Romeo plummets into the tomb carrying Paris’s body. He finds Juliet lying calmly, and ponders how she can still see so beautiful—as in the event that she was not dead at all. Romeo talks to Juliet of his deliberate to spend endlessness with her, depicting himself as shaking “the burden of unpropitious stars / From this world-wearied flesh”. He kisses Juliet, drinks the harm, kisses Juliet once more, and kicks the bucket.
Fair at that point, Monk Lawrence enters the churchyard. He experiences Balthasar, who tells him that Romeo is within the tomb. Balthasar says that he fell snoozing and imagined that Romeo battled with and slaughtered somebody. Disturbed, the minister enters the tomb, where he finds Paris’s body and after that Romeo’s. As the minister takes within the wicked scene, Juliet wakes.
Juliet inquires the monk where her spouse is. Hearing a commotion that he accepts is the coming of the observe, the monk rapidly answers that both Romeo and Paris are dead, which she must take off with him. Juliet denies to take off, and the minister, frightful that the observe is up and coming, exits without her. Juliet sees Romeo dead adjacent to her and deduces from the purge vial that he has intoxicated harm. Trusting she might pass on by the same harm, Juliet kisses his lips, but to no profit. Hearing the drawing closer observe, Juliet, unsheathes Romeo’s blade and, saying, “O happy dagger, / This is often thy sheath,” cuts herself. She passes on upon Romeo’s body.
Ans. From the statement of the Theban shepherd the mystery Of Oedipus’ birth is unravelled. It is a horrendous revelation: Oedipus killed his father Laius, and married his mother Jocasta and fathered several children by her. After this discovery the chorus laments over his fate. All the generations of human beings add up to nothing. There is no human being whose happiness was anything more than illusion followed by disillusion. Oedipus is an instance, a reason why the chorus says that no mortal creature is happy. With great sureness of aim he followed his objective. He grasped every prize with the help of Zeus. Once he destroyed the monster Sphinx. He was the bastion against disaster for the Thebans; he was their honoured king. All Thebes was proud of the majesty of his name. And now, there is no story which is more heart-rending than the story of his affliction. There is no more awful swerve into the arms of torment, when the same bosom enfolds the san and the father. The engendering body, could not shout aloud its indignation while uniting. Time sees all. Time has found it out when it was least expected. Time has found the event, and judged the “marriagem ockery, bridegroom-son”. This is the elegy. The chorus wishes it had never found Oedipus, son of Laius. Yesterday was the morning of light, for the chorus, and today is its night of endless darkness.
How far is the mystery of Oedipus’s life unraveled by the information of the Corinthian messenger?
Ans. The messenger from Corinth first meets the queen, Jocasta, and tells her that he has brought a news from Corinth which may both please and grieve her. The news is that King Polybus of Corinth is dead, and the people of Corinth want to make Oedipus. king of all the isthmus of Corinth. Jocasta is happy to have the news, because she now sees that the prophecy of the Delphiañ oracle is falsified; Oedipus does not kill his father as the prophecy said he would, but his lather dies a natural death. She immediately sends an attendant to call Oedipus out of the palace. Oedipus comes out, and the messenger says that Polybus died a natural death — death due to old age. Oedipus also grows passionate over the news because there is no possibility now of his killing his own father. Out of strong feelings of relief from a great burden of the possibility of the realisation of the prophecy, he cries out, “Well, well … so, wife, what of the Pythian fire/The oracles, the prophesying birds,,That scream above us? I was to kill my father;INow he lies in his grave, and here am I/Who never touched a weapon … unless it could be said/Grief at my absence killed him — and so I killed him./But no, the better of the oracle/Is unfulfilled and lies, like Polybus, dead.” Jocasta also joins his rejoicing and tells him to think no more of it. But Oedipus now seems to suddenly remember the other half of the prophecy that he will marry his own mother, and he is afraid of it. But Jocastá gives her philosophy of life, “Chance rules our lives, and the future is all unknown./ Best live as best we may, from day to day,” and advises Oedipus to shake off his fear of “mother-marrying” as a mere stuff of dream. But Oedipus’s fear persists.
The phenomenal rise in use of English has mainly taken place over the last two decades. English has reached high status world-wide because of several factors; as the mother tongue of millions of people all over the world, as the language that millions of children learn at school and the language that is used in international relations, for global communication and as the major media language. The importance of a global language has become major, in some contexts such as communication, e.g. international web-pages on the Internet, English is the only language used. In addition, English is used to establish and maintain connection and relationship between people with different backgrounds from different cultures. This paper discusses the different aspects of a global language and shows justification of how the global spread of English has both benefitted and harmed the language.
Introduction
English is the dominant international language of the 21st century. It is spoken at a useful level by some 1.75 billion people – a quarter of the world’s population. As the language of communications, science, information technology, business, entertainment and diplomacy, it has increasingly become the operating system for the global conversation. Two qualities have been pivotal in the evolutionary rise of English: momentum and adaptability. The momentum was originally provided by the political, military, religious and merchant classes. Through colonisation, ship-borne trade with the Americas, North Africa, the Indies and China, and the attendant role of Christian missionaries, the English language was exported worldwide. Arabic and Spanish spread similarly through conquest and religious conversion, across the Islamic world and the Americas, in parallel to the rise of English. But they did not adapt and adopt with the pace and flexibility of English. Though the UK’s political and military power was crucial in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the Louisiana Purchase1 in 1803 was to prove of major significance. This established English as dominant over French in the United States; and then – as the UK’s empire shrank in the 20th century – rapidly growing American global influence gave the language a momentum perhaps unique in modern history.
As English was spreading, it was also adapting and absorbing, soaking up vocabulary from elsewhere. Arabic, Spanish, Hindi and Malay words all found their way into the English lexicon through trade and colonisation, joining the contributions from a thousand years earlier of Old Norse and Norman French and, with the coming of the Renaissance, Latin and Ancient Greek. In the mid-19th century, the Industrial Revolution generated a variety of new words – a new technical lexicon – such as ‘factory’, ‘steam-press’, ‘stethoscope’: some of them returning to classical roots, others taking on simpler terms, to describe processes, concepts that were either new or newly discovered. The process continues and has intensified today – with many more scientific, technological and creative discoveries (and their patents and trademarks) now described and named in English when once they were introduced to the world in German and French. Words expand their meanings to cover new situations (‘a computer mouse’); the language incorporates or creates new words to express new concepts (‘to email’ or ‘to google’). The only constant is change. This globalisation of the language has led to a diverse range of ‘Englishes’, subtly different not just from a ‘standard’ English, but from each another. The European Commission2, for example, recognises that over the years, ‘European institutions have developed a vocabulary that differs from that of any recognised form of English. It includes words that do not exist or are relatively unknown to native English speakers outside the EU institutions’. Along the way it provides a window into concepts that are common in one nation’s bureaucratic tradition, but not others.
English is now spoken by a quarter of the world’s population, enabling a true single market in knowledge and ideas. Non-native speakers now substantially outnumber native speakers and as a result, English increasingly belongs to the world rather than to any one country. Factors that contributed to the spread of English included the global success of American music and movies, as well as the development of computer technologies and the Internet, which are based on programming languages derived from English. It is especially the factors of mass media, global trade and popular culture which are connected with the USA. Around the world there is enormous demand and need for English in the state and public education systems, especially in developing economies.
People in general have different opinions on English as a “global” language. There are positive as well as negative aspects of this. Translation has always played a central role in interaction between people with different languages and language skills. Thousands of years ago, monarchs, ambassadors and merchants had to rely on someone to translate. But the more linguistically mixed the community got, the less they could rely on individuals to ensure their communication. Most of these problems have been solved with a lingua franca or a “pidgin”. Apidgin is a language created, usually spontaneously, from a mixture of other languages as a means of communication between speakers of different languages Pidgins have simple grammar and few synonyms.The prospect that a lingua franca might be needed for the whole world is something that has arisen in the twentieth century. Since the 1950s, many international organisations have come into being e.g. the UN and the World Bank. Also political groupings e.g. The European Union and The Commonwealth have come into being. The pressure to make an agreement concerning one language has become urgent, but it is a sensitive issue. (Crystal 2003: 12-13)
The need for a global language is mainly appreciated by the international academic and business communities, but also by individuals as the world becomes more and more global. (Crystal 2003: 12-13)
Why English has grown as much as it has, and why it might be seen as the best option for a global language have more than one answer. One is the geographical-historical reasons, and another is the socio-cultural. The geographical-historical part explains how English has reached its position and the socio-cultural explains how and why it remains that way. (Crystal 2003: 29)
English came to England from northern Europe during the fifth century and started to spread around the British Isles. (Crystal 2003: 30)
The historical movement of English around the world began with the expeditions to Asia and America and continued with the colonial developments in Africa and the South Pacific. When many colonies became independent during the mid-twentieth century, they kept English as their official language or semi-official language. This led to a major step forward for the English language; it is represented on every continent and on islands in the three major oceans, making the label “global language” a reality. (Crystal 2003: 29)
The socio-cultural aspect looks at the way people in many ways have become dependent on English for their social life and for their economic well-being. English is the language of many business and political domains and also the language of entertainment such as television, the film industry, the music business, communication (internet, telecommunication and computers) and safety. (Crystal 2003: 29)
Today’s status of English has mainly two reasons; the expansion of the British colonial power and the emergence of the economical power of the United States. The latter is what scientist argue explain the status of English in the world today. (Crystal 2003: 59)
‘What seems to be happening is that those people who were once colonized by the language are now rapidly remaking it, domesticating it, becoming more and more relaxed about the way they use it – assisted by the English language’s enormous flexibility and size, they are carving out large territories for themselves within its frontiers.’ (Salman Rushdie, 1992)
Graddol (1997: 11) speaks of “75 or so countries in which English has special status”, Ethnologue lists 106 countries and territories where English is spoken. McArthur (2002: 3) is in-between with his statement that “English is used in over 70 countries as an official or semi-official language and has a significant role in over 20 more”. Moreover, it is difficult to define what may be considered to be ‘English’, as some languages are called varieties of English, others are recognised as pidgins and creoles,
Phillipson states that “the number of native speakers of English now remains constant at about 315 million, whereas Crystal (1997a: 54) estimates the number between 320 and 380 million, whereas Crystal (2003: 109), somewhat surprisingly, counts 329,058,300 native speakers. If the number of speakers of English as a Native Language (ENL) is uncertain, then the estimates for speakers of English as a Second Language (ESL) are even more so. Crystal (1985: 7, referred to in Phillipson, 1992: 24) approximates the number of ESL speakers at 300 million, whereas Graddol (1997: 10) states a total number of 375 million. Crystal (2003: 109) counts 422,682,300 ESL speakers. The number has risen from 300 million to nearly 423 million within 18 years.
Chew (1999) reports on the linguistic development of Singapore, where the English language has been established as an official language, not as a result of natural development or because of historical reasons, but by law. The use of English has been enforced by the government and therefore it has become a dominant language, which has enabled the country to take part in the global economy and profit from globalisation. At the same time, English is seen as serving as “the courier of many cultures and sub-cultures” (Chew, 1999: 42) and the population of Singapore “views the adoption of English not so much as a threat to their own languages but as the key to a share of the world’s symbolic power” (Chew, 1999: 43).
Positive and Negative Aspects on English as a Global Language
Positive aspects of English as a Global Language
As a result of globalisation the function of English as an international tool for communication needs rethinking in the English language classroom. This does not only include linguistic skills to understand various kinds of accents and to be understood by others, but it also includes knowledge of other cultures which provides the learners with the ability to respond adequately to problems arising from cultural differences between the participants in international communication, Since English is the only truly world-wide or global language, its importance, especially in education, is still increasing; this development positively influences the learners’ abilities to participate in international communication, but it can also have a negative effect on other languages that are taught. Although other languages are vital in understanding other cultures, their importance seems to be decreasing, especially in the eyes of students and their parents. Since English is the language of international trade and economy, it regarded to be an indispensable prerequisite for taking part in future economic developments. As a result, the foreign language to be learned at school will very often be chosen by parents and pupils according to its value for future employment, regardless of pedagogical, social or political aspects. The teaching of English at all educational levels is therefore also promoted by many governments.
According to Buck (2005), English has, without doubt, reached the top position in the language hierarchy. Almost 30 % of the population are already “reasonably competent” in English. As the language of commerce, economy and politics, knowledge of and fluency in that language is helpful when participating in these fields. The economic power houses, the political bodies and commercial organisations also use English as their language of communication. More than 85% of the scientific, technological and academic production in the world today is performed in English. By using English we are able to communicate with people in almost all countries all over the world. English is the most widely spoken language with regards to number of countries, even though Chinese, Hindi and Spanish have more native speakers.
The case might be that even in countries where one of the other languages is spoken we will be able to communicate with the inhabitants, using English as a lingua franca. It is often taken for granted that one speaks English and when someone does not, one might be looked upon suspiciously.
Approximately 40 people from different backgrounds, different age and with different nationalities which language they would prefer as a global language and the majority answered English. The following reasons were given: It is the language we hear and read every day; the younger generations have learned it in school and it would be the best global language because it is the most spread all over the world. The people, who disagreed, said that Spanish would be the best global language, because it has more native speakers than English.
Intercultural communication
Difficulties emerging in intercultural communication do not only affect non- native speakers Smith (1983: 9) argues that in intercultural communication in English, native speakers of English have a certain responsibility for the success of the conversation.
Native speakers must […] sharpen their perceptions of what may go wrong in an intercultural conversation. They must recognize the need for talking with the other person about what has gone wrong when there is a communication break down. Native speakers must be sensitized to the probability of misunderstanding and be prepared to deal with it.
As pointed out above, English may e viewed as a homogenising language that promotes cultural uniformity. However, English can also function as a “universalizing language” in lingua franca communication, allowing negotiation of meaning between different cultures and thus permitting cultural heterogeneity (McArthur 2002a: 2f.). Successful cross-cultural communication depends on the speakers’ ability to understand different modes of thinking and living; this is exessed by the term “intercultural competence” (Byram & Fleming, 1998: 1jlntercultUrai competence is regarded as being one of the major aims when discussing the teaching of English as a Foreign Language. However, according to a study by House (1999: 85), the major source for misunderstandings does not lie so much in the cultural differences, but in a lack of pragmatic fluency. This means that routinised pragmatic phenomenon like gambits or discourse strategies are not used appropriately1 and that F speakers are not able to initiate topics arid topic changes using suitable routines or they may have difficulty inresponding to the other person’s speech adequately (cf. House, 1999: 81). This does not necessarily imply that intercultural competence should not be one of the key issues in English language teaching (ELT), but rather that other areas of language and communication should notable neglected. –
Negative aspects of English as a Global Language
Even though there are many positive aspects of having a global language, there are negative aspects as well. A global language might cultivate an elite class with native speakers, who take advantage of the possibility to think and work quickly in their mother-tongue. If this was the case they might manipulate it to their advantage at the expense of those who has another language as their mother-tongue and in this way create a linguistic gap between people. (Crystal 2003: 14-15)
The spread of English has therefore an ambivalent character; it is a lingua franca necessary for international communication, and it is a vehicle for the spread of a culture influenced by the USA and, to a lesser extent, Western Europe. Dovring (1997: x) has researched into the “problems in understanding double talk in political English around the world” by analysing the massive impact of electronic media on the spread of English as a global lingua franca. English is not only seen as a threat to other languages, but also to the cultures connected with these languages. When English is taught, it is seldom ever entirely separated from its cultural background, which is generally American and British. Non-native users of English may fear an ‘anglification’ of their own culture, or they may feel communicatively disadvantaged, because native speakers of English can use their native language. On the other hand, native speakers may fear that through the increasing use of English as a lingua franca, non-native speakers may have considerable impact on the English language and “take possession” of it.
Chew (1999) reports on the linguistic development of Singapore, where the English language has been established as an official language, not as a result of natural development or because of historical reasons, but by law. The use of English has been enforced by the government and therefore it has become a dominant language, which has enabled the country to take part in the global economy and profit from globalisation. At the same time, English is seen as serving as “the courier of many cultures and sub-cultures” (Chew, 1999: 42) and the population of Singapore “views the adoption of English not so much as a threat to their own languages but as the key to a share of the world’s symbolic power” (Chew, 1999: 43).
English has a history, sometimes cruel and violent with colonialism and war, and introducing English as theglobal language might be seen as a threat of future dominance. Perhaps a global language will make people unwilling or unable to learn other languages and make other languages unnecessary. (Crystal 2003: 15)
One of the “risks” having only one language is that the chosen language may become very technical and “impoverished” for non-native speakers, e.g. the Eskimos, who have several words for snow, because they need it. They would probably not be able to express themselves properly if they only had one word for snow. And Swedish people would not be able to use the word “lagom”, a word which says a lot about the Swedish society and people.
Many of the people who answered my question about “English as a Global Language”, expressed a worry that if we only had one language, they would feel “poor” when it comes to expressing feelings and emotions in a language that is not their mother-tongue, that they would not know enough words to be able to really express how and what they feel.
Minor Languages and cultures
An introduction of a global language might lead to discrimination of other languages. Losing a language equals losing identity. The language is much more than just a tool for communication. According to Trudgill, there is an intimate relation between language and culture and a large homogenisation of culture might lead to a shift in language where native people adopt another language and eventually the old language may die out. There is a difference between “language death” and “language murder”. Language death is when a language disappears naturally; its speakers are leaving it voluntarily, but “language murder” means that the killer language actively discourages use of other languages. Minority languages may be removed from the media and educational systems.
From time to time English is discussed as the only official language for the EU, although many Europeans fear that other languages may ‘lose’ and eventually disappear due to the widespread use of English. They see English as a ‘killer language’ which destroys weaker languages. English is a “killer language” means that it is a dominant language learned subtractive, at the cost of the mother tongues, rather than additively Lesser-used languages are seen to be particularly threatened by English. Of course, the cultural identity of smaller communities is strongly connected to the respective language, so a loss of the language would have a considerable impact on the culture, all of which does not seem desirable. If a language loses importance and eventually dies out, speakers would rather adopt other regional languages as their primary language and not English.
So if for instance Lithuanian should die out, speakers will probably adopt Latvian as their first language rather than English or Russian, the language of the former oppressor. On the other hand, if Maltese should face extinction, the speakers will probably turn to English, as it is their second official language. With regard to other countries that once adopted English as their official language and kept their own culture “The fear that the possible adoption of English as a lingua franca in the EU, or as only a working language of the EU institution, will seriously threaten the diversity of languages and cultures appears to be completely without foundation. Nevertheless, English is the dominant language in the educational sector in Europe, where learners prefer to have English taught as the first foreign language. The spread of other European languages outside their native speaker- territory could in this way be ‘threatened’ by English.
In the United States there have been a few “English Only” movements, the first one in 1803, when they banned the speaking of French among the population in Louisiana. After that, several attempts to remove Spanish and French have taken place. English is declared as the official language in several states in the US. The English-Only movements have been rejected by linguistics; they mean that a language does not create political unity, it takes more than that.
The use of one single language in a community is no guarantee for social harmony or mutual understanding. This has been proven several times during the history, e.g. American Civil War, Spanish Civil War and former Yugoslavia. (Crystal 2003:16)
Conclusion
English has developed as a global language for a range of reasons, many of them historical, rather than anything intrinsic in the language itself. This essay has shown that the creation of a global language has numerous benefits and harmful effects. The enormous irregularities in the English system of spelling, for example, may often be seen by a newcomer as a disincentive. Millions, however, are undeterred. One of the strongest incentives for learning the language is the use to which it can immediately be put, socially, economically and culturally. From education and the creative economy to IT and advanced engineering, industries in the UK benefit hugely from using the English language. But it also helps economies overseas to prosper. English language skills provide life-changing opportunities, and promote prosperity and security around the world – to the extent that development efforts have now become ‘inextricably linked in governmental and academic circles as well as in the media with English language education’14. Research in countries in the Middle East and North Africa suggests that the need to widen the scope of domestic industry and also attract more inward investment by multinationals is fuelling the fast-growing demand for improved English education. It is also clear that reducing unemployment as a means of securing political stability is an imperative for many of these countries.
Reference
Books:
Crystal, D. 1997 English as a global language, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gnutzmann, C., Intemann, F. 2008 The Globalisation of English and the English Language Classroom (Second Edition)
Rubdy, R. Saraceni, M. An interview with suresh Canagarajah.
The purpose of this paper is to justify how the global spread of English has both benefitted and harmed the language. This paper focuses on what has made English a global language and outline the (positive and negative) effects of globalization on the English language. Nowadays, the world is enchanted with what new information technology has made possible to the point that the world has become digitally controlled. This digital revolution has spread throughout the world and into many private homes and businesses. What we call it globalization is a result of this information technology which I consider now the basic of our daily activities. This technology has affected other sides of our life and interacted with our cultures and traditions through moving and merging some habits, customs, cultures or values of different societies into each other to create the concept of globalization. Among the things that have been affected by global spread of English is the English language itself. That is, with the rapid pace of globalization, there has been a major change in the field of English language.
Introduction
A language achieves a genuinely global status when it develops a special role that is recognized in every country. No language has ever been spoken by a mother tongue majority in more than a few countries, cannot give a language global status. To achieve such a status, a language has to be taken up by other countries around the world. They must decide to give it a special place within their communities, even though they may have few (or no) mother-tongue speakers. There are many ways in which this can be done. A language can be made the official language of a country, to be used as a medium of communication in such domains as government, the law courts, the media, and the educational system. To get on in these societies, it is essential to master the official language as early in life as possible. Such a language is often described as a ‘second language’, because it is seen as a complement to a person’s mother tongue, or ‘first language’. The role of an official language is today best illustrated by English, which now has some kind of special status in over seventy countries, such as Ghana, Nigeria, India, Singapore and Vanuatu. English is now the language most widely taught as a foreign language – in over 100 countries, such as China, Russia, Germany, Spain, Egypt and Brazil – and in most of these countries it is emerging as the chief foreign language to be encountered in schools, often displacing another language in the process. In 1996, for example, English replaced French as the chief foreign language in schools in Algeria.
English is a global language. We hear it on television spoken by politicians from all over the world. Wherever we travel, we see English signs and advertisements. Whenever we enter a hotel or restaurant in a foreign city, there will be an English menu. Television programmes and series, too, addressed the issue, and achieved world-wide audiences. The first significant step in the progress of English towards its status as a global language did not take place for another 300 years, towards the end of the sixteenth century. At that time, the number of mother-tongue English speakers in the world is thought to have been between 5 and 7 million, almost all of them living in the British Isles. Between the end of the reign of Elizabeth I (1603) and the beginning of the reign of Elizabeth II (1952), this figure increased almost fiftyfold, to some 250 million, the vast majority living outside the British Isles.
English has become a world-wide language for several reasons. England started discovering new territories in the 16th century, established its first colonies in North America in the 17th century, claimed land on the Australian continent in the 18th century, and occupied the Dutch colony at the Cape of Good Hope in 1795. The use of English grew rapidly when colonies were conquered all over Africa and Asia on behalf of the British Empire in the 19th century. In the end, the language was present all over the globe; only South America remained nearly untouched. Nevertheless, the most important factor for today’s situation is probably the military and economic dominance of the United States of America in the 20th century.
In continental Europe English became significant when the USA entered World War II and intervened in international politics. It was the military power of the British Empire and the USA that established English as an International Language, but the economic power of the USA managed to maintain its status and even expanded the use of English.
Factors that contributed to the spread of English included the global success of American music and movies, as well as the development of computer technologies and the Internet, which are based on programming languages derived from English. It is especially the factors of mass media, global trade and popular culture which are connected with the USA.
Graddol (1997: 11) speaks of “75 or so countries in which English has special status”, Ethnologue lists 106 countries and territories where English is spoken. McArthur (2002: 3) is in-between with his statement that “English is used in over 70 countries as an official or semi-official language and has a significant role in over 20 more”. Moreover, it is difficult to define what may be considered to be ‘English’, as some languages are called varieties of English, others are recognised as pidgins and creoles,
Phillipson states that “the number of native speakers of English now remains constant at about 315 million, whereas Crystal (1997a: 54) estimates the number between 320 and 380 million, whereas Crystal (2003: 109), somewhat surprisingly, counts 329,058,300 native speakers. If the number of speakers of English as a Native Language (ENL) is uncertain, then the estimates for speakers of English as a Second Language (ESL) are even more so. Crystal (1985: 7, referred to in Phillipson, 1992: 24) approximates the number of ESL speakers at 300 million, whereas Graddol (1997: 10) states a total number of 375 million. Crystal (2003: 109) counts 422,682,300 ESL speakers. The number has risen from 300 million to nearly 423 million within 18 years.
It is impossible to count the speakers of English, but the estimated numbers give an impression of the relevance of the language in today’s world. With the breakdown of the Soviet Union and the Political restructuring of the former Eastern Bloc, Which also led to an opening of other communist regimes, especially China, the demand for English as a foreign Language has grown immensely.
English has a special role in Europe for three reasons: it is an official language in three countries, it is the European lingua Franca and it is the global lingua franca. The linguistic diversity of Europe is difficult to administer, especially in an organisation like the European Union (EU), where all member states and citizens are officially granted linguistic equality. This means that almost all languages spoken in these member states have official status, except for minority languages like Sorbian, a Slavic language spoken in Germany by approximately 50,000 people, which have no official status in their countries. With the expansion of the European Union in May 2004, the number of official languages has grown to 20, and all documents and contributions to sessions of the European Parliament have to be translated into all languages. However, each institution of the EU usually has two or three working languages, these always included English, usually French, and often German.
Negative effects of global spread of English
The spread of English has therefore an ambivalent character; it is a lingua franca necessary for international communication, and it is a vehicle for the spread of a culture influenced by the USA and, to a lesser extent, Western Europe. Dovring (1997: x) has researched into the “problems in understanding double talk in political English around the world” by analysing the massive impact of electronic media on the spread of English as a global lingua franca. English is not only seen as a threat to other languages, but also to the cultures connected with these languages. When English is taught, it is seldom ever entirely separated from its cultural background, which is generally American and British. Non-native users of English may fear an ‘anglification’ of their own culture, or they may feel communicatively disadvantaged, because native speakers of English can use their native language. On the other hand, native speakers may fear that through the increasing use of English as a lingua franca, non-native speakers may have considerable impact on the English language and “take possession” of it.
Chew (1999) reports on the linguistic development of Singapore, where the English language has been established as an official language, not as a result of natural development or because of historical reasons, but by law. The use of English has been enforced by the government and therefore it has become a dominant language, which has enabled the country to take part in the global economy and profit from globalisation. At the same time, English is seen as serving as “the courier of many cultures and sub-cultures” (Chew, 1999: 42) and the population of Singapore “views the adoption of English not so much as a threat to their own languages but as the key to a share of the world’s symbolic power” (Chew, 1999: 43).In the time of research I found some important parts of negative effect. These are:
The loss of ownership
Linguistic change
Changes in grammar
Many distinctive forms of English
English is a Killer Language
These negative features of Global spread of English have been discussed below:
The loss of ownership
Salman Rushdie comments, in an essay called ‘Commonwealth literature does not exist’, that ‘the English language ceased to be the sole possession of the English some time ago’. Indeed, when even the largest English-speaking nation, the USA, turns out to have only about 20 per cent of the world’s English speakers, it is plain that no one can now claim sole ownership. This is probably the best way of defining a genuinely global language, in fact: that its usage is not restricted by countries or (as in the case of some artificial languages) by governing bodies. The loss of ownership is of course uncomfortable to those, especially in Britain, who feel that the language is theirs by historical right; but they have no alternative. There is no way in which any kind of regional social movement, such as the purist societies which try to prevent language change or restore a past period of imagined linguistic excellence, can influence the global outcome. In the end, it comes down to population growth. In the list of English-speaking territories, the number of first-language (L1) speakers in the inner-circle countries is currently about the same as the number of second-language (L2) English speakers in the outer-circle countries – some 400 million. The countries of the outer circle have combined a much greater growth rate than those of the inner circle: in 2002, an average of 2.4 per cent compared with 0.88 per cent. So, if current population and learning trends continue, the balance of speakers will change dramatically. There are probably already more L2 speakers than L1 speakers. Within fifty years, there could be up to 50 per cent more. By that time, the only possible concept of ownership will be a global one.
Linguistic change
Another negative effect of spread of English that the language will become open to the winds of linguistic change in totally unpredictable ways. The spread of English around the world has already demonstrated this, in the emergence of new varieties of English in the different territories where the language has taken root. The change has become a major talking point only since the 1960s, hence the term by which these varieties are often known: ‘new Englishes’. The different dialects of British and American English provide the most familiar example. These two varieties diverged almost as soon as the first settlers arrived in America. By the time Noah Webster was writing his dictionaries, there were hundreds of words which were known in the USA but not in Britain, pronunciation had begun to diverge quite markedly, and spellings were in the process of change. Today, there are thousands of differences between British and American English – two countries, as George Bernard Shaw once put it, ‘divided by a common language’.
Changes in grammar
The national and international use of English has been in the hands of people who are not just literate, but for whom literacy is a significant part of their professional identity. ‘Educated usage’ (which usually meant ‘well-educated usage’) has been a long-standing criterion of what counts as English. The influence of the grammar of the written language has thus been pervasive, fuelled by a strongly prescriptive tradition in schools and an adult reliance on usage manuals which privileged writing above speech. Grammars totally devoted to speech are rare, and self-avowedly exploratory. But as English becomes increasingly global, we must expect far more attention to be paid to speech. Although there is no suggestion anywhere that standard written English will diminish in importance, and literacy remains a dominant target.
Many distinctive forms of English
Many distinctive forms also identify the Englishes of the other countries of the inner circle: Australian English, New Zealand English, Canadian English, South African English, Caribbean English, and, within Britain, Irish, Scots, and Welsh English. Among the countries of the outer circle, several varieties have also grown in distinctiveness in recent decades. There is one group in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, often collectively called South Asian English. There is another group in the former British colonies in West Africa, and a further group in the former British colonies in East Africa. Other emerging varieties have been noted in the Caribbean and in parts of south-east Asia, such as Singapore. These new Englishes are somewhat like the dialects within our own country. Instead of affecting mere thousands of speakers, they apply to millions. They are an inevitable consequence of the spread of English on a world scale. Dialects emerge because they give identity to the groups which own them. A speaker from country A is using English, there is an intelligibility bond with an English speaker of country B – and this is reinforced by the existence of a common written language. On the other hand, because speaker A is not using exactly the same way of speaking as speaker B, both parties retain their identities.
English is a Killer Language
From time to time English is discussed as the only official language for the EU, although many Europeans fear that other languages may ‘lose’ and eventually disappear due to the widespread use of English. They see English as a ‘killer language’ which destroys weaker languages. Lesser-used languages are seen to be particularly threatened by English. Of course, the cultural identity of smaller communities is strongly connected to the respective language, so a loss of the language would have a considerable impact on the culture, all of which does not seem desirable. If a language loses importance and eventually dies out, speakers would rather adopt other regional languages as their primary language and not English.
So if for instance Lithuanian should die out, speakers will probably adopt Latvian as their first language rather than English or Russian, the language of the former oppressor. On the other hand, if Maltese should face extinction, the speakers will probably turn to English, as it is their second official language. With regard to other countries that once adopted English as their official language and kept their own culture “The fear that the possible adoption of English as a lingua franca in the EU, or as only a working language of the EU institution, will seriously threaten the diversity of languages and cultures appears to be completely without foundation. Nevertheless, English is the dominant language in the educational sector in Europe, where learners prefer to have English taught as the first foreign language. The spread of other European languages outside their native speaker- territory could in this way be ‘threatened’ by English.
The varieties of English taught at European schools are usually British English with Received or BBC Pronunciation or American English with a General American accent. Features of these varieties are often mixed by many Europeans, not only due to differences in classroom practice, but also because of music, movies and TV. The result may be called Mid-Atlantic English (MAE). In the context of English as a Lingua Franca in Europe, scholars argue if there will ever be a European standard of (sometimes called ‘Euro-English’). So far, there is no convincing evidence for a European variety which includes features of all European languages, but it has been proposed to establish a European variety of English to signal national identities in international contexts.
Benefits of Global Spread of English
The global spread of English enriches vocabulary
Most adaptation in a New English relates to vocabulary, in the form of new words (borrowings – from several hundred language sources, in such areas as Nigeria), word-formations, word meanings, collocations and idiomatic phrases. There are many cultural domains likely to motivate new words, as speakers find themselves adapting the language to meet fresh communicative needs. A country’s bio-geographical uniqueness will generate potentially large numbers of words for animals, fish, birds, insects, plants, trees, rocks, rivers and so on – as well as all the issues to do with land management and interpretation, which is an especially important feature of the lifestyle of many indigenous peoples. There will be words for foodstuffs, drinks, medicines, drugs, and the practices associated with eating, health-care, disease and death. The country’s mythology and religion, and practices in astronomy and astrology, will bring forth new names for personalities, beliefs and rituals. The country’s oral and perhaps also written literature will give rise to distinctive names in sagas, poems, oratory and folktales. There will be a body of local laws and customs, with their own terminology. The culture will have its technology with its own terms – such as for vehicles, house-building, weapons, clothing, ornaments and musical instruments. The whole world of leisure and the arts will have a linguistic dimension – names of dances, musical styles, games, sports – as will distinctiveness in body appearance (such as hair styles, tattoos, decoration). Virtually any aspect of social structure can generate complex naming systems – local government, family relationships, clubs and societies, and so on. A culture is community-specific in this way; but it must be a very significant amount. So, when a community adopts a new language, and starts to use it in relation to all areas of life, there is inevitably going to be a great deal of lexical creation.
As a result of globalisation the function of English as an international tool for communication needs rethinking in the English language classroom. This does not only include linguistic skills to understand various kinds of accents and to be understood by others, but it also includes knowledge of other cultures which provides the learners with the ability to respond adequately to problems arising from cultural differences between the participants in international communication, Since English is the only truly world-wide or global language, its importance, especially in education, is still increasing; this development positively influences the learners’ abilities to participate in international communication, but it can also have a negative effect on other languages that are taught. Although other languages are vital in understanding other cultures, their importance seems to be decreasing, especially in the eyes of students and their parents. Since English is the language of international trade and economy, it regarded to be an indispensable prerequisite for taking part in future economic developments. As a result, the foreign language to be learned at school will very often be chosen by parents and pupils according to its value for future employment, regardless of pedagogical, social or political aspects. The teaching of English at all educational levels is therefore also promoted by many governments.
Conclusion
Native English speakers may have mixed feelings about the way English is spreading around the world. They may feel pride, that their language is the one which has been so successful; but their pride may be tinged with concern, when they realize that people in other countries may not want to use the language in the same way that they do, and are changing it to suit themselves. We are all sensitive to the way other people use (it is often said, abuse) ‘our’ language. Deeply held feelings of ownership begin to be questioned. Indeed, if there is one predictable consequence of a language becoming a global language, it is that nobody owns it any more. Or rather, everyone who has learned it now owns it – ‘has a share in it’ might be more accurate – and has the right to use it in the way they want. This fact alone makes many people feel uncomfortable, even vaguely resentful. ‘Look what the Americans have done to English’ is a not uncommon comment found in the letter-columns of the British press. But similar comments can be heard in the USA when people encounter the sometimes striking variations in English which are emerging all over the world. And non-native English speakers may still have mixed feelings about it. They may be strongly motivated to learn it, because they know it will put them in touch with more people than any other language; but at the same time they know it will take a great deal of effort to master it, and they may be grudge that effort. Having made progress, they will feel pride in their achievement, and savour the communicative power they have at their disposal, but may none the less feel that mother-tongue speakers of English have an unfair advantage over them. And if we live in a country where the survival of our own language is threatened by the success of English, we may feel envious, resentful, or angry. We may strongly object to the naivety of the populist account, with its simplistic and often suggestively triumphalism tone. These feelings are natural, and would arise whichever language emerged as a global language. They are feelings which give rise to fears, whether real or imaginary, and fears lead to conflict. Language marches, language hunger-strikes, language rioting and language deaths are a fact, in several countries. Political differences over language economics, education, laws and rights are a daily encounter for millions. Language is always in the news, and the nearer a language moves to becoming a global language, the more newsworthy it is.
Reference
Books:
Crystal, D. 1997 English as a global language, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gnutzmann, C., Intemann, F. 2008 The Globalisation of English and the English Language Classroom (Second Edition)
Rubdy, R. Saraceni, M. An Interview with Suresh Canagarajah.
এই লেকচারটা কেবল আন্ডারগ্রেড স্টুডেন্টদের জন্যে প্রযোজ্য।
আপনি কিছু বন্ধু বা আত্মীয়কে দাওয়াত করে খাওয়াবেন। দাওয়াত দেয়া শেষ মানে আপনার কাজ শুরু। বাজারের লিস্ট করলেন, কি কি রান্না করবেন সেটাও ঠিক করলেন। এটাই হলো রিসার্চ প্রপোজাল। লিস্ট অনুযায়ী বাজার করা, রান্না করা হলো আপনার রিসার্চ। মেহমানদের সুস্বাদু খাবার দিয়ে আপ্যায়ন করা হলো আপনার থিসিস। খাবার ভালো হলে মেহমান খুশি আর আপনি গ্রাজুয়েট।
Thesis বা Dissertation একই অর্থে ব্যাবহৃত হয়ে থাকে, যদিও কেউ কেউ আন্ডারগ্রেড এবং মাস্টার্স ডিগ্রীর জন্যে থিসিস এবং ডক্টোরাল ডিগ্রীর জন্যে ডিসার্টেশন বলে থাকেন, অরিজিনালিটি এবং সিগ্নিফিকেন্স আলাদা বোঝাতে।
মাস্টার্স বা পিএইচডি এর ক্ষেত্রে অরিজিনালিটি নিয়ে যেমন সতর্ক থাকা দরকার, আন্ডারগ্রেড রিসার্চে সেখানে খানিকটা কম্প্রমাইজ করা যেতে পারে ধরে নেয়া হয়। বিষয়টাকে এভাবে বলা যায়, প্রাথমিক বিদ্যালয়ের বিজ্ঞানমেলাতে বাচ্চারা কাগজের বক্স আর ভাঙা আয়না দিয়ে পেরিস্কোপ বানালেই সবাই খুশি, কিন্তু মাধ্যমিকে তা চলবেনা।
থিসিস লেখা যে কতটা কষ্টসাধ্য ব্যাপার, তা কেবল এই প্রক্রিয়ার ভিতর দিয়ে না গেলে বোঝা মুশকিল। কেউ কারো থিসিস লিখে দিতে পারেনা, সাধারণত সুপারভাইজর শুধু গাইড করে থাকেন। কাজটা সময় সাপেক্ষ, এর জন্যে দরকার যথেষ্ট প্রশিক্ষণ, গবেষণা, চর্চা এবং লেখার দক্ষতা।
প্রত্যেকের থিসিস আলাদা, তবে সবারই কিছু কমন আউটলাইন থাকে। আমরা কেবল সেসব নিয়ে কথা বলবো। মনে রাখবেন, Plagiarism থেকে দূরে থাকা জরুরী। আপনার গবেষণা যত সামান্যই হোক না কেন, সৎ থাকুন।
শুরু করার আগে কিছু কথা
১. রিসার্চ শুরু হয় প্রশ্ন নিয়ে। টপিক এবং থিওরী নিয়ে চিন্তা করা দরকার। কি কি প্রশ্নের উত্তর জানা নেই? বিভিন্নভাবে প্রশ্ন করুন।
২. উত্তর জানতে প্রাসঙ্গিক তথ্য-উপাত্ত খুঁজুন। আস্থা রাখা যায় এমন বই, ইন্টারনেট সাইট, গবেষণা-পত্র ঘেঁটে দেখুন। তথ্যগুলো একত্রিত করুন। রিসার্চ গ্যাপ খুঁজে বের করুন।
৩. আপনার টপিক সম্পর্কে যেহেতু সব তথ্য আপনার জানা হলো, এবার আপনার থিসিসের উদ্দেশ্যগুলোকে পরিষ্কারভাবে দাঁড় করান। এবার আপনার প্রপোজাল লেখার জন্যে আপনি প্রস্তুত। আগের লেকচারে বলেছি, প্রপোজালে থাকে আপনার কাজের উদ্দেশ্য, তাতপর্য, লিটারেচার রিভিউ, থিওরিটিকাল ফ্রেমওয়ার্ক, রিসার্চ সম্পর্কে প্রশ্ন, হাইপোথিসিস, কিভাবে ডেটা কালেক্ট ও এনালাইজ করবেন ইত্যাদি।
৪. সুপারভাইজরের গাইডেন্সে ফিল্ডওয়ার্ক, এক্সপেরিমেন্ট, ডেটা এনালাইসিস শেষ করুন। বার বার চিন্তা করুন অজানা উত্তর কতখানি পেলেন।
এবারে অধ্যায় ভিত্তিক আলোচনা করা যাক।
অধ্যায় ১. উদ্দেশ্য ও তাতপর্য বা ভূমিকা
পরিষ্কার করে আপনার থিসিসওয়ার্কের উদ্দেশ্য লিখুন এবং তাতপর্য ব্যাখ্যা করুন। কিভাবে আপনার কাজ ওই বিষয়ের বিশ্বের জ্ঞান-ভান্ডারকে সমৃদ্ধ করবে এবং কার কি উপকারে আসবে ইত্যাদি। আপনার কাজটা কতখানি মৌলিক অবদান রাখবে তাও সুন্দর করে ব্যাখ্যা করুন। কারন, পরিষ্কার উদ্দেশ্য ও শক্ত থিওরিটিকাল গ্রাউন্ড ছাড়া থিসিসের অর্থ নেই। তার মানে, পরিষ্কার করে টপিক এবং মেথডের বিস্তারিত ভূমিকা লিখতে হবে। রিসার্চ প্রবলেম বিবৃত করে ওই বিষয়ে রিসার্চের প্রয়োজনীয়তা উল্লেখ করতে হবে (ব্যাবহারিক এবং বৈজ্ঞানিক অবদান ইত্যাদি)। ভূমিকা এক বা দুই পৃষ্ঠার মধ্যে লেখাই উত্তম।
অধ্যায় ২. লিটারেচার রিভিউ
আপনার কাজটিতে কিছু থিওরিটিকাল ফ্রেমওয়ার্ক থাকবে। লিটারেচার রিভিউ এই বিষয়টাকে ব্যাখ্যা করবে এবং এই বিষয়ে আপনার জানামতে পূর্বের সব গবেষণাকে বিশ্লেষণ করবে; অবশ্যই রেফারেন্স সহ। এর মানে এই না যে, পূর্বের সব গবেষণাকে স্রেফ বলে যাওয়া। বরং উচিত হবে ব্যাখ্যা-বিশ্লেষণ করা, কি করা হয়েছে আর কি করা হয় নাই। এই অজানাকে জানার ইচ্ছাই আপনাকে এই গবেষণায় অনুপ্রাণিত করেছে। অবশ্য কোন কোন ক্ষেত্রে বিভিন্ন প্রেক্ষাপটে প্রয়োজনে পূর্বের গবেষণার পূনরাবৃত্তিও করা হয়ে থাকে। লিটারেচার রিভিউ আসলে আপনার আইডাকে অর্গানাইজ করে, যেখানে থাকে একটা থিওরেটিকাল ফাউন্ডেশন বা ওভারভিউ, বিভিন্ন লিটারেচারের সহযোগিতা নিয়ে স্টোরী সাজানো, মডেল, হাইপোথিসিস, স্কোপ, লিমিটেশন ইত্যাদি।
অধ্যায় ৩. মেথডলজি
এখানে ব্যাখ্যা করা হয় এবং যাচাই করতে হয় উপাত্ত সংগ্রহের মেথড; কিভাবে ডেটা এনালাইজ করা হয়েছে। কোন মেথড ব্যাবহার করেছেন, কেন করেছেন, কেন এই মেথডকে এপ্রপ্রিয়েট ভেবেছেন। অনেক ক্ষেত্রে সঠিক রেফারেন্স আবশ্যক। এরপর বিস্তারিতভাবে ধাপে ধাপে উপাত্ত সংগ্রহ এবং বিশ্লেষণ পদ্ধতি বলুন।
এই ব্যাপারে সাধারণ প্রবণতা হলো,
– রিসার্চ ডিজাইনের ব্যাখ্যা (ইন্টারনাল এবং এক্সটারনাল ভ্যালিডিটি সহ)
– ব্যাবহৃত স্যাম্পল বা মেথডের জাস্টিফিকেশন
– ইন্সট্রুমেন্ট বা মেথডের ব্যাখ্যা-বিশ্লেষণ পদ্ধতি (প্রি-টেস্ট, ইন্সট্রুমেন্ট বা মেথডের রিলায়েবিলিটি এবং ভেলিডিটি)
– অবজারবেশন তৈরীর পদ্ধতি
– ডেটা কোডিং
– ডেটা এনালাইসিস (স্ট্যাটিস্টিকাল এনালাইসিস এবং টেস্টিং, ক্যাটাগরি আইডেন্টিফিকেশন) ইত্যাদি।
অধ্যায় ৪. ফাইন্ডিংস বা রেজাল্টস
এখানে মূলত ডেটা এনালাইসিসের ফলাফল বর্ননা করা হয়ে থাকে। সাধারণত অন্য গবেষণার সাথে সম্পৃক্ততামূলক ব্যাখ্যা থাকে না। বিভিন্ন টেস্ট বা ফ্যাক্টর এনালাইসিস, হাইপোথিসিস টেস্টের ফলাফল ইত্যাদি উপস্থাপন করা হয়। টেবল এবং ফিগার ব্যাবহার করা হয় ফলাফল উপস্থাপন এবং নিমেরিক ইনফরমেশন সামারাইজ করতে। তার মানে, এই অংশে থাকবে সংক্ষিপ্ত ওভারভিউ, পদ্ধতি প্রয়োগের ফলাফল, কোন আনইউজুয়াল সিচুয়েশন মোকাবেলা (যদি থাকে), স্যাম্পলের প্রকৃতি, বিশ্লেষণ ও প্রবনতা, ভেলিডিটি বা রিলায়েবিলিটি বিশ্লেষণ ইত্যাদি।
অধ্যায় ৫. আলোচনা
এখানে আপনি কি খুঁজে পেলেন সেটার ব্যাখ্যাই শুধু নয়, বরং আলোচনা হওয়া উচিত আপনার ফাইন্ডিংস কতটা অর্থবোধক, ওই বিষয়ে জ্ঞান-ভান্ডারের সাথে সম্পৃক্ততা নিয়ে। আলোচনা খুব গুরুত্বপূর্ণ অংশ, যদিও অনেক স্টুডেন্ট এটাকে নিয়ে ভাবে কম। মাঝে মাঝে আলোচনাতে সম্পৃক্ততা বোঝাতে নতুন লিটারেচার উল্লেখ করা হয় এই অংশে। গবেষণাটির বাস্তব ইমপ্লিকেশন ব্যাখ্যা করাও দরকার। সাথে সাথে সীমাবদ্ধতা এবং ভবিষ্যৎ গবেষণার প্রস্তাবনা উল্লেখ করা হয়।
কেউ কেউ ফলাফল এবং আলোচনা একই অধ্যায়ে করে থাকেন। আন্ডারগ্রেড থিসিসে এটা খুব সাধারণ ব্যাপার।
অধ্যায় ৬. উপসংহার
একটা সংক্ষিপ্ত উপসংহার দিয়ে থিসিস লেখা শেষ করা। এখানে লেখকের মতামতও প্রতফলিত হয়।
অ্যাপেনডিক্স. বিব্লিয়োগ্রাফিক রচনা, কোয়েশ্চেনেয়ার এবং কোডিং ম্যান্যুয়াল, র্য ডেটা (যদি থাকে) ইত্যাদি।
রেফারেন্স. EndNote Program বা এ জাতীয় সফটওয়ার কাজটাকে অনেক সহজ করে দিতে পারে।
কিছু টিপস
১. যথেষ্ট সময় নিয়ে থিসিসের কাজ করা উচিত (কমপক্ষে ২ সেমিস্টার)।
২. ডিফেন্সের আগেই সব কাজ শেষ করা।
৩. সম্পাদনায় খুব সতর্ক থাকা। বানান-ব্যাকরণই হোক বা স্ট্রাকচারই হোক।
৪. এক চ্যাপ্টার থেকে অন্য চ্যাপ্টারে ফ্লো মেইন্টেইন করা।
৫. অভিজ্ঞ সিনিয়রকে দিয়ে চেক করে নেয়া। কারন, সুপারভাইজর সম্পাদনায় সময় দিবেন না।
৬. থিসিস জমা দেবার আগে এবং ডিফেন্সের আগে কমপক্ষে ২ বার পুরা থিসিস পড়ে নেয়া ভাল।
ফরম্যাট নিয়ে কিছু কথা
থিসিস একটি ফরমাল রিপোর্ট। তাই ফরমাল রিপোর্ট লেকচারটি দেখুন।
১. কোন ভাষায় লিখবেন, পৃষ্ঠার সাইজ কি, মার্জিন কেমন হবে, ফন্ট টাইপ ও সাইজ কোথায় কেমন, স্পেসিং কেমন হবে, টেবল এবং ফিগারের নাম্বারিং কেমন হবে ইত্যাদি স্পেসিফিকেশন জেনে নিন ইউনিভার্সিটি থেকে।
২. টাইটেল পেজ কাউন্ট করা হলেও নাম্বার টাইপ করা হয়না।
২. অ্যাবস্ট্রাক্ট কত শব্দের মধ্যে লিখতে হবে না বলা থাকালেও এক পৃষ্ঠায়ই থামুন।
৩. বায়োগ্রাফিক স্কেচ, ডেডিকেশন, একনলেজমেন্ট, টেবল অফ কন্টেন্টস, লিস্ট অফ ফিগারস, লিস্ট অফ টেবলস, লিস্ট অফ অ্যাব্রেভিয়েশন্স, লিস্ট অফ সিম্বলস, প্রিফেস ইত্যাদি প্রযোজ্য ক্ষেত্রে আলাদা আলাদা পৃষ্ঠায় লিখুন। এই অংশে সাধারণত রোমান নাম্বার ব্যাবহার করা হয়।
৪. ভূমিকা থেকে পৃষ্ঠা নম্বর ১ শুরু হয়। আন্ডারগ্রেড থিসিসে গ্লোসারী, ইনডেক্স সাধারণত সংযুক্ত করা হয়না।
৫. প্রত্যেক বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের থিসিস এবং ডিসার্টেশনের ফরম্যাট গাইড থাকা উচিত।
শর্ট গাইড লাইন :
১) ইন্ট্রোডাকশন: এটাতে আপনার ইন্টারেস্টের ফিল্ডের শর্ট বর্ণনা থাকবে। ২) রেশনাল অফ স্টাডি/ব্যাকগ্রাউন্ড অফ স্টাডি: কিছু পুরান কাজের সাপেক্ষে এবং বর্তমার সায়েন্সের আপডেট পর্যন্ত কতটুকু প্রয়োজনীয়তা আপনার এই ফিল্ডে কাজ করা, তার একটা শর্ট ডিসক্রিপশন থাকবে এই পোর্শনে। ৩) লিটারেচার রিভিউ: এই পোর্শনে থাকবে আপনার ইন্টারেস্টের টপিকসের আগাগোড়া কতখানি কাজ হয়েছে এবং লেটেস্ট আপডেট কি পর্যন্ত! এখানেই বের হয়ে আসবে সামারি হিসেবে, আপনার ফিল্ডে কোন জায়গাতে এক্সটেনশনের সুযোগ আছে, সেটা করতে আপনি এই রিসার্চটা করছেন। এটার ব্যাপারে পরে আরো ডিটেইলস বলছি। ৪) অবজেকটিভ: রিসার্চের আল্টিমেট অবজেকটিভ শেষ পর্যন্ত, অবশ্যই লিটারেচার রিভিউয়ের সাপেক্ষে। ৫) এনালাইসিস/এক্সপেরিমেন্টের ডিটেইলস: সাবজেক্ট/ফিল্ড অনুযায়ী। এই জায়গাটাতেই আপনার ফাইন্ডিংসের যথার্থতা প্রমাণ করতে স্ট্যাটিসটিকাল কিছু থিওরী এপ্লাই করতে হবে, টেস্ট অফ হাইপোথিসিস প্রায় কম্পোলসারি। তবে উন্নতমানের থিসিসে রিগ্রেশন মডেলও আশা করা হয় ৬) সামারি অফ ফাইন্ডিংস/ডিসকাশন: আপনার ইনভেনশনের শর্ট সামারি একটা।
INFLUENCES OF GODWIN PLATO AND ROUSSEAU ON SHELLEY
“Shelley was greatly influenced by Godwin, Plato and Rousseau”. Illustrate the idea citing examples from the prescribed poems.
Ans: Shelley is much devoted to Godwin, Plato and Rousseau for his thought and poetry. Godwin’s book ‘Political Justice’ has profoundly influenced Shelley’s iconoclastic rationalism and his opinions on politics and morals.
Influence of Godwin: Godwin’s idea of man is that man is perfectible; that is, capable of moral improvement and the development of his character is subject more to nature’s environment than heredity. Godwin didn’t believe in the existence of Government and opposed the worship of wealth, religious tyranny and diseased law, but he believed in “free love” and advocated a universe where men could live happily together and in peace. Shelley too, influenced by his ideas, attacks wars, tyranny, commerce, wealth and religion- in short, all the existing vices of this present world-and describes a Utopian future in Queen Mab.
Tinges of Godwinian theory is seen in Prometheus Unbound too, where he celebrates the perfectibility of human nature and foretells a golden age which too is bound by guilt or pain, “nor yet exempt from chance, and death and mutability.”
Influence of Plato: Just as Shelley is devoted to Godwin for political and moral ideas, so also he is devoted to Plato for his Platonism of “one Spirit” the “supreme Power”. Just as Keats was a Hellenist without knowing any Greek so also Shelley was a Platonist even before he had read Plato. To Shelley Plato was not only a philosopher but a poet too. In his Defence of Poetry, he says, “Plato was essentially a poet—the truth and splendour of his imagery and the melody of his language are the most intense that is possible to conceive”.
The ideas he borrowed from Plato falls under four groups- general religious and philosophic ideas, cosmic speculations, social and political ideas, and the theory of love.
(i) General Religious and Philosophic Ideas: Shelley’s religious system is more Greek and Platonic than Christian and Biblical. Like Plato, Shelley believes in a ‘Supreme power’ and is conscious of the unity of the world and of all life and the underlying spirit which he celebrates in most of his poems, especially in Adonais
“The one remains, the many change and pass”. The struggle between the powers of good and evil is the main theme of The Revolt of Islam, a concept of Plato.
(ii) Cosmic Speculations: Plato’s teachings that the entire Universe is the self-evolution of an absolute intelligence, is seen reflected in Shelley’s Hymn to Apollo where he considers the sun as the supreme source in the universe, not of light and force only, but also of intelligence. Even in Prometheus Unbound, he personifies Moon and Earth.
(iii)Social and Political Ideas The concept of dualism between Prometheus who stands for the soul of man and Jupiter who represents the baser side of man which we find in Prometheus (In bound is based on Plato’s conception of a constant duel in man’s nature between the good and evil forces.
(iv)Theory of Love: Plato’s teachings on theory of love have two aspects-his philosophy of beauty, and love, an inspiration in human life. Shelley’s idea of ‘Intellectual Beauty’ is the same as Plato’s ‘philosophy of beauty’ To Shelley, when Intellectual Beauty’ departs, this world becomes a ‘dim vast veil of tears vacant and desolate’. On the other hand if human heart is its temple, then man would become ‘immortal and potent”. Thus Platonism was a treasure-house from which he borrowed valuable ideas.
Influences of Rousseau. Rousseau too has influenced Shelley much, for Harold Bloom believes, “Without Rousseau, Shelley would not have written the Hymn to Intellectual Beauty and perhaps not Mont Blanc either. Rousseau, more than even Wordsworth was the prophet of natural man, and the celebrator of the state of nature “ He not only fights against the natural man and religion but against his own desire in Prometheus Unbound. Shelley’s spirit and his temperament made Shelley more a disciple and heir of Rousseau than of Godwin or Wordsworth. Rousseau’s ideas are vividly seen in Shelley’s Ode to the West Wind and even in his lyrical drama.
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Lord Lear could be a tragic legend. He carries on impulsively and unreliably at the beginning of the play. He is dazzle and out of line as a father and as a ruler. He wants all the trappings of control without the duty which is why the inactive and pardoning Cordelia is the ideal choice for a successor.
There are numerous sources for Lear. The foremost critical is the mysterious The Genuine Chronicle Historic of Ruler Leir and his three girls (Leir), which was delivered in 1605.
In spite of the fact that we do not have any prior Celtic or English sources for Ruler Lear, it’s sensible to accept that the same wrangle about almost historicity that applies to Ruler Arthur applies to Lear since it’s likely that Monmouth utilized sources which we do not have, instead of making up the story from scratch.
On the off chance that we acknowledge the goodwill of Monmouth, that he recorded a gotten ‘history’ we at that point have the address of whether Lear was a genuine authentic figure whose presence was passed down through the eras by implies such as verbal storytelling or whether he was a figure in Celtic mythology who was changed over time into an amazing Lord.
The story of Romeo and Juliet has a profound impact worldwide. Generations after generations people this story has passed on. As a result, many wish to know whether it is a true story. Yes. It is natural to have the doubt be born in mind due to its popularity.
Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is not based on a genuine story, but it is not unique to Shakespeare either. A critical source is a Roman essayist Ovid’s Transformation. One of the stories in Ovid’s work is Pyramus and Thisbe, approximately two Babylonian partners. Their adore is illegal due to a family fight, and both the significant others conclusion up committing suicide over a mix-up. Much closer in time was a sixteenth-century lyric called The Tragicall History of Romeus and Juliet and William Painter’s The Royal residence of Delight, a collection of stories counting one around Romeo and Juliet.
Whereas the play is based on an anecdotal story, it is conceivable that there are a few real establishments for the story. At a time when families worked out much more control over relational unions, it is likely that two youthful individuals in adore would have been foiled by two families in strife with each other. But we do not know of such a story, as it were of fictive accounts.