The invention of the Human Essay -- Shakespeare Literature Papers

The Invention of the Human In his recent book, Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human (1998), Harold Bloom argues that Shakespeare’s characters provide the full measure of his continuing legacy. Shakespeare, Bloom maintains, created self-conscious characters who breathe life. Shakespeare’s characters are so alive, possess such "interiority," that they catch themselves looking at themselves. This quality is the essence of becoming human—to know we know, to be aware we are aware, to sense our own presence on the stage of life. Prior to Shakespeare’s ascendancy on the English stage, Bloom argues, there was no concept of the individual self, just types. These types persist in Shakespeare’s plays as residual stock characters displaying humours, like Malvolio (melancholic) and Hotspur (choleric). In Shakespeare these crude concepts of personality give way to major and minor characters who evolve and grow almost within themselves. They possess a special energy that touches all other characters within the play. But it is Bloom’s provocative remark, "Shakespeare invented us," that stretches us beyond our conditioned response to the plays and invites us to define a new relationship with Shakespeare. Bloom argues that Shakespeare so interpenetrates our consciousness and our cultural existence that we do not know the boundary between him and us. One suspects that we are receptive to Bloom’s idea because of the mysterious ambivalence of Shakespeare himself. Shakespeare’s elusive self, the stuff of Keats’s Negative Capability, may indeed be found in his 100 major characters and hundreds of minor personages dispersed through his histories, comedies, and tragedies. Bloom, however, takes Shakespeare and his characters out of dramatic con... ...al world of Elizabethan England—essential to an understanding of Shakespeare’s history plays can easily be lost if we regard the characters as existing beyond their origins. We cannot neglect the social, intellectual, and historical context in which the histories derive their meaning. Bloom asserts that the plays’ characters transcend their origins and operate in a universe that is still being created. We can appreciate his thesis as it reverberates through our consciousness. Bloom has successfully helped us secure a new relationship with Shakespeare and his dramatic art. At the same time, we must wonder if we can separate Shakespeare—and his characters—from the plays. Works Cited Bloom, Harold. Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human. New York: Riverhead Books, 1998. The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans. 2nd. ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997. The invention of the Human Essay -- Shakespeare Literature Papers The Invention of the Human In his recent book, Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human (1998), Harold Bloom argues that Shakespeare’s characters provide the full measure of his continuing legacy. Shakespeare, Bloom maintains, created self-conscious characters who breathe life. Shakespeare’s characters are so alive, possess such "interiority," that they catch themselves looking at themselves. This quality is the essence of becoming human—to know we know, to be aware we are aware, to sense our own presence on the stage of life. Prior to Shakespeare’s ascendancy on the English stage, Bloom argues, there was no concept of the individual self, just types. These types persist in Shakespeare’s plays as residual stock characters displaying humours, like Malvolio (melancholic) and Hotspur (choleric). In Shakespeare these crude concepts of personality give way to major and minor characters who evolve and grow almost within themselves. They possess a special energy that touches all other characters within the play. But it is Bloom’s provocative remark, "Shakespeare invented us," that stretches us beyond our conditioned response to the plays and invites us to define a new relationship with Shakespeare. Bloom argues that Shakespeare so interpenetrates our consciousness and our cultural existence that we do not know the boundary between him and us. One suspects that we are receptive to Bloom’s idea because of the mysterious ambivalence of Shakespeare himself. Shakespeare’s elusive self, the stuff of Keats’s Negative Capability, may indeed be found in his 100 major characters and hundreds of minor personages dispersed through his histories, comedies, and tragedies. Bloom, however, takes Shakespeare and his characters out of dramatic con... ...al world of Elizabethan England—essential to an understanding of Shakespeare’s history plays can easily be lost if we regard the characters as existing beyond their origins. We cannot neglect the social, intellectual, and historical context in which the histories derive their meaning. Bloom asserts that the plays’ characters transcend their origins and operate in a universe that is still being created. We can appreciate his thesis as it reverberates through our consciousness. Bloom has successfully helped us secure a new relationship with Shakespeare and his dramatic art. At the same time, we must wonder if we can separate Shakespeare—and his characters—from the plays. Works Cited Bloom, Harold. Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human. New York: Riverhead Books, 1998. The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans. 2nd. ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997.

Detroit Riots

DetroitApril Woodson 4 February 2013 Newspaper analysis Tara Saunders Race riot in Detroit (June 20, 1943) The Detroit Riots, an article from The Chicago daily tribune was published three days after the riots. It talks more about the aftermath of the riots, after troops were ordered in and how it portrays the United States to the international community. The tone the article takes on is almost shameful and gives the vibe that not only should Detroit be embarrassed by the United States as a whole because the riots did spark racial tension in other cities like Los Angelas as well.Though the article is short the intensions of the message are very clear as it reads, â€Å"†¦the race riots which had brought deep disgrace upon that community came to an abrupt end†¦an important lesson to be drawn by the American people from this ugly incident†¦relations between the races in America have improved but we still have far to go before the problem can be regarded as solved. The ad vocates of super governments are asking us to believe that what we have not yet succeeded in accomplishing in America can be achieved with the stroke of a pen on an international treaty† (pg 1).Though the article is on the front page of this particular tribune issue, the location of the article in the newspaper gives one the impression that the riots are now a thing of the past. We know this because the article was published three days after the event and its proceeded by an article about control of rabies. The second article titled â€Å"F. D. R. for Troops in Detroit† which was also published by the Chicago tribune was written two days after the riots and it seems as though its attacking Roosevelt’s decisions to call upon the militia to help stop the riots or explain the reasoning being doing so.He does give the crowd a chance to disperse before he sends out the troops, â€Å"Now, therefore, I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States, do hereby c ommand all persons engaged in said unlawful and insurrectionary proceedings to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes immediately and here after abandon said combinations and submit themselves to the laws and constituted authorities†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (pg 2). I think this is important to note because a lot of people think it was just an attack on innocent people.This article also seems like it was published at the height of the riots when everything was in complete and utter chaos. The author of this article isn’t necessarily analyzing the riots but rather the political reasoning behind how appropriate Militant intervention would be. This article is also brief but it is important as it covers a big milestone during the riots and ultimately one of the biggest courses of actions, which was the decision of F. D. R. to send in troops to Detroit.This shows just how bad the riots were at that point and in relation to the last article I think this article unknowingly gi ves the readers an insight into just how embarrassing the aforementioned â€Å"ugly incident† really is. The third article from the Chicago daily tribune was also published two days after the riots. However this article takes up the whole front page with the title Army Rules Detroit it gives the impression that these were the last big moment of the riots, like the city was a damsel in distress and the Army was the superhero that came to rescue it.The article almost points to sum up the riots in the title by making three things obvious under the Army Rules Detroit we see in little letter, 23 die: Homes fired, shops looted in race riots, 700 wounded in wild disorders. Unlike previous articles its obvious this one was probably written by a racist author. The author of this article refers to black people as â€Å"Negro’s† and â€Å"negresses†. His tone makes it seem like African Americans are animals that cannot be tamed and the only option was military inter vention it also attempts to walk the reader through the state of the Detroit during the riot.Throughout the article we see subtitles like Thirteen Schools Closed, Trolley lines Suspend and Ammunition seized all theses titles seem to explain how out of control the city was, it gives us the bad side of the situation gives one the impression that things don’t seem to look up until the army arrives. Its not coincidence that this is such an in-depth analysis seeing how Chicago is right next door to Detroit. However although its obvious that the riots are the result of racial tension whenever the author quotes a white person he makes them seem like a victim while it may true in some cases he never sheds the same light n African Americans. Newspaper articles from the New York times aren’t as harsh and tend to concentrate more on what caused the riots, what law officials are doing to keep if from happening again as well how they are trying to punish the people who played major roles in the riot. Even democratic Representative John E. Rankin of Mississippi is quoted saying, â€Å" Detroit has suffered one of the most disastrous race riots in history† (pg 1). It says a lot when politician in the south could say such a thing when a lot of racism during that time is rooted in southern states.The New York Times focuses a lot on the aftermath of the riots and provides coverage on how the presence of the Army helped. One article from the Chicago tribune is titled in bold letters Army Rules Detroit and when one tries to tie the agenda of the two newspapers together it seems as if the New York tribune picks up where the Chicago tribune leaves off. The Army arrives and then we get to see what the Army does and the control measures implemented to keep such riots from happening again. These articles in general are trying to put the public at ease, to reassure them that once again Detroit is under control.From the Washington post we see feelings of shame and e mbarrassment resurface again. One-article titled Detroit Tragedy begins with, â€Å"No American can escape a feeling of shame as well as sorrow over the race riots†¦such an outbreak is at its ugliest when it stems from race hostility. † Just like the New York times, the Washington post also suggest that the main cause of the riots was â€Å"the inadequate living facilities of a community which has become desperately overcrowded as a result of the war. (pg 3) When reading through this article words like, ugly, disgrace, dangerous, shame and enemy really stick out, these are the words that best describe the riots and the impact it had on the people. Throughout newspapers across the united states the riots where regarded as ugly and I think the aforementioned quote â€Å"Such an outbreak is at its ugliest when it stems from race hostility†, best sums of the how the country viewed the riots.Though the riots only lasted twenty-four hours, during those hours the whole country was watching domestically and especially internationally with World War II also taking place. The Detroit Riots. † Chicago Daily Tribune (1923-1963): 12. Jun 23 1943. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chicago Tribune (1849-1989). Web. 4 Feb. 2013 . Detroit Tragedy. † The Washington Post (1923-1954) Jun 23 1943: 8. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Washington Post (1877-1996). 4 Feb. 2013 Special to THE NEW,YORK TIMES. Kelly Acts to Ease Detroit Riot Curb. † New York Times (1923-Current file) Jun 24 1943: 1. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times (1851-2009) with Index (1851-1993). 4 Feb. 2013 . Army Rules Detroit; 23 Die. † Chicago Daily Tribune (1923-1963) Jun 22 1943: 1. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chicago Tribune (1849-1989). 4 Feb. 2013 . F. D. R. Order for Troops in Detroit. † Chicago Daily Tribune (1923-1963) Jun 22 1943: ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chicago Tribune (1849-1989). 4 Feb. 2013 . By The, Associated P. Army P atrols End Detroit Rioting; Death Toll at New York Times (1923-Current file) Jun 23 1943: 1. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times (1851-2009) with Index (1851-1993). 4 Feb. 2013 THE NEW,YORK TIMES. â€Å"Three Counties Under Curbs. † New York Times (1923-Current file) Jun 22 1943: 7. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times (1851-2009) with Index (1851-1993). 4 Feb. 2013 . â€Å"Detroit Calmer; Troops on Guard. † The Washington Post (1923-1954) Jun 23 1943: 1. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Washington Post (1877-1996). 4 Feb. 2013 .

Outlaws and Violence of American West Essay

Many Americans consider the era of the Old West as one of the most fascinating chapters in our history. It’s an era that is uniquely American, and people around the world identify America with the era of the Old West. There is much legend surrounding American History of the Wild West when it comes to American outlaws lawmen and violence. But what is the real history about violence in the west? In this paper I will talk about outlaws and lawmen as well as the portrayal of violence of the west and try to identify the myths and legends versus fact from which the American mind as drawn up. So what is an outlaw? Well an outlaw is pretty much just what it sounds like. Somebody who has broken the law and is on the run from the law. The west was not a lawful place and most of the people in the west where on the fringes with the law to begin with. One of the most famous outlaws in American history is Billy the Kid. Billy the Kid has come down as a towering mythological figure, yet the history of the real Billy the Kid is something we don’t really know that much about. Other famous outlaws like ‘Jesse James and his gang, and the Wild Bunch with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid had their exploits widely covered by the popular press of the time, and the American public seemed to take great interest in the tales of their exploits.† So could the media of the time period make a lot of stuff up about the law in the American West because that’s what sold? Or is it just the love for crime and fantasy telling stories is what drives the American mindset. In spite specific incidents of violence, the lawlessness of the Wild West has been blown out of proportion. Ironically, the myth of the lawless West began before the period was over. News articles and books written in the East exaggerated the west’s tales, or simply made up, stories about the crimes and criminals of the West. â€Å"Hollywood later fueled the myth, feeding the public’s desire for excitement and adventure with stories of gunfights in the street and stagecoach robberies.† The true story of the Old West is rather boring to most people. Because of the need to hunt for food or protect themselves from wild animals, many people did have guns. However, fans of Hollywood westerns may be surprised to learn that many western towns had strict gun ordinances, making it illegal to carry guns in town. People entering the town were required to surrender their firearms to the sheriff. In fact, a story that has come to epitomize the violence of the Wild West involved a conflict over such a law. When Virgil Earp, along with his brothers Morgan and Wyatt and their friend Doc Holliday, confronted five cowboys in the city of Tombstone over carrying firearms in town, violence erupted. This incident became known as the gunfight at the OK corral and only lasted about 30 seconds yet it’s forever immortalized in our history. We know this because of the countless movies and books written about the event. It’s interesting to note that even in this most famous gunfight of the violent West, only three people were killed. In any modern city today, such a minor incident would probably not even be front-page news. So, was there violence in the mountains, plains, and frontier towns of the old west? Yes. Most of the settlers moving west, whether they were farmers, cowboys, miners, or some other profession, were honest and hardworking. Just as today, outlaws existed, yet in most places and for most people, violent crime was not the daily norm that popular entertainment would have us believe. As un American as it may be, relatively few people in the Wild West were involved in the gunfights and stagecoach robberies that were immortalized by the movies. As I mentioned before there is no outlaw more legendary than Billy the Kid. Countless books, movies, and songs have been written about his life, but the reality was not quite as sensational. Often portrayed as a cold-blooded killer, â€Å"he entered a life of crime out of necessity, not malice.† People who knew him personally called him brave, resourceful honest, and full of laughter. Under different circumstances, he probably have been a successful person if it weren’t for his upbringing. The most famous myth about Billy the kid was that he killed 21 people, one for each year of his life. In reality this is just not the truth. He was probably only responsible for four killings in his lifetime. In reality a lot of Billy the Kid’s story has also been kind of blown out of proportion, although most of the events are true. Enraged from the murder of John Tunstall, Billy and his fellow companions were deputized and given the warrants to bring in the Murphy men who had killed him. They called themselves the Regulators. Due to the corruption of the day, the governor sided with Murphy, and the Regulators became the enemy. He was known to have killed four men as mentioned previously but because the media and the American love for action, it was out of proportion. After a daring escape from jail, and a few years on the run, he was shot and killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett while hiding out in a friend’s home. Over the years, several people have claimed to be Billy the Kid, but the chance that he survived and/or his body was misidentified are highly unlikely. Sticking to the topic of violence in the American West as being somewhat a myth we can look at the California gold rush. In three years, more than 200,000 people had migrated to California, most of them trying to get rich quick. If there were ever a recipe for chaos, this would seem to be one. One would think that these gold camps where home to tons of violence and outlaws. People of varied backgrounds and ethnicities, all armed and all seeking a valuable resource. But the mining camps quickly evolved rules for establishing mining claims and for judging disputes. The fact that each person carried a six-shooter meant that each had a relatively equal amount of power. That minimized violence. Dozens of movies have portrayed the nineteenth-century mining camps in the West as places of anarchy and violence, but according to Roaring Camp â€Å"beginning in 1848, the miners began forming contracts with one another to restrain their own behavior. There was no government authority in California at the time, apart from a few military posts. The miners’ contracts established property rights in land that the miners themselves enforced.† Even though there was some violence in these camps the miners more or less kept civilized. Gunfights never really broke out and violence was kept at bay because of the law. Though we don’t learn about this too much because of the movies and media once again. So what about gunfights with outlaws and lawmen? It is in everybody mind that two men meet a high noon in the middle of a busy street for everybody to watch and then when the clock strikes you draw your pistol and shoot. Though movies and television would like us to believe otherwise, it was very rare when gunfights occurred with the two gunfighters squarely facing each other from a distance in a dusty street. â€Å"This romanticized image of the Old West gunfight was born in the dime novels of the late 19th century and perpetuated in the film era, to such a point that this fictional version is what our mind’s eye quickly conjures up when we hear the word gunfight.† In actuality, the real gunfights of the Old West were rarely that â€Å"civilized.† In fact, there are several misconceptions about these gunfights. The first of which is that very rarely, did the gunfighters actually plan a gunfight to occur, calling out their enemy for dueling action in the street. Instead, most of these â€Å"fights took place in the heat of the moment when tempers flared, and more often than not, with the aide of a little bottled courage.† They also didn’t occur at a distance of 75 feet, with each gunfighter taking one shot, one falling dead to the ground, and the other standing as a â€Å"hero† before a dozen gathered onlookers. Instead, these fights were usually close-up and personal, with a number of shots blasted from pistols, often resulting in innocent bystanders hit by a bullet gone wild. Much of the time, it would be difficult to tell who had even won the gunfight for several minutes, as the black powder smoke from the pistols cleared the air. This is not to say that it never happened similar to the movies. One of the rare instances is the Wild Bill Hickok-David Tutt Shootout in Springfield, Missouri. Even then, it wasn’t a â€Å"planned† event, but rather, â€Å"it occurred when Wild Bill ran into Tutt in the street and was insulted.† Always shown bravely facing each other in the popular westerns movies with the like of Clint Eastwood and John Wayne, in reality, the opponents were more often running around shooting wildly and ducking for cover. The gunfights were not usually clean either, as the â€Å"fighters were drinking and missing normally easy shots, continued to shoot until they had emptied their pistol.† This popular idea to the public mind that the frontier of the American West was an extremely violent place with little value placed on a human life is far from truth it seems. Small Western cow towns are thought to have witnessed hundreds of murders and killings. As well as, many outlaws and their gangs riding through the towns robbing banks, trains and stagecoaches. In fact, â€Å"there were only five killings in Dodge City during its most homicidal year of 1878. Deadwood, S.D., had five deaths in its worst year with Tombstone, Ariz., experiencing five killings in its most violent year.† So why do these towns claim these accounts? Well that’s easy to answer. The west was opening up and settlement was becoming vast in nature. A lot of people moving westward were already on the fringe with the law. So these cities saw this as a selling point for people to come to their towns. That the law didn’t exist in the towns. Once again we see the media using the myths and legends to there leverage. Some of the real violence and outlaws that happened during the expansion of the west we don’t often hear about. The homestead act of 1862 contributed to rapid settlement of western lands, and thus to conflict and violence, specifically with the cattle barons that were already there. Cattlemen often â€Å"claimed large areas of open range, using it for grazing and for driving their cattle to market.† Although in most cases they had no legal claim to the land, they had used it in this way for years, often fighting off Indians and other cattlemen in order to do so. Along with their wealth and the power provided by the men working for them, they â€Å"felt that having come first gave them the right to do whatever it took to drive the homesteaders out. This was especially true when homesteaders fenced off their land, limiting access to already scarce sources of water.† The most famous of the conflicts that resulted is the Johnson County War, which ended only after the cavalry was sent in by order of the President. The large cattle barons also fought among themselves for control of the open range and lucrative government supply contracts. The most infamous of these fights is the Lincoln County War of 1878, in which the outlaw Billy the Kid as who I mentioned earlier rose to fame. Of course, miners, homesteaders, and cattlemen alike also had to worry about the native tribes that they were displacing. These conflicts also led to violence. Many Americans consider the era of the Old West as one of the most fascinating chapters in our history. It’s an era that is uniquely American. There is much legend and myths about history of the Wild West when it comes to American outlaws lawmen and violence. As we have seen in this paper, a lot of the violence and outlaws were blown out of proportion for the most part due to the over romantic love of violence the American mind has come to love. This is due to the western movies and novels because that’s what sold the American heart. Although we do see that violence did exist in the west with the Johnson and Lincoln county wars and outlaws like Billy the Kid and Jesse James, most of the history of violence is was too dramatized. Why? Well I don’t know about you but John Wayne and Clint Eastwood seemed to be pretty big heroes in my mind, and well the movies are great way to feed our ego boosting American mindset of how the west was really won.

A study on the difficulties in teaching and learning English speaking to non-English major freshmen at Ho Chi Minh University of Industry (HUI) Essays

A study on the difficulties in teaching and learning English speaking to non-English major freshmen at Ho Chi Minh University of Industry (HUI) Essays A study on the difficulties in teaching and learning English speaking to non-English major freshmen at Ho Chi Minh University of Industry (HUI) Paper A study on the difficulties in teaching and learning English speaking to non-English major freshmen at Ho Chi Minh University of Industry (HUI) Paper A study on the difficulties in teaching and learning English speaking to non-English major freshmen at Ho Chi Minh University of Industry (HU) BY datsY27101989 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY OF STUDY PROJECT REPORT TITLE: A study on the difficulties in teaching and learning English speaking to non-English major freshmen at Ho Chi Minh University of Industry (HOI) Date of submission: 16/05/2013 Name: VO THI KIM COC Supervisors Name: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Le Hung Tien Tutors Name : Le Huong Hoa, M. A l certify that this work is entirely my own and has not been accepted as part of a submission to another purpose elsewhere. Signed: Word length: words ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study has been completed with the help and support of many people. Therefore, I am grateful to all of them. Most importantly, I wish to give my special acknowledgement to Mr. Le Hung Tien, my supervisor, who has made a significant contribution to the success of this research. He shaped me on the path toward being an independent researcher. I also would like to give my thanks for Ms. Le Huong Hoa, my tutor. Dear Ms. Hoa, thank you for your initial ideas of the research topic and your support during the time I was conducting the research. You have invested a lot of energy and valuable time counseling and correcting my study. Without your help and support, I would have been in much trouble completing my study. Working with you, I have learned a lot of valuable knowledge and experiences in doing research. Besides, I would like to Mrs. Dinh Thi Hoa, lecturer of Faculty of Foreign Languages at Ho Chi Minh University of Industry, who gave me advice on my study. Her advice and guidance helped me overcome difficulties while I was implementing the research. No acknowledgement would be completed without thanking my parents who always nspired me so much in finishing this research. I also want to give acknowledgement to my friends who spent their time to help me analyze my paper and provide insightful comments. TABLE OF CONTENTS SUPERVISORS REMARKS Grade: Supervisor Assoc. Prof. Dr. Le Hung Tien ABSTRACT The research carried out under the title A study on the difficulties in teaching and learning English speaking to non-English major freshmen at Ho Chi Minh University of Industry. The obstacles in teaching and learning speaking skill are surveyed in some selected classes and observed by the researcher. Interviews are also organized o get supplementary results for the questionnaires. All the quantitative and qualitative methods are conveyed to get data for the research. As the result, teachers and students have different difficulties in teaching and learning speaking skill. In classes, the teachers surveyed meet difficulties with the large size of classes, studentslow motivation, studentsinsuffcient English competence, and so on while students meet obstacles such as difficult lessons, teachers unsuitable teaching methods, and the worries of making mistakes. In summary, all the difficulties originate from objective and subjective reasons. The rationale of the study: Nowadays, English plays an important role in the society. The number of people English speaking is becoming popularly. Speaking skill is one of the inevitable skills in learning English. Penny Ur (1996:120) noted, Speaking seems intuitively the most important in four basic skills. In fact, through speaking, people can express their opinions, make social contact with others people, establish rapport. In some situation, we use English speaking to give instructions or to get things done. That is also a reason why today more and more people learn to speak English. Most of the learners of English agree that the ability to express themselves freely in communication is the great importance for their future career, especially in modern societies where contacting with foreigners often occurs. However, there still exist many difficulties in learning and teaching English in Vietnam in general and at Ho Chi Minh University of Industry (HOI) in particular. Many Vietnamese learners can write and read English quite well but they cannot speak it correctly and fluently in real-life communication. Surely, there are many reasons for this reality. After teaching the non-English major tudents especially freshmen at Ho Chi Minh University of Industry for some years, I have recognized some big obstacles which prevent English language teachers and learners in Vietnam from achieving their aims. These obstacles are: large and heterogeneous classes, students low level of English language proficiency, students low motivation and some others. Unfortunately, this is not only the situation in these universities but also the case for many other colleges and universities in Vietnam. This has given me the desire to conduct A study on the difficulties in teaching and of Industry 2. Aims of the study: The research investigates the reality of teaching and learning English speaking skill to non-English major freshmen at Ho Chi Minh University of Industry. The main goal of the research is to identify the difficulties of teacher and students when they deal with speaking skill. 3. Research questions of the study: 1 . What are the difficulties of teacher at Ho Chi Minh University of Industry when teaching English speaking to non-English major freshmen? 2. What are the difficulties of non-English major freshmen at Ho Chi Minh University of Industry when learning the English speaking? 4. The scope of the study: Teaching and learning the English speaking skill is a wide field for research. In the scope of this study due to the limited time and knowledge, the study focuses on difficulties in teaching and learning English speaking to the first-year students of non-English major at HI-Jl. 5. Methods of the study: To fullflll the above aims, the investigator has chosen both qualitative and quantitative methods for the study. Data for analysis are gained through the following sources: Survey questionnaires: this method is used to find out the difficulties the teacher and first-year students of non-English major at Ho Chi Minh University of Industry when they learn and teach English speaking. The questionnaires are useful for getting data of the attitudes and behaviors of the teachers and learners when facing these difficulties. It is very convenient for the significant in getting more qualitative data by getting closer to the objects of the study. Moreover, observation done by the researcher is leading to more objective data and open new perspective of the study. 6. Design of the study: This minor study consists of two parts: Part A- INTRODUCTION: states the rationale, aims, research questions, the scope, ethod and design of the study. Part B- DEVELOPMENT: includes three chapters: Chapter I -LITERATURE REVIEW: provides theoretical background that is relevant to the purpose of the study. Chapter II -METHODOLOGY: presents the methodology of the study including the research context, methods of study, research design. Chapter Ill -FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION: deals with the data analysis of two questionnaires designed for English teachers and non-English major freshmen to find out their difficulties in teaching and learning speaking skill. PART S: DEVELOPMENT 1. 1. Speaking Skill: 1. 1. 1 . Concepts of Speaking: Speaking is the productive, oral skill. Speaking consists of producing systematic verbal utterances to convey meaning (utterances are simply things people say). According to Carter David Nunans book (2001 :19), speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing and receiving and processing information and it is often spontaneous, open-ended and evolving, but it is not completely unpredictable. Speaking is fundamental to human communication. Different linguistics has different concepts of speaking but they are all agreeing with this idea. Brown also defines in her book speaking as an process of constructing meaning that involves producing, receiving and processing information, (1994:241). In Brown and Yules opinions in teaching the Spoken Language book (1983:236), spoken language consists of short, fragmentary utterances in a range of pronunciation. Usually, there is a great deal of repetition and overlap between one speaker and another. Speaker usually uses non-specific references. They also add that spoken language is made by using the loosely organized syntax, and non-specific words, phrases and filters such as Oh, well, uhuh, etc. A comprehensive discussion of the nature of speaking is provided by Bygate (1991 59), who shows that in order to be able to speak a foreign language, it is obviously necessary to have micro-linguistic skills, that is, to understand some grammar, vocabulary and the rules governing how words are put together to form sentences. However, these motor-perceptive skills, as Bygate calls them, are not sufficient since while producing sentences, we often have to adapt them to the circumstances. He then presents the second set of speaking skills: the interaction skills, which involve using knowledge and basic motor- erception skills in deciding what to say and how to say it, while maintaining the intended relation with others. 1. 1. 2. The Role and Status of Speaking in Language Learning and Teaching: As it was implied in the introduction, the skill of speaking has been recently considered by many methodologists a priority in language teaching. Of all the four skills, Ur (1996: 120) concludes, speaking seems intuitively the most important. Most language learners, she adds, are primarily interested in learning to speak. Similar view is held by Nunan, who says that the ability to operate in a second anguage can be actually equated to the ability to speak that language. Hedge (2000:258) gives the evidence that speaking has recently obtained, at least from textbook writers, the attention it deserves: Learners need to develop at the same time the knowledge of grammar, vocabulary, functional language and communicative skills. Attention to the systems of language is crucial, but the development of fluency and contextual appropriate are equally important goals. The reasons for learning to speak competently are formulated as follows: Learners may need the skill to establish nd maintain relationships, to negotiate, to influence people. Speaking is the skill by which learners are assessed when the first impression is formed in Hedges book (2000: 261). 1. 2. Difficulties in Teaching and Learning to Speak English Skill: 1. 2. 1 . Difficulties from Teacher: There is no learning without teaching. So as a tool of implementing teaching plans learning. Quite a few researches have discussed the relationship between teacher talk and language learning. As Nunan (1991:203) points out: Teacher talk is of crucial importance, not only for the organization of the classroom but also for the processes f acquisition. It is important for the organization and management of the classroom because it is through language that teachers either succeed or fail in implementing their teaching plans. In terms of acquisition, teacher talk is important because it is probably the major source of comprehensible target language input the learner is likely to receive. The amount and type of teacher talk is even regarded as a decisive factor of success or failure in classroom teaching. Moreover, to make the process of teaching and learning effective, it is very essential to build a friendly, non-threatening lassroom atmosphere which is created on the basis of a close teacher-learner relationship. Therefore, inappropriate teacher pedagogical practices through not only classroom teacher talk but also classroom teacher-learner relationship have also been seen as a major contributor to the difficulties in teaching speaking skill. 1. 2. 2. Difficulties from Students: In speaking class, besides the active learners, some learners feel shy or afraid to speak or express their ideas, especially when students are being asked to give personal information or opinions. Maybe students fear to lose face in front of their lassmates. Referring to this problem, David Nunan noted in his book (1999:231), In the recent informal survey that I carried out with colleagues, reluctance to speak on the part of student was seen as their biggest challenge. In the speaking activities, pronunciation plays an important role; it is the way for students to produce clearer language when they speak. If they pronounce wrong, no one can understand what they want to say. Howatt talked about this problem in Ronald Carter and David Nunans book (2001: 14), it was essential that the learners pronunciation should be orrect before moving on to texts. Besides that, the local accent is also another reason so that they need to practice the right pronunciation. They must follow a standard accent to pronounce exactly. Another aspect of speaking that is particularly relevant for second language speakers concerns whether or not the speaking is planned or spontaneous (David Nunan, 2001:227). With speaking performance, students often have mistakes on grammatical points such as word using, tense and sentence structure because there are differences on structure, tenses, and word order between English and Vietnamese. Thus, to speak a language, one must know how the language is used in a social context Richards Renandya (2002:206). Being influenced by the mother tongue, learners sometime cannot use word appropriately and speak English like native speakers because each language has its own rules of usage. That is the main reason preventing students ability of English speaking. There are some situations happening in classroom. Teachers give students a topic to speak, but they cannot present the topic. The reason for this problem is that students do not have enough knowledge, vocabulary or they are not major in this topic. When students do not have idea to express the topic, it can be easy for students to feel boring in speaking class. Therefore, in order to improve the speaking skill, students not only understand the basic knowledge involving in many different fields but also have a large knowledge of vocabulary. As Canale and Swain proposed, competence, sociolinguistic competence, and strategic competence, which reflect the use of the linguistic system and the functional aspects of communication, respectively, Richards and Renandyas book (2002:206). CHAPTER II: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 2. 1 . Method context: . 1. 1 . Description of the English course for non-English major freshmen and its objectives at Ho Chi Minh University of Industry: The study is conducted at Ho Chi Minh university of Industry. They must spend the first two years learning Basic English. They learn integrated skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing) in a 12 credit course in three semesters. Students learn the textbooks American Headway 1B, American Headway 2A, American Headway 2B. The aim of this course for non-English major freshmen is to develop students communicative competence in English. After he course, students are expected to communicate in English at the intermediate level. Students will normally learn English to communicate with other people fluently after finishing their study at Ho Chi Minh University of Industry. . 1. 2. Description of the non-English major freshmen at HOI: Most of non-English major freshmen at Ho Chi Minh University of Industry must learn English from the first semester (at the beginning of the first year) to the second or third semester (at the end of the first year). They start at different levels of English and learn different majors such as Electrical, Electronic, Mechanical, Chemical Engineering, Environment, Information T echnology, Business Administration, Finance and Banking. Students who have a certain competence of English forget a part what they learned after the long time they prepared for the university entrance examination. 2. 1. 3. Description of the English teachers at Ho Chi Minh University of Industry: Most of English teachers teach English for non-English major students are from Faculty of Foreign Languages at Ho Chi Minh University of Industry. Most of them graduated from some institutions r universities of training teachers of English such as Ho Chi Minh University of Pedagogy, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, or other universities in Australia, Canada and English. The qualification status of teaching contingent is that of the teachers are enthusiastic and active in teaching. The frequent meeting or discussions on how to improve the teaching and learning quality are held to get new ideas about changing teaching and learning methods as well as adapting materials appropriate to students. 2. 2. Methods of study: The study employs both quantitative and qualitative research methods. This is, according to WisJer. G (2001 :138) a common approach. Questionnaires are used as a kind of quantitative method of study to collect information from teachers and students. The questionnaires include both closed and open-ended questions which give teachers and students chance to express their opinions on the difficulties of teaching and learning English speaking skill. Besides that, interviews and group observation are used to get quantitative data for the study. Their in-dept thinking noted during the interview will help the researcher have more sights looks into the study issue. Moreover, observations give a condition for the researcher to check whether the teachers and students do what they say in the lessons. . 3. Research design: 2. 3. 1 . Sample and sampling: The data of the study is collected from two main sources: survey questionnaires and interviews. The survey questionnaire is conducted among 1 5 teachers who have from 3 to 10 years in teaching English to non-English major students at Ho Chi Minh University of Industry. The questionnaires for non-English major students are delivered to 150 students learning in three groups. They are first-year students who re taking part in a second semester of their English course. 2. 3. 2. Research Instruments: The data for the study comes from both a quantitative method called survey questionnaires, and two qualitative methods mainly interview and group observation. 2. 3. 3. Data analysis: Data analysis is not only the process of reading out the data collected but the process of interpreting data under the viewpoint and experience of the researcher. The analysis will bring a lot of suppositions in the research question into light. These results will be presented in forms of tables and chart that help to compare different iewpoints of teachers and students on the research problems. CHAPTER Ill: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION This part will deal with the data analysis of two questionnaires designed for English teachers and non-English major freshmen to find out their difficulties in teaching and learning English speaking skill. BOOKS: 1 . Brown, H. D. (1994). Teaching by Principles: an Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy. Prentice Hall. 2. Brown, G. Yule, G. (1983). Teaching the Spoken Language. Cambridge University Press. 3. Bygate. (1987). Speaking. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 4. David Nunan. 1999). Second Language Teaching Learning. Heinle Heinle Publishers. 5. Jack C. Richards and Willy A. Renandya. (2002). Methodology in Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press. 6. Ronald Carter David Nunan (2001). The Cambridge Guide to Teaching English to Speakers of other Languages. Cambridge University Press. 7. Tricia Hedge. (2000). Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom. Oxford University Press. 8. Ur, P. (1996). A Course in Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press. 9. Wisker, G. (2001), The Postgraduate Research Handbook, Palgrave Study Guides

Society During the Industrial Revolution essays

Society During the Industrial Revolution essays Due to the new technology, the humans were divided. It was a terrible, vicious circle. Those who were successful and had a lot of capital took advantage of the change. They bought machines, built up a factory with which they had profits. With the new profits, they were able to buy more supplies, it went on and on like this. Capital has never before grown this quickly. Meanwhile, the poor people, had no capital and were dependent on the people providing work. They were exploited and got poorer and poorer. They had to work hard but were underemployed. The middle class for example people with their own little businesses, like weavers, engineers, sank terribly, as their work was no longer needed. Social classes and the so-called poverty gap developed. This is the huge gap between the now really rich capitalists and all the poor ones. The people that controlled the enterprises were one of those classes- the industrial capitalist. When you wanted to produce something, in the pre-industrial time, it took Long time and every task was 'fueled' by the energy of humans or animals. With the new machinery, mass production was possible. This was something totally new. Now, the people were unnecessary, as the power-driven machines could also fulfill the work leading to terrible unemployment. The farmer could work at home and on his little farm. Only the need for money drove him to real work. As the smog ruined ecology, the farmers grasped that farming would not be a good-enough occupation to feed his whole family and pay the taxes. This caused a lot of farmers to turn to manufacturing centers for work. This changed the society a lot, as millions of people moved from the countryside to industrial centers to look for work. Industrialization also promoted the disappearance of slaves, who were commonly occupied before. The political system was called laissez-faire. This meant that the ...

Unmarried Women Are More Politically Liberal. Heres Why.

Unmarried Women Are More Politically Liberal. Heres Why. Theres long been evidence that unmarried women are more politically liberal than married ones, but theres never been a good explanation for why this is the case. Now there is. Sociologist Kelsy Kretschmer of Oregon State University (OSU) found that women who are not married tend to be more concerned about the social status of women as a group, which makes them more politically liberal and likely to vote Democrat than married women. Kretschmer told the American Sociological Association (ASA), Over 67 percent of never married women and 66 percent of divorced women perceive what happens to other women as having some or a lot to do with what happens in their own lives. Only 56.5 percent of married women hold the same views. Kretschmer presented the study, coauthored with OSU political scientist Christopher Stout and sociologist Leah Ruppanner of the University of Melbourne, at the August 2015 meeting of the ASA in Chicago. There, she explained that women who are not married are more likely to have a strong sense of linked fate, which is the belief that what happens in their own lives is connected to the social status of women as a group in society. This means they are more likely to believe that gender inequalitymanifested for instance in the gender pay gap, the gender wealth gap, and discrimination in education and the work placehas a significant impact on their own life chances. To conduct the study, the researchers drew from the 2010 American National Election Study and included data from women respondents 18 years and older, who they sorted as married, never married, divorced, or widowed. Using this data, they  found that a sense of linked fate has a significant impact on ones political orientation and behavior. Using statistical analysis the researchers were able to rule out income, employment, children, and views on gender roles and discrimination as factors that explain away the gap in political preference between married and unmarried women. A sense of linked fate is in fact the decisive variable. Kretschmer told the ASA that women with a sense of gendered linked fate, who tend to be unmarried, think in terms of what will benefit women as a group. This means that they are likely to support candidates who promote, and political measures for, things like wage equality, workplace protections for pregnancy and maternity leave, anti-domestic violence laws, and welfare expansion. Kretschmer and her colleagues were motivated to do this study because the concept of linked fate has been used by other sociologists to help explain why strong racialized voting patterns exist among Blacks and Latinos in the U.S., but not among other racial groups. The concept had never been used to examine political behavior among women, which is what makes the study and its results notable and important. The study also revealed that women who have never been married are more likely than those who are married to believe that is important to have women politicians, and that  married and widowed women demonstrated the same degrees of linked fate. The researchers pointed out that widowed women are likely to still be engaged in the marriage institution via things like a husbands pension or social security, so they tend to think and act more like women who are married than those who are not (never been, or divorced). While notable, its important to recognize that this study demonstrations a correlation between marriage status and a sense of linked fate, and not causation. At this point it is impossible to say whether linked fate influences whether or not a woman will get married, or if getting married can reduce or eliminate it. Its possible that future research will shed light on this, but what we can conclude, sociologically speaking, is that cultivating a sense of linked fate among women is necessary to making political and social change that advances equality.

Justification Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

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