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ENGLISH FOR LANGUAGE AND TECHNOLOGY
ENGLISH FOR LANGUAGE AND TECHNOLOGY
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Introduction
Technology plays a vital role in education. In the study, the author sought to establish the impact of information communication technologies (ICT) to the performance of science based university students. The major components of ICTs in education include animation, statistical tools, power point, and the eplus software.
From the article, critical information can be deduced. The article outlines the major benefit ICTs in education.
Application of ICTs in learning environments provides students with swift access to new information. Its application makes teaching diversified. Teaching also becomes effective and flexible; as the ICT tools influence the thinking level. The cases also influence problem solving. ICT assists in the development of visualized understanding. It also assists in graphics of science concepts. It is a major goal for the science educators to ensure knowledge acquisition by students. The study focused on some of the effective application in relation to ICT that have the ability of elevating the thinking levels and problems solving abilities of students. The author acknowledged that the students’ learning attitudes towards the computer oriented classes, science instructors, multimedia learning environment, other students, and evaluation methods vary. However, ICT is widely believed to be a powerful instructional device.
Research questions and goal
The study had specific research questions and goals
The research questions were;
How can a constructivist-based multimedia be incorporated and put into practice for student communication and science learning?
What parts of the multimedia technology should be made for the students understanding of science learning?
The goal of the research was to discover how students can conceptually understand use of ICTs in science learning and their attitudes towards the tools
Theoretical Background
The article employed various theoretical principles in the literature review to demonstrate, from past studies, how ICTs can practically make scientific instructional methods not only more flexible but also effective. The main theoretical principles deployed include;
Constructivist ICT approaches
Dual coding theory
Multiple representations of learning environments
Constructivism is considered a learning theory that lays emphasis on demonstration and explanation of how knowledge can be used and applied in relationships. It also focuses on how it can be applied in exploration of other related concepts. The theory claims that knowledge is constructed in the mind of students. The integration of ICT enables the students to be understood and also allows them to develop positive attitudes and complex ideas.
The Dual coding theory argues that the framework of the principles facilitate for the integration of ICT that enables students’ complex developments to be understood effectively. Information communication technology provides a learning environment for university students who have access to ne new information. The theory advocates for use of both verbal and nonverbal (visual systems such as ICT tools) that can be used together and interchangeably. The interconnections between the two allow cueing from one ICT system to the next one, that in turn act as facilitator of the ICT enabled environment for science based learning.
Under the Multiple representations of learning environments, ICT tools have to be reasonably applied, and the associated teachings methods diversified, effective and flexible. The tools have contributed to effective learning that enables individuals to uplift their thinking levels and also facilitate for problem-solving. Information communication technology is important for students since it enables them to have visualized understanding. Based on the theoretical literature review, the author established that ICT based educational applications can be grouped under four major aspects:
Instruction
Communication
Resources
Tools
These applications, when effectively applied promote inquisitive behaviors among the students and make them more eager to learn and seek new knowledge.
Major discussion and conclusions
Benefits of ICT integration in science learning
The framework of the principles facilitates for the integration of ICT that enables students to understand complex concepts better. ICT enables students to have the urge of learning science. The study conducted also led to the conclusion that a majority of the students who attended the orientation classes favored multimedia. The results clearly suggest that the application of ICT multimedia for science teaching facilitate the students with the ability to acquire some of the basic scientific knowledge and improvement of their performances. ICT make learning enjoyable and promote self-learning
The students’ characteristics in relation to their class attendance, gender in relation to the preference of science courses, disposition towards computers and the use of computer multi-media improved with the ICT based learning tools. The article’s outcome corresponds with the integrated research on the multimedia representation which leads to better learning approaches. ICT is considered essential based on its ability to provide the students with fast access to new information. The application of ICTs makes the teachings diversified. The teachings also become more effective and flexible. ICT is demonstrated through some of the cases that influence the level of thinking. The cases studied also influence the problem solving among students that make it effective.
ICTs help demonstrate knowledge application in real life
The application of constructivism as a learning theory enabled the researcher to emphasize on some of the demonstrations and explanations that are based on how knowledge can be applied in relationships and implanted concepts. Constructivism emphasizes on knowledge and its construction in the minds of students. The students would improve their performance and gain better understanding of the science concepts. The constructivist instructions as reflected in the article were created to be in accordance with the conceptual models of the students in order to engage their knowledge. They were also designed to assist the students in modifying their misconceptions.
Recommendation
Caution should be made on the use of ICT in learning. The focus on the tools should not replace the core aim of education and learning. That is; it has remained an open question as to the ability of multimedia technology to promote the conceptual understanding of students. The learning environments that use computer based multimedia should promote and enhance constructive learning that will enhance the student’s problem solving abilities. This is important since it is among the main aims of the ICT. The computer based multimedia should also ensure that there is better learning performance.
Thank You!
historical Analysis of The Grapes of Wrath
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Historical Analysis of The Grapes of Wrath
Introduction
The paper attempts to analyze the relevance of the book, “The Grapes of Wrath to its historical context and the accurateness of the novel to the historical events. The paper also gives a critical analysis of the book that made it to be banned in some places and whether it expressed the social, economic and political matters during that period.
John Steinbeck was not the inventor of the term Okies, nor was the novel, “The Grapes of Wrath,” reflect the historical context of the Californian immigrants in 1939. The novel did not present their story for the first time; instead, Steinbeck explored the American history during the Great Depression and the Great Crash. Steinbeck describes the historic American movement of pioneers and homesteaders crossing the great plain in a term referred as the Dust Bowl migration. The mirror text of the novel captures many contemporary readers’ attentions to the California’s agricultural production upon a migrant labor class. For instance, it might be interesting to focus on the problem of the human condition that Steinbeck apparently plotted in the novel. The fundamental concerns of the white Midwestern migrants to the author was that the problem of the human condition was shaped by social and human contingencies. Steinbeck adeptness at elevating the demoralized migrants to the epochal level the history makers relied on the general account that, nature did not determine history and history did not supersede nature. The approach brought rise to much criticism because of Steinbeck’s advocacy for communism in light of American capitalist society. Nevertheless, this illuminating approach mapped out Steinbeck primary thesis, “that you cannot understand what was happening in California, if you did not know what was occurring outside” (Bloom 122).
The novel shows the wrenching story of the Oklahoma farmers in California who were dispossessed of their land and forced to live as migrants during the great depression. The author describes the exploitation of Joad’s family by the ruthless agricultural economic system. For example, the agricultural workers in California received low wages, had poor living conditions, had no job security. President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) said that there was a tendency by the agricultural capitalists to create barriers and prevent farm workers from acquiring their land (Boyer et al., 127).
It is also evident that by 1930s, the trek of Oklahoma and Arkanas’ farmers were immortalized by Steinbeck on their combative mood about their layoffs and wage cut–off in 1939. Campbel explains that the nation’s farms changed hands between 1930 and 1933 as community farms were put on penny auction by and sold to the migrants and the residents were displaced. As a result, there was a violent strike by cotton farmers which broke out in 1935, and the National Relations Labor Act was enacted to address the labor problems (Campbel 260). The historical Bowl Dust migration into California is accurately reflected by the book. For instance, the book describes the troubles on the farms, business communities and the city treasuries that was the center of politics during the FDR government. For instance, in response to the stock-market crash and the great depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed the New Deal to address the plight of sharecroppers and migrants in 1935. The new deal championed fundamental reforms such as the migrants social security and the workers’ rights to ownership of land (Boyer et al., 761).
Although the book reflected the lives of migrant workers during the depression period, Americans embraced, and others scorned the book. For instance, the book was banned in some areas because people accused Steinbeck for being a socialist and for fighting for communist beliefs. The book sent America in a state of frenzy when the author attacked the capitalist society setting of America and believed that people should share the wealth with friends, families and as a whole community. Moreover, the book was banned in Germany in 1942-43 on the grounds of inflammatory and widespread censorship of the Agricultural Council of California. Despite his efficacy on supporting his local community in California, Steinbeck novel was also denounced scandalous and a distortion of the truth. For example, Steinbeck included sexual innuendoes and graphic detailed scatological references that were offensive to the readers. The book portrayed a negative image of the Californians who were considerable for banning in schools and libraries (Railsback and Meye 129).
Other negative reviews that emerged that the book portrayed a thinly disguised propaganda about the social awareness outruns. For example, the book lacked organization of the political and social events during that period and was unconsciously out of the length to its substance. It promoted communist propaganda in a writing that epitomized the unconceivable sentimentality of the American realism. In addition, Steinbeck’s book has been largely criticized for the intercalary chapters which obscured the story with a moral, and was referred as a lie or a black twisted propaganda. For example, folks brought up in the Oklahoma Christian culture were upset by the vulgar language and how the book prejudiced them. The critiques argue that the book was a racial epithet and that Steinbeck did not study Oklahoma closely. Many readers misconceived that Sallisaw was in the Dust Bowl, and large corporations were responsible for taking over the farm land. However, the book fails to show that Oklahoma farmers came from different parts of the United States. Furthermore, the California grows and businessmen had been shown as negligent and inhuman to the workers. In response, the businessmen protested against the accusation and called for its censorship (Railsback and Meye 133).
Although the book received a lot of criticism and appraisal for its narrative expression, the book drew portrait of the American political implications and insights into the dogma of capitalism. The book gives the perspectives of the political reality at the time. For instance, there was a major social protest on labor movements in 1935 that spread in many countries. There was a formation of labor unions that the book uses to show transmission of values and ideas in the communist movement that was happening in California.
Conclusion
The novels unusual structure of the ruthless system of the agricultural economics in America in 1939 presents the historical and social context that led to the present American capitalist system. Despite the grueling problems, Steinbeck developed the plot by emphasizing unity, selflessness as the main virtues that people can use to survive. Taking the writer thesis to the post-modern conclusion, the author wanted us to contemplate with a critical eye, the social and political order so that we can achieve what he described as the “true man-self.”
Works Cited
Campbell, Ballard C. Disasters, Accidents, and Crises in American History: A Reference Guide
to the Nation’s Most Catastrophic Events. New York, NY: Infobase Publishing, 2008. Print.
Bloom, Harold. John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. New York, NY: Chelsea House
Publishers, 2007. Print. Top of Form
Boyer, Paul, Clifford Clark, Karen Halttunen, Joseph Kett and Neal Salisbury. The Enduring
Vision, Volume II: Since 1865. Boston: Cengage Learning, 2010. Print.
Railsback, Brian E., and Michael J. Meye. A John Steinbeck Encyclopedia. Westport:
Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006. Print.
English- Double Speak
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Doublespeak
All individuals experience the concept of doublespeak at some point in their lives. Whether at home or in school or in our respective social settings, we have each experienced or engaged in doublespeak for various reasons. In his article about the subject, Lutz explains that doublespeak, though associated with telling lies, should not be confused with actual telling of lies. In essence, he states that doublespeak is a form of language whereby people pretend to be communicating a message when in real sense they are not. A language that makes bad appear as good and good appear as bad: it does not communicate the actual truth of the matter. The concept of doublespeak cannot be easily recognized or understood by many, and in most cases, people are confused by doublespeak as they cannot understand the real message being brought out by the speaker. The motives and effects of the use of doublespeak cannot be understood without a consideration of the various forms of doublespeak that exists, as well as, their usage in language.
Because of the complexity of the concept of doublespeak, four main types of doublespeak have been identified including euphemism, jargon, gobbledygook, and inflated language. Euphemism refers to inoffensive language that is used for the avoidance of unpleasant reality. Put simply, they are sweet words that are used in place of hurtful ones, so as to avoid negative consequences. Such a type of doublespeak illustrates how positive words can be used in place of negative words, and it is the most common form of doublespeak that individuals engage in today. In most cases, individuals use euphemism out of concern, and they utilize this form of doublespeak to avoid hurting the feelings of others. The second type of doublespeak identified by Lutz is jargon, which he defines as the language of trade. Jargon is a type of language that is only recognizable and understandable by people belonging to the same social and professional group, and it functions to allow efficient communication between these groups. Individuals who do not belong to a particular professional or social group will be incapable of understanding the message being communicated using Jargon, thus illustrating the multifaceted nature of doublespeak in society today.
Lutz highlights gobbledygook or bureaucratese as the third type of doublespeak, which he further defines as the utilization of scores of words in a sentence for the sole purpose of overwhelming the audiences. In this form of doublespeak, the speaker uses various complex words in their language, which makes it hard for the audience to understand the meaning being brought across by the speaker. Most users of gobbledygook have a tendency of using bigger words and longer sentences, thus causing a form of miscommunication between the speaker and his audience as they cannot understand each other. The last but not least form of doublespeak is defined as inflated language, or what is known to many as exaggeration. It is a form of language where the speaker tends to make the ordinary appear as extra ordinary when in real sense it is not. Most users of this type of doublespeak tend to use it for the provision of importance to people or incidences that cannot be termed as important at the first look. Most storytellers have been accused of utilizing this form of doublespeak in their professions.
Conclusively, the consequences of doublespeak are primarily reliant on the fact that they cause miscommunication between speakers and their audience and the audience does not understand the message being communicated. Doublespeak impacts proper communication between people, which in turn affects how individuals understand what is going on around them.