand, the test that every student who is going to finish his/her educational level must take for progression of higher education is the Ordinary National Educational Test (O-NET). The O-NET conducted by the National Institute of Educational Testing Service (NIETS) is for Prathom 6 (P.6), Matthayom 3 (M.3), and Matthayom 6 (M.6) students only. In the O-NET s English, conversation section requiring students to fill the gaps of the dialogues with the most appropriate utterances of all options is, therefore, the assessment of pragmatic knowledge which helps learners to produce and interpret appropriate language in a particular language use setting (Bachman & Palmer, 1996, pp ). Additionally, most of the pragmatic research has been conducted in relation to the theories of politeness which strategies are chosen to perform a certain speech act appropriately or politely in different context (Thomas, 1995; Kasper, 1998, 2009; LoCastro, 2003). For that reason, the objective of this study was to discover the types of linguistic politeness in English conversation section of the O-NET from the first to the recent academic years. As this high-stakes test has been conducted for several years, various types of politeness strategies might be found. Due to Kasper (2004), theories of speech act and conversation analysis are needed to employ altogether as the tools to examine the learners competence. Both theories were used in this study as well to divide all utterances in dialogues into speech acts. As one kind of cultural aspects, politeness strategies of each speech act vary by languages and cultures (LoCastro, 2003; Watts, 2003, 2005). Thus, theory of politeness, especially strategies in English speech acts, is the core framework to analyze each dialogue. As the O-NET is a written test, only linguistic politeness was of interest. Non-linguistic or non-verbal was indeed disregarded. In addition, the sociological variables: social distance, relative power of speakers in the dialogues, and ranking of impositions were not the main factor in analysis process. Although the research data was test items, the elements of language testing including validity, reliability, and authenticity were not judged here. Methodology As a document research, content analysis is its main method. This section will explain how to answer the research question, including the collection of research data, the design of data analysis, and its example. Data collection The tests of English subject for all three educational levels from the academic years of 2005 to 2010 were authoritatively given for this study by the director of the NIETS. As the NIETS provided only the answer keys of the 2009, the others needed to be retrieved from academic publishers. For validity of the answers, the keys with explanation from at least two different academic publishers were counted. Due to such qualification, the keys of the tests for M.6 ( ), and those for M.3 (only 2008) were found. In consequence, the data of this research are all test items and their answers in conversation section of the English subject for P.6 (2009), M.3 (2008 and 2009), and M.6 students ( ). Data analysis Every test item s dialogue, and their correct choice in this section of each educational level were categorized based on Searle s (1975) speech acts, and on Schegloff s (2009) together with Levinson s (1983) preference of adjacency pairs, and then analyzed by Brown & Levinson s (1987) politeness strategies in English language as well as by such related studies. The units of 328

331 analysis are dialogues and correct choices of all data. In conversation section, the number of dialogues which requires the fulfillment of either one or both speakers part varies due to academic years and educational levels, as shown in Table 1. Table 1 The number of dialogues in conversation section of the O-NET s English of all educational levels academic years Level Number of dialogues in each academic year Total P M M Total The research tool is a code sheet for one dialogue, in which all utterances of dialogues together with assigned codes was filled. The codebook with full explanation were designed in reference to literature review of speech acts, conversation analysis and politeness strategies. Figure 1 The academic year of 2009 s test item 9 th for M.6 students Example of code sheet for data analysis: Speakers Utterances Speech acts Politeness strategies A student (S1) Mr. Benson (S2) Excuse me, Mr. Benson. (A) I wonder if you would be available at two this afternoon. (B) Let me see. Oh, yes. I won t be doing anything then. requesting granting (+R) negative 2 - hedge on illocutionary force bald-on-record + reason This example is the dialogue from the test item 9 th of the O-NET s academic year of 2009 for M.6 students. The given situation is that a student (S1) asks to see his instructor (S2). There are two gaps in this dialogue: (A) in the first pair part and (B) in the second one. As the underlined answers were filled in, it is found that the first pair part is the request, and the 329

332 second one is the grant of request preferred response (+R) The politeness strategy in S1 is negative politeness (Strategy 2: Question, Hedge) since S1 asks S2 for his exact free time (at two this afternoon) to see him by using the structure I wonder if... which is regarded as an English expression of performative hedge on illocutionary force in order to avoid assuming that S2 is able or willing to do what S1 requests. The utterance Excuse me, Mr. Benson. is the polite summon to get S2 s attention. In S2, bald-on-record strategy Oh, yes. is used to grant S1 s request, preceded by the request for checking Let me see. and followed by the reason why he is free. Results In order to answer the research question (What types of linguistic politeness are found in English conversation section of the O-NET?), each utterance was classified by theories of speech act and of adjacency pairs preference before the analysis of politeness strategies. The results were divided into three interrelated parts accordingly. Speech act Based on Searle (1975), there are four types of speech acts, the utterances performing specific actions, in the O-NET as in the Table 2 below: Representatives, the speech acts that commit the speaker to the truth of the expressed proposition include stating, answering, disagreeing, and complaining, Directives, the speech acts that are intentionally to cause the addressee to perform a particular action include requesting, suggesting, and warning, Commissives, the speech acts that commit the speaker to some future action, include offering, inviting, and promising; and, Expressives, the speech acts that express the speaker's attitudes and emotions, include thanking, apologizing, welcoming, complimenting, and congratulating. The code in the square brackets refers to [educational level/ academic year /#test item]. Thus, the sample utterance of stating is from the academic year of 2009 s test item 7 th for M.6 students. It was found no declarations, the speech acts that change the reality in reference to the proposition of declaration. The directives, especially requests, were most found. There were also a great number of suggestions, offers, and invitations in that order. Adjacency pairs preference In relation to the notion of preference, the second pair parts are either preferred or dispreferred response to their first pair parts. Due to Levinson (1983) and Schegloff (2009), the results of adjacency pairs preference in the dialogues showed several preferred responses of requests (granting) as in the example of code sheet for data analysis above, of suggestions/offers/invitations (accepting), and of statements (agreeing). But the number of the dispreferred ones (rejecting and disagreeing) was quite small as in the dialogue s excerpt (1). (1) S1: I m thinking of buying a bigger refrigerator. S2: That s a good idea. But it s rather expensive. [M3/09/#15] The dialogue (1) is from the test item 15 th of the academic year 2009 for M.3 students. The utterances of S2 represent the dispreferred response to the first speaker s statement disagreement preceded by token agreement plus but (Malamed, 2010, p. 204). This is one of the thirteen strategies for disagreeing adapted from previous studies 330

333 Table 2 The examples of speech acts in conversation section of the O-NET s English TYPE EXAMPLES SOURCE 1) Representatives - Stating - Answering - Disagreeing - Complaining 2) Directives - Requesting - Suggesting - Warning 3) Commissives - Offering - Inviting - Promising During final exam week, the main library is open 24 hours a day. Joseph Peter Joseph Davis. You can t do that. You re late again! Excuse me, have you got any change? Let s go to the Chinese restaurant again. Look out for that car! Can I help you carry those books? Will you come to the library with me? I promise to do my best. [M6/09/#7] [M6/05/#8-10] [M3/08/#53] [M3/08/#55] [M6/06/#12-15] [M6/06/#1-6] [M3/09/#14] [M3/08/#52] [M6/09/#6] [M6/08/#1-8] 4) Expressives - Thanking - Apologizing - Welcoming - Complimenting - Congratulating Thank you. Oh, I do apologize, Welcome to Bangkok. You ve really done a very good job! Congratulations! [P6/9/#6] [M6/08/#9-15] [M6/09/#5] [M6/09/#10] [M6/07/#8-15] Politeness strategies As presented in the Table 2 above, most speech acts were constructed baldly, without redressive action. This part, therefore, included only those with diverse politeness strategies requests, suggestions, offers, and invitations as well as their preferred and dispreferred responses. The analysis was based on Brown & Levinson s (1987) politeness strategies, and related studies of English speech acts. Requests as stated by Trosborg (1995 as cited in Usó Juan, 2010, p.238) can be divided into two types: requests for a particular object, action or service, and requests for information. To construct the first type in the O-NET, all four politeness strategies are utilized: 1) Bald on record, 2) Positive politeness - Strategy 12: Include both S1 and S2 in the activity, 3) Negative politeness - Strategy 1: Be conventionally indirect, Strategy 2: Question, hedge, and Strategy 6: Apologize, and 4) Off record - Strategy 1: Give hints. As presented in the Table 3 below, only the requests (S1) of this type with their responses (S2) were derived from the whole dialogue. The preferred responses are granting with follow-up question (3&9), with immediate action (5), and with reason (8), as well as granting by a promise (4), and by a suggestion (10). The dispreferred ones are refusals done by apology plus but (2), interjection with explanation (6), and by the most common conventionalized construction of requests refusals I m afraid followed by reason (7), which was also used in (2). 331

334 Table 3: The examples of requests politeness strategies and their responses STRATEGY EXAMPLES [source] 1) Bald on record (2) S1: Please let me go. S2: Sorry, madam, but I m afraid I have to give you a ticket before letting you go... [M6/08/#9-15] 2) On record with redressive action by positive politeness strategies - Strategy 12: Include both S1 and S2 in the activity (3) S1: Let s eat out tonight, okay? S2: That would be nice. Where would you like to go? [M6/06/#1-6] 3) On record with redressive action by negative politeness strategies - Strategy 1: Be conventionally indirect (4) Ability (hearer-based) S1: Can you ask him to return my call? S2: I ll tell him as soon as I see him. [M6/09/#1] (5) Willingness (hearer-based) S1: Fred, will you pass the salt, please? S2: Certainly. Here it is. [P6/09/#9] (6) Permission (hearer-based) S1: May I see your driving license, please? S2: Oh, dear me! I haven t got it with me [M6/08/#9-15] (7) Wishes (speaker-based) S1: I like to get a refund for this shirt. S2: I m afraid you can t, sir, because it was on sale. [M6/06/#7-11] - Strategy 2: Question, hedge - Strategy 6: Apologize (8) S1: I wonder if you would be available at two this afternoon. S2: Let me see. Oh, yes. I won t be doing anything then. [M6/09/#9] (9) S1: Er I m sorry to trouble you again. Can you show me how it works? S2: Sure. What would you like? [M6/06/#12-15] 4) Off record - Strategy 1: Give hints (10) S1: I am awfully hungry. S2: Should we stop working now? [M6/05/#4-7] For another type, requests for information, they are either Yes-No or Wh-questions with on-record responses; S2 provides expected (relevant) answer regarded as a preferred response, directly for S1 s question as in the dialogue s excerpts (11) and (12). (11) S1: Have you two met each other before? 332

335 S2: Oh, yes. John introduced us. [M3/09/#10] (12) S1: What are you doing, Tom? S2: I m watching a basketball game on TV. [M3/09/#9] Suggestions in the O-NET are constructed by both positive politeness - Strategy 12: Include both S (S1) and H (S2) in the activity as in (13/S3), and negative politeness - Strategy 1: Be conventionally indirect in (13/S1) and (14), which are interrogative forms (Martínez Flor, 2010). The second pair part of this speech act can be preferred by acceptance as in (13/S2.2), and dispreferred by refusal with reason (Eslami, 2010) as in (13/S2.1). For the utterance (14), its second pair part was not provided in the test s dialogue. (13) S1: What about the French restaurant at the corner? S2.1: No, the prices are outrageous there. S3: Let s try Tom s Restaurant. The food s all right and it isn t too far from here. We can walk in ten minutes. S2.2: Yes. There is a taxi though. [M6/05/#4-7] (14) But have you checked with your secretary? [M6/09/#8] Offers found in the data are baldly, without redressive as the imperative with please (15), and the statement (16) as well as on record with redressive action by positive politeness strategies - Strategy 10: Offer, promise in the telephone conversation (17), and at the store in person (18). All responses to these offers are preferred by performing action, thanking, and by requesting Yes-No interrogative and declarative of wish in that order. (15) S1: Hello, Ladda. Please take a seat. S2: Good morning, Mrs. Carson [M6/08/#1-8] (16) S1: This gift is just for you. S2: Oh. Thank you so much. [M3/08#50] (17) S1: Hello, MC Apartment. Can I help you? S2: Have you got a room for rent? [M6/07/#1-7] (18) S1: Good afternoon, sir. Can I help you? S2: Yes, I d like to get a refund for this shirt. [M6/06/#7-11] Invitations, quite similar to offers, are baldly, without redressive as in the declarative (19), and also created by Strategy 13: Give (or ask for) reason of positive politeness with imperative in (20) as well as with interrogative in (21). This speech act s responses are preferred as acceptance with promise in (21), and dispreferred as refusals with reason in (19). The utterance s (20) second pair part was not given in the test s dialogue. (19) S1: We d like to have you and your family over for dinner next Saturday evening. S2: Oh, dear! I m afraid we can t make it this Saturday. My daughter is rehearsing a play at her school. [M6/07/#8-15] (20) Oh, come on. Go with me. There won t be another match like this. [M6/09/#3] 333

336 (21) S1: Jum, I m going for a swim tomorrow. Would you like to come? S2: I d love to. I ll see you at the pool, then [P6/09/#8] To summarize, most of the English speech acts in the O-NET s conversation section were constructed, apart from the baldly on record, by politeness strategies compatible with its either positive or negative face-threatening act (FTA). To make it clear, requests and suggestions threatening hearer s negative face were usually done by negative politeness strategies, while offers and invitations threatening their positive face were mostly done by positive politeness strategies. Off-record strategy was used once as a request (see in Table 3). Discussion and conclusions In conclusion, the majority of utterances in English conversation section of the O-NET were constructed by bald-on-record strategy. Only the construction of requests, the most frequent speech act found in this section, was done by all four types of Brown & Levinson s (1987) politeness strategies. For other speech acts, negative politeness strategies and positive politeness strategies were also utilized mostly in agreement with their corresponding types of FTA, but only one off-record strategy was found. Although a number of types are strikingly different, the findings can confirm the hypothesis on the variety of linguistic politeness in this section. Despite of several English speech acts in this national test, the analysis of each educational level s tests of all academic years, however, revealed its limitation of some types of speech acts. To illustrate, the speech act of requesting for a particular object, action or service was not found in any tests for M.3 students, but plentiful in those for M.6 ones. In reference to previous studies, the utterances in each speech act were created based on their English conventional structures and politeness strategies. Even though the second pair parts of some utterances were not provided in the O-NET s dialogues, it was found both preferred and dispreferred responses with different structures as well as politeness strategies. In accordance with the results, the content of dialogues in the O-NET for three education levels depends on the standards of learning foreign language (English) in Basic Education Curriculum A.D which was elaborated and revised in Basic Education Core Curriculum A.D In the recent version, the learners quality as graduating basic educational levels is clearly stated (Ministry of Education, Thailand, 2008), and used for designing the O-NET since the academic year of 2009 (NIETS, 2012). For P.6 students, the given situations are simple and often experienced in daily context, such as greeting and requesting. Most utterances in dialogues for P.6 also reflect conversational routines in English (Aijmer, 1996). For M.3 students, the dialogues topics are more complex, but still related to family, school, as well as friendship. For M.6 students, the situations in are not totally complicated but some may be unusual for students. The latest test (2009) for M.6 whose format is similar to those for M.3 and P.6 consists of general and specific situations which require interpretation together with selection of expressions to react appropriately. Consequently, the ways the O-NET assess pragmatic knowledge of Thai EFL learners in three educational levels should be realized for developing not only test scores but also communicative skills. It is important to encourage pragmatic awareness, especially the same and the different aspects of speech acts between the native language (Thai) and the target language (English). If such aspects cannot be differentiated, pragmatic failures will occur in intercultural communication. Certainly, there are numerous kinds of teaching methodology to be properly applied for students in each educational level, and previous studies are the beneficial sources for making a decision. Since the students are aware of English speech acts, the 334

337 use of appropriate or polite utterances in a particular context can be taught. Based on English learning standards and content in the national test, teaching English pragmatics for Thai primary (before finishing P.6) and secondary (before finishing M.3 and M.6) school students should not be the same in terms of materials and activities. For primary school students, basic speech acts in English should be introduced by examples via short written conversations with illustrations or via motion pictures, and be developed by common tasks like exercises, work sheets and role plays. For secondary school students, basic speech acts in English should be reviewed including their politeness strategies, and compared to those in Thai. More complex speech acts frequently used in daily routines can be taught by those common tasks and by activities involving real conversations produced by English speakers. For high school students, politeness strategies of speech acts in a certain context like telephone conversation should be emphasized via media, role plays or created activities. Moreover, the interpretation of and the appropriate expressions to react to declaratives of good or bad situations should be explicitly taught. However, language teachers may add English pragmatics in any available lessons of the main materials. The teaching methodology can be adjusted concerning students English proficiency, their learning styles, and classroom environment. According to the recent research, Martínez Flor & Usó Juan (2010) suggested making simulated situations for students to use the learned speech acts of foreign language via classroom activities, whose effectiveness needs to be investigated among Thai students in all educational levels as the future research. 335

338 References Aijmer, K. (1996). Conversational routines in English: convention and creativity. Singapore: Longman Singapore Publishers. Bachman, L. F. (1990). Fundamental considerations in language testing. New York: Oxford University Press. Bachman, L.F. & Palmer, A.S. (1996). Language Testing in Practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Brown, P. & Levinson, S.C. (1987). Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Canale, M. & Swain, M. (1980). Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second language teaching and testing, Applied Linguistics, 1, Eslami, Z. R. (2010). Refusals: how to develop appropriate refusal strategies. In Martínez Flor, A. & Usó Juan, E. (Eds.), Speech act performance: theoretical, empirical and methodological issues (pp ). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Pub. Company. Kasper, G. (1997). Can pragmatic competence be taught? [HTML document]. Honolulu: University of Hawaii, Second Language Teaching & Curriculum Center. Retrieved March 24, 2012, from (1998). Politeness. In Mey, L.J. (Ed.), Concise encyclopedia of pragmatics (pp ). New York: Elsevier.. (2004). Speech acts in (inter)action: Repeated questions. Intercultural Pragmatics, 1(1), (2009). Politeness. In D'hondt, S, Ostman, J., & Verschueren, J. (Eds.), The pragmatics of interaction (pp ). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing. Levinson, S. C. (1983). Pragmatics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. LoCastro, V. (2003). An introduction to pragmatics: social action for language teachers. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Malamed, L. H. (2010). Disagreement: how to disagree agreeably. In Martínez Flor, A. & Usó Juan, E. (Eds.), Speech act performance: theoretical, empirical and methodological issues (pp ). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Pub. Company. Martínez Flor, A. (2010). Suggestions: how social norms affect pragmatic behaviour. In Martínez Flor, A. & Usó Juan, E. (Eds.), Speech act performance: theoretical, empirical and methodological issues (pp ). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Pub. Company. Martínez Flor, A. & Usó Juan, E. (Eds.). (2010). Speech act performance: theoretical, empirical and methodological issues. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Pub. Company. Ministry of Education, Thailand. (2001). Basic Education Curriculum B.E (A.D. 2001) (Electronic version). Retrieved March 3, 2012, from (2008). Basic Education Core Curriculum B.E (A.D. 2008) (Electronic version). Retrieved March 3, 2012, from NIETS. (2012). Kan Nam Phon Khanaen Kan Thotsop O-NET Pai Chai Patthana Kan Rian Kan Son Lae Yok Radap Phonsamrit Thang Kan Rian [The Use of O-NET Results for Developing Teaching Methodologies, and Improving Learning Achievement]. Bangkok: NIETS. 336

339 Roever, C. (2011). Testing of second language pragmatics: Past and future. Language Testing, 28 (4) Rose, K.R. & Kasper, G. (2001). Pragmatics in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Schegloff, E.A. (2009). Sequence organization in interaction: a primer in conversation analysis I. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Schmidt, R. W. & Richards, J.C. (1980). Speech acts and second language learning. Applied Linguistics, 1, Searle, J.R. (1975). A Taxonomy of Illocutionary Acts. Language, Mind, and Knowledge, 7, Sirikhan, S. & Prapphal, K. (2011). Assessing pragmatic ability of Thai hotel management and tourism students in the context of hotel front office department. Asian EFL Journal Professional Teaching Articles, 53, Srisuruk, P. (2011). Politeness and pragmatic competence in Thai speakers of English. Doctoral dissertation, Newcastle University, U.K. Retrieved December 3, 2012, from Thijittang, A. & Lê, T. (2011). Pragmatics Strategies of English of Thai University Students. Paper presented at the AARE International Education Research Conference, Australian Association for Research in Education, Australia. Thomas, J. (1995). Meaning in interaction: An introduction to pragmatics. London: Longman. Usó Juan, E. (2010). Requests: a sociopragmatic approach. In Martínez Flor, A. & Usó Juan, E. (Eds.), Speech act performance: theoretical, empirical and methodological issues (pp ). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Pub. Company. Wannaruk, A. (2005, October). Pragmatic transfer in Thai EFL refusals. Paper presented at the 13 th Annual KOTESOL International Conference, Sookmyung Women s University, Korea. Watts, R.J. (2003). Politeness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.. (2005). Linguistic polite research: Quo vadis? (2 nd ed.). In Watts, R.J., Ide, S., & Ehlich, K. (Eds.), Politeness in language: studies in its history, theory and practice (pp.xi-xlvii). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. 337

340 How can Thai students learn Spanish literature? A practical approach. María de las Mercedes Fuentes Hurtado Spanish Department Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. Khon Kaen University.Thailand. mfuentes.kku@gmail.com Abstract Teaching Spanish Literature is a complicated task when students don t have a high level of Spanish. Even for native Spanish people, understanding literary text and poems is hard, above all if they were written before the XIX century. However, Literature can be taught in different ways to allow Thai students to learn without feeling disappointed or upset because of complicated texts. Assorted activities can be designed to facilitate the learning for Thai students who study Spanish literature. From another point of view, Literature can be an excuse to improve students capabilities and skills in oral and written Spanish language. This article will be based on several activities that have been created to teach literature to Thai students at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, taking into account that these students don t have a high Spanish level. With these activities designed especially for them, their oral comprehension, oral expression, writing comprehension and writing expression skills will improve through Spanish Literature. Besides, these activities are very useful due to the fact that they can be easily adapted to teach other languages, not only Spanish. Keywords:activities, Literature, Spanish. Introduction Literature is one of the most complicated subjects for students of all languages, even when they study Literature in their own language. The task is even harder when they study Literature in a foreign language and this is the case of students who study Spanish all over the world. Bernal Marín (2012) explainhow Literature has been traditionally taught in Spanish lessons,most of times, Spanish teachers present to their students literary resources in the same way that they would teach to native students. That makes that Spanish lessons go far away from real interests of learners(own translation). Reviewing texts books specially dedicate to teach Literature to Spanish learners (Cabrales, 2009), it is easy to realize that they are very similar to text books created for Spanish native students who study at secondary school. Due to the fact that Spanish learners have different needs and interests from native students, it is important to take into account these differences to adapt resources presented in class to the students who will use them in class. Literary texts are supposed to include difficult words or, in the opinion of authors, words that make the text more beautiful. In fact, this is one of the main objectives of Literature, to combine words to create a stunning text that cannot be created by everybody, only by experts in literary texts that develop their imagination playing with words and using them in a way that normal people don t do. This is the point that makes a wonderful author different, in comparison to normal people who use words of the language in a simple way only to communicate with others. 338

341 The beauty of Literature is sometimes difficult to appreciate for students of foreign language, because they see a huge wall between the literary texts and themselves. Quoting again to Bernal Marin (2012), literary text includes too rich and too complex vocabulary. That can block the student. Or in other way: it is likely that the learner feel scared because of the difficulty of the text(own translation).in my humble opinion, the real work of a language teacher is to demolish that wall in order to bring literary texts closer to students. Closing the gap between Literature and students requires a big dose of imagination, above all if teachers are working with students that have not already reached a high level of the language and can be classified as students with A2 or B1 levels according to the international guidelines of CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference) for languages, which describes six levels from A1(breakthrough or beginner) to C2 (mastery or proficiency). Despite the description of the level being quite wide, I would like to focus my work on students who have a level similar to A2 or B1. The main reason is that Literature, in Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Khon Kaen University, is taught in the Fourth Year of Spanish Studies and students at this Fourth Year have not reached a level superior to A2 or B1, taking into account the guidelines of CEFR. CEFR describes A2 and B1 learning levels as it is shown below in Table 1. Table 1 A2 Way stage or elementary Can understand sentences and frequently used expressions related to areas of most immediate relevance (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment). Can communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters. Can describe in simple terms aspects of his/her background, immediate environment and matters in areas of immediate need. B1 Threshold or intermediate Can understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure, etc. Can deal with most situations likely to arise while travelling in an area where the language is spoken. Can produce simple connected text on topics that are familiar or of personal interest. Can describe experiences and events, dreams, hopes and ambitions and briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans. 339

342 As it is shown in Table 1, students who belong to A2 or B1 levels can deal with text on topics that are familiar to them or have an immediate relevance. Therefore, students will find great difficulties understanding texts which include more thanjust simple connectors such as: and or because (y and porque, in Spanish). Unfortunately, authors do not care whether their texts are appropriated to be used in language lessons for A1 or B2 students, so the work of the teachers consists in choosing, from the Literature, the best examples to motivate their students when they face a literary text and learn about an author s life and work. To make Literature a little simpler and much more interesting for Thai students who study Spanish, a whole class activities addressed to them have been created especially for them in order to cover their educational needs and interests.activities designed by Palencia and Borobio in ELE Actual (2012) for Spanish students have been used as an example to develop much more activities adapted to Thai students. Some of these activities will be described below. Activities proposed. The activities presented below are especially created for Thai students who are enrolled in Spanish Language and have to study the subject of Literature in their Fourth Year when they have reached an A2 or B1 level according to CEFR of Languages. Although these activities are suitable for teaching Spanish Literature, they can be easily adapted to teach other second or foreign languages following the guidelines provided. These activities are organized in the followingfivegroups. However, some activities belong to several groups and help to improve two or more skills. Activities to improve oral expression: pronunciation Activities to improve oral expression: speaking skill Activities to improve oral comprehension: listening skill Activities to improve writing expression: writing skill Activities to improve writing comprehension: reading skill Activities to improve oral expression: pronunciation. In Literature lessons, the teacher can create a pleasant ambiance where students can practice their pronunciation while they are having fun with their classmates. Below, some activities, whose aim is improving Spanish pronunciation, are presented. Poetry to improve Spanish pronunciation Title Contest of poems recitation. Introduction Some of students are not very interested in poetry and it is very likely that they do not read poems very often even in their own language. However, an easy activity can be performed in class to improve pronunciation and intonation using poetry. 340

343 Guidelines Every student has to look for a poem on the Internet by one important author who writes in Spanish, for example Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer or Pablo Neruda. Teacher can help to students in this task by giving them a list of poems which contains vocabulary adapted to their level with some new words to learn. Once each student has chosen their favorite poem, teacher has to check in class to see if the students know how to pronounce every single word. Students have to learn by heart the poem in a period of one week practicing reading aloud at home. Finally, all students have to recite their poem and a jury composed by native speakers decides who is the winner and presents the award. Commentary Students usually find an extra motivation if the activity implies an award at the end. Besides, they are free to choose the poem that they like the most and the teacher can advise but not impose any poem or author. Theater play in class Title Actors and actress for one day. Introduction In Spanish, there are a lot of wonderful theater plays written by well known authors. Some of them has been changed and adapted to Spanish language today and can be used in class with students even if they are ancient theater play. Guidelines One of the most important theater plays in Spanish is Don Juan Tenorio which is often played in Spain and Mexico every year on the night of 31 st of October. The text of this theater play can be found adapted to kids, and this is very useful for Thai students. This theater play is divided into several acts so, students will be separated in groups and, after practicing at home, each group will play the role of different characters one day in class. Commentary Not a lot of preparation time is needed, nor wonderful set or costumes, students can simply use can used old clothes that they can find at home. Thanks to that activity,they will know the plot of the story while they are playing. Activities to improve oral expression: speaking skill. It is not only important to bring Literature closer to students, it is even more important to improve their skills in Literature lessons. In the activities presented below, students will learn how to make a presentation, how to speak in public and details about the life and work of well know authors. 341

344 Presentations Title Authors life and work presentations. Introduction In this activity students have to present in class to their classmate the work and life of one author that the teacher proposes. Guidelines Instead of it being the teacher who explains the life and work of relevant authors, students will be teachers for one day for their classmates. Teacher proposes different authors to be presented in class. In groups, students prepare a Power Point presentation with the information that teacher provides them and with the data that they look for on the Internet doing a small research. Teacher should give them a guideline about how to make a good presentation and speak in public: explanatory slides including videos or pictures, body language during presentation, avoiding reading, and so on. Finally, students who attend lessons could make ask their colleagues questions. Commentary Students can feel bored if teacher is always the person who explains things in class. They can show more interest if their classmates explain the life and work of an author using words that they already know. Expo Title Expo of poets of the Generation of 27 Introduction Students will develop their imagination to create posters about poets of the Generation of 27. Guidelines Spanish poets of the Generation of 27 are admired all over the world, so, in pairs, students will create a poster about one of these authors explaining some details about their life and work. All posters will be exhibited in class and other Spanish students or native people will be invited to enjoy the expo. Each pair should explain in Spanish some details about the author when somebody goes toward their poster. Commentary Students will appreciate that their work is shown in an expo and other people will enjoy it. This is an extra motivation to work harder on the project. Besides, learning about authors lives, students will learn more about Spanish History and social life at that time. Activities to improve oral comprehension:listening skill. 342

345 Nowadays, technology allows us to have a lot of resources that can be used in class to make lesson more enjoyable for students. The activities that are presented below take advantage of videos and audio files than can easily be found on the Internet. Films Title La Celestina novel and film. Introduction Students will approach to learn about characters and the story of the novel La Celestina written in s. XVI, through the Spanish film starring Penélope Cruz. Guidelines The students have to guess the story of La Celestina through small videos shown in class which comes from the Spanish film starring by the celebrity Penélope Cruz, where key moments of the story appear. Commentary This film contains some sex scenes that make the film not suitable to be shown in class completely, so only parts avoiding sex scenes will be shown. This activity could be adapted easily to present in class other important novels that have been made into a film, for example, the Mexican novel Como agua para chocolate. Interviews Title Isabel Allende and her work. Introduction Most of current novelistsare interviewed in TV programs every time they publish a new novel. This is the case of the Chilean writer Isabel Allende. Guidelines A video of an interview of the author Isabel Allende will be shown in class while students have to answer in a paper, previously given to them, some questions about the video. Commentary This activity resultsproves very interesting with interviews of writers from different countries where Spanish is spoken, so that student can listen the varieties of the Spanish language through the voice of well known writers. Activities to improve writing expression: writing skill. Literature gives the opportunity to teachers to improve students writing skill. First of all, students are in contact with very well written texts that can be used as examples. Besides, Literature can help students to develop their imagination when they create their own texts. Modifying important novels 343

346 Title Change the end. Introduction Students will be writers for one day and they will have the opportunity to change the end of well known novels as if they were the real author. Guidelines Teacher presents some novels from different authors talking about the story with pictures of the characters. Teacher tells the story line and explains with details the end of the story. Students have to rewrite in pairs a new ending for this story. Commentary Students will feel free to choose the end of the story, so they will not be intimidated about the wrong details of their story line because they can invent a complete new story with the same characters. Easy poems for students of Spanish Title Creating Gregerías Introduction The Spanish author Ramón Gómez de la Serna wrote a lot of small poems with only two verses called greguerías which are similar to Japanese haiku. Guidelines After reading some greguerías by R.G. de la Serna and trying to explain the meaning in other words, students will write individually their own greguerías trying to represent with a drawing their meaning. All works will be shown on the walls in order that other students can enjoy them. Commentary It is important that students do not feel that their work will be lost into the teacher s drawer. If teacher has the opportunity to show the student s work, they will feel more motivated and very likely proud of themselves. Working with comics Title Mafalda and their friends. Introduction Mafalda is a famous Argentinian comic about a girl who is very clever and give us important moral lessons through her words. Guidelines Students will be read some examples of Mafalda comic strips. After that, teacher will give to the students several comic strips but with the text erased. Students will have to rewrite the comic taking into account the pictures that appear in the comic 344

347 strips. Commentary This comic is very suitable to shown the students the variety of Spanish language in Argentina and they can help to develop their imagination rewriting the story using new vocabulary to fit the pictures. Activities to improve writing comprehension: reading skill. For Thai students who study Spanish it is very hard to deal with the original text of a novel written in Spanish. To make Literature more achievable for them, summaries of novels written by young native students who study Literature, as well, can be more suitable for Thai students. Reorder texts Title Text in parts. Introduction Teacher can find on Internet the resume of well known novels in Spanish. These texts, more suitable for Thai students than the original one, can be used in class. Guidelines Teacher gives to the students a text which tells the story of a novel that it is important that the students know, but the texts have to be separated in paragraphs with no order. Students have to read carefully the different paragraphs and try to join them in the correct way. Commentary This activity can be performed using texts which tell the life of the author, as well. Choosing the best character for every statement Title Who said what? Introduction Theater plays can be an easy way to show students to Literature without deal with very complicated texts full of vocabulary that they don t know and make them feel disappointed. Guidelines First of all, teacher explains in class the characters that star the theater play and talk a little about the story line. After that, teacher gives to the studentsa text about a theater play where the names of the characters have been erased. Students have to read carefully the text carefully and decide which character speaks in every each statement. Commentary This activity can be performed using dialogs in novels, although in the original novel the names of the speakers do not usually appear. 345

348 Conclusions Literature does not have to be a hard task for students; on the contrary, Literature can be used by teachers to improve oraland writing expression and comprehension. What is most important is that teachers have to take into account which kind of students attends their lessons. For example, Thai students who study Spanish are interested in working in companies where Spanish is spoken, for example in travel agencies, hotels or Spanish and Latin American companies with headquarters in Thailand. So, they really need to improve their Spanish to reach a high level. This is more important to them than learning by heart names and dates about all authors who have written beautiful novels or poems in Spanish. For a teacher, the aim in Literature lessons has to be focusing on their students, understanding their needs and trying to help them to achieve them. Maybe, through contact with literary texts by Spanish or Latin American writers, they can discover novels, poems o theater plays that might be interesting for them in the future to be read completely in their original version when students reach a higher Spanish level. Besides, little by little, Literature will open students minds and will make them grow up in several aspects, but the main objective is that Literature helps them to improve their Spanish to be able to communicate fluentlywith accuracy in a complicated language that is not their mother tongue. After one semester teaching Literature to Thai students using the activities previously described, it can be said that students have learn more and in an easier way that in the traditional way. Before putting into practice these new activities, students said that Literature was very hard for them and almost impossible to learn. After using these activities in class, a survey was conducted to know students opinion about Literature lessons.thai students at Khon Kaen University affirmed that they prefer learn Literature while they are doing useful and funny activities like reciting poems, listening interviews about authors life and work or performing short theater plays instead of listening to the teacher who explain Literature to them. It is relevant that 90% of students said that the best activity for them is watching films or videos related to novels to understand betterthe argument and they get bored or lost when teacher speaks about a novel. Students suggested too that teachers should prepare more games for Literature lessons. The aim of the activities presented in this article is to be an example of multiple possibilities that Literature bring us to teacher even when our students do not have a high language level.all activities are useful to improve the knowledge of Literature to students but in an easy way for them while they enjoy learning. These activities represent a different option to master classes where the teacher speaks about Literature and students don t have the opportunity to participate actively. In these proposed activities, the students get involved in their own learning while joining in with theircolleagues. 346

349 References Bernal Marín, M. J. (2012). La literatura en el aula de E/LE. Retrieved from RedEle/Biblioteca/2012bv13/2012_BV_13_06BernalMartin.pdf?documentId=0901e72b 8125b8af Cabrales, J. M. &Hernández,G. (2009). Literatura española y latinoamericana 1: de la Edad Media al Neoclasicismo. SGEL (Ed.). Madrid. Cabrales, J. M. &Hernández,G. (2009). Literatura española y latinoamericana 2: del Romanticismo a la actualidad.sgel (Ed.). Madrid. Council of Europe. Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) (2007). European Language Portfolio. Retrieved from Palencia, R. & Borobio, V. (2012).ELE Actual B1. Curso de español para extranjeros. SM (Ed.). Madrid. 347

350 An Investigation of Students Types and Frequency of Errors in Paragraph Writing Marilou L. Villas English Lecturer, Faculty of Management Science UbonRatchathani University Abstract Writing effectively is highly regarded in the world of academe. In fact, it is a chief tool to succeed in any scholastic challenges equally important to thrive in future professional career. For second language learners, writing is a difficult skill to acquire and develop. Students at any level face several problems and numerous errors in writing. This study investigates the types and frequency of errors students made in paragraph writing. The researcher utilized first-year Thai students enrolled in the International Program taking Intensive English writing class. Using writing tasks approaches, students were required to submit a daily diary entries as a course requirement and as a tool to assess their writing performance used in this study. Researcher provided teacher feedback strategies focused on correcting errors, giving comments and suggestions for students writing improvement. A standard format for paragraph writing consisting of 10 criteria was used for evaluating the types of errors. The study showed that 65.88% of students made all types of errors in paragraph writing. Being aware of their mistakes,41.62% of them were able to correct their own errors. Meanwhile, a high percentage of the study revealed that the students need help from their teacher. Thus, the researcher suggests teachers to continually provide environment to practice writing both inside and outside classroom learning and offer positive direct feedbacks to the students at possible means. Also, a collaborative work between teacher and students providing support necessary for building confidence through group interaction and an exchange of knowledge is equally important. Keywords: Writing, Types of Errors in Writing, Frequency of Errors, Teacher s Writing Feedback, Peer Correction in Writing Introduction Excellent writing skill is very important nowadays. It is vital tool for anyone to succeedespecially in any academic or business related communities. College students face rigorous tasks by producing numerous academic papers mainly to evaluate how they demonstrate their knowledge and show proficiency with certain disciplinary skills of thinking, interpreting and presenting (Irvin 2010).Inability to meet these learning expectations greatly affects the students academic performance. Hence, writing effectively constitutes good academic standing. For business professionals such as finance, marketing and human resource managers need good writing to properly convey their ideas and concepts. Some of their tasks involve various company communications such as writing s, reports, sales materials and brochures. Writing without discreet can create serious problems for the person as well as the company (Suttle, 2009). Similarly, for EFL international business management students, it is 348

351 imperative that they should give extra effort to improve their ability to write fluently and effectively in English since the great deal of their future work will involve writing reports, presentations, business proposals, company s advertisement, visual aids etc. needed in all major industries of international business. However, developing English writing ability is seriously difficult for second language learners. Its nature of complexities spring from the relying fact emerged between the native and the second language differences both in cognitive process and socio-cultural expectations (Silva 1993). As a result, students mental process is constantly challenged when writingrequiring sufficient time and energy (Liu and Braine 2005: ). This constant strenuous mental activity consequently leads to more writing errors in student writing. Writing errors as defined by Corder (1971) and Norrish (1983) are the result of failure of performance and a systematic deviation. They stated that errors are committed based on the writers failure to learn previous concept. Additionally, Reid (1993) and Richards (1971) argued that errors occur because learners fail to acquire the significant knowledge of the target language. Reid (1993) strongly believes that because of first language interference is one of the distinct factors that makes writing more complicated and difficult for L2 writers resulting to inevitable occurrence of grammatical errors in their writing.in the study conducted bysereebenjapol (2003), types and frequency of errors occurring in scientific theses are analyzed to examine the source of errors found in four categories, which are syntax, lexis, morphology and orthography, respectively. It is found that the most frequent local errors are the use of subordinators and conjunctions. The causes of each error vary reflecting on the students carelessness, incomplete application of rules, and differences between English and Thai. It can be seen that errors occur because of L1 interference as a distinct cause of L2 writing problem. Moreover, a number of research studies werefurtherlyconducted which sought to identify/analyze frequent errors and common problems of second language learners in writing. Chen (2007) identified student s writing problems in the misuse of cohesive devices among 23 EFL Chinese undergraduates using essay test as an instrument. It has shown that the students were able to use various cohesive devices in their writing. Lexical devices had the highest percentage of use, followed by reference devices and conjunctions. Also, this study found out that there is no significant relationship between the number of cohesive devices and writing quality.boettger (2012) carried out a study on the types of errors found in 13 editing tests administered to prospective medical editors. Theresults indicate that grammatical/mechanical and style errors had a higher than expected frequency and the most predominant error was unnecessary or missing capitalization. In Thailand, Sattayam and Ratanapinyowong (2011) found out the types and frequency of errors in paragraph writing in English committed by 134first year medical students from four medical schools at Mahidol University. They were assigned to write an opinion paragraph in English on medical ethics based on a reading passage chosen from the Internet. It was shown that most students had errors in standard format of paragraph writing.thananart (2000:88-101) examined errors in comparison and contrast paragraphs written by EFL university students at Chulalongkorn University. The vast majority of errors were grammatical structure (73.86%), and the other types of errors were errors in using transition signals (10.01%), verb forms (7.68%), word choice (6.90%) and spelling (1.55%). Instructors as the one obligated to correct students writing which often bring negative impact to students can actually shift responsibility to students themselves that proves more 349

352 effective and motivating. Studies have found that students can catch more than 60% of their own errors if they are taught to proofread and are held accountable for correctness in their writing (Kittredge, 2003).When students correct their own writing; they begin to reflect on their mistakes and improve their writing (Pulverness, 2010).This way, students are more reflective on their work and be more cautious in committing writing errors. In the Faculty of Management Science in UbonRatchathani University, students enrolled in International Bachelor of Business Administration major are required to take one-year Intensive English class in writing. The students acquire a wider experience and environment where they can study and practice the four English skills namely speaking, listening, reading and writing as taught by foreign teachers in separate classes. In intensive writing class, students are required to write daily diaries from various topics given at the beginning of the course as part of their project. With this approach, students are engaged to a more effective way to exercise writing through using their real-life experience as the baseline for writing called contextualized writing (Hedge, 2010). The researcher realized the importance of developing further the skill in written communication among L2 students. Thus, it is imperative that language teachers should provide any means possible to educate students as better language learners. For that reason, this study was conceived to evaluate the writing skills of first-year IBBA students in writing English paragraphs and identify the types and frequency of errors made in order to develop guidelines for correction and improvement of their writing skills especially these students are taking all subjects taught English. Research Questions This study attempted to find out the first year students types and frequency of errors in paragraph writing. Specifically, it sought answers to the following questions: 1. What are the types and frequency of errors made by students in writing? 2. Which types of errors to which students could correct by themselves? Research Design and Methodology This study utilized a descriptive design. This method is used to collect information that will describe naturally occurring phenomenon and other characteristics of a particular group. Bickman and Rog (1998) suggest that descriptive studies can answer questions such as what is or what was. This design is appropriate as to the objectives stated above from which the researcher derived her study. Subjects of the study included all (22) first-year students of UbonRatchathani University taking up International Bachelor of Business Administration. This sampling method used complete enumeration sampling technique which means, a set of objects from a parent population that includes all such objects that satisfy a set of well-defined selection criteria. Holmes (2004) stated that complete enumeration of some variables is always needed to obtain raising factors when totals of variables are required. In the case of this study, all first year students enrolled in IBBA were counted as samples since the size of the population is considerably small. They are divided into three levels according to their English ability- 6 students from level 1, 8 students from level 2 and 8 students from level 3. Level 3 is the highest level and level 1 is the lowest. The subjects were required to write diary entries submitted in a daily basis. Each entry includes a set of topics either in question or situational type. Students were instructed to write a paragraph about the given topic and hand it on for suggestions and comments from the teacher. Following this process, the teacher then allowed 30 minutes for students to correct their own 350

353 work from the given comments and suggestions according to 10 criteria as shown below and came up with a final draft. The researcher utilized the Diary Entry # 13 with the topic What is your favorite quote from a famous person? Explain why as an instrument for this study. The ten criteria used for analysis are as follows: 1. Inability to perform the assigned task because of not understanding the question. 2. No introduction 3. Lack of main ideas 4. No topic sentence stating the main points 5. Lack of development of main ideas (adding details and facts about the main point) 6. Lack of organization 7. Accumulation of errors in sentence structure and/ or usage 8. No transitional words 9. Incoherence 10. No conclusion All the ten criteria were gathered from the survey and the principles of good paragraph writing from many books such as TOEFL criteria for correcting paragraphs (Mahnke& Duffy, 2002),Writing Academic English (Oshima&Hoque, 2006), Logic, Language, and Composition (Willis, 1975). They are considered as types of errors. The frequency of errors found in the paragraph writing of the students was calculated using the following formula. Thisdata analysisused for this studyis adapted from the previous study conducted by Sattayatham and Ratanapinyowong (2011). Percentage of errors= numbers of errors (for each criterion) x 100 Total number of subjects Results of the Study The following are the results that the researcher obtained. Part 1: The most frequent errors in paragraph writing There are 65.88% ofstudents made all types of errors in writing. A high percentage of errors were found in nine out of ten criteria. The top four criteria of errors were: lack of organization, no transitional words, incoherence and no conclusion. These errors determine students lack ofthe basic knowledge in writing composition. They tend to write without considering the basic features of paragraph writing which eventually resulted to poor writing skills. Table 1 Frequency of errors (according to the type of error or criteria). Criteria Analysis Amount % 1 Inability to perform the assigned task because of not understanding the question No introduction

354 Criteria Analysis Amount % 3 Lack of main ideas No topic sentence stating the main points Lack of development of the main ideas (adding details and facts about the main point) 6 Lack of organization An accumulation of errors in sentence structure and/or usage 8 No transitional words Incoherence No conclusion Total 65.88% Part 2 Frequency of types of errors in paragraph writing that students could correct by themselves From the total number of subjects who made types of errors in writing showed in Table 1, 41.62% of the subjects could correct errors by themselves. The distribution of percentage is quite similar in all criteria. The top three criteria that the students could correct by themselves were: inability to perform the assigned task because of not understanding the question, lack of main ideas and lack of development of the main ideas. It showed that students have the ability to make some corrections on their own. This encourages teachers to leave a room for students to correct their writing as it triggers their mental ability and awareness of their own writing problems. Criteria Analysis Amount Errors made % (From Table1) 1 Inability to perform the assigned task because of not understanding the question

355 Criteria Analysis Amount Errors made % (From Table1) 2 No introduction Lack of main ideas No topic sentence stating the main points Lack of development of the main ideas (adding details and facts about the main point) 6 Lack of organization An accumulation of errors in sentence structure and/or usage 8 No transitional words Incoherence No conclusion Total 41.62% Conclusions Most of the students understood the question/writing prompt they were asked to write a paragraph about but they had a problem how to structure the paragraph. They wrote a paragraph without an introduction and topic sentence and also transition words. In addition, the paragraph was incoherent and lack of organization. The se related writing problems are often observed in L2 classes. It would seem that the concept of coherence in writing is not fully absorbed or learned as this involves an interaction of the text depending on one s prior knowledge considered as a complex process (Ahmed, 2010). Besides, they wrote too much detail on the topic but neglected to write a conclusion. So, the conclusion is often missing on the students paragraph writing. Also, most students had the difficulty to use English grammar. Few students were able to improve their own writing by correcting writing errors they easily recognized. These errors were inability to perform the assigned task because of not understanding the question, lack of main ideas and lack of development of the main ideas.although some of them can make corrections however except for minimal errors like spelling and punctuation. Although they were able to recognize and made some correction, their writing has not changedreally much since it still lacked organization and coherence which 353

356 are very important aspects in paragraph writing. Hence, students face more serious problems, more fundamental mistakes than classical errors of verb of agreement, punctuations, spelling etc. which are in fact impossible to deal with by traditional method (Krishna, 2001). Lastly, definitely all students need much help from their teacher for their writing problems especially on organizing ideas, writing conclusion and coherence. Other criteria not mentioned, students should also consider serious attention for improvement. Error analysis plays an important role both to students and teachers. Students error recognition from their writing output aids them in writing well-structured paragraph after they learn how to correct these errors through practice. Teachers analysis to students error reinforce them to reassess and redesign methods and strategies for students writing improvement more effectively. 354

357 References Ahmed, A.H. (2010). Students Problems with Cohesion and Coherence in EFL Essay Writing in Egypt: Different Perspectives. Literacy Information and Computer Education Journal (LICEJ), Volume 1, Issue 4, Cahudron, C. (1984). The effects of feedback on students composition revision. RELC Journal, September 15, 2:1-14. Chaudron, C.(1986). The role of error correction in second language teaching. Workign Papers of the Department of English as a Second Language. University of Hawaii at Manoa, 59, 8: Chen, J. (2007). An Investigation of EFL Students Use of Cohesive Devices Heydari, P., &Bagheri, M. S. (2012). Error Analysis: Sources of L2 Learners Errors. Theory and practice inlanguage studies, 2(8), Karra, M. (2006).Second language acquisition: Learners errors and error correction in language teaching. Kaweera, C. (2013). Writing Error: A Review of Interlingual and Intralingual Interference in EFL Context. Canadian Center of Science and Education Kittredge, R. ( 2011). Correcting Grammatical Errors in Student Writing: The Importance of Shifting Responsibility to the Student.Teaching Effectiveness Program, Teaching and Learning Center. Lalande, J. (1982). Reducing Composition errors: An experiment.modern language Journal, 66, Sattayatham, A. et.al (2008).Analysis of Errors in Paragraph Writing in English by First Year Medical Students from the Four Medical Schools at Mahidol University. SUI Journal Wongsothorn, A. (1994).An Investigation of students writing improvement through various types of teacher s investigation. Research in Reading and Writing.SEAMEO Regional Language Center,

358 Language Ideology and the Development of Arabic Moh d Tawfiq Bataineh Assistant Professor of Applied Linguistics and Translation Jerash University Abstract This article is primarily a cultural and linguistic study on the development of the Arabic language. It aims at clarifying the change which Arabic has been undergoing, referring to future demands that the language is in need, and attitudes towards them. The researcher argues that this change is ordinary and represents a normal linguistic development which all languages experience. In this article, the researcher trigger the importance of Arabic language planning as Arabic faces new challenges in this age of globalisation. Introduction The researcher, in this research, argues that the Arabic language essentially needs to modernise as it is like any other language which changed in the past and is undergoing change in this globalising era. This is a linguistic and ideological account of the development of Arabic which aims at providing clearer image of the status quo for the need of Arabic language policy. Since this research is qualitative in nature, it relies on descriptive and argumentative discussion of ideological principles in Arabic culture. The researcher attempts to critically focus on the influence of major pillars of the Arabic culture on language. Therefore, the researcher has dealt with Islam and Pan-Arabism as bases which the history of Arabic development relies on. Throughout a period of many centuries, the stages of Arabic growth from ascendance to decline are clarified. The researcher highlights the stage of the so-called linguistic consciousness during the Arab Awakening in the last two centuries which stressed that the Arabic language is the base for national awareness. The historical description of the stages of Arabic development in this research intend to prove the changes which Arabic underwent throughout its different phases of being a language of literature and science, stagnancy age, to the age of Arab awakening where Arabic has regained part of its supremacy which it enjoyed in its golden age. Because globalisation has become a distinct aspect of today s cultures, the researcher has chosen, in this research, to underline its influence on present Arabic and visualise the future of Arabic in this age of globalistion with stressing the need for Arabic language policies to face the new challenges in the twenty-first century. This research argues that globalisation is an ongoing, inevitable process which has been influencing the different life aspects of the Arab peoples; on top of those is the effect over language. The researcher assumes that the dramatic increase in the usage of borrowed lexicons by young Arab generations is an aspect of cultural and linguistic globalisation. Moreover, the researcher argues that the linguistic phenomenon of the newly coined blend Arabish which is coined from Arabic and English is a normal change to cope with new technological demands. It primarily refers to writing Arabic in English letters, and is widely used by younger generations in language of electronic chatting and mobiles short messages. Spreading of code-switching as a sociolinguistic phenomenon in some Arab societies between Arabic and English or French is another evident example of linguistic globalisation on Arabic. The researcher concludes his study by recommending that a linguistic reform is a must; and it should be implemented at speed. From a language planning perspective and as far the 356

359 researcher is concerned, this call for language reform must be linked to the entire political and economic reform movement which has erupted recently in the Arab world and is known as the Arab Spring. 1.1 Background to the development of Arabic Chejne (1969, 52-53) identifies three periods in the pre-modern era covering the growth, ascendance and decline of the Arabic language. The first period covers the pre-islamic and early Islamic era ( A.D.). During this time Arabic was chiefly a spoken language. While writing was very rare in the pre-islamic era, it became more widespread in the early Islamic period. On the basis of Herodotus, the ancient Greek historian who lived in the fifth century BC (c. 484 BC 425 BC), Hoyland (2001, 201) infers that old Arabic prevailed as early as the fifth century BC, but it seems to have been rarely written down until a century or so before the dawn of Islam. Throughout this time, Arabic was limited to the Arabian Peninsula as a regional language. The second period extends from the start of Umayyad rule ( A.D.) through that of the Abbasids ( A.D.). In this period, Arabic grew enormously. It became not only a language of state and religion over a huge empire, but also the medium of a rich literature. The third era is one of decline ( A.D.). Chejne (1969, 80-81) ascribes this decline in the tenth and eleventh centuries to the deterioration in the causes of its success, primarily the religious ones. Another major factor contributing to the decline and scholarly stagnation of Arabic was the periodic attacks on Muslim lands by East Asiatic hordes. For example, Baghdad, the centre of intellectual life, was devastated in 1258 by the invading forces of the Mongols. In his introduction to Stetkevych s book The Modern Arabic Literary Language (Stetkvych, 1970, xi-xii), William R. Polk, a historian concerned with the development of the modern Middle East, states: The Arabs, although heirs to a proud and coherent civilisation which had reached its peak at the time of the European Dark Ages, with an empire stretching from France to China, were exhausted by the enormity of the task they had undertaken and depleted by the physical dispersion of their resources. Consequently, coming under the domination of fellow Muslim Turks, Mongols, Berbers, and Persians, the Arabs fell into a long sleep, from the end of the thirteenth until the nineteenth century. During this period they did not participate significantly in the cultural, economic or political life of the world or even of the Middle East. They engaged in no further conquests and ceased even to govern themselves. At least in the Mediterranean, the Arabs were no longer the great merchants. Their scholars lapsed into a habit they became so lethargic that not only was the creative impulse lost but the conservation of Arabic learning was jeopardised. Polk provides a clear picture here of the decline of the Arabs until they were aroused in the nineteenth century during the Age of the Awakening النهضة an-nahd a by the Napoleonic expedition to Egypt in The huge impact of that decline was first seen in and influenced the Arabic language, the major tie to the golden age alongside religion. The Arab Awakening followed centuries of stagnancy under the Ottoman rule of Arab lands a stagnation which in fact dates back further to the late Abbasid times, when religious and social clashes among the different parties and sects that had come to embody the ethnic and geographic mixture of the region had undermined the intellectual environment. There was no longer a safe environment for the free expression of intellectual ideas. The Mongol devastation in the thirteenth century of the centres of Arab civilisation which followed the end of the Crusades marked the end of the golden age of Arabic literature. This stagnation came centuries 357

360 after the ascent and growth of Islam, which had produced a diverse and superior literature (Gassick, 1979, 1-3). Although the Abbasid state technically continued until the thirteenth century, it had in practice ceased to exist long before that. According to Hourani (1991, 212) from the tenth or eleventh century forwards there was a long stage of displacement, of which the obvious symptoms are the breakdown of the Abbasid caliphate, the foundation of challenging caliphates in Egypt and Andalus, and the coming into the world of Islam of new dynasties drawing their power from other ethnic groups, some of them moved by religious passion: the Christians in Spain expanded at the expense of the Muslim states in southern Spain; the Almoravids and Almohads emerged in the Maghrib, growing out of religious movements which moved Berbers from the mountains and desert fringes of Morocco; the Turks and Mongols invaded from the east. Subsequently, the Mamluk state and the states of the Maghrib were confronted by new dynasties which were able to build huge and efficient armies, hold power over large agricultural areas and take their surplus, and encourage manufacture and trade in cities. In the western Mediterranean the challenge was to the religious as well as the political order, from the Christian kingdoms of Spain, unified into one kingdom soon after the disappearance of the last Muslim dynasty in 1492, and soon to have the vast wealth plundered by the Europeans from the pre-columbian civilisations of the Americas. In the eastern Mediterranean, the new and growing power was that of a Muslim dynasty, named after its founder, Uthman or Osman in its Turkish spelling hence the adjective in Turkish Osmanli, anglicised as Ottoman (Ibid, 214). Among the chief tasks of the Ottoman Empire was that of gathering the taxes on which it heavily relied. By the seventeenth century ordinary tax collecting was substituted by a system of taxfarms, by which people, whether merchants or officials, undertook to gather a certain tax and forward the proceeds to the central government in Istanbul, after subtracting a proportion of it as a commission. By the end of the seventeenth century, some tax-farms had become practically inherited possessions. Even leaders of the army and local governors were mostly drawn from the ruler s own household. Members of the household came from among those hired into the army as slaves brought from the Caucasus or from members of previous ruling families. It was also common for the sons of those who held important positions in the government to go through the household; whatever their origin, however, all were considered the ruler s slaves. They were cautiously trained for service in the palace, and then promoted to positions in the army or government (Ibid, 218). In many ways, the Ottomans were religiously tolerant. A huge proportion of the population of the Ottoman Empire was Christian not only in the Balkans, but also in Anatolia and the millet system granted all religious sects and communities a reasonable degree of internal selfgovernment (Hourani 1991: 220). Hourani notes that the Ottoman Empire was a multi-religious state, giving an acknowledged status to Christian and Jewish communities. The various Jewish and Christian communities had a special situation, because they paid the poll tax and had their own legal systems of personal law, and also because the government had to be assured of their loyalty. In both the capital and the provinces, the government recognised a spiritual head for each community having a certain legal jurisdiction, being in charge of gathering ج زي ةtax the jizya and preserving order. In this way, non-muslims were incorporated into the political system. They did not entirely fit into it, but a person might ascend to a position of power or influence. Jews were crucial in the financial service in the sixteenth century, and towards the end of the seventeenth Greeks became the principal interpreters for the grand official and governors. Non- Muslims do not seem to have lived in segregation or under pressure. They belonged to a trade or craft, and worship and education were free within limits (Ibid). 358

361 Some Arab societies are still influenced by the results of Ottoman and Western colonisation. The iqt ā system which was used by the Ottomans in Arab countries is still influential in some اقطاع Arab countries. This involved tax-farming rights being given to leading local families. The revenues of Egypt and Syria were a main element of the Ottoman budget, and they were the places where the annual pilgrimage to Mecca was organised. For example in Jordan, which was ruled by the Ottomans as part of Greater Syria before British colonisation, some families, recognised as local governors or tax-collectors, still have tribal power and inherited governmental positions as they were the leading tribal families under the اقطاع iqt ā system. These families ran their regions and controlled the land and collected taxes in exchange for providing the central authority in Istanbul with revenue. This phenomenon will not come to an end unless democracy prevails in the Arab countries. In the process of development, Arabic has become indebted to a number of languages from which it has borrowed a vast amount of vocabulary. In its turn, Arabic has made its own contributions to numerous Eastern and Western languages. Arabic has left its mark on the vocabulary and script of many languages, not only Islamic countries adjacent to the Arab world, but also languages of Indonesia, Burma, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. Maltese, for instance, although written in Latin script is basically a form of Arabic (similar in particular to Libyan Colloquial Arabic) with contributions from other languages such as Italian. Arabic has also made central contributions to a number of Western languages, chiefly Spanish and Portuguese. Words in general English use such as cipher, algebra, arsenal, admiral, alcove, alkali, alcohol, lemon, sugar, coffee and rice represent only a few of the many words found in western languages which either are of Arabic origin or have been passed on to the West via Arabic (Chejne, 1969, 4). 1.2 Linguistic consciousness during the Arab Awakening an-nahdạ al- arabiyya In the eighteenth century the balance between Ottoman central and regional governments altered, and in some regions of the empire local Ottoman ruling families gained virtual autonomy, while remaining loyal to the general interests of the Ottoman state. There was a change also in the relations between the empire and the states of Europe. Whereas the empire had enlarged into Europe in previous centuries, by the latter part of the eighteenth century it was under military danger from the west and north. There were also the beginnings of a transformation in the nature and track of trade, as European governments and merchants became stronger in the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. By the end of the century, the Ottoman governing elite were becoming aware of a relative decline in their power and independence, and were beginning to make their first cautious responses to the new conditions (Hourani, 1991, ). By the last quarter of the eighteenth century, at least, some members of the Ottoman intelligentsia realised that the empire was endangered by forces which were bringing about a modification in its relations with the world around it. From early times the Ottoman Empire had been in contact with western and central Europe; it inhabited the eastern and southern shores of the Mediterranean. Trade was generally carried on by European merchants: Venetians and Genoese in the earlier Ottoman centuries, the growing western powers, the British and French in the eighteenth. In the last quarter of the century, however, the situation began to change swiftly and radically, as the gap between the technical skills of some western and northern European countries and those of the rest of the world became wider. Throughout the centuries of Ottoman rule there had been no progress in technology and a decline in the level of scientific and intellectual knowledge (Hourani, 1991, 259). 359

362 Some countries of Europe had now moved on to a higher level of power. Plague had ceased to devastate the cities of Europe as quarantine systems took effect. Enhancement and progress in the building of ships and the art of navigation and routing had taken European sailors and merchants into all the oceans of the world, and led to the foundation of trading points and colonies. Trade and exploitation of the mines and fields of the colonies had led to a growth of capital, which was being used to construct manufactured goods in new ways and on a bigger scale. The growth of population and wealth made it possible for governments to maintain huge armies and navies. Thus some of the countries of Western Europe like England, France and the Netherlands in particular had started on a course of continuous accumulation of resources, while the Ottoman countries, like other parts of Asia and Africa, were still living in circumstances in which the population was held down by plague and food crises, and in some places had decreased. Production did not yield the capital needed for essential changes in methods or any increase in the organised power of the government (Ibid). By the latter part of the nineteenth century, the consciousness of the power of Europe which previously scarcely existed in the Ottoman ruling elite had become extensive. There had grown up a new knowledgeable class looking at itself and the world with eyes sharpened by western teachers, and communicating what it saw in new ways. This new elite class, whether Turkish or Arab, was formed in schools of a new kind. The leading groups were those founded by reforming governments for their own purposes. To begin with, these were specialised schools training officials, officers, doctors and engineers in Istanbul, Cairo and Tunis. Side by side with government schools were a small number of schools set up by native bodies, and a larger number maintained by European and American missions. In Lebanon, Syria and Egypt some of the Christian communities had their own schools, in particular the Maronites with their long tradition of higher education. A few modern schools were established by Muslim voluntary organisations (Ibid, ). During the nineteenth century the idea of nationalism developed among Turks and Arabs. The diverse national movements came about in response to varied challenges. Turkish nationalism was a response to the growing force of Europe, and the collapse of the ideal of Ottoman nationalism. As the Christian peoples of the empire seceded one by one, Ottoman nationalism obtained more of an Islamic colouring, but when, under Abdulhamid, the coalition between the throne and the Turkish ruling elite broke down, the idea of a Turkish nation materialised, on the grounds, that the empire could endure only on the basis of the unity of one nation sharing a common language (Ibid, 309). In the nineteenth century when the Arabs began to comprehend the situation of serious decline in which they found themselves, they set out to revitalise the language of their ancestors and the valuable resources it had. Ayalon (1987, 9-13) points out that by the end of the nineteenth century, the linguistic efforts of the Age of the Awakening began to bear fruit in the Mashriq, mainly in Egypt and Lebanon, which were the two centres of nineteenth century intellectual activity. Books, periodicals and newspapers were sources through which understanding of the new world of the emerging powers of Europe and America came to the Arabs. Much of what they printed was translated or adapted from French or English; the movement of translation started under the reign of Muhammad Ali in Egypt, who needed manuals for his officials and officers and textbooks for schools. Some of those like Rifa a al-tahtawi ( ) who had been educated and trained in Europe and had learnt English and French wrote books describing what they had experienced in Europe (Hourani 1991, 304). The Arabic language had come to be capable of managing new needs with clarity. For instance, the Egyptian School of Translation was established in 1835, afterwards called the School of Languages. Rifa ah al-tahtawi, its 360

363 director and an intellectual pioneer of the Age of the Awakening, produced and took charge of the translation of European books on all themes. He made Arabic translations of many works dealing with business and civil legislation in addition to technical works. Conscious of the deficiency of the Arabic language in communicating new ideas, he worked hard to adjust, develop and adapt it to this task. Butrus al-bustani of Lebanon assisted with the translation of the Bible into Arabic (Chejne, 1969, 89). More than any other institution in the Age of the Awakening, the Arabic press transmitted the essential ideas of other civilisations to the Arabicspeaking community. It also played a central role in transforming the language into a tool fit for the new tasks which it had to undertake. The intellectual revival of the Arab world can be in part correlated with contact between the West and the East. The beginning was in Lebanon and Egypt, the heart of Arab intellectual activity. One reason for Lebanon s early relationship with the West was the interests of the papacy and other Christian groups, Lebanon at this time being a majority Christian country. Lebanon, part of the region of Greater Syria, which includes also present-day Palestine, Jordan and Syria, was at the forefront of the intellectual revival. By the eighteenth century, intellectuals had established the base for the revival of the Arabic language, which contributed a great deal to the creation of a modern Arabic literature. This included the foundation of many political, social and scientific institutions. Libraries also contributed a great deal to the spread of learning and private and public schools and universities were established in almost all Arab countries (Chejne, 1969, 87). Although it was a military rather than a cultural mission, the Napoleonic expedition to Egypt had an immense impact on the Arab world. It brought about ongoing contact between Egypt and the West which had already passed through a series of social and intellectual upheavals including the Renaissance, the Reformation and the Industrial Revolution. From the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Arab world became open to many new ideas which significantly influenced the thinking and way of life of Arabic-speaking people. The Arab intellectual became progressively more conscious of the inadequacy of his society in terms of government, social structure, religious thoughts, and education all of which he had inherited from long centuries of stagnation during the rule of the Ottomans and the invading powers which had preceded it (Ibid, 85-86). Christian Arab intellectuals played a vital role in the Arab Awakening, their zeal partly deriving from their desire to halt Islamic expansion represented by the Ottoman caliphate, which had held power over Arab Muslims and Christians for four centuries. The French presence in Egypt gave rise to various transformations. Educated Egyptian-Arabs in colleges and mosques were supported to develop a local administrative system. Bonaparte initiated printing in Egypt in the form of announcements, declarations and news sheets. This gave rise to some changes in Arabic terminology, pronunciation and grammar (Gassick, 1979, 2). Thus, in the early part of the nineteenth century, the Arab Awakening had begun. Publishing in Arabic had rarely existed before the nineteenth century, but it developed throughout the century, especially in Cairo and Beirut, which were to stay the most important centres of publishing. Newspapers and Lebanese-Egyptian periodicals, which were more vital than books in that period, began to play a crucial role in the 1860s and 1870s. Among these periodicals of ideas, opening windows on to the culture, science and technology of the West, were two created by Lebanese Christians in الم قط ط ف Cairo: al-muqt at af, founded in 1876 by Ya qub Sarruf ( ) and Faris Nimr ( ), who were two young teachers in the Syrian Protestant College, and اله الل al-hilāl, which first emerged in 1892 by Jurji Zaydan ( ). The two periodicals were inclined to stay away from anything bearing directly on local politics or religion. But they attempted to express the truths that the Arabic reading public ought to know: that civilisation was good in itself; that science was the basid of civilisation, and the 361

364 European sciences were of worldwide significance; that they could and must be accepted by the Arabs through the medium of the Arabic language (Hourani, 1962, ). In the nineteenth century, the Arab intelligentsia decided that an intellectual resurgence and national awareness had to be based on the Arabic language and the historical customs of the Arabs. There was near-total agreement that Arabic was a pre-requisite for cultural revival. The offerings of the Bustanis and Yazijis, in particular Nasif al-yaziji ( ), the foremost Lebanese writer of his time in Lebanon, to linguistic revitalisation mirror efforts throughout the Arab world from the middle of the nineteenth century up to the present (Chejne, 1969, 18-20). Nasif alyaziji published a work in the mode of the م قامات maqāmāt, a series of tales about an imaginary hero, reported in intricate rhymed prose (Hourani, 1991, 305). The first Arab novelists included a number of talented writers in Egypt like Ahmad Amin, Abbas Mahmoud al- Aqqad, Tawfiq al-hakim, Abdul Qader al-mazini and Taha Husayn. The most brilliant thinker among them was Taha Husayn; he can be seen as the last great representative of a line of thought, inspiring social thought and political action in the Arab countries (Hourani, 1962, ). Taha Husayn pursued urgent reforms to the Arabic language that would allow it to attain uniformity and would make it easily available to all the Arabs (Chejne 1969: 18-20). For him, the Arabic language is the common property of all Egyptians, which they have inherited from the past. Unlike the Islamic reformers, he does not accentuate the importance of the language as a means to religious awakening, but as the basis of a sound national life; and time after time, he regards it as no less significant for Copts than for Muslims. He insists that Egypt is the centre of modern Arabic culture, and her task and responsibility in the Arab world is to disseminate the modern sciences via the Arabic language (Hourani, 1962, ). The solutions to the lexical problems of Arabic in the Age of the Awakening were sought in the existing resources of the language. These could be used in a number of ways. Writers could derive neologisms from existing roots, revive terms from the immense stock of obsolete Arabic expressions to designate new ideas, enlarge the range of references of existing words to provide new meanings, or combine two or all three of these processes in making compounds. In drawing upon the wealth of their own language, Arab writers were first and foremost guided by the rule of analogy (Ayalon, 1987, 6). 1.3 The impact of Islam, pan-arabism and culture on Arabic language ideology Issues of language and ideology have deeply affected the Arabic language. Scholars in the fields of sociolinguistics, anthropology, sociology, politics and cultural studies have focused on the impact of cultural and political ideologies on language. In Arabic, the twin factors of religion and nationalism have had the principal impact on the expansion of Arabic since the nineteenth century. The way in which ideologies have interacted with the Arabic language must be given much weight in understanding the link between the need to modernise Arabic, endeavours to realise this development and attitudes which have impeded advancement. Religious and cultural views of Arabic have determined the ideological standpoints which Arab scholars have built their thoughts on. Ideology in relation to the Arabic language is, of course, not distinguished from ideology in other domains of human activity. Arabic, however, achieved additional dimensions with the expansion of Islam, the spread of Arab culture and the ascendance of nationalism in modern times. In the Arabic-Islamic world, both the Arabic language and Islam are often looked at as indivisible parts of the Arab-Muslim personality. Both Arab and non-arab scholars describe the 362

365 relationship between the Arabic language and Islam as inseparable (Elkholy & Desmond 2007: 2). They consider the Arabic language not only the unifying feature of the Arab world, but also a phenomenon that shapes the Arab-Islamic world in all facets of life. Arabic is the language of the Qur an and the Prophet Muhammad, the Messenger of God. Thus, it obviously has an even bigger influence on its speakers than other languages have on theirs. Speakers of Arabic and those who read it via their devotion to the Quran identify the language as directly providing God s word and commandment. The more general function of Arabic in Arab Muslim culture cannot also be ignored. Arabic grew as a literary language in the Muslim empire and turned into the primary language of the Muslim nations. With the development of the so-called Arabic and foreign sciences, the language gained a universal nature (Chejne 1969: 13). The fact that Arabic has long endured and still has the vigour to flourish is due to religious and social reasons, but its ability to expand and develop without losing its vital qualities are virtues of the language solely (Stetkvych 1970, 1). Sulaiman has argued that the study of nationalism in the Arab Middle East has made huge strides in recent decades, especially since the middle of the twentieth century during the expansion of pan-arabism. The study of nationalism and pan-arabism in the Arab Middle East has moved beyond the traditional sphere of history and politics. Anthropologists and sociologists have contributed from the edges in a way which has improved our appreciation of the social techniques concerned in the internalisation and negotiation of national identities. But there are also evident weak points, the most prominent of which is the unwillingness to take the study of nationalism in the Arab Middle East into the wider cultural arena of literary production, the arts, film, music, sports, tourism, festivals, school textbooks, architectural styles, naming practices, maps, stamps and other media of symbolic expression (Sulaiman, 200, 1-4). Another obvious gap in the study of nationalism in the Arab Middle East is the lack of serious study of language, the most central of all systems of practical and symbolic expression, in relation to nationalism. Sulaiman has claimed that no study of this sort has yet been produced, not even in Arabic, although partial studies touching on aspects of language and nationalism do exist. He has confirmed that the responsibility for this lacuna does not rest with historians or political scientists only, although so far they are the ones who have dominated the study of nationalism in the Arab Middle East. A historian or political scientist is not conscious of the functional and symbolic responsibilities of language per se or in any of its approaches. In a world of disciplinary specialisation, this is observed to be the task of the linguist. The closest approach to a linguistic-related field of study which can examine the query of language and national identity is sociolinguistics (ibid). Sulaiman (Ibid) refers to the lack of Arabic studies that demonstrate the connection between language and nationalism. However, Arabs have paid much attention to this inseparable relation. Even before the dawn of globalisation, the Arabs realised the challenges that face their language; this enthusiasm, I assume, stems from their zealousness to protect Arabic, which unifies them regardless of the political antagonism between the different Arab regimes and the differences of religion and religious sects (particularly in the countries outside the Maghreb, where almost the only religious sect is Sunni Islam). Only a few individuals deny the importance of Arabic as a unifying factor which is essential to our Arab identity. These few people have advocated using the different colloquial Arabic dialects in each Arab country instead of using Modern Standard Arabic as the formal variety which creates linguistic unity among its speakers. For example, in some Arabic-speaking countries like Lebanon and Egypt, some Westernised writers have advocated adapting and changing the local dialect into the official language and 363

366 downgrading Standard Arabic. Such calls have always been unsuccessful, due largely to a deep Arabic-Islamic identity (Morrow & Castleton, 2007, 2). Culture is the major component of a nation s identity, and when we talk about the Arabic culture, we necessarily talk about language and religion. Islam, Arabic culture and the Arabic language are inseparable entities; understanding any of them requires knowledge of all. Like Muslim Arabs, non-muslim Arabs basically have one culture that is based on the Arab- Islamic identity of which the Arabic language is an essential part. Many nationalist parties and movements in the Arab world were led by Christian Arabs. انطون س ع ادة Antun Sa adeh ( ) founded the Syrian Social Nationalist Party to resist the French and British splitting up of the region. ع فل ق ميشيل Michel Aflaq ( ), born in Damascus, was the ideological founder of Ba ath Party; it was a form of Arab nationalism which was combined with Arab socialism. Such people confirm our national identity regardless of differences in religion. This common identity is built on a shared language, culture and heritage. Alongside other factors like politics, culture has a strong influence in determining the advancement or backwardness of different societies. In his book well-known The Clash of Civilisations and the Remaking of World Order, Samuel P. Huntington (1996) asserts the importance of the role of culture as a basic factor of human development and sometimes of clash between civilisations. 1.4 Globalisation The term globalisation is used, amongst many other things, to refer to a phenomenon involving sweeping changes that are occurring world-wide. Globalisation is not a new phenomenon. Human history can be envisaged as a process of globalisation from its inception. For instance, the Roman Empire globalised its values within its own world. Arabic culture reigned over broad areas outside the Arab world throughout the period of the Islamic empire following the rise of Islam. Arabic culture influenced north and central Africa, south-east Asia, the Caucasus and parts of Europe. It has left many aspects of its widespread civilising system (Ota 2010). From the period 650 to 850 A.D there was an enormous growth of Islam from the Western Mediterranean to East Asia, involving not only the religion of Islam, but all the cultural and social aspects brought by the Islamic civilisation. Hobson (2004: 29-30) asserts that the Islamic golden age was an essential early era of globalisation when Muslim and Jewish traders participated in the economy across the old world resulting in a globalisation of crops, trade, knowledge and technology. Globally important crops such as sugar and cotton became extensively grown across the Muslim world in this period. Hobson believes that at that time, the necessity of learning Arabic and completing the Hajj created a cosmopolitan culture. Kiely (1998: 2-3) writes that there is frequently a need for clarity in the definition of the term globalisation, its originality and how it affects people through the world. He treats globalisation as a phenomenon which refers to a world in which societies, cultures and economies have come closer together, i.e. he claims that more and more parts of the world are drawn into a global system and so are influenced by what occurs elsewhere. Thus, the job of a coal miner in Britain or a butcher in Jordan may depend on events like the oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in the year Likewise, the need for grain crops in Egypt and other countries has been influenced by the deadly forest fires which ravaged the Russian countryside and created a food crisis in 2010 summer. According to Waters (1995: 1) globalisation is a key idea by which we understand the transition of human society into the third millennium, while Giddens (1990: 64) defines globalisation as the intensification of worldwide social relations which link distant localities in 364

367 such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away and vice versa. The notion of the global village has altered the view of developing societies. Marshall Mcluhan has pointed out the importance of information communicated by diverse kinds of mass media such as press, magazines, TV, radio, the technologies of the data base and the global media network which far exceeds the quantity of information communicated through school and university teaching and textbooks. This facet of the global village has destroyed the walls between nations and countries (Mcluhan 1960: 1). The development of satellite television and information technology is a major new element in the growth of a new information society. The new communications technologies have encouraged a global culture. However, the world is already a global village in a Mcluhanian way in a few specific areas, otherwise it remains varied or even divided in several realms. It is commonly emphasised that we live in an era in which the larger part of social life is identified by global processes, in which national cultures, national economies, and national borders are melting. Central to this insight is the idea that we are witnessing the latest phase of economic globalisation. The world economy has internationalised in its essential dynamics, it is controlled by uncontainable market forces, and it has its major economic agents of change truly transnational corporations that owe commitment and loyalty to no nation-state and locate wherever in the globe market advantage dictates (Hirst & Thompson 1996: 1). Hirst & Thompson (ibid: 2) argue that the current extremely internationalised economy is not unique. Rather it has existed since an economy based on new industrial technology started to be generalised from the 1860s. They claim however that the existing international economy is less open and integrated than the regime that prevailed from 1870 to The Economic and Social Commission of Western Asia (ESCWA) (2002: 4) argues that globalisation in an economic context refers to the reduction and removal of barriers between national borders in order to facilitate the flow of goods, capital, services and labour. The ESCWA also argues that globalisation is an old phenomenon. It began in the late nineteenth century, but its growth slowed during the period from the start of the First World War until the third quarter of the twentieth century. The ESCWA ascribes this slowdown to the inward-looking policies followed by a number of countries in order to defend their own industries. Geographically, in the Western world, globalisation has reached a point where national borders might eventually vanish. At the same time many nations are still opposing demands to match the Western mode of globalisation. At least in part, the Islamic world rejects the Western-based globalisation process. Globalisation appears to produce broad changes in civilisation, and its impact on language and culture can be noticed in every aspect of life. The global economy has affected long-established values and ways of thinking. Haynes writes that it is necessary to understand the interactions between politics, theology and culture in order to gain information and achieve understanding of a Third World that obstinately rejects Western stereotypical prospects (Haynes 1993: 2). There has been a mounting curiosity in the so-called Islamic threat and the alleged clash of civilisations between the West and the Orient (Huntington 1996). The belief, that globalisation represents a straightforward expansion of Westernisation is still vigorous. However, some writers (Robertson 1992) have identified the appearance of Islamic activism as a global, but also anti-western, force. Kiely (1998: 16) asserts that the concept that globalisation basically represents the expansion of Western supremacy of the world system has been damaged by the rise of East Asia. This can be seen in the case of the ascendant of the East Asian newly industrialising countries since the 1970s. The rise of South Korea, Taiwan and others was a main issue in the decline of underdevelopment theory, which is based on the core-periphery relations where the the Rest or (Third World) are set to become more like the West or (the First World). Kiely originally 365

368 addressed this through underdevelopment theory. However, underdevelopment theory was substituted by more supple theories of reliance, which argued that the rise of East Asia did not constitute capitalist development because East Asia remained reliant on the core countries. This implies again that the West is the norm or standard, and so by definition other countries are deviations from the norm. The three biggest economies in the world today are the United States, China and Japan. This means that two out of three of the world s biggest economies are East Asian. India, although an extremely poor country, is also by progressing rapidly economically. Globalisation is experienced in different ways by different people at different times. The powers which have been central in the past few decades largely United States and to a lesser extent the states of Western Europe since the fall of the former Soviet Union, are subject to competition from other states which are likely to grow to dominance in the next few decades, chiefly China and India in Asia. The meaning of globalisation is likely to be influenced by the rise of different economies and new cultural entities. Kiely (ibid) is concerned to show in particular the unfairness that exists in the global order. He has tried to demonstrate the classification of the world into cores and peripheries is not a function of the fact that the former consciously creates the latter, but in that these divisions are an outcome of the way in which global social relations function. Such cores and peripheries are likely to modify over time, but in such a way that uneven development will not be eliminated. According to Schelling (1998: ) one of the consequences of globalisation is that power and decision making are less obviously attached to the structures of the nation-state. They are stretched and spread across different regions as well as greatly concentrated in the hands of supranational economic and political bodies such as transnational companies, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund or the G8. The elites of these organisations are typically centred in the North. Marfleet (1998: 186) states that for theorists of globalisation, the augmented significance of religion is consistent with socio-cultural change at a world level. Certainly, globalisation and religion are said to be closely associated. In globalisation theory, religious resurgence is an imperative expression of a unified world. With nation-states much weakened, supranational or transnational ideas and institutions have very much enlarged in influence. The major universal religions, particularly Islam and Christianity, have made their perspectives more appropriate; and the outcome is what Haynes (1993: 10) calls a global religious revival. Huntington (1993: 23) writes: DURING THE COLD WAR the world was divided into the First, Second and the Third Worlds. Those divisions are no longer relevant. It is far more meaningful now to group countries not in terms of their political or economic systems or in terms of their level of economic development but rather in terms of their culture and civilization. Distinctions between nation-states and regions, between developed and developing world or between North and South countries, are said to be far less important than previously, or to have become extraneous. The globalist account has an important influence on social and cultural theory. A global culture materialises in which social relations are powerfully affected by the singularity of the contemporary world. Under these conditions, it is argued, religious resurgence or revival can be a vital appearance of the new global social reality. Marfleet refers to Daniel Lerner who argued that in the face of modernisation, Islam is completely defenseless. In the late 1970s, the United States identified a new threat; and it began to give a picture of Islamism as a 366

369 force for global rebellion which would gravely intimidate and threaten US interests (Marfleet 1998: 186). In his theory of the clash of civilisations Samuel Huntington (1993: 25) asserts that the prospect of the world will be formed by the interactions among seven or eight main civilisations. These are; Western, Confucian, Japanese, Islamic, Hindu, Slavic-Orthodox, Latin American and possibly African. He suggests that these civilisations will be the key players in international relations; the future will be shaped by the aforementioned cultural blocs; he argues that world events will turn on the conflicts between such blocs, producing a global clash of civilisations. The most important of these clashes will be those founded upon the Judaeo- Christian West, the Confucianism/ Buddhism of East Asia and Islam, centred in Middle East. Huntington attempts to emphasise that the crescent-shaped Islamic bloc or what Prince El Hassan bin Talal of Jordan has called the Arc of Crisis is the key threat to world order. Huntington distinguishes the boundaries of this Islamic bloc by bloody borders (ibid: 35). Robertson (1992: 67), a world-systems theorist, emphasises the cultural aspects of the new global order. He writes: Culture has thus become a significant consideration in world-systems theory. Indeed we are approaching the point where it has become an accepted part of world-system theorizing to include culture as a critical variable. Robertson (ibid: 10) regards the world as a whole entity, i.e., the sense that the world is one body or place which brings nations together culturally. There is a global universal civilisation, he argues, which comes out from the communication of the corresponding images of local societies. I believe that Robertoson s view of the role of culture necessarily leads to the conclusion that human civilisation is an accumulating process. (Mcluhan & Fiore 1968) asserts that all human advancement is a consequence of standing on the shoulders of our predecessors. Beyer (1994: 1) argues that people, cultures, societies and civilisations are now in ordinary and inevitable contact. Such changes, says Beyer, have particular implications for religion because as social space contracts there may be much greater consciousness of the diversity of human experience. Robertson (1992: 170) argues that the varieties of religious fundamentalism are a product of globality. Like several ideological groups in Europe and Afro-Asian world who desire to witness a non-hegemonic globalisation, many Muslim intellectuals and ideological groups are urging other processes. These diverge from intellectuals who merely refuse globalisation as a domination and conceited form of Eurocentricity and support dialogue with other groups which include Muslim activists. Robertson interprets the emergence of religious activism as a reaction to the hegemony of globalisation. The notion of religious movements or fundamentalism is not restricted only to Islam, but is found also in Christianity, Judaism and even Hinduism. Hallencreutz & Westerlund in (Marfleet 1998: 197) note that the term fundamentalism has its roots in North America in the beginning of twentieth century, when it was applied to a specific interdenominational Protestant movement which insisted on the idea of the inerrancy of the Bible. It has since then been applied to all manner of religious activisms, most of which are in the non-western world and have relatively diverse agendas. Hallencreutz & Westerlund in (ibid) observe that although the tradition of tagging Muslims and other non-christians fundamentalists may be clear cut, it is more complicated to locate sufficient scholarly reasons for it. Marfleet in (ibid) says that in the West the term has become a synonym for religious activisms, notably those of the Third World, and especially for Islamic currents. Marfleet (ibid: ) has mentioned the two movements of Liberation Theology in Latin America and Islamism in the Islamic world as examples of 367

370 religious activism. He adds that not all religious movements are activists and not all movements in the Third World are anti-systemic. Protestant evangelicalism, for example, has not irritated and provoked the anxiety which has accompanied the expansion of Christian radicalism or Islamism. Islamic fundamentalism has been partly responsible for the rise of anti-islamic sentiment or Islamophobia particularly, in the West and in America, where it is frequently linked to rightwing Christian and extreme pro-zionist groups. 1.5 Globalisation and the new linguistic world order Massive communication and world trade have enhanced globalisation; the information technology revolution has made almost every form of information reachable from anywhere in the world. Although languages have in the past been a major barrier to globalisation, they are now a big influence supporting it. Thus English has become an international language (Ota 2010). Globalisation and the establishment of new economic trading unions have already started to have effects on the interrelations between the major languages. The construction of big economic blocs raises language demands: in the countries of the European Union (EU), two trends have been pre-eminent in respect of language learning and acquaintance with different languages - the generalisation of English and the teaching of a limited number of other languages to a minority of students. Multilingualism in Europe is, however, costly: the translation and interpretation market in Europe in 1997 was estimated at 3.75 billion Euros (Maurais 2004: 13). The growth and abandonment of languages is a social fact, which typically mirrors power relations. The vanishing of a language always has non-linguistic causes which are the consequence of a balance of forces. According to Maurais, it has been estimated that 90% of all the world s languages will disappear or be close to disappearing in the twenty-first century. Some scholars, however, reject the view that a significant number of languages will disappear in the twenty-first century. They believe that the current number of languages in the world is larger than most linguists believe (there may be 10,000 languages instead of 6,000) and the pace of disappearance is less than has been estimated (Maurais 2004: 28). Huntington focuses on the supposed threat to English as other languages may replace English as an international language. He states: As the power of the West gradually declines relative to that of other civilisations, the use of English and other Western languages in other societies and for communications between societies will also slowly erode. If at some point in the distant future China displaces the West as the dominant civilisation in the world, English will give way to Mandarin as the world s lingua franca (Huntington 1996: 63). Although many scholars view the current dominance of English purely as a result of political and economic factors, Graddol (1997, in Kibbee 2004: 48) describes the supremacy of English internationally as the effect of the intrinsic qualities of the language. A basic feature of English is that it is remarkable for its diversity and its tendency to change. This allows it to expand quickly into new domains, explaining in part its success as a world language. Another explanation for the position of English in the world is the believed simplicity of learning English compared to other languages like German and French. 368

371 There is a human as well as economic cost to bringing endangered languages up to the level some consider essential to guarantee their continued existence. If existence requires the condition of formal education and government services in each of these languages, the economic costs are beyond the ability even of developed countries, much less of developing countries. They are consequently theoretical and practical obstacles to the conception of linguistic justice promoted by some linguists. Theoretically also, the notion of linguistic purity - just as hazardous as notions of racial purity - lies just underneath the surface. On the practical side, the human and economic cost of providing all services in all languages is beyond the means of even the richest nations, and most of the world s jeopardised languages are found in the developing, rather than the developed, world. It has been argued that as researchers we can and must help those who wish to maintain their linguistic inheritance (ibid: 54-56). I took part in the UNESCO International Conference Multilingualism in Europe which was held in Vienna in I believe such conferences are necessary in the Arab world where many minority languages need intervention to preserve them. In Jordan for example, Circassians, Chechens, Kurds and Armenians are keen to revitalise their ancestral languages. The first conference in Jordan on the Circassian language was held in Arabic and the challenges of globalisation Some Arabs have, to some extent, very slowly and reluctantly come to accept globalised values which are basically western. Many Arab scholars, however, have warned of the destruction of traditional Arab values by globalisation. But because globalisation is an ongoing process in the modern world, Arab societies cannot in practice prevent globalisation from crossing their borders. Despite the rejection of globalisation by many Arab scholars, politicians, economists and academics, I believe that globalisation has affected almost all aspects of life in Arab societies and their governments. These influences vary from daily routine food, clothes and social habits to the more complex ways of thinking which result in requests to changes in critical matters like modification of civil law which may eventually contradict with Islamic law ش ريع ة šarī a and deeply-rooted social conventions and traditional habits. Such traditions can be sometimes more influential than religious teachings. The Islamic modernists who appeared in the nineteenth century believed that Islam is not only attuned with reason, advancement and social harmony and the bases of modern civilisation, if suitably understood, it positively directs them. Such ideas were put forward by Jamal al-din al-afghani ( ), whose writings were vague but significant. They were developed more fully and clearly in the writings of the Egyptian Muhammad Abduh ( ), whose writings were to have a huge and permanent influence all over the Muslim world. Such a vision of Islam was to become an element of the equipping of the mind of many educated Arab Muslims, and of Muslims beyond the Arab world. Abduh s most famous follower, the Syrian Rashid Rida ( ), tried to develop laws fitting to the modern world within the structure of a revised شريعة šarī a (Hourani 1991: ). There is currently much speculation among Arab scholars about the standing and direction of the Arabic language. As far as the researcher is concerned, the use of thousands of loan words by Arabic speakers, particularly the new generations is clear evidence of the linguistic impact on Arabic of globalisation. The infiltration of foreign terms into the Arabic language is not a new phenomenon, but it has recently become more pronounced because of globalisation. The Arabic language is unique in its rapid expansion following the rise of Islam as one of the world s major languages. Nabil (2001) affirms that Arabic has survived for seventeen centuries 369

372 as the most prominent element of Arabic culture which is totally linked to the Arab Islamic identity. Stetkevych (1970: 1) says of Arabic that What remains certain is that, in a way, it is a privileged language. It has lived for one millennium and a half essentially unchanged, usually gaining, never completely losing. In the overall context of the problems facing Arabic language in the age of globalisation, Morrow & Castleton (2007: 2) look at historical precedents, such as the eradication of Arabic in Spain. After the fall of the Arab-Muslim kingdoms in Spain, the Arabic language was forbidden and severe penalties were imposed on those who spoke or wrote in Arabic. There were also bans on Islamic dress, prayers, fasting and pilgrimage to Mecca. Morrow & Castleton relate the ban on Arabic to the purging of Islamic presence and culture. They also note that when the Western powers colonised the Arabic-Islamic world, they tried to weaken Islam through the elimination of Arabic because they were conscious of the great influence of the Arabic language. Consequently they attempted to replace it with their own languages; and they fought Standard Arabic by promoting local varieties and regional dialects of Arabic. Morrow and Castleton attempt to prove that Arabic was fought as a means of fighting Islam, regardless whether this rejection of Islam came from within or abroad. For example, they explore the past attempts to undermine Islam by removing the Arabic alphabet in Turkey on the part of Kemal Ataturk who replaced it with the Latin one, so future generations in Turkey would have to make a huge effort to learn the Arabic script to read the Quran and Islamic religious texts. Morrow and Castleton regard the false perspective of Westerners towards Islam and Muslims as a central problem, affirming that the two billion Muslims are not the few who react aggressively according to their understanding of Western and American policy. They argue that this misconception of Muslims and Islam has created a new version of anti-semitism, which they term anti-muslimism or anti-islamism, and claim that this has distorted the image of Muslims. Beira Jakli (2010) distinguishes between aspects and goals of current globalisation and the old globalisation during the Greek, Roman and Islamic periods. Present-day globalisation is economic and cultural in nature, aiming to impose capitalism on the nations of the world by عالمية globalism eliminating their cultures. By contrast, in Arab Islamic culture the notion of ālmiyya presupposes equality between people and the organisation of relations between nations on the basis of mutual respect. I believe that this kind of globalism a form of universalism has been emphasised for fourteen centuries in Arabic culture. One of the most important verses in the opening chapter of the Quran سور ة الفات ح ة sūrat al-fātih a reads (praise be to Allah, the cherisher and the sustainer of the الع ال مين worlds ر ل لل الح مم al-h amdu lilahi rabbi al - ālamīn). Universalism, here, is emphasised and given much weight in a way which implies the universality of all mankind through referring to all people of the world alike. The Arabic language, as the basic pillar of Arab-Islamic culture, is undoubtedly influenced by globalisation, which is deemed to be a threat to the so-called marginal cultures. Morrow & Castleton (2007: 2) focus on the frequency of religious terms in Arabic which are purely Islamic expressions. Samuel Huntington (1996: 56-68) affirms that language and religion are the major constituents of any culture. Thus, Arabic faces the challenge of globalisation, which threatens the non-western cultures of the world. If Islam is a target for those who try to distort its essence, then the Arabic language is necessarily and indirectly attacked as the carrier of Islamic civilisation. 370

373 Beira Jakli (2010) summarises the effects of linguistic globalisation on Arabic. These include the insistence on resorting to foreign languages such as English or French as a media of instruction in many Arab universities and schools. The use of English digits to represent Arabic sounds that do not exist in English is, in her opinion, another dangerous aspect of the impact of globalisation on the Arabic language. Young Arabs use this in two major facets of globalisation, the internet and texting messages. Some designate this phenomenon by the newly coined term Arabish from the two words Arabic and English that is writing Arabic in English letters. I believe that this change is not a threat to Arabic as it only involves transliteration. Other symbols already exist to represent Arabic sounds that are lacking in English. What end users have done is to create a new system which has been applied through the new technology of internet and mobile phones. They have chosen English numerals that are similar in shape to Arabic letters, for example, the numeral 7 for the Arabic letter ح (h ), and 3 for the Arabic letter (ع) ( ). In this context, we may note that the numerals which are used now in English are originally Arabic (having been adopted by the Arabs from India), and are known as Arabic numerals, to distinguish them from the older Roman numerals, in English. Another sociolinguistic aspect of the influence of globalisation on Arabic is the spread of code-switching between Arabic and English among younger Arabs. It is believed by some speakers that the use of English words when speaking in Arabic will make them appear educated and superior to others in their society; code-switching, thus, has social implications (Eid 1992: 50-52). The linguistic relativity theory of Sapir and Whorf assumes that speakers of different languages think and act in a different way partly because of the differences in the way languages decide cultural and cognitive categories. In other words, language determines thought and linguistic categories limit and determine cognitive categories. Whorf (1956: 134) develops Sapir s view of the significant interconnections between language, culture and psychology. In (ibid: 159) Whorf emphasises the connections between cultural norms and linguistic patterns. He concludes that there is a relation between a language and the other aspect of culture. On this basis, it can be argued that a language is a representation of its native speakers reality; whether this actuality reflects the advancement or backwardness of the society (Al-Maqaleh 2007). The current situation of the Arabic language is a reflection of and response to the current intellectual weakness of the Arab nation. The Arabs have the potential to rise again together with their language through the adoption of a civilisational project. The efforts to carry this burden must be shouldered by all; it is not merely the responsibility of the Arabic language academies as the mission is huge. Intellectuals, academics, political groups, the mass media, language academies and translation associations must work hand in hand to create coordinated co-operation built on methodical plans to improve Arabic. Globalisation is a two-sided coin. Any culture which can creatively adapt itself to globalisation and make use of its advantages, will achieve much progress. China, for example, is growing rapidly having become at least relatively open to other cultures and having translated knowledge into Chinese. Mandarin has become a language for many people to learn. This demand for Mandarin has accompanied the rise of its civilisation and advancement of its economy and people. Srouri (2009) claims that the Arab mentality is a result of an isolating environment which segregates the Arabs intellectually and linguistically in a way that prevents the Arab individual from coping with modernity and moving towards the age of globalisation. This delineation of the current state of Arab intellectuals helps to understand the reasons behind the fear of and slow movement towards reform in the Arabic language. However, the Arabs have no choice; they have to accept the new world order and face it rather than deny it and retreat. The result, if they were to do so, would only be further ignorance. 371

374 Srouri (ibid) summarises the basic challenges facing Arabic. The first is the lack of a base for digital knowledge which has become the focus of contemporary knowledge and sciences. He also stresses the deficiency of translation work into Arabic, which he calls translation anaemia. Few of the great books of modern civilisation have yet been translated into Arabic, although Arabic was itself the language of human civilisation in the Abbasid era by virtue of translation missions to render books of philosophy, medicine, astronomy, logic, mathematics and arts from Greek, Persian, Sanskrit, Ethiopic and many other languages into Arabic. Assayid et al. (2010) believe that the economic, social and political conditions in the Arab world, the information explosion and globalisation have not shown that Arabic is incapable of handling modernisation. Arabic is not the obstacle; rather it is the intellectual petrifaction of some scholars. We believe that this is right; Arabic has proved that it is a flexible language capable of taking words from different languages which can successfully become part of the lexical reservoir. Language is fundamental to transformations in scientific fields as a basic means for acquiring scholarly knowledge, and no growth can be made without it. The technological challenges that Arab culture and language face are alarming. Each country therefore finds itself forced to form its language in ways that adjust to and gain from the requirements of the modern age. The confrontation which is imposed by technology on languages influences every country in the world, including the Arab countries. The internet as one facet of globalization, for example, has increased the number of Arabs looking for new technologies. They demand that their language assimilates these new technologies, in order to become one of the major technological languages (Laroussi 2004: ). 1.7 Overcoming objections to the development of Arabic Arabic language modernisation and the different attitudes towards it are indissolubly linked to the overall development of the Arab world. Like many other nations, the Arabs have been modernising the material side of their culture by developing the infrastructure of their countries. Nevertheless, the development and modernisation of the Arab countries is still unsatisfactory. There exists a strong opposition on the part of a majority of people to changes in some pillars of Arab-Islamic culture, foremost among which are the Arabic language and religious thinking. The strong opposition to cultural and linguistic change does not mean that no change has yet taken place. On the contrary, change is evident in the public life of the Arabs and in the Arab media. This is because of the strong influence coming from the West, in particular, which has started to change some people s mind-set. For example, a visitor to Damascus, the old capital of the Umayyad Caliphate, would notice that many shops have English rather than Arabic names, even though, the cultural and political norms in Syria stress the use of Arabic. These norms are not only influenced by the nationalist party which rules the country, but also by the public opinion of Syrian academics, scholars and educated people. Ultimately, the researcher believes that change is inevitable regardless of the existence of opponents of change in cultural aspects of life. This being the case, we believe that everyone can consent to the following idea. For a language to be open to technology on which economic and social growth depends, it is crucial to sustain it with satisfactory instruments. It is not easy to react confidently to the future of Arabic in a globalising world. If Arabic is to become one of the major technological languages, the Arab 372

375 countries must provide all the necessary resources to realise this. This calls into question a linguistic ideology which considers language as a pure, harmonised, and accordingly unchangeable object. The difficulty is enormous as the Arabic language is not the language of a single country and is not managed by a single agency, but rather by quite a few agencies often having inconsistent language policies. Any appraisal of Arabic must be conscious of problems posed by numerous, distinct and habitually contending national sovereignties. While there exists near-agreement about the requirement to bestow on Arabic new instruments and techniques in order to make it into one of the major technological languages, there is no accord about the vision that diverse Arab countries have of the issue, their approaches, their strategies, or the means to attain them (Laroussi 2004: ). In endeavouring to restore Arabic as a flexible tool of thinking and, at the same time, to make it representative of cultural revival in the nation-state, the Arabs have encountered a number of problems. As examined above (see 5.1 and 5.2), the lengthy stage of stagnation following the intrusion and dominance of foreign powers led to a decline in Arab culture and the Arabic language. The inability to adopt one single approach has also slowed down much-needed linguistic development. The linguistic argument has been complicated by the range of attitudes and the clash of values. For example, some people have called for radical reform including the Latinisation of the Arabic script, and the renovation of grammar and the lexicon. Others seek simplification of the language but with strict adherence to the Classical traditions. The backers of purism would like to protect the language in compliance with traditions and literary usage from both foreignism د خيل daxīl and indigenous colloquialism عام ي āmmi. Unaware, conceivably, of the advances made elsewhere in the different disciplines, they have failed to realise that language is subject to the same changes as those affecting society in the political, economic, intellectual, and educational spheres (Chejne 1969: ). 1.8 Conclusion Rapid development in a globalising world will inevitably lead to extensive changes in societies and their languages in particular at the lexical level. Arabic is rich, and adequate for the purposes which have been assigned to it for a long period; but it should adapt itself to new tasks to eliminate any inability to transmit novel ideas and concepts. If the Arabs continue to treat Arabic as a sacred language which accepts no change, they will soon find it difficult to discuss the new sciences and knowledge properly with traditional vocabulary (Ayalon 1987: 4). Reform in Arab societies is linked to reform in the Arabic language. Some Arab scholars accepted this in the early twentieth century. Before the current period of globalisation, they grasped the necessity of developing the Arabic language to face new challenges. The future of Arabic depends on several trends of which the most important are political and ideological. No real endeavour has been made to carry out a true reform of the language which can cope with the present challenges. Languages develop and change naturally because they express human thought, which changes according to peoples needs and innovations. Changes in thought yield change and development in languages. This phenomenon is applicable to all languages with no exception. Developing the Arabic language is a basic step towards comprehensive development in the Arab world. The development of the Arabic language will empower the language to encompass the knowledge revolution in all scientific fields. This development will not necessarily distort the linguistic 373

376 system of Arabic, as it is related to the functions of the language, its stylistics, vocabulary enrichment and semantics. The modernisation of Arabic to cope with the challenges of globalisation requires all concerned people to know that: 1. Arabic is like a biological entity which grows and develops according to the needs of its native speakers, those speakers deciding on language change rather than language academies and planners who can only organise such change. 2. The modernisation of Arabic must be linked to social, economic and political changes in the Arab societies. Thus, the Arabic language development process must correspond to the development of society. 3. It is necessary to be open to all advances in a globalising world, and to adopt ideas of knowledge transfer to Arabic. 4. Arabic language modernisation efforts should make use of other nations experiences in this field, and the modernisation process must be based on the scientific methodology of linguistics and language planning. 5. The relationship between all bodies concerned with this process must be organised within a legal framework to be drawn up by governments and authoritative bodies. These concerned bodies are the language academies and language practitioners who plan for the language, the government which legislates and issues regulations for language usage, and the end users who use the language and initiate the change. Throughout the process of revitalisation which started in the nineteenth century, the Arabic language gained in importance. Whether under the Ottoman Turks or European colonialism, constant calls were made not only to revitalise the language, but also to make it the acknowledged instrument of expression in the nation-state and at all levels of Arab society. In the age of globalisation, we need to follow the Arab Muslims of medieval times and possess the self-assurance required to borrow at will in order to meet linguistic needs. Present-day problems should not prevent linguistic revival, nor should they reduce faith in the success of the language. There is almost undivided agreement that remaining linguistic problems can be solved only if a single programme is adopted and implemented by the whole Arab-speaking world. The achievement of this project will be guaranteed only if it is undertaken quickly. Chejne (1969: ) concluded that the core of the linguistic problem confronting the Arabs is that the language has been subject to internal and external demands; it has been caught between the past and the present, and between the ideal and the real. For Arabic to move ahead as a global language, the willingness to change needs to become deeprooted. One cannot waste time in ideological debates that are of no advantage to the language. Rather, it is necessary to agree on a pragmatic, practical approach that will enhance language policies. No linguistic reform relying on the wide agreement of users of the language is likely outside a democratic context. It is, of course, legitimate for the Arabs to look back to their glorious past, but it is essential that this past also stimulates them to achieve the transformations necessary for the required reforms in language and other domains alike. 374

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380 The Relationship between Cohesion and Coherence in Writing: The Case of Thai EFL Students Parin Tanawong Department of Western Languages, Srinakharinwirot University, Thailand Somsak Kaewnuch Department of Western Languages, Srinakharinwirot University, Thailand Abstract This study investigated the relationship between cohesion and coherence in English compositions. Cohesion facilitates text comprehension and is assumed to be related to text coherence and overall writing quality. However, previous studies results showed fluctuation in the strength of the relationships amongthese features. The fluctuation of the correlation might have been caused by an improbable analogy between the quantity of cohesive ties and the other two features. This study, therefore, avoided the improbable analogy by using the quality of cohesion in examining the correlation betweencohesion and coherence. Forty-six English compositions from Thai EFL students were analyzed. Cohesive ties were identified, counted, and categorized. The characters of cohesion and coherence were described and used to evaluatetheir qualities. The result shows that the correlation coefficient between the quality of the two features is r=0.48 with a significance level at ρ= This suggests that there is a statistically significant medium correlation between the quality of cohesion and that of coherence in the English compositions of Thai EFL participants. Keywords: Cohesion, Coherence, Correlation, EFL Writing, Thai Students The background of the study Researchers have been looking for overarching factors that distinguish good and poor writing. These factors are crucial in shaping classroom instructionshelping foreign and second language learners to write in the target language.at the beginning of the searching,contrastive analysis(lado, 1957)was introduced. It explains that the degrees of difficulties learning aforeign or second language depend on the distance between the native and the target language of the learners.later, it was found that such difficulties were instead mostly from the process of learning, similarly to that of learning the native language.this led the researchers toerror analysis(corder, 1967).Error analysisfocuses on types and quantity of errors. It shed light on the wayfor the learners to walktoward errorless writing. However, well-formed and correct sentences yet do not guarantee good writing quality. A piece of writing could still be appearedin chunks of unrelated sentences. Therefore, researchers must look beyond the sentential boundary toward the connectedness of sentences which is the mechanism of discourse features, cohesion and coherence. Cohesion is the use of cohesive ties to sequence and connect sentences together and cause text to be understood as connected discourse(halliday & Hasan, 1976), andcoherence is a continuity of senses among the knowledge activated by the expressions of the text and make text makes 378

381 sense to the reader (de Beaugrande & Dressler, 1981). Researchers claim that for a text to be coherent, it needs cohesion. Johns(1986) suggested that coherence in a written text involve a multitude of text-based features: cohesion and unity, and reader-based features: the interactions between the readers and the text depending on prior knowledge. Lee(2002)reviewed a number of literatures and came up withfeatures that contributes coherence. These features are macrostructure(hoey, 1983; Martin & Rothery, 1986), information structure(danes, 1974; Firbas, 1986 as cited in Lee, 2002),the connectivity of the underlying content(kintsch & van Dijk, 1978; van Dijk, 1980), metadiscourse(crismore, Markkanen, & Steffensen, 1993; van de Kopple, 1985), and cohesion(halliday & Hasan, 1976).Hence, there must be an interaction between cohesion andcoherence. Coherenceplays an important role in writing quality (Lee, 2002; Witte & Faigley, 1981). This implies that cohesion must also have a role in writing quality, because cohesionis considered to be part of coherence. However, the investigations of the relationships among these features yield fluctuated results.witte &Faigley(1981)studied high and low rated essays written by university students and found that highrated essays have denser cohesive ties than low rated essays.khalil (1989)studied the relationship between the quantity cohesive ties and the coherence score in twenty essays written by Arab university students. The result shows that there is low correlation between cohesion and coherence. Chiang(1999)studied the relationship between variousgrammatical and discourse features in 172 essays using rating scales. He found that the raters relied heavily on cohesion in judging the quality of essays. Liu & Braine (2005)studied the relationship between the quantity of each type of cohesive ties and quality of writing in fifty essays written by freshmen in a university in China. The result shows that the quality of writing correlate to each type of cohesion at different degrees.lexical cohesion correlates to the quality of writing the most followed by reference and conjunction.dueraman(2006)studies the relationship between the quantity of cohesive ties and writing quality in essays written by fourteen Malaysian and fourteen Thai medical students. The result shows that there were no differences in the number of cohesive ties used between high and low rated essays. Crossley& McNamara(2010) investigated the relationships among cohesion, coherence, and writing quality of 184 essays written by university students. The result shows that coherence is predictive to writing quality and there is negative correlation between the quantity of cohesive ties and the writing quality. This means high rated essays in coherence have less cohesive ties and vice versa. The fluctuation of theprevious results suggested that the actual relationships between cohesion and coherence/writing quality have not yet been discovered. The present study suggests that the fluctuation might have been caused by improbable analogy between the quantity of cohesive ties and the quality of coherence. The analogy is assumed to be improbable because of two assumptions. First, to determine the relationship, the researchers looked at correlation coefficient which represents the strength and the direction of linear relationship between the two variables. This means the correlation would be positive if and only if the text samples show increasing quantity of cohesive ties along with increasing quality of coherence/writing quality. However, it is questionable that does the increasing quantity of the ties yield the increasing quality of coherence indefinitely, or should there be an optimum amount of cohesive ties in a text that effectively facilitates maximum coherence.if it is the latter,the amount of the ties which is greater than this optimum point is redundancy and do not facilitate coherence. The correlation between the features cannot be in linear. By applying linear correlation, the result, therefore, yield low or no correlation. The second assumptionrelates the participants native language background.investigating the relationship on native speakers, researchers could assume that the participants, who mostly were in the academic environments, used cohesive ties correctly and appropriately because it is their native language. Therefore, the quantity of 379

382 the ties could be an indicator distinguishes high and low coherence or good and poor writing quality. For foreign and second language learners, there are more chances that grammatical errors and inappropriate use of cohesive ties occurs. A high number of them in a text cause difficulty to a reader to comprehend. In result, the reader feels that the writing is less coherence and has poor writing quality. But this does not mean cohesion does not facilitate coherence and writing quality in general.as such, more research is necessary to reveal the actual relationships between cohesion and coherence/writing quality and the researcher should be concerned about the improbable analogy caused by the use of the quantity of cohesion in the investigation. Objectives of the study 1. To underline the characters of cohesion and the characters of coherence in order to evaluate their qualities. 2. To compare the quality of cohesion and the quality of coherence in order to find the relationship between these two discourse features. Research questions 1. What are the characters of cohesion and the characters of coherence in English compositions written by Thai EFL participants? 2. Is there a relationship between cohesion and coherence in the compositions written by Thai EFL participants? Methodology Participants The participants in the present studyare twenty three undergraduate students in English major, Srinakharinwirot University. The participants were taking Writing Composition I course when they participated in the present study. The present study also required two raters to extract cohesive ties and evaluate the quality of cohesion and that of coherence. The raters were M.A. students in Teaching English as a Foreign Language. One of the raters has been teaching English as a foreign language for five years. The other rater has experiences in academic writing in English speaking country for several years. Composition Forty-six compositions were used in this study. The compositions were written bythe participants.each participant wrote two compositions to response two articles they have read in class.the participants had chances to present their compositions in the class for teacher and peers reviews and produced final drafts. Final drafts were collected and used in this present study on purpose to investigate cohesion and coherence at students best capability. Instrumentation This study needs three instruments to extract data from the compositions and to prepare the data for the analysis. The instruments are cohesive tie identification form, cohesion rating scale form, and coherence rating scale form. Cohesive tie identification form providedspace for the raters to fill information of cohesive ties. The information are (1) cohesive ties and the sentence number the ties are found, (2) the subtype of each type of cohesion, (3) the presupposed items and the sentence number the presupposed items are found, (4) the correctness or appropriateness of how each tie is used, 380

383 and (5) comments and suggestions. The raters used this preliminary data to rate the quality of cohesion using cohesion rating scale form. Cohesion rating scale form was used to measure the quality of cohesion. The form consists of five items which relate to the five types of cohesion defined by Halliday&Hasan (1976): (a) references are used appropriately and accurately, (b) substitution is used where needed and accurately, (c) ellipsis is used where needed and accurately, (d) conjunction words are used judiciously and accurately, and (e) sets of words are used meaningfully and appropriately.each item contains scale from 5 to 1 indicating the highest and lowest cohesion quality. If a type of cohesive tie was not found, the raters selectedn/a and it is not included in the calculation of averaged cohesion score. Coherence rating scale formwas used to measure the quality of coherence. The form consists of five items: (A) The beginning section is effective in introducing the reader to the subject and the ending gives the reader a definite sense of closure, (B) The ideas in the essay are all very relevant to the topic, (C) Ideas mentioned are elaborated, (D) The division of paragraphs is justifiable in terms of content relevance and the transition between paragraphs is smooth, and (E) The writer's overall point of view is clear. These items reflect the overall organization of a composition. They are adapted from Chiang (1999). Similarly to cohesion rating scale, items in coherence rating scale contains scale from 5 to 1 indicating the highest to lowest quality of coherence. Data collection To collect data, first there was an orientation between the researcher and the two raters. The purpose of the orientation is to clarify knowledge about the two discourse features, to instruct how to identify cohesive ties, to instruct how to score cohesion based on information from cohesive tie identification form, and to instruct how to score coherence. Later, both raters received all forty six compositions and the instrumentation.the raters had a specific period of time to complete all the forms and returned them back to the researcher. The researcher, finally, managed descriptive data such as the characters of cohesion and coherence and inserted numerical data such as the quantity of cohesive ties and cohesion and coherence scores in a spread sheet program for statistical analysis. Data analysis The correlation between cohesion and coherence were determined by Pearson productmoment correlation coefficient (PPMCC or PCC).The result of PPMCC ranges from 0.0 to 1.0 for positive correlation and from -1.0 to 0.0 for negative correlation. Cohen (1988)interprets these values as presented in table 1. Table 1 The interpretation of the correlation calculated by PPMCC Correlation Negative Positive None to to 0.09 Small -0.3 to to 0.3 Medium -0.5 to to 0.5 Strong -1.0 to to 1.0 Two sets of data to be calculated for the correlation were cohesion and coherence scores. The scores from items (a) to (e) in a cohesion rating scale form of an individual composition were averaged. Similarly, the scores from item (A) to (E) in a coherence rating scale form of this individual composition were averaged. Therefore, one composition containedtwo pairsof cohesion score and coherence score, from two raters. The averaged cohesion scores and coherence scores between the two raters were used to calculate the correlation. Finally, all 381

384 forty-six compositions gave two sets of data: forty-six cohesion scores and forty-six coherence scores. By applying a mathematic function in a spreadsheet program, it carried out PPMCC with a significance value. In addition, the correlation between the two raters was also calculated. This is to verify that the two raters scored cohesion and coherence on the same trend. Findings The quantity of cohesive ties Figure 1 Thequantity of cohesive ties used in forty-six compositions. Cohesive ties identification forms revealed that the participants used lexical cohesion and reference cohesion the most at 44.00% and 43.36%, followed by conjunction at 12.14%. In lexical cohesion, the participants used reiteration at 88.69%, collocation at 9.85%, words that perform both reiteration and collocation at 1.45%. In reference, the participants used personal reference at 75.26%, demonstrative reference 24.32%, and comparative reference 0.42%. In conjunction, the participants used causal conjunction at 34.02%, additive 24.62%, temporal 23.50%, adversative 17.67%, and others 0.19%. Substitution and ellipsis were used the least, both less than 1% which nominal substitution and nominal ellipsis were used the most. The characters of cohesion Cohesive ties identification forms revealedcohesion errors in the participants compositions.grammatical and non-grammatical errors were found inlexical cohesion, reference, and conjunction. A lexical cohesiongrammatical errorissingular/plural disagreementbetween a wordand its reiteration. For example, a participant wrote Another reason is she has many better ways to solve her problems. The first way is talk to her husband about causation of his behavior and solves this problem together. The word problems in the first sentence is used in plural from, while its reiteration problem in the second sentence is used in singular form. The error could confuse a reader whether the writer wrote about the same problem(s). A lexical cohesion non-grammatical error is a wrong selection of a word. For 382

385 example a participant wrote It is sticky, stretch, durable and flexible fitting. So, condom is clause that sperm cannot pass away. When man ejaculate condom can block sperm not to pass through enter the uterus of the female has no sperm was not pregnant. In this example, a set of words were used inappropriately. The participant should have selected a pair of words from either man and woman or male and female to naturalize the text. Several types of grammatical error were found when the participants used reference. First, the error is singular/plural disagreement between a word and its pronoun. For example, a participant wrote Sometimes I have seen many organizations to distribute free condoms. It is commonly used for nowadays because it is a simple to buy. Reference It and it should have been They and they because condoms is written in plural form. The singular/plural disagreement is also found when the participants used demonstrative reference this, that, these, and those. The reference was used not correspond to singular/plural form of the forthcoming words. Second, reference grammatical error is the misuse of demonstrative reference the. For example, a participant wrote I think that six of them is so pity because they have to solve a problem alone. In this article was told by priest is about the woman who get married with a bad fellow Demonstrative reference the is misused because it is used with a non-specific noun. Therefore, an article a should have been used instead. Last, reference grammatical error is the misuse of subject pronoun, object pronoun, and reflexive pronoun. For example, a participant wrote They do not think about health risk involved with those pills. Nowadays, especially teenagers who want to be proud of them choose this method that is the wrong way. The participant used object pronoun them, but with the structure of the sentence, reflexive pronoun themselves should have been used. Reference non-grammatical erroris theuseof referencetie to refer to multiple items intext. For example, a participant wrote The important thing after the accident was,nichkhun was really concerned about the motorcycle driver. He got off a car to see him immediately and didn t escape anyhow. A pronoun reference he and its objective form him is used to refer back to both Nichkhun and the motorcycle driver. A reader needs effort to interpret which he and him the participant is referring to. The present study found that conjunction grammatical error is the misuse of conjunction tie with respect to the sentences meanings. For example, a participant wrote Korean wave has become one of the most beloved pop cultures among Thai teenagers over the last 10 years, more than American popular culture and they are choosing what they consider to be more Asian. According to the sentences meanings, the part after and is the cause of the previous part. Therefore, the participant should have used because to emphasize the relationship. Conjunction non-grammatical error is found when the participants do not write sentences in the way that deserve a conjunction tie. For example, a participant wrote News reported said that Nichkhun was drunk because he had an alcohol over the limit of Korean law. When a person is drunk, it is because the amount of alcohol in the blood is over the limit of the body to maintain consciousness, not because the amount of alcohol is beyond the accepted level written by law. It seems that the information is not enough to use because. An alternative rewriting could be Nichkhun was drunk and he was arrested because he had alcohol over the limit allowed by the law. Substitution and ellipsis were found rarely in the present study and only grammatical error is found. Substitution grammatical error is found when nominal substitution one was used to substitute none of the item in text. For example, a participant wrote For me, male is the sexual which should help and protect the women and the poor one, they must not injure them. It would be the worst thing for men if they injured the poor one. From this example, a reader would not be sure what one the participant was substituting. Ellipsis grammatical error found when a verbal ellipsis was used, but it was difficult for a reader to realize which verbhas been omitted. 383

386 For example, a participant wrote If they tell you that it is good, you must follow them. Sometimes you want to know the explanation that how it is good or useful, but they don t,whichthe full form is but they do not explain. However, none of the prior sentences consist of the verb explain only a noun explanation is presented. The characters of coherence Plenty of coherence weaknesses were found in the compositions. These weaknesses degraded the quality of text coherence. A composition is presented here is to illustrate coherence weaknesses. This composition is a response tothe article A Sharp, Beribboned Message to Abusive Husband. Violence is not Our Culture The present, our country has been face with a lot of problems from the smallest aspect up to the most grievous ones. One of problem, it s about life after marriage. This problem can be caused by other problems such as domestic violence, drug and so on. Similarly, in the story is about a wife tried to protect herself from her husband who abused again and again when he drunk.in my opinion, I disagree with violence behavior of them because it's not a good way to solve a problem. I think the story is a dilemma problem because the sheriff investigated what everybody already knew that she made a mistake but nobody prosecuted her mistake. Everyone would like to say with her to take her feel better. I know it s none of their business but they should suggest and assist to deserve the right way. Whether, she should divorce decision or conduct the prosecution in such a way as to achieve justice. For instance, in my village has one family like the story. They have four people in family. There are father, mother, and two daughters who are young children. Erewhile, father likes to socialize with his coworkers after working ends. He had drunk a lot before he come back home. He had often quarreled with his wife when he arrived home. Sometimes he injured her. But now, this family is a very warm & loving family because they are talking a lot about their problem. My mother asked them. They said they don t want to be a bad role model for their daughters. I think they choose a good way to solve a problem instead they decided to attack or make a mistake that bring about to homicide. In conclusion, as you can see. Now, domestic violence is an important problem in Thailand. Describe my opinion as seen from the newspaper. A lot of news had domestic violence that a lot of people don't think long-term any more. I think last thing we should havea pureconscience. If you think only of yourself, you'll only destroy yourself same this object and spend the rest of your life in prison. The introduction and the conclusion inthe composition are not efficient. The introduction consists of two topic sentences. The first topic sentence is the underlining domestic problem among other problems in Thailand. The second topic sentence is the writer s disagreement to the actions of the couple from an article. Moreover, the introduction is not well written.it does not contain any controlling ideas. This results in the unclear clue to the readers about the point to discuss in the body of the composition. In the conclusion paragraph, the writer concludes that domestic violence is an important problem in Thailand, whereas none of the content has discussed the severity of domestic violence in the country. The rest of the conclusion paragraph is the opinion of the writer, not related to the topic sentence. This means the conclusion does not perform its function which the main argument should be restated and the writing should give definite sense of closure. The ideas in the composition are not relevant to the topic. From the topic, the readers would expect a discussion about violence and the Thai culture. However, the introduction proposes 384

387 only problems of the country and contains the writer s opinion about the article she had read. The body contains the writer s disappointment about the neighbors of the couple in the article and exemplifies domestic violence in the writer s village. The conclusion part underlines domestic violence as a crucial problem and contains the writer s opinion toward people in the society. None of the content discusses the connection between violence and the Thai culture. Therefore, the ideas in the composition fail to meet the reader s expectations. The ideas in the composition are not elaborated. Many ideas are introduced but then left without supporting details, causing discontinuous reading and leavingno important content for the reader. In the introduction paragraph, the writer introduces the problem of life after marriage, but there is no clear explanation about how such problem is caused by domestic violence and drugs as stated. In the body, the writer wrote about people s actions, but no details leads the readers to the example about the problem in the writer s village. In the conclusion, there is no detail that supports the statement domestic violence is an important problem in Thailand. The lack of details causes the discontinuity of ideas and spoils coherence. The division of paragraph is not justifiable in terms of content. There seem to be three paragraphs in the composition: introduction, the body, and the conclusion. As said above, the introduction and the conclusion are not effective. Ideas throughout the composition are not relevant to the topic. There is no linear flow of the story and points disperse over the writing. Hence, the readers are left bewildered and cannot catch the exact main idea the writer wants to convey. The correlation between cohesion and coherence Statistical calculation revealed the correlations between the two discourse features and between the two raters. In the process of data collection, the two raters scored six compositions divergently. This causes very low correlation between the two raters. Therefore, the six compositions were excluded from the analysis to adjust correlation coefficient to an acceptable level. After the exclusion, the correlation of cohesion scores between the two raters is r = 0.56 with significant level at ρ= and the correlation of coherence scores between the two raters is r = 0.53 with significant level at ρ = This means both raters likely scored coherence and cohesion in forty compositions toward the same direction. Then cohesion scores from both raters were averaged alongside with coherence scores. The data was inserted in to a spreadsheet program and Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient function was applied. The correlation reveals value r=0.48 with significance level at ρ = The value suggests that there is a statistically significant mediumcorrelation between cohesion and coherence among forty compositions by the interpretation of Cohen (1988). Discussion The cohesive ties identification form enabled us to see the quantity of the ties and theerrors of the ties in the compositions. It is not surprising that reference and lexical cohesion were found the most, more than eighty percent in total. This is because in writing, when a person needs to write about a specific topic the person needs to repeat it or to have it being referred throughout the composition. Conjunction is used a little bit above ten percent. They are used only to show the relationship of meanings between sentences. Substitution and ellipsis were used infinitesimal because they are found commonly in speech. The errors of cohesion were found. According tohalliday&hasan (1976), reference, substitution, ellipsis, and conjunction are grammatical, while lexical cohesion is the selection of vocabulary. 385

388 From the definition, it seems that to evaluatethe quality of the first four cohesion types is to determine grammatical errors and to evaluate the quality of lexical cohesion is to determine the selection of word. The present study, however,goes beyond this point. We determined both grammatical and non-grammatical errors on all types of cohesion. The cohesion grammatical errors found in the present study are also found in common grammatical errors in writing investigated by Pongsiriwet(2001) and Watcharapunyawong& Usaha (2012). The intersection between cohesion grammatical errors from the present study and the grammatical errors from the two studies are article, singular/plural form, pronoun, and word choice. We can assume that to look for the causes and the treatments of cohesion grammatical errors is to look in general grammatical errors. This is probably the way to help the learners improve their cohesion quality. In the case of non-grammatical error, the present study assumes that it occurs because the participants did not project themselves as readers. A good example of this is when a personal reference tie is used to refer to multiple items.the writers themselves knew which personal reference tie is refereeing to whom in the text, but they were not aware that the readers could not see this connection unless it was clearly written down in the text. The non-grammatical error could also occur because the participants do not understand the content they were writing. This is found when the participants used conjunction. When the participants do not understand the content, they could not write sentences to show the relationship between the sentences and when a conjunction tie is applied, the readers feel that a point is missing or the text is not deserved to use that conjunction tie. To fix cohesion non-grammatical errors, writers need teacher and peers review. The reviews would help the writers recognize the parts of their composition that is difficult for the readers to understand. The weaknesses of coherence were found. The finding corresponds to a recent study on coherence in Thai context (Kaewcha, 2013) on the point that the introduction does not give a clue to the readers, the ideas are not elaborated, and the main point of discussion is not clear. In addition, Kaewcha (2013) suggested that incoherent compositions in her study caused by the absent of transition signals. In other words, the compositions need temporal conjunctions, a conjunction subtype defined by Halliday&Hasan (1976). Teacher and peers review are necessary to help the writers improve their coherence. The reviews would help them spot coherence weaknesses in their compositions. The writers may need to be instructed about the structure of a composition and how to convey the meanings and the main ideas using such structure to improve coherence in writing. Statistical analysis revealed that the quality of cohesion does have medium correlation with the quality of coherence. Witte &Faigley (1981) explained that the low correlation between the two discourse features found in the previous studies is because coherencedepends a great deal on factors outside the text, the factors that lie beyond the scope of cohesion. However, this explanation is based on the studiesthat used the quantity of cohesion in the investigation. Therefore, the present study is not the case. Yet we cannot conclude that the medium correlation in our result is because we use the quality of cohesion in the investigation. More studies with similar methodology to the present study are needed to confirm such analogy. There are limitations of cohesion s quality evaluation in this study. First the study did not take the absence of cohesive ties into the evaluation. When a writer does not use a cohesive tie when it is needed, it might be difficult for the reader,who has less knowledge about the topic, to bridge the conceptual gaps in the text(crossley & McNamara, 2010). Second, this study disregards for the possibility thateach type of cohesion may correlate to coherence at different degrees, e.g. the resultfromliu & Braine (2005). Averaging all type of cohesion scores to be compared with that 386

389 of coherence may conceal the actual correlation between them. For example,if coherence depends more heavily on conjunction than reference, a composition with very high conjunction score should yield high coherence score. But in the method to calculate cohesion score, high conjunction score is averaged with low reference score, therefore, averaged cohesion score is medium, and the calculation would not show the actual value between cohesion and coherence. Conclusion Cohesion and coherence are important factors in writing. Cohesion is the connection on the surface of text, while coherence is the connection of ideas.theoretically, it is believed that there is a relationship between cohesion and coherence. However, previous studies resultsshowedfluctuation. Some of these studies confirmed the relationship, but others found that such relationshipwas very weak. The improper analogy between the quantity of cohesion and the quality of coherence might be responsible for the fluctuation. Therefore, this study introduced a way to investigate the relationship between cohesion and coherence on their qualities. The quality of cohesion was evaluated on the characters of the cohesive ties. Alongside, the quality of coherence wasevaluated on the compositions organization. The result from this study shows that the relationship between cohesion and coherence is medium. Further researches are necessary to investigate the relationship between the quality of cohesion and that of coherence. Accumulating more results should confirm the result from the present study and reveal the actual relationship between cohesion and coherence. 387

390 References Chiang, S. Y. (1999). Assessing Grammatical and Textual Features in L2 Writing Samples: The Case of French as a Foreign Language. The Modern Language Journal, 83(2), Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, N.J. ; Hove: Erlbaum Associates. Corder, S. P. (1967). The Significance of Learner's Errors. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 5, Crismore, A., Markkanen, R., & Steffensen, M. S. (1993). Metadiscourse in Persuasive Writing. Written Communication, 10(1), Crossley, S. A., & McNamara, D. S. (2010). Cohesion, Coherence, and Expert Evaluations of Writing Proficiency. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 32nd Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, Portland, Oregon. de Beaugrande, R.-A., & Dressler, W. U. (1981). Introduction to text linguistics: Longman. Dueraman, B. (2006). Cohesion and coherence in English essays written by Malaysian and Thai medical students. Master of Art, Prince of Songkla University, Songkla. Halliday, M. A. K., & Hasan, R. (1976). Cohesion in English. London: Longman. Hoey, M. (1983). On the surface of discourse. London: Allen & Unwin. Johns, A. M. (1986). Coherence and Academic Writing: Some Definitions and Suggestions for Teaching. TESOL Quarterly, 20(2), Kaewcha, N. (2013). Problems with Coherence in Writing in the Thai Context. Manutsat Paritat, 31(2), Khalil, A. (1989). A study of cohesion and coherence in Arab EFL college students' writing. System, 17(3), Kintsch, W., & van Dijk, T. A. (1978). Toward a model of text comprehension and production. Psychological review, 85(5), Lado, R. (1957). Linguistics across cultures; applied linguistics for language teachers. Ann Arbor,: University of Michigan Press. Lee, I. (2002). Helping Students Develop Coherence in Writing. English Teaching Forum, 40(3), Liu, M., & Braine, G. (2005). Cohesive features in argumentative writing produced by Chinese undergraduates. System, 33(4), Martin, J., & Rothery, J. (1986). What a functional approach to the writing task can show teachers about good writing.. In B. Couture (Ed.), Functional approaches to writing : research perspectives (pp ). Norwood, N.J.: Ablex. Pongsiriwet, C. (2001). Relationships Among Grammatical Accuracy, Discourse Features, and the Quality of Second Language Writing: The Case of Thai EFL Learners. Doctor of Education, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia. van de Kopple, W. J. (1985). Some exploratory discourse on metadiscourse. College Composition and Communication, 36(1),

391 van Dijk, T. A. (1980). Macrostructures : an interdisciplinary study of global structures in discourse, interaction and cognition. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Watcharapunyawong, S., & Usaha, S. (2012). Thai EFL students writing errors in different text types: The interference of the first language. English Language Teaching, 6(1), p67. Witte, S. P., & Faigley, L. (1981). Coherence, Cohesion, and Writing Quality. College Composition and Communication, 32,

392 The effectiveness of teaching foreign language to a non-background group: A case study of teaching Elementary French for social sciences students at the University of Phayao Raksi Kiattibutra Ph.D in Language Science School of Liberal Arts, University of Phayao raksi_a@hotmail.com Abstract Language is a cultural symbol of a nation. Study a language helps students understand the cultural aspect, living style, as well as the way of thinking of people in such nation. Teaching a national language to a native speaker can be simply done both inside and outside the classroom, no matter if intentionally or not. That is because of the environment would allow students to learn quickly. But teaching a foreign language to one who has no background in such language may be a hard work for teachers. A teacher would need some good teaching techniques. Students may need more attention in studying a foreign language before going on to study its structure or the different forms other than their mother tongues. Hence, to teach a new language effectively that help students easily understand and be able to analyze or imagine what it is about, we may need some applications of students aptitude to the lesson. In this paper, the researcher introduces an effective way of teaching Elementary French to a group of 37 social sciences students at University of Phayao during 4 months using Action-oriented Approach with specific context. The study found that those students were eager to practice in speaking, reading and writing when they were set in a context close to their study experiences in social sciences rather than learning a core feather of the language. The results of this research can be applied to increase the efficiency and attention to teaching foreign languages to suit the learner needs. It would also be beneficial especially to our young generation to be graduated and ready for a changing situation in the future when Thailand will join the ASEAN Community. Keywords: Effective Teaching, Foreign Language, Action-oriented Approach, Specific Context Introduction At present, to study a second language is not less important than doing other branches of study. As language is a symbol of culture, it could help learners understand the nature of live, culture and the way of thinking of people in such nation. For Thailand, foreign language has been designed to study since King Rama V. Since it deems necessary for communication at national as well as international level, the enforcement for foreign language study, especially English, has been included in Thailand national education plan for many decades. In all social sciences curriculums of higher education, English language subjects are included as compulsory units of a second language while other such as French, Japanese or Chinese are often taught as an elective subject. Nevertheless, English proficiency in Thailand is rated at the 43 th place compared to other Asian countries (Saengbun, 2012). This is one of major problems in teaching foreign language to Thai people. To teach a native language to its own population could be easy, both inside and outside the classroom. In this way, the teaching environment takes an important role to allow students to learn quickly. The learners are normally acquainted with the sound of their mother tongues they hear every day. Moreover, they should have been thoroughly taught since young by their parents and families before entering into a formal educational system. In 390

393 this case, studying language should not confront with many problems. However, to teach a language to a non-native speaker is not that easy. A learner could have some difficulties since the beginning such as; a problem of pronunciation, spelling, sentence building, and translating (in other words: phonology, syntax, and semantic problems). The fact is that, although language structure is well understood, still the learners cannot communicate by such language. Some Thai students, for example, have studied English for several years but they still couldn t use it. Many of them are too shy to speak even a simple English sentence. That leads to a waste of educational resources. Teaching foreign languages to students with no background is then considered a hard work. When teachers introduce a new thing that is unfamiliar to students, they might require some appropriate techniques to meet with learners conditions and circumstances. So, an instructor may need to draw attention of the learners before start teaching a different structure of another language of which may not the same as national language the learners use in their routine lives. As stated by Saengbun (2012), it is also suggested that teachers should neither focus only on grammar teaching nor teach the children just how to pass an examination. But the teaching style should be as natural as possible. As a French language teacher at the University of Phayao, the researcher is interested in finding out an appropriate method of foreign language teaching. This paper discusses a successful teaching style of teaching a French language to a non-background group of 37 social sciences students. In terms of a successful knowledge transferring that leads to the best result, the researcher introduce specific content building in aspect of students aptitude and an action oriented-approach. Teaching a foreign language effectively may also need to consider other factors such as intelligence, perception, and learning behavior of students. Objectives This paper is conducted under two main objectives as following: 2.1 To find out an effective way of teaching French language as a second language subject to a non-background group of social sciences students at the University of Phayao. 2.2 To confirm the appropriateness of the action oriented-approach method with a specific content building in teaching a foreign language. Methodology Study Framework Population - This study is designed for a non-background group using a selective sampling of 37 social sciences students registered in Elementary French I as a second language (elective) subject, 2 nd semester of 2012 at the University of Phayao. Duration 8 months from October 2012 May Study method It is aimed that the effectiveness of the action oriented-approach method with a specific content building is tested in this study. From communicative approach to action-oriented It has been introduced by Hancock (2010): if learners want to be able to use a language (English), they need an action-oriented approach to develop communicative competences rather than just knowledge of form. To this end, Corbett (2003) mentioned earlier in his book An Intercultural Approach to English Language Teaching that former communicative methods of second language teaching viewed language as a bridge of information gap which helped learners understand linguistic knowledge and skill. However, cultural content always stripped from learning material. With a new approach, integrated culture content would broaden the 391

394 four skills of reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Commensurate with intercultural approach, Zhang (2012) commented that Chinese manuals are designed to teach grammar (which is the main part) at the time of initiation. But for French language, it would be better to start with French words and use textbooks in teaching grammar as well as culture. At the meantime, the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) project was born to serve the European economy by facilitating the movement of people and skills in a politically fragmented, culturally and linguistically in many independent states area where no common language was imposed. Published in 2001 by the Council of Europe, one of the missions was "awareness of a European identity based on shared values and beyond particular cultures. The linguistic approach is not only multilingualism but also linguistic diversity, mutual understanding, democratic citizenship, social cohesion, all with professional and cultural aspects (Rosen (2010:10-12). With this attempt, Little (2011) explained that, at the level of policy, the CEFR quotes Recommendation R(82)18 of the Committee of Ministers: [ ] it is only through a better knowledge of European modern languages that it will be possible to facilitate communication and interaction among Europeans of different mother tongues in order to promote European mobility, mutual understanding and co-operation, and overcome prejudice and discrimination (CEFR2). According to Little (2011), the action-oriented approach of CEFR intends to persuade a taskbased approach, while its conception of how we learn second languages seems that language use has a meta-cognitive as well as a communicative dimension. With its characteristic, the CEFR does not have only a final perfect answer to the complex problems of the teachinglearning context of languages, particularly as necessarily located in Europe or elsewhere. The Framework is not only a method or a repository language but also a tool to establish a common basis in language teaching. For Thailand, teaching is regarded as "traditional" (controlled by the teacher) and authoritarian in nature (Chayanuvat 2003). Students may start learning French at school in grade 10 (Mathayom 4), following the same teaching style of grammar structure, exercises, and translation which focuses on reading comprehension activities. Learners do not speak spontaneously for fearing of an error or of expressing a different thought of the group. They are often encouraged not to be independent or to ask questions. It deems necessary to fine some good methods to meet our situation. Apparently, the action-based approach represents a break with the communicative method. For Bourguignon, (2006) it is a new teaching configuration in addition to an earlier method without replacing them. The task-oriented approach is conceived, for her, as an additional/ complementary tool that gives a full right to school learning an authenticity that the communicative method had denied for three decades. Indeed, in the communicative approach, the communication is both means and end, while the action-oriented, language communication is only one way in the service of action. To find our own approach, we have tried to combine these aspects to our students aptitude. Implementation An approach of specific content building and action-oriented Realizing its significance, we follow an approach of action-oriented by enhancing a contextualization. According to Blanchet (2009), the didactic contextualization continued and completed by turning a "communicative revolution" over 80 years ago. In addition, to make our class more active, we activate our specific content building. Our study group consists of 37 political science students studying Elementary French I as an elective subject. We encourage 392

395 them to talk about their interests. Our action oriented-approach here may also be explained as a communicative approach in a sense that students need to talk to each other at least 3 sentences in each round. To support our technique, the steps are as follows: 1. First of all, we put the students into different groups of a free-designed political content (3 students per group). 2. Each group would need to set up several sentences (dialog) within its content (first in Thai, then translate into French and to be corrected by a teacher). These dialogs would be used for their performances. 3. Students will be asked to repeat all the dialogs they ve built, and then presented them in front of the classroom. The presentation may be only a conversation of an event or a short performance. 4. At the end of this action, the teacher has to explain the language grammar and vocabularies used in the students activities. 5. In each turn of performance, the result of learning competence of each student is noted. The measurement is done by a reduction of 1 point once a member of a group made a mistake. The total score in each round is set at 5 points for each skill. We repeat 2 times for one performance to enhance a better score. 6. The duration of this method is 16 weeks, 8 weeks as a beginning period and another 8 for an evaluation. Act1. The next job is to move from the didactic reflection on pedagogical implementation, by releasing "action-learning scenarios" with a context of political science. The first part of our project is a test of the method. We divided 12 groups of students working on this project for a period of 8 weeks (3 students in each group while there is one group of 4 students). After that, we evaluated the result and continued the process for another 8 weeks. A task-based learning applied in our current language. A scenario was developed and each student had a role in their stories. We tested this technique in a class of Elementary French I. Act2. This is the measuring step. Each group is announced the final score they ve done. A discussion of the results are arranged to encourage students abilities. The teaching of action-oriented is defined as a teaching perspective and language learning. It considers foremost the user and the language learner as social actors who have to perform their tasks in a given environment within a particular field of action. Discussion We developed different methods to action-based approach that gives a better result to language teaching. Thus, the co-action-oriented works collectively to make a better progress in learning by sharing the same goal. Learning also takes place during the implementation of communicative tasks. This leads to the final goal. It is the scenario of action learning as an implementation of communicative-action approach based on cultural aspects (as suggested by Puren 2002) created by the learners. By this way, the teaching-learning becomes an active and constructive process of information processing and constructivism. This method considers the ability of the learner to understand the reality. The results are amazing that all the twelve 393

396 groups of our students understand the lesson much better than before. We present a table of result below: Table 1 Show the average scores of four skills of the research result. Score entered for December 2012 Number of students: 37 Group No. Gr1. GR2. GR3. GR4. GR5. GR6. GR7. GR8. GR9. Stude nt No. Listen Read Speak Write befo re after befo re after befo re after befo re after

397 Group No. Stude nt No. Listen Read Speak Write befo re after befo re after befo re after befo re after GR1 0. GR1 1. GR From Table 1, it shows four columns of four skills in French language learning of the 12 study groups. In each skill, it shows two parts of scores; before and after. It is obvious that almost all the study groups have a good developing attitude. However, with this task, students must prepare at home what subject they would like to discuss in the classroom. Conclusion and suggestion In existing methodologies for learning foreign languages, we need to choose an appropriate way for our students. Thailand is a peaceful country who has not affected by any western culture. Thai people still use Thai language officially, therefore, to be able to fluently speak other languages is a huge task for them to overcome. The method that support the theory of designed content in which the learners know and prepare what to learn is somewhat very useful. Everyone is happy to use this technique because it is not boring. That is why we agree with a prospect of using social actors as a gateway to language learning. It might be said that this technique is suitable for teaching French as a second language to our social sciences students. We consider such approach of action-oriented helpful for us to consider the ability of the learner to understand the actual context from the environment. It is expected that this teaching technique would be helpful in all language classes, especially in teaching language to a nonbackground group. It is also hoped that, with this success, Thailand would be able to educate several Asian languages to its citizen easier. 395

398 References Blanchet P. (2009). «Contextualisation didactique» : de quoi parle-t-on? Le français à l'université AUF Bourguignon, C. (2010). Pour enseigner les langues avec le CECRL : Clés et conseils, Delagrave, Paris. Chayanuvat A. (2003). English learning experiences of Thaistudents enrolled at a university: a cas study, International Conference, 9-11 avril 2003, King Mongkut University, Thonburi, Thailand. Corbett J. (2003). An Intercultural Approach to English Language Teaching. UK: Cromwell Press. Page Hancock, M. (2010). Language as Communication : an Action-oriented Approach. paper presented at Fischer International Conference, Bucharest, 3 September Little D. (2011). The Common European Framework of Reference for Language: Content, purpose, origin, reception and impact. Language Teaching Puren, C. (2002). Perspectives actionnelles et perspectives culturelles en didactique des langues-cultures : vers une perspective co-actionnelle co-culturelle, Langues Modernes, Paris, APLV, Juillet-août-septembre, p Rosen, E. (2007). Le point sur le Cadre européen commun de référence pour les langues, Paris, CLE international. Saengbun, S. (2012). Teaching English to Thai Students. National Institute of Development Administration : Faculty of Language and Communication. Zhang Y. (2012). Pour une approche interculturelle de l enseignement du français comme spécialité en milieu universitaire chinois. Thesis of a doctorate degree in Language Sciences. Université du Maine, U.F.R. des Lettres, Langues et Sciences Humaines. France. 396

399 The Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy in Scott O Dell s Island of the Blue Dolphins Sorapong Nongsaeng Department of Western Languages, Faculty of Humanities, Srinakharinwirot University sorapong_nongsaeng@hotmail.com Asst. Prof. Dr. Supaporn Yimwilai Department of Western Languages, Faculty of Humanities, Srinakharinwirot University supapoy@swu.ac.th Abstract The philosophy of sufficiency economy is a life guiding principle which leads to its ultimate goal happiness. This paper aims at studying the philosophy of sufficiency economy presented in Scott O Dell s Island of the Blue Dolphins. To do this, the incidents, the characters, speech and actions are analyzed. The results show that the philosophy of sufficiency economy is emphasized throughout the novel, with special emphasis on the main character and her daily life. Knowledge derived from experience helps the main character to improve her living condition and to cope with difficulties and obstacles. In addition, prudence, frugality, and self-immunity play vital roles in her daily life. The study also reveals that the main character lives a simple life harmoniously with nature. As a result, living in accordance with the philosophy of sufficiency economy makes her happy. Keywords: sufficiency economy, American literature, live in harmony, island of the blue dolphins, nature Introduction Happiness is the ultimate goal of life sought after by almost all of us. Happiness is also generally considered a common concept of living, as people are in pursuit of happiness from birth to death. Consequently, the most significant question arises, how can we live happily? However, the main problem that obstructs people in the society from being simply happy is their own endless desire the need to gain more and more. Fortunately, the antidote to these endless desires is to be sufficient, both on individual and societal levels respectively. If people are equipped with the awareness and sufficiency, the struggle to meet endless desire will be curtailed and they themselves can live happily without exploiting others. Sufficiency is a required mechanism which leads to the realization and awareness of being self-dependent in order to satisfy one s own needs. As such, the concept of sufficiency should be widely introduced to people in the society from their childhood. Therefore, children should be taught the concept of living a sufficient life since they are very young so that they can learn to live happily. Children s books are an alternative tool which can be used to deliver the philosophy of sufficiency to children, since children s literature has numerous advantages. Basically, it entices their curiosity and enhances their reading pleasure. Accordingly, children s books should be used as life guidance for children. Scott O Dell s Island of the Blue Dolphins is considered one of the most profound works in children s literature. Being internationally well-known, Island of the Blue Dolphins is considered a quality novel in Children Literature. It receives several prestigious awards including the John Newbery Medal, the most distinguished contribution to Children Literature. Moreover, the book is 397

400 awarded one of the ten best American children s books of the past 200 years by Children Literature Association. This profound work can also serve as a self-development guidance which leads to a happy life for both children and adult readers. The novel mostly deals with a young girl, Karana, who struggles to survive on an isolated island after being left alone by her tribe for years. At first, she experiences a great deal of life difficulties such as loss, loneliness and dangers. To stay alive, she gradually learns to depend on her own and live in harmony with nature. Consequently, she can be simply happy even though she lives alone. More importantly, the novel shows that Karana notably lives in accordance with the philosophy of sufficiency economy concept. Theoretical Framework The Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy Concept The concept of sufficiency has been taught for a long time in order to temper difficulties. However, it is seriously considered and practiced when His Majesty King Bhumipol Adulyadej bestowed the concept of sufficiency through his royal speeches since 1970s. The content of speeches has later come to be considered within Thailand as the philosophy of sufficiency economy. The following excerpted from a royal speech suggests the main concept of sufficiency economy: This sufficiency means to have enough to live on. Sufficiency means to lead a reasonably comfortable life, without excess, or overindulgence in luxury, but enough. Some things may seem to be extravagant, but if it brings happiness, it is permissible as long as it is within the means of the individual...some people translate sufficiency from the English as: to stand on one s own feet... This means standing on our own two legs planted on the ground, so we can remain without falling over, and without asking others to lend us their legs to stand on. The philosophy of sufficiency economy consists of three components: moderation, reasonableness, and self-immunity against the risks which arise from internal or external changes. In addition, those who practice it need to be knowledgeable, honest, and persevere to any conduct. Moderation means not too little but not too much. It is the sense between want and extravagance, and between backwardness and impossible expectations. It promotes the idea of the Middle Way derived from Buddhism. For reasonableness, it means considering the reasons for any action along with knowledge and experience in the long run for oneself, others, the society, and the environment. This idea of reasonableness includes the analytic capability, self-awareness, foresight, compassion and empathy. Self-immunity means having deep-seated resilience, and the ability to endure shocks and adjust to unpredictable or unmanageable changes. Besides these three components, two conditions must be adhered to make the principle of sufficiency economy practical: knowledge and integrity. Knowledge includes wisdom and prudence, and integrity consists of virtue, ethical behavior, honesty, straight-forwardness, tolerance, perseverance, a readiness to work hard and a refusal to exploit others. Each element overlaps and perfectly interlocks. Reasonableness signifies moderation. Moderation leads to self-immunity. Self-immunity is an application for reasonableness. These elements are not separate items but a trio (UNDP, 2007, p. 29). By thoroughly considering the interlocking elements, the aim of the philosophy of sufficiency economy is definitely to achieve the state of balance. In brief, the philosophy provides life guidance which emphasizes righteous way of living in harmony with others and the environment. Such living condition leads to the ultimate goal happiness. Those who live in accordance with the philosophy of sufficiency economy need to acquire essential knowledge and necessary skills to improve their living condition. Moreover, they need to be prudent in making decisions and taking actions. They also prepare for any unpredictable changes. 398

401 They are satisfied with a simple life while living frugally. Ultimately, they live in harmony by helping and sharing with others and preserve the environment in which they live. Methods In this study, the researcher analyzes Island of the Blue Dolphins by employing the philosophy of sufficiency economy concept as the theoretical framework. The study concentrates on the characters, especially the main character, concerning speeches, actions and the incidents in the novel. Results After studying Island of the Blue Dolphins, the findings show that the philosophy of sufficiency economy concept is mostly seen in Karana. Knowledge The novel shows the importance of knowledge acquisition through Karana. She is abandoned by her tribe, so she needs to depend on her own to survive on such isolated island. Karana constantly seeks knowledge to improve her living condition as well as to cope with life difficulties encountering each day. Karana gains knowledge from her experience. According to the philosophy of sufficiency economy, knowledge can be acquired through either a formal educational system or through real-life experience to improve his or her well-being. When knowledge is acquired and utilized, it reduces the vulnerability in one s life (Mongsawad, 2010, p ). In Karana s situation at the beginning of her solitary life, she needs to make weapons to defense herself. However, her knowledge in this task is insufficient because her tribe neither teaches women to make nor to allow them to be involved in the so-called masculine task. Nevertheless, she endeavors and learns to make a set of weapons on her own as she says, How would I do this, I did not know. Yet the more I thought about it, the greater was my determination to try (O Dell, 1987, p. 79). Trial and error eventually yield a positive result, weapons are finally made, days after the first attempt. Experience driven knowledge acquisition proves that making and possessing weapon is a necessity. Exposure to harsh living conditions alone allows Karana to seek a better living condition in which she turns her insecure life to a less harmful one. She describes this feeling by saying I felt secure with my new weapons (O Dell, 1987, p. 56). At this point, the novel reveals through Karana s actions that knowledge acquisition is vital for those who must survive on their own as no one else will come to their aid. Such a concept of knowledge acquisition is perceived to share a common concept with the philosophy of sufficiency economy. Prudence Besides knowledge acquisition, prudence plays a vital role in Karana s life throughout the story. According to the philosophy of sufficiency economy, knowledge encompasses accumulating information with intent to understand its meaning and prudence necessitate the use of such information. Therefore, the philosophy heightens the significance of prudence in the application of knowledge in order to keep life balance. In other words, prudence is needed to supports knowledge. This suggests that decision making and living life in general shall be a rational not emotional one. Thus risk factors in life can be greatly reduced. Considering Karana s sole surviving experience, with the lack of family and tribal protection, prudence is required in every step of life. Prudence is exhibited when Karana builds her new shelter for which she carefully selects the best location for building the house and food storage facility. There are three different places which are considered: the headland, the place near the wild dogs lair, and the destroyed village of Ghalas- 399

402 at. She realizes that the headland is the most suitable place for building her new house because it is near the spring where she has access to water supply. The place also lived by bull sea elephants whose tusklike teeth can be used to make spears. The other two sites are more disadvantageous, compared to the chosen one. If she settles near the wild dogs lair, she has to spend unnecessarily time fending the place off from wild dogs. Living among the ruin of Ghalas-at village would remind her of the people who once live there and the tragic death and departure of her fellow tribe men. In addition to the house, Karana also turns a cave to be her second safe place where she can seek refuge from the wild dogs should she fall sick and weak. She also constructs shelves, adds baskets and fits a bed in this cave. Moreover, there are two vital things in which Karana is apparently prudent keeping food and hiding the canoe. Food will ensure her survival while the canoe will permit her to evade danger should her enemy, the Aleuts, ever return. To keep food safe from being ransacked by the gulls during her absence, Karana has her dog Rontu guard the abalones as well as chase off the gulls. She hangs the abalone shells with strings so that the bright sides of the shells catch the sunrise. The flashing strings of abalone shells prove effective in chasing away the gulls. Karana always hides the canoe, she says, When the sun was high I hid the canoe in the cave we had found, for once more it was the time the Aleuts might return (O Dell, 1987, p. 107). Hiding the canoe is one of very important routines as she repeatedly describes it When we [Karana and Rontu] came back from our voyage to Tall Rock, I hid the canoe in the cave below the headland. It was hard work, but each time I would lift the canoe from the water and onto the ledge, even though I planned to go out the next morning (O Dell, 1987, p. 129). Being prudent also allows Karana to be more considerate for others. For example, when the fight between her dog, Rontu, and two other wild dogs breaks out, she could easily come to his defense by throwing her spear or send an arrow, if she chooses to do so. However, she decides not to interrupt the battle no matter how much she wants to. She explains I could have shot them [the two other dogs] for they were within reach of my bow, or driven off the pack, yet I stood in the brush and watched If I stopped it, they would surely fight again, perhaps at some other place less favorable to him [Rontu] (O Dell, 1987, p. 109). It is obvious that her prudence does not only facilitate her daily conducts as mentioned earlier but help the other to be safe. It should be noted that Karana s virtues knowledge, skills and prudence are interconnected. Each of them perfectly complements each other. Knowledge helps to improve her skills in order to meet her daily demands. Her prudence supports the utilization of knowledge and skills. The story shows that she is prudent in making decisions and taking actions in every step of her life. Self-Immunity More interestingly, Island of the Blue Dolphins shows Karana s self-immunity the ability to protect herself against any external turbulence and to cope with unpredictable and uncontrollable events. The philosophy of sufficiency economy emphasizes that people s lives are influenced by dynamic circumstances, so they need to protect themselves against uncertainties. This can be done by empowering risk management which is reducing risks or building immunity. As a result, their ability to control uncertainties is increased. Similarly, Karana thoughtfully protects herself in such a way. The way Karana protects herself from the wild dogs by making weapons can be considered gaining self-immunity. After she is accidentally left alone on the island by her tribe, she is threatened by wild dogs. To live safely, she definitely needs to have some tools to defend herself. That night I climbed onto the rock to sleep. It was flat on top and wide enough for me to stretch out. Also it was so high from the ground that I did not need to fear the wild dogs while I was sleeping This gives me time to make weapons to protect myself 400

403 from the dogs, which I felt would sometime attack me, to kill them all, one by one. (O Dell, 1987, p. 50) I thought about these things for two days and on the third night when the wild dogs returned to the rock, I made up my mind that no matter what befell me I would make the weapons (O Dell, 1987, p.54). From the above passages, it is apparent that Karana is well-prepared in case of danger. The wild dogs can possibly harm her anytime because she is left alone, and she can no longer depend on any protection from the people of her tribe. She needs to depend on herself. This is the main reason why Karana decides to make weapons. In that case, she will live safely and sustainably because she has self-protection which is the awareness and preparation of possible internal and external challenges in her life. However, Karana is hesitant in making weapons at first because women of her tribe are forbidden to do so. According to tribal lore, the consequences from breaking the law could be fearful. She considers such a severe punishment and worries about it for days. Would the four winds blow in from the four directions of the world and smother me as I made the weapons? Or would the earth tremble, as many said, and bury me beneath its falling rocks? Or, as others said, would the sea rise over the island in a terrible flood? Would the weapons break in my hands at the moment when my life was in danger, which is what my father had said? (O Dell, 1987, p. 54) The passage claims supernatural punishments to a woman who disobeys the law. As a member of the tribe, Karana has been taught to respect her tribal law. However, she finally decides to make weapons. There are two possible reasons why she decides to do so. The first reason is that she lives alone without any means of protection. Also, the way a pack of wild dogs constantly threaten her seems to be the second reason. Another major risk in Karana s life that requires self-immunity is the Aleuts invade. The Aleuts are her enemy who once kill her people. They probably come back by chance to hunt otters. While waiting for the white men s ship to rescue, she carefully keeps a watchful eye on the danger from her enemy as she says, they might come upon the cave by chance and then I must be ready to flee (O Dell, 1987, p. 99). Even though she sees no sign of red sails of the Aleuts ship during the spring and summer, she prepares a cave for hiding and the canoe with food for escaping. She says, The Aleuts never again came to the Island of the Blue Dolphins, but every summer I watched for them, and early spring I gathered shellfish, which I dried and stored in the cave where I kept my canoe (O Dell, 1987, p. 157). Such practice obviously shows self-immunity. In addition, the novel shows Karana s self-protection as she fools the Aleuts for her own safety. She leaves no tracks when having an excursion from place to place. When those hunters come to the island, she deceives them by making the house look as if no one lives there for a long time so that they cannot find her. Also, when she leaves the cave, she does not have Rontu follow her because the Aleuts dogs might be able to smell him. She says, There I buried the ashes of my fires and threw sand over the shelves and the floor (O Dell, 1987, p. 131).These scenes obviously show Karana s preparation. Her enthusiastic awareness and preparation shows her protection from the impact arising from external change. The way Karana does not trust Tutok, a girl who belongs to the Aleuts, also shows her selfimmunity. Karana is accidentally found by an Aleut girl, Tutok. She does not tell Tutok exactly where she lives. This is because she is afraid that the girl might spread the news to the Aleut, and she might be in danger. After Tutok is gone, Karana describes, I did not go into the cave That night I slept on the headland at the place where I left my baskets. At dawn I went back to the ravine. There I hid myself on a brushy ledge. It was near the spring and from it I could see the mouth of the cave 401

404 (O Dell, 1987, p. 141). The way Karana does not trust this stranger at first indicates that she has precaution to guard against the possible attacks of the Aleuts. Having considered all circumstances, Karana does not trust her enemy for her own safety. The vast ocean can also be a dangerous place for Karana when she sails in search of a better place. The journey seems aimless and hopeless due to a number of unfortunate causes. Having considered the disadvantages and critical situation, she finally decides to head back to the island to save her life instead of to paddle to nowhere. Karana says, It was suddenly clear to me that it was dangerous to go on. The voyage would take two more days, perhaps longer. By turning back to the island I would not have nearly so far to travel (O Dell, 1987, p. 65). The description tells readers that sailing in the vast sea aimlessly is beyond Karana s capacity and it is dangerous. On the contrary, living on the Island of the Blue Dolphins is safe because it has sufficient food supplies for her. Moreover, it is the place which she is able to cope with challenges rather than the ocean. It is obvious that Karana shows her self-immunity when she changes her mind to sails ashore instead of trying to go on. A Simple Life Island of the Blue Dolphins obviously emphasizes living a simple life which leads to contentment and happiness. A simple life is a moderate life that is sufficiently provided with necessities. A person who lives a simple life does not indulge in extravagance unnecessarily but frugal. Moreover, he or she does not take advantage from other people but shares with them (Office of the Royal Development Projects Board, 2004, p. 12). Karana s simple life is generally seen in her daily activities. Initially, she fulfills her basic needs by obtaining all necessities food, utensils, weapons, clothes, shelters, and other facilities. Therefore, she can simply live a comfortable life as she says my house was comfortable. I was sheltered from the wind and rain and prowling animals. I could cook anything I wished to eat. Everything I wanted was there at hand (O Dell, 1987, p. 78). Although the island is abundant in food and natural resources, Karana is frugal especially in food preparation. Food preparation is important for her since her people are gone. There are two things required in this process: utensils and food ingredients. Karana utilizes the materials available near her shelter in cooking and she wisely uses them in order to spare the food as much as possible. In other words, Karana does not waste food ingredients unnecessarily. She cooks by using two smooth round stones with hollow places in the center to cook as she describes, Using these to cook in, I saved the juices of the fish which are good and were wasted before (O Dell, 1987, p. 77). Also, she weaves a basket from reeds and seals it with pitch so that it can hold water to make gruel mixed with plant seeds. For this reason, she saves her time, energy, and materials for preparing meal after meal. Besides, she sufficiently keeps food to eat from meal to meal especially the mice that are found abundant on the island. Obviously, Karana is thoroughly frugal in cooking and saving food. Apart from cooking, other resources are frugally utilized. For example, she builds a fence with the available materials whale rib bones from two whales that are washed ashore years ago. The fence is also woven together with bull kelp. This shows Karana s acuity because the bull kelp will pull the fence very tight as it dries. As a result, wild animals cannot destroy it easily. In addition, Karana realizes that she needs to save her time and resource as much as possible. Instead of making a new fire every night over and over again, she blows the flammable ashes of the old one for the following nights. She says, In this way I saved myself much work (O Dell, 1987, p. 77). She also makes the fire brighter than usual by burning some dried fish called sai-sai. Having burned them, she not only produces the brighter fire but also saves other kinds of fuel. Living a simple life not only requires sufficient necessities but also mental well-being. The novel reveals that Karana is simply contented with her leisure skirt sewing. She sews it from cormorant s feathers. Its beauty also greatly fascinates her. Even though the beautiful skirt is unnecessary for a person who lives alone like her, this simple little thing gives her pleasure. This is 402

405 because her lonely life does not have anything to be pleased with. More importantly, sewing the cormorant skirts comforts her when she feels lonely and emotionally insecure. Living in Harmony with Nature Island of the Blue Dolphins also emphasizes the interconnected relationship between humans, creatures, and the natural environment. Initially, it is portrayed that daily activities of people in the village of Ghalas-at depend on nature because the island has a bunch of natural resources such as edible plants and food from the sea. As the story begins, they are digging for roots, gathering shellfish, and catching a school of white bass which Karana describes that There were enough for everyone in our tribe for supper that night and the next (O Dell, 1987, p. 13). The islanders especially males are hunters, but they hunt to survive. They do not hunt for pleasure or commercial profits. According to the philosophy of sufficiency economy, the reasonable utilization of natural resources must be taken into account. Also, overexploiting or abusing environment must be avoided. Those who utilize natural resources are supposed to preserve nature as well. Therefore, they can live harmoniously with nature (Mongsawad, 2010, p. 138). Similarly, people on the island live in such a way. Ghalas-at way of life is to live in harmony with nature. This obviously reflects sufficient life in accordance with the philosophy of sufficiency economy. Karana shows her concern about wildlife when the sea otters are exceedingly hunted by the Aleut hunters. Karana tells her father, Chief Chowig, that those hunters would finally kill all otters. However, he laughs and replies, Many [otters] still live in other places around the island When the hunters leave they will come back (O Dell, 1987, p. 16). It is obvious that Karana s worldview towards caring creatures is pretty much different from that of her father. She wants to protect them while he does not even care nor worry much about them. Karana describes, I was angry, for these animals were my friends. It was fun to see them playing or sunning themselves among the kelp. It was more fun than the thought of beads to wear around my neck (O Dell, 1987, p. 16). It is obvious that Karana is happy living with those creatures that she calls friends in natural environment. In other words, she is harmonious with wildlife. It should be noted that Karana is unhappy when she is first left alone on the island. She even feels miserable and alienated after her brother is killed by the wild dogs. Therefore, she can no longer bear loneliness as she says, I must say that whatever might befall me on the endless waters did not trouble me. It meant far less than the thought of staying on the island alone (O Dell, 1987, p. 61). Therefore, she tries to flee across the sea in her canoe. However, Karana comes back to the island, and a swarm of dolphins come to swim along with her boat, and she feels that she is not lonely because they are her friends. Dolphins seem to be Karana s encouragement that helps her to arrive the island safe and start a new life. She says, Dolphins are animals of good omen. It made me happy to have them swimming around the canoe, and though my hands had begun to bleed from the chafing of the paddle, just watching them made me forget the pain. I was very lonely before they appeared, but now I felt that I had friends with me and did not feel the same More than anything, it was the blue dolphins that took me back home. (O Dell, 1987, p ) From the passage we can see that Karana soothed by those creatures that she calls friends. Additionally, this is the first time that she becomes cheerful since the tribe is gone and her brother is killed. She is no longer lonely because she has companions. According to A Dictionary of Literary Symbols, a dolphin means salvation or resurrection in Christianity (Ferber, 2007, p. 61). Similarly, the swarm of dolphins that Karana sees coincidentally represents the beginning of her new life. It can be said that those dolphins is a symbol of happy life derived from nature. We can also see that after 403

406 Karana wakes up from falling asleep on the shore, she describes, I was happy to be home. Everything that I saw the otter playing in the kelp, the rings of foam around the rocks that guarded the harbor, the gulls flying, the tides moving past the sandspit filled me with happiness (O Dell, 1987, p. 69). She relieves and appreciates the natural environment more than she usually does. This obviously symbolizes her new life. Moreover, dolphins also appear at the end of the story while Karana is leaving the island in the white men s ship. They make her happy. She describes how those creatures make her feel, Dolphins rose out of the sea and swam before the ship. They swam for many leagues in the morning through the bright water, weaving their foamy patterns (O Dell, 1987, p. 181). Again, dolphins symbolically foretell her new happy life. After coming back from the severe journey in the sea, Karana s perspective towards nature is dramatically changed as she appreciates it. Nature helps her to be contented so that she decides to settle down as she says Now I knew that I would never go again The Island of the Blue Dolphins was my home; I had no other (O Dell, 1987, p. 70). It can be seen clearly that she enjoys being among natural environment when she describes her feeling. The morning was fresh from the rain. The smell of the tide pools was strong. Sweet odors came from the wild grasses in the ravines and from the sand plants on the dunes. I sang as I went down the trail to the beach and along the beach to the sandspit. I felt that the day was an omen of good fortune. It was a good day to begin my new home. (O Dell, 1987, p. 73) It seems that Karana s contentment in nature replaces her anxiety while waiting for the rescuer. After spending a certain time on the island with her new perspective, Karana is happier as she says, Together we [Karana and Rontu] would walk along the cliff looking at the sea, and though the white men s ship did not return that spring, it was a happy time. The air smelled of flowers and birds sang everywhere (O Dell, 1987, p. 115). She also says, With the young birds and the old ones, the white gull and Rontu, who was always trotting at my heels, the yard seemed a happy place (O Dell, 1987, p. 153). It is noteworthy to say that animal companions fulfill her needs of friendship from people. This is the reason why she can still live alone on the abandoned island cheerfully. This scene shows readers the interconnected relationship among human, wildlife and natural environment. It is apparent that Karana s happiness is resulted from the interconnected relationship of human, animal, and natural environment. Being a part of nature is simply for happiness. Sharing is another distinct morality of Karana which encourages her to live harmoniously and happily with others. In Sufficiency Economy: A Happiness Development Approach, Indaratna (2007) states that happiness from gaining benefits is merely a natural instinctive capability. However, real happiness is resulted from giving or sharing. Those who give or share will live peacefully and harmoniously with others (p. 3). Since the islanders are gone, Karana has no human with whom she can share anything. However, she still has animal companions to share food with, and sharing makes her happy. For example, she shares food with Rontu her enemy that becomes best friend and a little sea otter that she nurses until it is healthy again. She also feeds two little birds that she takes from their parents and later tames them. Having lived harmoniously with others in natural environment, Karana s attitude towards killing or hunting animals is changed. She then realizes the similarities between humans and animals and wants to play no part in destruction. In other words, she wants to preserve nature. Ultimately, she declares not to kill any animals forever for animals and birds are like people, too, though they do not talk the same or do the same things. Without them the earth would be an unhappy place (O Dell, 1987, p. 156). Island of the Blue Dolphins also signifies that one cannot be alone physically and mentally. For example, people of Ghalas-at do not separate to live on each own after they are severely threatened by the Aleuts. Rather, all of them evacuate together in the ship. Dogs, like their owners, do not live individually either; each of them joins the pack after the owners are dead or some leave the island. 404

407 Karana, without human companions, lives with her animal companions so that she can continue to her normal life happily. Conclusion In conclusion, Island of the Blue Dolphins elegantly emphasizes the philosophy of sufficiency economy. Karana, the main character, is a representative of a person who lives in accordance with the philosophy of sufficiency. She initially gains knowledge from her experience to improve her living condition. While dealing with her daily routines, she is always prudent. In addition, she has self-immunity in every step because she realizes that she lives alone on the island without any help or protection from others. We can also see that Karana lives a simple life she acquires all necessities, enjoys sewing her dress for pleasure, and lives frugally. In addition, she appreciates and preserves nature because she realizes that human, animals, and nature are interconnected and interdependent. Therefore, she lives harmoniously with nature. All of these characteristics help her to be happy even though she is left alone for years. Ultimately, we can say that Scott O Dell s Island of the Blue Dolphins storyline emphasizes self development under the sufficiency economy concept. For readers in these days, Island of the Blue Dolphins would initiate living in harmony with nature and would mitigate the global warming crisis issue. 405

408 References Ferber, M. (2007). A dictionary of literary symbols. 2 nd edition. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Ghosn, I. K. (2002). Four good reasons to use literature in primary school ELT. ELT Journal 56(2): Indaratna, K. (2007). Sufficiency economy: A happiness development approach. Retrieve Sep. 13, 2011, from Sathirakoses Nagapradipa Foundation website: Mongsawad, P. (2010). The philosophy of sufficiency economy: A contribution to the theory of development. Asia-Pacific Development Journal 17(1): O Dell, S. (1987). Island of the blue dolphins. New York, NY: Yearling. Office of the Royal Development Projects Board. (2004). Alternative development: Sufficiency economy. Bangkok, Thailand: Monitoring and Evaluation Division. United Nations Development Programme [UNDP]. (2007). Thailand human development report 2007: Sufficiency economy and human development. Bangkok, Thailand: UNDP. 406

409 Exploratory Talk in EFL Classroom from a Systemic Functional Linguistics View Wannaprapha Suksawas, Ph.D Naresuan University Wannaprapha_s@hotmail.com Abstract Studies around dialogic classroom emphasized the benefits of exploratory talk which is perceived as an essential meaning making tool in the classroom (Pierce & Gilles, 2012, p. 40) In this way, learners learn to negotiate or build on another s ideas, prolong their talk, and create meaning together in the class while they are conducting their problem-solving tasks. However, at present, studies highlighting the talk of learners in the content-based activities are still limited. Besides, studies employing linguistic resources as tools to investigate the nature of the classroom interaction in Thailand are rare (Payaprom, 2012). Therefore, this study employs a qualitative approach which aims to provide insight explanation into the way learners in tertiary level talk to each other to solve problems. This paper explores, from a Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) perspective, the relations among the concepts of context, register, genre (Halliday & Hasan, 1989)and learners talk in the classroom. To illustrate and apply the SFL theoretical and analytical resources presented, the discourse of five learners while they were working on tasks was analyzed. The data were collected from fourth-year English major students enrolled in English for Journalism. From the analysis of MOOD andspeech FUNCTIONS, it is suggested that learners employed cumulative and exploratory talk in their interactions. However, while working on a more content-based task, learners employed mostly exploratory talk which finally leaded to critical conversation (Mercer & Dawes, 2008). This type of conversation also illustrated the promotion of language learning and critical thinking skill of the learners. Keyword: Content-based activities, Systemic Functional Linguistics, Genre-based approach Introduction Talk in the classroom is used for several personal and academic purposes. However, at present, most of the studies focus on learners talk on the educational context relating to the content of the curriculum or tasks. This paper describes an approach to the analysis ofthe talk occurred within the small group interactions of the students working on problem solving tasks. It reports findings from symmetrical talk of student-student interactions during collaborative learning activities when shared tasks were important to them. It is the research s main interests to study the roles of learners talk as evidenceillustrating learners social construction of both content and language competence and ways they negotiate their meaning. Empirical studies in the field have informed this study the explanatory power of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), particularly spoken texts within a classroom context. Learners linguistic options provided by the SFL highlights roles and their linguistic tools when they make meaning. In order to unfold learners interaction, this study will present a brief introduction to Social Interactionism as an approach to education with an emphasis on Vygotsky s concept of social mediation (cooperative learning) and studies in SFL as literature 407

410 review and theoretical background consecutively. After that, research methodology will be explained followed by the research findings. Finally, implications of the research findings in EFL classroom will be introduced. Literature review and theoretical framework In the work of Mercer and Dawes (2008), the educational talk emphasized includes pupils-pupils and teacher-pupils which they defined teacher-pupil talk as asymmetrical talk by teachers lead the interactions. In relation to their study, the roles of both teachers and learners talk play vital role in the genre-based instruction classroom where both content of the lesson, language skills and contributions of both teacher and learners are significant to the language learning in this particular context (Kongpetch, 2006)However, in this small scale study, the focus is on the talk among students due to the emphasis on cooperative learning. Marr (1997) claimed that the effectiveness of group work activities in fostering cooperative learning is vitalin promoting learner engagement. The author further asserted: Cooperative learning encourages students to work together and support one another so that the learning team may reach its goal. As a result of their cooperative efforts, the students learn from one another, have an incentive to work, and learn to be active members of the learning team. (p.15) De Guerrero and Villamil(2000)also examine the dialogic interaction between ESL learners. Throughout the study, the theoretical framework is centred on the concept of semiotic mediation and the use of language as a tool for the development of language itself. This study is of interest to the current study due to its view of language as semiotic mediation during social interaction and the two-way dialogic interaction of the learners which emphasizes the importance of both speakers in the interaction process. In addition, the study by Rojas-Drummond et al. (2008) examines the use of exploratory talk among primary students while working in a group. The study confirms the sociocultural claims made by earlier researchers such as Mercer and Wegerif(2000) that language can perform as a powerful mediator to facilitate reasoning in social contexts. Rojas-Drummond et al. argue that learners discourse functions as a scaffold to support their joint efforts at reasoning and problem solving, helping each other to reach higher levels of understanding than what they might have achieved by themselves (2008, p. 334). In order to analyse learners talk, this study employ a linguistics framework to study learners interaction and the ways they talk to each other. Unlike traditional formal grammar, Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), as its name suggests, regards functions and semantics as the basis of human language and communicative activity, and is primarily concerned with the contextual use of language. According to Halliday(1994): A functional grammar is essentially a natural grammar, in the sense that everything in it can be explained, ultimately, by reference to how language is used (xiii). Thus, a functional approach to language can describe the way people actually use language through an analysis of both the linguistic data and social context. In turn, when deciding upon the theoretical 408

411 frameworks for this study it was important to consider the functional concept inherent in SFL because the theory offers a systematic method which considers meaning and form together. Moreover, it provides a framework for examining language data in such a way that it is possible to interpret texts as instantiations of a meaning-creating system and its sub-systems (Halliday, 1998, p. 185). One of the more important elements of SFL theory alluded to in the quotation above is that it places emphasis on the way in which linguistic choices contribute to the realization of social contextsand vice versa. (Yang, 2007, p. 24) Methodology and data analysis The data reported in this study are drawn from a case study of students enrolled in the English for Journalism course. Interactions were recorded when the learners were working on problem solving tasks. They were asked to work in a group of five and createweather reports in a form of written weather forecast. Participants were willing to engage in this study with their consent forms signed at the beginning of the research project. Learners interactions were videotaped and transcribed including descriptions of actions, gestures, facial expressions or voice intonation. A case study is considered a valuable research approach because it suggests the means of answering the how and why questions (Merriam, 1998, p. 8). One reason for choosing a case study based on the research questions was its emphasis on a special unit of analysis which is oral interaction which can be analyzed through linguistic analysis. A case study permits an in depth study to analyze linguistic analysis along side with other units of analysis simultaneously (Busch, 2006; Stake, 2000). Figure 1: A Hallidayan model of language adapted from Derewianka(2001, p. 257) The Hallidayan model of language, shown above in Figure 1, seeks to show how contextual meaning is expressed in language choices. Halliday and Hasan(1985) describe the three context of situation register variables which affect linguistic choices namely field, tenor and mode. The three elements in the register reveal the content of talk, the relationships of the speakers and also the channel of communication. Analyzing the elements of different grammatical and lexical choices can therefore be used to demonstrate how language realizes different contexts. This realization links function and meaning with grammatical expression, and accounts for the way in which whole texts (spoken texts in this study) are created (Schleppegrell, 2004). To take account of this complexity of data analyzing, this study employed the data analysis framework from Suksawas(2011) as shown Appendix1. The information from SPEECH FUNCTIONis 409