The aim of my essay is to give a general picture of the participants' opinion about the Language Practice course coded ANG1212, based on a survey among the participants of the course. First I will introduce the course itself, showing its aims that have been stated in the beginning of the semester. I will tell about the participants, and the conditions concerning the sessions. Next, I will show the questions the students participating in the course were asked to answer, indicating the number of answers given to each of these questions. As the questions relate to various subjects, I will evaluate them in question-groups, each of which involves one specific topic, such as the usefulness of the handout, the attitude to the computer system used during the sessions, the expectations and conclusions concerning the course, etc. After evaluating all the question-groups, I will finally draw a conclusion, which will be strictly based on the data reflected by the questionnaires.
Introduction of the course
The Language Practice ANG1212 course this essay aims to reflect on took place at Janus Pannonius University English Department, Pecs, during the spring semester 1996. Twelve students and the tutor, Horvath Jozsef, participated in the sessions held on Mondays, 9.40 am to 12.10 pm. The sessions took place off-campus, in the building of the University Library, in the Arizona Room, which is equipped with a computer system designed for small group discussions.
The aim of the course stated in the syllabus was "...to facilitate further development of all major language skills" and "to assist students in strengthening skills necessary for passing the end-of-semester Proficiency Exam." (Course Syllabus) It also aimed at studying small group behaviour. To support these aims, additional materials were used, such as the computer system called GroupSystems V, with the help of which small group discussions were possible. The printed additional material included the required reading 1, Wilson, G L and Hanna, M S (1990). Groups in Context. Leadership and Participation in Small Groups, of which photocopies were available for the students, session data printouts and World Wide Web texts, which were available either photocopied or through the WWW.
Introduction of the questions
The students participating in the course were asked to fill in the following questionnaire anonymously. After each question the number of answers is indicated. (A copy of the original Questionnaire is included in the Appendix.)
1. Did you read the whole handout given by the tutor?
a. Yes (2) b. No (10)
2. Did you find the handout useful from language-learning point of view?
a. Yes (7) b. No (5)
3. Did you find the handout useful for learning about behaviour in small groups?
a. Yes (11) b. No (1)
4. Have you observed any change in your behaviour in certain groups?
(the change of your roles, etc. )
a. Yes (2) b. No (10)
5. Do you think the group underwent any changes in regarding the roles within it?
a. Yes (5) b. No (7)
6. Can you name the computer program we used during the semester in the sessions?
a. Yes .............................................(10) b. No (2)
7. Did you find the system helpful for discussing certain items?
a. Yes (9) b. No (3)
8. Has your attitude towards computers change in any way? If yes, in what way?
a. Yes .............................................(4) b. No (8)
9. Did you participate in course ANG1113 last semester?
a. Yes (11) b. No (1)
10. Did you intend to join course ANG1212 this semester?
a. Yes (11) b. No (1)
11. Do you think the fact that the group members were not completely unknown to one another was important regarding the discussions?
a. Yes (12) b. No (0)
12. Have your speaking skills improved as much as you expected it to happen in the beginning of the semester?
a. Yes (1) b. No (11)
13. Have your writing skills improved as much as you expected it to happen in the beginning of the semester?
a. Yes (4) b. No (8)
14. Do you think it is mostly your fault, or the organisation of the sessions played bigger part? 2
a. Yes (Mostly my fault) (7) b. No (The organisation's fault) (4)3
For the essay I also used questions from the Essay Data Collection 4 04/15/1996 (question 15), Essay Data Collection 5 04/15/1996 (question 16), and Essay Data Collection 6 04/15/1996 (question 18). These questions were answered by ten students during the session April 15th, 1996, and were the following:
15. How difficult is it to categorise group members using the book’s 4 ideas?
(The students had to rate the answers on a scale of 1-10, where, the more difficult the categorisation was, the higher number on the scale was marked.)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
- - - - 3 2 2 - 2 1
16. Are you an equal member of this group?
a. Yes (10) b. No (0)
18. Was the additional material (compu, list material) useful?
a. Yes (9) b. No (1)
Evaluation of the questions in question-groups
Question-group I. (questions 1-3)
These questions concern the usefulness of the handout for the course:
1. Did you read the whole handout given by the tutor?
a. Yes (2) b. No (10)
2. Did you find the handout useful from language-learning point of view?
a. Yes (7) b. No (5)
3. Did you find the handout useful for learning about behaviour in small groups?
a. Yes (11) b. No (1)
Seven students found the text useful from language learning point of view, while eleven of them found it useful for learning about behaviour in small groups. Five participants claimed the text to be useless for language learning, and one person found the handout useless for learning about small group behaviour.
When evaluating the answers to these questions, it is interesting to see that ten people have not read the total of the handout. It must be stated here that the tutor did not insist on the group reading the whole text, but certain chapters of it. Regarding the usefulness, however, it can be questioned whether only parts of the text can substitute the value of the total. Yet, as the whole group, with one exception, was satisfied with what they learnt about small group behaviour , even if not having read the whole handout, it seems that parts can carry through the meaning, or the quality of the whole. Thus, it can be presumed that language-learning characteristics were also present in the read chapters just like those elements related to small group behaviour. The opinions about language-learning characteristics, though, differ from the ones related to small group behaviour. The fact that more students were not satisfied with the language-learning features of the text suggests that the handout was not able to fulfil the requirements regarding this field.
Question-group II. (questions 4, 5, 15)
The questions in this group relate to the roles within the group and the students' behaviour outside the group:
4. Have you observed any change in your behaviour in certain groups? (the change of your roles, etc.)
a. Yes (2) b. No (10)
5. Do you think the group underwent any changes in regarding the roles within it?
a. Yes (5) b. No (7)
15. How difficult is it to categorise group members using the book’s 5 ideas?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
- - - - 3 2 2 - 2 1
Ten people have not observed any change in their behaviour in certain groups, which means their roles have not changed. Seven people found that there had been no change of the roles within the group, either.
These answers are interesting to see regarding that among the course's aims one of the important was the study of small group behaviour. This includes the different roles within small groups, participation in discussions, etc. The handout was meant to help in defining the roles.
The fact that only a few participants observed role-changes within the group can be interpreted in two ways:
1. The roles within the group were already established and only minor changes could have happened, thus not every student was able to perceive the changes, but the ones paying close attention. This assumption is supported by the fact that the group members had known one another before from Language Practice course ANG1113, from the previous semester. (For more details about this see Question-group V. pg. 12)
2. The roles were mot established, but recognising the roles was not easy. Question 15. shows that out of ten students, who were present at the session on April 15th, 1996, three found categorising group members using the handout's ideas fairly difficult, and six of them said it was not easy. This can explain why the students have not observed any changes in the roles: setting the basic roles could have meant the main problem, thus changes were even harder to recognise.
In observing changes in the participants' own roles in various groups, the answers can also lead to two assumptions:
1. The participants had stable roles in different groups, that was the reason for the roles not having changed.
2. Categorising using the handout's ideas was difficult, thus the participants had problems in stating their own roles and the changes of them, too.
A main contradiction appears in connection with the answers to questions 1., 4 and 5, and leads to a question: If the handout was useful for learning about small group behaviour e.i. group roles, yet the participants could not recognise the roles, what does the term "useful" correspond to? The explanation can lay in the assumptions to the answers of questions 4. and 5., namely that the handout was useful, but because of stable roles changes have not taken place. Another explanation can be, however, that the participants interpreted term "useful" in a special way. Also it is possible that the students have not observed the roles profoundly. This would explain the usefulness of the handout and the fact that not many role-changes have been observed, by the participants. However, the questions do not look for the reasons, thus these interpretations and explanations remain assumptions.
Question-group III. (questions 6-8)
These questions relate to the computer system used during the sessions, and to a general attitude towards computers:
6. Can you name the computer program we used during the sessions?
a. Yes .............................................(10) b. No (2)
7. Did you find the system helpful for discussing certain items?
a. Yes (9) b. No (3)
8. Has your attitude towards computers changed in any way? If yes, in what way?
a. Yes .............................................(4) b. No (8)
Question 6. is more of a personal curiosity, with which my purpose was not only to put the students' memory to a test, but to measure their attitude to the system. This measuring is based on a hypothesis, according to which people can recall the name of things that are of a certain importance to them better, than of those they have not many interest in. According to this hypothesis, there should be some kind of relation between the answers to questions 6. and 7., namely, that the number of those who found the computer system helpful is likely to show similarity with those who could recall the name of it right. The hypothesis seems to be supported by the answers for the first sight, as two people could not recall the name of the computer system used, and three people found the system not helpful for discussing certain items. However, only one of these people gave answer "No" to both questions, and found GroupSystems not only useless for discussion, but could not recall the name of the program, either. The remaining "No" answers belong to three different people.
Whether the students' attitude towards computers has changed in any way or not, can be seen in the answers to question no. 8. Eight people found that their attitude has not changed, while four people claimed to have experienced some change in theirs. Among those students whose attitude has not changed, it is not indicated what the cause of this stableness may be. They might have had a rather positive relation to computers that was hard to change in any way, or a very negative one, with the same characteristics. For those, however, who have experienced a change in their attitude, the change was positive. All of them got to like or accept computers more than they did in the beginning of the course: "I can accept them, but I'm hopeless at using them." "I'm less scared." "I find it more useful." "I actually started to like them."
Question-group IV. (questions 9, 10, 11, 17)
These questions concern the participants' relationship with one another, and the importance of it:
9. Did you participate in course ANG1113 last semester?
a. Yes (11) b. No (1)
10. Did you intend to join course ANG1212 this semester?
a. Yes (11) b. No (1)
11. Do you think the fact that the group members were not completely unknown to one another was important regarding the discussions?
a. Yes (12) b. No (0)
16. Are you an equal member of this group?
a. Yes (10) b. No (0)
Eleven people participated in course ANG1113 last semester, one person did not. Also eleven people intended to join course ANG1212, which means they did not join the course by chance, but they planned it in their schedules. Every student found it important regarding the discussions that they were not completely unknown to one another. Every student out of the ten, who were present on the session on April 15th, 1996, claimed themselves to be equal members of the group.
The data reflected by these answers are important regarding the groups' discussions and the relationships within it. These facts can not only mean support to certain assumptions, as seen in Question-group II., pg. 8, but can show a general feature of well-working groups. Students claim that when having small group discussions, it is important that the members know each other. This can be related to the roles within the group, as in a "new group" the formation of roles takes certain amount of time and discussions about previously set topics is held back more than in a groups with members who know one another. As the members of this group had known each other already, discussion was possible during the first sessions.
Being equal member of a group is also essential to be able to discuss items without tension. As 100% of the students who answered question 16. said they were equal members of the group, it is very likely that discussions were not stopped by tension caused by someone feeling unequal.
Question-group V. (questions 12, 13, 14)
These questions reflect how much the participants' expectations concerning certain language skills have fulfilled by the end of the course.
12. Have your speaking skills improved as much as you expected it to happen in the beginning of the semester?
a. Yes (1) b. No (11)
13. Have your writing skills improved as much as you expected it to happen in the beginning of the semester?
a. Yes (4) b. No (8)
14. Do you think it is mostly your fault, or the organisation of the sessions played bigger part?
a. Yes (Mostly my fault) (7) b. No (The organisation's fault) (4)
Eleven students' speaking skills have not improved as much as they expected it to happen in the beginning of the semester, while eight people think the same regarding their writing skills. Seven people found this improvement was due to themselves or not having improved was their own fault, four people give credit to, or blame, the organisation of the sessions.
As it has been stated in the syllable, the course aimed at improving the major language skills. During the sessions discussions served the speaking practice and home assignments were planned to help improve writing skills. There were also writing exercises during the sessions, most of which were in connection with the study of small group behaviour.
The fact that the majority of the participants were not satisfied with skills' improvement suggests that either the participants' efforts or the methods of the tutor, or both, were not satisfactory. When looking at question 14., it appears that some participants admit to having not made enough effort. In terms of actions this meant not being present at the discussions, and not preparing home assignments for the sessions.
The assumption that the organisation of the sessions was not satisfactory, either, seems to be supported by the answers given to question 2. (Question-group I., pg. 7) As the answers show that some students did not find the handout useful for language-learning, their skills were probably not able to improve at wished rate. However, the answers to question 14. do not show whether the "satisfied" participants gave credit to themselves to to the organisation, and it is not indicated whether the ones not satisfied with the improvements blame themselves or the organisation. As all assumptions supported by certain data, it is likely that mistakes have been made from both sides -- the participants and the tutor's side.
Conclusions
The answers to the questions show the opinions of the students participating in the course. The data carried in the answers seem to be contradictional in some cases and the reasons for the answers are not indicated in the questionnaire. For each question-group a conclusion can be drawn:
Question-group I.
The handout was found useful for the majority of the participants for language learning and for learning about small group behaviour. The fact that not every student was satisfied with the handout suggests that there might have been a better choice of the tutor. The participants, however, seem not to have made as much effort as possible, either, as far as the reading of the handout is concerned.
Question-group II.
A few participants perceived changes of roles within the group or the change of their own roles in various groups. This can either be because of the stableness of the roles or because of the difficulties the role-categorisation caused. It seems that participants have not studied roles profoundly, or because of lack of interest they have not paid close attention. Either the more profound study of roles or the of the instructions of the handout itself, or more interest could have meant more involvement, thus result in a higher rate of realising roles and the changes of roles.
Question-group III.
The computer system GroupSystems V got a positive judgement from the participants. The majority of them found the system useful for discussions and the changes in their attitudes towards computers were all positive. The tutor's decision to use the system appears to be one that had good impact on the discussions.
Question-group IV.
The group members were not unknown to one another, which fact was important regarding the discussions. The members also felt equality within the group. It appears that small group discussions are more effective when members know one another, and feel equal with the group.
This can be useful regarding not only this course, but other seminars, and university groups, too.
Question-group V.
The expectations of most of the participants have not been fulfilled, as far as the language (speaking and writing) skills are concerned. Many participants found the reason of this fact in themselves, while some claimed the organisation of the course for it. Taking all the data into account, both the participants and the tutor made certain mistakes, which altogether resulted the opinions carried in the answers.
When revising all the data from the answers, it appears that the participants are satisfied with some aspects of the course, while not satisfied with others. When looking at the reasons, it can be seen that most assumptions are supported by various facts, and there seems to be no single exact reason, but more factors created the final result. The participants and the tutor of the course all seem to have made both efforts and mistakes, the result of which was a course that has not been useless, and had its positive effects, but one that could have given more
1 In the essay this text will be referred to as "the handout".
2 The author of the questionnaire has made an obvious mistake in this question, and has created an "implicit answer" to the previous questions. As the students have all answered to this question though, having changed it would not have been ethical.
3 As one person has not answered this question, the total of the answers is eleven, not twelve, here.
4 The term "book" here stands for "handout".
5 The term "book" here stands for "handout".
Showing posts with label research paper. Show all posts
Showing posts with label research paper. Show all posts
Friday, May 11, 2007
L 208 F
The output of the Press is determined by the social structure and political interests and views of the country, by the commercial structure, that is the financial support and institutions in the background and by the readership of the newspapers. All of these factors make their influence felt on what is published as news in the papers.
U.S., the political, economic and military 'superpower', takes part in the world's most significant events or at least concerned indirectly. From the current events happening in the world during a week an American newsmagazine includes news items connected to its territory, culture and people. That is why Time deals with happenings from each continent that somehow relevant to the U.S., and the vast majority of the other events are not mentioned.
After determining what the fundamental ideas are in the content of the newspapers, the next step is to describe and characterize the item that is called news, reported in the newsmagazines, to explain why some of the events are thought to be more important than the others, from the series of events which are those that are mentioned, who selects the events and what the basics of selection are.
Events become news if they are selected or if they can be regarded and presented as newsworthy. The fact that something happened is not enough in itself. During the selection news undergoes transformation and treatment according to political, economical and social factors. That is why newspapers report differently in both content and presentation. "...all news is always reported from some particular angle." (Roger Fowler, p.10) So news is not only based on proven sources, but gives a particular view of the world at the same time.
The whole selection is made according to set of categories of newsworthiness. The more of them an event satisfies, the more likely it is to become news. The criteria events have to fulfill are called news values, which include several factors.
Negative events like damage, death, rape, murder and injury etc. are more likely to be reported than everyday stories. For the rest of the people it has psychic background. Tolsztoj's Ivan Iljics' death could illustrate it well. There is a sentence in it, something like Kay is dead, but I am not Kay. Its message is that Ivan Iljics goes to the funeral to see the widow and her children, to smell death, but he can not believe that the whole could happen to him as well. This is the same with people. They like taking delight in and revel in the stories, problems and negativity of the others, while they do not realize that they could be in the place of one of the victims, and they feel pleasure that they are outsiders. For the other part of the people reading about negative events is a refuge and 'community of interests'. They endured something bad or terrible earlier and while reading these negativities they feel that they are not the only ones to whom those awkward events happened.
Numerals play an important role in arousing the readers interest. It is called 'threshold'. Those happenings, which include several participants (that can be human beings, animals, vehicles, objects etc.) will attract more attention. Like in the IRA case where 100 people were injured, 39 needing hospital treatment, six of them seriously wounded and two people died. Or in the aircraft crash where 176 passengers and 13 crew members died.
Personalization, reference to people, is a significant factor in newspapers. Events, which contain stories about individual persons become news. This category may include references to political personalities, pop personalities, sports people, television personalities etc. Readers are usually interested in personal details, concreteness of individuals, others life or as regards politicians readers like to be informed about their work, speeches and acts.
Relevance, in respect of newsworthiness, means those happenings, which effects or the happenings in themselves have something in common with the readers own lives, because e.g. the same risks, processes or events may exist in their country or in their everydays. Closeness in itself is not equal to relevance. The IRA bomb strike for example is not relevant to Scotland, the whole attempt was undoubtedly against England. Air and river pollution, industrial accidents, natural disasters are typical instances apart from distance.
Elitness, reference to elite nations such as Japan the USA, England, elit people such as politicians, movie and pop stars, famous business people or Queen Elizabeth etc. are highly newsworthy.
There are several more factors, but in the list those elements are mentioned, which are identified in the articles.
BLOWN-AWAY HOPES
This is a highly newsworthy event, because satisfies several news stereotypes.
Negativity, as an IRA terror bomb exploded in London at South Quay station near an elevated railway, after the Aug. 31, 1994 IRA declaration of cease-fire, ending 17 months and 10 days of peace. The pictures support the dread of the event. A man with bleeding body, the remains of the buildings and a picture from the 1993.
The attempt is significant on criteria 'threshold'. 100 people were injured, 39 needing hospital treatment, six of them seriously wounded and the following day two newsstand workers bodies were found after the bomb packing half-ton explosives went off at 7:01 pm on Febr. 9, devastating five nearby buildings, two of them left partly demolished.
As the Irish problem has been appearing on the agenda since Cromwell brutally 'settled down' in Northern Ireland, and the 1798 uprising against the British rule it was in a sense expected despite the British and Irish governments "all-party talks" and agreement. Over a quarter-century 3170 people died due to the conflict and differences between the Roman Catholics and Protestants. The enclosed Bloody History chart introduces the main steps between the two countries and attacks of IRA against the British from April 24, 1993 to their latest attempt. In 1993 in London's financial district an IRA bomb exploded killing one and injuring 45 people. So the Febr. 9, 1996 event increased the British anxiety about starting up the whole fighting again. A quote from 1921, published in Newsweek reporting the same event can illustrate the fundamentals and the origin of this contrast between the two countries. 'this is Ireland, where the ghosts of the past sit on the shoulders of today's little heroes, beckoning them to the grave.'
The constuction of the headline may have a figurative content. The word blown-away, refers to something physical, material and has undoubted outcome, is connected to the word hopes, which is mental and include uncertainty. In the combination of the headline this mental thing is affected in material way by an action.
Death at a Discount
This event introduce the productive interaction between the news media, the public and official agencies. There is a process. A fatal accident or crash is reported in the newsmagazine with its every little and real detail; the spokeman of professional pilots' association 'criticized the safety and maintenance practices of charter firms'; the statement that 'European vacation market, catering to vacationers more concerned about price than safety,' and the circumstances surrounding the crash may have been too typical; the background information about flights, all these confirm fears about the danger associated with cheap tickets and charter flights. And here appears the public, because the listed facts touch public and personal daily life. 'Whatever is found to be the immediate cause of the crash' the demand for cut-rate-vacation will decline, suspicion will arise toward low prices and the ferocious competition in the charter business will lie behind at least temporary. This accident becomes relevant this way not only to German travellers, but to travellers from every part of the world, because similar risks may exist in other countries. The official agencies are going to review, examine the safety and maintenance standards of flights due to the accident, as it happened in this case. The day after the crash a Birgen Air flight was delayed because its documents were incomplete.
Death at a Discount. There is a some kind of contradiction in the headline. Death is negative while discount is positive word. This solution gives a stress and attracts attention. The description of physical state, death and the reference to a circumstance, at a discount in the headline, both beginning with capital d, emphasize the fatality of the event as it was 'the worst such accident in German travel history.'
As regards news values, it is a negative event. The chartered Boeing 757 carrying German and Polish tourists from Puerto Plata to Berlin and Frankfurt plummeted into the sea. The enclosed photographs introduce the fate of the charter flight. Broken bodies, remnants of tourists, clothes and the rescue workers' attempt at gathering the corpses' remains. In the smaller one the grief of the passengers relatives.
The number of the victims involved in the accident make the event newsworthy as well. 176 passengers and 13 crew members died, there were no survivors.
The crash of the charter flight was unpredictable and unexpected, although Alas Flight 301 stopped operating because of inadequate safety and maintenance standards. But later resumed flights by renting planes from a Turkey firm, Birgen Air. One of the three rented planes was the fatal Boeing 757.
Newspapers contain stories about individual persons. References to people is an important factor and become news stories. Elit persons or ordinary persons doing something unusual and significant or just unnamed people involved in a negative, sudden or general event, like victims of an airplane crash or earthquake.
In specialized pages, in Time back on the news pages, one can read about pop personalities, sports people or television personalities. These articles contain concretness of individual reference, personal details such as age, residence, job or personal appearances with enclosed photographs. The world reported by the popular Press is 'a culturally organized set of categories'. It is like an illusion. It illustrates a person as a member of a certain type. Readers think about that person as the qualities the category, according to the readers, embodies. In some cases individuals loose their personal features, because this categorization establishes value judgement, which become permanent, usual and used often emphasizing those values that are believed to be appropriate to the type.
In people column there are articles of popular people with enclosed photographs, which not always portray natural position and the strict reality. The 'stars' are put into adventageous postures, they always have artificial smiles on their face, loose the natural, 'palpable' features and embody a world, which is unattainable for the ordinary people. All these elements cause the readers to establish the above mentioned categorization and value judgement and produce an illusion using imagination without being conscious of it. Compared to the articles, topics and photoes published in the fore-part of the newsmagazine these factors also determine the newsworthiness and news values. The content of them are rather treat, interesting pieces than officially confirmed facts.
Devotion
This article reveals concretness about the personality of Hakeem Olajuwon. The age, he is 33, the profession, he is one of the best players in the National Basketball Association, the religion, he is devout Muslim (religion is one of the ticklish topics), the origin, he is Nigerian-born and the believes.
If you meet someone personally for the first time you would rarely be informed more thoroughly or detailed.
Pearls Are a Girl's Best Friend
The vocabulary items, like beauty, talent, charisma, diva, public, timing, superstar, marital legend, TV appearance, self-promotion and the construction, like but darlings..., And did we mention that diva..., are typical back on the news pages.
References to politicians satisfy personalization and elitness as well. Newsmagazines include reports of statements, promises, judgements, parliamentary debates, political manifestos of prominent people. Fowler drew up one of the clues:
'Accessed voices', as Hartley calls them, are the views and styles of a privileged body of politicians, civil servants,...,experts of various kinds...etc. Access is a reciprocal relationship between such people and the media; the media conventionally expect and receive the right of access to the statements of these individuals, because the individuals have roles in the public domain; and reciprocally these people receive access to the columns of the papers when they wish to air their views.
This access becomes an important factor e.g. during the election campaign.
Abroad with Forbes
Michael Kramer asked the Republican candidate Steve Forbes about China, and this is the text of that interview, quoting Forbes' own statements in connection with his foreign policy.
Discrimination is in more than one respect a part of personalization. The stereotype that a culture has conventionally assigned to blacks, a special group with its own peculiar characteristics, is applied and affect the individuals, who allegedly, supposedly belong to that group.
The significance of this happening is exceed personalization. In normal circumstances one would say that it is satisfies personalization because something unusual, negative happened to an ordinary person. The fundamentals of the event is that Cynthia Wiggins, who was 17 years old died on the morning of Dec. 14., as 'she was hit by a 10-ton dump truck.' Some concreteness of her personality are introduced. She was engaged, she wanted to become a doctor, she boarded the No. 6 bus in the Buffalo suburbs, she worked in Cheektowaga as a cashier at Arthur Treacher's Fish Chips. Her colour, she was black, which makes the event more than personalization, takes the whole problem to refer to relevance as well. The reason of her death was that Wiggins had to get out of the bus 275 m away on a seven-lane highway with no sidewalk, because the bus was not allowed on mall property. The fact that the bus carrying inner-city blacks to work was not allowed on mall property suggests the idea or has the effect that no blacks allowed and, as Henry Louis Taylor determined it, it is 'guiltless racism.'
The vocabulary items of the article, like allow, was not allowed, blame, sanitized, guiltless racism, had to..., minorities, keep blacks under surveilance, unwanted Nigger, separate localities, regulate, racial restrictions, rules and regulations, racial discrimination are all emphasize the provided unequal chances, the fact that blacks are percieved not as their own persons and qualification, but as the 'qualities' and prejudice, which have stereotypically assigned to the group or, if people are categorized in terms of colours, whites feel ascribed authority to control the blacks' actions and liberties.
The black problem and the discrimination are not simply the question of the present. The whole began in the South with slavery, which went on with repression and discrimination strengthened by federal laws. After abolishing slavery in 1865 a series of segregation laws came in the South, which required that whites and blacks use separate public facilities. These were the separate but equal laws. For more than fifty years many states used this to segregate races and it seems that some motives can be found today as well.
Chips Ahoy
'Cultural proximity' and relevance are the significant factors here. The starting-point is that researchers in the U.S. made a study analyzing programs of TV in mid-90's America, which concluded that the link between TV violence and aggressive behaviour is no longer in doubt. (So it is made in America by Americans.) Therefore the phenomenon reported in the news item has an effect on the audience's own life and the topic in itself is up-to-date. Many parents worry that this kind of TV programs do irreparable harm to their children. To solve this problem somehow, President Clinton signed into the telecommunication bill and launched the era of the V chip, which offers the solution for parents. This equipment enables them to keep those programes out that have been labeled as high in violence, sex etc. The whole process is not only relevant to the U.S., but to most countries, because, as American films and movies are broadcast almost all over the world, the same risks may exist there.
This question concerned politicians, like Clinton, Paul Simon, Joseph Lieberman, Bob Dole, so elitness is presented. Another factor is threshold, the numerals, as the details are mentioned e.g. nearly 2700 shows analyzed in a 20-week survey of 23 channels.
Apart from the above mentioned news values this article is important, because it has an informing role, it introduces the problem and gives the solution at the same time.
Each paper has a particular organizational framework, readership and sense of news. The organization of the newspaper, the format of the page, the number, size and place of photographs, charts, maps, style and size of print are all significant factors of newspaper representation.
Differences in drafting and style carry ideological distinctions. As it is mentioned in the first part, during the selection news undergoes some transformation according to political, economical and social factors. That is why different newspapers report differently in both content and presentation. The same topic, sources will appear differently in papers.
The representation of the cover story, IRA terror bomb exploded in London, ending 17 months and 10 days of peace, suggests a sense of ideological distinction between Time and Newsweek. In Newsweek, on the front-page, there is an old, grey-haired and bespectacled man covered up in a red cloth with a bleeding head. The headline, Broken Peace The IRA Bombs London, consists one circumstance that the whole happened in London. Compared this to the front-page of Time, here the enclosed photograph and the organization of the text and the page seem a little bit theatrical and it produces a psychic effect on the reader. As regards Time, the case in point appears without picture on the front-page. In stead of peace the word cease-fire is used, which does not mean the same. Peace is an ended and permanent state, while cease-fire is transitional. In the headline more circumstances are included. The event happened in London, shattered nearly 18 months of peace, and its effect, apart from the victims, is that it brings back the dread. There is a particularity that the background of the word broken is a fire and in the illustration this word is broken literally.
There are some differences in the sources of the articles. According to Newsweek the bomb went off at just after 7 o'clock, while Time says that the time was 7:01 pm, and they complete it with the fact that the bomb was placed in a truck parking nearby. As regards the number of victims Time's data are more detailed. It injured 100 people-39 needing hospital treatment and six seriously wounded...the bodies of two newsstand workers were found. The name and age of the two dead workers are published as well. Newsweek's source is that more than 100 people injured, six of them seriously , and...the next day, two bodies were found. This attempt ended 17 months and 10 days of peace, while in Newsweek only 17 months are mentioned. There is a difference in time between the announcement of ending the cease-fire and the explosion of the bomb. According to Newsweek the length of time was 90 minutes whereas Time says that it was 80 minutes.
The content of the newspapers and the news itself are products. News is not just the real events happened all over the world, but those which are selected according to political, economical and social factors. 'It is a creation of a journalistic process, an artifact, a commodity even.' (Roger Fowler, p.13) An event is selected to be reported in a newsmagazine if it satisfies several criteria of newsworthiness, or, in other words, news values.
U.S., the political, economic and military 'superpower', takes part in the world's most significant events or at least concerned indirectly. From the current events happening in the world during a week an American newsmagazine includes news items connected to its territory, culture and people. That is why Time deals with happenings from each continent that somehow relevant to the U.S., and the vast majority of the other events are not mentioned.
After determining what the fundamental ideas are in the content of the newspapers, the next step is to describe and characterize the item that is called news, reported in the newsmagazines, to explain why some of the events are thought to be more important than the others, from the series of events which are those that are mentioned, who selects the events and what the basics of selection are.
Events become news if they are selected or if they can be regarded and presented as newsworthy. The fact that something happened is not enough in itself. During the selection news undergoes transformation and treatment according to political, economical and social factors. That is why newspapers report differently in both content and presentation. "...all news is always reported from some particular angle." (Roger Fowler, p.10) So news is not only based on proven sources, but gives a particular view of the world at the same time.
The whole selection is made according to set of categories of newsworthiness. The more of them an event satisfies, the more likely it is to become news. The criteria events have to fulfill are called news values, which include several factors.
Negative events like damage, death, rape, murder and injury etc. are more likely to be reported than everyday stories. For the rest of the people it has psychic background. Tolsztoj's Ivan Iljics' death could illustrate it well. There is a sentence in it, something like Kay is dead, but I am not Kay. Its message is that Ivan Iljics goes to the funeral to see the widow and her children, to smell death, but he can not believe that the whole could happen to him as well. This is the same with people. They like taking delight in and revel in the stories, problems and negativity of the others, while they do not realize that they could be in the place of one of the victims, and they feel pleasure that they are outsiders. For the other part of the people reading about negative events is a refuge and 'community of interests'. They endured something bad or terrible earlier and while reading these negativities they feel that they are not the only ones to whom those awkward events happened.
Numerals play an important role in arousing the readers interest. It is called 'threshold'. Those happenings, which include several participants (that can be human beings, animals, vehicles, objects etc.) will attract more attention. Like in the IRA case where 100 people were injured, 39 needing hospital treatment, six of them seriously wounded and two people died. Or in the aircraft crash where 176 passengers and 13 crew members died.
Personalization, reference to people, is a significant factor in newspapers. Events, which contain stories about individual persons become news. This category may include references to political personalities, pop personalities, sports people, television personalities etc. Readers are usually interested in personal details, concreteness of individuals, others life or as regards politicians readers like to be informed about their work, speeches and acts.
Relevance, in respect of newsworthiness, means those happenings, which effects or the happenings in themselves have something in common with the readers own lives, because e.g. the same risks, processes or events may exist in their country or in their everydays. Closeness in itself is not equal to relevance. The IRA bomb strike for example is not relevant to Scotland, the whole attempt was undoubtedly against England. Air and river pollution, industrial accidents, natural disasters are typical instances apart from distance.
Elitness, reference to elite nations such as Japan the USA, England, elit people such as politicians, movie and pop stars, famous business people or Queen Elizabeth etc. are highly newsworthy.
There are several more factors, but in the list those elements are mentioned, which are identified in the articles.
BLOWN-AWAY HOPES
This is a highly newsworthy event, because satisfies several news stereotypes.
Negativity, as an IRA terror bomb exploded in London at South Quay station near an elevated railway, after the Aug. 31, 1994 IRA declaration of cease-fire, ending 17 months and 10 days of peace. The pictures support the dread of the event. A man with bleeding body, the remains of the buildings and a picture from the 1993.
The attempt is significant on criteria 'threshold'. 100 people were injured, 39 needing hospital treatment, six of them seriously wounded and the following day two newsstand workers bodies were found after the bomb packing half-ton explosives went off at 7:01 pm on Febr. 9, devastating five nearby buildings, two of them left partly demolished.
As the Irish problem has been appearing on the agenda since Cromwell brutally 'settled down' in Northern Ireland, and the 1798 uprising against the British rule it was in a sense expected despite the British and Irish governments "all-party talks" and agreement. Over a quarter-century 3170 people died due to the conflict and differences between the Roman Catholics and Protestants. The enclosed Bloody History chart introduces the main steps between the two countries and attacks of IRA against the British from April 24, 1993 to their latest attempt. In 1993 in London's financial district an IRA bomb exploded killing one and injuring 45 people. So the Febr. 9, 1996 event increased the British anxiety about starting up the whole fighting again. A quote from 1921, published in Newsweek reporting the same event can illustrate the fundamentals and the origin of this contrast between the two countries. 'this is Ireland, where the ghosts of the past sit on the shoulders of today's little heroes, beckoning them to the grave.'
The constuction of the headline may have a figurative content. The word blown-away, refers to something physical, material and has undoubted outcome, is connected to the word hopes, which is mental and include uncertainty. In the combination of the headline this mental thing is affected in material way by an action.
Death at a Discount
This event introduce the productive interaction between the news media, the public and official agencies. There is a process. A fatal accident or crash is reported in the newsmagazine with its every little and real detail; the spokeman of professional pilots' association 'criticized the safety and maintenance practices of charter firms'; the statement that 'European vacation market, catering to vacationers more concerned about price than safety,' and the circumstances surrounding the crash may have been too typical; the background information about flights, all these confirm fears about the danger associated with cheap tickets and charter flights. And here appears the public, because the listed facts touch public and personal daily life. 'Whatever is found to be the immediate cause of the crash' the demand for cut-rate-vacation will decline, suspicion will arise toward low prices and the ferocious competition in the charter business will lie behind at least temporary. This accident becomes relevant this way not only to German travellers, but to travellers from every part of the world, because similar risks may exist in other countries. The official agencies are going to review, examine the safety and maintenance standards of flights due to the accident, as it happened in this case. The day after the crash a Birgen Air flight was delayed because its documents were incomplete.
Death at a Discount. There is a some kind of contradiction in the headline. Death is negative while discount is positive word. This solution gives a stress and attracts attention. The description of physical state, death and the reference to a circumstance, at a discount in the headline, both beginning with capital d, emphasize the fatality of the event as it was 'the worst such accident in German travel history.'
As regards news values, it is a negative event. The chartered Boeing 757 carrying German and Polish tourists from Puerto Plata to Berlin and Frankfurt plummeted into the sea. The enclosed photographs introduce the fate of the charter flight. Broken bodies, remnants of tourists, clothes and the rescue workers' attempt at gathering the corpses' remains. In the smaller one the grief of the passengers relatives.
The number of the victims involved in the accident make the event newsworthy as well. 176 passengers and 13 crew members died, there were no survivors.
The crash of the charter flight was unpredictable and unexpected, although Alas Flight 301 stopped operating because of inadequate safety and maintenance standards. But later resumed flights by renting planes from a Turkey firm, Birgen Air. One of the three rented planes was the fatal Boeing 757.
Newspapers contain stories about individual persons. References to people is an important factor and become news stories. Elit persons or ordinary persons doing something unusual and significant or just unnamed people involved in a negative, sudden or general event, like victims of an airplane crash or earthquake.
In specialized pages, in Time back on the news pages, one can read about pop personalities, sports people or television personalities. These articles contain concretness of individual reference, personal details such as age, residence, job or personal appearances with enclosed photographs. The world reported by the popular Press is 'a culturally organized set of categories'. It is like an illusion. It illustrates a person as a member of a certain type. Readers think about that person as the qualities the category, according to the readers, embodies. In some cases individuals loose their personal features, because this categorization establishes value judgement, which become permanent, usual and used often emphasizing those values that are believed to be appropriate to the type.
In people column there are articles of popular people with enclosed photographs, which not always portray natural position and the strict reality. The 'stars' are put into adventageous postures, they always have artificial smiles on their face, loose the natural, 'palpable' features and embody a world, which is unattainable for the ordinary people. All these elements cause the readers to establish the above mentioned categorization and value judgement and produce an illusion using imagination without being conscious of it. Compared to the articles, topics and photoes published in the fore-part of the newsmagazine these factors also determine the newsworthiness and news values. The content of them are rather treat, interesting pieces than officially confirmed facts.
Devotion
This article reveals concretness about the personality of Hakeem Olajuwon. The age, he is 33, the profession, he is one of the best players in the National Basketball Association, the religion, he is devout Muslim (religion is one of the ticklish topics), the origin, he is Nigerian-born and the believes.
If you meet someone personally for the first time you would rarely be informed more thoroughly or detailed.
Pearls Are a Girl's Best Friend
The vocabulary items, like beauty, talent, charisma, diva, public, timing, superstar, marital legend, TV appearance, self-promotion and the construction, like but darlings..., And did we mention that diva..., are typical back on the news pages.
References to politicians satisfy personalization and elitness as well. Newsmagazines include reports of statements, promises, judgements, parliamentary debates, political manifestos of prominent people. Fowler drew up one of the clues:
'Accessed voices', as Hartley calls them, are the views and styles of a privileged body of politicians, civil servants,...,experts of various kinds...etc. Access is a reciprocal relationship between such people and the media; the media conventionally expect and receive the right of access to the statements of these individuals, because the individuals have roles in the public domain; and reciprocally these people receive access to the columns of the papers when they wish to air their views.
This access becomes an important factor e.g. during the election campaign.
Abroad with Forbes
Michael Kramer asked the Republican candidate Steve Forbes about China, and this is the text of that interview, quoting Forbes' own statements in connection with his foreign policy.
Discrimination is in more than one respect a part of personalization. The stereotype that a culture has conventionally assigned to blacks, a special group with its own peculiar characteristics, is applied and affect the individuals, who allegedly, supposedly belong to that group.
The significance of this happening is exceed personalization. In normal circumstances one would say that it is satisfies personalization because something unusual, negative happened to an ordinary person. The fundamentals of the event is that Cynthia Wiggins, who was 17 years old died on the morning of Dec. 14., as 'she was hit by a 10-ton dump truck.' Some concreteness of her personality are introduced. She was engaged, she wanted to become a doctor, she boarded the No. 6 bus in the Buffalo suburbs, she worked in Cheektowaga as a cashier at Arthur Treacher's Fish Chips. Her colour, she was black, which makes the event more than personalization, takes the whole problem to refer to relevance as well. The reason of her death was that Wiggins had to get out of the bus 275 m away on a seven-lane highway with no sidewalk, because the bus was not allowed on mall property. The fact that the bus carrying inner-city blacks to work was not allowed on mall property suggests the idea or has the effect that no blacks allowed and, as Henry Louis Taylor determined it, it is 'guiltless racism.'
The vocabulary items of the article, like allow, was not allowed, blame, sanitized, guiltless racism, had to..., minorities, keep blacks under surveilance, unwanted Nigger, separate localities, regulate, racial restrictions, rules and regulations, racial discrimination are all emphasize the provided unequal chances, the fact that blacks are percieved not as their own persons and qualification, but as the 'qualities' and prejudice, which have stereotypically assigned to the group or, if people are categorized in terms of colours, whites feel ascribed authority to control the blacks' actions and liberties.
The black problem and the discrimination are not simply the question of the present. The whole began in the South with slavery, which went on with repression and discrimination strengthened by federal laws. After abolishing slavery in 1865 a series of segregation laws came in the South, which required that whites and blacks use separate public facilities. These were the separate but equal laws. For more than fifty years many states used this to segregate races and it seems that some motives can be found today as well.
Chips Ahoy
'Cultural proximity' and relevance are the significant factors here. The starting-point is that researchers in the U.S. made a study analyzing programs of TV in mid-90's America, which concluded that the link between TV violence and aggressive behaviour is no longer in doubt. (So it is made in America by Americans.) Therefore the phenomenon reported in the news item has an effect on the audience's own life and the topic in itself is up-to-date. Many parents worry that this kind of TV programs do irreparable harm to their children. To solve this problem somehow, President Clinton signed into the telecommunication bill and launched the era of the V chip, which offers the solution for parents. This equipment enables them to keep those programes out that have been labeled as high in violence, sex etc. The whole process is not only relevant to the U.S., but to most countries, because, as American films and movies are broadcast almost all over the world, the same risks may exist there.
This question concerned politicians, like Clinton, Paul Simon, Joseph Lieberman, Bob Dole, so elitness is presented. Another factor is threshold, the numerals, as the details are mentioned e.g. nearly 2700 shows analyzed in a 20-week survey of 23 channels.
Apart from the above mentioned news values this article is important, because it has an informing role, it introduces the problem and gives the solution at the same time.
Each paper has a particular organizational framework, readership and sense of news. The organization of the newspaper, the format of the page, the number, size and place of photographs, charts, maps, style and size of print are all significant factors of newspaper representation.
Differences in drafting and style carry ideological distinctions. As it is mentioned in the first part, during the selection news undergoes some transformation according to political, economical and social factors. That is why different newspapers report differently in both content and presentation. The same topic, sources will appear differently in papers.
The representation of the cover story, IRA terror bomb exploded in London, ending 17 months and 10 days of peace, suggests a sense of ideological distinction between Time and Newsweek. In Newsweek, on the front-page, there is an old, grey-haired and bespectacled man covered up in a red cloth with a bleeding head. The headline, Broken Peace The IRA Bombs London, consists one circumstance that the whole happened in London. Compared this to the front-page of Time, here the enclosed photograph and the organization of the text and the page seem a little bit theatrical and it produces a psychic effect on the reader. As regards Time, the case in point appears without picture on the front-page. In stead of peace the word cease-fire is used, which does not mean the same. Peace is an ended and permanent state, while cease-fire is transitional. In the headline more circumstances are included. The event happened in London, shattered nearly 18 months of peace, and its effect, apart from the victims, is that it brings back the dread. There is a particularity that the background of the word broken is a fire and in the illustration this word is broken literally.
There are some differences in the sources of the articles. According to Newsweek the bomb went off at just after 7 o'clock, while Time says that the time was 7:01 pm, and they complete it with the fact that the bomb was placed in a truck parking nearby. As regards the number of victims Time's data are more detailed. It injured 100 people-39 needing hospital treatment and six seriously wounded...the bodies of two newsstand workers were found. The name and age of the two dead workers are published as well. Newsweek's source is that more than 100 people injured, six of them seriously , and...the next day, two bodies were found. This attempt ended 17 months and 10 days of peace, while in Newsweek only 17 months are mentioned. There is a difference in time between the announcement of ending the cease-fire and the explosion of the bomb. According to Newsweek the length of time was 90 minutes whereas Time says that it was 80 minutes.
The content of the newspapers and the news itself are products. News is not just the real events happened all over the world, but those which are selected according to political, economical and social factors. 'It is a creation of a journalistic process, an artifact, a commodity even.' (Roger Fowler, p.13) An event is selected to be reported in a newsmagazine if it satisfies several criteria of newsworthiness, or, in other words, news values.
L 202 F
A new method has been applied in the traditional and obligatory Language practice section for a group of English major students in the second semester of the year 1995-96: one that above the facilitation of further development of all four major language skills (as well as undertaking to assist students in stregthening skills necessary for passing the end-of-semester Proficiency Exam) focuced attention on itself. By itself we mean both the programme of the section and the group.
The classes were held in the Arizona Room of the University Library, equipped with computers, hence permitting the familiarisation and/or the regular use of computers for students. The themes of the sessions were the following: listening comprehension, speaking (describing, analysing, brainstorming and convincing), reading and writing (group writing, peer editing, proofreading and commenting). It is important to note that the group - with only one exception - had already worked together and with the same teacher during a whole semester: a fact that explains how and why it was easy for them to work with new techniques and in new circumstances.
The fact that all members of the group knew each other and that the sessions were held at a location with modern, high tech equipment, created an agreeable, free ambiance which enabled the realisation of the aims of the programme. A complex interactive prosess between teacher and the group as well as within the group could develop throughout the term.
From the point of view of interaction two basically different situations succeded during the sessions, that can be best demonstrated by the description of the "setting": 1. the group (including the teacher) sitting in a circle, everybody in contact with everybody, 2. the students sitting each in front of a computer, in two rows forming an "L", in front of the teacher and the main computer screen. (Shorter periods of movement, pauses etc. interrupted the longer periods mentioned above.)
II. THE FOCUS OF THE OBSERVATION
When observing group interaction in a classroom setting, the goal of the observation should be decided: observing interaction, the roles being played, the leadership, the problem-solving process and the overall effectiveness would be an overestimated enterprise. Hence, I shall focus my attention on the verbal behaviour of the group and for this I shall profit of the classic interaction analysis system of Flanders'.
I decided to attend only to the verbal behaviour present in the student-teacher interactions because verbal behaviour can be more reliably measured than nonverbal behaviour.
III. FEEDBACK - WHY FLANDERS?
In any form of communication there is need for feedback - indeed so in language practice, or preferably 'teaching practice' in our case. "Feedback is the idea that, so far as communication systems are conscerned, one participant's response helps to correct and control another's message by an ongoing feedback process.” 1 Feedback differs widely in kind. Present essay is one of a sort and what is proposes can be a continous and reliable feedback system in the future.
Flanders' observational system, often reffered to as "the most sophisticated technique for observing classroom climate” 2 is particularly appropriate for the foreign language field because it is concerned with verbal behaviour. The categories of the various patterns of verbal behaviour help both to observe and to analyse. These categories were used first to determine normative patterns of classroom interaction between teachers and students, and later in the inservice training of teachers as a tool for self-analysis and self-improvement. Still, interaction analysis is primarily a method of providing a feedback system to the teacher about his classroom behaviour. Although I am not a trained observer, I have personal experience since I was an active part of the group. Since my active participation has not allowed me a consecutive observation up to now, my proposal of an observational system is not other than an alternative to acquire further systematic feedback in the future.
IV. A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF FLANDERS' INTERACTION ANALYSIS SYSTEM
(After Dick Allwright)3
The interaction analysis, a method of providing a feedback system to the teacher about his classroom behaviour is based on a category-system. The observations of teacher-student verbal behavior must fall into one of the ten categories which in brief consist: of teacher talk of an indirect form (1) accepting feelings, (2) praising or encouraging, (3) accepting ideas, and (4) asking questions; or of a direct nature (5) lecturing, (6) giving directions, (7) criticizing or justifying authority. Student talk is classified as either (8) responding to teacher or (9) initiating talk. A final, multi-purpose category (10) is labelled silence or confusion.
"The method of observation includes recording, by three second intervals in a consecutive tally, the category number of the behavior just observed. Category numbers are repeated if the behavior, regardless of duration, calls for a different category classification.(...)
The raw data, collected in tally form during the course of the observations, are entered into a ten-row by ten-column matrix, from which it is possible to retrieve information regarding the sequence of events (i.e., what happened after each event) which occured during the class section observed. It is also proposed that certain categories be compared with one another to yield various ratios, for exemple, between direct and indirect teacher behaviors or between teacher and student talk. Further, the observer can calculate the percentage of each category recorded as compared to all others (for exemple, during the ten minute session 4% of the teacher's verbal behaviour may be classified as category 1, 12% as category 2, etc.)."4
Among the numerous advantages of the interaction analysis observational system are the following: teachers can discover and evaluate to what extent they reached the goals they have established for their teaching. They can also identify themselves as being more or less direct, critical, receptive to ideas, questioning, etc.
Joining the practitioners of interaction analysis who consistently agree that the Flanders system does not judge, interpret, or tell a teacher how to improve his teaching, we are dealing with the system because it is simply a way of looking at teaching; only the teacher can place a value on what he does.
Several researchers have adopted the interaction analysis system in the field of foreign language, among them Gertrude Moskowitz who presented the most extensive work and introduced his new system called Flint (Foreign Language Interaction) which includes twelve additional categories compared to the Flanders' system and also operates with the help of a matrix. Also, numerous alternatives of the Flanders' system and critiques on it have been presented. Bailey's objections are of special interest, being an internal attack on the practicality of using such categories.
However, here - in the limits of the present paper - we shall not deal with the alternatives in detail but propose a new category-system that fits the setting and the work of the classroom of the course 1212.
V. A NEW REFORMATION OF THE FLANDERS CATEGORY-SYSTEM
A closer look at the original ten categories established by Flanders 5 will permit their application to the interactional situation of the course in question.
The first group consist of four categories of teacher talk with indirect influence:
1. Accept feelings - the teacher accepts and clarifies the feeling tone of the students in a non-threatening manner. Feelings may be positive or negative. Predicting or recalling feelings are included. - The category refers to an attitude that is both present and needed in the language practice course.
2. Praises or encourages - the teacher praises or encourages student action or behaviour. Jokes that release tension, not at the expense of another individual, nodding head or saying, 'um hm?' or 'go on' are included. - Similarly to category one, this is an important and frequent situation.
3. Accepts or uses ideas of student - clarifying, building, or developing ideas suggested by a student. As a teacher brings more of his own ideas into play, shift to category five. - This is not only a frequent but a very specific situation to the language practice course.
4. Asks questions - asking a question about content or procedure with the intent that a student answer. - Frequent and important category as well.
The second group consist of three categories of teacher talk with direct influence. Here, certain modifications will have to be made.
5. Lecturing - giving facts or opinions about content or procedure; expressing his own ideas, asking rhetorical questions. - Lecturing is the element that is completely missing in the group work of the section, hence this category shall be left out. Another category shall be introduced instead at the appropriate place.
6. Giving directions - directions, commands, or orders to which a student is expected to comply. - Because a considerable part of the work is done on computers (often interrupted and always followed by verbal comments, discussion, etc.) these directions also include all directions concerning the work on computers.
7. Criticizing or justifying authority - statements intended to change student behaviour from non-acceptable to acceptable pattern; bawling someone out; stating why the teacher is doing what he is doing; extreme self-reference. - This sort of self-reference is not specific to the course, the category can be left out.
Two categories are established for the student talk:
8. Student talk - response - a student makes a predictable response to teacher. Teacher initiates the contact or solicits student statement and sets limits to what the student says.
9. Student talk - initiation - talk by students which they initiate. Unpredictable statements in response to teacher. Shift from 8 to 9 as student introduces own ideas. - This category is one that refers to an interactive situation very specific to the course. When discussion is taking place, the students usually talk much more than the teacher and often respond to each other expressing new ideas. Category 9 shall be completed and a new category established to mark the difference between the two kinds of student talk:
9*. Student talk to teacher - initiation (the description remains the same).
1O*. Student talk to student - initiation - talk by students which they initiate. Unpredictable statements in response to another student.
The last and separate category is indeed necessary:
1O. Silence or confusion - pauses, short period of silence, and periods of confusion in which communication cannot be understood by the observer.
As the computer takes a major part in the work - sometime even replaces the teacher in some sense - , one category should be added referring to verbal behaviour in connection with the computer:
11*. Student talk 'to computer' - unpredictable statements, comments by students in response/concerning the work done on computers (for example the comparative analysis of the written responses to a question given via network system). - This kind of verbal behaviour - like the students talk in general - is provoked, initiated by the teacher, still it should fall into this category to be differentiated from other kinds of verbal expression, not directly related to technical instruments.
With the modifications and adjustements the new ten categories are the following:
Teacher talk with indirect influence:
1. Accept feelings;
2. Praises or encourages;
3. Accepts or uses ideas of students;
4. Ask questions;
Teacher talk with direct influence:
5. Giving directions;
Student talk:
6. Student talk - response;
7. Student talk to teacher - initiation;
8. Student talk to student - initiation;
9. Student talk 'to computer';
---
1O. Silence or confusion.
When the tallies are entered into a ten by ten matrix they result in a graphic picture of the lesson. The matrix preserves the general time sequence of the interaction by illustrating which behaviours immediately preceded or followed others. The study of the matrix (calculation of percentages for each categories, for teacher talk and student talk and silence or confusion) permits the discovery and analysis of teaching patterns: ratios of the amount of indirect or direct influence the teacher used are determined, each focusing on a different )relationship. (Here we are not dealing with the techniques of the analysis.)
VI. ESTIMATES - (to be testified in the next semester?)
Without sufficient data I give only estimates for the different relationships - it would be interesting to adapt the interaction analysis system in the next semester course and testify the results.
1. What percentage of the class time does the teacher talk? - 3O %.
2. What percentage of the class do the students talk?
- 7O %.
3. Does the teacher use more indirect or direct influence during a lesson? - 4. Is the teacher more indirect or direct in the way he motivates and controls the class?
- The changes made in the categories, notably the fact that only one category is left for direct influence and all the four are left for the direct influence should still give the right percentage for direct and indirect teacher talk. It is not at all by accident that we got this one-to-four proportion: we are concerned with a university language course, where opposed to the traditional teacher-lecturer, the role of the teacher is much more of a dominating group member, who indirectly initiates the other members of the group. Hence, in my estimation the teacher uses twice as much indirect than direct influence in course 1212 (q3) and is much more indirect than direct in the way he motivates and controls the class (q4). Although he often uses directions, commands to help the work go on, more nuanced indirect influence is needed in most of the cases.
5. What kind of immediate feedback does the teacher give to students after they respond? - The most common immediate feedback the teacher gives is the acceptance and use of ideas of students (category 3). Because students are usually given the possibility of not only presenting their ideas, but - after having heard the teacher's and the other students' comments and opinions - developing them further, the best way to motivate them is by using their ideas: this way they can be sure it was worth telling their thoughts.
6. To what extent do students participate for extended periods of time? - They indeed participate for extended periods of time both individually, in pairs and especially in overall group activities. Here we only deal with verbal behaviour, if written work (computers) was counted, the participation of student should be even more.
7. What behaviours does the teacher use to elicit student response in the class? - He most often accepts and uses ideas of the students and ask questions.
8. To what extent are student responses which are called for by the teacher narrow, predictable ones and to what extent are students given the opportunity to bring in their own ideas? - In most of the cases the students are given the opportunity to bring in their new ideas. The narrow and predictable responses mostly refer to simple matters of the task itself, not discussional topics.
VII. FUTURE APPLICATION IN TEACHER PRACTICE
Are we dealing with language practice or teaching practice? If the latter (or both), why not to apply a systematic feedback-system?
The original Flanders' interaction analysis system was established and applied for trainees: can the members of the group not, in some sense be considered as trainees? Even if not, couldn't active language practice students be observers of the interactive process of their own group and teacher? Wouldn't that be an interesting teaching practice for both students and teacher?
The classes were held in the Arizona Room of the University Library, equipped with computers, hence permitting the familiarisation and/or the regular use of computers for students. The themes of the sessions were the following: listening comprehension, speaking (describing, analysing, brainstorming and convincing), reading and writing (group writing, peer editing, proofreading and commenting). It is important to note that the group - with only one exception - had already worked together and with the same teacher during a whole semester: a fact that explains how and why it was easy for them to work with new techniques and in new circumstances.
The fact that all members of the group knew each other and that the sessions were held at a location with modern, high tech equipment, created an agreeable, free ambiance which enabled the realisation of the aims of the programme. A complex interactive prosess between teacher and the group as well as within the group could develop throughout the term.
From the point of view of interaction two basically different situations succeded during the sessions, that can be best demonstrated by the description of the "setting": 1. the group (including the teacher) sitting in a circle, everybody in contact with everybody, 2. the students sitting each in front of a computer, in two rows forming an "L", in front of the teacher and the main computer screen. (Shorter periods of movement, pauses etc. interrupted the longer periods mentioned above.)
II. THE FOCUS OF THE OBSERVATION
When observing group interaction in a classroom setting, the goal of the observation should be decided: observing interaction, the roles being played, the leadership, the problem-solving process and the overall effectiveness would be an overestimated enterprise. Hence, I shall focus my attention on the verbal behaviour of the group and for this I shall profit of the classic interaction analysis system of Flanders'.
I decided to attend only to the verbal behaviour present in the student-teacher interactions because verbal behaviour can be more reliably measured than nonverbal behaviour.
III. FEEDBACK - WHY FLANDERS?
In any form of communication there is need for feedback - indeed so in language practice, or preferably 'teaching practice' in our case. "Feedback is the idea that, so far as communication systems are conscerned, one participant's response helps to correct and control another's message by an ongoing feedback process.” 1 Feedback differs widely in kind. Present essay is one of a sort and what is proposes can be a continous and reliable feedback system in the future.
Flanders' observational system, often reffered to as "the most sophisticated technique for observing classroom climate” 2 is particularly appropriate for the foreign language field because it is concerned with verbal behaviour. The categories of the various patterns of verbal behaviour help both to observe and to analyse. These categories were used first to determine normative patterns of classroom interaction between teachers and students, and later in the inservice training of teachers as a tool for self-analysis and self-improvement. Still, interaction analysis is primarily a method of providing a feedback system to the teacher about his classroom behaviour. Although I am not a trained observer, I have personal experience since I was an active part of the group. Since my active participation has not allowed me a consecutive observation up to now, my proposal of an observational system is not other than an alternative to acquire further systematic feedback in the future.
IV. A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF FLANDERS' INTERACTION ANALYSIS SYSTEM
(After Dick Allwright)3
The interaction analysis, a method of providing a feedback system to the teacher about his classroom behaviour is based on a category-system. The observations of teacher-student verbal behavior must fall into one of the ten categories which in brief consist: of teacher talk of an indirect form (1) accepting feelings, (2) praising or encouraging, (3) accepting ideas, and (4) asking questions; or of a direct nature (5) lecturing, (6) giving directions, (7) criticizing or justifying authority. Student talk is classified as either (8) responding to teacher or (9) initiating talk. A final, multi-purpose category (10) is labelled silence or confusion.
"The method of observation includes recording, by three second intervals in a consecutive tally, the category number of the behavior just observed. Category numbers are repeated if the behavior, regardless of duration, calls for a different category classification.(...)
The raw data, collected in tally form during the course of the observations, are entered into a ten-row by ten-column matrix, from which it is possible to retrieve information regarding the sequence of events (i.e., what happened after each event) which occured during the class section observed. It is also proposed that certain categories be compared with one another to yield various ratios, for exemple, between direct and indirect teacher behaviors or between teacher and student talk. Further, the observer can calculate the percentage of each category recorded as compared to all others (for exemple, during the ten minute session 4% of the teacher's verbal behaviour may be classified as category 1, 12% as category 2, etc.)."4
Among the numerous advantages of the interaction analysis observational system are the following: teachers can discover and evaluate to what extent they reached the goals they have established for their teaching. They can also identify themselves as being more or less direct, critical, receptive to ideas, questioning, etc.
Joining the practitioners of interaction analysis who consistently agree that the Flanders system does not judge, interpret, or tell a teacher how to improve his teaching, we are dealing with the system because it is simply a way of looking at teaching; only the teacher can place a value on what he does.
Several researchers have adopted the interaction analysis system in the field of foreign language, among them Gertrude Moskowitz who presented the most extensive work and introduced his new system called Flint (Foreign Language Interaction) which includes twelve additional categories compared to the Flanders' system and also operates with the help of a matrix. Also, numerous alternatives of the Flanders' system and critiques on it have been presented. Bailey's objections are of special interest, being an internal attack on the practicality of using such categories.
However, here - in the limits of the present paper - we shall not deal with the alternatives in detail but propose a new category-system that fits the setting and the work of the classroom of the course 1212.
V. A NEW REFORMATION OF THE FLANDERS CATEGORY-SYSTEM
A closer look at the original ten categories established by Flanders 5 will permit their application to the interactional situation of the course in question.
The first group consist of four categories of teacher talk with indirect influence:
1. Accept feelings - the teacher accepts and clarifies the feeling tone of the students in a non-threatening manner. Feelings may be positive or negative. Predicting or recalling feelings are included. - The category refers to an attitude that is both present and needed in the language practice course.
2. Praises or encourages - the teacher praises or encourages student action or behaviour. Jokes that release tension, not at the expense of another individual, nodding head or saying, 'um hm?' or 'go on' are included. - Similarly to category one, this is an important and frequent situation.
3. Accepts or uses ideas of student - clarifying, building, or developing ideas suggested by a student. As a teacher brings more of his own ideas into play, shift to category five. - This is not only a frequent but a very specific situation to the language practice course.
4. Asks questions - asking a question about content or procedure with the intent that a student answer. - Frequent and important category as well.
The second group consist of three categories of teacher talk with direct influence. Here, certain modifications will have to be made.
5. Lecturing - giving facts or opinions about content or procedure; expressing his own ideas, asking rhetorical questions. - Lecturing is the element that is completely missing in the group work of the section, hence this category shall be left out. Another category shall be introduced instead at the appropriate place.
6. Giving directions - directions, commands, or orders to which a student is expected to comply. - Because a considerable part of the work is done on computers (often interrupted and always followed by verbal comments, discussion, etc.) these directions also include all directions concerning the work on computers.
7. Criticizing or justifying authority - statements intended to change student behaviour from non-acceptable to acceptable pattern; bawling someone out; stating why the teacher is doing what he is doing; extreme self-reference. - This sort of self-reference is not specific to the course, the category can be left out.
Two categories are established for the student talk:
8. Student talk - response - a student makes a predictable response to teacher. Teacher initiates the contact or solicits student statement and sets limits to what the student says.
9. Student talk - initiation - talk by students which they initiate. Unpredictable statements in response to teacher. Shift from 8 to 9 as student introduces own ideas. - This category is one that refers to an interactive situation very specific to the course. When discussion is taking place, the students usually talk much more than the teacher and often respond to each other expressing new ideas. Category 9 shall be completed and a new category established to mark the difference between the two kinds of student talk:
9*. Student talk to teacher - initiation (the description remains the same).
1O*. Student talk to student - initiation - talk by students which they initiate. Unpredictable statements in response to another student.
The last and separate category is indeed necessary:
1O. Silence or confusion - pauses, short period of silence, and periods of confusion in which communication cannot be understood by the observer.
As the computer takes a major part in the work - sometime even replaces the teacher in some sense - , one category should be added referring to verbal behaviour in connection with the computer:
11*. Student talk 'to computer' - unpredictable statements, comments by students in response/concerning the work done on computers (for example the comparative analysis of the written responses to a question given via network system). - This kind of verbal behaviour - like the students talk in general - is provoked, initiated by the teacher, still it should fall into this category to be differentiated from other kinds of verbal expression, not directly related to technical instruments.
With the modifications and adjustements the new ten categories are the following:
Teacher talk with indirect influence:
1. Accept feelings;
2. Praises or encourages;
3. Accepts or uses ideas of students;
4. Ask questions;
Teacher talk with direct influence:
5. Giving directions;
Student talk:
6. Student talk - response;
7. Student talk to teacher - initiation;
8. Student talk to student - initiation;
9. Student talk 'to computer';
---
1O. Silence or confusion.
When the tallies are entered into a ten by ten matrix they result in a graphic picture of the lesson. The matrix preserves the general time sequence of the interaction by illustrating which behaviours immediately preceded or followed others. The study of the matrix (calculation of percentages for each categories, for teacher talk and student talk and silence or confusion) permits the discovery and analysis of teaching patterns: ratios of the amount of indirect or direct influence the teacher used are determined, each focusing on a different )relationship. (Here we are not dealing with the techniques of the analysis.)
VI. ESTIMATES - (to be testified in the next semester?)
Without sufficient data I give only estimates for the different relationships - it would be interesting to adapt the interaction analysis system in the next semester course and testify the results.
1. What percentage of the class time does the teacher talk? - 3O %.
2. What percentage of the class do the students talk?
- 7O %.
3. Does the teacher use more indirect or direct influence during a lesson? - 4. Is the teacher more indirect or direct in the way he motivates and controls the class?
- The changes made in the categories, notably the fact that only one category is left for direct influence and all the four are left for the direct influence should still give the right percentage for direct and indirect teacher talk. It is not at all by accident that we got this one-to-four proportion: we are concerned with a university language course, where opposed to the traditional teacher-lecturer, the role of the teacher is much more of a dominating group member, who indirectly initiates the other members of the group. Hence, in my estimation the teacher uses twice as much indirect than direct influence in course 1212 (q3) and is much more indirect than direct in the way he motivates and controls the class (q4). Although he often uses directions, commands to help the work go on, more nuanced indirect influence is needed in most of the cases.
5. What kind of immediate feedback does the teacher give to students after they respond? - The most common immediate feedback the teacher gives is the acceptance and use of ideas of students (category 3). Because students are usually given the possibility of not only presenting their ideas, but - after having heard the teacher's and the other students' comments and opinions - developing them further, the best way to motivate them is by using their ideas: this way they can be sure it was worth telling their thoughts.
6. To what extent do students participate for extended periods of time? - They indeed participate for extended periods of time both individually, in pairs and especially in overall group activities. Here we only deal with verbal behaviour, if written work (computers) was counted, the participation of student should be even more.
7. What behaviours does the teacher use to elicit student response in the class? - He most often accepts and uses ideas of the students and ask questions.
8. To what extent are student responses which are called for by the teacher narrow, predictable ones and to what extent are students given the opportunity to bring in their own ideas? - In most of the cases the students are given the opportunity to bring in their new ideas. The narrow and predictable responses mostly refer to simple matters of the task itself, not discussional topics.
VII. FUTURE APPLICATION IN TEACHER PRACTICE
Are we dealing with language practice or teaching practice? If the latter (or both), why not to apply a systematic feedback-system?
The original Flanders' interaction analysis system was established and applied for trainees: can the members of the group not, in some sense be considered as trainees? Even if not, couldn't active language practice students be observers of the interactive process of their own group and teacher? Wouldn't that be an interesting teaching practice for both students and teacher?
L 183 F
The ANG 1212 Language Practice course was a university course for first year English majors in the spring semester of the 1995/96 academic year in Janus Pannonius University of Pecs. The course had twelve students. The meetings were held on Mondays between 9.40 a.m. and 12.10 p.m. in the Arizona Room in Szepesy Ignac street. This room is a well–lit and well–equipped place where every group–member had access to a computer.
During the first two academic years, the language practice courses are the most important courses for every English major, because they are worth three credits and their completion is essential for being able to take up certain other courses; for example: the completion of the four language practice courses is a primary condition for all literature courses.
The ANG 1212 Language Practice group was a decision–making group, because students studied there together for the same goal (which was passing the end–of–term Proficiency exam 1 and further improving their language skills), they communicated with one another both verbally and on the computer through Group Systems, they often solved together certain tasks given by the tutor, and they were more or less aware of one another`s role in the group.
1.2. The Concept of Role
Wilson and Hanna make a distinction between two kinds of roles in their book Groups in Context. Leadership and Participation in Small Groups.: the formal and the informal roles. Formal roles such as president, secretary, or chairman are titles given by the rest of the group; whereas informal roles reflect functions that each member fulfills in the group. (1990:149–150)
This study concerns itself only with the informal roles, since in the ANG 1212 Language Practice Group there was only one formal role, the role of the tutor, the others had no titles, it was the function that each member fulfilled that counted from the point of view of the group`s working. This study undertakes to briefly describe what kinds of roles appeared in the group. The author has to admit that it was hard for her to observe eleven students, and she
apologies from those who recognize themselves and think that the author classified them into the wrong category.
1.3. An Overview of the Roles Group Members had had in previous University Groups
On the first meeting on 5 February 1996 the tutor asked the students to type into the computer a short answer about what roles they had had in previous university groups.
Only few students approached the question from a functional point of view; the others gave information only about whether they had been active or passive. Six of all twelve members present felt that they had been passive in previous groups, but three of them gave themselves a functional role like observer or listener. Four members gave answers which suggested that they had been neither active nor passive but sort of in between the two, and only two students claimed that they had been unequivocally active.
During the semester, I observed that more and more members who were up till then passive volunteered to play an active role in the group, and that a seemingly passive participant can also be a useful member of the group if I look at her 2 function in the group.
2. Functional Roles in the ANG 1212 Language Practice Group during the Spring Semester of the 1995/96 Year
Benne and Sheats divide functional roles into three categories in their essay "Functional Roles of Group Members":
(1) Group task roles which give information about how a person helps a group to achieve its goals. This category has thirteen roles: initiator–contributor, information seeker, information giver, opinion seeker, opinion giver, elaborator–clarifier, coordinator, diagnostician, orienter–summarizer, energizer, procedural assistant, secretary–recorder, and evaluator–critic.
(2) Group building and maintenance roles which are responsible for creating and maintaining the cohesiveness and effectivity of a group. Eight roles are included in this second main category: supporter–encourager, harmonizer, tension releaser, compromiser, gatekeeper, feeling expresser, standard setter, and follower.
(3) Self–centered roles which describe how each individual behaves in a group. These roles are not always productive, they sometimes hinder the group`s work. This category involves eight roles: blocker, aggressor, deserter, dominator, recognition seeker, confessor, playboy/playgirl clown, and special–interest pleader.
(quoted in Wilson and Hanna, 1990:154–161)
For practical reasons, the author will keep to these three main categories, but she will change some of the roles Benne and Sheats described are within these main categories, since not all of them can be applied to ANG 1212 group members, because, first, the size of the group is different to the number of roles Benne and Sheats created; second, some of the roles reflect behaviours which the author did not find at any of the group members; and third, the functions of a few require the invention of new roles 3, since their behaviour cannot be described by means of Benne and Sheats` roles.
In this study, the author will not include her role since she spent the meetings observing other members` behaviour and she may not be able to describe her role objectively, but she will include the tutor`s role, because he was also an integral part of the group.
2.1. Group Task Roles
2.1.1. Initiator–contributor
The role of the initiator–contributor was served by
Student 1 in the group. She was the most creative member of the group, she came up with new ideas on every single meeting when she was present. Generally she was the first to react when the tutor offered the participants a choice about what they would like to do on that meeting. Although she was not the main spokesperson during discussions, she kept on creating interesting ideas and giving new directions to the discussion.
2.1.2. Information giver
According to Benne and Sheats, the role of information giver is usually shared by more group members. (quoted in Wilson and Hanna, 1990:155) It is true that in the group the author was observing were five or six students who offered useful pieces of information to the group, but they did it only once or twice. However, there was one member, Student 2, who constantly provided the group with information. Sometimes she gave also the exact source of the information, but usually she began her information–giving by saying "I have read somewhere..." Despite this fact, her pieces of information were never doubted by any member of the group. She was one of the most recognized and liked person in the group.
2.1.3. Opinion seeker
Student 3 who played the role of the opinion seeker in the group was one of the two dominant participants, but whenever she embarked on a long monologue she interrupted it twice or three–times by asking other participants` opinion in connection with the topic she was speaking about. She often asked questions like "Anita, what is your opinion?" or "Gabor, what do you think?" during the course.
Student 4 has just written a study about personal relationships in the group. One of the questions on her opinionnaire was "Who do you think would be the most suitable student to replace the tutor?" The author of this study thinks that this opinion seeker–behaviour of Student 3 makes her the most appropriate to replace the tutor if it would be needed.
2.1.4. Opinion giver
Student 4 was not an active participant in the group. She spoke up few times, and when she did so, she always gave her opinion about that she had just heard. Her most frequent expressions on the meetings of the group were: “In my opinion..." and "I think you are right/wrong." During the course, she was the student who interrupted the tutor the most often.
2.1.5. Elaborator–clarifier
The person fulfilling the role of the elaborator–clarifier has two functions: (1) elaborating or summarizing the topic the group is discussing and (2) testing ideas and understanding. (Wilson and Hanna, 1990:156) Student 5 had many functions in the group, but this role was the most characteristic of her. Usually she played this role well, but sometimes she roughly cut other members short by saying things like "Anita wanted to say that..." or "Gabor thinks that..." But if the author ignores these few mistakes, she can safely state that Student 5 was a useful member of the group.
2.1.6. Coordinator
Student 6 is an outboarder and she was always about one and a half hours late – except for two meetings. But when she arrived, she could join in the group`s work without any difficulty. The best example for her playing the coordinator role was the forth meeting when the author was giving a presentation on "Group Cultures." Student 6 missed the first half of it, but immediately after arriving she was able to ask questions about the topic, and she was the one who directed the discussions which followed the presentation. The author thinks that her quality that she was listenning and concentrating whenever any other member of the group was speaking made her to be suitable for this role.
2.1.7. Energizer
Student 7 was one of the most energetic and most optimistic members of the group. Her positive approach to work had an effect on every other participant. On the meetings she was always smiling and took pleasure in participating in the group`s work. She encouraged other students, using both verbal and nonverbal signs (the author observed that sometimes she lifted her upper lids to make another participant start speaking).
2.1.8. Secretary–recorder
Student 8 is one of the most hard–working students the author knows. During the meetings she was always busy taking notes. She remembered to do every homework. She put down in her notebook what the group were doing at every single meeting and she could recall it when someone asked her to do it.
2.1.9. Evaluator–critic
The evaluator–critic role was served by the tutor. Since he was the group leader, it was his duty to evaluate and criticize other members` opinion and ideas. But, however, he did not play this role in a dictatoric way, he gave everybody a chance to tell her opinion, even if it was contrary to his opinion. And everytime when the group had to make a dicision together, the tutor did not finalized it until each member – who wanted – told her ideas.
2.1.10 Complementizer*
The author labelled this person, Student 9, with the complementizer role, because her function was to do things which were not directly linked with the activity of the group, but it sort of comlemented it. When the tutor offered an alternative activity for two or three people, she was always the first to put up her hand. She was the member who did the most home assignments (like elaborating on a chapter from Groups in Context) in the group. During group discussions she preferred to stay outside as an observer or do an alternative task.
2.1.11 Continuity maker
Student 10 was one of the most cheerful and creative members of the group. She was not particularly active during the course, but, nevertheless, she was a very useful member, because whenever the group`s work broke off (due to lack of ideas), she came up with something new.
2.1.12 Observer*
Student 11 was the most passive member of the group. She hardly spoke during the whole course, but she was litenning and taking some notes when other people were talking. Seemingly she did not made much contribution to the group`s work, but her observations can be useful for her – and maybe for other members` – essay.
2.2 Group Building and Maintenance roles
2.2.1 Supporter–encourager
Student 3 showed valuable personal qualities in the group, because not only did she take a large part of the group`s work upon herself, but she encouraged and appriciated the other students. In the previous chapter, the author classified Student 3 as an opinion seeker, but whenever she received an answer to her question she showed some appriciation or encouragement.
2.2.2 Harmonizer
In the group there was no occasion when the members were quarrelling. But, however, some small differences of opinion did emerge. These times Student 2, the oldest and wisest student, was the one who found the solution. Usually she did it by finding the middle course between the opinions of those students who did not agree.
2.2.3 Tension releaser
Student 1 and Student 7 were cheerful and friendly participants. Most of the times they were smiling and their vivacity effected the other students as well. They together fulfilled the role of the tension releaser, since both of them has a good sense of humour which they shared with the others.
2.2.4 Compromiser
The compromiser role is similar to the harmonizer, in fact, the two roles are nearly the same. Student 6 had difficulty in arriving to the meetings in time, but when she was present, she seemed to behave like an outsider who rather made compromises between other students than taking up a position herself.
2.2.5 Gatekeeper
The gatekeeper role was fulfilled by the tutor and he played the role well. During discussions, he tried to draw everybody into the conversation, but, at the same time, he did not force those who definitely wanted to hold their tongue. And he made sure that nobody feel uncomfortable by a topic.
2.2.6 Standard setter
Student 10 always strives for the maximum and she expected the other members of ANG 1212 to do so. For instance, when the results of the Proficiency Test were posted out, this person was upset that only the passmarks were written on the sheet and not the maximum marks, because, as she said, she always wants to compare herself to the maximum.
2.2.7. Follower
Student 8 and Student 11 did not volunteer to actively take part in discussions, but they showed some positive feedback which other – more active – participants appriciated. Although Student 4 always told her opinion on the meetings, she can be included in this category from the point of view of group building and maintenance, since she always showed – with nodding or smiling – when she agreed with another participant.
Student 5 and Student 9 were both active and useful members, but the author could not evaluate them according to the roles of this second main category, because they did not contributed to maintaining the cohesiveness in the group.
2.3. Self–centered Roles
2.3.1. Blocker
The role of the blocker was fulfilled by three members in the group, but all of them blocked the group unintentionally. Student 8 is a silent and shy person, she rarely spoke on the meetings. She was not a deserter 4, she was interested in the group`s work, but she blocked the group`s activity by depriving it of her ideas (she must have had some but did not shared them with the group).
Student 2 was a different kind of blocker. She was a useful group member but she was too pedantic. She attached great importance to every small detail, kept hearing words on the tape–recorder (when the group were doing listenning comprehension) that no other member of the group heard, and on the tenth meeting she even quarrelled with the tutor about whether or not England is on a continent. (She said that England cannot be found on any of the continents which the tutor found strange.)
Student 6 was also a blocker but she – like Student 8 and Student 2 – did not do it deliberately. As the author has mentioned in the chapter about group task roles, she is an outboarder, so she could not arrive in time – except for two meetings – due to the bus service. Her constant lateness disturbed the group`s activity, but it is true that when she was present she actively participated in the group`s activity.
2.3.2. Dominator
The dominator role was played by Student 3 and Student 5 in the group. They two took the brunt of the work upon themselves, but they played this role differently. When Student 3 was playing this role, she offered everyone a chance to tell her opinion, in fact, usually she was functioning as a dominator when no one volunteered to act or speak. On the contrary, Student 5 always wanted to be in monopoly, she often interrupted others, and, what is more, she answered questions which the tutor put to other students. For example, once the tutor asked the author`s opinion about something, the author began to speak but she stopped for a moment, looking for the expression which fitted best into the context, and then Student 5 interrupted her and finished the answer.
2.3.3. All–around helper*
Student 9 was a friendly and helpful participant, everyone who had a problem could turn to her. She helped Student 5 to find employment at the IFOR–forces (she gave her telephon numbers and useful pieces of advice), she offered the other students coke (she brought a bottle of coke with herself to every meeting), and when someone asked her to do something, then not only did she help but she gave a broad smile.
2.3.4. Acquaintance maker*
Student 8 attended another Language Practice course in the autumn semester, so she was a newcomer to this group. Before joining the group, she did not know the other participants, she knew two or three people by sight at most. Getting acquainted with everyone lasted her almost a semester long.
2.3.5. Argumenter*
Student 2, as the author have mentioned in the chapter on group maintenance roles, is the oldest and wisest student. Her favourite activity seemed to be arguing – with anyone about anything. During the course, she argued not only on the meetings but also in the breaks.
2.3.6. Fun maker*
Student 1 is a nice, friendly, and funny girl. She has a good sense of humour, during the course, she was always smiling – on the meetings, in the breaks, at arriving to the meetings, and at leaving. She sometimes entertained the others with jokes.
2.3.7. Fun maker`s assistant*
Student 1 and Student 7 are close friends. During pair–works, they worked together – smiling and laughing. In the group, her most characteristic features were her witty remarks.
2.3.7. Theorist*
Student 4 is an aesthetics major, she is known of her abstract thinking. Her opinions and comments were not always perceived by the others.
2.3.9. Equality maker*
A tutor is formally above the students. But the tutor of this group wanted to make the students feel that he was not above them; he treated the students as an equal. But, however, 70 percent of the group thought that the tutor was above them. (Vote session Report, 1996:4)
3. Conclusion
This study is a novel analysis of group behaviour; it focuses on each person`s functional role according to Benne and Sheats` model.
For the author it was an intriguing task to observe her fellow–students from this aspect, but, nevertheless, she thinks that the variety of roles appeared in this group was not satisfactory. A few persons` roles were alike, and in the chapter "Group Building
and Maintenance Roles" the author found two students who she could not label with a role, because they did not show any of the behaviours in that category.
Looking back to the course, one of the author`s aims was realized (nobody failed the Proficiency exam), but the other was not, because – in the author`s opinion – eight students in this group were not enough creative.
1 The Proficiency exam is the most significant examination for every first–year English major, because students who fail it will not get the three credits for the Language Practice Course (that is: they have to repeat the course a year later).
2 In the group there were ten female and only two male members. In order that the male members not be recognized, the author refers to every group member with the personal pronoun "she" (or with its different cases: "her," "herself") throughout this study.
3 The roles which are defined by the author of this study and not by Benne and Sheats will be marked with an asterix.
4 A deserter is someone who acts indifferently in a group, merely sits there and daydream. (Wilson and Hanna, 1990:160)
During the first two academic years, the language practice courses are the most important courses for every English major, because they are worth three credits and their completion is essential for being able to take up certain other courses; for example: the completion of the four language practice courses is a primary condition for all literature courses.
The ANG 1212 Language Practice group was a decision–making group, because students studied there together for the same goal (which was passing the end–of–term Proficiency exam 1 and further improving their language skills), they communicated with one another both verbally and on the computer through Group Systems, they often solved together certain tasks given by the tutor, and they were more or less aware of one another`s role in the group.
1.2. The Concept of Role
Wilson and Hanna make a distinction between two kinds of roles in their book Groups in Context. Leadership and Participation in Small Groups.: the formal and the informal roles. Formal roles such as president, secretary, or chairman are titles given by the rest of the group; whereas informal roles reflect functions that each member fulfills in the group. (1990:149–150)
This study concerns itself only with the informal roles, since in the ANG 1212 Language Practice Group there was only one formal role, the role of the tutor, the others had no titles, it was the function that each member fulfilled that counted from the point of view of the group`s working. This study undertakes to briefly describe what kinds of roles appeared in the group. The author has to admit that it was hard for her to observe eleven students, and she
apologies from those who recognize themselves and think that the author classified them into the wrong category.
1.3. An Overview of the Roles Group Members had had in previous University Groups
On the first meeting on 5 February 1996 the tutor asked the students to type into the computer a short answer about what roles they had had in previous university groups.
Only few students approached the question from a functional point of view; the others gave information only about whether they had been active or passive. Six of all twelve members present felt that they had been passive in previous groups, but three of them gave themselves a functional role like observer or listener. Four members gave answers which suggested that they had been neither active nor passive but sort of in between the two, and only two students claimed that they had been unequivocally active.
During the semester, I observed that more and more members who were up till then passive volunteered to play an active role in the group, and that a seemingly passive participant can also be a useful member of the group if I look at her 2 function in the group.
2. Functional Roles in the ANG 1212 Language Practice Group during the Spring Semester of the 1995/96 Year
Benne and Sheats divide functional roles into three categories in their essay "Functional Roles of Group Members":
(1) Group task roles which give information about how a person helps a group to achieve its goals. This category has thirteen roles: initiator–contributor, information seeker, information giver, opinion seeker, opinion giver, elaborator–clarifier, coordinator, diagnostician, orienter–summarizer, energizer, procedural assistant, secretary–recorder, and evaluator–critic.
(2) Group building and maintenance roles which are responsible for creating and maintaining the cohesiveness and effectivity of a group. Eight roles are included in this second main category: supporter–encourager, harmonizer, tension releaser, compromiser, gatekeeper, feeling expresser, standard setter, and follower.
(3) Self–centered roles which describe how each individual behaves in a group. These roles are not always productive, they sometimes hinder the group`s work. This category involves eight roles: blocker, aggressor, deserter, dominator, recognition seeker, confessor, playboy/playgirl clown, and special–interest pleader.
(quoted in Wilson and Hanna, 1990:154–161)
For practical reasons, the author will keep to these three main categories, but she will change some of the roles Benne and Sheats described are within these main categories, since not all of them can be applied to ANG 1212 group members, because, first, the size of the group is different to the number of roles Benne and Sheats created; second, some of the roles reflect behaviours which the author did not find at any of the group members; and third, the functions of a few require the invention of new roles 3, since their behaviour cannot be described by means of Benne and Sheats` roles.
In this study, the author will not include her role since she spent the meetings observing other members` behaviour and she may not be able to describe her role objectively, but she will include the tutor`s role, because he was also an integral part of the group.
2.1. Group Task Roles
2.1.1. Initiator–contributor
The role of the initiator–contributor was served by
Student 1 in the group. She was the most creative member of the group, she came up with new ideas on every single meeting when she was present. Generally she was the first to react when the tutor offered the participants a choice about what they would like to do on that meeting. Although she was not the main spokesperson during discussions, she kept on creating interesting ideas and giving new directions to the discussion.
2.1.2. Information giver
According to Benne and Sheats, the role of information giver is usually shared by more group members. (quoted in Wilson and Hanna, 1990:155) It is true that in the group the author was observing were five or six students who offered useful pieces of information to the group, but they did it only once or twice. However, there was one member, Student 2, who constantly provided the group with information. Sometimes she gave also the exact source of the information, but usually she began her information–giving by saying "I have read somewhere..." Despite this fact, her pieces of information were never doubted by any member of the group. She was one of the most recognized and liked person in the group.
2.1.3. Opinion seeker
Student 3 who played the role of the opinion seeker in the group was one of the two dominant participants, but whenever she embarked on a long monologue she interrupted it twice or three–times by asking other participants` opinion in connection with the topic she was speaking about. She often asked questions like "Anita, what is your opinion?" or "Gabor, what do you think?" during the course.
Student 4 has just written a study about personal relationships in the group. One of the questions on her opinionnaire was "Who do you think would be the most suitable student to replace the tutor?" The author of this study thinks that this opinion seeker–behaviour of Student 3 makes her the most appropriate to replace the tutor if it would be needed.
2.1.4. Opinion giver
Student 4 was not an active participant in the group. She spoke up few times, and when she did so, she always gave her opinion about that she had just heard. Her most frequent expressions on the meetings of the group were: “In my opinion..." and "I think you are right/wrong." During the course, she was the student who interrupted the tutor the most often.
2.1.5. Elaborator–clarifier
The person fulfilling the role of the elaborator–clarifier has two functions: (1) elaborating or summarizing the topic the group is discussing and (2) testing ideas and understanding. (Wilson and Hanna, 1990:156) Student 5 had many functions in the group, but this role was the most characteristic of her. Usually she played this role well, but sometimes she roughly cut other members short by saying things like "Anita wanted to say that..." or "Gabor thinks that..." But if the author ignores these few mistakes, she can safely state that Student 5 was a useful member of the group.
2.1.6. Coordinator
Student 6 is an outboarder and she was always about one and a half hours late – except for two meetings. But when she arrived, she could join in the group`s work without any difficulty. The best example for her playing the coordinator role was the forth meeting when the author was giving a presentation on "Group Cultures." Student 6 missed the first half of it, but immediately after arriving she was able to ask questions about the topic, and she was the one who directed the discussions which followed the presentation. The author thinks that her quality that she was listenning and concentrating whenever any other member of the group was speaking made her to be suitable for this role.
2.1.7. Energizer
Student 7 was one of the most energetic and most optimistic members of the group. Her positive approach to work had an effect on every other participant. On the meetings she was always smiling and took pleasure in participating in the group`s work. She encouraged other students, using both verbal and nonverbal signs (the author observed that sometimes she lifted her upper lids to make another participant start speaking).
2.1.8. Secretary–recorder
Student 8 is one of the most hard–working students the author knows. During the meetings she was always busy taking notes. She remembered to do every homework. She put down in her notebook what the group were doing at every single meeting and she could recall it when someone asked her to do it.
2.1.9. Evaluator–critic
The evaluator–critic role was served by the tutor. Since he was the group leader, it was his duty to evaluate and criticize other members` opinion and ideas. But, however, he did not play this role in a dictatoric way, he gave everybody a chance to tell her opinion, even if it was contrary to his opinion. And everytime when the group had to make a dicision together, the tutor did not finalized it until each member – who wanted – told her ideas.
2.1.10 Complementizer*
The author labelled this person, Student 9, with the complementizer role, because her function was to do things which were not directly linked with the activity of the group, but it sort of comlemented it. When the tutor offered an alternative activity for two or three people, she was always the first to put up her hand. She was the member who did the most home assignments (like elaborating on a chapter from Groups in Context) in the group. During group discussions she preferred to stay outside as an observer or do an alternative task.
2.1.11 Continuity maker
Student 10 was one of the most cheerful and creative members of the group. She was not particularly active during the course, but, nevertheless, she was a very useful member, because whenever the group`s work broke off (due to lack of ideas), she came up with something new.
2.1.12 Observer*
Student 11 was the most passive member of the group. She hardly spoke during the whole course, but she was litenning and taking some notes when other people were talking. Seemingly she did not made much contribution to the group`s work, but her observations can be useful for her – and maybe for other members` – essay.
2.2 Group Building and Maintenance roles
2.2.1 Supporter–encourager
Student 3 showed valuable personal qualities in the group, because not only did she take a large part of the group`s work upon herself, but she encouraged and appriciated the other students. In the previous chapter, the author classified Student 3 as an opinion seeker, but whenever she received an answer to her question she showed some appriciation or encouragement.
2.2.2 Harmonizer
In the group there was no occasion when the members were quarrelling. But, however, some small differences of opinion did emerge. These times Student 2, the oldest and wisest student, was the one who found the solution. Usually she did it by finding the middle course between the opinions of those students who did not agree.
2.2.3 Tension releaser
Student 1 and Student 7 were cheerful and friendly participants. Most of the times they were smiling and their vivacity effected the other students as well. They together fulfilled the role of the tension releaser, since both of them has a good sense of humour which they shared with the others.
2.2.4 Compromiser
The compromiser role is similar to the harmonizer, in fact, the two roles are nearly the same. Student 6 had difficulty in arriving to the meetings in time, but when she was present, she seemed to behave like an outsider who rather made compromises between other students than taking up a position herself.
2.2.5 Gatekeeper
The gatekeeper role was fulfilled by the tutor and he played the role well. During discussions, he tried to draw everybody into the conversation, but, at the same time, he did not force those who definitely wanted to hold their tongue. And he made sure that nobody feel uncomfortable by a topic.
2.2.6 Standard setter
Student 10 always strives for the maximum and she expected the other members of ANG 1212 to do so. For instance, when the results of the Proficiency Test were posted out, this person was upset that only the passmarks were written on the sheet and not the maximum marks, because, as she said, she always wants to compare herself to the maximum.
2.2.7. Follower
Student 8 and Student 11 did not volunteer to actively take part in discussions, but they showed some positive feedback which other – more active – participants appriciated. Although Student 4 always told her opinion on the meetings, she can be included in this category from the point of view of group building and maintenance, since she always showed – with nodding or smiling – when she agreed with another participant.
Student 5 and Student 9 were both active and useful members, but the author could not evaluate them according to the roles of this second main category, because they did not contributed to maintaining the cohesiveness in the group.
2.3. Self–centered Roles
2.3.1. Blocker
The role of the blocker was fulfilled by three members in the group, but all of them blocked the group unintentionally. Student 8 is a silent and shy person, she rarely spoke on the meetings. She was not a deserter 4, she was interested in the group`s work, but she blocked the group`s activity by depriving it of her ideas (she must have had some but did not shared them with the group).
Student 2 was a different kind of blocker. She was a useful group member but she was too pedantic. She attached great importance to every small detail, kept hearing words on the tape–recorder (when the group were doing listenning comprehension) that no other member of the group heard, and on the tenth meeting she even quarrelled with the tutor about whether or not England is on a continent. (She said that England cannot be found on any of the continents which the tutor found strange.)
Student 6 was also a blocker but she – like Student 8 and Student 2 – did not do it deliberately. As the author has mentioned in the chapter about group task roles, she is an outboarder, so she could not arrive in time – except for two meetings – due to the bus service. Her constant lateness disturbed the group`s activity, but it is true that when she was present she actively participated in the group`s activity.
2.3.2. Dominator
The dominator role was played by Student 3 and Student 5 in the group. They two took the brunt of the work upon themselves, but they played this role differently. When Student 3 was playing this role, she offered everyone a chance to tell her opinion, in fact, usually she was functioning as a dominator when no one volunteered to act or speak. On the contrary, Student 5 always wanted to be in monopoly, she often interrupted others, and, what is more, she answered questions which the tutor put to other students. For example, once the tutor asked the author`s opinion about something, the author began to speak but she stopped for a moment, looking for the expression which fitted best into the context, and then Student 5 interrupted her and finished the answer.
2.3.3. All–around helper*
Student 9 was a friendly and helpful participant, everyone who had a problem could turn to her. She helped Student 5 to find employment at the IFOR–forces (she gave her telephon numbers and useful pieces of advice), she offered the other students coke (she brought a bottle of coke with herself to every meeting), and when someone asked her to do something, then not only did she help but she gave a broad smile.
2.3.4. Acquaintance maker*
Student 8 attended another Language Practice course in the autumn semester, so she was a newcomer to this group. Before joining the group, she did not know the other participants, she knew two or three people by sight at most. Getting acquainted with everyone lasted her almost a semester long.
2.3.5. Argumenter*
Student 2, as the author have mentioned in the chapter on group maintenance roles, is the oldest and wisest student. Her favourite activity seemed to be arguing – with anyone about anything. During the course, she argued not only on the meetings but also in the breaks.
2.3.6. Fun maker*
Student 1 is a nice, friendly, and funny girl. She has a good sense of humour, during the course, she was always smiling – on the meetings, in the breaks, at arriving to the meetings, and at leaving. She sometimes entertained the others with jokes.
2.3.7. Fun maker`s assistant*
Student 1 and Student 7 are close friends. During pair–works, they worked together – smiling and laughing. In the group, her most characteristic features were her witty remarks.
2.3.7. Theorist*
Student 4 is an aesthetics major, she is known of her abstract thinking. Her opinions and comments were not always perceived by the others.
2.3.9. Equality maker*
A tutor is formally above the students. But the tutor of this group wanted to make the students feel that he was not above them; he treated the students as an equal. But, however, 70 percent of the group thought that the tutor was above them. (Vote session Report, 1996:4)
3. Conclusion
This study is a novel analysis of group behaviour; it focuses on each person`s functional role according to Benne and Sheats` model.
For the author it was an intriguing task to observe her fellow–students from this aspect, but, nevertheless, she thinks that the variety of roles appeared in this group was not satisfactory. A few persons` roles were alike, and in the chapter "Group Building
and Maintenance Roles" the author found two students who she could not label with a role, because they did not show any of the behaviours in that category.
Looking back to the course, one of the author`s aims was realized (nobody failed the Proficiency exam), but the other was not, because – in the author`s opinion – eight students in this group were not enough creative.
1 The Proficiency exam is the most significant examination for every first–year English major, because students who fail it will not get the three credits for the Language Practice Course (that is: they have to repeat the course a year later).
2 In the group there were ten female and only two male members. In order that the male members not be recognized, the author refers to every group member with the personal pronoun "she" (or with its different cases: "her," "herself") throughout this study.
3 The roles which are defined by the author of this study and not by Benne and Sheats will be marked with an asterix.
4 A deserter is someone who acts indifferently in a group, merely sits there and daydream. (Wilson and Hanna, 1990:160)
L 181 F
I made a little survey among secondary school pupils and university students at POTE and JPTE. I tried to get answers to the following questions: which languages are the most popular, how many opportunities the students have to study foreign languages and how they can use their knowledge. In my essay I will sum up the responses I got from the 16 students. Most of these pupils have learned English, German, Latin ; all of them have learned Russian. A few students have studied French, one of them Dutch, and another person can speak Swedish. Usually these people started to learn a foreign language at the age of fourteen, or at the university at the age of about eighteen. Only a few of them began learning earlier, in the primary school. Of course Russian is an exception, because it was obligatory in primary schools, but teaching it was not very successful. Our generation did not have so many opportunities for learning languages at the time we attended primary school. Today the situation is different. Every child has to learn at least one foreign language already at the primary school or even earlier: in the kindergarten.
Most students learn the given language at the institution where they are studying. A few of them take lessons with a private teacher. Pupils use cassettes in learning, they listen to radio programs, watch TV and movies in a foreign language. Satellite programs are very popular: half of the students watch them regularly. Only 2 of the 16 answered that they never read books in a foreign language. The others read such books, magazines or newspapers every week, some do it every day. The magazines seem to be more popular according to these students. Only 3 students were not satisfied with their teachers. It was a bit surprising, because a lot of pupils are not contented with the knowledge and methods of language teachers in general. (Maybe these students themselves are lucky.) According to these pupils' opinion the pronunciation of some teachers is not satisfactory, the schools do not have proper equipment for teaching languages.
The students also claim that the number of teachers is not enough, which is why there are too many students in one group. They would change the basic coursebooks (especially those which are used in secondary schools), the organization of the lessons, and they would like to have more opportunities for speaking during the class. The answers given to my question about the books and tapes available in Hungary are quite different.
A few students are not satisfied with the books which can be used in language learning. Half of the pupils mentioned the high prices of these textbooks as a negative thing . Only a few people can obtain books from abroad. All students agreed that both diligence and gift for languages are important in learning. Some of the pupils maintain that hard work is slightly more important. Another fourth of the students insists that sense of language is vital.
Generally the pupils are satisfied with the opportunities offered in their hometown or at the institute where they are studying. They can learn a foreign language at their school or they have the chance to learn with a private teacher (if they have enough money). They learn the foreign languages with the following methods: reading and writing exercises, translations, listening to tapes or radio programs, watching movies in the given language, talking with native speakers, having pen friends, travelling abroad and spending there as much time as possible.
The students agreed that the basic vocabulary and grammar can be learned here in Hungary, with a good teacher. Then the next step should be practising and speaking a lot. Most of the pupils suggested living abroad for a longer time as the most effective method for mastery of a language. These students were quite successful in learning foreign languages. All of them have at least one language exam (intermediate level), and a few of them have more language exams, some of these taken at the advanced level. Some pupils have already taught other persons a foreign language, and they have been quite successful in it.
All these interviewed would like to learn further languages, for example Spanish, Italian, French or a Scandinavian language. The students are interested not only in the language itself, but in the culture, history, literature, geography of a certain country as well. They would like to get acquainted with the customs and the way of living of the people who speak that given language. The pupils could use their knowledge in various situations. They could understands native speakers, they could show tourists the way to certain places. With the help of a foreign language they can enjoy programs on different radio and TV channels. Some of the students could get a summer job, because they could speak fluently in one or two foreign languages. Of course the pupils' purposes with these languages are quite different. For some people language is only a means and not an end: they would like to use it in their work (for example in reading scientific works in the original). Others want to make themselves understood abroad, they would like to make friends with people from faraway countries. Some would like to spend a longer period of time abroad and find a job there. One group is interested in the language itself, and would like to teach it to others. These students believe that learning foreign languages becomes more and more important and popular in Hungary. According to them especially English and German is taught for a great number of pupils. Today French, Italian and Spanish seem to become popular as well. The students also agreed that they could make themselves understood abroad most easily by speaking in English. They think that German can be used very well in Europian countries. They maintain that learning foreign languages is necessary.
Most students learn the given language at the institution where they are studying. A few of them take lessons with a private teacher. Pupils use cassettes in learning, they listen to radio programs, watch TV and movies in a foreign language. Satellite programs are very popular: half of the students watch them regularly. Only 2 of the 16 answered that they never read books in a foreign language. The others read such books, magazines or newspapers every week, some do it every day. The magazines seem to be more popular according to these students. Only 3 students were not satisfied with their teachers. It was a bit surprising, because a lot of pupils are not contented with the knowledge and methods of language teachers in general. (Maybe these students themselves are lucky.) According to these pupils' opinion the pronunciation of some teachers is not satisfactory, the schools do not have proper equipment for teaching languages.
The students also claim that the number of teachers is not enough, which is why there are too many students in one group. They would change the basic coursebooks (especially those which are used in secondary schools), the organization of the lessons, and they would like to have more opportunities for speaking during the class. The answers given to my question about the books and tapes available in Hungary are quite different.
A few students are not satisfied with the books which can be used in language learning. Half of the pupils mentioned the high prices of these textbooks as a negative thing . Only a few people can obtain books from abroad. All students agreed that both diligence and gift for languages are important in learning. Some of the pupils maintain that hard work is slightly more important. Another fourth of the students insists that sense of language is vital.
Generally the pupils are satisfied with the opportunities offered in their hometown or at the institute where they are studying. They can learn a foreign language at their school or they have the chance to learn with a private teacher (if they have enough money). They learn the foreign languages with the following methods: reading and writing exercises, translations, listening to tapes or radio programs, watching movies in the given language, talking with native speakers, having pen friends, travelling abroad and spending there as much time as possible.
The students agreed that the basic vocabulary and grammar can be learned here in Hungary, with a good teacher. Then the next step should be practising and speaking a lot. Most of the pupils suggested living abroad for a longer time as the most effective method for mastery of a language. These students were quite successful in learning foreign languages. All of them have at least one language exam (intermediate level), and a few of them have more language exams, some of these taken at the advanced level. Some pupils have already taught other persons a foreign language, and they have been quite successful in it.
All these interviewed would like to learn further languages, for example Spanish, Italian, French or a Scandinavian language. The students are interested not only in the language itself, but in the culture, history, literature, geography of a certain country as well. They would like to get acquainted with the customs and the way of living of the people who speak that given language. The pupils could use their knowledge in various situations. They could understands native speakers, they could show tourists the way to certain places. With the help of a foreign language they can enjoy programs on different radio and TV channels. Some of the students could get a summer job, because they could speak fluently in one or two foreign languages. Of course the pupils' purposes with these languages are quite different. For some people language is only a means and not an end: they would like to use it in their work (for example in reading scientific works in the original). Others want to make themselves understood abroad, they would like to make friends with people from faraway countries. Some would like to spend a longer period of time abroad and find a job there. One group is interested in the language itself, and would like to teach it to others. These students believe that learning foreign languages becomes more and more important and popular in Hungary. According to them especially English and German is taught for a great number of pupils. Today French, Italian and Spanish seem to become popular as well. The students also agreed that they could make themselves understood abroad most easily by speaking in English. They think that German can be used very well in Europian countries. They maintain that learning foreign languages is necessary.
L 177 M
This essay evaluates the presentation of three news values in the American newsmagazine NEWSWEEK. Before discussing the different news values in detail, let me first clarify the basic concept of journalism, name the different news values, and describe some general characteristics of NEWSWEEK.
It is one of our basic needs to get informed about what happens in our immediate environment or in the world. With the amazing development of the electronic media in the past few decades, we now have a large scale of facilities to chose from, when we intend to gather information. The television and the radio have become an integral part of our life, and Internet is on its way to get into our living rooms as well. However, newspapers and magazines have remained the most wide-spread source of information among the media. Their advantages still attract a huge readership all over the world. The printed material is easy to handle, the paper does not need to be plugged in, it can be read whenever and wherever we want to.
The main goal of journalism is to provide readers with news. This general statement is applicable to all forms of print media. The actual representation and the quality of the news stories can vary in many ways. There is a great quantity of newspapers and newsmagazines aiming nearly every layer of society. Although they can differ in many respects, they share some basic characteristics: they publish news, are printed in a specific period of time, and are distributed in a specific place. Depending on the period of time in which a paper is published, we can distinguish between daily, weekly, monthly, and other papers. The papers also cover different geographic areas. There are local, national and international ones.
The content of a newspaper depends on different factors. Both the publication period and place determine it's news content. A local daily newspaper publishes other kind of news than a national one, and an international weekly newsmagazine has again other types of news stories. We can read local news and advertisements in the local press, and a weather forecast in a daily newspaper, but we will not find this information in an international newsmagazine. The third factor influencing news content and style is the grade of the readers' education and social status.
There are quality papers and tabloids. According to the expectations of their readers, they present different events or aspects of events, they are differently illustrated, and contain different advertisements. Quality papers only publish news from reliable sources, they are formal, less spectacular and interested in politics and economy. Tabloids prefer to publish sensations and scandals and are generally more illustrated. The language of a quality paper is rich in synonyms and complex sentences, while tabloids tend to use simply words and structures.
Selling newspapers and newsmagazines is a profession. News has a market, it is a good, which can be sold for money. Obviously, there is a competition among the different news agencies and the papers. The more copies the publishers can sell the more money they make. This simple rule governs all profit making publishers who therefore strive to present highly valued news stories in their papers. The professional presentation of news is a clue to success. However, it is hard to decide, what makes a news item highly valued.
Allan Bell's analysis gives us 12 news values, which can characterise a news item: these are
negativity (conflicts and negative events are principle elements of news),
recency (events whose occurrence fits into a relative short period of time are more likely to be reported),
proximity (geographical closeness enhances news value),
consonance (news should not follow the stereotypical preconceptions of events),
unambiguity (stories and sources ought to be presented in a clear, unambiguous way),
unexpectedness (unpredictable events are more interesting than usual ones in a news story),
superlativeness (the most spectacular events rather than minor happenings get usually covered),
relevance (to what degree the audience can relate the news to their own lives),
personalisation (a personal story is more newsworthy than a general one),
eliteness (reporting on elite persons is more interesting than ordinary people's stories),
attribution (news from elite sources increases news value), and
facility (facts and figures make a news item more exact).
All of these news values can be found in the wide range of newspapers and newsmagazines, but some of them are typical for one specific kind of newspaper. The values recency, proximity and unambiguity for example, often characterise local daily quality newspapers. The news in such a paper are recent, within the ideal 24 hour span, and report the previous day's events. As the paper is local, most of the news items cover events which have occurred in or close to the area where the readers live, they are proximate. Being a quality paper, the news are presented in an unambiguous way.
In a national daily tabloid, the main news values are probably those of negativity, personalisation and unexpectedness. The title story in such a paper usually covers a recent scandal or catastrophe, something negative. The journalists try to present the news stories in personal terms, so that the readers can better picture the events. The most news stories in these papers bring some unexpected, rare issue, which is more newsworthy than the routine. Of course, neither of these news values is bound to a specific type of newspaper. All of these values can characterise news in any kind of publication, they overlap, and are present in every article or news story of a paper.
The international newsmagazine NEWSWEEK offers quality journalism and covers hard news as well as the arts, sport and lifestyle topics. Being a weekly magazine, it always has one week in focus. Although NEWSWEEK is located in New York, it's bureaus work all over the world. The content of the magazine is made up of 7 sections: EUROPE, U.S. AFFAIRS, WORLD AFFAIRS, and ASIA, each of them dealing with events in the named regions, while BUSINESS, SOCIETY & THE ARTS, and the DEPARTMENTS cover general themes such as trade, automobiles, media, computing, science, technology, and others. Through this wide range of topics, NEWSWEEK provides a balanced view of world events and also keeps the reader up-to-date with new terms and phrases.
Based on the cover stories of NEWSWEEK issues, I am going to evaluate the presentation of three news values: eliteness in the article "Royal Split," superlativeness in "High Risk," and relevance in "Whose Internet?" Being the cover stories, these articles are in first place responsible to "sell" the copies. They are on a privileged place for top articles and there, they have to wake the interest of the potential readers. These readers want to know more than just pure facts. They are interested in details and background information and in addition to this they would like to learn something or simply be entertained. A good cover story meets these requirements.
Eliteness is a common feature of NEWSWEEK's cover stories. The Princess of Wales, Lady Diana is by no means an exception. Her photograph is on the cover of the March 11, 1996 issue whose series of seven articles cover her story as well as that of other members of the Royal Family with numerous biographic data and background information. Monarchs and queens of other countries are mentioned and the Monarchy as institution is argued about in this 19 page special report. The journalistic efforts of historic research, quotations of other newspapers, friends and experts of the Royal Family as well as the interesting photographic illustration provide good grounds for the examination of several aspects of eliteness.
The leading event behind the article about Diana was the princess' announcement to agree to Prince Charles' request for a divorce. Though, the article starts from the very beginning, "Let us pause now, briefly, to recall the Wedding of the Century," then discusses the most recent event, the announcement, "[...] into what must be considered the Divorce of the Century," and continues with two additional articles describing the elite persons themselves (the Queen and Prince Charles).
One aspect of eliteness is referring to the personal life of the elite person. Getting divorced is a routine, but in case of Diana and Charles, it is of course, a spectacular event: "Diana fights for her kids, her title and her future." Beside the great number of background information, the comments of both the Prince and her, what is going to happen ect., there are some very interesting facts and figures: The amount of money that Diana was said to be seeking, and even more interesting in connection to that, the estimated expenses of her. Especially her extraordinary high outlays for clothing, "beauty," "health," and "fitness," "including a $5,400 item for monthly hair coloring" might amaze the 'ordinary' reader. The personal expenses of elite persons are often estimated in order to demonstrate their wealth.
Also every tiny private argument, every intimate word they say on the phone, every gesture they make in public is newsworthy. NEWSWEEK provides a chronology of the couple's marriage from their engagement announcement in February 1981 until the divorce negotiations in March 1996, focusing on major "public troubles" (printed blue) and "private battles" (in red). Among the private affairs, we can find some really minor events: "Camilla pix fall from Charles' diary" (August 1981) or "barely speak to each other during trip" (October 1987). Such pieces of information would normally be ignored, but in the case of Royals like the Prince of Wales and his wife, they turn out to be very important.
Analysing the behaviour of elite persons is another aspect of eliteness. The article "Mother and Queen" describes the life and the personal side of Queen Elizabeth. Her behaviour is criticised and she is compared to her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria who would have acted differently. We can read, how far Elizabeth is personally to blame for what has happened: The inability of Elizabeth to interfere in her children's lives ended up in the failure of three marriages, she has neglected the problems of her children because she is not able to communicate on a deep personal level, she is a cold and remote mother etc. These arguments blame the queen for the scandals in her family.
On the other hand, the author of the article tries to be objective and emphasises the difficult problems the queen has to face: It would be hard to behave like Queen Victoria in the age of Elizabeth, there is a generation gap between Elizabeth's and Diana's view of marriage, and being royal is not easy because of the enormous pressure of global spotlight. Now it is left to the reader to decide whether she is or is not to blame. Perhaps we will never find out. However, through the history of her life and marriage we can draw a picture of her personality and her reactions as the head of the Monarchy. She is perhaps the most elite person in Great Britain and it is very exciting to have an insight into the motivation of her behaviour.
Elite persons and elite sources go side by side. It is essential to know the source of any writing, before we can judge it. The article "The Private Prince" is a perfect example for the presentation of the news value attribution, which is related to eliteness. The author describes the life of Prince Charles from his early childhood, describing his career as well as his emotions and the development of his personality at the different stages of his life. Being Charles' biographer the author has had a nearly unlimited access to his personal sphere.
He describes his sources in two paragraphs which serve as a guarantee of their eliteness: "I travelled with him on the royal yacht, the royal train and the royal flight, accompanying him to numerous functions in Britain and on official visits to the United states, Mexico, Poland and the gulf states. I sat in on private meetings with presidents and prime ministers [...] Unprecedentely he authorised past and present members of his stuff as well as his lifelong friends to talk openly to me [...] Even more remarkably I had unfettered access both to his voluminous diaries and his vast correspondence" Everyone is interested after such a promise of the author, and expects a good story - actually it is one.
If we summarise the series of articles in the special report, we find a very logical, clear structured report, whose sources and content are based on the elite. Elite persons are in the focus, regardless what the article is about: the Monarchy ("Why the Monarchy Must Go/Stay"), the tabloids ("Flash! The Gutter Press Got It Right") or other monarchs ("Easy Lie Some Crowned Heads"). They are quoted and referred to, asked and interviewed. However, not all of NEWSWEEK'S cover stories report on famous politicians or VIPs. To compensate this, and to keep the reader informed about 'who said what', the magazine offers a special page, PERSPECTIVES, where humorous quotations and caricatures about current political issues, world affairs and elites entertain the readers every week.
Superlativeness has always been one of the basic characteristic element of news reporting. "The biggest building, the most violent crime, the most destructive fire gets covered" - and the highest place on Earth. It is the summit of Mt. Everest, defined as "an area about the size of a living room [...] higher than most airlines fly" in the cover story of the May 27, 1996 issue of NEWSWEEK. There are many dangerous places all over the world and a lot of mountain climbers die because of bad weather and accidents, but if this happens at "the roof of the world," it gets covered. Beside the death of eight climbers - spectacular enough to be covered in NEWSWEEK - it is the place of the event, which makes it even the title story. The mountain itself is in the focus, because of its big challenge and extreme conditions, which fascinate the reader.
The illustration has the function of pointing out the story's superlativeness. Similar to televised news stories, whose pictures are the most interesting element, a magazine attracts its readers with the illustration. On the cover, there is a picture of a huge mountain. Together with the title "High Risk," it suggests something dangerous, an adventure. The illustration of the article itself starts with a double page original picture of a group on their way to the summit. Perhaps the most interesting photograph is that of the climbers at the summit. The picture is recent - the tragedy happened a couple of weeks before the publication of the article - and is the last photo of some climbers, showing them a few hours before their death. NEWSWEEK shows the portrays both of the survivors and the fatalities, summarising the circumstances of their death / rescue. The map of the final route to the summit and the chronology of the disaster help to understand the happenings. The camps of the climbers and the route is marked so that the reader can follow the detailed description of the tragedy.
The special conditions on the mountain were the reason for many complications and for the catastrophe as well. NEWSWEEK describes the dangerous and extreme weather conditions in a shocking way: "By 5 o'clock, the snow was blowing horizontally, and the wind chill figures were in triple digits [...] when a storm blows in, sending temperatures to 40 degrees below zero." In a separate column, the magazine lists the most important factors above the tree line, which are dangerous for the climbers: extreme cold, oxygen deprivation, dry air and impaired judgement. Although the human body can manage these conditions to some degree, special equipment is needed to survive. NEWSWEEK does not neglect this question. It lists and defines the most important parts of the equipment and the clothes the climbers need.
Providing these additional pieces of information recalls the dramatic atmosphere and emphasises the dangers of the trip. Together with the pictures of climbers who "survive[d] with hands so frozen they clinked like glasses, dead black flesh peeling from their faces," they demonstrate that climbing the highest mountain of the world is in many respects a superlative adventure. The ambivalent character of this place: "a mountain of beauty and death" proves that.
From the article we can learn that the efforts of the rescue teams are often unsuccessful because of the weather. Although they reach the climbers, they often can not carry them to the safe camps. The rescuers - and many guides - have to decide between their own lives and that of their friends'. Those who leave their exhausted team mates alone can not be blamed for that, and those who stay with them often die because of this 'false' decision. A rescue member, Dr. Jim Litch gives a possible answer to the question, why so many people climb this mountain: "There's a passion and a closeness where you face your morality with your closest friends." This or other reasons might force people to go to such "deadly playground[s]" and as long as they risk their lives there, their superlative stories are going to be covered in NEWSWEEK and other professional papers.
Every news story should be in some respect relevant to the reader's life. The cover story of the April 22, 1996 issue might be - in geographic terms - the most relevant to the readership of the international newsmagazine NEWSWEEK. The relevance of the article "Whose Internet" is determined by its subject: the Internet. As there is - similar to NEWSWEEK - no geographical limitation of the Internet, the article is equally relevant to every NEWSWEEK reader, who has access to the Net.
The Internet was created more than a decade ago as a military and academic network. NEWSWEEK considers it now as a "technology that has the potential to change the world." As such it is relevant to everyone, or to be precise, it is going to be relevant, because "entering the century of information, no one can afford to ignore the services computers and computer networks can provide." There are a lot of advantages of the Internet. It is a huge source of information, and one of its greatest power is that it is an interactive medium. This means that the Internet-users can both receive and provide information from/for the Net. However this facility can be regarded as the greatest danger of the Internet as well.
The article points out the dangerous side of the Internet. As there are no controlling regulations - either in technical or in political terms - so far, there are some "'bad' things that come with it [the Internet]: pornography, crime, political dissidence, even cultural imperialism." NEWSWEEK gives some examples of such affairs and also covers the attempts of the different countries and governments to control the Net. The placeness nature of Internet, "a medium that's both everywhere and nowhere" prevents the individual governments and countries from any kind of censorship. A solution of the problem might be "globally acceptable 'laws' of cyberspace," but the idea of a world wide consensus remains today only an illusion.
NEWSWEEK has recognised the importance of cyberspace and our "Digital Age"36 and offers a special page for its cyber-oriented readers. In every issue, CYBERSCOPE brings the latest news about Internet&Co. News hardware and Web sites can be found in this section as well as useful information about the on-line services. In this sense, every NEWSWEEK copy is - at least for computer freaks - relevant to the reader.
Beside the news values eliteness, superlativeness and relevance, I could have chosen any of the other ones. All of them are present in almost every NEWSWEEK article. The actual presentation of the three news values suggests that NEWSWEEK is a professional newsmagazine. The sources are precise, reliable and always mentioned. The articles are written in an unambiguous way and leave no questions open. The title themes are elaborated in detail and the reader can gather the essential background information. In addition to highly valued news reporting, the magazine entertains the reader as well, which is the best evidence for its professionally.
It is one of our basic needs to get informed about what happens in our immediate environment or in the world. With the amazing development of the electronic media in the past few decades, we now have a large scale of facilities to chose from, when we intend to gather information. The television and the radio have become an integral part of our life, and Internet is on its way to get into our living rooms as well. However, newspapers and magazines have remained the most wide-spread source of information among the media. Their advantages still attract a huge readership all over the world. The printed material is easy to handle, the paper does not need to be plugged in, it can be read whenever and wherever we want to.
The main goal of journalism is to provide readers with news. This general statement is applicable to all forms of print media. The actual representation and the quality of the news stories can vary in many ways. There is a great quantity of newspapers and newsmagazines aiming nearly every layer of society. Although they can differ in many respects, they share some basic characteristics: they publish news, are printed in a specific period of time, and are distributed in a specific place. Depending on the period of time in which a paper is published, we can distinguish between daily, weekly, monthly, and other papers. The papers also cover different geographic areas. There are local, national and international ones.
The content of a newspaper depends on different factors. Both the publication period and place determine it's news content. A local daily newspaper publishes other kind of news than a national one, and an international weekly newsmagazine has again other types of news stories. We can read local news and advertisements in the local press, and a weather forecast in a daily newspaper, but we will not find this information in an international newsmagazine. The third factor influencing news content and style is the grade of the readers' education and social status.
There are quality papers and tabloids. According to the expectations of their readers, they present different events or aspects of events, they are differently illustrated, and contain different advertisements. Quality papers only publish news from reliable sources, they are formal, less spectacular and interested in politics and economy. Tabloids prefer to publish sensations and scandals and are generally more illustrated. The language of a quality paper is rich in synonyms and complex sentences, while tabloids tend to use simply words and structures.
Selling newspapers and newsmagazines is a profession. News has a market, it is a good, which can be sold for money. Obviously, there is a competition among the different news agencies and the papers. The more copies the publishers can sell the more money they make. This simple rule governs all profit making publishers who therefore strive to present highly valued news stories in their papers. The professional presentation of news is a clue to success. However, it is hard to decide, what makes a news item highly valued.
Allan Bell's analysis gives us 12 news values, which can characterise a news item: these are
negativity (conflicts and negative events are principle elements of news),
recency (events whose occurrence fits into a relative short period of time are more likely to be reported),
proximity (geographical closeness enhances news value),
consonance (news should not follow the stereotypical preconceptions of events),
unambiguity (stories and sources ought to be presented in a clear, unambiguous way),
unexpectedness (unpredictable events are more interesting than usual ones in a news story),
superlativeness (the most spectacular events rather than minor happenings get usually covered),
relevance (to what degree the audience can relate the news to their own lives),
personalisation (a personal story is more newsworthy than a general one),
eliteness (reporting on elite persons is more interesting than ordinary people's stories),
attribution (news from elite sources increases news value), and
facility (facts and figures make a news item more exact).
All of these news values can be found in the wide range of newspapers and newsmagazines, but some of them are typical for one specific kind of newspaper. The values recency, proximity and unambiguity for example, often characterise local daily quality newspapers. The news in such a paper are recent, within the ideal 24 hour span, and report the previous day's events. As the paper is local, most of the news items cover events which have occurred in or close to the area where the readers live, they are proximate. Being a quality paper, the news are presented in an unambiguous way.
In a national daily tabloid, the main news values are probably those of negativity, personalisation and unexpectedness. The title story in such a paper usually covers a recent scandal or catastrophe, something negative. The journalists try to present the news stories in personal terms, so that the readers can better picture the events. The most news stories in these papers bring some unexpected, rare issue, which is more newsworthy than the routine. Of course, neither of these news values is bound to a specific type of newspaper. All of these values can characterise news in any kind of publication, they overlap, and are present in every article or news story of a paper.
The international newsmagazine NEWSWEEK offers quality journalism and covers hard news as well as the arts, sport and lifestyle topics. Being a weekly magazine, it always has one week in focus. Although NEWSWEEK is located in New York, it's bureaus work all over the world. The content of the magazine is made up of 7 sections: EUROPE, U.S. AFFAIRS, WORLD AFFAIRS, and ASIA, each of them dealing with events in the named regions, while BUSINESS, SOCIETY & THE ARTS, and the DEPARTMENTS cover general themes such as trade, automobiles, media, computing, science, technology, and others. Through this wide range of topics, NEWSWEEK provides a balanced view of world events and also keeps the reader up-to-date with new terms and phrases.
Based on the cover stories of NEWSWEEK issues, I am going to evaluate the presentation of three news values: eliteness in the article "Royal Split," superlativeness in "High Risk," and relevance in "Whose Internet?" Being the cover stories, these articles are in first place responsible to "sell" the copies. They are on a privileged place for top articles and there, they have to wake the interest of the potential readers. These readers want to know more than just pure facts. They are interested in details and background information and in addition to this they would like to learn something or simply be entertained. A good cover story meets these requirements.
Eliteness is a common feature of NEWSWEEK's cover stories. The Princess of Wales, Lady Diana is by no means an exception. Her photograph is on the cover of the March 11, 1996 issue whose series of seven articles cover her story as well as that of other members of the Royal Family with numerous biographic data and background information. Monarchs and queens of other countries are mentioned and the Monarchy as institution is argued about in this 19 page special report. The journalistic efforts of historic research, quotations of other newspapers, friends and experts of the Royal Family as well as the interesting photographic illustration provide good grounds for the examination of several aspects of eliteness.
The leading event behind the article about Diana was the princess' announcement to agree to Prince Charles' request for a divorce. Though, the article starts from the very beginning, "Let us pause now, briefly, to recall the Wedding of the Century," then discusses the most recent event, the announcement, "[...] into what must be considered the Divorce of the Century," and continues with two additional articles describing the elite persons themselves (the Queen and Prince Charles).
One aspect of eliteness is referring to the personal life of the elite person. Getting divorced is a routine, but in case of Diana and Charles, it is of course, a spectacular event: "Diana fights for her kids, her title and her future." Beside the great number of background information, the comments of both the Prince and her, what is going to happen ect., there are some very interesting facts and figures: The amount of money that Diana was said to be seeking, and even more interesting in connection to that, the estimated expenses of her. Especially her extraordinary high outlays for clothing, "beauty," "health," and "fitness," "including a $5,400 item for monthly hair coloring" might amaze the 'ordinary' reader. The personal expenses of elite persons are often estimated in order to demonstrate their wealth.
Also every tiny private argument, every intimate word they say on the phone, every gesture they make in public is newsworthy. NEWSWEEK provides a chronology of the couple's marriage from their engagement announcement in February 1981 until the divorce negotiations in March 1996, focusing on major "public troubles" (printed blue) and "private battles" (in red). Among the private affairs, we can find some really minor events: "Camilla pix fall from Charles' diary" (August 1981) or "barely speak to each other during trip" (October 1987). Such pieces of information would normally be ignored, but in the case of Royals like the Prince of Wales and his wife, they turn out to be very important.
Analysing the behaviour of elite persons is another aspect of eliteness. The article "Mother and Queen" describes the life and the personal side of Queen Elizabeth. Her behaviour is criticised and she is compared to her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria who would have acted differently. We can read, how far Elizabeth is personally to blame for what has happened: The inability of Elizabeth to interfere in her children's lives ended up in the failure of three marriages, she has neglected the problems of her children because she is not able to communicate on a deep personal level, she is a cold and remote mother etc. These arguments blame the queen for the scandals in her family.
On the other hand, the author of the article tries to be objective and emphasises the difficult problems the queen has to face: It would be hard to behave like Queen Victoria in the age of Elizabeth, there is a generation gap between Elizabeth's and Diana's view of marriage, and being royal is not easy because of the enormous pressure of global spotlight. Now it is left to the reader to decide whether she is or is not to blame. Perhaps we will never find out. However, through the history of her life and marriage we can draw a picture of her personality and her reactions as the head of the Monarchy. She is perhaps the most elite person in Great Britain and it is very exciting to have an insight into the motivation of her behaviour.
Elite persons and elite sources go side by side. It is essential to know the source of any writing, before we can judge it. The article "The Private Prince" is a perfect example for the presentation of the news value attribution, which is related to eliteness. The author describes the life of Prince Charles from his early childhood, describing his career as well as his emotions and the development of his personality at the different stages of his life. Being Charles' biographer the author has had a nearly unlimited access to his personal sphere.
He describes his sources in two paragraphs which serve as a guarantee of their eliteness: "I travelled with him on the royal yacht, the royal train and the royal flight, accompanying him to numerous functions in Britain and on official visits to the United states, Mexico, Poland and the gulf states. I sat in on private meetings with presidents and prime ministers [...] Unprecedentely he authorised past and present members of his stuff as well as his lifelong friends to talk openly to me [...] Even more remarkably I had unfettered access both to his voluminous diaries and his vast correspondence" Everyone is interested after such a promise of the author, and expects a good story - actually it is one.
If we summarise the series of articles in the special report, we find a very logical, clear structured report, whose sources and content are based on the elite. Elite persons are in the focus, regardless what the article is about: the Monarchy ("Why the Monarchy Must Go/Stay"), the tabloids ("Flash! The Gutter Press Got It Right") or other monarchs ("Easy Lie Some Crowned Heads"). They are quoted and referred to, asked and interviewed. However, not all of NEWSWEEK'S cover stories report on famous politicians or VIPs. To compensate this, and to keep the reader informed about 'who said what', the magazine offers a special page, PERSPECTIVES, where humorous quotations and caricatures about current political issues, world affairs and elites entertain the readers every week.
Superlativeness has always been one of the basic characteristic element of news reporting. "The biggest building, the most violent crime, the most destructive fire gets covered" - and the highest place on Earth. It is the summit of Mt. Everest, defined as "an area about the size of a living room [...] higher than most airlines fly" in the cover story of the May 27, 1996 issue of NEWSWEEK. There are many dangerous places all over the world and a lot of mountain climbers die because of bad weather and accidents, but if this happens at "the roof of the world," it gets covered. Beside the death of eight climbers - spectacular enough to be covered in NEWSWEEK - it is the place of the event, which makes it even the title story. The mountain itself is in the focus, because of its big challenge and extreme conditions, which fascinate the reader.
The illustration has the function of pointing out the story's superlativeness. Similar to televised news stories, whose pictures are the most interesting element, a magazine attracts its readers with the illustration. On the cover, there is a picture of a huge mountain. Together with the title "High Risk," it suggests something dangerous, an adventure. The illustration of the article itself starts with a double page original picture of a group on their way to the summit. Perhaps the most interesting photograph is that of the climbers at the summit. The picture is recent - the tragedy happened a couple of weeks before the publication of the article - and is the last photo of some climbers, showing them a few hours before their death. NEWSWEEK shows the portrays both of the survivors and the fatalities, summarising the circumstances of their death / rescue. The map of the final route to the summit and the chronology of the disaster help to understand the happenings. The camps of the climbers and the route is marked so that the reader can follow the detailed description of the tragedy.
The special conditions on the mountain were the reason for many complications and for the catastrophe as well. NEWSWEEK describes the dangerous and extreme weather conditions in a shocking way: "By 5 o'clock, the snow was blowing horizontally, and the wind chill figures were in triple digits [...] when a storm blows in, sending temperatures to 40 degrees below zero." In a separate column, the magazine lists the most important factors above the tree line, which are dangerous for the climbers: extreme cold, oxygen deprivation, dry air and impaired judgement. Although the human body can manage these conditions to some degree, special equipment is needed to survive. NEWSWEEK does not neglect this question. It lists and defines the most important parts of the equipment and the clothes the climbers need.
Providing these additional pieces of information recalls the dramatic atmosphere and emphasises the dangers of the trip. Together with the pictures of climbers who "survive[d] with hands so frozen they clinked like glasses, dead black flesh peeling from their faces," they demonstrate that climbing the highest mountain of the world is in many respects a superlative adventure. The ambivalent character of this place: "a mountain of beauty and death" proves that.
From the article we can learn that the efforts of the rescue teams are often unsuccessful because of the weather. Although they reach the climbers, they often can not carry them to the safe camps. The rescuers - and many guides - have to decide between their own lives and that of their friends'. Those who leave their exhausted team mates alone can not be blamed for that, and those who stay with them often die because of this 'false' decision. A rescue member, Dr. Jim Litch gives a possible answer to the question, why so many people climb this mountain: "There's a passion and a closeness where you face your morality with your closest friends." This or other reasons might force people to go to such "deadly playground[s]" and as long as they risk their lives there, their superlative stories are going to be covered in NEWSWEEK and other professional papers.
Every news story should be in some respect relevant to the reader's life. The cover story of the April 22, 1996 issue might be - in geographic terms - the most relevant to the readership of the international newsmagazine NEWSWEEK. The relevance of the article "Whose Internet" is determined by its subject: the Internet. As there is - similar to NEWSWEEK - no geographical limitation of the Internet, the article is equally relevant to every NEWSWEEK reader, who has access to the Net.
The Internet was created more than a decade ago as a military and academic network. NEWSWEEK considers it now as a "technology that has the potential to change the world." As such it is relevant to everyone, or to be precise, it is going to be relevant, because "entering the century of information, no one can afford to ignore the services computers and computer networks can provide." There are a lot of advantages of the Internet. It is a huge source of information, and one of its greatest power is that it is an interactive medium. This means that the Internet-users can both receive and provide information from/for the Net. However this facility can be regarded as the greatest danger of the Internet as well.
The article points out the dangerous side of the Internet. As there are no controlling regulations - either in technical or in political terms - so far, there are some "'bad' things that come with it [the Internet]: pornography, crime, political dissidence, even cultural imperialism." NEWSWEEK gives some examples of such affairs and also covers the attempts of the different countries and governments to control the Net. The placeness nature of Internet, "a medium that's both everywhere and nowhere" prevents the individual governments and countries from any kind of censorship. A solution of the problem might be "globally acceptable 'laws' of cyberspace," but the idea of a world wide consensus remains today only an illusion.
NEWSWEEK has recognised the importance of cyberspace and our "Digital Age"36 and offers a special page for its cyber-oriented readers. In every issue, CYBERSCOPE brings the latest news about Internet&Co. News hardware and Web sites can be found in this section as well as useful information about the on-line services. In this sense, every NEWSWEEK copy is - at least for computer freaks - relevant to the reader.
Beside the news values eliteness, superlativeness and relevance, I could have chosen any of the other ones. All of them are present in almost every NEWSWEEK article. The actual presentation of the three news values suggests that NEWSWEEK is a professional newsmagazine. The sources are precise, reliable and always mentioned. The articles are written in an unambiguous way and leave no questions open. The title themes are elaborated in detail and the reader can gather the essential background information. In addition to highly valued news reporting, the magazine entertains the reader as well, which is the best evidence for its professionally.
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