According to the teachings of history if a lot of people agree in something it is not sure that this something must be the truth. For example Copernicus - in his century - was the only one who was on the opinion that the Earth is global. Everyone else was totally sure about that the Earth is flat. In our days we know that the multitude was wrong.
In spite of this if we deal with religions it is unavoidable to check how many adherents they have. The first one which has the largest number of followers is the Roman Catholic Church, the next is Islam, the third ones are Hinduism, Confucionism and Taoism and the fourth is Buddhism.
There are many different opinions about the exact time of the beginning of Hinduism but usually it is said to began in approximately 1500 BC. But one can find followers of the tendency which claims that Hinduism is 6000, 10000 or even 50000 years old. Anyway Hinduism is the only religion that divides its adherents into four castes which can seldom be mixed with each other. In approximately 500 BC as a breakaway from Hinduism Buddhism began. In a way Buddhism is not a religion , it is rather a lifestyle and the collection of methods which lead to enlightenment. It is interesting to mention that in one of the Buddhist branches - called Zen Buddhism - there is a saying: “After uttering Buddha’s name wash your mouth out.”. It emphasises the unique way - the way of several methods - and would not believe in any kind of Gods or Buddhas.
In the Near East Judaism developed in a contradictional way. First it mixed with Egyptian religion then step by step through the appearing of the prophets it converted in a separate and independent religion. One can clearly follow the development of the changing Jewish idea of God, because in the Old Testament every prophets’ word had been kept word by word. Judaism inspired with the waiting for the coming of Messiah, but when someone is claiming that he is the Messiah or the messenger of it the Jews lost no time in killing them. It happened with Jesus Christ as well with a slightly difference that the Roman governor Pilate Pontius condemned him to death. In approximately 600 AD Mohammed turned up with the intention of mixing the teachings of Judaism and Christianity. In his opinion Adam, Abraham, Jesus and Mohammed were all prophets, the prophets of Allah. The Jewish and Christian people did not share his opinion so the religious wars have started and continued up to our days.
Nowadays the number of religious followers are the highest than ever. The religious types of books are on the tops of the best-sellers lists. God is mentioned more than ever, so therefore unavoidably the question of what is the reason for all that popularity comes up. The first reason is the basic contradiction of human existence, because one is being born to this world maybe unwillingly and disappear from here without any questioning. And if that is the case every human being struggles between the barrier of birth and death, while fighting for implementing their secret dreams and ideas. Everyone has got a feeling that they have to crush their hopes, ambitions and desires into a short interval of a human life. To make it more difficult they can not even use that brief time without any disturbance of a higher authority which steadily interfere in everyone’s life, way of thinking and behaviour.
Judaism, Christianity and Islam believe that their religion is the only true way. Whereas Confucianism, Hinduism and Buddhism are a kind of summarising religion, they are trying to dissolve other opinions and conceptions into themselves, as long as that other idea would not radically differ from their own teachings. Orientalist religions are based on the doctrine of reincarnation and because rebirth is giving an infinite perspective it can give a stable background to the religious patience. Religious impatience comes from the awareness that human life is happening only once and unable to repeat itself.
What different religions have in common that they offer codes of conduct. if one observes these codes he/she can easily notice that usually they are reasonable and rational codes disguised - by a clever and wise person - as a kind of religious rule or code of conduct. But anyway one could easily mix some parts of the doctrines and statements of the different religions up and afterwards hardly anyone would notice even these changes.
Among Hungarian traditions there is a big fast around the time of Easter which coincides with the clearing the toxins out of the body suggested by the doctors and the alternative healers. In Judaism and Islam porkeating prohibition serves the same purpose.
Religions in their original form assure one’s physical and mental health and the harmony with the nature and the universe. The only problem if some fundamentalist and unintelligent people deal with the case of religions and they interpret the other way simple and rational regulations in literal sense and they use these as a weapon against the followers of other conceptions. To sum it all up every morally well-founded religions serve well the development of one’s spiritual, physical and mental state. But like everything else, religions too could be used for bad purposes and that is not the problem of a religion but the follower.
Friday, May 11, 2007
L 220 F
Graham Greene is the kind of writer whose novels and short stories are influenced by his own experiences in life. He does not write directly about his life but his attitude to the phenomena of the world and the things that happen to him can be felt in the ways he makes his stories. The role of childhood experiences, the unpleasant side of life and escapism are important aspects in Greene's life. This essay will examine how and why he deals with them in his works too.
The bad experiences that Greene has during his childhood influence his later life to a great extent. He cannot get rid of the idea that one's personality is determined by the age of 16 and the early negative experiences have special effects on one's whole life. This kind of mentality is due to the fact that as a student he does not live at home but in a dormitory. This means that he has to leave his loving mother with whom he is in a close relationship and that he has to get used to the hostile atmosphere of the dormitory. He has to accept conditions he can hardly bear : he has to adapt to others and has no private life. In addition the headmaster of the school he attends is his father so all the students pick on him, they enjoy ridiculing him. But this is not Greene's fault: he is only the victim of the conditions. What makes it even worse is that their house is on the doorstep of the dormitory and there is a door connecting the two buildings but he is never allowed to open that door and retreat to home. This door appears in some of his books and is called the 'green baize door'. In one of his stories he writes about a madhouse where this door is between the wards and the cell: it connects the world where the mad are 'happy' to live and the world they detest and are afraid of.
Greene's early bad experiences have such a great effect on him that he writes about the importance and influence of childhood in many of his stories. In the 'Innocent' the narrator, who is an adult, tries to compensate for his childhood: as a child he was truly in love with a girl but the affair was 'innocent' because there could be no physical satisfaction, which made him suffer a lot. Therefore now he tries to live a life that is exactly the opposite of his childhood life: it is full of sexual satisfaction, he has as many experiences as possible and has no emotions just plays around with girls. In the 'Shocking Accident' Greene also suggests that one cannot escape from the effects of bad experiences: all the people to whom the main character Jerome tells the story of his father's death laugh-his father died because a pig fell out from a balcony and hit him while walking in the street. For the naive and inexperienced child the main negative experience is not the casualty but people's reactions to the story: when they laugh he is struck by the real world. From then on he developes different methods of telling the story to avoid having the same humiliating experience and qualifies people according to the ways they react: he would not marry a girl who laughed at his story.
Greene's experiences make him obsessed with the dark side of life: his pessimism roots in his childhood because he cannot live the kind of life he wants to live and he can only feel the hostility and spitefulness of people. His pessimism is always there in his stories as a general atmosphere or background. In 'The Destructors' for instance little children deliberately and without any reason destroy someone's house and they laugh at the man's tragedy. So in this story Greene draws attention to the fact that the world is full of hostility, it cannot be changed because evil is in human nature itself, it is even in children and that is the biggest problem. 'The Man Who Stole The Eiffel Tower', which is another short story, also shows Greene's pessimistic point of view: by the fact that in the story someone steals the Tower without anyone noticing it the writer concentrates on the superficiality and indifference of 20th century people.
Apart from his childhood experiences World War II and other events that claimed the death of many people also contribute to Greene's pessimism and focusing on the dark side of life only. He is so concerned about war and terrorism that he even makes some historical references in his stories and in this way he draws attention to the danger and existence of violence in the world. In 'An Old Man's Memory' for example the Channel Tunnel is destroyed by terrorists and Greene refers to actual events that happened in his own life: he mentions the so-called Lockurbie-disaster and another plane destruction when the Americans exploded a plane over the USA because its pilot refused to identify himself and the US thought they were Iranians or spies - in reality they were civilians. The fact that in Greene's life there are so many bloody incidents claiming a lot of victims makes him even more pessimistic and he cannot help concentrating on the unpleasant side of life in his works.
His pessimism is made even stronger by the dehumanisation that he can feel around him as an adult. In his despair he tries to escape from the world he does not like and to create another one where he can find no aggression, no low moral standards and no humiliating effects. First he tries to escape by reading and then later by writing. His escapism can even be detected in the stories themselves: for example in 'The Lottery Ticket' the main character goes on a holiday because he wants to escape from where he lives, he wants to be alone so that he can be happy about coming back. However he finally escapes from where he escaped to.
Considering all these facts one can conclude that Greene's background influences his works. His negative childhood experiences determine his later life to the effect that he becomes a pessimist. His mentality can be felt in his stories because he always focuses on the dark side of life. In other words: what happens to Greene in his life indirectly appears in his works too.
The bad experiences that Greene has during his childhood influence his later life to a great extent. He cannot get rid of the idea that one's personality is determined by the age of 16 and the early negative experiences have special effects on one's whole life. This kind of mentality is due to the fact that as a student he does not live at home but in a dormitory. This means that he has to leave his loving mother with whom he is in a close relationship and that he has to get used to the hostile atmosphere of the dormitory. He has to accept conditions he can hardly bear : he has to adapt to others and has no private life. In addition the headmaster of the school he attends is his father so all the students pick on him, they enjoy ridiculing him. But this is not Greene's fault: he is only the victim of the conditions. What makes it even worse is that their house is on the doorstep of the dormitory and there is a door connecting the two buildings but he is never allowed to open that door and retreat to home. This door appears in some of his books and is called the 'green baize door'. In one of his stories he writes about a madhouse where this door is between the wards and the cell: it connects the world where the mad are 'happy' to live and the world they detest and are afraid of.
Greene's early bad experiences have such a great effect on him that he writes about the importance and influence of childhood in many of his stories. In the 'Innocent' the narrator, who is an adult, tries to compensate for his childhood: as a child he was truly in love with a girl but the affair was 'innocent' because there could be no physical satisfaction, which made him suffer a lot. Therefore now he tries to live a life that is exactly the opposite of his childhood life: it is full of sexual satisfaction, he has as many experiences as possible and has no emotions just plays around with girls. In the 'Shocking Accident' Greene also suggests that one cannot escape from the effects of bad experiences: all the people to whom the main character Jerome tells the story of his father's death laugh-his father died because a pig fell out from a balcony and hit him while walking in the street. For the naive and inexperienced child the main negative experience is not the casualty but people's reactions to the story: when they laugh he is struck by the real world. From then on he developes different methods of telling the story to avoid having the same humiliating experience and qualifies people according to the ways they react: he would not marry a girl who laughed at his story.
Greene's experiences make him obsessed with the dark side of life: his pessimism roots in his childhood because he cannot live the kind of life he wants to live and he can only feel the hostility and spitefulness of people. His pessimism is always there in his stories as a general atmosphere or background. In 'The Destructors' for instance little children deliberately and without any reason destroy someone's house and they laugh at the man's tragedy. So in this story Greene draws attention to the fact that the world is full of hostility, it cannot be changed because evil is in human nature itself, it is even in children and that is the biggest problem. 'The Man Who Stole The Eiffel Tower', which is another short story, also shows Greene's pessimistic point of view: by the fact that in the story someone steals the Tower without anyone noticing it the writer concentrates on the superficiality and indifference of 20th century people.
Apart from his childhood experiences World War II and other events that claimed the death of many people also contribute to Greene's pessimism and focusing on the dark side of life only. He is so concerned about war and terrorism that he even makes some historical references in his stories and in this way he draws attention to the danger and existence of violence in the world. In 'An Old Man's Memory' for example the Channel Tunnel is destroyed by terrorists and Greene refers to actual events that happened in his own life: he mentions the so-called Lockurbie-disaster and another plane destruction when the Americans exploded a plane over the USA because its pilot refused to identify himself and the US thought they were Iranians or spies - in reality they were civilians. The fact that in Greene's life there are so many bloody incidents claiming a lot of victims makes him even more pessimistic and he cannot help concentrating on the unpleasant side of life in his works.
His pessimism is made even stronger by the dehumanisation that he can feel around him as an adult. In his despair he tries to escape from the world he does not like and to create another one where he can find no aggression, no low moral standards and no humiliating effects. First he tries to escape by reading and then later by writing. His escapism can even be detected in the stories themselves: for example in 'The Lottery Ticket' the main character goes on a holiday because he wants to escape from where he lives, he wants to be alone so that he can be happy about coming back. However he finally escapes from where he escaped to.
Considering all these facts one can conclude that Greene's background influences his works. His negative childhood experiences determine his later life to the effect that he becomes a pessimist. His mentality can be felt in his stories because he always focuses on the dark side of life. In other words: what happens to Greene in his life indirectly appears in his works too.
L 219 F
It is on the third of June in 1992. The telephone rings.
" Jane ? How are you?"
"Dad? I'm fine , thanks. And you?"
'Thanks. Jane, happy birthday! Tha call is because I have forgotten to buy flowers. You know, I was in the cemetery at your mother's tomb and I was talking to her for such a long time that
it was evening when I got home. So, I could not buy you anything but to give you my best wishes."
" Thanks. It is like a flower to me. You know in the army almost everyone sent me a red rose but none of them was as beautiful as your wish for happy birthday."
"Darling, would you come to your dad the day after tomorrow? What about celebrating your birthday in a friendly company?"
"All right, dad. As you want. But tomorrow evening Iam going to fly with Kate, you know with that F-117A which had something to repaire in the data recording system."
"Nice. My daughter is a pilot, my son is a businessman. If your mother lived she would make my face squared with her own nails."
"Father, you are great. Let me have a break. Bye!"
She put down the receiver and looked at the clock. It was almost midnight. For her tomorrow will be a hard day, the first test of the data recording system. She began thinking about the system. If it does not function she depends only on the earth control. It did not work always. There is for example the case of her father. He began his service in the army in 1947 with the last model of the ME 163 fighter. It is an old and very dangerous type. The probability that the aircraft catch fire is in a very high percentage. The place of the tank is the worst that can be imagined to say nothing of the pilot's position. When her father's aircraft was taking off one of the wings got on fire. After it her father decided on continuing the taking off and he
succeeded carrying out his task. At landing the only problem was that he was unable to leave the plane so his left leg stucked in and burnt. On this way he was not capable to continue flying so he had to retire.
This happened many years ago. But as she put back the receiver Jane had a very bed feeling. It was similar to that feeling when she and her father flew together at the first time.
Her mother was crying and did not want to watch the event. So she went away in the street to take a taxi and went home. They remained alone. She was frightened. The only question she asked from her father was why her mother went away. Instead of the answer her father pushed her into the cab than she could feel that the aircraft started very slowly than became faster and faster. Suddenly lots of spotlights appeared in front of her and she was siezed with such a fear that she had to close her eyes and was unable to move any more. Then she heard her father ordering her continuosly to open her eyes. When she did it she saw the most beautiful thing that can be seen in the world. The green medows below her and the rivers like a blue ribbon. The whole picture was similar to the one she saw in her story-books.
It was a wonderful experience.
Than the picture became obscurer continuosly and the picture of the yard appeared among the barracks. It remained in her mind almost uneffaceably with its red slag where every morning they had to run great circles on bare-foot and thousands of press-up were required in order to make the body strong as Mr Brown, the captain noticed every occasion. It is such a tiering exercise, she never loved it.
"Good morning ladies and gentlemen. You are listening to channel seven."
It is the reality-she realized in her awakening moment. "Why on earth should I go back in the army?"-asked herself. "Just do it."-heard her father's voice as clearly as at the first
flying. Slowly, very slowly she crawled from the bed then took her uniform that layed on the sofa where she put it two days ago. It was time to go.
At the gate Jim was on the guard so after a kiss she could go on. She presented herself at the post to give the daily order. Coming back to her barrack she stopped at the door and looked
very surprised. The daily order did not contain the test-flying but an order to go in the cemetry for the funeral of captain Brown. He tested the aircraft instead of her. During taking off
one wing of the plane caught fire and the whole machine became a fire- bird. He had enough time to jump out but his parachute was not so strong to bear his weight. Its straps opened at his thighs and he fell down as an object from a height of more than 12000 km. He died on the spot. At his funeral the quality of the FX-10 parachute was not mentioned only his courage that drove him into death. At that moment she thought over the possibility that she could have died on the similar way but at the same time she remembered the feeling of being in the air and seeing the earth like a story-book picture and forgetting everything that is going on the earth. As she thought this the volley could be heard and then the dull sound of the clods.
Arriving back to the barrack she wished for flying. She started the engine of the plane and went higher and higher not noticing that the engine did not function periodically but the
only thing she could concentrate on was to forget everything.
" Jane ? How are you?"
"Dad? I'm fine , thanks. And you?"
'Thanks. Jane, happy birthday! Tha call is because I have forgotten to buy flowers. You know, I was in the cemetery at your mother's tomb and I was talking to her for such a long time that
it was evening when I got home. So, I could not buy you anything but to give you my best wishes."
" Thanks. It is like a flower to me. You know in the army almost everyone sent me a red rose but none of them was as beautiful as your wish for happy birthday."
"Darling, would you come to your dad the day after tomorrow? What about celebrating your birthday in a friendly company?"
"All right, dad. As you want. But tomorrow evening Iam going to fly with Kate, you know with that F-117A which had something to repaire in the data recording system."
"Nice. My daughter is a pilot, my son is a businessman. If your mother lived she would make my face squared with her own nails."
"Father, you are great. Let me have a break. Bye!"
She put down the receiver and looked at the clock. It was almost midnight. For her tomorrow will be a hard day, the first test of the data recording system. She began thinking about the system. If it does not function she depends only on the earth control. It did not work always. There is for example the case of her father. He began his service in the army in 1947 with the last model of the ME 163 fighter. It is an old and very dangerous type. The probability that the aircraft catch fire is in a very high percentage. The place of the tank is the worst that can be imagined to say nothing of the pilot's position. When her father's aircraft was taking off one of the wings got on fire. After it her father decided on continuing the taking off and he
succeeded carrying out his task. At landing the only problem was that he was unable to leave the plane so his left leg stucked in and burnt. On this way he was not capable to continue flying so he had to retire.
This happened many years ago. But as she put back the receiver Jane had a very bed feeling. It was similar to that feeling when she and her father flew together at the first time.
Her mother was crying and did not want to watch the event. So she went away in the street to take a taxi and went home. They remained alone. She was frightened. The only question she asked from her father was why her mother went away. Instead of the answer her father pushed her into the cab than she could feel that the aircraft started very slowly than became faster and faster. Suddenly lots of spotlights appeared in front of her and she was siezed with such a fear that she had to close her eyes and was unable to move any more. Then she heard her father ordering her continuosly to open her eyes. When she did it she saw the most beautiful thing that can be seen in the world. The green medows below her and the rivers like a blue ribbon. The whole picture was similar to the one she saw in her story-books.
It was a wonderful experience.
Than the picture became obscurer continuosly and the picture of the yard appeared among the barracks. It remained in her mind almost uneffaceably with its red slag where every morning they had to run great circles on bare-foot and thousands of press-up were required in order to make the body strong as Mr Brown, the captain noticed every occasion. It is such a tiering exercise, she never loved it.
"Good morning ladies and gentlemen. You are listening to channel seven."
It is the reality-she realized in her awakening moment. "Why on earth should I go back in the army?"-asked herself. "Just do it."-heard her father's voice as clearly as at the first
flying. Slowly, very slowly she crawled from the bed then took her uniform that layed on the sofa where she put it two days ago. It was time to go.
At the gate Jim was on the guard so after a kiss she could go on. She presented herself at the post to give the daily order. Coming back to her barrack she stopped at the door and looked
very surprised. The daily order did not contain the test-flying but an order to go in the cemetry for the funeral of captain Brown. He tested the aircraft instead of her. During taking off
one wing of the plane caught fire and the whole machine became a fire- bird. He had enough time to jump out but his parachute was not so strong to bear his weight. Its straps opened at his thighs and he fell down as an object from a height of more than 12000 km. He died on the spot. At his funeral the quality of the FX-10 parachute was not mentioned only his courage that drove him into death. At that moment she thought over the possibility that she could have died on the similar way but at the same time she remembered the feeling of being in the air and seeing the earth like a story-book picture and forgetting everything that is going on the earth. As she thought this the volley could be heard and then the dull sound of the clods.
Arriving back to the barrack she wished for flying. She started the engine of the plane and went higher and higher not noticing that the engine did not function periodically but the
only thing she could concentrate on was to forget everything.
L 218 F
When, some five months ago, I was invited for a three-week-long holiday at one of my distant relation's country house, I did not dare to think that a new way of life would unfold itself, strange but still convincing enough to be adopted.
Maria and Laszlo are a middle-aged couple living in a restored traditional peasant house at the edge of a little village in the western part of Hungary. They moved there about three years ago in order to start a new life. Owing to their invitation for a summer holiday, I could look into the mysteries of the style of their living.
The accommodation took quite a lot of time for me, so I think of describing only the last day's routine, by when I had actually managed to adopt their pace of life. Starting with the morning, I have to remark that it sets in hours earlier than we are accustomed to. The phrases " rise with the lark " and "go to bed with the sun" were completely true for us as sleeping lasted from about 9 o'clock in the evening to about 5 o'clock in the morning. I have non objection to this natural habit; watching TV late at night or dancing at a party till the small hours after a weary weekday is of no use, besides, sleeping hours before midnight are much more valuable than in any other part of the day.
Although there was a little bathroom in the house, we rarely used it; we preferred washing outside, in a deep tub filled with fresh cold water drawn from the well. I particularly enjoyed pacing on the soft grass wet with dew with nothing but a night-dress on me. I was taught some bracing gymnastic exercises, too, which we did jointly and also in the open air every morning.
When one of us got hungry, he or she just walked down to the bottom of the garden, decided which hind of fruit he or she desired most, looked for the right tree or bush and, without any washing, peeling, grating or pressing, ate it in hide and hair. By the way, I learnt some laws restricting eating habits. These include the rule settling that ingestion before noon may consist of fruits only, for these foodstuffs detoxicate the human system, and their active principles are most effective in the late morning hours.
The little garden supplying the family with all the necessary green stuff was a biotic one, that is no sprays and chemical fertilizer were used in it. We usually spent the morning hours there planting, watering, or just ingathering the crops. Then we chose the ingredients of a light midday meal and prepared it in always less than half an hour. The secret of this quickness was the omission of mixing, kneading, cooking, baking or cooling. We took a deep bowl, sliced various kinds of raw vegetables, onion and spices in it, dressed it with cold-pressed oil and dredged some grated nuts over the ready-to-eat vegetable salad.
The afternoon was the time for littering down the stable, rubbing down the horses and harnessing them, ready for riding out to the countryside. The two mares, one of them dark bay, the other yellow, were not runners but still slippy horses that handled well. Riding gallop through the fields, trotting in the woods, riding at a slow-pace through a flat stream made me feel that I am part and parcel of nature, rather than of a smoky, noisy, racing and bumptious civilization, which has more to do with barbarism than with an advanced culture said to have overcome the former.
Arriving home with a pleasant tiredness in the body, we had an abundant bath or went down to the stream and swam a little for limbering up. After having some light meal, we conversed for a while, or one of us read out so that we could discuss the things heard afterwards. Finally, with a last sniff of fresh air, we went to bed. to tell the truth, usually I was the only one doing like this, as Maria and Laszlo preferred making their beds outdoors, which was entirely natural for them and after three weeks quite convincing for me, too.
Leaving the cosy house after three weeks of quiet, calmness and serenity, and after learning the rules of a new outlook upon life more valuable than any other, meant parting from my masters, who opened my eyes to be able to see what is natural, healthy, precious and improver for people in this world.
Maria and Laszlo are a middle-aged couple living in a restored traditional peasant house at the edge of a little village in the western part of Hungary. They moved there about three years ago in order to start a new life. Owing to their invitation for a summer holiday, I could look into the mysteries of the style of their living.
The accommodation took quite a lot of time for me, so I think of describing only the last day's routine, by when I had actually managed to adopt their pace of life. Starting with the morning, I have to remark that it sets in hours earlier than we are accustomed to. The phrases " rise with the lark " and "go to bed with the sun" were completely true for us as sleeping lasted from about 9 o'clock in the evening to about 5 o'clock in the morning. I have non objection to this natural habit; watching TV late at night or dancing at a party till the small hours after a weary weekday is of no use, besides, sleeping hours before midnight are much more valuable than in any other part of the day.
Although there was a little bathroom in the house, we rarely used it; we preferred washing outside, in a deep tub filled with fresh cold water drawn from the well. I particularly enjoyed pacing on the soft grass wet with dew with nothing but a night-dress on me. I was taught some bracing gymnastic exercises, too, which we did jointly and also in the open air every morning.
When one of us got hungry, he or she just walked down to the bottom of the garden, decided which hind of fruit he or she desired most, looked for the right tree or bush and, without any washing, peeling, grating or pressing, ate it in hide and hair. By the way, I learnt some laws restricting eating habits. These include the rule settling that ingestion before noon may consist of fruits only, for these foodstuffs detoxicate the human system, and their active principles are most effective in the late morning hours.
The little garden supplying the family with all the necessary green stuff was a biotic one, that is no sprays and chemical fertilizer were used in it. We usually spent the morning hours there planting, watering, or just ingathering the crops. Then we chose the ingredients of a light midday meal and prepared it in always less than half an hour. The secret of this quickness was the omission of mixing, kneading, cooking, baking or cooling. We took a deep bowl, sliced various kinds of raw vegetables, onion and spices in it, dressed it with cold-pressed oil and dredged some grated nuts over the ready-to-eat vegetable salad.
The afternoon was the time for littering down the stable, rubbing down the horses and harnessing them, ready for riding out to the countryside. The two mares, one of them dark bay, the other yellow, were not runners but still slippy horses that handled well. Riding gallop through the fields, trotting in the woods, riding at a slow-pace through a flat stream made me feel that I am part and parcel of nature, rather than of a smoky, noisy, racing and bumptious civilization, which has more to do with barbarism than with an advanced culture said to have overcome the former.
Arriving home with a pleasant tiredness in the body, we had an abundant bath or went down to the stream and swam a little for limbering up. After having some light meal, we conversed for a while, or one of us read out so that we could discuss the things heard afterwards. Finally, with a last sniff of fresh air, we went to bed. to tell the truth, usually I was the only one doing like this, as Maria and Laszlo preferred making their beds outdoors, which was entirely natural for them and after three weeks quite convincing for me, too.
Leaving the cosy house after three weeks of quiet, calmness and serenity, and after learning the rules of a new outlook upon life more valuable than any other, meant parting from my masters, who opened my eyes to be able to see what is natural, healthy, precious and improver for people in this world.
L 217 F
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".
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".
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